HUGH HENDERSON was born in Sanna, Ardnamurchan, Argyllshire, in the year 1861. Both his parents were careful as regards their moral conduct, but nothing can be written as to their being pious. But the majority of men and women in our rural districts at that period lived a more careful and orderly life than the most of the professors of religion in our day do. Of the early training of Hugh nothing can be said as regards religious instruction.
In the year 1879, when he was eighteen years of age, he came to Glasgow and took to a seafaring life. The most of the time he spent at sea, if not all the time, was on the “Burns” boats trading between Glasgow and Ireland. He rose to the position of first mate with a captain’s certificate.
During many years i.e., up till 1910, he lived a good moral life but was regardless of the paramount concerns of his immortal soul.
In the month of May 1910 a young daughter of his was removed by death after a few days illness. At the funeral service in the house (we are out and out against the popish prayers put up at the grave) during prayer an expression to the following effect was used—parents and children will have to meet yet on the great day of judgment, and if parents neglected to teach their children the fear of God in time, while they were bringing them up, the Great Judge will curse them for their neglect and also their children who will say to them “Our curse be upon you, for had you taught us our ruined condition and the salvation God provided for sinners in Christ crucified we might be to-day on the right hand of the august Judge of Eternity.” A few days after the funeral he called on the writer. When he came in to the room, he began to weep aloud and the contortions of his face revealed a terrible agony of mind. After a little space of time he began to speak. His first words were, “My lassie is now lost and in the flames of hell and I have been the cause of her everlasting ruin; for I have never said a word to her about her soul being lost or as to how she could be saved. I am guilty of the unpardonable sin.” The writer said to him that it was certainly a very great sin for parents to neglect the upbringing of their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but that was not the unpardonable sin; that sin against the Holy Ghost, which would not be forgiven, was from malice to attribute the Holy Spirit’s work to Satan. After we pointed out to him that he should not definitely conclude that his lassie was lost (for the writer believed that his wife was a converted woman and that being so that she would have taught her child in the fear of God) because she was of age to enable her to realise by the teachings of the Holy Spirit her lost condition and also to the only way of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. It was pointed out to him that great sinners were forgiven in the past and that there was forgiveness still with God for the guiltiest sinner. He became more calm, and after a short prayer he went away.
The following day he called again. He said that he was not so hopeless as he was seeing the Lord forgave such great sinners, but his great fear was that He would not forgive him. We had more conversation about the need of the Holy Spirit to work faith and repentance in our hearts, after which he went away. He continued to come almost daily for two or three weeks, and notwithstanding that his great fears were abated somewhat, yet he was in deep fear that the Lord would not forgive him all the sins he had committed against Him, which were now day and night lying heavily upon his mind and conscience.
On a Sabbath day soon after these conversations were held just as the writer rose up in the pulpit to give out his text, he saw him appearing inside the door at the end of the passage in the Church. The text was—”As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Next morning he came to see the writer when he related the great deliverance he received from the text above referred to. He said that he left his lodgings in good time for the 11 o’clock service, but that when he came to within 2 minutes walk from the church the thought came forcibly into his mind—”If you will enter St. Jude’s to-day, you will bring God’s curse upon every one that will be in it”—so he returned to his lodgings and sat down in a chair. No sooner was he seated than it came into his mind that if he neglected the means of salvation he could not escape being lost for ever, so he at once got up and away to the church. When he arrived at the place where he returned to his lodgings before, the same thoughts were pressed upon his mind with such force that he turned back the second time. He was only seated when the same thoughts of the effect of neglecting the means of salvation came again forcibly into his mind. So off he went the third time. The former temptations met him again at the same place and it made him halt for a moment, but he made up his mind that he would go to St. Jude’s whatever the consequences might be, and so he did, and the result was as above stated.
The above is revealed to let poor tempted sinners know what subtle art Satan will use so as to keep them from attending the means which God has set up in the Church for their salvation. It is quite manifest that nothing pleases Satan better than that God’s curse should come down upon a congregation, so that he was acting as a liar and a murderer in the above temptations, and has tried the same tactics often and in many cases too successfully. The above reveals also how the Holy Ghost resists Satan, and enables poor helpless sinners to obey God’s Word despite Satan’s temptations to the contrary. This is one of the ways by which men quench the Spirit when they obey Satan and the flesh rather than the Holy Spirit speaking in and by the Word.
In about a fortnight after he received the great deliverance from God’s blessed Word, he called again and when he was seated he looked on the writer with tears in his eyes and real sadness on his countenance and said—”I am not converted at all Mr. . . . ; all that I passed through was a delusion, for my heart was never before so wicked as it is now.” The writer answered—”If you came to-day to tell me that you feel your heart, a good heart, I would certainly be afraid that you are not converted; but I am now convinced that you are. Did you ever hear any unconverted man or woman complaining of their heart as being a wicked one? No: man while dead in trespasses and sin is not conscious of the lusts, etc., that are in the heart. On the contrary it has been the experience of such as were truly godly. You remember David’s prayer in the 51st psalm: ‘Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’ You see the same thing as being Paul’s experience in Romans, 7th chapter, when he describes the flesh warring against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, which caused him to exclaim: ‘O wretched man that I am! who will deliver me from the body of this death.’ This was his experience when he was an old man. You probably thought that you would have nothing but happy feelings once you were converted.” “Yes,” he said, “that was what I expected, but I now see that I was wrong.”
In the year 1912 he came before the Kirk-Session to be examined with a view of becoming a member in full communion. The Session were highly satisfied with his knowledge and experience so he was received to full membership. In the year 1924 there was an election of elders and deacons. He was elected by the vote of the members to the deacon’s office which he fulfilled to the satisfaction of that court. He was loved and respected very highly by all our people in St. Jude’s as well as by all the office-bearers. In his prayers, at the prayer meetings, there was manifested a deep sense of his own poverty as a sinner, and of true humility of soul on account of it, but a strong hold by faith upon the merit of Christ and of the power of the Holy Spirit to apply savingly the blood of Christ to the guilty sinner both for forgiveness and inward cleansings. These exercises were greatly valued by the poor in Zion in St. Jude’s.
About four years ago his heart began to show signs of losing its former vigour. Formerly he had been a powerfully built man, and probably that caused him to be of the opinion that he could carry on at least to some extent as he used to do. But by and by he had to take a lengthened holiday in his native air. The change did him much good, so he came back to Glasgow, but his strength continued to decline. He went back again to his native air expecting that he might derive the same benefit which he experienced the previous year, but he continued to grow weaker till the end came.
He passed through great desertion of soul during four months before the end came. His widow sent me the following concerning the great deliverance the Lord granted him before the end came: “From Saturday afternoon till he passed away he was very comfortable in body and in mind. He was very weak on Tuesday and he passed peacefully away on Wednesday at 7 a.m. the 17th day of September. On Tuesday I said to him—’I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,’ and I then asked him if he had the promise. He said, ‘Yes.’ After that he said—’The storm is changed into a calm at His command and will.’ I then asked him if he was going home. He said: ‘Yes, to glory, to the King of glory.’ Later I sang psalm 51, from 7th to 10th verse, and psalm 50, verse 5. He was able to join a little in singing himself.
“It was a great comfort to him that his oldest son had come home from New York to see him three weeks before his end came, and that all the rest of the family were so kind to him and so mindful of him. He left this message with his two sons and daughter—’The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God cleanseth from all sin.’ At the very end he repeated several times—’I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own name’s sake, and will not remember thy sins.’ And he then added: ‘Blessed be His name that it is for His own name’s sake.'”
Thus passed away to the rest that remains to the people of God worthy Hugh Henderson. His remains were laid to rest in the Kilchoan Churchyard till the last trumpet will awaken the dead at the last day. Captain John Nisbet held a service in the mournful home before the remains were removed.
We express our deepest sympathy with his widow and children and pray that the “Father of the fatherless and the widow’s Judge” may give them grace to trust in the God of their father.—N. C.