We are firmly persuaded that the acceptance of musical instruments in Christian worship and testimony is basically due to the failure of believers to recognize the distinction between the two economies of law and of grace. One of the most remarkable statements of our Lord when here upon earth is found in the end of Luke 5.
“No man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new; for he saith, The old is better” (vss. 37-39).
What an arresting statement this is! What would our Lord have us learn from this homely allegory? We believe it is simply this: Judaism and Christianity do not mix; they are mutually exclusive. To attempt to unite them is to lose completely the significance of either.
The system of Judaism stemmed from a promise made to Abram when still in the land of Ur of the Chaldees. “I will make of thee a great nation . . . and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:23). Later God renews His promise in the words, “I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it” (Gen. 15:77And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. (Genesis 15:7)). Again God meets Abram when the latter is ninety-nine years of age, changes his name to Abraham, and reiterates His promise to him in these words: “I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (Gen. 17:88And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:8)).
The reader is asked to note carefully the three promises above cited. Not one word is said about heaven, nor about the life to come. All is connected with this earth, especially a part of it called “Canaan,” and the promises are entirely in view of temporal prosperity here below.
Later on, after the nation of Israel was taken out of Egypt and brought into the promised land of Canaan, we find them seeking to act on the promise made through Moses to the effect that, “If ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which He swear unto thy fathers.” Then follows a detailed promise of earthly prosperity, large fruitage of family, flock and field, removal of sickness and disease from among them, and the certainty of victory over their enemies. (See the passage in full; Deuteronomy 7:9-189Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; 10And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. 11Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. 12Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: 13And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 14Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 15And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. 16And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. 17If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? 18Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; (Deuteronomy 7:9‑18).) In all this there is no hint of anything beyond blessing in this life. The question of heaven or hell is not raised; all is earthly.
When we come to examine the provisions made by God for the formal worship of His earthly people, we are struck by the utter contrast to that which we find in Christianity. In the detailed account of either the plans of the tabernacle worship as recorded in Exodus 25-30 or the inauguration of temple worship as detailed in 2 Chronicles 27, we are face to face with a divinely sanctioned system of worship that is external, formal, ritualistic and earthly in every detail.
It has often been remarked in our meditations on Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews that it is not so much a setting forth of comparisons of the two economies of law and grace, as it is one of contrasts in the two. Yet in spite of all the pains God has taken to bring before us the essential and basic differences in the two dealings with man upon the earth, Christendom has refused to observe the dividing line and has sought, all too disastrously, to combine the two. Let us very briefly list some of the divinely marked contrasts in the two relationships. Over against the Jewish promise of earthly blessings, the Christian is promised heavenly blessings. See Ephesians 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3): “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Our Lord left with us the prospect, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:3333These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)). “Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:1919If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:19)). Here is no promise of victory over temporal enemies, but rather the opposite.
In the Jewish system there was no approach to God’s presence, save in a mediatorial way through the high priest, and that but once a year (Heb. 9:7-97But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; (Hebrews 9:7‑9)). But in Christianity we have the blessed privilege of access into the holiest by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:1919Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19)). In the one system only a specialized class of people, the tribe of Levi, could minister in divine things, but with us is the knowledge that we are all a holy and a royal priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices and to show forth His praises. (Compare 1 Peter 2:5,9.) In the former there was no knowledge of acceptance with God, but we rejoice in the knowledge of sins forgiven. (Compare Ephesians 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6) with Hebrews 10:1313From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (Hebrews 10:13).) In the first there was the constant renewal of sacrifices year by year and the offering of the lambs daily in the continual burnt offering (Ex. 29:38-4238Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. 41And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 42This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. (Exodus 29:38‑42)). But in Hebrews we read, “By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (ch. 10:14).
Now we come to that aspect of Judaism that has special connection with the subject of our study. We refer to the external grandeur of the temple service. When we turn to the description of the temple dedication as given us in 2 Chronicles 27, this gorgeous building, erected at an estimated cost of over a thousand million dollars, was without doubt the most expensive and elaborate structure ever erected by man. It is in imitation of the precedent here set forth that Christendom has taken her pattern of basilicas, temples and cathedrals. But when we turn to the Spirit’s instruction as to the church epoch, we find complete silence as to any physical structure being sanctified to house the church. No; rather, we find the direct pronouncement, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). Again, “Ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:2222In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)). Then in 1 Peter 2:5, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house.” Then let it be crystal clear in our minds that there is no such thing on the earth today as a physical building, be it of wood or stone or marble, that has any sanctity in the eyes of God.
Let us next consider the temple service as depicted in 2 Chronicles 5:12-14: “Also the Levites which were the singers . . . being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets. It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, . . . then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord.”
Here, brethren, we have the divinely sanctioned order of worship for the old economy, Judaism, for the centuries of God’s dealings with His earthly people before the cross. Here is the old wine at its best. Here we see the divinely appointed temple, the divinely appointed, gowned choir, the divinely appointed orchestra, and the divinely appointed priesthood. Small wonder then that our Lord could say, “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Luke 5:3939No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. (Luke 5:39)). If we wish an explanation of what we see about us in Christendom today, here we have it. Failing to observe the distinction between the Jewish external worship for man in the flesh and the Christian spiritual worship in the holiest has resulted in the corrupted state of Christendom today. This is described by our Lord in His address to the seven churches of Asia under the likeness of the last of the seven, Laodicea. To her He solemnly announces, “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:1616So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)).
Thus we see that our question of musical instruments in the church goes much deeper than the thing itself; it is, rather, just one element of a general breakdown in keeping the new wine in the new bottles. If we do not keep it there, we shall lose it. Then may we not ask ourselves the question: Dare we risk the loss of the preciousness of that new wine by turning again to weak and beggarly elements of a “worldly sanctuary” (Heb. 9:11Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. (Hebrews 9:1))? Shall we not, rather, listen to the voice of our blessed Lord in Revelation 3 as He addresses the church at Philadelphia, “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name”?