CpSlO.71 T H13 Sermon oLeii/Vx^edL adr M oraujyia-n i£4i HalLajvcL . Cfje ILibxaxv of Hje WLnibtv&itp of i^ortf) Carolina Collection of i^ortf) Carolimana Cnbotoeb bp loljn g>prunt ^iU <©f tfjc Class of 1889 Cpaio/ll HI'S 8061 'tz wrivd A SERMON DELIVERED IN Ch Iponilnan Cjntrcj), AT S^VLEjVC, N. C, BY REV. F. R, HOLLAND, ©n % late lafimal Jfasi f ap, |wt. 4 l$fo. SALEM, K. C. PRINTED BY L. V. & E. T. SLUM. 1861. r A SERMON DELIVERED IN %\i JUflolnan €\nxt\ ±1 SALEM, N. C., BY REV. I. R. HOLLAND hx t\t to Hafiattai jfaif Jag, Jan. ^f% 1&6JL SALEM, N. 0. Printed by l. v. & e. t. blum; 1861; Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 (i http://archive.org/details/sermondeliverediOOholl Salem, M- C, January 7th, 1861. Rev. F. R. Holland: Dear Sir : The undersigned, mem- bers of your congregation, who heard with pleasure and delight your very eloquent and appropriate sermon, preached on Friday last, the day appointed by the President of the United States to be observed as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, fully sharing the senti- ments embraced in your discourse, and believing that it cannot be otherwise than productive of much good, if the same were extensively circulated and read, respectfully ask of you a copy thereof for publi- cation. We trust and confidently hope that you will feel willing to accede to our request, for in times like the present, we hold that each and every good citizen of this hitherto highly favored land, should not hold back anything that might tend to the restoration of peace and harmony in this our now distracted country. Respectfully yours, JOHN VOGLER, JOHN D. SIEWERS, J. L. FULKERSON, CHARLES COOPFR, E. A. VOGLER, LEWIS BELO, JOSHUA BONER, J. R. CRIST, F. W. LEINBACH, T. C. PFOHL, Tr. CRIST, E- W. LEINBACH. Salem, January 7, 1861. To Messrs. John Vogler, J. L. Fulkierson, John D. Siewers, and others. Dear Brethren ; The discourse delivered by me on Friday last is at your service. I agree fully with you in the closing sentiment of your kind note, and therefore waive all hesitation I might otherwise have felt. If its circulation in our neighborhood should prove to be productive of any good, I shall heartily rejoice, and give God the glory. With high regard, I am affectionately, your brother, F. R. HOLLAND. r- ^9 Q^ HYMN, GOD of heaven and earth, arise, And hear our loud united cries; Behold us how before thy face, Throughout our land, and seek thy grace, Our trust is not in mortal hosts, Nor in the arms that guard our coasts ; ThiDe is the land, and thine the main, And human force and skill are vain. Our guilt might draw thy vengeance down. On every shore, on every town ; But view us, Lord, with pitying eye, And lay thy lifted thunder by. Forgive the follies of our times, And cleanse our land from all its crimes ; Reform'd and deck'd with grace divine, Let our united people shine. PEAYEE. Lord, Lord God ! merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abund-: ant in goodness and truth ; we do not present ourselves before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. Behold, we beseech thee, a nation at thy footstool, and hear the humble confessions and fervent prayers which to-day ascend unto thee, our gracious God, from millions of burdened hearts. And when thou hearest in heaven, thy dwelling place, Oh forgive and do according to thine infinite mer- cy ! Oh Lord, spare thy people, and give not thy heritage to reproach! Oh Lord our God, unto thee belongeth righteousness, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day. We wait for light,, but behold ob- scurity ; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. For our transgres- sions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. Our iniquities are increased over our heads and our trespass is grown up into the heavens ! Oh Lord our God, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have sinned and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts, and from thy judgments ; and thou mightest justly have cast ua off forever, loDg ere this, and taken away from us thy much abused gifts o and bounties. We have sinned against Leaven and in thy sight !-~s Our whole land is full of sin ! — Sins agaiDSt thy law and the gospel, — sins against judgments and mercies. — sins of commission and omis- sion, — sins in thought, and word, and deed ! Oh Lord our God, thou hast given us a goodly land to dwell in. — Thou hast entrusted to us a goodly heritage. Bat we have been guilty of idolatry. We have put the creature in the place of the Creator. We have idolized our glorious country and our civil libera ties and privileges, and have forgotten that in Thy favor alone is life. Our trust has been too much in man, instead of being fixed on Thee, who alone art entitled to our confidence. We have forgotten too much our responsibility to thee, and have been unfaithful stewards of that which thou hast entrusted to us. Pride and luxury, and the love of money have abounded among us. We have been too much inclined to sit in judgment on the faults of others, instead cf crying, each one for himself : "God be merciful to me a sinner." Oh, Lord, our sins against the grace of salvation so freely offered to us, have well deserved that thou shouldst have given us up, and taken thy Holy Spirit from us ! But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. — Thou hast said that if we confess our sins, thou art faithful and just to forgive us ; and hast assured us that if a nation repent and turn from their evil way, thou wilt repent of the evil thou thoughtest to do unto them. Oh help us ail to make trial of these encouraging assurances. Help us to search and try our way3 and turn unto thee. Help each one of us to come unto the fountain opened for sin and uncleaness, and may the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse us from all gin ! and may we learn, as a people, before it be too late, that right- eousness exalteth a nation, and that sin is ever, first the reproach and then the ruin of any people ! Help us to follow after truth and jus- tice in our relations to all men ! Remove from our hearts "that false pride of opinion which would impel us to persevere in wrong for the sake of consistency, rather than yield a just submission to the unfore- seen exigencies with which we are surrounded J" Help us to do unto others as we would that they should dounto us ! O Lord, our God, bless, we pray thee, the President of the United States and his constitutional advisers, and grant unto them due wis- dom for this time of trial and perplexity. Look down upon both- houses of Congress, and grant that their deliberations may result. 6 with thy blessing, in i\ storing tranquility to our distracted country. Bless the respective State governments, and grant that they may follow after the thing3 which make for peace. Guide and support the magistrates of the land, and all who are in plaees of public trust and responsibility. And since thou hast commanded us to pray for ail that are in authority, we also bsseegb, thee to bless him whom thou hast invested with authority soon to assume the chief magistra- cy of the United States, and give him grace to administer the govern- ment in thy fear, and for the safety and welfare of the whole coun- try. Grant Lord that the dark clouds which now hang so gloomi- ly over this land, may be again dispersed, and the Union and Consti- tution of these hitherto United States, be preserved to the latest pos- terity. Restore, we beseech thee, harmony and good feeling which once prevailed ; or if thou must still correct us. Oh let it not be in thine anger, lest thou consume us ! Lord our God, pour out thy Holy Spirit upon all thy churches, and upon a'l the inhabitants of this land! Pour out a spirit of pray- er and supplication, and grant that we may sorrow after a godly sort, And bless thy word to our hearts. May it find a ready entrance, and be abundantly blest to all who hear it. He:ir these our prayers, ac- cept our confessions, forgive all our sins, and do for us above add tha| we can ask or think, for Jesus' sake. Ame^. bebmon " Who can tell if Grod will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not." — Jonah 3: 9. The text forms a part of the proclamation of the king of Nineveh, calling upon his subjects to fast and pray and humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, on account of the destruction threat- ening their city and country. The prophet Jonah had been sent to them with the message : "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be de- stroyed." Then, we are told, "the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even unto the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh^ and he arose from bis throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with -sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast; herd or flocks, taste any thing; let them not feed or drink water; but let, man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God : yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the Violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" We are summoned on this day to the same duty, upon the recom- mendation of the chief magistrate of the United States. The cir- cumstances under which, and the object for which we arc thus as- sembled, are well set forth in the words of the President's proclama- tion. He gays : "The union of the States is at the present moment threatened with alarming and immediate danger; panic and distress of a fearful char- acter prevail throughout the land; our laboring population are with- out employment, and consequently deprived of the means of earning their bread. Indeed hope seems to have deserted the minds of men. All classes are in a state of Confusion and dismay, the wisest counsels of out best and purest men are wholly disregarded; "In this hour of our peril and calamity, to whom should we resort, for relief, but to the God of our fathers ? His omnipotent arm onl? 8 San save us from the awful effects of our own crimes and follies— our own ingratitute and guilt towards our heavenly Father. "Let us then, with deep contrition and penitent sorrow, unite in humbling ourselves before the Most High, in confessing our individ- ual and national sins, and in acknowledging the justice of our pun- ishment. Let us implore him to remove from our hearts that false pride of opinion which would impel us to persevere in wrong for tbe sake of consistency, rather than yield a just submission to the unfore- seen exigencies by wbicb we are surrounded. Let us, with deep reverence, beseech Him to restore the friendship and good will which prevailed in former days among the people of the several States; and above all, to save us from the horrors of civil war and "blood-guilti- ness." Let our fervent prayers ascend to His Throne that He would not desert us in this hcur of extreme peril, but remember us as he did our fathers in the darkest days of the revolution, and preserve our Constitution and our Union, the work of their hands> for ages yet to come. "An omnipotent Providence may overrule existing evils for per- manent good. He can make the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he can restrain. Let me invoke every indi- vidual, in whatever sphere of life he may be placed, to feel a person- al responsibility to God and his country for keeping this day holy, and for contributing all in his power to remove our actual and ini- pending calamities." Our venerable chief magistrate plainly declares that he sees no hope from man, and the sentiment uppermost in his mind undoubt^ e&ly is that of the text : "Who can tell if God will repent and turn from his fierce anger that we perish not." Such a feeling of uncer- tainty and anxiety seems indeed to possess the minds of all thought- ful and reflecting men in the present crisis of our country's affaris. All who love their country are agitated by alternate hope and fear; even the wisest and most experienced men, upon taking a view of the present state of our affairs, can only ask, with painful solicitude i What will be the end of these things? And those who look to God alone for deliverance, can only say: who can tell but God will tuin and repent! Oh what a state of fearful uncertainty and peril is this ! And this, whether we are disposed to deny it or not, is the present state of our country. 9 But is this feeling of uncertainty and apprehension warrantable? The king of Nineveh was but a heathen, — or at be3t enjoyed very, imperfect means of instruction; and even if lie felt doubtful in legard to the consequence of repentance, are we warranted, with our supe- rior light, in taking up the same language, and saying: "Who ean tell if God will repent, and turn away from the fierceness of his an* ger, that we perish not?" Several considerations will serve to show us that we can be no more certain than was the king of Nineveh, that the most we can say is: "Who can tell." 1. Nations, as such, can be punished in this world only. In the next world there will be no nations; and therefore, if nations are to be punished for national sins, the judgment must come upon them in this world. With individuals it is different. The sinner may pros- per, and even "have no bands in his death," but our faith need not be staggered by it, for we know that his day is eoming, and that he will be punished hereafter. But if nations are to be punished, it must be now, because they cannot, as such, be punished hereafter. And that God does thus execute justice and judgment among the guilty nations of the earth, all history teaches us. Look at Babylon, Nineveh, and other ancient States. Look especially at the nation of the Jews, between whom and ourselves, we so often run a parallel, as indeed there are many striking analogies. See them punished by one judgement after another, till finally, for their crowning sin, the Romans came and took away their place and nation. Nor does the history of modern nations fail to impress us with the conviction that national sins have been followed by national judgments. Did time permit, we might adduce instances to prove the assertion. 2. There are times in the history of nations when the divine for- bearance is exhausted, — when the cup of a nation's sins is full, and when even the prayers of the righteous help no more. The righteous then deliver their own souls but nothing more. There was a time in the history of Israel, when God said, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my mind could not be toward this people : cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth." "Though these three men, Noab, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord." It i3 not for us to say whether or not this fatal period has arrived with respect to our own nation; but no one can confidently affirm that it has not. We know not what an offended God may see fit to do with usi Our trust is in 10 film. We know that fervent prayers are ascending to Him, yet all we can say is : " Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn- away from his fierce anger, that we perish not !" 8. We have every reason to fear if we consider our national guilf and impenitence. On this point however, we desire to speak to-day j only with a close and direct personal application to ourselves as indi- viduals. We would not speak of the offences of one section against another, but of our sins against God. We would avoid every thing that could tend to direct the mind from our own personal offences against God, either in private life, or in meeting our political respon- sibilities as citizens of this country. The solemn question : In how far have my transgressions helped to swell the aggregate of the na- tion's sins? should occupy every mind. And we ask here, 1st. Have we discharged the duties of citizens habitually as unto God? Have you, my hearers, tried to serve your country, because in so doing you were serving God ? Can you lay your hand on your heart and say that under a solemn sense of your accountability to God, and in hum- ble dependence upon Him for wisdom and guidance, you have thought and planned, and acted and voted ? Is it not true, to use the words of another, that, as a people, "our theory of human rights, our ideas of national advancement, our dependence in time of peril, have all been grounded on the greatness of man. With us man has been every thing, and God nothing. And we have been far more jealous of the rights of man than of the duties of man: more concerned to assert our prerogatives than to confess our obligations. We have worship- ped man when we ought to have adored God." Is it not true that "blind to our faults, proud of our rapid growth, wonderful develop- ment and apparent destiny, we have worshipped our national great- ness, and forgotten our dependence on God V* Is it not true that all along we have been looking more to men than to God ? And this forgetfuiness of God, this ignoring of God, this putting the creature in the place of the Creator, is one sin that cries against us to heaven. And can you, my hearers, can I, say that personally we are not guil- ty, — grossly guilty in the sight of God ? 2. Have we, in political matters, followed the golden rule to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us? Have not hard feelings, and unkind words, and unjust acts too generally char- acterized political discussions and proceedings ? Has not "that false pride of opinion, which would impel us to persevere in wrong for 1 the 11 sake of consistency, rather than yield to the unforeseen exigencies by which we are surrounded," prevented justice from being done tc those who honestly differed from us; and has it not, in its blind de- votion to party, led to the advancement of reckless and incapable men to posrs of trust and responsibility ? And if, my hearers, we have thought ourselves above the vulgar abuse, and bitter denuncia- tion, and false assertions, which have made politics the muddy pool it has become, have we not weakly and foolishly and sinfully counte- nanced the miserable game we ought to have endeavored most ear- nestly to prevent, till now our body politic has become, as we have only too much reason to fear, a huge mass of corruption, — "the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint; from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, it is full of wounds and bruises, and putrify- iug sores ?» 3. Taking a view in reference to ourselves as men, — as creatures of that God who created and redeemed us, aad whom we are bound to glorify with our bodies and spirits, which are his, we are con- strained to ask, Does not sin of every kind lie heavily, indeed, upon us? Have we not erred and gone astray, like lost sheep? Have we not sinned against a holy law and against the gospel of all grace? Have not pride, and vanity, and wordliness, compassed ug about aa with a chain ? Oh ! how has the sabbath been profaned, and the or- dinance of God's house disregarded ! Oh ! wha' sins of ingratitude, and rebellion, and disobedience, and forgetfulness of God, rising mountain high before God, and calling for vengeance on our guilty heads ! Verily, we are a sinful Gation; a seed of evil doers; children that are corruptors ! Surely the utmost that can be said, is : u Who can tell if God will turn nway and repent of his fierce anger, with which he now threatens us V II. If, under such circumstances, there is help anywhere, it is only in God, and is to be obtained by repentance and prayer. Of this the king of Nineveh felt fully convinced. He enjoined all to put on Backcloth in token of humiliation before God; and rising from his throne, in sorrow and shame for sin, he laid aside the badges of royal dignity, and sat in ashes, in token of humiliation for sin, and dread of Divine vengeance. That the humiliation might be the more moving and affecting, even the beasts, the flocks and herds, must be restrained from food, that their pining for want of sustenance wight gtir up guilty roan to deeper sorrow and humiliation, 12 Oh, what an impressive scene now presents itself to the mind, — ■ king and subjects, high and low, rich and poor, old and young, cov- ered with sackcloth, and with ashes sprinkled on their heads ! And this was not all. Their repentance must not consist only of these out- ward observances. The proclamation of the king further requires them to "cry mightily unto G-od, and turn every one from his evil way." He was sensible of the propriety and necessity of prayer — > earnest prayer to God, and a turning away from sin, — a reformation of life, as well as afflicting themselves with fasting. He, no doubt, reasoned thus : If we do not humble ourselves, and repent, and re- form, the case is plain; any onf> can tell that we cannot escape; our doom is sealed beyond a question; unavoidable destruction is swiftly coming upon us. But if we repent, who knows what effect it will have ? Who can tell if God will not then repent, and turn from his fierce anger that we perish net ? If there be any hope at all, ii is in this way. And this he learned from the light of nature and from the preaching of Jonah. We would assign two reasons as sufficient to show that the only hope of our nation in its present situation is in humiliation before God, confession of sin, prayer, and turning from iniquity. 1. Sin has a direct tendency, in its very nature, to injure, to weak- en and destroy a nation. It is the deadly poison which spreads itself through the whole system, and brings on decay and death. It is the fatal disease which will destroy the body politic, without so much as lifting up of the hand of a foreign foe. According to the degree in which it prevails, it spreads corruption, injustice, treachery, discord and confusion through a nation; it destroys confidence, good feeling and love of country; — it tends to disunion, weakness and disgrace; and thus in its very nature tends to destroy a nation. Now repent- ance is the proper remedy for the disease. Cease to do evil, and the poisonous principle of the disease is removed. Learn to do well, and the opposite principle of life and health and vigor is implanted in its stead. But this is not all, — for 2. Sin brings on a people the just displeasure of God ; and from the moment the presence and blessing of God are removed, you may write of that nation, Ichabod ! The glory is departed ! — Under the displeasure of God the glory fades away like a blasted flower, and not the knowledge, and science, and arts, and natural resources of any nation can prevent it. Now there ie only one way of removing the 13 curse, and obtaining, instead of it, a blessing. And that is by re- pentance and prayer. It is only by deep humiliation and earnest prayer that we can hope to obtain the blessing. It is only to the penitent that promises of deliverance are made, and without repent- ance they cannot possibly be ours. So also deliverance and blessings are promised in answer to prayer ; and therefore without earnest prayer we cannot expect them. The people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and Nineveh was spared. And God has said : "At what instant I shall speak concerning a kingdom to pluck up, and to pull down aad de- stroy it, if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them." Let us therefore betake ourselves to this our only refuge and hope. Let us deeply humble ourselves before God, — let us cry mightily unto him, — and let us turn every one from our evil ways ; and then, who can tell but God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not ! And certainly, if as a people, we make this trial, we have reason to hope that God will hear our prayer, and remove the dark clouds that now lower so threateningly over our country. But alas ! I fear that we are not so easily brought to re- pentance. Ten thousand warnings from conscience, aud providence, and the gospel, have not the effect upon us that the proaching of Jo nan had upon the Ninevites. "The men of Nineveh," said our bless- ed Saviour to a less guilty people than we, "shall rise up against this generation and condemn it." Nineveh never had such loud calls to repentance as we. Nineveh never enjoyed the thousandth part of our privileges, — of our motives and encouragements to repent and turn to God. Yet where is our repentance ? Is it here, in the midst of this congregation, that it is to be seen ? Shall Nineveh repent, and will any of you go on impenitent, luxurious, worldly minded, serenely stupid and forgetful of God ! We are recommended to observe this day as a day of fasting, as well as humiliation and prayei. Fasting is opposed to feasting. It is the natural expression of our sorrow, just as feasting is considered natural and appropriate to any joyful occasion. The great end to be kept in view is humiliation for, and abstinence from sin. It is to be a help to our devotion, to deepen our feelings of contrition, and lead us to fervent supplication. We need not understand it as requiring of us a literal abstinence from food, but that we should eat sparingly 14 of plait) food; not occupying our thoughts with eating and drinking, but giving ourselves to the works of repentance and prayer. How appropriate is it, then, to our present circumstances ; and how plain that we have not come up to the requirement of an occasion like the present, when we have merely come into the house of God, and joined our prayers with those of the congregation ! Shall we not repent, and bumble ourselves, — mourning, in the language of the prophet : "every family apart ; the family of the house of David apart and their wives apart ; the family of the house of Nathau apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart." And that not only for this day, but let us like Daniel, "set our faces unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting aud sack-cloth and ashes ;" yea, let us cry mightily unto God till he hear us, and avert the judgments and calamities, which owing to our own guilt and folly, now threaten us ! Should the harp and the viol, and the tabret, and pipe, and wine, be in our feasts, at a time like this ! Should it be said of us : Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved ; they have made their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused to return ? Oh ! that this day may be a preparation and a blessed introduction to the week of prayer before us ! And let me beseech you, my brethren, to gather your families together daily, and pray for your country. Pray in your closets, — pray at your daily labor, for our beloved country; and pray especially for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God alone is the effectual author of any work of thorough repentance and reformation. Without the influence of the Holy Spirit, nothing will have any decided and thorough effect. "Till the Spirit be pouied forth from on high," says the prophet, "briers and thorns shall come up upon the land of my people." But when the happy time of outpouring comes, when "the wilderness shall be like ?i fruitful field; then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall remain in the fruitful field. Then the work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the effect of righteousness shall be quietness and assurance forever : and my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting pla- ces." You see, then, how important, how necessary it is that the Holy Spirit of God be poured out, to produce peace, good feeling, — ■ a sentiment of union, and a happy sense of security from apprehension pnd alarm, y 1 15 X)o you ask, How are we to obtain the blessing of the Hg combined with a sense of dependence on God ; but we give you a better : "Trust in God, and love one another !" Pray for the peace of your country, and take pains, to follow after the things that make for peace and union.; Let us, then, pray and watch, and repent and labor ; let us seek the Lord with all our heart* ; who can tell but he will turn and re- pent, and again cause his faoe to shine upon us !• Who can te'l but we may be permitted in this very year to join in such a thanksgiving as has never yet swelled from multitudes of grateful hearts in this consecrated house. Who can tell but the Lord will soon give us the oil of joy for mourniug, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ! Amen. *k\. ss rx >y H 4 ft * * I BSMrS UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL JEB$e§£ if '■■"•'■■■'■■■'■ 111 ■■' ■* : . ''■ - §1 ' ?/■< "' } - ''''■■■•■'■■'■'■. • : ' '"^ • . 00032721476 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION mm %m mm Hsmn sHHT BUS '' ?K '.■'■'■ ■ ■ E