Month: November 2014

“obedience is the foundation of true worship”

“If we desire, therefore, that he should approve of the honor which we confer upon him, we ought always to consider what he requires. And, indeed, they who venture to offer to God honors invented by themselves are chargeable with using some sort of force and violence towards him; for obedience is the foundation of true worship. Let us also learn from it with what reverence we ought to abide by the pure and simple word of God; for as soon as we turn aside in the smallest degree, the truth is poisoned by our leaven, so that it is no longer like itself.”

John Calvin, Commentary on John 6:15

…the singing of human compositions in celebrating the praises of God, has its rise in small beginnings…The history of all the corruptions we have mentioned is the same, for the general principle will always hold good: a human invention, once tolerated in the church, will ultimately exclude, or throw into the shade, a divine institution.

As the singing of human compositions in celebrating the praises of God, has its rise in small beginnings: no claim is at first offered on their behalf to the sole possession of this part of God’s worship. In the end, the psalms of scripture are excluded, and, perhaps, even reviled. Singing by choir begins very modestly: the object is merely to improve the music. In the end, the choir claims to be the seat of praise in the house of God. Trustees had no places in the apostolic church. There could have been none at that time. The reformed churches had no such officers. Originally, as there is reason to believe, they were barely tolerated, they are now, sometimes, supported as altogether preferable to deacons; and some, going still farther like the advocates of human psalmody, deny the office of deacon to be at all an important part of the order of the sanctuary. Trustees, man’s invention, they would not dispense with: deacons, Christ s appointment, may be very well neglected. The history of all the corruptions we have mentioned is the same, for the general principle will always hold good: a human invention, once tolerated in the church, will ultimately exclude, or throw into the shade, a divine institution.

James Willson, The Deacon, page 43, 1841

UPDATE on Pageland Reformed Presbyterian Mission (RPCNA): New meeting location

Pageland Reformed Presbyterian Mission is now meeting at:

222 S. Van Lingle Mungo Blvd.
Pageland, SC 29728.

Contact number is 843.517.2088. http://www.pagelandrpc.com.

From an earlier post:

The new church in Pageland has recently called Ian wise to be their Pastor. He accepted and is beginning ministry in October. The church will have an installation service led by Dr. Frank Smith on Saturday October 8th at 10.30am. They hope to have many visitors. All are invited!

From an earlier post:

A new church plant in Pageland, SC will now hold worship services every Lord’s Day morning at 11 am.

From the church’s website:

“Pageland Reformed Presbyterian Church is a ministry of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA). We are located in Pageland, South Carolina – 55 minutes from downtown Charlotte, North Carolina and 75 minutes from downtown Columbia, South Carolina.

We meet for worship at 11:00 am in the Cambridge Hall at the Guest Lodge located at:

910 West McGregor Street
Pageland, SC 29728-2014

SEE UPDATED LOCATION ABOVE

Please email pagelandrpc@gmail.com or call 843.622.5853 with any questions.

What we believe:

Our beliefs all stem from a full commitment to the authority of the Bible as the inerrant, infallible Word of God. This means that we believe in the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We acknowledge our total inability to save ourselves and, in faith, depend on Christ alone as our Savior. We acknowledge Him as Lord in every area of life, and we vow together to advance His Kingdom on earth.

God made man in His image to glorify and enjoy Him. In the public worship of the church, the people of God, redeemed by Christ, glorify and enjoy the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as He reveals Himself in His Word.

Jesus Christ, as our Prophet, Priest and King, has revealed to His people how to worship Him in a pleasing manner. Therefore, “the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by Himself and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures” (Westminster Confession of Faith 21:1 [p.49]). This means true worship is commanded by God only; false worship is anything not commanded. In other words, if God did not direct us in the Bible to do something–we do not do it.”

A news article from November in the Progressive Journal from here quotes the Rev. Frank Smith, “We have maintained the practice of singing the Biblical songs in public worship without musical accompaniment. We’ve maintained those standards through the years. We believe this is the way that God desires to be worshiped. We believe that worship should be worship.”