Excerpt from A Semi-Centenary Discourse: Delivered in the First African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, on the Fourth Sabbath of May, 1857: With a History of the Church From Its First Organization Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. - Ex. xiv. 15. I have chosen this subject for the occasion on account of its scope. What to the children of Abraham under their peculiar situation, may to the people of God, in this day, be as important. Go forward, as a command from the mouth of God, is worthy of our deepest consideration, and should be regarded as worthy of all acceptation by a nation, a community, a sect, or a church, and should by the individual man, in his life, practice, example, faith, grace, knowledge, wisdom, truth, and holiness. What I purpose upon this occasion is - I. To notice the circumstance that gave rise to the text - that briefly. II. The command as it affects the individual. III. The command as it touches a church, and the history of this church. I. It is known to you all that the children of Israel were in captivity in Egypt, and remained in that condition upwards of 220 years. The sequel of their bondage shows that their condition was one of affliction and distress: their repeated cries and supplications to God make this assertion as clear as a sunbeam. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.