In John 4:24 we read: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” From this passage, we learn three things.
Our worship must be directed to the right object . . . God.
It must be prompted by the right spirit.
It must be according to the truth.
- To worship God according to truth is to worship Him according to His word. John 17:17 – “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
- This means we must not exclude any item not found in His Word.
- It also means we must not include any item not found in His Word.
We walk by faith in matters of religion. 2 Corinthians 5:7 – “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Faith comes by hearing God’s Word. Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Thus, anything not authorized by the Bible cannot be done by faith. Romans 14:23 -“ . . . For whatever is not from faith is sin.”
We believe the Bible gives us instructions regarding five items of worship, and these we attempt to follow:
- Teaching or preaching God’s Word. Acts 2:42; 20:7
- Praying. Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 14:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:17
- Giving of our means.
We do not teach the law of tithing, as we believe that law was included with the rest of the Old Testament when it was nailed to the cross. Colossians 2:14 – “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
We do, however, believe that it is unthinkable that we who live under a better law with better promises would, with our great prosperity, consider giving less than 10 percent of our income to the Lord.
We teach that members of the church are to give liberally and cheerfully.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15 We do teach that every man is to give according to the way he has prospered.
2 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”
Singing
One of the things which people most frequently notice about the church of Christ is that we sing without the use of mechanical instruments of music.
Simply states, here is the reason for this: We feel we are to worship according to God’s instruction in the New Testament, and the New Testament leaves instrumental music out. If we use the mechanical instrument, we would have to do so without God’s authority.
We can read every verse in the New Testament on the subject of music in worship in a minute’s time:
- Matthew 26:30 – “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
- Acts 16:25 – “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
- Romans 15:9 – “. . . I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.”
- 1 Corinthians 14:15 – “. . . I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”
- Ephesians 5:19 – “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
- 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.”
- Hebrews 2:12 – “. . . In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to You.”
- James 5:13 – “. . . Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”
The mechanical instrument of music is conspicuously absent in these passages.
There are two kinds of commands given in the Bible: Generic and Specific. Note some examples:
Build an ark — Generic command: didn’t specify the tools to be used. Use Gopher wood — Specific command: eliminated all other wood.
Naaman was told, Go dip in the Jordan River 7 times — Go is generic: didn’t specify how to go. Dip in Jordan 7 times — Specific: Had to be the Jordan River, and it had to be 7 times.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel — Generic: didn’t specify the means of transportation. Preach the gospel — Generic: didn’t specify how to preach (radio, TV, pulpit, visuals, etc.) The gospel — Specific: Eliminates preaching anything other than the gospel.
Music is a Generic term, because there is more than one kind.
- If the Lord had commanded “Make Music,” we could comply with the command by vocal, instrumental, or both.
- But singing is a specific term. Inasmuch as the Scriptures all point to singing, this restricts the music to vocal.
The first appearance of instrumental music in church worship was not until the 6th century A.D. There was no general practice of it until the 8th century A.D.
It has long been opposed by leading religionists.
John Calvin, a great protestant reformer and one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church, said, “Musical instruments in celebrating the praises 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.”
John Wesley, a great man, a protestant reformer, and the founder of the Methodist Church, when asked about the use of mechanical instruments of music in worship, replied: “I have no opposition to the organ in our chapel provided it is neither seen nor heard.” (Clark’s Commentary, Vol. 4. p. 686)
Another great religious leader, Charles Spurgeon, who preached for 20 years in the Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle in London, to ten thousand people every Sunday, never allowed mechanical instruments in his services. When asked why he did not use them he replied by quoting 1 Corinthians 14:15 – “. . . I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” Then he declared. “I would as soon to pray to God with machinery as to sing to God with machinery.
Consider the foregoing conclusions in view of 2 John 9 – “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
The Lord’s Supper: This is a memorial inaugurated by Jesus Christ on the night of His betrayal.
Matthew 26:26-28 – “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
It is observed by Christians in memory of the Lord’s death. 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 – “And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
It is communion of His blood and body. 1 Corinthians 10:16 – “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
Members of the church of Christ observe the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week.
Such a pattern is set by this New Testament example. “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them…” Acts 20:7
Notice, they met on the first day of the week to observe the Lord’s Supper.1
It is quite true that it doesn’t say “the first day of every week.”
In the Old Testament passage of Exodus 20:8, when God said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” the Jews understood “the Sabbath day” to mean every Sabbath day.
By the same token, we take “the first day of the week” to mean every first day of the week.”
Historians testify that the Lord’s Supper was observed every Lord’s Day.
In his History of the Christian Religion and the Church, Neander wrote: “As we have already remarked, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper was still held to constitute an essential part of divine worship on every Sunday . . . and the whole church partook of the communion.” (Vol. 1, p. 332)
Eusebius, who has been called the father of ecclesiastical history, said: “From the beginning the Christians assembled on the first day of the week, called by them the Lord’s Day, to read the Scriptures, to preach, and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.