“The Word of God grew and multiplied.” (Acts 12. 24).
The present year has been a period of encouragement and blessing in the work of the Society. The Annual Report recently published indicates a considerable increase in the volume of the Society’s work in many parts of the world. Many readers of the Free Presbyterian Magazine have taken a prayerful and practical interest in the work and have contributed generously towards its extension. They will be encouraged to know that they have been instrumental in placing the Holy Scriptures in the hands of men, women, and children in many lands where spiritual darkness prevails.
INCREASED EXPENDITURE.
During the year increased production and circulation of the Scriptures absorbed an extra £10,000 compared with expenditure in the previous year. This was partly owing to increased costs of paper, print and binding, but more largely the result of greatly increased circulation.
INCREASED INCOME.
It was most encouraging to find that this great increase in expenditure was more than covered by increased income, the total for the year being about £12,000 more than in 1958. The Society makes provision for distributing the Scriptures by sales, free grants and part grants. The increased income not only indicated considerably increased sales throughout the world, but also an encouraging increase in subscriptions and donations.
INCREASED CIRCULATION.
During the year covered by the Report the number of Scriptures distributed rose most encouragingly in the following proportions—Bibles 60%; New Testaments 25%; Portions 300%.
There have been numerous new opportunities for the dissemination of the Scriptures in many lands. In Spain, France, Austria,
Italy, Brazil and the Argentine, where the Church of Rome dominates the scene, our Scriptures have entered in copious quantity. In the Far East, in Malaya, Indonesia, Formosa, Hong Kong and Kowloon, Gospels have been made available to tens of thousands of Chinese families. Missions to the Jewish communities scattered throughout the world have made good use of Hebrew Bibles and New Testaments supplied by our Society.
Scriptures in English, Tamil and Telugu have reached many homes in India, where we trust the entrance of God’s Word will give light. In North Africa and the Middle East many Christian workers have been well supplied with Scriptures in Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Spanish, French and Italian.
In the West Indies, British Honduras, British Guiana and throughout the Caribbean, Scriptures supplied below cost price by the Society have reached the hands and homes of many thousands of people, where living standards and incomes are much lower than in England.
There is a growing volume of work in progress, and we are encouraged to believe that the Society will be enabled to increase the flow of Scriptures in the months that lie ahead.
This great endeavour has been helped forward by many thousand of subscribers and friends, whose generous gifts, with God’s blessing become the means of sending the Scriptures to the ends of the earth
THE YEAR ENDS, but the WORK CONTINUES. “The Word of the Lord endureth for ever.” The circulation of the Scriptures in the first 8 months of the financial year ending next March has already exceeded that of the whole of last year, but there is still much to be accomplished and our contribution is too small. The world needs the Word of God, but the vast majority of the world’s population are in ignorance of its gracious message.
WHERE WE STAND.
The Society’s doctrinal basis requires that “Members of the Society shall be Protestants, who acknowledge their beliefs in the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, three co-equal and co-eternal Persons in one living and true God . . ., in the WHOLE BIBLE as the INSPIRED WORD OF GOD, the sole, supreme and infallible rule of faith and practice and who unite to support the Society by contributing half a guinea annually.
STAFF NEEDED.
The increase in the work of the Society has placed exacting burdens upon a small staff which now needs to be augmented. Among the readers of this article there may be one moved to enquire whether knowledge of typing and general clerical work gained in the world of commerce might be more profitably used in such a work as this. A letter to the Secretary, 7, Bury Place, W.C.1. would secure fuller information.
The late Mrs. Jessie Scott, Grafton, Australia.
Notwithstanding the fact that she reached the venerable age of ninety years the April previously, there are still many, in Scotland and Canada, who will remember the worthy Mrs. Jessie Scott, who passed away in her native Australia, at “Glenelg,” 29 Queen Street, Grafton, New South Wales, on the 9th June, 1959. Mrs. Scott was the widow of the worthy and faithful Rev. Walter Scott, our minister in Chesley, Ontario, Canada till the time of his much-lamented death there on January 18th, 1916. Mrs. Scott was the youngest of a family of eleven, two sons and nine daughters, and had the greatest and most blessed of all privileges, next to being in the kingdom of grace oneself, the precious privilege of being brought up by godly parents, her father especially being an outstanding Christian. An obituary sketch of her father, Hugh MacDonald, by the pen of Rev. Walter Scott appeared in our magazine, in 1906. Mr. Scott describes Mr. Hugh MacDonald as “a worthy representative of a generation in Australia now almost extinct. He hailed from the West Highlands of Scotland, and was one of the early settlers, or pioneers of the new country, but along with the sterling piety, which he exemplified, it marked him as one of a different race. He was a man upright in his generation, ‘one who feared God, and eschewed evil.’ He was only a lad of about fifteen, at the time of the Highland evictions, when his widowed mother, with her two sons, Hugh and John, like so many others in the Western Islands at that time, left their native shores never to return.” Notwithstanding his youth, when leaving Scotland, Mr. MacDonald retained to the last vivid impressions of the scenes and companions left behind. Like his youngest daughter, Mrs. Scott, Mr. MacDonald was not ignorant of Satan’s devices, nor of the inbred corruption of fallen human nature, but, like her also, he prudently reserved his references to these soul-grieving groans to his closest and most intimate spiritually-minded friends, Mr. MacDonald’s mother’s maiden name was Ann Cameron, a singularly devout Christian. They sailed on the emigrant ship, “Brilliant,” and after many months of exciting experiences, and a considerably lengthened voyage, they landed safely in Sydney, settling first on the Hunter River, before going north to the Clarence River. His only brother, John, died on the Hunter River, leaving a widow, and two children, a daughter and son. This daughter afterwards became the wife of our late worthy elder, Mr. Hugh Grant, of the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation. Though the present writer heard these narratives from Mrs. Scott, he is indebted to Miss Margaret Grant, who has been with Mrs. Scott for the last eighteen years, for refreshing his memory.
Mrs. Scott was married to Rev. Walter Scott on the 21st September, 1897, and they lived in the manse at Brushgrove, where Mr. Scott preached, as well as at Woodford Dale, and Grafton. In 1900 they paid a visit of six months to Scotland, and again in 1909. In 1912, Mr. Scott was sent as our church’s Synod deputy to Canada,
and during the voyage across the Atlantic they had an eventful experience with icebergs, at the very time the giant liner “Titanic,” on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg, and sank, with the loss of hundreds of lives. Later, Mr. Scott received “a call” to Chesley, Ontario, Canada, which he accepted, and where he ministered till the time of his death in 1916. Mrs. Scott resided there till some time afterwards, then sailed home to Australia from Vancouver in May, 1921, reaching Grafton on the 22nd June, 1921, where she resided, a tower of strength to our small congregation there, for 38 years, till the time of her death. Thus, after varied experiences she came to the end of life’s journey in this world, the last surviving member of her family. She was a liberal giver to the various funds of the church.
It would be very interesting to give details of Rev. Walter Scott’s ecclesiastical history in Australia, but the exigences of space in our magazine forbids. Suffice it here to say that Mr. Scott, in many aspects of his ministerial career in Australia, closely resembled that of the late worthy Rev. Donald MacFarlane, Dingwall. They never were physically robust, nor characterised by physical prowess, but what they lacked in this connection they more than made up for in moral and spiritual courage, firmness, and uncompromising fidelity to principle. Mr. Scott stood, in Australia, for the same Calvinistic principles of the Free Church of 1843 that Mr. MacFarlane upheld in Scotland. As Mr. MacFarlane found the so called Constitutionalists in Scotland, men of fair speeches and brave words, till testing and trials proved their hollowness, so Mr. Scott found his corresponding ministerial friends in Australia. In the day of trial they made a sudden ecclesiastical somersault, leaving Mr. Scott alone in his uncompromising loyalty to ordination vows, while his former friends became his most unrelenting antagonists, spending the rest of their days using sophistry in self-justification, under the disguise of a monopoly of tenderness of conscience, while cordially abusing Rev. Walter Scott because he would not join them in a treacherous betrayal of the distinctive Scriptural testimony of the Free Church of 1843.
In all his contendings, however, for “the faith once delivered to the saint.” he found in his life-partner one like-minded with himself, supporting him in his convictions and principles not only while he lived, but till she breathed her last in time. If the present writer were asked to name Mrs. Scott’s outstanding gracious virtues, he would have no hesitation in stating that firm uncompromising loyalty to the principles, convictions, and memory of her worthy saintly husband, stood conspicuous in the life of one who was truly “a virtuous woman.” When her nephew took the present writer in his car from South Grafton Railway Station, and introduced him to Mrs. Scott and her three sisters at “Glenelg,” 29 Queen Street, Grafton, he assured me he was now leaving me with ladies who, by their generosity, liberality, and hospitality, would spoil me for the rest of my
days. Eight months under their hospitable roof afforded ample opportunity of proving the unsurpassed lavish hospitality of this warm Christian home.
Mrs. Scott was a well-educated, refined, and gentle lady, with ready wit and an entertaining sense of humour, but firm and uncompromising where the principles of eternal, immutable, infallible truth were concerned. While she frowned unhesitatingly and candidly on any sign of light-hearted flippant frivolity, she was an excellent hostess, with her characteristically edifying conversation. She was as uncompromising and convinced a Free Presbyterian as the present writer ever had the privilege of meeting. In her last letter written shortly before the end, to the present writer, in which she ended with the words: “Farewell, my very dear friend,” she remarked: “We are few and feeble here, yet there is still a remnant left who love the old paths, and the walls of Zion.” She attended all the services at the Communion, dispensed by Rev. William MacLean, M.A., before leaving Grafton. She deeply appreciated the privilege of this her last Communion on earth, as she took ill the following Tuesday, realizing it was the messenger of death. She retained her faculties intact to the end, and passed peacefully away to her everlasting rest and glorious reward. We take advantage of this opportunity to express our deep sympathy with her many relatives and friends, especially to Miss Margaret Grant, who had been her companion in the home for the last eighteen years, and with our dear Grafton congregation, who have lost a true praying friend and a faithful conscientious witness-bearer. May they be blessed too with similar uncompromising fidelity to principle, and thus be followers of them who, through faith and patience, now inherit the promises.—J. P. MacQueen.
The late Mrs. Jane MacKenzie, Inverness.
This godly woman was born at a small hamlet in Dundonald in Wester Ross called Badluarach in February 1878. Of a family of 7 she was the third-child. Her parents gave her sound instruction in the doctrines of the Bible, but even more impressive was the example of godliness which they saw in their parents’ personal lives. They were both godfearing people, though slow to make public profession of their faith, her father alone doing so in the latter years of his life. Lochbroom at this time was a favoured spot where the gospel began to flourish about the time of the Disruption of 1843. Like many other parts of the countryside in the Northern and Western Highlands, the people of Lochbroom were beginning to stir out of the deadly sleep of Moderatism and were thirsting for the word of life. They welcomed the great Disruption preachers who came among them. Rev. George MacLeod was sent to Lochbroom in the year following the Disruption by the General Assembly of the Free Church. A call from Lochbroom, signed by more than 2,500 was put into his hands
by the Dingwall Presbytery, and although strenuously resisted by his devoted people at Maryburgh, the Assembly decided in favour of the wider and more isolated region as having the greater claim, and confirmed the translation. The labours of this faithful servant of Christ bore lasting fruit. A godly aunt with whom Jane MacKenzie often stayed was a close friend and great admirer of her minister. She related to her that Mr. MacLeod called on her in Ullapool on one occasion, and having little of this world’s goods, all she could lay before him was potatoes with a little salt. With no thought of excusing the meagreness of the food she said: “Nach mor tha againn, Mr. MacLeod?” (Have we not been given much, Mr. MacLeod?); upon which when asked to ask a blessing he said: “Thuirt thu fhein an t’altachadh, Elasaid” (“You have yourself asked the blessing, Elizabeth”). So great was the affection her parents had for Mr. MacLeod that they named one of their sons after him—George MacKenzie, who afterwards became a worthy elder of our Inverness congregation.
When the Free Church departed from the Word of God and her own scriptural Constitution and Standards, the whole district of Scorraig and Dundonald forsook that church in 1893. On the Scorraig side the two outstanding men for godliness to whom the people looked were John MacIver, Scorraig and John MacKenzie, Achmore, and when these men joined the Free Presbyterian Church, the people in body followed them and built a meeting-house to worship in. On the other side of the loch, however, there was none to lead them with the result that most of the people drifted back into the Free Church. Not so with John MacKenzie and his family, who continued steadfast at Badluarach in their support of the Church and in their home services were held by ministers who came the way which the most of the people attended.
As far as we can ascertain the work of grace began in Jane MacKenzie early, but with characteristic reserve she seldom made mention of the Lord’s dealings with her in convincing her of sin and delivering her through His dear son. She loved to read the “Pilgrim’s Progress” as a girl when herding the cattle at her home. When she came to Inverness to work when still in her teens, she showed her regard for the Sabbath by refusing to do unnecessary work at the bidding of her employers. She had solemn impressions at this time of the Day of Judgment which terrified her. She became a member of the Church when home on a visit at the time of the Coigach communion and this step she took after much self examination and trembling. Rev. Neil MacIntyre was at the communion and she derived great help and encouragement from a sermon which he preached on the words: “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”—Ps. ciii, verse 1p. On the way home across the arm of the sea separating Badluarach from Lochbroom a storm arose which almost swamped the boat with everyone in it,
and she feared that the Lord was in this way expressing His displeasure at the step she had taken. She felt that she had brought disaster upon her father whom she deeply loved, but this temptation of the evil one the Lord dispelled by bringing the boat safely to land.
Mrs. MacKenzie was married shortly after this to Roderick MacKenzie, a native of Scorraig to whom she was attracted by what she discerned of the grace of God in him. They came some time later to stay at Inverness. He had a few years earlier been spared death by drowning in a remarkable way. His father followed the herring fishing and for some reason when the season came round was unable to go with the fishing skiff. As Roderick was the eldest son he was called upon to take his father’s place, but he refused and was adamant in resisting all persuasion. The boat set off and at some part of the coast near Kylesku she went down carrying all aboard with her. The members of the crew were nearly all god-fearing men, and this was particularly true of the man who took the vacant place for all regarded him as a changed man, nevertheless in the inscrutable ways of the Most High everyone aboard perished. Watchers on the shore reported afterwards that they could hear the sound of a psalm being sung drifting across the sea from the sinking boat. Roderick MacKenzie was not a professing man at the time and could give no explanation why he had refused to go, but the Lord’s hand is clearly discernable in this event, as he was sparing his servant for some useful purpose in the vineyard. Mrs. MacKenzie’s married life was short, for she lost her husband in 1918 at the early age of 47. He became a deacon in our Inverness congregation, and was highly regarded for his saintly life. She tenderly nursed him in his illness and for some time hoped that he might be spared because of the words which were laid on her mind: “Still trust in God; for him to praise good cause I yet shall have”—Ps. xliii, verse 5. She was to learn by hard things in righteousness that such was not the Lord’s will. Her husband never believed that he would recover. Afterwards when she experienced much kindness from friends and being cast more directly upon the Lord’s providence for help found that He was to be trusted to preserve alive the fatherless children and be the widow’s stay, she discovered the true meaning of the words.
Mrs. MacKenzie was a woman who feared God rather than man and was bold and uncompromising in rebuking sin and worldliness. She loved the house of God and even failing health could not detain her from waiting on the public ordinances of the gospel. She did not readily communicate her spiritual experiences even to friends, although she was ready to open her mind to those whom she trusted. She had a strong attachment to the word of God and the doctrines of the gospel, which showed itself in her unswerving support of the Free Presbyterian Church. Those ministers whom she loved in the Lord earned her affectionate regard because of their faithfulness in
upholding the cause of Christ, but when some whom she esteemed as true servants of Christ did forsake the church of their first love, she felt the disappointment keenly, but never herself weakened in her adherence to the path of duty. She ruled well her family after losing her husband, and her home was always open to the Lord’s people. We miss her prayers for she could always be relied upon as an unchanging friend of the gospel and a steady supporter of all who wished well to Sion. May her example be blessed to her family, for we believe that her memory will be blessed.
After returning from the Beauty communion in July 1955, Mrs. MacKenzie fell in her own home and broke her leg. Thereafter, her health began visibly to decline, and though physically strong and healthy, she was never the same again. On her release from Raigmore Hospital where she spent 14 months, she seemed for a time to recover, and went north to the communion at Halkirk in 1957 and stayed on with her daughter at the Halkirk Manse. She took a heavy stroke and became practically helpless, depending on the careful nursing of her daughter, the wife of our esteemed minister at Halkirk, till the end came peacefully on the morning of Sabbath, 8th June 1958. She now rests among the dust of the godly in Kiltearn Graveyard, the burying place of the great Rev. Thos. Hogg whose fame still survives in the parish and beyond it, awaiting the trumpet call of the Great Day when the dead in Christ shall rise first and go to be for ever with the Lord.
We offer our sincere sympathy to her family, her son and three daughters, one of whom still resides in the old home at Kenneth Street and is walking in the steps and after the conversation of her beloved mother, and to her son-in-law, Rev. Wm. Grant who lovingly tended her in her last months. May the Lord comfort them, and be their God as He was their parents’ God, and endow them with the like grace which made them pleasant in their lives and worthy of being held in everlasting remembrance.—A. F. M.
Searmonan.
Leis an Urr. Tearlach C. Mac an Tòisich, D.D.
Searmon xx.
“Leanabh . . . naomhachd, ni as eugmhais nach faic neach air bith an Tighearna.” Eabh. xii. 14.
Ann a bhi tarraig bhur ‘n aire a dh’ionnsuidh na’m briathran mòr so, feoraichidh mi’n toiseach, a thaobh nàdur naomhachd; ‘s an dara àite, beachdaichidh mi air an earail, “Leanaibh naomhachd;” agus anns an treas àite, an t-aobhar sòlaimte leis am bheil i air a daingneachadh.
I. Ann a bhi’g amharc ris an Tighearna air son a theagaig, feoraicheadh-mid an toiseach a thaobh nàdur na naomhachd so a tha
sinn ri a bhi leantuinn, na an tòir oirre. Ciod i? Ann a bhi freagairt na ceisd so, tha mi beachdachadh—
- Gur e th’ann a bhi naomh a bhi coltach ri Dia. “Bithhibh-sa naomh, oir tha mise naomh.” Is e glòir shònraichte Dhe gu’m bheil E naomh. Tha e air a ràdh gu’m bheil E “ghlòrmhor ann a’ naomhachd.” Tha sinn a leughadh mu na seraphaim agus mu’n an Eaglais shuas a bhi toirt glòir Dhà gu sònraicht’ air son a naomhachd. Is naomh, naomh, naomh, Tighearna nan sluagh.” Agus tha’m Fear-saoraidh ‘n a ùrnuigh, anns am bheil E ‘g eadar-ghuidh, ga ghairm, “Athair naomh” agus “Athair chothromaich.” Uime sin, ‘s e th’ann a bhi naomh ach a bhi nochdadh a mach iomhaigh mhoralta Dhé. ‘S e th’ann ach a bhi coltach Ris anns cho fad ‘s a tha’n creutair com-asach air a bhi coltach ris a Chruithear, a bhi (mar a tha Peadar ga chur) ‘n ar luchd co-phàirt do nàdur na Diadhachd, agus, uime sin, a bhi dhe’n aon inntinn ri Dia; a bhi faicinn maise spioradail far am bheil Dia ga fhaicinn, a bhi gràdhachadh a’ ni a tha Dia a gràdhachadh, a bhi’g iarruidh a’ ni a tha Esan ag iarruidh. B’e glòir an duine gu’n robh e air a chruthachadh a reir iomhaigh Dhé. Tha e sònraicht’ a bhi gabhail beachd air an rathad anns am bheil cruthachadh an duine air a thoirt a stigh. Tha’n Truir shiorruidh, mar gu’m b’eadh, a cumail comhairle r’a cheile agus tha iad ag ràdh, “Deanadh-mid an duine, ‘n ar dealbh fein.” Dheilbh an Tighearn an duine ‘n a leithid de bhith agus nach e mhàin gu’n robh e uile gu leir maith (oir tha gach ni a thig bho laimh Dhé maith) ach gu’n robh ni-eigin dhe’ ni sin ann anns am bheil gu sònraichte maise agus glòir Dhé a co-sheasamh, ri fhaicinn ann. Mar anns na h-ainglean naomh, mar sin anns an duine ann an staid a’ neo-chiontais, chit-headh an t-sùil spioradail lorgachadh iomhaigh mhoralta Iehobhah neo-chriochnach. Is e truaigh an duine—is e ar truaigh-ne gu’n do chaill sinn an iomhaigh so. Is e òirdheirceas obair an Spioraid Naomh gu’m bheil E ‘g aiseag so air ais air an anam.
‘S e’n sealladh so air naomhachd, mar a co-sheasamh ann a bhi coltach ri Dia a tha naomh, an sealladh is àirde is urrain sinn a ghabhail, agus bithidh e air fhaireachadh a bhi ro-dhealrach leo-san a bheir an inntinnean gu bhi gu suidhichte a beachdachadh air. Cia cho neo-iomlan agus a tha beachdan air naomhachd Dhé eadhon aig na naomh anns an t-saoghal so; agus cia cho duilich ‘s a tha eadhon sin a chur an cainnte?
- ‘S e th’ann a bhi naomh ach a bhi co-chùmtha ri lagh Dhé, an lagh sin a tha, ann a bhi deanamh aithnichte dhuinn toil Dhé, a tha foillseachadh dhuinn iomhaigh agus inntinn-san, “Gràdhaichidh tò an Tighearna do Dhia le t’ùile chridhe, agus le t’ùile anam, agus le t-uile inntinn, agus le t-uile neart; is i so a cheud àithne: agus is cosmhuil an dara àithne rithe so, Gràdhaichidh tu do chomhearsnach mar thu fein.” ‘S e th’ann a bhi naomh, iomlan naomh, ach uile nàdur neach a bhi co-chùmtha ris an riaghailt so; an inntinn a bhi air a lionadh le eolas òirdheirceas Dhé agus air a luach neo-
chriochnach a chùm a bhi air a ghràdhachadh agus aoradh a thoirt Dhà; an toil a bhi ann an iochdaranachd iomlan agus bheannaicht’ dha thoil-san, mar an ni sin a tha riaghladh a chruinne-ché; agus sealbh a bhi air a ghabhail air a chridhe le gràdh barraichte agus dian Dhà-san, agus gràdh gun cheilg dha ar coimhearsnach, a chùm agus gu’m bitheadh ar briathran agus ar gniomharan uile nan cur an ceill air a ghràdh sin. ‘S e so an lagh ris am bheil iadsan uile ann an neamh air an co-chumadh, agus ni, a tha mar lagh na saorsa, ga’n ceangal r’a cheile ann an gràdh do Dhia agus do aon a cheile. Agus tha’n Spiorad Naomh ga sgiobhadh anns a chridhe—anns a chridhe nuadh. ‘S e so, uime sin, sealladh cudthromach eile air naomhachd, agus sealladh do neach a ghabh eolas air spioradalachd agus farsuin-geachd lagh Dhé, Ach.
- ‘S e th’ann a bhi naomh ach a bhi coltach ri leanabh naomh Dhé Iosa, a bhi coltach Ris-san, mar Dhia, is e “dealradh glòir an Athar, agus fior iomhaigh a phearsa,” agus mar dhuine, is aon E air am bheil fior-ghloine neo-chriochnach a gabhail còmhnuidh le tlachd. Oir bha lagh Dhé ‘n a chridhe; bha gach uile smuainte agus rùn anns a chridhe sin a ghnàth a mhàin maith, agus bha gach focal agus gniomh uile gu leir a reir agartasan. Bha obair Aige ri dheanamh air thalamh—obair a chriochnaich E—dhe leithid de ghné agus nach b’urrain aon nach robh ach na chreutair a mhàin a dheanamh; eadhon a bhi riarachadh Dia air an robh campar air a chur agus a bhi’g àrdachadh lagh a bha air a bhriseadh. Agus Ann-san, mar dhuine, bha maise na naomhachd a dealrachadh a mach mar nach d’rinn i riamh ann am pàrras, na ann an aon air bith nach robh ach ‘n a chreutair a mhàinn; oir ghabh “Spiorad an Tighearna còmhnuidh air, spiorad gliocais agus tuigse, spiorad comhairle agus cumhachd, spiorad eolais agus eagail an Tighearna.” Bha thlachd ann an toil an Athar, ‘n uair a b’e cuid de’n toil sin E bhi air a threigsinn le Athair. Bha gràdh Aige dha naimhdean ‘n uair a bha iad ga thàirn-geadh ris a chrann. Mar am Fear-urras bha Aige mar sin obair r’a dheanamh, agus fulungais r’a dhol troimhe, anns an robh E’n a aonar; agus, mar dhuine, chleachd E gràs ann an suidhichidhean anns nach urrain a shluagh gu bràth a bhi air an cur, agus ann an tomhas air nach ruig neach eile. Agus gidheadh bha E dhoibh-san ‘n a eiseimpleir air an naomhachd a dh’fheumas iad iarruidh os a dheigh, ‘n a eiseimpleir ann am fior nàdur na daonnachd ann an suidheachadh iosal, ‘n a eiseimpleir anns na suidhichidhean is caochlaidich ann an deuchain, ‘n a eiseimpleir air a chreidimh agus a ghràdh, an ioraslachd agus am fein-àicheadh, a’ macantas agus an fhoghaidean agus an t-eud agus an ùmhlachd a tha a shluagh air an gairm gu bhi cleachdadh. “Bitheadh an inntinn cheudna annaibh-se, a bha ann an Iosa Criosd.” Uime sin cha’n e mhàinn gu’n d’ rinn Iosa reite air son peacaidh agus gu’n do cheannaich E naomhachd dha shluagh, ach bhuilich E orra ‘n a cheatha-beatha naomh, eiseimpleir na naomhachd a tha iad gu bhi leantuinn, mar a tha e sgiobhta. “Oir an
dream a roimh-aithnich e, roimh-orduich e mar an ceudna chùm a bhi co-chosmhuil ri iomhaigh a Mhic, chùm gu’m bitheadh esan ‘n a cheud-ghin am meag mòran bhraithrean.” “A fagail eiseimpleir agaibh, chùm gu’n leanadh sibh a cheumaibh.” ‘S e th’ann a bhi naomh, uime sin, ach a bhi cosmhuil Ris-san a dh’fhoillsich co-chùmtachd iomlan ri lagh Dhé.
Tha e ‘n a ni ro-àraidh gu’m bitheadh beachdan ceart againn air ciod a tha air a chiallachadh le naomhachd, air eagal ‘s gu’n cuir sinn ‘n a àite moraltachd, na fireantachd bho’n leth a muigh, na nì air bith eile nach e mhàinn a tha nì’s lugha na naomhachd ann an tomhas, ach a tha eadar-dhealaichte ris ann an nàdur. Oir is e firinn a tha’g ioraslachadh a th’ann gu’m bheil sinn a thaobh nàduir, cha’n e mhàinn neo-iomlan ann an naomhachd, ach uile gu leir falamh dhith. Uime sin, thòisich Iosa, ‘n a chòmhradh ris an fhear-theagaig Iudhach, air a teagasg le bhi’g innse dha gu’m feumadh e bhi air a bhreith a rithisd. Feumaidh fein-fhiosrachadh a bhi againn air a leithid so de atharrachadh mòr—gu’m bitheadh beatha nuadh air a toirt dhuinn tre chumhachd beothachaidh Dhé an Spiorad Naomh; a leithid de bheatha agus gu’m bitheadh an tuigse ‘n a solus ‘s an Tighearna, na h-aignedhean a gabhail an cùrsa gu neamh, an toil a ruith anns an aon chladhan ri toil Dhé; a leithid de bheatha agus a chuireas i fein an ceill ann a bhi air ball a gabhail ri Criosd an Slànuighear a tha air a thaigse, a chùm agus gu’m bitheadh-mid air ar fireanachadh agus air ar naomhachadh. Tha namhaid mhòr anamaibh agus ar cridheachan cealgach fein a dol an co-bhuinn gu bhi folach bh’uainn firinn agus meudachd an atharrachaidh so. Agus do bhrigh sin tha mòran ga’n cur fein le’n aideachadh a’ meag na muinntir naomhaichte a tha’n an coigrich do naomhachd. Cha’n eil teagamh nach eil iomadh dòigh anns am bheil an Spiorad Naomh a deiligeadh, agus iomadh tomhas ann am fein-fhiosrachadh am meag clann na nuadh-bhreith. Ach ‘s e atharrachadh fior agus mòr a th’ann. Agus tha ar Criosdalachd a tionndadh air an deachaidh sinn tre’n atharrachadh so. “Ma tha neach sam bith ann an Criosd, is creutair nuadh e: chaidh na seann nithean seachad, feuch, rinneadh na h-uile nithean nuadh.”
(R’a leantuinn.)