Biblical Basis for Instrumental Accompaniment

Introduction to the Open Forum and the Specific Question

0:01 The following message was delivered in the adult Sunday school class of the Trinity Baptist Church on August 9, 1992. Do we have any visitors among us this morning? We're not going to embarrass you by asking you a question, but do we have visitors? Just raise your hand.

0:22 All right, old-timers, but not new, new visitors. All right, then it will not be necessary to say much about the nature and format of this class. Occasionally, when it seems wise in the judgment of the elders to designate this adult instruction hour as an open forum, one of the elders is then given directions to either take up a subject that has come up in one way or another within the eldership or within pastor-flock interaction and address it by way of a lecture or guided discussion. And several weeks ago, under Pastor Nichols, leadership, you had an open forum, and the question of the regulative principle in worship was addressed, and then there were several other questions raised that there was no time to address them, and the information concerning those questions was passed on to me, and since I was asked to take the open forum this morning, I plan to address one of those remaining questions. And as we do, we would, I would request that those who are members of the congregation be given preference in interaction in any follow-up questions and any contributions when and if such time for contributions is in order.

1:47 And the question that we're going to address this morning is the question of what are the biblical grounds for the use of musical accompaniment in the worship of the church. And the question of what are the biblical grounds for the use of musical accompaniment in the worship of the church. Now, listen carefully to the precise nature of the question. The question is, what are the biblical grounds, if any, for musical accompaniment in the worship of God?

2:20 And, of course, we refer to the worship of God now under the new covenant, not the worship of God under the old covenant prior to the time of the institution of the church. And the question is, what are the biblical grounds, if any, for musical accompaniment in the worship of God? Now, the question is not, is there a place for musical entertainment in the worship of God? I.e., piano, flute, lute, recorder, guitar, kazoo, solos. That is not the question.

3:13 Is there a place in the worship of God for someone playing his kazoo to the glory of God with some wonderful hymn of the faith? Or, is there a place for some more exotic instrument playing, perhaps, some great, a great anthem written by a sanctified musician with tremendous breadth of musicianship reflected both in the composition and in the playing as an aid to the worship of God? Those are not the questions. The question is very limited.

3:50 To put it more specifically, what biblical grounds are there, if any, for using that instrument produced by a Japanese company called Yamaha, to help us in our public worship? That is the question, the only question under consideration this morning. Well, say, why do you have to be so narrow-minded? I want to address the other questions.

4:15 Well, I'm sure you do. But, there will not be time to address the other questions. Frankly, I'm not prepared fully to answer those other questions, nor am I at liberty to answer them unilaterally, because they involve the establishment of church policy, and in the establishment of church policy, there would have to be the interaction of the entire eldership, and in some cases, carrying the judgment and securing the consent of the entire congregation. So, we're not at all addressing any other question other than the biblical grounds for the use of musical accompaniment in the stated worship of God. Now, consider with me, first of all, the soil out of which such a question grows.

The Soil: The Regulative Principle of Worship

5:10 We've identified our question, if I may liken it to a tree, but that tree doesn't hang on a skyhook, or unlike Spanish moss, it doesn't drape itself over telephone wires, but is embedded in some soil. Now, would anyone like to suggest the answer to the question, what is the soil out of which, such a question grows, if indeed, the question is asked sincerely, and not sarcastically or to grind an axe, or to promote a cause? What is the soil out of which, such a question as this would grow? Anyone like to suggest and answer? Yes Eli, all right, it is the soil of the regulative principle taken seriously. It is the soil, out of which, such things are grown. sort of which such a question grows. Some people would say it grows out of the soil of a sick

6:13 nitpicking mind. That's what some people would say. If you've got a sick nitpicking mind, then you'd ask a question like this. Otherwise, you've got to have a piano, you've got to have an organ, you've got to have a guitar, you've got to have a trumpet. Get on with it. Why fiddle while Rome burns? The world's going to hell and you take a whole class period to discuss whether you ought to use your Yamaha? Come off it, man. That's the attitude of many. But as Eli has properly said, as a body of believers who say that all of our life together is to be regulated by the word of God and with respect to the worship of God in particular, our attitude is not the attitude of the Lutheran or the Anglican. That is, we are free to do anything in worship unless expressly forbidden by God. We say we can only incorporate into the worship of God that which is expressly commanded by God or on the basis of other principles is warranted by the word of God.

7:24 And this is clearly stated in our own confession of faith, paragraph 3 of chapter 22, and I simply read it in your hearing. Nature shows that there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, just, good, etc. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by God himself and so limited by his own revealed will that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the holy scriptures. That is the regulative principle. But in stating that we must worship only in those ways where scripture gives us positive direction, the framers of our confession were not so foolish as to think that we were not worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men.

8:36 It is evident that scriptures directives come only in terms of a specific precept here, a specific prohibition there, or even a specific precedent here, there, or in another place. And I quote then from the first chapter of our confession, chapter 1 and verse paragraph 6. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary. For his own glory, man's salvation, faith in life is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the holy scripture unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by a new revelation of the spirit or traditions of men. It will not do to say that 17 years ago in a prayer meeting, brother so-and-so who's long since gone to glory stood up and said, I have a prophecy from the Lord. Thou shalt use a piano to accompany thy worship at Trinity Baptist Church and the Oracle forever stands. No, we claim no new revelation from God, nor will it do for somebody to say, well, we've always used a piano.

9:53 So what's worked in the past? If it ain't busted, don't fix it. Well, you see, that's a tradition. And our forefathers wisely said neither professed new revelation.

10:06 This nor must be time worn. Traditions are to regulate the worship of God. They go on to write. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the spirit to be necessary for the saving understanding of the word.

10:23 And here's the key statement. There are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the church common to human actions and societies, which are to be. Ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, that is, sanctified, common sense, disciplined by the scripture according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed. So if we have anyone here who says, oh, here we go, the old nitpicking reformed Baptist mentality, my friend, may I plead with you don't call what is a sacred conviction in our hearts.

11:05 A nitpicking mentality, because in so doing, you call God a nitpicking God, because he showed very forcefully how he felt about people who regarded certain details of his worship as matters of nitpicking indifference. Oh, what difference does it make? Who helps the ark back into Jerusalem? Yes, God said only a certain tribe and in a certain way.

11:35 But the main thing is. Yes. The main thing is get the ark back. Let's help.

11:39 And God struck them dead on the altar is all important where it comes from. It's a matter of indifference. A high priest had a double funeral, Nadab and to buy you. My friends don't ever call it a nitpicking mentality because you are really calling God a nitpicker.

12:02 No, the soil, as Eli has rightly responded, out of which the question grows is a genuine concern for the athlete. So the application and implications of the regulative principle and hear me carefully, so long as Trinity Baptist Church is concerned about the regulative principle, every new spiritual generation is going to ask this question and God grant that they shall ask it, that they will ask it, and that they'll demand an answer that carries their conscience. That way we know they are not simply inheriting a tradition. Believing.

12:41 Somebody. Somebody who says he had a prophecy. All right. Next question.

The Sources of Answers: Scripture, Nature, and Prudence

12:47 Having looked at the soil out of which the question grows, what are the sources from which the answers may come? Well, according to our confession of faith, the sources and if I fished long enough, I'm sure we'd get them all. But in the interest of time, because I don't want to spend so much time spreading the table, we send you away with no food on your dish. The sources from which the answers may come.

13:11 According to our. Own. Confession are the express statements of Holy Scripture, the light of nature does not nature itself teach you. And why will we allow the light of nature to regulate our thought about worship?

13:29 Because the Bible shows that the light of nature is to regulate our thinking concerning the will of God. So it's not like we've imported this idea that's extracted from the Bible itself. And why aren't you men going around here with your locks down to your shoulders? Because does not nature itself teach you?

13:51 It is a shame for a man to have long hair. Why do you not engage in illicit, shameful, God dishonoring sexual practices so justified in our day? Men with men and women with women. Paul says, does not nature itself teach you?

14:12 They do that which is against nature. So when our confession says the light of nature, along with the express statement of Scripture, is to be a source of authority, that's not something imported from outside the Bible. It is a concept extracted from the Bible. You see the difference?

14:31 And furthermore, when we are to take the general principles of the word of God, it means that our answer may not come by finding one text on which we can make a statement. It means that our answer may not come by finding one text on which we can make a statement. But it means that we are to take the text and be a witness to the whole issue. It means that we are to take the text and be a witness to the whole issue.

14:46 Now if someone comes to you with a 457 page document to prove why he ought to take his neighbor's wife while already married and become a bigamist, all you need to do is take one text of Scripture and nail it to his nose. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Or the tenth commandment. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

15:14 And two texts printed out on a little piece of paper, and two words printed out on a little piece of paper. Print it out on a little 3x5 card Overturn his 400, what did I say, 57 page thesis Well some things aren't that simple Some things we must look at the general principles of the word of God Collate them, reduce them to their obvious principles And walk in the light of them You say, well, that's not the easy way No it isn't, but that's God's way So either live with it or find another way and it will be your own And we really impugn the wisdom of God And the goodness of God when we get irritated That God didn't make certain things more plain to us You see, we're doing in that area What we were reminded this past week That we're not supposed to do And this was at the conference With regard to why God chooses some and bypasses others God does not answer to you or to me With reference to why he's done what he's done He's God and we're the creatures So we keep our mouth shut And just follow the truth That God has made in scripture So the sources from which the answers may come Explicit statements of the word of God The light of nature General principles of the word of God And what our confession calls Christian prudence Good sanctified horse sense That draws its genetic lines from the scriptures Horse sense where the gene pool is the Bible

Principle 1: God is to be Praised in Song by His Covenant Community

16:40 Not the world, not the ungodly Alright? So we've looked at the soil Out of which the question grows Of jealous religious concern For the implications of the regulative principle The sources from which the answers may come What then are the principles? Well, as I've tried to put them down In their simplest categories Let me begin with this first I want to try to show you from the word of God That God is to be praised In song By his covenant community on earth God is to be praised in song By his covenant community on earth Now what do I mean by his covenant community? I mean the community of those Into whom God or with whom God has entered Into a peculiar relationship Of self-commitment in grace and mercy and love And that community Is to be praised in song by his covenant community on earth And that community is to be a community That praises its covenant God In song Pivotal text from the Old Testament Psalm 100 I direct your attention to that song Addressing himself to God's covenant people And even beyond

18:06 But through the covenant community To all the earth And I choose this because it envisions a time When the covenant community Will comprise the nations The Goyim Will go beyond the boundaries of Israel Make a joyful noise Unto the Lord all ye lands And you say well you could do that By banging on a cardboard box Well you could Serve the Lord with gladness You could do that with big smiles And other ways Granted Come before his presence with Now we've got you Singing Come before his presence Singing So we know from this text That it is the expressed Will of God That when his people come Into his special presence In the place of his own Special appointment On his specially Called seasons When his people are gathered together That singing Is to be an integral Part of their Approach to And their heart Communion With their God They are to make a joyful noise They are to serve him They are to come before his presence With singing

19:35 And it is that statement That then conditions Verse 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving Implicit thanksgiving Framed in Songs of praise Into his courts with praise Through the conduit Of singing Give thanks unto him And bless his name So the old covenant community It is clear They could not obey God In their convocations Did they not praise him In song And in this particular Psalm there is a period Envisioned when all the Earth all the lands Would obey the command So to serve him And worship him With singing Then we turn to First Corinthians chapter 14 And we find that In the Corinthian assembly There was indeed A bona fide real Expression Of what is mandated In the old covenant documents First Corinthians 14 By passing All of the questions about Praying and singing In tongues And in the spirit Etc this much is clear First Corinthians 14 15 What is it then

21:01 I will pray with the spirit I will pray With the understanding also And in the context He's talking about what people do With spiritual gifts In the public assembly The whole setting Is not what someone does in private devotions Some of our charismatic friends Notwithstanding Paul says Paul is dealing with The matter of the exercise Of individual spiritual gifts In the corporate assembly Unto corporate edification And he says I will pray with the spirit I will pray with the understanding also I will sing With the spirit I will sing With the understanding also The assumption being That in the new covenant community And in its stated covenant Convocations Singing Was an integral part Of its life together Now then add to this Three other texts And remember all we're trying to establish Is that God is to be praised In song In the midst of his covenant community We add to the Text that I've already cited Colossians 3 and verse 16 Colossians 3 and verse 16 A text that we're going to read We all must wrestle with As we take up some of the larger

22:28 And related questions Which I said are not in focus this morning Colossians 3 and verse 16 Let the word of Christ Dwell in you richly And all of scripture Is the word of Christ For Peter says The prophets were searching at times To understand the very things They spoke and wrote And he describes their speaking and writing In this way The spirit of Christ The spirit of Christ Which was in them Did signify Concerning the sufferings of Christ And the glories that should follow So the word of Christ is all of scripture Old and New Testament Let the word of Christ Dwell in you richly In all wisdom Teaching and admonishing one another With psalms And hymns And spiritual songs Singing with grace In your hearts unto God Now I know the debate What is the precise identity Of psalms, hymns, spiritual songs I'm not going to go into it I'm not even going to raise the problem For those of you who don't have it For those who do I'm not going to try to answer it But one thing is clear This is musical from beginning to end Now that much is clear Whatever the precise identity is Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs And singing You can't extract music out of that

23:56 You may think you find That exclusive singing Of the psalms of the Old Testament Translated into English And put into English meter Which are no more the psalms of David By the way One of my problems with so-called exclusive psalm Indeed we'd have to teach you all Hebrew And how to sing things in a Hebrew chant So that you were singing it in Hebrew meter That's one of my problems But that's a little aside And I said I wouldn't get into it And I did But nonetheless This is musical This is musical You can't get away from the fact That here in this new covenant community The word of Christ was to dwell richly In the people of God The text of their singing Was to be essentially and fundamentally biblical It's all important Not emotional impression Not current musical fads It's all important Word of Christ Text is supreme Because God is to be worshipped in truth As well as in spirit And though text is all important That text is to find expression in Not just preaching Not just admonition and encouragement And consolation

25:24 But singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord The parallel passage of Ephesians 5 Where Paul says Be not drunk with wine But be filled with wine Be filled with the spirit And then describes the five-fold conduit Which will be the avenue Out of which a spirit-filled heart Expresses its life and activity Notice Speaking one to another Ephesians 5.18 In psalms and hymns And spiritual songs Singing and making melody with your heart To the Lord Now there are people who say Well If psalms and hymns are to be all praise How can we sing hymns to one another? Hymns that are hortatory in nature Well you see it's not either or Both are combined here We're to speak to ourselves Or to one another In psalms and hymns And spiritual songs Singing and making melody with our hearts To the Lord So that you have both dimensions Envisioned in the praise of God In the praise of God In the praises of God's people And then a text that is often overlooked And I was struck in my preparation afresh With this marvelous text In the Old Testament If I were to say What psalm sets forth more vividly than any other

26:52 The sufferings of the servant of Jehovah What would you answer? Not what portion in the prophets But what psalm more than any other Describes as though the person were an eyewitness The sufferings Of God's people Of Messiah What is the psalm? Yes Jerry Psalm 22 And there in Psalm 22 You have this marvelous prophecy Concerning the fruition Of the sufferings Of Messiah In Psalm 22 We read that as a result Of his sufferings Many glorious things will happen Verse 22 This is one of them I will declare thy name Unto my brethren In the midst of the assembly Will I praise thee As the result of the suffering servant's Obedience to Jehovah And his willingness to become a worm And no man And all the other things described He confidently affirms That as the fruition of his suffering He will declare the name of Jehovah Unto his brethren And wonder of wonders In the midst of the assembly The very assembly Gathered as the fruit of his suffering He will not only be the object of praise He will be one of the praisers I will praise thee

28:20 Now turn to the New Testament For the spirit inspired usage Of this passage in Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews 2 verses 10 through 12 For it became him That is Jesus For whom are all faithful All things And through whom are all things In bringing many sons unto glory To make the author of their salvation Perfect through sufferings For both he that sanctifieth And they that are sanctified Are all of one For which cause He is not ashamed To call them brethren Saying And here's a quote now From Psalm 22 22 But notice the slight difference In the quotation Saying I will declare thy name Unto my brethren In the midst of the congregation Not merely will I praise thee But I will sing Thy praise And the Lord Jesus hung upon the cross And according to the writer to Hebrews Who for the joy that was set before him Endured the cross Despising its shame One of the dimensions of his joy Was that on August 9th 1992 By his spirit He would sit and walk And move among this congregation Singing the praises of God with us

29:49 So with reference to the question Is God to be praised By his new covenant community The answer is clear Yes He is to be praised And one of the persons of the Godhead himself Joins them in their praise Even the Lord Jesus Christ Now I hope I've convinced your judgment That the singing of the praises of God Is indeed a duty and privilege Of the gathered new covenant community Because it's in the midst of the congregation That Jesus takes up his song of praise With us It's in the midst of the gathered church First Corinthians 14 That Paul says I will sing with the spirit And with the understanding And then inferred But not explicit In the Colossians and Ephesians passage Is the horizontal dimension And the very fact that those epistles were read To the gathered church Lends additional weight So I hope I've convinced your judgment Principle number one God is to be praised in song By his covenant community Now then the second great principle Is that God's praise As with all of his worship

Principle 2: Characteristics of God's Praise

31:14 Is to be marked by certain specific characteristics Praise as with all of his worship Is to be marked by certain characteristics We've already alluded to one But now as I lay out four of them And then hopefully you'll see The answer to the question We're coming at it Building block by building block Number one It is to be permeated with the word of Christ That is to say It is scripture Colossians 3 and verse 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly In all wisdom Teaching and admonishing one another Singing And this is one reason why For some of you who wonder We have chosen the Trinity Hymnal Not because anyone had a word of prophecy 25 years ago when we began What hymnal shall we take Thou shalt use Trinity Hymnal We looked at a number of things A number of hymnals available at the time And it seemed to us That this hymnal Contained the most portions Of the psalms Paraphrased Put into English meter And the text of all of the hymns In the section Except the section that says Hymns for informal occasions Were carefully scrutinized By the theological eye

32:41 Among no less a theologian Than Professor John Murray So that any phrase Or word or term That did not reflect An accurate representation Of biblical and historic Reformed theology Was changed Altered or deleted So that with safety We could pick up this hymnal And believe when we signed The praises of God Had been of supreme importance In the compilers We were singing The word of Christ Now that meant There were a lot of the Good old favorites That weren't here And oh how emotionally Neutered and raped Some of you felt You looked for the good old oldies And they weren't there Well the problem with a lot of the good old oldies There ain't no word of Christ in them I come to the garden alone While the dew is still on the roses How do you know There were roses in the garden How do you get your private jet And get over to some garden In the Middle East all alone I mean there's a lot of Sentimental drivel In that hymn

34:07 But there ain't much word of Christ And so the good old oldies A lot of them have been deleted Because they are not the word of Christ Now there are many hymnals I have a collection of them From which I derive much help Devotionally And in preaching And I would love to see And one of our long term visions Is to see a hymnal That compiles the best of the Trinity hymnal And the best of Gadsby's hymns And the best of the old strict Baptist hymnal Gospels Or hymns for gospel worship Is that the name of it Ash? What is it? Standard Marvelous hymn book I use it often in my own devotions And in looking up subjects for preaching And we will see I would love to see that But for now The best that was available to us Was this hymnal And the reason we chose it Is because God's praise Is to have as its primary characteristic Permeation With the word of Christ Not only the prayers of God's servants Reflecting that their petitions and praise Are disciplined by scripture Not only preaching That is an opening up of text Or a text of scripture Explained by other texts of scripture

35:36 But our praise Must be permeated With the word of Christ But secondly Now we're getting closer to our answer You say when oh when will you come to the answer We're coming It must be marked by decency and order Turn please to 1 Corinthians 14 And these two texts Are of peculiar relevance Because they come out of a context Dealing with the regulation Of public worship And with reference to the regulation Of public worship Paul not only addresses Peculiar and specific problems Arising from the special Temporary gifts Operative and present at Corinth But as Paul so often does When he's dealing with a special Specific individual problem He articulates universals That is principles That not only are the answer To the specific problem here But you can pick that principle up And set it down On a number of mannequins And it fits And it gives direction Well we have this In 1 Corinthians 14 And two of those universals Which he applies to the regulation Of the worship at Corinth Are these Verse 40 But let all things be done Decently And In order

37:01 Having given specific directions About how many prophets Should prophesy And in what order And what gender And what others should do In the controlling of their spirits He puts as the capstone Over everything he has said Acknowledging he's not touched All of the possible ways This bunch at Corinth Could have come up with Some bizarre nonsense In the name of great spirituality They seem to have All have three PhD degrees In how to concoct Religious nonsense In the name of spirituality So as if he knows He hadn't covered everything He says But Let all things At all times And all circumstances Be done decently And in order And he doesn't give us A 40 page manual Of what's involved In decency and order He expects us In the light of our confession To take the general rules Of the word And the rules of the word And the rules of the word And the rules of the word And the rules of the word In the light of Christian prudence And determine what decency And order are In any given specific setting Add to that Verse 33 of the same chapter God is not a God of confusion But of peace And this is particularly helpful For in the context What is the confusion? The confusion is When all the prophets

38:28 Supposedly under an impulse Of the world Of the one spirit Are standing And blethering At the same time So you're sitting On this side of the auditorium Trying to listen To prophet Jones And someone over here Is listening to prophet Smith And somebody in the middle Is getting Jones in one ear And Smith in the other He is in a headache He's not getting any edification So he says In verse 33 God is not the author Of this confusion And in the context Peace does not mean The absence of war But it means a climate Of concord In the exercise of gifts So that all may be Equally edified There's a second principle Our praise then In the worship of God Is to be marked by Permeation with the word of Christ Decency and order Under the headship of Christ And then thirdly Patent Unity and oneness In Christ Romans 15 5 and 6 Romans 15 5 and 6 Paul has been dealing here With the problem That the church growth people Say we shouldn't have We ought to get rid of the problem Paul didn't say Let's get rid of the problem Let's resolve it biblically

39:56 You did not have a homogeneous Congregation at Rome You had a heterogeneous Congregation I don't know if there is Such a word as Polyo Genius congregation But you had all kinds of people From all kinds of backgrounds Nationally Ethnically Religiously And getting them all Integrated into one Functioning body Was no easy task And Paul did not go the route Of the church growth experts Who say like begets like And like gets along with like Therefore have homogeneous Congregations Let all your middle age Wasps Form a middle age Wasp church And worship God According to I'm not middle age Middle class Middle class Waspy standards And then they'll attract More middle class Wasps So you have a bigger And bigger Happier and happier More unified Middle class Waspy church And then when you got Jumpers and hollers And people Whose culture is such That they just can't Sit still and worship You got to give them A chance to blow Their emotional cork They may be Hispanics They may be blacks They may be something else You get them together And you get all Your emotional Jivers And jumpers together And let them have a church Where they feel Comfortable And then they'll attract Their own And you'll grow like crazy And what should we say About the orientals Give them a hymn

41:25 With four L's And they can't sing it Orientals to learn To sing their L's That's terrible To force them To say very Instead of valley That's too much Burden on them So have your Chinese church Now dear people I've used a little humor But that's exactly What the church Growth people Advocate Paul rather wrote Chapter after chapter In several epistles Because he didn't believe That stinking theology He said Let church Be the representation Of the new humanity In Christ That takes all Of these different peoples And brings them Into one body And where will that oneness Find one of its most Glorious expressions At the end of dealing With this problem For a chapter and a half This is what makes it So significant Romans 15 Verses 5 and 6 Now the God of patience And of comfort Grant you to be Of the same mind One with another According to Christ Jesus That with one accord You may with Look at this One mouth Isn't that a beautiful picture He said the church Should have one mouth One mouth One organ Of confession And of praise And of adoration That you may with One mouth Glorify the God And Father

42:53 Of our Lord Jesus Now that's a Vital principle We dare not Ignore it In wrestling with the question What are the biblical grounds For musical accompaniment In the worship of God Well the worship Is not only to be Permeated with the word of Christ Marked by decency And order under the lordship Of Christ But there is to be Patent unity And one Expressing What we are One new man And then A word that comes As a capstone Over all of God's praise According to Psalm 66 1 This is What our praise Is to be Psalm 66 And verse 1 Psalm 66 And verse 1 Make a joyful noise Unto God all the earth And oh how much nonsense I have to say I've heard Under this text Well I can't sing A note worth a lick But I can make a noise For Jesus Well I'd rather you Make a noise for Jesus If you can't sing A lick of a note Then be silent In your carnal indifference To God in his glory But let the scripture Interpret what it means Make a joyful noise Unto God all the earth Sing forth the glory Of his name Any old way No

Application to Instrumental Accompaniment: Liberty and Duty

44:23 Make his praise Make his praise To be like himself And God's glory Is the outshining And the perfect integration Of all of the glorious attributes God's attributes Are those things By which we try to say From scripture Who and what God is And we are told That we are in the making Of a joyful noise Unto God And in the singing forth Of the glory of his name To make His praise Glorious Even as his praise In heaven is glorious Therefore In our remaining Seven to eight minutes We come now To the question With which we started What are the biblical grounds For the use of musical accompaniment In the worship of God Well we can start by saying Musical accompaniment Is not a mandated duty In the worship of God Musical accompaniment Is not a mandated duty In the worship of God Why do I say that Because there are people Who cannot with good conscience Accompany God's praise With musical instruments

45:50 If it were a duty to use them They'd be sinning And it would be our task To try to help our sinning brethren And correct them If a man be overtaken in a fault Ye that are spiritual Restore them Our dear friend Pastor Ted Donnelly Is a man who holds With deep Intelligent conviction That he and his congregation Ought not to use A musical instrument In the praise of God You know how much time I've spent Trying to persuade him He and his people are sinning By not using a piano Or an organ Not one second Because I don't believe He's sinning And it's important To understand that If I believed He were sinning I'd have to tell him so And even risk my friendship So we take the posture That There is no Clear mandate To use an instrument Therefore the non-use Of the instrument Cannot be sin Secondly An instrument Materially aids The ends that are Established by God It is our liberty To use them To the glory of God If an instrument Materially aids The ends The nature These things We've studied about

47:17 The worship of God If a musical instrument Materially aids The pursuit of those ends Then it is I would say Even more Our liberty It is our duty In our setting To use That which will make The praise of God More glorious Enable us to concentrate More on the text The word of Christ Than how do you get Your voice to jump From a note Down here To one up here When you haven't been taught How to read music And your mind Is more taken up With whether you're going To hit clunkers Than when That you are expressing The word of Christ Now which pleases God more To be able With the aid of the instrument To push into the background The melodic line And concentrate on text Or to be so concerned In singing a cappella That you might hit a clunker That you forget The text Now which is more pleasing To God I leave your conscience To give the obvious answer Unless you're persuaded That musical accompaniment Is forbidden Then you see To be using the accompaniment Would be sinning And then you'd have A bad conscience And having a bad conscience You couldn't sing The word of Christ With abandonment But since we do not believe That the scripture teaches That the use of an instrument

48:45 Is forbidden by God Or violates Any clear principle Of the word of God But rather Can and does Materially aid Certain things Mandated by God Take 1 Corinthians chapter 3 As a text Under which I had no problem Personally I've not discussed this With my fellow elders So I cannot say Whether we are unanimous In the application of this text But it satisfies my conscience 1 Corinthians 3 And verse 22 Or 21 Let no one glory in men For all things are yours Whether Paul or Apollos Or Cephas Or the world Or life or death Or things present Or things to come All are yours Ye are Christ And Christ is God's If I were in a situation And the only instrument That could help Keep the praise of God Decent And orderly So that men might Concentrate On the word of Christ So that they might not With 7 or 8 different mouths Because they were not singing At the same tempo The same notes At the same time And thereby making God's praise confusing Instead of orderly Indecent Instead of decent I would have no problem With someone Judiciously using a guitar If that were the instrument Of the local culture

50:14 That would not distract People have asked Do you believe guitars in worship? All depends where And how A guitar is ours In Christ A little recorder Is ours In Christ The little Hand bellowed organ In Pakistan Is ours In Christ Where with one hand There's about two scales there And then with the other hand You pump the little bellows That's ours In Christ Every musical instrument That can aid us To attain these ends Is ours In Christ In Christ And therefore to be used To the ends Of God's worship Being made glorious God's worship Being marked by one mouth God's worship Being marked by decency and order God's word being marked By preoccupation With text For some of you You're not aware of this This is why The pianist is instructed To play through the entire hymn Before we sing it That we might Concentrate on the text Before we sing it If the tune is different That we might get familiar with it But in most cases The tune is familiar It's to give us An opportunity To let the word of Christ As it were Percolate afresh In our spirits And in our minds So that when we Open our mouths

51:42 There is a fresh Affirmation and commitment To the truth That we sing Now someone says But Pastor Martin How is it That whenever you lead The prayer meeting You don't ask people To play the piano But you have to sing a cappella Well My reason is this Number one In that smaller building The singing is much more Molyfluous And the volume is greater And the voice is blend greater And a number of you Can read parts And it just sounds great And I believe many of you Have commented on In fact you have But secondly It's a subtle way Of trying to get some of you To launch out And maybe try to do A little sight reading Even if it's not Even though you've had No training But thirdly A time may come When we'll meet In places where We have no instruments We may end up meeting In basements In the season of persecution And my personal reason And since my fellow elders Have never forbidden me To do that When I lead the prayer meeting Any more Than any of them Have been forbidden To use the piano And since I can read music And pitch it At a place Where it's easy to sing I feel For me personally This is a good opportunity In my dimension of leadership To help prepare us For a time When we may have to sing a cappella Not out of conviction But out of submission To divine providence And I have no other agenda Other than that That's all

Conclusion and Prayer

53:11 And if the elders say Well we think That those reasons Are not enough That we ought to Fine They'll get no debate from me Because it's only a matter Of judgment As to the circumstances Not of the essence Well Our time has gone I've got to go I hope that I have Answered the question In such a way As to persuade Your judgment That when In twenty minutes From now You come And take your place To prepare your heart For worship And the instrument Is playing What? Not to entertain us But to help Direct our minds To the text Of hymns That are The word of Christ Reflective of praise And penitence And aspiration And adoration And hopefully Even of fascination With God That we will be Better able to worship The Lord our God Let us pray Our Father We thank you For the sufficiency Of the Holy Scriptures We're grateful That there is nothing Concerning faith And life Where we need Be out On the sea Of mere Human opinion Current consensus But that your word Is the sufficient Rule of faith In Christ Of practice Do bless it To our hearts Do direct us As a congregation That more and more Your praise Will be glorious

54:41 In this place Forever protect This church From carnal Musical showmanship Lord continue As you have in the past To give us Sanctified Instrumentalists Whose talents Nurtured and cultivated Are so dedicated To you That they would Feel themselves A Nadab and a Bayou Offering strange fire Upon your altar And be filled with fear If they should ever Use their place At the instrument To draw attention To themselves And away from you O Lord Ever give us Competent musicians That our praise May indeed be glorious Thank you again For our time together Thank you for the concern Of the questioner That ever raised The question Which in many circles Would indeed be considered Mere nitpicking Tempest in a teapot A concern about nothing Lord ever give us hearts That are jealous To guard your worship Hear our prayer Receive our thanks In Jesus name Amen