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Inquiry in Reference To: [url=http://www.insearchoftruth.org/articles/music.html]http://www.insearchoftruth.org/articles/music.html[/url]
Revelations 5:8-9; 14:2,3; 15:20; and 18:22

I am an Evangelist, and couldn't help but notice you left out very important details about music instruments in heaven, you need to rerevise your article and repost it, once you have it completed. Thanks

[m273p15c]

Thanks for the good question. It is a very common question. In fact, we already have an answer posted, along with answers to several other common objections:

http://www.insearchoftruth.org/articles ... revelation

Please take a look at it. If you are not satisfied, I would like to know why.

May God help us to have a sincere love of truth (II Thessalonians 2:9-12),

m273p15c

[email]

Very well written, I found it in my explorations earlier today; though the old law was abolished, and we were intended to follow Christ who died for our sins, it also says in the book of Hebrews, "do not waiver between the old and the new covenants" which means in all practicality, it is not a sin to follow the old law, though we were ment to follow the new, Jews follow God,the old law, and they will go to heaven for the most part, and I'm sure they still use musical instruments, not to mention all the christian songs and bands on the radio, are they wrong because they use instruments to worship God? If we asked God he would say no, infact if I myself had to guess, God would except all forms of musical worship, vocal, or instrumental, but you can't worship God without vocals, instruments just add to the glory we give him, some people, yes, play for themselves, not God, but many do play for God just like many choir leaders in the church of christ sing for themselves and many of the church of christ body of people condemn any non church of christ christian to an eternity in hell, I am not trying to prove you wrong, for I cannot do that, but I am trying to open a door to your mind that will help you to see God for what he really is, and that is a strict but leanient Creator that doesntjust love us, he wants to pursue a relationship with us, you need to watch the movie "The Encounter", I feel as though you would enjoy that movie,

Thank you for your patience with me, I look forward to your response.

[m273p15c]

Why do you go to the Bible to understand God, since you have already determined who He is? How do you know He is a lenient Creator? Why do you think God seeking a relationship with us is mutually exclusive with His demand for obedience?

I don't want to just ask questions, so please allow me to support my understand of Jesus' judgment. How does this passage fit with your model of Jesus?

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV)

How do you read this verse?

I don't want to argue or hurt your feelings, but I am deeply concerned that you are going to Scripture to prove what you intuit to be true. I could be wrong in my analysis, but you have made an awful lot of assertions with very little Scriptural justification. Please don't feel you have to defend yourself personally. Here's what I am really asking:

My response is simply, "Please justify all your statements with Scripture." If you work from Scripture, then we can work from a common platform and help each other.

Thank you for your patience. I look forward to a profitable Bible study for both of us.

May God help us to have a sincere love of truth,

m273p15c

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God is very complex, and there is so much about him that many people will never understand, unfortuante as that is, I don't typically read the bible to understand him, but to study him so that I may know why some things happen certain ways, as I said before, I cannot prove you wrong

A) there is far to much scripture on the voice so that would be foolish t even attempt, but I don't disagree with it either

B) my lacking of scriptural reference is due to the fact that the only places in the New Testament that speak of instruments in worship are in the book of Revelations, and that cannot be taken literal 100% because the book of Revelations is written in parables and with words that only humans could use to describe those things and events, words that no human vocabulary could describe, it could possibly have been angelic voices, only the Lord and the angels with him in heaven know

I support your online articles, I find them very interesting and very knowledgable to any and all who would take the time to read them, I have thoroughly enjoyed this study of the word, and will study further, and deeper into the word, this has been quite an amazing discussion and I pray God be with you in your walk with Christ have a blessed day

[m273p15c]

I appreciate your conclusion on the study, but may I ask a couple of more questions?

If you agree there is no substantial support for the mechanical instrument in the NT, would you then proceed to worship with it yourself or encourage others to do so? If so, what verses would you use to justify such action?

Thanks! And, may God help us to have a sincere love of the truth,

m273p15c

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Well, you and I both know that no church is perfect, for example, the Church of God is very emotional, the Church of Christ is rather tame, Baptist like to sing and make music, but its all about God and the Holy Spirits prescence, after my conclusion on this study, I would prefer to not use instruments, but the Church of Christ (my only other real option in this area) does not believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, thusforth, I will overlook the mechanical instruments in the church, in order to pursue God on a deeper and more personal level than I am presently at, you can never be to close to God, so for this decision, I have no verses, just common preference of feeling the HS prescence and seeing him work miracles in the church on any church day/night of the week, I am apart of the Assemby of God, (pentecostal) were typically tame for tongue speakers haha. Thank you for your time on this subject, I have truly enjoyed this topic and look forward to sharing it with other questioning christians in the future

thanks again

[m273p15c]

Your honesty and straightforwardness is greatly appreciated.

It is true that there is no perfect church, but I believe that is only because it is unlikely you will find a church of perfect people.

I do believe there are churches that teach the truth very close to the original NT pattern. I believe the failing of failing churches of Christ lies generally in their execution and zeal, not teaching alone. And, that "loss of first love" varies from local congregation to congregation. There are some successful churches of Christ that I believe require no "settling" for the lesser of evils. Thankfully, I am attending one now, and I am well acquainted with several others.

With that hope, may I ask you about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Assemblies? I have some dear friends who are and were members of Assemblies, so I have some acquaintance with them.

If you would bear with me, I have 2 questions: One, what do you think about I Corinthians 14:22-33?

Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. (I Corinthians 14:22-33 NKJV)

How do modern tongue-speakers satisfy these commands? Could modern assemblies of the church, which include tongue speaking, be characterized as "orderly" and "in turn", with "two or at the most three" tongue-speakers?

Second - and I mean no offense by this question, but I ask it in all earnestness - how are the miracles you have witnessed different than the miracles offered as proof of the Holy Spirit by the Mormons, charismatic Catholics, or even charismatic Muslims? (Of course, the Muslims would not speak of the Holy Spirit, but I hope you understand my point.) Furthermore, how would the miracles you have witnessed compare to the miracles of the NT?

Thank you so much for your kindness, honesty, and patience with my straight-forward questions. I appreciate your diligence in considering and prayerfully meditating on these questions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

May God help us to have a sincere love of truth,

m273p15c

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Starting from bottom to top, in the days of moses, the preist turned water into blood, however it was through false prophets and witchcraft I guess you'd say, the devil can do anything God can except raise dead, create life, forgive us of our sind etc. etc. He can perform his own "miracles" through false teachers and prophets and even the unknowing, I'm sure you've heard plenty of storys on that from places in and around major cities and even small towns across the globe, now.. on the tongue speaking, you would have to read Acts 1, 2; 1 Corinthians 14, Romans (basically whole book, to many individual scriptures to just give you a list) and if you wish read further in Acts, many times in the NT, Paul prayed to God in tongues over others in prayer, and even in his private time, however, if aloud in a congregation, an interpeter would be necesary, In order to get the full understanding of tongues, and you have the time, I would read the amplified study bible version of all the chapters I listed, I again do not have a lot of scriptural reference because there is so much of it in the NT, it blows up the concordance of a Bible like the name Christ in the NT, also read Romans 14, and tell me yours thoughts on that, what it means to you, have a blessed day until we communicate again (more than likely very soon)

[m273p15c]

I apologize for the month long delay. Things have been fairly crazy around here.

In your last email, you mentioned that the Devil can do anything God can do, except some major miracles. May I suggest that the Devil's false prophets cannot really do much more than you and I can do. The false prophets, witches, and even the sorcerers of Egypt simply employed parlor tricks (Exodus 7:11-25; 8:1-19; 9:10-11; Daniel 2:27-28; Acts 8:9-13). They were modern day magicians performing for power, trust, authority, and money instead of just good, clean fun. But, it was just trickery. There was no miraculous power, no altering the laws of nature, no deep insight into the unknowable. Consequently -- and because of other verses I hope we can study -- like you, I have generally disregarded these modern far-out stories of miracles happening today. They have too little impact to be real miracles. But, I still wonder how you would disregard these tongue speakers' credibility but possibly still trust those around you? What is the difference for you? Maybe I have misunderstood your beliefs and the events surrounding you?

Anyway, back on track I agree that tongue speaking happened in the first century, and I'm familiar with Acts 2 and I Corinthians 14 (although I don't remember much about miraculous tongues in the epistle to the Romans). I apologize for being so slow, but I failed to see how these verses get around God's requirements for tongue-speaking in the assembly? Does not I Corinthians 14:22-23 limit tongues in the assembly to no more than 2 or 3 cases, each case being immediately followed with the inspired interpretation? Is that what you see happening today?

Thanks! I look forward to better understanding your thoughts and understanding of Scripture!

[email]

I have thoroughly enjoyed this debate, and I apologize for cutting you off like this, but God has called me to another region of the world, you know it as the congo, I now know it as home, I'm going to preach the Gospel in villages where the name Jesus has never been heard, my flight leaves in just a short while, and from there, my family will keep my mobile device, I won't havemuch access to any computers for awhile, but when I find one, I will be sure to continue this debate with you, thank you for your understanding, and for sharing your knowledge of the bible with me,

[m273p15c]

No problem, I completely understand. I wish and pray the best for you. Just be sure to preach just the Word, because the gospel is the only power that God has given us unto salvation (Romans 1:16; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Timothy 2:15). If you stick with it, you can't go wrong!

Please be safe, take care, and do much good for the Lord! I look forward to hearing from you again, whenever and wherever you have opportunity!