O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE B-P CHURCH MOVEMENT

“We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” (Psalm 78:4-7) 

          This passage highlights the importance of passing our knowledge of God’s work to the next generation. God has done marvelous works not only in the history of Israel, but also in the history of our church. These works reveal how great and wonderful He is. And these works encourage us to keep trusting in Him and obeying Him. 

          There is a great need for our next generation to appreciate the rich and precious biblical heritage that we have. They need to understand how God raised up the B-P Church at a time of spiritual decline and apostasy.

The Beginning of the Presbyterian Church 

          Our roots can be traced to the great Scottish Reformer, John Knox (1514-1572). David Murray said, “No man in all our history has done more for Scotland than John Knox. By God’s grace he saw a land immersed in idolatry, immorality, ignorance, bondage and superstition, and by the Gospel of Christ transformed into a free, democratic, educated, poor-provided-for, liberated, civilised nation. Scotland was his monument. And all through Christ!” 

          John Knox received the Reformed faith when he studied at John Calvin’s Academy in Geneva. He said that this was ‘the most perfect school of Christ seen on earth since the days of the Apostles.’ He brought the Reformed faith to Scotland in 1559 and founded the first Presbyterian Church. After a year it became the official Church of Scotland. In 1647 the Presbyterian Church adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith as its doctrinal standard. 121 godly theologians had worked together for about four years to produce this statement. It took so long because every paragraph was prayerfully composed and supported with Scripture verses. The Westminster Confession has been used for over three centuries. Today it is the doctrinal standard of the Bible-Presbyterian Church and many other reformed churches.

The Development of the Presbyterian Church in America 

          In the seventeenth century, many Scottish Presbyterians migrated to Northern Ireland in search of religious freedom. From Ireland, about 200,000 of them sailed to America. One of them was Francis Mackemie. He is considered to be the father of American Presbyterianism. In 1706 Mackemie was elected as the moderator of the first presbytery that met in Philadelphia. As more Presbyterian churches were planted in America, a synod was formed. The Westminster Confession of Faith became its doctrinal statement. Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812 to train new ministers for the increasing number of Presbyterian churches in the US. Princeton became a very large seminary producing many godly ministers. 

          However, in the 19^th century, new doctrines began to creep into many churches. American scholars went to Europe to learn from eminent professors who taught something called Liberal theology. These professors regarded the Bible as an ordinary book that was written by human authors. They reduced it to a collection of religious myths and legends. They rejected all the miracles of the Bible. They claimed that Science had proven that all things were not created by God, but that they had evolved naturally over millions of years. They taught that all religions are morally good and acceptable to God. They claimed that Jesus Christ was merely a wise moral teacher, and that He is not the only way to God. 

          These Liberal doctrines were promoted by professors with very high degrees of learning. They claimed to have the most advanced theological education in the world. In reality the doctrine they taught was not Christianity at all. It was opposed on every point to biblical Christianity. But students in many seminaries were being indoctrinated by them. After they graduated, they infected the churches they pastored with their defective teaching. Instead of preaching the pure Gospel which has the power to convict souls, they preached a powerless social gospel. The main goal of the church became social reform, rather than the salvation of souls from sin. 

          As a result of this, many Presbyterians became Liberal. They wanted to change the Westminster Confession to reflect their Liberal doctrinal views. However, the Presbyterians who wanted to keep the Westminster Confession unchanged tried to stop them. At a General Assembly held in 1910, they affirmed their belief in five biblical doctrines: The inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and the miracles of Christ. Only those who subscribed to these five doctrines were allowed to become pastors of Presbyterian churches. These five doctrines were eventually published in a series of booklets entitled “The Fundamentals”. 

          Because of this, the Liberals began ridiculing those who believed in them as ‘Fundamentalists’. Since then, the term ‘fundamentalist’ has become associated with religious extremism. The Liberals strongly objected to making these five doctrines a requirement for ordaining all new pastors. In 1923 they expressed this objection in a statement which became known as the Auburn Affirmation. It was signed by 1,293 Presbyterian ministers (which was about 13% of all the Presbyterian ministers). This shows how far Liberalism had advanced within the church by then. Four years later, the Liberals won the battle. The whole Presbyterian denomination came under their control. By 1967 they replaced the Westminster Confession with a Liberal doctrinal statement. 

          In the midst of this crisis, there was one Bible scholar who spoke out boldly to defend the faith. He was J. Greshem Machen. Machen was one of the leading professors at Princeton Theological Seminary. Unfortunately, the Liberals managed to take over the Board of the Seminary. And so, Machen together with four other professors and about 50 students left Princeton in 1929 to start their own theological seminary. Since it adhered firmly to the Westminster Confession of faith, it was named Westminster Theological Seminary. 

          One of the students who left Princeton to form the new seminary was Carl McIntyre. He was a third-year student who had dreamed of graduating from Princeton. But when the President of Princeton tried to dissuade him from leaving, he replied, “I come from a home where we believed the Bible. I don’t know where this book will take me in this life, but I know where it will take me for eternity.” In 1931 McIntyre graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. Two years later he began to pastor the Collingswood Presbyterian Church in New Jersey which had 810 members.

The Beginning of the Bible Presbyterian Church Movement in America 

          In 1936 the conflict between the Fundamentalists and the Liberals came to a great climax. Eight fundamentalist pastors were put on trial and were suspended. Carl McIntire was one of them. However, the Collingswood congregation that he pastored gave him very strong support. They voted to come out of the Liberal denomination. They had to give up their church building and find a new place of worship. Together with some other Fundamentalists they formed themselves into a new denomination. On 4 June 1937 fourteen ministers and three elders met together at the St James Hotel in Philadelphia. They started the Bible Presbyterian Church. 

          The word ‘Bible’ was added to the name ‘Presbyterian’ because the controversy between Fundamentalists and Liberals had centered around the Bible. The first chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith teaches that the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible Presbyterians resolved to uphold this Confession of Faith as their doctrinal standard. Besides that, they also adopted three denominational distinctives: (1) Biblical separation, (2) The Premillennial view of Christ’s return, and (3) Total abstinence with regards to the use of intoxicating beverages and tobacco. 

          The Westminster Confession did not state any particular eschatological position as the assembly was divided in their views. How did the Premillennial view become one of the distinctives of the Bible Presbyterian Church? It was the result of intensive Bible teaching given at the Bible and Prophetic Conferences held in America between 1878 and 1914. A large number of conference speakers and participants were Presbyterians. Thus, many Presbyterians were convinced about the Premillennial position. 

          In the years that followed, the Bible Presbyterian Church in the US grew into a Twentieth Century Reformation movement with an increasing global influence. Missionaries were sent to Central and South America, Africa, Australia and Asia. This was done through the Independent Board of Presbyterian Foreign Missions which J. Greshem Machen had founded in 1933. In 1937 Faith Theological Seminary was established to train pastors and missionaries to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). In 1948 the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) was founded at Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It was established in response to the ecumenical efforts of the World Council of Churches (WCC) which is leading churches back to Rome.

The Beginning of the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore 

          Now we shall consider how this movement came to our part of the world. It began with our Presbyterian roots. After the Presbyterian Church was established in Scotland, a Presbyterian movement arose in England. It was led mainly by the Puritans. Their efforts to reform the Church of England led to the forming of the Westminster Assembly, which produced the Westminster Confession of Faith. 

          But their reforms could not be implemented because of adverse political changes. In 1662 the English Parliament issued the ‘Act of Uniformity’ that required all ministers to follow the Anglican system and to use the Book of Common Prayer for all worship services. As a result of this, 2,000 English ministers lost their position and support because they held Presbyterian convictions. During the time of persecution that followed, they became scattered and isolated. 

          In the 1840s the English Presbyterians were revitalized and became organised as a Church. They sent out many missionaries to China. One of them was a Scotsman named William Chalmers Burns. Through the evangelistic efforts of these missionaries many Chinese came to the saving knowledge of Christ. Many of these converts migrated to Singapore in the 1870s. Soon there was a need to establish new local churches for them here. Thus, in 1881, four Chinese Presbyterian churches were established for the migrants in Singapore. One of them was Life Church at No. 144 Prinsep Street. The Chinese called it ‘Say Mia Tng’. 

          In the 1930s, the Chinese churches in Singapore experienced a great revival through the ministry of John Sung. Through his powerful preaching many souls were brought to Christ, and many were also called into fulltime service. John Sung also delivered strong warnings against Liberal doctrines. This is because he had personally experienced the damaging effects of Liberalism during his theological studies in America. 

          This revival made a huge impact on the life of a young man in Life Church who was a fourth-generation Presbyterian. Eleven years later, this young man Timothy Tow, answered the call to fulltime service. He went first to Nanjing Seminary to study theology for a year under Dr Chia Yu Ming. But he was eventually directed to the US to receive further theological training. By God’s providence, the place where he studied was Faith Theological Seminary. There he came directly under the influence of Dr Carl McIntyre, and he imbibed the Bible Presbyterian Faith and the spirit of the Twentieth Century Reformation movement. 

          Upon returning to Singapore, Rev Timothy Tow and Elder Quek Kiok Chiang among others founded the Life Church English Service on 15 October 1950. Although this English service started with only 30 members, it had a large vision for the advancement of God’s kingdom. The daily witness of its members brought many souls to Christ. Through numerous mission trips sixty villages in Malaya were evangelized. 

          However, Life Church was a member of the Chinese Presbyterian Synod at that time. This synod was part of the Malayan Christian Council, which was under the control of Liberals. The Malayan Christian Council was also affiliated with the World Council of Churches. For a few years Life Church made several attempts to petition for the synod’s withdrawal from this Council. But all their efforts were to no avail. After the last attempt in January 1955, a decision was made to sever all ties with the synod and form a new church with the name Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. 

          This saw the birth of the Bible-Presbyterian movement in Singapore. By God’s grace this movement has grown and branched out through evangelism and missions. At one time the B-P Church was reported to be one of the fastest growing churches in Singapore, with 60 congregations in Singapore, 20 in Malaysia and many more in Asia and other countries world-wide. 

          However, our journey has not always been nice and smooth. In October 1988 the B-P Synod was dissolved, and then from August 2003 to 2006 many B-P churches were split by a very divisive doctrine called Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP). In 2007, several pastors and elders from the non-VPP churches began meeting every month for fraternal fellowship. This fraternal fellowship provided a platform to collaborate and to build up greater ties among like-minded churches. The following year an idea of starting a Bible college was mooted, and this eventually led to the launching of Emmanuel Reformed Bible College in 2017. 

          Our first combined B-P Churches conference was held in August 2017 with the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. A year later, the Pastors Fraternal broached the idea of forming a presbytery. A plan was drawn out in early 2019 to start the process of forming the presbytery. In July a white paper was sent to the fraternal churches for their consideration. By 2021 the presbytery constitution and manual were ready and the application to register a new presbytery was finally approved on 3 October 2022 with five member churches. 

          The Presbytery of Singapore Bible-Presbyterian Churches was inaugurated at a meeting that was held on 4 February 2023. The logo of the presbytery has a burning bush motif. This has been used by Presbyterian churches since 1691. It is based on Exodus 3:2 which records how the Lord appeared unto Moses “in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” 

          God’s people are just like a frail and humble little bush. God is a consuming fire who can easily destroy us (Hebrews 12:29). But God in His grace is with us and works through us, and yet we are not consumed. The open Bible that frames the logo depicts the fact that we are Bible-Presbyterians. Thus, we seek to stand firm on the Word of God and to reach forth by declaring it faithfully to the world. 

          In this brief history we have seen how God has led His people since the time when the Presbyterian Church started over four centuries ago. We have seen how God kept the Light of the Gospel burning within the Church despite the strong winds of Liberalism and Ecumenism. We have also seen how God empowered our spiritual forefathers to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. All these works of God must be made known today, so that those of the next generation “might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” (Psalm 78:7)

          We must thank God both for our Bible-Presbyterian heritage, and for the Word of God that our spiritual forefathers fought so hard for. And if the Lord tarries, there will probably be more battles ahead. As long as sin and unbelief continue to thrive in this fallen world, we will have to fight more battles for the Lord.  Although our circumstances may change, the way to win each spiritual battle remains the same. It is still best won with the most powerful weapon, which is the inspired and sufficient Word of God. 

          Let all of us who belong to the present generation and to the next generation remember this well. The Bible-Presbyterian Church was founded with the word ‘Bible’ in its name. This emphasises the importance of standing firm for the Word of God as our only rule of faith and practice. – Pastor

Shorter Catechism Question 16

Q: Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?

A: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.

Appointments for the Week

Monday, Oct 14

        7.30 pm     ERBL: Intro to Biblical Counselling (Mr Joel Seah)

Tuesday, Oct 15

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Eld Lim Teck Chye)

Thursday, Oct 17

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     No ERBL Lecture

Saturday, Oct 19

      11.00 am     Faith NBC

        3.00 pm     LTF / YLM

        4.00 pm     SF Seminar (MPH)

Sunday, Oct 20

  9.00 am  Church 74th Anniversary: Building up the Church of Christ Ephesians 4:12-16 (Rev Charles Seet)

  9.00 am Chinese Service (MPH)

  9.40 am No Sunday School

11.00 am Fellowship Lunch

  2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

  4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

Announcements

74th Church Anniversary Combined Baptismal Service

20th October 2024, 9.00 am 

Fellowship Lunch after Service 

(Offerings to defray the cost of the lunch are welcome.) 

Holy Communion: Please note that due to the combined service on 20th October, Holy Communion for the 8 am service will be served on 27th October instead of 20th October. 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

(Psalm 103:2)

Door to Door Evangelism 20 October 2024 (Next Sunday)

Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, 11.30am Contact: Desmond or Amos 

Traffic Warden Service

We welcome all church members to join in this work. Our TW’s role is to provide godly service to facilitate worship. We need help in following time slots for Sunday: 7.30-8am or 10.30-11am with a frequency of once or twice a month. Please contact Dn Chan Yong or Bro Kelvin .

Parking Arrangements

For the Church Anniversary Service next Sunday at 9am, please note the special parking arrangement to facilitate the brunch after service:

• Main sanctuary and Beulah parking for those staying for lunch only.
• ⁠Please park outside or at Kai for those not staying for lunch. Please only park in designated areas in Kai to avoid misunderstanding with Kai Management.

Please note that parking is permitted along single yellow lines on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation and we will do our best to find parking space for all.

Parking is also available at Revenue House (RH).

Please contact Bro Kelvin or Dn Chan Yong if you need ferry service from RH to church.

Coffee Corner will be closed on Church Anniversary Sunday, 20 October 2024.

Sunday School Open Sunday

27 Oct 2024 @ Life B-P Church, 9.40am. “What should we know about the Protestant Reformation?” by Rev Charles Seet

MM Thanksgiving Meeting

23 Nov 2024 @ Beulah MPH, 4pm. “Were there not ten?” by Bro Joel Seah

LTF Camp: Sed or Blessed

2-6 Dec 2024 @ Life B-P Church. Age Grp: 12-17. Speaker: Rev David Wong

YF Camp: To live is Christ, to die is gain

16-20 Dec 2024 @ Life B-P Church. Age Grp: 16-25. Speaker: Eld Chin Hoong Chor. 

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