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SERMON,

BEFORE THE

P. B. CONVENTION OF OHIO,

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CLEVELAND:
HARRIS, FAIRBANKS, * CO., PRINTERS, HERALD OFFICE, BANK STREET.
' 18 5 4.

THE

PROSPEROUS CHURCHES;
A SERMON
BEFORE THE CONVENTION OF THE P. E. CHURCH,
IN THE DIOCESE OF OHIO.
PREACHED IN GRACE CHURCH, SANDUSKY, SEPT. 28, 1854,

Rev. R. BETHELL CLAXTON, D. D..
hi
HECTOR OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, CLEVELAND .

I'lHMSHXD BY REQl'KST.

CLEVELAND:
PRINTED BY HABRIS, FAIRBANKS & CO., HERALD OFFICE.
1854.

SERMON.

ACTS IX : 31. — Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, and
Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified ; and -walking in the fear of the Lord
and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
To the intelligent reader of the Scriptures, the text
presents a picture most delightful and refreshing, in its
simple yet sublime beauty.
Only about ten years had passed since Jesus of Naz
areth was rejected of his nation, and crucified at Jeru
salem. Ten years before the time of which our text
speaks, those who best knew and most warmly loved the
crucified Saviour had met together in a little room, and
tried, by fastening the door, to alleviate the overpowering
terror which possessed their souls. When, re-assured by
the presence and the counsel of their risen Master, and
by His visible ascensioii to heaven, all in Jerusalem who
owned allegiance to Him were assembled in an upper
chamber, the number of the names together was only an
hundred and twenty.
Now, our text exhibits to us Churches of believers in
Christ; not merely individual Christians, looking to
Jesus for salvation, through faith in His atoning blood,
and in lives of obedience to His precepts ; but united, or
ganized bodies of His disciples ; with a ministry divinely
established, with sacraments duly administered, with all
the ordinances of Christ's blessed religion faithfully ob
served. And these churches were not confined to one city.
True, they were not yet Catholic. The Gospel had been

thus far preached only to the Jews, and to those who
bore some affinity to them, the Samaritans. But all
through Judea and Galilee and Samaria, just so far as the
message of salvation had been carried, wherever Christ
and His apostles had walked and worked and preached,
there were churches found ; not rival churches ; not sects
and parties, caUed by names and holding creeds of men's
devising ; but all in communion with each other and with
Christ, all holding the apostles' doctrine and their feUow-
ship, all united in breaking of bread and in prayers.
St. Luke further teUs us in our text that these churches
had rest, or as the word sip^y is more frequently ren
dered, "peace." " Then had the churches peace." They
had not been founded in peace. Christ had not come to
" send peace upon the earth." As those who preached
His gospel began their work, the enmity of the riatural
heart everywhere broke fori.h against them. In Jerusa
lem, Stephen had been baptized with his Master's bap
tism ; and, first of the noble army of Christian martyrs,
had received the martyr's radiant crown. Peter, James
and John had been scourged and imprisoned. At one
time almost all the believers in Jerusalem had been
driven out by a furious storm of persecution. Saul and
his confederates had been making havoc -of the church,
dragging forth men and women from their houses to
prisons and to death. So " exceedingly mad" had been the
hatred of the Jews against the Christians, that they had
followed the fugitives to far-off cities, lest they might
escape their malignant rage. These churches had been
founded, and thus far established, in troublous times.
But our text seems to allude to some recent occur
rence, as having wrought a wonderful and a blessed change.
" Then had the churches rest." Three or four years had

passed since the persecution arose that followed St. Ste
phen's martyrdom. Saul of Tarsus had been stopped on
his way to Damascus ; had been convinced of his guilt
in rejecting the Messiah, and in murdering the believers;
and had preachedj earnestly and successfully, that faith
which he had been laboring to destroy. He had borne
witness to the truth in Damascus, in Arabia, in Jerusa
lem, in Csesarea and in Tarsus ; and though he had been
exposed to much personal danger for his faith, his con
version seems to have so surprised or so alarmed the foes
of Christianity, that for a time the storm of persecution
abated. " Then had the churches rest."
Another cause, it is probable, conduced to this result.
The Jews, about that time, felt that their religion was
threatened with more serious evils in another quarter, and
thus their attention was withdrawn from the Christians.
The Roman emperor, Caligula, had ordered Petronius, the
governor of Syria, to set up the imperial statue in the
temple at Jerusalem ; and the unhappy Jews, in resisting
this profanation, had already begun to realize the fulfil
ment of their own fearful imprecation, " His blood be
upon us and on our children." The emperor's death pre
vented, probably, the fatal contest which his persistence
in his purpose would have caused, but by the alarm which
the Jews suffered, God's gracious Providence secured an
interval oi peace to the churches of Judea and Galilee and
Samaria. This rest, or peace, was improved by these
Christians. They had well learned those precious lessons
which God had designed to teach them by adversity.
They were edified, built up. The foundations had been
weU laid, on Christ alone. They had been cemented well
together, with the tears and the blood of numberless mar*
tyrs. They began to grow in knowledge, in faith, in love,

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in piety. It is not, I think, an external, but an internal
growth, which this word describes, a growth in the minds
and hearts of the individual Christians composing these
churches. They had now an opportunity for more thor
ough instruction in all the great truths and duties of
Christ's religion. They could now attend more constant
ly on the means of grace. Tribulation had trained them
to patience, and therein they had experience of the power
ofthe Gospel to sustain them under trial. And now hope,
that "hope which maketh not ashamed," began to abound ;
the fruit of seed that had been sown in tears. Their
gratitude was daily stimulated, in view of past deliver
ances and of present mercies. Their zeal in their Master's
cause was quickened, as an open door was set before
them for propagating the faith of the crucified Jesus.
They were, in short, " living epistles of Christ, known and
read of all men."
We have here described, still further, the walk, the
habitual conduct of these primitive Christians. St. Luke
brings before us, not so much their outward action, as
their inward principle. "Walking in the fear of the
Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost." To the
man of the world, such a description as this may convey
no intelligible idea. The professing Christian whose re
ligion is all formality, can scarcely enter at all into its
meaning. But the man whose own experience it depicts
will at once lay hold of its import. Fear and comfort are
conjoined in the Christian's walk. It is not that fear
which hath torment. It is not that fear which keeps the
slave in dread of his master, or the criminal in terror of
his judge. ,But it is that fear which is the beginning of
true wisdom. It is the fear of the child for the father
that he loves, and whom he delights to obey. It is that

fear which begets reverence and holy awe. It is the fear
which draws, not drives, to obedience. Blessed is the
man that thus feareth always, for this fear of God banishes
all other fear.
Notice more exactly the phrase here used. "Walking
in the fear of the Lord" of the Lord Jesus ; of Him who
had died and risen and ascended ; who even then was
" sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Him
these Christians served with reverence, rejoicing before
Him with fear. His teachings, drawn from His own lips,
or through an inspired ministry, gave them the 'principles
which governed all their conduct. His interpretations of
God's unchangeable moral law formed the one rule of
their life. They submitted implicitly to His authority.
They complied, without exception, with the ordinances
of His religion. They professed their faith in Christ's
own sacrament of Baptism. They sealed their acts of
dedication to Him, and sought new measures of holy in
fluence, through the laying on of the Apostles' hands.
They renewed frequently, (it may be every week) their
Baptismal vows, receiving the memorials of Christ's body
broken and his blood shed, for their sins.
And herein they experienced " the comfort of the Holy
Ghost." They enjoyed in their prosperity a continuance
of those precious consolations which had sustained their
hearts in the dark days of adversity. They were cheer
ful, joyous Christians. They believed in the gospel ; and
the Holy Spirit witnessed with their spirits that now,
being justified by faith, they were no longer under con
demnation, but had passed from death unto life. They
believed that God was their reconciled Father in Christ
Jesus; and the Holy Ghost encouraged and strengthened
their hearts day by day, communicating to them of the

¦8

fulness of His grace, taking of the things of Christ and
shewing them to their souls. Though at rest from out-
Ward persecution, they were not exempt from the com
mon trials of life ; and day by day they partook of u the
comfort of the Holy Ghost," so that they could rejoice in
the confidence that He who feeds the sparrow and clothes
the lily, will never neglect His own children, and that He
who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, will not fail, with Him, to give the Christian all
things. They were comforted by the Holy Spirit; in daily
making new advances in spiritual life, in conquering sin,
in becoming more and more meet for a world of perfect
holiness. They were comforted by anticipations of Heav
en's rest, of perfected bliss, by foretastes of those un
speakable joys that are at God's right hand forever.
Thus they walked in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
The result was, as St. Luke tells us, that these.
churches were multiplied. There were daily added unto
the Church "of such as should be saved." Then new
congregations of believers were gathered, and organized,
wherever Christ was preached. And who can wonder at
their increase ? What could hinder the churches from
growing, when their members were " walking in the fear
ofthe Lord, and in the comfort ofthe Holy Ghost." Such
leaven could not but leaven the whole lump. Their
prayers daily ascended, and He who had been " exalted
a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission
of sins," poured out upon them rich returns of converting
and sanctifying grace. The ministers of the gospel
preached faithftdly, earnestly, zealously, "with the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven;" and great was the com
pany of believers. Christians acted as Christians, and
their prayers and the preaching of the truth were pow-

erfully seconded by such examples. To cite a brief ex
tract from a beautiful description of the early church
at Jerusalem, given by Vitringa, "AH things then
smiled as in the spring-time of the church. The doc
trine, the worship, the ceremonies, the government, the
discipline of the church, all were pure. The rage of Satan
was for a time restrained. Heresies and schisms were
as yet unknown. And what was best of all, that holy
society of believers, in the apostolic age, excelled in all
the Christian virtues, and was largely imbued with all
the gifts and graces ofthe Holy Spirit."
Thus it was that these churches " were multiplied."
Called together, brethren of the clergy and laity, in our
annual assembly, to consult as to the interests of the
Church in this Diocese, shall we not do well to try our
selves by this scriptural standard, and to ask, Are we a
prosperous Church ? Such a growth as that which we
have been contemplating is the only growth wherein we
can have reason for rejoicing; not merely in numbers, but
in ardent, consistent piety. Do we thus grow ? Are our
churches edified ? Do their members, ministers and
people, walk "in the fear ofthe Lord, and in the comfort
of the Holy Ghost ?" And are they thereby multiplied ?
These questions are in part such as none of us can
answer for others. We must decide them in good meas
ure, each for ourselves. But there are some tokens
whereby we can at least arrive at probable results in this
matter. We can at all events see how the primitive
Church grew, and therein how we may grow also. Let
me then, in what remains of this discourae, throw out
some thoughts, and bring before you some facts, that
may encourage us to endeavor to attain such prosperity.
Our churches, like those of which I have been speak-

10

ing,- have had " rest," or " peace." Through God's good
ness we have been hurt by no persecution. Our lot has
not been cast in those troublous times, wherein a man to
profess the pure faith of the gospel must put in peril afl
that is dearest to him in life, and even life itself. In
that our rest has been of such long continuance, we may
perhaps have become the more remiss. The churches in
England immediately after the reign of the Bloody Mary,
were in a condition more nearly like those primitive
churches of Judea, in that they had been winnowed by
the blast of persecution; and thus it was that they so
carefully guarded against all approaches to the faith and
worship of that corruption of Christianity from which
God's providence and grace had rescued them.
I would by no means say that our churches and their
members have had to meet no hostile influences. When
ever " a great door and effectual" is opened to the church
and cause of the Redeemer, we may be sure there will be
" many adversaries." Every member of the church is
by profession a combatant. His baptismal vows pledge
him to a life-long warfare with the world, the flesh, and
the devil, a trinity of evil against which he can only
stand in the might of the Almighty arm. The whole
church, too, is the militant host of Christ, contending with
the same foes ; and therefore it can look for no absolute,
perfect rest, so long as these foes exist.
There has been, also, doubtless, in the experience of
many of our churches, the hostility of our feHow Chris
tians of other names ; a hostility springing, in most cases,
from unfounded prejudices, but too often provoked and
aggravated by illiberality and self-assumed superiority on
the part of our own ministers and members.
In some few of our congregations, there may have been

11

internal contentions, and where these exist the work of
Divine grace is greatly hindered. Even contests for the
truth involve, too often, bitterness of spirit and of speech;
so that although sometimes necessary, they are always
perilous. But ordinarily this Diocese has been eminently
characterized by the prevalence oi peace ; unity and love
within, and but little direct and open opposition without.
Have then our churches been edified ?
Have they [advanced in the knowledge of the truth ?
Have they been faithfuUy taught the whole counsel of
God ? Have the lambs of the flock been cared for as
they ought ? gathered into our Sunday schools ? dill
igently catechized by their pastors ? fed with "the sincere
milk of the word," that they might grow thereby ? Have
the children of professing parents amongst us, as they
have come to years of discretion, shown that they were
" sufficiently instructed" in the fundamental doctrines of
faith and precepts of piety ? Have older Christians been
eagerly availing themselves of all opportunities to be
taught by those whom Christ has set as their spiritual
guides ? Have they in these respects sought to edify,
to bufld up, one another ?
Have they grown in faith ? becoming more and more
firmly convinced of the truth of the gospel, and resting
more implicitly on the revelation given them in Christ ?
Have they grown in love and in true piety ? not merely
holding sound doctrine with an intellectual persuasion of
its truth, but from the heart embracing it, so as to have
thereby called forth their love to God and to man ? Have
they become more and more dead to the world, its pleas
ures, its honors, its possessions ? Has their consecration
to the Redeemer become more entire ? and have their

12
works witnessed to the depth and the sincerity of their
professions of devotion to the Saviour ?
And have our "churches been " walking in the fear of
the Lord ?" Have men of the world and their fellow-
Christians of other names recognized them as " disciples
of Christ," whose lives attested the genuineness of their
piety ? Have they enjoyed the comfort of the Holy
Ghost ? Have they been taught, and have they under
stood, their dependence upon the blessed, sanctifying
Spirit for all gracious, holy influences? Have they
known and realized that no outward ordinances of re
ligion, no means of covenanted grace, could be of any ef
ficacy apart from the energy of the Paraclete, the Com
forter ? And have they at the same time borne in mind
that the Holy Spirit usually works by means ? and that
neglecting or undervaluing outward ordinances they have
no right to expect to be built up, in faith, in knowledge,
or in love ?
One question suggested by our text remains ; and it is
one in some particulars more easy of solution than the
others? Have our churches been multiplied? Has
there been such an outward, numerical growth, as in
times of rest, when the churches have had opportunity
to be edified — when they should have been " walking in
the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost," — we might with reason expect ? Remembering
that increased numbers are a very imperfect and unsatis
factory test, in this day, of increased piety ; and fully
conscious that, whilst maintaining a high standard of
Christian character as if not an indispensable requisite to
admission to communion, yet as the object at which every
communicant should aim, we are not likely to have our
churches thronged with worldly-minded professors, let

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us look at a few facts bearing on the outward growth of
the Church in this Diocese.
In September, 1833, just 21 years ago, dmr present
beloved Bishop, having been consecrated in ""October of
the preceding year, first presided in his Diocesan Con
vention. The population of Ohio was then about one miflion ;
at the last census (1850) as you are aware, it had
reached nearly two millions ; so that the number of souls
from whom the Churches of this Diocese were to be in
creased has, in the interval, just doubled.
Then there were *23 Clergymen connected with
the Diocese ; at the last Convention, 74 ; an increase of
more than three fold. Then there were about 35 Parish
es and Missionary Stations ; at the last Convention were
reported 83, having increased nearly 2 1-2 times.
Then there were in all about 1250 Communicants ;
last year nearly 4500, having increased more than 3 1-2
times. It is true that the greater proportion of this increase
took place in the first ten years of the twenty under re
view ; the ten years in which the feeble, struggling Par
ishes in this comparatively new country were receiving
some little aid from the General Missionary Society.
Thus: 1833. 1843. Increase. 1853. Increase.
Clergy,  --23 57 34 74 17
Parishes,  -35 70 35 83 13
Communicants, .1269 3615 2346 4468 853
Subdividing the last term of ten years into two periods
of five years each, we have the Mowing results :
* All of -whom, it is believed, still survive, and of -whom 9 are now in this
Diocese.

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1843. 1848. Increase. 1853. Increase
Clergy,   57 70 13 74 4
Parishes,  70 77 7 83 6
Communicants, .3615 3836 221 4468 632
Taking the whole of this period, then, we may with
thankfulness acknowledge that the Churches of this Dio
cese have greatly multiplied. God has been with us, and
has outwardly blessed us. There have been difficulties
to contend with, such as only those that have carefully
acquainted themselves with the history of our Church in
this Diocese can, in any just measure, appreciate. Twen
ty years ago, the members of our churches were not only
few, but were struggling hard to sustain amongst them
selves the institutions of the Gospel. The 35 parishes
then existing had, each, on an average, but 36 commun
icants ; only one, that at Gambier, having as many as 100 ;
last year 14 parishes had from 100 to 200 in their com
munion. In the work of Church Extension in Ohio, all, or
nearly all, has had to be done without extraneous aid. Grate
fully remembering the liberality that established and en
dowed our Seminary and College at Gambier, a liberality
partially compensated for by the fact that about 30, or
more than one-half the living graduates of the Seminary,
are now laboring in other dioceses, we cannot but feel that
our churches might at this time be stronger and more
numerous could the General Missionary Society have
continued its assistance to Ohio for at least a few years
longer. In 18 years,from 1836 to 1853,* Ohio received
from the General Missionary Society $9,648, of which
one-half was given from 1836 to 1841. In the same
* 72 Deacons were ordained in Ohio, from 1835 to 1853 ; but our parishes
unaided, could not support and retain them. 64 Deacons -were in the same
period admitted to the Priesthood in this Diocese.

15
period, it contributed to the Domestic Missionary
funds of the same Society, $6,217 ; making the actual
receipt of Missionary aid from the general Church, in
these 18 years, $3,431* In 1830 the population of
this State was nearly one million ; in 1840, one million
and a half; in 1850, nearly two millions; and the very
statement of these numbers carries with it convincing
proof of the vastness of our Diocesan Missionary work.
Two neighboring Dioceses lying west and north-west of
us had, in 1840, joihtly but 688,000 ; and in 1850, but
1,257,000 souls ; yet those Dioceses have actuaUy re
ceived, during the period mentioned, beyond the amounts
contributed by them to the Domestic Committee, — the
one $43,400, the other $31,800 ; a total of $75,200.
At this very time what may be called the Missionary
field of Ohio, that beyond the reach of the ministers of
our self-supporting parishes, is greater in amount of pop
ulation than the whole conjoint population of the two Dio
ceses aUuded to ; yet those, with 70 clergymen and near
ly 4000 communicants, have now 20 missionaries of the
Domestic Committee laboring amongst them.
I trust that I may not be misunderstood, as adducing
these facts for the sake of making invidious comparisons.
None of us, I am sure, would for one moment complain,
were a much greater amount of Missionary aid given to
those, or any other Dioceses of our Church. The work
they have to do is exceedingly arduous, with all the help
they can possibly obtain from any and every quarter.
But the comparisons made may at least serve to account,
to some extent, for the fact that our churches in Ohio
have not multiplied more rapidly during the past few
years. They may do more ; they may prompt our own
members, clergy and laity, to more vigorous effort, more
* The appropriations ceased in 1851.

16
self-sacrificing generosity; more vigilant care, each for the
other, that the work of multiplying and edifying the
churches of this Diocese /may be still more successful.
And they may do mor'b, even, than this. They may lead
us all to aim more carefully than ever at attaining the
Apostolic standard of piety and of devotion, that so our
churches may be edified as well as multiplied.
We have at least one element of strength, which, by
God's blessing, we will sedulously cherish. We are at
peace amongst ourselves. We are aU ready, I trust, led by
him whom God's kind Providence has made the Chief
Shepherd of Christ's flock in this Diocese, to strive to
gether with one mind for the faith of the Gospel. Not by
controversy, but by an earnest proclamation of the truth
as it is in Jesus ; not by ignoring the distinctions that
exist among Protestant Christians (pf whom in this great
State we are so small a portion) but by a firm and open,
yet kind and courteous, maintenance of our own distin-
guisfcg views and practices ; not by harsh denunciations
of those, whether within or without, whom we regard as
in greatest error in doctrine or in life, but by keeping
up a habitual separation from the ways of an ungodly
world, in our own course, we shall, God helping us, stead
ily advance in the paths of true prosperity. Let us, who
are put in trust with the ministry, still preach Christ and
Him crucified as the sinner's only hope. Let us still
teach, as did the Apostolic Church, that by Him every
one that believeth is freely and perfectly justified. Let
us continue to bid all who hear us come unto Him to be
saved. Let us still instruct them in the duty of hold
ing to the Apostles' fellowship, as weU as their doctrine ;
and then, if we walk " in the fear of the Lord and in the
comfort of the Holy Ghost," we shall surely see our
Churches multiplied.