BY THE REV. D. MACFARLANE, DINGWALL.
Preached on the 14th March, 1915.
“That, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (ROM. v. 21).
IN this chapter we have an account of three kings (or things personified as such) that began to reign in the world—Sin, Death, and Grace. We shall speak in relation to them, as follows:—
I.—The reign of Sin;
II.—The reign of Death; and
III.—The reign of Grace.
I.—The reign of Sin. How did Sin come to the throne? Not in a lawful way, but as a usurper. He seized the throne by deceit. He was nominated, and recommended by Satan (the father of lies) as a good king. But the king could not get to the throne without the consent of man. By Satan’s recommendation and solicitations, man’s consent was, alas! gained, and Sin ascended the throne at once. “By one man sin entered into the
world” (verse 12). This took place early in the history of the human race. This usurper was the first bad king in the world, and is the cause of all the bad kings and queens that have ever reigned, and that still reign, on earth. His dominion is extensive, embracing the whole earth, with his royal palace in the soul of man, and his subjects all the human race. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. iii. 23). The wicked king corrupted the nature of each and all of his subjects, so that they are very loyal to him, and would not have a better king to reign over them. Such is the deplorable condition of all men by nature. How has this king treated his subjects? Most cruelly, for, as soon as he began to reign, he began with sword in hand to wound and kill them, and he slew them all. Has he, then, no subjects? Yes; for the killing was spiritual. “All died in Adam.” But this leads us to the second head.
II.—The reign of Death. It was Sin that opened the door for Death: “And death by sin” (verse 12). “Sin hath reigned unto death.” Not his own death, but the death of his subjects. When Death began to reign, Sin did not cease to reign. Both reigned at the same time. The reign of Death is universal over the human race from Adam to the last of his posterity. He inflicts death, which is “the wages of sin,” and is threefold: natural death, spiritual death, and eternal death. Adam died spiritually the day he sinned, and all whom he represented died in and with him on the same day. We are spoken of in Scripture as dead (Eph. ii. 1). Not only that we are by nature, and on account of sin—the first sin—born into the world spiritually dead, but we are liable to natural death. Adam died a natural death, and if he did not die eternal death, it is because he was not dealt with according to his own desert. All generations in the past have died, with the exception of Enoch and Elijah, and all generations in the future, to the end of time, shall die, except those living when Christ shall come to judgment. These shall be “changed.” All must submit to this rule; young and old, rich and poor, kings and subjects, must die. Death is called the king of terrors (Job xviii. 14). He is terrible indeed to all who die without Christ. The most in every generation hitherto have died without Christ, without being “born again,” and these know now what eternal death is. King Death shall reign over them for ever without mercy. The penalty of death is just, because appointed by God, and justly deserved by man. But there is no terror in death to God’s people. Christ robbed it of its sting, and it comes to them as a friend to remove them to heaven to their Father’s house.
III.—The reign of Grace. Grace is the third king, and a good king He is. If the other two kings were bad, this one was very good. If they were very cruel, this one was very merciful. His very name, Grace, is most encouraging to poor lost sinners, for, having no merit of their own to recommend them to God’s favour, their only hope for salvation is to be saved by grace. “This is
the doing of the Lord, and wondrous in our eyes” (Psalm cxviii. 22). How did this king come to the throne? Through righteousness. What righteousness? Not man’s righteousness, for man by sin lost his original righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ. Grace—Grace in God—looked down with pity upon our fallen condition, but would not, and could not, come to deliver us but through righteousness. Christ by His righteousness opened the way for Grace to come, and He did come, ascended the throne, and began to reign.
When did Grace begin to reign? Very soon after the fall of the human race, but Christ did not at that early stage come in the flesh to work out the righteousness that was needed. No; but His righteousness was set forth in type, especially in bloody sacrifice, and as soon as that was done, Grace began to reign. He came to the throne in a lawful way, having the authority of God, and His work was a work of mercy. He began at once to raise to life poor sinners that were slain by sin. The first that He quickened and raised from the grave was Adam and Eve, then Abel, and He went on to do His good work, from generation to generation, to this day, and will go on to do His work to the end of time. As Grace reigns through righteousness, His reign is “unto eternal life.” Sin reigned unto death; but Grace reigns unto life, even eternal life.
Grace having begun this good work dethroned Sin, so that he does no longer reign in God’s people. Sin is still in them, but not as king to reign over them, or in them, but as a rebel that is doomed to be extirpated. There are rebels in every kingdom on earth, but these have no right to rule, the law is against them, and, as they do not submit to the laws of the kingdom, they must be put to death. So it is with Sin. He causes much trouble in the soul, but he shall at last be destroyed. Sin, in God’s people, is like the Pope. Although the Pope lost the temporal power in Europe, he stirs up wars in these countries in order to regain the temporal power, although it is certain, from God’s word, that he shall never get it. In like manner, Sin stirs up wars in the soul to regain his former reigning power, although it is sure, according to God’s word, that he shall never succeed in getting it. And, as the Pope shall continue his efforts to regain the ascendancy, till he is consumed by the Spirit of God’s mouth, and destroyed “by the brightness of his coming” (2 Thess. ii. 8), so indwelling Sin shall continue his efforts to regain his lost reigning power in the soul, till he is totally consumed and destroyed by the work of sanctification at the death of the believer.
The blessings brought in by Grace to perishing sinners are “by Jesus Christ our Lord.” By the first Adam, Sin and Death came upon us; by the second Adam, grace and life come to us.
“UNITY in error,” said an old divine, “is not true unity, but is rather to be called a conspiracy against the God of Unity and Truth.”
The late Mr. Donald Matheson, Missionary, Glendale, Skye.
THAT a tribute to the memory of the late Mr. Donald Matheson, missionary, Glendale, who died on 25th Sept., 1918, should have appeared in our Magazine long ere now, will be admitted by all who knew him. Several things contributed to this delay, over which the writer had no control.
Donald Matheson, born in Digg, parish of Kilmuir, Skye, was the youngest of a family of three sons and one daughter. His father died when Donald was quite a child. His mother, who was known as a God-fearing woman, was mindful of pointing out to him, as soon as he was able to discern right from wrong, the necessity of having a saving interest in Christ and Him crucified. As a result of this early, pious training, he often felt ill at ease when he saw other children indulge in outward sin, and used to shun their company. Under these impressions, he thought to gain the favour of God by his own works, and it was no unusual thing for him to go to pray twenty times in a day. In this condition he continued till he was about sixteen years—ignorant of himself as a lost, ruined sinner, and of the way of peace through the blood of Christ.
At this time, while attending sheep at Duntulm, he had an experience which was perhaps a forerunner of more particular dealings with his soul. He fell asleep on the hillside, and as he slept he was taught the twentieth Psalm, which begins:—
“Jehovah hear thee in the day
When trouble he doth send;
And let the name of Jacob’s God
Thee from all ill defend.”
When he awoke he could repeat the Psalm from beginning to end, without misplacing a word. Shortly after this he heard Mr. Donald Stewart preach from the words: “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” These words made an indelible impression on his mind, and were used by the Holy Spirit to awaken him to a deep sense of his lost condition as a sinner, and to convince him that, “by the works of the law, no flesh can be justified in the sight of God.” It is not known how long he continued in this condition, but in any case it was in the same place he got deliverance, and tasted that the Lord was gracious. The words which brought peace and relief to his soul were, “For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. v. 9).
Donald was not baptised in infancy, probably on account of having lost his father when an infant, and also because of the extreme attitude taken by the Rev. Roderick MacLeod, Snizort, who would not administer this Sacrament to any parent but such as were members in full communion. Shortly after his conversion Donald applied for this Christian privilege, and was baptised by
the same eminent minister. For a considerable number of years he acted as gardener and coachman to Mr. Scobie, Lochinver, by whom he was highly esteemed as a faithful and trustworthy servant.
A few years after his marriage, which took place at the age of thirty-four, he became a missionary with the West Coast Mission, and was sent by them to labour in Scalpa, Harris. He always cherished a warm place for Scalpa, and often referred in conversation to the pleasant days he spent there. There is every reason to believe his labours were blessed to some on that island. From Scalpa he was translated to Strond, South Harris. Here he laboured with much acceptance for several years. It was during the time he was at Strond that the Free Presbyterian Church came into existence, and with this body he heartily cast in his lot, and the whole township practically followed his example.
In 1904 we applied to the West Coast Mission to have him transferred to the Glendale Congregation, and the application was readily granted. Here he spent the remaining part of his life. He had the sole charge of this large congregation during the vacancies which occurred, and discharged the duties devolving upon him to the satisfaction of all concerned. It was while working together in this congregation that the present writer got to know him more intimately, and a more genial, pleasant, and willing helper no one could wish to be associated with. What impressed us more particularly was his extreme care in his walk and conversation in going out and in among the people. He could not brook gossip, and would neither give nor take disagreeable stories about his neighbours. As a public speaker, he was most acceptable. His theme generally was the redeeming love of Christ, and he usually spoke in tears of the wonders of that love.
For two or three years before his decease he was in failing health. He took to his bed on Tuesday after the Glendale Communion in May, 1917, never to rise. During his illness, of about sixteen months, he showed much patience and peace of mind. We had the pleasure of visiting him about a month before he died. He received us gladly, and at first completely broke down. He then went on to speak of the absolute necessity of having a saving interest in Christ in view of death, and also of his own assurance of being with Christ throughout eternity. The 10th verse of the 41st chapter of Isaiah, “Fear not; for I am with thee,” etc., was of much comfort to him. He used to repeat almost daily the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.
As already stated, he entered “the rest that remaineth to the people of God” on 25th September, 1918, leaving a widow and a grown-up family of seven sons and one daughter to mourn his loss. One of his sons, Lachlan to name, we regret to say, died five months after his father, at the age of thirty-six. He contracted cold, when going home from the Army, and died at Dingwall. He passed away, giving evidence of a “good hope,” his decease
being sincerely mourned by many friends. Another son is the Rev. Norman Matheson, Halkirk. To the widow and family we tender our sincere sympathies. May the Lord, in mercy, raise up the children instead of the father! N. M’.
A Sermon.
BY THE LATE REV. PROF. JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D., EDINBURGH.*
(Hitherto Unpublished.)
“O how love I thy law.”—PSALM cxix. 97.
THIS is the expression, you observe, not only of sincere love to the law, but of ardent love to the law. It is an appeal to God about an ardent love to the law: “O how love I thy law.” I would, entreating the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, think for a little with you on the grounds why the Psalmist and why the saints do love God’s law, do love God’s law so ardently. Why do they love? Now, all that is rightly moral is founded on the fitness of things; therefore this love, as moral—as indeed it is the sum of all morality—is founded on the amiableness of the law. Love to the law is proper, and right, and fitting, just because the law is amiable. But let us inquire a little deeper into those circumstances about the law on which the amiableness of the law is grounded. Philosophical divines say, “on the fitness of things,” and it is very true; but that is a cold expression. That which then, here, is the fitness of things, is the character of God, and the character of the rational creature of God.
The first foundation of the amiableness of the law is the character of God. We speak, perhaps not in strict propriety, of moral law as eternal.† I do not think in strict propriety, because there is no eternal subject, and eternity of law presupposes an eternal subject. But as we cannot get in eternity past an eternal subject—unless, indeed, we find him, as we may do, in God’s decree and purpose to create rational creatures—then the ground of the amiableness of God’s law lies deeper, viz., in the moral perfections of God Himself. You have learned in your Catechism, “What is God?” And the answer is: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” These perfections of God are distinguished into His communicable and incommunicable perfections. His incommunicable perfections are—infinity, eternity,
* This Sermon was preached at Free St. Luke’s, Edinburgh (Rev. Dr. Moody Stuart’s) on Communion Monday evening, 15th July, 1867.—ED.
† In the sense of “without beginning.”
and immutability; and He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all His perfections—in His communicable perfections. His communicable perfections are—wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth; and among these, the communicable perfections of God, we may distinguish between the two first—wisdom and power—and the others, which are most properly called God’s moral perfections—holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. For wisdom, considered simply as intellect, and if not conjoined with moral perfection, is the wisdom that is “earthly, sensual, devilish”; and so with power, considered simply in itself. But wisdom and power in God are holy, just, and good wisdom and power, and are in God as infinite, eternal, and unchangeable wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. In creating rational spirits, angels, and men, God communicated to them not only being—finite and changeable being, wisdom, and power, but also the other perfections, which we more strictly call the moral perfections of God—holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. And in these lies, fundamentally, the amiableness of God, which mounts up by the incommunicable perfections of infinity, eternity, and unchangeableness, into not only amiableness but adorable excellence. Well, that fundamentally. And here in the nature of God we have, not strictly speaking, eternal law; because not only was there no eternal subject except in God’s decree, but that decree itself was not necessary: no being but God has necessary existence. We still have left God in His wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, clothed with the divinity of His incommunicable perfections: this we have left, necessarily existing.
The second foundation of the amiableness of the law is the character of the rational creature of God. God created intelligent, spiritual beings, angels and men. We shall confine ourselves to men. Men are beings of a spiritual nature, and so are capable of holding communion with God, who is a Spirit. They were made in the image of God, and have a finite and—as regards the past—a non-eternal and changeable being. They possess no necessary existence, but a divinely-given existence, and were made partakers at their beginning of the communicable perfections of wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, wherein conspicuously shine the moral perfections of spirituality, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. So, besides the foundation of God’s perfections—and specially, though not exclusively, God’s moral perfections—we have now a subject of this law. We have God, holy, just, and good; we have man, made in the image of God, holy, just, and good; and between God and man we have a law that man continue to be and act as holy, just, and good. We have the eternal moral perfections of God, the moral perfections of God’s intelligent creature, and the moral law, which binds man in the image of God to be holy, just, and good, and to continue and act as such. Now this, you see, is altogether indissoluble; this cannot go; nothing can destroy this, unless the annihilation of the creature;
for the moral perfection of God, in the likeness of which the creature was created, is indestructible. God being what He is, and the nature of man what it is, this law, which binds the holy, just, and good creature of the holy, just, and good God, to preserve and ever exhibit this, of necessity must remain. Well, whatever beauty is not only in man, as coming from the hands of God, and made in His image—not only in the image and reflection—but all the beauty that is in the prototype, the moral nature of God, that is the eternal beauty of morality, the eternal beauty of law. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good,” as God is, and as God made man. Hence the nature of all true religion, and a prominent feature in it, is love to God for what God Himself is, and specially for what God is in His moral perfections—those clothed with the beauty of self-existence, infinity, eternity, and immutability. In the infinite and perfect amiableness of God we have the foundation of all religion. “Jehovah is a rock; his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is he.” “Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool, for the Lord our God is holy.”
I might descant on the beauty of what we may call communicated law in Adam, made in the image of God. How beautiful the law! That is what the law requires, and what God has imparted. How beautiful do holiness, justice, goodness and truth make him! And his beauty, his conformity to the law, is conformity to the moral image of God, the lovely One. But I pass from it.
Then we come to another and very peculiar exhibition of the law as lovely, and here I return to that self-same chapter, Rom. vii., and these words: “Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy, just, and good: For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” These words, I take it, exhibit the first true view of the law obtained by a sinner with whom the Spirit of God hath begun to take a saving dealing. Paul was a Pharisee, and, speaking of the time when he was that, he says of himself, “Touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless”; but it merely is there the outward righteousness of the law. Here is the sinner’s first true view of the law. Nowadays, I am afraid that “law work” has gone very much out of fashion. “I am carnal, sold under sin.” These words describe what fallen man is, but it is the language of a renewed man. Let us look at this man. The commandment has come to him; the commandment which is holy, just, and good. “I have seen the law as I never saw it before; I have seen it in the light of what God is, of what He made man to be, a spiritual, holy, just, and good law.” Whereupon there is also the discovery of what man as fallen is. “But I am carnal, sold under sin.” Why, the unregenerate man thinks that sin is liberty, but not so the man taught of God. He says, “I am sold under it.” Sold. I think
the language is borrowed from the book of Judges, which so often speaks of God selling His people. Given over; sold. “I was a free man once, but the recollection is bitter.” The law shines on him, which is holy, just, and good; it comes and shows him what he should be, and what he must have been once; it says, “You are a sold man.” Now, the man is in a strange position. What makes him cry out, “I am carnal?” The sight of a beauty he never saw before, the law, spiritual, holy, just, and good. And what are we to do with this man? It is a question what can be done with him. Shall the commandment go away? Nay, it is the first sight he has ever seen of what is spiritual, holy, just, and good; all the misery is, “I am carnal, sold under sin.” So we find his language going on, expressing the assent of his judgment, the consent of his will, and the delight of his affections to and in this law. And the longer I live, and reflect upon it, the more I am satisfied with many excellent divines that the first step of effectual calling is peculiar to the effectually called, “convincing us of our sin and misery.” For it is such a conviction of sin and misery as that the man can no longer be happy without the law in him, any more than he can be happy under it. This is the death of all Antinomianism, of all legalism, and Pelagian Antinomianism. “The law is holy, and just, and good; I am carnal, sold under sin.” His desire is deliverance, with the honour and glory of the law, if there be such a thing. “Honour the law, and save me if that be possible; deliver me from this slavery and bondage of corruption.”
And here you will observe I speak more plainly, because it can hurt no truly convinced sinner. The danger that might have been apprehended is this, that the man may rest in the first step, may say, “This is peculiar to those whom God purposes to save, so I may rest in it.” But that is contrary to the nature of the conviction. No man in this state can rest short of deliverance, and obtaining deliverance, that which will show it to be the product of true conviction of sin and misery is, that he says “Amen” to the law. The holy, just, and good law, the law to which I assent, the law to which I consent, the law in which I delight, it condemned me. It slew me. No, sin taking occasion by it, slew me. The Spirit of God, enlightening the convinced sinner, shows him that the precept of the law being holy, just, and good, the sanction of the law is holy, just, and good too. Ah! yes—peradventure the sanction may crush him. But, in the work of the Spirit of God applying the law, it is contrary to the nature of the work that the man should grumble at it, for he sees the law is holy, just, and good in precept and in sanction, and so he says, “Amen, Amen.”
But let us look. “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” Let us look at Jesus, “Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.” We have seen Adam made in the image of God, holy, just, and good, and placed, himself being holy, just and good, under a holy, just, and good law. But a greater than Adam is here. True, in a certain respect, we may say, and I say it with reverence, that Christ was no better than the law. His being holy, harmless, and undefiled was no more than the law required. His doing all the Father’s will was no more than the law required. But there are two circumstances which bring an immense honour to the law in Christ, which it could never have had in Adam. For, first, Jesus is not only the perfect exhibition of the law as holy man, but the incarnate Son of God; and secondly, His obedience is the obedience of One who, to do honour to the law, stooped under its authority, being no original subject of the law. The one circumstance is the divine nature of Him who obeyed it, and the other is His being as God no original subject. He, being God, voluntarily came down, and there is one of the grounds of the true and proper meritoriousness of Christ’s obedience—that it was an obedience performed by One who was not an original subject of the law. “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” Christ, the eternal, co-essential Son of God, was made under the law, being, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He, whose authority is the source of law to the creature, whose moral perfections are the fundamental ground of that law. Who is He who obeys? Being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Man thought to rise above law. God, the lawgiver, comes down and honours the law by coming under it. Christ is at once the eternal Lawgiver and the Subject of the law, and the perfect exhibition of it. And so this obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ is presented to us under various aspects. His obedience unto death is that by which we are redeemed; constitutes that righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto and upon all that believe, and is that one obedience by which the many are justified. It is our pattern also. That which constitutes our justifying righteousness is at the same time the pattern we are called to reflect, that to which God has predestinated His people to be conformed, and to which they themselves are, in the use of the appointed means, through faith in the Saviour, to conform themselves. “We all, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
And here let me remark that it is a sad mistake in us to slump Christ’s obedience, as we often do. It makes up the righteousness of Christ; yes, but in that righteousness there are many circumstances. He was holy, harmless, undefiled. He did always the things that pleased the Father; but He did this and He did that. He went into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and He came out and preached the gospel. He
cast out devils, and healed all manner of sickness and disease among the people. We should particularise. And neither should we slump, as we often do, justification and sanctification. If we look at justifying righteousness in its particulars, what does it constitute to us? It constitutes the rule for our imitation. True, the obedience of this person was one which in no sense could be rendered but by the performer of it, that righteousness by which we are justified. And yet, while no person enters into that, the healing of the sick, and the going about continually doing good are not all the respects in which there is something imitable in Christ. For, it is said, Christ also suffered for sins, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps, that we should follow them even in that; and again “He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Consider, then, this beauty of the law as in Christ, as in Him who stooped down to come under it, whose condescendency, that He hath stooped under it, renders His obedience of infinite efficacy, because divine. Contemplate the law in Christ, the Law-giver, the Law-fulfiller, and the Law-exhibitor.
Well then, there is a righteousness for a sinner, and a pattern for a sinner. Yes; but I need something more, and so Christ is the head of influences—Christ baptizes with the Holy Ghost. There is provision made not only for the remission of sin, the breach of the law, but Christ is the mediator of the new covenant in which this promise is made: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” We have seen the law in the beauty of all God’s moral perfections, in the beauty of man as coming from the hand of God, in the deep conviction by the Spirit of God of what God is, and law is, and he, the sinner, is not; and now we see it in the revelation by the same Spirit of Christ, as the Lord our righteousness, the Lord our Exemplar, and as Jesus who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. God, who justifies the ungodly, says, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” Then may the Psalmist say, “This holy, just, and good law, I shall get it within me; it will be in my heart too; the great God Himself will come, and with His own finger write it there.” When thou art brought to the Mediator, and art down in the dust with closed mouth, what will God do with thee? He will write on thee; He will make thee a fair epistle. Surely He will write something good. Yes; His holy, just, and good law; His own image, in which He made man; His own higher image, in His Son; His law, which has been honoured by the obedience of His own Son: that law He will write it in thine heart, and put it in thine inward parts. And, “the end of the commandment is love,” and “The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart to love the Lord thy God.” He shall not depart from thee, and He will put His fear into thine heart that thou shall not depart from Him.
How lovely then, in all these aspects, is the law! Does the
Psalmist wrong in loving it? Does he love it too much, when he goes to God, and, not perhaps thinking so much of his love to the law, as just under the divine influence of that love pouring it out, says, “O how love I Thy law?”
Being in the new covenant, and through the mediator of the new covenant, it is the law as stooped to by Christ, as obeyed by Christ, as glorified by Christ; and it is the law as given us as a rule of life, but an authoritative rule, in the pierced, bleeding hands of the great Law-fulfiller. Now, instead of “Cursed is every one,” it is “Christ hath redeemed us”; instead of “The man that doeth these things shall live in them,” it is “The just Lord will not do iniquity,” and “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.”
It is of this law that he here saith, “Oh, love I Thy law!” It is, strictly speaking, the preceptive part of the law, of the commandment that he loves, because of the loveliness of it; and strictly and properly it is the law, as the Jew understood it, in the setting of the whole revelation which God has made of Himself, especially made of Himself in His Son. Therefore, it is the law under which the believer is “not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.” That we may love the law, let us meditate on the law.
I have spoken in generals, but, as already hinted, error is apt to lurk in generals. One great error is to slump Christ’s obedience, not considering the details of it. Another is to slump the law. “It is just love; the Ten Commandments.” Yes; but the first Commandment is holy, just and good, and the second is holy, and just and good, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and so on. And all the details which we have to trace out in the whole Bible are holy and just and good, as well as the summary of the ten gathered and the great two. God designed that they should be shortened for our memories. He has summed up all the Commandments; for He knows that we need concentration, that we lose ourselves in generals. He has summed them up first in the ten, and then the ten in the great two; that to help our concentration and give us a centre. But mistakes lurk in the generals; let us spread them out. And in every one of the Commandments, there is its peculiar beauty; its beauty in itself, and in its relation to the whole complete law of God, and a peculiar beauty in its relation to the variety of circumstances in which God has placed man. Every one of the Commandments has not only its general principle, but its details, so wonderful and various. So the believer is called into a broad way: “I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad.” There will be plenty of duty to do in this law, which is very broad. In bringing me into it, the Lord hath brought me into a large place, where there are a great many laws fitted for all my powers and faculties and
circumstances. That is a beauty of the law, that it is so very broad. Well, let us ever, for we ever need it, fall back as sinners on the Law-fulfiller; but then, falling back as sinners on the Law-fulfiller, let us as saints—for every sinner that comes to Him is a saint—let us as saints, or at least as sinners believing in Christ for the Holy Ghost, contemplate this law. I am guilty; I have broken it, but, blessed be God, He hath fulfilled it; yes, and hath left me an example that I should follow His steps, and hath given me the exceeding great and precious promise that God will write it in my heart and put it in my inward parts, this command and the other command. And so, putting the precept of the law in its proper setting, both as regards the creature relation and the new creature relation which the law bears to us, while making our meditation on the law, let our hearts burn with love. But let it not rest in sentiment; let it burn, and let it go out to the end of the commandment. Now “the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.”
I might add, Is not the language of the late solemn occasion when there was the highest contemplation of and feeding on Him, whose body was broken, and whose blood was shed, not only for the salvation of sinners, but for the glorifying of this holy law, as necessary to that end—is not its language to us, “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me?”
NOTE BY DR. DUNCAN ON ROMANS, CHAPTER VII.
It would appear that Dr. Duncan before above sermon read the Seventh Chapter of the Romans, and made some remarks on the chapter. He said that in verses 15 and 16, 18 to 21, the expression “I would” should be “I will.” It is not “would-ing,” but “will-ing.” Our readers will best understand the point by looking up the passage.
The 23rd verse is: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” On this verse Dr. Duncan made the following remarks:—
“A battle, and in that battle, even a captivity. Now you know in warfare, when a prisoner of war is taken, he is not a deserter. If we were at war with another country, as some years ago—God grant it may be long ere it happens again—we were at war with France, and, if a British soldier were taken prisoner, and carried to a French prison, he would not grow a Frenchman. If it were proposed to him, he would say, ‘No; I will never cease to be a Briton, to fight for my Queen and country; and my heart is still with my country, my heart is still in the battlefield, and, if I can get off, my place still is the battlefield.’ Mark the difference, then, that there is between a prisoner of war, and a deserter and traitor.”
The late Mr. John MacLean,
ELDER, ST. JUDE’S, GLASGOW.
JOHN MACLEAN was born in Uig, Lewis, in the year 1851. He came to Glasgow while he was a young man. He had no thoughts then but as to the prospects he might have of advancement in the world. But the Lord had other thoughts and purposes concerning him. Not long after he came to this city, his mind was arrested under a preacher (whose name he did not know) at a Gaelic service held in connection with the Glasgow Highland Mission. The words of Scripture used at the time were: “Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Referring to his subsequent mental condition for a considerable time, he remarked: “I was full of Arminianism, one day rejoicing, then in the dumps, full of self-hope. Oh what a sorrowful display of ignorance I found in myself!” But the Holy Spirit was teaching him, and he learned that salvation is all of free and sovereign grace.
The writer did not know him till the year 1893. That year he, along with many others, had to separate from Church fellowship with men who “had done violence to the law, and profaned the sanctuary,” in order that they might continue to hold the doctrines and principles of the Free Church of Scotland.
John MacLean had learned in the school of the Holy Spirit the value of God’s inspired book—the Bible—and that of the doctrines of the Westminster Confession of Faith, so that he had no doubt as to his path of duty. Neither the loss of popularity, nor of the funds and property of the Free Church, could weigh much with a man of John’s integrity of conscience and uprightness in the great concerns at stake. It meant really, “Bible or no Bible, Confession of Faith or no Confession of Faith,” as one of the leading men of the Constitutional Party in the Free Church stated repeatedly prior to the passing of the Declaratory Act. John was not a tall talker and a little doer. Intelligence and uprightness appeared in his meek but firm countenance.
That year it became necessary to add a few elders to the Kirk-Session of St. Jude’s. The writer called to see the late John Campbell, with a view to his accepting office as one of the elders elected by the members. He happened to mention to John Campbell that John MacLean was elected, but that he did not know him. “I know him,” John said, “and take you John MacLean, for it is the Lord that moved the members to elect him, and you will never regret that you took him for an elder.” John MacLean did accept the office, and John Campbell’s words were verified fully in his case. In the Session, he was a wise councillor, a firm disciplinarian, affable and courteous towards his fellow elders, and all the members and adherents of the congregation.
John was over six feet in height, as erect as a reed, very proportionately built, with a meek and subdued expression of countenance, and having a commanding appearance. The faculties of his mind were above the ordinary. He was possessed of logical acumen, which caused that he could not speak in public or private but with absolute correctness. Every word, sentence, and paragraph were so joined together, and so dependent upon each other, that they formed a perfect piece of reasoning. This was so conspicuous in all his public exercises that all who heard him observed it. But he was so unconscious of this himself, that he deplored the confused manner in which he uttered his thoughts to his fellow-men. His humility and modesty caused him to under-estimate his own ability, and to consider others better than himself.
His knowledge of the Bible was comprehensive and accurate. He felt its quickening power in his own soul, and learned that God speaks in it to man with irresistible authority, both as regards its commands and promises. This caused John to have no toleration for German Higher Critics, whose views concerning the Bible, God’s book, had converted the vast majority of the ministry and people of the Free Church of Scotland into a cabal of infidels. The simple child-like faith with which he believed in its doctrines was admirable. He believed God, as the father of the faithful did, and was fully persuaded that He was able to fulfil His own promise. This was the sheet-anchor of his soul from day to day.
The Lord took from him his companion and helpmeet thirteen years ago. This was a very heavy stroke to him. The following year he had an attack of double pneumonia. His life lay in the balance for a few days, but his robust constitution, in the goodness and mercy of God, shook off the trouble. However, it was quite evident that his health was considerably undermined. Soon after he contracted a bad cold, which lodged in one of his lungs. He never got quite free of a cough, and all efforts made, by change of air and otherwise, had only a temporary benefit. During the last three years it became quite apparent that his end could not be far off. No one was more conscious of this than he, yet no one heard a murmur coming from his lips. The patience and submissiveness which he manifested towards God’s holy will in his affliction were a proof of his acquiescence in the providence of God towards him. About the beginning of July it became very evident that the end was near. His dutiful daughters attended to him with all possible care and tenderness, and left nothing undone that could be done to make him comfortable. On the night of 24th July it was feared that he would not see next morning, and after the twenty-third Psalm had been sung he referred to the “Good Shepherd,” saying: “He calls His sheep by name; He called me by name, and I answered; the name He called me by was ‘sinner.’ He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” In extreme bodily weakness and discomfort that night, he displayed wonderful
patience and submission. Some days before the end came he referred to his feelings as being “very uncomfortable,” and expressed the fear that he was “fruitless,” notwithstanding all his profession as a Christian. This temptation was soon taken away, and then he added: “It is not feelings the soul has to trust to, and as regards fruit, trusting is fruit, and it is to the finished work of Christ I am trusting.” Thus the Lord Jesus Christ was truly precious to him, which proved his sincere faith, for it is “to them which believe” that He is precious.
Shortly before he passed away, he said: “The impression that the soul gets in time of communion with God is an impression that it will never forget.” In saying so he undoubtedly gave expression to his own experience, for he was not a stranger to communion with God, and his walk, life, and conversation carried that impression. Thus John MacLean slept in Jesus the 31st July, 1919, at the age of sixty-eight years.
May the Lord fill the blank made in the Kirk-Session of St. Jude’s, and in the Free Presbyterian Church by his removal; and may He lead his four daughters to the Saviour of their father, and make them useful for His own cause in their day and generation. We desire to express our deepest sympathy towards them in their and our great loss, which was his great gain. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev. xiv. 13). N. C.
Air Aobhairean an Ditidh.
LE MR. EOIN UELSH.
“An ti a chreideas ann, cha ditear e; ach an ti nach creid tha e air a dhiteadh a cheana, a chionn nach do chreid e ann an ainn aon-ghin Mhic Dhe.”—EOIN iii. 18.
THA tri nithe ann air am feum aithne a bhi aig na h-uile neach agaibh leis am b’ail a bheatha shiorruidh fhaotainn, ‘se a h-aon diubh, feum na h-ath-ghineamhuinn, agus a chruthachaidh nuadh (am bheil sibh uile ‘ga mo thuigsinn. feum air gu’r eigin diubh uile a bhi air bhur breith a ris, agus gu’m feum ath’rachadh iongantach a bhi air a dheanamh air bhur n’uile anamaibh leis an Spiorad Naomh, air neo nach faic sibh gu siorruidh rioghachd Dhe. ‘San ath aite feumaidh sibh eolas fhaotainn air an doigh air am faigh sihh bhur n-anama air an glanadh, agus cionnus a gheibh sibh ‘ur beatha shiorruidh air toiseachadh ann an so, agus cionnus a gheibh sibh a lan sheilbheachadh an deigh so; agus ‘se an rathad so Iosa Criosd air irioslachadh agus air a ghlorachadh, agus creideamh ann-san a mhain. 3. Feumaidh sibh eolas fhaotainn gu’m bheil a leithid do dh’eigin air son creidsinn, is
nach ‘eil a bheag ach d’teadh gun tròcair do’n anam sin nach “creid ann an aon-gin Mhic Dhe.” B’iad so na tri leasanan a theagaig ar Tighearn do Nicodémus, ann a chòmradh ris.
‘Sa cheud aite, tha e aig innseadh dha, “mur bi thusa air do bhreith a ris” (ge’ air bith co sean ‘sa tha thu) leis an Spiorad, nach d’theid thusa no neach air bith eile steach do rioghachd neamh.” ‘Sa’n ath áite tha e ag innseadh, gu’m b’e fein an t-slighe, oir gu’n do dhruid peacadh dorus neimh air gach uile fheoil; uime sin gu’m b’esan an t-slighe, agus an dorus, agus am fáradh a chum dol suas air gu neamh; air doigh agus “ge air bith neach a chreideas annam-sa nach sgriosar gu bráth e.” Tha e a’ deanamh so a mach.
‘Sa cheud àite, le sambladh an nathair umha; an deigh sin tha e ‘ga chuir a dh’ionnsuidh an tobar agus an t-struth, an nì is e gaol Dhia an t-Athair, agus sin do bhrigh’s ge air bith mar a dh’fheudas peacaich mhi-naomh a dheanamh mar an nì is fhuras ‘san t-saoghail dearbhadh fhaotainn air slainte (agus their e, cha’n ‘eil e ach mar amadan a than ‘cuir an teagamh, agus tha e toilltinneach a bhi air a chrochadh a tha cuir ann an teagamh, oir nach do chuir e fein ann an teagamh riamh, agus uime sin, tha e a’ saoilseinn nach cuir se e fein gu bráth fuidh thrioblaid mu thimchioll slainte); gidheadh cha’n ‘eil e mar sin maillle ris an fhir chreid’each; oir do na h-uile nithe ‘se so an nì a’s mò a tha ‘ga phianadh, e bhi ann an teagamh mu thimchioll a chreidimh, agus nach urrainn e dearbhadh na’s leoir a bhi aige gu’n do chreid e ann am frinn; cha’n ‘eil e a’ faotainn cruas a chridhe air a thabhairt air falbh, a chum’s gu’m faigheadh e a bhi air a shàsachadh le Criosd, agus le fhuil; agus is e an nì is truime air an fhir chreid’each, eagal d’tidh; agus do bhrigh’s gu’m bheil e a’ faotainn boigdhean milis do thròcair, uime sin b’ail leis a bhi á teagamh, gu’m faigh e cead a bhi anns na neamhaibh maillle ri Criosd. ‘Nis, do bhrigh’s gu’m bheil Criosd toileach an cuir á teagamh, tha e ag radh, “Ge air bith a chreideas cha sgiosar e.”
‘Nis ‘o an dara puing, tha e a’ dol a dh’ionnsuidh an treas puing, agus tha uiread do dh’fheum air eolas fhaotainn air a so, ris a cheud eile. B’ail les gach aon a chluinntinn mu bheatha shiorruidh, ach feumaidh sibh a chluinntinn mu dhiteadh mar an ceudna; cha’n e neamh a mhain a dh’fheumas a bhi air a shearmonachadh, ach ifrinn mar an ceudna; air an aobhar sin tha e ag innseadh dha, “mar nach d’theid esan a chreideas am mugha gu siorruidh; mar sin gu’m d’theid esan nach creid am mugha agus gu’m bi e air a dhiteadh”: mar a ta beatha gun teagamh do na chreid’mhach; mar sin gu’m bheil corruich gun teagamh air son an ana-creid’each. ‘Se so an suim; ‘s iad na nithe fa-leth so; Air tús, tha e a’ tabhairt freagairt do theagamh diomhar, air faicsinn gu’n do chuir Dia a Mhac a dh’ionnsuidh an t-saoghail, ciod e is aobhar nach ‘eil an saoghail uile air an tearnadh ach gu’m bheil a mhòr-chuid air an diteadh? Tha e a’ freagairt, “esan a ta creidsinn cha’n ‘eil a air a dhiteadh,” ach an t-aobhar air son
am bheil co iomadh air an diteadh nach ann do thaobh rùn Dhia, ach do bhrigh’s nach ‘eil iad a’ “creidsinn ann an aon-ghin Mhic Dhe”; oir tha rùn Dhia a’ seasamh daingean, agus mar ann am báthadh an t-seann saoghail, an uair a bha an saoghail uile air a sgrios, fathast bha Noah air a thearnadh; mar sin bithidh e ann an la mòr foillseachaidh an Tighearn’ anns na neulaibh, a dhenamh dioghaltas orra-san a ta ain-eòlach air Dia, agus an chuir suarach soisgeil ar Tighearn’ Iosa Criosd; agus an uair a bhios millionan air an diteadh, gidheadh bithidh aireamh air an saoradh, agus theid iad a steach maille ris a chum glòir shiorruidh; mar sin cha’n fheud sinne tuisleachadh aige so, gu’m bheil mòran air an diteadh.
Anns an ath àite tha mì a’ faicsinn an t-aobhar air son gu’m bheil co iomadh air an sgrios. Tha fios agam gu’m bheil gràdh Dhia mòr, agus gu’n robh an fhuil sin na’s leoir air son mile saoghail a shaoradh; mar sin cha’n e easbhuidh buaidh ann am fuil Mhic Dhe is aobhar air son gu’m bheil co iomadh air an sgrios, ach ‘s e’n t-aobhar, “do bhrigh’s nach ‘eil iad a’ creidsinn ann an aon-ghin Mhic Dhe”; mar sin, thus’ a bhios air do sgrios, bidh aobhar do sgrios air fhaotainn sgrìobhta annad fein, agus do mi-chreideamh, agus do thàir air an t-soisgeil, bithidh se air a chuir sios anns an t-soisgeil, agus ann do choguis fein, mar aobhar do dhitidh, agus bithidh so na ghloir dha-san.
Thruaghan chailte! dh’fheudadh tu a bhi air do shaoradh le’m fhuilse ach cha b’ail leat-sa; uime sin tha e ag radh, “Tha esan nach ‘eil a’ creidsinn air a dhiteadh a cheana,” oir rinn se e, tha’n diteadh a cheana air a chuir air a chridhe; agus anns an là mhòr sin’ ‘nuair a bhios leabhar na coguis air fhosgaladh, bithidh air fhaotainn ann an sinn binn dhìomhar dhitidh sgrìobta, a bha thus’ a’ giùlan mu’n cuairt leat am feadh ‘sa ba thu bed, cha b’ail leat a theachd a chum beatha fhaotainn ann am Mac Dhé am feadh ‘sa dh’fheudadh tu fhaotainn.
‘Nis tha mi a’ dol air m’aghaidh anns an ath rann, far am bheil e a’ fosgaladh suas agus a’ coireachadh peacadh a mhi-chreidimh a tha tabhairt an ditidh leis; agus, air tus, tha e ag radh, “‘Se so diteadh an t-saoghail, gu’n d’thainig an solus a dh’ionnsuidh an t-saoghail, agus gu’n do ghradhaich daoine an dorchadas na’s mò na’n solus.” Tha e ag innseadh an aobhar, “do bhrigh’s gu’m bheil an gniomhara olc”; an sin tha e ag innseadh an reuson airson am bheil iad a’ deanamh mar sin; ‘se sin ri radh, “Esan a tha deanamh olc, tha e a’ toirt fuath do’n t-solus, agus cha d’thig e ga ionnsuidh.” C’ar son? Air eagal’s gu’m biodh an oibre air an cronachadh. An sin tha e ag innseadh, air a lamh eile, co air bith a ta gluasad gu treibh-dhireach, agus aig am bheil an cridheachan ceart, nach e a mháin gu’m bheil do mhisneach ac’ a theachd an lathair dhaoine, ach mar an ceudna ann an lathair Dhia, do bhrigh’s gu’m bheil an oibre maith, agus do reir Dhe; uime sin cha chuir cathir breitheanais Dhé eagal orra, do bhrigh’s gu’m bhell e a’ceadachadh an cuid gniomharadh.
(Ri leantuin.)
The late Private Murdo MacFarlane.
AMONG the precious ones, of which the Great War deprived the world, must be reckoned our dear young friend, Murdo MacFarlane. It is more than a twelvemonth since he finished his earthly course, but the difficulty of gathering the facts of an account that would give anything like an adequate impression of him, together with other circumstances, led to this postponement.
This worthy young man, whose death we mourn, was a native of South Uist, and a son of a worthy missionary of the F.P. Church, Mr. James MacFarlane, and of his wife, the late Lily Nicolson MacFarlane. Thanks to God’s common grace, and as the result of a careful upbringing, the subject of this notice was regarded by all who knew him as, from his childhood upwards, a youth of excellent character. It has to be said at the same time that it was his own assured conviction that he passed more than twenty years of his life in the state of nature and a child of wrath. He was only fourteen years of age when his mother died, and not long after that he came to reside for a season at Portree, Skye. His uncle, the Rev. D. MacFarlane, was then in Raasay. An older brother, Donald John, was at this time engaged in the tailoring business in Kyleakin, and Murdo’s resolve was to follow his brother in the matter of an occupation. This Donald John, when about twenty, experienced a severe wetting which developed into lung trouble, and ended in his death. That death was sanctified to Murdo in the sense that it led him to think of himself also as one that was destined soon to die, and although, to his own consciousness, he was ignorant of the way of salvation, the thought of its being appointed him to die caused him to cry for mercy. Relief somehow came to him, but, as he reckoned afterwards, not in a right way, and of that conclusion he had the proof in his falling again back into the carelessness that characterised him, ere the sore bereavement of Donald John’s removal had visited the family.
But the Lord’s seeking love was evidently following Murdo, and would not suffer him to sleep on. He was aroused from his carelessness through an experience which, in a letter to a friend he once described in these words: “One night after going to bed I thought I breathed my last breath, and in some way or other addressed the Almighty—’If it is death, take my soul.'” He goes on to say: “I didn’t tell anyone, I was so shy, but, from that night, the fear of sleeping and never wakening has not left me.” That, however, didn’t mean that he had come clean out of the world, or that, in his own consciousness, he had got his foot planted upon that Rock, against which the gates of death shall never prevail. But he was the subject thereupon of a certain restlessness of mind and dissatisfaction with his condition, which was constantly with him at this period.
After short periods of engagement in one or two places he came at length to Inverness. His employer there, with whom he worked for several years—up, in fact, to the time when he joined H.M. Forces—held him in the highest esteem, and Murdo soon came to hold the highest place in his own department in this business. At this time he did not regard himself as one “born again,” but he was evidently tender of conscience. This appears from certain facts to which, in describing this period of his life in a letter to a friend, he thus refers: “My outward conduct was somewhat upright, but I was induced, some way or other, to attend a place where there was dancing and other harmless amusements, as they called it. I was rebuked for this by one of the congregation, who had heard I had been to the dancing. I thanked the party and went home, passing a good part of the night weeping bitterly. This conviction was pressed further home on Sabbath.” His progress in the knowledge of himself as a lost sinner was gradual. As he puts it in the communication already referred to, he even yet thought that if he refrained from actual sin, that was all that was required; he knew not the sinfulness and guilt of a corrupt nature. “I delighted,” he wrote, “in carnal imaginations even in the church, until one Sabbath our minister, in the course of his sermon, touched upon the corruption of the heart. He put the thoughts of my heart so clear before me, that I could say it was to myself alone he was speaking, and I thought everyone in the congregation was staring at me. From that time I have been learning, not only by hearing but by experience, the estate into which the fall brought mankind.”
He was gradually, through hearing the way of salvation set before him, brought out of this horrible pit,* although we regret that we have not his own exact words to describe his apprehension of the way of salvation. In answer, in a certain communication, to the question, “Have I hope for myself?” he answers his own question: “The Apostle says, ‘We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.’ This, I think, I can apply, without injury to my conscience, to myself. I love His people; I love His servants; I love His Gospel. I would like to love His law.”
From the time that Murdo learned, according to the truth of the Scriptures, the awfulness of the natural state, and realised that the Gospel was the only hope or remedy for fallen, miserable men, the wish formed itself in his mind to become an ambassador of God to others, so that he might tell them—explain to them, as he put it—the nature of their misery, and point to the only way of escape. How he conceived this message may be gathered from a sentence which I quote from a letter to a relative
* A sister writes: “I shall never forget how he used to speak of his beloved pastor, who was the means, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring him from darkness into light, and from the power of Satan, to serve the living and true God.”
about the beginning of the year 1916. “The testimony of His truth,” wrote he, “is that the imaginations of the thought of our heart are only evil continually. Must not His love be wonderful, indeed, when He would not delight in the death of such rebels, but would rather that all would turn to Him that they might have life? He counsels us to buy of Him gold tried in the fire that we may be rich, and white raiment that we may be clothed, and that the shame of our nakedness do not appear. Who is the gold tried in the fire? Christ. What fire was He tried in? God’s wrath, suffering it in the room and stead of those whom He came to seek and to save. What is the white raiment? His righteousness. May we be clothed in it!”
With the wish that he might one day devote himself entirely to the preaching of the Word, he turned to reading, and began preparation which he thought might result in his offering himself for the ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church. And certainly one could read intelligence in his very face; so that, in view of his grace, his commonsense, and his other intellectual qualities, it was lawful and reasonable for us to hope that he might one day be heir to his worthy uncle’s usefulness in the ministry! But God’s ways are to us an unfathomable deep. In March, 1916, he joined the Army, and he did so with a conviction that his studies were laid aside, so as not to be taken up again. For over two years he lived in France, in the midst of innumerable dangers, without experiencing any hurt, but on the 24th of July, 1918, at the battle of the Marne of that date, he was mortally wounded, and eight days afterwards, in University War Hospital, Southampton, he died. He was thirty-four years of age. His remains were conveyed to Portree, where, close by his dear brother’s remains, they rest till the resurrection morn.
Our sincerest sympathies go out toward his worthy aged father, and his surviving brother and sisters, who feel their bereavement sorely, and to his beloved uncle and aunt in Dingwall, who regarded Murdo as their own son.
J. R. M.
The late Rev. Alexander Macrae,
MARYBURGH, ROSS-SHIRE.
IT is with much regret that we notice this month the death of the Rev. Alexander Macrae, Free Church Manse, Maryburgh, near Dingwall, which sad event took place on the 10th November. As is well known to many of our readers, Mr. Macrae was minister of the Free Presbyterian congregation at Portree up till November of last year, when he joined the present Free Church. Although this step on his part was much regretted by us and our people in general, we cannot forget Mr.rae’s previous record of long and honourable service, and consider that some tribute to his memory is justly due in these pages.
Mr. Macrae was born in the parish of Lochcarron, Ross-shire, in the year 1867. His father was Donald Macrae, who was highly esteemed as a very worthy Christian and witness for the truth in his generation. He died when Mr. Macrae was at a preparatory stage of his studies. Mr. Macrae himself related to friends on more than one occasion the circumstance that his father, when on his death-bed, spoke very solemnly to him about the then state of the Free Church, and his own intention to go forward to the ministry. His father said that he was deeply grieved for the backsliding that he saw in the Church, but expressed the belief that a few would steadfastly hold by the principles of the Free Church of 1843, and, there and then, made Mr. Macrae promise that he would stand by the few who would maintain these principles, or otherwise not go further with his studies for the ministry. Mr. Macrae cordially promised to act on these lines, not, we believe, simply because his father wished him to do so, but because he was sincerely convinced that the principles of the Church of Scotland (Free) were founded upon, and agreeable to the Word of God. Thus, it came to pass that, when the erroneous Declaratory Act of 1892 was adopted by the General Assembly with the consent of a large majority of Presbyteries, Mr. Macrae (along with some other students) ceased to study at the Free Church College, Edinburgh, which he had attended for two years, and completed his course elsewhere. In 1893, the Rev. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall, then of Raasay, and the late Rev. D. Macdonald, Shieldaig, protested against said Act, and formed a separate Presbytery as representing “the Free Church of Scotland.” In the following year it was decided—for the sake only of distinction from the larger body which continued unwarrantably to retain the name Free Church—that the Church should be known as the “Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.” It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Macrae was heart and soul with the movement, and made this plain by word and deed. When a certain Ross-shire minister, now deceased, cast a reflection upon him as if he were not following in his father’s footsteps, he took pains to write the minister alluded to a pointed letter, informing him of the interview already mentioned, and demonstrating that he was acting in strict accordance with his father’s dying wishes.
Mr. Macrae, who was a diligent student, and passed creditably through his classes, was licensed to preach the Gospel on the 7th June, 1894, and, on the 13th November of the same year, was ordained as minister over the Free Presbyterian congregation at Kames, Kyles of Bute, where he was much respected, and faithfully served for five years. In 1899 he received a call from the congregation at Portree, Skye, which he accepted, and he was inducted there on the 26th October of that year. From that date till the month of November, 1918—a period of nineteen years—Mr. Macrae was minister at Portree, and was held in high esteem, not only by his own congregation, but by the community
at large. He took a deep interest in education, and was for several years Chairman of the local School Board.
As to Mr. Macrae’s services in the ministry, we have to say that he was an able and faithful preacher of God’s Word. Though his manner of delivery was not in some respects attractive, he gave each class of his hearers their “portion of meat in due season;” he declared the whole counsel of God, saying to “the righteous” it was well with him, and to “the wicked” it was ill with him. He preached “the law” with much solemnity, and, according to the subject in hand, sought to help and encourage the weak and tempted among God’s people. As interim Moderator for various charges in the Western Presbytery, his labours were abundant. He did not spare himself, but, in fair weather and foul, travelled from place to place to give the necessary help to congregations. Though many of our people on the West Coast felt very keenly his leaving the Free Presbyterian Church, they will ever remember with gratitude and esteem Mr. Macrae’s laborious and self-denying toils on their behalf. During the period of the War, Mr. Macrae was a most willing helper in the Free Presbyterian Mission to the Naval Men at Portsmouth and at Chatham. He went to this arduous Mission for several periods of service, and preached and visited in a most sympathetic and painstaking manner, worthy of all praise. The death of two of his step-sons and of a nephew, in the service of their country during the War, deeply affected Mr. Macrae, and evoked much sympathy from a wide circle of friends.
We feel no disposition in such a notice as this to enter into any criticism of Mr. Macrae’s secession (along with that of other two ministers) from our Church, but we cannot avoid saying that it was a matter of profound surprise to many of his friends among us that he took the step he did. There was no minister within our borders who year after year expounded more fully or pointedly the differences between the Free Presbyterian Church and the Free Church. He then regarded these differences as neither few nor small, and he was one of the last men who was thought likely to make any compromise. With these remarks, we leave the matter meantime.
Some years ago Mr. Macrae caught a severe cold on one of his journeys across the Minch, which led to a serious illness. From the effects of this he never seems to have fully recovered. We learn that his last illness was due to pneumonia, of which he passed away at the comparatively early age of fifty-two. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Mr. Macrae, we sincerely believe, has left “the Church militant” for “the Church triumphant,” where there is perfect unity and bliss in the presence of God and the Lamb.
We extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Macrae and family, and to his other relatives, in the great bereavement they have sustained.
J. S. S.