$;etre 3Qear' 3iabor alnd its 7ruits. AN ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE. BY THE REV. JOHN JENKINS, D.D., MINISTER OF THE CALVARY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PHILADEILPHIA. "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOOKSTORE, No. 1334 CHESTNUT STREET. 1860. HENRY B. ASHMEAD, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, Nos. 1102 and 1101 Sansom Street. N OT E. THIS Discourse was prepared by the author with the sole view of being preached to his congregation. It was delivered on Sunday morning November 4th, the seventh anniversary of the dedication of this Church. The wishes of friends, in whose judgment the author is wont to confide, have led him to place the manuscript in their hands for publication. Should its record of labour and success inspire with courage and zeal, other churches who are seeking to fulfil their mission to the destitute, he will humbly rejoice in God. The author is tempted to add two remarks on city missionary work: The true mode of reaching the neglected masses in a large city, is that of establishing mission schools and chapels in the neighbourhoods in which they reside; such establishments to be sustained by individual churches. Labours of this class are most efficiently prosecuted by the employment of an ordained minister for each mission; that so the ordinances of Christianity may be established in the very midst of the destitute, and the consolations of the Gospel carried directly to their homes. Calvary Church, December 5, 1860. $URen 2ears 3abour and its 4ruit. " THOU SHALT REMEMBER ALL THE WAY WHICII TIIE LORD THY GOD LED THEE." —DeuterOnomy viii. 2. "NOT UNTO US, 0 LORD, NOT UNTO US, BUT UNTO THY NAME GIVE GLORY, FOR THY MERCY AND FOR THIY TRUTH'S SAKE." Psalm cxv. 1. THE past is the great instructor of the present. History is the navigator to whose experience and guidance we repair in the voyage which we are making over the sea of life. Without the power of calling up the past how unable should we be to meet the difficulties and sustain the responsibilities of the present, or to prepare for the possibilities of the future. The importance of history is evidenced by the Bible. The first inspired author was a historian; indeed, a very large proportion of the Old and New Testaments is 6 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR history. It is not difficult to see how largely from time to time religion has depended upon history for its power in the world. Lord Bacon has not raised history to too great an elevation, in his famous division of human learning. He recognizes knowledge as consisting of three parts: (1.) History, relating itself chiefly to the memory; (2.) Philosophy, relating itself chiefly to the reason; (3.) Poetry, relating itself chiefly to the imagination. The adequate recollection of any past event or transaction, or of any series of past events or transactions, is [in the wide sense] history. There may thus be the history of An individual, of a family, of a city, of a denomination, of a single church. There may be, on the same principle, the history of the life of an individual for a year or a month or a day; and so of a nation or church for a specified period. The history which Moses desired the children of Israel to study, was that of the Lord's dealings with them for forty years: "Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years AND ITS FRUITS. 7 in the wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no." We recollect how important one of the inspired psalmists felt a knowledge of history to be: "I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High, I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember thy wonders of old; I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings." -It is meet, my brethren, and it will be profitable at the close of seven years of fellowship and labour as a christian church, that we take a comprehensive view of the events comprised within so important a period, considering the way in which the Lord our God has led us. Surely we may learn, by an experience of seven years, some lessons that will guide us in the future. SEVEN YEARS! It is impossible to realize that so long a period has elapsed since some of us first met within these hallowed walls! Seven years-of toils, of conflicts, of disappointments, of bereavements, 8 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR of tears on the one hand; of labours, of joys, of privileges, of conversions, ol triumphs on the other. Seven years! and we are still in existence, notwithstanding our short comings, -in hopeful existence; still able to labour, still willing to consecrate our service unto the Lord, still with a large field of usefulness open before us, and with occasionally new accessions of labourers to those who are already enrolled in the Master's service. I question much if the retrospect which we shall take this morning, will not call forth from every one of us emotions of gratefulness and love to that Being from whom all good comes; as well as suggest new encouragements to prosecute the work which we have commenced. As to the past we will say, "Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." As to the future, "Surely goodness and mercy shall [still] follow us, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Some of you are acquainted with the difficulties under which this Church organ AND ITS FRUITS. 9 ization was commenced seven years ago. Our embarrassments were not financial; the providence of God mercifully placed us beyond the reach of such harassing and depressing cares. The difficulties which beset us, were those which ever attend an undertaking whose success is esteemed doubtful. Every one who is acquainted with the history of this Church is aware, that a measure of timidity was felt, even by its warmest friends, as to its ultimate success. The very erection of a large church in the south-western part of the city, even as far out as this, was felt ten years ago to be little more than a speculation; and many will remember the months and months of consultation which it took, to prepare the way for decisive action. Not a few were doubtful, questioning whether a church of such a size and character could be sustained by " New School" Presbyterians. However, on the fourth of July, 1851, (ten years ago, last July,) the foundation stone was laid, with prayer and hope; and on the sixth of November, 1853, (seven years ago this day) 10 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR the Church was dedicated to the worship and glory of the Triune God. Still were there circumstances which tended to keep up a feeling of doubt, as to our success; and a few of our neighbours, assuming the knowledge of prophets, predicted failure. There were some who hoped, and there were others who feared that these surmisings might prove true. I am not quite sure that there are not still timid persons, even amongst ourselves, who are disposed to regard our position as one of experiment, rather than of success. Whether these are right or wrong is not the question; perhaps we shall discover before we close our discourse. No one will doubt, however, that to carry on a great work under a doubtful impression as to its success, that for any of those who have a share in its prosecution to live under the apprehension that a step in this direction or in that might occasion failure, that for even a few of one's coadjutors in the ranks to be ever on the lookout for occasions of doubt or discouragement as to ultimate triumph, would AND ITS FRUITS. 11 constitute a very serious hinderance to the speedy and successful achievement of the great ends of a church organization. Such doubts could only, can only be removed by time. Experience alone can live them down. It is acknowledged that these doubts were natural, but they were not the less a serious drawback to speedy success. Whatever may have been our difficulties or our disadvantages in the past, it is high time for us to gather up courage and to quit ourselves like men. We are here as a Church and Congregation; we have been before the community for seven years, and are not extinct; we began this work under peculiar difficulties and have survived them; we have passed through the trial of a pastor's long absence from the pulpit through illness, and even this has not destroyed us; our congregation, on the whole, has returned in numbers which even the most sanguine amongst us dared not expect; there is manifested by our people a more than ordinary disposition to employ their influence and their labour for our prosperity; there is clearly felt a strong and un 12 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR usually ardent attachment for the church and its ordinances; the tone of all our social meetings has been elevated, that of our last communion season was peculiarly sacred and hallowing; there is indeed much to inspire us with courage and hope. True we are subject to the vicissitudes common to all churches, arising from deaths and removals, and occasionally from personal predilections for other communions, but we ought to receive these as incentives to new exertions and greater achievements in the work of the Lord amongst us, rather than as occasions of discouragement and depression. We have said that there is much in our past history to inspire hope as to the future. History is necessarily incomplete without-statistics. I shall not weary you with dry details, but shall endeavour to incorporate such statistics of our past progress and present position as shall convey a true impression of what has been accomplished through our instrumentality, by the blessing of God. Independently of our additions at "Tabor" we AND ITS FRUITS. 13 have received into our Church proper upon profession of their faith in Christ, 152 persons,-this since March 1854-making an average of 22 for every year since our orgahization. To have been the means of leading even this number to the Cross for pardon and salvation, is no small honour conferred upon us, by the Head of the Church; and while we have still in the midst of us, more than a hundred persons, who here first learned of Jesus and his grace and power, who here first rejoiced in the hopes of the gospel, whose first tears of penitence were shed and whose first vows were assumed on this sacred spot, we have not alone the pledge of continued existence, but the germ also of increased success. Our converts form an important nucleus of piety of zeal of love and of labour. Besides these 152 " on profession," 208 persons have joined our communion from other churches, making a total of 360 whose names have been enrolled upon our church books, irrespective of those who have been "added to the Lord" through our missions at "Olivet" and "Tabor." 14 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR It may be of interest to us to mark whence these beloved brethren and sisters in the Christian faith have come: We have received from an Evangelical Church in France, one, from a Baptist Church, one: from Methodist Churches we have received two, from the German Reformed denomi nation two, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church two, and from the Free Church of Scotland two: from Episcopal Churches we have received three; from Congregational Churches fifteen; and from the Reformed Dutch Church twenty-one. From the other branch of the Presbyterian Church, usually called "Old School," we have received 29 persons; while from our own branch of the Church 133 have joined our communion. The results of these facts show how largely Presbyterian our organization is. Including those who have come to us from the Reformed Dutch Church, which is a thoroughly Presbyterian body, one hundred and eightyfive out of two hundred and eight are Presbyterians; and if we add those who have come from the Congregational body, we shall find that 200 out of 208 are either di AND ITS FRUITS. 15 rectly or indirectly of Presbyterian views and predilections. A statistical comparison of those who have joined our church on profession, would show that they have mostly come from Presbyterian families. This fact deserves to be noted and dwelt upon. It might have been expected that a church originated as this was, would remain a heterogeneous society; that the materials would be so diverse as to demand many years ere it could be expected to assume the position of a consolidated and homogeneous communion. But what has been the result?-That we have brought together into our communion the very best types of Presbyterianism in the land, and that they exist among us in the ratio of ninety-five to one hundred. Here is ground for thankfulness; it relieves us of all doubt in prosecuting the great plans of our denomination; it binds us to the great Presbh-ynirian family; it removes every ground of fear: and suspicion as to our holding together, as to our working together, as to our being impelled by unity of aim and of plan in carrying forward the work of the Lord. We are not bigots, we are not even 16 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR sectaries, we are Christians, we love all true Christians equally, and we wish for the success of the Gospel in the hands of all faithful ministers and churches equally. We would know no man, no church, not even ourselves, "'after the flesh;"-but in reference to unity, and therefore to efficiency of action, it is cause for gratitude that so many of those who have been brought together here, are sufficiently one in view and predilection to prosecute with harmony of purpose the great evangelistic aims of the Church. We have said that 360 names have been placed on our Church-roll. From these the hand of death has erased 19. Some of them honored names, names whose fragrance will diffuse itself throughout our congregation and community for years and generations. I shall not mention them. Why should I, since they are engraven on our hearts! Some of them were earnest workers in the vineyard; they took their full share in laying the foundations of our communion, and they have helped to raise its superstructure; they did us good service AND ITS FRUITS. 17 in life; some of them died in the harness; hopefully and happily they rested from their labours and their works do follow them. Blessed be God for the memory of the departed dead! for their voice as we now hear it from the grave!-" being dead they yet speak;"-for the memory of their example in labour and spirit! Blessed be God for all who from this part of the militant church have been translated to the church triumphant! Our Church-roll has been curtailed also by dismissions to other churches. Fortysix have received letters of commendation fiom us. Influenced by various considerations they have gone to worship in other sanctuaries and to labour in other portions of the Christian vineyard. We have dismissed them with our blessing and our prayers, and shall ever take a deep interest in the welfare of all who have been associated with us in this communion. It may be of interest to you to learn whither these forty-six persons have gone. One has been dismissed to a Baptist Church, one to an "Old School" Church, and one (by reason of 2 18 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR marriage) to a church of our own denomination; four have been dismissed to churches of our own in distant portions of the city; four have been dismissed to Episcopal churches, two to a Lutheran church, fourteen to our colonies at Olivet and North Broad Street for the purpose of assisting to form those churches; and twenty to churches in other States or in distant parts of Pennsylvania. So that forty of the forty-six who have been dismissed have left us to remove to distant residences or for the purpose of strengthening the work of God in two infant churches, whose establishment originatedwith ourselves. These facts speak for themselves. They manifest a church attachment which has not many parallels in the history of American churches. Deducting, therefore, deaths and removals, we have now 295 members on the Calvary Church roll, or if we add the number of those who have joined us from our Tabor Mission-133, our present total number of members reaches 428. "Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake!" AND ITS FRUITS. 19 Our Sabbath-school labours have been so frequently brought before the Congregation in detail, that they demand only a passing remark. About one thousand children have been admitted into the school from its commencement. Of these, many have already become men and women; some of them have been hopefully converted, and either here or in other churches are formally' connected with the people of God. Several of our present teachers were once pupils in the school or Bible-classes. The Institution was probably never in a more hopeful condition than it is at present. The teachers' ranks have lately received some valuable accessions; two of our Bible-classes give great promise of permanent good; —in one we have nearly twenty young men, in another there are upwards of forty young women. Our school sustains a missionary in " the West," who is an efficient labourer, under the guidance of the American Sunday-school Union. As it seems to me, all that is wanted to make this School truly efficient, is a stronger tie between it and the congregation. We 20 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR ought, as a Church, to rally round an institution on whose success our own so largely depends; we should make a point of giving both teachers and children our countenance and encouragement, especially at the quarterly and anniversary meetings. Some of us could aid it yet more by visiting for scholars, others by taking classes. "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." They canvass, they argue, they urge, they go from house to house entreating men by every possible consideration to join their party. How little of this kind of work do Christians accomplish, do we accomplish towards the election and elevation of CHRIST by the people as their Ruler and their Lord! Yet have Christians motives which are incomparably superior to any that even an honest politician can pretend to -immortal, divine, eternal motives. We want Christian men, not merely young men but men of mature age, to go throughout this neighbourhood and draw in by kind persuasion the scores of boys, who AND ITS FRUITS. 21 in our streets, from week to week, profane God's holy day. The work is at our doors-it is simple, it is easy of accomplishment, it demands no great learning; persevering zeal will do wonders in a work like this, as it has already done in some few instances, even in the midst of ourselves. I do most earnestly commend our Sabbathschool, from whose ranks this church has been largely recruited, to the prayers and exertions of our people. It is well to found Mission schools as we shall directly see, but even these must be subordinated to the efficiency and success of the Central Parent School. We have many persons, members of the congregation, who might render important service to our Church by throwing their energies and influence into this branch of Christianlabourand duty. Letourprayer respecting our Sabbath-school bethat of Moses, "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, 0 Lord, and thy glory unto their children, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands prosper thou it! 22 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR The chief feature of our history as a Church, is our Missionary history; and it is at once so remarkable and encouraging as to demand more than passing attention. I have reason to know that some persons in our congregation are but little acquainted with what the Lord has permitted us to accomplish in regard to missions. When I now speak of missions, I do not refer to foreign missions -nor to missionary labours in the Western and South-Western parts of the United States-norto missions in destitute portions of this State-I refer to missionary effort in neglected districts of our own city. The Lord led us to this work very gradually. When five years ago a few of our number went forth to survey the city's destitutions, our highest hope was merely to collect a few hundred children for Sabbath instruction in a commodious dwellinghouse, for which we should pay an annual rent, to visit from time to time the parents of the children, and to hold occasional prayer meetings amongst them. We went out, not knowing whither we AND. ITS FRUITS. 23 went; and the providence of God guided us to a district near the Eastern Penitentiary. Little did we think at that time that five years would transform so neglected a quarter into one of the most desirable neighbourhoods of this beautiful city. We soon found that if we would efficiently do the work which we had undertaken, we should be required to go far beyond our original idea; and the result was that we secured an ordained missionary for that district. We built a commodious school-room and chapel; we surrendered a few faithful labourers, some of them amongst the most intelligent and useful of our own number; and now, as we look back and trace the history of that movement, we cannot but cry out, "What hath God wrought!" From the first Sabbath-school (held in a dwelling-house) some children have been hopefully removed to the redeemed church in heaven. From the Industrial school, which some of our Christian ladies subsequently established, and which they visited day after day with much diligence and fatigue, for the purpose of 24 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR teaching neglected girls industry and virtue, many have become faithful and exemplary professors of Christianity, and labourers in the Master's work; while many also, through the skill there acquired, are now earning an honourable living. When the Sabbath-school was removed into the new building, it soon increased to 400, then to 500, then to 600, until the building overflowed, and our friends had to refuse applications for admission. Since then, although various other schools have been established in the immediate vicinity, it has continued and still continues full to the utmost limit of comfort; yea it mightbe almost indefinitely increased. I do not doubt that the Sabbath-school at" Olivet" is one ofthe best conducted schools, and ranks with the most efficient either in the City or State; it is worthy of mention that it also sustains a missionaryin "the West." Whatisyetmore encouraging, a church containing two hundred and forty members is in active existence at "Olivet," of which number one hundred and seventy-five have been received upon " profession of their faith." One AND ITS FRUITS. 25 hundred and seventy-five hopeful conversions to God! And yet we have only been planting the seed; or, to change the figure, laying the foundations. We have a lot of ground, on which the chapel stands, sufficiently large to build a church of this capacity; so that the great interest of " Olivet" lies in its future promise. If the divine favour shall rest upon its future, as it has done upon its past, we have unconsciously laid the foundations of a large, prosperous and self-sustaining church, whose converts will be the crown of our rejoicing when we shall have joined the redeemed church in glory. The consummation of this desirable aim will depend on the fostering care which we hereafter bestow upon it. It is our own child, and we shall naturally feel anxious to guard its interests and to fulfil all its claims upon our liberality and prayers. God has repaid already, in the consciousness of good-doing, m.ore than we have ever expended on the Olivet Mission. May He continue to prosper it! Not two years after we commenced our work in the district in which this con 26 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR spicuous success has been granted to us, our thoughts were guided to the southwestern portion of our city, and the first stone in the foundation of the " Tabor" mission was laid, in the establishment of a small Sabbath-school. In March, 1857, twenty-three children were gathered into a couple of rooms, by two or three of our number, and formed into a school. The success which followed their faithful labours led to the almost immediate erection of the beautiful chapel and school-rooms at the corner of Seventeenth and. Fitzwater streets, which were built during that summer, and dedicated to the service of the great Master in November, 1857. During the winter the labourers increased in number, and public religious services were conducted by members of this church, assisted by other friends. Not merely was the attention of the population in the neighbourhood called to the subject of religion, by the institution amongst them of Christian services,-some few it is hoped were brought to a knowledge of the Redeemer. The prospects were so hopeful that the Missionary Association of AND ITS FRUITS. 27 our Church resolved on the appointment of a second missionary-a minister of Christwho, as our excellent and faithful minister at "Olivet" had done, should devote his whole time to the district in which Tabor Chapel is situated. Providence guided us to secure the services of our present devoted missionary, who entered upon his work in July, 1858. How strenuously and persistently he has laboured, many of yourselves can testify-how successfully, will appear by the fact that in little more than two years, one hundred and thirty-two persons have been brought into our Church, upon profession of their faith. The Sabbathschool, begun in the present building under auspices so favourable, has gone on to increase, and is now in a state of great prosperity. It is efficiently superintended, and numbers three hundred and twenty-five scholars and twenty-eight teachers.. The ladies of our Church have established a daily Industrial school in the Chapel, which cannot fail to influence for good the class of pupils for whose welfare it was designed. It is only right to refer in this connection 28 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR to the North Broad Street Church of this city,' whose foundations may be said to have been laid in what was once the " Carmel" Sabbath School, under the care of the Missionary Association of this Church. Too true is it, that we had not sufficieut faith and energy to prosecute that mission as the needs of the neighbourhood in which we had placed it demanded; but it is matter for gratulation and joy that what we as an association lacked, was supplied by the foresight, care and self-denying liberality of one of our number. Already a large congregation and flourishing communion are collected under a settled much beloved and popularpastor; alot has been purchased for a new edifice, and architectural plans adopted; and the encouraging prospect exists ofthe speedy establishment of a church as large as prosperous and as influential as any of our older organizations in the city. To that church we have dismissed several of our valuable members. This, in brief, is our missionary work in Philadelphia for the last five years. Led to it by the providence of God, we have AND ITS FRUITS. 29 been permitted to carry the gospel to hundreds of neglected families, we have been privileged in these two schools alone to give religious instruction to at least fifteen hundred children, we have had opportunities of dispensing many hundreds of dollars to the poor and the needy, and what is better than all, three hundred and ten persons, of all ages from fifteen to seventy-five, have been brought out of the world into the Church-brought, clothed we trust and in their right mind, to sit at their Lord's table. Look at this work alone: suppose no single soul had ever been converted here, and no single believer edified; suppose no scholar had been here taught the way to heaven; suppose all here had been gloomy and unprosperous; suppose that now in the providence of God every hope of success here were withdrawn, and our names, collective and individual, blotted out of earthly existence; suppose some dire calamity were to lay this church, spiritually as well as materially, in irreparable ruin-to bring it to desolation on this the closing day of our seven years' history-what then? 30 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR Hundreds of converts would vet remain to call us blessed, thousands of children would still be able to proclaim that through our instrumentality they had learned the name of Jesus, and on and on the influence would spread, through successive ages in time, and through infinite cycles in eternity. Who can count the influence of one soul's conversion upon the race? Who can conceive how its importance will loom up in eternity, when we shall see Christ as he is and know even as also we are known? But if we must so speak of one soul's salvation, what shall we say of hundreds-of three hundred? And still the number advances-it will be augmented by twelve in another week, and by twenty, thirty; fifty in another quarter. After you and I are in our graves, after worms shall have fed on these bodies, after we shall have taken our places before the throne of glory to join in the seraphic song of praise unto God and the Lamb, this work shall go oil; its influence shall swell like an onward tide, its power shall grow like the flowing and ever AND ITS FRUITS. 31 increasing river, its fruitfulness shall abound like a tree planted by the rivers of waters. Is it too much to expect that ministers and missionaries shall go forth from these embryo churches, to preach the word to thousands of men? or that new churches shall be established through their agency? or that they shall become large and influential centres-centres of light, of truth, of peace, of salvation? For myself, brethren, I am overwhelmed by the thoughts which fill my heart at this time, as to God's great goodness in privileging us to inaugurate such a work-a work which will last for all time, and exert its influence through all eternity. " Not unto us, 0 Lord! not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, forthy mercy and for thy truth's sake." Brethren and friends, I have long wished to tell you of what the Lord has done through you and for you; and now I would urge upon you the necessity of prosecuting this work with the same vigour which has heretofore characterized your efforts. Remember that whenever the Missionary Association of this church is spoken 32 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR of, this is the work which is meant-the sowing the seed of the gospel by our own missionaries and by brethren of our own communion, among the destitute families and neighbourhoods of our own city. And because God has given you grace to go in advance of other churches in this special department of Christian labours, because God has put this conspicuous honour upon the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, acknowledge it, and honour God in return by pressing on in the good work. I am sure that those who have taken a chief part in founding these missions will, when they come to the hour of death, look back not with regret at what it has cost them in toil and generosity, but with joy that the Divine Master should have allowed them to take any share in so blessed a service. By retaining our resources within this single congregation, by devoting to this single Sabbath-school all the care which we have bestowed on " Olivet" and " Tabor" — by employing here the energetic and faithful men and women who have given their time to those outposts, we might have had, AND ITS FRUITS. 33 in appearance at least, a larger success, — a more specious and demonstrative prosperity. A concentration of our forces would have told most effectively upon all our operations at home. But, brethren, I desire myself to learn, and I wish you to learn, that success in the eye of God is not that which man esteems success —" His thoughts [in this respect] are not our thoughts." It was right that we should give up our brethren, that we should distribute our forces, that we should seek the poor to bring them into the kingdom; and now, what is the result? —that nearly five hundred persons have been added to the Church of Christ " on profession," through our feeble and still unworthy instrumentality. Seldom have I known such an instance of success, one so speedy so large and so promising as to the future. What an encouragement to work, to deny self, to pray, to give! What an encouragement to consecrate our service unto the Lord! Who would be idle in the Lord's vineyard when results so vast may be reaped by a little labour! We went forth a few years ago 3 34 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR trembling and weeping, bearing precious seed; to-day we come again with rejoicing, for behold we bring our sheaves with us; and what sheaves! immortal sheaves, ready for the heavenly garner! "Not unto us, O Lord! not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." I will add one other remark respecting our success as a church organization.'The observations now made have been mainly directed to the history of our minssionary work in the city. It is due to some who are not now with us, and to many who are still labouring here, it is no less due to the grace of God, to state that not alone in the work of evangelizing the masses of a populous city have we been privileged to labour. The great schemes of our Connexion, as well as of the Catholic Institutions of united American Christianity, have shared our sympathy and efforts. We have been permitted to take some part in sustaining Home-Missionary, Educational, ForeignMissionary and Publication work, as well as promoting the erection of New Churches AND ITS FRUITS. 35 in Philadelphia and elsewhere. The aggregate of the contributions which have fallen into these channels of beneficence from our own organization, since the commencement of our ecclesiastical existence, reaches one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, independently of. the current expenses of the Church itself. We speak not of this boastingly, we feel indeed that there is nothing to warrant vain-glory; what we have done has been done through divine assistance, and still we are "unprofitable servants." Larger self-denials would have led to more influential labours. Every one of us knows that if these exertions and sacrifices had been more general, much more would have.been accomplished; and there are few who will not feel humbled that their part in the aggregate of what has been achieved is so comparatively small. Yet, to have been the channel of communicating thus much of material aid to our own denomination and to the gen6ral Christian cause, deserves grateful mention before God on an anniversary occasion. Our past history suggests three lessons, 36 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR which, as a church, we may profitably consider —GRATITUDE, COURAGE, FAITHFULNESS. 1. A lesson of Gratitude. Gratitude is a sense of kindness done by another, including a desire to make a suitable return. The measure of prosperity which we have enjoyed, the paths of usefulness into which we have been led, the conversions from sin to holiness which have taken place in the midst of us, are to be ascribed wholly and only to the Author of all good. But have we enough to be thankful for? Enough! in the hopeful conversion in this congregatiorr of more than one hundred and fifty souls! Enough! in the communication of religious truth through the public and Sabbath-school services to thousands of adults and to thousands of children! Enough! in the establishment of three nuclei of churches in populous and neglected portions of our city! Enough! in the privilege of being foremost among our sister churches in successful efforts to evangelize the masses! Enough! inthe hopeful conversion of three hundred and twenty-five persons in those destitute districts alone! AND ITS FRUITS. 37 Enough!-If seven years ago any one had predicted the results of this ecclesiastical organization, the most sanguine would have received the prophecy with doubt. Few of us were bold enough to anticipate that seven years would find us thus " spread into bands." Seven years ago how willingly would we have stipulated with the Head of the Church for a lower meed of success, yea, and even at larger sacrifices on our part. Glod has been very good to us, my brethren; first, in opening our way before us, and then in prospering our labours. Far beyond what we had any right to expect, in far larger proportion than was due to the labour and sacrifices which we have laid upon the Christian altar, the Lord has vouchsafed success. "The Lord," I say, for His grace, His power, His blessing have done it all! Without the showers of grace that have reached us from his own heaven, without the sunshine of his presence from time to time, without the upholding strength of His almighty arm, we should have failed, we should have drooped and withered 38 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR away. HE it is who has helped us, who has done this great work for us, and not we ourselves; therefore will we praise him with our whole hearts; we will adopt the language of the Psalmist, "Bless the Lord, 0 our souls, and all that is within us bless his holy name." This spirit let us cultivate! Be this the tone of our hearts in all our intercourse with each other, and in all subsequent labours;-gratitude for the past, for the honour put upon us in the conversion of sinners. This alone were enough to overwhelm us with love and thankfulness. If it occasions joy in heaven, how much more should it diffuse joy through the hearts of those whom God has so greatly honoured by making them instruments of this converting work. Some of you can trace the salvation of individual souls to your personal instrumentality-the member of your Bible class, the scholar in your Sabbathschool class, the friend whom you conducted to the means of grace, the son or daughter whom you prayed over and instructed, the husband or wife whom you entreated and AND ITS FRUITS. 39 wept for before your God, has been here brought to a knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus. Your cup surely is full; you can never think of this church without emotions of gratitude and joy; you can never speak of its establishment without praising God for it. If success were now to cease, and adversity were evermore to be our lot, you would yet have enough to praise God for throughout eternity, that you became through this organization the humble instrument of bringing a soul or souls to life and glory everlasting. But success will not now cease; yet have we the same resource in the Almighty One, the same promise of blessing upon faithful labour, and it is our duty as well as privilege not only "To praise Him for all that is past," but "To trust Him for all that's to come." 2, Let us learn from our past history a lesson of Courage. If past achievements are calculated to produce and to augment courage, we surely 40 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR ought to be an undaunted regiment in the Christian army. We have everything in the memory of the past to nerve us for the future. Yet have we not duly appreciated our position or our successes. Trials we have had to bear-bereavements many and irreparable have been our lot, various adverse circumstances have arisen,-for what church was ever established from its foundations without difficult and protracted struggling?-We, you are aware, had no church and congregation prepared to our hand, ready to occupy and to fill this structure.-May it not be feared that we have allowed our trials to depress us beyond measure? that when some unpropitious circumstance arose, we have come to the conclusion that after all failure would be the result of our efforts? Whatever ground there may have been heretofore for fear and trembling, surely it is our privilege, now that we have entered upon our eighth year of successful existence, to discard such timidity, and to quit ourselves like men. The time has gone by for regarding the removal of a family, or the transfer to the upper sanc AND ITS FRUITS. 41 tuary of a worthy and successful fellowworker, or a small congregation, or a thinly attended prayer-meeting, as an indication that we are in the last gasp of ecclesiastical life! If everything proceeded in the flow of an undeviating prosperity, there would be no trial of our principles, and scarcely room for courage or for faith. These are the things that test the mettle of men, that make them brave, that call out their resources, that develop their character. Were there no difficulties and no discouragements, how soon should we become intoxicated with pride and selfsufficiency, and how readily should we lose all ecclesiastical nerve! I confess to you that the first two or three years of our history were so smooth and prosperous as to make me tremble lest we should become proud and indolent; and it is worthy of record to-day that our greatest successes of a spiritual character, were achieved after passing through the trial of surrendering some of our best workers for those outposts of service to which Providence called us. And now, having sustained and 42 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR overcome trials which are not likely to occur again,-I refer chiefly to those which are invariably incident on the establishment of a new church, —our motto should be "Courage!" Let us buckle on the armour of faithful and earn est warfare, and through evil report as well as good, whether surrounding circumstances are prosperous or some things look adverse,-in trials, in disappointments, in sorrows, in bereavements, as well as in joys and successes, let us go forth into the battle-field of labour, let us do our. duty, let us encourage each other by heroic deeds as well as cheering words, let us hold up each other's hands, let us strengthen each other's resolutions and hopes, and let us ever be on the look-out for successes. Avoid, as you love your church and as you desire its prosperity, a faultfinding, croaking spirit-that inevitable source of ecclesiastical depression and loss. Such a spirit in an army would infallibly accomplish its demoralization; such a spirit in a church would destroy its last remnants of courage and of heart. We shall have our disappointments, our days of vexation AND ITS FRUITS. 43 and gloom, but every such trial will be received by the faithful amongst us as a new incentive to exertion, rather than as an occasion of discouragement. The true soldier nerves himself for more earnest conflict when his comrade falls or deserts his post, and so much the more exclaims, " The battle must be won by the strenuous daring of us who remain to carry on the strife." Courage, my brethren! We have put our hands to this plough, we must not, we dare not look back. 3. Let us learn from our past history, a lesson of Faithfulness. The foundation of ecclesiastical faithfulness must be laid by us in a more thorough personal consecration to God. Individual holiness is essential to the life and progress of every church. No amount of outward advantages can be set up as a substitute for this. Piety must be cultivated-cultivated in secret, communion with God must be enjoyed, the habit of drawing nigh to Him must be formed, the life of faith in the Son of God must be healthy and vigorous, or these associated efforts will be comparatively fruitless. 44 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR That to which I chiefly refer is faithfulness to our own organization: Let there be cultivated a loyal tone respecting the church of our choice-as to many of us the church of our spiritual birth. It should not be felt to be a matter of indifference whether it succeed or not because, if it fail, other churches are open to us. This is not the spirit of loyalty; we owe duties to our own church which other churches cannot claim. We have come under solemn obligations to live and work for its peace and for its advancement and we ought to remember this. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to God who has called us by his grace, we owe it to our families whose members largely depend for spiritual and saving good upon the influences which go forth from us, we owe it to the neighbourhood in the midst of which God has set us to be a light, to work for the increase and prosperity of this Church. Be ever ready to speak a kind and earnest word for it, in every circle of your acquaintance. "A house divided against itself cannot stand;" a church which contains un AND ITS FRUITS. 45 faithful members-members who are on the alert to point out and to magnify its defects, to find fault with this or that arrangement which may be proposed or carried out, cannot stand. Be ever ready to invite and bring with you others to swell the numbers of those who come under the sound of gospel truth. Be ever ready to invite families of our order, who come into this neighbourhood to join us if they shall see fit; these may at least be invited to the sanctuary, and spoken kindly with when they come. I do not advocate proselytizing; let no secret baits be laid to catch new adherents to our cause, to rob other denominations on the plea that we are better than they; that were a dishonorableness unworthy of us, and I am bound to say a dishonourableness to which our people are strangers. But we may have gone to the other extreme, the extreme of diffidence in exerting a legitimate influence for our own advancement. Let our faithfulness be manifested in a rigid attendance upon sanctuary ordinances. Whenever the house of prayer is open, let 46 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR us be found in our place. The effect of a small congregation is always chilling, the fiequent absence of families or individuals is ever an occasion of depression to the minds of both pastor and members. The services are not ordinarily too numerous; to visit the sanctuary twice on the Sabbath day is not a labour too onerous for those who are in health. And there is this view, which parents, especially, will do well to consider -the impression made on the minds of children, by those parents who are not faithful and punctual at the house of prayer. They will inevitably consider that the services of the sanctuary are not important and they will soon acquire a contempt for the house of God, and a disregard for the sanctity of the Lord's day. A father who lies in bed on tile Sabbath morning instead of being in his pew in Church, is not likely to have sons who will honour the sanctuary and the Sabbath day. A mother who allows domestic cares to keep her at hdme, will be surrounded with daughters who by and by will set home duties above those which are more strictly religious. These remarks AND ITS FRUITS. 47 will apply to the week night services, to the Dorcas Society, and to the Missionary Association. We give little enough of our time to the Lord; what we profess to devote to him, let us faithfully render. Brethren, "ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your bodies and in your spirit, which are God's." I beseech you, by all the mercies which God has bestowed upon us as a part of his Church, "that ye [this day] present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Manifest such an example of selfdenying labour as shall arouse the professing Christian community on every hand. Let it be seen that you are Christians, let it be felt that you are Christians, yea let every member of this communion on this sacred and happy day consecrate himself anew to the. Master's service. He demands from you all an entire consecration, your own happiness demands it, the prosperity of our Church and the salvation of the perishing demand it. Let every one of us be in earnest to secure it, let every one say 48 SEVEN YEARS' LABOUR. If so poor a worm as I, May to thy great glory live, All my actions sanctify, All my thoughts and words receive; Claim me for thy service, claim All I have, and all I am. Take my soul and body's powers, Take my memory, mind, and will, All my goods, and all my hours, All I know, and all I feel, All I think, and speak, and do; Take my HEART; —but make it new. NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, AND TO PRESENT YOU FAULTLESS BEFORE THE PRESENCE OF HIS GLORY WITH EXCEEDING JOY, TO THE ONLY WISE GOD, OUR SAVIOUR, BE GLORY AND MAJESTY, DOMINION AND POWER, BOTH NOW AND EVER. AMEN. J. J.