ALEXANDER MACLEOD, the subject of this sketch, was born at Balachladich, Stoer, in 1786. It would appear that in his boyhood, when he was only fifteen years old, the Holy Spirit dealt with him savingly. And the work begun at this early age was deepened and strengthened by the preaching of the Word and the fellowship of God’s people at Communion seasons in Ferintosh.
In reviewing God’s goodness to him in the past, Mr. Macleod makes reference in his diary to his early years. “Give a retrospective view, O my immortal soul,” he writes, “to Jehovah’s wonderful care of thee since you came to the world. When eight, nine, and ten years of age, think of the instances you remember in which the law of nature was checking you then, when you committed any actual sin—Sabbath or week day—though you were then a stranger to grace. Think of how early you were put to school in a remote district of the country, but under the religious instruction of pious parents and teacher. Think how circumspectly they watched over your education and morals during your years of minority, and consider how strictly for your benefit—as well as for their own comfort and salvation—they regarded the laws of God and man, and trained you to pay a reverential regard to the former, and due respect to the latter, as thy Lord commands. Consider, O my soul, the first religious impressions you had under the means of grace, the places in which you felt these impressions so powerful that you could not well command yourself, when between the years of 15 and 18. Remember the time of private prayer in the field at Duirinish* (Lord Reay’s country), also at
* Gaelic form of Durness.
Ullapool and Reef, in Lochbroom, when you were made as a fountain of unceasing tears and love that could not be stopped in the presence of thy God. Remember the feast you had in Dingwall, on a sacramental occasion, when you could not deny that you got Benjamin’s portion of 300 pieces of silver and five changes of raiment, when the rest of the brethren were more scantily supplied” (Free Presbyterian Magazine, iii., 136, 137).
On reaching manhood, he entered on the usual course of study in preparation for the ministry. It would appear that about this time he came under the influence of Norman Macleod,* who afterwards went out to Cape Breton and became minister of a congregation there. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Macleod was strongly recommended by the Rev. John Kennedy, afterwards of Killearnan, the Presbytery of Tongue, when he appeared before them for license, took notice of Mr. MacLeod’s sympathies with Norman MacLeod’s views, as the following minute shews:— “They had been informed that he did at one time join a certain party or religious sect in the parish of Assynt, who had openly and avowedly seceded from the Established Church of Scotland, and regarding his having renounced the peculiar tenets of said party. To which he answered, that with a conscience void of offence he was able to declare his firm attachment to the Church of Scotland, and also his having wholly renounced the party which he once joined” (Tongue Presbytery Register, 19th October, 1818). On making this acknowledgment, he was licensed by the Presbytery. In the following year (1819) he was ordained minister of the Gaelic Chapel, Dundee, and in 1821 he was translated to Cromarty.
What success his ministry had in these places we are not in a position to say. In his next charge, Uig, Lewis, however, there was an extraordinary blessing on his labours. His induction as parish minister of Uig took place in 1824. This was the first appointment of an evangelical minister in the Island. Prior to this the people of Lewis were in great spiritual darkness, and from the account given by Mr. Campbell in his biographical sketch of Mr. MacLeod, in the Disruption Worthies of the Highlands (page 223), the spiritual state of the people was dark indeed. As an illustration, he writes as follows:—”It may be stated that the
* The Rev. Norman MacLeod was a very remarkable man in many ways. In 1851 he sailed in a vessel built by himself and many of his Cape Breton congregation, to Australia, where he remained for two years. He then went to New Zealand, and finally settled in the district of Waipu, about seventy miles north of Auckland, where he died in 1866, at the age of eighty-six. It is said that the life and doctrine of a certain class of ministers in the Church of Scotland was the cause of his separation from the Church of his fathers. There is a short account of his Cape Breton ministry (with portrait) in the Presbyterian Witness (Diamond Jubilee Number, December, 1908), and of his New Zealand ministry in the History of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand (pp. 78-80). Mr. MacLeod’s own ecclesiastical views are set forth in a volume of tracts, The Present Church of Scotland and a Tint of Normanism, contending in a Dialogue.
natives of Uig, being located for the most part on the western shore of Lewis, and thus facing the Atlantic, had, in days when lighthouses and Lloyds’ agents were unknown, frequent experience of the material benefit accruing to them on the occurrence of a wreck on their dangerous coasts. The writer has never heard them accused of using any positive measures to further such a catastrophe, unless it can be considered that petitions addressed to the Supreme Being might prove to be such. For, however strange it may appear, at the first prayer meeting which Mr. MacLeod attempted to hold at Uig, one of the former elders actually offered a request that a wreck should be cast ashore in the neighbourhood; while another elder, referring to the death of our Lord as a misfortune, used strong expressions of deprecation of its having at all occurred.” This is not quoted with the purpose of exposing the nakedness of the land, but to show the state of things before the Gospel appeared marching triumphantly through the Island. Though the Lewis parishes had been supplied with ministers for many generations, yet they were of the “moderate” type, and vital godliness was unknown. Family worship was not observed, and superstition abounded. All and sundry, when they reached a certain age, became communicants. When Mr.Leod became minister of Uig, there were eight or nine hundred communicants in the congregation.
Mr. MacLeod’s own words, as given in his diary, describing the condition of things bring home to a reader better than anything the low moral state of his parishioners. “The first month I laboured among this people,” he says, “I observed that they were extremely attentive to the preaching of the Word. But the truth made no visible impression on them. They seemed to be much afraid, and astonished at the truths delivered. You would, at the same time, read in their appearance that they were at a loss to understand what they were hearing. Having commenced to examine several of the parents previous to my dispensing the ordinance of baptism to them, I found that they (with very few exceptions) were grossly ignorant of the truths of Christianity as revealed in God’s Word. In questioning them respecting the covenants of work and grace, they acknowledged that they were perfectly ignorant of the origin, nature, and systems of both. There were but few among them that could tell me the names of our first parents, of Noah, or of any of the patriarchs and prophets, and but few could tell of the nature of our Lord’s mission, and the names of His disciples and their history. In asking how many sacraments Christ appointed, the answer in general was that He instituted seven. When I enquired their hope of salvation as to its grounds and foundation, good conduct and doing the best we could was the answer, and with regard to their expectation of heaven, they said it would be a wonderful favour to be somewhere else upon the borders of that happy place, though not admitted to the society of the holy. By such interviews, I have at once
discerned their consummate ignorance of true religion, and that polluted remains of Popery, since it was the religion in this place, was the only notion they had of Christianity. Swearing, lies, and stealing were very common vices in the land, notwithstanding they were in general kind and obliging, and but few instances of drunkenness and uncleanness among them. After discovering the gross ignorance that universally prevailed in the parish, I found that I would require to begin the very first principles of Christianity with them, and to make it my great care and study how to come to a level with their untutored capacities, so as to render the truths delivered intelligible to them” (Free Presbyterian Magazine, iii., 57, 58).
His preaching was very different from that to which they had been accustomed. His activity as a pastor was shewn in instituting prayer meetings, and planting schools throughout the parish. The teachers who taught in these schools were men of piety, and some of them became noted ministers in after years. Among these may be mentioned Rev. John Macrae (MacRath Mor), Rev. John Finlayson, Rev. Peter MacLean, and Rev. Alexander MacColl.
In view of the spiritual ignorance of the people, Mr. MacLeod decided not to administer the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper during the first year of his ministry. And when the ordinance was at length observed, the communicants had dwindled down to six.
This is Mr. MacLeod’s account of the first Communion held after his settlement at Uig:—”Uig, 25th June, 1827.—Yesterday the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered in this place, and much of the presence of the Lord appeared in the congregation. There were from 800 to 1,000 communicants formerly in the parish, there being a habit of indiscriminate Communion. This is the first occasion we had the Communion here in my time, and only six individuals have come forward to the Lord’s Table. There were no more than twenty communicants in all. The whole of the unworthy communicants kept back, and a great many of our young converts did not take upon them to come forward. The congregation was much impressed through the whole day. When the elements were presented, there appeared as a shower of revival from the presence of the Lord through the whole congregation, and in serving the first and second tables (there being two tables only), the heavenly dew of gracious influences was evidently falling down on the people in so conspicuous a manner that, not only the friends of Christ, but also the enemies of the Lord, cannot forget an occasion and a scene so singularly remarkable, in which all acknowledge that God was of a truth among us. But all this might be called the commencement of what happened afterwards, for when our young converts saw the uncommon liberty that was granted to the pastors in addressing those who sat at the table, they were still more impressed and filled, as it were, with new wine and holy solemnity. Much disappointment now appeared among
several of them that they had not taken out tokens, and so were not prepared to come forward. Pungent conviction, towards the evening, took hold of some of them for not obeying Christ’s command. It was a night ever to be remembered in this place, in which the whole of it was spent in religious exercises, whether in private or together with others, in cases mingled with unusual instances of joy and sorrow. While these things were carried on, the ungodly themselves were in tears, and iniquity for a time dwindled into nothing, covered her brazen face, and was greatly ashamed. On Monday, many felt sadly disappointed when they saw that the ungodly had kept back from the table, and when they perceived that the Lord’s people were so greatly refreshed in commemorating His death, that they did not timeously prepare for the duty, and that, after the Lord in every way cleared the way for them, they were not ready. This circumstance caused much sorrow, and more so as there is no doubt but some supposed that some of the most promising of the Lord’s people would not communicate at this time. But when they saw that those went forward, and that they themselves were not ready, and when they were convinced then in their consciences that they were led to follow the example of men than sincere regard to Christ’s command and the commemoration of His dying love, the whole circumstances of the case came home with peculiar force to their consciences, and they were humbled low in the dust. But this prepared their souls for receiving the excellent sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. MacDonald [Ferintosh] on the following day, from John xvi., 22—’And ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your hearts shall rejoice.’ The Lord’s people were greatly impressed and refreshed by this sermon; and they descended from the mount with songs and praises” (Free Presbyterian Magazine, iii., 135, 136).
Uig had become a well-watered garden, and the fewness of the communicants was an indication of how completely the people’s minds had been changed as to their duty in sitting at the Lord’s Table. People gathered from all parts of the Island, and extraordinary interest was awakened in divine things. Four years after Mr. MacLeod’s induction, it is said, that 9,000 people were present at Uig Communion. The spirit of prayer and supplication was given to the people, and in dispersing from the public means of grace, they met in private, and poured out their hearts to God. This change affected not only the devotional habits of the people, but shaped and fashioned their whole conduct. “They are an extraordinary people,” is the testimony of a naval officer; “one cannot but be struck with their honesty, kindness, and sobriety. I think I have never seen a drunk person out of the town. One hears of religion elsewhere, but one sees it here in everything.” The Rev. John Macrae (MacRath Mor) testified that the finest moral spectacle he had ever witnessed during his whole career was that of the congregation of Uig under the pastorate of the Rev.
Alexander MacLeod (Disruption Worthies of the Highlands, p. 229).
The work thus begun by God in so many hearts was not like man’s work, for it continued, and through the preaching of Mr. MacLeod, Mr. Finlayson, and Mr. Finlay Cook, many souls were awakened to real concern. God opened the windows of heaven, and poured down a rich and abundant blessing on the dried and parched wilderness, and made it blossom as a garden of the Lord.
At the Disruption Mr. MacLeod joined the Free Church, and in 1844 was translated to Lochalsh, where he laboured for three years. In 1846 he was translated to Rogart, where he finished his course, after labouring there for twenty-three years. He died 13th November, 1869, greatly beloved and honoured by a people who respected him as a true minister of Christ. Even to this day, notwithstanding the chilling indifference that is spreading over the land, the memory of Mr. MacLeod is revered in the parish, where he spent so many years. And if the same success did not attend his preaching in Rogart as in Uig, yet, there can be no doubt of the impression his ministry made on his hearers.
In concluding this brief sketch of this noted preacher of the Gospel, one cannot help expressing regret that we are not in possession of much material to illustrate Mr. MacLeod’s teaching. Fortunately, however, there is a sermon of his in print (Free Presbyterian Magazine, xi., 5), preached at an ordination. The text is—”Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Tim. iv. 16), and the divisions are:—I. The exhortations of the text; II. The promises by which they are enforced.
In expounding the first exhortation—”Take heed unto thyself”—he notices six particulars. (1) Take heed that you be a sound believer, that you have been convinced and converted, and that you are making progress in the divine life. (2) Take heed that you be a called and sent minister to witness the things you have seen and felt. If the Lord does not send ministers, they shall not profit the people. The profitable minister is he who can say, “Lord, thou hast sent me; therefore go with me; bless me and make me successful.” (3) Take heed you be an exercised minister—not satisfied with systematic and orthodox views merely, but coming forth in the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ, speaking from the heart to the heart, and bringing out of the treasure “things new and old.” (4) See that there be conscientious diligence in all the means for attaining fitness for this great work. “Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all.” (5) See that you will have the glory of God, and the salvation of souls in view. (6) See that you watch in all things; be on your guard
against every temptation, every external and internal enemy, that your conversation be such as becometh the Gospel, and that you walk with circumspection, worthy of the vocation by which you are called.
In regard to the second exhortation, he says:—”Under the teaching of the Spirit, he will ‘give heed to the doctrine’; he will be enabled to declare ‘the whole counsel of God’ and to ‘contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.’ He will not be carried about by every wind of doctrine, nor teach every kind of doctrine to his people. The ballast of grace and spiritual understanding will enable him to weather out the wintry storms to which he will be exposed from the world, the devil, and the flesh, from external and internal enemies, in the dangerous voyage of human life. Dangers and difficulties, opposition and contempt, he must calculate upon and expect. The very nature of his ministerial functions implies the former, and all the grandeur and dignity of it will not exempt him from the latter. ‘The truth itself’ will offend. He will be regarded as an enemy by some for no other reason but because he tells the truth. The truth condemns the lax conduct of the unconverted, and their unscriptural creed founded on that conduct. To live in the consciences of such men as a witness against them is all that is desirable as long as they are at enmity with God. By consistency, however, you will command their esteem, for many often deny what they cannot disbelieve, and ridicule what they cannot but silently revere.”
On the third exhortation—”Continue in them,” he says:—”Continue (1) in thy views; (2) in thy calling; (3) be laborious and diligent. Continue in thy principles and work; you must not abandon either while on earth. ‘Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel!’ Continue to seek after greater fitness for thy work, in prayer, reading, and meditations.”
These are a few quotations from as solemn and searching an ordination sermon as any young minister ever listened to. The zeal it manifests for God’s glory, the sober and judicious handling of God’s truth, and the searching application of it to the conscience must leave on the mind of every serious reader the impression that he is listening to a judicious counsellor, “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
In concluding this sketch, we feel it rather a difficult matter to convey to our readers an idea of the extraordinary place Mr. MacLeod had in the hearts of God’s people. He was esteemed very highly for his work’s sake. It was no blind hero worship, but the love of a living people who recognised in him a true servant of Jesus Christ, and gave him the place and respect due to his office. As a preacher he dwelt on such truths as the glory of Christ’s person, the virtue and efficacy of His sufferings, the perfection of His finished righteousness, and God’s great love to sinners.
Notes of a Sermon.
BY THE LATE REV. LACHLAN MACPHERSON, EAST WILLIAMS,
ONTARIO.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”—
JOHN x. 27.
THESE words were spoken in reply to the question put by the Jews as to whether He was Christ. He told them before, but they believed not, and the reason was because they were not His sheep; for His sheep hear His voice, etc. Christ here sets forth the character and privileges of His people.
I.—Their name—“My sheep.” All sinners are spoken of under the similitude of lost sheep (Isa. liii. 6). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way”—“Lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. xv. 24); and the similitude is appropriate. No animal is so apt to go astray, and when astray it has no sense, no aptitude to find its way back. Believers are found sheep, collected and brought back after being scattered and lost. A few things in which they resemble sheep:
(1) They are not capable of doing for themselves. They need the oversight of a shepherd to protect them from injury, to prevent them from wandering, or bring them back when they have wandered, and to provide for their sustenance. They cannot subsist without pasture and water, and this they cannot get everywhere, nor provide for themselves.
(2) They are fond of being together; other animals can rove alone through mountain and desert, etc. The sheep always keep each other’s company. If they happen to be left alone by accident, etc., they run, they bleat, and can take no rest until they find out the flock. Should they fall in with other flocks—goats for instance—they cannot rest with them.
(3) They are gentle and harmless. The wicked are savage, cruel, inclined to hurt one another—especially to hurt God’s people. They have teeth and claws like lions to tear and destroy. The new man is tamed; the lion turned into a lamb—peaceable, forgiving, meek, humble, etc. “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in spirit.” Christ was as a lamb brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep is dumb before her shearers so He opened not His mouth (Isa. liii.) They are like Christ. What an honour to be spoken of under the same name with Christ!
(4) They are useful and valuable, all of them useful, so should Christians be useful.
Observe, further, Christ’s property in them—“my sheep.” This is a sweet word to a Christian. It is a little but a sweet word. There are more flocks in the world than one. . . . “The flocks of thy companions” (Song i). But only one belongs to God. The devil has a flock, and it is larger than Christ’s,
which is called a “little flock.” You who hear me belong either to the one or the other of these. Which?
(1) They are His by the gift of the Father in the covenant of grace. “The sheep which Thou hast given me.” They are chosen by the Father, and given to Christ. “Thine they were and Thou gavest them me.” O, think you what a blessedness to be among those elect ones whom God the Father counted over to Christ as His, that your name should be in that list! What if it were left out! You would then wander like a lost sheep in the wilderness of sin until at last you fell into hell. O, admire the sovereign goodwill of God, in putting your worthless name there, without being asked to do it, and when you had nothing to recommend you more than others, and when these were as needy as you, and a great multitude of them, too, whose cases stood before Him, but were left out. O, think of the gift which the Father gave the Son! A number of wretched sinners, worthless in themselves, diseased, polluted, lost sheep, and which would cost Him much to bring them back! Think on the love and condescension of the Son in accepting of a gift in such circumstances, and on such terms, and think on that wonderful esteem with which He regarded them? He always speaks of the gift as one on which He sets a high value, and one on which He greatly delights. I am sure you would say, it is not worth Christ’s while to think so much of you.
(2) They are His by purchase. He bought them by His own blood. Dear purchase! He bought them off from justice. Here is a second wonder. What are you worth, do you think, O Christian? Surely nothing; and yet Christ gave Himself for you. His life for your life. It was a hard bargain, and yet Christ was willing to make it. The advantage is yours: all the trouble and expense was Christ’s. Although the Father gave you to Him, yet not one of you either would or could come back until He went for you. He had to search you out and bring you back by His power. This brings us to observe, that—
(3) They are His by conquest. “He delivered them from the power of darkness,” brought them out of the house of bondage by a strong and lifted up arm. “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong” (Isaiah liii. 12). He spoiled principalities . . . led captivity captive—conquered themselves, made them willing in a day of His power, and hence—
(4) They are His by the covenant in which they give themselves voluntarily, entirely, and forever to Him. “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” A believer first gives himself “to the Lord” to be saved, and to be His: then he gives all that he has. He gives himself away, a poor gift indeed, but it is all he has to give. He is no match for Christ, but since Christ is willing to take him, he may well give his consent.
Use.—Whatever blemishes, weaknesses, faults, etc., may be in
any of Christ’s sheep He never disowns them: He still says of them, “My sheep.” Not one of them will He leave behind, however worthless, feeble, etc. He will gently lead those that are with young; He will carry the lambs in His bosom. Some are maimed, and not able to keep up with the rest on a journey; Christ will stay with them. A poor tempted soul may sometimes say, “My leanness, my leanness, I am not worthy,” etc. Yet Christ says, “My sheep.” The world would not own you; the great would not; the wise and prudent would not; and it may be some of the sheep themselves: perhaps Abraham may be ignorant of you, and Israel may acknowledge you not, but Christ will never cast off the meanest of His sheep.
II.—Their character and privileges.—It is not necessary here to make a distinction, or divide these into separate heads, as, in fact, their very character which is given them is itself one of their greatest privileges. I shall therefore take up the words as they lie.
i. “My sheep hear my voice.”
(1) They hear it in the way knowing it and understanding it as His voice. There are ears that cannot hear. The Spouse knows the voice of her Beloved from every other voice. If a stranger came to the fold and called the sheep by name, they would not hear or listen to it, as if they heard nothing. The Jews saw His miracles, heard His sayings, but saw not nor heard Christ the Messiah in them. They had no spiritual discernment, no spiritual understanding. Sinners hear daily, and yet do not discern Christ’s voice in what they hear, because they are not of His sheep. Levi the publican heard, and the disciples heard, “Follow me.” The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall live. Saul of Tarsus heard; they that journeyed with him heard but saw no man: they knew not Christ’s voice in it: Saul did: “Lord, what will thou have me to do?” The unconverted hear Christ’s voice in the common way, but hear nothing in it which makes it to them His voice.
First: this implies spiritual illumination: they understand and receive the things of the Spirit of God. They have an insight given them of the divine mysteries of the gospel. They are all taught of God. Secondly: it implies a readiness to obey it. It is a voice that they like to hear and are constantly watching to hear. Hearing often signifies obeying. “Hear, and your souls shall live,” and here their hearing is placed in opposition to the unbelief of the Jews who believed not. The soul that once hears and discerns Christ’s voice spiritually believes. The ear that hears makes way for the word to the heart and the heart that thus feels believes, and hence it is stated that these sheep that hear, also follow Him. Thirdly: it implies that they are protected thus from the danger of being deceived by strangers; by error—led astray by false impressions, or false doctrine. They can distinguish between His voice and these. Hence verse 8, “but the sheep did not hear them.” They did not relish their sayings; did not
follow them; and knew it was not the Shepherd’s voice. And verse 5, “will not follow strangers,” do not know their voice—will flee from them. “Abstain from every appearance of evil.”
(2) They hear His voice as a peculiar privilege conferred upon them which none else enjoy. It is no small favor to hear Christ’s voice. O my fellow-sinners, who care not whether you hear it or not, you would envy the happy lot of those friends of the Bridegroom who hear His voice and rejoice, if you only knew the value of the privilege, and what a severe judgment is it that Christ does not thus make Himself known to you, while He does so to others who sit on every side of you in the same church. You are a stranger to Christ and He to you, and you heed it not because you know Him not. How often do the saints of the Bible request of God that they may hear His voice. This is a favor He bestows only on a few. He is in this house, in this town, in this world walking among the churches, but it is not the happy privilege of all to see and hear Him. He only shewed Himself to His own after His resurrection. So now, Christ is with the believer; He hears His voice; “the voice of my Beloved.”
(3) And how does he hear Him? First, he hears His voice in His word—promises, threatenings, invitations, directions, etc. He is admitted to the King’s chambers, where he has an audience. All addressed to him. “Arise, my love, and come away.” Thou wilt follow me hereafter, because I live ye shall live also—that where I am there ye may be also. Secondly, he hears it in Providence. God’s is voice to the city, but the man of wisdom, etc. The wicked sometimes hear awful things which terrify them like Saul’s companions on the way to Damascus, but the Christian knows a secret which, if they knew it, would allay their fears.
(4) Now, a few things as to when he hears Him. First, by promise in afflictions. “It is I, fear not.” . . . Consolations, a stranger intermeddleth not with. Secondly, by counsel, direction, and light, when in perplexity. Thirdly, when at the throne of grace in fellowship with Him. Fourthly, when at preachings and sacraments. A word in season comes home with such power—it suits the case. It gives relief, joy, light; it is the voice of his Beloved. What a privilege to hear Christ’s voice on a dark and stormy night!
- “And I know them” (see also ver. 14). As much as to say, “Put on as good a face as you please, you are not like my sheep; I know them; as for you, you are strangers to me and I to you. Ye are not of my sheep.” This is a sweet word to a Christian, and well may Christ say it, for dearly did He buy them. But what does He mean when He says, “I know them”?
(1) He knows their number, and every one of them in particular as those whom the Father gave Him as His own, and for whom He shed His blood. There are secret things which belong to God, and there are things revealed which belong to us. No man was ever admitted into God’s cabinet to look at the book
of His eternal decrees; but Christ, who was with Him from eternity, is acquainted with all these, and had their names given Him before He ever appeared on earth. What one gets as his own he will feel interested in, and know more about it than about other things; but Christ paid a price for them, and not as a whole merely, but for each individual: Could He but know them for whom he travailed and agonised?—”Can a woman forget,” etc. (Isa. xlix. 14-16). Christ as God knows all men; He is the searcher of the hearts (Rev. ii. 23), but He only knows those whom the Father gave Him as His sheep. All others, in a sense, are strangers to Him. He does not know them. “They are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise.” But
(2) Christ has certain marks to distinguish His sheep, by which He knows them (2 Timothy ii. 19). “The foundation of God”—here is a hidden and a visible sign; of the former I spoke already. Shepherds usually have marks on their sheep to know them. There is an inward and outward sign; they are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. Now, however difficult it may be to others to distinguish between sheep and sheep, yet the Good Shepherd knows His own mark—visible—life and conversation, but others feign this mark; therefore, an invisible, a secret mark—the work of the Spirit. Examine yourselves; if you have the latter, you will have the former. But various ways to know—(1) by voice, (2) by countenance, (3) by gait, manner, etc. It may be said that Christ has a mark on every part, member, etc., of each of His sheep—their feet, ears, cry, look. There are two great marks which Christ has on His own sheep which none else has—the seal of the Spirit, regenerated, sanctified, His own image on them, and this manifesting itself more and more in the life; and the mark of His own blood by which they are justified.
Use I.—Warning and reproof: (1) To such as deny that Christ has any special knowledge of His sheep; that there is no such thing as an elect number given to Him as His sheep, such are Arminians. And (2) to such as feign to be His sheep, but who are not—hypocrites.
(1) Arminians. For whom does the Good Shepherd lay down His life? “The sheep” (verse 2). Who are the sheep? Not all (verse 26). Christ laid down His life for the sheep, whoever these are, and for no more. Observe the definite article, the sheep; for them He laid down His life, and all these He calls His sheep, and distinguishes between the sheep and others who were not of them (verse 26, 27, 28)—and these, “the,” and “His” sheep are saved. “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish”; but many perish, but not sheep, for they “never perish.”
(2) Hypocrites. “I know my sheep.” Can you deceive Christ? How often does He say, “I know thy works” (Rev. ii.),
and then, “I know you not.” Will you pass for one in the flock? Will you escape in the crowd? Will you thus creep into heaven unnoticed? Remember, there is a way to hell from the sheep-fold! Remember Judas!
Use 2.—Comfort to God’s people: “I know my sheep.” This is a mark of the Good Shepherd—to know His sheep. This implies an acquaintance with them. Yes, Christ knows you, Christian, by name as His, and He knows all that you are; He makes a point of knowing every circumstance connected with each of His sheep. Some are afraid that Christ does not know nor troubles Himself about them. They are low of stature, and think they are hid from Him. They think He does not hear nor regard their prayer, and, although often they try to put themselves in His way so that He may thus take some notice of them, yet He withdraws Himself and keeps always at a distance; and, still, they like Him and His flock, and cannot think of leaving them. The Good Shepherd knows all the ails, the weaknesses, the pains, the sorrows, the trials, griefs, wanderings, and failings of His sheep. He knows their temptations, and He bottles all their tears. He knows their wants, and what would do them good. He has His eye constantly on them, and when one wanders He brings it back: when the enemy is strong, He will rebuke him and restrain the remainder of His wrath. O, blessed comfort! O, blessed Shepherd, who watches day and night, and knows minutely the state of each one in His flock. You might have a friend able and willing to help you, but, if you could not make him acquainted with your wants, his good will and ability were both useless to you—Christ knows you, and as He does, He will be thinking of you. “I am poor and needy, but God thinketh upon me” (Psalm xl.). He knows all these things—as to their object, cause, and tendency. He knows them, as to their distribution, measure, place, continuance—and knows as to the care of them, and management to the end. He knows them in sympathy, and feels for and has compassion upon them.
Think on this, Christian, Christ knows you and your enemies: knows how to anticipate all the evils which hunt you, and knows whatever you think, that what He does to you is that which will do you most good. “All things work for good,” etc. (Rom. viii.). You cannot be lost. If you should wander, Christ would go and seek you out. He could know you among a thousand others and take you out from the very heart of other flocks. He has His own mark on you, and knows you. The saints may not know you, Abraham may not, but Christ will. The world may not know you, the stout professor may not, but Christ does. You are engraven on the palms of His hands, and, although He hides Himself from you, He does not, nay, cannot, hide you from Himself.
- “And they follow me.” They follow Him, for they “know his voice.” They will not follow strangers, but flee from them;
they know not their voice. There is here knowledge, confidence, and liking, or love.
Observe, first, they “follow.” They do not go before. This is the character of Gospel obedience. Secondly, Christ’s love goes before. The Christian’s love will follow. We follow an object we love. Christians are called to take up the cross and follow the Lamb. Whence do they follow Him? To pastures through the wilderness, whithersoever He goeth. How do they follow, and in what? In heart and life, seeking to imitate Him, and to submit to the way, whether hard or easy. They follow Him as soldiers their captain in all conflicts, from earth to heaven.
The late Mrs. Mackay, Dornoch.
THE following is a short account of the late Mrs. Margaret Mackay, Clashmore, Dornoch, who departed this life on Sabbath the 12th of May, 1918, aged eighty-two years:—
Mrs. Mackay (or Murray) was born at Spinningdale, parish of Creich, Sutherlandshire, some seven years before the Disruption. She had the privilege in her early days of attending the Gaelic School there, where she learned to read and write. For one born and brought up in days when many in the Highlands never learned to read, she was a proficient scholar, and was naturally endowed with a very intelligent disposition. Her early days were spent at or near the place of her birth. Before the age of twenty years, she came to reside at Clashmore, on her marriage, and had her home there until the end. She was predeceased by her husband many years.
Though there is little that can here be recorded as to the Lord’s dealings toward her, yet it is evident from what she occasionally let fall in conversation, that she came to know comparatively early of her demerit in the sight of God, and of her utter unfitness for eternity, were she removed by death, without the saving grace of faith in the Lord Jesus. It is believed that the late Rev. Dr. Kennedy was largely instrumental in benefiting her soul in the things of salvation. She was for many years an earnest follower of the means of salvation, endeavouring regularly, and in the face of many difficulties, to go as far as Dingwall and Inverness on Communion occasions.
The following extract from a letter to a friend shows how she desired her mind to be occupied:—”I have had some more warnings since I heard from you. Thank God, I am better, and I am out to-day for the first time this winter. . . . When the Word comes, it helps me for a while, such as Psalm lxxiii. and John i., verses 12-13. The Lord is very good to me, and I hope He will not leave me when I old and grey-headed grow. . . .” These lines were written on 14th March, 1918.
She suffered much during the recent winter months. It was latterly apparent that it was only a matter of time until the change
would come. On the second Sabbath of May, she entered into her rest, to inherit with the Israel of God the refuge and the provision of Zion. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. ix. 28).
To her relatives, especially her daughter, who was her main companion up to the end, we extend our sincere sympathy in their bereavement. D. A. MACF.
The late Corporal John Mackenzie.
A BRIEF TRIBUTE BY A COMRADE.*
OUR dear friend, John Mackenzie, gave evidence of being among those, concerning whom, the risen and exalted Saviour has said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” When death took him, from amidst the turmoil of the battlefield in France on Sabbath evening the 9th June, it put an end forever to all his conflicts with spiritual and earthly foes.
Before proceeding to France, he remarked, “Whatever will happen to my body, I have the assurance that I am safe for eternity.” In the last letter the present writer received from him, he wrote, as follows:—
“Grace is needed to endure His afflicting hand in all patience and long suffering. Our afflictions here are but light, compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us hereafter. He is a reliable God, but we must receive the grace of faith to rely and cast ourselves on His loving bosom in the Mediator, before we can lay our souls and bodies willingly on the altar. Oh! what a comfort we have that we have such an Immanuel to run unto, in all our troubles, trials, perplexities, adversities, and temptations. Though circumstances at times seem to flesh and blood unbearable, yet my Rock is immovable, and He is always a very present help. Oh! that my tongue could describe to others a little of His love. He helps me to speak to and pray for my comrades-in-arms; but the prayers of some of them remind me of what the prayer of the wicked will be, on the great day of judgment.”
The voice of this soldier of the King of kings is now silent. His body lies in a foreign land, but on the resurrection morn it will be found clothed with heavenly beauty. To his comrades in the trenches, and to those who heard him, in the Seaforths’ training camp at Cromarty, preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” may he, “though dead, yet speak.”
The men who were wont at first to take part in the Seaforths’ prayer-meetings, were gradually scattered far apart—in India, Mesopotamia, Salonica, France. Some of them have been
* This comrade was with Corporal Mackenzie at Cromarty. A fuller sketch will (D.V.) yet appear.—ED.
wounded and others have gone to eternity, but still there are those left who carry on these valuable meetings. Many say, “It is vain to serve God,” but they have found it otherwise, and to their fellow-soldiers of all ranks, they cry out:—
“O taste and see that God is good;
Who trusts in him is blessed.”
Where one, who was valiant for truth, has fallen, may ten arise! The Holy Spirit alone can fill the ranks. May it be His gracious will to do so!
“According as the days have been,
Wherein we grief have had,
And years wherein we ill have seen,
So do thou make us glad.”
During my intimate acquaintance with John, I found him to be of a very amiable and kind disposition, spiritually minded and zealous for the glory of God and the good of immortal souls. He would frequently be seen distributing Testaments in camp, and accompanying them with words of admonition. He was not ignorant of Satan’s devices, and had many a sore conflict. He was deeply sensible of sin and was made loathsome in his own eyes, having learned by painful experience that all his goodness was as the morning cloud and early dew, that passeth away. But the Lord Jesus Christ was made his “all in all,” and so to him to live was Christ, and to die was gain.
W. G.
Diary of the Rev. James Calder,
MINISTER OF CROY, INVERNESS-SHIRE. BORN, 1712; DIED, 1775.
Edited from the Original MSS., with Illustrative Notes,
BY THE LATE REV. WM. TAYLOR, M.A., STIRLING.
(Continued from page 57.)
“Saturday, 26th.—In yesterday’s memorandum it was my petition that the Lord would let me see why He contended with me and hid His face from me. This day I perceive that the Lord, by the present heavy dispensation, is rebuking me in my solitude for the little care I took to keep near Him and to solace my soul with His presence, His countenance, and His love while my children were about me. This I saw in a light that was very affecting and humbling; and, glory to His name! while I was confessing my spiritual idolatries, shameful departures, and backslidings, and attempting to betake myself to the blood and righteousness of Christ with all my sins, and follies, and deadness, and coldness, and darkness, He was pleased of His infinite mercy to receive me graciously, and to manifest somewhat of His love and glory, and His reconciled countenance to my poor soul. This was a sweet reviving cordial. My darkness vanished, my cold heart began to warm, and my weary soul found rest under the shadow of Emmanuel’s wings, and was blessed with some little delightful
experiences of what I was earnestly praying for several days past, and that is a heart-felt complacency in the ever-blessed God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks! eternal thanks to the God of all grace for this seasonable saviour and revival. O for a clearer display of His glory shining in the face of Christ—for richer and sweeter experiences of His loving kindness that’s better than life! May I be thankful for this sweet dawning, and may I take it as an earnest of the rising sun and the perfect day.
“Monday, December 12th.—Secular affairs, necessary business, in the management of which I trust the Lord has preserved me from giving offence and from acting unworthy of my sacred character, which was my earnest request at a throne of grace before my company met.
“Tuesday, 13th.—Family worship was sweet both in the morning and at eve; but, alas! I have still a vile vagabond of a heart. Lord! cure, for Jesus’ sake. Amen!
“Saturday Eve, 24th.—Last night I was much harassed, both sleeping and waking, by the temptations of a cunning, cruel adversary, and the workings of unbelief; but glory to the great and the merciful Captain of my salvation, who was pleased in some measure to teach my hands to war, and to sustain my poor soul when ready to faint and give way! ‘O enemy, thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord helped me.’ My adversary has gained nothing by the disturbance and distress He gave me; for through the Lord’s mercy and grace it has turned out greatly, I hope, to my soul’s advantage.
“Monday, December 26th.—Being much distressed for some days past by my foolish idolatrous fondness for my children at Aberdeen, and my anxious fears and apprehensions about them—which I know to be sinful and offensive to the Lord—I have been mourning over this evil before the Lord, and very importunate at a throne of grace to get it redressed by a day of His power on my heart; and now, glory to His name! I hope He has in mercy begun the cure. Before I had well opened my eyes this morning I was closely posed in this manner: ‘Have you anything in the world so near and dear but you’d give to Christ? Could you deny Him your means, your sweat, your blood, your children? Has He not an infinitely good right and title to all these?’ ‘Yes, blessed Lord!’ I was helped to reply; ‘and, through grace, all shall be resigned to Thee on demand.’ I was farther posed, thus: ‘If God the Father spared not His only-begotten and well-beloved Son, but gave Him freely and cheerfully to the death for thee, wilt thou grudge the giving Him thy son, were he an only son, when He shall please to make the demand? Especially as He has an infinitely better title to thy children than thou hast, may He not do with His own what He pleases? Did the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory, come from the bosom of the Father to a manger, to a cross, to a grave: did He give Himself, His soul and body, His blood, His life, as a ransom for thee and thy
children: did He endure the curse of the law, the dreadful sword of justice, and the tremendous wrath of the Father—the most excruciating tortures in His body, and the most distressful agonies in His soul—to redeem thee and thy dear children from the flames of hell and the agonies of eternal damnation? and will you not cheerfully agree and consent, oh my soul! that this glorious and dear Redeemer will do with thee and thy children, His own redeemed ones, whatever seems good in His sight, for His own glory, and your good, and their good? Blessed Lord! I desire, through grace, to agree, to consent, and resign, and adore! So help me, oh my God!”
And now, in the light of the extracts we have given in illustration of James Calder’s spirit, and of a few of his labours during but one year, let us read that year’s closing record.
“Saturday, 31st.—I cannot put a period to the memorandums of this old and now expiring year, short and hasty as these memorandums are, without acknowledging and adoring the divine goodness and mercy to my soul and flock and family during the course of this by-past happy year. Happy I will call it while I have breath, because of what I have seen and tasted and enjoyed of the Lord’s special love and favour in the ordinances of the sanctuary, in the sweet retirements of the closet, and in the social duties and exercises of family worship, in all which, blessed for ever be His gracious name! I had more of God in Christ than in former years. And, glory to His blessed name! this by-past year has been happier than usual with respect to my flock, there having been some more remarkable instances of conversion-work than usual among them, and more confirmation and consolation, and spiritual prosperity and vivacity, among the Lord’s people in this place and this neighbourhood, so that this has been a jubilee year to some—a year that will be remembered and celebrated to the praise of free grace through all the years and ages, if I may so phrase it, of a never-ending eternity! And blessed for ever be His name! it has been, I trust, a happy year to my family, the Lord having been graciously pleased to perfect the recovery of my eldest son, and to engage his heart to draw near to Himself, I believe sincerely, in the most public and solemn manner this last summer in the blessed sacrament of the supper. And I trust the God of our fathers has been likewise dealing graciously with the hearts of my other children, of which there are some promising appearances. Oh! what shall I render to the Lord for these signal and precious instances of His goodness and mercy to me and mine! May heaven and earth praise Him! Amen. At the same time I cannot close the year without confessing before the Lord with shame and sorrow that I’ve acted my part during this year as formerly—as always—but very poorly, very wretchedly, have made unworthy, unsuitable returns to the Lord for His wonderful kindness to me and mine, have been much watered this year, but, alas! how little fruit have I brought forth. Lord,
enter not into judgment with Thy poor, unworthy, slothful, sinful servant, for in Thy sight no man living can be justified. The blood and righteousness of Christ, and the infinite mercy of God in Christ, is my only sanctuary and hope. O Father, pardon and accept in the Beloved! Amen.”