USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Book of the First Church of Christ, 1854 > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14
The covenant which they entered into, and which is very particular in its stipulations, bound them in the most solemn manner to the love and service of God, to great respect for and subjection to the christian ministry, and to all true christian deportment and duty to one another.
I regret that it is not practicable for me here to recite to you the whole of the confession of faith and covenant in the very words used on the occasion, as they were very well selected and convey a very clear meaning to every mind, while they show a spirit of deep and heav- enly piety on the part of those, who adopted then. But I trust you will yet have an opportunity to read it all in another form, which shall be preserved for your chil- dren and your children's children, as evidence of the exalted christian character of their ancestors.
After the church was duly constituted, in accordance with the confession and covenant already named, Mr. Samuel Fuller, then at the advanced age of seventy years, was duly ordained as its first pastor.
Such, my hearers, was the gathering, one hundred and fifty years ago, of this beloved church, which yet lives. Such were those christian men and women, who at that time were here engaged in the solemn transac- tions which so deeply concerned their own salvation and that of their posterity for generations to come. I shall, with divine leave, in the afternoon consider more particularly than I have here done, how God, in his cov-
3
18
enant faithfulness, has sustained this church during all its generations, in adhering to the principles on which it was originally founded.
And now I beg you to pause a little and reflect on the scene exhibited here on this ground, in the winter of that far distant year of the foundation of this church. You will remember that Middleborough was not then what it now is. These cultivated fields, these convenient roads, these comfortable dwellings, this goodly sanctuary, and these numerous conveniences for coming to it, were all unknown to your pilgrim fathers and mothers, who assembled here on that cold day of January, 1695, and stood up in simplicity and Godly sincerity, as well as with holy reverence, to avouch the Lord Jehovah to be their God, while He avouched them to be his people. No, they knew nothing of the favored condition in which we are placed, for attending on the worship of God ; nor did they need it; for they were christians of the generations that are gone. Theirs was the early pilgrim character, strong in faith, devoted in purpose, self-denying in practice, and fearless in conscientious obedience.
From what particular parts of the Plymouth colony most of them came, is now unknown. Some were from the original place of landing, being children of the very people who came over in the May-flower and first plant- ed their feet on the Plymouth Rock. Others probably came from England in subsequent years. But here they sought a dwelling place, here they fixed their home ; and although these grounds . were not then so 'waste and howling' as were the shores of Plymouth in 1620, yet they were little better than a " wilderness," compared with what they now are. But such was the character
19
of the early settlers of this town, so much were they like the generation, who went before them, such lovers of religious and civil liberty, that they little heeded the humble circumstances in which they were necessitated to worship that God, whom they loved and served.
They believed they were here founding a church, in which they were to hold communion with their Saviour, and which they were to leave to their children for gene- rations to come. They rejoiced, therefore, to give them- selves up first to the great JEHOVAH, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and then to one another in him. They were heartily willing to bind themselves to his service by the most solemn promises and vows. They believed that he was a faithful God, and would fulfil all his covenant engagements. They trembled only for themselves. They knew their own weakness. They felt the danger they were in, by reason of their sinfulness, of violating their covenant vows. Could you hear the solemn pro- testations which they made against the evil of departing from God, by failing in any way to live a truly christian life, you would be convinced how great was the tender- ness of their conscience, and what abhorrence they felt in view of all sin.
As you, my christian friends, who are their successors, are now going to observe the same holy ordinance which was administered to them upon their being constituted a church of Christ, let me say to you, come with adoring gratitude to a faithful and covenant-keeping God, to the same table, which was spread here in 1695, for those primitive christians of Middleborough; and come too, under the influence of the same holy dread of sinning against God, and with the same entire consecration of yourselves to the service of the Redeemer, which you
20
have seen manifested in their example. They are gone, long since, to sit down at the "marriage-supper of the Lamb;" and to that heavenly feast you also will finally be admitted, if you are found clothed with the wedding garment which the Saviour hath purchased for you, at the price of his own blood. AMEN.
SECOND DISCOURSE.
PSALM CXIX, 90. THY FAITHFULNESS IS UNTO ALL GENERATIONS.
A considerable part of my morning discourse was occupied, as you will recollect, my hearers, in consider- ing the general attribute of the Divine Faithfulness. I proceeded, however, a little way, in showing what was proposed in the second place :-
II. How the Faithfulness of God has been illustrated in the history of this church.
1. The first consideration, which I presented to show the truth of this sentiment, was, that God has graciously sustained the church in adhering to the great gospel principles on which it was originally established.
I have already stated, that these principles were a belief in the doctrines commonly called The Doctrines of the Reformation, an exercise of the Graces, and a careful practice of the Virtues enjoined in the gospel,- together with a due observance of its Positive Institutions, -such as the Holy Sabbath, Baptism for penitent believ- ers and their infant offspring, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to be administered to all who make a credible profession of the gospel, and maintain an orderly walk as members of the church.
From what I have said respecting the formation of this Church, at the distant period of one hundred and fifty years, you have been able to see how strong was the attachment of its original members to the great christian principles here enumerated. We have the most satisfactory reason to believe also, that God smiled
22
upon the church at its organization. Then did the High and Holy One here enter into solemn covenant with his chosen, devoted people. He pledged his everlasting faithfulness to them as a church; nor has that faithful- ness ever failed. Trials he has, at different times, sent upon them. Early afflictions, and severe ones they had, soon after they were organized, as we shall presently see, when we look at the sudden departure of their first pas- tor, and the character of his successor. But at no period of the history of the church has there been a professed, or a real abandonment of any of the great principles, on which it was at first established.
Other churches, formed at that time, and in this part of New England, have forsaken " the faith once deliv- ered to the saints," the faith of their Pilgrim Fathers, and have gone over to the side of religious error. But it has been otherwise with this church. During the period of a century and half, it has steadily adhered to a firm belief in the great Doctrines of the Cross. It has been willing to settle no minister, who was known to reject these doctrines.
It has, at different times, varied the form of its Religious Creed ; but under no form, which it has ever adopted, so far as I can discover, has it given up any one essential christian truth, which was in its original confession of faith; and it may be well doubted, whether, with the exception of some slight phraseology, it has ever had a better one than it had at the beginning.
The same may be said, as a general truth, respecting the prevailing sentiment of the church on the subject of practical religion. It is very obvious, that our fathers of the first generation of this church regarded a life of prac- tical piety as an indispensable part of christian character,
23
and as a uniform condition of church membership. Their confession of faith, their covenant engagements, their sol- emn protestations against sin in all its forms, show in a most convincing manner, what stress they laid upon true Holy Living. Nor has the church, at any time, varied its belief, if it has, in any degree, its practice, on this subject : and that would be a day of ill omen to its future prosper- ity, that should show a willingness, on the part of its members, to regard anything, short of a life of vital god- liness, as evidence of real christian character, or that would dispense with it as a necessary qualification for admission to their communion.
As intimately connected with this subject may also be considered that of Church Discipline. The original cove- nant of the church fully provided for this ; and in accord- ance with it, a strict discipline was maintained. But it was a church discipline for the benefit of offenders, as well as for the honor of the Saviour's name. It consisted in a kind and faithful watch over one another for mutual good ; and the measures adopted to reclaim any who had gone astray, were those of gentleness and love, remonstrating with an offender on the folly and ingrati- tude, as well as wickedness of his conduct; in a word, it was to gain a wandering brother, and bring him back to christian obedience, and not to denounce him as an evil doer, or by any imposing measures of church author- ity, to aim at holding him up before the world as a rep- robate. Still, it was their practice to withdraw from an offending member who would not hear the voice of the church, and henceforth to regard him according to the Saviour's direction, " as an heathen man and a publican."
Such have been the views of this church on the sub- ject of discipline. Not that we can say it has been as
24
well understood, and as strictly and carefully enforced, at all times, as it was with the first generations. But the church has ever professed its belief that its prosperity could never be hoped for, unless in the preservation of the purity of its members.
But I would remark once more under this head, that the church has been sustained in adhering, to a com- mendable extent, to a practical regard for the Positive Institutions of the gospel, as it found them acknowl- edged and observed by those of the first generation. The Sabbath was kept very strictly by the Puritans of New England ; and this church has ever regarded it as a day of holy rest. Our Fathers also attached great importance to the ordinance of Christian Baptism. They held, not only in common with all christian denominations, that those, who had never been baptiz- ed, should receive that ordinance on their admission to the church ; but that it was also to be administered to the infant children of God's covenant people. The church was strictly a Pedobaptist church. All its ministers have been of that sentiment, as were its other officers, and its several members for many generations. Great harmony has generally prevailed in the church on this subject, and great spiritual blessings, it is believ- ed, have come not only to the church, but to the souls of this people in consequence of the early consecration of the children of believers to God in the holy ordinance of baptism. I am aware that, very recently, some change of sentiment and practice has obtained in the church. They have, in their charity, cordially admitted to their communion some, who have differed from them on this point,-always, however, I believe, with the understand- ing, that such practice should not, in its ultimate influ-
25
ence, have the effect of changing the character of the church from what it had been from the beginning in a Pedobaptist respect, or in any way prejudice the rights and privileges of those, who hold that the bles- sings of God's gracious covenant extends to the seed of believers. This is not the time for discussing that point ; if it were, much could I say in support of the scriptural character of the practice in question.
The other ordinance,-that of the Lord's Supper,-I hardly need say has ever been sacredly observed by the church ; and, as connected with it, I would add, that it has been an invariable principle with the church to receive none into their communion, who did not give credible evidence of being subjects of a gracious re- newal by the Holy Spirit, and of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Invitations also for occasional commun- ion they always cheerfully extend to " all members of other churches, who are in regular standing in their own connection."
But I am dwelling long upon the first topic : and, yet I have not seen how I could say less than I have done. Will you now, my friends, turn your minds, and see how God's faithfulness to this beloved church has been man- ifested in the gracious aid he has given them to adhere, for so long a period, to the great gospel principles in which it was established by the fathers of the first gen- eration,-principles, which they had received as a spirit- ual legacy from their fathers of many preceding gener- ations. Long since have the pious founders of this church gone to their heavenly rest, -while through the covenant mercy and faithfulness of God, the church, which they loved, has continued to walk in the faith and order in which, with strong confidence in Hintand many prayers, they left it at their departure.
26
2. The faithfulness of God has been illustrated in the history of this church, in the enjoyment of an evangeli- cal ministry which, from time to time, He has bestowed upon it.
Many churches in the christian world, and some in our beloved New England have declined from the simplicity and truth of the gospel by reason of the defective or erroneous teaching of those, who were placed over them in the ministry. But so great has been the loving kindness and faithfulness of God to this church from the beginning, that it has been saved from such unhappy influences.
The whole number of ministers, settled over this church is eight; six of whom are deceased.
The first of these was the REV. SAMUEL FULLER, who was a son of Dr. Samuel Fuller, one of the first company who landed upon the Plymouth Rock, A. D., 1620. The distinguished talents, and eminent piety of the father proved a rich blessing to the son. For several years the latter was a deacon in the church at Plymouth ; and under the advantages which he enjoyed in that place, be made such progress in general knowledge, and par- ticularly in Christian Theology, that he was licensed to preach the gospel in the colony, and labored in that employment in this town about sixteen years previously to his ordination, which, as I have already stated, took place immediately after the organization of the church.
It is impracticable now to come at much knowledge of the peculiar character of his preaching. That he was eminently pious, and devoted to the ministerial work, -- that he preached the plain great truths of the gospel, and faithfully did the work of an Evangelist, is evident from the success which attended his ministry, from the
27
highly evangelical character of the confession of faith and covenant, originally adopted by the church, of which he was undoubtedly the author, and from the affectionate rememberance, with which his name has ever been cherished by all succeeding generations.
But his ministry, after his ordination, was very brief, lasting for only seven months and twenty-one days. He died in the seventy-first year of his age, and was interred in the first burying-place, commonly called the Hill.
The second pastor of this church was REV. THOMAS PALMER, a man of memory unblessed in his connection with the ministerial office here. Whence he came is not known. I cannot find that he had ever received a public education. Nor, in consequence of the loss of all the records during his ministry, does it appear when he was ordained. That the character of his preaching was de- cidedly evangelical, we have strong reason to conclude from the circumstance of his being settled over a church, recently organized on such strictly evangelical principles, and having long enjoyed the spiritual ministrations of such a man as the lamented Mr. Fuller.
But the painful discovery was made, (how soon after his settlement it does not appear,) that his moral charac- ter was defective,-a discovery, which, as we might well suppose, produced a strong sensation of dissatisfaction and alienation in the church. In accordance, therefore, with the advice of a Council of twelve churches, and also of the anniversary convention of ministers in Bos- ton, he was, by the Church here, on June 30, 1708, deposed from the ministry, and excluded from their com- munion at the sacramental table. There are some con- soling reflections, however, which we are happy to make on his subsequent history. He remained in the place,
28
and so far retrieved his character, as to be employed for many years as a practising physician among the people ; and, near the close of his life, was restored to the com- munion of the church. He was interred in the burying ground on the Green.
But we are now coming to a better and brighter period in the history of the christian ministry in this place.
The third pastor was the REV. PETER THACHER, whose praise was in his own day, and long will be, in the churches of this community. He was son of Rev. Peter Thacher of Milton, and grandson of Rev. Thomas Thacher of Weymouth, who was subsequently first min- ister of the Old South Church, Boston. Mr. Thacher, the pastor of this church, was graduated at Harvard College in 1706, at the age of seventeen. In about a year from that time, he began to preach to this church and people, in circumstances of great difficulty, inas- much as Mr. Palmer continued, for some time, to preach in a private house to a portion of the people, who adher- ed to him, notwithstanding the course which had been pursued with him by the church .* But Mr. Thacher came to this place in the spirit of his master. His aim was to preach the gospel, and so highly did he commend himself in that character that on June 30th 1708, he was chosen by the church as their pastor, before he was twenty years old. His ordination, however, did not take place till Nov. 2, 1709.
Mr Thacher brought to the work of the ministry here a mind of strong native powers and highly cultivated by the uncommon advantages he enjoyed under the instruction of his reverend father, whose library is said to
*Rev. Mr. Barker's Century Sermon.
29
have been richly furnished with the works of the learned and pious puritan authors, and whose house was a great re- sort of the most eminent ministers of the day. But, beside a mind thus well disciplined for his work, he had a heart to love it. His soul was deeply imbued with the spirit the gospel ; and from inclination, as well as from a sense of duty, he gave himself wholly to his work; and truly may it be said of him, that "his profiting appeared to all." His knowledge of the scriptures was deep ; his manner of presenting divine truth to the minds of his peo- ple was clear, persuasive, and convincing; his addresses at the throne of grace were humble, solemn and ardent ; his life was circumspect, and eminently christian. As we might expect, God blessed the labors of such a man. Under his ministry the church constantly increased for many years in numbers and in strength. But toward the close of his life he became much discouraged by what he considered a growing indifference to spiritual things in the church and among the people. He serious- ly contemplated preaching a farewell sermon, and leaving his charge; and declared to his biographer that he should have done it, had he not been embarrassed in finding a suitable text.
But this season of discouragement was not long ; for in 1741 he saw among the people of his own charge the beginning of that reviving work of God which continued for more than two years. The out-pouring of the spirit here was sudden, powerful, extensive, and long-contin- ued. With all the powers of his body, mind and heart, he engaged, at home and abroad, in the work of that memorable revival of religion. He labored in gather- ing in its glorious fruits, till his strength was finally exhausted. His death occurred April 22, 1744, in the
30
fifty sixth year of his age, in the thirty-fifth of his minis- try, and just before the expiration of the first half century of the church's existence. He was interred in his own tomb, then and till recently the only one in the burying ground near this house. How great a loss was such a man to the people of his charge, and how deeply lamented by them was his death, I need not, my hearers, attempt to tell you. A very full account of this emi- nent minister of Christ by his brother-in-law, the late Rev. Thomas Prince of Boston, was given in the pamphlet published and circulated among you two years ago. But less than I have now said of him could not be omitted, while I was endeavoring to show you, that God had graciously bestowed on this church a truly evan- gelical ministry. And now, my hearers, bear in mind, that the gift of such a minister was continued evidence of the faithfulness of God.
The death of Mr. Thacher was succeeded by some se- vere trials for the church. A revival of religion like that, which was experienced in the three last years of his life, could hardly be expected to take place without exciting some feelings of hostility on the part of those, who did not sympathise with its character and spirit, and who failed to come under its sanctifying and saving influences.
Such persons, therefore, a few of whom were mem- bers of the church, became active in inducing the Par- ish to take an unprecedented course in the choice and settlement of another minister. This innovation the church resisted, and as the event showed successfully But the occurrence was a disastrous one for the time. It occasioned a division in the Parish, a majority of whom, with a small minority of the church, kept the
31
control of the Meeting House, and procured preaching for themselves. In the meantime the church with the other part of the people, proceeded in the common course for the settlement of the christian ministry. Leaving, in a peaceable manner, the House where they had long assembled, they withdrew and worshipped for a time in a private dwelling.
The REV. SYLVANUS CONANT, of Bridgewater, became the fourth Pastor of the church, and was ordained over it on March 28, 1745, less than one year after Mr. Thacher's death. Mr. Conant was graduated at Harvard College, in 1740. He was a man of good talents, of deep piety, and of great circumspection in his personal and official deportment. Being of an uncommonly amiable temper of mind, he was well calculated to be a peace-maker in the midst of a people, who had unhap- pily fallen into much religious strife as well as actual division. As a preacher, Mr. Conant was plain, evan- gelical and forcible. Like his predecessor, his great aim was to do good. He well understood the design and the spirit of the gospel, and he was faithful in feeding the sheep and the lambs of his Master's flock in this place.
As a proof of the truth of these statements, it may be considered that the church under his care proceeded to erect a new and separate Meeting House, leaving the old one to the majority of the Parish, who, with the small number of the church that adhered to them, in a few months after Mr. Conant's ordination, procured the settle- ment over themselves of Rev. Thomas Weld; who, in the language of Mr. Barker, "continued with them for a few years, his party gradually leaving him, and going to the other meeting, till, at length, he was dismissed ;
32
and then the church and society which had been rent asunder were again happily united."
A very clear statement and able defence of the course pursued by the church at this critical period of their history, was given in a printed pamphlet in 1746, by Rev. John Cotton, pastor of the church in Halifax.
Mr. Conant's ministerial course was brought to a sud- den close by the pestilence of the small pox, of which he died, Dec. Sth, 1777, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and the thirty-third of his ministry. "He was called from his labors," Mr. Barker remarks, " in the midst of his usefulness, and in the full possession of the love and esteem of his large flock." He was interred in the Eastern part of the parish, in a separate burying place, with several other persons, who died at the same time and of the same disease. Mr. Conant's memory has been cherished with deep interest by the two genera- tions of this people, who have followed him. It is one of the pleasant things of my own ministry, occasionally to hear the few aged ones, who personally knew him, and who are still surviving here, speak of the excellen- cies of his character. I would only add that his whole history, as a minister of the gospel, is one more evi- dence of the faithfulness of God to this church.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.