A Covenanters’ Communion in Teviotdale During Persecuting Times (1677).
THE ordinance of the last supper, that memorial of His dying love till His second coming, was signally countenanced and backed with powerful and refreshing influences from on high.
“They had to place picquets of horsemen towards the suspected parts, and single horsemen at greater distances, to give warning, for the Earl of Hume, as ramp a youth as any in the country, had threatened to assault the meeting with his men and militia, and to make their horses drink the communion wine and trample the sacred elements under foot. Every means was taken to compose the multitude, and prevent any affront that might be offered to so solemn and sacred a work, when they had to stay three days together, sojourning by the lions’ dens and the mountains of the leopards. . . . The place where we convened seemed to have been formed on purpose. It was a green and pleasant haugh, fast by the water side (the Whitadder). On either hand there was a spacious brae, in form of a half-round, covered with delightful pasture, and rising with a gentle slope to a goodly height. Above us was the clear blue sky, for it was a sweet and calm Sabbath morning, promising to be indeed one of the days of the Son of Man. There was a solemnity in the place befitting the occasion, and elevating the whole soul to a pure and holy frame. The communion tables were spread on the green by the water, and around them the people had arranged themselves in decent order. But the far greater multitude sat on the brae-face, which was crowded from top to bottom, full as pleasant a sight as was ever seen of that sort. At first there was some apprehension from enemies; but the people sat undisturbed, and the whole was closed in as orderly a way as it had been in the time of Scotland’s brightest noon. And truly the spectacle of so many grave, composed, and devout faces must have struck the adversaries with awe, and been more formidable than any outward ability of fierce looks and warlike array. We desired not the countenance of earthly kings; there was a spiritual and divine majesty shining on the work, and sensible evidence that the Great Master of Assemblies was present in the midst. Though our vows were not offered within the courts of God’s house, they wanted not sincerity of heart, which is better than the reverence of sanctuaries. Amidst the lonely mountains we remembered the words of our Lord, that true worship was not peculiar to Jerusalem or Samaria, that the beauty of holiness consisted not in consecrated buildings or material temples. We remembered the ark of the Israelites, which had sojourned for years in the desert, with no dwelling-place but the tabernacles of the plain. We thought of Abraham and the ancient patriarchs, who laid their victims on the rocks for an altar, and burned sweet incense under the shade of the green tree. In that day Zion put on the beauty of Sharon and Carmel; the mountains broke forth into singing, and the desert place was made to bud and blossom as the rose. Few such days were seen in the desolate Church of Scotland, and few will ever witness the like. There was a rich and plentiful effusion of the Spirit shed abroad on many hearts. Their souls, filled with heavenly transports, seemed to breathe in a diviner element, and to burn upwards, as with the fire of a pure and holy devotion. The ministers were visibly assisted to speak home to the consciences of the hearers. It seemed as if God had touched their lips with a live coal from off his altar, for they who witnessed declared they carried more like ambassadors from the court of heaven than men cast in earthly mould. The communion was peaceably concluded, all the people heartily offering up their gratitude, and singing with a joyful noise to the Rock of their salvation. It was pleasant, as the night fell, to hear their melody swelling in full unison along the hill, the whole congregation joining with one accord, and praising God with the voice of psalms.”—Memoirs of Blackadder.
The Second Communion at Cambuslang During the Revival in the Last Century, 15th August, 1742.
“The second sacramental occasion did indeed much exceed the former, not only in the number of ministers, people, and communicants, but, which is the main thing, in a much greater measure of the power and special presence of God, in the observation and sensible experience of multitudes that were attending.
“All the ministers present at this solemnity appeared to be very much assisted in their work. Four of them preached on the Fast-day, four on Saturday, on Sabbath I cannot well tell how many, and five on Monday; on which last day it was computed that above twenty-four ministers and preachers were present. Old Mr. Bonar, though so frail that he took three days to ride eighteen miles, the distance between Torphichen and Cambuslang, yet his heart was so set upon coming, that he would by no means stay away; and when he was helped up to the tent, he preached three times with great life, and returned with much satisfaction and joy. Mr. Whitefield’s sermons on Saturday, Sabbath, and Monday, were attended with much power, particularly that on Sabbath night about ten o’clock, and that on Monday; several were crying out, and a very great but decent weeping and mourning was observable through the auditory. On Sabbath evening, while he was serving some tables, he appeared to be so filled with the love of God, as to be in a kind of ecstasy, and he communicated with much of that blessed frame. Time would fail me to speak of the evidence of the power of God coming along with the means, and I am in part prevented by what is noticed by Mr. Robe in his narrative.
“A vast concourse of people came not only from the city of Glasgow and other places near, but from many places at a considerable distance. It was reckoned that there were two hundred communicants from Edinburgh, two hundred from Kilmarnock, a hundred from Irvine, a hundred from Stewarton, and some even from England and Ireland. A considerable number of quakers were hearing, and many formerly of the secession, some of whom communicated. A young man, looking forward to the ministry, and who had been for some time under great temptation, as if the presence of God was to be no more enjoyed, either in the church or the secession, communicated here, and went home with great joy, and full of the love of God.
“There was a great deal of outward decency and regularity observable at the tables. Public worship began on the Lord’s-day at half-past eight in the morning. My action sermon was, I think, reasonably short. The third or fourth table was a-serving at twelve o’clock, and the last was serving about sunset. When that was done, the work was closed with a few words of exhortation, prayer, and praise, the precentor having so much day-light as to let him see to read four lines of a psalm. The passages to and from the tables were kept clear for the communicants to come and go. The tables were filled so quickly that oftentimes only four lines of a psalm could be sung between. The tables were all served in the open air, beside the tent and below the brae. The day was temperate; no wind or rain sufficient to disturb.
“But the thing most remarkable, was the spiritual glory of this solemnity—I mean the gracious and sensible presence of God. Not a few were awakened to a sense of sin, and of their lost and perishing condition without a Saviour. Others had their bands loosed, and were brought into the marvellous liberty of the sons of God. Many of God’s dear children have declared that it was a precious time to their souls—that they had been abundantly satisfied with the goodness of God in His ordinances, and filled with all joy and peace in believing. I have seen a letter from Edinburgh, in which the writer says, ‘That having talked with many Christians in that city, who had been here at this sacrament, they all owned that God had dealt bountifully with their souls on that occasion.’ Some who attended here have declared that they would not for all the world have been absent. Others cried out, ‘Now let thy servants depart in peace, since our eyes have seen thy salvation here!’ And there were who wished, had it been the will of God, to be removed while waiting on God in these ordinances, without returning again to the world or their friends, and so to be with Christ in heaven, which is far better.
“I thought it my duty to offer these few hints concerning this solemnity, and so to record the memory of God’s great goodness to many souls on that occasion. And, now, I suppose you will by this time find yourself disposed to sing the 98th psalm at the beginning, or the close of the 72nd, or some other psalm of praise. May our exalted Redeemer still go on from conquering to conquer, till the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, so let it be.”—From a letter of Rev. Wm. McCulloch, Parish Minister of Cambuslang.