Bible Presbyterian Church

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August 29: Church Planting

29 August, 2012 in August 2012 by davidtmyers | 3 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

What a Novel Idea!

This contributor has been involved in several church plants himself as well as participating in Presbytery church planting efforts in the Presbyterian Church in America.  So when a mission church, or for that matter, an organized church begins anew in a new building, there can be no better beginning service than that of a prayer meeting.   And yet that is exactly what happened in West Chester, Pennsylvania on August 29, 1956.  Moving into a new structure for their smaller congregation, the first service was a prayer meeting.

And to be sure, united prayer before the Sovereign God was needed for that Pennsylvania congregation. For that very same year, the national denomination of the Bible Presbyterian Church had a sizeable schism which could very easily have weakened what God’s Spirit  had already been accomplished in this city and church.  But God was faithful in giving wisdom to the congregation, enabling them to stay independent of the whole issue for a while.

The church had begun in 1938 as a core group of faithful and committed Christians left the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. over the apostasy in that once great church.  Beginning with just a nucleus of Christians, they were able to begin a church role of thirteen members, with help from pulpit supplies from Faith Theological Seminary.  They began as the Independent Church of West Chester.  One year later, they affiliated with the Bible Presbyterian Church.  Faithful pastors proclaimed the whole counsel of God and the church grew.  Evangelistic outreach was begun in the town, and people began to respond to the gospel.

Eventually, they affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which became the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. Since 1982, they became a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Their allegiance to the Bible as God’s Word, inspired, inerrant, and infallible, remains the same since they began as a local church of Jesus Christ.

Words to live by:  There is a slogan which American business have often used, sometimes even painted  on the shell of a building, which said, “Build it, and they will come.”  That probably isn’t always the case, so it is more of a hope than anything else.  But in the framework of God’s church,  with the faithful proclamation of the Scriptures, the everlasting gospel, coupled with the sovereign God,  it is true, as this local church in West Chester Pennsylvania has experienced in the almost 75 years of its witness.  Praise  God for faithful churches, true to the faith once delivered unto the saints.

Through the Scriptures:  1 Chronicles 24 – 26

Through the Standards: Lawful and unlawful subjects of prayer    

WLC 184 — “For what things are we to pray?
A.   We are to pray for all things tending to the glory of God, the welfare of the church, our own or others, good; but not for anything that is unlawful.”

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August 13: Millennial Issues

13 August, 2012 in August 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

 Millennial Issues Hit the Fan

The noble infant seem to be coming apart at the seams. Its “father,” Dr. J. Gresham Machen had been taken to heaven on the first day of the new year of 1937.  His “warrior children,” as they were described once, were not in agreement over a number of issues.  The first theological battle in the Presbyterian Church of America was over the “last things,” or eschatology (study of the last things).

Was the new denomination going to be  classic or historic pre-millennialist, that is, Christ would return, then reign on earth for a literal one thousand years?  Was it going to be a dispensational premillennial return, where Christ’s return is divided into a two-step process: first a secret rapture, with countless people left behind?  Second, a public event, with seven years of tribulation at the hands of the anti-christ, then a one thousand year reign by King Jesus, at which time Israel will receive all the promises made down through the years?  This latter view was that taught by the Schofield Reference Bible.  Or was it to be a-millennialist, in which the one thousand years is a figurative number describing the whole period between the resurrection of God and His return? During this time, Christ rules from heaven, and peace comes through the proclamation of the gospel message.  Which viewpoint will characterize this new Presbyterian denomination?

Professor John Murray, of Westminster Seminary, beginning in December of 1935, wrote a whole series of articles on “the Reformed faith and Modern Substitutes.”  He attacked vigorously Modernism, Arminianism, and dispensational pre-millennialism.  Many were offended by his articles.

In 1937, already a new seminary had been begun over the issue of the last things, when Professor Allan A MacRae left Westminster to begin Faith Theological Seminary.  These same issues of the last days also came publicly to the floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America on August 13, 1937.  Eventually they, along with other issues such as Christian liberty, would lead to the beginning of the Bible Presbyterian Church.

Words to live by:  In hindsight, this surely was one of the least reasons to separate from brothers and sisters in Christ.   We need to believe that Christ Jesus will return in power and great glory. That is fundamental.  But to quibble over the events surrounding his return, and worse yet, to separate from other Christians, is questionable, to say the least.  Let us instead resolve to share the gospel with every creature, and then rejoice as Christ  comes back to this earth.

Through the Scriptures: Jeremiah 27 – 29

Through the Standards: Proof texts for the tenth commandment:

Deuteronomy 5:21
“Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his manservant or his maidservant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Amplified)

Romans 7:7
“What then do we conclude?  Is the Law identical with sin?  Certainly not!  Nevertheless, if it  had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or  have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another]. (Amplified)

Hebrews 13:5
“Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.  [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]. (Amplified)

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June 4 : Beginning of the Bible Presbyterian Church

4 June, 2012 in June 2012 by davidtmyers | 1 comment

This Day in Presbyterian History:   

A false start?

The beginnings of the Presbyterian Church of America in 1936 were small but richly blessed with men who had taken their stand for the faith of historic Christianity.  Yet, but a year later, in the midst of the Third General Assembly of that church, a group of ministers were meeting to set up a new Presbyterian church, made up of elders out of that original group of stalwarts of the faith.  What had happened?

They had all agreed on the reasons for the separation from the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.  That church had allowed departures from the faith at home and on the mission field without doing anything about it.  Failure to discipline those who had broken their ordination vows was rampart.  Indeed, not one minister who had signed the Auburn Affirmation was ever charged by any Presbytery.  J. Gresham Machen himself had acknowledged this failure when he was alive.  But he had been taken from the small body of Presbyterians separatists by death on January 1, 1937.

Now in the new church, various secondary issues had sprung up to threaten the peace and unity of the church.  One was the eschatological issue.  Pre-millennialism had always been allowed in the church, but dispensational pre-millennialism had not been accepted.  This was proving to be a divisive issue.  Second, prohibition was raging in the nation at that time.  Many churches, especially in the midwest, were taking a position against the saloon trade.  In that light, an overture was made at the PCA general assembly to bring the church to a position of total abstinence from intoxicating drink.  That was voted down by the Assembly.

Believing that these two issues were fundamental, fourteen teaching elders and three ruling elders met on June 4, 1937 at St. James Hotel in Philadelphia to discuss their concerns.  Believing that a “false start” has been made by the delegates of the Presbyterian Church of America,  the articles of association were drafted for what later on became the Bible Presbyterian Church.  Their call for a new church which was Calvinistic, fundamental, premillennial, and evangelistic was made at that time.  The first General Synod did not take place until September in 1938.  At that meeting, there was a statement which stated that the church and its members pursue the course of total abstinence from alcoholic beverages, condemning the liquor traffic and the modern saloon.  Interestingly though, while they spoke of pre-millennialism as being a hallmark of the new church, they acknowledged liberty in the things of the last day.

In more recent days, the Bible Presbyterian church have recognized the schismatic nature of that separation from what is now the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.  After many examples of extreme separation down through its history, the current Bible Presbyterian Church has twenty-one churches  nationwide, as found in four presbyteries.

Words to Live By:  We can be thankful for churches which are true to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, Reformed in doctrine, looking forward to the Lord’s return in power and great glory, and evangelistic.  Let us seek to be part and parcel of such congregations.

Through the Scriptures:  Proverbs 12 – 14

Through the Standards: The privilege of true assurance

WCF 18:1
“Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false  hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish); yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love Him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.”

WLC 80 —  “Can true believers be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and that they shall persevere therein unto salvation?
A. Such as truly believe in Christ, and endeavour to talk in all good conscience before him, may, without extraordinary revelation, by faith grounded upon the truth of God’s promises, and by the Spirit enabling them to discern in themselves those graces to which the promises of life are made, and bearing witness with their spirits that they are the children of God, be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and shall persevere therein unto salvation.”

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