A TRIBUTE to the memory of this worthy Christian should have appeared in the Magazine long ere now, as he died in the month of June last year, but various circumstances caused the long delay.
Mr. Urquhart was a worthy member, and a hearty supporter, of the Free Presbyterian Congregation at Dingwall. As a consistent lover of “the old paths” he joined our Church soon after the constitution of the Free Church was violated by the passing of the notorious Declaratory Act of 1892 into a binding law. Though at a considerable distance from Dingwall he attended the public ministry of the Gospel there as often as possible, and on Communion occasions he was a regular attendant. He could not be prevailed upon to speak to “the question” on the Friday, but as it was the custom during a long sederunt to make a break in the speaking by singing and prayer, John Urquhart would be asked to engage in prayer. In that exercise it was made evident to those taught of the Spirit that he was a man of prayer.
An intimate Christian friend and neighbour of his has sent us the following account of our dear departed friend:—”The late Mr. John Urquhart was a man that feared the Lord, and loved His people, and had always something good to say concerning Israel. He had a firm reliance upon the Lord for the necessities of life, and constant trust in Him for deliverance out of all dangers and difficulties that might befall him. He was deeply read in the Scriptures, and taught by the Spirit to understand them. In his home he ever lifted up Jesus as the only way of salvation. In his business (he was a shoemaker) many a customer often heard from his lips the faithful warning, and the friendly admonition. None who really knew him can deny that he lived and acted in the fear of the Lord; his consistent conduct as an upright and honest man gained the highest esteem of all who knew him. It was not, however, to every professor of religion he disclosed his mind on the work of grace in his soul. Those to whom he would unbosom his mind on this important subject were such as gave evidence of having experienced the power of vital godliness in their own heart, and were thoroughly in accord with him in regard to sound doctrine. Where these qualifications were wanting he would not have any freedom to express his inward experience of the Holy Spirit’s work to his fellow creatures, how high soever their religious profession might be. Mr. Urquhart was firm as a rock in what he believed to be the truth of God; when he made up his mind it was difficult to turn him. He was firm, but not stubborn. He was open to conviction, but a compromise in Gospel matters he abhorred, and would not yield to. He was deeply sensible of his personal ruin by sin and the fall, and rested on Christ alone for righteousness. He desired to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness. He did not escape what Christ foretold—that His people should have tribulation in the world. He had his own appointed share of afflictions; among others, he saw his loving and beloved wife, and faithful partner, taken away after a few days’ illness. But his comfort in this trouble was that she was taken away ‘to be for ever with the Lord.'”
He died on the 19th day of June, 1906, at the ripe age of 83 years. “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.” Such, we believe, was the end of the subject of this short sketch. He is survived by a grown-up family of sons and daughters, to mourn the loss of him for whom “to die was gain.”
The removal of God’s people by death from our midst has a loud and solemn voice to us all. It cries to each, “Prepare to meet thy God!” “Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live!” “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” These exhortations refer to the duty of using the divinely appointed means to prepare for death. The only ground of salvation is Christ’s finished work; the work of man has no place in that ground, but in order to be saved, he must make diligent use of the means of grace. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
D. M’F.