Author: Bob Mathews

Instrumental Music in Worship – What does the Bible say?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Everyone has questions about the teachings of God from time to time. Maybe this question is one that you have been pondering.

First off, the biblical teaching concerning music in the New Testament church is governed by the New Testament and not by the Old Testament. Examples of this truth are found throughout New Testament scripture (1 Co. 9:22-27; Rom. 7:1-4; Gal. 3:23-26; Heb. 7:11-14; 8:7-13; 10:4).

In Ephesian 5:19, th kardia [the heart] is the direct object of psallo [making melody; strumming, plucking]  illustrating that this passage specifically names the instrument to be strummed.  Therefore, all other instruments are excluded by the exclusionary force of specific terminology. However, lets say that one tried to use this verse as the reason they use mechanical instruments in worship. Well according to this verse, that would mean that only the few people “strumming or plucking” their instruments would be worshiping God. If everyone else in the congregation wanted to worship they would have to bring their instrument so they could play along… if not then they are not worshiping God and therefore they are not obeying the command to worship!

Biblical evidence illustrates when biblical silence is permissive (giving permission)  or prohibitive ( forbidding ). Biblical silence is permissive when the command expressed is generic in connection with the action commanded. For example, Mark 16:15 says, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” How do we “go” into all the world… boat, plane, by foot, on a donkey.. God doesn’t care. Biblical silence is prohibitive when the command expressed is specific in connection with the action commanded. For example, Mark 16:16 says one verse later, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.…” Just because God did not say specifically.. “Those who disbelieved [and has not been baptized] shall be condemned” It doesn’t matter. Because He didn’t have to. He said what a person needs to do to be saved.. therefore no one has the right to do any different. Also, why would a person who doesn’t believe think anything of the baptism part of the statement? If they don’t believe, they would not go on to be baptized. If they do believe, baptism was the next step towards salvation. Look at another (one of many) example of this Biblical silence point:

– In Hebrews 7:11-14 the Hebrews writer is making the point that Jesus being our priest required a change in the law. Why? Hebrews 7:14 gives us the answer: “For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood” (NKJV). The tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe under the Old Covenant; this was specifically ordered by God (Numbers 1:49-52). When God specified the Levites he therefore automatically excluded the other tribes. God didn’t have to list out all of the tribes that were not able to be the priestly tribe..  All He had to do was declare which one was the priestly tribe.

Silence was prohibitive because the charge was specific. Jesus, from the tribe of Judah, was prohibited from being a priest under the Old Covenant. The KIND of music for worship in the New Testament church has been specifically prescribed: singing [Eph. 5:19].  Therefore, this specificity excludes any and all other kinds of music, including mechanical instrumental music, in the worship of the church.

Everything we do [religiously] must be stamped with the authority that comes from the Father through Christ [Col. 3:17; 1 Pet. 4:11].  Since the mechanical instrument is not seen in the terminology of Eph. 5:19 then what authoritative reference can one give to establish scriptural authority for the including mechanical instruments in the worship of the New Testament church?

Binding examples involving New Testament worship are supported by a background command.

(a)   Prayer:  Example, 1 Co. 14:14-17; command, 1 Th. 5:17

(b)   Free-will offering:  Example, 2 Co. 8 – 9; command, 1 Co. 16:1-2

(c)   Lord’s Supper:  Example, 1 Co. 11:17-34; command, Mt. 26:17-35

(d)   Congregational singing:  Example, 1 Co. 14:15-28; command, Col. 3:16 and Eph. 5:19

(e)   Playing a mechanical instrument:  Example? Any form of authority?

Those worshipping with the mechanical instrument of music in the Christian Age are caught in a dilemma of faith and judgment. If the kind of music is a matter of faith, then one must have scriptural authority for its practice. The authority required is totally absent from the New Testament. If the kind of music is a matter of personal judgment and opinion, then one must not practice that which causes unnecessary division (Rom. 14; Eph. 4:3).

The practice of using the mechanical instrument in Christian worship is not of apostolic origin.  It was first introduced into Christian worship ca. 670 A.D.  Since we are required to reject that which is not of apostolic origin [Gal. 1:6-9], then the use of the mechanical instrument in Christian worship must be rejected.    Ref. Acts 2:42

There are significant biblical omissions related to the use of mechanical instruments in Christian worship.

(a)   It is never authorized.

(b)   No apostle ever sanctioned it.

(c)   No New Testament writer ever commanded it.

(d)   No apostle ever practiced it.

(e)   No approved example of it can be found.

(f)    No biblical inference of it can be found.

(g)   No New Testament passage records it.

In answering this question my intention is to help any God-fearing individuals who are seeking to live by His commandments. In no way am I trying to interject my personal thoughts or feelings into this article. The only proper way for any of us to follow God is to live by His Word, not our own. Due to this fact, I have done my very best to present what God’s Word has to say on the subject, but I am an imperfect man and by no means infallible. Don’t just take my word, or anyone else’s word, for it, study God’s Word and look at what He says and then make your conclusion.

How can I ‘work out my own salvation’?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13

Outside of a cult here and a splinter group there, you don’t much hear anyone talking about salvation being by works. So let’s agree on that — we’re not saved by works.

The work of salvation was accomplished by Christ on the cross (John 19:30).

Then what in the world was Paul talking about when he said we need to “work out our salvation”? There are a couple of important points that will help us understand this passage.

First, who was Paul writing to? He was writing to Christians — a body of believers in Philippi who were already saved! (Philippians 1:1). Thus, this was not a group of unbelievers he was writing to who needed to go from a state of being unsaved to a state of being saved. He was not urging them to “come to Christ”; they were already there!

Second, let’s see Who it is that Paul says is doing the work: “…for it is God who works in you…”. So if God is the One doing the work, what is there left for me to “work out”?

Clearly Paul does not mean that there can be anything we can do as a meritorious act that will contribute to our salvation. The work of salvation was accomplished by Christ on the cross (John 19:30). The debt for our guilt of sin has been paid.

Therefore, we are not to work out our salvation from the guilt of sin; we are to work out our salvation from the power of sin. In a different letter, Paul wrote

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires…14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14)

As a member of the body of Christ, sin does not “reign in [our] mortal body”, but that does not mean we do not sin. This is how we are to “work out our salvation” — we are to think as Paul thought and to work as Paul worked:

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

You work each day so that sin has less and less “reign” in your life. You “press on toward the goal”. You let the Holy Spirit continue the work in you that Christ started. You work out your salvation from the power of sin by giving sin less and less control over your life, as you allow the Spirit more and more control.

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble…

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Have you ever felt like your life is missing something or that it should just been better in general? Even when your life is going well, do you feel the desire or need to complain about it not going well enough? Can I ask, what is enough in your mind or when will it be enough?

The Israelites were living in slavery in Egypt. Life was difficult. There were great burdens on them to the point that they cried out to the Lord.

“Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them” (Exodus 3:9).

God heard their cries and knew what was happening to them. He was ready to take action and help them gain freedom once again. So, God preceded to do this with Moses and his brother Aaron acting as a go between Him and Pharaoh and Him and the people. After words were spoken and signs were performed, Pharaoh refused to let the people go and even increased the burdens upon them.

This is where you see the first grumble of the sons of Israel. God is working on helping them out of oppression, but they complain to Pharaoh and then to Moses and Aaron that things are only getting worse for them (Ex. 5:15-23). This grumble has some legitimacy because even Moses then asks God why he was even sent. After God responded, He sent Moses and Aaron to press Pharaoh to let the people go again. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened in all this, and then God brought the plagues on Egypt. After all the plagues were passed, Pharaoh did exactly as God had said. He sent the sons of Israel out of Egypt. God gave His people freedom once more.

Not long after this decision, however, Pharaoh decided to pursue the sons of Israel into the wilderness to enslave them again. The people saw the pursuit and grumbled again to Moses. Why did you deal with us this way? Why did you bring us out here to die? It would have been better for us to stay and serve the Egyptians (Ex. 14:11-12). After everything God had done to give them freedom, they are already grumbling and complaining that oppression would have been better. God performed signs and wonders through Moses and the plagues and already they doubt in the Lord’s ability to save them. Not to mention the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that was leading the people. God is actively with them yet they still grumble. Why? When will God do enough for them?

God precedes to give them salvation once more by parting the sea so they could escape the pursuit of the Egyptians and even destroyed the Egyptians pursuing them with that divided water. Freedom was given and off into the wilderness they went. God took care of them over and over again. However, once in the wilderness they grumbled a third time. “What shall we drink?” Moses cried out to the Lord and He gave the people a source of water (Ex. 15:24-25). Once again God did not hesitate to take care of them.

Two months into their departure from Egypt the people grumbled once again. This time they grumbled out of hunger, which we all can agree is a legitimate need in life. However, they spoke in a way that flew in the face of all God had done for them. They spoke of Egypt and the full bellies they had there (Ex. 16:2-3). God had done so much for them already and yet once again they didn’t trust Him to take care of their needs. Instead, they complain and wish for days of oppression when they could eat their fill.

As you can see, the sons of Israel seem to have a pattern going on in their lives. No matter how much is done for them, it is never enough. We could go on looking at more passages about them grumbling over and over again. They even grumble again for water, something God has already shown He will give them, but it just never is enough. God did more for the sons of Israel than most would probably say they deserved.

The truth is, God has done more for all of us than any of us deserve. God cares for us in the same way that He did the sons of Israel. He takes care of our needs, the most important of which is the safety of our eternal soul. God gave us His Son. His Son who became the sacrifice for our freedom from sin. Our soul can be with God only because of what God did for us through Jesus Christ.

When you add that truth to everything else written in the Bible and all the works of God you can see around you, is it enough? Do you need more? What does God need to do for it to be enough for you? Jesus was the last piece in God’s plan to give us something that could bring about our salvation. If Jesus isn’t enough for you, nothing will be…

“Salvation is not initiated by human choice”

Posted on by Bob Mathews

I read that statement recently. It was written by John MacArthur, a man with whom I agree quite often, and with whom I also sometimes disagree. Do statements ever strike you as being so outrageous they couldn’t possibly be true, but if you think about it a little they make you wonder if there is a sense in which they may be true?

Such was the case for me with this one. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with it. Read on and I’ll tell you why…

What’s the first step toward salvation?

This post will not be a “step 1, do this; step 2, do this” type of post. Everything starts somewhere though. Such is the case with salvation, and certainly to see whether or not salvation is initiated by human choice, we need to see how it is initiated. So where does it begin?

We’re told that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). So hearing the Word is the first step toward salvation.

God prepared before creation the good works He has in store for me today.

If hearing the Word is the first step, how is that initiated other than by human choice?

That indeed is the question to answer. Could it be there are things taking place that lead to our salvation before we hear the Word? If so, then they are not actions we take, because that would be in conflict with the Word itself.

Consider:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

4For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)

So we are “created in Christ to do good works”. That’s a telling fact in itself, but what’s the source of these good works? “God prepared [them] in advance for us to do.” In advance of what? Certainly in advance of us doing the good works, but I believe it means more than that. The context of Ephesians 1, and on into chapter 2, is God’s eternal plan. Thus, God prepared before creation the good works He has in store for me today.

Predestined?

What about “He chose us” and “He predestined us”? So God chose before creation who would be good and who would be bad? Who would be saved and who would be condemned? No, that can’t be the proper meaning of this passage because if it is, it conflicts with several other things God told us, not the least of which is that He is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

It’s easy to read “chose” and “predestined” in Ephesians 1, and miss the critical phrase. God “chose us in Him to be holy and blameless in His sight,” meaning He foreordained that those who come to Christ in obedient faith would be “holy and blameless in His sight”. So yes, we’re predestined, but not as individuals; we’re predestined as a class of people who trust in Him.

So you see, there are many things going on in “the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:3) that are directed to draw us to Christ — things that indeed initiate our process of salvation long before we ever hear the Word.

What other passages shed light on this subject? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Promises of God – He will fight for you!

Posted on by Bob Mathews

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14).

In the book of Exodus, there is an amazing situation that comes about when you get to chapter 14. This is a moment, early in the outset of the people of Israel, when they have fled Egypt and headed for the wilderness. Even having been “let go” by Pharaoh (Ex. 13:17), his hardened heart led him to chase after the Israelites with an army. You can probably imagine how terrifying it might be for people who where servants, having nothing, to see the Egyptians rising up and giving chase. However, in that moment of panic God was there for them. He not only protected them with the pillar of cloud (Ex. 14:19), but He also gave them a way to safety (Ex. 14:16).

Just as God fought for the Israelites when they were stuck between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, God has fought for you through Jesus. He fought and defeated the power of sin in your life. This means  you can do the right thing even when it’s difficult. Even the apostle Paul said that he had a hard time doing the right thing because his selfish desires kept urging him to do something else. Everyone who wants to please God faces this problem. However, Jesus went up against all of your selfishness and temptations. He fought the battle to clear the way for you to do all the right things. The wonderful fact is that He won that fight.

Moses told the Israelites, “You shall hold your peace.” That’s true for you. You can stand firm because Jesus has already won your battle. Does that mean you just hang around, doing nothing? No, you can determine to stay strong, stay close to Him, and keep believing that He’s already won.

You are not alone. God has always been there for you. God has been fighting for you from the beginning. He was willing to give up His Son in that fight for you. He wants to be there for you and give you peace, but He can’t force it upon you. If you want true peace and safety no matter what gets thrown your way, then draw near to God.

The angel of the LORD

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Several times I’ve read Genesis 16, as I’m sure you have. In this passage, “the angel of the LORD” appears to Hagar. One commenter has suggested that “this special individual spoke as though He were distinct from Yahweh, yet also spoke in the first person as though He were indeed to be identified as Yahweh Himself, with Hagar recognizing that in seeing this Angel, she had seen God (v. 13). Others had the same experience and came to the same conclusion (cf. Gen. 22:11-18; Gen. 31:11-13; Ex. 3:2-5; Num. 22:22-35; Judg. 6:11-23; Judg. 13:2-5; 1 Kin. 19:5-7). The Angel of the Lord, who does not appear after the birth of Christ, is often identified as the pre-incarnate Christ.”

You will, of course, find references in the New Testament to “an angel of the Lord”, but none to “the angel of the Lord”. None of these NT references are equated with divinity as is the angel in the OT passages.

I’d be interested in hearing other thoughts on this.

Promises of God – His promise to deliver His people

Posted on by Bob Mathews

“So I have come down to delver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8).

The children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt, but thanks to doubting and unbelief, they wandered in the desert from 40 years. However, there is something we need to remember. Year number 41 came, and they didn’t wander anymore. They entered into the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey God had promised them. Maybe, for whatever reason, it seems you are in a desert period in your life. Maybe you feel like you’ve been stumbling around for 40 years. Don’t worry! Year 41 is on its way.

Look at these examples: Noah and his family were on the ark while it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Day 41 came and the rain stopped. For 40 days Goliath showed up every morning to taunt the people of Israel, but day 41 came and David took him down! Of course, that was with the help of God as we might imagine. There are plenty of examples like this in God’s Word. They may not all have the number 40 attached to them, but we can see people go through struggles or troublesome times all throughout. The key factor that you will notice in all of those instances is that God is there to deliver those that trust in Him.

God has promised to bring you out of your “Egypt” as well. If you will hold on to your faith in Him, He will not let you down. Whatever situation you are going through right now, don’t give up. God is on your side. So, if it seems like trouble has been raining down on you, don’t worry because day 41 is on the way. The rain is going to stop. Whatever giant is in your life, day 41 is coming and that giant will be crushed. We have the power to conquer any obstacle because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has given us that through Him (Rom. 8:37).

We may not know or understand the timing, but we can know that He will deliver us out of our “Egypt,” our struggles.

Whose armor are you wearing?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:38-40)

You know the story — David’s minding his own business, tending his sheep, and next thing you know Jesse asks him to take some cheese and crackers to his brothers who are fighting the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:17-19). Israelites on one side of the Valley of Elah; Philistines on the other. Every day for 40 days, a 9-foot tall guy stepped out from the Philistine camp and dared an Israelite to come fight him. Any Israelite; didn’t much matter to Goliath which one.

Verses 20 and 21 just kill me: “[David] reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.”

To receive God’s strength and care, all you need to do is ask (Matthew 7:7-8).

Who are we kidding here? I can just see them — Israelites shaking their fists, yelling “Our army is better”; Philistines responding “No, we’re better, I promise!” After a few rounds of this, Goliath shakes his head and steps into the valley to shout out his challenge, just as he had done every day for the past 6 weeks.

24When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear… 26David asked the men standing near him, “…Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:24, 26)

Finally the voice of faith rather than the voice of fear. Evidently Eliab and the others didn’t know in Whose army they served.

Let’s cut to the chase — Saul got wind of David being there and what he was saying, and he sent for him. David told the king he’d go fight the giant, Saul offered his armor, David tried it on and couldn’t wear it, so chose 5 stones & a sling instead.

We know the rest. David’s stone found its mark. (Ever wonder why he took 5?) The giant was dead. Philistines ran; Israelites plundered their camp. (Just as an aside, I want you to notice verse 54: “David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem…”. Um, why? Seems a little weird to me, but I stray from the points of the lesson.)

Point #1: God didn’t refuse to provide victory to Saul and his army — they never asked for His help! He has promised never to leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), but you are free to leave at any time. To receive His strength and care, all you need to do is ask (Matthew 7:7-8).

Point #2: David didn’t defeat the giant; God did. He’ll defeat your giants too. He has promised to not let satan (intentionally not capitalized) tempt you beyond what you can bear. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Point #3: We have armor just as strong as (and I’d argue even stronger than) the armor Saul offered David. We have the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). It is ours to use if we will just wear it.

So, whose armor are you wearing? Your own armor of pride, self-importance, and imperfection? Or the full armor of God?

Promises of God – Nothing is too hard for Him!

Posted on by Bob Mathews

“And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ Is anything to difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”” – Genesis 18:13, 14

When difficulties beset us, we tend to try and work our way out of them (on our own) until a situation comes along that we can’t handle or is too hard and we just give up and lose hope. Sarah is an example of this. They were promised a child and when that promise wasn’t being fulfilled quick enough she tried to take matter into her own hands by offering her maid Hagar as a way to obtain that child (Gen. 16:1-2). She couldn’t wait for the promise from God, putting trust in Him, and wanted to trust in what she could do.

To add a little more context, this promise was given when Abraham and Sarah, his wife, were both well on in years. Abraham was about 100 and Sarah about 90. Past the point of childbearing as is mentioned in Genesis 18:11. So, this would come across as a ridiculous promise to any normal person, which is what led to Sarah’s laughter.

Like Sarah, we look at what we understand about how the world works and go off of that knowledge. Sarah knew children were out of the question for her body at that age and all of us would agree that to be true. We are not here to deny how the world works. What we have to do is push past those things to the one who made the world! God created all things and governs all things. Just because something doesn’t work regularly for us, doesn’t mean that God can not dictate a change in that normal process.

Though some things in life seem too difficult for us, nothing is too hard for God. Sometimes He does His most amazing work when all hope seems gone. He gives hope when all seems hopeless. He fills us with peace when we’re in the middle of chaos. He saves the souls of people who deserve death. He makes the impossible possible. Think about the hard times; the last second, the darkest hour, the deepest hole. They are “mission impossible” for us. Trust Him with your hard times. Every one of them is “mission possible” for Him.

God has never promised that there wouldn’t be difficulties in our lives. However, He will be there for us, helping us through if we let Him. Sometimes we sing a song called Trust and Obey. In the song we sing, “trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” God has promised and proven time and time again that nothing is too hard for Him! He now offers true happiness to all through His Son if we are willing to trust and obey.

Consider the work of God

Posted on by Bob Mathews

13Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked? 14In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

I don’t have much to add to that; it pretty well says volumes all by itself. It does seem though, we have no problem with being joyful “in the day of prosperity”. Should we not with just as much ease accept that God has also “appointed” the “day of adversity”? Words of praise seem to flow freely when we’re happy and can see God’s hand in all the good in our life. When things aren’t going so well, God is still God and God is still good. Haven’t you ever learned and grown as a result of adversity?

We know that God does not tempt us (James 1:13), nor is he the cause of evil (Matthew 7:18), so look at adversity as a chance to fulfill the purpose for which you’re placed on earth — to bring glory to God. Consider it an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

It’s your choice.