IT is matter of deep regret to all who value the Lord’s Day to observe the marked increase in its desecration that has taken place since the War began. There cannot be the slightest doubt but that the breach of divine commandments has been the procuring cause of this scourge which has fallen upon the nations, and so the call at the present moment is not to greater disregard of the Lord’s precepts, but to greater tenderness in the observance of them, lest the causes of God’s wrath should be largely multiplied. This call, however, does not seem to be recognised at all by the larger number of people, high and low. Rather, they seem to find satisfaction in taking the opposite view, and in making the war a special occasion for undue interference with the sacredness and rest of the Lord’s Day in ways not hitherto practiced. There is no evidence, however, that the Fourth Commandment ceases to be binding in times of war as distinguished from times of peace. The blessings of the Sabbath are never more needed than in troublous times, and our countrymen are standing greatly in their own light when they do not see the truth of this. There was a loud outcry on the part of certain people for an arranged cessation of hostilities on the part of the various combatants at Christmas, a festival of human origin, but there is not the least thought of an agreement to abstain from warfare on the divinely-appointed day of rest. The very suggestion will be regarded as religious fanaticism by many.
Some at the present time are making a great deal of Christ’s exposition of the Fourth Commandment, as allowing works of necessity and mercy on the Sabbath, but they are pressing the necessity and mercy clause beyond all proper limits, for the liberty they claim would mean a practical abolition of the Lord’s Day altogether—a result never intended by its Author. It is our intention in this article to notice certain forms of Sabbath desecration presently promoted by persons in authority, and to make some necessary criticism as we proceed.
First, let us observe some violations of the Sabbath law by the State and its servants. At the beginning of the war, for example, we were informed that many men, such as reservists in the Western Isles, were served with missives and called out to active service on the Lord’s Day—a very gratuitous proceeding. All along, since this stirring period began, troops have been conveyed in trains from one part of the country to another on this day, as if the other six days were not, as they are, perfectly sufficient for the work. Still, again, at some military centres, soldiers were ordered out to dig trenches and perform musketry practice on the Sabbath. In regard to musketry practice we heard of two young men who refused to go out no matter what might be the consequences, with the agreeable result that their conscientious convictions were so far respected, and they, though made to suffer, were exempted. We believe there are others among our soldiers and sailors of equally noble spirit, and who may have acted in a similar way, though the report has not reached us.
Looking at the operations of our forces abroad, we find too much laxity in regard to Sabbath observance. It is admitted that acts of pure defence are permissible on the Lord’s Day, but not acts of aggressive warfare. We were very sorry to observe that the first great bombardment by British and French warships in the Dardanelles was begun on a Saturday and was continued during the following Sabbath. The battle, some time before this date, between British and German squadrons off the coast of South America, resulting in a complete victory for the British, was fought on the Lord’s Day. In the measure in which our sailors were aggressors in that conflict they incurred guilt, though the Most High, in His mercy, was pleased to crown their efforts with success. It cannot be denied, however, that while Great Britain is coming far short of what it should be in the matter of the Sabbath, our enemies, the Germans, are far worse. Their principal assaults seem to be made on that holy day. Such was the time they chose when they barbarously attacked Scarborough and the Hartlepools, defenceless towns on the east coast, and did great harm to life and property. The last attempt they made of the same kind was on a Sabbath morning, when they were frustrated in their foul designs by a British squadron. As to the land forces, it is safe to affirm that too much aggressive work proceeds on the day of rest in the camps of the various combatants.
We cannot close this particular point without noticing that the present Chancellor of the Exchequer set a bad example when he addressed a public meeting in Wales on political and social topics on the last Sabbath of February. Such a proceeding is common enough with Roman Catholic M.P.’s in Ireland and elsewhere. But it is unprecedented, so far as we know, on the part of any Protestant member occupying such a high position in the State. He seemed to feel he was doing something that required an apology, for he brought forward the encouragement which,
lamentable to say, a prominent United Free Church minister in Edinburgh gave him, as derived from the works of necessity and mercy, referred to in the Shorter Catechism. We are perfectly certain that the makers of the Catechism never thought of such an abuse of their statements. Truly, we have fallen upon a deplorable time, when truth has fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
Secondly, we observe that a good deal of Sabbath desecration is now promoted by employers of labour who are doing work for the Government in connection with the war. The building of various kinds of war vessels is pushed on at the expense of Sabbath rest and worship. We earnestly hope that the recent appeal by the Secretary for War for diligence in the preparation of ammunition and such like will not be followed by an increase of labour on the Lord’s Day. Let us be assured of it that the best road to success in the present tremendous struggle, as in every other business, is to “trust in God and do the right.” Let there be strenuous activity on every lawful day, but let the workman have the divinely-arranged weekly day of rest whereby his energies of mind and body will be recruited, and there will be no fear for sufficient progress in the work. Interference with the day which Infinite Wisdom has appointed for man’s benefit as well as His own glory, will not pay in the long run, in respect of the amount and quality of the work accomplished. If the Sabbath is taken away there shall be decided loss even in material things. And surely it is a fatal policy to provoke the holy displeasure of Him who is the God of battles, and with whom are the issues of every conflict. A thousand times better it is to have the Lord of hosts upon our side than all the armaments in the world. It is infidelity of the most blind and perfidious type to hold that the Most High is always “on the side of the big battalions.” The history of ancient Israel and of the world at large bears repeated testimony to the truth that “there is no king saved by the multitude of an host” (Psalm xxxiii. 16), and that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”
The third and last form of Sabbath desecration we shall meantime notice is that indulged in by the newspaper press. Many newspapers throughout the country have taken advantage of the excitement occasioned by the war to issue what are known as “Sunday editions,” and they send their newsboys through the streets, shouting with a view to sell their papers. This has introduced a new demoralising influence on the first day of the week in our large cities, an influence that could well be spared where things are bad enough already. Recently a new “Sunday Pictorial” paper has been published in London, and is circulated each Sabbath in our streets. Those who issue this periodical are evidently determined to stick at nothing in order to secularise the Lord’s Day and to bring it down to the same level as the other days. The prince of darkness—a more terrible enemy than the
German Emperor—is doing his utmost in many subtle ways to drag souls down to perdition, and he is succeeding too well in his unholy work.
We are living, indeed, in perilous times, with perils abroad and perils at home. All who desire the highest welfare of our country would be well advised to resist in every lawful way in their power encroachments on the sacredness and rest of the Sabbath. They should be prepared to make great sacrifices rather than bring guilt on their consciences and help on the impending evil. If the Sabbath entirely falls among us, with all its precious temporal and spiritual privileges, our nation will be nigh to ruin indeed. May the Lord, in His infinite mercy, avert such a dreadful calamity, and turn us to Himself and His truth!
A Sermon.
BY THE REV. D. MACFARLANE, DINGWALL.
“And they said, every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.”—JONAH i. 7.
WE have here an account of Jonah—given by himself—fleeing from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent a great storm to arrest the fugitive. Perhaps it was quite calm before the boat left port, but as soon as it left, the wind blew and increased in force, so that the mariners were in danger of being drowned. The circumstances in which they found themselves were so extraordinary that they suspected that Jonah—perhaps the only passenger—committed some great crime, which provoked God to raise the hurricane to punish him by drowning. But in order to be sure of the cause of the storm they cast lots—which was, in doubtful cases, an appeal to God—and the lot fell upon Jonah. When God sends trouble on individuals or nations it is proper to inquire as to the reason why He does so. In view of the present European War, in which our nation is involved, I shall direct your attention to three things, viz.:—
I.—The evil that is come upon us in this War;
II.—The cause of the evil; and
III.—That which is necessary on our part that the evil might be removed and peace restored.
I.—The evil.—Besides other evils connected with war, there are many men killed. In the present war it is computed that about two million Germans have been killed since the war began, five months ago. If we add to this the many thousands of Austrians, British, Belgian, and Turkish that have been killed, the total must be very great. War also causes much suffering to non-combatants. Take Belgium, for instance. The people of that
country had to flee for their life to other countries—to Holland, England, Scotland, and other countries—leaving behind them all the goods they possessed; and they are now dependent on the charity of others for lodgings, food, and clothes. Surely all this is an evil which must be deeply felt. This universal war causes a sense of insecurity to life and property on sea and land which paralyses trade, not knowing what devastation a day may bring about. But as we are more concerned at present about the cause of the war than about the evils it brings on men, I shall proceed to consider:
II.—The cause of the evil, or the reason why God deals with us in this awful manner.—There is a difference of opinion among men as to the cause of the war. Popish writers say that this war is the fruit of the Reformation in the sixteenth century—the evil effect of Luther’s teaching in Germany; that it made the Germans so brutish and cruel, as indeed they now are. But all who know history know that the Reformation is not the cause of the war or of the cruelty of the Germans. The condition of Germany and other countries in Europe—spiritually, morally, and socially—before the Reformation was deplorable. The Reformation made a great change for the better in Germany and in all other countries that came under its benign influence. It is observable that the countries that remained un-reformed, under the domination of the Papacy, are more ignorant, more cruel and criminal, than Protestant countries. Take Spain, for instance, as an example of ignorance. Of a population of nineteen millions, thirteen millions are illiterate—can neither read nor write—and that in the twentieth century! Statistics show that there are, by far, more criminals in Popish countries than in Protestant countries. And as for cruelty, history abundantly testifies that the Papacy was the most cruel religious system that ever appeared in the world. Its history is written in the blood of God’s saints.
So long as Germany adhered to the principles and doctrines of the Reformation the Emperor and people were not cruel. Nor were they aggressors in waging war against their neighbours; but when they were attacked by enemies they, as a matter of duty, defended themselves, and the Lord of hosts made them victorious in the conflict. In 1866 the Church of Rome caused Austria, a Popish country, to wage war against Germany, with a view to crush Protestantism in that country. But because Germany was then Protestant, Austria was defeated. Again, in 1870 the same Church stirred up France to war against Germany, to overthrow Protestantism in that country; but God took the side of Germany and France was defeated, and the Pope lost the temporal power. But Germany is not Protestant now. A large proportion of the people are Papists, others are rationalists or atheists, and the Emperor is in league with the Pope. It is this that accounts for German cruelty and hatred of Britain, and not the Reformation. The Kaiser came under the influence of the Jesuits, who have
made a tool of him in order to overthrow Protestantism in Britain —“its stronghold,” as Cardinal Manning called it. The aim of the plot in the war is to restore the temporal power to the Pope, and the Kaiser is employed for this end, and is promised a world-wide empire under the Pope as his reward. There can be no doubt that the Papacy is largely responsible for this great European War, and that it was planned long ago. Cardinal Manning said that “he would be willing to deluge the whole of Europe with blood, in order to destroy the unity of Italy and Germany and to recover the temporal power of the Pope. Protestant England (Britain) is the main hindrance to the Pope’s universal rule.” Therefore the destruction of Britain is the great object in the war, although other nations are allies to Britain in the conflict. But as sin is the deserving cause of the war, the Kaiser is but a rod in God’s hand to chastise and punish the nations of Europe for their iniquities, as Nebuchadnezzar was the rod of God’s anger to punish the people of Israel and Judah for their sins, and especially the sin of idolatry. We shall point out some of the particular reasons why God has brought this evil of war upon us.
First.—Instead of devoting their time, strength, and talent to the seeking of God’s glory and the salvation of their own souls, as their chief end, the people of this nation, particularly the young, with few exceptions, have indulged in all kinds of amusements, plays, and carnal pleasures. It is computed that thirteen millions of money have been spent annually on amusements, seven millions of which were spent on football. The young men who spent much of their time at football are now called to “the front,” and many of them are killed in action. In the town of Dingwall there used to be, before the war broke out, a dance every week, or oftener, in the winter time and a theatrical performance occasionally. The war put a stop to these vanities, and the halls in which the people used to gather are now residences for soldiers. As these pleasure seekers would not listen to God’s voice in the Bible, they must now listen to His voice in providence.
Second.—A sad departure from the doctrines of God’s Word by many churches in England, Scotland, and Ireland. This departure was caused by the Higher Critics, who cast doubt on the truth of the Bible. The error began in Germany, and was imported to Scotland by the late Professor Robertson Smith and others. As a retribution, Germany is now employed by God to punish our country for adopting the error.
Third.—Non-attendance on the public means of grace. There is a population of one million and a quarter in Glasgow, and it was reported in the newspapers recently that half of the people of that large city never attend church. This is the effect of the preaching of ministers who denied the infallibility of Scripture, and held and taught that there were errors in the Bible. The people said, “If the Bible is not a reliable book, as our ministers
tell us, we need not go to hear its doctrines preached; we will stay at home.” This is the main cause of lapsing, of which many ministers complain. They are the cause of it.
Fourth.—Sabbath desecration of various forms—a sin partly for which God sent the people of Israel into a long captivity in Babylon.
Fifth.—Idolatry. To worship the creature is idolatry. The Church of Rome worships the Virgin Mary and other saints. She worships even their pictures. She worships the picture of Christ, and the bread in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. All this is gross idolatry. God’s command is, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Luke iv. 8). Protestant Churches, that cast off Romish idolatry at the Reformation, are now returning to that abomination again. The late Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, Lochcarron, predicted that the time was coming when Popery would be taught in Protestant Churches. This prediction has come to pass. In the Church of England there are about thirty-six thousand clergymen, and it is computed that twelve thousand of these are, in their views and practice, Roman priests, doing the work of Rome, and eating the bread of the Protestant Church! In order to convert Protestant England to the idolatrous Church of Rome, they are trying, with the approval of the two Archbishops, to change the doctrine and worship of the Church.
The same Romanising work is going on in so-called Protestant Churches in Scotland. In 1910 there were five hundred and three ministers, in the Established Church, members of Romanising Societies. There are now, in 1915, we are told by one of themselves, eight hundred members! The same Romanising process is carried on in the United Free Church. It is for the purpose of strengthening them in their idolatrous work that it is proposed that the two Churches should unite. (“Union is strength.”) This is, of course, concealed from the people. Dr. Wallace Williamson, addressing a large gathering at Dingwall on the subject of union, is reported to have said that if the union between the Established Church and the United Free Church took place, they would be the true followers of the Church of the Reformation! Did Dr. Williamson believe his own statement? I do not think that he did. For Dr. Williamson knows the history of the Reformation as well as any minister in Scotland. He knows that the Westminster Confession of Faith was the creed of the Reformed Church in Scotland, and he knows that both the Established Church and the United Free Church disowned the Confession of Faith as the confession of their faith. He knows also that there was no organ used in the service of praise in the Reformed Church in Scotland, and that such an instrument is now used in both Churches. He knows, moreover, that there were no uninspired hymns used in the worship of the Reformed Church in Scotland, and that such hymns are now used
in both Churches negotiating for union. Knowing all this, how could he prove his statement that if the two Churches united they would be the true followers of the Church of the Reformation? It was impossible. It would appear that Dr. Williamson took it for granted that his hearers were ignorant of Church history, although there were several ministers among them. (It was reported in a Protestant periodical that Dr. Williamson was responsible to some extent for erecting a picture of the Virgin Mary and a picture of Christ in St. Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh, when he was assistant in that church. The faithful Protestant, the late Pastor Jacob Primmer, repeatedly brought the matter to the Assembly, in order that these idolatrous pictures might be removed. But the Assembly, by a majority, refused to do so, which shows that the majority of the members were Romanisers.) No wonder, then, although God visits our nation with the evil of war. We should take warning from God’s dealings in judgment with the people of Israel. When they turned to idolatry He brought the sword of war upon them, by which many were slain.
III.—That which is necessary on our part that the evil might be removed and peace restored.—Seeing that it was for sin, as already pointed out, God brought the evil of war upon us, there are several duties required of us as necessary in order that the evil may be removed.
i. Repentance. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” The people of Israel were suffering in captivity in Babylon, but they were not delivered from their bondage till they repented. To repent is to turn from sin to God, or at least this is a great element in repentance. They repented of their idolatry, the chief reason for which they were delivered into the hands of their enemies. We hear them say, as with one voice, “What have I to do any more with idols?” They renounced their idolatry; they turned from idols to serve the living God. And no sooner had they come to this state of mind and practice than their deliverance came. Have the idolatrous Ritualists in the Church of England, with the two Archbishops at their head, repented of their idolatry? No, there is not the least sign of it as yet. Therefore God’s anger against them shall continue to be manifested till they repent. But if they repent not, they shall be eternally destroyed. Have the so-called Protestant Churches in Scotland that are going back to Popery, repented of their idolatry? No, there is not as yet the least appearance of it. Therefore God shall continue His controversy with them till they repent and renounce their idolatry. But if they repent not, He shall destroy them in eternity, and raise up another generation to serve Him according to the rule of His Word, “in spirit and in truth,” as He did at the Reformation.
Father Gavazzi, an Italian converted priest, who was for years in the Church of Rome, gave a faithful and solemn warning to the people of England to stand fast by their glorious Protestantism.
We may quote his words:—”Englishmen, remember that your very name is Christian, and therefore, for yourselves, for your children, for your country, and, moreover, for the European nations, stand fast by your glorious Protestantism. If Protestantism is lost in England, which is the bulwark of the European Reformation, Protestantism is lost on the European continent, and our efforts at the evangelization of Italy, Spain, and other parts of the world shall fall to the ground. Let it not be said that when we in Italy are freeing ourselves from the grasp of Popery, England is rushing pell-mell into the embrace of Popery. Let England remain what it has been for more than three centuries: the beacon of pure Christianity—the light of the world. If you have received immaculate the inheritance of your glorious Reformation, it is your duty to transmit that inheritance immaculate to your children and grandchildren. Pray to God that, as He made England what she is—the first nation in the world—through the Reformation, she may remain what she is. Do not encourage, with your presence and your prayers, Popish idolatry in disguise. Be on the alert, because many bona-fide churchmen are entrapped gradually into Romanism by ritualistic traitors. Remember, I am an ex-priest, an ex-monk, and I know more of Romanism than all English Protestants put together, and I tell you that the ritualism which is now a leading feature in some of your places of worship is nothing else than the preparation, the forerunner, of Romanism in your country. Therefore, oppose it by your words and your prayers; refuse to subscribe to it. Beware of Papists in Christian garb and Protestant disguise. If persons wish to turn Roman Catholics they have perfect liberty to do so, but we must condemn those who are not true to their Protestant profession. Stand by the Church of the martyrs; by the Church of Latimer, of Ridley, and of Cranmer; for the purity and simplicity of your Protestantism. Will you save your glorious Reformation, the mother of your civil and religious liberties? Englishmen, the Bible, and the Bible alone; and your Reformation and your country are safe. Stay by the Bible. Shield the Bible with the mightiness of your nationality. Defend the Bible from all attacks, within and without.”
O, that the Romanisers in the Church of England, in the Church of Scotland, in the United Free Church, and in the Scottish Episcopal Church, would take this faithful warning to heart! If they did, they would repent. They would cease to do evil and learn to do well, and the Lord would cease to smite our nation with the sword of war. There can be no doubt that idolatry is the main reason which provoked the Holy One of Israel to command the sword to awake and smite the nations of Europe; and as we are under the seventh vial, it shall put an end to that provoking evil before it is laid aside to rest for a thousand years. If peace shall be concluded before the total destruction of idolatry in Europe, war shall break out soon again, for a
complete end must be made of idolatry, as a preparation for the coming of the kingdom of Christ in power and glory throughout the whole world.
Is there any sign to be seen that our nation is repenting of its idolatry? No; but quite the reverse. For since the war began the Government, with the approval of the king, sent a Popish envoy to the Vatican, with full powers, which is contrary to the British Constitution. By doing so the King, according to the Bill of Rights, forfeited his crown, and might be deposed at once. Indeed, it may come to this, unless King George recalls the appointment and expresses repentance for his unwarranted action.
We have been, as yet, speaking of repentance as a duty. But the repentance that is saving is the gift of God—the effect of the work of the Holy Spirit in effectual calling. The description given of this repentance by the Westminster divines in the Shorter Catechism is founded upon Scripture, and is in accordance with the experience of God’s people. It is in the following terms:—“Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of and endeavour after new obedience.”
- Humiliation is necessary. We find many examples of this in Scripture. When people were suffering for their sins and brought to repentance, they humbled themselves before God, and He delivered them from their distress. Some in our day think that because our part in the war is just—we are defending ourselves—there is no reason that we should humble ourselves. When it was proposed in the Church Courts that a Day of Humiliation should be appointed in connection with the war, a Presbytery of the Established Church in the south objected to the day being named a day of humiliation; and when a day was appointed by the king for a national Fast, the king objected to it being called a day of humiliation. But those that will not humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, when His hand is lifted up, smiting the nations of Europe for their iniquities, God will humble them and bring them low in time and in eternity. “For everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke xviii. 14).
A day was appointed by the king, but not a day of humiliation, but a day of prayer and intercession. It was a Sabbath day that was appointed. In the past it was a week day that was appointed to be observed for a National Fast. It seems our king would grudge a week day being used for the purpose. He had no right to appoint a Sabbath day, for that day was appointed by the Lord of the Sabbath for the public and private worship of God. Another objectionable thing in this connection may be pointed out, viz., prayer for the dead was ordered by the king! Some say that it is not prayer for the dead that was meant, because it is
remembrance of those that had fallen in the war that is mentioned. But the fact that the day was appointed for prayer and intercession shows that it is prayer for the dead—killed in the war—that was really meant, however Romanisers try to conceal it. Another proof of this is that it was the Archbishop of Canterbury that drew out the programme for the day, and it is well known that he is a Ritualist, and approves of prayer for the dead. He should be in the Church of Rome and not in a Protestant Church. No wonder that God is pouring His judgment upon our nation, when clergymen in high positions in the Church are so unfaithful to their ordination vows. They consider their vows—as the German Chancellor considers binding treaties—a mere “scrap of paper.” But that “scrap of paper” shall rise up as a witness to condemn them when they shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The “scrap of paper” will speak then, and the breakers of solemn vows shall be speechless.
- Confession of sin is necessary. Sin is the cause of every misery in time and in eternity. Sin is the cause of the great war in which the nations of Europe are now engaged. And in order that sin may be forgiven it must be confessed and forsaken. If sin is confessed and forgiven, misery—the effect of sin—shall be removed. Sin should be confessed to God and not to a priest or minister. It was against Him we sinned; therefore, it is to Him we ought to confess our sins. It is He only whose prerogative it is to forgive sin. Although the Jews were in error on other important doctrines, yet they were correct when they said, “Who can forgive sin but God only?”
In confessing sin we should pray for forgiveness, and we are encouraged to do so, because it is written, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John i. 9). He is faithful to forgive because He promised it, and He is just in forgiving sin because He does it on the ground of Christ’s atonement, by which satisfaction was rendered to His justice for the sins of all that shall be saved.
We should confess not only our own personal sins, but also the sins of our nation; yea, the sins of all our fellow-sinners throughout the world. Daniel confessed the sins of his nation (Dan. ix.). There are national sins as well as individual sins. There can be no doubt that the sins of our nation have caused that so much suffering has been brought upon us by this war. We have already pointed out some of these sins. The words of Daniel are applicable to us as a nation: “Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets; yea, all Israel transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice: therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.” However others may act in this matter, we know that the
Lord’s people throughout the world are confessing their own sins and the sins of others daily before God at the throne of grace, and some of them—perhaps all—have to say, “It is good for me to draw near to God.” Prayer brings them into fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and into fellowship with His people, however scattered they now are in the world.
A word in conclusion. Let us take heed to the Lord’s solemn voice to us in His holy providence, and say, “Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn and he will heal us; he hath smitten and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hosea vi. 1-3). It is to be hoped that the war will have this effect upon many, although it is to be feared that others—and especially the plotters of the war—shall harden their hearts till they are completely destroyed by the wrath of Almighty God, against whom they fight. He is sure to overcome them, for “Christ must reign till all his enemies are made his footstool.” Christ rules and over-rules the war for His own glory, the salvation of His people, and the destruction of His and their enemies. Amen; so let it be, and so it shall be.
Sabbath or Sunday? *
IN a recent issue of the British Weekly (that of 11th February) a correspondent proposes the question, “Why should the Lord’s day be called Sunday?” and Professor Smith, of Magee College, Londonderry, undertakes to answer it. The answer which he furnishes must have proved not only a source of confusion to the inquirer, but also a source of pain to many a Christian reader. When, in the opening sentences of his answer, the Professor declares his dislike to the name, “Sunday”—the day of the sun—because “its pagan associations cling to it,” and informs us that “it was largely disapproved on its adoption by the Christian Church, because it gave rise to the notion that Christianity was akin to the Persian sun-worship,” he is expressing a true Christian sentiment as well as relating the facts of history. The author of the Student’s Ecclesiastical History, at page 237, makes the following admission: “We still call the Lord’s day Sunday, and name the highest Christian festival of His resurrection from a pagan goddess.” But when the Professor proceeds to defend the name, “Sunday,” and to claim the authority of the
* A friend in Liverpool has sent us this excellent article by the Rev. E. Teaz, of the Reformed Presbyterian Church there, and we have much pleasure in publishing it.—ED.
Apostle Paul for doing so, he not only turns upon himself but also grossly misrepresents the apostle. The apostle was so careful lest he should countenance anything savouring of idolatry that, in the case of meat that had been offered to idols, he declared, “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.” How could he countenance the use of a name which “gave rise to the notion that Christianity was akin to the Persian sun-worship,” and to which pagan associations clung? Such a supposition would be unreasonable. The apostle’s exhortation was: “Be not conformed to this world. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
But when the Professor proceeds to affirm that the name, “Sabbath,” is “infinitely more objectionable than Sunday,” that “it is absolutely illegitimate,” and that “it is not only erroneous but mischievous,” it must be admitted that his language is very strong. In this respect it is in striking contrast to the arguments adduced in support of it. Before examining these arguments in detail it may not be out of place to quote the words of Dr. Hamilton, late President of Queen’s College, and Vice-Chancellor of the Queen’s University, Belfast. He has made a special study of this question. At page 85 of his book, Our Rest Day, he says, “Let it be noted that we have a right to call the day ‘the Sabbath.’ In doing so we follow the best example, that of Christ. The name is, besides, in itself a most beautiful and suggestive name. For Sabbath is rest, and Sabbath day, rest day.”
The first argument advanced in support of the above strong assertions is that “the Sabbath is the Jewish day of rest.” No doubt the Jews were commanded to remember it, to keep it holy—a fact which shows that it previously existed, and was no new enactment specially for them. But any child who has read three verses of the second chapter of Genesis, knows that the Sabbath was instituted thousands of years before the Jews were heard of. The Sabbath was nothing more Jewish in its origin than the Garden of Eden was Jewish.
The Professor’s second argument is that the Christian day of rest is never called “the Sabbath” in the New Testament. A careful study of some passages in the New Testament will show that this is not the case. In Matthew xxiv., where our Lord is warning His disciples of the horrors which would attend the destruction of Jerusalem—an event which took place some thirty years afterwards, and at a time when He knew they would be observing the first day of the week—exhorts them to pray that their flight might not be on “the Sabbath day.” Thus, as Dr. Hamilton says, we have His sanction for the use of the name. Again, it must be remembered that in those passages of the Gospels which describe the resurrection of Christ as taking place on the “first day of the week,” the words, in the Greek, literally mean, “on the first of the Sabbaths,” that is, on the first of those Sabbaths which had been observed by the Christians from the
time of the resurrection till the time at which the evangelists wrote; that is, for a period of not less than thirty years. Hence we gather that the Christian day of rest is called “the Sabbath” in the New Testament.
His third argument is based upon the statement that the Christian institution is but the Jewish institution “transfigured and charged with a fuller content and a nobler meaning,” and that the New Testament marks the difference by giving it a new name. For example, the Passover has become the Lord’s Supper. If this is so, why make an exception in the case of the Sabbath by giving it the old pagan name, Sunday? This is the more unjustifiable, since God has given us a new name for it—the Lord’s Day.
The Professor’s remarks on the divine name, Jehovah, are scarcely relevant to the subject on hand, but they express an assumption which used to be so often repeated by a certain school that perhaps some still regard it as truth. We are given to understand that Jehovah was a mere national deity. He says, “The land of Israel was His domain, and banishment from thence meant exclusion from His presence.” And he quotes Psalm lxxxvi. 8, in support of this statement. If he had quoted the next verse he would have learned that Jehovah is the God of all nations. I suppose when the Psalmist, as he realised the omnipresence of Jehovah, exclaims in Psalm cxxxix., “Whither shall I flee from thy presence?” the Professor would have replied, “Oh, that is quite easy; just cross over the border into Moab.” Again, he tells us that “our Lord never spake of Jehovah.” How does he know? Has everything that our Lord spake been recorded? (See John xxi. 25.) When our Lord stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth to read from the Book of the Prophet Esaias, we find (from Luke iv. 18) that He read from the sixty-first chapter. In the first verse of that chapter the name Jehovah occurs twice. Did He not use “Jehovah” or its substitute on that occasion? The Professor has reminded us that wherever we have “Lord” written in capitals in our version, “Jehovah” occurs in the Hebrew. The capitals will be found in the verse referred to. Perhaps the Professor has forgotten that the name “Sabbath,” which he characterises as “absolutely illegitimate, erroneous, and mischievous,” is just the very name which is endorsed by the Standards of his Church, and that he has publicly signed these Standards on at least two occasions—at his ordination and again at his appointment to the Chair of Theology. But perhaps these documents are only a “scrap of paper.”
E. T.
O THE disorder introduced into us, by the want of early concern for our salvation! Of how many summer-like, precious, heart-warming ordinances, and influences, do we hereby lose the benefit!—Ah, how we endanger our soul: late repentance being seldom found.—John Brown.
Account of Mission to Forces in England.
BY THE REV. ALEXANDER MACRAE, PORTREE.
DEAR MR. EDITOR,—By arrangement with members of the Southern Presbytery, under whose superintendence the Mission to the Forces has been conducted, I proceeded south and arrived in London on the evening of Friday, 1st January. Like my predecessors, I was privileged to make i Upper Montagu Street, London—the congenial and hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Mackay—my headquarters. In common with others, I feel under a lasting debt of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Mackay for their kindly and practical sympathy with the deputies in their work. No headquarters could, in every respect, be more suitable. From this centre, I immediately entered upon the duties assigned to me, and, accompanied by Mr. William Grant, I arrived in Bedford on Saturday evening. As my immediate predecessor, Rev. Mr. Cameron, appropriately stated in his report, the work of organisation was well carried out by the friends who are in charge of our London Mission, and the whole machinery was ably set agoing by the Rev. Mr. Macqueen. Others laboured and I simply entered into their labours.
Bedford is about 50 miles north of London on the Midland Railway, and is one of the many towns that are embraced in what is known as the Midland Counties. Its population is rapidly diminishing, but the town is immortalised by its association with the memory of the immortal John Bunyan. It was at Elstow, a little more than a mile to the south-west of Bedford, the author of “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” was born. For his non-conformity he was thrown into Bedford “Jail,” then situated on Bedford Bridge, where he wrote his wonderful allegory, the “Pilgrim’s Progress.” The town did itself lasting honour by erecting, in an appropriate place, a striking statue to his memory. From an early period of the Reformation, Protestantism and, afterwards, Puritanism, found a congenial home in Bedford; and even now the cleavage between conformity and non-conformity is, I am told, distinctly growing in intensity. Like many other places that once came under Reforming and Puritan influences, Bedford is not now all that is desirable. The scavengers employed by he Corporation sweep the streets and drive away the refuse on the Sabbath, without respect to the divine command, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Letters are delivered on the Day of Rest—a fact that does not take place in the large city of London; newspapers are publicly sold in the streets; milk carts run their accustomed rounds; amusements of a character that is questionable on any day are indulged in; and to crown all, the doors of premises licensed to sell drink are thrown open within certain defined periods of the day, a practice that has anything but an influence for good upon the community.
Such is briefly the character of the place into which the whole Highland (Territorial) Division of the British Army, marked out for foreign service, was moved for training purposes. The whole Division, consisting of about 35,000 men—a number equal to the population of the town in normal circumstances—was billeted, partly, in inhabited, and, partly, in uninhabited houses. The men were thus spared the inconvenience and discomfort incident to tent life during the cold winter months. But, notwithstanding the acknowledged comforts they enjoyed, I found Bedford charged with germs of an infectious character that silently but effectually laid prostrate some of the best types of our Highland manhood. An epidemic of measles raged, which, with the addition of complications, was instrumental in cutting off the life of many a promising young man, and households all over our Highlands and Islands were wrapped in pungent grief and sorrow. These young men left their homes in obedience to the summons to arms in defence of their beloved country against a deceitful and merciless foe. They died patriotically, but under far sadder circumstances than though they had fallen victims to the enemy’s fire and shell. The number of cases filled two large Public Schools that were temporarily converted into Hospitals—the Goldington and Amptill Road Public Schools. The extent of suffering humanity was such as I had never before, even remotely, witnessed. Hundreds were reduced to a condition of utter helplessness, and the death-rate was appalling. We tender our sincerest sympathy to parents and friends whom it hath pleased the Lord, in His inscrutable providence, to sorely bereave by the terrible visitation. It spoke loudly and eloquently to all, and I am not without hope that some, at least, may derive a lasting spiritual benefit from it.
When I first went to Bedford I was unfavourably impressed with much of what I saw, and I sent a letter to the Secretary of State for War in the following terms:—
“As Deputy from the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland to minister principally to Gaelic-speaking soldiers from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland at present under training in several parts of England, I beg respectfully to bring under your Lordship’s notice the apparent inadequacy of the arrangements that at present obtain at Bedford for conveying soldiers suffering from measles from their private billets to hospital.
Unfortunately a considerable number of the troops at Bedford are at present suffering from measles, and, as the result of pneumonia supervening, many of them are dying. I fear that the unsatisfactory character of the ambulance van in which patients are conveyed to hospital may largely account for the supervention of pneumonia. It is covered with a kind of canvas open before and behind. It does not afford protection from a cold, chilly atmosphere to those who are in a high state of fever.
In view of the many valuable lives that are already lost through the prevailing epidemic of measles at Bedford, I judge it dutiful
to respectfully bring the state of matters there under your Lordship’s notice, in the hope that your Lordship may be pleased to inquire into the circumstances with results fitted to avert complications of a highly dangerous character.”
To this letter I had the following reply:—”WAR OFFICE, LONDON, S.W., 7th January, 1915.—Sir,—I am commanded by the Army Council to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th January, 1915, on the subject of arrangements for conveying sick to hospital, which shall receive attention.—I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
(Signed) R. W. BRADE.”
It is possible that reports may have reached the War Office from other quarters; but, in any case, a thoroughly satisfactory motor ambulance was in use before the end of the week; an additional staff of nurses was supplied; and the whole hospital arrangements were so reorganised as to have been placed on a highly efficient footing. The question of inadequate treatment was raised in the House of Commons by the member for Sutherland. Acknowledgment was virtually made of the fact, but the assurance was given that the defect had been remedied. We know that Lord Kitchener’s mastery of detail is complete. He applies it with effect to every department of the army, and we can well conceive that those responsible for what was patently culpable neglect have been dealt with in proportion to the seriousness of their neglect.
I have had the privilege of visiting the hospitals at all times. Hospital visitation, combined with other duties, sufficiently taxed the time at my disposal during the week-end. The hospitals were inconveniently situated—almost at the two extreme ends of the town. It was, however, my practice to visit them every Saturday evening, Sabbath forenoon, and Monday forenoon before I left for Kimbolton. The young men were profoundly thankful for the interest taken in them. They rejoiced to see one among them who could speak to them in their mother-tongue, and their expression of gratitude was profuse, after taking part with them in spiritual exercises. Many have had a good recovery, and I hope and pray that their terrible experiences, far away from their homes and friends, may have an influence for good upon the whole tenor of their life in future. Scores, however, succumbed to their maladies, and the sight bespeaking their condition of helplessness in the grip of the king of terrors was painful and heart-rending. Nothing could be done but to plead the mercy of God in Christ for them and to resign them into the hands of Him who does as it pleases Him in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. I corresponded with their friends in the Highlands who replied with expressions of sincerest thanks. I experienced the utmost kindness and consideration at the hands of Major Rorie, chief of the medical staff. He took the kindliest interest in the sufferers; he encouraged me in every possible way; and his great regret was that, although a Scotchman, he could not converse with them in the language they liked best. Before I
left Bedford, the flood of trouble very considerably abated. On the occasion of my last visit, I found the number of cases reduced to about a score and a half. Two of the patients hailed from the heights of Assynt; and as their illness covered the whole period that I was in England, I bade them farewell with a considerable amount of anxiety and misgiving.
Several circumstances militated against the attendance at our religious services. These services were held, mostly in Gaelic, at 3 p.m. and at 7 p.m. each Sabbath. Many of the young men gave unmistakable signs of the influence for good a careful upbringing has had upon them, far away from home and exposed to divers temptations. They were regular in their place at divine worship, except when prevented by force of circumstances. Each had to take his turn at the post of duty. Some were allowed leave of absence. Others suffered from influenza, colds, and other ordinary troubles; and, without a doubt, there was a proportion of those who, Gallio-like, “cared for none of those things.” But the two elements that mostly contributed to a reduced attendance were the prevalence of epidemics of an infectious character, which swept the place during the whole of my eight weeks’ sojourn, and the call from headquarters to certain Battalions to proceed overseas. The 4th Seaforths had gone before my time, and it was with feelings of deepest sorrow I heard on my last Saturday in Bedford that the 4th Cameron Highlanders had gone on the previous day, and that the men of the Ross-shire and Argyllshire Mountain Batteries had received orders to be also in readiness. Bedford presented to me an aching void, and I felt that my work there was done. I can only follow them up, as they are now probably within range of the enemy’s guns, with the fervent prayer that the Lord may be a covering to their head in the day of battle, and that the Word, to which many of them listened with rapt attention, may prove to be an imperishable seed in their hearts.
The 1st Lovat Scouts Reserve Regiment is stationed at Kimbolton. This is a small village 13 miles north of Bedford by the public road, but more than double that distance by train. The men composing the regiment are drawn chiefly from the mainland and insular districts of the county of Inverness. A very considerable number of them are thus Gaelic-speaking, and I was pleased to meet several, with whom I am personally acquainted, from the island of my adoption. One felt a kind of a family bond uniting the members of this regiment, and the most cordial relations exist between officers and men. The kindly interest taken by Colonel MacDonald and Major Hilleary, Adjutant, in the men, are bound to produce these happy results. At the hands of both these officers I experienced the utmost kindness; indeed, nothing could surpass Major Hilleary’s thoughtful consideration. By arrangement with him I conducted Gaelic services every Monday evening. These promised to be largely attended; but the epidemic of measles, that wrought havoc at Bedford, broke
out here also and spread with remarkable rapidity. In a short time the Mandeville Hall and one of the Public Schools, that were temporarily fitted up for Hospitals, were filled to overflowing. Happily, the death-rate was low. There were, in all, four deaths when I left, the saddest of which was that of Ronald Matheson, Earlish, Skye, who, physically, was one of the most powerful in the Regiment, and to whose widowed mother we extend our most genuine sympathy in her distressing bereavement. As an instance of the kindly sentiments entertained towards the Church’s Deputy, I may state that I was once telegraphed for to London by Colonel MacDonald to go to visit the men, who were laid aside with measles, and twice by Major Hilleary to officiate at the funeral of those who died. In my unavoidable absence, Mr. James M’Leod, Student, officiated on one occasion with much acceptance to officers and men. Many of the men hail from Skye and North Uist, and a promising feature is that they make a constant practice of having family worship together. I was here kindly received by Mr. and Mrs. Carter, under whose roof I felt quite at home.
From Kimbolton I once went to Buckden, which is about seven-and-a-half miles further east. Here there is a contingent of the Lovat Scouts. I would have arranged to visit it more frequently but for the fact that the time at my disposal was short and that the most of the Gaelic-speaking Highlanders there were removed to Kimbolton, only a remnant having been left who could appreciate Gaelic services. I, however, came across a few from Kinlochbervie who preferred Gaelic; one from Scorraig; and one from Aultbea; but as the majority of those who had shown an interest in our work came from Easter Ross and the East of Sutherland, and who knew little or no Gaelic, it was considered more appropriate to conduct the service in English. Mr. Bowtell, merchant, kindly made arrangements for our service being held in the Wesleyan Chapel. The managers had previously arranged to have a meeting of their own there that evening, but they kindly agreed to have it elsewhere for the purpose of meeting our convenience. The service, at which a considerable sprinkling of civilians was present, was largely attended by the troops. They seemed deeply interested and impressed, and I could only hold out to them the hope that my successor would visit them ere long. As the existing service of trains did not admit of my returning to London that evening, I had the privilege of enjoying the kind hospitality of a Miss Cope for the night. I deemed her no superficial Christian. Her intellectual grasp of truth was singularly entertaining, and her experience of the power of it seemed to bear proportion. I shall always recall with pleasure the privilege of having met her. Unlike Bedford and Kimbolton, the troops at Buckden were free of serious trouble. Huntingdon, which is a few miles further east, was for a time the scene of the training operations of another division of the Lovat Scouts, of whom several are
personally known to me. They had, however, been removed to Skegness, on the Lincolnshire coast, and their distance from the sphere of our activities in Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire precluded the possibility of my visiting them.
The only place that remains for me to report on is Chatham, a naval seaport on the Thames, in the county of Kent. This was the only naval station it was my privilege to visit. The former deputies have had pleasant experiences in connection with their visits to Portsmouth, but ere I had entered upon the work of the Mission, all the Gaelic-speaking naval men there had left. The services at Portsmouth were, therefore, suspended; and in the continued absence of the men, they were not resumed in my time. Regular weekly services were held in the school of the Naval Barracks at Chatham. The attendance was good throughout, although the presence of men in the Barracks was like the flowing and receding tide. Some went and others came. They found themselves more in contact with the grim realities of war than even the troops at concentration camps. Whenever they left port an invisible engine of destruction might, for all they knew, hurl them speedily into eternity. Some who were associated with us at our services, had gone, never to return. The peculiar solemnity of the situation visibly left its mark upon the worshippers. They listened with much seriousness and earnestness, and in the spirit of those having the impression that they heard the word of God proclaimed for the last time. This feeling appeared to me to be generally more in evidence at Chatham than anywhere else. Without a doubt, the Lord’s people were among them, whose presence contributed to the degree of spiritual fervour and warmth that obviously marked the services. I met with a practice here that I nowhere else met with. A prayer meeting was held by the men every evening from eight to nine o’clock. It also was largely attended; and who knows to what extent the destiny of the present terrible war may depend upon the wrestlings of these sailors at the throne of grace, most of whom had come from distant parts of Lewis? Their environment largely presented an apparent attitude of heedlessness to the moral government of the Most High, and their good practice appeared like an oasis in the desert. To the credit, however, of the officers in charge, it must be said that they looked with commendable favour upon the action of these devoted sailors. They approved of such arrangements for their meetings as effectually placed them beyond the reach of interruption from outside sources; and humble as their position is in the British navy, they may be an asset to their country, the priceless value of which is known only to Him who is the King of nations.
In concluding this report, I consider that the idea of instituting a Mission to the Forces, while under training in England, was well conceived. It gave expression, in a practical form, to the sympathy of the Church with the young men of all denominations who, down
to the remotest corners of our Highlands and Islands, voluntarily left their homes and occupations to act their part for King and country in a struggle that, in respect of its dimensions, has no parallel in the history of the world. It also gave the Church’s deputies an opportunity to deal closely with them about matters of primary and supreme importance at a time when the ultimate issue lies between life and death—at a time when all the circumstances are fitted to dispose their attention to the consideration of spiritual and eternal realities. Among them are men of the highest intelligence, dominated with a high sense of duty, and influenced with the noblest ideals. Among them, I have no doubt, are pleaders at the Throne of Grace, Bible readers, and Bible lovers. Those who are otherwise disposed can have ample opportunities to give exercise to their energies in directions that are more in consonance with their aspirations. A disposition to belittle the divine authority of the law, that respects the sanctity of the Sabbath, cannot conduce to prosperity. The attempt to draw a veil by theatrical entertainments over realities, that cannot be avoided, betrays a sickly state of mind, and the temper, that still prevails in many quarters to minimise the untold evils of intemperance, reveals the fact that we are lagging behind Russia and France. A writer to the London Times remarked that, unless we conquer ourselves, we need not expect to conquer our enemies. But we plead with all and sundry to forsake these evils; and as for our fellow-countrymen who have gone, or are still going, to the front, to fight their country’s battles, we pray that the Lord may, in His mercy, prepare for death those whom He has appointed to the sword, and that those whom He has designed to survive the terrible struggle, may return to be a power for good, morally and spiritually, in their respective districts.—Yours, etc.,
ALEX. MACRAE.
Letter from Rev. J. B. Radasi,
F.P. MISSION, MATABELELAND.
THE following letter was recently received by the Rev. J. R. Mackay, M.A., Inverness, and will be read with interest:—
F.P. MISSION, BEMBEISI,
MATABELELAND, SOUTH AFRICA, 19th Jan., 1915.
MY DEAR MR. MACKAY,—I received your letter of the 30th November and was very glad to hear from you again. You will see from Mr. Henderson’s memo. that they have already printed the first twenty-four Psalms in Kaffir metre in booklet form, and have sent me five hundred copies, price £6 5s., as you will see from his memo. I am also sending you a copy, as I do not know whether one has been sent to you or not. Mr. Henderson thinks that we might have the complete book about the end of the year. I am forwarding to you the account which I would like you to pay to Mr. Henderson at Lovedale as soon as possible. Mr.
Henderson thinks that these ought to be sold for 6d. each, and so I am going to sell them for that price. I do not think it would be wise for me to distribute them freely, as the people have always been used to buying their Hymn-books. And I think that all those of our people who can read will buy them, but the majority of the old people cannot read; these are benefitted by the reading of “the line.” Please let me know what am I to do with the money of those that are sold.
I mentioned in my last letter to Mr. Cameron that we had opened another preaching place at Chief Mhlahlo’s kraal, about five miles from Ngwenya, and we have commenced to build there a large square hut for a church. The Chief’s youngest brother, named Kiwa Mhlahlo, is attending our school here. He has been with us for over two years. He is able to read the native language well, and has already received his Kaffir Bible, and is now about to complete No. II. English Reader. I am glad to say also that he has lately been converted, and seems to be a very promising boy. He is about eighteen years old. He seems to be very fond of his Bible. You will find him always reading it. He is very anxious to go to Lovedale to study as a teacher in connection with our Church. He has asked me several times if I could not send him to Lovedale, and I have explained to him that I was not in a position to pay for him at Lovedale. And I thought I would write to you, and ask you if our Church could not support him at Lovedale for about three years, as his people are heathens and are unable to support him even here. I have to supply him with food and clothing and buy his books as well, as I have always kept several boys in our Mission at my own expense in food and clothing and schooling, with the hope that they might be of some use to us as teachers in the outstations, as you yourself saw when you were here. The school fees at Lovedale are, £12, £15, or £20 a year according to table, besides 12s. or 15s. for books. These fees include board and lodging. There is a first, second, and third class table. The first session begins from February to June; the second from July to December. The railway fare from Bembesi to Lovedale is £4 14s. It is customary for the Churches here to send their students to the Cape Colony to be trained as teachers, as there are no facilities for training students here.
Chief Sigogo, Ngege’s eldest son, and his wife still attend the services very regularly; and that man you baptized too, and the two women are still as regular as ever; they have set a very good example in the kraal where they are living by their walk and conversation noticeable even to heathens living around them. I must now conclude with kindest regards to you and to Mrs. Mackay. I shall be very glad to get a copy of the two discourses you are about to deliver about the War.—Yours sincerely,
J. B. RADASI.
P.S.—I also got the ros. you sent from a friend. Kindly thank that friend for me.
J. B. R.
The Diary of Dugald Buchanan.
(Continued from page 437.)
Passages between brackets indicate that these are omitted in the Gaelic translation.*
[It is a believing that Christ and all His fulness are really exhibited unto me in the new covenant, and that all the promises are yea and amen in Him, which causes a patient and sweet rest, in waiting the accomplishment of the promise in God’s own time. The soul beholds a wonderful beauty and excellency in Christ and His undertaking; God and the soul become of one mind in Christ; God says, “this is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;” and my soul says, this is my beloved Saviour, in whom I am well pleased. I appeal unto God, that these are my thoughts of the eternal Son of His love. When I meditate on the Lord Jesus Christ in the covenant relation to me, as He is held forth in the Scriptures of truth, such as wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, or prophet, priest, and king, husband, and brother, etc.; and consider my own need of Him in all these offices, and their suitableness to my case as a lost and perishing sinner, I am constrained to say with the spouse, “because of the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore doth my soul love thee.” There is nothing wanting in Him; He is all my salvation and all my desire.
There is a rest which none knoweth, saving they who are entered into it by faith; for we who have believed do enter into rest. “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,” etc. (Rev. ii. 17). “The heart knoweth its own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with its joy” (Proverbs xiv. 10). These are some of my thoughts concerning this rest, yet I still find want of expressions to set it forth; so all that I can say about it is this, namely, that it is the soul’s coming entirely out of self, and leaping, as it were, into Christ, and there finding a full rest. It is an union between the soul and Christ, just as a marriage that cannot be dissolved.]
About three months after I was awakened to mind the concerns of my salvation, I happened to meet with a man who possessed a great deal of general information, and being acquainted with him, I began to ask what kind of principles those people held who are denominated Arians, Deists, and Socinians? He consequently told me some of their opinions, upon which I said, that it was a wonder such profane men were allowed to dwell among Christians. He then laid down some arguments, and proposed questions in their defence which I was not able to answer. This circumstance,
* The last paragraph of the Diary in last month’s Magazine beginning, “I have often endeavoured,” etc., down to “closing with Christ,” should have been within brackets.—A. M.
and, at the same time, reading erroneous books, overturned my faith; Satan also made an attack and said, “How can you pray to Christ when you see the absurdity and inconsistency of His being God and man?” And when reading the Bible he suggested, “How can you believe that for which you have no proof or authority?” which brought my soul into sad perplexing thoughts. This was the fruit of my curiosity. I felt convinced that no person believed the divinity of Christ, or the authority of the Scriptures, etc., except ignorant people who knew no better, and who had no judgment to know things in a right way; and that the ministers themselves did not believe what they were preaching to others. By these abominable thoughts my life became a burden to me. However, I was comforted in thinking on the many oppositions which the Gospel had met with and yet that it could never be brought to nought, which was a strong argument to me that it came from God. After that, I met with a book called “Some Thoughts concerning Natural and Revealed Religion, tending to shew that Christianity is indeed nearly as old as the creation; supposed to be written by my Lord P—t.” By reading this book many of my doubts were removed, and the secret objections of my mind answered in a rational way. I can say that I did not read one page of this book in vain. Oh! but grace and learning when they meet in one person shine bright! Yet, after all, the temptation returned and suggested, How can these things be? Then the Lord gave me another sight of man in his fallen state, and of the infinite breach which was made between God and man by reason of sin; I saw that Adam, through a sense of his guilt, could not endure a holy God speaking to him, and therefore fled from His presence, so that all correspondence between God and man had for ever ceased without a Mediator who might lay His hands on both parties; and I saw that the Mediator behoved to be God and man in one person, for if He was God only that He could not transact with man, by reason of His justice and holiness, and that, if He were a mere man, He could not transact with God by reason of His imperfections. But the Lord, to the exceeding joy of my heart, shewed me that both these qualities were in that glorious person called “Emanuel, God with us.”
Then I was taught that the Eternal Word had a body prepared for Him, and so was made flesh, wherein He fulfilled the royal law which was violated by man, and suffered as Mediator to satisfy essential justice in the room of all the elect. The Lord also shewed me something of the mystery of the covenant of grace, as being made with Christ the Head, and with believers in Him; with which there came an irresistible light and power which convinced my mind of the truth thereof, by the infinite wisdom and love which I saw shining in it. I observed by this noble contrivance that the glory of God was restored, and the salvation of the sinner secured, so that my whole soul consented to it in every way.
Now, it was not a blind assent that I was made to give to this method of salvation by Christ Jesus, for the Lord enlightened my understanding to see the excellency and the beauty of it. And I found that the Lord bound my will to consent, and drew out my affections in love to this incomprehensible mystery of godliness, “GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH, justified in the spirit, seen of angels;” by which this temptation got a mortal wound, and never recovered its strength.
I shall now show how my mind was settled as to the divinity of the Scriptures. The Lord did this by often shining on His own word now and then, and by bringing it home to the conscience, either in a way of comfort or terror; so that it evidenced itself to be the word of God. I saw many things from the nineteenth Psalm, as to the power and efficacy of His word. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” He gave me a reflecting light about my own exercises in times past, and made me to consider these portions of His word, wherewith He had awakened me at first, and with which I was comforted. It was by the Word that my slothful soul was made to run cheerfully in the way of God’s commandments; it was by the Word I was directed now to walk when I was blind, and that the clouds of darkness were dispelled from my mind, so that the light shined into my soul. I felt the agreeable beams of the Sun of Righteousness warming my affections. I was reprov’d from the Word for these sins, which none but the heart-searching God could know.
The Lord convinced me of the divinity and authority of the word by His holy Spirit, witnessing with my spirit. “He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself” (1 John v. 10). “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy iii. 16, 17).
A few Reflections on these Temptations and on part of the preceding exercises.
[First.]—When I look to the gracious and holy end which God had in suffering me to be so long tempted about the fundamental truths of religion, I have great reason to adore His infinite wisdom, who out of such confusion can bring order. For when He granted me a deliverance from these temptations, it was in such a way as made me more established and confirmed in the truth of those things than ever.
[Secondly.]—When any of the former objections came into my mind, and suggested, How can you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, when His satisfaction is so inconsistent with reason, and how can you believe the doctrine He taught to be divine, being delivered in such a mean and simple way? Although I cannot
answer every thing brought against my faith in express reasoning, yet I feel the power and efficacy of divine truths on my mind; therefore I am able to give a spiritual reason for the hope that is in me. I find that all the reflections I can make on this head, are done already to my hand by that learned and holy man Dr. Watts, in his third sermon concerning the inward witness to Christianity, in which doctrine I greatly rejoice.
Thirdly.—I am led to see the folly of those men who think to find out God by their own shallow reason, and maintain that the light of nature is sufficient to guide into happiness; and, therefore, that it is no wonder that such men wander endlessly in the mist of their own vain imaginations, when they reject the Lord Jesus Christ, the true light that enlighteneth every man who cometh into the world of grace.
Again, I perceive that these men were never taught of God, otherwise that they would own Christ and His doctrines. For it is written in the prophets, “and they shall be all taught of God; every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me” (John vi. 45). But the truth is, that there is no knowledge of the Father but by the Son. No man knoweth the Father save the Son.
Lastly.—From what I have experienced of the power of sin, and the strong temptations of the devil, I am persuaded that there is a power and reality in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, above the power and art of nature; that it is mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of sin and Satan in heart and life.]
(To be continued.)
The Levity of England.—We read with interest a sensible article in one of the leading London dailies under the above heading, protesting against England’s levity in this mighty moment in her destiny. There can be no doubt but the war has had a sobering effect on many, but the levity of the classes which manifests itself in sports, such as football and horse-racing, and in pleasures such as the music hall, theatre, and picture house, is a humbling evidence of the fact that multitudes of our fellow-countrymen are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. In the midst of much that is discouraging, it is of interest that a number of the more outstanding journals are strongly protesting against certain forms of this levity. If we could only lay to heart the solemnity of our situation, when God is speaking to us so loudly, we would walk softly before Him as a nation under the chastening of the mighty hand of God. Surely, if ever there was a time, it is now that the strikingly solemn and impressive words of the Lord should be laid to heart when He says—”A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished; it is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth?” (Ezek. xxi. 9, 10).