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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01178 1603
NORTH REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. CORNER OF WILLIAM AND FULTON STREETS DEDICATED MAY 25TH, 1769.
1
A DISCOURSE
DELIVERED IN THE
NORTH REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH.
IN THE
CITY OF NEW YORK.
ON THE
Last Sabbath in August, 1856.
PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE
TO THE NORTH
REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH
BY
THOMAS DEWITT, D. D.
ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF THIE COLLEGIATE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCHL.
Published by request of the Consistory.
1211114
A DISCOURSE
DELIVERED IN THE
Horth Reformed Dutch Church ( COLLEGIATE)
IN THE CITY OF NEW-YORK,
ON THE LAST SABBATH IN AUGUST, 1856.
BY THOMAS DE WITT, D.D., ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE COLLEGIATE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH.
Published by order of the Consistory of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church.
NEW-YORK : BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH, 337 BROADWAY. 1857.
THE North Reformed Dutch Church was closed for a number of weeks, during last summer, for the purpose of being repaired, and placed in complete order and freshness. When it was reopened for worship on the last Sabbath in August, a request was made that a discourse should be preached, somewhat commemorative of its past history. No thought was entertained at the time of its delivery that its publication would ho -- of the Con-
course have siston-
ERRATA.
1 enlarged, : additions
Ox page 22, line 24, for " commendation " read
commemoration. tes of the h the Col-
** 26, for " sixty " read fifty. un a reduced
.. Dutch Church in its original stato - Nult, executed in 1731. This is referred to in the discourse, and will prove curious and interesting. There is also a plate repre- senting the treaty with the Aborigines, by Governor Mimit, in 1626, for the purchase of Manhattan Island, taken from a painting designed, pro- cured, and possessed by Dr. James Anderson, of this city. These plates give a value and interest to this pamphlet, which it could not possess otherwise. It will be seen that these are mere running out- lines of the history of this Church, which might easily have been expanded. But I deem it best to repress the design of inserting addi- tional matter. A few notes will be found in the Appendix. The procurement of the plates has delayed the publication.
NEW-YORK, December, 1856.
T. D. W.
THE North Reformed Dutch Church was closed for a number of weeks, during last summer, for the purpose of being repaired, and placed in complete order and freshness. When it was reopened for worship on the last Sabbath in August, a request was made that a discourse should be preached, somewhat commemorative of its past history. No thought was entertained at the time of its delivery that its publication would be requested. But the desire of the Con- sistory was felt to be imperative. The outlines of the discourse have been throughout preserved, while some points have been enlarged, particularly the brief sketches of the ministers, and slight additions have been made. It was deemed desirable to procure plates of the church edifices, which have been and are in connection with the Col- legiate Church. With these will be found a fac simile on a reduced scale of a print of the old Middle Dutch Church in its original state as first built, executed in 1731. This is referred to in the discourse, and will prove curious and interesting. There is also a plate repre- senting the treaty with the Aborigines, by Governor Minuit, in 1626, for the purchase of Manhattan Island, taken from a painting designed, pro- cured, and possessed by Dr. James Anderson, of this city. These plates give a value and interest to this pamphlet, which it could not possess otherwise. It will be seen that these are mere running out- lines of the history of this Church, which might easily have been expanded. But I deem it best to repress the design of inserting addi- tional matter. A few notes will be found in the Appendix. The procurement of the plates has delayed the publication.
T. D. W.
NEW-YORK, December, 1856.
DISCOURSE.
PSALM 48 : 9.
" WE have thought of thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple."
THE scenes and associations of our early days will al- ways find a place in our memories and in our hearts. No change of time or circumstances can efface them from our minds. When removed from the parental home, or the domestic circle, when away from the land of our birth, on a pilgrimage to a distant land, who will not cordially indulge in recalling, with deep emo- tion, the associations and incidents of the past ? Though the place of our early home may no longer be in the possession of our family relationship, yet the scenes around it will vividly impress us, and the events of the past will spontaneously crowd into our memory. Where are the generous minds and feeling hearts that have not often felt this attraction, or that would be willing, for a moment, to repress or weaken it? If the reminiscences bearing upon time and earth inspire deep interest, how much more must that interest be increased when connected with the exercise of Christian faith and hope, in their rise and culture, and with the teachings and influence of divine grace, in the worship of the sanctuary ?
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We have entered anew this time-honored place of worship, after it had been closed, during a series of weeks, for the purpose of being thoroughly repaired, in the aspect of renewed freshness and beauty which it now presents. Since it was first completed and opened for divine service, in 1769, successive generations wor- shipping in it have passed from time to eternity. There are numbers, now scattered in different parts, who re- cur to their ancestry, and perhaps themselves, as baptiz- ed, worshipping, and trained within these walls. There are very many, now living, who connect the earliest recollections of their infancy and youth, and so also of their onward course, with this edifice. In the change which has taken place by the conversion of this part of the city into the mart of commercial employment, re- sulting from the rapid and unexampled growth of our city and country, the number of those who statedly worship here has become small. The community around us, while not possessing recollections of their personal relation to it, still regard it with veneration, and view it as a valuable memorial of the length of years during which it has preserved a prominent posi- tion, and diffused the enlightening, sanctifying, and sav- ing influence of divine truth. In the change of circum- stances, leading to the removal of the fixed resident population from the lower part of the city, the older churches, one after another, have been taken down, and now but very few remain in the lower wards. Still, a large population, of another description, and of a more fluctuating character, is found, and will remain in this vicinity, to whom the "Gospel which is preached unto the poor" should be ministered. For this purpose the
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Consistory of this Church have resolved to preserve this edifice, and renovate its appearance, in order that the means of grace may be dispensed within its walls in time to come. They desire to employ the best means adapted to the existing state of things, and, under the divine blessing, continue here, in some measure, that holy influence which rested here so largely in times past.
Assembled on this occasion, and contemplating the history and uses of this edifice, we feel that the words of the text are appropriate, and meet with the response of devout hearts present.
" WE HAVE THOUGHT OF THY LOVING-KINDNESS, O GOD, IN THE MIDST OF THY TEMPLE."
This forty-eighth psalm is descriptive of the beauty, the glory, and the strength of the Church, and her triumph over her foes. In the immediate connection of the text, the exercises of the pious soul, in medita- tion on divine truth, and in the remembrance of spirit- ual enjoyment, and edification in the house of God, are expressed. The closing verses of the Psalm are beauti- fully and forcibly descriptive of the order, safety, per- manence and blessings of the true spiritual Church of Christ. " Walk about Zion, and go round about her. Tell the towers thereof ; mark ye well her bulwarks. Con- sider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generations to come. For this God is our God forever. He will be our guide even unto death."
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The declaration, "We have thought of thy loving- kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple," brings to our consideration
I. THE PLACE OF WORSHIP-"The temple of God."
II. THE THIEME THERE UNFOLDED FOR OUR ATTENTION AND MEDITATION-" The loving-kindness of God."
III. THE RETROSPECT OF OUR MEDITATIONS ON TIIIS THEME IN THE HOUSE OF GOD-" We have thought of thy loving-kindness.77
I. The place of worship-" The temple of God." The tabernacle and temple, under the Old Testament econ- omy, were devoted to the sacrificial worship peculiar to it, and which were shadowy and typical in their nature. This worship pointed to the ONE sacrifice to be offered in the fullness of time-to Christ, the High Priest of our profession, who has now entered into the heavens within the veil, and to the blessings of the covenant, which was ratified in the atoning blood of the Redeem- er. Under the New Testament economy, we have " the truth as it is in Jesus," exhibiting the fulfillment and realization of the prophecies and types of the former dispensation, and displaying, in the completed canon of Scripture, the way of salvation, clearly and impressive- ly. The simplicity of worship, in the instituted and well-adapted means of grace connected with the special promise of the Spirit, constitute the glory and efficiency of the New Testament Church. "We are made ministers of the New Testament, not in the letter but the spirit." The temple of God is now found wher- ever believers are gathered in church relation, where the
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truth is purely preached, and the means of grace are faithfully ministered, and where the promised Spirit is sought and bestowed. The idea of a temple implies the residence of God's truth and Spirit, worship, in the light of truth and beauty of holiness, and a willing consecration to his service. These pertain to every in- dividual Christian, and to the true and universal Church of Christ, consisting of the redeemed and sanctified of every age and country and denomination. This is strikingly stated by Paul, in the second chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians : " Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and aliens, but fellow-citizens with the saints of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. In whom the whole building, fitly framed together, groweth to an holy temple in the Lord ; in whom also ye are built up together, for an habitation of God, through the Spirit." It is not the splendor of the outward and material temple that attracts the divine regard, or in itself subserves its use and design, irrespective of the character of the worship there rendered, in " spirit and in truth," and the spirit- ual blessing there promised and bestowed. The ser- vice may be rendered in the humblest structure; yea, even under the broad canopy of heaven-there the declaration of the Saviour may be verified : "Where two or three are met in my name, there am I in the midst of them." There is a necessity for the erection of suitable edifices for the purpose of social worship, where the truth may be preached, the means of grace be ministered, and the communion of God's people be cultivated The Sabbath, the sanctuary, and the minis-
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try of reconciliation are joined together as a three-fold cord, and are indissolubly linked together. It is proper and right that beauty, simplicity, solidity, and chaste adornment, in proportion to the means of the worship- pers, should be consulted. Never should it be laid to our charge that, while we "dwell in ceiled houses," we suffer the house of God to lie waste; or to fail in forming, preserving, or increasing its beauty, strength, or convenience, as circumstances may require. But let it ever be remembered that the true glory of a house of worship, dedicated to God, is the faithful ministry of the truth and ordinances of God, the efficacy of these in the conversion of sinners and the edification of believers, and in the advancement of the peace and holiness of the Church. Without these, we may write upon the most splendid temple reared in the name of Christ, "ICHABOD"-the glory is departed. The word of God, ministered in the sanctuary, is "the wisdom and power of God unto salvation," and herein is the loving-kindness of God manifested and applied.
II. The theme unfolded for our attention and medita- tion .- " The loving-kindness of God." The kindness of God visits all men in his providential dealings, and his " tender mercies are over all his works." But there is an emphasis and a peculiar import in the phrase, "Lov- ing-kindness," referring to that infinite love and kind- ness, which save and bless lost sinners. Thus Paul, in the third chapter of his Epistle to Titus, says : " After that the LOVING-KINDNESS of God our Saviour appeared towards men, not according to works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy he
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saved us," etc. The term " loving-kindness," is a com- pound one, signifying love in the outgoings of kindness. It is not love as an abstract principle, but a lively, vi- gorous cause, producing the kindest effects. It is kind- ness, not as the result of mere esteem, or arising out of the propriety of things, but it is kindness flowing from the intensity of affection, the ardor and energy of love. The term was a favorite one with the Psalmist, who employs it twenty-two times. Jeremiah uses it four times, and Hosea once. The loving-kindness of God is displayed and exercised in the unspeakable gift of God in Jesus Christ his Son. This is the channel through which infinite grace passes for the bestowment of every blessing. It is displayed in his forgiving mercy and saving grace, and in all his providential dealings, caus- ing " all things to work together for good to them who love him." We quote some of the passages in Scrip- ture, in which this phrase is used, which will show the force and beauty of its meaning. Ps. 26 : 4 : " For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in thy truth." Ps. 36 : 7 : " How excellent is thy lov- ing-kindness, O God, therefore the children of men put themselves under the shadow of thy wings." Ps. 63 : 3: "Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee." Ps. 42 : 8: "For the Lord will command his loving-kindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me." Although the phraseology is varied, yet the meaning of the phrase before is drawn out in Ps. 27:4: "One thing have I desired out of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, there to be- hold his beauty, and to inquire in his holy temple."
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Jeremiah 9 : 24 : " Let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth." Jeremiah 31 : 4 : " I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and with loving- kindness have I drawn thee." These passages, among others, show the import and force of the words, " lov- ing-kindness of God."
THINKING on the loving-kindness of God implies not only attention to the great truths of religion, and to the dispensations of Providence and grace so as to yield intellectual approbation, but also the response of the heart in valuing, applying, and improving them, and in the subjection of the will to their practical influence. So David testifies, Ps. 119 : 59, 60 : " I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments." It is a living operative faith, working by love, purifying the heart, and overcoming the world, that thinks rightly and profitably on the "loving-kindness of God." It is this faith in exercise that makes the word of truth light and life and peace to the soul, and connects the events of life in the providence of God with the teach- ings of his truth and the influence of the Holy Spirit.
III. The retrospect of our meditations on this theme in the house of God. "We have thought of thy loving- kindness." It is most reasonable, and should be profit- able to hold converse with our past days and years, and to review the use we have made of our sanctuary privi- leges. We should inquire whether we have been brought into the fellowship of divine grace, and, if so,
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what were the manner and the means by which we have been led in the way everlasting. As the Sabbath returns, devoted to meditation on divine truth, its influence will be sensibly felt. What Christian has not experienced the genial influence of such a Sab- bath as this, with the bright rays of the sun shining clearly around, and the balmy atmosphere of heaven inhaled in fixing his thoughts on the " loving-kind- ness" of God, in the sanctuary ? Our recollections should extend not merely to the privileges we have personally enjoyed, and the blessings we have reaped in the temple of God, but they should properly and readily reach back to those who were engaged in pro- curing the erection of this building, and to the gener- ations which followed them. Sacred and sweet is the memory of parents, who brought us to the house of God in baptismal dedication, who extended to us their counsels and prayers, by whose side we sat in the family pew, from Sabbath to Sabbath, whose renewed consecration to Christ, from time to time, we witnessed, and who died peacefully in the faith of Christ and the hope of glory. Memory will also dwell upon the kin- dred and friends who went up with us to the house of God, and with whom we took sweet counsel together. Christians who have worshipped here for a series of years will, in the associations and remembrances that this house brings with it, retrace the incidents of their past history, and ponder on the discipline and culture of their spiritual life which they have here received. They will revert to the seasons of temporal affliction and spiritual sorrow and conflict, when here in the assembly of his people. They poured out their hearts
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before the mercy-seat, and found light and peace, com- fort and strength supplied to them. They will remem- ber the seasons of refreshment and enjoyment when, " in the multitude of his mercies," they kept holy day in this temple, when they recounted his loving-kindness in all the dealings of his providence and grace, with the heart of gratitude and love, and with the voice of thanksgiving and praise. The seasons of believing re- membrance, hallowed enjoyment, and cordial conse- cration at the table of the Lord, will remain deeply and tenderly engraved on the memory. The associations of earlier days in Christian friendship and intercourse, when we went to the house of God, and took sweet counsel together, and, from our common services there, went forth to bear each other's burden, and fulfill each other's joy, will vividly and impressively recur to us, and hope will spring forth, reaching to the everlasting reunion in the " temple above, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." With what feelings must they regard this house, and retrace their meditations on the loving-kindness of God within it, who were here born of the Spirit, awakened to repentance, and led to the faith and service of Christ. Of this house, the annals of its history testify, that in the continued succession of years, very many -" this man, and that man" were born there, and that here, while beholding the beauty of the Lord, and inquiring in his holy temple, their " strength was renewed, so that they mounted up with wings like eagles; ran, and were not weary; walked, and fainted not." In the review of the past, these me- ditations on the goodness of God in this temple, by the pious, will be carefully entertained, and prove impres-
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sive, instructive, and edifying. But there are those, who were here dedicated to Christ in baptism, trained in attendance on its ordinances, and placed under asso- ciations and influences favorable to piety, who remain without an interest and part in the great salvation. Let the memory and thought of God's loving-kindness in this temple, in times past, now sink deep in their hearts, and urge and lead them to an instant and cor- dial acceptance of the grace of the Redeemer, and the future subjection of their lives to his service.
These general reflections, in connection with the ser- vice of this day, exhibit the high estimate which we should make of the value and importance of the sanc- tuary of God. "The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob." He loves the dwellings of Jacob, the families of his people, and regards with complacence the worship there rendered, the unity of faith and affection there cherished, and the parental spiritual influence there exerted. Still more does he "love the gates of Zion," the Christian sanctuary, whence the influence is derived which forms and pre- serves the religion of the family, and spreads it around through the community. The sanctuary is inseparably interwoven with the Sabbath and the ministry of re- conciliation. They go hand in hand, shedding their beneficent and saving influence. Here united public worship is rendered, and the time, place, and instru- mentality is laid open to all for religious instruction, by the preached truth, the devout exercises of prayer and praise, and the discipline of the spiritual life. The de- sign of God is, that his truth should not be confined to one place or age, but that the light of life should be
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diffused throughout the earth. For this purpose, he opens his sanctuary, hallows the Sabbaths in their suc- cession, and forms his Church as a " city set on a hill," to enlighten the world. The Church of God is the great teacher of the world. Let this mighty influence be removed, and " darkness will soon cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." This is in close con- nection with the purposes and end of associated public worship. Hence the Church is termed " the pillar and ground of truth," as it is the great means of maintaining the life and profession of Christianity. It is in the sanctu- ary that the truth is ordinarily rendered effectual unto salvation. It is in the sanctuary that the presence of God is experienced, in the communion of his love, and the bestowment of his blessing. "Wherever he records his name," he promises to be with his people, and bless them. Hence, every pious soul can say with David : " My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My flesh crieth out for the living God."-Ps. 84 : 2. " Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, they will be still be praising thee. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appeareth before God. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. A day spent in thy courts is better than a thousand."-Ps. 122. The pious here feel that nearness of access to him, that con- fidence in him as their covenant God, that culture of the graces of the spirit, by which growth in grace is promoted in increased preparation for life's duties and events, and in growing meetness for the inheritance of saints in light. Here they contemplate, in the commu- nion of brotherly love, the thousands engaged at the
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same time, in other places, in the same service with themselves, and anticipate the worship of the heavenly temple and eternal Sabbatlı, in the full assembly of the just made perfect.
These reflections, suggested by the text, are not in- appropriate to the occasion which has assembled us, when this edifice is reopened for public worship, after having been closed a number of weeks for the purpose of being placed in the fresh and beautiful aspect it now presents. It preserves its original aspect and character, and continues distinguished for the solidity of its struc- ture and the just proportions of its architecture. It now approaches towards the ninetieth year of its erection, having been commenced in 1767, and completed and opened for service in 1769. Among the many splendid houses of worship that have been erected during late years, none exceed this and the adjacent Episcopal church of St. Paul's, which was erected only two or three years previous to this, having been opened for service in 1766.
This edifice was built by the Consistory of the Prot- estant Reformed Dutch Church of the city of New-York, since familiarly known as the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, and still remains in the same relation. It is therefore proper to advert to the history of this Church, coëval with the first colonial settlement by the Hollanders, in the first part of the seventeenth century, and to its ecclesiastical origin and character. The name of the Church, "Protestant Reformed Dutch," is derived from its historical associations and reminiscences. The term Protestant was applied, in the sixteenth century, to the Reformers, and those who denied the authority
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