BX 
 
 9211 
 
 .P49137 
 
 B705 
 
 1867 
 
tS" 
 
BX 9211 .P49137 B705 1867 
 Stead, B. F. 1815-1879. 
 The foundation 
 
/ 
 
y( 
 
 o 
 
 *®hc Sfoxmbctiion 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 DEI.IVEKBD OX 
 
 Laying the poRNEf\-S 
 
 ORNER- OTONE 
 
 ^c flrcsbgtcrriin ^ijurc^, 
 
 BRIDESBURG, PA. 
 
 By B. F. STEAD, D. D. 
 
 PRINTED BY REQUEST. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, No. 607 SANSOM STREET. 
 
 1 867. 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 An American clergyman, visiting the ancient city 
 of Damascus, ascended to the roof of one of the Mo- 
 hammedan mosques. The building had been con- 
 structed from the ruins of some ancient Christian 
 edifice, and on one of the slabs of marble the servant 
 of Christ found an old inscription, which the followers 
 of the false prophet had unwittingly placed upon their 
 place of worship. On that old fragment, taken from 
 some Christian church, was the inscription, in Greek, 
 
 To Christ, the Eternal King. 
 
 Thus our Lord Jesus puts his mark on all the pos- 
 sessions of this world, and claims them for his own. 
 The time shall come when all must respect this claim. 
 His servants now recognize it and rejoice to say, 
 " Thine is the Kingdom." 
 
With King David when he consecrated to God the 
 rich offering for the erection of the temple, let every 
 Christian in every act of dedication say, "All things 
 come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." 
 
 We are here to lay the corner-stone of a house to be 
 dedicated to Jesus, the King of Ages. On every stone, 
 and on every part of the building, let his name be 
 written, from the foundation to the top-stone ; on the 
 doors, that the people coming in and going out may 
 remember whose house they are in; on the pews and 
 on the pulpit — let pastor and people read and consider ; 
 on the communion table and on the choir, that every 
 service, holy communion, prayer, discourse, and song 
 of praise, and every strain of melody, may be for the 
 honor of Jesus, the King Eternal. 
 
 On the foundation of the Church of God there is, as 
 we read in Holy Scripture, a two-fold inscription. On 
 the one side a recognition of the sovereignty and grace 
 of God ; on the other, a recognition of the duty of man: 
 "The Lord knows his own;" and "Let every one 
 WHO names the name of Christ, depart from 
 INIQUITY." On these two principles the Church of 
 God rests. 
 
 The Church may be considered as visible or invisible. 
 As visible, it is made up of all who profess the Chris- 
 
tian religion and of tlieir children ; as invisible, it is 
 made up of all whom the Lord knows as his own. The 
 Church visible is a field in which are some barren 
 places; some hard-trodden like the waj-side; some 
 where the wild thorns have choked the seed ; some 
 where the under stratum of rock leaves no room for 
 the root; but in other parts we see the seed growing 
 and producing a rich harvest. The visible Church is 
 a net ; it gathers many fish, — some good, others worth- 
 less, which are cast away. 
 
 But the Church invisible is a flock : the Shepherd 
 gives his life for it, he feeds it, he folds it ; the LarnVs 
 Bride, to denote the love of her Lord for her ; the body 
 of Christ — it partakes of his life, is pervaded by his 
 Spirit, is subject to his will ; the kingdom of God, and 
 as the Church on earth recognizes the authority of her 
 King, so should it be her aim and the aim of each 
 member to know, obey and submit to her Lord's will, 
 as angels do in heaven. The Church is founded on the 
 fact of God's free sovereign grace ; that he is the origin 
 and fountain of life ; as of natural life, so by his love, 
 by his prevenient grace, the fountain of spiritual life. 
 The Church invisible is made up of the Lord's own : 
 the Lord's by the FatJter^s election, chosen in Christ 
 before the foundation of the world, elect according to 
 
the foreknowledge of God, from the beginning chosen 
 to salvation ; the Lord's by donation to his Son: to them 
 given to him, Jesus gives eternal life: them given to 
 him he keeps, and none of them are lost ; the Lord's by 
 regeneration of the Holy Spirit, thus called effectually, 
 enlightened, renewed, sanctified ; the Lord's by adoption^ 
 and so, by his grace, becoming emphatically God's 
 children; the Lord's by the consummation of glory. 
 
 Inspired Apostles give us, in their proper order, the 
 links of the chain. Thus, Paul : " Whom he did fore- 
 know, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the 
 image of his Son." " Whom he did predestinate, them he 
 also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: 
 and whom he justified, them he also glorified." This 
 is the chain of salvation : it is all contained in that first 
 inscription, " The Lord knows his own," 
 
 Now let us walk around and read the inscription on 
 the other side: "Let everyone naming the name 
 OF Christ depart from iniquity." 
 
 The principle of human duty, of man's obligation, is 
 as real a principle to be recognized and preached as 
 the fact of God's sovereign grace. We believe in the 
 necessity of good works ; but we do believe in putting 
 this principle in its right place: good works, not as 
 the means of salvation, but as the result of salvation. 
 
7 
 
 The old covenant was, "Do and Live." The new 
 covenant is, " Live and Do." There must be spiritual 
 life before there can be good works. Christ is our life. 
 
 There are two powerful motives to lead men to do 
 right : a sense of duty and the power of love. Duty is 
 a noble motive, but it is not the strongest. Love is 
 more potent. Solomon knew the power of love when 
 he gave command that the living child, disputed for by 
 two women, should be cut in twain. 
 
 That heart is the most strongly nerved for its work 
 which feels the combined power of these two motives, 
 love and duty. Thus the great naval hero of England, 
 Lord Nelson, strong in the sense of duty to his king 
 and country, and glowing with patriotic love for his 
 own land, prodigal of his life, and exulting in the 
 victory gained, although at the expense of his life, with 
 his expiring breath uttered the noble sentiment: "I 
 thank God for giving me this great opportunity of 
 doing my duty." 
 
 The Christian feels the power of this two-fold motive: 
 duty to his King, and love to his Saviour. His con- 
 science and his heart respond to the proclamation of 
 his Lord, "Ye must needs be subject to the will of the 
 Lord." Duty impels him, love constrains him. Every 
 one naming the name of Christ should depart from 
 
iniquity, because God commands it. But lie must, 
 from the very nature of the case, depart from iniquity. 
 One dead to sin cannot live in sin. They who are the 
 Lord's have a new nature. That nature must manifest 
 itself. Thus we see the harmony of these two inscrip- 
 tions ; they complete each other. The two indicate the 
 foundation on which the Church rests: God's grace, 
 man's duty. We are here to lay the corner-stone of a 
 church to be built on that foundation — a church in 
 which are to be preached these doctrines and duties, 
 the doctrines of grace and the duties of holiness : to 
 the end that God may be glorified and man blessed. 
 
 This is the gospel we believe and preach ; a gospel of 
 glory to God and good-will to man. This is the Chris- 
 tianity here to be inculcated ; a religion of sound doc- 
 trine and holy practice. 
 
 Here is to be built a church, a Christian Chukch — 
 Christian, thus distinguished from all mere naturalism 
 or rationalism: holding the Bible to be the very Word of 
 God ; a supernatural revelation of God's character and 
 will; of man's relation tp God and of God's purpose 
 and grace to man. 
 
 A Protestant Church — Protestant, as opposed to 
 Romish or Papal; Protestant, as holding the Bible to 
 be the only rule of doctrine and duty. 
 
An Evangelical Church — Evangelical as opposed 
 to formalism ; the formalism of ceremonies on the one 
 hand, or the formalism of dead works on the other ; 
 answering the question, " What must I do to be saved?" 
 not by this reply, "Do penance, or reform your morals," 
 but, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt 
 be saved." 
 
 A Calvinistic Church. We call no man master ; 
 but this word, independent of its personal origin, 
 has become distinctive — we might say, Augustinian, 
 Pauline. We mean, recognizing God's grace as the 
 source of spiritual life ; that the fact of spiritual life 
 begins not with man but with God ; that God chooses 
 the sinner before the sinner chooses God ; that God's 
 grace is free, prevenient, effectual. A Calvinistic 
 Church, not ignoring man's responsibility and duty, 
 recognizing it, insisting upon it, but giving to God all 
 the glory of man's salvation. These things we hold 
 and preach : the Word of God only ; the grace of 
 Christ only ; the work of the Spirit only. 
 
 A Presbyterian Church — Presbyterian in doc- 
 trine, in order, in worship. In doctrine, holding and 
 holding forth the truth as stated in the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Presbyterian in 
 order, as stated in three propositions : "1. That the 
 
10 
 
 people have a right to a substantial part in the govern- 
 ment of the Church ; 2. That Presbyters who minister 
 in word and doctrine are the highest permanent officers 
 of the Church, and all belong to the same order ; 3. That 
 the outward and visible Church is, or should be, one, in 
 the sense that a smaller part is subject to a larger, and 
 a larger to the whole."* We are not sticklers for 
 forms of government, but we hold that the Presbyterian 
 form is according to the word of God, and admirably 
 in harmony with our Republican institutions. Presby- 
 terian in worship — believing in the simple, primitive 
 forms of worship : the reading of God's word, for the 
 instruction of the people ; the singing of God's praise 
 in a style so simple that all may join ; the prayers, 
 scriptural, for the time, adapted to existing wants, such 
 as the Spirit of God may dictate ; preaching — Christ's 
 great institute for the conversion of men, for the edifi- 
 cation of the body of Christ, for the extension of Christ's 
 kingdom over the world — preaching : here let it occupy 
 no secondary position. 
 
 This is the business of the hour : to lay the corner- 
 stone of a church, Christian, Protestant, Evangelical, 
 Calvinistic, Presbyterian : here to be set for a sign, for 
 
 * Dr. Hodge, Wliat is Presbyterianism ? pp. 6, 7. 
 
II 
 
 a bulwark, for a fortress, for a lightliouse. An institu- 
 tion divine, positive, distinctive, as indicated by the 
 names, Christian, Protestant, Evangelical, Calvinistic, 
 Presbyterian; yet not controversial, except so far as 
 the injunction of Holy Scripture requires: "Contend 
 earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." 
 
 The foundation of the Presbyterian Church is a 
 broad foundation. It is not exclusive in its spirit or 
 its claims. It recognizes as Christians all who confess 
 their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not deny 
 him by wicked works. It recognizes the sacraments 
 of other denominations of Christians as valid, true, and 
 holy. It respects all denominations of Christians as 
 parts of the one Church visible. It makes no exclusive 
 claims, uses no exclusive phraseology. For itself it 
 only claims to be one grand division of the " Sacra- 
 mental Host- of God's elect." 
 
 No evangelical Christian can deny that in the doc- 
 trines of the Presbyterian Church saving truth is 
 found in its fulness. This saiving truth is what in our 
 churches is chiefly preached. I doubt whether in any 
 other pulpits are other denominations so seldom as- 
 sailed, or doctrines so seldom taught to which all evan- 
 gelical Churches would not agree. I would put into 
 the hands of the clergy of other denominations a copy 
 
12 
 
 of our Shorter Catechism and ask, How many of its 
 one hundred and seven answers do you object to? 
 
 My Roman Catholic brother, even he, need not 
 object to more than six or seven. My Methodist 
 brother would object perhaps to two. My Baptist 
 brother to one or two. My evangelical Episcopal 
 brother would not I think object to one. But this 
 little book contains the substance of our teaching ; in 
 it we instruct our children in our families and our 
 Sunday-school ; we count it a most admirable summary 
 of Christian doctrine, a choice form of health-giving 
 words. The Christian character founded on the model 
 of that little book must be intelligent, symmetrical, 
 sound, practical. 
 
 A Church with its appliances and agencies holding 
 and teaching these doctrines, with its pastor and elders, 
 its preaching, its schools, its prayers, its life, must be 
 a blessing to a community. Under its shadow all 
 virtues flourish, honesty, temperance, industry, integ- 
 rity, all kindly charities. It bears with it blessings 
 for this life, blessings for the life to come. Let the 
 men who give of their substance for the establishment 
 and support of the Church be counted, as they are, the 
 best benefactors of society. This fine area of ground, 
 more than thirty years ago consecrated to Christ and 
 
13 
 
 his cause, might have been devoted to other purposes ; 
 but it was a wise, Christian forethought that thus con- 
 secrated it. With the buildings upon it devoted to 
 sacred uses, it stands a memorial of love to God and 
 love to man. 
 
 The Fathers pass away, but the grace of God raises 
 up successive generations to do his work. How faith- 
 ful his promise, "Lo I am with you alway unto the 
 end of the world." He who sits a Priest upon his 
 throne, he shall build the temple of the Lord. All 
 wealth is his, the gold and silver, all the undiscovered, 
 all the untold treasures of the earth ; all hearts are in 
 his hand. He shall build until the top-stone shall be 
 laid with shoutings of Grace, grace unto it. To Him, 
 our Lord and Saviour, be glory in the Church through- 
 out all ages, world without end. Amen. 
 
JX 9211 .P49137 B705 1867 
 |Stead, B. F. 1815-1879. 
 The foundation