The Lord laughs in heaven at the vain opposition to his cause and at the folly of men who make their scruples and wills the measure of righteousness and holiness. Such was on display in the “Act of Separation and Joining” meeting of Rev. A. Lanning and his group, as well as in the aftermath in the first worship service of their new church.

The “Act of Separation and Joining” meeting was ostensibly called by Deacon Keith Gritters, although he played almost no role at all in the meeting. Deacon Gritters, in an email to the congregation of First Reformed Protestant Church, had informed the members about the meeting and said, “There will be opportunity to ask questions.” However, no questions were allowed from the attendees except from those who intended to sign the “Act of Separation and Joining.” Obviously, the group had it cooked and dried about who would sign, and the meeting was not intended to answer any questions and give any real answers. If you intended to sign, what meaningful questions could you possibly have? The meeting really was not informative at all. It was merely a performance like on a stage.

What was especially humorous to see, however, was that behind Reverend Lanning, as he spoke, was a gigantic cross.

The church of Jesus Christ loves the cross. She glories in the cross of Jesus Christ. And she is determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. She preaches the cross of Jesus Christ as the only ground and foundation of the salvation of God’s elect church and that by which believers are made perfect forever.

When the position of exclusive psalmody was first attacked, I warned the Reformed Protestant Churches that the doctrine of exclusive psalmody was part of a large purity of worship movement that has been a perennial plague on the churches. As an example of this, I said that soon we would be arguing about whether we could have a cross in church, that the arguments would not stop there, and that the movement—which is legalism and thus does what all legalism does—would result in endless calculations and controversies about how pure the worship of God is.

Where was that gigantic cross that first Sunday when the group came together to worship?

The cross was shrouded behind a curtain.

I thought that perhaps Reverend Lanning at the beginning of the worship service would pull back the curtain in a dramatic display of the church’s liberty in Jesus Christ and as a thorough refutation of those who had warned them about the wider implications of the doctrine of exclusive psalmody.

He did not. The cross remained covered.

I thought that this controversy regarding exclusive psalmody was not about crosses and purity of worship. Then why was that cross covered up? Can someone answer that?

I think I know why the cross was covered. Because unbeknownst to me when I preached that crosses would become involved in our controversy about singing, First Reformed Protestant Church had already had a cross issue, and the legalists won that battle. Crosses had already been removed from the church or covered up.

And the exclusive psalmody doctrine will not stop at crosses.

There was another notable change in the group’s first worship service. The song that concludes the silent prayer was changed. Why was that song changed? Is it not a psalm? If that is the case, then the change is notable because now tunes—mere tunes—are given moral weight, so that they are included in the stricture against singing anything other than a psalm in church. I wonder what other tunes will be purged from the worship services. Perhaps the tune of “Abide with Me,” the tune of “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” the tune of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” or the tune of Luther’s battle hymn of the Reformation, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

This all is evidence of worship controlled by the mere whims of man.

The Reformed Protestant Churches are declared false because they supposedly have enthroned the will of man in worship. On the contrary, in the church of our former members, man’s will is enthroned as the arbiter of what is pure enough in worship.

If there is anyone who has an ear to hear yet, be warned that there is more to come. And hear the call to get out. The fear of men is a snare!