USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Articles of faith, and form of covenant, adopted by the South Church in Andover . . . together with the names of the surviving members, December, 1812 > Part 1
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ARTICLES OF FAITH,
AND
COVENANT,
ADOPTED
By the First Congregational Church
IN CONCORD, NEW-HAMPSHIRE,
JUNE 1, 1826.
PRINTED BY GEORGE HOUGH, For the Church.
JUNE -- 1826,
ARTICLES OF FAITH.
YOU believe, that there is one true Gop, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by Divine Inspiration, and contain the only perfect rule of faith and practice : that Gop maintains a righteous government over all creatures : that Man has fallen from the state in which he was originally created, and is by nature entirely destitute of holiness : that an Atonement for sin has been made by the Lord Jesus Christ, so that repente. ance and faith are now the conditions of salvation .- You believe in the necessity of our being renewed by the agency of the Holy Spirit; in the increase in holiness, and perseverance unto salvation, of all who truly believe ; in the doctrine of a general resurrection,. and a future judgment ; in the everlasting blessedness of the righteous, and the endless punishment of all the. finally impenitent.
THUS YOU BELIEVE ..
COVENANT.
ACKNOWLEDGING your infinite obligations to be the" LORD'S, you profess your desire, in sincerity of heart, and with a deep sense of your unworthiness, to lay hold on his holy and everlasting Covenant. You give up yourself to GoD the Father, as your God, your Fa- ther, and your eternal Portion. You give up yourself to the blessed JEsus, the Redeemer and Head of the Church, as your Prophet, Priest, and King, and rely upon Him alone for salvation. You give up yourself
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to the HOLY SPIRIT, and rely upon Him for sanctifica- tion, guidance, and comfort.
Depending on Divine Grace for assistance, you here- by solemnly bind yourself to glorify God, by a faith- ful discharge of the duties of sobriety, righteousness, and godliness, and by a diligent observance of all his Commandments and Ordinances --- You particularly engage to walk with this Church of CHRIST, faithfully attending the public worship of GOD, the Sacraments of the New Testament, the Discipline of his Kingdom, and all his sacred Institutions, and watchfully avoiding whatever is contrary to purity, peace, and love, as becomes the followers of the meek and lowly JESUS.
All this you do, relying on the blood of the ever- lasting Covenant for the pardon of your sins, and be- seeching the glorious GoD to prepare and strengthen you for every good work to do His Will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through JESUS CHRIST, to whom be glory, dominion, and praise, forever and ever ..
THUS YOU PROMISE.
ON your thus professing and promising, we receive you as a Member of this Church, and admit you to the full enjoyment of all its privileges-promising, through Divine Grace assisting us, to aid you in the duties of the Christian life, by our prayers and fraternal watch- fulness; expecting, in return, the same offices from you, that the purposes of this holy Covenant may be' answered .-- The LORD make us faithful to Himself and to each other.
This Church was gathered Oct. 17, 1711. Rev. Samuel Phillips ordained Oct. 17, 1711, Died June 5, 1771.
Rev. Jona. French ordained Sept. 23, 1772, Died July 28, 1809. Rev. Justin Edwards ordained Dec. 2, 1812.
CONFESSION
OF
FAITH AND COVENANT;
Adopted by the South Church in Andover.
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1. YOU believe in one only living and true God; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and that it is the duty of all intelligent creatures, to love and obey him.
2. You believe that the bible is the Word of God; that it was given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost ; and is the sufficient and only rule of faith and practice.
3. You believe that God created man upright; you believe the fall of man, the depravity of human nature, and that men, unless they are born again, can never see the kingdom of God.
4. You believe in the incarnation, obedience, suffering, and death of Christ ; his resurrection, and ascension; that he alone, by his suffering and death, hath made atonement for sin; and that he ever liveth to make intercession for us.
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5. You believe that Christ hath appointed two special ordinances, viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; that baptism is to be adminis- tered to unbaptized adults, who profess their faith in Christ, and to the infant children of members of the church.
6. You believe the future existence of the soul ; that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked-a day of final judgment ; that all will receive according to their works ; that the wicked will go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal.
COVENANT.
You now, humbly and penitently asking the forgiveness of all your sins, through the blood of the great Redeemer, give up yourself to God, in an everlasting covenant, in our Lord Jesus Christ; and as in the presence of God, angels, and men, you solemnly promise, that by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, you will forsake the vanities of this present evil world, and approve yourself a true disciple of Jesus Christ, in all good carriage toward God, and toward man.
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And you likewise promise, so long as God shall continue you among us, to walk in com- munion with the church of Christ in this place ; to watch over other professing Christians among us ; to submit to the power and discipline of Christ in his church, and duly to attend the seals and the censures, or whatever ordinance Christ has commanded to be observed by his people, so far as the Lord, by his word and spirit has, or shall, reveal to you to be your duty ; adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, and avoiding the appearance of evil ; and by daily prayer to Almighty God in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, you will seek for grace to keep this covenant.
ANSWER
Of the Rev. Samuel Phillips to the question- What shall we do, that we may keep in mind our Covenant ?
1. VERY diligently and devoutly attend to the Covenant, whensoever it is publicly pro- pounded to any person ; and yield your assent and consent to every article and tittle of it.
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2. Not only wait upon Christ at his table, on all opportunities ; but always eye the Lord's Supper as the SEAL of the Covenant. And every time you partake, realize that you have bound yourselves afresh to keep Covenant with God; for, to take the Sacrament, is to take the oath of obedience and loyalty.
3. Look upon the Holy Scriptures, in your daily reading of them, as the book of the Cove- nant ; for so it is, inasmuch as it exhibiteth our duty towards God and man ; and also, what we may hope and expect to receive from the hand of God, if we keep his statutes. Exod. xxiv. 7.
4. Labour to have it impressed and fixed upon your minds, that heaven and earth are witnesses of your covenanting with the great God; and that God, angels, and men, will certainly appear as such, either for or against you, in the day of reckoning.
5. Discourse frequently together of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God ; and particu- larly of the covenant ; viz. the precepts, prohi- bitions, promises and threatnings ; of the vows, which you have made, and the comfortable ex- perience, which you and others have had of God's gracious presence, &c. This practice
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would be of eminent service to help the memory, as also to quicken unto obedience.
6. Frequently renew your Covenant with the Lord in secret, as becomes those who resolve to stand to what they have said ;- this is not only the duty, but (I should think) will be also very much the delight, of a sincere soul ; and a choice help it is to revive our remembrance of the Co- venant, and to excite our affections ; and to quicken us to mend our pace.
7. Keep your Covenant by you, as a memorial of the solemn transactions which have passed between God and you, and frequently review the same.
8. And lastly, prayer must be always one direction. And this duty must be attended and performed, not only in public, and in and with the families, which you respectively belong unto, but also in secret ;- Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Fa- ther, which is in secret. Matt. vi. 6. This duty of secret prayer I hope you do not dare to neglect ; you cannot (I think) ordinarily omit it, if you have a living, holy principle within you ;- well ; and you must pray especially for
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spiritual blessings ; and in particular, that the Lord would please to put his law in your in- ward parts, and write it in your hearts ; " that He would make it ready and familiar to you, at hand when you have occasion to use it, as that which is written in the heart ;- that He would work in you a strong disposition to obe- dience, and an exact conformity of thought and affection to the rules of the divine law, as that of the copy to the original." You have a dis- position this way already ;- pray that it may abide and grow, and plead that precious promise in Jer. xxxi. 33. ; and, the more you are dis- posed this way, the less danger will there be of your forgetting the Covenant of the Lord your God.
USE .- From what has been said, let profes- sors be exhorted to put one another in mind of their Covenant duties and obligations. It is true, we may not watch over others, and neglect ourselves, as some (to their great reproach) are said to do ; neither may our charity end at home ; for the law of God obligeth us to love our neighbour as ourselves. And again it is written, Exhort one another daily .- And it is remarked concerning those that feared the Lord,
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that they spake often one to another ; Mal. iii. 16 .- and have we not expressly bound our- selves, by Covenant, to watch over one another? Yes, verily : How then shall we dare to neg- lect it ; especially considering that a great deal of sin and sorrow might (probably) be prevent- ed, if professors would in this way be kind and faithful to one another ? Thus, for instance : when a neighbour or brother is observed to be going into temptation, or in present danger of falling into some transgression, it is not impro- bable that these words, spoken (in a suitable manner) in his hearing, remember your Cove- nant, would prevent his fall ; or, if he has al- ready fallen, it may be those words-would be the means of recovering him out of the snare of the devil ; and of bringing him unto unfeigned repentance .- And so; if you see a brother, backward to any good work, respecting either God or man; perhaps this memento-would shame and quicken him. Now, we are un- doubtedly obliged to do this, and much more, to prevent each other's hurt, and to promote each other's good; O ! let us not be negligent.
CATALOGUE
OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CHURCH IN ANDOVER, DEC. 1812.
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Wid. Sarah Abbot
Wid. Phebe Abbot
John Abbot
Dea. Isaac Abbot
Wid. Sarah Abbot
Caleb & Deborah Abbot
Mary Abbot Wid. Hannah Abbot John L. & Phebe Abbot Moses & Elizabeth Abbot Enoch & Nancy Abbot Wid. Abigail Allen Wid. Elizabeth Abbot Ezra & Hannah Abbot Benjamin & Mary Abbot Nathan & Hannah Abbot Priscilla, wife of David Abbot
Eunice, w. of Prince Ames Elizabeth Abbot Hannah Abbot
Rhoda Abbot Anna Abbot Wid. Mary Abbot Timothy & Sarah Abbot Asa & Judith Abbot Priscey Abbot Charlotte, w. of Isaac Abbot Wid. Dorcas Ames
Simeon & Sarah Ames
Wid. Experience Abbot Wid. Lydia Abbot Wid. Rebecca Abbot
Wid. Sarah Abbot Wid. Hannah Abbot Zebadiah & Sarah Abbot Herman & Lydia Abbot Abiel & Hannah Abbot Hannah, wife of Stephen
Abbot Abigail Abbot John & Elizabeth Adams
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David & Mary Blunt
Symonds Baker Hezekiah & Mary Ballard Joshua & Hepzibah Bailey Isaac & Lois Blunt
Sarah, w. of Eppes Baker Amos & Elizabeth Blan- Lydia, w. of Luther Bailey chard
William Bailey
Hannah, wife of Thomas Wid. Lucy Bailey Boynton 2
Hannah, w. of Benj. Berry
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Wid. Mary Burt Timothy & Mary Ballard Jedediah & Sarah Burt Lydia, w. of John Barnard
Fanny Blanchard Wid. Hannah Bailey Hannah, wife of Daniel Beverly
Wid. Hannah Chandler Wid. Rebecca Chandler Rebecca Chandler Isaac & Abigail Chandler Joshua Chandler, jun. Sam'l & Elizabeth Cogswell Dorcas, wife of Joshua Samuel jun. & Sarah Cogs- Chandler well
Joseph & Mary Chandler Mary, w. of Abiel Chandler Elizabeth Chandler Florah Chandler Wid. Hannah Chandler
Simon Crosby, jun.
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Sally Corey Simon & Deborah Crosby Abijah & Hannah Clarke James & Phebe Chandler
Samuel & Sarah Clarke Dan'l & Hannah Cummings Betsy Cleaveland
Mercy, w. of James Davis Hannah, w. of Amos Durant Philemon Dane Priscilla, wife of Moses
Palfrey & Abigail Downing Dane
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Madam Abigail French Jacob Foster Wid. Hannah Foster Wid. Mary Foster Abiel & Lydia Faulkner Samuel Farrar Anna Foster Wid. Elizabeth Frye William Foster
Lucy Foster Lucy, w. of Theo's Frye Enoch & Mary Frye John & Ruth Flint Persis, wife of Timo: Frye Peter & Elizabeth French Simeon & Rachel Furbush Rachel Furbush Hannah, w. of Amos Frye
Benj. & Hannah Goldsmith Jeremiah & Sarah Gold- Mary, w. of Thomas Gray smith David & Rebecca Gray William & Mary Griffin William jun. & Elizabeth Hannah, wife of John Griffin Goldsmith Jonathan & Servia Griffin Jonathan Gleason
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Wid. Abigail Holt Jemima Holt
Ezekiel & Elizabeth Hardy Zebadiah & Sarah Holt Lydia, w. of Abiel Holt
Peter & Hepzibah Holt Wid. Abigail Holt
Hannah, w. of Isaac Holt Paul & Elizabeth Hunt
Elizabeth, w. of Jno. Hardy Hannah Holt
Cloe, w. of Wm. Hawley
Isaac jun. & Tabitha Holt Dane & Lydia Holt Henry & Anna Holt Jabez Hayward
Cloe, wife of John Holt. Rebecca Holt Sarah, w. of John Harding Sarah Herrick. Wid. Phebe Holt
Ezra & Dorothy Ingalls
2*
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Jacob Jones Benjamin Jenkins Wid. Dorcas Jones Elizabeth, wife of Ebenezer Jones
Wid. Fanny Johnson Elizabeth Jones Mary Jones
Rebecca, wife of John Kneeland
Joshua Lovejoy Ruth, w. of Isaac Lovejoy Wid. Deborah Lovejoy Wid. Dorothy Lovejoy
Isaac & Mary Lovejoy Wid. Hannah Lee Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Lummus
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Thomas & Mehitabel Man- Wid. Martha Mooar ning Lydia, wife of Isaac Mooar
Dea. Mark Newman
Samuel & Hannah Osgood Hannah Osgood Aaron & Esther Osgood
Deac'n Daniel & Hannah Wid. Mary Phelps Poor
Dea. Abiel Pearson
Joseph & Rebecca Phelps Elizabeth Patten
Wid. Lois Phelps Wid. Mary Phelps
Dorcas, w. of Isaac Phelps Deborah, wife of Daniel Poor, jun. Elizabeth Adams Pearson Mary Pearson
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John Russell Uriah & Hannah Russell Ruth Richards Wid. of Eben'r Rand
Caleb & Abigail Richardson David Rice Dorothy, w. of Asa Riggs
Mary Holyoke Sperrey Wid. Sarah Stevens Wid. Silence Swift
Hannah, wife of Isaac Shattuck Lucy, w. of Sam'l Shattuck
Zebadiah & Sarah Shat- Susannah, wife of Peter tuck Shattuck Joseph & Phebe Shattuck
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William & Hannah Tucker Abiel & Mary Upton Wid. Hannah Trow Sally Upton
Ezekiel Wardwell Damaris Wardwell Ruth, w. of Simon Ward- Esther, w. of John Wood John & Sarah Wardwell Lydia Wardwell
well
Phebe, wife of Nathan Wardwell
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