Sermon - Thanksgiving - 1795
Thomas Baldwin - 02/19/1795

The Rev. Thomas Baldwin

Thomas Baldwin (1753-1825), an influential pastor and well-known author, was born and raised in Connecticut until the age of 16 when he moved to New Hampshire, where he later became a member of the State Legislature. As a young man, he was many times called upon to read sermons before his church when the minister was absent. In 1783, he became an ordained evangelist and for 7 years traveled on horseback among the state’s towns, preaching the Gospel until 1790, when he became the pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Boston. (This is the church where he was pastoring when he preached this Thanksgiving Sermon in accordance with the national Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by President George Washington). In 1803, Baldwin began publication of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine, later renamed the American Baptist Magazine (the only Baptist publication in America for years), of which he was the only editor until 1817 and the senior editor until his death in 1825. During his lifetime, Baldwin published 34 separate works, including several books and numerous sermons (published at the special request of his hearers). Baldwin died in Maine at the age of 72, having the day before his death preached two sermons in Massachusetts.


Second Baptist Church of Boston

July 27, 1743 – The church was established (formed from a church split from First Baptist Church)
March 15, 1746 – The church meets in its own building for the first time
1743-1790 – The church has four separate pastors
1790-1825 – Thomas Baldwin becomes its fifth pastor, leading the church for 35 years


Notable Events During the Tenure of Pastor Thomas Baldwin

1803-1805 – Baldwin was a noted revival preacher, and during this part of the Second Great Awakening, 212 members were added to his church
January 1, 1811 – A new church building is dedicated with an estimated 3,000 people present
July 27, 1816 – A Female Sabbath School (only for poor children) is begun, with 37 children present; they are taught the alphabet, reading, and spelling and memorized portions of the Bible, catechisms, etc.
1817 – A Male Sabbath School begins
1817- 1825 – The Sabbath School is expanded to include children of the rich as well as the poor


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A

SERMON,

DELIVERED

FEBRUARY 19, 1795:

BEING

THE DAY OF

PUBLIC THANKSGIVING

Throughout the United States.

BY THOMAS BALDWIN.

P S A L M XXXIII 12
BLESSED IS THE NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD, AND THE PEOPLE WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN FOR HIS OWN INHERITANCE.

In obedience to the call of the President of the United States, we are now, my brethren, assembled in the house of God to offer thanksgiving and prayer to the “great Ruler of nations, for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a nation” [a direct quote from the 1795 Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by President George Washington]. And as God is this day publicly to be praised in the assemblies of His people, I have thought the [Bible] passage now read might be a suitable foundation of our present meditations.

This beautiful psalm, whoever might be the penman of it, is evidently designed to set forth the power and goodness of God in such an amiable [agreeable] light as to excite our confidence, awaken our gratitude, and warm the devout passions of the soul with sacred joy.

If we contemplate God either in His word or works, we shall find abundant matter for joy and thankfulness: “For the word of the Lord is right, and all His works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment; the earth is full of goodness of the Lord” [Psalm 33:4-5].

From this view of the righteousness, equity, and benevolence of the Divine government, the pious psalmist was led to exclaim, as in the text; “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom He hath chosen for his own inheritance.” That we may more fully enter into the spirit of the text, we shall attempt:

I. To show when it may be said of a nation that “the Lord is their God” – to consider what evidence a people may have that the Lord has chosen.

II. To consider what evidence a people may have that the Lord hath chosen them for His inheritance.

III. That we may infer the duty and obligations of a people thus favored and blessed (in illustrating of which we shall attend to several particulars contained in the proclamation).

I. We are to show when it may be said of a nation that “the Lord is their God.”

As a nation, we form a particular character in distinction from that of individuals. As such, we may exhibit the amiable [likeable] features of virtue and religion, or the base picture of vice and infidelity. In this character we may receive temporal blessings as the fruits and reward of virtue, and also suffer national calamities as the punishment of our vice and impiety.

Therefore,

1. When as a nation we acknowledge the eternal God to be the Creator, Preserver, and Upholder of all things – when we acknowledge His universal dominion over all worlds, and all beings – and when we attribute those Divine perfections to Him which are necessary to form His exalted character and render Him the proper object of our love and esteem; and

2. When we acknowledge that system of truth contained in the Bible to be His word, and as such reverence and obey its doctrines and precepts – when we cordially subscribe to its Divine originality [inspiration] and rest all our hopes of futurity on its precious promises – when we endeavor to imbibe its genuine spirit and live agreeably to its dictates; and

3. When we acknowledge Him as the lone object of religious worship and adoration in distinction from all false gods and idols – when at stated seasons we attend upon His institutions and offer up our prayers and praises through that medium which He hath appointed; and

4. When we acknowledge Him as our rightful Sovereign and live in subjection to His laws (for it can never be supposed that a people have chosen the Lord for their God, while they refuse to have him reign over them. The very language of His enemies is, “Let us break His bands in sunder and cast His cords away” [Psalm 2:3], whilst those who approve of His government say, “The Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, He will save us” [Isaiah 33:22]. And, said Jesus, “Then are ye My friends when ye do whatsoever I command you” [John 15:14]); and

5. When we acknowledge His universal Providence over all the works of His hands (if we rely upon His protecting care and Providence, we shall manifest it by appealing to His wisdom to direct us when involved in darkness and difficulty, and to His power to defend us when surrounded by threatening dangers; and finally, in leaving the issue of our most interesting concerns to the righteous disposal of Him who controls all human events);

6. And lastly, when we acknowledge the Lord to be the Giver of all mercies (nothing can be more calculated to keep us humble and thankful than to realize our dependence on God: “Every good and every perfect gift comes down for the Father of lights” [James 1:17]. A sense of our own unworthiness and of the Divine goodness in bestowing favors upon us will excite in us the most lively [strongest] sentiments of gratitude and undissembled [genuine] joy and will finally issue in thanksgiving and praise).

But we come

II. To show, what evidence a people may have that the Lord hath chosen them for his inheritance.

The terms very naturally imply each other; agreeably to the tenor of the new covenant, “I will be their God and they shall be My people” [Ezekiel 37:27]. And again, “I love them that love me” [Proverbs 8:17].

Although this part of our subject may not appear so capable of proof as the former (since neither love nor hatred can be certainly known by common course of Providence) as one event happeneth to all, yet undoubtedly there may be some rational evidence in favor of the people whom God hath chosen.

As

1. God’s disposing a people to choose Him to be their God is a clear evidence that He had previously chosen them for His inheritance: “Ye have not chosen Me (said the Savior to His disciples, that is first) but I have chosen you” [John 15:16]. They had indeed chosen Him with all their hearts; but this was consequent upon His choice and therefore could not be the cause, although it was the best evidence of their being His people. “We love Him because He first loved us” [1 John 4:19]. But we observe,

2. Special and remarkable instances of Divine interposition in behalf of a people naturally lead us to conclude that God hath chosen them for His own.

Of old, He chose the seed of Abraham for His people and Jacob for the lot of His inheritance; and although He suffered them for a season to be afflicted by their enemies, yet when the set time was come for their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, His arm was made quite bare in the fight of the nations.

The children of Israel at this time were sunk under the most abject slavery. They indeed groaned under their bondage but had no idea of deliverance; and by being so long accustomed to serve, they had quite lost the spirit of enterprise. Yea, they were so far inured [accustomed] to their wretched condition and so indifferent to the cause of freedom, that after Moses had exhibited his credentials and given the most unequivocal proof of his being sent of God to liberate them from their vile servitude, they were ready upon almost every appearance of difficulty or danger to raise their clamorous voices and say, “Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.” But their drooping spirits were finally cheered, and with one consent they rallied round the standard of freedom; and while the Egyptians for their cruelty were visited with various plagues and were now mourning the loss of their first-born, under cover of the night they made their escape. But the tyrant of Egypt soon determined to pursue them.

The ransomed tribes, not being furnished with weapons of defense in order to escape the Philistines, took their route by the way of the wilderness and were now encamped between Migdol and the Red Sea. Imagination itself could scarce conceive of a situation more disadvantageous and distressing than theirs. The sea spread itself in their front; on either side they were enclosed by inaccessible mountains. Hahiroth on one side and Baal-zephon on the other, forbade their flanking off, whilst in their rear they beheld their late imperious master with all their tyrant bands in crowded columns advancing towards them, glittering in armor and amply furnished with the whole apparatus of death!

At this critical moment when ruin appeared inevitable, Moses – who had the most perfect command of himself – endeavored to calm their fears and excite their confidence in God. “Stand still,” said he, “and see the salvation of the Lord” [Exodus 14:13]. The cloud which led their way instantly went back and stood as an impenetrable wall before the Egyptian host. Moses now took his awful rod and stretched his hand out over the sea and the waters divided. Then, “the waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid and the depths were troubled” [Psalm 77:16]. “He made the waters to stand as an heap; they were congealed in the heart of the sea” [Exodus 15:8], until the chosen tribes had marched safely through.

But when one dark scene has passed, another equally distressing instantly opened to their view. They were now traversing the barren sands of Arabia beneath a burning sun and their soul fainted within them. No fruitful fields supplied their hunger, nor cheering springs allayed their thirst. In vain they wished for the flesh-pots of Egypt or the waters of the Nile. No human exertions could save them. The Lord again interposed and the heavens supplied them with bread, and the rock followed them with streams of living water.

The interpositions of Heaven were so visible in behalf of this people that an eastern soothsayer, after using in vain all the arts of magic to curse them, was constrained to say, “The Lord his God is with him and the shout of a King is among them” [Numbers 23:21].

When David upon a particular occasion was celebrating the Divine goodness, it brought to remembrance those days of the right hand of the Most High when God so remarkably interposed in their behalf; even when they were strangers in the land. “And when (said he) they went from nation to nation and one kingdom to another people, He suffered no man to do them wrong. Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not Mine anointed and do My prophets no harm.” [I Chronicles 16: 20-22]. And thus He led them on to the possess the Promised Land.

But we are called upon by the man whom we deligh