USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > Raritan > Forty years at Raritan : eight memorial sermons with notes for a history of the Reformed Dutch churches in Somerset County, N.J. > Part 13
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I have confidence in those who have uniformly been my friends, that they will never urge me except to do what is right; that they should aet against me I do not expect. I know my work is nearly done, and I hope to rest contented when the end of it has come. I dismiss all anxiety as it respects the future. It will be well ; and I hope to be able to say " it is well," whatever it may be !
But I have some anxiety about this church. I have labored for its good so long that I can not be indifferent to its future. It is a consecrated thing to me. I must charge you, on whom it depends, to be earnest, zealous, active, generous, and prayer- ful. I have sometimes thought that you would not under- stand what was for your best interests. I most earnestly hope that nothing but a wise and generons Christian spirit will ever characterize a church where I have preached a self-denying Saviour so long. Promptness in meeting responsibilities and providing for exigencies is always the wisest and least expen- sive policy. God loves a cheerful giver, and gives the most to those who find it in their hearts to give to him, and to the advancement of the kingdom of his dear Son. There is such a thing, and Providence indicates in a thousand ways that there is such a thing, as "withholding more than is meet and it tendeth to poverty." If you deny Chirist what belongs to him, he will be very apt to deny yon some of the things yon have set your heart upon. A high standard of action is always
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most efficient, and a generous course with the church results always in the greatest good to the individual, as well as to the interest of the church. If I should be obliged to live to see this church, to which I have devoted so much time and labor, in any state but one of activity and prosperity, it would be a great grief to me. I charge you, to whose eare it will soon be passed over, by your own devotion to Christ, and by your veneration and respect for your ancestors, to keep it always in a high state of prosperous activity.
This church has always been like a watered garden. The Spirit has been present through almost all its years, and given efficacy to the Gospel preached in it ! All its pastors have been blessed in their work, and prospered in the conversion of souls. Its record in this respect is peculiar. Its first pastor had a great revival-great considering the day and the circumstan- ces. Under the second it continued, and under the third and fourth ; then came the great outpouring; and now for forty years we have been reaping almost a perpetual harvest ! It is wonderful ! It is of God! and it is the most effective argument to urge us on to diligence. God blesses those who wait upon him and labor sincerely to do his work ; and he will bless us if we are faithful, earnest, and active in seeking him and serving him. With this assurance as our encouragement, we close this memorial discourse by appropriating the words of another, as expressive of our sentiments and feelings :
Church of my sires, my love to tlice Was nurtured in my infancy ; And now maturer thoughts approve The object of that early love. Linked to my soul with hooks of steel,
By all I say, and do, and feel ;
By records that refresh my eye, In the rich page of memory ; By blessings at thine altars given,
By scenes which lift the soul to heaven ;
By monuments that humbly rise, Memorials of the good, the wise ;
By graves forever sad and dear, Still reeking with my constant tears ;
Where those in honored slumber lie, Whose deaths have taught me how to die.
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And shall I not, with all my powers. Watch round thy venerable towers ? And can I bid the pilgrim flee To holier refuge than to thee ? Church of my sires, my heart's best home ! From thee I can not, will not roam !
And now, may the God of. the everlasting covenant continue to be our covenant-keeping God, and the God of our children in all generations! Amen.
October 29th, 1872.
THIE EXERCISES OF THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY
OF
REV. DR. MESSLER'S PASTORATE.
THE Consistory of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Raritan, having determined to observe the fortieth anniversary of their pastor's settlement, had invited the presence of the neighboring ministers, especially of those who had been reared in this church, and other friends who would be interested in the event. Tuesday, the 20th day of October, was selected, because on that day of the month, in 1832, Dr. Messler preached his first sermon after accepting the call of the people.
The weather proved propitious, the skies being clear, and the air genial and bracing, and calculated to elevate the feelings of all in joyful harmony with the important services of the day.
The ladies had tastefully decorated the church-the pulpit especially having been wreathed with evergreens, decked with garlands of flowers. On the right of the pulpit was placed the date 1832, while 1872 was displayed upon the left. The word "ANNIVERSARY" spanned the pulpit with a graceful arch which seemed suspended over it by an invisible power. The ladies were prepared with an abundance of good cheer to refresh their guests, and the choir added the influence of their musical skill to increase the pleasures of the occasion.
At 103 o'clock, the church was well filled with an audience who manifested their deep and earnest interest in the important ser- vices of the day. Besides the ordinary attendants upon the church, there were many laymen present from other churches in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, with quite a large number of clergymen. Among the latter were John F. Mesick, D.D., Pastor of the Second Church of Raritan ; Gabriel Ludlow, D.D., and Peter D. Oakey, of Neshanie ; P. M. Doolittle and Horace Doo- little, of North-Branch ; William Bailey, of White House; John Gardner, of Harlingen; William B. Voorhees, of Blawenburgh ; Charles H. Pool, of Bedminster ; R. K. Rodgers, D.D., of Bound- brook ; Paul D. Van Cleef, D.D., of Jersey City ; A. MeWilliam, of East-Millstone; James B. Wilson, of Long Branch ; A. Messler
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Quick, of Franklin; George J. Van Neste, of Little Falls; Na- thaniel Conkling, of New-Vernon; Augustus F. Todd, of Bloom- ingburgh, N. Y .; John Steele, of Paterson; John A. Todd, D.D., of Tarrytown, N. Y .; John C. Lowe, of Rotterdam, N. Y .; Frederick F. Cornell, Wm. A. Cornell, and Charles M. Jameson, of Somerville; John Garretson, D.D., of New-Brunswick; Gus- tavus Abeel, D.D., of Newark; and Aaron Lloyd, of New-York.
The choir sang an appropriate anthem as an introduction to the services of the day. The Rev. George J. Van Neste pre- sided, and announced the various exercises. The Rev. Augustus F. Todd invoked the divine presence and blessing. The Scrip- tures were read by the Rev. A. Messler Quick.
The audience then united in singing the 471st Hymn,
" Kindred in Christ, for his dear sake."
The Rev. G. Ludlow, D.D., then offered the following simple and comprehensive prayer :
"Great God of heaven and earth, we come before thee in all our littleness and unworthiness. What a vast chasm there is be- tween thee and the most exalted of thy creatures, but especially between thee and us. Thou art from everlasting, while we are only of yesterday ! Thou art Almighty, and we are encompassed with infirmity. Thou changest not, while we are constantly changing in body and mind. Thou art holy without spot, but we are sinful in our nature and practice. Yet thou art the God of the covenant, the God of salvation, and especially the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for his sake and through him, our Father most condescending and gracious. Thus we are encouraged to approach thee. We are but atoms in thy almost boundless universe of workls and creatures, and were we stricken out of existence, the space left would be small and easily filled by thy creative power. Yet thou wilt deign to look down upon us and hear and answer our petitions, and accept our poor defective services and offerings. We come not before thee on this interesting occasion for purposes of ostentation, vainglory, and display, but to acknowledge thy wonderful and unmerited goodness. We come, too, to profit by the experience of thy ser- vant-an experience extending through so many years in the gos- pel ministry ; and although some of us are somewhat older than he, we are willing to sit at his feet as little children and listen to his words of wisdom. We are willing to learn and add to our stores of knowledge while we live and have opportunity, perad- venture we may be better fitted for instructing those who are
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committed of thee to our charge and care. Lord help him to speak edifyingly. Thou hast distinguished the church and con- gregation worshiping within these walls, and their fathers be- fore them, with very special favor. Those of us who are far ad- vanced in life, have not only heard of the marvelous interposi- tion of the Spirit of grace in bringing many sons and daughters into thy spiritual family here, bat have been eye-witnesses of what has been done. We give thee our humble and hearty thanks for all this. We have not forgotten it, and we trust we never shall. We give thanks to thee, O Lord ! for thy goodness to these people through an extended pastorate of forty years. We thank thee for all the instruction, warning, and exhortations addressed to them by thy servant who has so long broken to them the bread of life, and for the good results which his ministrations have been instrumental in producing. We thank thee for the additions, larger and smaller, made to the communion of this church at almost every communion season. We give glory to thy name in this behalf, for we know that whoever may plant or whoever may water, thou, O our God! must give the increase.
" We thank thee for thy goodness to thy servant and his family, through so many eventful and trying years. He has had, indeed, his dark days, but they have been few in number compared with his bright ones. Surely goodness and merey have followed him thus far all the days of his life, and those days have been many. We trust that when the end comes (all this depends on thy good pleasure) he will dwell in thy house on high forever. Yet, though advanced in years, may he still be spared many years to be useful in this church, and in the church of his fathers, and in the church generally. May he through grace be enabled to bring forth fruit, much fruit, substantial, ripe, pleasant fruit in his old age, and may his rest be glorious, and thus may it be with all that are dear to him. Also grant to him, O God, many among his . people who shall be jewels in his crown of rejoicing at that day, the day when the Master shall say to him, ' Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'
"Command a blessing, O Lord, upon all thy servants who are here to-day, and on all the people to whom they minister in holy things. We all feel our dependence upon thee, both as disciples and ministers of Jesus Christ. If it were not for the precious assurance which the Master has given, 'Lo ! I am with you al- way, even unto the end of the world,' we should be utterly dis- heartened. Look graciously, O Lord! upon all thy ministering
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servants, and upon all the churches everywhere in our State and in our beloved land, yea, throughout the world. Thon seest how thy cause is struggling against opposition manifold, what giant forees are at work to destroy it utterly ! But thou hast said, Lord Jesus, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and thy word must and will stand, and ' when the enemy cometh in like a flood, thou wilt set up a banner against him;' so do, O Lord God. Amen. "
The 15th Hymn,
"Source of light and power divine,"
was next sung.
The Rev. Dr. Messler then delivered his Eighth Memorial Ser- mon, which was listened to with close attention and deep interest by the audience.
The Rev. R. K. Rodgers, D.D., then read the 33d Hymn,
" The Lord Jehovah lives, And blessed be my rock,"
which was sung by the audience standing.
REV. DR. TODD'S ADDRESS.
The Rev. John A. Todd, D.D., one of the ministers raised up from this church through the labors of Dr. Messler, delivered the following address, on behalf of his brethren, which was lis- ened to with interest :
I need hardly say to you, Christian friends, how deeply I en- joy the privilege of being here in the old church to-day, and lis- tening once more to the voice of my loved and honored pastor. I call him my pastor, for he is mine as well as yours, and perhaps I might say, so far as some of you are concerned, that he is even more mine than he is yours. He is the only pastor I ever had, and all my impressions, whether as boy or man, of what a pastor is, in person and office, are inseparably mingled with my ideas and memories of him.
I can truly say that I never desired to have another, and that all my associations with him, as they often rise unbidden in the mind, are among the pleasantest recollections of my life. I shall never forget them, never lose their influence out of my heart, until that heart shall have ceased to beat. Or rather, may I not say, that when the heart has been hushed to rest, and the journeyings and toils of life are ended, those associations, as their influence will then be more clearly seen in the destiny of the immortal
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spirit, will become more vivid and more delightful far than they ever can be here ?
And so, too, as there is an association that binds me peculiarly to this pastor, there is also a kindred association that binds me peculiarly to this church. I was born here, baptized here, taught in the Sunday-school here, by that noble Christian layman and elder, Governor Peter D. Vroom, clurum et venerabile nomen, and I still have at home, as a cherished memorial of the past, the very Bible which he gave me as a token of his friendly interest, and an en- couragement to my heart. In this church I was received into the full communion of God's children, and here, on a bright Sab- bath morning in the early summer, I sat down for the first time at the table of the Lord. Through the influence of this pastor, and the kind words of sympathy uttered by members of this flock, I was led to turn my thoughts to the work of the Christian ministry, and when, in due time, the preparatory course was com- pleted, and I had received my certificate of licensure from the classis, my first sermon was preached in this church. The dear- est kindred I had on earth sat that day in the congregation, and I well remember how my mother-now, I trust, a partaker with the church triumphant in heaven-spoke to me afterward of the throbbing of her heart, and the tremulous feeling she had, as she saw me going up the aisle, and following Dr. Messler into the pulpit.
IIere, also, my father and mother held their membership, under the same pastoral care, as many of you know, almost up to the time of their death ; and though in the allotments of Providence their connection was necessarily transferred, in consequence of having changed their place of residence, yet they always looked back to this church and to this pastor with an affection that never changed. It was in this church, indeed-just there, in front of the pulpit-that I looked for the last time upon the face of my father, as he lay calmly sleeping in death. And never, until all that the heart holds dear shall fade out and be lost to memo- ry, shall I forget the words of comfort that were then spoken by this pastor, from Romans 6 : 8, " Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." Is it strange, then, dear friends, that with such associations binding me to this church and its minister, I should bear my humble part in the exercises of this day with an interest and a feeling which it is difficult for language to express ?
This is the fortieth anniversary of the settlement of Abraham
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Messler as the pastor of this church. Forty years! How large a part do they constitute of an ordinary human life! What changes have they wrought in this church, in this community, in this nation, in the world ! It seems like a dream. We can scarcely make ourselves believe that the reality is true. We wake up to consciousness, like the soldier who had been wounded in the head in battle, and yet lived on for years with a pressure upon his brain that made him insensible to the flight of time and the succession of passing events. But at last the surgeon's skill relieved him. And then, coming to himself, his thoughts wan- dered in a momentary bewilderment. "Where are we ?" said he. " Yesterday we were at Manassas. But where are we to-day ?" The whole intervening time was lost. Ile could not tell where he was, nor how the time had passed. We are like him. We, too, may ask the question, Where are we? But yesterday we were in the midst of other scenes, and now every thing is changed around us. The world is rushing on, and we are rushing with it, at such a fearful rate of speed that we have to stop anl think be- fore we can tell where we are.
Here is a pastorate of forty years' duration ! How strange a phenomenon it is in the midst of this changing world! But not more strange than honorable alike to the pastor and the people. When I received the kind invitation to be present, and read the words, " The Fortieth Anniversary," they struck me so singular- ly that I began to wonder whether it might not be an intimation of the world's return to the good old Bible times. For there, in the Bible, that period of forty years is so frequently recurring as to suggest the idea of some particular sacredness, or some special Divine purpose in regard to it. Thus we learn that Moses spent forty years of his life at the court of Pharaoh, forty years in Midian, and forty years in performing his great mission as the leader and lawgiver of his people. Thus we read that Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness, and that they were fed with manna from heaven through all the forty years they were there. And thus in other places, too, we have the period of forty years spoken of, as, for example, to specify the duration of David's reign. Why is it ? Does the period of forty years indicate any thing peculiar ? Does it intimate any thing like the special government, guardian- ship, and fatherly care of God ? If it does, then why can we not say that it has a parallel significance here ? There is something sacred, something divine, about this long-continued relation be-
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tween one of Christ's faithful ministers and the company of disci- ples which the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls has com- mitted to his care. It is a relation that forms, and should form, the basis of precious memories and hopes and thanksgivings to all those whom its influence has tended to ennoble and to bless.
Take the memories that grow out of this relation ; for it is to them that the day especially points. They are a priceless inheri- tance from the past. It is true, the office of the ministry has its labors, its cares, its privations, and its trials, and sometimes they are hard to be borne. But it has another side, too. It brings the minister into the most intimate and endearing relations with his people. There grows up a feeling of mutual interest, of mu- tual confidence, and of mutual love. And sanctified, as it often is, by a common Christian faith and hope, it leads to a genuine Christian sympathy, and a corresponding communication of moral support to each other, that should be ranked among the sweetest elements that are mingled in the cup of life.
From such an experience a minister is always gathering up new facts, incidents, and impressions that go to swell the treasures of memory, and to bind him by enduring associations to his flock. True, some of his people may be dead, others may be living, but whether living or dead, the bond of connection still exists, and neither time nor eternity can destroy it. Think of the various scenes through which he has passed ; follow him in imagination on his round of weekly service ; and the effort may perhaps give you some idea of the memories that must be stored in his mind. There is the church, the prayer-meeting, the catechetical class, the afternoon or the evening lecture in the school-house, or in the home of some parishioner who has thrown open his doors and in- vited friends and neighbors to come in and hear the Gospel. Forty years of such service is equal to two thousand and eighty weeks; or, to state it differently, it is equivalent to almost six years of Sabbath-days. What impressions they must have left upon the mind ! But to all these we are to add the more private relations that connect him with families and individual persons-his social communion, as friend and neighbor, with those who compose his congregation ; his visits to the sick, the afflicted, the sorrowing ; his mingling in sad funereal scenes, where the drapery of death, and the solemn silence that reigns in the house of bereavement, are but the outward token of feelings too deep for the tongue to utter. How many such occasions must have been crowded into
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that period of forty years! And there, too, passing from over the darker to the brighter side, from the tears of grief to the smiles and festal joy of marriage-scenes, are the bonds of memory that bind him to those upon whose union of hearts and destinies, for time, he pronounced the sanction and the blessing of heaven. What numberless points of contact there are where a minister's life glides on with the life of his people, and what a wealth of memories must they both gather up as the mingled currents of their history roll on ! memories sad, tender, joyous, happy, now unsealing the fountain of tears; now sending smile after smile over the face in rippling waves of mirth or pleasure ; now illumi- nating the eyes with that calm and beautiful light that never fades in the soul, the lingering brightness of "days well spent and duties well performed." God bless this pastor ! and may his memories grow brighter to the end, until, at last, they shall blend their beams in an evening glory like the glory of the setting sun !
But if the pastor has his memories, so also do the people have theirs. His are connected with them all; theirs, in turn, are con- nected with him. His radiate from a centre upon many points ; theirs converge from the circumference upon one. He has more ; they have less. But if the number is smaller, the greater will their vividness be. Think what memories this congregation must have of a minister who has served them, in all the various duties of the pastoral office, for a period of forty years ! Think what they would be, if all who were living when he entered upon their service, and all who have lived in the intervening time down to this hour, could be here to-day ! Each one would have his own peculiar memory of him. Each would refer back to him in some different circumstance or relation. This, in sorrow ; that, in joy. This, burdened with sin ; that, happy in a new-found Christian hope. This, coming for the first time to the table of the Lord; that, bidding both pastor and church farewell, and turning away to seek a distant home. This, about to be united in the dearest bonds of domestic life ; that, fast approaching the gates of eter- nity, and waiting for the invitation from on high. And so on, through the almost endless catalogue of experiences, states, and conditions that give diversity to the lives of men. Suppose this congregation could gather up all its memories of its pastor, and of his faithful wife, performing her less conspicuous but most in- portant and honorable part, through these forty years, and write
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them in a book, what a strange, mingled, interesting record it would be !
Let me give you a specimen contribution to it. Why it is, we do not always know, but there are some events, some eircum- stances in every one's life, that leave a more enduring impression upon the mind. They seem to go with us, while others, in the on- ward march, are dropped out and forgotten. I, for instance, have certain memories in regard to this pastor. I remember that one day, when he was going to the post-office, and I was coming from it, he met me in front of the old store of William J. Hedges, now deceased, and spoke to me in regard to my soul, adding the kind advice to give my heart at once to my Saviour. I remember also going to his house one evening to see him when I had become in- terested in my salvation, and how, after giving me friendly coun- sel, he knelt down with me, and prayed for the Holy Spirit to en- lighten and guide me. I remember, still earlier, with what feel- ings I heard that he was coming into our part of the congrega- tion to catechize the children, and the severe labor I performed in preparing to recite my first Lord's Day of the Heidelberg Catechism. I see now, as I did not then, that the whole glorious Gospel of Christ is briefly and beautifully expressed in that question and answer, and I thank Dr. Messler for his faithfulness in instructing me and the youth of this church in that good old catechism.
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