USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Book of the First Church of Christ, 1854 > Part 11
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DURING THE PERIOD OF
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS.
BY ISRAEL W. PUTNAM,
EIGHTH PASTOE.
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PREACHED JANUARY 5, 1845.
FIRST DISCOURSE.
PSALM CXIX, 90. THY FAITHFULNESS IS UNTO ALL GENERATIONS.
This day, my hearers, completes the period of one hun- dred and fifty years from the foundation of the First Church in Middleborough,-the Church of Christ, which was then gathered on this ground, and with which we are variously connected.
When we reflect on the length of this period, on the four or five generations which have passed away with it, on the number of ministers who have here preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, on the many hundreds of mem- bers, of whom the church has at different times been composed, and on the several sanctuaries, in which the church and the people have worshiped :- when we reflect that this beloved church still survives the period of a century and half, and that it is looking forward with the prospect of living for centuries yet to come :- and when, moreover, we consider that all the blessings it has experienced, and all it hopes for, are to be attributed to the grace of its covenant-keeping God, we may well adopt the language of the text, and say unto Him, " Thy faithfulness is unto all generations."
From the records which have been preserved, it ap- pears that this church was organized on the 26th day of December, A. D. 1694, old style, which corresponds with the 6th day of January, according to the present mode of computing time ; so that the hundred and fiftieth anniversary actually comes to-morrow; still, this day closes the period under consideration, and for all practi- cal purposes may be regarded as the anniversary day.
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The general sentiment of the text appears to be the faithfulness of God to his church on earth. But the subject to which I shall specially call your attention to-day, is
THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO THIS PARTICULAR CHURCH DURING ITS EXISTENCE FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS.
My plan is
I. To consider the attribute of the Divine Faithful- ness ; and
II. To show how it has been illustrated in the his- tory of this church.
Let us, then, in the first place,
I. Meditate on the glorious attribute of God's faith- fulness. This divine attribute is intimately connected with another, which is denominated Truth. They may, however, be considered separately. By the truth of God is intended that disposition in him, by which he always speaks of things as they are in reality ; so that we know, that whatever he speaks or in any way declares, is essen- tially true.
The faithfulness of God refers to his disposition and his power always to perform his promises and fulfil his cov- enant engagements. It assures all the subjects of his moral kingdom, that they will never be disappointed in any of the expectations, justly raised in their minds by the declarations of his word, or the dealings of his hand.
This attribute of God has its foundation in the other essential properties of his nature ;- or, we may say, it necessarily belongs to the character of Him, who in his knowledge, power and goodness, is "infinite, eternal and unchangeable." As the most perfect conception we can have of truth, is that which we know essentially be-
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longs to the character of God, so without the attribute of faithfulness, that same character would appear essentially defective. That Being who is absolutely infinite in his knowledge, power and goodness, must necessarily be true to all the engagements he enters into with his crea- tures. He has no possible inducement to make promises which he has not power to perform, or whose perform- ance is not desirable in itself. He foresees with absolute
certainty, the circumstances in which his engagements are to be fulfilled, and what also will be the consequence of their fulfilment. His infinite goodness inclines him to make promises to his creatures of all that his infinite knowledge foresees will be desirable for them and that his infinite power is capable of accomplishing.
Thus you see, my hearers, that the argument from the other known and perfect attributes of God, for his faith- fulness, is entirely conclusive ; and what our reason teaches us on this subject, is confirmed by the plainest declarations of scripture, and is illustrated by God's cov- enant dealings with his people, in all ages. The lan- guage of scripture is very explicit,-" The Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth cove- nant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations." "Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls," said Joshua to the people of Israel, " that not one thing hath failed, of all the good things which the Lord your God spake con- cerning you." "Thy faithfulness," says the Psalmist, " shalt thou establish in the very heavens." And the apostle says to the Thessalonians, "Faithful is he that hath called you, who will also do it ; " and to the Hebrew Christians, " Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised."
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But it is very important for us to consider that the promises of good which God makes to his people, are con- ditional. He stipulates what he will positively do for them on the condition they will " love him and keep his commandments." When, therefore, any of his true peo- ple enter into covenant engagements with the Lord, whether as individuals or in the capacity of a church, if they fail of strictly performing the conditions made on their part, they must consider that by thus breaking cov- enant with God, they release him from doing what he had conditionally promised, and that their appeal'can then be only to his mercy. It is in the relation which his people thus come to sustain toward him, that God manifests that patience and forbearance toward them, which so effect- ually illustrate his faithfulness. For although they are guilty of a breach of covenant with him, yet so great is his love for them, and so much does he desire to remind them of the blessings which he was willing to bestow, that, actuated by his long-suffering goodness, he actually confers upon them many of those favors which were promised in his covenant,-not to their original extent, but so far, and in so sovereign a manner, as to show that he never ceases to remember the gracious provisions and promises of that covenant. This is most expressly and beautifully illustrated in what God says of the seed of the righteous, in the S9th Psalm. " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments ; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes : nevertheless, my loving kind- ness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
This general principle of the divine faithfulness, this constant regard for the provisions, perpetuity and honor of the everlasting covenant, is seen to display itself in the dealings of God with the whole body of his church on earth, and with all the different portions of it.
It is by taking this view of the adorable attributes of the Divine character, and of the covenant faithfulness of God to his people, that we can come to a satisfactory explanation of all his dealings with individual believers or with any portion of his church. They are often guilty of breaking covenant with him, and thus they forfeit all claim to those blessings which had been promised them on condition of strict obedience. Then they suffer for their sins by God's withholding those tokens of his love, which he would otherwise have manifested.
This accounts for what individual believers often suffer. They violate their covenant vows, and God does not then bestow on them what they might otherwise have enjoyed ; and he sometimes proceeds to chasten them for their sins. He visits them with temporal trials, and not unfrequently with spiritual afflictions. The light of his countenance is withdrawn, and they walk in dark- nesss ; and sometimes he judicially leaves them to great coldness in his service, to much wandering from the path of christian duty, and even to the commission of open sin, which brings reproach upon their own characters, and scandal upon the christian name.
But it is to be remembered that in thus chastening indi- vidual believers for breaches of his covenant, and in after- wards mercifully appearing for their relief, by bringing them to repentance and recovery from their wandering state, God acts entirely as a sovereign. He suffers some to go on farther than others, in their backsliding course ; and
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the strokes of his chastening rod are heavier on some than on others, even when their sins are no greater. So also he appears for the restoration of some sooner than for that of others; and all this because he is a sov- ereign and deals with his offending people, now in a chastening and now in a pardoning way, for reasons which he does not mean that either they or others shall be able fully to comprehend.
So it is with his church on earth, considered collec- tively. So it is with different portions of it, and with each individual church. Believers, in their collective capacity, from time to time fail more or less in strict obedience to their covenant engagements with God. The sins of individual believers become the sins of the church, espe- cially if they are open sins and not protested against and properly censured.
The departure of a church from the strict terms of their covenant with God, is generally much more grad- ual than that of individuals. This is seen in their falling away from sound christian doctrine. It has sometimes taken not only years, but generations, for a church to give up " the faith once delivered to the saints," and to come fully to embrace an unscriptural one in its stead.
The same is true of the ordinances belonging to the covenant of God, under the christian dispensation ; which are, Public Worship, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Loose and erroneous views of these ordinances are gen- erally found to prevail in a church, if at all, in a very gradual manner, till'at length the departure is open to the view of the world and offensive to God.
So also it is with the tone of moral conduct in a church. Sometimes it is such as becomes the gospel of Christ ; at other times more or less of its members leave
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their first love; they cast off fear and restrain prayer. Like the heathen "they become vain in their imag- inations, and their foolish heart is darkened." They yield to the " lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes or the pride of life," till their sins of commission or of omission are so open and reproachful as to call for the reprehen- sion of the church.
But, as has been observed, such a downward course of any considerable number of the members of a church is generally very gradual; and in this connection it may be remarked, that very gradual also is the conduct of a church in coming to neglect that discipline which Christ has appointed, and which is so essential to its welfare. If one public sin is tolerated in a church, and if, on ac- count of fear or favor, or from any other cause. a flagrant offender is suffered to go on unrebuked and uncensured, others will yield to temptation, and fall into the same or other sins, till at last there is left in the church scarcely strength enough to undertake and sustain the neces- sary and saving work of scriptural discipline.
These remarks on the religious declension of individ- ual christians and churches. I have made, my hearers, to meet the difficulty which is sometimes felt in vindi- cating the divine faithfulness, a difficulty which I do not wish to avoid. For if the inquiry is made, how it comes to pass that individual christians do sometimes so lament- ably decline in their spiritual interests, conduct, and whole character, even after they have entered into cov- enant with God, who has made such " exceeding great and precious promises " to them, and who is a faithful God ?- And if the further inquiry should be made, why it is that churches, established at first in the true faith of the gospel, and whose members are members of
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Christ's own body, should after a while cease to hold fast that faith, and should become cold in their religious affections, worldly in their conduct, and lax in their dis- cipline, even when they had the covenant promises and faithfulness of God pledged to them ? The answer to all this is easy. The faithfulness of God to his covenant engagements does not obligate him to keep his people in either their individual or their church capacity from committing sin. They remain free moral agents, and are put upon trial as such. All needed good, God prom- ises them on condition of strict obedience to him. But if they fail of this, if they break covenant with God, he is released from all obligation to confer on them what they might otherwise have received. And if the inquiry is now made, whether they are not still his people ? the answer is, yes; and he will still deal with them as a faithful God. His dispensations toward them will, in one view, be in the nature of just punishment for their sins, but in another they will be the fatherly corrections of loving kindness and faithfulness. In the disciplinary course which he pursues with them on account of the violation of their own vows and engagements, he pro- ceeds, as has already been remarked, in an entirely sov- ereign manner. He has infinitely wise reasons for cor- recting and restoring them at one time immediately, and for suffering them at another to go great lengths in disobedience, and even to accumulate a heavy weight of guilt, before he corrects them, and causes them to return from their evil ways, by repentance and vows of new obedience.
But there is a very noticeable difference in the ulti- mate dealings of God with individual believers and with churches respectively. Those who are his chosen people,
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renewed by his spirit, and sanctified by his grace, will cer- tainly, according to the gracious provisions of his cove- nant, be finally saved. They may forsake his law, they may break his statutes, so that God will visit their trans- gressions with the rod; nevertheless he will not utterly take his loving-kindness from them, nor suffer his faithful- ness to fail. Such is the teaching of the New Testament, as well as of the Old. 'He who begins a good work in the heart of any sinful child of Adam, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.' Thus the tenor of God's gra- cious covenant secures the final salvation of every true believer, while none but God himself knows who are of this character.
But such is not the tenor of God's covenant dealings with any particular church. All true believers in such a church, as I have already stated, will be finally saved, because the promise of God secures their salvation. But the church itself may so decline from its primitive purity in doctrine, conduct and discipline, that God will finally forsake it. Its individual members, if they are true mem- bers of Christ's body, he will save, whether they live and die in connection with such a church, or elsewhere. But the church itself. if it persevere in its departure from christian faith and christian obedience, beyond the point of divine endurance, will inevitably come to nought. Its light will be extinguished, its name will die. Such we know is the history of some churches planted in apos- tolic times, and in subsequent ages of the world.
But I would by no means be understood here to say that every local church which, after a lapse of time ceases to exist, comes to its end in consequence of its departure from the gospel; for in many instances it is for the welfare of the church at large, that individual
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portions of it should cease to have a separate existence, and become united with some other portions. Thus also, sometimes, are larger portions of the church seen gradually diminishing, till they become united with other christian connections, and appear under a new name.
It requires, my hearers, much careful study of the word of God, and mnuch observation on his dealings with his church on earth, duly to understand the import of those promises, on whose due fulfilment rests his charac- ter for covenant faithfulness. Against the church, consid- ered in its largest sense, as the great body of believers in all ages of the world, bought with Christ's own blood, we know that the gates of hell will never prevail. And in its most exact sense are the words of my text true, when applied to the church in this respect ; " The faith- fulness of God is unto all generations " of his chosen, cov- enant people, in every age, and in whatever part of the world they dwell; whatever name they bear, or whatever be their rank or condition in life; and by a very observable analogy in the dealings of God with his people, we may see that his faitbfulness endures to any large portion of his church or to any one particular church, very much in proportion to its own faithfulness in adhering to its covenant vows and engagements. If it is at first established in the truth ; if it is " built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ; " if it adheres to the doctrines, if it shows forth the graces, if it practices the virtues of the gospel, and if it seeks the glory of its divine author,-we may observe, as a general thing, that its divine head is pleased with its character, and that in his covenant faithfulness he will watch over its interests, and continue its existence for a long period. True, per-
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secution may arise against it, and other inscrutable dis- pensations of providence may affect its prosperity and even its existence. But so well defined in his word are the principles on which God governs his church on earth, and so uniform are his dealings with the various portions of it, that his faithfulness is very gloriously illustrated in the favor which he shows any individual church that fears his name and walks in his statutes. The word spoken by the prophet Azariah to God's all- cient people, has a strict fulfilment in the history of his dealings with his church in all ages. "The Lord is with you, while ye be with him ; if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you."
Let us now, my hearers, as was proposed, proceed to consider
II. How the divine faithfulness has been illustrated in the history of this Church, during the period of one hundred and fifty years.
You perceive, at once, that the field of inquiry and remark on which I am now entering is very wide. I shall be obliged, as I proceed, very much to limit myself in selecting from the facts of our history, and in the rea- soning which is founded on them. But it relieves my mind on this point, to know that a committee of the church are preparing for publication such a particular account of its history, as I might otherwise deem it im- portant to furnish on this occasion. Still, I trust that, with divine aid, I shall be able to exhibit such brief views of the subject, as may lead you, my friends, and all the present generation of this people, to see that the God of your fathers is " a faithful God, keeping covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his command- ments, to a thousand generations."
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1. The first proof of God's faithfulness to this church is found in the consideration that he has graciously sus- tained it, in adhering to the great gospel principles on which it was originally established.
That we may clearly see the truth of this remark, it will be necessary to dwell somewhat particularly on the cir- cumstances of the formation of the church. As I have already remarked, it was organized in the ivinter of 1694-5, bearing the date of December 26th, old style. The present day, Jan. 5th, closes the hundred and fif- tieth year of its existence.
The gathering of the church in Middleborough, at that early period of the history of New England, was an in- teresting event. The town was very large in its territo- rial dimensions, and its population had even then become very considerable; for it is stated that at the breaking out of king Philip's war, so called, in 1675, the number of English families that had settled here . was sixteen ; and although they were then driven from the place, yet at the close of the war the population must have rapidly increased, as Mr. Fuller, a deacon of the church at Plymouth, and one of the proprietors in 1669 began early to preach here and continued his labors with occasional intermissions till 1694, when, at the gathering of the church, he was regularly ordained to the work of the christian ministry.
All the original records of the church from its organ- ization to the close of the ministry of Mr. Palmer, the second pastor, are, no doubt, irrecoverably lost; and, as has generally been supposed, through his neglect, or his other more censurable conduct. But recently an an- cient manuscript has come to us from Halifax, which proves to be a copy of an important part of those original
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records, made in March, 1734, by Ebenezer Fuller, a grandson of the pastor. This copy of the records, togeth- er with a pamphlet printed in 1722, containing the Confession of Faith and Covenant, and specific acknowl- edgments of the obligations of the covenant, enable us now very clearly to understand the interesting and sol- emn character of the organization of the church.
Several members of the church of Plymouth, and other neighboring churches were then residing here. There were others also, who had become hopefully con- verted under the preaching of Mr. Fuller. These per- sons, being very distant from any churches with which they could hold constant christian communion, naturally had the desire and conceived the design of being them- selves formed into a distinct church. In accordance, therefore, with the usages of the pilgrim churches, they sent letters for ministers and brethren in the colony, to come and perform the requisite ecclesiastical services. The Rev. Messrs. John Cotton, Roland Cotton, and Jona- than Russel, with lay brethren, were sent from Plymouth, Sandwich, and Barnstable, to assist on the occasion.
As it may be gratifying to this audience to hear the names of those who at first composed the church of Middleborough, I will here repeat them :- Rev. Samuel Fuller, and Elisabeth his wife ; John Bennett, and Deb- orah his wife; Jonathan Morse, and Mary his wife ; Abiel Wood, and Abigail his wife ; Jacob Thompson, and Abigail his wife; Ebenezer Tinkham, and Elisabeth his wife ; Samuel Wood, Isaac Billington, Samuel Eaton, Samuel Cuthbert, John Cobb, Jr., Weibrah Bumpas, Hester Tinkham, and widow Deborah Barden.
The services were of a very solemn character, as you would readily see, my hearers, if there were time for me to
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read to you the articles of faith which they adopted, the covenant which they entered into, and the particular obligations which they considered to be imposed on them by that covenant.
Respecting the confession of faith, I would only say now that it was very full and explicit on all those doctrines which our pilgrim fathers considered as clearly revealed in the scripture, viz :- the inspired authority of the Old and New Testaments, as a sufficient and the only rule of faith and practice, in opposition to all opinions of indi- vidual men, and all decisions of ecclesiastical councils ; a trinity of persons in the God-head ; the supreme divin- ity of the son Jesus Christ; the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit ; the total depravity of the human heart in its natural state, and its renewal by the sove- reign operation of the Holy Spirit ; atonement for sin by the blood of Christ, and justification by his righteous- ness alone ; election and perseverance of the saints ; resurrection of the dead and final judgment of the world, when the righteous will be received into heaven and the wicked be cast into hell.
As to Positive Institutions, they held to the com- mon belief of the sacredness of the Sabbath, and the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; the for- mer to be administered to believers and their infant off- spring, and the latter to all who are regular members of the church of Christ. On the subject of Church Consti- tution and Government, they held that a Christian church was a company of christian believers, voluntarily associated for their own religious improvement, with rules of conduct agreeing with the scriptures, and them- selves having authority to administer eensures on mem- bers who walk disorderly, and not being required to
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refer their decisions to any other earthly tribunal; all which, considered in connection with their views of the two sacraments, and of the respective offices of pastor and deacon, gave, as they believed, the true idea of a congregational church.
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