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*

A
SERMON
PREACHED AT THE ORDINATION
0*
REV. ALFRED PORTER PUTNAM,
Ag
MINISTER OF THE MT. PLEASANT CHURCH IN ROXBURY,
»
December 19, 1855.
BY GEORGE W. BRIGGS,
MlNISTEi: OK THE FIRST C H V R C H IN 6 A I. T. »f.
BOSTON:
CROSBY, NICHOLS, & COMPANY,
111, Washington Steeki.
1856.
1
%\t Intfppg ^|ristian fji

SERMON

PREACHED AT THE ORDINATION

REV. ALFRED PORTER PUTNAM,

MINISTER OF THE MT. PLEASANT CHURCH IN ROXBURY,

December 19, 1855.

BY GEORGE W. BRIGGS,
MINISTER OP THE FIRST CHURCH IN SALEM.

BOSTON:
CROSBY, NICHOLS, & COMPANY,
111, Washington Street.
1856.

Note. — It is to be regretted that copies of all the other parts of these
services could not be obtained to be published with the Sermon. Having
failed to procure the Address to the People, and the Charge to the Pastor, we
are obliged to issue the pamphlet without them.

BOSTON:
printed by john wilson and son,
22, School Street.

SERMON

Mark x. 21. — " Then Jesus, beholding him, loved hIm, and said unto
him, One thing thou lackest : go, sell whatsoever thou hast,
and give to the poor j and come, take up the cross, and follow
ME.''
It is a significant fact, that some of the severest
sentences in the Gospels are applied to characters
which possess actual graces of feeling and of life.
Jesus did not come to teach the self-evident truth,
that morally abandoned men are sinners. Open vice,
indeed, appears doubly shameless in his presence.
In one sense, it may be said that it, is his peculiar
mission to speak to the prodigal, — to call him back,
penitent, redeemed, to his father's house. But it is
quite as necessary to convict men as to convert ; and,
therefore, he has another mission -which is of equal
consequence. He aims to instruct and stimulate the
conscience until it can detect radical defects in pre
viously unquestioned forms of character, and judge
life by divine standards. The young man to whom
the text refers had kept many of the commandments.
In his earnestness to see Jesus, he ran to overtake
him, and kneeled at his feet. Jesus loved him for

his enthusiasm, and for the graces of his character.
But, when his heart was probed, he went away
grieved, banished by a conscious dissimilarity of spirit
from the Eedeemer's side. In the parable of the rich
man and Lazarus, Dives is not represented as a man
of shameless sensuality : he was luxurious and self-
indulgent. Clad in his purple robe, and seated at his
sumptuous table, he forgot the beggar at his gate, and
left him to the compassion of the dogs. Mere indif
ference to human wants amidst the delights of self-
indulgence — a moral state which is matched in
countless homes to-day — was gradually wakened
into a remorse which became a quenchless fire.
Those who are condemned in Christ's picture of the
judgment are not criminals according to human laws
or human standards. They had not dreamed of their
deficiencies until they stood before the judgment-seat;
they had not recognized the Lord himself in the person
of their suiFering brother ; and had neglected to minis
ter to the poor, the prisoner, the bound. It is not only
the shameless criminals, but those who are indifferent
to a brother's welfare, though never committing atro
cious deeds, that stand at the left hand of the Judge.
The simple but significant services of ordination to
a Christian ministry, in the midst of social refinement,
of intellectual culture, of so much apparent moral
progress, suggest the questions, How does Christianity
confront the world's civilization, even in its noblest
and purest forms'? What message does the gospel
bring to human homes and human hearts, where men
are encompassed by its restraining and hallowing

influences, even from their birth, and grow up in
obedience to so many of its commandments l Is this
Christian ministry essentially modified by the external
Christianization of society 1 or is it like Christ himself,
" the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever " %
It is the grand peculiarity of Jesus, that he judges
men by their principles and motives, rather than by
their deeds. He places little value upon the out
ward differences of character which seem to separate
them, but points to the unity of principle which may
exist beneath these apparent differences. How shall
we illustrate this comprehensive spiritual classifica
tion "? "We look at differences of customs, color,
race, until we become blind to the truth of man's
universal brotherhood. Jesus points to the living
heart which God has fashioned alike in all ; to the
same passions, the same affections ; the same spiritual
nature, with its dread yet divine gift of conscience,
with its capacity for fellowship with the eternal Fa
ther, — until these radiant proofs of moral brother
hood banish the memory of superficial differences.
These bonds of union in the soul itself form an
imperishable chain, encircling us all alike, and bind
ing us as one spiritual family to one Father's throne.
Jesus classifies human character with the same com
prehensiveness. We look at conspicuous acts of vir
tue, at the cross of sacrifice raised before the world,
at munificent charities, until they seem proofs of pre
eminent excellence. Jesus points also to the secret
closets where lowly piety retreats for prayer ; to the
crucified will in humble, Christian men, which only

needs the call of circumstances to take up the mar
tyr's cross ; to the philanthropy which has no silver
nor gold to bestow, but which flows out in sympathy
and tears and prayers. Through a moral unity, those
who possess this unconspicuous virtue will sit down
together with Abraham and Isaac, with patriarchs
and apostles, in the higher fellowship of souls, and
reign with them in the kingdom of God. Notwith
standing lingering frailties and individual imperfec
tions, they are all clothed with the true wedding
garment. And the same comprehensive classification
which will emancipate the world by demonstrating
the brotherhood of men, which confirms the hope of
heaven by establishing the brotherhood of saints,
must be maintained when the picture is reversed.
We look at gross acts' of inhumanity, at crimes which
shock God and man. Jesus points also to the inhe
rent principle of evil in every unconsecrated heart, to
the lurking selfishness which postpones truth and
conscience to desire and passion ; and if men cannot
renounce themselves at the call of duty, if they can
not take up their cross to follow, he comprehends
them all in one great brotherhood, whose moral unity
is as clear, as indisputable, as that which exists in
the brotherhood of saints.
Here the objection may be made, that such a broad
classification is undiscriminating, and therefore unjust.
Men are unprepared and unwilling to admit the bro
therhood of sinners, though they claim the same argu
ment to prove the brotherhood of saints. They speak
of a thousand individual distinctions of character

which, they say, render such a general classification
impossible, if not absurd. But the classifications of
the gospel are not made without discrimination.
Jesus was not undiscriminating when he condemned
the young man who had kept so many of the com
mandments. We are undiscriminating when we do
not detect the unity of heart beneath differences in
conduct. Is it the form which selfishness assumes
that condemns it before Godl Is the grossness or
the gracefulness of its manifestations the basis of
decision when it is tried by the love of Calvary % The
stream has many changing aspects. Now it rushes
on in one deep, dark flood ; and now it spreads into a
placid lake ; and now it leaps and sparkles in the sun
beams, and is robed in rainbows : but it is the self
same stream beneath every varied dress. The strong
current of selfishness in human hearts assumes many
aspects as it flows out in feeling and in action. Now
it manifests its dark relentlessness of purpose ; and
now it smiles, and puts on a garb of grace : but it is
the same alien spirit still. Was the idolatry of classic
days, when temples and statues made its worship
beautiful, less truly idolatry than the rude sacrifices
of ruder ages and ruder men ] or is the self-indulgence,
where taste and fashion and art add their charm to
the feast, less truly a worship of sense than the
coarser sensualities of abandoned passion % Does the
decency or the indecency of selfishness create a radi
cal distinction, which places one on the right hand,
and the other on the left1? Is he undiscriminating
who forgets outward differences of action while men's

hearts are one 1. or is it he who is blinded by these
outward differences, and overlooks that moral unity,
the central power and sovereign fact in life1?
These minor distinctions disappear when Jesus
touches our eyes. The classifications of the gospel
rest upon everlasting spiritual distinctions. It is
something — in some points of view, it is much — to
respect right principles in outward action. Still, I
detect no vital distinction in character between one
man who pursues selfish aims with unremitting stead
fastness within the pale of outward honesty and hu
man law, and another, who, stimulated by the same
motive, oversteps the bounds of law or honesty; but
I see a vital distinction between them both and the
moral integrity of the Son of God. I cannot enter
into the dispute between the Pharisee and the publi
can when both are sinners, except to recognize the
fact that the apparently greater transgressor, in the
humility which his conscious unworthiness inspires,
is nearest to the kingdom of heaven. When we stand
upon the earth, the varieties upon its surface seem
vast indeed. Here are deep valleys, and there are
mountains which pierce the clouds ; but, could we look
down from the skies, the whole would appear as one
unbroken level. When we measure men by human
standards, the differences between their outward deeds
seem to sink some into the depths of degradation, and
raise others to the mountain-heights of excellence ¦
but how many of these differences would disappear if
we could look down from the judgment-seat ! If the
great indictment is proved, and Jesus says, "One

9
thing thou lackest," these individual variations are of
minor consequence. Let them be recognized and
weighed ; but let them not be pleaded for an abate
ment of the judgment. This man's, selfishness never
led to such high-handed deeds as have disgraced the
publican by his side. What then 1 Is he, therefore,
in fellowship with Jesus % He has not trampled down
his conscience in so many ways. What then % Has
he not disobeyed that voice of God when besetting
passion tempted ] What avail controversies respect
ing shades of ill-desert, when there is a real brother
hood in principle and heart 1 If the crowd upon the
left hand of the Judge should dispute for ages respect
ing the degree of their individual sinfulness, they
would never thus prove themselves worthy to stand
among the accepted ones.
When we try the character by the standard which
Jesus presents, we look at principles rather than at
deeds. This fact explains one phenomenon in deep
spiritual experience. We are surprised to hear men,
of apparent uprightness, in hours of deeper feeling
lament their lingering selfishness and frailty in con
fessions which only seem appropriate to deeds of
shame and crime ; we pronounce such language de
lusion or pretence: but, when man once obtains a
clear vision of divine principles, he gains a moral
sensitiveness which appears absurd to the slumbering
conscience. In the Eastern legend, the real features
of the prophet were concealed by a splendid veil,
which dazzled every eye; but, when the veil was
raised, those who previously worshipped fled in horror.

10
So it sometimes is with human character. When its
deep selfishness and dark traits are veiled, its apparent
beauty charms the heart ; but, when a keen spiritual
insight looks through these outward appearances to
the principle of life, the charm is dispelled, and, in
stead of a form of grace, we behold the features of
sin. These deep confessions from sincere lips are not
delusions, but tokens of divine tenderness of con
science. The rapture of the saint, and the humiliation
of the penitent, are equally mysterious to unspiritual
men. Even the heavens are impure to the eye of
God ; and, when his Spirit comes into the heart of
man to judge him, who can speak except with the
lowly confession, " Unclean, unclean " ]
" One thing thou lackest," said Jesus to the young
man, notwithstanding the apparent virtues in his
character. And that one defect was vital and over
whelming. The lesson is for every man, and for all
ages. We do not always realize that the profound
spiritual requisitions which were made in the first
days of the Christian faith were everlasting necessi
ties, and not temporary exigencies. We feel that the
phrase, " Take up the cross," had a meaning amidst
the perils of martyrdoms and crucifixions; but we
almost fancy it now to be a figure of speech which
has lost its old significance. Yet human nature is
unchanged by the changes of ages, — unchanged
while heaven and earth pass away. Man's selfishness
is as deep, and his will as strong, to-day, as when
Jesus spoke in Palestine. There are new helps for
sorrowing hearts since Jesus lived and died and rose :

11

but human affection is still the same unfathomed
love ; and it requires the same self-crucifying resigna
tion to-day to say, by the side of the tomb, " Thy will
be done," as when the sisters of Lazarus went to the
grave to weep there. There are new aids to strug
gling hearts since Jesus vanquished the Tempter, and
reached out his hand to save the falling ; new influ
ences to save the sinning, since he bled at Calvary :
but human nature has lost none of its mighty passions ;
and it needs the same divine force to bring it under
the sway of truth and love, to-day, as when Jesus first
said, " Take up the cross." The changes of circum
stances, the growth of civilization, neither set aside
Christ's requisitions, nor bring men nearer to his
divine standard. The passions of Judea and of Eome ;
the ambition, the pride, the selfishness, the sensual
ity, of human nature, — still remain in Christendom.
New and more damning frauds startle us with every
coming day. Pagan hearts beat under Christian vest
ments. The idol-temples have been overturned, until
not one stone is left upon another. No forms of
wood or marble or gold seduce men from the worship
of the living God; yet the qualities which every idol-
deity represented still exist to tempt men, more insi
diously, but with equal power. Man has spiritualized
both his false and his true worship ; and though the
temples are overturned, and their gods deserted and
despised, still the idol-worship lives. Not one call to
profound self-denial, not one deep Christian requisi
tion, has become obsolete, or can become so while
man continues to be man.

12
" Take up the cross," said Jesus to the young man
whom he looked uppn with love. The doctrine is not
essentially affected by the natural graces which men
so often possess. Every man, perhaps, has a natural
tendency to certain excellences or graces which adorn
his character. A natural benevolence or humility or
temperance or meekness may be a part of his original
spiritual inheritance. All men possess instinctive
affections which may build up homes, and endow
them with the exhaustless wealth of love. What
moral laws each man obeys through the influence of
temperament ! He may be proud, or even sensual ; yet
he may have a compassion which is quickly moved
for human suffering, and possess a fine instinctive
charity. He may be grasping and selfish; yet he
may be meek and temperate, little exposed to moral
peril from the strength of passion. < Dissect the cha
racter of each living man, and you will find natural
graces as well as natural defects. Some things every
man has kept from his youth, even when he lacks the
great thing which consecrates and vitalizes all. These
natural graces do not modify the grand Christian re
quisitions. In the first place, this natural goodness
is partial, and co-exists with opposite qualities. Man
is not to repose upon his inherited tendencies to good :
he is to turn to the deep defects of his character,
and to strive, by the divine power of a new spirit, to
win the missing virtues. The special work may seem
to differ in each man's life. In one, the new life is to
develop a benevolence which bears the likeness of the
Eedeemer's love ; in another, it is to create a meek-

13

ness which, when reviled, reviles not again; in an
other still, it is to hold passion in check, until the law
of temperance is enforced upon every limb and mem
ber ; in all alike, it is to crucify the selfish aim and
will. In one sense, each man's peculiar cross may
seem different from that which is laid upon every
other man ; but, in another and a deeper sense, every
man must take the same cross, — a cross which it will
demand all human energy, strengthened by heavenly
grace, to enable him triumphantly to bear.
These natural graces do not modify the Christian
requisitions ; for, in the second place, they need to be
baptized into a new spirit, which will convert them
into positive virtues, and clothe them with a heavenly
beauty. There is a natural compassion, which brings
men together with hurrying feet when the cry of dis
tress pierces their ear. What light it pours into the
human countenance ! what words of sympathy, what
deeds of kindness, it inspires ! It is a ray of the
divine love in the soul of man, beaming out from the
same inspiration which gave him understanding.
Man's work is to strive to deepen and glorify that
natural grace, until it becomes an omnipresent, sove
reign principle, like the tireless benevolence of the
Son of God. Then each instinctive ministry of com
passion is exercised with new promptitude and de
votion; then a profound, self-moving spirit of love
gushes up like a living well, and flows out in plans of
beneficence that propose the reformation, the redemp
tion, of the world. Christianity ennobles and exalts
every true impulse of human nature, every thing

14
which man deems magnanimous or pure. Every
worthy feeling is glorified by the new spirit which
Jesus inspires. How beautiful is parental love, that
choicest gift of nature, that symbol of the infinite
Father's tenderness, even in its natural and instinctive
ministries ! What all-enduring watchfulness, what
self-forgetting devotion, it inspires ! But how much
more beautiful, how divine, it becomes, when it is
hallowed by the spirit of the Christ! The natural
affection would shield its object from the pain even of
a redeeming cross ; the spiritual love, in its diviner
aims, would inspire a devotion to humanity and truth,
even though it must involve a rejection and crucifixion
by men. The one is too often animated by earthly
fancies and unworthy hopes, notwithstanding its win
ning grace. It comes with the ambitious prayer,
" Grant that these my sons may sit in the seats of
power." The other comprehends immortality, eternity,
in its thought, and prays that the baptism of Christ
may be meekly and bravely borne, if through that.
path of self-crucifixion the soul may pass on to its
ascension. The one fashions silken cords, which bind
us to the world; the other creates a divine virtue,
which becomes a point of transition opening the way
into heaven. Take each noble trait of human nature,
take a character in which every such trait exists in its
highest beauty, if such a character may be found, and
add the inspiration and the grace which the spirit of
religion gives, and the change is like that of the trans
figuration, when the peasant-dress of Jesus became a
robe of eternal light.

15
The gospel reiterates its ancient sentence, " One
thing thou lackest," to every human soul. When
man takes up his cross to struggle against the weak
and the base things in his character, and labors to
develop the features of the life of Jesus where once
dwelt selfishness or envy, lust or pride; above all,
when he pours the consecration of a new spirit into
every noble trait of nature, to give it a deeper mean
ing and a diviner aim, and to cause it to be " clothed
upon " with the life of the Lord from heaven, — then
he obeys the Christian law of self-crucifixion, and
walks in the steps of the Son of God. There is no
consistency, no steadfastness, no security, unless he is
controlled by this sovereign spirit of loyalty. The
unregenerated heart, like the uncultivated earth, pro
duces thistles and thorns as well as flowers ; and the
thistles and thorns full often choke the plants of
heaven. Without a sovereign, regenerating principle,
character becomes the mirror of the world's conven
tional moralities, and reflects its vices as well as its
virtues. What moral delinquencies are explained by
this single fact ! The unchristianized heart — keep
ing many of the commandments, perhaps, yet still
unchristianized — is borne on by the current of social
life whithersoever it flows. So the child of the North,
transferred to different scenes, amidst different social
influences, brandishes the lash over dilatory slaves, or
grasps the pistol of the duellist with murderous hand ;
but the self-renouncing, Heaven-poised soul is ready to
bear the cross of reproach and shame for conscience'
sake, and becomes invulnerable to the shafts of temp
tation or the assaults of the world.

16
Man is to banish all undiscriminating, superficial
moral judgments, and look into himself, and out upon
the world, in the clear light of eternal principle. The
human heart is the same to-day as when Jesus sent
the young man away in sorrow. The world's progress
has not eradicated ambition or pride or selfishness,
or even sensuality, from human nature. Knowledge
may sometimes be laid at the feet of unchristian desire,
to become a new instrument by which to accomplish
its aims and build up its throne. Circumstances
seem to make the path of truth and righteousness
more or less difficult in different ages ; and yet it can
never be more, and never less, difficult to exterminate
the selfish will. At one time, the struggle may be
amidst perils and crosses before a gazing world ; at
another, it may be unseen, like that of Jesus in the
wilderness. But as the same devotion which over
came the Tempter nerved Jesus to bear the cross up
the steep of Calvary ; so a like devotion in true souls
to-day, amidst an outwardly peaceful life, would wake
to heroism, if the old cross could literally be built
again. Man is not called to a negative, instinctive
excellence, such as nature alone inspires ; but to a
positive holiness, such as a will, made firm and true
by heavenly grace, attains. There is innocence on the
face of the child. When I look upon its countenance,
I understand why Jesus pointed to it as the image of
the spirit which opens the kingdom of God. In its
fresh, overflowing sympathies, it dances on, a charm
and a joy, in the sight of earth and heaven ; but it
becomes a diviner being when Jesus takes it in his

17
arms and blesses it. Perhaps with sharper, or per
haps with gentler, struggles the life of the Son of
God may be born ; but, without that spiritual birth,
it will never become divine. There is a beauty and a
peace on the brow of the child, when it stands in the
sunshine of human love ; but there is a more celestial
beauty and a diviner peace on the brow of the man,
when his heart is irradiated by the sunshine of the
Father's countenance, and borne up by the omnipo
tence of faith. I know not what strange and tearful
expressions may pass over the face, before the charm
of innocence will be changed into the glory of holi
ness. Perhaps the forehead may be bathed with a
bloody sweat. Yet man is to strive, nevertheless, to
gain the patience and meekness and love, those divine
laurels, those godlike virtues, which crowned Him who
was lifted up in perfect moral victory. The graces of
nature are inconstant, and often give place to lower
qualities equally native in the heart. Man is to seek
and pray for the divine resolve which holds each sin
in check, until it can be rooted out, and which aspires
towards a consistency that will clothe him in a gar
ment without a seam. Whatever gift or grace he
seems to win, one thing he always lacks, until in ear
nest consecration he takes up his cross to follow.
Then the new central spirit will send new and fresh
streams of life into every limb and member, until the
new-born child of God attains the stature of a perfect
manhood, and wins the moral image of his Lord.
Amidst the revolutions of centuries, amidst the rise
and the decays of civilizations, the gospel comes with

18
two grand messages, which it is the Christian teacher's
duty and glory alike to bear. One message never
changes. It is the same to-day as when it pierced the
conscience by the Jordan's banks ; and it involves an
experience which, although it appears to vary in men
of different temperaments, is essentially the same in
all hearts and in all ages. It summons man to recog
nize a divine law once incarnated in Him who first
bore the cross, — a law which is above all human
thought and human will and human law, and which
is to control the central feeling and the minutest acts
of men, as the power of God controls the planets, and
directs every grain of dust. Then each new disciple
re-establishes in himself the old spirit of allegiance
and loyalty which inspired the first apostles, and the
confessors who stood against the world. I do not
wonder that the word " regeneration " holds a central
place in the teaching of Jesus* It means the adop
tion, for time and for eternity, of the spiritual position
which we have so briefly described, and the new life
which is then communicated to the human soul. It
is not strange that the word is dear to the ear of
Christian disciples, and that the truth which it covers
is cherished with sleepless vigilance in the heart of
Christendom. It is not strange that earnest men
shrink from and loathe every superficial teaching
which deals with outside moralities, spiritual decen
cies, and does not transfix the conscience and electrify
the heart. They know the need of the new power
which the new life bestows to enable them to con
quer themselves and to conquer the world. As the

19
learned teacher and the ignorant Galilean, the Phari-.
see who gathered his robes close about him, and the
sinners who thronged to hear the wonderful Prophet,
felt their fancied differences rent away by Christ's
discriminations, so men need to feel to-day when
the gospel is preached. When the divine word
touches the human conscience, men find themselves
standing side by side in one common need, as if with
united hands ; and the same electric shock thrills
every breast around the globe. Then genius bows
its kingly brow to the dust to share the common
penitence, and the knees of monarchs smite together
upon their thrones. The gospel has one message
which never changes. I listen to it in the past ; and,
from the days of the first apostles until now, I hear
the unbroken succession, the endless chant of voices,
responding to its appeals, as new disciples enrolled
themselves in the sacramental host, — "I determined
not to know any thing save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified ; " and, as I turn to the future, I catch the
words of the same confession coming up in fainter
and fainter tones through remoter and still remoter
ages, yet clear, distinct, like the strokes of a far-distant
bell, and ringing out for evermore the same heavenly
melody. But the same law has another message. It sets up
one law; but it is a law which has an infinity of
applications. It is to reign at the centre, and reach
each point in the circumference, of human action.
It is to be like the living heart; and as that sends
new energy throughout the system into every limb

20
and vein, so the new spiritual life diffuses its in
spiration through every faculty of the soul, until it
baptizes every thought and deed. The old spirit of
allegiance undertakes new and varied works of love
in the different phases of the world's experience : it
will undertake new and varied works through the
revolutions of centuries on earth, and through the
eternity which awaits us in the heavens. Vast and
beneficent moral reformations, the overthrow of social
injustice, emancipation from human bondage, are the
attendant glories which accompany the progress of
Jesus towards his true dominion over the world.
Here, in the applications of 'the great Christian law,
we find a message which is as various as the manifes
tations of human sin and the possibilities of human
virtue. Wherever man falters, wherever sin lurks or
soars, there the law is to carry its message and its
warning ; wherever new and divine works can be
done, there it is to go with its inspiration. As the
gospel unfolds brighter conceptions of the heavenly
life, and the redemption which it designs to give,
new ideas of duty, new systems of beneficent action,
will rise before the mind, as new worlds, and new
systems of worlds, beam out before the wondering
astronomer when his telescopes open the depths of
space. And as it only needs new and more perfect
instruments to discover new globes and spheres in the
overarching sky ; so it only needs a clearer eye and
a purer heart to discover new and more godlike ideals
for the individual man, and for the race, in the yet
unexplored deeps of the word of Jesus ; and man

21

will sooner name all the stars, and exhaust the uni
verse, than number the deeds of love which will be
commanded in the complete development of the prin
ciple which first enrolls him in the fellowship of true
disciples. We speak of two gospel messages which the
teacher is to bear ; yet the two are really one : it is
but one message in two forms. The disciple, to-day
and always, presents one Christ in the infinitely rich
and varied applications which the wealth of his life
supplies. He can make no applications of the law
till its authority be first established. It is as vain to
demand Christian duties to-day from those who have
not adopted Christian principles, as it would have
been to ask an apostolic devotion, in the times of
martyrdom, from those who had not first taken up
the cross. But the teacher establishes the law first
for the sake of its future applications. He does not
attempt to turn the doctrine of the living Christ into
a dead generality, and bury Jesus himself in a para
lytic faith: he bids faith arise, and walk through
the world's dark places, until the wrongs, the oppres
sions, the stripes, those vices of barbarism nestling
close to Christian altars, shall be cast out of Chris
tendom as the money-changers were cast out of the
temple which they profaned.
This nominal Christendom becomes a real Chris
tendom, the kingdom of God, wherever this gospel
message, which is ever old and ever new, is nobly
proclaimed and meekly obeyed. Every administra
tion of truth which modifies it, or blunts its point,

22
produces a semblance of Christian decency instead of
a Christlike regeneration. When men are brought,
one by one, to the divine position of loyal disciple
ship, the way is open for the church to become one.
Paul and James and Peter and John, though so dif
ferent in their individual character, felt the same
holy fire of devotion and of love when they stood
side by side before the cross, — the symbol alike of the
self-renunciation which made them disciples, and of
the love by which they were redeemed. Eaise men
to the same grand level, to be thrilled by the same
regenerating life, and, while a thousand minor differ
ences must remain, they will begin to feel, that,
though there are " diversities of gifts," there is " the
same Spirit," and, though there are " differences of
administrations," there is " the same Lord." They
will learn to clasp hands who lie on one Master's
breast. Such a ministry of regeneration not only tends to
unite the church, but to overcome the world. God's
kingdom comes, we say again, as each human soul
repeats that old vow of devotion. Thus the founda
tions are to be laid on which the new Jerusalem of
God will hereafter be built among human homes.
Each new Christian generation starts from the point
to which the preceding one attained, and, borne on
by the same principle of allegiance, ascends to a still
higher development of Christian thought and life.
There are grand cathedrals for Christian worship,
which men through many centuries have labored to
gether to build. One generation laid the foundation,

23

and each succeeding one placed a single course upon
the firm and massive walls, until at last they stood
complete in beauty, to delight the world for ever.
So the nobler temple, which is to be built up in the
new life of the race, shall be reared in its divine ma
jesty, at once the glory of all lands and the joy of
heaven. Here and everywhere may such a ministry
be established. Every lover of truth, every genuine
disciple, longs to hear its words of life and peace;
every suffering and sinning man, every fettered slave,
waits for its words of power and love ; and the saints
of all ages, and the overshadowing Spirit, will crown
it with eternal benedictions.

RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP;
DELIVERED AT THE
OEDINATION OF REV. ALFRED PORTER PUTNAM,
Deo. 19, 1855,
BY REV. J. H. PHIPPS.

In the name of the churches here represented, I am commissioned,
my brother, to extend to you tbe hand of fellowship ; and, al
though this act may not signify precisely what it once did, it is still
an appropriate expression of the feelings that belong to this occa
sion ; and, consequently, it is something more and better than an
empty ceremony. It tells you, that, from this time forth, you are
to stand here a recognized minister of Christ : it tells you that you
are received into "the company and fellowship of that brotherhood
whose peculiar privilege it is to preach the salvation and the conso
lations of the gospel : it represents the confidence that is felt in
your integrity, and in your fitness for the vocation you have chosen,
the interest that is cherished in your behalf, and which has as
sembled so goodly a company to witness these solemnities to-day ;
the prayers that are offered, and that will continue to be offered,
that you may be a successful preacher of the word of God : it re
presents the pledge we make to you, as members of the church of
Christ and as ministers of bis truth, that, amid all the trials and
difficulties of your ministry, we will not be unmindful of your
welfare, but will cherish you in our hearts as a brother in Christ.
So understanding this right hand of fellowship, I extend it to you
with the utmost cordiality and good faith ; and I beg you to accept
it as the symbol of the friendliness and sympathy that are enter
tained toward you by all in whose behalf it is given ; accept it as
the most expressive token we can give you of the sense we have of
4

26

your desire to be a true and faithful worker in the Lord's vineyard ;
accept it as the expression of the pleasure we feel in ordaining
you to the responsible and honorable office of a minister of Christ ;
for, notwithstanding all that may be said or thought in disparage
ment of the ministerial office in these times, it is a high privilege
to be permitted to discharge its functions ; and therefore it is with
unfeigned satisfaction that I greet you at the commencement of
your new career, and hail you as a fellow-laborer in the ministry
of the gospel. Gladly do we open our hearts to you as to a brother
worthy of our respect and sympathy, and bid you welcome to the
noblest of callings.
True, the ministry has its difficulties and discouragements ; and I
would not disguise from you this fact, as I believe you have not
disguised it from yourself: but believing, as I do, that you are re
solved patiently to encounter whatever discouragements may attend
your ministry, that you are willing to bear whatever burdens and
to make whatever sacrifices your position may require, — if so be
you can extend a little the empire of Christian truth and charity, —
I offer you a hearty welcome ; not doubting that the work to which
you have been set apart will prosper in your hands. I welcome you
to its opportunities and responsibilities, — and they are many and
great ; I welcome you to the prerogative — it belongs to your office
and no human argument can invalidate it — of a discreet and con
scientious utterance of Christian truth, in its application to all ini
quitous customs and to all inhuman institutions ; I welcome you to
the bearing of consolatory messages to the homes of the afflicted
and to the chambers of the dying ; I welcome you to the privilege
of preaching Christ the authority, the necessity of regeneration,
and the blessedness of the heavenly life.
And, while offering you this welcome, I hazard nothing in say
ing that this occasion is regarded by the Christian community to
which you belong with entire satisfaction ; and, although the ex
pression of this feeling may never reach you, it must be an encou
ragement to know that it exists.
To those of us who have known you long and well ; who have
witnessed your perseverance in the preparation for the position you
have this day assumed ; who know how deeply you desire to banish
all secular purposes, all unworthy ambition, all that can militate
against earnestness and simplicity, and to be a useful minister of
Christ in the sphere to which you have been called, ¦ — it is an oeca-

27
sion of great interest and of sincere gratitude to Him who has
brought you, restored in health and strength, unto this auspicious
day. To yourself, while it is an occasion of gladness, it must also be
one of sadness. So much of life is crowded into this brief hour,
that it can scarcely be otherwise than solemn and affecting. With
it, the season of preparation ends ; with it, the period of actual re
sponsible service begins. The work to which you have looked
forward with pleasing expectations has become a present and a
grave reality. The misgivings, which, years ago, threatened to
confine you to the more alluring sphere of worldly endeavor, have
been laid aside by the influence of a Christian purpose, and by the
persuasions of one * whose memory is as precious to those who
knew him in life as his death was unexpected and afflicting. Ob
stacles that seemed insurmountable have, one by one, been van
quished; and now, the hopes of years fulfilled, you are entering
upon the long contemplated field of labor and responsibility ; and
though a united society are waiting for your ministrations, and all
things give augury of a prosperous and useful career, it is easy to
imagine that this is an hour in your experience of unusual solici
tude and sadness. Not unlikely, in view of what you have witnessed
and heard of the difficulties and labors and trials of the ministerial
profession, you may be almost ready to question your sufficiency for
these things. That at such a season as this you should experience
something of solicitude and self-distrust, is natural, and to be ex
pected. However this may be, you certainly have no good cause
for discouragement. Taking your place here, with an earnest desire
to be guided in all things by that wisdom which cometh by prayer,
with sympathies that no form of human suffering will ever appeal
to in vain, with a determination to labor in all legitimate ways for
the advancement of your people in Christian knowledge and holi
ness, you are secure, at least, against that failure which brings with
it dishonor and self-reproach. Cherishing such desires and pur
poses ; looking upon your position not as one of mere official dignity,
but as furnishing opportunities for bringing souls unto Christ, —
opportunities that cannot consistently be, neglected for any other
pursuits, however agreeable; holding yourself in readiness to do
every thing that Heaven shall give you power to do for the further-
* Israel Alden Putnam.

28
ance of the truth as it is in Jesus, — you may safely leave the issue
with God. Moreover, you will be assisted in your efforts by the
counsel and support of others. It will certainly be strange, if,
among the people of your charge, there are not some earnest
Christian men and women who will co-operate with you in every
good work, who will generously appreciate your endeavors in their
behalf, whose sympathizing and approving looks will inspire you
with confidence in many a season of distrust and trial. Above and
beyond all, in every difficult exigency needful strength will be ob
tained from Him who has called you to be a servant in the church
of his Son ; and, in the hour when most painfully conscious of your
incompetency for the task in hand, assistance will be given you, so
that at no time will you be destitute of some word of instruction or
warning or exhortation wherewith to urge your people forward
toward the heavenly state.
And so I welcome you, once more, to this inspiring field of duty, in
the hope that you will not grow weary or disheartened as the novelty
of your position wears away, but that, amid all discouragements and
defeats, you may, through Christ assisting you, maintain a coura
geous and tranquil mind. May happiness be vouchsafed to you in
such measures as are consistent with your ministerial usefulness
and with your progress in the Christian life ; may every reasonable
expectation which this occasion inspires be fulfilled ; through your
exertions, may many souls be converted to God ; may humanity
and faith, Christian piety and righteousness, increase abundantly
under your ministry ; and as year after year rolls over your head,
and the enthusiasm of youth declines, may you be cheered and sus
tained by a constant and ever-growing sense of the dignity and
blessedness of being a co-worker with Christ for the establishment
of the kingdom of God ; to whose paternal favor and guidance I
devoutly commend you, until that day when all your earthly labors
shall be ended, and this mortal shall put on immortality.

29

dBritrn" af jSuHns

ORDINATION OF MR. ALFRED P. PUTNAM,
AB PASTOR OF THE
MT. PLEASANT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SOCIETY
IN KOXBTJRY,
ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1855.

I. ANTHEM.

II. INVOCATION.
KEV. A. R. POPE.

III. SELECTIONS FROM SCRIPTURE.
REV. OKINDALL REYNOLDS.

IV. ORIGINAL HYMN.
BY MR. LEWIS G. PRAT.
Around thine altar, Lord, this day,
Thy people here their homage pay, —
Would seek thy grace, thy love review,
As they thy mercies taste anew.
Lord, thou hast sent thy servant here ;
His purpose let thy presence cheer,
As, bending low and reverent, he
Devotes his powers, himself, to thee.

30
0 Father ! grant him from above
Thine aid to speak the truth in love ;
So may his words like dew distil,
And every heart with blessings fill.
Lord, help him, when Christ's feast is spread,
To break with holy peace its bread ;
And send him forth, with shepherd's crook,
To lead the lambs by Kedron's brook.
As varied scenes his powers shall try,
Lord, with thine aid be ever nigh, —
His people's love, a cheering light,
And thou his strength in death's dark night.

V. SERMON.
REV. GEORGE W. BRIGGS, D.D.

VI. PRAYER OF ORDINATION.
REV. CHANDLER BOBBINS, D.D.

VII. HYMN.
(SELECTED.)
0 Lord of life and truth and grace,
Ere nature was begun !
Make welcome to our erring race
Thy Spirit and thy Son.
We hail the church, built high o'er all
The heathen's rage and scoff;
Thy providence its fenced wall,
" The Lamb the light thereof."
Thy Christ hath reached his heavenly seat
Through sorrows and through scars ;
The golden lamps are at his feet,
And in his hands the stars.
Oh ! may he walk among us here
With his rebuke and love, —
A brightness o'er this lower sphere,
A rav from worlds above.

31

VIII. CHARGE TO THE PASTOR.
REV. JAMES FREEMAN OLARKE.

IX. RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP.

REV. J. H. PHIPPS.

X. ANTHEM.

XI. ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE.
REV. P. D. HUNTINGTON, D.D.

XII. CONCLUDING PRAYER.
REV. GEORGE PUTNAM, D.D.

XIII. DOXOLOGY.
From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise ;
Let the Eedeemer's name be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.
Eternal are thy mercies, Lord ;
Eternal truth attends thy word :
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.

XIV. BENEDICTION.

BY THE PASTOR.

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