BY REV. W. J. R. TAYLOR, D.D., PASTOR OF THE THIRD REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. A BURNING AND A SHINING LIGHT. "He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light."--JOHN 5: 35. THESE words were spoken of John the Baptist by our Lord Jesus Christ: "He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man." No flattering compliments fell from his lips for any man. And there was no man that ever lived of whom he spoke such high eulogy, as his great forerunner. When "the multitudes thronged him he began to say unto them concerning John, What went ye out into the wil A discourse commemorative of the late Honorable Theodore Frelinghuysen, LL.D. Preached, on a public occasion, in the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, on Sabbath evening, April 27th. Repeated by request, in the Third Reformed Dutch Church, Sabbath morning, May 4th, 1862. derness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea! I say unto you, and more than a prophet. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." In his personal character the Baptist must ever retain this preeminence of the greatest among men. But in official position, even the Forerunner of our Lord is surpassed by "the least in the kingdom of heaven" which he heralded, but to which he did not belong. In the eye of Jesus, it is a greater thing to be a lowly Christian than to have been the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. The dignities, services, and rewards of the new dispensation leave far behind them those of the Hebrew covenant. Yet we must not forget that the brightest of all ancient names, the purest of all ancient characters, the noblest heroes of the world before Christ, were Jews; just as the theocracy was the best of all governments, the Hebrew faith, the only true religion, Palestine, the only land of promise; and Jerusalem, with its throne and temple, the intellectual, moral, and spiritual center of the world. Spite of all their guilt and curse, the world owes more to the Hebrews than to any other race of ancient men; and the Jew was dearer to the heart of God than the Persian or the Mede, the Roman or the Greek. Of this race, the last of its great names "more than a prophet," yet "a man of like passions with ourselves," was the second Elijah, the predicted and inspired reformer, the grand preacher, and immediate herald of the new kingdom of heaven, and of our glorious Lord. "He was a burning and a shining light." How beautiful this designation of the Forerunner is, we may better learn by a brief analysis. 1. He was a "light." But of what kind? Literally the word in the original means a portable light, as a candle, lamp, or torch, which must be made, prepared, and kindled into a flame. He was not the uncreated Light, "the Sun of righteousness." "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into this world." The greatest of all the prophets was but a lamp, a torch, compared with Christ, the full-orbed and Eternal Sun. 2. But "he was a burning light." He was on fire, burning, blazing with self-consuming ardor in the service of God. He had "oil in his vessel with his lamp," and it never went out for lack of fuel. The Baptist, like our Saviour, was ever full of his work. His zeal consumed him. His devotion burned with the most in tense fire of love. It glowed like a furnace at a white heat. It sent out its own radiating and reflecting fire, until the wilderness was kindled by its flames, and the nation was aglow with his awful power. But 3. "He was a burning and a shining light." Some fires burn but do not blaze, nor is it every flame that gives true light. There must be something to burn, some solid chemical matter in every flame that makes an illumination. So there are souls which consume away but do not shine. The fires of passions may burn a man up, body and soul together, but their light is only that of the burning wreck-a terror and a warning. Others just smoulder amid their own smoke and ashes. Their fire gives neither genial heat nor cheerful light. But John the Baptist's burned and shone, because his light was light from heaven. It was not stolen like the fabled Promethean fire, but it was kindled at the uncreated and eternal source; and then it was set where all could see it and rejoice in it, while it flamed heavenward from earth. The predictions and preaching of John; his constant testimony for Jesus; his wilderness cry, "Behold the Lamb of God;" his instructions to his disciples; his rebuke of Herod; his deep humility; his martydom; his record in the prophets and gospels; his memory in the church, and his place in the history of redemption; all the incidents of his life, and the grand total impression which he leaves upon the mind, justify the declaration, "He was the burning and shining light" of his dispensation, and that he was outshone and eclipsed only by "the Light of the world," whom he announced. Yet "that burning and shining light" went out; it burned fast; it shone but a little while, and then he who was the lamp that lighted our Saviour's feet on earth, was made one of the brightest of the stars that burn and shine forever and ever before the throne of God. If "the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he," we have in these words the great Teacher's own authority for magnifying his grace in every one of those "burning and shining lights" which he has set in his own kingdom. And we may "rejoice in their light for a season," in a better sense than the Jews did in that of John, for they honored him and were proud of him as a prophet, but rejected him as the forerunner of Christ. When God raises up eminent Christians, endows them with gifts and graces, and honors them and their work for Jesus' sake; the Church is bound by her loyalty to her King, and by her debt to redeeming love, to "rejoice in that light and to walk in it" "for the season" during which it lasts. Every such believer in Christ is a miracle and monument of grace. The blood of Christ has been sprinkled on him, the love of Christ constrains him, the witness of the Holy Spirit is within him, and his seal upon him. His body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He burns and shines with love divine. He does the work of Christ. He obeys the word and will of Christ. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giv eth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Thus all of God's elect people are "chosen in Christ that they may be holy." "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." It matters not whether our lamp be of clay or of gold, whether it be of rude or classic shape, if it is but filled with the pure oil of grace and is kept trimmed and burning by "him who walketh among the seven golden candlesticks." One may carry but a little light, a mere taper; another may burn like a flaming torch; another may branch out like the golden candlestick of the temple; but the Church and angels rejoice in them all. The lights of the Church universal are innumerable as the stars in the firmament, and of every order and rank; but all blend their rays together to make the night light about us, while "the sun rules by day." Our rejoicing in these lights is not boastful, not selfish, not as Nebuchadnezzar gloated over the great Babylon which he had built, but it is the rejoicing of humble, thankful hearts which praise the Lord and cry: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." And when our Lord takes these "burning and shining lights" away from the Church on earth, they go not out in endless night, but he transfers them to the temple "that is not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." He takes them from a lower to a higher place where they burn and shine forever with brighter lustre and with purer flame. My brethren and friends, in this spirit let us now turn to see the illustration of these truths in the character and death and influences of that eminent servant of the Lord for whom we lament, and yet praise God to-day. The object of this discourse is not to present a biographical sketch nor to attempt a full-length portrait of our American Wilberforce," but simply to exhibit some of those characteristics which have made him for more than a generation "a burning and a shining light" in the Church and in the nation. Against the dark background of our unhappy times his character stands in bright and bold relief, admired by millions, and beloved by all who knew the man and his native and gracious worth. An old writer has said that "grace does not run in the blood, although corruption does." But there is something in ancestry; and of all people in the world a Christian is not the one to undervalue a descent from godly forefathers. The ancestors of Theodore Frelinghuysen, both in this country and in Holland, were eminent for their love of liberty, their independence of spirit, and their intelligent attachment to the truth of God. Several of them were ministers of the Gospel, full of the principles of the Reformation, and animated by the utmost fearlessness and zeal in the prosecution of their work. The first of these, who came over to this country in 1719, and whose ministry was alike memorable for its success and power, declared in the face of great opposition: "I would sooner die a thousand deaths than not preach the truth." Inheriting these noble qualities of his honored line, Mr. Frelinghuysen adorned and illustrated them all during a lifetime of great usefulness in the Church and in the State. "His father was a distinguished lawyer of New-Jersey, an officer in the army of the Revolution, afterward major-general, and then senator of the United States." Thus in character, religion, and statesmanship, his lineage was equally honorable and blessed of God, who has made him the most illustrious of his name. Let me now speak to you of his character. By the concurrent testimony of the whole nation as expressed in private and public, in the pulpit and at the forum, and through the press, "he was a burning and a shining light," and "we rejoiced for a season in his light." It would be hard to say what particular gifts and traits made that light so bright. He was a man of eminent intellectual gifts, and of scholarly tastes; an orator of no mean fame and of classic eloquence; a lawyer who adorned the able bar of his native State; a Senator who stood high in the front ranks when the Senate of the United States contained its greatest lights. But it was the fine balance of his powers, the beautiful adjustment of intellectual and moral qualities with refinement of culture, admirable judg ment, and unique individuality of character, speech and action, which constituted the general excellence of the man. In this happy combination of characteristics without the striking preponderance of any one intellectual gift, he was not unlike our matchless Washington. His was no amiable insipidity, nor negative virtue. He was a positive, spirited, direct, energetic man, full of a latent fire which often burned from the depths of his soul through all his movements, and set the hearts of those around him in a flame. At times his power was like the discharge of an electric battery, instantaneous and over-mastering. Yet a more gentle spirit never moved in human breast. He was the true gentleman, in the classic sense of the word, by birth and in behavior, in manners and in mind, in private and in public life. He was distinguished for his sterling honesty, thorough conscientious. ness, unbending integrity, and great self-possession, with kind con |