UNION TO CHRIST,

AND

TO HIS CHURCH;

OR,

THE DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF ALL TO BELIEVE IN CHRIST,

TO CONFESS CHRIST, AND TO BECOME COMMUNING
MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.

BY THE

REV. THOMAS SMYTH, D. D.,

PASTOR OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.

EDINBURGH:

ANDREW JACK, PRINTER,

NIDDRY STREET.

PREFACE.

DURING the past year the author has witnessed in that congregation in Charleston, South Carolina, of which he is pastor, a very gracious manifestation of the power of the Gospel in the salvation of many souls. Of this work of grace the following is an outline taken from a letter written at the time, and published in the United States.

"REV. AND DEar Sir,

"CHARLESTON, April 1846.

"I am happy to inform you that the work of Divine grace in Charleston has extended beyond any anticipation. I speak particularly of the second Presbyterian Church, with which I am connected. In this Church there has been a growing interest in all its services during the last eighteen months. Up to the period of the communion in January 1846, seventy-three persons, coloured and white, have been added to its membership. Since that period one hundred and six persons have been examined by the session, and were publicly received into communion on the third Sabbath in April. Of these, sixteen were coloured persons; a great many young; several heads of families; two had been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church; and three had been brought up in the Unitarian faith. Upwards of twenty had never been connected with the congregation previously, and several families, (chiefly Scotch,) had abandoned the habit of attending any church whatever. It was a most impressive sight to see all these persons, of whom only eight were received on certificate, coming out into the aisles, and in the presence of an overflowing congregation, 'take the cup of salvation into their hands, and pay their vows unto the Lord.' There might be seen a father, mother, and three children, several fathers and mothers, an aged father and a youthful son, a father, mother, and two daughters, and other groups, over each of whom the hearts of fond friends had earnestly yearned, and for whom their heart's desire and prayer to God was, that they also might be saved. There might be seen the youthful maiden, the orphan, and the fatherless, the widow, and the grey-haired man, the man of business, and the man of study, the rich and the poor-all humbly bowed in the presence of Him, by whose grace they had been enabled to hope in the mercy of a gracious Redeemer.

"Of these, several it is hoped, will study for the ministry, and thus turn others from the errors of their ways.

3-VOL. VI.

"Since the year 1832, when the present pastor, Dr. Smyth, had taken charge of the Church, there had been added, previous to April 1846, three hundred and fifty-four white, and about one hundred coloured members, of whom nine are now ruling elders, and seven are in the ministry.

"As in other Churches in the city, protracted meetings have been introduced, and other new measures-such as sunrise prayer-meetings, coming down from the pulpit, and walking, singing, exhorting in the aisle, calling upon the anxious to kneel, and then upon other classes of the congregation to do the same, and the immediate, or very hasty baptisms of such as were willing-it may be proper to mention the course pursued in this Church, and the means which have been blessed to the salvation of so many precious souls.

"And, first, I would mention, to the glory of God, in the appointment of the ordinances of his church, and his promise to make them effectual to salvation, and also for the encouragement of christians to expect and look for the Divine blessing in the use of the ordinary, and regular means of grace,-that during the progress of this work, no extra meetings or measures, properly speaking, have been employed.* When the services of other ministerial brethren could be enjoyed, evening preaching was appointed, but this was the only addition made to the regular services of the church. These services are, the exercises connected with the Sabbath school; three services on the Sabbath; a prayer-meeting on Tuesday evening conducted by the ruling elders of the Church; and a lecture on Thursday evening, in which the book of Psalms has for some time been regularly expounded, and of late the 119th Psalm. There has also been a prayer-meeting occasionally before the evening services.

"In all these services there has been a growing interest; a greater confidence, expectation, and prayer; and an increasing attendance upon them.

"In the Sabbath School the ruling elders are generally teachers, and our prayer-meetings have been attended by a growing number of the people, and conducted with growing earnestness and profit.

*It is proper here to remark what the writer thinks to be God's appointed means. These are prayer, preaching, singing, reading, and conversation, and all these conducted in a decent and orderly manner. Of course the frequency, the times, and the instruments, are left to the determination of christian wisdom, and the opportunity of enjoying ministerial help, and collecting the people. In this case these opportunities were limited almost entirely to the ordinary times of worship, and the services of the regular pastor. But had circumstances permitted, the additional services would have been gladly introduced. There is, however, imminent danger of looking to such services as essential to a Divine blessing, and thus losing confidence and faith in the regular services of the church.