Notes of Sermons

BY THE REV. KENNETH BAYNE, GREENOCK.

I.

“Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. i. 6).

[I* did not hear the first discourse nor some others after on this text, on account of much affliction in our family at the time. But I understand from the following discourses that he had explained the text, and proposed his method, etc.] He said the work in the text was the work of grace in the soul—it was true religion—it was the work of faith on the Son of God. It was a good work because God was the author of it, the carrier on of it, and the finisher of it, and because it did good in the world wherever it existed, and because it made the subjects of it good themselves in some measure. He then proposed to consider this good work of grace in the soul—in its beginning, in its progress, and in its consummation.

(1) He then considered so many Scripture examples of the grace of God, and of the manner in which the work of grace was begun in them, and made sundry short remarks on each, which manifested a great variety. He selected our first parents, Noah, Abraham, the departure of Israel from Egypt, the resurrection of the dry bones in the valley, the prodigal son, and the Apostle Paul.

(2) He then showed more particularly in what the beginning of this work did consist or what was implied in the very beginning of a work of grace, and observed that it implied or consisted in 1. A spiritual discovery or knowledge of the being, character, and perfections of God as revealed in His word and works. 2. A deep

* These notes of sermons by the worthy Rev. Kenneth Bayne, Greenock, were taken down by a working blacksmith, the grandfather of Principal Caird, Glasgow, and Prof. Edward Caird, afterwards Master of Balliol College. They are written in a neat hand, and were sent to us by Mr Alexander Ross, Manchester. Mr Bayne was a brother of Dr Ronald Bayne, Kiltarlity, whose praise is in the churches of the north. Kenneth, though not so widely known, was very highly esteemed as a messenger of Christ by the Lord’s people. He was minister of the Gaelic Chapel, Greenock, from 1792 to 1821.—Editor.

sense of a person’s own sinfulness and guilt, as a consequence of the former and of the intrinsic evil of sin in itself. 3. Deep humiliation of soul before God on account of sin. 4. Serious concern and enquiry about the possibility and way of deliverance from sin. 5. Faith in Jesus Christ for deliverance. 6. A choosing of God for our portion. 7. A consecration of ourselves to the service of God, and lastly, a persevering in holiness, or, a living devoted to God continually—all these were shortly illustrated.

[On the 27th September Mr Bayne from same text on the beginning of the good work. He went over again the same particulars as above, and illustrated each of them more fully and then had an application.] 1. See the necessity of divine illumination at the very beginning of religion in order to have a right knowledge of God. 2. See also the necessity of regeneration—a change of heart—a divine principle in the soul in order to true faith. 3. See from hence in what a variety of ways true religion is denominated in the Word of God. As by knowledge, faith, fear, love, humility, repentance. 4. Let us examine ourselves by these particulars, and by the Scripture instances of the way in which true religion was begun.

[On 4th October Mr Bayne began by observing that the congregation might be divided into two classes]. The one were unregenerate persons, in a state of nature, and without God in the world. The other class were regenerated by the grace of God, ‘made new creatures, created in Christ Jesus, having the divine image. Of the former class there were many—of the latter class there were comparatively few. Therefore, it was the duty of every one here to examine themselves in order to know to which of the classes he or she belonged. And in order to help to this he had chosen this text and spoken of the good work of God, and had considered what was implied in this work of grace or of true religion in its beginning, progress, and final consummation. The first of these he had already discussed, and was now to speak of the second, viz., the progress of religion, or growth of grace in the believer. Everything that is progressive must have a beginning or foundation. Vegetables arise from plants—a building arises from a foundation. So the work of grace arises from a spiritual knowledge of God—a humbling sense of our sinfulness, repentance, and faith. Illustrative Scriptures—”The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day”—”They go from strength to strength”—and

“The inward man is renewed day by day.” We were commanded to “grow in grace” and to add one grace to another.

True religion might be said to consist in the following three things: 1. Divine illumination. 2. Regeneration. 3. In due and proper regard to God. It was the last of these he was now to speak of and regard to God is seen in the following:—1. The fear of God. Fear was opposed to hope, it had evil for its object. Sin, Satan, Justice, and Wrath were its objects. It consisted in a holy reverential awe of God, a dread of offending Him, and of His displeasure. This fear was to be progressive while in this life. 2. Genuine repentance and humility of soul for sin. Some imagined that repentance was to be all over at first conversion to God. And that then there was to be a life of joy, ease, and happiness. But this was a wrong and foolish notion. The people of God are daily sinning against Him. They are every moment dependent upon Him and therefore they have need of constant repentance and humiliation. Not only ought sinful men to be humble and penitent for the holy angels, who have been with God from the beginning of the creation, continue to have the most profound reverence and holy fear before God (Is. vi.). If it be enquired how we may know if our sense of sin and humiliation for it be of the right kind. I shall mention the following marks. Sense of sin is right (1) if it arise from a spiritual knowledge of the being and character of God. (2) If the person thinks his convictions and sense of sin, far too little, and nothing in comparison of what they should be. (3) If persons were afraid of losing their convictions, if they are imagining these are becoming daily weaker, and so fearing they will soon die altogether.

So humiliation is of the right kind (1) if it arise from the consideration and sense of our entire dependence on God for life, preservation, health, and every comfort we enjoy. (2) If it arise from a sense of our own ignorance, infirmities, weakness, and unworthiness (3) Proper regard to God implied in it, genuine faith. This grace also grew and they are commended in the Word in whom it did so. The man who said: “I believe, help thou mine unbelief,” and the woman who said: “If I but touch the hem of His garment I shall be made whole”—the faith of these and others is to grow until they be confirmed Christians. If it is asked who are confirmed Christians? Answer—A confirmed Christian is one that can come to Jesus Christ on His own bare command, and who can trust in the bare

promise of God without any other encouragement. (4) Love to God and man is also implied in it. On this particular, see I. Cor. xiii. (5) Zeal for God and His glory and cause in the world. (6) A wise consideration and improvement of Providence. (7) Spiritual mindedness, and lastly, a meetness for, and longing to be in heaven. All these we were to make progress in.

[He then selected three things in which the people of God made progress, and on which he was to be more particular]. 1. Spiritual knowledge of God and divine things. This was often recommended in Scripture as “to be without knowledge is not good,” and “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” The want of knowledge is the cause of the destruction of sinners. Ignorance is everywhere reprobated and condemned in the Bible. It will be found, that in the sins of the children of God, ignorance some way or other was a cause of grief to every one of them. Men in general satisfied themselves with very little knowledge of spiritual things. If they knew something of two or three doctrines of divinity they thought it was enough. If they knew something about our fall in Adam, that we were all sinners by nature and practice, that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of sinners, that heaven would be the everlasting portion of those who believed in Him. If they knew a little of these and such like things they thought they had knowledge sufficient for their salvation at least; even many serious persons did so who professed more than others. Others were quite ignorant of these things, and were content to be so. Others satisfied themselves with an outward speculative knowledge of the things of God which would do them no real good if the spiritual knowledge he was speaking about was wanting. It was well known by the people of God that none could give this spiritual knowledge but God himself. No reading of books or preaching or other of His own appointed means of themselves could produce it without divine influence. Some there were who reasoned in this manner—that as God was incomprehensible, and as none by searching could find Him out, therefore, it was needless for finite limited creatures ever to attempt to seek after the knowledge of Him. But this was a foolish and erroneous way of reasoning; for it was well-known even in ordinary things that as men advanced in knowledge their thirst for more of it increased. Even so, the more the children of God were enlightened, the more they thirsted after knowledge; though they were quite sensible they could never find out the Almighty to perfection. Nay, they be-

came more and more sensible of their own ignorance the more they knew of the things of God, yet this did not hinder them from seeking after more knowledge of God. The example of Moses was a proof of this in point. It is certain he knew much of God and divine things while he was yet in the household of Pharaoh, for it was his regard for this that induced him to forsake the court of Pharaoh and be a stranger in the land of Midian. But after more than forty years in which he had been advancing in divine knowledge we find him earnestly saying to God: “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” And so it is the same as to others. It is sure, and will ever be found, that according to the measure of our knowledge and to our growth in it, so in proportion would be the degree and growth in every other grace. On the other hand, it will be found that sin abounds in the men of this world and in the people of God themselves, according to the degree of this ignorance. The children of God find it so, and they know that ignorance some way or other is the chief cause of every sin they commit.

All Ten—Not Only Nine.

The teaching of my childhood differed in many ways—
Chiefly about the Sabbath—from that of modern days.
Old-fashioned parents taught me my Maker to obey,
His Name and Word to honour, and sanctify His Day.
I learnt the Ten Commandments, and yet I never knew
The Fourth one was not binding on Gentile as on Jew.
I wonder if the Fifth one, the Sixth and Seventh too,
The Eighth and all the others are only for a Jew.
Or has the Jew a nature so different from mine,
He needs all Ten Commandments, while I need only Nine?
The modern preacher tells me there is a better plan
Than that old Fourth Commandment that God has given to man!
One hour each week suffices for all my spirit’s need;
To set apart one whole day were waste of time indeed!
I need to take no notice of Church bell at eleven
When I’ve fulfilled my duty and been to “Mass” at seven!
And, if I am not working, the rest of the Lord’s Day,
I should devote to football, to golf and gambling play
I think with this arrangement the Devil is content;
He will not lose his captives in Sabbath hours thus spent.
But may the Lord have mercy upon me and incline
My heart to keep His precepts—all Ten—not only Nine.

M. A. P.