“Be sure your sin will find you out”—Numbers xxxii, 23.
“I was once applied to,” says the late Mr. English of Woodburn, in his diary, “by a stranger, in a place where I was labouring for a few Sabbaths only, for a sight of a letter which I had received calumniating his character. I looked at the man and pitied him, and coolly replied, ‘It would be a breach of the common principles of society, to show confidential letters written to us for the purpose of our doing people good.’ He retorted in an angry tone, ‘I demand a sight of it, sir, as an act of justice due to an injured man.’ I replied, ‘How did you know that I had received a letter concerning you?’ ‘Know,’ said he, ‘it was impossible not to know it; your language and manner were so pointed, that it was impossible I should be deceived!’ I rejoined, ‘Do not be too positive: you have been deceived before now, I suppose; you may be so again.’ ‘It is not possible,’ said he; ‘you described the sin of which I am accused in the clearest language, and looking me in the face, and pointing towards me, you said, sinner, be sure your sin will find you out; I therefore expect from you sir, as a gentleman and a Christian minister, that you will give me a sight of the letter, that I may know its contents and repel its charge.’ I observed, ‘I do not know your name; to my knowledge I never saw you before; and as you have not told me in what part of the sermon it was I was so pointed, if I show you any letter I may show you the wrong one; I shall, therefore, certainly not exhibit any of my letters to you, nor satisfy you whether I have received any one about you, till you describe the case alluded to.’ He hesitated, but afterwards described the sin of which he was accused. When he had finished, looking him full in his eyes, assuming a solemn attitude, and using a grave and serious tone of voice, I said, ‘Can you look me full in the face, as you must your Judge at the great day of God, and declare that you are innocent of this sin laid to your charge?’ He trembled, turned pale, and his voice faltered—guilt and anger struggling in his breast, like the fire in the bowels of Mount Etna—and, summoning up his remaining courage, he said, ‘I am not bound to make any man my confessor; and, if I were guilty, no man has a right to hold me up to public observation, as you have done.’ I assumed a benignity of countenance, and softened my tone, saying, ‘Do you believe the passage I cited—Be sure your sin will find you out—is the word of God?’ He said, ‘It may be.’ ‘Surely it is,’ said I; ‘He that made the ear, shall He not hear? He that made the eye, shall He not see? Can He have any difficulty in bringing your sin to light? Now I will tell you honestly, I never received any letter or information about you whatever, but I am persuaded your sin has found you out; the preaching of the word is one method by which God makes men’s sins find them out. Let me entreat you seriously to consider your state and character; who can tell—God may have intended this sermon for your good; He may mean to have mercy on you; this may be the means of saving your neck from the gallows, and your soul from hell: but let me remind you, you are not there yet, there still is hope.’ He held down his head, clenched his hands one into the other, and bursting into tears, said, ‘I never met with anything like this—I am certainly obliged to you for your friendship—I am guilty, and hope this conversation will be of essential advantage to me!’”
*From Anecdotes of the Old Testament, by late John Whitecross.
The late Matron MacGillivray, Inverness.
MANY of the excellent of the earth pass almost unnoticed through life and are largely unknown even to the Lord’s people with whom they associate in Christian fellowship. This may be due to a sense of the value of the things of God which keeps them reticent about the concerns of religion or to a sense of great personal unworthiness. Their employment, also, may remove them to a place far from the fellowship of the Lord’s people, but often in later years they may be brought into more prominent notice and are then valued at their true worth. This was specially true of Matron MacGillivray.
Miss Jessie MacGillivray was born in 1861 at Balnabiran, Stratherrick, and was the fourth child of a family of three sons and five daughters. The home was the meeting place of many of the godly, notable among whom was the eminent Donald Duff. Her parents were both God-fearing people who carefully taught their children the knowledge and fear of God, and in the case of more than one member of the family their instruction was not entirely lost. Of both these parents they were deprived early in life. The care of the household was, thereafter, thrown upon the oldest of the girls, who is still spared to a ripe old age at Stratherrick, Mrs. Fraser, who herself is a partaker of the “like precious faith” with her late sister, whom she is left to mourn. Miss MacGillivray was 14 when she lost her mother. The removal of such parents is a disaster, but godly parents leave to their family something more precious than even their own presence and instruction: the legacy of their prayers, which is often realised after they are gone. When the father of Isabel Hood, who was a very poor man and enjoyed few of the comforts of life, was asked on his death-bed what he had reaped for serving the Lord so long, he replied, “A sure interest in the covenant for myself and my family.” This was the desire of Mrs. MacGillivray, and when she felt the end approaching, she gathered her young family around the bed, and after giving them counsel suited to their years, impressed upon them the study of the Bible, mentioning as specially worthy of their prayerful regard, the 63rd Psalm. The family in more than one instance gave proof that their mother’s prayers were abundantly fulfilled.
Miss MacGillivray appears to have been converted at the early age of 12 years. The means by which the great discovery was made that she was a sinner are unknown to us, but after a period of severe trial over the doctrine of election, she embraced Christ in the free offer of the Gospel. One of the passages of Scripture that was made precious to her at this time, to which she sometimes referred, was “Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” That one so young should have attained to the possession of saving faith after a protracted struggle with such a profound doctrine as that of election shows that she had already imbibed a good deal of religious knowledge and had derived no little benefit from the religious instruction and spiritual influences of the home.
She trained as a nurse at Kilmarnock, and when she had completed her training went for a year to Fraserburgh Hospital. When the new Saltcoats-Ardrossan Hospital required a matron, the doctors of her former hospital showed their high regard for her capabilities by recommending her at once for this place. For the next 30 years she filled this highly responsible position with the greatest acceptance till her retirement in 1931, when she came to stay at Inverness. During her years at Salcoats she laboured tirelessly for the good of the hospital and had the entire confidence of the patients and doctors. As no religious services were held at that time in the hospital, she introduced the practice of Scripture reading, which she conducted herself in such a kindly and unobtrusive way that not only was there no opposition, but many appreciated her interest in them. During these years she attended St. Jude’s congregation, Glasgow, and went up regularly, as her duties allowed her, to Glasgow to the weekly prayer meeting. Under Mr. Cameron’s weighty ministry she found rest and food for her soul, and for Mr. Cameron she entertained an affectionate and tender regard as a true servant of Christ. Mr. Cameron, when he came to know her, esteemed her as a woman of genuine piety and wide spiritual experience, and when she came to Inverness, made known to the elders there his regard for her. Her heart was in the Free Presbyterian Church. When the Free Church had departed from her own Confession of Faith and the Word of God, she grieved over the changes which overtook this once pure Church. When the separation took place in 1893, she welcomed the event with delight and in this mind remained steadfast to the end. The close way in which she identified herself with the troubles and trials of the Church showed the warm place the Free Presbyterian Church held in her affections. She was greatly exercised over the spiritual declensions of the Churches of the land, and specially mourned over present-day Sabbath desecration which is now like a flood covering the country. She was a humble, God-fearing and prayerful woman, who endeared herself to the most discerning of the Lord’s people by her low opinion of herself and her love to the Saviour.
A friend who knew her intimately for more than 40 years has written the following:—
“Miss MacGillivray, familiarly known as ‘the Matron,’ was awakened to a sense of her lost estate at the age of 12. Although she had the privilege of being present daily at family worship, was taught the Shorter Catechism and Bible knowledge, attended a gospel ministry, and her father’s house was one of the homes in which the eminent Donald Duff held periodically his catechising diets and prayer-meetings, yet, when she came under conviction of sin, she informed the writer that she felt as ignorant of the way of salvation as the heathen.
“The doctrine of election was made a sore trial to her, as it has been to many others by the great adversary of souls. She reasoned—if I am not of the elect I cannot be saved; I am a dark and ignorant sinner, and am not of the elect, therefore there is no hope for me. She did not then know that Satan often puts grains of truth among much error, the more readily to deceive and the more firmly to hold captive those who are entangled in his snares. She did not detect that while the first part of the argument is true, the second is a mere assumption which afterwards proved to be false, and the conclusion therefore wrong. Many have been entangled in this snare by the same form of reasoning. It is the devil’s syllogism. Those who are thus tempted forget that it is written that a compassionate Saviour is provided for sinners, for the ignorant and for those who are out of the way, and that the order of the gospel is, that we make our ‘calling sure,’ and this done, our election is sure.
“This temptation harassed her for a year. Then the Scripture came with power, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ The snare was broken, unbelief overcome, and she obtained pardon and peace through the blood of the Lamb. This experience gave her a clear view of the sovereignty of God’s grace in the salvation of sinners. Now she found most helpful the religious instruction and the godly example set before her in the home, but which seemed lost to her under conviction. When later she meditated upon these words in which she had found salvation, she discerned in them Christ freely offered to her, and the duty of believing urged upon her even when under conviction of sin, and that union with Christ by faith secures the promised salvation. It is the sinner’s duty to believe even when conscious of inability and depravity. He is constrained to cry for mercy when the Spirit by the Scriptures bestows upon him ‘an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ.’ ‘Who can tell if God will return and repent and turn away from his fierce anger and we perish not.’ Election and the free invitation of Christ stand together and rightly presented are designed to convey encouragement and comfort to the earnest seeker and the humble believer.
Diligent in the use of means, she early attained to a full and clear knowledge of the way of salvation. She delighted to hear of Christ freely offered to sinners, and sinners pointedly reminded of their duty to believe in Him for salvation. In conversation she had the rare and happy art of imparting knowledge when seeming only to seek information, and she could suitably give the conversation a spiritual and profitable turn, in accordance with the apostolic injunction, ‘Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt.’ The writer knew her for over 40 years and noted her concern for the Lord’s cause, her wise counsel, sympathy and helpfulness towards those under soul concern, her pleasant and lively disposition which enabled her to look upon the bright side of things and to put the best construction on a difficult situation, and her ‘walking in wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time.’ which showed her to be what Rev. Neil Cameron called her fifty years ago—‘a mother in Israel.’”
Matron MacGillivray passed away in August, 1950, after a short illness in which she lay almost unconscious for a few days preceding the end. She was laid to rest in the old graveyard of Dunlichity, not far from the grave of the Rev. Archie Cook, who ‘rests from his labours’ amidst a goodly number of his flock who were the fruits of his ministry in Daviot. To her remaining sister, Mrs. Fraser, Stratherrick, and her relatives we extend our heartfelt sympathy.—A. F. M.
The late Mrs. Margaret MacRae, Arrat.
THIS good woman died on the 16th of September, 1949, on the very spot of God’s earth where she was born, eighty-four years before. This place is known as Arrat, a small peninsula at the entrance to Loch Torridon in Wester Ross. The place is not accessible by road, except a rough track through massive boulders fallen from the cliffs above, but it is quite easy to get there on the sea. The Lord had witnesses in Arrat, as He had in many other isolated places in the Western Highlands. Mrs. MacRae’s parents were not communicants, but they are said to have been orderly, as to their walk and conversation, and they brought her up “as it becometh the gospel.” She used to tell that they were very strict about the observance of the Lord’s Day. It is not known what means the Lord took to translate Mrs. MacRae from darkness to light, but that she was one of Christ’s dear people was evident by her example of faith, and patience, and watchfulness, and heavenly-mindedness. From her early childhood she took an interest in the Scriptures and had her early impressions. One of her earliest recollections of being impressed under the preaching of the Word was when she was six years of age. It was at Shieldaig, probably during a Communion season. The sermon was preached in the open air. The preacher was the Rev. Mr. Fraser, of Rosskeen. His text was: “King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.” The part of the sermon that impressed her young mind most of all was the preacher’s oft repeated words: “There is still room in this chariot for sinners.” It seems that the Holy Ghost was then teaching her, and that the Saviour by his kingly office was subduing her to Himself. Another sermon which made an indelible impression on her mind, and from which she loved to quote to old age, was on the text: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” This sermon was preached by the pious Rev. Duncan MacBeath, who was minister in Ness, in Lewis. The labours of this eminent servant of Christ were blessed to many. Mrs. MacRae, however, never forgot the ministry of the minister of her own congregation—the saintly Rev. Donald Macdonald, of Shieldaig. By his preaching she benefited. To his sermon on the words: “I am the rose of Sharon,” she often referred.
It was in middle life that our subject asked the Kirk Session of Shieldaig for permission to sit at the Lord’s Table and confess her Lord publicly. The Session being satisfied with her life and experience, according to the records, she was joyfully received as a member in full communion with the Church. The Lord’s people get grace not only to be saved, but also to glorify God in the world: “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” Mrs. MacRae was very quiet and reserved and had not much to say in company, but her “light so shined before men.” Her love to the Sabbath and to all the means of grace was evident. As an example of her desire for God’s house and the fellowship of His people, she walked to Gairloch on a Communion Sabbath all the way from Arrat, and having left an infant at home she walked back at night. The distance is reckoned to be in the region of sixteen miles through a rough hill ground. She would say, in relating this incident, that she tasted of God’s gracious goodness that day.
During the last twenty years of her life she was more or less a cripple with rheumatism, but still with the aid of a stick she would get down the shore and into a boat and off to Shieldaig in order to be in God’s house, where she loved to be. At the end she was assured of her eternal inheritance. She told her family two days before she died that her Lord was coming for her and that she was going to glory to be with Him. Her husband predeceased her by twenty-nine years. She left a son and two daughters, who were very devoted to her, to mourn her loss. May the inheritance of a beloved mother be the inheritance of each of them.—A. B.