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 9
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Let us then proceed to " gather the stones" out of which we shall endeavor to compose our monument to-day. It is a memorial Sabbath, and to us it is a most interesting, not only, but a most important period, in the history of our ministerial life. It reminds us of a whole generation, most of whom are no more, and recalls the various vicissitudes of its passing years.
To-day it is thirty years since I came here in obedience to the call of your fathers (for there are only a few left who united with them in that act) and occupied this pulpit for the first time ; and to-day likewise is the sixth anniversary of the fifth years which we have been accustomed to observe in com- memoration of that event. The records of five of these periods have previously been made, and four of them have been printed and are in your hands. We do not propose to repeat any thing which has already been remarked, but to confine our- selves to present circumstances, and principally to the last period of five years. There is more than enongh, even in this confined view and this brief time, to ocenpy us fully and in-
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terest us abundantly. In many ways these years have been memorable and pregnant years. Events have passed which will never be forgotten; some of them joyful, and demanding praise ; some sorrowful, and calling for resignation and the exercise of faith in the benevolence and justice of the divine hand !
Thirty years is a generation, At its conclusion, those who were the men of action when it commenced are munbered among the dead, while another race has come upon the stage, assumed the control of things, and holds the place of influence and power ! This is strikingly manitested in the audience which sits before me to-day, as compared with that which as- sembled to listen to my first discourse thirty years ago. A few are left, it is true. I see here and there one whom I re- member as being present on that occasion, but the number is so small as to make them exceptions to the general rule, rather than faets to prove that it is not true. We look around on the new faces, and exelaim in sadness and regret as we think of the departed, "The fathers, where are they ? and the pro- plets, do they live forever ?"
We recolleet among the absent many kind friends, many excellent Christians, many firm supporters of this church, many men of prayer and faith, strong men for infinenee, for resistance of the wrong and the advocacy of the right, and faithful men in fulfilling promises and the acknowledgment of obligations ; and as they were removed in succession, we stood by their graves and sighed because we felt each time that another prop was removed and another staff to lean upon taken away ! This has occurred so often that our confidence would long since have failed, had it not been that God has been pleased, in great kindness toward us and toward his church here, to enable us to say, " Instead of the fathers here are their children." . Yes, and they have proved that they were no " degenerate sons," unworthy of such an honorable pater- nity. It is one of the peculiarities of this church, that it has in it, now, many representatives of its very first members. Names have been perpetuated in the friends and officers of the church from the very commencement until the present time -names that are honored even yet. This gives it peculiar
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strength. It is surely more pleasant and even more profitable to know that we are worshiping now just where our parents and our ancestors worshiped before us. It is more impres- sive to worship there than it could be in any other place. May we not also believe that God is more propitious to the prayers and praises which are offered in places so long devoted to his service than he is elsewhere? In the temple at Jeru- salem he claimed a special ownership. And many accepted prayers are only fulfilled in generations to come. Fathers offer them and their children inherit the blessing. One gene- ration in this way labors in sowing the seed, and breaking up the fallow ground, and another is honored in bringing in the sheaves into the garner. Both are equally useful, both are equally employed in God's service, and neither has the right to exalt himself and depreciate the other, as if he alone was worthy to be commended. Some men seem to think that the church has nothing to do but to make a record of conversions. Some are so ignorant as to begin to be discouraged as soon as they eease, even for a single year or part of a year. Should they not consider, Is it always harvest-time? Has the winter season no necessary agency to perform in completing the glo- ries of the year? Even in tropical elimes, though there is no winter, the activities of the vegetable world cease for a time, and every thing lies dormant, as if it were reposing for the purpose of recuperating its energies and displaying more vigor when the waking comes again. It ought to be so in the church. It must be so in order to preserve her in a healthful condition. A church with a perpetual revival would be a church with a most unnatural life, and could not fail to be- come sickly, excitable, and unfit for the work assigned to every church-that of training souls for glory !
In accordance with this, we have to lament onr losses as well as to record our increase. We remember our barren years, and are glad to know that there have been some also that have been fruitful. We have seen our winters as well as our summers. We have shed tears over the graves of the dead, and we have uttered shouts of gladness when the young converts like sheaves were brought into the garner. Thus our experience has been only a picture of human life, composed of
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sunshine and clouds, of daylight and darkness. What is most enconraging to faith is, that God has given us strength as our day and brought us hitherto in safety. We erect an Ebenezer on this spot, and inseribe upon it, the " Lord our helper."
It would not be proper to speak of those who are lost to us without also remembering those who have been gained. Some of our honored families are stronger and more numerons in the church at the present moment than they ever were, while there are others who have cast in their lot with us, who are not behind the very best. In fact, the church has, probably, at no period of her previous history, embraced as much wealth or as much intelligence as she does at this moment. What we really need is not more strength or greater numbers, but more zeal, more prayer, more devotion to our appropriate work, each in the sphere where God has placed us, minding the apostolic rule, "he that teacheth, on teaching; he that exhorteth, on exhortation ; he that givethi, let him do it with simplicity ; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." Onr list of communicants is larger than it ever was, though for the last three years the increase has not been much more than' to make up for the losses which death and removals have produced; while the real sentiment of the church promises harmony in action and a coincidence in feeling, from which almost perfect unity may be expected in her future course upon all the great questions and interests which claim attention. In this unity her greatest strength will be found to reside, either in enduring or in working, and with it we are invincible !
During the five years which we are now reviewing, there have been received into the communion of the church on con- fession 84 persons, and by certificate 42, making the whole number of members received in full communion 126, and giv- ing an average of more than 25 in each year! These have come from all the different classes of the population embraced in the congregation ; but a large majority have been trained in our Sabbath-schools and been of the youth of our charge. There is, of course, a great diversity in the character and use- fulness to be observed in such a number. Some of them, in process of time, become efficient and eminent Christians, re-
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maining with us for life and giving the force of their character and the devotion of their prayers and example to the cause of religion ; others, inactive and undevoted, can merely increase the strength of the church by numbers, and hang as a weight upon her skirts; while others still remain with us only for a little while, and then are called iu providence to other places and unite with other churches. This difference ean not be avoided ; all have not the same measure of grace, nor have all a permanent lot in providence, and as we welcome them when they come, we cherish them while with us, and dismiss them cheerfully when they go away, happy to give to others what circumstances do not allow us to retain as our own, if they are only useful in their sphere.
Out of this number of 126, we have dismissed 61 honorably to other churches, while 16 have died and gone, as we are privileged to hope, from the associations and enjoyments of the church below to the general assembly of the saints in heaven. The whole number thus dismissed and parted with in death is 77, leaving 49 as the actual increase of the com- inunion during the space of time included in our present review. This amounts to one less than 10 in each year as the permanent enlargement of the membership of the church by confession and certificate during this period. This, though not large, is still an encouraging fact, demonstrating the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in his active efficiency, and prov- ing that we have had at no time any real cause to complain with the prophet, " All day long have I stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and a gainsaying people !" The in- crease might have been much larger, and in some periods of the history of our church it has been so; but it might also have been much smaller, and in the past there have also been times when it was so. Other churches in our land have enjoyed a more abundant prosperity ; but we doubt whether there is one in this immediate vicinity which has been, upon the whole, more highly favored. We do not make this obser- vation in a spirit of boasting, but in order to set in a proper point of light the favor which God has extended toward us. That more earnestness in preaching, and more prayerfulness and zeal on the part of all the members of the church, would
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have seenred a much larger inerease, we most sincerely believe : but in the measure of earnestness to which each has attained and been able to manifest, the faithful fulfillment of God's promise has not failed or been wanting. The whole review certainly affords matter for hopeful encouragement, and, if properly considered, onght to stimulate us all to add to our faith virtue, and to our diligence godliness, earnestness, and activity. The Lord is not in any sense slack concerning any of his promises. The hand of the diligent maketh rich in spiritual things just as certainly as it does in temporal things. The smallest service done for God always secures a rich re- ward, and it comes to us in many ways of which we may long continue to be ignorant, but which will make themselves clearly manifest at least in the future world and in the higher life. It is a blessed thing to do good under any cirenmstances. They who turn many to righteousness will shine as stars in the firmament, and even a cup of cold water given to a disei- ple in the name of Christ will be remembered in heaven and receive the commendation of the Saviour when he makes up luis jewels and calls his redeemed ones home !
The whole number which have been admitted to the com - munion of the church since my ministry commenced here, is 612. This gives an average of more than 20 in each year, and in comparison with the whole number admitted from the first organization of the church, in 1699, is probably nearly equal to one half.
The highest number admitted to communion during this period in any one year was 49. The smallest number was 9. The first occurred in 1838, and the latter in 1859. Between these extremes the average falls, and it is remarkable what a uniformity it indicates.
Now, if we consider these facts attentively, they must be re- garded as, npon the whole, highly expressive and encouraging. Amid all the variety of feeling and sentiment which have arisen out of the vicissitudes of providence, God's power has been constantly manifest in the church, in the blessing attendant on the Word and ordinances. His truth has not been proclaimed in vain in any one year, nor hath he left himself without a witness. The rain from heaven has no more certainly de-
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scended and fruetified the earth and matured the harvest, to be gathered into the garner of the husbandman, than the good seed of the kingdom of heaven, sown in the church, has yielded a harvest of souls to be brought into the house of God. We are, therefore, all witnesses this day to the stability of the covenant, and the rich abundance of its blessings. We derive a new assurance that none that seek the Lord shall in any wise fail in finding his promise true. His church is ever be- fore him, and all her interests are remembered in his thoughts of love, and provided for constantly through his grace ! Thirty consecutive years in which there has not been one barren one, and only two communion seasons in the whole series in which none were added on confession, and only a single one in which some were not received by certificate, is surely proof of this. (For thirty years there has only been one communion that was entirely barren and fruitless in appearance; even this was not so in reality.) We do not insist upon this for the purpose of self-praise, far from it ; but we doubt whether there are many other churches which can show such a record. God has in- deed been good to us, and his loving-kindness and favor really reach even unto the clouds. Let us remember it to his praise, and to the prevention of any despondeney in any future try- ing hours that may come upon us, in whatever troublous times God may please to send.
During the whole period of my ministry I have baptized 56S children and 45 adults on confession of their faith ; and performed the marriage ceremony 287 times.
I feel constrained to make a single remark in this connec- tion. It seems to me that the greatest evil in our present position as a church is to found in the fact that for the last few years there have been so few infants presented for the ordinance of baptism. It shows that our families are not in- creasing, and since it is certain that they must decrease by death, it seems to point to a time when the prosperity of the church will be less, and the whole aspect of things neces- sarily be discouraging. We believe that enough is not done to retain our young people with ns. We proposed the pur- chase of an organ as one of the things which probably would tend to prevent what certainly ought to be prevented; and
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we believe, now, that if it had been done, even to-day the ex- pense would have been a saving to the prominent members of the church, while the number of hearers would be proportion - ately increased. The objections against the use of such an instrument in the services of the sanctuary we can not consider as having any real weight. In a Dutch church surely they ought not to be regarded as of sufficient consequence to obviate the certain benefits, since in the fatherland such use is univer- sal, and in this country the want has arisen from another cause-the difficulty of obtaining the instrument at first, and then the habit of worshiping without it. Music is too vital and large an element in the comfort of public worship to be disregarded by those who consider wisely the advantage of the church and the importance of having that which at once satisfies the spiritual mind and engages the youthful heart. We believe the loss experienced to be a serious one, and of such a character as to require an immediate remedy ; and I have felt, therefore, that so much at least ought to be said on the present occasion. Whether our counsels will be regarded, remains for the future to determine. A duty will at all events have been discharged, and we can only leave the subject to those to whom the matter belongs, and with whose interests it is identified.
No record of linman life can pretend to be complete which omits to mention the doings of the destroyer. In a period of five years, he invades almost all our habitations and takes away some one member from almost every domestic circle; often that very one is removed which is the centre of all hearts ! HIenee when we come to mention the names of those who have departed, we strike chords that vibrate from one side of the honse to the other. Our catalogne is not a list of those who have died in the congregation, but only of those in the com- munion of the church ; and we are not absolutely sure that it is perfect, as our records are less complete in this department than in any other; but we remember Dr. Peter I. Stryker, John Garretson, Ryneir Van Neste, Abraham Stryker, Wil- liam B. Gaston, Peter Wortman, Cornelius Vanderveer, Wil- liam Bunn, Peter Dumont, P. T. Tunison, and Mr. Richard Ten Eyek, Mrs. Phebe Hoagland, Mrs. Cornelia Beekman, Miss Catherine Veghite, Mrs. J. Vanderveer, Mrs. William
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Bunn, Mrs. John Herder, Mrs. Judith Tunison, Mrs. Benjamin Smith, Mrs. Maria Elmendorf, Mrs. John Schenck, Mrs. Isaac Cubberley; and also three young persons who gave hope in their death, Nathaniel Wilson, Peter Saums, and Emma Creusen.
I have no means of ascertaining how many funeral sermons I have preached in the thirty years now past, nor during the last five years, as I have not kept a full record ; but considering the number of families embraced in the congregation, it has not been large. Indeed, for the last few years the mortality among our people has been remarkably small. God has pre- served us from any plague or pestilence, and even from the ordinary measure of mortality, to an extent which is remarka- ble, and indicates special favor.
And yet, when we come to recollect all that are among the dead, the thought becomes impressive in the highest degree. With a few exceptions, all the heads of families who were here thirty years ago are here no more; the households are chang- ed, the names of whole families blotted out, properties distri- buted and sold, and a new aspect silently thrown over this house not only, but over this entire community. To my own mind, this is one of the saddest realizations of this day. I seem to stand here between the dead and the living, and my heart is rent between them. The lost are as numerous as the remaining ; and although the living have my attention, the dead are engraven upon my memory, and will never be for- gotten. They even seem, in not a few instances, to have left no equals behind them ; but this, I know, is perhaps on account of their age and their longer experience in divine things, more than in any essential difference in character or depth and de- votedness of piety. When the generation now occupying the stage of action shall have added the wisdom and maturity of years to their other excellent qualities, we shall hope to see them worthy of their sires, and even improved by the privi- leges which they have enjoyed. It is one of the fond weak. nesses of age to exelaim, " the former things were better than these," whereas in reality they are often not so good. The memories of youth leave a golden tinge upon the scenes of former life, which, like the light of the morning, clothes every
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thing in roseate hues, but in reality it is only the rising vapors and the imperfeet light which occasion the deception. When the sun has risen up into the mid-heaven the delusion vanishes, and every thing appears in its natural colors. So experience rectifies many of the sangnine expectations of early life. In all its stages, experience has many stern realities, and we all come to know them soon enough for our comfort. For our- selves, we can not to-day, even by the force of imagination, bring back the hopefulness of thirty years ago; and yet though less sanguine, we are not less resolute in the prosecution of the work before us. We may not expect so much success, but then we know we are not as liable to be so largely deceived as we onee were. We trust less to profession, but we expect equally much from principle. We know the weaknesses of human nature, but we also know the strength which true piety gives to every excellency of character, and how much we can trust a man, in whose heart religion is a reality, and not only a name to live. The larger the number of such members which a church embodies in her communion, the more comfort a minister will find in his intercourse with them ; and it is no loss in cither aspect to have a time of sifting come; the chaff is only separated from the wheat, and the tares rooted up which choke the growth of the genuine grain. Such times we have had, and we have found occasion to rejoice after they liad passed over. We shall have them again, and in anticipa- tion we say :
O God ! do thou thy righteous will ; We will lie still till thou fulfill Thy wise design ; 'tis but the dross Which we, in fear, regard as loss !
Gold must pass through the fire before the pure metal can be drawn forth in all its shining Instre and valne. Surely we have reason to be thankful that so much even yet remains, which we hope the refiner will pronounce genuine !
I know well in how many houses there have been experi- enced sore afflictions, for it has been my duty to "comfort the mourners," as well as to "rejoice with them that have found occasions of joy." Nor has my own lot in this respect differcd from yours. Sad bereavements they have been, indeed, in
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their best aspect to all of us; and my dead sleep beside your own in yonder cemetery on the hill-side. Imagination often lingers around that spot, and calls up the form and lineaments of the departed as they once appeared, when the music of their voices made my home cheerful and their beaming counte- nanees indicated the joys of their daily life. It is not a spirit of repining that brings these seenes baek so often, but only the lingering of an unquenched affection, which time has no power to destroy. I hope to see them in the habitations of the blessed, and endeavor to wait in patience until the years of this pilgrimage are ended, and its toils have ceased. Until then, to hope on, hope ever is all that can be done. We have long sinee ceased to expeet our life to pass away as one long, bright summer day, without clouds and without storms. It is not in such an aspect that the Scriptures represent it, nor is it such that experience proves it. As long as sin continues in the world there will be suffering ; and as long as sin exists in our hearts, it will produce there its bitter fruits. " Many are the afflietions of the righteous;" but the promise is added, "The Lord delivers us out of them all." In God's people they produce the peaceable fruits of righteousness, but in the wicked hardened impenitence and a fearful looking for of wrath and judgment to come. A true Christian will be more anxious that the fruit should be unto life, than that he should be entirely exempt from their pain.
Nor would we attempt to produce the impression the our life has been entirely exempt from trials of another kind. We have been happy in the attached friendship of many of onr people, but we do not pretend that we have not suffered from the want of it in others. Endeavoring to adhere to principle and to be faithful in the pursuit of right, we have more than once been brought into conflict with selfishness and prejudice. Passion has not been restrained within the limits of propriety. nor outrage avoided. But we are bound in justice to say, that those upon whom we really depended have never deceived us, nor proved reereant to the confidence which we reposed in their Christian character and integrity. Indeed, there has, even in this respect, been less disappointment than many may have imagined ; for we have always known who were worthy
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of trust and who were not. All men are not endowed with "truth in the inward parts." There is a weakness of cha- racter, however honest it may be, which never can be safely trusted ; while, at the sune time, there is also a firmness which never can be trusted too much. A true man is a friend al- ways, but weakness is vacillating, and subject to the sway of every wind that blows. In the forest there are a few sturdy . oaks which even the whirlwind assaults in vain ; but the supple sapling bends even before the passing breeze, while the bran- ble has no strength at all. It was not to be expected, when passion has been so deeply stirred up as during the last few months, that its wild vagaries would not be reckless and nn- reasonable. I have this, however, to say, that I have studied, in all things, to have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men ; and I have done nothing that I would not do again under the same circumstances, and therefore express to day no regrets, nor do I promise a different course. I have preached the Gospel, and I mean in the future to preach no- thing but the Gospel. I can not do any thing else under the sense of responsibility which I feel, for I know " woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." I can not walk by another man's rule, nor graduate my sense of duty by another man's mea- sure. I do not hold myself up as a guide to others, but endea- vor to act according to the light which there is in me. I fear no man, and call no man master! Before God and conscience I stand self-approved; and I mean to stand there at all events.
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