BY REV. D. BEATON, OBAN.
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises”
—(II Pet. i. 4).
WHEN the Lord announced to Peter that Satan had desired to have him that he might sift him as wheat his gracious Master told him that he had prayed for him that his faith might not fail and He exhorted him to strengthen his brethren after his conversion. In passing through this unforgettable experience Peter learned with tears the danger of self-confidence and self-sufficiency and when he wrote the two epistles which go under his name it will be found that there is much in them to strengthen the household of faith not only among the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia but among God’s people scattered throughout the world down through all the ages. In the words of the text the Apostle is directing attention to the promises of God and describes them as exceeding great and precious. Precious is a favourite word with Peter. He speaks of the precious blood, the precious Saviour, precious faith and in this verse precious promises. All these, however valueless to the world, were precious to the Apostle. In dealing with this portion of God’s Word let us consider I. The Promiser. II. The Promises. III. The description of the Promises—exceeding great and precious. IV. Those for whom the Promises are given.
I. The Promiser. The value of a promise depends to a great extent on the character of the person promising and on the resources that he has at his command to make his promise or promises good. If past experience prove that the man cannot be relied on or that, however willing, he was to fulfil his promises yet that, owing to want of resources, he utterly failed, one’s confidence in the fulfilment of the promise if not completely undermined would at least be shaken. No such misgiving need disturb the minds of those to whom God’s exceeding great and precious promises have been given. His character and His
resources alike are pledges for the fulfilment of His promises. (1) He is the God that cannot lie. The truth of God is a pledge to His people that all His promises will be fulfilled. Joined with His truth is the immutability of His character—He changes not. We may change but he abides faithful. This union of truth and immutability are brought out in the words which the Lord put into the mouth of Balaam: “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall he not make it God?” (Nums. xxiii. 19). (2) His resources are inexhaustible; so no failure of the promise need be anticipated from this quarter. The greatness of the promise or the seeming impossibility of its fulfilment need not stagger the believer. For if faith is in lively exercise it will be said of him as it was said of the Father of the Faithful—”He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was able also to perform” (Roms. iv. 20, 21). The fulfilment of the promise seemed an utter impossibility but faith in living exercise sees no impossibility when God is the Promiser and Worker. (3) But not only are the illimitable resources of God to be taken into account but also His omnipotent power. Obstacles great and formidable may stand blocking the way and the believer is too ready Zerubbabel-like to look at the mighty mountain and to think of his own power only. He sees in the removal of the mountain something that is far too great a task for human power. But it is not by human might nor power, such as Zerubbabel possessed, but by the Spirit of the Lord the obstacle is to be removed. (4) Not only have we God’s truth pledged for the fulfilment of His promises but He has given His oath that His promises will be fulfilled as is clearly brought out by the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews—”Wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge
to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Hebs. vi. 17, 18). (5) God has also given the assurance of the fulfilment of His promises in Christ, promises which looked like they would never be fulfilled and the fact they were fulfilled in the most unexpected and extraordinary ways is an earnest that all His, as yet unfulfilled, promises will be fulfilled in His own appointed time. All His promises are yea and amen in Christ. (6) As the omniscient God He knows all things, the strength of the opposition that bars the way to the fulfilment of His promises, all the obstacles standing in the way and He has His plans all ready. He is not like men who may find it necessary to review or revise their plans owing to the emergencies of circumstances unanticipated and which completely upset their plans.
It will thus be seen that those for whom the promises are intended need have no feeling of fear that God will not fulfil what He has promised. As the God of truth He cannot lie and His faithfulness is pledged that His promises will not remain unfulfilled. Happy are the people who have such a God as this.
II. The Promises. The divine promises may be divided into two great classes: 1. Those made to the Church and 2. those made to the individual believer. The promises made to the Church are exceeding great and precious but for the present we intend to confine attention to the promises made to the individual believer. These promises are scattered throughout God’s Word like the stars in the firmament of heaven and as the stars the darker the night the brighter they shine. The believer has his dark nights—doubts as to his state, fears as to the future, and perplexities in the mysterious unfoldings of God’s providence—but, if by faith, the promises of God shine out how different do all things then appear. In regard to the Promises there are certain things connected with them which may be noticed in passing. (1) Their number. How many are the promises scattered up and down the Word of God! From the primeval promise until the last written in the Bible surely there are sufficient to meet the needs of God’s great family scattered throughout the wide world. It would be an encouragement to
faith, if in reading the Bible, these promises were carefully noted and meditated upon. If God’s people were what they should be they would search for these precious gems with an earnestness that would excel that of those who search for the precious stones of the earth but alas! how negligent we are and, if for a season, we begin the search we are so ready to give it up as if we were searching for only some common thing. (2) Their variety. The people who are being prepared for Heaven by the Holy Ghost are a people who are passing through a varied experience. Some are beset with fears; doubts track the footsteps of others; some meet with trying temptations; others are overwhelmed with trials. The infinitely wise God knows what is best suited to prepare His people for the inheritance of the saints in light. What would suit one may not suit another. Hence the Lord’s promises are of a very varied nature so that whatever may be the plight of His people they may find when the Holy Spirit applies the promise that which they stand in need of. God’s children are beset with many fears and how many are the promises to meet their case! “Fear not” meets us time and again in His Word. Then they are a people called upon to pass through troubles and tribulations and to meet this how many precious promises there are to meet their case! “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me” (Ps. 1. 15). We have the words of one who called upon his God in the day of trouble and enshrined his experience forever in the beautiful acknowledgment—”I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewst near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, ‘Fear not'” (Lamentations, iii. 55-57). Time would fail to speak of the varied experiences for which there are promises in God’s Word and when these are applied by the Holy Spirit they are “exceeding great and precious.” (3) Their suitability. God knew from all eternity the plights in which His people would be. Some are sorely tempted; others are not called upon to pass through such trying temptations. To the former the words:
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Cor. x. 13) are precious. It is when Need and the Promise meet that the preciousness of the promise is realised and appreciated.
III. The description of the Promises—exceeding great and precious. In this description the exceeding greatness of the promises is first mentioned and secondly their preciousness. It is in keeping with the character of the Promiser that His promises should be exceeding great. Perhaps the best way of setting forth this truth is to turn our attention to some of the promises that were made to Abraham and David. (1) Promise to Abraham. When Abraham received the call from God to leave his own country and kindred, God promised that He would make of him a great nation and bless him and make his name great and that he would be a blessing. He further said: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. xii. 2, 3). This promise was renewed after Lot separated from him—“Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered” (Gen. xiii. 14-16). These were wonderful words yet all that Abraham possessed of the land of Canaan was a grave. But the most wonderful thing in the promise is more clearly brought out in the renewal of the promise after Abraham’s trial of faith—“By myself I have sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing thee I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy
seed shall the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. xxii. 16-18). Is the promise limited to Abraham’s natural seed? No doubt the promise takes them in so far as they were to possess the land but the promise is much more far-reaching than that. It is not to “seeds” as of many but to “seed” as of one that the promise has its highest fulfilment. The natural seed of Abraham can be numbered but who shall number the seed of Him in whom all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. They are a multitude which no man can number. So this promise is an exceeding great promise. (2) So in like manner is the promise made to David—”I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations” (Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4). Was the promise limited to David’s natural seed? Surely not; the promise pointed to Him who, while David’s seed according to the flesh, was David’s Lord. This, again, was surely an exceeding great promise. Other illustrations might be called from God’s Word as illustrative of the exceeding greatness of God’s promises.
- But they are not only exceeding great they are also precious. Anything precious is something we set value upon—something that can never be replaced—something that money cannot buy. Now there is nothing in this world that can take the place of the promises of God for those for whom they are intended. They bring comfort which the world cannot give and cheer the drooping spirits of those that are ready to faint. All the world’s wealth cannot buy this comfort and so God’s promises are precious. They are precious also because they have respect to the exceeding riches of God’s grace and to the goodly inheritance that is awaiting God’s redeemed. How precious is the promise! : “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee” (Is. liv. 10).
IV. Those for whom the Promises are given. These are described by Peter as those who “have obtained like precious
faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Pet. i. 1). The exceeding great and precious promises then are not for all and sundry; in other words they are intended for the household of faith. And while it is true that the Father hath blessed them with all spiritual blessings—which include the promises—in heavenly places in Christ yet this does not say that they are always in need of all the promises at all times. Some of the exceeding great and precious promises may be nothing to them but words until they are in need. It is when the Holy Spirit directs the needy to some special promise that it becomes instinct with life and becomes very precious. It is also to be borne in mind that while the promises are so precious and so abundant God’s people cannot take them and receive the encouragement from them whenever they please. It is the Holy Spirit that directs them to the promise and applies it. However, they have this encouragement that God has richly provided for their needs in this world and in the world to come. There are promises that have respect to their happy state in eternity such as “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephes. ii. 7). We close with the words of the Beloved Disciple: “This is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life” (I John, ii. 25). God’s people, therefore, can look forward to the full enjoyment of life that shall never end which precious gift God bestowed upon them in the day of their effectual calling.
Should Christians Observe Christmas and Easter?
BY THE REV. W. A. AITKEN,
Reformed Presbyterian Church, North America.
IN 1925 the Reformed Presbyterian Synod declared:—
“The religious observance of Christmas, Easter or of Lenten fast and self-denials has always been discountenanced by our Church” (Minutes of Synod, p. 93). In view of the fact that
Christmas and Easter are now so generally observed by other denominations, we may well ask why has the Reformed Presbyterian Church sought to maintain an attitude of protest against these observances?
The Scriptures make it plain that the Word of God is to be the guide of the Church in instituting her ordinances of worship. “What is not commanded in the Word of God is forbidden.” This is the Scriptural law of worship. Israel was severely chastened when she added to or diminished from the ordinances of worship which God had appointed. Speaking in his day, John Owen, the great British theologian declared that a disregard for the Scriptural law of worship “lies at the bottom of all the confusion, blood, persecution, and wars that have for so long a season spread themselves over the face of the Christian world.”
For the religious observance of Christmas and Easter there is no divine authority whatsoever. The Spirit has inspired a silence in regard to the date of Christ’s birth. No such custom as the Christmas idea was found in the early centuries of the Christian Church. The same may be said in regard to Easter. The only memorial of the resurrection that has divine authority behind it, is the observance of the Christian Sabbath. Believers have no more authority for the observance of Christmas and Easter than Jeroboam had for setting up altars and groves at Bethel. When the service of worship was opened at Bethel, the prophet of the Lord was present to testify against it as a rival to the worship which God had appointed at Jerusalem. In observing Christmas and Easter, believers are walking in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
The Israelites were commanded to destroy the heathen altars and groves and in no case transform them for the worship of Jehovah. But the Church of Rome has always followed the policy of adapting heathen ritual for the service of Christ. She claims the power to pour the spiritual meaning of Christianity into the religious festivals and ceremonies of Pagan peoples.
December 25th was the date of the greatest of all feasts among sun-worshippers. It celebrated the winter solstice, the birth of the new sun. Rome adapted this Pagan service into her ritual and said that on this date the Church would observe mass and partake of a festival in celebration of the birth of Christ.
In like manner, Easter, a feast observed by Pagans to celebrate the return of Spring, was adopted by the Church of Rome and devoted to the celebration of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Rome purposed that, by thus decking herself in the garment of Paganism, she would popularise Christianity and sweep the heathen into her fold. It is true that by this union the offence of the cross is made to cease, but the knowledge of the way of life in Christ is thereby made to become obscure. The joining of Christianity with Paganism in the common observance of certain festival days as memorials of leading events in these two opposite religions has resulted in profound and endless confusion.
When Jeroboam set up the altar at Bethel he not only separated the ten tribes from the divinely-appointed place of worship, but he also divorced them from the saving principles of truth underlying Israel’s religion. He did not arrange for the observance of the Passover Feast, which embodied the basic principles of the Jew’s religion, but chose the popular feast celebrating the ingathering of the harvest. He changed the time of the feast from the seventh to the eighth month, but was careful to hold it at the time of the full moon, that its gladdening light might rest upon the service. He cast out the Levites from acting as priests and appointed priests from the other tribes in Israel. He used the groves and high places for worship. And he brought in heathen priests.
A similar course is followed by Churches that observe Christmas and Easter. In these services divine authority and provision is set aside to give place to that which is of human origin. In spite of any efforts to the contrary, these religious observances result in celebrations which are made attractive by the sensualistic elements that enter into them, and call attention to the
events in the life of Christ in such a way as to leave these events unassociated with the saving principles which underlie Christian faith. In these observances we note: (1) If Psalm-singers decide to join in the religious observance of Christmas, one of the first acts is to cast out the Psalter, for there are no Christmas songs in it, and the hymn-book, with songs of human composition brought in. (2) Congregational singing, the right of each believer to join in the service of praise, must go, and the singing be left to a select group with voices trained to furnish a musical festival in the celebration. During the “Dark Ages,” the singing in religious celebrations was monopolised and commercialised by professional choristers. Congregational singing was unknown. It took the Reformation to restore this gospel privilege to the people. (3) Pageantry takes the place of the preaching of the Word. Church plays of the nativity of Christ were introduced by the Church of Rome in the eighth century. She also developed Passion plays for the Easter celebration. This pageantry, like the picture and images of the Church of Rome, is full of fascination for the carnal mind, but fails to reveal the saving principles of the Gospel that underlie these great events. Pageantry is popular to-day in Modernistic Churches, because Modernism ignores the underlying principles of the Christian faith. The making known to the world of the doctrines essential to salvation, such as original sin, the Virgin Birth of Christ, the vicarious atonement, repentance unto life, and saving faith, depends not upon pageantry, but upon the use of God’s appointed means—the preaching of the Word. (4) Giving according to man’s inclination takes the place of that which has the approval of God’s Word. Unbelievers, as well as believers, go to great lengths in giving gifts at these seasons. But, some may ask, what about the gifts of unbelievers? And is the “community tree” acceptable unto God? In response, we ask, will God have respect to the persons and gifts of people who reject the gift of His Son? The Scripture says that unto Cain and his offering God had not respect.
When King Saul substituted a sacrifice for obedience to God’s command, he was severely rebuked. God had commanded him to wipe out a heathen tribe and to utterly destroy their substance. But Saul saved the best of the substance as “an offering unto the Lord.” This unfaithfulness and presumption cost him his crown. And the Spirit of the Lord departed from him. His fate stands as a permanent warning to God’s people. In the face of the increasing evidence of lack of power and the sense of the loss of the Spirit’s presence in the Church to-day, should we not be anxious to know if she has been unfaithful in doing the thing which God had commanded her to do, and presumptuous in doing the thing which He had not commanded. According to the direction of the Great Commission, the Church is commanded to go forth with the gospel, which is the sword of the Spirit, and destroy the heathen religion, together with all the religious festivals attending it. The command is, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Nothing is said in the commission about sparing the best of the Pagan festivals and transforming them to the glory of God. Will not the Church experience a new consciousness of divine power and the presence of God’s Spirit resting upon her when she returns to the faithful preaching of the gospel and the zealous maintenance of her God-given memorials, and discontinues the religious services that have been derived from the heathen, and which she has presumptuously sought to transform and present as an “offering unto the Lord?”
(5) In the Easter celebration, the resurrection of Christ is linked with the vernal rejuvenescence of earth. By this Satanic device, Nature is exalted to a level with grace in revealing the character of God, while the supernatural is brought down to a level with the natural. The result is that Christianity loses its significance and power. Development in this line may be gradual, but it is inevitable. When the Easter service is introduced into the Church, the pulpit is supplied with an abundance of flowers for the occasion. These are made the basis for at least a short service. Like Modernism, the flowers give a message concerning
the goodness of God, but are silent concerning sin, the atonement, and the supernatural in the resurrection of Christ, and other saving principles of the gospel. Complaints may be heard that the Easter message given in the distinctively Modernistic pulpit has had to do entirely with the flowers. In the open-air services held on the high places, the popular theme is “the resurrection of nature.” In the famous Easter service on Mt. Rubidoux in California, the reading of the poem, “God of the Open Air,” for many years has taken the place of a sermon. The heart of this poem is found in these lines, a prayer by the author:
“By the faith that the wild flowers show, when they bloom
unbidden;
By the strength of the tree, that clings to its deep foundation;
By the courage of a bird’s light wings on a long migration;
(Wonderful spirit of trust that abides in Nature’s breast!)
teach me to confide, and live my life and rest.”
The spirit of this poem is such as tends to devitalise Christianity and develop Paganism. It leads to the deifying of nature, and idolatry. Wherein is the fascination in the religious exercises of the Christmas and Easter celebrations? Why are they regarded with such fondness by the world? What is there in these services that so inflames the minds of those who join in them? Is it the manner of religion that is born of the Spirit, or is it the spurious type that is born of the flesh?
Is it not the fascination in these services, for the most part, to be found in the popularity of the type of religion that accompanies them, and the sensualistic elements that enter into them, and furnish a festival to the sensibilities of the natural man? Many have been led to realise that, in yielding to the fascinations of the colourful and sensational programmes of these religious celebrations, they have been enticed, and have yielded to the solicitations of the Scarlet Woman, and have been guilty of a season of spiritual fornication. Participation in these unauthorised and unwarranted Church festivals does not increase respect for the authority of Christ, but rather tends to diminish it. It does not increase respect for the ordinances of Christ’s
appointment, but it does create a passion for religious services of man’s device.
After Israel started to walk in the ways of Jeroboam, her history was summed up in three words, apostacy, idolatry, captivity. To-day we see a Protestantism that is walking in the way of the Church of Rome. We see a Protestantism that has lost its protest and is in bondage. In bondage to the belief that “the glorious gospel of Christ is played out, and that its original power is gone, and it needs for its success to be supplemented by arts of man’s device.” In bondage to the observance of “days, and months and seasons.” In bondage to a sensualistic type of worship, and to emotionalism. In bondage to a growing lack of conviction or courage in standing in defence of the great principles of the gospel that secured for the world the Protestant Reformation. In bondage to an unbelief that is leading in the way of the lost tribes toward Babylon. Let us hope that the reactionary groups of to-day are the heralds of a coming great reformation. Although lightly esteemed in the eyes of the large apostate Protestant bodies, these small groups are striving not only to proclaim a sound gospel, but also to purge the Christian worship of the gross corruptions that have come into it. As a pastor of one of the groups expressed it: “The Christmas services in the Churches to-day represent the unknown Christ. If the world is to be saved there must be the preaching of the saving principles of the gospel.” On the bill-board of another of these groups was the sermon topic, “Christmas of Romish and Pagan Origin.” The expression of another church worker was: “Not Santa Claus But Satan’s Claws.”—Old Paths.
Directions for Christian Conduct.*
WORTHY and dearly beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. I received your letter. I wish that I could satisfy your desire in drawing up, and framing
*This is a letter by Samuel Rutherford to John Fleming, a Leith Bailie.
for you, a Christian directory. But the learned have done it before me, more judiciously than I can; especially Mr. Rogers, Greenham, and Perkins. Notwithstanding, I shall show you what I would have been at myself; howbeit I came always short of my purpose.
- That hours of the day, less or more time, for the Word and prayer, be given to God; not sparing the twelfth hour, or mid-day, howbeit it should then be the shorter time. 2. In the midst of worldly employments, there should be some thoughts of sin, death, judgment and eternity, with at least a word or two of ejaculatory prayer to God. 3. To beware of wandering of heart in private prayers. 4. Not to grudge, howbeit ye come from prayer without sense of joy. Downcasting, sense of guiltiness, and hunger, are often best for us. 5. That the Lord’s Day, from morning to night, be spent either in private or public worship. 6. That words be observed, wandering and idle thoughts be avoided, sudden anger and desire of revenge, even of such as persecute the truth, be guarded against; for we often mix our zeal with our wild-fire. 7. That known, discovered, and revealed sins, that are against the conscience, be eschewed, as most dangerous preparatives to hardness of heart. 8. That in dealing with men, faith and truth in covenants and trafficking be regarded, that we deal with all men in sincerity; that conscience be made of idle and lying words; and that our carriage be such, as that they who see it may speak honourably of our sweet Master and profession. 9. I have been much challenged—(1) For not referring all to God as the last end; that I do not eat, drink, sleep, journey, speak, and think for God. (2) That I have not benefited by good company; and that I left not some word of conviction, even upon natural and wicked men, as by re proving swearing in them; or because of being a silent witness to their loose carriage; and because I intended not in all companies to do good. (3) That the woes and calamities of the kirk, and of particular professors have not moved me. (4) That at the reading of the life of David, Paul and the like, when it humbled me, I (coming so far short of their holiness) laboured
not to imitate them, afar off at least, according to the measure of God’s grace. (5) That unrepented sins of youth were not looked to, and lamented for. (6) That sudden stirrings of pride, lust, revenge, love of honours, were not resisted and mourned for. (7) That my charity was cold. (8) That the experiences I had of God’s hearing me, in this and the other particular being gathered, yet in a new trouble I had always (once at least) my faith to seek, as if I were to begin at A, B, C again. (8) That I have not more boldly contradicted the enemies speaking against the truth, either in public church meetings, or at tables, or ordinary conference. (10) That in great troubles I have received false reports of Christ’s love, and misbelieved Him in His chastening; whereas the event hath said, “All was in mercy.” (11) Nothing more moveth me, and weighteth my soul, than that I could never from my heart, in my prosperity, so wrestle in prayer with God, nor be so dead to the world, so hungry and sick of love for Christ, so heavenly-minded, as when ten stone-weight of a heavy cross was upon me. (12) That the cross extorted vows of new obedience, which ease hath blown away, as chaff before the wind. (13) That practice was so short and narrow, and light so long and broad. (14) That death hath not been often meditated upon. (15) That I have not been careful of gaining others to Christ. (16) That my grace and gifts bring forth little or no thankfulness.
There are some things, also, whereby I have been helped, as:— (1) I have been benefited by riding alone a long journey, in giving that time to prayer. (2) By abstinence, and giving days to God. (3) By praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them, I have often gotten something for myself. (4) I have been really confirmed, in many particulars, that God heareth prayers; and, therefore, I used to pray for anything, of little importance soever. (5) He enabled me to make no question, that this mocked way, which is nicknamed, is the only way to heaven.
Sir, these and many other occurrences in your life, should be looked into, and (1) Thoughts of Atheism should be watched
over, as, “If there be a God in heaven?” which will trouble and assault the best at some times. (2) Growth in grace should be cared for above all things; and falling from our first love mourned for. (3) Conscience made of praying for the enemies who are blinded.
Sir, I thank you most kindly for the care of my brother, and of me also. I hope it is laid up for you, and remembered in heaven. I am still ashamed with Christ’s kindness to such a sinner as I am. He hath left a fire in my heart, that hell cannot cast water on, to quench or extinguish it. Help me to praise, and pray for me, for ye have a prisoner’s blessing and prayers. Remember my love to your wife. Grace be with you. Yours in Christ Jesus. S. R.
The Rev. Rowland Hill.
REV. ROWLAND HILL, one of the celebrated evangelical preachers of England was born at Hawkstone Park, Shropshire, 23rd August, 1744, and died at London 11th April, 1833. He was educated at Eton and St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he came under the influence of the Methodists. His zeal in preaching the gospel accompanied as it was with a dash of eccentricity soon made him a marked figure. For preaching in the open air in and around Cambridge without licence he was opposed by the authorities and frequently assaulted by mobs. He was refused ordination by six bishops but finally he was ordained by the Bishop of Bath and Wells to the curacy of Kingston, Somersetshire. Not only did he meet with opposition from outsiders but his own father, Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., strongly opposed him and forbade him preaching near his residence. A pious sister, however, and his brother, afterwards Sir John Hill, who were like-minded with him gave him their support. When his father died, Rowland, was heir to the baronetcy and estate but he renounced these on behalf of his brother, John. From a legacy left him by his father he built Surrey Chapel, London, in 1783. Here he preached to immense audiences till his death. Attached to the Chapel there
were thirteen Sabbath Schools with an enrolment of 3000 children. Rowland Hill visited Scotland and Ireland and wherever he went he drew immense crowds. His eccentricities, no doubt, have not been lessened in the telling but behind them all there was a deep seriousness in preaching the everlasting gospel. “I may,” he said on one occasion in answer to a charge made against his style of preaching, “sometimes forget my subject but I never forget my object in preaching.” The incident referred to in the verses succeeding this sketch occurred according to report while he was preaching in the open air in Moorfields, London, where a vast concourse of people had gathered. His text was Song of Solomon, i. 5: “I am black but comely.” While discoursing on these words it so happened that Lady Ann Erskine in a coach corresponding with her high position passed the way. Seeing the multitude she asked one of her attendants the cause of such crowds. She was informed that it was to hear Rowland Hill. Pausing in his discourse and raising his voice the impassioned preacher said: “My brethren, I am going to hold an auction and I crave your attention.” Then to their amazement he announced that it was a Lady that was to be put up for sale and that there were three bidders for her soul—the world, the devil, and the Lord Jesus. Lady Ann never forgot the preacher’s appeal so strangely and unexpectedly made. She afterwards was associated with the worthy Lady Huntingdon in her religious enterprises.
The Three Bidders.*
Will you listen, friends, for a moment,
While a story I unfold;
A marvellous tale of a wonderful sale
Of a noble lady of old:—
How hand and heart, at an auction mart,
Soul and body, she was sold.
*An incident in the life of Rev. Rowland Hill. The poet takes certain liberties in describing the incident and allows his imagination a little too much play perhaps but the gist of what took place is told in an interesting way.
‘Twas in the broad king’s highway,
Near a century ago,
That a preacher stood,—though of noble blood,
Telling the fallen and low
Of a Saviour’s love, and a home above,
And a peace that they all might know.
All crowded around to listen;
They wept at the wond’rous love,
That could wash their sin, and receive them
In His spotless mansions above:—
While slow through the crowd, a lady proud
In her gilded chariot drove.
“Make room,” cried the haughty outrider,
“You are closing the king’s highway;
My lady is late, and their Majesties wait,
Give way, good people, I pray.”
The preacher heard, his soul was stirred,
And he cried to the rider, “Nay.”
His eye like lightning flashes;
His voice like a trumpet rings.
“Your grand fête days, and your fashions’ and ways
Are all but perishing things.
‘Tis the king’s highway, but I hold it to-day
In the name of the King of kings.”
Then,—bending his gaze on the lady,
And marking her soft eye fall,—
“And now in His name, a sale I proclaim,
And bids for this fair lady call.
Who will purchase the whole—her body and soul,
Coronet, jewels, and all?
“I see already three bidders,—
The World steps up as the first,
‘I will give her my treasures, and all the pleasures
For which my votaries thirst;
She shall dance each day more joyous and gay,
With a quiet grave at the worst.’
“But out spake the Devil, boldly:
‘The kingdoms of earth are mine.
Fair lady, thy name, with an envied fame,
On their brightest tablets shall shine;
Only give me thy soul, and I give thee the whole,
Their glory and wealth to be thine.’
“And pray what hast Thou to offer,
Thou Man of Sorrows unknown?
And He gently said, ‘My blood I have shed,
To purchase her for mine own.
To conquer the grave, and her soul to save,
I trod the winepress alone.’
“I will give her My cross of suffering,
My cup of sorrow, to share;
But with endless love, in My home above,
All shall be righted there:
She shall walk in light, in a robe of white,
And a radiant crown shall wear.”
“Thou hast heard the terms, fair lady,
That each hath offered for thee.
Which wilt thou choose, and which wilt thou lose,
This life, or the life to be?
The fable was mine, but the choice is yet thine,
Sweet lady, which of the three?”
She took from her hands the jewels,
The coronet from her brow;
“Lord Jesus,” she said, as she bowed her head,
“The highest bidder art Thou,
Thou gav’st for my sake Thy life, and
I take Thy offer—and take it now.”
“Amen,” said the noble preacher;
And the people wept aloud.
Years have rolled on—and they all have gone
Who formed that awe-struck crowd.
Lady and throng have been swept along
On the wind like a morning cloud.
But the Saviour has claimed His purchase,
And around His radiant seat,
A mightier throng, in a joyful song,
The wond’rous story repeat;
And a form more fair is bending there,
Laying her crown at His feet.
The Three Pictures, or How a Prodigal was Warned.
I WAS a young fellow at the time, and I had been living a racketty life for some six months on the Continent. With no one to check me in my folly, a full purse, and an indulgent mother at home in England who was continually advising me in her letter to see the world before I returned to settle down on my estate. What wonder that I plunged into the wildest dissipation. I drank, I gambled, and surrounded by company of the most doubtful kind I ran fast down the road to ruin. When one afternoon I strolled into a picture gallery in a quaint old town on the Rhine. My attention was at once arrested by three remarkable pictures.
THE FIRST PICTURE.
The first depicted a young man dressed in the fashion of the day sauntering leisurely along but with his eyes fixed on a hand that beckoned him to follow. The careless gaiety which was expressed in his face, and the pleasure with which he seemed to be obeying the call was depicted by a masterly hand. Flowers bloomed in his path, and bright sunshine seemed to beam all around him.
THE SECOND PICTURE.
The second picture was of a more sombre line. Again, the young man stands out as the centre figure, but his face is weary and downcast, trouble and anxiety is stamped upon his brow, and he is looking back irresolutely, as if wishing to retrace his steps. A slender cord is cast around him which the same hand as before is slowly but surely drawing along. He seems to feel its pressure and to be hesitating whether he will break it and escape, but the energy and strength before depicted in his figure seems to be deserting him, and apparently he is being led along with little or no resistance on his part. Black ominous clouds overhead are rolling up, the flowers are withering at his feet, and as I looked I gave an involuntary sigh of pity, before I turned to the third and last picture to learn his unhappy fate.
THE THIRD PICTURE.
Here he is again but the scene is so intensely painful and so lifelike in its depiction, that I shuddered as I looked! On the brink of a most awful precipice he stands, the horror of ruin stares him in the face. All the languor and vacillation of purpose has vanished now; he is struggling with all the strength of a man fighting for dear life, his head and shoulders thrown back, his heels planted firmly on a tuft of grass perilously near the edge and his hands attempting in vain to loosen the hold of a massive chain which binds him firmly in its grip. Below is depicted in all his satanic joy at a soul’s destruction the Evil One himself. In both hands he is holding the end of the chain which he appears to be dragging with the greatest ease and complacency.
I felt as I looked that escape was impossible and that the young man with his haggard and despairing face and bloodshot eyes was now realising the awfulness of his doom. “What a fool to let himself be conquered,” I muttered, “if only he had broken away before.” And then my own course of folly flashed across me, and I saw as I had never seen before that I was being led by an invisible hand to my destruction.
And now, friend, a word or two to you from one who has sinned and suffered, but through the help of God has escaped from the Devil’s power before it was too late.
Think over these Three Pictures and ask yourself the question: Where am I standing now? am I being enticed? or am I being drawn? or am I being dragged? And if you are led as I was to real anxiety about your fate, go straight in your helplessness to the only One that can free you, and He who is willing and is able to subdue all things unto Himself will deliver you and save you from the awful fate which the artist so feebly tried to depict in his last picture.