THE Synod resolve to place on its records its deep sense of the great loss it has sustained through the death of their beloved and faithful brother the Rev. Neil Cameron.
The Synod would humbly give thanks to the Lord for the gift that He has now seen meet to remove from our midst and would recognise His great kindness to His servant for the bestowal of those gifts of leadership and unswerving fidelity to His truth which gave him a pre-eminent place among his brethren.
(1) As a leader in the Courts of the Church he was endowed with special gifts for that position and naturally received from his brethren that respect due to one whom they recognised as one they could trust. They felt that he was a pillar of strength in their midst and now that he is gone from the church militant to the church triumphant his brethren who were so closely associated with him for many years feel that not only has a loyal and true friend been removed but a wise counsellor and a faithful adviser.
(2) As an advocate of Sabbath observance ever since the day of his conversion he loved the Lord’s Day and nothing grieved
him more than to see any tendency of laxity on the part of professing people in the observance of that Holy Day. His whole hearted witness for the observance of the Lord’s Day was an outstanding feature of his work as a public witness for Christ.
(3) As a preacher of the Everlasting Gospel it was given to him as to few in our day to declare the whole counsel of God with a fearlessness and ringing sincerity that won the hearts of the most discerning of the Lord’s people and often caused the careless to tremble. As one listened to him delivering his message the impression made on every serious-minded person was that here was a man who was really conscious that he was addressing his fellow sinners for eternity. There was never any attempt on his part of being eloquent or flowery in his language but he presented the gospel in plain, simple, convincing words. Hell to him was a reality, not simply a name and when he spoke to his fellowmen it was with the awe and dread of one whose own soul had been delivered in mercy from the darksome pit. Perhaps no preacher of our time got at the conscience of his hearers with such tremendous effect as our departed brother. He proclaimed the terrors of the law as few men could and warned sinners of their danger. But, no one, on the other hand could set forth the gospel message with such attractiveness as he could. There lingers in our memories sermons of this nature which will be cherished as a precious heritage for the days to come. His preaching was blessed to many and the Great Day alone will declare how many. His power in exposing the false refuges of the devil and directing the attention of his hearers to Christ as the only refuge was a clear characteristic of his preaching.
(4) As a public witness he pursued a straight course through good report and evil report and through the grace given to him he bore unwavering testimony to God’s truth right up to the end. Of him it might be said to a large extent what was said of John Knox: “There lies he who never feared the face of man.”
He loved the Reformed cause and the men who did and
suffered so much for Scotland and it was the absorbing desire of his heart that the attainments of our godly forefathers in asserting the Crown Rights of the Lord Jesus should be handed down unimpaired to coming generations. He was widely read in the literature of the first and second Reformations and the contendings of those great periods in our Church’s history made an indelible impression on his mind. He was jealous for the former attainments reached by the Church of Scotland in her best days and as a witness for the truth it was his aim to cling to these and to make others do the same as far as the doctrine, government and discipline of the Reformed Church was concerned. In the controversies that took place in the Free Church in connection with the Declaratory Act, though only a student in divinity at the time, he took a prominent part and in 1893 and onwards he whole-heartedly accepted the testimony raised at that time by the Free Presbyterian Church. Whoever would waver our departed brother remained true through all the years to that testimony, maintaining it with a fidelity that arose from a deep conviction in his mind that it was a noble testimony to God’s truth. Nothing grieved and pained him more than to see some of his brethren whom he loved turning their backs on what was so dear to him. And while his public utterances denouncing their backslidings may have appeared to outsiders as those of a man who had no feeling, we who knew him more intimately know what grief these departures caused him.
The Synod tender their sincere sympathy to Mrs. Macfadyen and his sorrowing congregation and instruct their Clerk to send a copy of this Tribute to them.
When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without heart, and remember emphatically either prayer will make thee cease from sin, or sin will certainly entice thee from prayer.—John Bunyan.
Believe Christ’s love more than your own feelings; your Rock does not ebb and flow though your sea does.—Samuel Rutherford.