(Continued from page 77.)
ALEXANDER GAIR.
At another time, when speaking of his worldly circumstances, he said: “The fill of ‘the homer’ I will get, and no more I expect.”
A man was at one time in trouble about his interest in Christ. He had believed that he was ingrafted into Christ before then, but unbelief had brought him so low that he thought he was broken off and now past hope. He went down to Sandy Gair’s “reading.” When Sandy went to speak, he said, “Poor man, you are here who are in such and such a case, but your condition is safe yet.” “Aye,” said the man to himself, “give me Scripture that my condition is safe.” No sooner did this pass through the man’s mind than Sandy said: “You are now asking Scripture to prove your condition good. Well,” said he, “I’ll give you that,” mentioning a Scripture exactly applicable to the man’s case. The man said in his mind, “That’s enough,” and went home with his bonds loosed, in happiness and peace.
When Gordon Ross (a godly man) was keeping a school in Helmsdale, he went very often on a Saturday night to Sandy Gair’s house in order to hear him speak on the Sabbath. One Saturday night Gordon was very late in arriving. Satan was pursuing him all the way with his temptations. When he reached the house, it was twelve o’clock, and all were in bed, except Sandy himself, who exclaimed, “O, did you come?” “Yes, just come,” replied Gordon. “And when did the devil leave you?” said Sandy. “Not,” answered the other, “till I came to your peat stack.”
Captain Dunbar, Latheronwheel, once gave him a pound, and said, “Now, Sandy, you must be praying for me.” “Well, that may be,” he replied, “but you must pray for yourself as well; for you know that, if an animal fell into a bog, although there were twelve men helping him out of the mire, one effort of the animal to help himself will do more for him than the twelve men can do.”
Donald Sutherland, Tenants’ Park, Latheron (a godly man), had two sons who died in youth. The first died on a Monday. Sandy Gair came along with the coffin to the house, and when things were put in order, he asked a blessing on some food. He began by saying: “Glory to Thy name for what Thou hast taken away, and for what Thou wilt take away yet.” Donald thought: “This is hard for me; the other boy is also to be taken.” And so it came to pass, for on the next Monday, the other boy died also. The probability is that Sandy entertained “a good hope” of the two boys, when he thus expressed himself.
Speaking on one occasion of the danger of the seeking sinner’s trusting too much to his own endeavours, he remarked: “The Christ you will find by your own efforts will leave you, but the Christ you will find, when self-confidence is gone, will never leave you.”
(To be continued.)