I asked a firend of mine who has studied a lot about he history of Jews and Christianity about where non-instrumental church services might have come from in the patristic period. He goes to a Restoration movement Messianic synagogue in Israel now.

Remember that the temple had instrumetnal music. My friend told me that first century synagogues also had instrumental music before 70 AD. After the destruction of the temple, as an expression of mourning, synagogues quit using instruments. Perhaps instrumental music did not catch hold in church liturgy because of influence from the synagogue.

Synagogue culture may have influenced the way church meetings were conducted. For example, in the first century, we see that Paul gave instructions for chruch meetings in I Corinthians 14 which involved members of the congregation sharing teachings, prophecies, singing, etc. Synagogue meetings also allowed a time for discussion of the law, but also involved a lot of highly structureed liturgy. A few centuries after the apostles died many church meetings were highly liturgical, similar to synagogue meetings. There may have been early Christian synagogues or a lot of Christians involved in first century synagogues. (James 2:2.)

My friend also told me that in the second century, rabbis came up with some theological reasoning to support the practice of not having instruments in the synagogue. If a musician changed a string, that would be breaking the sabbath, according to their interpretation.

I once talked with a Christian Church pastor who told me about a book he'd read about how the Church of Christ chruches becmae non-instrumental. He said during the Civil War, many churches had to give up their organs for the metal. Later, Church of Christ churches developed some theological reasoning for non-instrumental music because they had gotten used to non-instrumental music in the period after the war. Interesting parallel to the Jewish synagogue if it's true. I never read the book, and I don't remember the name of it.

Non-instrumental arguments seem to be based on the idea that since the Bible doesnt' command us specifically to use musical instruments in church, that we should not do so. This type of reasoning, however,is flawed. We ahve to take into account the entire bible. The Old Testament shows us that instrumental music in worship of god is a good thing. It was used in temple worship. Jesus worshipped in the temple. The early church met in the temple. Many engaged in temple worship in addition to meeting in Solomon's porch. It is quite likely that the earliest saints listened to temple music in the place where they gathered for their church meetings.

Anotehr argument I've seen is the idea that since Paul says to make melody in our hearts, that this _precludes_ the idea of using musical instrumetns. Of course, this argument is not valid either. the fac that Paul says to make melody in our hearts todes not in any way forbid the use of musical instruments in worship.

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2001

Answers

I am hopeful that all will see that defining worship and service from the bible, not a particular bias will clear up the confusion on the musical instruments in the assembly. I recommend a word study on this subject since words in the Greek such as proskuneo, latruo, sebo and many others are not properly translated by most bibles. For instance the NASV tortures the service and worship issue. For example ( many could be cited) Romans 12:2 puts the word " worship" in the text and it is not even found in the original language and the NASV translators elected not to indicate this by italicizing this word. God with His words in bible do a great job defing worship in John 4:24. It takes alot of intellectual blubbering to get around it. I have seen pages apon pages of arguments started on false premises, never once going to the bible to define this hotly debated subject. I think the best attention to this subject was given by Jay Wilson in his book " Cleansing the Inside of the Cup". Which can be gleaned from newcreationstudies.org. I have yet to see a more in depth look at this subject other than this material. Controversial or not he does offer a interesting perspective.

MIKE

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2001

Mike, it wasn't 100% clear to me from your post whether you believed in instrumental or noninstrumental meetings. I think it's highly unlikely that I will read that book you are talking about considering the types of English books available in Christian bookstores here in Indonesia.

It is interesting that you should mention the word 'worship.' I read a book that pointed out that nowhere in the New Testament are Christians told to come together to worship- 'proskuneo.' The only instance of worshipping in a church meeting mentioned in the New Testament is the hypothetical situation in which the unbeliever or unlearned falls on his face and says that God is among you of a truth.

I read an interesting article from a Greek scholar. Proskuneo refers to the physical act of prostration- bowing down with one's head touching the ground or floor. Now wonderthe Bible doesn't say that we come together to 'worship.' It seems to me that 'worship' is a terrible mistranslation.

Studying the way the NIV and KJV translates the account of John 'worshipping' the angel can help clear this up. The NIV says that John bowed down to the angel. The KJV says that John 'worshipped' the angel.

We should keep in mind that even since 1611, 'worship' has changed in meaning. We use it to refer to in internal or external expression of adoration which is fit for God alone. The Greek, from what I understand, refers to the act of prostration. Now, prostration was sued to show adoration, sumission, etc. But it still seems to be a lousy translation for 'proskuneo.' The sad thing is that some of the more popular, less in-depth dictionaries carry on using the traditional translation of 'worship' for proskuneo. It seems even the dictionary writers are influenced by the historical words used to translate 'worship.' Some translators may actually think of prostration when they read 'worship.

Many passages are cleared up by understanding that proskuneo refers to prostration. People who 'worshipped' Jesus were bowing down to Him, not necessarily recognizing His deity.

A word for a physical act can be used metaphorically or spiritually. They that bow doesn to the Father must bow down to Him in Spirit and in truth.

The Herbew word for worship, according to what I've read, also refers to prostration. This clears up passages like 'I will worship toward your temple' in the Psalms. The Indonesian translation sometimes translates these words as 'menyembah' -which is really close in meaning to 'worship.' But sometimes, the Greek and Hebrew words are translated 'sajud menyembah.' Sajud is from an Arabic word for prostration, and menyemba means something like 'worship' in English. So it says 'bow down worship.'

So when we read 'worship' in the Bible, usually, we shouldunderstnad it to mean 'prostrate' rather than worship. I'd need to look at it, but Romans 12:2 might be one of the better uses of the English word 'worship' since it does not contain the Greek word for prostration, proskuneo.

I am no Greek scholar. I know what I've read, and I looked in some resources to confirm it. If I am wrong, I am willing to be corrected.

Btw, what does the mistranslation of 'worship' have to do with whether or not to use instruments in church. Bowing down in church may be a fine thing to do in the right situation (the Greek Orthodox prostrate, perhaps because they understand 'proskuneo' better than their western counterparts) but the Bible never tells us specifically to prostratein church.

Of course, if the early believers spent a lot of time in prayer in a meeting, then we might expect that they would have bowed down, knelt, lifted their hands, since these actions are associated with prayer inthe scriptures.

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2001

I've started a couple of threads on topics I find interesting, but which have gathered little response from others, dealing with whatthe Bible teaches about church meetings.

I find some of the attitudes of non-instrumentalists ironic in light of the scriptures. Many non-instrumentalists have basically a Protestant worship service without music. Many are really adament against music since the New Testament doesn't seem to specifically endorse music in the meetings. But actually many aspects of a typical Protestant or RM meeting are not found in the Bible.

The Bible does not instruct us to construct church buildings. In fact, the 'Biblical pattern' we see in the New Testament is one of using private homes (or at least existing facilities) for church meetings. Communion meals were held in homes. Jesus held the first one with his disciples in an aupper room. Later, the disciples broke bread from house to house.

The early disciples at the 'Lord's supper.' from what iv'e read, the word for 'supper' in Greek referred to the main meal of the day, eeaten toward the end of the day- similar to what 'supper' means in English. Early Christians ate an actual meal for the Lord's supper. This is obvious from careful study of the New Testament and a study of early church writings. Even the pagans were suspicious of the meals that the Christians had in their homes. There are plenty of ancient writings available onthe subject. Later on, from what I've read, 'the eucharist' was separated from the love feast. Since the love feast lost it's spiritual meaning, it phased out, and the little communion wafer practice developed or continued.

Even Tertullian in around 200 mentions a table in his reference to the Lord's supper.

Also, meetings were characterized by mutual exhortation. The apostles did not instruct us to have one speaker give a sermon every week. This is a Protestant tradition which had it's roots in the 300's. The ideal 3-point sermon goes back to Greek philosphers. Aristotle wrote abotu it. I have yet to find 3-point writing or speaking like the Greeks used in the NT, even, and yet it is taught in seminaries. paul didn't even use that writing style. I Corinthians 14 contains several instructions about how to have church meetings. These instructions tell how to have church meetings so that the members of the body edify one another with their gifts. Peter also talks about ministering our gifts one to another. Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to forsake assembling but to exhort one another.

RM meetings follow Protestant tradition, not New Testament instructions for meeting. Patterns we see in the New Testament, gathering in homes to eat an actual meal with one another, being a spiritual family, bearing one another's burdens, and edifying one another with our spiritual gifts; get overlooked or ignored. Instead, people have this Protestant liturgical litural that doesn't even show up in the New Testament.

The New Testament is basically silent on the issue of musical instruments in church. We know that instrumental music was kosher in the temple, and that John's vision showed harps in heaven. Maybe someone could make a case for instruments in church from the word for 'psalm' but that seems rather inconclusive. Anyway, there is no 'pattern' either way specifically about instruments in New Testament church meetings, except that some meetings were held in the temple, adn instruments were used in the temple, and that we can see that instrumental music can be good according to the OT. (Psalm 15, for example.)

But some people get bent out of shaped when they hear of churches that have instrumental music, accusing them of deviating from the "New Testament pattern.' But many people who get bent out of shape over these things attend meetings which follow a liturgy that does nto derive from New Testament patterns themselves. There is a priest figure at the front ('pastor', 'evangelist,' 'pulpit minister,' etc.) that does most of the talking, a lack of mutual edification, and the Lord's Supper is celebrated with small tokens rather than as an actual meal as the New Testament indicates the early church celibrated it.

These meetings are held in church buildings. I don't have a problem with people having church in a specially constructed building. But shouldn't meetings in church buildings Biblical manner? Spending huge amounts of money (and even borrowing) is another 'Biblical pattern' issue when we consider how the church in the NT was instructed to use it's funds. Isn't this ironic?

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2001

Sorry that was Romans 12:1

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

Link, read this hope it helps.

First the Natural, then the Spiritual

God is Spirit, and in the realm of His habitation, there is nothing physical. "The God who made the world and all things in it," explained Paul to the frequenters of the idol temples of ancient Athens, "since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands" (Acts 17:24). Thus the word of God speaks of "the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man" (Hebrews 8:2), and of Christ entering "through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation" (Hebrews 9:11).

Man, by contrast, is physical, although he is also a spirit being formed initially in the image of God. In the words of Paul, "I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin" (Romans 7:14). "Now I say this, brethren," said the apostle in another place, "that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable" (I Corinthians 15:50). That which is flesh cannot pass through the impenetrable barrier to the spiritual realm of God.

But it is God’s desire that man be moved from the flesh to the Spirit; it is His desire to produce a people for His own possession, who can see His face and live. "And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it [the New Jerusalem], and His bond-servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:3,4). To produce such a people, even the Almighty has had to move slowly and patiently, working with the human race as a whole, developing it in stages through the millennia. At first man was in a short-lived state of innocence. Following his exit from the Garden of Eden, man was essentially pitted against his conscience and the principles built in by the Spirit of God. But as the race continued its descent into darkness, God said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh" (Genesis 6:3). With the Flood and its extinction of a race permeated with violence, God instituted a fresh beginning. This time the Gentile world carried with it not only a conscience, but also a deeply impressed memory of the Flood and its wrath wreaked upon sinful men. Furthermore, the All Wise began to develop the nation Israel, and step-by-step implemented the Law and the foundation for Christianity. Thus, before "the faith" came, Jews and Gentiles alike were declared to be "in bondage under the elemental things of the world" (Galatians 4:3). But when the race was sufficiently prepared, the political and linguistic elements in place, and the dispersed condition of the Jew just right, God moved. "But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman [for the Gentiles], born under the Law [for the Jews]" (Galatians 4:4). "But before faith came," explained Paul, particularly looking to those of Jewish background, "we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed" (Galatians 3:23).

So God has functioned in a step-by-step fashion to upgrade man, to carry his thinking upward, to move him from the physical to the spiritual. "The first man," stated Paul of Adam, "is from the earth, earthy" (I Corinthians 15:47). And all his descendants, "every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26), bear "the image of the earthy" (I Corinthians 15:49). The visage of Adam is not merely stamped on our faces; the weaknesses of his character have passed on from generation to generation. "As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy" (I Corinthians 15:48). Through Christ, however, the Father has intervened. While the first man was from earth, Christ "the second man is from heaven" (I Corinthians 15:47). So while those born of the flesh bear the impress of Adam, those who have turned to the Lord in glory are transformed into His image. "And as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (I Corinthians 15:48,49). "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam, Christ, became "a life-giving Spirit" (I Corinthians 15:45).

In this grand process of upgrading man, in this awe-inspiring record of God’s patient dealing with man, from Adam through Christ the Spirit, the great principle is laid down: "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual" (I Corinthians 15:46). The grand design of the Father of the spirits of all flesh is to produce a people who are willing and capable of offering Him the worship He desires and deserves, a spiritual people for His own possession, a spiritual people who can indeed see His face, and live forever.

Worship through the Centuries

Importance of Worship

Worship of God, then, is the grand, imposing topic of the scripture in terms of man’s response to God. The great commandment of loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind fits underneath the heading of worship. The new commandment of loving one another as Christ loved us fits underneath this heading of worship. The goal of the Most High is to seek and prepare for Himself a people who will "worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). The subject of worship, therefore, is not a merely interesting intellectual side- note in the Bible. It is critical that everyone making a claim to being a child of God understand worship, as the Lord Himself said, "The true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers" (John 4:23). To be a true worshiper, the individual must first understand what true worship is, according to God’s definition. Let us follow the steps of God as He works through the ages, following His principle of "first the natural, then the spiritual."

In Abraham’s Day

The English word worship in the New Testament is generally translated from the Greek word proskuneo. Alexander the Great, for example, when he had fully conquered Persia and had installed himself as emperor, began to require proskinesis, the physical act of prostration at the feet of the king. His loyal Macedonian troops, however, nearly mutinied before he finally abandoned the practice because they felt proskinesis was such an act of obeisance that it should be reserved for "the gods" alone. While at this point we are simply looking at the Greek term, it gives us a clear physical picture of what it would be like to flatten ourselves on the ground at the feet of King Jesus, who is in fact worthy of such expression of honor and homage. Proskuneo and its derivatives carry the basic idea of physical prostration before the Mighty One, the King of Israel.

Thus it was that the magi from the East, having followed the star from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, came into the house where Jesus was (not at the manger, where He was born at least a month earlier), and they fell down and worshiped Him. Here they carried out, in the use of the word worship, the physical act of prostration before the King.

Similarly, in the book of Revelation of John the apostle, worship is used in the physical expressions describing the spiritual events which he saw "in the Spirit." One of the pictures is that of the twenty-four elders prostrating themselves "before Him who sits on the throne," and who "worship Him who lives forever and ever" (Revelation 4:9). And in another parallel usage of the physical prostration in Revelation, John still "in the Spirit" tries to worship the angel. "And when I heard and saw," John writes, "I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.’ " (Revelation 22:8,9).

God begins with the physical, and moves progressively to the spiritual. Hence the worship of the patriarchs was the basic meaning of proskuneo, the physical obeisance to God. "By faith," explained the author of Hebrews, "Jacob, as he was dying, blessed the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff" (Hebrews 11:21). Jacob, an old man, bowed before God as best he could, bracing himself with his staff; his worship was his physical prostration before God.

Under the Mosaic Law

With the giving of the Law of Moses at Sinai, the Father began the next step in upgrading the meaning of worship. But, before we examine this next phase in detail, let us consider the way God through the centuries worked with another important concept to impress upon the mind of man the importance of the spiritual over the physical.

Working with the idea of salvation, God began with the physical. Thus it was that salvation, or redemption, or deliverance was initially conceptualized as being victorious over or set free from an enemy. With Pharaoh’s chariots thundering down on a frightened Israel from the rear, and with the barrier of the Red Sea before, as Moses prepared to stretch forth his rod over the Sea and part the waters, he said to the nation, "Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13). The Lord caused confusion among the chariots; Israel was safely delivered to the other side; and the Egyptians were drowned in the Sea. Note that this was a physical deliverance, or salvation. Consequently, when Israel read of a Savior riding on a donkey’s colt in the prophecies of Zechariah, they expected a Deliverer who would free them from Roman oppression.

But it was not to be. The incarnation of God was indeed given the name Jesus, "Yahweh saves," but not because He was to deliver Israel from the hands of its physical enemies; He had a much greater salvation in mind. "It is He who will save His people from their sins," declared the angel to Joseph (Matthew 1:21). Hence it is that Christians are spoken of as the redeemed, the saved, or the delivered because they are spiritually set free from Satan’s snare. God began with the physical concept of salvation, and by working with Israel through the scripture, He eventually gave it a higher order, more spiritual meaning.

He used the same technique with worship. With the coming of the Law, worship was moved from the physical homage of Abraham’s day to the participation of the people in the festivities of the feast days, first at the tabernacle, and later at the temple in Jerusalem. "Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to me," said the Lord. ‘You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread ... Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest... also the Feast of Ingathering... Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God" (Exodus 23:15-17). This appearance of the people before the Lord, eventually at the temple in Jerusalem, was the worship of Israel in its next upgraded sense.

As the writings of the New Testament describe the activity of first century Jews, some significant points concerning Old Testament worship stand out. Jerusalem was the only place where this worship took place. At the last Passover for Jesus on earth, the apostle John records, "Now there were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast" (John 12:20). These were all going up to the temple in Jerusalem. Again, the Ethiopian eunuch "had come to Jerusalem to worship" (Acts 8:27). And Paul, speaking of himself from a Jewish perspective, describes how in coming to bring alms to his nation, to present offerings, and to be purified, "I went up to Jerusalem to worship" (Acts 24:11). Thus, in John 4, as Jesus discussed worship with the Samaritan woman, whose ancestors had worshiped for centuries at the false temple on Mt. Gerizim near Sychar, He explained, "You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22). In answering this way, the Lord verified a portion of her query: "You say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship" (John 4:20).

Jerusalem was the only place where the Jew could worship God from the time that He established it as the place where He made His name to dwell; furthermore that worship specifically took place in connection with the ceremonies at the temple. While each man of Israel could physically prostrate himself before the Lord any time in any place, the upgraded and more spiritual concept of worship was the singing of the Psalms of Ascent and participation in the activities of the temple on the feast days.

One other significant note: the assembling of the people in the synagogues on the Sabbath following the Babylonian captivity was not worship; worship took place only in the temple during feast weeks. Hence the New Testament writers never use the expression worship to describe the synagogue. The meeting is styled as for "the reading of the Law and the Prophets" (Acts 13:15).

Under the New Covenant

While the writings of the New Testament have little to say about worship, what is taught is of emphatically signal importance. Jesus Himself introduced the spiritual upgrading of worship from the participation of the people in feast week ceremonies at the temple in His discussion with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Her query, as previously alluded to, was in regard to the Samaritan practice of worshiping God at their false temple on Mt. Gerizim as contrasted to the Jewish claim that men ought to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. "Woman, believe Me," He said, "an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father" (John 4:21). What kind of worship would there be in the hour that "is coming," since it would neither be in Gerizim nor in Jerusalem? Would the location of worship simply change? Or would just the time change, or some combination of the two? Jesus answers with eternally important words: "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23,24).

Jesus here uses an expression occurring several times in John’s gospel account: "An hour is coming, and now is ..." This is His way of speaking of the onrushing new covenant, which was just about to sweep away the old. Looking beyond the cross to the church age, the Lord upgrades worship from its Mosaic covenant concept. No longer would worship occur at the temple "in Jerusalem;" worship would be "in spirit" and in "truth."

We need to pause here, and let the significance of these words "sink into our ears." What does the expression "in spirit and truth" mean? Perhaps we can best begin to illuminate this by asking, "When is a Christian not to be ‘in spirit’?" The answer is obvious that a son of God is to be "in spirit" at all times. Similarly, "When is a Christian not to be ‘in truth’?" Again the answer is obvious: those who are truly redeemed are to be "in truth" at all times.

Worship under the New Covenant has been driven inward, "in spirit." Those under Moses worshiped at the temple; the body of a Christian "is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you" (I Corinthians 6:19). Hence it is that the worshiper of God, "in spirit and truth," as one of the people of God, perpetually spiritually prostrates himself before the spiritual throne of God, in spiritual obeisance to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Serving God

Service of the Priests

Paralleling worship of God is service to God. Service is connected with the offering of sacrifices to God, and is described by the Greek word latreuo and its derivatives. Because worship and service are so inter-twined, commentators and occasionally translators confuse the two. But there is considerable distinction between them, and understanding the meaning of service is of major significance in trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

The writer of Hebrews, in describing the Old Testament tabernacle, to show the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over those descended from Aaron, offers this commentary: "Now when these things had been prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services" (Hebrews 9:6, NKJV). These services were the activities of the priests, not the people; the people could not enter the tabernacle, and were not permitted to present offerings to the Lord under the law of Moses. The writer of Hebrews continues, speaking of the Old Testament tabernacle and its replacement, the temple: "It was symbolic for the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience - concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation" (Hebrews 9:9,10, NKJV). The Old Testament priesthood was a physical priesthood, offering physical sacrifices at a physical house of God; they served God physically. And thus it was - from the firstlings of Abel’s flock, to the sacrifices of Noah after the Flood, to the offering of Isaac by Abraham, to the burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, grain offerings, and libations by the Aaronic priesthood - men served God by what was offered up at their physical altars.

In the Gentile world, the men of the nations were permitted to serve God by their offerings. But in Israel only the priest could offer sacrifice. In Israel, then, the people worshiped, while the priests served. Thus Israel collectively worshiped and served the Lord of hosts, while the Gentiles, in their descent into pagan idolatry, in parallel fashion "worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen" (Romans 1:25).

New Covenant Service

The short, but powerful, panorama exhibited in the death of Christ, His subsequent resurrection from the dead, and ascension to glory marked the transition from the physical to the spiritual. Of Christ, it was noted that "as a High Priest of the good things to come," He offered "His own blood" in the true tabernacle (Hebrews 9:11,12). The blood He offered, however, was not the physical, or natural, blood He shed on Calvary’s summit; nothing of this earth could be offered according to law by an earthly Jesus. "Now if He were on earth," intones the author of Hebrews, "He would not be a priest at all" (Hebrews 8:4). Jesus on earth was of the tribe of Judah, and not of the physical line of Aaron. He was, therefore, a spiritual priest by virtue of His resurrection and ascension, and He offered spiritual sprinkled blood in a spiritual holy of holies for a spiritual people.

The spiritual Israel (the church), in contrast to physical Israel, are all priests. "But you are a chosen race," writes Peter, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession" (I Peter 2:9). "You also," he instructs, "as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5). This spiritual priesthood serves God with spiritual sacrifices.

What then is the service to God from this spiritual priesthood? What sacrifices shall each offer to this holy God? "I beseech you therefore, brethren," pleaded Paul with the Roman brethren, "by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1, NKJV). The spiritual service of the spiritual priest is to offer his body as a living and holy sacrifice. And when should this body be offered? Or, if the reverse question offers clarification, when should the body not be offered as a living and holy sacrifice? The answer again is obvious: the body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, is to be offered to God - to serve God - all the time!

Worship and Service under the New Covenant

Clearing Away Confusion

Many a church building contains the written or implied exhortation: "Enter to worship; depart to serve." The implication is that when the individual comes to the "house of God," he comes in to worship, and he leaves to serve God. In other words, he worships God at specific times, and he serves God at all times. Thus there are "worship leaders," signs proclaiming "Worship - 11:00 am," and concepts such as "channels of public worship."

But all of this is foreign to the writings of the New Testament and much more in consonance with worship at the temple under Mosaic law Worship under the law was participation by the people in the festivities at set times in a set place. The priests led the festivities in presenting sundry ministrations to God, while the Levites played their instruments and led in song. It is easy to see the Catholic adaptation of Old Covenant style, in the adoption of a separate priesthood presenting ministrations, and calling the assembly area "the sanctuary." The carry over from Rome into Protestant and Restoration practices is also obvious.

But what says the scripture? New covenant worship is "in spirit." No longer is worship at a physical temple, a physical "house of God;" worship is the full time presentation of the spirit of the redeemed before the throne of grace. There is no external activity carried on by the Christian called worship; worship has been driven inward. Thus the congregation in the New Testament is recorded as assembling to break bread, not "to worship." Not once in the pages of the inspired writings of the New Testament will you ever find the church coming together to worship, or worshiping. All the teaching in the New Testament on the subject of Christian worship is found in the words of Jesus in John 4:20-24. And He said worship would no longer be at a physical time and a physical place; He said worship would be "in spirit and truth."

Under the Old Covenant, Israel was divided into people and priests. The people worshiped; the priests served. But under the New Covenant, all Christians are both priests and people, clergy and laity. Thus the Christian worships in spirit - internally; he serves God in his external actions as he offers his body a living sacrifice. Hence the child of God both worships and serves God at all times. He does not "enter to worship; depart to serve." He enters worshiping and serving and departs worshiping and serving.

Service flows from worship. In Old Testament times, even though the priestly offerings were done in accordance with the Law, the service was unacceptable if the hearts of the worshipers were not right, as illustrated in this long quotation from Isaiah: "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah. ‘What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed catt1e. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer; incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies - I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood’ " (Isaiah 1:10-15). The Lord never has been able to endure iniquity and the solemn assembly; when the people were merely externally going through the motions, the Almighty would not accept the offerings. Thus the principle of the new covenant is that the service offered to the Lord, whether it be the Lord’s Supper or working on the job Monday morning, is unacceptable if the person making the claim to godliness is not worshiping internally, in spirit and truth. Holiness does not consist of mere walking in "right" external patterns; holiness flows from within, from the inside of man. When the apostle Paul spoke of "following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us" (Philippians 3:17), he was speaking of those who have the inner man focused rightly, who were "the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3). The thrust of the scripture is not so much as to engage in "holy actions" as to "be holy," as the heavenly Father is holy! Holy action, true service to God, will automatically flow from one who is holy, who worships in spirit and truth.

Five "Channels Of Worship"?

The early men of the Restoration tried hard to get out of Babylon, but stumbled at the lip of the brim. In their desire to "restore the ancient order of things," they assumed worship under the New Covenant was similar to the Old, and looked for specific items or "channels of worship" in public assemblies of the saints. Finding somewhat superficial proof texts for their presumptions, they hastily retired from the field of inquiry, leaving their spiritual descendants in a state of confusion and division.

Let us consider, then, each of the five "acts of worship": praying, singing, giving, Bible teaching and/or preaching, and the Lord’s Supper. We will establish that each of these is external (though of course fueled by the internal), that each is a form of spiritual sacrifice, and that each therefore falls under the Biblical category entitled service:

Singing and praying - The book of Hebrews, in establishing the superiority of the spiritual nature of the new covenant over the physical nature of the old covenant, offers keys to our understanding. Having discussed the weakness and worthlessness of sacrifices offered by the Levitical priesthood from Moses onward, the writer then comments concerning our offerings through the spiritual High Priesthood of Jesus Christ: "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:15). Note that both singing and praying are fruit of the lips, and are called sacrifices. Sacrifices are the offerings of priests, and thus singing and praying fall into the category of service. Giving - While the New Testament never directly levies a tithe of spiritual Israel, it speaks of furthering the gospel through "sharing." For example, Paul exhorts the Galatian faithful, "And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches" (Galatians 6:6). And he commends the church in Philippi in similar terms: "And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs" (Philippians 4:15,16). Thus the writer of Hebrews again speaks: "And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Hebrews 13:16). This financial fellowship in the spread of the gospel and doing good, this physical outward action, is specifically designated a sacrifice, and therefore falls into the category of service. Bible teaching and/or preaching - The Old Testament tabernacle was but a copy and a foreshadow the true tabernacle, the church of the living God. As the word records of those in Christ, "We have ... a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man" (Hebrews 8:1,2). Similarly, the Old Testament priesthood was but a copy and a foreshadow of those who are truly priests, those in the church of the living God. The priests of the order of Aaron were a physical priesthood, offering weak physical sacrifices, and were prevented by death from continuing. But those of us who are immersed into Christ have "passed out of death into life" (John 5:24), and have, in Christ, become apart of the priesthood of the order of Melchizedek under the High Priesthood of Him who is alive forevermore. Hear the apostle comment on the relationship of the preaching of the gospel to sacrifices: He refers to himself as "a minister of the gospel, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:16). Note then that the preaching of the gospel ascends as smoke from the altar, presided over by a ministering spiritual priest, and that even those who become Christians as a result of teaching the word of God are part of the sacrificial offering. This ministration of the word of God is a physical action by the true priests of God, is called a sacrificial offering, and falls into the category of service. The Lord’s Supper - The Lord’s Supper, sacred and important, is the central feature of the assembly of the saints, calling them to do this in remembrance of Jesus. But because it is an external act, it also fits in with those things the New Testament describes as service, and the word of God appropriately teaches about the Supper in such terms. Writing to the church in Corinth about the dangers of idolatry and warning them not to fraternize with the pagans at their demonic idol temples, the apostle Paul injects the topic of the Lord’s Supper in I Corinthians 10:16-21. "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?" he asks. The meat and blood of the sacrificial offering are represented here. The apostle calls them away from competing sacrifices and emphasizes their oneness and uniqueness in Christ in these terms: "Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread." Drawing upon their knowledge of Old Testament practices, he further demonstrates their uniqueness in sharing in the sacrifice of Christ. "Look at the nation Israel," he writes. "Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?" Going even further, he draws upon Greek sacrifices at their altars to drive the point home. "What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons." The thrust of his teaching is that one who shares in the sacrifice at the altar is a sharer in the god to which the sacrifice is offered. He therefore appends this strident warning: "You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of the demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." If an individual is going to participate at the pagan altars with his relatives, then he is going to be a partaker of the pagan gods; if an individual is going to participate in the Lord’s table, then he is going to be a partaker of the God to whom the sacrifice of Jesus was offered. This passage of scripture clearly establishes that participation in the Lord’s Supper is a participation in a sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews hammers the point home: "We have an altar, from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat" (Hebrews 13:10). Participation in the Lord’s Supper is an external activity in which the individual shares in a sacrifice, and this falls into the category of service. There are no channels of public worship because worship is internal in the individual. The activities during the assembly of the saints are spiritual sacrifices, carried out through external action, and are means by which the saints individually and collectively serve the Lord.

Instrumental Music In Worship?

One of the basic truths of logic (and God communicates to us using words as conveyers of logical thought processes, as He said through His servant Isaiah: "Come now, and let us reason together" - Isaiah 1:18) is that if you begin with a false premise, and reason correctly from that false premise, you are guaranteed to arrive at a false conclusion. It is critical, then, in the examination of any question, to check the initial premise in the reasoning process. Now, over the last century and a quarter there have been many debates about the propriety of instrumental music in the "worship assemblies" of the saints. The issue has never been really resolved (although victories have been claimed by both sides) because both the instrumental and non-instrumental brethren have been reasoning from the same false premise. In the question, "Is instrumental music acceptable to God in worship?" the key is not focusing on the instrumental music part of the question; the key is to focus on the New Testament definition of worship. Once worship is defined, then the question about instrumental music can be asked. But both instrumentalists and non- instrumentalists have basically blithely assumed New Covenant worship to be quite similar to Old Covenant worship, and have argued correctly or incorrectly from sundry false connected premises.

But having shown that worship is internal, and continually ongoing, we have rendered the question of instrumental music in worship moot. It is not a question of whether God accepts vocal music only as worship; vocal music is not worship; it is service to God, one of the spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.

Is instrumental music acceptable to God as service? Can a Christian play a musical instrument and still be acceptable to God? When it is recognized that the child of faith offers his body as a living and holy sacrifice to God, it is also recognized that this offering is not an on-again-off-again presentation. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and is to be continually holy, with the parts of the body serving as instruments of righteousness. "For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness," wrote Paul to his brethren in Rome, "so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification" (Romans 6:19). The one who has been added to the family of God is to be holy and righteous at all times, as his heavenly Father is holy. If the Christian can serve God by playing a piano at a classical concert, then he can serve God by playing a rendition of "The Old Rugged Cross" on that same piano. They are both equally offered up as service to God; and it is impossible to make a scriptural distinction. If one is acceptable, then both are acceptable; if one is unacceptable, then both are unacceptable as service to God.

"But," someone may object, "you do not have any scriptural authority for adding instrumental music to the worship of God." You have missed the point; neither instrumental music nor non-instrumental music is worship of God under the new covenant. Worship is the ongoing, full- time prostration of the inner man, who never sleeps, before Him who is the image of the invisible God, Christ the Lord in glory. And that, my brother, is the worship which must not be added to nor taken away from! "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Is instrumental music acceptable service to God? There are those who try to argue (from the aforesaid false worship premise) about the unacceptability of instrumental music "in worship" by charging that the Greek word psallo (the verb form from which psalms comes) shifted its meaning by New Testament times to mean "sing only" without the accompaniment of a harp, for example. That argument breaks down at Ephesians 5:19, where, to be filled with the Spirit, Christians are exhorted to speak "to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing (Greek adontes) and making melody (Greek psallontes) with your heart to the Lord." The thrust of the passage is to sing and play (make melody) with your whole being to the Lord (which is what being filled with the Spirit is all about). But, up to this point, our arguers have maintained that psallo and its derivatives mean only to sing. But it would not make sense to "sing and sing with your heart to the Lord." So our creative arguers have tried to say that here psallontes does mean to play, but that the instrument played is the heart. But if psallontes means to play here, then its meaning did not shift to mean "sing only" at the time of the New Testament. Psallo and its derivatives mean just what you might expect they mean; they mean "to sing with accompaniment."

The real question here is not whether something that is neutral like instruments are involved. The real question here is what kind of music is involved. "To the pure," writes Paul, "all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled" (Titus 1:15). The emphasis of the word of God is on "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." The pure will fill their minds and their lives with that kind of music; the impure will use the justification that they are "not worshiping" to bring "country and western," "rock," and who knows what sort of anti-God music into their spiritual environment, with the resultant destruction to their souls.

Let us understand the meaning of serving God with a body that is a living and holy sacrifice, that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sabbath Day Worship Or Lord’s Day Worship?

One common question is whether or not a Christian is to worship on the first day of the week, or whether he is to worship on the Sabbath. The Jews, it is said, worshiped on the Sabbath in the synagogues, and Jesus and Paul honored that worship by themselves worshiping in the synagogues on the Sabbath. Therefore we should worship on the Sabbath.

There are two logical hooks in the above propositions, either of which will snag the unsuspecting and draw them into the realm of destruction. The first error is that the Jews did not "worship" on the Sabbath. They assembled on the Sabbath in the synagogues for the reading of the law and the prophets. They worshiped at the temple in Jerusalem on feast days. The second error is that Christians do not "worship" on either a Saturday or a first day of the week; Christians worship internally at all times in spirit and truth.

The language of the New Testament writings establishes that the Jews assembled on the Sabbath; in fact that is the reason the assembly place of the Jews was called the synagogue, from a Greek word meaning assembly. In Acts 16, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Luke and others in the company at Philippi "sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled" (Acts 16:13). Earlier, in Antioch of Pisidia, after the first preaching of the word in the synagogue, "nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God" (Acts 13:44). There is not one reference to the Jews "worshiping on the Sabbath;" when the Jews and others came together for prayer and/or the reading of the word of God, they assembled.

The language of the New Testament writings establishes that the Christians assembled on the first day of the week. In fact a congregation was called the ekklesia, from a Greek word meaning assembly. In Acts 20, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Luke and others in the company at Troas met "on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together [assembled] to break bread" (Acts 20:7). Brethren are strongly encouraged against "forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some" (Hebrews 10:25). "When you come together as a church [assembly]," Paul excoriated the Corinthian brothers, "I hear that divisions exist among you" (I Corinthians 11:18). And James similarly disciplines the faithful for playing favorites when "a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes" (James 2:2). There is not one reference to Christians "worshiping" on the first day of the week; when the brethren came together for the apostles’ doctrine, for fellowship, for prayer, and the breaking of bread, they assembled. The Gentile, convicted of his sins through the preaching of the word, might "fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you" (I Corinthians 14:25), but he is still a non-Christian, and he is engaged in the direct physical act of prostration before God.

The Christians assembled, or gathered together on the first day of the week. Let us bring our terminology in line with the word of God. False terminology leads to false doctrine.

Sacred And Secular, Holy And Profane

To The Root Of The Problem

God, in keeping with His dictum of first the natural, then the spiritual, declared certain animals, for example, clean and certain animals unclean under the old covenant. Thus the Aaronic priests were to "make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean" (Leviticus 10:10). The life of an Old Testament Israelite was split into that which was sacred, and that which was secular. There were, then, vessels for use in the sanctuary which were holy and for use only by the priests in their temple service, as contrasted to those which were for common, or profane, use in every day activity. And the Sabbath day was to be kept holy, as contrasted to the other six common days.

Jesus Himself began to introduce the concepts of the new covenant during the days of His flesh. In giving the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the gospel according to Matthew, He would often quote from the Law, but taking the external prohibition, He would drive it inward. "You have heard," He would say, "that the ancients were told, ‘you shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court…" (Matthew 5:21,22). The external prohibition was murder; Jesus, in dealing with anger and rage, drove inward to the heart.

Later in Jesus’ earthly life, He had an encounter with some Pharisees and scribes who were carping at Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands ceremonially before eating. These men were concerned that "the cup" be externally clean; that those who looked on the outward appearance be satisfied that the rigors of ceremonial law were observed. Our Lord unflinchingly called these play actors hypocrites, and went on to deal with the root of the problem. "Do you not understand," He asked, "that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" The gospel writer, Mark, then parenthetically injects this poignant remark: "Thus He declared all foods clean."

Neither food nor leprosy nor touching a dead body makes a man or woman unclean. Those were mere physical figures the All Wise was using so that men could eventually understand the dreadful separating effects of sin, and the cleansing power of loving reconciliation. "That which proceeds out of the man," emphasized the Lord, "that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man" (Mark 7:18-23). Cleanliness or uncleanliness, holiness or unholiness are internal, heart problems, not external physical problems. "This people," the Savior quoted Isaiah, "honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship [with appropriate fear and reverence, to honor the Lord] Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men" (Mark 7:6,7).

New covenant cleanliness and holiness is going to be produced by a system that deals with the heart of man. Faith in Christ is going to produce a people who indeed love the Lord their God with all their heart, and who can fulfill the requirement of the Law by walking according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. The gospel is going to produce a people for whom everything is holy, for whom there is no sacred-secular split life, for whom every thought is taken captive in obedience, and for whom whatever is done in word or deed is done by the authority of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father.

Needing A New Heart

Jeremiah the prophet rightly commented that "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). God in His wisdom does not try to change this deceitful heart; He simply yanks it out and replaces it with a new one. "More-over," prophesied Ezekiel, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). The apostle Paul, using more urbane language than this author, speaks thusly about the process: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God" (Romans 2:28,29).

How is this process of "circumcising the heart" carried out? Using a slightly different metaphor to describe the elimination of the carnal nature, the elimination of the evil heart which defiles the man, Paul writes: "In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in immersion, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead" (Colossians 2:11,12). Immersion is not a physical act in which the individual demonstrates that God has "saved him;" immersion is the point at which the Almighty gives him the new heart in which Jesus can be sanctified as Lord! Immersion is the point at which the Holy Spirit is given as an indwelling gift, and who accomplishes the circumcision of the heart! Peter describes this new beginning in these words: "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart" (I Peter 1:22). This new heart can love with the love of Christ, without selfish motive or need for personal gain.

Worshiping God

The cleansing process begins from within, from the creation by God of a new heart. The children of God, in being born from above, "have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him" (Colossians 3:10). This new self, in the image of the glorified Christ, is capable of the full- time spiritual prostration before the throne of grace. This new self, in the continual presence of the Holy One of Israel, is continually holy, as He Himself is holy. This new self, created in the righteousness and holiness of the truth, brings its holiness with it into all places at all times, and because it is pure, for it all things are pure.

Worship of God is the entire purpose of God’s working with man. It is His desire to produce a people who can and will worship Him continually before His throne. Satan has endeavored at every step to destroy this concept, confusing men’s minds with all sorts of trickery and deceptive reasoning. Because both instrumentals and non- instrumentals did not go back and let the scripture define worship, the devil has been able to misdirect and destroy much good work.

Sincere non-instrumentals, in an effort to be consistent, have been driven to an Old Testament sort of concept about worship, and have in general split their lives into times when they are "worshiping" and times when they are not "worshiping." When they are "worshiping," sacred songs sung a capella only are acceptable. When they are not "worshiping," secular songs may be sung with any sort of accompaniment. Because every word represents a concept which governs a person’s life, this piece of deceitful trickery on Satan’s part concerning worship has caused many to split their lives into secular and sacred, and produces a slavery to hypocrisy which tragically impacts the eternity of each soul trapped in this black quagmire.

Sincere instrumentals - because it does not make sense that "Crocodile Rock," with instrumental accompaniment, could be sung or listened to by a Christian, but a stringed instrumental version of "The Old Rugged Cross" would not be acceptable - are caught on the other horn of the dilemma concerning worship. In order to get to a conclusion which makes sense to them, they tend to overthrow the scripture and become somewhat lawless. They have the general sense that a Christian should worship God at all times, but because they do not check the New Testament definition of worship, they do not know how to honestly arrive at that conclusion. This piece of deception on Satan’s part has destroyed thousands of souls, and tragically sends many down the road of licentiousness instead of liberty.

The words of Jesus need to be firmly impressed on our minds, so that we experience the full truth and significance of His exhortation and warning: "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23,24).

Exhortation

Sometimes, when an individual faces the spiritual concept of worship as simply stated by our Lord, he balks at the idea of worshiping at all times. Generally the thought is expressed that it is impossible. But I submit that our Lord Himself prepared for the new covenant by being in constant fellowship and therefore, for our example, in constant worship of the Father. "The Son can do nothing of Himself," He said, "unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner"(John 5:19). He lived a life of constant prayer, constant communication, with the One before whom He poured out His Spirit with loud crying and tears, and who was heard because of His piety. In preparation for raising Lazarus from the dead, He declared, "Father, I thank You that You heard Me. And I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they may believe that You sent Me" (John 11:41,42).

The question then arises, "Because Jesus could worship God at all times, does it mean we can do it also?" We never could be the kind of people God wants us to be operating under our own power. But in being born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we are new creatures, created in the image of the Lord of glory, and the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. By being strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, we can in fact do all things through Him who strengthens us. We can be imitators of Paul, as he was also an imitator of Christ. We can be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. We can be holy, as He is holy. We can, through the strength and discipline He provides, spiritually prostrate ourselves constantly before the throne of grace, and walk as He Himself also walked. "For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us" (II Corinthians 1:20).

Let us lay aside, then, brethren, every encumbrance, every excuse, every negative "you can’t do it" thought, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance this race that is set before us. Let us indeed fix our eyes upon Jesus in glory, drawn with Him spiritually to the throne, and let us worship Him with these fixed eyes in spirit and truth.

Summary

The Father’s eternal purpose is to produce a spiritual people who can worship Him eternally in spirit and truth. God uses the principle "first the natural, then the spiritual" to move men from an emphasis on the physical realm to desiring the spiritual realm. The word generally used for worship, proskuneo, at its basic level, means to prostrate oneself before a ruler. Thus worship in the days of Abraham and the other patriarchs consisted of physical homage before God. Working with the physical nation Israel, God upgraded worship, making it more spiritual and less physical. Worship under the Old Covenant was the participation of the people in the festivities at the temple in Jerusalem during feast days. Worship under the New Covenant is no longer participation in festivities at a set time and set place. Worship has been driven inward, and is the full time prostration of the spirit of the Christian before the spiritual throne of God. Service has to do with the offering of sacrifices by priests to the Lord. Thus, in Old Covenant Israel, the priests served the Lord by their various offerings at approved altars. Under the New Covenant, every Christian is a priest, and offers his body as a full time living sacrifice to God as his service. Under the Old Covenant, the people worshiped while the priests served. Under the New Covenant, each Christian is both "people" and "priest"; he worships full time internally while he serves God full time externally. The so-called "channels of public worship" actually fit the scriptural category of service to God, not worship, and are spiritual sacrifices carried out by the external man. Neither instrumental music nor a capella music is worship of God; music is a spiritual sacrifice, and fits the scriptural category of service under the terms of the New Covenant. Instrumental music and a capella music are both acceptable service to God, provided that the inner man is worshiping in spirit and truth, and that what is being offered can be presented to God with a pure heart. There is no such thing in scripture as "Sabbath Day worship" for the Jews, or "Lord’s Day worship" for first century Christians. The Jews assembled for prayer in the absence of a synagogue, or at the synagogue for the reading of the law and the prophets. Christians gathered together on the first day of the week to break bread and to encourage one another to love and good deeds. It is the inner man, or the heart of man, from which spring evil thoughts, adulteries, slanders, envyings, foolishness, etc. In immersion into Christ, God eliminates the old, deceitful heart of man, crucifying the body of sin, and gives the new creature a new heart, capable of carrying out the holy will of God. This new self, with a new heart, can worship God at all times, as Jesus demonstrated in His relationship with the Father. For this new heart, there is no secular-sacred split life; all is sacred, or holy, to the Lord. The failure of non-instrumentals to understand worship has generally sent them down the road of law rather than liberty, and developed within them the split life of times when they are worshiping" and times when they are not; times when they are sacred, and times when they are secular. The failure of instrumentals to understand worship, and in trying to reach what they consider a correct conclusion beginning from a false premise, has generally led them to overthrow the scripture, and has caused many to be sent down the road of licentiousness and lawlessness rather than liberty. God is seeking only those who will worship Him in spirit and truth.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001

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This is from Jay's book I was telling you about.

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

Wow, did you type that in for me?

The author made some interesting points. One thing that I thought of when I read it is that Jesus offered a sacrifice in the real temple in the heavenlies. The one on the earth was is some kind of copy according to Hebrews.

>>> As the writings of the New Testament describe the activity of first century Jews, some significant points concerning Old Testament worship stand out. Jerusalem was the only place where this worship took place. <<<

Does the Bible teach that. David said that he would worship _toward_ the temple. I thinkt he author would do better to translate John 4 as saying that he that BOWS DOWN to the Father must BOW DOWN in spirit and in truth. Instead, he tries to redefine BOW DOWN (worship) as something done interneally.

A problem arises in that if one readds the New Testament, and plugs in this man's definition of bow down, it doesn't work in many contexts. The reason he can redefine 'proskuneo' as he does is because it is translated obscurely as 'worship' rather than 'prostrate' or 'bow down.'

If he were to write that now bowing down has become an internal process rather than something expressed physically, it wouldn't make as much sense. But since 'worship' doesn't mean the same thing as proskuneo (glossed 'prostrate') then he is able to redefine the word. I don't think he is aware of this.

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

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I do not follow you totally. But as I understand in John 4:24 God is making it clear that those who worship the Father, MUST DO IT IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Now if we worship in "spirit" then how can it be physical? As I understand it, everything physical is service. NO physical act can be considered worship according to John as I understand it. After Pentecost all the physical actions in the old testament are thrust inward. Since we as Christians should always be in spirit and always be in truth then therefore worship is 24/7. We assemble to break bread, exhort, edify, encourage. But as you have seen in the bible we are never told to assemble to worship and there is no such thing as "acts of worship" nor is there any such thing in the bible as " the five channels of worship". As for the author not knowing the point in which you made I encourage correspondence with him, as he is much more capable of helping in this subject than I. I am sure he would explain or discuss any questions you might have. If you contact him let me know as well so that I might follow what is said to learn what I can. wilsonj@mcn.net And this is not to say that I will not continue to discuss this with you, only that he has much more experience in this sooo controversial subject than I. By the way I did not type all that for you, I did copy and paste it though. Gotta love the technology at the disposal of God's people!:-)

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001

What I'm saying is that 'worship; is an abastract word in English. 'Proskuneo' seems to be a concrete word in Greek. 'proskuneo' refers to the physcial act of bowing down. 'Worship' can refer to external actions or something done internally- I'm just talking about how it is commonly used. 'Worship' is related to the diea of 'worth' or ;worthy.' Have you ever heard or read of people centuries ago calling a man 'your worship.' Well, that sounds awful to us, since now, 'worship' is a word full of religious connotations.

What I'm saying is that I think 'worship' is a bad word to use to translate 'proskuneo.' Perhaps it should be translated as 'bow down' or 'prostrate.' Remember I'm no Greek scholar, but I'm coming at this from the angle of someone who has studied linguistics.

If 'proskuneo' actually means 'bow down' then debating over what we call 'worship' makes little sense. In fact, the KJV translates words other than 'proskuneo' as worship- or at least one other word inthe NT, if I recall correctly, but proskuneo is the word most-often translated as 'worship' in the KJV.

If 'worship' is a bad translation of proskuneo, and 'prostrate' is more accurate, then perhaps we should read Christ's words in John to say 'He that prostrates to the Father must prostrate in Spirit and in truth.'

pretend, for a momen, that 'worship' wer eenver used in translatiosn ofthis verse, and 'prostrate' had always been used.

Now suppose an author wrote a book arguing that prostrate now in the church should only be done internally, and tried to say that various references to prostration in the New Testametn referred, not ot literal prostration, but rather to spiritual, internal prostration.

The retired Greek professor who sent out an email about proskuneo to his list (from whence I learned about this) asked a question: If one prays in the Spirit, does that mean there is no external manfestation?

His bpoint seemed to be that it was approipriate to externally manifest prostration as well.

Whatever the case, we need to keep in mind that concrete words can be used in metaphorical ways. I get the idea from reading the New Testament that prostration (worship) means not only physical prostration but has other connoations attached to it- such as loyalty to a deity. In Hebrew or Greek, I could imagine that one person might ask an another 'To whom do you prostrate?' as a way of asking what deity another worshipped. The Jews and Christians, of course, bowed down to God.

I suppose one could interpret Jesus' statement to mean that prostration is refering to an internal, allegorical prostration. Another might interpret the passage to be something akin to praying in the Spirit. Our prostration must be done 'in the Spirit' just as our praying must be done 'in the Spirit.' But that doesn't preclude external manifestation.

Btw, I've heard that Pythagoras, 300 years before, said that God is a Spirit and they that bow down to Him must bow down to Him in spirit and in righteous living.

I suspect John's use of 'in the Spirit on the day of the Lord' refers to his being caught up in the Spirit, in a vision, ecstasy, or something along those lines.

Since 'worship' in the KJV doesn't even mean 'worship' but rather refers to a concrete act of prostration (with, perhaps a connotative or secondary meaning of experission of allegience as to deity), then the author's condemntation of using the term 'acts of worship' doesn't hold much weight.

Acts of 'service' could be referred to as 'worship' in English. The concept 'worship' in English seems to be far removed from the meaning of 'proskuneo.' A problem arises, however, when people try to apply verses about proskuneo to their 'worship.'

In the mind of a native speaker of English, 'worship' does not mean the same thing as 'proskuneo' as I understand it.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2001

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I am going to get back to you, I have not had the time to sit and answer in length. Plus you brought up a good point and it deserves some looking into.

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2001

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Thank you for your patience, I have been quite busy plus I had some questions concerning your answers. I need to ask you a question. In your references to the "spirit" you capitalized them indicating a part of the Godhead, yet I do not get that from the verses you are quoting. Could you clarify those in which you capitalized and if you meant to capitalize them I was sorta wondering what justifies the capitalization. John 4:23-24 in my Greek references for "spirit" seem to indicate that this is not the Holy Spirit for any of the three times the word spirit is used in those verses.n Please correct me if that is not true. I can send you the references.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001

from what I understand, since Greek wasn't marked for capitals or small letters, whether or not to translate the word 'Spirit' or 'spirit' is up to the Greek translators. I guess I could see a good case for 'spirit' as opposed to 'Spirit' in this verse.

I odn't know if there is a definite article 'the' to clarify in such situations, but I doubt it.

Let's think of some other 'in (the) Spirit' phrases which could be compared with this passage. Paul wrote of praying in the S/spirit. Should that be capitalized? Jude wrote of praying in the Holy Ghost. John was in the S/spirit on the day of the Lord. Should that be capitalized?

If praying in the Spirit is praying under the influence ofthe Holy Ghost, is worshipping in the Spirit bowing down under the influence of the Holy Ghost? I see how this difference of capitalization could make a difference. The passage doesn't use a pronoun and say he will worship with _his_ spirit. Also, before making this statement, Jesus had told the woman about the living water(didn't that also mean flowing water?) He would give. Another reference to water flowing out of the belly is a reference to the Spirit. The passage uses a water metaphor, which appears to refer to the Spirit before CHrist makes this statement about worshipping in Spirit and in truth.

Anyway, the captial S was not something I meant to focus on in my previous message. I don't remember if I even gave much thought when I capitalized it.

God bless you, Link

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

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I was wrong, the Greek does not indicate the difference between essence, or part of the Godhead. From what I was looking at in my Greek stuff it seemed to me that this was the case, and when I asked I found out what I had typed was wrong.... too late! But the context Will determine whether essence or other. The reason I addressed this is because there seems to be a pretty big difference between "spirit" and "Spirit".

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

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Then if I am to worship in "spirit" not capitalized there would be no physical manifestation of worship because God is "spirit" again not capitalized. I am going from memory here but does it not say " those who worship the Father MUST worship in spirit and truth"?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Of course the emphasis is mine on "MUST".

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

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Hello..... Are you busy Link? I haven't heard from you.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001

Sorry for the delay. I miswrote the verse. It should be shall worship rather than must worship, like you pointed out.

Btw, what do you think of some of the innovations in meetings that I mentioned above- the one-man sermon, the way the celebration of the Lord's supper has been modified, etc?

I know one CC missionary here in Indonesia who has come to realize that the one-man sermon tradition in church is not what scripture teaches. I think what opened this up for him was seeing that, in Acts 20:7, Paul held a discussion with the people that had gathered, rather than preaching a sermon. Their problem is getting people to a point where they ahve something good to say in a meeting.

I think getting people to that point shows a measure of success in discipleship. Paul told Timothy to teach what had been committed to him to faithful men, so that they might be able to teach others also. Teachers reproduxcing their ministry...that's how teachins were passed on in the early church.

What do you think

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001

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My interest was in the topic originally proposed. Worship has not been properly understood by most on either side. One side saying that it is OK to use instruments in worship and the other side saying that it is not permissible to use instruments in worship. Both, sadly and respectfully I report are as best I can see wrong. And you pointed out some of the scriptures that do not seem to mess properly with either side and I thought you were close and was hoping to offer what I knew about it. We must worship the way God commands or we are simply not doing what God commands. And ignorance does not cover mistakes.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2001

Mark, If Christians obey and worship in spirit and in truth, then does misusing the word 'worship' make their worship unacceptable?

Btw, I think this is more of an issue of 'worship' being mistranslated. Maybe we should stick with the popular usage of worship, and retranslate proskuneo and the Hebrew near equivilent to 'bow down' or 'prostrate.'

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2001

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You are exactly right about the word Proskuneo, athough this must be done in spirit and truth. In other words we should be prostrated in spirit and truth. We should be bowing ing spirit and truth. And if we are always in both then worship is 24/7. An attempt is always made to blunt the thrust of that and to keep men focused on the physical. And to be sure I am understanding you properly, could you define proskuneo as best you can.

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2001