USA > Virginia > City of Staunton > City of Staunton > The First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia > Part 19
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church yard in Edinborough and they prepared an elaborate statement of their opinion as to the true faith once de- livered to the saints, and bound themselves together by the most solemn vows which can affect the human con- science to maintain these opinions at any cost. This docu- ment they called the "National Covenant," afterwards their "Solemn League and Covenant." One of the oldest men among them, a man venerable with age and dignity, was the first to sign his name to it. A great number signed it, among them were women in a state of exalted religious fervor. The whole parchment was covered with names. The margin was all written over with signatures. Some had only room for their initials. Some had written opposite their names the word "till death," and some had drawn blood from their own veins and had written their names in their own blood. And when called to account on the battlefield for the doings of that day, and their banner was unfurled, it had this legend inscribed upon it, "For Christ's crown and Covenant." We ought never to lose the inspiration of such memories in our church. We should use such incidents as the Israelites used the memorial heap of stones at Jordan, as a means of instructing our children, that one generation may declare to another the wonderful works of God and the heroism of faith He has wrought in His saints. And now as we are about to pause to review the record of a hundred years and to gather inspiration for another term of work, let us use the occasion for refreshing our minds as to the meaning of their words in the Bible and in our history.
Our catechism asks the question, "What special act of Providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created?" The answer is, "When God created man, He entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon the pain of death." That covenant was violated by Adam,
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and so we have nothing more to do with it, except as it is a memorial of divine justice and mercy, and a warning against the wasting of opportunities, and except as we are the subjects of that estate of sin and misery which the breaking of the covenant entailed upon us. Again the Catechism asks, "Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?" The answer is, "God hav- ing out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer." It is this latter covenant, the "covenant of grace," announced for the first time in Eden, when our first parents had broken the first covenant, repeated to Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob and then re-af- firmed in another form before the whole host of Israel amidst the awful manifestations of the divine presence at Sinai, it is this covenant, made with the Son of God, upon condition of his obedience and his sufferings to translate His people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, that is the covenant of the Scriptures.
Second: What is it to "keep" the covenant? To keep the covenant one must, of course, be in the covenant. How can one keep the covenant who is not in it? But simple and self-evident as is this proposition, it antago- nizes a specious and deadly error which as much as any other characterizes the unbelief of the age in which we live. We see it in the prevailing infidelities and in the various theological abberations of the day. There is a tendency to magnify what have been called the "uncove- nanted mercies" of God. God is expected to show mercy to men without reference to any atonement for sin and apart from all relations to Jesus Christ as a mediator. For such mercies God has made no promise and has entered into no covenant.
The infidel will say that God (if there be a God) is our
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Father, and if He is our Father, He must be kind and merci- ful, and that therefore we need not be afraid that any of those dreadful things are going to happen to us which have been represented to be the consequences of sin. He will bid men quiet all alarm and live in peace. O wise man, who told you that God is merciful? You did not learn it from creation or from Providence. The heavens de- clare the glory of God's almighty power. Every object God has made, both in its own structure and in its adaptation to its surroundings declares the intelligence of the Creator. The pain that follows every broken law proves the justice of God. The sunshine and the rain, night and day, sum- mer and winter, towering mountains, rushing rivers, fer- tile plains, bountiful harvests all alike tell of the goodness of God. But where do you learn that God is merciful? Who told you that God will forgive sins and receive the sinner as a son? At no place in all the illimitable uni- verse to which you have access is that aspect of God's nature revealed except in the Bible. If you think God is merciful, it is because you got the idea from God's revealed Word. If you take it from that source you should take it as you find it there and not seek to add to it or subtract from it. You have not only distorted the idea of divine mercy, you have robbed it of its brightest glory, viz: "That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto him- self." There is no evidences of that reconciliation out of Christ.
We see the same thing in the departures from ortho- doxy within the Church. In the most famous ecclesias- tical trial of this generation, the accused minister in his defense, selected three eminent men, one a Rationalist, who distinctly disavowed any evangelical faith in Christ, another a Romanist and another a Protestant Christian and declared that while those three persons had reached the knowledge of God in different ways, they had all alike attained to that knowledge and were therefore equally
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acceptable to God. This ignores the fact that it is not the knowledge of God alone which brings eternal life. Christ said, "This is life eternal that they might know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." However sublimated a man's knowledge of God may be, and however successful he may be in exceptional cases in the effort to be like God, there is always between him and God the insurmountable barrier of a broken law and unforgiven sin. The first question that confronts the sinner as he turns from sin toward God is, "How may I have my guilt removed?" The Bible tells us that the guilt may be removed and God's mercy secured only through the atonement of Christ which forms a part of the "Cove- nant of Grace." Jesus said, "God so loved the world." And just at that point all the hosts of hell break in with such a clamor as to drown the rest of the sentence for many people. Satan is willing for men to believe that God loves the world if they do not learn too much about that love. Satan has that fragment of scripture embla- zoned on his banner. He deals in fragments of Scripture. He used them ingeniously in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. It was a partial truth with which he deceived Eve in Eden. "Ye shalt not surely die," he said. It is with the same he would destroy men to-day, "God so loved the world." "God is love." "Yeshalt not surely die." "There is no occasion for fear." But what is the state- ment of Jesus that has been so mutilated? "God so loved the world that"-what? Does he say, "That He offered unconditional pardon to all men?" No. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." And why did He give His only begotten Son? Was it that all might be saved? No, He gave Him, "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." So the saving benefits of God's love for men come to them only through Christ. John had laid that same truth as the foundation of his Gospel in the opening
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chapter. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." When the apostles were called to answer for the healing of the impotent man and were asked in what name they had wrought the miracle, they replied that they had done it in the name of Jesus and added, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Paul said to the Corinthians, "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." To the Galatians he said, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
But still the question presses, suppose one is in the covenant, what is it to keep that covenant? To answer this question let us return to the Catechism. There the question is asked, "Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?" The answer is, "The covenant being made with Adam not only for himself, but for his pos- terity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression." That answer contains the statement that the first covenant was made with Adam not only for him- self but for his posterity. While the Catechism does not bring out this thought with reference to the covenant of grace it is nevertheless true that that covenant was made with Christ for His people. The Bible speaks of the blood of the everlasting covenant, which is the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The rela- tion we sustain to that covenant is that of beneficence. And so when the Catechism asks, "How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?" the answer is, "We are made partakers of the redemption pur- chased by Christ by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit." And when it is asked, "How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?" the answer is, "The Spirit applieth to us the redemption pur-
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chased by Christ by working faith in us, and thereby uni- ting us to Christ in our effectual calling." In other words, the covenant is between the Father and the Son, the redemp- tion is applied to us by the Holy Spirit, and He applies it to us by giving us faith. Our part in the covenant is to receive its benefits by faith-it is to accept, to welcome, to embrace, to cherish, to hold.
This is made plainer by turning the attention to the last clause of the text which explains the preceding one, "Such as keep His covenant and His testimonies." It is a question of accepting the testimonies of God. He has wrought out a complete and finished salvation and offers to impart it without money and without price to any who will accept it. Redemption is a revelation to man of an accomplished good which man is by faith to receive on the testimony of God. The only co-operation of which man is capable is that of yielding himself trustfully to the saving influences of the Spirit of God, and yielding his members and all the powers of his soul as the instruments of right- eousness to be used by the Holy Spirit.
The venerable Dr. Charles Hodge, of Princeton, was once a guest at a dining, at which a professor of another seminary was also entertained. The other professor made some supercilious reference to Princeton. Dr. Hodge replied, "At your seminary you make the mistake of teach- ing young men to think. It was Adam's thinking that caused him to lose Paradise. At Princeton we let God do the thinking and we teach our students to believe." It is for us to receive what God is pleased to tell and to impart -that is, His testimonies." We receive his testimony as to eternal life-his assurance of pardon, and peace, and sanctifying grace, purchased by the obedience and blood of Christ. It is to receive the commandments of God as to the divinely appointed rule of emancipation from sin and of attainment of holiness and bliss. It is to receive the prom- ises as yea and amen in Christ. It is to receive the adop-
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tion of sons and a title to the incorruptible inheritance. In short, to keep the covenant and the testimonies of God is to have faith in the whole revelation of redeeming love and lay open the whole nature to that love.
II. To all such as keep the covenant and the testimonies of God, "all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." All of God's dealings with them are in kindness and faith- fulness. "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteous- ness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant and to those that remember His commandments to do them." "All things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his pur- pose." He can confidently affirm, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." "They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."
Of course, all this may be contradicted by unbelief. Some do not hesitate to say that all their observation of Christian experience is opposed to such claims. They declare that all things seemed to conspire against the Christian, instead of working together for his good. His religious scruples deprive him of a great deal that others enjoy. They are a tried and suffering people and when they come to die they shrink from death. My friend, let God's Word complete the picture you are trying to draw.
"Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance,
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others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goat- skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy), they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." "Tribu- lation or distress, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, or sword" are probably their lot and sometimes they cry, "'For thy sake, we are killed all the day long, we are
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accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Jesus prophesied that persecution would come to His people and the prophecy has been literally fulfilled. The paths of the Lord have often seemed to be paths of blood instead of paths of mercy and truth. Such bloody trails lay through the Roman Empire, through France, through the Wald- densian Valleys, through Spain, through the Netherlands, through Smithfield, through the mountain fastnesses where were the homes of your forefathers, through Armenia and China in our own generation. Those "who have come out of great tribulation" will be a large and conspicuous host in Heaven. The wicked, on the other hand, seem to be immune. They are not troubled as other men are, and when they die they have no bonds in their death. But when we acknowledge all these facts they do not really conflict with the statement that "all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth" to His people. To show the absence of conflict, Jesus combines them in a single statement, "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." When God promises immunity from evil and the giving of every blessing, He does not mean that we shall not suffer or that we shall live in the lap of luxury. Sometimes the Chris- tian's sufferings are the richest part of his inheritance, because they are an instrument of sanctification to him. As it is the rich man who can afford to pay for the sur- geon's knife, so it is the heir of God who can afford the blessings of sorrow. When Paul asks "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" He answers "Nay, in all these things we are more than
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conquerors through him that loved us." It is in and by these very things that we are exalted to be "more than conquerors."
Gather back all the dead who have worshipped here these hundred years-from yonder cemetery, from the battle fields of the South, from distant homes. Ask them if they made any mistake in embracing the benefits of the covenant or accepting the testimonies of God, and there will not be one regret expressed. Ask them if from their present point of view they regard one single experience of earth as a real evil and they will answer with Paul, "Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors."
Give me the wings of faith to rise Within the veil, and see The saints above, how great their joys, How bright their glories be.
Once they were mourning here below, And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now, With sins, and doubts, and fears.
I asked them whence their victory came, They, with united breath, Ascribed their conquest to the Lamb, Their triumph to His death.
Wise, venerable, servants of God! Simple hearted, pure minded, grand old people! Loving, laboring, suffer- ing sants! God rest you, and crown you unto the ever- lasting ages!
In nothing has the goodness of God to His people been more manifest than in the fact that He allows them to be co-workers with Himself in spreading the blessings of the Gospel. God said to Abraham, "I will bless thee and thou shalt be a blessing," and in effect He says the same to every Christian. Whoever is blessed of Him becomes a blessing to others. In proportion as he is blessed does he
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become a blessing to others. This, too, is illustrated in the history of this Church. God blessed Tinkling Spring and the Augusta Stone Church, and they planted this Church. He blessed this Church and there went out from it the Second Church, Staunton; and Olivet Church. It reaches out its hand to bless the spiritually destitute in the mountains of West Virginia. It has its represen- tatives in China, in Korea, in Brazil, in Darkest Africa, going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature.
A few years ago, while riding with a friend along one of the beautiful country roads which so adorn this Valley, our drive for half a mile lay along the brow of a hill over- looking a charming valley. A shower of rain had just passed over it and made doubly beautiful the fresh green of early spring. Fields of wheat and corn and meadow grasses climbed high on the hillsides all around, and the hill tops were fringed with forests. There was a sound of rushing water from below and the air was full of the music of birds. While we gazed and admired the scene, a light cloud gathered over the little valley and a misty rain began to fall. Presently a beam of sunshine shot through the higher clouds and lit up the whole cloud below and the falling mist, turning them to the whiteness of snow. So filmy was the falling mist that through it we could see the mountains beyond, rising tier above tier like a great stairway to the sky, carpeted in living green and bathed in softened_sunlight. I thought this is like the garden of the Lord and a field which the Lord hath blessed. Where He commands the blessing there is life forevermore, sweet fields arrayed in living green and rivers of delight, and everything that hath breath shall praise the Lord. Over all is the clear shining of divine love and through it all the sun-lit hills of glory.
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Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for- ever.
Let them now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth forever.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
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CHAPTER XVI
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, OCTOBER 26 TO 30, 1904
O N the above dates was celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the Church, the following being the program of the exercises, with the addresses delivered:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26TH:
11.00 A. M .- Introductory statement and address of welcome by the chairman of the Committee of Arrange- ments, Dr. George S. Walker.
Opening sermon by Rev. W. E. Baker.
7.30 P. M .- Historical sketch of the First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia, by the Hon. Jos. A. Waddell.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27TH.
11.00 A. M .- Introductory remarks by the Rev. R. H. Fleming, D. D. who will preside over these exercises.
Sketch of Tinkling Spring Church by the Rev. G. W. Finley, D. D.
Sketch of Hebron Church by the Rev. Holmes Rolston.
Sketch of the Second Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia, by the Rev. W. N. Scott, D. D.
Sketch of Olivet Church by the Rev. E. B. Druen.
Reception and lunch after morning services in the ladies' parlors to friends from the country, all of whom will be cordially welcomed.
8.00 P. M .- An evening in the old church.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28TH.
11.00 A. M. - Sermon by the Rev. J. W. Rosebro, D. D. 8.00 P. M. - Reception in ladies' parlors.
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29TH.
11.00 A. M .- Address on "Beginnings of Presbyter- ianism in Virginia," by the Rev. James P. Smith, D. D.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30TH.
11.00 A. M. - Administration of the Lord's Supper by the Rev. W. E. Baker.
3.30 P. M. - Address to the children by the Rev. W. E. Baker.
7.30 P. M .- Closing sermon by the Rev. W. W. Moore, D. D.
The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church began here yesterday morning at 11 o'clock before a large audience in the large edifice of that congregation. The choir had made special prepara- tion, for the music and the singing was a delightful feature of the opening of the celebration. After singing and devotional exercises in which the pastor, Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., and other pastors of the city took part, Rev. R. C. Jett, of Emanuel Episcopal Church, reading a Psalm and Rev. Isaac W. Canter D. D., of the Central Methodist Church, offering a prayer, Dr. George S. Walker, a ruling elder in the Church, and chairman of the com- mittee of arrangements, stated the plans and purposes of the meeting.
Dr. Walker said:
As chairman of a committee, and on behalf of this Church, it be- comes my duty, as well as my privilege, to extend a hearty welcome to all of our guests, and a cordial invitation to all of our Christian friends present to participate with us in this celebration; and also to explain to you the object of this meeting.
Over one year ago, at a joint meeting of the elders and deacons of this Church, it was suggested by our pastor, Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., to hold a memorial meeting to celebrate the one hundredth anni- versary of this Church, the First Presbyterian Church, of Staunton. The suggestion was cordially acquiesced in, and now the time has arrived.
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I will say it is not our purpose to make a display, or claim undue prominence or notoriety. It is our desire and that of all who partici- pate with us, to manifest in a suitable manner our gratitude to a kind Providence which has so wonderfully blessed this Church since its organization, and by such interesting and instructive services to excite renewed interest in the glorious work of our Savior.
What may be said of this Church applies equally to all other churches, and not only to our particular denomination, but to all organized, orthodox, Christian Churches throughout the world. In contemplating the history of this Church, it not only gives us satis- faction to recall the heroic deeds and Christian fortitude of the good men and women who have been the instruments in this work; but also, although extending back only comparatively a short space-100 years -in comparison with the time when the first Churches were organized, it directs our attention to the fact that the Christian Church, by the direction and sanction of an all-wise and merciful God, has not only stood as firm as a rock, but has steadily increased and multiplied.
Again when we consider the trials and persecutions through which the Christian Church has passed, and which it has survived, it is a strong evidence of its Divine origin, and not the creation of human device.
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