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FAREWELL SERMON,

PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1861.

TO THE

woifo ^efonnA futtjj <%r4

SEVENTH STKEET, ABOVE BROWN, PHILADELPHIA,

REV. J. F. BERG, D.D.

PHILADELPHIA:
A. M. SPANGLER, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, 25 NORTH SIXTH ST.
1861.

Philadelphia, September 2d, 1861.
Rev. Joseph P. Bebo, D. D.
Esteemed Friend :
The undersigned, members of the Consistory
and Board of Trustees, of the Second Reformed Dutch Church, respectfully
request for publication, your Farewell Sermon, delivered last evening, believ
ing that in making this request, they fully represent the •wishes, not only of
our entire congregation, but also of your numerous friends in other churches,
to have the same put in a form for preservation and future edification.
FRANCIS GRICE,
JOSEPH CAMPBELL,
WM. S. GREEN,
SAMUEL LODER.
HENRY INGHAM,
GEORGE R. PEDDLE,
JAMES B. RORER,
EDWARD McCARTY,
GEORGE CLIFT,
CHAS. LAWALL, &c.

New Brunswick, September Bd, 1861.
To Messrs. F. Gkice, G. R. Peddle, J. B. Rob.ee and others.
Dear Brethren :
The MSS. which you request me to furnish, is at your
disposal. With my best wishes for your prosperity as a church, and for your
personal happiness, I am, Yours truly, J. F. BERG.

FAREWELL SERMON

OF

Rev- J. IF. BERG, D.D
PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1861.

Finally, brethren, farewell : be perfect : be of good comfort : be of one mind :
live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you. — 2 Con., xiii., ii.
These are Paul's Farewell Words to the Church at Corinth. In
these short sentences, the apostle condenses the most comprehensive
lessons of Christian counsel, comfort and encouragement. The Church
at Corinth had heen founded by St. Paul, and the Lord had given him
signal manifestations of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in
that city. He had first, as was his wont, preached in the synagogue,
but when the Jews blasphemed the name of Christ and derided the
gospel, he boldly answered them — " Your blood be upon your own
heads ; I am clean ; from henceforth I will go unto the G-entiles."
Among the first converts of his ministry in Corinth, we find the name
of Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, who with all his house,
believed on the Lord. " Many of the Corinthians also, hearing, believed
and were baptized." In a vision of the night, the Lord appeared to
Paul and said to him; "Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy
peace ; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee :
for I have much people in this city." Thus assured, the Apostle
labored with great earnestness and continued there a year and six
months, teaching the word of God among them. As the fruit of his

6 FAREWELL SERMON OF REV. J. F. BERG, D. D.
labors, a large and flourishing Church was gathered in Corinth, and
though the inhabitants of that city were noted throughout all Greece
for their luxury and voluptuous habits, the Gospel of Christ was
honored in the conversion of a multitude to the self-denying faith of
the Lord Jesus. To them, Paul addressed two Epistles, designed to
edify the Church and correct certain abuses which had crept into their
practice and worship after his departure from them. At the close of
his last letter, as already remarked j we find the words of the text..
They indicate the deep concern which St. Paul felt in the spiritual
welfare and prosperity of a people, who were peculiarly dear to him.
He was indeed bound to them by the strongest ties. They were the
seals of his ministry. Of them he could say, as he did say to the
Church of Thessalonica, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of
rejoicing ? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ,
at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy." This is the strongest
affirmation of enduring affection. The relations of life may be in a
measure merely accidental ; the intimacies of worldly friendship, or the
affinities of blood, even the strongest ties of nature may be sundered,
never to know a reunion, but the spiritual affinity between the ambassa
dor for Christ and the souls whom God has given him, are destined to
survive the wreck of this world and of all its treasures, and there, in
the presence of the Lord Jesus, when this earth shall hang burning
beneath the feet of its King, at his coming, they who have believed
will be the pastor's joy and crown of rejoicing. Oh ! how often and
how earnestly the apostle expresses this thought. " My Brethren,
dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the
Lord, my dearly beloved." What your lot may be, or where it may be
cast, in the days of your earthly pilgrimage, is comparatively of little
moment, only Brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, stand fast in the
Lord ! With this feeling in his heart, the Apostle bids the Christians
at Corinth, " Be perfect."
1. This is his first admonition. If any advocate of the doctrine of
present sinless perfection should cite this passage as a proof-text, he
would grossly misapprehend the Apostle's meaning. The word
rendered " Be perfect," and it is a single word, has reference more to
the symmetry and due proportion of the parts of a body, or of a struc-

PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1861. 7
ture, than to any abstract moral qualities. In another passage,, its
participle is rendered, "joined together;" " that ye be perfectly joined
together in the same mind " — and in this passage, St. Paul seems to
have regard to the harmonious symmetry of character, which he desires
Christians to exhibit. He would not have them neglect one duty of
their high vocation, in their zeal for another. He desires that they
should give to each department of Christian duty the attention which
it deserves. He would not have them one-sided and so incomplete —
and with this idea, the word is rendered, "Be perfect." In applying
the admonition to you, my brethren, suffer me; among the last words
which I shall ever address to you, as your pastor, to press upon, your
remembrance, the import of this exhortation, " Be perfect." In the
ordinary routine ofthe duties of a Christian profession, as members of
the body of Christ, you have an interest at stake; both in the temporal
and spiritual prosperity of the Church of God. Maintain the symmetry
of your Christian character by due attention to both. See to it that
you honor the Lord with your substance, as cheerfully as you worship
him by acts of praise in his house. And whilst you give freely, as you
have freely received of the Lord, for the support of the gospel, forsake
not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is,
but remember the Lord waits to meet you with gracious answers to your
prayers, as often as you seek him with all your heart. In your families,
teach your children and all your household the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom. Let the Church be in your house. In
his family, let each one regard himself as the pastor of a flock over
which the Holy Ghost hath made him overseer ; to feed the flock of
Christ and walk before the Lord with a perfect heart, in godly sincerity
and humble, child-like piety. So shall the blessing of the Lord rest
upon your homes, and make them radiant with the smiles of holy cheer
fulness and godly contentment. Honor the Lord who has bought you.
Honor him in your own house ; honor him in the House of God.
Honor him in your relations with the world, and let integrity and
uprightness preserve you. Never suffer the temporal interests of the
Church to languish, because you withhold from its treasury that which
you owe. Never allow the hearts of your brethren to become faint,
because when they ineet to ask the Lord's blessing on his people, your

8 FAREWELL SERMON OF REV. J. F. BERG, D. D.
place is usually vacant. Never grieve the Spirit of God, or dishonor
the Church which Jesus loved and for which He gave himself, by con
duct indiscreet, or inconsistent with your public profession of his name
— but living near to God, abiding under his shadow, trusting him with
all your heart, loving him with all your soul, and rejoicing", whether
you live or whether you die, that you are the Lord's — " Be perfect."
2. St. Paul says again : " Be of good comfort." Why should a
Christian ever be despondent ? Who shall harm you, if ye be followers
of that which is good ? Satan cannot harm you. The bitterest foe
in human form cannot harm you. All the enemies of God and Christ
can do you no hurt, without the Lord's consent, and even if they kill
the body, they do but hurry the Christian all the sooner to his home.
Be of good comfort. Why should you not be ? What is there in all
the universe that can harm the child of God ? This world belongs to
Christ. Heaven is his^— He controls the powers of hell : and He is
the Defender of His people ; nay, He is more, He is their Eedeemer.
All heaven sympathizes with you, and though the world and the rulers
of darkness are against you, Christ your King and Saviour has con
quered them all, and he fixes the bounds which they cannot pass.
True, you must bear griefs and sorrows ; you must have tribulation.
These trials are all in the covenant, and so is the grace you need to
bear them. Your dearest temporal relations or associations, are from
their nature, transitory. — We must all learn in the order of God's
providence, each one in his season, what we are all so slow to under
stand, that our life is a history of changes, and that these vicissitudes
are part of the discipline which fits us for heaven. Let a Christian
begin to feel that his mountain is strong and cannot be moved, and
even then, the foundation in which he trusts is giving way. No. It
must needs be ; those whom we love must die, and we must follow
them with aching hearts to the grave. Or, the voice of God's provi
dence will call, arise, depart hence — get thee up into the place I will
show thee, for thy rest is not here, and in faith we must go, though
we part from those with whom we have taken sweet counsel, with
whom we have gone up, oh ! how often and how pleasantly, to keep
holiday in the House of our God. We have nothing to do with these
changes, if we are wise, save to follow where He leads, and to leave to

PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1881. 9
our sovereign Saviour the ordering of our steps. He will guide them
aright, down to the hour when the last dark shadow shall hide this
earth from our view, and the brightness of eternal day shall dawn
m when the darkness of the night is spent. Therefore, be of good com
fort! Carry your trouble to Him, who has borne your griefs and
carried your sorrows, and leave your burden at his feet. As often as
God tries your faith, glory in the tribulation, for it is a proof of your
adoption. When friends die, remember God lives. When separations
come, remember Christ Jesus says, "I will not, I will not leave thee;
I will not, I will not forsake thee ! " A pious mother once said to her
child, " My child, so long as God lives, there is no sorrow so great,
that a Christian should be overwhelmed by it." Not long after, that
mother heard tidings which filled her heart with the keenest anguish,
and she gave vent to her feelings in loud lamentations. Her little
daughter ran to her and with artless simplicity inquired, " Mother what
is the matter? Is God dead?" Oh! the power there is in that
name — the Living God ! And the Christian's life is hid with Christ
in God, the living God ! — The believer is one with Christ ! In life,
one ! One in death ! One with Christ forever ! " Be of good comfort."
3. St. Paul says again — '¦ Be of one mind." He does not mean,
that there is to be no difference of opinion on any subject, among the
followers of Christ. This would be to enjoin an impossible thing;
because it is contrary to nature. Entire agreement on all subjects
would imply perfect uniformity in mental constitution, perfect equality
.in mental capacity, and opportunities of education. So ¦ long as these
vary, there must be differences of opinion on many subjects; but there
is one great principle, which will regulate these elements of discord,
which are the fruits of human ignorance and imperfection, and so
control them, that there shall be harmony amid all this diversity. It is
the grace of God in the heart, producing conformity to the mind of
Christ. So the Apostle says, " Let the same mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. — " And what is that mind, but simply to
make all our efforts tend in motive and action, solely to the glory of
God, and so leave self entirely out of view ? When men do this, they
are of one mind, for with one mind they glorify God. Then, how easy
it is to walk together ; how pleasant to dwell together ! How speedily

o

10 FAREWELL SERMON OF REV. J. F. BERG, D.D.
do differences diminish and disappear. How readily then, do we
receive the Apostle's rule as the measure of our own practice: "Never
theless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule,
let us mind the same , thing : and if in anything, ye be otherwise
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." In this highest sense,
I pray you, brethren, be of one mind. In honor prefer one another.
So of you Christ Jesus will say, "I am glorified in them."
4. Again, the Apostle says, " Live in peace." He first enjoins the
principle, and the corresponding practice must follow, if the precept,
" Be of one mind," is obeyed. Carnal dissension in the Church of
Christ is disgraceful to Christians and disastrous to the progress of the
gospel. The people of God by their .profession are above the petty
passions which engender unholy strife. It is beneath their dignity to
quarrel. They are called Christians because they profess to be disciples
of Christ, and He says, " By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one toward another." Why shall they who
call themselves by the name of the loving Saviour, allow the Devil to
kindle a fire, at which the enemies of Christ, waiting in the porch of
the judgment hajl for his condemnation, may warm their hands ? ' Tread
the first spark of discord under your feet ! As you value your personal
happiness, your growth in grace, your hope of heaven, and your soul's
salvation, let, no offence come through you. I say not, that Christians
are for the sake of peace, to give place to those who trample upon law
and right ! God forbid ! I say not, that men who hate the gospel are
to be allowed to pervert its sacred truths by flagrant heresies,, and
without rebuke to change the truth of God into a he ! Never ! You
are to be valiant for the truth. You are to love the truth. You are to
contend earnestly for the faith once dehvered to the saints ; but with
all this, you are to speak the truth in love ; and with all boldness and
with all meekness also to bear your testimony for Christ ; but you are
to crucify pride and selfishness and every unholy passion ; you are to
seek peace and pursue it ; and if men do this, they cannot fail to live
in peace.
5. As the reward and fruit of obedience to these practical injunc
tions, the Apostle adds a promise, " the God of love and peace shall be
with you." Precious words! "The God of love and peace shall be

PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1861. 11
with you." You think it is much if you can always secure the society
of Christian friends who are dear to you, and you do well to prize them,
for they are among your choice comforts. You would deem it a great
mercy, if God were to promise you a strong angel as your companion,
your counsellor, your guardian and helper in the day of trouble. Such
it doubtless would be. But he promises more; unspeakably more than
this, for the very God of love' and peace, Himself shall be with you.
He whose name is Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God; the.
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, shall Himself be with you.
Oh ! my people ! Brethren beloved and longed for, my joy, my hope,
my crown of rejoicing, shall God indeed dwell with you ? Then take
these words of parting counsel and comfort, and may the God of love
and peace be with you, and grant that we all may find mercy of the
Lord in that day.
Here, if a sense of duty would allow, I would close what I have to
say on this occasion, with the simple addition of a single word, but this
would not be just either to you, or to myself. It is true, I distrust my
power to give utterance to words whieh falter upon my lips, but if
I speak with a stammering tongue and in broken accents, you will
bear with. me. Ever since it was made plain to me that my path
of duty led to this point of separation, this hour has been present before
my mind, and it has been my prayer that God would strengthen me for
it. It is no light matter to speak the word which shall close a ministry
of twenty-four years in this city. The half of my life has been spent in
associations which have become endeared to me, because linked with so
much happiness. It is right that, I should say, that under God, I owe
this happiness to the kindness and confidence which I have received at
your hands. May God bless and reward you for it.
It may seem a small matter to some, that a minister of the gospel
should be able, in taking leave of a church with which he has been
identified for so many years, to give truthful utterance to such testi
mony, but it is not. . I have never known a church prosper, that has
acquired the bad reputation of repeated and habitual unkindness to a
pastor, and apart from providential retributions which usually vindicate
the watchful care of the Great King over every faithful Ambassador, .
it is easy to understand that when the temper of a congregation is such,

12 FAREWELL SERMON OF REV. J. F. BERG, D.D.
that the unfortunate minister is compelled to keep his house on wheels,
so that he may be prepared to leave on short notice, few, very few
Christian people will feel disposed to cast in their lot with such a house
hold. Even when the periodical trouble may be traceable to a small
number of restless spirits, the character of the whole Church suffers
from their unhappy influence ; and it is well to remember, that every
church has a character and earns a reputation as distinct and palpable
as that of1 an individual. In all societies, some will be more prominent
than others ; and in the Church, the nature and the fact of its organi
zation makes this feature a necessity. It is essential to its government
and to the administration of the authority vested in the rulers of the
Church by its Great Head. How important, therefore, that they who
occupy such positions should be of good report, and that they should
maintain a conscience, void of offence, before God and man. Of old,
it was required that they who bore the vessels of the Lord's house,
should have clean hands. Suffer this word of exhortation, brethren,
offered in faithfulness and love. You know, that my personal relations
with every official and private member of this church, have been of the
kindest character ; but in bidding you farewell, I desire in all sincerity
to impress upon you those great principles which are essential to your
prosperity, and which, after this evening, I can never with propriety
address to you again. Be jealous of your reputation as a Church.
Admonish one another, not in a captious spirit of fault finding, but in
the exercise of Christian charity and candor, and God will bless you in
the duty. Be jealous more than all for the honor of that name, which
is above every name, even the name of Jesus, with which, as a house
hold of faith, you are identified. Let Christ be glorified in you, and it
will be well with you. He will care for you and direct your steps.
And in your present position, let me urge upon you to look in faith to
the guidance of divine Providence. The Lord will send you a pastor,
if you ask him. Pastors are among the ascension gifts of our Saviour
to his Church. " He gave some apostles ; and some prophets ; and
some evangelists ; and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ." It has been my comfort, that in every change of location, my
field of labor has been assigned me, without any effort of my own to

PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1861. 13
secure it. I have never refused a call in my life. I have declined to
give encouragement, on several occasions, to overtures that have been
made to me, but I have never hesitated when the providence of God
has plainly indicated the path of duty, to follow where it has led me,
and I have never regretted this course. I have always found great
comfort in the conviction, that my field of duty has been allotted by the
Master of the vineyard with a line of providence so marked, that it
could not be mistaken. If I allude to this feature in my personal expe
rience, it is for your sake, brethren, and not for my own. I came to
Philadelphia just twenty-four years ago, under circumstances which never
left a doubt upon my mind, that the Lord had called me here. The con
sistory of the German Reformed Church in Race Street, had just accepted
the resignation of their former pastor, and had adjourned their meeting.
In passing out at the gate on Race Street, one of the elders met an inti
mate friend, a physician, from a country town, and in reply to the re
mark that he looked as though troubled, stated that he was distressed
about the condition of their Church ; and that they knew not where to
look for a successor to the minister who had left them. My call to the
Race Street Church, ia whose service more than fourteen years of my life
were spent, was the result of that apparently accidental interview. In
the communion of that Church, some of my dearest personal friendships
were formed and have continued to this hour. In every instance, both
before and since that period, I have tested the truth of the promise,
that the Lord will direct the steps of those who, in faith, commit their
way to Him ; and I am therefore emboldened, both by the promise and
by the experience of its truth, to commend you to the faithfulness of
our covenant God. It might, perhaps, be expected, that I should
speak of the results of my ministry. On this point, I have but little to
gay. I shall not offer any statistics. I know it is not uncommon, on
such occasions, for ministers to speak of the number of conversions
they have witnessed, if not achieved. No such word shall grate upon
your ear this night. That saying of Paul suffices me : " Nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth the name
of Christ, depart from iniquity." Of the imperfections of my ministry,
I am painfully sensible; but I know I can declare, that I do earnestly

14 FAREWELL SERMON OF REV. J. F. BERG, D. D.
desire and that I have ever coveted your salvation as the best gift. I
believe I can say with a clear conscience, that I have not shunned to
declare to you the whole counsel of God ; and that I have never con
sciously withheld the truth in its full measure and proportion, in its
season, through fear of what man, or man's great enemy could do to
me. Would to God, that every one of you, before whom I have gone
in and out, preaching the .gospel of the kingdom, these many years,
were a new creature in Christ Jesus. By the mercies of God, I
beseech you, brethren, make your calling and election sure. Oh ! that
God may give you all grace to believe that you may be His in the day
when He shall come to make up his jewels.
As regards the doctrine I have preached to you, I have proclaimed
what in my heart, I hold to be the gospel of the grace of God. I adhere
to every principle upon which fhe foundations of this house were laid.
This church was built as a monument to the great doctrines bf the
Reformation. As such, let it stand, until its walls crumble under the
weight of accumulated years. I have nothing to retract of that which
I declared to you, when with Jehovah Nissi as our watchword, we set
up our banner. That which I then held forth as God's truth, I
maintain to be truth to-day; truth in essence, in substance, and in
detail. • Nearly ten years of happiness, the brightest of a happy life, which
has as yet, seen far more of sunshine than of gloom, come before me,
this evening, with their fragrant memories, to corroborate this truth
as the record of my whole experience, that it is, and that it ever has
been expedient, to endeavor in the fear of God, to maintain the gospel
in its purity. I am not an apologist for perverse disputings, either in
word, or deed, and by the grace of God, I trust, I never shall be, but
I beseech you, as you prize your prosperity as a household of faith,
hold fast the form of sound words, which you have received, and which
have stood as the standard around which the sacramental host of the
Lord have rallied on many a hard-fought field, and which the Captain
of our salvation has ever borne on to glorious victory; and let this
comfort you at all times, that the first lesson which your faith has
taught you is this, that in life and death, both in body and soul, you
are not your own, but belong to your faithful Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.

PREACHED SEPTEMBER 1, 1861. 15
Let it not be forgotten that this house was built with the blessing
of God, in a spirit of self-sacrifice. I know all that it cost. I know.
that this congregation is indebted to the generous liberality of its Con
sistory, Trustees and Members, for the successful accomplishment of
the material work, and I trust, that no reverses in individual estate, and
no ungrateful oblivion through the lapse of years, will ever be allowed
to cancel or conceal, or ignore the debt of grateful remembrance which
is due to those who founded and built it, in the exercise of cheerful,
generous self-denial. Whatever others may do in the future, as for me
and my house, we will not forget. No. I cannot forget it. The
failure of this enterprise to me personally would have been a calamity,
greater than I could have borne, and though I cease, from this hour,
to hold any official relation to you, as a Church, there is a moral bond
that death alone can cancel. While I live, I shall feel identified with
you, both in prosperity and adversity. These walls, this pulpit, these
loved and familiar faces, the songs of praise and the thrilling tones, of
its accompaniment, all are ingrained in my heart's best memories, and
living and dying, they can never be effaced. Never, by the help of
the gracious Spirit, will I cease to make mention of you in my prayers,
" that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."
Finally, Brethren, Farewell. In the fullest sense of the word, may
it be well with you. That good old Saxon word, the- honest English
phrase, " good bye," expresses every thing, for it is an abbreviation of
God be with you. The God of peace and of love be with you. Be
united — Be firm in your love of the truth and faithful in the mainte
nance of the order of the . Church. Love one another, and it will be
well with you. I know there is sorrow npon our beloved country; and
darker shadows may yet deepen the gloom, but look up — the sun is not
blotted out, because clouds are Upon the sky — " Trust in the Lord and
do good — so shall ye dwell in the land and verily, ye shall be fipd."
These, days of sadness and peril will pass away. There will be clear
shining after the rain, and let what will betide, you shall fare well, foi
God will be with you. I. know, there are many weary journeys before

16 FAREWELL SERMON OF REV. J. F. BERG, D.D.
you, to the place of your sepulchres ; oh ! how often I have gone
with you to bury your dead out of your sight. How many have passed
away from the ranks with whom I was wont to mingle in the days of
my early ministry !
The ancient men are gone. The middle-aged have grown old ; their
heads are white, or they are laid low in the dust of death. The
children of the Sabbath School of that day, have long since become
men and women. I am not yet old, and yet I am living among another
generation. The very last funeral I have attended was that of the brother who
installed me in my first charge in this city, and kindly assisted at the
celebration of the tenth, and again at the twentieth anniversary of my
pastorate, (Rev. J. H. Smalz.) Friends have gone and they are daily
going — and ere long we must go the Way whence we shall not return.
" For we must needs die and are as water spilled upon the ground ; "
but this is our comfort : In life and in death it is ever well with those
who are in Christ. They who die in the Lord are blessed, for they
depart to be with Christ. With Him is our home. There, in our
Father's House, in the place prepared, the ransomed of the Lord shall
rejoice and rest together in the fellowship of the Church triumphant.
There the sanctified intimacies of earth will be renewed and perfected ;
the tabernacle of God and of Christ will be with us, and we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Brethren, farewell !