What Does the Bible Say About Why Am I A Member of the Church of Christ #6?

In this episode, we continue to look in the Bible to find out what it says about why I am a member of the Church of Christ. We have discussed who built it and is its foundation, what it should be called, how a person gets into the church, and where and when it was established. We noted the scriptures that are recorded in God's word that answered all of these questions. We noted that Jesus said His words would never pass away and consequently we still have those words that guide us today. We also talked about what Jesus said about those words being the standard of judgment on the last day. One of the first subjects that we look at is what the church did in worship. The Bible tells us about how the Christians in the first century worshipped. We note that it was the inspired apostles that guided them to worship on the first day of the week. One of the specified activities was to remember the Lord's death which is called the Lord's Supper or Communion. We look at several passages that record what was done and what it meant. There was also a collection that Paul gave order to be taken up on the first day of the week for the saints. We find that singing was a part of New Testament worship also and we note several passages that Paul wrote. We discuss the fact that no instruments of music are mentioned in any of the passages. We talk about the warning the Lord provided about adding to His words or taking away from them. We will continue this discussion in the next episode by noting when instruments of music were added to various worship assemblies. Take about 30-minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript of this Buzzsprout episode provided for your convenience.                                 

Transcript

Fred Gosnell: 0:00

This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ, meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com or to Glenn Landrum at scbamaboy2003@yahoo.com or to Eric McClam at ericmcclam50@outlook.com or to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net.

Arnie: 0:55

Good afternoon. This is what does the Bible say. And our little program is brought to you by the church of Christ at Woodland here in Sumter, South Carolina. We certainly would excuse me, we certainly would invite you to come and and worship with us, and also come for Bible study. I think there you find it informative, informative and and strengthening in in your faith and understanding of God's will. With me is Fred Gosnell and Glenn Landrum and and Eric is with us as well, again today, and we've been talking a little bit about some new testament matters and and being a Christian and and a member of the Body of of Christ. So Glenn, tell us where we're going to pick up in our study today.

Glenn: 2:01

You know, we've been for several weeks now speaking of why I am a member of the Church of Christ. And of course, that's that's us asking the anbd answering the question ourselves about why we are members of the Church of Christ. And earlier, we mentioned that with many, many people belong to a lot of different groups that call themselves Christians. We should be able to say why we are members of whatever group it is that we we're members of. We are giving you Bible answers as to why we are members of the Church of Christ. We talked about what the church is, who built it, who the foundation of it is, what it should be called, and how a person gets into the church, where and when it was established. In talking about how one gets into the church, we also saw how a person becomes saved, or what a person needs to do in order to be saved. By looking at scriptures in the Bible, we saw that a person needs to hear God's word, particularly the gospel, or the good news of Christ, that we define what that is, the person needs to believe what they heard that Jesus died for their sins, was dead, was buried, and that he rose again to life on the third day. The person needs to repent of their sins that they've been doing. They need to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and they need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. At that point when they were baptized, their sins were washed away and they were added to the church by the Lord. We saw actual scripture that supports each and every one of those things. Therefore we cannot refute them on a biblical basis. They are true because they are written in God's word, and we are obligated to obey or follow those words.

Fred Gosnell: 4:13

Well, of course, one of the things that Jesus said in Luke 21 verse 33 he said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will, by no means pass away. So we have what Jesus said. We have have His requirements in our our Bibles. Of course, we need to understand this completely. Sometimes we hear it said today, Well, you know God's Word, the Bible, it's it was written several 1000 years ago. And of course, we do things differently today. Much of it doesn't apply to our society today. Of course, what one thing that Jesus was saying that his word will last until the time is no more, and just because our standards in in society change and does not mean the word of God needs to, be changed, or that it does change. Of course, it tells us not to add to it or take away from it in several places. So it's good for us throughout all ages, and we do not have the right or the authority to change it. And one of the things that Jesus said to those people that he was talking to in John Five, Verse 46 he said, For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me, but if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My word? So Jesus points to the Old Testament and some of the things that Moses said as talking about him. And of course, he's he was speaking to Jewish people, and many of these people were there, Jewish leaders, and they supposedly knew the Old Testament. And of course, the problem was, as Jesus pointed out, he says, If you believe Moses, and the problem was that they didn't believe some of the things Moses said, and so consequently, they didn't believe what Jesus had to say.

Eric: 6:01

You know, Jesus was speaking to the people in the temple in Jerusalem, probably the Pharisees, when he made the statement. It applies to us just like it did to them. Jesus is saying to them that they had not believed what Moses wrote, therefore they would not believe him. Moses was an inspired man whom God spoke directly, therefore he spoke with the words of God. Jesus, being God in the flesh, is obviously speaking God's Word. We are obligated, by Christians or by Christ, to LISTEN to Him and obey His Word. There is a very simple passage that says in John 14, verse 15, one of my favorite passages, Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. Also in John chapter 12, verses 48 to 50, Jesus said, He who rejects Me and does not receive my word which that, that which judges him, the word that I spoken would judge him in the last day. For have not spoken of my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know his commandment is everlasting. Therefore whatever I speak, just asked the father, as he told me, so I speak, it will be the words of Christ, the Bible, the Old Testament and New Testament that judges His Word is the standard. When we if we go to the trial for suspected criminal offense, we will be tried against the standard or rule of law of the land. The judges before God, it will be his word by which we are judged, not some words that people have spoken or ideas that people have their own interpretations or meaning. That being the case, it is the utmost important that we learn and know God's Word. We should not be relying on someone else's, even a preacher or priest, to tell us what the Word says. So, in other words, we need to do our own homework as far as reading and understanding and studying what God word says. We need, we do not need preachers to present God's word to us to help us to see areas that we need to study on. But as we grow in Christ, we should learn and know what God's Word says and teaches. God's word is forever, and he is the same today as he was ages ago, and he will be the same in the future.

Arnie: 8:39

Those are some good thoughts. Let's, let's talk about what the church does when we worship. You know, how do we how do we worship? We've mentioned denominations a number of times and and it's time to do so again. If, if we were to go to worship assemblies of four different denominations. For example, we would probably see four different ways of worshiping God. There may be some similarities between each of these denominations, but there will will be some differences as well, and very often, the differences are very distinct. Does the Bible tell us what we should do in our worship assemblies? Well, the answer to that question is yes, it definitely does, and because it does, we are obligated to do those things and and do them the way that they're mentioned in in the Scriptures. There are six things that we find mentioned in the New Testament that we are to do when we worship. If we remember these passages and and passages that we meet that we mentioned previously, we've realized that they're they're about adding to and and taking away from God's word Revelation. Chapter twenty two is, is one of those places and and verses 18 and 19 refer to that. Deuteronomy four is another one from the from the Old Testament as as well. I recommend that you that you read those. We won't read them right now. But we need to accomplish all the things that we find in the scriptures. The New Testament is what we're referring to in our worship. We don't worship after the Old Testament. We don't have we don't have the the temple, or any of the things that that they had in ancient Israel that were a part of their their worship. And Jesus has told us, and the apostles have told us, in the New Testament, the things we are to do and how they are to be done. And we'll discuss that as we go along here in the next several minutes. So so think about this. In in the first century, the apostles and those who were being guided by the Holy Spirit were still around, therefore they were able to help out with ensuring that everyone had the correct word. There wasn't anybody that had had false statements or mistakes or anything of that, that sort because there were disciples there that had been given the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, and and were able to speak as God gave them, gave them utterance. And so what they had to say was absolutely dependable there. So they were, they were able to help out with ensuring that everybody had what they needed to have in God's word. And at that time, they didn't have the completed work of the Bible that we have today. We've got 27 verses, for example, or 27 chapters in in the New Testament, they did. Those were coming one at a time over a period of years, actually. So what what what did they do? How did they know what they were supposed to do? We have God's words in the Bible, but, but they had the apostles, and they had other inspired individuals, and that's how they knew what they were to do and how they were to to do that. We don't need that today. We don't have that because we have the entire Bible, the Word of God. So we have God's words in the Bible, his very words in the Bible. And so the apostles, of course, have passed away, and we're not lost without them, because they've left God's word for us in in between the the covers of God's of the Word of God. And and we're going to discuss now the things that we find in the New Testament and things that they the church did in in its worship Glenn. Can I pass that on to you.

Glenn: 13:40

Well, first we need to start with something that's related but, but it's not something they actually did in the first century, church in worship. When did the church come together to worship God? And we need to pay attention to that. We need to know. Acts 20, verse seven, says, Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. A very simple passage, but it identifies is when the disciples came together and what they came together for. It mentions something else they did while they came together. It mentions that they came together on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Now you probably remember that the Jews had kept the Sabbath, which was Saturday. Another study might be needed to show that the Sabbath was no longer in effect for Christians. The Sabbath was a was for the Jews, under God's older law. Christians come together on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. The passage we just read tells the main reason for the they came together, and that was to break bread. This is reference to the Lord's Supper, which Jesus had instituted shortly before His death. We find Paul's account of the Lord's Supper should be administered in the first Corinthians. 11, 23, through 26 and we will discuss that a little more in a few moments. We have another passage that indicates when Christians came together to worship, and that is in First Corinthians, 16, one and two. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. Now, Paul had mentioned that they needed to do something when they came together on the first day of the week. It had already been established that the church would assemble on the first day of the week, Sunday. Paul told them to take up a collection or lay something aside on the Lord's day when they came together. We know from the writings of historians of the first few centuries, that Sunday is the day that Christians did meet for worship. It is well known. So without creating a list, thus far, we have identified two things the church in the first century did during their worship, lay by in store or contribute of their means and partaking of the Lord's Supper to remember Christ and what He did for us. There was one other thing we saw in Acts 20 verse seven, that the church did when they met. Paul preached to them. So we will lay out each thing that the church did and should still do in worship. When we do this, keep in mind the idea of adding to or taking away and we've mentioned that a number of times, and it's a very important passage for us to understand, that we are not to add to God's Word or take away from it. The things we list will be the things that should be done in and anything we don't list is not authorized by God, therefore we should not do them.

Fred Gosnell: 17:07

And one, one quick thing, when you go back and read Acts 20, verse seven, in the context there, one of the things that happened there was, there was a young man that that they were in the third story of a building, and there was a young man that was sitting in the window up there, and he fell asleep, and he fell out of the window, fell down and hit the ground and was killed. But Paul went down and brought him back to life, miraculous. So one of the things that that did was that confirmed that on the first day of the week was confirmed by miracle, was when the disciples came together to have the Lord suffer to break bread. And then, of course, we know, as Glenn pointed out, that they also took up a collection on that first day of the week. And so many of the things that were done in the first century by the apostles were confirmed by miracles and and that's why we know that these are things that that we are to do wasn't their opinion. They didn't make it up. It was approved by the Lord. So, so they came together to break bread, which, that's what we refer to as communion, sometimes, or the Lord's Supper. And Glenn mentioned that that record about what they did is in First Corinthians, 11, 23, through 29 let's go ahead and read that. So Paul says, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, he break it and said, Take eat. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you've proclaimed the Lord's death till he comes, Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Of course, his explanation of what it is to be in an unworthy manner is that if you drink the cup or take take the bread, and you don't remember the Lord's death on the cross, you in your mind, you're going back to that day and you see him on the cross, you see his body on the cross, you see his blood being shed on the cross. Then that's worthy of what you're doing. If you don't see that, then that's the unworthy manner. Some some people say, Well, I didn't take the Lord's Supper today because I didn't feel worthy. Well, if we look at it that way, none of us are worthy because we're all sinners. But in Paul's explanation, that's what it means to take it unworthily. So then, when we saw in Acts 20 verse seven, that the Christians came together to break bread on the first day of the week, in that passage, Paul says again, he had received these instructions from the Lord. This wasn't simply what Paul was saying about how to to take the Lord's Supper. It was Christ who had given, given the instructions. So partaking of the Lord's Supper, or communion, is a solemn event when we are remembered, remembering Christ's death, his burial and His resurrection. It should be a solemn occasion when we think about what sent him to the cross in the first place our sins did. On the other hand, it can be an occasion of rejoicing when we think about His resurrection and ascension to Heaven. Yes, we should be somewhat sad that our sins are why he and the die on the cross, but we can be very happy that by him doing that, we have the opportunity to have our sins forgiven. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, as he said, and we have the opportunity to have our sins forgiven. Jesus came, and of course, we have to obey His gospel in order to have our sins forgiven. We are the beneficiaries of his death, his burial and His resurrection. The Scriptures mention the levity of communion in First Corinthians 10 verse 16. And I'll go ahead and pass that off to Eric.

Eric: 21:29

And in that passage in First Corinthians 10 verse 16, it says, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break, is it not the communion of Christ's body. The two emblems we use in partaking of the Lord's supper are the fruit of the vine, which is the juice of the grape and unleavened bread, that means no bread with no leaven in it. We use unleavened bread because the Lord's Supper was instituted when Jesus was the was Jesus, and the apostle was partaking the Passover meal. During the Passover, God had instructed the Israelite to have no leaven in their houses and to eat only unleavened bread during the during the week, and that's in Exodus, chapter 12, verses 14 through 18. So this day shall you so this day shall be a memorial, and you should keep the feast of the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by everlasting ordinance. Seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there should be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there should be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them, but that which everyone must eat that only may be prepared for you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this day, I will have brought my armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a everlasting ordinance in the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at Eve. In Matthew chapter 26 verses, 26 to 29 is one of the passage that give an account Jesus instituting The Lord's Supper. The other two are Mark 14 Chapter, Chapter 14, verses 22 to 26 and Luke chapter 22, 14 through 26. The first one will be quoted here, Mark 26 verses 26 to 29 and it says, as they were eating. Jesus took bread and broke it, and he gave it to his disciples and said, Take eat. This is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, for which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink unto the fruit of the vine from now, from now on, until the day when I drink a new in My Father's Kingdom.

Arnie: 24:29

Yeah, let me. Let me back up a little bit here to First Corinthians, chapter 10 and and verse 16. I noticed, as we were reading that together, that that there was a just an error of the tongue there. So let me reread that passage again. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ. That's making a declaration by by question mark is, is the point there. And the second part of that passage was, The bread which we break is it not the the communion of the Body of Christ? Of course, by asking those two questions with regard to the passage, it's actually declaring that the passage is those things, and that's important for us to keep in mind, as we're as we're studying God's word here. I think you left off at Matthew, chapter 26 verse 29 did you Eric? So let me mention that that this event is is mentioned four times in, in the scriptures and and we've mentioned or quoted each one of them here, in in the things that we've that we've had to, had to say. This is the one event that we are actually told that it was a reason the disciples came together on the first day of of the week. The other things we will look at are, are ones that we find that the church actually did, but we're not told that they that they were a reason they came together. In other words, it, it wasn't a command to come together or something along that that nature. So for this reason, we would attach strong importance on partaking the Lord's Supper. Partaking of the Lord's Supper each and every Lord's day, and that's found in churches of Christ, and that's another reason why I am a member there, obeying what the Bible says. So some things are just statements that are made, others, others are actually passages of Scripture that that we can look up and and we ought not to be hesitant to do that. We certainly ought not to to stick in a thought where I think this is what it really means. If it doesn't say it, it doesn't mean it, and we certainly don't need to do it. What do you think, Glenn?

Glenn: 27:22

Well, I think you're right. So another thing that the church did in first century, when they came together was sing.Aa couple passages we have that that indicate that. Ephesians 5, 18, through 21 says, And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, Giving thanks always for all things, to God, the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in fear of God. Then Colossians, three verse 16 says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly or in all wisdom. I'm going to start that over. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. We can look at these two passages and learn all we need to know about singing and worship to God. We are to be filled with the spirit that's to be serious about what we are doing, and do it from the heart and to speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, we are to sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord. In singing, we give thanks to God. Submit to one another as we sing the words, we should allow the words to teach and correct us. Singing is not about making a beautiful tune or melody. There is a purpose in singing, is to praise God, to teach one another and to cause one another to think seriously about what they're doing wrong or need to correct. One of their problems with most denomination is that they have gone beyond or added to the scriptures and are without saying anything, telling God they know a better way to do it, a better way to make music. God did not, did not give us instruction to use any kind of instrument of music in worship. But he did tell us to make the melody in our hearts. One of the main purposes of interest instruments of music, when they accompany singing is to provide the melody the tune. Think about most songs being how they begin, when they are are accompanied by instruments. The instruments start first and provide the melody and the pace. We have to place great emphasis on the silence of the scriptures on this subject. God did not give us instructions to use the musical instruments, therefore we should not use them. We are only told to sing and make melody in our hearts. There's one more point we need to make concerning the singing. Look at the passage and see who God is telling to sing. He is telling the Christians, all Christians to sing. Remember what we saw in the passages. We are to speak to one another, to teach one another, to admonish one another. We do not see anything being about entertain or by choir or ensemble or musical instrument or band. We sit and we listen to a choir, we are not doing a singing, we're not teaching, we're not admonishing. We are letting someone else do that. We know it sounds so beautiful coming from a group that's practiced and rehearsed the songs ahead of services, but that is not what God said to do. We do not have the authority to go beyond God's instructions. That is why you will only find acapella music in churches for Christ, and that is another reason why I'm a member.

Arnie: 31:13

Yeah, and the word, word acapella, by the way, means without an instrument, it's just human voices is all. Well, I see, as we look at the clock here that we're about out of time, gentlemen. We'd like to speak with you a little bit more next Lord's Day on on this subject. We hope that you will tune in to us at the same time and and at the same station. And in the meantime, if you have the opportunity to visit with a church of Christ, we certainly would invite you to come to to Woodland and see what we do and and then check it against your Bible, make sure that what we've done is what the Bible, the Word of God, says. Lord willing, we'll be with you again next week. Have a good week.