What Does the Bible Say About Why Am I A Member of the Church of Christ #7

We begin this episode by noting that in the church of Christ in the first century, we are told that singing was a part their worship. We noted that there were no passages that told us that any local church of Christ ever used any instrument of music in their worship. Consequently, the silence of the scriptures must be respected. Instruments of music were not introduced into the worship of the church until many centuries later. History tells us that the first instruments of music were introduced in the Catholic Church in the 7th century. Other groups began to follow that errant example many centuries later. Next, we note that prayer was also a part of New Testament worship. It is mentioned first in Acts 2:42. We note several passages that tell us brethren prayed as a part of their spiritual life. We next find Paul giving an order to the church at Corinth to take up a collection for the saints on the first day of the week as a part of their worship. We look at the guidance Paul included concerning one's attitude toward giving of their means. We note that Paul wrote to the saints at Philippi, and he mentioned that their giving was a sacrifice or an act of worship. We also find that teaching was something that was done in the assemblies of the saints through the guidance of the inspired apostles. In order to continue in the apostle's doctrine as we are told in Acts 2:42, that doctrine must be taught. We note numerous passages that tell us teaching is an important part of worship as well as the spiritual life of each Christian. We find in Acts 20 verse 7 that on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to have the Lord's Supper that Paul preached to them. Ultimately, it was through the preaching of the word of God that the gospel was spread throughout the world in the first century. We will finish this discussion in next week's episode. 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 Arnie Granke from the church of Christ at Woodland in Sumter, South Carolina, and this is what does the Bible say. Of course, with me are Eric and Glenn and Fred, and we've been talking a little bit about why, why we became Christians, how we became members of the Church of Christ, and we'd like to continue those thoughts. I think Glenn, you were, you were sort of headlining that for us there. Would you like to pick up where we left off?

Glenn: 1:35

Yeah, the last thing we were talking about, that we do in our worship that we find in the New Testament that we're told to do is to sing. We read to two passages, if you remember, Ephesians, 5, 18, through 21 and Colossians, 3, 16, and the things that we find in those that that we do is that we sing. We sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. We make melody in our hearts. We teach one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Nothing is said in the New Testament, either in these passages or any other passage in the New Testament about using instruments of music. So we have to know, we have to take that the silence of the scriptures rather importantly. Instruments of music were not mentioned in worship assemblies until the many centuries after the church was established. The first instruments of music were introduced in the Catholic Church in the seventh century. Other groups began following the errant example much later, about eight to 10 centuries later on. So when we read in the in the Bible that tells us to do something, we have to pay attention if it doesn't include something else along with that, and in this case, singing and including instruments of music along with it, we can't just make up our mind that we want to use instruments of music along with the singing.

Fred Gosnell: 3:24

Yeah. And of course, a lot of times people will say, Well, you know, in the Old Testament, they used it, used instruments there. Of course, we have talked about the fact that we're not under the Old Testament laws anymore. We're not under Moses law and we're under the law of Christ. And as Gwen mentioned that you know, the word instruments is never used in the passages that talk about music. There's two kinds of music. There's instrumental music and there's vocal music, and singing is only the vocal. So to add something else is to violate what what the Bible tells us not to do and so, and that's why, whenever you go to a local church of Christ, well, I better take that off. Look, take that back, because there are some that have started using instruments. So generally speaking, we don't those that are faithful to the New Testament. But then also, when you look at the New Testament in in their worship, you also find that they include a praying, a matter of fact, in Acts 2, 42, the first time that the brethren came together, there, first Christians, 3000 of them obeyed the gospel. And in verse 42 it says that they, those that obeyed, continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. So the Christians at at this time continued to follow the teaching of the apostles and to fellowship with one another. With this fellowship was referring to them being together as a church, as a local congregation. And it's not speaking of a casual or personal get together. It also mentions the breaking of bread, of course, that refers to the Lord's Supper. So we know that this was when they were together to worship. And I think we've talked about this Pentecost, the day of Pentecost was on the first day of the week. And the way that they figured that was seven Sabbaths plus one day, 50 days, the 50th day would have been the first day of the week. So and we have other passages. Paul in First Thessalonians, 5, 17, he said, Pray without ceasing. Of course, we we pray at other times as well, but praying as part of our worship, we know that they started doing that in the very first time that they were together in Acts 2, 42. Then in First Thessalonians 5, 25, Paul said to the Thessalonians, Brethren, pray for us, of course, referring to himself and those that were with him. So praying is a constant part of our spiritual life, and we need to pray in all aspects of our lives. And it is particularly true when we are in our worship.

Arnie: 6:15

Praying is a constant part of our spiritual life. We need to pray in in all aspects of our lives, and that is particularly true in our worship. Looking at James, chapter five, beginning at at verse 13, James asks, Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up, and if he's committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And so that's four verses. There 13 through through 16 in James, chapter five, and this passage is speaking of when Christians are together. It could be both in worship and at other occasions that they might be together for verses 13 and 14 of of this chapter mention, you know, praying for the suffering and praying for the sick and and also praying for the the persecuted. Uh, it also mentions singing songs. It mentions calling for the elders to come in and pray over the sick. Prayer is a basic trait. It's a practice of Christians because of their relationship with Christ and with with God. Looking at, looking at some of our passages, First John, chapter one and verse six is, is a passage that that we might want to consider in in that regard. Let me turn to that, first First John, chapter one, beginning in verse six, says, If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship, one with the other with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. I'm going to add one more thought here, where, in verse eight, he said, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Glenn: 9:38

One of the things you can think of when in reading that passage, when it mentions if we say we have no sin, or when it mentions, well, we If we confess our sins, in order to confess our sins to to God, we have to pray. So there's that's a necessity for us to do that. Uh, us talking to God is praying. Therefore, when we confess our sins, we are praying. Now, the next item that we would find in the churches of Christ that the Christians do is giving. First Corinthians, 16, one and two says, 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. Paul was giving instruction to the Christians in Corinth to take up a collection on the first day of the week when they came together. The purpose of the collection was for the saints in Jerusalem. So we find that Paul is not asking for donations, but he is he, in the name of the Lord, is instructing them just like he had to the Christians in Galatia to take up a collection. Many of the people think that giving or laying buy in store is optional, but we should take it as a command from God. We also are told when to do this. We have already seen that the worship assembly occurred on the first day of the week. Therefore, when Paul says on the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, we can deduce that this was during the assembly of the saints, or the worship. This is one of the few places also that tell us what the money collected is to be used for the saints. You should already know that a saint is simply a Christian.

Fred Gosnell: 11:46

Yeah. And also, one of the things that I'm not sure that people always think about is that the collection is part of our worship, so it is spiritual in nature. And one of the things Paul tells the Philippians in in Philippians four, and of course, he's speaking to them here, beginning in verse 15. He says, Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. And of course, this tells us that one of the uses of the money is for supporting preachers. Paul was a saint. It's for the saints. But then notice in verse 16, For, even in Thessalonica, you sent once and again into my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that maybe abound to your account. Now notice what he says down in verse 18, for, But I am all and abound. I am full having received of Epaphroditus, the things which were sent from you, notice, An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable, well pleasing to God. So our collection is part of our worship. It's a sacrifice. And of course, one of the things Paul told the Corinthians in the second letter was that they ought to give freely, and it ought to be more than just a little bit of change out of their pocket, something that they ought to think about. So, and that's what he says in Second Corinthians, chapter nine, six and seven. Notice this. I say he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. So let each one of them give as he purpose in his heart, not grudgingly or necessity. For God loves a cheerful giver. Of course, this passage lets us know how we should give and the attitude we should possess when we give. Of course, we have already seen that we are to give on the first day of the week, and it is very important that we have the right attitude when giving. It's something that we have thought about. Many people, when giving to the church, reach into their pockets or their wallets, take whatever they have left over or give to give to the church. Of course, this passage teaches something much different than that. First, it mentions, giving bountifully as compared to sparingly. A person who gives bountifully, that is being very generous in giving, will reap bountifully. To reap bountifully is to be highly blessed. We read in Matthew five, 3 thru 11 about those who would be blessed by the attitudes they possessed. Of course, this follows at the same idea, the person who gives much compared to their abundance will be highly blessed. The one who gives only a little compared to what he she is able to give will not be highly blessed. And of course, one of the things we need to remember sometimes, when a person becomes a Christian, first thing that they are, they see as well, part of the worship is, I've got to give something. Well, a lot of times, young people, whoever it is, they they already have their funds committed. They've got rent and they got they got a mortgage, they got a car payment, they got a lot of expenses. So a lot of times, initially they might not be able to give a lot because they already have their funds obligated. Of course, then as as they live, they are able to figure out how to do that better, but nevertheless, it's something that people need to think about.

Eric: 15:13

In second Corinthians Paul mentioned that we should purpose in our heart what we should give. This means that we make plans concerning our giving. It is not an afterthought about giving, such as just throwing change or a few dollars in offering, but we have made plans ahead of time when we do our giving, we have to we have to budget that in in with the rest of our stuff that we have to pay for, we have to budget our giving on the first day that we giving back to the Lord. And finally, Paul said that we should be cheerful when we give. We should'nt be grudgingly, giving to the Lord. We should be cheerful giving back to the Lord because he have done so much for us. It is the opportunity that we have not an obligation. It is an attitude we should have. I know that it sounds sort of contradictory that we are saying that is a command for us to give, but we ought to look at it as an opportunity. But that is how it should be. Again, I will mention in John 14, 15, as we have mentioned earlier before, Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. We can know that we are commanded to do certain things yet be happy that we give, get to do the things that we do. But here in this is a passage that relates to how we should look at God's law and his commands.

Arnie: 16:45

And that passage is from Psalm 19, and beginning in in verse seven, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise, the simple. Statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous, altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honey comb. Moreover, by them, your servant is warned, and in keeping them, there is great reward. So if you were following along in your Bible, you know that we went down to verse 11, verses seven through 11 in Psalm 19. And I think if we can remember this passage and keep it in our hearts, read it periodically and and meditate on it. Think about it a little bit, and think about how it applies to yourself and and how you can use it in in obeying God's will. We we can maintain the right attitude toward keeping God's commandments.

Glenn: 18:25

We come to our next item that we would find in churches of Christ that are done, and that's teaching. Teaching is another thing we do when we come together to worship. We have already mentioned the act of teaching in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. But there is even more to teaching. Acts 2, 42 says, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. We have already mentioned and quoted this verse probably a few times, but it's still a good verse to let us know that teaching is something we do when we come together. The first century church continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, which is to say that they were teaching the laws, the rules, the doctrine of Christ. You remember back when we quoted the passage about Jesus going to send his helper to the apostles after he was gone, to guide them into all truth? That's exactly what is happening in in what is being mentioned here. Those who had just been baptized and added to the church did not know what the doctrine of Christ was. They had to be taught by those who did know, the apostles. This passage shows that they were doing that when they came together in fellowship.

Fred Gosnell: 19:49

Of course, there's some more, some more passages that help us to understand this, this idea of teaching. Second, Timothy, 2, 15, Paul tells Timothy, young, young evangelist. He says, Be diligent, present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word truth. Of course, even though this passage is not directed to group study, it is directed to individuals studying on their own, it has impact towards study in general. So just like the ones we read about in Acts two, continuing in the doctrine, we must continue to learn about the doctrine. We don't have apostles today, but we do have ones who have studied and learned much more than we especially when we are new to the faith. We just have to be like the Bereans in Acts 17, 11 there says, These were more noble or fair minded than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find whether these things were so. So we need to be like these Christians in Berea. Of course, we've been provided with these words of guidance, they examined the scriptures to prove what they heard was true. Of course, the apostles were doing the teaching. So here they were considering what the Bible said to make sure that what the apostles had to say was true. So we can have someone teaching us, and we should be looking up the scriptures that are mentioned to ensure that the truth is is being taught. Often times we may not know where to go in the scriptures, but when someone someone mentions particular scripture, we can look it up and make sure what was said is correct. Second, Peter, two, one and two and through 11 is an important passage about growing as a Christian. So we'll let Eric take a look at that for us.

Eric: 21:45

And that passage says Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord, as his divine power have given us, has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who calls us by His glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promise that those that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, but also for this very reason, given all diligence, add to your faith, virtue to virtue, knowledge, knowledge, self control to self control, perseverance to perseverance, godliness to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he who lacks these things is short sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. For if you do these things, you would never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ. Once again, this passage is directed to individual Christian, but it is applicable in a group or assembly setting. We know that young and immature Christians learn and grow at the feet of the elders and more knowledgeable Christians. We can and will, and we will have the capability to learn by ourselves from the reading and studying, but it is helpful if we mention, if we mentor and teach. In these passages, Peter talks about grace and peace growing in our knowledge of God and Jesus. He next tells us that God has given us everything we need for our lives and to grow into godly people. He then goes through and grows process. Goes through a growing a growth process in which Christians should be diligent, working hard at it to add virtue to their faith, knowledge to their virtue, self control to their knowledge, perseverance to their self control, godliness to their perseverance, brotherly kindness to their godliness and love, their brotherly kindness. He said that if we develop these things, we will be successful Christians, and we will make our calling and election sure. Knowledge is mentioned several times in this passage, and we need to understand that it is imperative that we learn what the Lord desires and demand without knowing that we will be like and say. That is in verse nine, for he who lacketh these things is short handed, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sin.

Arnie: 25:12

Well, now we've read Second Timothy three verses 16 and 17, and that's a passage that tells us what God's Word is capable of doing for us. It is capable of making us complete and thoroughly furnished in every good work, learning through teaching is an item that we should practice in the assembly of of the Lord's church. Now, part of that involves preaching and in Acts chapter 20, beginning in in verse seven and and this, the location there where this is telling about is in Troas. It's where Paul and several other disciples had had visited up in in northern Macedonia. I was going to say Macedonia. And it's not exactly right. I don't think

Glenn: 26:19

Macedonia.

Arnie: 26:19

Macedonia. There you go. Just couldn't get it, couldn't get it to cross my brain. So now, on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul ready to depart on the morrow, spoke to and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together, and in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep, and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. We've mentioned Acts chapter 20 and and verse seven before, but we didn't include verses eight and and nine. We see in this passage that when the church was assembled to break bread, Paul preached to them, and it was until midnight. He can take this as a we can take this as a an example of what the first century church did. Once again, I will mention the secular history documents that the church did throughout the first few centuries. It's well documented that the church partook of the Lord's Supper, sang, prayed, took up collections and had preaching. And I would just, I would just say, thinking about this situation here, where, where Eutychus had fallen out of the out of the window, that was around midnight. These weren't people that that looked at their watch, you know, every 40 seconds to see if it was time to time to go home. They stayed there. They were they were interested in learning and hearing, and that's what they were there for, and that's what they received. And the the extra things that came with that included that Eutychus was raised from the dead.

Glenn: 28:31

Yes, he was. In First Thessalonians, one eight. It says, For from you, the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaea, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. Paul documents that preaching had taken place throughout the the area of the world at that time, and this is this is an important scripture for us, because it not only says that it had taken place, but it had taken place throughout all the world. Mark 16, verse 15 says, And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So it's a command to go, go and preach. Jesus told the apostles to preach the the gospel everywhere. We can take that also as a command to us that we are to continue that Psalms 19, verse four says, Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them, he has set a tabernacle for the Son. The the Psalmist prophesied that the word would go to all the ends of the world. Acts one verse eight, says, But you shall receive the power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be witness to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So Jesus was saying that that this the word would go out or to all the earth. So we're just about out of time, and we're going to have to pick up there next time.

Fred Gosnell: 30:14

Okay. So remember this that that Christ had told the apostles to spread the gospel into all parts of the earth. And we'll finish this with Romans. One eight. Paul says, First, thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken throughout the whole world. Of course, that was done in the first century. So, grateful for you listening to us this afternoon. We hope that you'll have a good week. We'll be back with you next week, same time, same station. We'll be talking about why I am a member of the Church of Christ.