One of the most exciting times at the church where I grew up was the day our pastor introduced the New National Baptist Hymnal by R. H. Boyd Publishing. Our church selected the red one with gold lettering. The new hymnals were absolutely beautiful.
Ours was not a hymn-singing church per se. Normally the choir did the lion’s share of singing, with the exception of what was called “Devotion,” when deacons would lead us in well-known hymns. However, with the arrival of these new hymnals, worship in singing was going to change. Immediately the senior pastor charged the musicians and choir directors with teaching our congregation a new hymn each month. So congregational hymn singing with everyone using the nice new hymnbooks became the norm during Sunday morning worship.
We also put these new hymnbooks to use each Sunday when we read the “Responsive Reading.” These readings were found in the back of the hymnal in a section titled “Scriptural Readings.” “Devotions” and “Responsive Reading were the only times the congregation handled those new books.
Yet, there was another very important and useful section in the back of the new hymnbooks. It was titled “Articles of Faith.” Every week we held in our hands eighteen weighty theological subjects, like The Scriptures, The True God, The Fall of Man, The Way of Salvation, Justification, Regeneration, Repentance and Faith . Truth filled those short doctrinal paragraphs.
Even though I’m one for preaching entire books of the Bible, I can still envision a sermon series on these great doctrines. Wouldn’t it be great to sit under the instruction week after week on subjects like, God’s purpose of Grace, Sanctification, Perseverance of Saints or The Law and Gospel? Or how about weekly Bible Studies, Sunday School series or B.T.U. (Baptist Training Union) for all ages on these wonderful truths? You could even use it for family worship without having to print song sheets. What a magnificent way to get our churches and our families rooted and grounded in the truth. Those hymnals are great tools!
Now here comes the surprise, at least it was for me. The Articles of Faith in the back of The New National Baptist Hymnal is none other than the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833! And a wonderful confession it is. Here is a brief history of it:
“This Confession was drawn up by the Rev. John Newton Brown, D. D., of New Hampshire (b. 1803, d. 1868), about 1833, and has been adopted by the New Hampshire Convention, and widely accepted by Baptists, especially in the Northern and Western States, as a clear and concise statement of their faith, in harmony with the doctrines of older confessions, but expressed in milder form.”
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SOURCE: The Front Porch
Louis Love
