Sermon Notes, October 16, 2016
The Beauty of Acapella Singing
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. If
you are familiar with the religious landscape of our world you know there is
something distinct about our worship here
at West Side and in many churches of
Christ. That distinction is the absence of
instrumental music. We have no piano,
organ, guitar, drum, band or orchestra.
What’s up with that?
1. Do we not like music?
2. Are
we unskilled as musicians?
3. Are we too poor to buy these items?
4.
There are obviously deeper reasons than these for choosing to sing without
instruments
in our worship. We love acapella singing in church. What does the
word, “acapella” mean? If you answerd, “unaccompanied” you are correct.
Do you know that acapella is a Latin
word that means, “in the manner of the
church?”
B. I
hope to increase your appreciation for the beauty of acapella singing in our
worship
to God. I want to encourage us to reaffirm
our commitment to acapella singing as we
praise God with our hearts and our voices.
C. The
beauty of acapella singing goes beyond the blending of our voices. In last
week’s message we discussed five reasons
why singing is important.
1. To praise God.
2. To express thanks and appreciation to
God.
3. To teach and admonish one another.
4. To express emotion.
5. To demonstrate unity.
D. Here
are four beautiful characteristics of acapella singing.
I. IT HONORS THE WORD OF GOD
A. The first question we should ask about
anything we do in worship is, “By what
authority are we doing this?”
1. I hope that all of us possess a deep
respect for the authority of the Bible. I
recognize that some people do not
have such respect.
2. Several years ago a Harvard Professor
wrote an article entitled, “What Shall We
Do with The Bible?” in which he
stated, “Though we may be grateful for and
recognize its contributions to our
culture the Bible no longer has unique authority
for Western man. It has become a
great, but archaic, monument in our midst. It is
a reminder of what we once were but
no longer are. It is no longer the word of
God (if there is a God) to man” (Gordon
D. Kaufman, “What Shall We Do with the Bible?”
(Interetation 25 (January 1971):96.
2. When it comes to the subject of
worship the question we must ask is: “Who are
we seeking to please - God or man?”
B. In the Old and New Testaments of the Bible
there are instructions about worship.
1. Old Testament worship was the worship
of the Hebrews.
a. Jewish worship revolved around a
specific place - the tabernacle and later the
temple.
b. Jewish worship involved specific
people. The only ones who could actually
serve in the tabernacle or
temple were the priests who were from the tribe of
Levi.
c. Jewish worship involved specific actions
such as the offering of animal
sacrifices.
d. For an example of Jewish worship
during the time of King Hezekiah
(approximately 700 years before Christ)
read 2 Chronicles 29:25 – 28:
“He then stationed the
Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps
and with lyres, according to
the command of David and of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan
the prophet; for the command
was from the Lord through His prophets. 26 The Levites stood
with the musical instruments of David, and the
priests with the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah
gave the order to offer the
burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song
to the Lord also began with the
trumpets, accompanied by the
instruments of David, king of
Israel. 28 While the whole
assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the
trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering
was finished.”
e. The book of Psalms was the song
book of Israel. It was written within the
context of Old Testament
worship. Old Testament worship included incense,
animal sacrifice, a separate
priesthood, keeping the Sabbath, three annual
holy feasts, and instruments of music
in the Temple.
2. Worship in the Old Testament was
obviously very different than worship in the
New Testament. What is the difference?
a. Jesus fulfilled the Old
Testament.
b. When He died on the cross a
tremendous change took place. Hebrews 9:22
says that Jesus became the
mediator of a new covenant.
1.) God no longer needed a structure
like the temple because the Word
became flesh and dwelt
among us (John 1:14). Under the new covenant
the Holy Spirit dwells in
us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
2.) Animal sacrifices are no
longer needed because Jesus became the
supreme, once and for all
time sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:26).
3.) With the change in covenants
(doing away with the old and instituting the
new) there was a change in
worship. Jesus talked about this change in
John 4:21-23 when, speaking
to the Samaritan woman who had asked
whether the proper place of
worship was Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem,
Jesus said, “Woman, believe
Me, an hour is coming when neither in this
mountain nor in Jerusalem
will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what
you do not know; we worship
what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 But an
hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and
truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His
worshipers.”
C. There are many important lessons for us
to learn from the Old Testament. We
need to study it. We should be familiar
with it. Remember, however, that we are no
longer living under the Old Testament.
Our guide for salvation and worship is the
New Testament.
II. IT FOLLOWS THE EXAMPLE OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT
A. The simplicity and beauty of acapella
singing is that it follows the example of the
New Testament.
B. There are nine verses in the New
Testament that deal with the subject of music
among Jesus, His disciples and the early
church.
1. Matthew 26:30 – “After singing a
hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
2. Acts 16:25 - “But about midnight Paul
and Silas were praying and singing hymns
of praise to God, and the prisoners
were listening to them.”
3. Romans15:9 – “I will sing to Your
name.”
4. 1 Corinthians 14:15 – “I will sing
with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.”
5. 1 Corinthians 14:26 – “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you
assemble,
each one has a psalm, has a
teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an
interpretation. Let all things be
done for edification.”
6. Ephesians 5:19 - “speaking to one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody
with your heart to the Lord.” “Sing” is the
Greek word, “Psallo.” In some
settings the words was used to indicate plucking
on an instrument. The instrument is
clearly designated as “the heart” and the
audience is clearly designated, “to
the Lord.”
7. Colossians 3:16 - “Let the word of
Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom
teaching and admonishing one another
with psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs.”
8.
Hebrews 13:15 – “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.”
9. James 5:13 – “Is anyone among you
suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone
cheerful? He is to sing praises.”
10.
God is concerned with the expression of praise that comes from your heart and
your lips. He wants to hear praise
from the instrument He created – your heart.
a. I have often heard people say,
“God didn’t say not to use instruments so we
are free to do so.”
b. Would we accept that reasoning in
other areas of life? Suppose you order a
pizza from Poppa Johns. In
placing your order you tell them you would like
Canadian bacon and pineapple on
your pizza. What would happen if they
delivered your pizza with
Canadian bacon, pineapple and anchovies? Would
you be pleased? Suppose they
said, “You didn’t say you didn’t want
anchovies. They are really
popular right now. Everybody else is putting them
on their pizzas.” I do not
believe we would accept that reasoning.
c. God did not say, “Don’t be sprinkled,”
but he did say we are to be immersed.
He didn’t tell the Jews that the
tribes of Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali or Issachar
could not be priests but He did
specify that the Levites were to be priests.
d. It is a beautiful thought to
realize I can do what the people in the New
Testament did as they worshipped God.
C. What about the book of Revelation and
its mention of trumpets and harps? The
book of Revelation was written to
encourage Christians of the first century in the
face of persecution. The imagery used
comes from both Jewish and Roman
backgrounds to symbolize ultimate victory.
Revelation was not written as a guide
for the church’s worship on earth.
III. IT HAS A BROAD APPEAL
A. Acapella worship is so beautiful that it
has a broad appeal among many churches
and scholars. Contemporary Christian
artist, Cliff Young of the group, Caedmon’s
Call, recently commented after hearing a
group of students at Oklahoma Christian
University sing, “There’s A Stirring,” “Too
many churches use instruments in
worship way too much. They hardly ever
hear themselves sing.”
B. Churches of Christ are by no means the
only religious group who have advocated
acapella worship.
1. Everett Ferguson, retired professor
of Bible at Abilene Christian University tells
the story of a fellow Divinity
student at Harvard. Knowing that the student was of
the Greek Orthodox faith he asked
him why that church did not use instruments
in worship. The reply was
noteworthy. “We do not use it because it is not in the
New Testament and it is contrary to
the nature of Christian worship.” Years later
Ferguson wrote, “He stated my case
for unaccompanied church music better
than I could.”
2. At one time nearly every mainline
denomination including Methodists, Baptists
and Presbyterians sang acapella. (I
also find it interesting that among some of
these groups there is now a movement
back towards acapella worship).
3. Primitive Baptists do not use
instrumental music.
4. Garrison Keillor, popular writer and
radio personality on “The Prairie Home
Companion,” was raised in a church
called the Plymouth Brethren that does not
use an instrument.
C. Listen to these quotes from scholars
outside of the church of Christ.
1. Curt Sachs of Columbia University,
one of the most eminent musicologists of
modern times, has said, “All ancient
Christian music was vocal.”
2. Lyman Coleman, a Presbyterian
scholar: “Both the Jews in their temple service
and the Greeks in their idol worship
were accustomed to sing with the
accompaniment of instrumental music. The converts to Christianity must
have
been familiar with this model of
singing, but it is generally admitted that the
primitive Christians employed no
instrumental music in their religious worship “
(The Primitive Church, pp. 370-371).
3. Adam Clarke, author of Clarkes
commentaries and a well-known Methodist
preacher was strongly opposed to
worship with instruments of music.
4. John Wesley, one of the great
reformation leaders said, “I have no objections to
instruments of music in our chapels,
provided they are neither heard nor seen.”
5. Charles H. Spurgeon was one of the
most famous Baptist preachers of all time.
During the mid to late1800’s he
preached to thousands each week at the London
Tabernacle. Here’s what he said. “Israel
was a school, and used childish things
to help her to learn, but in these
days, when Jesus gives us spiritual food, one
can make melody without strings and
pipes … We do not need them. They
would hinder rather than help our
praise. Sing unto Him. This is the sweetest
and best music. No instrument like
human voice. We might as well pray by
machinery as praise by it.”
IV. IT’S HISTORICAL PRECEDENT
A. The beauty of acapella worship is seen
in its historical support.
1. There is no record of instruments
being used in Christian worship for 600 years
after Christ and the apostles. It
was not introduced until 670 A.D. and even then
was a prelude to worship rather than
attached to the singing. It would be another
700 years before it was used
regularly.
2. Early church writers gave testimony
to the singing of the early church.
a. Clement of Alexandria (150-210
AD): “The one instrument of peace, the word
alone by which we honor God, is what we
employ. We no longer employ the
ancient psaltery and trumpet,
and timbrel, and flute.” (Restoration Quarterly,
Vol. I, No. 1, 1957, p. 3).
b. Origen (325 AD): “For the unison song of the people of Christ
is more
pleasing to God than any musical
instrument. Thereby in all the churches
of
God with one mind and heart,
with unity and agreement in faith and worship,
we offer to God a unison melody
in our singing of Psalms” (Ibid. p.4).
c. Augustine (c. 400 AD): “Has not a rule been established in the name
of Christ
with reference to those ‘vigils’
of yours, that harps should be excluded from
this place?”
d. Thomas Aquinas, a leading
Catholic Scholar of his age (1250 AD): “Our
church does not use musical
instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise
God withal, that she may not
seem to Judaize” Quoted in McClintock and
Strong’s Encyclopedia, Vol. VII,
p. 739).
B. It may seem strange to us that a church
would not use an instruments of music but
the message of history is quite
different.
CONCLUSION:
A. In
one of our familiar hymns we sing, “How sweet, how heavenly is the sight when
those that love the Lord, in one another’s
peace delight and so fulfill the Word.” It is a
beautiful experience to come together to
worship. We are on solid ground when we
worship God with the beauty of acapella
singing.
1. We are on solid ground Biblically.
2. We are on solid ground spiritually.
3. We are on solid ground historically.
4. The elders of this church are committed
to continuing this practice.
B. Is
your relationship with God something you can sing about? Can you sing, “Jesus
is
all the world to me?” Can you sing, “He is
my everythin?” Can you sing, “He’s my
King?” Singing must begin with hearts and
lives dedicated to Christ. We sing today to
encourage and admonish you to come to Him
in faith, repentance and baptism today.
