SCRIPTURE has made it as plain as language can make it that whosoever believes shall be saved. On the other hand it no less clearly states that unless the sinner repents he shall perish. “Faith and repentance,” says Dr. Charles Hodge in his Way of Life, “are graces not only indispensable, but they cannot exist separately. Repentance is a turning from sin unto God, through Jesus Christ, and faith is the acceptance of Christ in order to our return to God” (p. 206). The word translated “repent” in our Version literally means “to change the mind.” There are many references in Scripture to this act on the part of sinners such as: “I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Ps. cxix. 59)—”When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive” (Ezek. xviii. 27)—”Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Is. lv. 7)—”If they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee, saying: We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul: then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause” (I. Kings
viii. 47-49). What then, according to Scripture, are the characteristics of saving repentance? This question is all the more important since there is a repentance that is not saving. We read that Judas “repented himself” but, while the word in English is the same, in the original it is quite different to the one that is translated “repented” in our Version. When Judas “repented himself” it was not a repentance that ended in life; it was strictly speaking remorse and remorse of the most terrible kind. Saving repentance is, therefore, to be distinguished from remorse: for, however terrible the latter may be, even though it be as a foretaste of that gnawing of the conscience which will be the everlasting portion of the rejectors of God’s salvation, it only drives the transgressor farther and farther away from the God against whom he has sinned. Under remorse the predominant feeling is the trouble the transgressor has brought upon himself and the dread of the punishment awaiting him. His views about God are wrong and that change of mind that Job refers to when he says: “I have heard of thee with the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job xlii. 5, 6) has not taken place. There may be terrible terror of conscience and yet there may not be true repentance. Hence some, otherwise sound, writers, in making terror of conscience a prominent part of repentance, have erred in not qualifying their words, and have caused serious searchings of heart to exercised souls. Dr. Hodge, already quoted, in reference to this point, guardedly says: “There are, however, two remarks upon this subject, which should be borne in mind. The first is, that these exercises vary in degree, from the intolerable anguish of despair, to the calm conviction of the judgment, that we are justly exposed to the displeasure of God. And, secondly, that there is nothing discriminating in these terrors of conscience. They are experienced by the righteous and unrighteous . . . Sinners in Zion are often afraid; and fearfulness often surprises the hypocrite. These fearful apprehensions, therefore, are not to be desired for their own sake; since there is nothing good
in fear. It is reasonable that those should fear who refuse to repent and to accept of the offers of mercy. But there is nothing reasonable in those fears which arise from unbelief, or distrust of the promises of God. It so often happens, however, in the experience of the people of God, that they are made sensible of their guilt and danger, before they have any clear apprehensions of the plan of redemption, that, in fact, fear of the wrath of God enters largely into the feelings which characterise their conversion. The apprehension of the holiness of God produces awe. The angels in heaven are represented as veiling their faces, and bowing with reverence before the Holy One. Something of the same feeling must be excited in the minds of men by the discovery of His infinite purity. It cannot fail, no matter what may be the state of his mind, to excite awe” (Way of Life, pp. 209, 210).
Perhaps no more scriptural words were ever penned on this doctrine by men, at least in so short a compass, as the answer given by the Westminster Divines to the Shorter Catechism Question: “What is repentance unto life?” which they answer as follows: “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.” Stress is laid on the fact that repentance unto life is a saving grace. It is the Holy Spirit that works effectually in the heart of the sinner and no credit is due to him for the change of mind wrought in him. Sin now is a reality; the law that has been broken is a reality. The sinner’s accountability to God is, now, also a reality. He has a true sense of his sin wrought in his conscience by the Holy Spirit—”against thee, thee only have I sinned.” This is followed by the apprehension, i.e., the laying hold, of the mercy of God in Christ. Note, not simply, “the mercy of God,” but “the mercy of God in Christ.” This is the sinner’s hope. It is like a ray of the sun shining through a darkened sky and is the promise of a better day. The joy experienced
by the repentant sinner is invariably in proportion to the deep waters he passed through ere the happy experience came of apprehending the mercy of God in Christ. Sin now has become a bitter and grievous evil in his eyes—something to be hated because of its attitude to God. The penitent sinner may not be able to analyse the feelings with which sin is now regarded by him but these two stand out prominent in his experience—grief and hatred. The love implanted in his heart to God makes him feel that sin is an iniquitous attitude towards a God so loving and merciful as is revealed in Christ. Sin, now, also appearing in its true colours, is seen to be something hateful; no longer to be loved and cherished, or regarded with feelings of indifference. This new experience is seen in the sinner’s turning away from it unto God. It is not merely a turning away from sin but a turning away from it unto God—the God against whom the sin has been committed. This act is accompanied by a full purpose of new obedience. But it is not simply a purpose without any fruit—the purpose is followed by an endeavour which shows how great is the change that has been wrought. The sinner now readily acquiesces in the claims of God to the allegiance that is due to Him. The change thus wrought is a momentous one, and the sinner’s whole attitude to God, to Jesus Christ, to the Holy Spirit, and to God’s way of salvation, and to his own need of that salvation, is changed.
The necessity of repentance is emphasised in the preaching of John the Baptist and when our Lord began His public ministry among men He called upon sinners to repent. This was also true about the Apostles and this call to repentance in the preaching of the gospel is as necessary to be sounded to-day as ever it was. God is commanding “all men everywhere to repent” (Acts xvii. 30). The fact that men do not feel their need of repentance makes it all the more imperative that God’s command in this matter should be proclaimed with no uncertain sound in their ears. Since the matter is of eternal importance to the concerned sinner, he will, many a time, be seeking for
evidences that he has truly repented and turned from his sin unto God. “There are but two ways,” says Dr. Charles Hodge, “in which we can judge of the genuineness of this change. The one is, the comparison of our inward experience with the Word of God; the other, the observation of its effects. As every man is conscious of his own feelings, attention and comparison will generally enable him to ascertain their character. He may tell whether he has had such views of the justice and holiness of God as to produce a conviction of his own sinfulness and ill desert; whether he has been forced to give up his self-complacency, and to feel that disapprobation of his character and conduct, which leads the soul to confess with shame and sorrow, its guilt and pollution in the sight of God. He may tell whether he has had such apprehensions of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ as to induce him to return to his heavenly Father, with a strong desire after His favour, and with a firm determination to live to His glory. These are the exercises which constitute repentance, and he who is conscious of them may know that he is turned from death to life” (Way of Life, pp. 225, 226).
Sermon Preached by the Rev. Neil Cameron
on Saturday of the Glasgow Communion (24th April, 1926).
“For she said: ‘If I may but touch His clothes, I shall be whole.'”
—Mark v., 28.
WE have in this chapter the extraordinary miracle that the Lord performed in the country of the Gadarenes—a man that could not be kept in order by any person in the country, although they used the strongest bands they could think of, yet they could not bind him—he was a terror to the place, but we are told that when he saw Jesus he ran out and fell on his knees before Him, and began to pray that He would not send the evil spirits out of the country, but give them leave to go into the swine, and Jesus gave them leave, and the swine ran down
a steep hill and were choked in the sea; but when the poor Gadarenes saw this they began to pray Jesus to depart out of their coasts, because they lost their swine. Worldly trials cannot go away without leaving some effect, and we may rest assured that we will either be hardened or worse, or else be bettered by them. We find that when He came to the other side of the Sea, for it is always the case that when any pray Christ to leave them, others will gladly receive Him, and we, as a people, are like that now—praying Christ to leave our coasts, but others will be very glad to receive Him as their guest.
When He came across the Sea, the ruler of the synagogue came to Him beseeching Him and praying Him that He would come and lay hands on his little daughter, for she lay at the point of death, and he believed that if He would do so, she would be well. On His way to this man’s house, we are told that a woman stopped His progress, and before He moved again some came and told Him that the man’s daughter was now dead, and that he should not trouble the master further, but Christ told him to believe, for He was one who could not only deliver from sickness but from death itself, and the ruler of the synagogue was not disappointed in this, and we believe this is the way with those who have got true saving faith—they will be many times feeling that their faith is dying—almost dead, but yet they never lose their confidence in this, that Christ is able even to quicken the dead.
Let us now notice a few things concerning this woman. We are told that she had been twelve years suffering from a disease that would certainly end in death if it were not cured, and we are told that she went to all the physicians she could think of and had spent all that she had trying to get herself cured, but instead of getting better, she was worse. But she heard of the name of Jesus and the extraordinary cures He was performing, and how all kinds of troubles were being cured by even a word spoken by Him, and this brought her to the conclusion that He was also able to cure her, but we are not going to take up time about her further than as an illustration.
We shall notice three things that are true of the experiences of those who are truly God’s people.
- They have all realised that they have a disease, and that none can cure that disease but the Son of God. Others can get their diseases cured easily, but that is not the case with God’s people.
- The effect of the report of the gospel concerning Jesus Christ has on the mind of this people. It always works in their mind: “Oh, if I could but just touch the hem of His garment, I would be whole.”
- The effect that always follows the touch by faith of the garment of Christ, in which He came out of the Ivory Palaces.
1.—We have first to consider the condition of every child of Adam as regards the disease he has and which will end in eternal death if it is not removed. We are by nature unconscious of this disease, and there have been many cases where one may have a disease and yet never felt the least pain, and may be surprised to find out that they are just at death’s gates when all the time they think they are strong and healthy; and this is the way with the children of men who are unconscious of the disease of sin, and, alas! how many there are that never have as much as one groan over this disease, and how few—exceedingly few that feel the loathsome disease in their hearts and minds. But we hear in the Scriptures: “Thine arrows sharply pierce the heart of the enemies of the King; and under Thy subjection the people down do bring,” and it is in that day that Christ takes His bow and shoots an arrow at the heart of the sinner that there is a wound opened which none can cure but Christ Himself. It is an easy matter to cure the wounds of some—just like the dog that cures himself by licking the wound with his own tongue, but that is not the way with those who are wounded by the Holy Ghost—no man can cure that wound.
I am going to mention two or three things which those who have felt this wound will do. First, they realise now that the
wound they have will end in death if not cured—they were speaking before about death, but yet they were not believing that they were to die; but now not only a natural death but eternal death stares them in the face, and that causes the poor sinner to begin to seek some way by which he could be saved from death. As you have heard often, when a sinner sees that he has a disease that will end in death, he will betake himself to his own obedience—what he can do himself in order that he can cure himself or have peace with God—this is the ground to which every unconverted sinner betakes himself, whatever he may have been taught before—he goes away to this. Some were allowed to spend a long time trying to pacify their own conscience and to satisfy the demands of God’s law, doing all they possibly could, but you find it stated in Scripture more clearly than any man can put it that “Although you give all your substance to feed the poor, and although you give your body to be burned” it will avail you nothing. All those who are taught of God know this that all they can do will avail nothing, and they must give up that physician. You hear of many going to heaven in our day on account of their charity, etc.; but that physician will not do, for they learn that “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight.”
The second physician is—men go, to have peace of conscience, to religion, prayers, and even go the length to stand in the pulpit earning heaven and the favour of God by their own doing—they become religious and think that if they get a place or name in the visible Church that this will make up for the whole. I would say this, that if you have been saved by grace, you have finished with that physician, for you have to mourn that anything that you can do is of no value for death, judgment, or an endless eternity. You will have to say like this woman that instead of being better you are far worse, although you would take 12 years at it; you are far worse, for it is the wrong way.
In connection with this physician to whom the sinner in his folly goes, he will never give him up until he is absolutely
baffled—he will even try to take part of Christ’s work and part of his own—like the Pharisee—making a great deal of his prayers, fastings, charity, etc., but at the same time realising that he needed to get something from the Most High. Do what you can, and Christ will make up for the rest. That is the creed of our day. But however long the sinner may be at this, he will have to learn that this will not do the turn. He will find that this is a vain way of seeking deliverance—if he is to be cured or saved it must be altogether of grace, and all the honour will belong to Christ; for it is by His Word and Spirit that he is brought to a sense of his need. He comes now to the end of all he could think of, tried his own works to make him a good man and found he could not do it, tried what he could do in religious matters, God’s service on Sabbath and week-days, in order that he might save himself, but, alas, he found out that this would not help. He tried again to mix up the obedience and death of Christ with his own works, but this would not do, and he does not know now what to do. Who could help him? He has now gone through the whole programme and finds himself worse than he was at the beginning; and we are not speaking just now of something that we do not know—we know what we are talking about.
2.—In the second place—the effect that the report of the gospel has got upon poor sinners who realise that they are done. Others may be hearing it preached in St. Jude’s day in and day out, and some have been hearing it for 30 years, but it is to them like “a tale that has been told,” and they continue on in spiritual death and carelessness, but that will not last always. It is not so with the sinner who has been convinced of sin, the sinner into whose heart the Lord of glory shot the arrow which could not be withdrawn by any power or wisdom of man—no one could heal it now. It is an easy matter to heal what the arm of flesh has done, but when the Spirit does it, I can assure you, the sinner feels it is something that will end in death if not removed by God Himself.
When the report of the gospel comes, and this woman was hearing of His fame that went out throughout the land, and the fame of Christ as the Physician for perishing men went out in this land in the past, and on account of how this is dying now, men are dying eternal death. This report came to the ears of this woman, who had for 12 years been doing all she could and applying to all the physicians she heard of to help her, and now she has spent all that she had—she was empty-handed, but instead of being better, she was worse; and it would not be a bad sign on you, that after you had done all that you could and being nothing better, that you would seek to touch Him by faith on hearing the fame of Christ, that not only is He able to save, but He is able to save to the uttermost—this is an extraordinary statement altogether if men would only think on it. She was hearing that many had come to Him in just as desperate a condition as she was in herself, and they were certainly healed, for she had probably seen them, and you have seen them too; you cannot deny that you saw some in the world who had been turned from darkness to light. The effect this had on the woman was, “If I could but touch—just touch the hem of His garment, I would be made whole,” for we are told that “Faith cometh by hearing.” Faith is an extraordinary thing, and it comes always through hearing the report of the gospel concerning Christ’s merit and power to save—His mercy towards perishing men, for “He despised not nor abhorred the afflicted’s misery; nor from him hid His face, but heard when he to Him did cry.” This is the way it was with yourself, if you have got saving faith—you were hearing reports for many years about the power of Christ to save guilty men like you—”The whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.”
On the day that God’s Spirit convinced you of sin, righteousness, and judgment, He set you to try now to see whether you could reconcile yourself to God, and you learned that you could not. All these ways of seeking deliverance were vain and
useless, although in our day most men preach this doctrine of works. When you were awakened you learned that you could do nothing, and yet you had a disease that would end in death unless your sins were washed in the Blood—unless you were justified freely through the merit of that Blood, you were done—done for ever; but when you began to hear the report of Christ—His willingness to save the lost—that it was for that purpose that He came into the world, it was not to call the righteous, for God knows no such men. He came to call sinners to repentance and to reconcile them to God by His own blood, and when you hear this you begin now to say: “This is the Christ I must go to—It is to Christ I must go.” It is not only that I hear He is able to save to the uttermost—the most desperate cases among men altogether, but the sinner will have to say: “I have seen them with my eyes and talked with them, and they were as ruined as I am, and they were saved by Him.” They have two proofs—God’s Word and the sinner who has been saved—that God is able to save to the uttermost. You are not left at all with an excuse—you have God’s word for it that He is able to save even you, and you have your experience in the world that you saw sinners like yourself who were delivered from the power of sin—although sin was in them, yet it ceased to be the ruling power in their hearts and minds.
All this moves the sinner to come to the conclusion that this woman came to; and faith, my friends, is here already. It is really faith that comes to the conclusion: “If I may but touch His clothes, I shall be made whole”—that is faith. Faith in the merit of Christ and His power to save; but there is such a thing, in the sinner that is saved, as a receiving of Christ actually and resting on Him alone for salvation. For a man to have this in his mind: “If I may but touch”—that is works, but she went away and actually did touch the hem of His garment. There is such a thing in faith as the sinner receiving Christ in the arms of the gospel—in the promises; it is there you can touch the garment of Christ, and it is faith that does it, and the moment you receive a passage of God’s word and light
upon it from heaven and the grace of faith to receive Christ in the free offer of that promise that was given to you, you felt this immediately—peace with God coming into your own conscience, and you felt that what was going to cause death was immediately healed—peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement; and I do not say at all but that you felt at that moment that all your sins for ever were removed; not only peace with God, but forgiveness of all your sins and peace in your heart and mind, and you thought that they would never trouble you again. If you have saving faith, you felt peace with God, peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost, and you may have thought that actual sins and all the sins of your nature had completely been removed; but I am not going to enter into that further.
3.—We shall notice now in the last place as to the good result of this to the woman—not only that she got a cure—she had a physical cure, but I am speaking of a spiritual cure, for it is very applicable to the work that God does in the soul that is saved. The first thing she wanted to do was to hide herself when she got the cure, and indeed she was greatly indebted to Him, not only to make known but to praise Him that she got the cure, instead of hiding herself; but you find here that she tried to hide herself—she did not wish it to be known—she did not wish to make a public profession—whether it was bashfulness or not, but she did not wish it to be known that she had come to this conclusion and that she had put it to the test; but you find that she was not left there. We cannot believe that it was because Christ did not know that He asked: “Who touched me?” No, that was not the reason, He had another thing in view when He said it. But you find that when all denied, the woman herself came up and told the whole thing; how she came to this conclusion and the reason she had for it, and the effect she felt immediately that she touched the hem of His garment—she immediately felt that she was cured. She got two things in connection with that confession, and so would you. First, it is not at all you, or anything that you can do,
that can bring you to the conclusion in your own mind that you have saving faith—it is not by anything that you can do, although it is your duty to do your duty—it is from God’s Word. This woman that endeavoured to hide herself so that she would not be publicly known in the world, although she got this great relief, she did not want that it should be known, but He made it known, and the effect was this—she had an assurance that her faith was saving faith, and I do not know anything under these broad heavens that I would prize more than to have an assurance that it is saving faith I have myself. That is the first thing she had. The second was—she was asked to go and be whole of this disease. She had God’s word that this disease was not to come back and make her as she was before—a dying woman; this is true of spiritual matters, too.
The sinner who is saved by faith and has received from God’s Word a proof that he has really saving faith—that is, something that is worth all the labour that is spent to make it sure—immediately you are sure that you have saving faith, you are sure that sin will not be your ruin. Never! “None perish that Him trust.” No one ever did or ever shall. And this woman had this going back to her own home—that she was sure she was free from her plague. Did this mean that she was well from her plague?; that sin was not going to cause her any further trouble; that she was to be free that day. Like the faith we had in Glasgow about 30 years ago under Moody and Sankey, who were saying that since they believed, they never had anything but peace and joy. Was this how she was? No! This doctrine to her would be like the language Joseph heard in Egypt—he could not understand it; that is not the way here, although it was said to her: “Be whole of thy plague.” No! Sin was there still. Sin is in man’s nature. I heard that Dr. Kennedy said in a prayer that some were wondering why God did not remove the sinfulness of His people’s nature as completely on the day of justification as He removed their guilt; but he said: “Thou hast a wise purpose in it all.” The sin is there, and if you read carefully the Word of God, you will see that it was God’s people who were complaining of sin,
not the world—but the people of God who are harassed with sin in their hearts and minds. It was not at all King Saul or any of these men that prayed: “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.” No! It was godly David. Sin is there and it will continue to be there, not only in your soul, and heart and mind, but it will continue to be in your body until you lay aside your body in death, and if you have not learned that sin has corrupted all the members of your body as well as your soul, you have not learned all that you must learn before you are saved. Sin is in the eyes. You hear the Psalmist praying: “Turn thou away mine eyes from viewing vanity.” Those who are cured by the Son of God have learned that they have to suffer much from sin in the eyes, and how what they see and hear moves the corruption in their hearts and minds. If we were to say that she would have no trouble from sin, we would be wrong; and if you are cured you will be burdened with a disease that is loathsome and that fills your loins with pain, you will have no rest, although your greatest desire is to get rid of it—but you can rest assured of this, that this will not end in death. “Be cured of your plague.” The second thing is to learn much by it. There is such a statement as this in one of the Psalms: “Lest my people forget, destroy not this,” and you will find plenty within and without to keep you from forgetting your need of coming to your knees; your need of help from heaven. Your own sinfulness will be sending you often to your knees if I know anything of the corruption of my own heart and mind. As a godly minister in the North said, who had a very wicked wife, when someone at dinner asked if he could heartily speak well of his wife. “Yes,” he said, “I can do that as easily as anything ever I did, for I can say this about her, what you cannot say of yours—she sends me seven times to my knees in the day, which I would not do if I had not got her.” So if your sins will be sending you seven times a day to your knees, you should be thankful that they make you go to the Physician so often in the day, for there is plenty in the fountain that He has opened for uncleanness.
The Sabbath.
By the Rev. PATRICK FAIRBAIRN.
IV.
(Continued from page 176.)
A great portion of the prophetic writings belong rather to the New, than to the Old Testament dispensation. They were designed to take off the thoughts of the Jews somewhat from the former, on which they were ever apt to settle with too carnal and exclusive a regard, and to direct the eye of faith onward to the better things to come, which were to be disclosed in “the dispensation of the fulness of times.” It is of these things, therefore, that such portions of the prophetic Word speak. They are “the testimony of Jesus,” witnessing beforehand, in some respects, of the work which He was to fulfil, or of the nature of the kingdom which was to be set up in Him; and the declaration they unfold of the mind and the will of Christ, bears as direct and immediate a reference to gospel times as if it had proceeded from the pen of an evangelist.
- Now, while we proceed to adduce our first prophetic testimony in support of a Sabbath under the gospel, let the testimony be borne in mind, which it was our object in the last paper to derive from the law or covenant of God, as written upon the two tables of stone, which were placed in the ark of testimony, and formed the nucleus of the Old Testament dispensation. The Fourth Commandment is an essential and important part of that law or covenant, no part of which was to be repealed, but all to be first fulfilled in Christ, and thereafter made the law of His kingdom. Remembering this, let us hear the words of Jeremiah, xxxi. 31-34: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” That the new covenant here mentioned is that brought in by Christ, is expressly affirmed in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, so that there can be no doubt of this being one of those parts of prophecy which refer immediately to the gospel dispensation. And what are the leading characteristics, which it points out of this new covenant, as contradistinguished from that formerly made in the wilderness? They are chiefly two: first, that, according to this, provision should be distinctly made for the pardoning of iniquity, which the other, of itself, could not do, it being a simple revelation of law, threatening death for every transgression; and secondly, that, while under the old covenant, the law was only written upon tables of stone, and consequently was without them, by the new covenant it was to be put in “their inward parts, and written in their hearts.” But what law is it that was thus to be changed from an outward into an inward testimony—transferred, as it were, from the tables of stone, into the “fleshly tables of the heart?” Not certainly the ceremonial law, as the Mosaic ritual is sometimes called, for this so far from being exalted into a higher place by Christ, was, in Him, abolished, passing away like the shadow when the substance came. And, indeed, that outward ritual, though it is sometimes spoken of as a law, is never designated absolutely the law of God, and least of all, can it be meant when the law and covenant are considered, as they are here, in great measure identical, what was called pre-eminently the law, and what formed exclusively the old covenant, was simply the Ten Commandments—these wholly, and these alone. It can scarcely,
therefore, admit of a doubt, that these are what the Spirit of prophecy here foretold should, one day, viz., in the gospel dispensation, be written by the finger of God upon the hearts of His people. Their relative position to man, indeed, was to be changed; they were no longer to be placed before him as a law of strict and unbending holiness, by conformity to which he was to make good his title to God’s favour and blessing; as a covenant, in that respect, they were to cease, having served, only while they stood through man’s inability to keep them, to multiply transgression; but as God was going to take the vindication of the law’s honour into His own hand, so that He could bestow pardon and righteousness, as a free gift, upon the guilty, He was at the same time to make provision for having that law, the image of His own holiness, impressed upon the hearts of His people by the living energy of His Spirit. In short, by the terms of the new covenant, the people of God were not to have the law of the Ten Commandments imposed on them as the way by which they were to attain life, but breathed into them as the form and pattern of life already received from above; they were to become the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, because the law, in all the requirements of which He had perfected Himself, and therefore that also, unto which they should be ever growing up, who, through the Spirit, were to be in all things “made conformable to His image.”
But if this be true of the Ten Commandments as a whole, it must, of course, be true of each individual part—of the Fourth Commandment, as well as any of the rest. This, undoubtedly, was included as an essential part of the law or covenant, which was formerly written without, and set up before, the people of God; but is now written within, and infused with living power into the feelings and affections of their heart. Hence the framers of the English Liturgy, with a right understanding of this truth, have added, after the reading of the Ten Commandments in the public service, the following prayer, which is just the words of this prophecy turned into a petition, “And have
mercy upon us, and write all these laws in our hearts”—a prayer which, with marvellous inconsistency, is constantly read by the ministers of that Church; while a vast proportion of them hold that the Fourth Commandment, one of these laws, is no longer binding upon the consciences of men. And is not the argument which we have drawn from the words of this prophecy, in favour of the Sabbath, strikingly confirmed by the records of experience? For how uniformly do those, who are admitted into the privileges of the new covenant, love and delight in the day of God? When He writes His law upon the heart, we never see the Fourth Commandment omitted. Nay, the more any one drinks into the spirit of the gospel, and experiences the grace of God writing the law of holiness upon the tablet of his heart, the more invariably does he count the Sabbath “the holy of the Lord and honourable.” So far from disliking the restraints which it throws around his condition, and panting for a larger freedom amid the recreations or business of the world, he gladly hails its hallowed employments, and finds its weekly returns as so many “spring-days” to his spiritual nature. He thinks and feels with the poet—
“Sweet day of rest! for thee I’d wait,
Emblem and earnest of a state
Where saints are fully blest!
For thee I’d look, for thee I’d sigh,
I’d count the days till thou art nigh,
Sweet day of sacred rest!”
- Our second proof is drawn from the 56th chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah, where we find the following words: “Neither let the son of the stranger that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people: neither let the eunuch say, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house a place,” etc. And again, in another verse, express mention is
made of the keeping of the Sabbath, as a characteristic mark of godliness, on the part of the strangers generally, that is, the Gentiles who should join themselves to the Lord. Now, that this prophecy could not refer to Jewish, and must refer to gospel times, is evident, not only from the place it occupies in the chain of prophecy, of which it is a part, but also from certain notices occurring in itself, and not admitting of any other interpretation. For it is connected, first of all, with the revelation of “God’s righteousness” and the “coming nigh of His salvation,” which can only be understood of gospel times, as is admitted by all sound interpreters, and proved, in particular, by the learned Vitringa. There the duty and blessedness of observing the Sabbath are spoken of as belonging to the eunuch, who, under the Mosaic dispensation, was excluded from the congregation of the Lord, and also to the sons of the stranger, who might also be said as a body to be excluded; the calling of the Gentiles, and the removal of all outward, personal disabilities in God’s service, are unquestionably marks of a New Testament Church; and yet of such a Church it is expressly predicted, that the observance of the Sabbath was to form a distinguishing peculiarity. And finally, not only is the observance of the Sabbath three times repeated with singular emphasis—which alone might sufficiently distinguish it from a mere ceremonial institution—but it is coupled with the greater things of the law, with laying hold of the covenant, doing justice, and loving the name of the Lord—clearly importing that its place was with the more important and permanent appointments of God’s kingdom.
The only possible objection, to which the application of this prophecy to the continuance of a Sabbath in gospel times may seem liable, is, that in verse 7, it is said of those to whom the prophecy refers, “Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar.” From which it may be thought, that if the prophecy does indeed point to gospel times, yet, as the things predicted are couched in language derived from the Jewish worship, no certain conclusion can be drawn from the
express mention of a Sabbath. For if the offering of sacrifices must be understood spiritually, why may not the observance of the Sabbath also be understood of that spiritual rest which believers in Christ enjoy under the Gospel? If, in the one place, by outward institutions and services practised under the Jewish religion, the prophet intends inward, spiritual acts, is it not natural to infer that he does so in the other also? There is the appearance of truth in this objection, but nothing more than the appearance. For the way in which the sacrifices in question are mentioned, is such as necessarily to imply that not outward and carnal, but inward and spiritual, exercises are meant—being spoken of as oblations that were to be offered by eunuchs and Gentiles—that is, by their personal ministry; for the word serve, in verse 6, used of the converted Gentiles, is in the original that which properly denotes service at the altar. In short, the persons named are represented as exercising the priest’s office; and, therefore, what was said of them could not possibly refer to any thing peculiar to the Jewish priesthood, which was strictly confined to the family of Aaron; but must certainly have been spoken of that royal priesthood, composed of every tribe and kindred of men, who continually offer up, by Jesus Christ, spiritual sacrifices to God. But there is the very reverse of any necessary limitation of this kind, in regard to the mention which is made of the Sabbath. It is placed among those duties which are common to all ages and all dispensations; and the expression used to describe the duty, “Keep the Sabbath from polluting it,” is such as unavoidably to imply a strict and literal observance of the day of sacred rest. So that the argument drawn from this passage, in support of a Christian Sabbath, remains in all its force; and the pious observance of it is held up to our view as both a clear evidence of a sound Christian state, and an essential part of God’s worship and service in gospel times.
- Another argument, precisely similar, is afforded by Isaiah (lviii. 13, 14), “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,
from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord,” etc. This prophecy does not contain such definite marks as the preceding one, by which we might at once determine, to the satisfaction of every reader, its immediate reference to gospel times. That it does refer, however, if not exclusively to these times, at least not less to them than to other times, or rather to them mainly, will scarcely be doubted by any one who considers the connection in which the prophecy stands, as both preceded and followed by predictions undoubtedly pointing to gospel times, and who duly weighs also the words themselves, in which the prophet here celebrates the Sabbath. The observances of the ceremonial worship were, indeed, strictly binding upon the Jewish worshippers, and, therefore, inseparably connected with their interest and God’s favour and blessing, so long as the dispensation stood to which they belonged. But still they were, in themselves, a yoke heavy to be borne, and imposed only till the time of reformation—observances not absolutely, but only relatively good, and so inferior to the higher parts of the law, that God declared that even He had no pleasure in them. But how different is the idea here given us of the Sabbath! All solemnity, honour, and delight to the pious heart, and in itself so precious, that the due observance of it, as required by God, should certainly bring along with it the highest tokens and blessings of His love! This surely does not savour of a ceremonial institute, itself of inferior value, and, like all of its class, soon to pass away into oblivion.
We think no person, who candidly considers what has now been advanced, can fail to conclude that the testimony of the prophets concerning the Sabbath, is in perfect accordance with the testimony of the law, as formerly explained. They both ascribe to the Sabbath a place in the ordinances of God very different from that assigned to those institutions, of which the use was inferior and temporary; and clearly teach that, as the
appointment of a Sabbath, coeval with the birth of time, had only been formally announced at the giving of the old covenant, so it should survive the existence of that covenant, and continue to the end of time, through the ages of that new and better dispensation, which was to provide for the highest wellbeing of man, both in time and in eternity.
The Late Donald M’Rae, Elder, St. Jude’s, Glasgow.
DONALD M’RAE was born in Arinaeruineachd, Applecross, on the 14th March, 1879. His parents’ names were John and Grace M’Lean. His mother died when Donald was eight years of age. He remembered well how she used to warn them against breaking the Lord’s Day and against all evil-doing. She told them the angels of the Lord encamped around all those that feared God. These sayings greatly impressed his young mind, but when he got with other careless boys he soon forgot all her admonitions.
On leaving school he was sent as teacher to a side school at Rona. Afterwards he went to Glasgow to learn to be a shipwright, where he worked at his trade till about the year 1909. Owing to dullness of trade on the Clyde he went to Edinburgh, where he acted as car conductor for some time. When there for some time, they approached him to go out to work on the Lord’s Day. He told them he would rather give up his work than encroach on the Fourth Commandment. When the work revived on the Clyde he came back to Glasgow to work at his trade.
While in Edinburgh, although he was of the United Free Church, he often went to the Free Presbyterian Church. Apparently he was brought to learn that the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. When he came back to Glasgow he attended St. Jude’s. He said he felt
that the truth there was delivered with more unction than in some of the places of worship he previously attended. Hearing the Rev. N. Cameron preach from the words: “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” etc., led him to learn that man’s own works were of no avail; that in Adam all sinned and came short of the glory of God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified before God. He became more and more convinced of the sinfulness of his nature and his need of the inward operation of the Holy Spirit to reveal to his soul the great remedy provided. As far as I could learn, I think the passage of Scripture that brought peace to his soul was: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
On some occasions his wife remembers him remarking how wonderful it was, that the very passage that he was meditating on and wishing to get light on was the very passage the minister spoke from, and gave him great enlightenment on the matter. It shows that his desire was to be gleaning in the fields of the Book of the New Testament.
He became an elder in St. Jude’s in 1922. Latterly he took up a confectioner’s and tobacconist’s business. He was glad to get a place within easy reach of the Church, as previously he had a good distance to walk on Sabbath days to St. Jude’s. Shortly before his last illness he remarked one day that this truth came most forcibly before his mind: “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.”
Some time after this he took ill with kidney trouble. From the first he concluded that he would not recover. When asked if he wished to get over his trouble he remarked that he would wish to be made reconciled to God’s will towards him, whatever that was. When asked what was his hope for the future, he
said, “My only consolation is that I hope I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” He after that remarked what a marvel it is that a Saviour came to this earth to suffer and die in the room and stead of poor guilty sinners.
He was not ignorant of the wiles of Satan, for some time after this he was greatly harassed in his mind fearing that he might not be one of God’s chosen, which caused him sleepless nights. “What a comforting passage to me,” he said, “is ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth.'” Another night, when without much rest, he said these words gave him comfort: “I will both lay me down in peace and quiet rest will take because Thou only me to dwell in safety Lord dost make.”
What pleasure it gave him when any of the Lord’s people called and had worship with him! I remember one of the times Rev. N. Cameron called, and after worship he asked if he had good hope for eternity. “Oh, yes,” he answered. He asked him if there was any particular truth before his mind that gave him comfort? “Yes,” he said, “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own sake, and I will not remember thy sins.” That is a great promise that one can rest upon, or words to that effect, Mr. Cameron remarked. The Rev. Robert Sinclair was most mindful of calling to see him during his illness, and he seemed so cheered by his presence. Most of the elders and deacons often called and had worship with him, which he greatly appreciated.
I may say that he was naturally of a very kind and cheerful disposition, and of a most forgiving nature. He cherished no illwill even towards his enemies. He was wonderfully patient under his trying malady. Latterly, he lost his power of speech. The last words his wife heard him repeat with great solemnity, when about to partake of a little food, were: “O Lord, bless Thy mercies to us, for it is Thine own blessing alone that maketh rich for time and eternity.” He often tried to speak
afterwards, but she could not understand what he said. Up to the very last we noticed he brightened up when any of the Lord’s people called and prayed beside him. He passed peacefully away on Wednesday, 28th January, 1931. He was laid to rest in Lochcarron Cemetery. M. B.
The Late Mr. John Campbell, Elder, Craigton, Bonarbridge.
THE death, on 2nd November, 1931, of Mr. John Campbell, removed from our midst one who was well known and highly respected, not only in the North but also in the West of Scotland, as a true follower of the Lord Jesus. He was born at Dalmore, Rogart, 79 years ago, where he enjoyed many privileges. While he was only a boy he and his worthy sister, the late Mrs. Grant, Evelix, accompanied their father to communions, and those communion seasons left on his youthful mind a lasting impression.
He frequently spoke of a godly old woman—Isabella Munro to name—whom he used to visit in his boyhood days. Her piety, the solemnity of her prayers and her loving admonitions, he often referred to. Of the late Rev. Alexander Macleod, who was minister in Rogart, he spoke with affectionate regard and deep respect to the end of his life.
At the age of 20 he left home and was employed as a shepherd for some years in different parts of Sutherland. This necessitated, in some instances, a long distance to walk to the public means of grace, and it was not unusual for him then to walk 26 miles on the Sabbath—13 miles each way to and from the place of worship.
In 1885 he went to Caithness. There he sat under the ministry of the late Rev. Roderick MacGregor, Canisbay. With great fervour he related time and again some precious things he heard from this minister. After spending seven years in
Canisbay, he went to Kingsburgh, in the Parish of Snizort, Skye, and shortly after going there he attended the first communion held in Portree in connection with the Free Presbyterian Church. That same year Free Presbyterian services were started in Glenhinisdale, and he took part in those services along with the late Mr. Malcolm Macleod and Mr. Charles Mackinnon—men who adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour. From the Parish of Snizort he removed to the Parish of Bracadale in 1897, where he was ordained an elder, and where, along with the late worthy Duncan MacKinnon, he held services for eleven years. By those men we have mentioned, and by others also, who were noted for their piety and discernment, John Campbell was held in the highest esteem as a man who, by his walk and conversation, proved that his treasure was where moth shall not corrupt and where thieves cannot break through to steal.
In 1908 he came to Craigton, Bonarbridge, where he was a source of strength to the cause of Christ for well over twenty years. Three or four years ago he, along with others, was very desirous that, as a congregation, we should have a place of worship of our own built in Creich. In the good providence of God he saw this accomplished, and it gave him great joy that the church was free of all debt in a few months after its erection.
In January, 1930, he was laid aside by an illness from which he never completely recovered, but he recovered sufficiently to be able to attend the services on the Sabbath up to within three weeks before he finished his course in time.
Death did not come unexpectedly. More than once during last summer he said he expected to be taken away soon. On his death-bed, until strength failed him, he always had worship with those who visited him and who were not in the habit of taking worship themselves—praying with them and warning them of the danger of passing out of time unsaved.
John Campbell was a man of sterling worth—humble and guileless—and one who clearly showed that Christ to him was most precious. Our congregation in Creich feel most keenly
the loss of one to whom they were strongly attached. To his sorrowing widow, and to his six surviving sons, and to his five daughters, we extend our sincerest sympathy. We commend them to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build them up and to give them an inheritance among all them who are sanctified.—D. J. M.
The Late Mr. Donald Ross, Elder, Lairg.
WHILE it is truly sad to be separated by death from those whose friendship and fellowship we highly valued and loved, yet there is great consolation when there is reason to believe they have gone to be with Christ, which is far better.
The subject of this brief notice had the very great privilege of being born of godly parents. This privilege is not given but to some, and we often find the Lord is pleased to use it not only for the temporal good but also for the eternal good of many sons and daughters. When Donald Ross was only two years old his mother died, and even at this early age we believe he would have felt keenly the loss of maternal love and care. It was at Torbreck, Rogart, he was born, on the 8th October, 1850, and at that time the late eminent servant of Christ, Alexander Macleod, was minister of Rogart. When Mr. Macleod died, Donald was then nineteen years of age, so he remembered well seeing and hearing that worthy man whose labours the Lord had signally owned particularly in Uig, Lewis.
What the means were that the Most High used to convince him of his lost and ruined state by nature, we are not able to say, but we are informed that the truth which gave him comfort when under soul concern is that recorded in II. Corinthians, xii., 9, viz., “My grace is sufficient for thee,” etc. Those words gave him comfort until he finished his course in the world.
From an early age he was regularly present at communion seasons in the parishes of Creich, Dornoch, Lairg and Rogart.
After the disruption of 1893, he whole-heartedly cast in his lot with those who, he was firmly convinced, had acted scripturally and conscientiously in leaving the Free Church and in taking up a separate position. That conviction he firmly held all his days.
Some ten years ago he was elected to the eldership, and he sought by grace to fulfil conscientiously the duties of his office as long as he was able.
For the last two or three years of his life he was sorely afflicted, and he evinced much Christian patience in his suffering. Very often, even when in pain, he would express his amazement at the Lord’s wonderful goodness to him. The psalms were a source of great comfort to him, and when drawing near the end of life’s journey, he often remarked they were more precious to him than ever. From the 36th and 73rd psalm he often quoted the following passages—”Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens,” etc., and “My heart and flesh doth faint and fail,” etc.
During the last months of his life his mind was much away from things earthly, and often when asked if he wanted anything he would reply: “Nothing but Christ.” He passed away peacefully on Sabbath morning, the 13th December, 1931. To his dutiful daughter, who nursed him lovingly and tenderly, and to his two sons and to his relatives, we extend our heartfelt sympathy and pray that his God may be their God for ever.
—D. J. M.
The Late Mr. Andrew Ross, Terryside, Lairg.
THE parishes of Sutherland, in common with many other parishes in the North of Scotland, have been greatly depleted in recent years of the trees of God that were bearing fruit which was unto holiness and the end everlasting life. By their removal we have evident signs of God’s displeasure while their places here below remain unfilled.
Andrew Ross was in his eighty-third year when he passed away on the 13th September, 1931, to be for ever, we believe, with the Lord. How many of those years he spent in ignorance of himself as a sinner and without God and without hope in the world we are not able to say, but for a number of those years he showed his love to God’s way of salvation, to His people and to His cause.
That passage of God’s word which is recorded in I. John, i. 7, particularly the words: “And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,” was made very precious to him. On hearing him quote these words one felt that he was receiving comfort and hope from them for eternity.
He took great interest in the testimony which was raised for the truth in 1893, when men whom God endowed with grace and intelligence saw that they could no longer remain in the Free Church without being unfaithful to God and without being unfaithful to their fellow-men. He unhesitatingly cast in his lot then with the Free Presbyterians, and he never regretted he did so.
Being gifted with a pleasing voice, he often for a considerable number of years led the praise in the Lairg congregation, and helped also in other ways in the absence of minister or missionary. The Lairg congregation feels the loss which his removal has caused, but we believe our loss is his gain.
To his sorrowing widow, to his six sons and to his four daughters, we extend our sincere sympathy.—D. J. M.
The Late Mr. Donald M’Leod, Duartbeg, Scourie.
THE subject of this notice was born in Elphin 62 years ago. He had the example and instruction of godly parents. His parents followed the good old paths, and their children were brought up in the same atmosphere. Donald took Duartbeg
sheep-farm some 30 years ago, where he lived with his wife and family until he died on the 16th March of this year.
Owing to his modesty and reserve we cannot say exactly much about the ways and means adopted by the Lord in effecting his conversion, but that there was a manifest change real and certain, the life and conversation, the spiritual experience and the knowledge of the man gave abundant proof. He told on one occasion that it was the death of a brother after a short illness that gave him the first serious concern about his soul. The Lord has often used the death of near and dear relations as means in awakening immortal souls from the lethargy and thraldom of spiritual death. This appears to have been true in the case of Donald. Much given to reading and praying in his own home, the Sabbath was especially set apart by him to these exercises. He usually rose early on Sabbath morning for these exercises, and thus prepared himself for the worship of God in the stated means. No consideration of an earthly nature would preclude Donald M’Leod from presenting himself in God’s house on the Lord’s day. Although the owner of a considerable number of sheep, he was never known to go to the hills after them on the Sabbath. He left them at the divine disposal on that day, and he was never disappointed with the results, for he had hardly ever lost any of them on the Sabbath.
He became a member in full communion in the year 1925, and the Session, which had hoped he would have come forward earlier, were very pleased. They were well satisfied with his knowledge and experience of the truth at his examination.
Some time after he became a member, the Session, realising its need of further strength and support, sought to press upon our late friend the duty of accepting the eldership. All necessary steps were taken to this end up to the stage at which it lay with himself to decide on acceptance. After being given some time to consider what he should do, he wrote the interim-Moderator, saying that he felt such mountains rising up between him and taking such a solemn step, he could not consider that he should become an elder. This shows how unfit and unworthy he felt
himself to be to take office in the Church of God. But that he would have proved a worthy and capable office-bearer, being well read, intelligent, and a spiritually-minded man, no one who knew him had any doubt. His remarks on “the question” at the fellowship meetings at Communion times which he attended, bore evidence of the grasp he had of the truth and its spiritual meaning. The Scourie congregation were well served while he lived, and he rendered great support to their aged and worthy missionary, Mr. Hector Morrison, who, in his declining years, mourns his loss. His removal, seen fit by the Lord, has made a great blank in his family, the congregation of Scourie, and in our Church as a whole. Donald had no use for shams in doctrine, worship, discipline, or the government of the Church of Christ. He adhered whole-heartedly to the Free Presbyterian testimony because of its uncompromising maintenance of the principles and doctrines of Christ’s true Church on earth. The present-day tendencies of marked departures from all these characteristics of the Church of God, all faithful contendings for Gospel truth, doctrine and worship in our day, serve to show all the more the urgent necessity there is of holding fast our profession and the form of sound words. The Church of Scotland is drifting into Episcopacy; which, in turn, is drifting to Roman Catholicism in all its shapes and forms. In other words, Scotland is rapidly departing from its Protestantism, and what shall the end be?
To his wife and family of sons and daughters, deprived of a worthy husband and father whose exemplary life, we hope, will not be unavailing in their case, we extend our deepest sympathy, and may the family continue to walk in the example their late father left them so that when their time to depart will come it will be said to them, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”—Psalm xii., 1.
M. M.
The Late Mr. William MacLeod, Kinlochbervie.
THERE has passed away at Inshegra, Kinlochbervie, where he was born, William MacLeod, aged 65, on 17th February, 1932. His father was one of the small group of men in Kinlochbervie who cast in their lot with the Free Presbyterians in 1893. William was a very regular attendant on the means. He told us some years ago of a portion of Scripture which deeply impressed him, viz., John xxi., 22. The writer asked if that was so, was he sure of being in the path of duty? The last time we saw plainly he had more than old nature could bestow, and he felt resolved to be in full membership, being encouraged by the words, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” He had the painful experience of losing one of his sons in a snowstorm over a year ago, and the malady that was to take him away soon began its deadly work. He is much missed in our little meeting, where he rendered help in the Gaelic singing. Whoever was absent William was sure to be present, if well.
Nadur an Duine ‘na Staid Cheithir Fillte.
CEANN II.
TRUAIGHE STAID NADUIR AN DUINE.
(Continued from page 185.)
Cunnail. Ach their cuid, “Nach ‘eil neo-chothromachd mòr eadar ar peacadh agus an fhearg air am bheil thu labhairt?” Freagram, Cha’n ‘eil: Cha’n ‘eil Dia a’ deanamh peanais ni’s mò na tha’m peacach a’ toilltinn. A chum do mhearaichd a chur ceart anns a’ chuis so, thoir fa’near, (1.) Na duaisean mor a choimheangail Dia ri umhlaichd. Cha’n ‘eil focal ni’s ro-laine do fheirg theinntich an aghaidh peacaichd, na tha e do dhua’isean grasmhòr air son na h-umhlaichd a ta e ag iarraidh. Ma tha neamh anns na geallaidhean, tha e ro-chothromach gu’m biodh
ifrinn anns na bagraidhean. Mur bitheadh bàs anns a’ mheidh maille ri beatha, truaighe shiorruidh maille ri sonas siorruidh e’ ait am bitheadh an co-chothrom? Thuilleadh air so, tha’m peacadh a’ toilltinn na truaighe; ach cha’n ‘eil ar n-oibre a’s fearr a’ toilltinn an t-sonais: Gidheadh tha iad le cheile air an eur f’ar comhair; peacadh agus truaighe, naomhachd agus sonas. Ciod an t-aobhar a ta mar sin air gearan? (2.) Ciod sam bith co cruaidh ‘sa tha’m bagradh, gidheadh tha gu leor aige r’a dheanamh ruigheachd gu crioch an lagha. “Biodh eagal an ti ud oirbh;” deir ar Tighearna, “aig am bheil cumhachd, an deigh neach a mharbhadh, a thilgeadh do ifrinn; seadh, a deiream ribh, biodh eagal an Ti so oirbh,” Luc. xii. 3. Tha so a’ nochdadh an eagal a thigeadh dhuinn bhi oirnn roimh chumhachd agus roimh mhorachd Dhé! Ach, gidheadh, cia tearc iad air am bheil eagal da rireadh roimhe. Tha fios aig an Tighearna gu bheil an cridhe peacach an dian-gheall air an ana-miannaibh a shàsuchadh; tha iad a’ leantuin co dluth ris na criochan salach sin, as nach e neart beag a tharruingeas a mach uapa iad. Tha feum acasan a tha siubhal troimh fhàsaichean, anns am bheil iad an cunnart o fhiadh-bheathaichean, air teine ghiulan leo: Agus tha feum ac’ air geinn cruaidh, aig am bheil fiodh cnòcach ri sgoltadh: Mar sin, is eigin gu’m bi lagh naomh air a dhion le fearg uamhasach, ann an saoghal ‘na luidhe an aingidheachd. Ach, cò iad a ta gearan gu bheil an fhearg so ro-mhòr, ach iadsan d’ am bheil i ro bheag gu’n tarruing o’n slighibh peacach? Se ‘n Duine air a bhi fuidh eagal roimh a Thighearn, a chionn gu’n robh e ‘na dhuine cruaidh, a ghleidh a phunnd taisgte ann an neapaicin; agus mar sin bha e air a dhiteadh as a bheul féin, Luc. xix. 20—11. Is tusa an duine sin, eadhon thusa, d ‘am bheil mi tabhairt freagraidh do gheairain. Cionnus is urrainn an fhearg fo ‘m bheil thu, agus d’am bheil thu buailteach, a bhi ro-mhòr, ‘nuair nach leòir i fathast gu d’ dhusgadh gu teicheadh uaipé? An àm e bhi lagachadh peanais an lagha, ‘nuair a tha daoine a’ saltairt àitheanta fuidh ‘n cois? (3.) Thoir fa’near mar a bhùin Dia r’a Mhac féin, an Ti “nach do chaomhain e,” Rom. viii. 32. Ghlae fearg Dhé greim air ‘anam agus air a chorp le chèile, agus
thug i gu h-ùir a’ bhàis e. ‘S ann do bhrìgh nàdur an Fhir-fhulaing, a bha neo-chrìochnach, agus a bha uime sin, comasach ann an aon uair, air uile uallach na feirge a ghiulan, nach robh ‘fhulangais siorruidh: Agus, air an aobhar sin, bha luach neo-chrìochnach ‘na fhulangais. Ach, ann an luach, is eigin doibh bhi air an sìneadh mach feadh na siorruidheachd. Agus ciod am bonn casaid is urrainn a bhi aig iochdaran ceannairceach air a thaobh féin, an aghaidh a’ pheanais a rinneadh air mac an righ? (4.) Tha ‘m peacach a’ deanamh na’s urrainn da an aghaidh Dhé: “Feuch, rinn thu aingidheachd mar a b’ urrainn dhuit,” Ier. iii. 5. Nach do rinn thu ni bu mhò agus ni bu mhiosa, biodh a bhuidheachas dhasan a chum air t’ais thu—do ‘n t-slabhruidh leis an robh am madadh-alluidh air a chumail a stigh, ‘s cha’n ann duit féin. Cha ‘n iongantach ge do nochdadh Dia a chumhachd air a’ pheacach, a ta a’ cur a mach a chumhachdsan an aghaidh Dhé, co fhad agus is urrainn dha ruigheachd. Cha chuireadh an duine neo-iompaichte stad air a shlighe peacach, agus cha mhò a chuireadh e crìoch rithe mur biodh e air a chumail air ais le cumhachd Dhé, air son aobharan glìce: agus air an aobhar sin, tha e ceart gu ‘m bi e gu bràth fuidh fheirg. (5.) Is ann an aghaidh mòrachd neo-chrìochnach a ta ‘m peacadh a’ bualadh! agus mar sin a ta e, air doigh fa leth, ‘na olc neo-chrìochnach. Tha ‘m peacadh a’ meudachadh ‘na dhroch-thoillteanas, a reir mòrachd an neach d’ an toirear oilbheum. Ma leònas duine a choimhearsnach, dìolaidh a mhaoin air a shon; ach ma leònas e ‘phrionnsa, is eigin d’ a bheatha dol, chum dìoladh a thabhairt. Tha neo-chrìochnachd Dhé a’ deanamh feirg neo-chrìochnach ‘na ceart thoillteanas airson a’ pheacaidh. Tha Dia ann an diomb neo-chrìochnach ris a’ pheacadh; agus an uair a chuireas e ‘n gnìomh e, is eigin da bhi cosmhuil ris féin, agus a dhiomb a thaisbeanadh le meadhona comh-fhreagarrach. San àite mu dheireadh, Bithidh iadsan a bhios ‘nan luidhe gu bràth fuidh fheirg, gu siorruidh a’ peacachadh; agus, uime sin, is eigin doibh a bhi gu siorruidh a’ fulang: cha’n ann a mhàin a thaobh oibreachadh laghail ceartais Dhé, ach do bhrìgh gur e peacadh a pheanas féin, ceart mar is i umhlachd naomh a dhuais féin.
Feum (1.) Air son Foghluim. Am bheil ar staid, thaobh
nàduir, ‘na staid feirge? Ma tha,
-
‘S cinnteach nach ‘eil sinn air ar breith neo-chiontach. Tha
na slabhruidhean feirge so a ta do thaobh nàduir oirnn, ag
innseadh gu ‘n robh sinn air ar breith ‘nar ciontach. Feudaidh
na cuibhrichean-speilidh, leis am bheil naoidheana air an ceangal
eadar làmh agus chois co luath as a ta iad air am breith, ar cur
an cuimhne air cuibhrichean na feirge, leis am bheil iad air an
cumail ‘nam priosanaich, mar chloinn feirge. -
Ciod an t-eucail anabarrach a ta ann do pheacaich a bhi dol air
an aghaidh ‘nan slighe peacach. Ciod e, ach a bhi carnadh eibhle teine air do cheann féin, agus a bhi cur an tuilleadh connaidh ri teine na feirge; a bhi “carnadh suas feirge dhuit féin fa chomhair là na feirge!” Rom. ii. 5. “Feudaidh tu bhi air do sgrios, ‘nuair a lasas ach gu beag a chorruich!” Salm ii. 12. C’arson a mheudaicheas tu i fathast ni’s mò? Tha thu cheana air do cheangal le leithid do chuibhrichean bàis, as nach bi gu furasda air am fuasgladh; ciod am feum a th’ air tuilleadh? Staid a pheacaich neo-churamach, agus thoir so fa’near. -
Cha ‘n ‘eil aobhar gearain agad, fhad ‘s a tha thu á ifrinn: “C’ uim an dean duine beò gearan?” Tuir. iii. 39. Ma bhios aon a thoill a bheatha chall, air fògradh o thìr a dhùthchais, agus air fhàgail buailteach do iomadh cruaidh-chàs; ‘s maith a dh’fheudas e giulan leo uile gu foighidneach, a chionn gu bheil a bheatha air a caomhnadh. Am bheil sibh a’ monmhur, a chionn gu bheil sibh fuidh chràdh tinneis? Ni h-eadh, thugaibh buidheachas do Dhia, nach ‘eil sibh anns an àite, far nach bàsaich a’ chnuimh gu bràth. Am bheil thu gearan nach ‘eil thu ann an staid co maith san t-saoghal ri cuid do d’ choimhearsnaich? Bi taingeil, nach ‘eil thu ann an staid na muintir a ta air an damnadh! An do chaill thu do mhaoin? Biodh iongantas ort nach do sgrios teine feirge Dhé thu féin. Pòg an t-slat, O pheacaich; agus aidich tròcair: oir cha d’ rinn “Dia peanas oirnn a reir ar droch thoill- teanais,” Esra ix. 13.
Ri leantuinn.