USA > New York > Westchester County > Bedford > History of Bedford Church : discourse delivered at the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Presbyterian Church of Bedford, Westchester Co., New York, March 22d, 1881 > Part 8
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How long has the Gospel been here earnestly preached by that long list of faithful servants of the Master, all but one of whom have now gone to their reward ! What power has that word had for instruction and comfort, for reproof and for salvation ! Well may we rejoice and give thanks in the review of the good work accomplished by this church of Christ through all these passing years and centu- ries. You do well, my brethren, to observe this occasion. It is becoming thus to look backward over the past, and recall the mercies which have distinguished and marked our experience and history, in order that our gratitude may be awakened and our heartfelt thanksgivings go up to Him who is the Author of all our good.
I bring to you then, my brethren, not only personally and as a neighbouring pastor interested in your history and welfare, but on behalf of the Presbytery which I represent and to which you belong, I bring you sincere congratula-
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tions. I congratulate you upon the glorious past, the record of which has been set before us to-day. With all my heart I thank my brother for the care and fidelity with which he has done his work as historian, for the fulness of his investigations, and the clearness with which he has set before us the history of this church during these two hundred years which are now gone by-a history signally marked with blessing, and in the remembrance of which you may well rejoice and give thanks.
But I feel, brethren, that I may congratulate you upon the present as well as upon the past. In the possession of this beautiful edifice for Christian worship, in the enjoy- ment of all the appointed means and ordinances of grace in connection with the ministrations of an earnest and faithful pastor, what more do you need? what more can you ask ? The struggles and trials, the wrongs and tears of which we have heard the record to-day, are, happily, matters of the past. There is now " none to molest or make you afraid," or in any way interfere with your full enjoyment of your Christian liberty. Thus equipped for usefulness and service, and thus enriched with all the privi- leges of the Gospel in the ordinances of God and His sanc- tuary, I congratulate you, brethren, upon the present. Using well your means of good, what measure of satisfac- tion and blessing are in store for you !
But not merely in view of the past and present, but more than all I am moved to congratulate you upon the prospects of the future. Whatever may be true of the past and the present, the future is certainly full of brightness and of promise to you as a church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Your history as a Christian church has not closed. Indeed, as you enter upon this new century, you enter, I trust, upon a new era of yet wider usefulness, and nobler ser-
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vice for the Master. Individual men live their brief three score years and ten, or if by reason of strength it be four- score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow, and it is soon cut off and they fly away. But not so with a Christian church. Even two hundred years do not here imply in- firmity or decrepitude, but rather vigour and increasing strength. This church has but just reached the prime of its manhood, with the prospect and promise of a future yet more glorious than the past. Whatever the past may have been, or whatever the present may be, yet " there is more to follow." Thus even with our best things and the bless- ings of our spiritual life, the future is always bright with glorious promise and hope. We, my hearers, will soon have passed from these earthly scenes, but this church of Christ will remain and live, I trust, a thousand years-yea to the end of time, from generation to generation, multi- plying its agencies, and extending its influences for good.
And if indeed it be true, that the blessed company of God's faithful ones, as they go hence to heaven, still have cogni- zance of affairs upon the earth, then as the centuries pass, and this Christian church and congregation shall from time to time gather to celebrate the love of God and His kindly dealings, may it not be that we, together with the vast company who have gone up before us from this place, and who, though invisible to our mortal eyes, yet look down upon us to-day-may it not be, I say, when the three hundredth anniversary of this church shall occur, and God's people be here gathered to recount His mercies and record His love, that with those who are thus present with us to- day, and constituting a part of the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven, we too shall look down upon the assembled congregation, and that not merely as interested spectators or witnesses, but as sharers with them
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of their joy ? Brethren, we shall not soon forget the scenes through which we are passing to-day. We ought not to do so, but rather to cherish them in our memories, even as we shall doubtless retain an interest in what concerns this be- loved church of Christ as we go hence to the eternal world.
Yet one other thought and I conclude. It is sometimes customary in connection with great and joyful occasions like this, to manifest our interest by gifts and offerings. What offering, my Christian brethren, will you make? What gift will you bring to-day in testimony of your appreciation of the peculiar love and mercy which have followed you as a church in all those years of the past-that favour of heaven which crowns the present with so much of blessing, and the future with so much of hope ? What so appropriate as a new consecration of yourselves unto God and to His service here-all that you are and all that you have ? Are you not indebted to God for all, and will you not give Him of His own, and that by way of acknowledging your obligations and expressing your gratitude for the peculiar mercies of the past, the precious blessings of the present, and the glo- rious hopes which take hold upon the future which opens before you ? Brethren, the time for Christian labour, and service, and suffering here, is short. Let us seek to be found earnest and diligent and faithful in all the work to which God calls us here, even till He shall summon us to the rest and glory of His heavenly kingdom.
Anthem : "Seek ye the Lord."
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ADDRESS
BY THE
REV. JAMES W. JOHNSTON,
Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco, N. Y.
IT is a pleasure to me to stand here to-day and perform the duty that has fallen to my lot. I am not here to de- liver an address, nor to make a speech, but simply to con- vey the kindly, filial greetings of the daughter to the mother. As bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh, we claim a place in your history and a share in your glory. They tell us you were not organized originally as a Pres- byterian church. We care nothing for that. It was a vine of the Lord's planting, and we together now enjoy its fruits and rejoice in its shadow. We celebrate to-day no feat of arms, no achievement of science, no wonder of dis- covery, no triumph of art. Our work has not been a worldly work ; our glory is not an earthly glory. Our re- joicing is that we have been an instrument in God's hand -a channel for God's love. The vital forces in nature are, at the same time, the mightiest and the gentlest. The least objective and imposing to the senses, they are the grandest in the results which they bring. The thunder- bolt is terrific in its crash, but it leaves only death and ashes in its pathway. As it rends the royal oak, it de- stroys, in the twinkle of an eye, a century of life's work. But it is always grander to build than to destroy, to pro- duce than to consume. The warrior who is bedecked with the stars of worldly honour, and the splendor of whose deeds dazzles the eye of ambition, is, among the habita- tions of men, what the thunderbolt is in nature. He is grand in the path of destruction. Such work may, at
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times, be needed, but it is always sad to be the instrument in the ministration of death. The ministration of life is rather glorious. And where does earth find the ministra- tion of life? Who builds the waste places ? What force heals the bleeding wounds of humanity ? What power restores the desolations of mighty havoc? What balm, other than the breath of God, in the Gospel of Jesus, has ever sufficed to heal the iniquity of the souls of men, to check the wastes of life, and to build up a pure and spirit- ualized, a strong and beautiful manhood ? In the Church of Christ are treasured the forces which must overmaster death, and give life, by the vital touch of God. As the unseen and noiseless energies of nature, without any throb of struggling effort, or tremor of labour -- without any proc- lamation of greatness, or declaration of power -- daily and nightly build the products of the cultivated fields and the meadows, the beauty of the flowers and the majesty of the forest, so God, by the still, small voice of the Gospel, that comes like the dew, distilled in the silence of the night, and through the instrumentality of the weak things of the world, restores a lost race, and garners a rich harvest of souls. The most God-like, and so the grandest, force that earth has seen, is the power of the Gospel. It is a grand effort in nature that produces a tree, but it is a grander effort from above nature that refashions a sinful soul, and clothes it in the beauty of holiness. To be the receivers and guardians, the legatees and the trustees of such spirit- ual resources, is an honour higher and more enduring than to lead the armies of a Cæsar, and to startle and dazzle the world with the brilliant exploits of a Napoleon. I would rather have been a deacon in the little church in the wilderness of Bedford, holding the lamp of God to light the way to heaven, than an Alexander, or a Nelson, or
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even a Franklin. How many streams of spiritual influence have started here, how widely they have spread, what rich soul-treasures they have borne and are now bearing from country and from city, from east and from west, from Christian lands and from heathen lands, on to the heaven- land above, God only knows. We gather around the old church homestead to-day to bear kindly greetings to the spiritual household mother, not in her to glory, but with her to glory in the cross of Christ ; not in her to joy, but with her to rejoice in the Lord ; not to her to bring thanks- giving and praise, but with her to give thanks unto the Most High, and praise the name of Him who hath estab- lished us in righteousness. The memories of the past goodness of our God we gather with grateful recollection, and with hearts of tender, tearful thankfulness, we weave them into a love-token wreath with which to garland the cross of Christ our Saviour.
ADDRESS
BY THE
REV. JOHN H. EASTMAN,
Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Katonah, N. Y.
I WOULD ask the kind patience of the audience for a moment, assuring them that they are no more uncomfort- able than I am, and that I shall not keep myself or them very long. On the seventeenth day of November, 1872, the 3d Presbyterian Church in the town of Bedford was organized by a committee of the Presbytery of Westchester. The pastor and an elder of the church at Mt. Kisco were largely instrumental in the organization of that church, and five of the original members of the church were dismissed
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by letter from the church at Mt. Kisco. It was my lot to be the pastor of that church, so I come here to-day as the representative of the grandchild of the Bedford Church to bear to our grandmother our greetings and our good wishes.
Ever since I have been a resident of the town of Bed- ford, -and I might say that during the first few months of my pastorate I was a resident of the town of Lewisboro, just across the line, but discovering that fact and hearing so much, although Lewisboro was a very good town, I felt I must move over into Bedford, -ever since then I have constantly been learning more and more of the glorious history of the town of Bedford, and the grand position which it occupies in this world of ours. So that I have become a very loyal and devoted citizen of that town, and I think I have fully as much pride to-day in her history as any old resident of the town, although born here and whose family for generations has lived here. But it seems to me that to-day, as I have sat here and have been drink- ing in these facts of the last two centuries of its histo y, as they have been so admirably presented to us by our his- torian, it seems to me my gratitude has been growing stronger and stronger all the time, and more than that I am happy to say that I am Pastor of the church whose grand- mother has had such a long and such a glorious history.
And I am sure I shall go back to my work in connec- tion with the grandchild of this church with new inspira- tion, feeling that having such an ancestry as this, that we shall be true to the ancestry from which we have sprung. This is the wish that I bring, that you and we and the church at Mt. Kisco, in this town of Bedford, that we, representing this form of faith, may be enabled of God to go forward, faithful to do the work that He has for us to do in this part of His vineyard.
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The one hundred and seventy-eighth hymn-" Jehovah reigns ! He dwells in light"-was then sung, and the ser- vice was closed with the
BENEDICTION.
THE evening service commenced with the Reading of the Holy Scriptures, by REV. GEO. W. F. BIRCH.
Prayer was then offered by REV. EDGAR L. HEERMANCE.
The Hymn, " Glorious things of thee are spoken," was sung.
REV. J. H. HOYT then read several communications from persons unable to be present on this occasion. He added : " I have now the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. Fran- cis A. Palmer, whose largeness of heart gave us this beau- tiful sanctuary."
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ADDRESS
BY
FRANCIS A. PALMER, EsQ.
I APPEAR before you this evening, my friends, not from any desire on my part, but by particular request on the part of the friends here.
As one of the sons of the fathers, I rejoice in the oppor- tunity of mingling my sympathies and joys with you, and especially in the services which have taken place thus far this day. The occasion carries me back to the ministry of Mr. Grant. I recall his pastoral visits to my father's house. How acceptable they always were ! A man thoroughly
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devoted to his work ; a man of God; a man whom we were always glad to see; who had a kind word for every one, young and old.
I remember when Ebenezer Howe-some of you will recollect him, father of Alva Howe-came through the neighbourhood telling us we had a new Minister, and Mr. Green
Grant would preach the following Sabbath. We were re- joiced to know that we had a pastor again. I recollect his preaching here without interruption until the summer of 1831, and I look back to see who were the fathers in this church at that time. I have a little memorandum here. I find here the names of Ebenezer Howe, Samuel Barry, his sons Joseph Barry and Frederick Barry, and their sons. I find here Capt. David Miller, a pillar in the church until the day of his death, and one of the officers. I find here a little later, John Todd, always present and, an officer in the church until he died. His sons are with you. I find here the name of Judge Read. I do not know that I ever came to this church when a boy without seeing Judge Read. He was always a member of the committee ; when- ever any one was called upon to come before the commit- tee here, he was always present. I find the name of Cap- tain James Raymond, who was always present. I find Stephen Lounsbury, whose descendants of the third and fourth generations are here with us to-day. I find the Spardon name of Palmer Lyon and his son Seth Lyon, and then his son Solomon Lyon, who was a schoolmate of mine, who joined the church the same hour that I did. Then I find Mrs. Samuel Trowbridge, who was always here with her family, seven or eight sons, all of whom grew up in the church, and I never knew of one of these people who departed from the faith. They were brought up in the church ; they were constant attendants here, and this
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church held up the Bible, and old Mr. Green always used to preach the Bible. These were the descendants of our forefathers. What men were they ? We find in the history of Stamford that seven families came there in 1640. They came together and built themselves huts, and they went to work and built up a meeting house. They had no minis- ter. Well the history of it was that two out of seven of the brethren started for Boston to find a minister. They went to Boston, they obtained a minister, but they had no Bible. Bibles were not so plenty then as now, and they brought a Bible in their arms back to Stamford. It took them six weeks to make that trip to Boston and back again. Now that is what has kept my dear friends from that day to this, that is what has kept this people here sound in the faith. It is the original teaching of this blessed word.
In 1831 we had here what was called a "a four days' meeting." Some of the friends here will remember it. Mr. Green commenced, and he preached here four days. The last day he had a little assistance from Mr. Sander- son, from South Salem. I recollect his preaching, and I know that, at that time, it created quite an interest here. I remember that, on the first Sunday in October, 1831, there were forty who joined the church, and I think the record shows that in January there were some seventy- five more. I have thought, sometimes, that we are not living up to our privileges. We have had the lives of these good men before us, they have lived here for gener- ations ; yes, for six or seven generations. We have their example, and we have had their prayers, and we are debt- ors to these good men who lived before us, and I think we ought all to be much better than we are. We ought to be better Christians, we ought to live nearer the cross of Christ, and I would to God that we might renew our
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covenant with Him to-day on this two-hundredth anniver- sary.
AN Address was then made by
JAMES WOOD, EsQ.,
President of the Westchester County Historical Society.
ANTHEM : "Show me Thy way, O Lord."
THE Rev. J. Aspinwall Hodge, D.D., Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Hartford, Conn., then spoke :
I trust your patience is not exhausted, for, with Dr. Phraner, I was appointed to bear to you the congratula- tions of the Presbytery of Westchester. It is not neces- sary for me to repeat what he has so fully expressed. From Dr. Baird's historical address, I infer that I was chosen as representing Connecticut, from which the colony to Bedford was sent, and Hartford, where the charter was obtained and the name of your town was bestowed. It is difficult, however, to know where I stand in relation to you. We have heard to-day much about the mother, daughter, and granddaughter ; but what can be said of the State and churches of Connecticut who produced, sent forth, and nurtured this colony in the wilderness ? Poor Connecticut ! despoiled of her territory, separated from her offspring, the last tie, the ecclesias- tical, so long ago broken as to be forgotten. What is her relation to the church of Bedford ? Like the mother of Moses, who, when unacknowledged in her real relation, accepted a place as hired nurse to her child, so I, for
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Connecticut, will take any position, even the humblest, in this household, and, as one with you, join in your grand celebration.
Receive then, our salutation, to this old church of Bed- ford. Yes, old! Not using the word as generally applied to fallen man, groaning under the curse of sin, worn out by the labours and sorrows of earth, hastening to the grave, like a palace deserted of power and mirth, left in silence and falling into ruins. But old, in the true, sanc- tified meaning of the word, as often used in the Scriptures ; old, passing through a development ; obtaining strength, experience, wisdom, and manifold graces, and still in- creasing towards perfection. The aged should be rever- enced. "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man." No reference is made to increasing infirmities, a second childhood, and approach- ing dissolution, for these effects of sin are in the church counteracted by redemption. Like Moses, when the old man went up Pisgah, "his eye was not dim, nor his nat- ural force abated," he had seen God, as one talketh with his friend, and the skin of his face shone with the glory of the Lord. He was made like unto the Ancient of Days, who is described in the Revelation with " His head and hair white as wool, as white as snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire." We greet you, old Bedford, en- riched with reverence, experience, wealth, ability, and wisdom, and with all the eternity of age still before you. We congratulate you as you "renew your strength, mount up with wings as eagles ; run, and are not weary ; and walk, and are not faint."
Do you realize how old you are? Nearly twice as old as our national institutions. You were active in your grand work of forming political character, declaring the
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true principles of government, and publishing peace on earth and good will to men, almost one hundred years before our new-born nation was rocked in the cradle of liberty. As you think of these labours, which are still continued, you may feel the dignity of your long service, but you can perceive no weariness nor decline of energy. In this new building, under your young pastor, with re- vived activity of the people rebaptized by the Holy Spirit, you are conscious of a preparation and zeal for greater efforts. There is an inspiration in age. See this list of Ministers who have here laboured and prayed, and preached the Gospel. I would that their names were en- graven on the walls, that, when your pastor comes into this church trembling under responsibility, and anxious concerning the effects of his message, he may realize that he has entered into their labours to reap what they have sown, to receive the answer to their prayers, that he can- not labour in vain, that he is not to declare some new gospel, a cunningly devised fable, but the truth received from God, declared for two centuries to this people, and proved to be "the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation," an eternal benediction. Who would not feel encouraged and strengthened by such a sight? Of these, I knew personally only Peter Heroy, the last of the honoured pastors, who was one of the first to welcome me into the Presbytery. I saw enough of his Christlike spirit and faithful labours to congratulate most heartily the man who has taken up the mantle that fell from him, and has received a double portion of his spirit.
The question has been asked to-day, How is it that this church has attained to the age of two hundred years ? The full answer is given in the opening chapters of the Book of Revelation. The Lord Jesus Christ is described as walk-
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ing among the candlesticks. He recalls the past history of each church ; speaks in detail of its labours and varied expe- riences. His reproofs and warnings are because of neglect or denial of His name and truth, and the adoption of some other doctrine. His approbation and promise of continu- ance are connected with the keeping of His word, the hold- ing and obeying of His doctrine. This church has not had its candlestick removed, because it has taught the truth as it is in Jesus-the old doctrine of salvation by grace, taught under all dispensations. There can be no change in this plan of God, this eternal truth. There is change in our comprehension of it. The sun is the same to-day as it was centuries ago, but we know more about it. Its rays are the same as when, on the vanishing flood, it painted the rainbow ; but we are learning how its rays are separated into the marvellous colors. It brings returning spring, and draws from the earth beauty and fruitfulness, as when God first bade the grass and plants to put forth abundantly ; but we have been able to comprehend something, though comparatively little, of the great mystery of life. So the Gospel taught in the old Bible is the same doctrine of ever- lasting and unchangeable truth. It is the same because devised, revealed, made efficient by God. We understand the doctrine better, but cannot improve it. We know it only in part. Like the prophets of old, we desire to know " what the Spirit did signify when He testified of the suffer- ings of Christ and the glory that should follow." There- fore the lesson, which your history teaches with peculiar emphasis, is that which was urged by Mr. Palmer-the existence as well as the prosperity of a church, depends upon its fidelity to this dear old Bible, and to the vener- able and precious doctrine contained therein. Turn not aside from the truth ; adopt no new-fangled notions ; do
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