Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1993

REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 137just skills or academic achievement or the attainment of a certain office inchurch government. What is a major factor in the transmission of the faithfrom one generation to the next? Virtually any study or book on the subjectwill point to the consistency of the parents as one of the cmcial factors, ifnot the most crucial factor, in the desire to follow their parents in theirprofession and application of faith in Christ.Another factor in the building of families is Psalm-singing, which playsa big part in the Covenanter history and intensifies this multi-generationalemphasis in families. Why? The Psalms emphasize this cross-generationalcovenant, as much as any book of the Bible.In what book of the Bible is the word "generation" used the most? ThePsalms. Then where in the Old Testament is Christ's kingship mostprominently featured? The Psalms. And in how many passages in thePsalms do we see frequentstatements of a sense of responsibility of onegeneration for another? A word study of "generation" and "seed" producesa surprising number of references to this sense of responsibility. Asampling includes: Psalm 48:13; Psalm 73:15; Psalm 78:1-8; Psalm 89:1-4; Psalm 102:18; Psalm 112; Psalm 145:4Without the Psalm-singing, would you have a doctrine of dominion?Without the doctrine of dominion, would we sing Psalms? The chicken orthe egg? I'm not sure we can pull these principles apart, but it is not bychance that the doctrine of kingdom grew out of the Psalm-singing church.And it is not by chance that Psalm-singing has been preserved, almostexclusively, in the church carrying the doctrine of dominion into the endof the 20th century.And family worship is a Reformed Presbyterian tradition, not exclusiveto the church, but a key emphasis in many families. John Macmillan, forexample, was a Refonned Presbyterian pioneer in Scotland, 1682-1753,used by Christ in the building of the church out of the societies thatdeveloped after the 1688 settlement. He saw his children and grandchildrencontinue in service to the church and, in his dying days, he wanted toturn to family worship, to Psalm singing and the reading of God's Word.It was a habit of the heart in his life and helps account for his descendantsfollowing in his footsteps.Why is family worship strong in the Reformed Presbyterian Churchhistory? The psalm-singing must be a factor. We must leam how to singthe psalms at home. We don't pay a choir or group to do our worship forus. The spirituality of the worship service, though barren in the eyes ofsome looking for more fanciness and entrapments, does contribute tofamily worship. The covenants must contribute to the family worship aswell, the corporate agreements to seek the Lord, the family covenants, theindividual covenants.