Singing Praises to God 向神歌唱讚美

English resource: https://www.worldenglishinstitute.org/admin/assignments/1284161/take

Singing Praises to God
向神歌唱讚美

On the night before Jesus was killed, he and his apostles “sang a song and then went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30). Even under the shadow of the cross, Jesus sang praises to his Father.
在耶穌被殺前一晚，祂和使徒們「唱了詩，就出來往橄欖山去」（馬太福音 26:30）。即使在十字架的陰影下，耶穌仍向天父歌唱讚美。

In Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and thrown into jail. The jailer put them far inside the jail and tied their feet between two large blocks of wood. But, “about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God” (Acts 16:25).
在腓立比，保羅和西拉被棍打，並被投入監牢。禁卒把他們關在內監，雙腳上了木狗。然而，「約在半夜，保羅和西拉禱告，唱詩讚美神」（使徒行傳 16:25）。

The Scriptures say, “Encourage each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
聖經說：「當用詩章、頌詞、靈歌彼此對說，口唱心和地讚美主」（以弗所書 5:19）。

We don’t know the difference between Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It is possible that “Psalms” were Old Testament poems set to music, that “hymns” were praises sung to God, and that “spiritual songs” were songs sung by believers to encourage and inspire one another.
我們無法確定詩章、頌詞與靈歌之間的細微差別。可能「詩章」指舊約配上旋律的詩篇，「頌詞」是向神獻上的讚美詩，「靈歌」則是信徒彼此鼓勵、激勵的歌曲。

Again the Spirit says, “Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
聖靈又說：「當用詩章、頌詞、靈歌，心被恩感，歌頌神」（歌羅西書 3:16）。

When we come together for worship, we receive strength from one another. One person's faith stirs up faith in another person. Faith is born in community; faith grows in community; and faith is passed on in community. Without the fellowship of the church, our faith would become weak and cold—like an ember losing heat when it is pulled out of the fire. In fellowship, we give warmth, strength, and encouragement to one another.
當我們一同聚集敬拜時，彼此得著力量。一人的信心能激發另一人的信心。信心在群體中誕生，在群體中成長，也在群體中傳承。若離開教會的團契，我們的信心會逐漸冷卻，如同火中的餘燼被抽離後慢慢失去熱度。在團契中，我們彼此給予溫暖、力量與鼓勵。

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No Musical Instruments in the Early Church
初代教會沒有使用樂器

Church historians agree that musical instruments were not used in the New Testament church. In New Testament times, the church sang without the aid of harps, lyres, flutes, or other musical instruments. For hundreds of years, the human voice was the only instrument used in Christian worship.
教會歷史學家普遍認為，新約教會並未使用樂器。在新約時代，教會歌唱時沒有豎琴、七弦琴、長笛或其他樂器的輔助。數百年之久，人聲是基督徒敬拜中唯一的「樂器」。

No one knows with certainty why God did not include instrumental music in the worship of the church. We only know that every church leader who wrote about musical instruments during the first 300 years of church history spoke out against them. Perhaps God excluded instruments from worship because he wanted us to communicate clearly with him and with one another. A musical instrument often drowns out the message of the song.
沒有人能確定神為何沒有把器樂納入教會敬拜。我們只知道，在教會歷史最初三百年中，所有談及樂器的教會領袖都反對將其用於敬拜。也許神排除樂器，是因為祂要我們清楚地向祂、也向彼此傳達信息。樂器往往可能掩蓋歌詞的信息。

God had his own reasons for excluding musical instruments from the worship of the church. It doesn't matter what his reasons were. We are his servants, and a servant doesn't ask the Master why he does thus and so. A servant simply obeys the Master and tries to please him.
神有祂自己的理由，將器樂排除在教會敬拜之外。至於祂的理由是什麼，其實並不重要。我們是祂的僕人；僕人不質疑主人為何如此行事，而是單純順服並努力討祂喜悅。

God told the Holy Spirit what to say to the apostles. Then, the Holy Spirit led the apostles “into all truth” (John 16:13). That is, the Holy Spirit told the apostles what to teach. Since early Christians worshiped without musical instruments, the apostles must have taught them to sing a cappella (chapel style, without instruments). That is reason enough to sing without musical instruments today. Like Abel, our strongest desire is to please God and to offer gifts that are pleasing to him.
神將祂的旨意啟示給聖靈，聖靈又引導使徒「進入一切的真理」（約翰福音 16:13），也就是教導他們當傳講的真理。既然初代基督徒敬拜時沒有使用樂器，使徒必然教導他們以清唱（a cappella）方式歌唱。這對今天而言，已是足夠的理由，讓我們繼續無伴奏歌唱。正如亞伯一樣，我們最大的心願，是討神喜悅，獻上蒙祂悅納的禮物。