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Introduction:
Most people who visit with us for the first time have an immediate
question. If you are a first time guest, you may have already
asked the question yourself. “Where is the piano?” Pianos,
guitars and drums have become such an integral part of worship for
so many churches, people are amazed that anyone would refrain from
using them, let alone claim it is sinful to use them to worship
God. In fact, this so amazes us that even among Christians we
begin to question whether or not there really is anything wrong
with worshipping God through instrumental music. Perhaps we are
being stubborn and silly. It really does seem such a small thing
in the big picture. With that in mind we might begin searching for
ways to bring instrumental music into our worship. Therefore, it
is important to ask, “Many others have found instrumental
worship and decided it is ok, where can we find it?” Discussion: I.
Many find instrumental worship in the Old Testament. A.
Perhaps the first place people go to find instrumental
worship is the Old Testament. The first line of defense is often,
“David worshiped with instrumental music. So can we.” There is
no doubt instrumental worship was authorized under the Old
Covenant. Read Psalm
150:3-5 for just one example. Some have suggested the use
of instruments under the Old Law was a concession that God never
really wanted. However, II
Chronicles 29:25 says the use of instrumental music in Old
Testament worship was a command “from the Lord through His
prophets.” B.
However, we are not under the Old Law. Hebrews
7:12 explained when the priesthood changed from Aaron to
Jesus, the law changed. Galatians
3:24-25 explained clearly we are not under the Old Law,
the tutor to bring us to Jesus Christ. The very frightening thing
about turning to the Old Law as our authority for how to serve
Christ is demonstrated in Galatians
3:10-14. If we want to submit to the Old Law, we are
submitting to a curse. Further, in Galatians
5:2-4, Paul, speaking of circumcision, pointed out if we
go back to the Law to govern us, Christ becomes of no effect to
us. We will be severed from Christ and fall from grace. C.
The long and short of it is this, we can certainly find
instrumental worship in the Old Law, but do we really want the
consequences of using that as our authority to justify the way we
worship? II.
Many find instrumental worship in symbolic pictures of
Heaven. A.
The second place to which people turn to find instrumental
worship is Heaven in Revelation
5:8; 14:2; 15:2. The thought from many is this: If God
allowed worship through instruments of music under the Old Law and
then is going to allow it in Heaven, why would we claim it is not
allowed in the church today? B.
The question is whether or not these images in the book of Revelation actually provide equipping for instrumental worship for
us living under the New Covenant. The first problem is taking
these pictures of worship in Heaven at face value. Consider Revelation
5:8. The elders who held the harps are the ones mentioned
in Revelation
4:4, 10. These elders are dressed in white and wearing
golden crowns. They bow before the throne of God, casting away
their golden crowns. Further, they have the golden bowls of
incense. Does this literally describe the worship we participate
in today? Are we supposed to wear white garments and crowns that
we throw down? Certainly not. Those pictures are symbolic of
purity and humility before God. And what about that burning
incense? The text explains that the bowls of incense are not
literal but represent the prayers of the saints. Can we, in this
book so full of symbolism, take the symbols as authority for what
we do today? Certainly not. Rather we must consider what these
symbols represent. The bowls of incense represent prayer. We must
pray, not burn incense. C.
Additionally, when we consider the context of Revelation
15:1-5, we find these symbols are borrowed from Old
Testament worship, not because this was how New Testament
Christians worshipped, but because the readers were familiar with
Old Testament scriptures. If we use these pictures as authority
for our worship, we are actually bringing the instruments into our
worship from the Old Covenant, not from Heaven. We have already
demonstrated the dangers of that. III.
Many find instrumental worship in New Testament silence. A.
Many, banking on the use of instruments in the Old
Testament, ask this question, “When did God take away the use of
instruments in worship?” Others will simply ask, “When did God
condemn the use of instrumental music in worship?” Because they
cannot find any specific condemnation, they believe instruments
must be allowed. This is arguing from biblical silence. B.
Do you remember what we read in Hebrews
7:12? We are under a new law. We are not waiting for God
to take away instruments under the New Law, we have to look for
where God brought them into it. Additionally, we need to remember
what God said in II
Timothy 3:16-17. God points out that scripture will teach
us, reprove us, correct us and train us in righteousness. Then it
says the scripture will equip us for every good work. It does not
say scripture will condemn every bad work. The New Testament is
silent about instrumental worship. Does that provide permission?
On the contrary, it does not. We have to look for equipping to use
instruments under this new law and we cannot find it. If we are
going to bring it in from silence, we have to realize we are
bringing it in to our worship and God’s New Covenant law is not. C.
Consider this illustration: if you were walking through a
friend’s house and in one room you found all kinds of musical
instruments, piano, harp, guitar, trumpet, saxophone, flute,
drums, etc., and then you walked into another a room that had
absolutely no instruments, would you think that accidental? Of
course not, you would think the owner of the house had done so on
purpose. We come into the Bible and we walk through the Old
Testament, finding instrumental worship all over the place. Then
we move into the New Testament and find it completely devoid of
it. Is that accidental? Of course not. We have to think God did
that on purpose. We cannot bring instrumental worship in on the
basis of silence, but respect the fact that God never provided
permission for it under His New Covenant law. IV.
Many find instrumental worship in post-biblical ancient
Christians. A.
There are some interesting quotes from ancient
post-biblical Christians that, on the surface, seem to suggest
instrumental music was an integral part of their worship. One
example comes from Clement of Alexandria who lived from 153-217
AD: “For
the apostle adds again, ‘Teaching and admonishing one another in
all wisdom, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your heart to God.’ … And even if you wish to
sing and play to the harp or lyre, there is no blame. Thou shalt
imitate the righteous Hebrew king in his thanksgiving to God.
‘Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; praise is comely to the
upright,’ says the prophecy. ‘Confess to the Lord on the harp;
play to Him on the psaltery of ten strings. Sing to Him a new
song.’ And does not the ten-stringed psaltery indicate the Word
Jesus, who is manifested by the element of the decad?”[1] B.
Surely those who lived so close to the actual time of the
apostles would know the practice of the apostles’ worship
habits, even if they were not specifically recorded in scripture.
Certainly, on the surface, a quote like this suggests
post-biblical Christians used instruments to worship God. However,
digging below the surface we actually find an opposite picture.
Consider another quote from the same ancient Christian: “And
He who is of David, and yet before him, the Word of God, despising
the lyre and harp, which are but lifeless instruments, and having
tuned by the Holy Spirit the universe, and especially man,—who,
composed of body and soul, is a universe in miniature, makes
melody to God on this instrument of many tones; and to this
instrument—I mean man—he sings accordant…”[2] C.
How do these two quotes correspond? Clement did not use
instruments of music in worship. He believed the great instrument
of music was the individual Christian singing unaided by
mechanical musical instruments. In other passages, Clement
actually records that he believes the reference to mechanical
instruments of music in the psalms were symbolic of the different
parts of God’s great instrument—man. D.
However, that is really beside the point. We can argue all
day long about what those early post-biblical Christians did and
we will not be any closer to doing what we ought to do. Do you
remember what we read just earlier in II
Timothy 3:16-17? God gave us scriptures to equip us for
every good work. He did not give us scripture plus the testimony
of Christians from a later time to equip us for good work.
Further, we can look in passages such as I
Corinthians 11:17-34 and find that even Christians living
in the time of the apostles strayed from God’s approved practice
and had to be corrected by the apostles. How much more might the
Christians and churches stray from God’s pattern after the
apostles died? We cannot use the example of any Christians as our
guide unless the scriptures demonstrate God’s approval. V.
Many find instruments in their personal logic. A.
A lot of people dispense with trying to find specifically
scriptural reasons and bring in the instruments from personal
logic. The thought is generally, “I simply cannot see why God
wouldn’t accept instruments of music in worship.” Or “I
don’t see any harm in it.” Or “I think God wants us all to
use our talents in worship.” There are numerous ways in which
people justify the use of instrumental music in worship from their
opinion. B.
Frankly, if we were to follow my “druthers,” we would
use them. I love instrumental music. I took piano lessons as a kid
(though I can hardly play it now). I was in my junior high and
high school band. I enjoy playing the guitar and the drums even
now. I would love to be able to worship God in a jam session with
you. C.
However, there are a few Bible verses that draw me up short
on taking this approach. As much as I would like to, I know we
cannot simply follow our personal reasoning. According to Jeremiah
10:23, it is not in man to direct his own steps. According
to Proverbs
14:12; 16:25, when we follow our own path it leads to
death. We are walking on dangerous ground any time our
justification for an action is, “I just can’t see anything
wrong with it.” The question is not whether we like it or we can
see anything wrong with it. The question is can I find where the
scripture shows us what is right with it. VI.
No one finds instrumental worship in the worship of New
Testament churches or Christians. A.
I appreciate the work of so many who have shown us all the
places in which we can find instruments of music and bring them
into our worship. They have shown us that we can get it from the
Old Testament, from symbolic images of Heaven, from New Testament
silence, possibly from ancient post-biblical Christians, from our
personal reasoning. However, as these stack argument on top of
argument to allow us to use instruments of music to worship God,
they bring out one amazing point in stark relief. We can go to all
kinds of places to bring instruments into our worship; we just
cannot go to the teaching of the New Testament writers or the
example of the New Testament Christians. For all of the teaching
about worshipping God in the New Testament and for all the
examples of it, we never once find instruments of music taught
either by explicit statement, practical example or necessary
implication. B.
What do we find in the New Testament? We find singing
taught and exemplified. Consider Acts
16:25; I Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James
5:13. We even find in one of these passages a reference to
the instrument that we should use to make the melody for our
singing. Ephesians
5:19 claims the instrument with which we should make the
melody for our singing is the heart. C.
When we remember II
Timothy 3:16-17 we are forced to draw one conclusion. The
New Testament law equips us to sing. Singing is a good work.
However, for all the places we may go to try to find equipping for
worshipping God with instruments of music as a congregation or as
individual Christians, we cannot find one single verse in the New
Testament that equips us to do so. The only conclusion is
instrumental worship is not a good work. We must not use it. D.
While we cannot go to the Old Testament to authorize and
govern how we worship God. These stories are written for our
learning (Romans
15:4) and as examples of how God expects His covenant
people to respect His covenant and law (I
Corinthians 10:11). In other words, Leviticus
10:1-3 does not provide example for how we are to worship
God under the New Covenant. However, the example of how God dealt
with those who disregarded the laws of His Old Covenant shows how
God will deal with those who disregard the laws of His New
Covenant. Leviticus
10:1-3 demonstrates that we are only worshiping God and
treating Him as holy when we are worshiping Him the way He has
authorized. As much as we may like pianos, guitars and drums, when
we use them to worship God, we are like Nadab and Abihu who
offered strange fire which He had not commanded them. Their sin
was not that they did something God commanded against. Their sin
was doing something God had not commanded them to do. We must not
be guilty of the same transgression in following God’s New
Covenant pattern for worship. God will not strike us down
immediately as He did with Nadab and Abihu. He will give us time
to repent. But in the end, we will come into God’s presence to
be judged. It will not be enough for us to be sincerely religious.
The question will be did we follow the will of God that He
revealed for us in the New Testament (Matthew
7:21-23). Conclusion: The conclusion of the matter is this: there is only one place that God equips the New Testament Christians and churches regarding how to worship Him. That is the New Testament. For all the places we can go to equip ourselves to worship God with instruments of music, the New Testament is the one place where we cannot find any equipping. Therefore, we must refrain or suffer the wrath of God. [1]
Clement of Alexandria; Ante-Nicene Fathers, Hendrickson Pub., 1995, Vol II, p.
249. [2] Ibid. p. 172.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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