MUSIC IS INSTRUMENTAL IN OUR WORSHIP
Ephesians 5:18-21

18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 9. speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making Melody with your heart to the Lord; 20. always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21. and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. [NAS].

INTRO: A little girl said to her mother one day, “When I grow up, I want a boyfriend who is handsome,” Her mom jokingly said, “You don’t want one who is too handsome or the other girls may steal him from you.” The little girl was quiet for a few moments, and then she looked at her father and asked her mother, “Is that why you chose daddy?”

That is the way many of us go through life, and even when it comes to worshipping our God, many people choose their worship practices based upon something that sounds or looks good, rather than something that teaches the truth. I remember the old story of a visitor shaking hands with the preacher after the sermon and saying, “Good sermon, keep that up and you will soon collect enough to buy a piano.”

We are conscious of the way people make choices and their reactions to their experiences and sometimes we permit that to influence our decisions. What I want to talk about today is really a continuation of the lesson last week on our making absolutely certain that the church today, is the same as the church of the first century. I know that there is much said on this topic and that we have had lessons on it before but I feel it is important to cover it from time to time. I want to speak about the type of music God wants in our assemblies today so I’m going to call this lesson “Music is instrumental in our worship”.

I. What worship is. Worship isn’t about making us feel good or for our benefit but our worship is supposed to bring glory to God.

a. The first time the word worship is mentioned in the Old Testament is in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham was about to offer his son Isaac as sacrifice to God. And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you."
b. The first time the word worship is used in the New Testament is in Matthew 2:2 when the wise men came from the east to Jerusalem to worship the baby Jesus. "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him."
c. Thinking about these Old and the New Testament examples of worship we see that worship is about giving God the very best we have to offer.

II. Singing - Did you know that singing is mentioned 9 times in the New Testament?

a. We have examples of singing individually. After Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper, Matthew records us in Matthew 26:30 - “And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”[NAS] And remember that the word hymn indicates a song of praise. The verb in old English is the word hymning. Historians would tell us that this came from singing the Psalms and in particular Psalms 115-118.
b. We also have examples of singing as a congregation. Romans 15:8-9 - “For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, "THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME." [NAS] There a few more examples we could read but we’re going to look at those later.

III. Instruments – Now let’s look at the first mention of any musical instrument I could find in the Bible.

a. It is found in Genesis 4:21 - “And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.”
b. The first mention of singing with a musical instrumental is found in Genesis 31:26+27 - “26. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27. "Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre;”
c. Some may say, wasn’t Moses commanded to make musical instruments? Let’s look at that in Numbers 10:2 – here it says that God told him to “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for having the camps set out.”.[KJ] Yes, Moses was commanded to make silver trumpets but look at the purpose of these instruments. The scriptures tell us they were not for the purpose of music or worship.
d. Now let’s look at David because this is the place most folks point in the Old Testament as an argument for using instruments in worship.

i. David says in 1 Chronicles 23:5 - “Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.” [KJ]
ii. And didn’t God command the use of instrumental music in Old Testament worship? 2 Chronicles 29:25 - “And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.”[KJ]

e. Before we jump in and say that the text clearly tells us that the Lord commanded these instruments to be used in worship, we need to understand what is being said.

i. Look at scripture and Moses no-where appointed any musical instruments to be used in worship, there was nothing of the kind under the first covenant. That’s because God didn’t ask for them.
ii. So what then is Chronicles telling us? In second Chronicles 29 we find Hezekiah restoring the temple. Scripture is telling us that Hezekiah appointed the Levites in the house of the Lord, and that David commanded the use of the instruments mentioned. So what did God command? He commanded through His prophets that the Levites should praise the Lord. It doesn’t mean that the Lord commanded the use of the instruments. It was by the order of David that instruments of music should be introduced into the divine service.
iii. 1 Chronicles 23:3-5 – says, talking about the offices of the Levites that “3 The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and their number by census of men was 38,000. 4 Of these, 24,000 were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and 6,000 were officers and judges, 5 and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 were praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise.”
iv. Though I don’t prefer to quote outside of scripture here is what Adam Clarke, a renowned denominational scholar, wrote about this text. “I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the Divine worship of which we read; and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly reprehended by this prophet; and I farther believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; and that they are “sinful”.

f. David introduced musical instruments into temple worship but God didn’t ask for them. David also introduced the idea of building a temple for God, but God didn’t ask for one to be built in the first place did He? Turn to: 1 Chronicles 17:1-6 - “And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.” 2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.” 3 It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; Why? 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. 6 In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’’’ God did not request a temple.
g. Musical instruments in worship was David’s idea, not God’s, building a temple for God to dwell in was David’s idea, not God’s.

i. We know that musical instruments were used in Old Testament worship, but why did God allow instruments in worship?
ii. Well one possible answer to that question is that God permitted it, just like He permitted divorce because of the hardness of their hearts, their spiritual immaturity.

h. Another point to consider is the danger of using the Old Testament to justify the use of instrumental music. If we do so will we not also need to keep all the other duties which were done during Old Testament worship like animal sacrifices, etc? Duties clearly established by instruction under the Old Covenant yet absent from the new?

i. Paul instructs us in Galatians 3:23-25 “23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” [NAS].
ii. We know that the Jews sacrificed animals in their worship and the early Christians knew that instruments were employed under the Mosaic system but my question is, why did they not embrace the use of musical instruments in New Testament worship?

i. Let’s look at something else that is used as an argument. Now we could go to Revelation 5:8 which reads, “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

i. So let me ask, are there harps in heaven?
ii. Perhaps there are and apart from Revelation being a highly figurative book, we need to remember that were dealing with the here and now, not the future.

IV. What about the New Testament then? There are no examples or commands to use instrumental music in the New Testament but the New Testament expressively commands us to sing. Now we could say, the New Testament doesn’t explicitly condemn the use of musical instruments. Folks the New Testament doesn’t explicitly condemn praying to Mary, or baptizing infants, does it?

a. As we saw last week folks, folks, there is a prescribed manner in worship, and the moment we step outside of the pattern, and offer to God something He hasn’t asked for, then we’re in the world of disobedience.
b. Some people come along and say, ‘well there’s nothing in the Scriptures to say we shouldn’t use an instrument’. Well, you don’t go by the things that are not there, you go by the things that are there.
c. Let me give you a short illustration. When I go to the grocery store I have a list prepared. It is just one list not two. It is not a list telling me to get to get milk, bread and eggs and another list that says, don’t get bacon, chicken or cheese. I have in fact done with my trip to the store what many people do in the religious community. I have got something not on the list and assumed that when I get home with it Nina will be pleased. Let me tell you here and now that is not the case and so often is it not the case I am very careful about list deviation.
d. We all know that a list is both inclusive and exclusive; it excludes everything that’s not included. When God tells us what He wants, that automatically excludes all the other things. God doesn’t have to say, ‘I want you to sing and make music in your heart but I don’t want you to play the cymbal, harps or lyres’.
e. Just as certainly as the use of donuts and diet coke for the elements of the Lord’s supper would be a departure from the pattern given us by God, so is the use of instrumental music. I don’t know anyone that would suggest that departure from unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine, those things specified, to donuts and diet coke neither of which is PROHIBITED in scripture! See how silly such a departure from the pattern sounds? I’m not suggesting these things in an unkind or unloving way, I’m just trying to make the point that a departure is a departure is a departure!

V. It is true that the matter of instrumental music is not part of how sins are remitted or how we are added to the body, but it is true that the matter of the music we offer to God is very much a part of faithful observance of God’s plan, pattern. Is it possible that we really believe that the only thing essential to our salvation is baptism and everything else is a matter of indifference? If that is what we believe we need to go back to the word of God and study.

a. If people want to argue for the use of instruments today then everyone needs to be playing one, not just individuals or groups.

VI. Singing was the practice of the early church and instrumental music in worship was not mentioned. Now that’s not to say that there were no musical instruments available, of course there were but Christians were directed by the Holy Spirit to use only their voices. They were commanded to pluck their heartstrings rather than plucking the strings of a musical instrument.

a. Around 600 years after the apostles were gone, Pope Vitalian introduced an organ in the Latin Church around 670 A.D. Opposition was so great it was removed to preserve unity and it would be another 200 years before it would be adopted into the Latin Mass. In 1054 A.D. a great division took place between the eastern and the western churches of Europe. While the western churches (Catholic) adopted the use of images, a universal head (Pope), instrumental music, and sprinkling for baptism, the eastern churches (Orthodox) rejected these things.
b. To this very day Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian and Eastern) use only vocal music. Secular history is very clear that the use of instrumental music in public worship did not take place until about the 10th century, which was one of the innovations of the Catholic Church. It was never a practice in the early centuries of the church, in fact, the renowned musicologist Curt Sachs of Columbia University said, “All ancient Christian music was vocal.”
c. When the Protestant Reformation began in the early 1500s many left the Catholic Church and established other churches. Many of the leaders of these denominations were opposed to the use of instrumental music in worship. During the Reformation period only the Church of England and the Lutherans carried over the use of instrumental music from their Roman Catholic past.

VII. Today - In modern day worship not only is it common to hear organs and pianos but full orchestras. Professional musicians are even employed but again we need to remind ourselves that this may well be pleasing to the ears of men but Paul said to “make melody in your heart to the Lord”.

a. The problem seems to be that people are looking for life through the physical. In other words since God’s will doesn’t make sense to some people, other religions will offer people, whatever does make sense to them and feels right. Even if that means compromising the will of God. Even if that means using all sorts of ideas to attract people into their assemblies. Even if that means using guitars and drums, religious raves and the exploiting of people’s emotions.
b. Colossians 3:16 - “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
c. Ephesians 5:19 - “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
d. In both Ephesians and Colossians notice the phrase ‘one another’ is used, Paul is reminding us what type of music is to be used, and that type of music is congregational singing. Paul mentions three categories of singing, ‘Psalms’ which are songs from the Old Testament book of Psalms. ‘Hymns’ are song of praise and ‘Spiritual songs’ are basically poetry songs. All of which are to sung with the purpose of “teaching” and “admonishing” one another with spiritual truths.
e. The Ephesians passage also tells us that we are to ‘make music in our hearts’. You see, when we sing, we are teaching and admonishing each other and so filling each other with the words of Christ. This is not an outward attitude, expressed with instruments, or by clapping our hands in time with the song, but like we said the last time, it is very much an inner attitude.

VIII. Let me go ahead and try and break this down a little bit and see if we can understand what Paul is trying to say to us. God says listen, “apart from glorifying Him, singing is also a way of getting fed spiritually”.

a. You see, when we are singing the words to a song, we are feeding each other on the word of God at the same time. And because we are feeding on those words, we are also promoting purity of the heart within ourselves.
b. God tells us that we’ve got 4 things to think about when we are praising Him in song. 1. We can sing Psalms, spiritual songs and hymns. 2. Our singing needs to be aimed at Him. 3. We need to sing with gratitude. 4. We need to sing from the heart.
c. You see, it’s not a matter of feelings, folks, it’s a matter of gratitude. Like we noted before, music from the human heart is the only style of music God has authorized and wants. That’s why we sing together as a body of believers and that’s why we have to sing together at the same time. Because when we sing together, we are praising God together, and that’s part of our worship to Him. Part of the pattern.

IX. Now have you ever noticed what comes before Ephesians 5:19? Yes it’s Ephesians 5:18, but what does Ephesians 5:17-18 say? “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Now is Paul jumping on to a different subject in verse 19? No, he’s still speaking about our attitude towards other people and the will of God.

a. You see, being filled with the Spirit means filling our minds with the word of God and what that does, is creates gratitude in our hearts, which is expressed in our singing to God.
b. That’s why Paul says, “Don’t get drunk on wine”, he is saying the Lord’s will for us is joy, not alcohol.
c. He goes on to say in Ephesians 5:20-21 - “20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” In other words everything we do in our worship assemblies is done out of gratitude. Paul says it should always be like this, he says we should be thankful for all things, we should be thankful for everything in Jesus name, and our thankfulness should be aimed at God.

X. 1 Corinthians 14:15 - “What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.” Paul doesn’t say that he ‘will sing with my instrument’, he says ‘I will sing with my spirit and my mind’.

a. Folks singing praises to God is a privilege, it’s a joy and God has given each of us a voice with which to praise Him. Think about it, if our singing comes from our hearts, it goes straight to the heart of God, and that’s a wonderful experience.
b. In Ephesians 5:19, the passage says to “Sing [ado] and make melody [psallo] in your heart to the Lord.” The word “melody” in our English translations is from the Greek word ‘psallo’, which means to pluck, “Plucking the heart strings.”
c. When we use our voices to praise God, we are plucking our heart strings and so not only is God pleased but it also brings us great joy.
d. That’s why James says in James 5:13 - says, “Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” Do you see how when we sing it has nothing to do with the external things we do with our bodies? It all has to do with our hearts, it’s not a matter of opinion. Folks it’s a matter of submission. That’s what it always comes back to, God’s will or our own. The main character of music in the worship of God should be vocal.

XI. Others thoughts –

a. John Wesley the founder of the Methodist church, said one time, “I have no objection to instruments in our chapels provided they are neither heard nor seen.”
b. John Calvin the forerunner of the Presbyterian Church wrote, “Musical instruments in celebrating the praise of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law. The Papist, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from the Jews.”
c. Charles Spurgeon the famous preacher of the Baptist church in London said, “Musical instruments would hinder rather than help our praise. Sing unto Him. This is the sweetest and best music. We might as well pray by machinery as praise by it.”

XII. They all understood that the whole object of Christian worship is to bring glory to God and worship is not intended to please men, but to please God.

a. Now please don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not saying that singing doesn’t have a pleasing and uplifting element in it because it is enjoyable, especially when a congregation sings in four part harmony. Outside of a worship setting Christians often gather to sing hymns for the pure joy and pleasure they get out of singing, others may listen and enjoy it, even be edified by it.
b. After all, the Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 13:15 that our singing in worship is to bring “praise to God continually.” Singing in worship is for the purpose of glorifying God not for the purpose of entertaining those in the pews. And like we looked at a moment ago, our singing has to serve the purpose of “teaching and admonishing one another”.

XIII. I find it interesting that there is nothing in the New Testament which indicates that God is impressed with the beauty or quality of our voices. The average voice does not have to be professional in quality to please God. And let me just say this, for those of us who aren’t blessed with good singing voices, God hears the crows singing as well as the nightingales.

a. It is our hearts that God listens to even though our voices may not produce the most beautiful sound. The quality of our voices may be good for entertaining but not essential to praising God.
b. Richard Wagner, a great musician and composer, once expressed his opinion about vocal music in these words. “There is no doubt but that those qualities absolutely necessary to church music, namely, modesty, dignity and soulfulness are more inherent in the vocal style than in any other. That vocal music is in general more expressive than the mechanically produced tones of instruments is undeniable. Religious feeling finds its most natural expression in vocal utterance, for the human heart is the source of both devotion... and song...”
c. Do you know what Wagner is saying? He is saying what God has commanded the Christian to do in Ephesians 5:19, “Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”.

CLOSE: Now just before we finish I believe there is an important question we need to ask ourselves. In Matthew 15:8 Jesus says to the religious leaders of His day “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Folks, we can debate until we’re blue in the face about instrumental music but Jesus warns us that it is possible for people just to pay lip service to God, and that includes in our singing. Are we singing and making melody in our hearts or just miming the words? Do the words of the songs, move us and put our minds on heavenly things?
I wonder because sometimes I’ve heard songs sung as if we were at a funeral service. We sometimes sing slow songs fast and fast songs slow. Songs like ‘Oh happy day’ where one line says, ‘Oh Happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!” In some congregations you were a visitor by the time the song is finished, you might be questioning just how happy the members were, when they had their sins forgiven!

Another song is ‘Marching to Zion’, which is a marching song, and sometimes we sing this song as if we we’re on a beautiful stroll along the beach. What about the song, ‘I surrender all’? Do Christians really mean it when they sing, ‘All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give’? Or ‘Count your blessings’, one line from the last stanza says, ‘Count your many blessings, angels will attend.’ Do we really believe that angels will help us in our time of need? Do we even believe angels exist these days?

The list could go on but the point is, if we really believed what we we’re singing, we would be more convicted about what we believe. And unless we truly put our hearts into the song and really mean what we’re singing, then we’re just paying lip service to the Lord.
Folks, music is instrumental in our worship, not with mechanical instruments but with the
use of our hearts and minds. Hebrews 13:15 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

The grace of God having brought salvation in the form of Jesus Christ and His atoning death instructs us in the way in which we gain the benefits of salvation. It instructs us through the written word that we must believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, repent of our sins, that we must confess our faith in Jesus Christ and then be buried with Christ in baptism. If we do this then we are restored to life in God’s view.

Friends if you are here this morning and subject to the gospel invitation we invite you to come and let us know your need. If you need to be baptized into Christ we would like to assist you in that need. If you need the prayers of your brothers and sisters we would like to assist you. However we can help you, we encourage you to come while we stand and sing.