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1790-1890 BAPTIST CHURCH,
GRANVILLE, MASS
700
U
٢
Mable Root Henry Historical Room
Granville Library
Granville,
Mass
190
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RANVILLE, MASS.
1
1790.
1890.
CENTENNIAL
OF THE
BAPTIST CHURCH
IN GRANVILLE, MASS.
JANUARY 15, 1890.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. : CLARK W. BRYAN & CO., PRINTERS. 1890.
·
NAMES OF CONSTITUENT MEMBERS.
DAVID ROSE,
AARON SPELLMAN,
OLIVER SPELLMAN,
SAMUEL STEADMAN,
JOHN ROOT,
SIBYL BARLOW,
STEPHEN SPELLMAN, DEBORAH SPELLMAN, .
ELIJAH SPELLMAN, LOIS SPELLMAN,
NOAH FAIRNUM,
JESSE MILLER,
JUSTIN COOLEY,
JOY HANDY,
TIMOTHY SPELLMAN,
BENJAMIN STOWE,
LEMUEL CROSSMAN,
THOMAS STEADMAN,
LUCINA SPELLMAN, HANNAH SPELLMAN, DESIRE FAIRNUM, MARTHA GILLETT,
SARAH ROSE,
MARY STEADMAN,
ELIZABETH GILLETT.
ORDER OF SERVICES.
REV. W. H. EATON IN CHARGE. 10.30 A. M.
DOXOLOGY.
INVOCATION, - ,
REV. THOMAS TERRY.
SINGING-" Song of the Soldier."
SCRIPTURE READING.
ANTHEM-" O Lord most merciful."
PRAYER, - - - REV. HARLAN P. SMITH.
HYMN 518-" Centennial edition."
SERMON, -
REV. S. D. PHELPS, D. D.
PRAYER.
HYMN-"Glorious things of Thee are spoken."
BENEDICTION.
Dinner from 12 to 2 o'clock in the Chapel.
AFTERNOON. 2 O'CLOCK.
ANTHEM-" Nearer my God to Thee."
SCRIPTURE READING, -
-
REV. F. S. QUICK.
PRAYER, -
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REV. E. M. WATERBURY.
HISTORICAL ADDRESS, - REV. HARLAN P. SMITH. -
HYMN 634-" Centennial edition."
ADDRESSES BY FORMER PASTORS AND OTHERS. SINGING-"Traveling Home."
BENEDICTION.
Tea from 5 to 7 in the Chapel.
EVENING. 7 O'CLOCK-DEDICATION OF CHAPEL.
ANTHEM-" And it shall come to pass in the last days."
INVOCATION, - - - -
REV. A. C. HUSSEY.
SCRIPTURE READING, -
REV. J. E. DINSMORE. - PRAYER, - - - REV. J. M. ROCKWOOD. - SINGING (male voices)-" Steering for Home." SERMON, - - -
REV. A. S. BROWN.
- ADDRESS.
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PRAYER,
REV. GEO. W. DAVIS. -
HYMN-" Meet me there."
BENEDICTION.
Social Greetings.
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ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
BY DEA. JACOB ROOT .*
BRETHREN AND FRIENDS :- We are glad to welcome you to our church home on this occasion, so full of meaning to us ; and we pray that God may bless all the services of this day to all our hearts.
* Since the celebration, this good man, who had been deacon for 39 years, has fell on sleep.
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ELEMENTS OF CHURCH POWER.
BY REV. S. DRYDEN PHELPS, D. D.
1 TIM., iii, 15 .- The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
IT is not expected that I shall trace at all the history of this church whose centennial is celebrated to-day. That interesting service is assigned to another, whom we shall all delight to hear. It is pleasant to note, however, that this close of a hundred years of history is among or closely follows other centennial observances of special import- ance. It was in the first year of President Washington's occupancy of that new national office that this church was organized and commenced that ecclesiastical life which has continued through the administrations of all our presi- dents to this hour. All the church's original members years ago passed to their reward, and other generations have followed them ; but the church still lives-is indeed taking on new life and vigor. In what does such persist- ent vitality consist ? Is it not in her union, even identity with her living Lord and Head? The prophet Jeremiah, discerning the coming Christ, said, "This is his name
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whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness ; " picturing his church, he added, " This is the name whereby she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." Jesus himself set forth this union and identity when he said to his disciples, " I am the light of the world," and again, " Ye are the light of the world." In both there is " the power of an endless life."
The church was unquestionably designed by its Founder to be a great power among men, a mighty spiritual force in the world. If the text is in any sense obscure-if its architectural imagery is not altogether clear-it is evident that its terms express the idea of energy and strength. The system of divine revelation, involving the kingdom of redemption and the destinies of men, finds a strong stay and support in the institution appointed by Christ to evan- gelize the world. The church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth. As the pillar upholds and sustains the edifice, so the church, in her scriptural form and sphere, maintains the truth of God. That truth rests on the church for a ground of support, as a building rests on its foundation. Appointed as the receptacle, the con- servator, and the promulgator of gospel truth, the church is the medium through which God makes that truth a mighty power among men. In our Saviour's last prayer with his disciples, he asked that they should not be taken out of the world, but kept from its evil. He had given them his message, the ordinances, the elements of the church, and he desired them to remain in a perpetual suc-
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cession and allegiance to his laws, in a unity of faith and love, that the world might believe on him. On this plat- form the apostles preached, built, and wrought. The local church, or Christianity organized under their evan- gelical labors, was everywhere, by the power of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth-maintaining that truth against every form of error, diffusing and extending it in the face of every obstacle it had to encounter. Hence there was a superhuman power in the apostolic and primi- tive church. She was, in her conquests, a miracle-worker under God.
The subject, then, to which I invite your attention is CHURCH POWER. If the community where the church exists is won to Christ and salvation, and so to the highest morality, and if the world itself is evangelized, the result in each case must be reached by the exercise of this power-by the revelation and application of the elements of Divine energy lodged in the gospel church. Let us search for some of these elements.
I. There is a power in the very structure or organiza- tion of the church of Christ. The latest unfoldings of inspired truth, the filling out of the plan of mercy to save men, are found in the New Testament. There we reach the mind of Christ-the full ministration of the Spirit -- through the appointed methods of grace. There the church of the living God, purchased by the blood of his Son, assumes the form designed by its Head. There it stands forth, the divine and heavenly organism, for the
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manifestation of Christ's glory and the Spirit's work to attract and evangelize the race. It differs materially from the former organization, constructed according to the pat- tern shown in the mount. That was preparatory-this, final. That was cumbersome-this, simple. That was a mixture of the earthly and the heavenly-this is all spir- itual. That was looking and waiting for Christ-this receives and enthrones him. The structure is changed. The rites are changed. The purpose is changed. The prominent idea in the gospel church, the true source of its life and power, is spirituality embodied, organized, conse- crated, according to divine laws. It is a kingdom not of this world. All its subjects have personal faith in Christ. Ancient Israel were all nominally, and by rites and cere- monies, God's people ; still, many of them were unregen- erate. He promised by the prophets a new and better covenant, which he established under the ministry and sacrifice of his Son. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews thus refers to and describes it, quoting from Jeremiah : "This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them ; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people; and they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them." This passage is often misapplied to a millennial state. But it describes God's people under
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the gospel, every one of whom, great and small, old and young, has a personal experimental knowledge of the Lord and Saviour. They are each and all regenerate, having grace and truth in the heart and fellowship with God. This is sometimes called the invisible, or universal, church of Christ.
Out of this company of Christians arises the visible or organized church of the living God-a local body, to be stationed here and there, where there are converted souls to be gathered into such a church. It is of this organiza- tion-the local, separate, independent, visible church- that the apostles so often speak in their epistles, and that is so frequently mentioned in the inspired accounts of their labors. The church in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Philippi, in Corinth, and the churches in Galatia, and the seven churches in Asia, were each and all such local, visi- ble, organized churches, with their proper officers, pastors, and deacons. Such is the simple structure of the gospel church-a body of believers in Christ, banded or cove- nanted together, observing the ordinances as the symbols of their faith, obeying the commands of their Lord as the work of their lives.
Is there power in such an organization?' Look at the first Christian churches thus constituted. What lights they were in the darkness! What conquests they made ! How the most formidable combinations of Judaism, pagan- ism, idolatry and sin wasted away before them! The presence of Christ and of the Holy Spirit is promised to
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those observing the divine appointments, and they are invincible. Individuals, though converted, accomplish little, if anything, remaining in isolation. They neglect positive commands. They are shorn of power. Christ enjoins the church relation, and it is essential to enlist and combine his disciples in efforts to overthrow the insti- tutions of Satan, and uphold the truth against sin and error. Men, however good and useful, die ; but churches live on, with increasing power and usefulness, from age to age, if they have the gospel structure and spirit ; and so in time they shall conquer the world for their Divine Head.
2. There is power in the unity of the church and the bond of that unity. The local church is a company of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. Such were the first churches. Faith brought them to Christ, and baptism brought them into confessed membership. Then "they continued sted- fastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers." They first gave themselves to the Lord in full obedience, and then to each other in love and confidence-united to Christ and to one another in holy spiritual ties, a body holding the truth in love, each member in harmony and sympathy with all. If each professed disciple is a true believer, there is a com- mon unity of experimental faith and love. Christ is in all, the hope of glory. And nothing mars that unity but the imperfections of human nature. They are all breth- ren, all on the same level, with one for their Master, even
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Christ. Is there not power in such a unity, the oneness of such a brotherhood? The covenant basis, the cement- ing bond, is love-love to Christ, love to each other. The same Father's arms embrace them; the same precious blood redeems them; the same indwelling Spirit sancti- fies them ; the same unchanging Word feasts and unites them ; the same grace sustains them ; and the same glori- ous destiny awaits them. Chosen out of this world, brought together in this church unity whose bond is love and peace, there must be a mighty power in such an or- ganization, or it fails to apprehend its position. It is a city upon a hill. It is an edifice of "living stones, built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ-an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may shew forth the excellencies of him who called you out of dark- ness into his marvelous light." Each member of this church is a priest in the sense of going directly to God through Christ, and making known his request by prayer and supplication. There is no other priest in the Christian church, and no need of any between the member and the Head. Were this sacred unity and its holy bond more manifest in a more marked and profound spirituality, how obvious and influential would be the church's power ! In this heavenly fellowship and harmony, in her grand pro- portions and Christly spirit, the church would look forth as the morning in her brightness, as the moon in her gentle
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beauty, as the sun in her warmth and influence, as an army with banners in her aggressive and victorious might.
3. Another element of church power is its Divine vital- ity. This is implied in its structure, as comprising pro- fessedly only regenerated persons, those who have passed from death unto life. They are a redeemed brotherhood, separated unto God, called to be saints. Every member is endowed with a new supernatural life ; a life of heaven- ward tendency; a life hid with Christ in God. It is a divine creation, a birth from above. It is a resurrection from the death of sin. It is a vital union with Christ, as the branches with the vine, as the body with the head. It is a partaking of the divine nature; Christ in the soul and life ; the inhabitation of the new man by the Spirit of God.
This is the mystery of human salvation, yet a conscious reality in every Christian experience. This spiritual vital- ity constitutes the church's true inherent and motive power in the community and the world. This is the medium of Christ's victories ; the line along which life flows to men ; for salvation must come out of Zion. In no other soil can the world-healing tree of life grow. And just in propor- tion as this supernatural element exists, is developed, and bears sway in the church, will be her power .. If it be feeble in its hold and faint in its expression, the church will have a corresponding weakness. If it be strong and pervasive, healthy and vigorous, the church will manifest in her work and influence a Godlike energy. The strength of her divine head is diffused through all her activities,
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and she prevails by her power with God and men. Oh, if every member of a single church was truly inspired with this higher life in Christ, and there dwelt as in the sum- mit of divine influence and love, " filled unto all the full- ness of God," what a power to all around that church would be! Though its membership were few, and its worldy consideration less, its light would be sun-like and its energy as the force of gravitation. Three Hebrews in Babylon, standing in the power of God, could subvert an empire ; and the Galilean disciples, baptized with the Holy Spirit, could turn the world upside down. The feebleness by which this divine vitality is possessed and manifested is the cause of the church's inefficiency. In many of her members the light is under a bushel; her life is choked and clogged with worldliness; her connection with the vital fountain is not close and continuous. When only a few, comparatively, under a divine refreshing, are roused and lifted to a nearer and holier walk with God, how marked is the church's power in the conversion of souls ! What would be the sublime exhibition and glorious result of that spiritual energy, were the whole body light, love, and action !
4. Much of the church's power consists in her supreme allegiance to Christ her Head. Her structure and obliga- tion, her pledge of fealty, require this. The church is no mere society or voluntary association like those often formed by men to promote certain objects. It rests on no uncertain foundation. Membership is not merely optional,
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and subordinate to other claims. The church is an organization peculiar, unique, differing from every other, and can have no rival, no substitute. It exists by divine authority ; its elements are prepared by divine agency ; its ordinances, laws, and officers are of divine designation ; its life is in a divine head; its mission is divinely appointed. This view of the church implies every virtue of piety and morality in its members, and the revelation and promotion of that virtue through its organization and life. Nothing opposed to the gospel of Christ, no allegiance elsewhere incompatible with this, no forsaking the church because it crosses the track of inferior or secular associations, will be cherished or approved. Allegiance to Christ is supreme and perpetual, and his seamless robe must not be rent for any worldly object or secular society, however strong may be the tendencies thither of our prejudices or attachments. Christ is identified with the church, lives in its life, speaks in its teaching, is set forth in its ordinances; and to for- sake the church, because our opinions or inferior relations are disturbed, is to withdraw supreme allegiance to Christ, and transfer it elsewhere. When this is done the church's power is weakened, her influence is lessened, and her divine head is dishonored. But when true loyalty is main- tained, when the church is preferred above one's chief joy, and her unity, authority, and witness are sustained, even at the sacrifice of personal feeling, because it is the church, and Christ and the Spirit dwell in it for the perfecting of the saints and the salvation of men-how mighty, how perva-
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sive, how resistless is its power! It stands firm, the break- water of sin and passion. Its light burns on more steady and bright. The gates of hell do not prevail against it. Its campaigns are aggressive and culminate in a succession of glorious victories as it marches through the years and the centuries.
5. There is power also in the church's worship and ordi- nances, when pervaded by the right spirit and administra- tion. The temple worship, with its imposing forms, was a power felt by the participant and the observer. The simpler worship, under the gospel, is yet mightier in its spirituality. The church's prayers, often an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the communion of man with God in the grasp of a living faith upon his promises and purposes, are a wielded power influential in results infinitely surpass- ing all that the mightiest human instrumentalities can compass. The lone member, on the mount of prayer, may evoke from the sea the cloud freighted with blessings for a desolate heritage. A whole church thus united in sup- plicating God for mercy and salvation, what mountain difficulties vanish, and what oaks of Bashan bow before the breath of God ! What sublime spiritual conquests are achieved through the prayer of faith, while the endorsing and according AMEN is a thrill and shout ot triumph !
The service of song in the house of the Lord, when offered in the spirit and expressed in vocal harmony and energy, the united act of a worshiping assembly, has a pro- found influence upon the heart, mellowing and moulding
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the life, where it lingers like the sweet raptures of Heaven. So of the Holy Scriptures properly read and heard, and weighed. So of every act of worship when the attitude, and spirit, and participation are becoming the place and the Being adored and praised. Much of impressive power is lost by listless formality, by perfunctory performance, by irreverent neglect, by heartless isolation, by world- freighted thoughts.
The ordinances of the church are deeply and tenderly influential, and are designed, by him who appointed them as the symbols of his sacrifice and truth, to aid the preach- ing of the gospel as " the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." What a powerful sermon there is in the baptismal, burial and resurrection with Christ, a present and lively emblem to the believer, as by it he enters the church, of the ground of his hope, his Christian experience in dying to sin and rising to a new life, the pro- fession of his faith in the crucified and risen Saviour, and the anticipated consummation of his final triumph. He treads in the footsteps of his Lord, and no marvel that he goes on his way rejoicing. And often, as witnessed by others, how solemn and impressive is the scene upon hitherto indifferent hearts, not infrequently convicting of sin and leading to Christ. The Lord's Supper, following baptism, is another mute but powerful preacher, affecting and moving us more deeply than eloquent words. We hear from the broken bread the language of Jesus, " This is my body which is broken for you." The wine, the fruit of
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the clusters crushed, poured forth, reveals to' us and for us the suffering, bleeding, dying Lamb of God. " It is agony buying privilege, and death feeding life; and the sinner feasting in peace on the Saviour's trophies and spoils." Subduing and overpowering scene ! These are the church's sacraments, and their frequent observance among a living body of believers is a mighty auxiliary to the truth as it is in Jesus.
In this connection the social character of the church- its sweet fellowship, its mutual interest and sympathy, its brotherly recognition and love, its family home, its serene and cheerful happiness, sometimes its joy unspeakable and full of glory, as linked to its worship, its sacraments and ser- vices and uplifting songs-should be considered as an ele- ment of its power; its power to attract and win the world to Christ and to its fold, as furnishing purer pleasures, higher enjoyments, and more congenial and helpful asso- ciations than anything earth can give. How often is this element of influence overlooked, not manifested and con- secrated to the glory of Christ; and hence the world and even a portion of the church seek for enjoyment in inferior or sinful pleasures.
6. Another element of the church's power is in its teach- ing, a term including every method of its holding forth the word of life. The body of Christ is full of light, ever giving out instruction-preaching through her divinely called ministry, witnessing and exhorting through all her membership in the exercise of their gifts, making known
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God's word in the family, the Sunday school, and by other instrumentalities. Every member has an experience to tell, a prayer to offer, the Lord's song to sing, a cross to bear, some helpful word to utter, by which the light of all may so shine that others, seeing their good works, shall glorify God. By example, by a holy life, by a thousand ways, the disciples of Christ can teach his religion, and make it a widening and conquering power. By deeds of kindness and mercy, by charities that never fail for the re- lief of the poor and for supplying means of grace for the destitute, by liberal contributions for the support of mis- sions at home and abroad-by such Christly beneficence and sacrifice, diffusing light and saving knowledge, the power of the church pervades the community and is felt the world over.
7. I name one more element of church power, the mightiest on the human side, ceaseless activity. Already anticipated in part, it includes Christian warfare, aggres- sive force against the powers of darkness, assaulting sin and evil and overcoming them, manfully taking up the cross and following Christ, engaging heartily in the work of the Lord, striving to save the lost and win the world to Immanuel's reign. By whatever term this may be ex- pressed, the meaning is consecration and fidelity to God at all times, and readiness to obey as in the offered prayer, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" This is so obvious that, if there were time, I need not dwell upon it. But it is as important as it is obvious. Many churches are lan-
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guishing and uninfluential to-day because they are inactive. They are not fully in the Christian warfare ; nor standing up for Jesus ; nor helping themselves ; nor unitedly, one and all, sustaining their own church and worship; not doing valiant service for God that he may do great things for them. Think what vast and varied resources are opened and offered to the church. Ceaseless activity will secure them. Faithful waiting upon God will realize them. The highest elements of prosperity and power in a church are not human but divine. We must ever bear this in mind, heart, and effort; for if we fail here the glory is departed.
A church cannot fail to live, endure, prosper, be influen- tial and useful, that has incorporated into its organization and life these elements of spiritual power : the gospel model maintained in a regenerated membership, separate from the world; a real unity in the covenant or bond of love ; a divine vitality as a result of the indwelling Christ and the Spirit ; supreme allegiance to the church's Head ; Christian worship and ordinances maintained in the right spirit and way; ever teaching or holding forth the word of life, with unfailing benevolence ; and ceaseless activity in Christian work and warfare. With these character- istics the church, though small, is strong-God's appointed instrumentality of salvation, a pillar and ground of the truth.
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