Instrumental Music in Worship is Wrong
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon Outlines Tags: Sermons on WorshipWHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST #9
INTRODUCTION:
A. As has been pointed out in previous lessons, I am a member of the church of Christ because:
1. It was founded by the scriptural builder – Christ
2. It was founded on THE scriptural foundation
3. It was founded at the scriptural place – Jerusalem
4. Christ is the founder of only one church – His church
5. It is scriptural in name.
6. It is scriptural in organization.
7. It has no creed but the Bible
8. It gives the scriptural answer to the question: “What must I do to be saved?”
9. It teaches that man is saved by faith but not by faith only.
10.It has scriptural music in worship
B. Matthew 15:8-9
1. Here we notice that there are two kinds of worship:
a. True worship … acceptable and pleasing to God
b. False worship … that which is vain and worthless
2. True worship can be is found when we abide by the principles taught in John 4:24
a. According to truth
b. With the proper attitude
3. I recently heard a denominational preacher on the radio say that we may worship God according to the dictates of our own heart.
a. How foreign from John 4:24 can a person get?
b. Colossians 3:17 says…
C. The question, Why do churches of Christ not use instrumental music in worship, is a very important one for one very important reason:
1. We must only do in worship what God has authorized, to do otherwise is to sin.
2. Thus, we must be able to prove to ourselves and our friends and neighbors that instrumental music in worship is not authorized.
3. We must be able to fulfill the requirements of 1 Peter 3:15
DISCUSSION:
A. From Matthew 1 to Revelation 22 there is not one mention of instrumental music in Christian worship.
1. Music in worship is mentioned 10 times in the New Testament and in each instance only singing is discussed.
2. This being the case, we need to seriously consider
a. Deuteronomy 4:2
b. Proverbs 30:6
c. Revelation 22:18-19
d. One can not use instrumental music in worship without adding to God’s word.
3. God looks very severely on those who would substitute for His way
a. Uzzah … 2 Samuel 6:6-7
b. Nadab and Abihu … Leviticus 10:1-2
B. The Law of Exclusion proves instrumental music in worship is unauthorized, and thus sinful.
1. One of the major arguments that is used in favor of instrumental music is, “The Bible does not say not to …”
a. The Bible doesn’t specifically say that it is wrong to use cocaine, does that make it all right?
b. The didn’t specifically say that it was wrong to beat our wives, does that make it all right?
2. The law of exclusion is a law that we use in every facet of our lives and is something that we understand
a. Woman’s rest room … didn’t say not men’s
b. Ordering at a restaurant … didn’t say not to
c. Sending the kids to the store … didn’t say not to
3. Biblical examples of the Law of Exclusion:
a. The building of the Ark (Gen. 6) … why not use oak – didn’t say not to…, etc.
b. The Lord’s Supper (Mt. 26:26-29) … why not coffee and pecan pie – didn’t say not to…, etc.
4. Thus, when God said sing that automatically eliminated:
a. Mechanical instruments
b. Humming
c. Making instrumental sounds with our mouth
C. If instrumental music in worship is scriptural why wasn’t in used in the first century?
1. Instrumental music in worship was first introduced by Pope Vitalian in 670 A.D. but was rejected.
a. In 757 A.D. an organ was finally brought in to stay by Constantine Copronymus
b. Thus instrumental music in worship was not even used until over 700 years after the establishing of the church
2. Notice what some of the various religious leaders of the past say about instrumental music:
a. John Calvin, one of the founder of the Presbyterian Church says, “Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, the restoration of the other shadows of the law. The Papists, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from Jews.”
b. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, said, “I have no objection to instruments of music, in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.”
c. Martin Luther, of the Lutheran Church, “called the organ an ensign of Baal.”
d. Adam Clark, a famous Methodist commentator, says, “Music as a science, I esteem and admire: but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor.”
3. Instrumental music in worship was not authorized in the first century and neither is it today.
D. When many are asked why they use instrumental music in worship, they say, “I just like it better that way.”
1. Since when are our likes and dislikes to be our authority in religion?
a. I like coffee and shrimp better than unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, but that doesn’t give me the authority to change the Lord’s Supper!
b. What I like has no weight of authority in religion!
2. Isaiah 55:8-9
a. God’s ways are higher than our ways, thus whose way should we abide by?
b. The way of the creator or the way of the created?
3. Jeremiah 10:23
a. We can not direct our own steps
b. We have no right to direct our own steps
4. Proverbs 14:12
5. We must do as God likes and not as we like.
E. Some might say, “David used instrumental music in worship under the old law, then why can’t we?”
1. David offered burnt sacrifice unto the Lord in worship, does that mean we are authorized to offer burnt sacrifice today?
a. What the burning of incense?
b. What about worshipping on Saturday instead of Sunday, David did.
2. What David did and did not do is not the point.
a. Today we are under the new law, the New Testament, and we must find our authority in the New Testament.
b. The old law had been taken out of the way (Col. 2:14)
CONCLUSION:
A. Instrumental music in worship is not authorized and thus sinful if practiced.
B. Thus the words of Jeremiah come to mind …
1. Jeremiah 6:16
2. Remember … Colossians 3:17