by Rev. Jonathan Ranken Anderson, Glasgow
(Taken from letters written to Mrs Anderson)
I 17th February 1840. However mortifying to my pride, I ought to submit to let my fellow creatures see something of that vileness which is never hid from the All-seeing eye. The consequence will be that, if I am sanctified, every one that knows me must be convinced that the work is of God and not of man.
II My times are in His hand, and I must be content to return to my work when He pleases. I am sadly troubled with a spirit of alienation; and feel as if I were an entire stranger to God in Christ. Pray for me, my dearest, that I may have much of the spirit of adoption.
III Saturday, 16th July 1842. For light, I could get none upon the subject of Lecture — John xx. 24-29 (The case of Thomas), and as for a Sermon, I did not know even the text. From these dismal prospects, however, a pretty good Sabbath emerged. The Lecture came so readily and abundantly that the fragments would have filled more baskets than the loaves and fishes. The people were exceedingly attentive and manifestly impressed, particularly while I opened up from verse 25th the nature of unbelief as resisting the clearest evidence, filling the heart with self-conceit, and limiting the Holy One of Israel. I got my text for the afternoon after I came home, in Isaiah xxvi 9 (“With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early; for when Thy judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness”), which I discoursed from under the following heads:— 1st The subjects of the desires expressed in the text; 2nd The desires they breathe; and 3rd The object they have in view; that the Lord would arise and execute His judgments; because then it is the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
IV 18th July 1842. I am not sorry, for your sake, that enemies rage; for if you are rightly affected, you will get the blessing promised to those of
whom you speak. The grace of God always gains by opposition of that kind, as steel becomes brighter by friction, and gold purer by the furnace. The secret of extracting honey out of the carcass of the lion, and of making a meal upon Leviathan is to be on the Lord’s side, and willingly suffer anything for Him and His cause: for the Lord is with us so long as we be with Him.
V Edinburgh — Monday after Communion Sabbath 1843. I have just come from Dr Begg’s after preaching from John vii, 37-38 — “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” I felt I was in the midst of the dead, but I trust my Lord helped me, and I preached with some degree of plainness and power.
The people had set themselves to dose out the thirty minutes allowed for a sermon, but the truth was too strong for them, and they were compelled to stare, and listen, and in some cases apparently to feel. Oh, that the dry bones may live! I had an uncommonly solemn season last night in Dr Elder’s from Hebrew iii, 19 — “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. The truth was awful and very weighty. Many of the people were in tears, and at one time I thought the fire of awakening was about to lay hold of them and wrap in a flame of deep concern a multitude of sleeping sinners. I have not had such a message for a long time, and was so exhausted that I had to stop at the middle of my illustration of my 2nd head, unbelief, as the cause of the judgment that was inflicted. I do trust good was done. Mr Elder said his beadle was trembling like an aspen leaf.
I went to Mr Gray’s on Saturday, fearful and anxious, with my text but no sermon. I cried, and struggled, and studied, but all was darkness till I was in the vestry and had on the gown; the light broke in, and heads and particulars lay before me in beauty and order. Oh who teaches like Him? The congregation was large and very fine; so I was on my P’s and Q’s, but the glory of Christ came out in such grandeur that my heart filled at one passage, and the people seemed moved. I preached from Rom. v, 6, ‘For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ Mr Gray said the people were rivetted, and his Elders expressed themselves much pleased. But what is all that if souls are not saved!
VI Edinburgh, 26th April 1843. Notes of sermon, Romans vii, 18, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.” The points illustrated were — 1st. The confession of the Apostle is just; 2nd. Attended with genuine humility; 3rd. Leads to a high esteem of Christ;
4th. Shuts up to a life of faith upon Him. I had some little liberty at the close of the first prayer, and the congregation seemed to be solemnized, but I had a good deal of the Edinburgh spiritual bondage.
VII Edinburgh, 27th April 1843. I am somewhat moved to desire that good may be done by the Word preached and the Sacrament dispensed here. But it is hard against the tide of unbelief and formality in our own hearts and in the hearts of others, to expect that the arm of the Lord will be revealed, and yet, according to our faith, so will it be with us. We do need entrance into the holiest of all; and oh, how wonderful that there is blood under the protection of which we may approach the consuming fire, and not be destroyed nor hurt!
VIII Gourock, 4th December 1841. I preached today from Rom. v, 10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by His life.” The principal part of the sermon was the state of those who are reconciled to God — “they were enemies” — a statement which completely shuts out the claims of works, and faith, and everything else in the creature, and proves that salvation emanates from undeserved and all-conquering love, and flows through surety righteousness, and surety death. Mrs P. said that she had never heard the doctrine of reconciliation handled so simply and fully; and both she and her daughter seemed to have been interested. But will you believe it? I was so poor and needy that I felt quite ashamed, and all the world could not let me into the truths of my own sermon. “Oh, send forth Thy light and Thy truth.”
Deputy to Canada
Reverend J. A. and Mrs Macdonald, Fort William, leave Prestwick Airport (D.V.) on Friday, 4th October for Toronto, Canada. Mr Macdonald expects to be in Ontario for seven Sabbaths before returning to this country. We would ask the Lord’s people to remember Mr and Mrs Macdonald at a Throne of grace. We trust that, in the Lord’s good providence, they will be carried in safety to their destination and eventually brought back again safely to this country. We desire, too, that Mr Macdonald’s labours may be blessed to the good of souls in that part of the world.
Letter
By Mr A. Docter, Holland
Oostsingel 31,
Delft.
22nd July, 1952
My dear friend,
So I have my holidays at last. Though I am usually strong as far as my body is concerned, I have been tired and exhausted of late. I think I overworked a little bit and although I should like to come to Scotland, I would not find a rest there unless I could restrict myself in calling only on a few friends; but this would be impossible for me as I like so many of your people. Therefore I decided to go with my wife to Kent, and spent a fortnight at a farm staying with a good friend.
Oh, to experience something like the man about whom we are reading in Acts ch. 8. I mean the eunuch. “He went on his way rejoicing.” I feel and experience the contrary — dead and dry, and what is worse that it does not trouble me as much as it ought. How happy the eunuch was! He had something behind him (first) a great interest in the truth; he read Esaia the prophet; (second) a boundless ignorance for he said How can understand except some man should guide me? and in the third place a strong faith when he said “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” How wonderful that the Lord sent Philip and said to him “Go near and join thyself to this chariot” and that in the desert. Now we are living in the wilderness Oh that the Lord would guide us through His Word and Spirit Philip was taken away but the Lord went with the eunuch.
It struck me last Sabbath when I was reading in John ch. 14 that Christ says “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” But Thomas saith unto Him Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way. Wonderful! what treasure is in His Word. How are your relations? Thank them for their kindness shown to me.
Receive our warmest regards,
Your Friend,
A. DOCTER.
He hates not sin a jot the less, because it is found in His own people. And though, for the magnifying of His mercy, He will pardon their sins, yet for the clearing of His righteousness, He will take vengeance upon their inventions.
John Flavel.
A Minister of God
The late Rev. D. N. MacLeod
(Continued from page 272)
By far the greater part of his ministry was to be spent in Ullapool. Inducted on the 9th day of July, 1924, he was to continue there until his death on the 5th day of April, 1967. The parish of Lochbroom had not been without the Gospel in the past nor forgotten by the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand. In the churchyard at Clachan the visitor will see the grave of Dr. Thomas Ross, a contemporary and close friend of that remarkable man, the Rev. Lauchlan Mackenzie, Lochcarron. Dr. Ross who, as well as being a faithful pastor of souls, was also a scholar and theologian of no mean repute, passed away shortly after the Disruption, to be succeeded as Free Church minister by the Rev. George Macleod. He, in turn, was much used of the Lord to awaken sinners to a realisation of the preciousness of their souls and the adequacy of God’s provision in Christ to meet their needs. Some of them were still alive twenty three years after his death when the Free Church changed her Creed and the cream of them wholeheartedly aligned themselves with those who took up a separate position. They left the Declaratory Act Free Church not as some would fain have it, because they were not intelligently aware of the true situation, due to their minister, the Rev. John Macmillan, having failed to inform them properly as to the Constitutional position, but because they fully realised the implications of that notorious Act becoming an integral part of its constitution and a binding law. Christians of the calibre of Roderick Mackenzie, Achmore, and John MacIver, Scoraig, were certainly well informed as to the Constitutional position and saw clearly that it was wholly inconsistent for anyone who professed faithfulness to the original constitution to remain in fellowship with the Declaratory Act Free Church.
The former was described by the Rev. J. R. Mackay as “one of the heaviest grains of wheat to be met with in these last years on the west coast of Ross-shire.” He died in 1907 but John MacIver was still alive three years after Mr Macleod’s settlement in Ullapool until he too, at the patriarchal age of 100, entered into the joy of his Lord. If, as is alleged, the people of Lochbroom were not properly informed by their minister, this could hardly have been the case in the neighbouring parishes of Laig and Creich. In the former parish the Rev. John Noble was their minister and mentor; in the latter the eminent Dr Gustavus Aird. Yet we find such men as Angus Gray, Sandy Murray and others in these parishes, eminent in their day for grace and godliness, impelled to differ with their ministers
over this vital matter and parting company with them rather than compromise. To insinuate that these men were guilty of schism and did not really grasp the realities of the situation is to tarnish their memory and cast a most serious reflection on their Christian character. The truth is that these godly men and women in Lochbroom and elsewhere had the mind of the Lord on the matter and when the time for action came they obeyed God rather than men. Mr Macleod’s predecessor in Ullapool, the Rev. Andrew Sutherland, left to join the present Free Church in 1918 but no one in the congregation, as far as we know, was apparently inclined to follow his example although by then, presumably, they were all very well informed.
In fulfilling his pastoral duties in Ullapool Mr Macleod had to care for a flock which was widely scattered from Coigach to the north to Scoraig, the isolated community on the north shore of Little Loch Broom and accessible only from the sea or by a rough footpath from the Dundonnell side. Achmore lies across the headland from Scorraig and the site of the meeting house was carefully and judiciously chosen midway between them so as to conveniently serve the two communities. There were then, we are told, some sixty or seventy adults living in the Scorraig area. At present none of the original stock is left as all the crofts have now been taken over by people from the south. Even the hallowed meeting house, once the focal point of the community, is now a ruin after having been, a few years ago, deliberately burnt down by one of the newcomers to the place. John Munro, who died at Kirkhill in 1950 when about 90 years old, was a native of Achmore and a member of the Ullapool Kirk Session in 1924. Nearer Ullapool itself, Alasdair Ross, who had been for some years in Harris as a missionary and colporteur, was then living and was held, with his brother George, in high regard by those who appreciated the worth of truly gracious men. There were others also, perhaps not so well known, but nevertheless such as adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour and served their own generation well. Between these men and their minister there was forged from the outset a close bond of mutual affection and trust and a care about the affairs of Christ’s Kingdom in their midst that was to last for as long as they were together in the world.
That Mr Macleod’s long ministry in Lochbroom was over the years a blessing to souls cannot be doubted, but he himself, although careful to leave the final result with God, often lamented the fact that there was so little evidence of the seed sown having borne fruit in the conversion of sinners. The godly men and women who were alive when he was first settled in Ullapool were one by one taken away and although the Lord was
not to leave Himself, even to this day, without a remnant in these parts, comparatively few were raised up to take the place of those removed. This state of affairs was by no means peculiar to the Lochbroom area, but as is alas! only too well known and too sadly evident, was generally the case throughout the land. The in-flow of the tide of ungodliness and infidelity had continued unabated as year succeeded year until the days of declension that Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie and others with prophetic insight had spoken of, came recognisably to pass. Among those already mentioned who adhered to the Free Presbyterian cause in Lochbroom there was a godly woman, Margaret Maclean to name. For forty years she regularly walked to Creich to hear Dr Kennedy and others preach the Gospel and it was while present there on one occasion that she heard the famous Dingwall minister say something which in after years she was frequently heard repeating: “Alas! poor Scotland, though exalted and joyful, little dost thou anticipate what is before thee.” It would appear that Dr Kennedy clearly saw that the outcome of all the innovations in worship and doctrine being introduced in his day was to result in the spiritual desolation of Scotland. Two world wars, so costly in lives, and the cause of so much sorrow and anguish, instead of arresting the nation on its backsliding course only seemed to accelerate the progress of spiritual and moral decay. The Lord’s Spirit being grieved away, the lot of ministers truly called to that office, and out of faithfulness to God and their ordination vows, committed to declare all the counsel of God, increasingly came to be far from an easy one. Mr Macleod, his contemporaries and successors in the Christian ministry were and are called upon to endure hardships to which perhaps Dr Kennedy was comparatively a stranger in his day, when vital godliness, although on the ebb, was still much in evidence, particularly in the Highlands of Scotland.
For decades now it has been for the most part commonly the lot of faithful ministers to see their words fall on deaf ears. This increasingly widespread apathy and indifference to the Gospel and the claims of the Saviour was regarded by Mr Macleod and others like-minded with him as a very solemn and sobering dispensation. On one occasion he summed it up in this way, and at least one person who heard him say it many years ago in Lewis never forgot it: “It is a most solemn matter when a generation passes by the Lord Jesus Christ but infinitely more solemn when the Lord Jesus Christ passes by a generation.” Speaking at the meeting of Synod in 1947 he expatiated on this theme and we think part of what he said will bear repetition.
(To be continued)
Gathan Gloir na Diadhachd
Leis an Urr. Eldeard Pearce
)Air a leantuinn bho t.d. 279
- Ach ann an so, mar ann an sgàthan, tha aimeadais agus cuthach mòr na muinntir a tha roghnachadh a chreutair air thoiseach air Dia, na’n roghainn agus na’n aignidhean, a cur an sonas an sin, agus cha’n ann Ann-san. Tha mòran (cha’n e a h-aon, na dha, na beagan, ach mòran) ag ràdh, co nochdas dhuinn aon ni maith? Agus ciod e a maith bu toil leo a nochdadh dhoibh? Arbhar, fion, oladh, Salm iv. 6. Maith a chreutair, maith mothachail, maith gu bhi lionadh càil fheolmhor; agus gu dearbh is e so a maith a tha chuid is moth a de dhaoinibh a roghnachadh ‘n an roghainn agus ‘n an aignidhean air thoisich air Dia, a cur fois agus sonas an anamaibh ann an sin. Tha aig a chuid is moth a de dhaoine smuaintean àrd mu’n a chreutair, agus smuaintean iosal mu Dhia; tlachd mòr mu’n a chreutair, agus tlachd beag mu Dhia; is ann an so ‘s an siud a tha neach a tha gu flirinneach agus gu dearbh a giullain a shonas ‘os ceann nan creutairean agus a leagas e air Dia: gabh a chuid is moth a de dhaoinibh agu: ‘s e’n creutair dha’m bheil iad a toirt gràidh, ‘s e’n creutair air am bheil iad a cur luach, ‘s e’n creutair a tha iad a roghnachadh, agus ‘s e’n creutair a tha iad a togail suas mar am fois agus an sonas; air son Dhé, cha bhi gnothuch aca Ris; mar a ghearain Dia mu’n timchioll bho shean, “Gidheadh cha d’eisd mo shluagh ri m’ghuth, agus cha do ghabh Israel rium.” Salm lxxxii.11. Ann am focal tha Dia agus na creutairean a roinn cridheachan agus aignidhean an t-saoghail uille eatorra.
Tha Dia dha thairgse fein do dhaoine mar fhois agus sonas an anamaibh, agus mar sin gu bhi air a ghràdhachadh, luach a bhi air a chur air, a bhi air a roghnachadh, a bhi air gabhail tlachd ann leo; air an laimh eile, tha na creutairean dha’n tairgse fein do dhaoine air an dòigh cheudna, agus tha iad le cheile a tagradh air son a bhi air gabhail riutha, agus co aca, guidheam oirbh, a tha buannachadh, Dia na’n creutair. gu flirinneach, ‘s e’n creutair leis a chuid is moth. Mo thruaigh! tha sinn feolmhor agus talmhaidh, agus tha sinn gu nàdurra a claonadh a dh’ionnsuidh nithean feolmhor agus talmhaidh, a gabhail riutha agus a dearmad Dhé, agus mar sin tha’n creutair air a roghnachadh air thoiseach air Dia. Oh! ciod e ‘n aimeadas agus an cuthach a tha’n so! a bhi rognachadh a chreutair air thoiseach air Dia ann ar roghainn agus ar n’ aignidhean. Se tha’n so ach a bhi roghnachadh falamhachd air thoiseach air lânachd, neo-niachd air thoiseach air foghainteachd, ach ‘s e th’ann mar an ceudna a bhi roghnachadh diomhanas air thoiseach air neo-gluasadachd, atharrachadh air thoiseach air neo-chaochlaidheachd, agus
oh, ciod e’n eimideas, ciod e’n cuthach a tha’n sol a bhi roghnachadh air thoseach air Dia, ann ar roghainn agus ann ar n’ aignidhean, ‘s e th’ ann ach a bhi roghnachadh soiteach nach cùm uisge air bith air thoseach tobar uisgeachab beo. Mar sin tha Dia Féin a dha chomharrachadh a mach mar olc dubh agus gràineil, Ier.ii.12, 13, olc a tha E gairm air na neamhan gu bhi gabhail ioghnadh, agus an talamb gu bhi air uamhasachadh do bhrigh e. O luchd mo ghràidh, ‘s e ni eagalach a th’ann a bhi roghnachadh slochd air toiseach air tobar; maith bochd, cumhann, gann, air thoseach air maith lân, gu leoir, gu’n toiseach, uile fhoghain-teach boinne roimh chuan de mhaiteas agus de mhìllseachd. Is e aimeadachd mhòr a tha’n so; ach a bhi roghnachadh slochd eu-dionach, agus slochd eu-dionach nach cum uisge air bith, air thoseach air tobar de dh’uisgeachan beo, neo-niachd a tha dol seachad roimh lânachd neo-chochlaidheach, ‘s e so gòraiche is moth, gòraiche a tha treorachadh gu cuthach; agus gidheadh ‘s e so gòraiche a chuid is moth de dhaoinne. Tha daoine feolmhor, anns na Sgriobtur an bitheanta air an gairm amadain agus cha’n eil an aimaideas air a nochdadh ni’s moth na ann an so, ‘s e sin an roghnachadh chreutairean caochlaidheach roimh’n Dia neo-chochlaidheach agus gu dearbh, ann an so c’áilt am b’urrain aimeadas ni’s moth a bhi? Ann an Lucas xii.19, tha aon a labhairt ri anam, ag rath, “Anam, tha agad mòran de nithean maith air an tasgadh fa chomhair mòran bhliadhnaichan; gabh fois, ith, òl, agus bi subhach.” Guidheam oirbh, gabhaibh beachd, cha robh aon fhocal mu Dhia na bheul, agus mar a dh’fhaodas sinn gu tearuinte a cho-dhùnad, cha robh smuainte mu Dhia na chridhe; ach bha e gu h-uile air a thogail suas le saibhlean, agus toraidhean, agus ionmhasan, agus gidheadh tha e ‘g àithne dha anam, a ghabhail fois agus suidhe sios. Bha Dia mar neo-ni dha, agus be’n creutair na h-uile ni dha. Seadh ciod e’n t-ainm a tha Criosd a toirt dha? Am bheil E toirt dha ainm mnatha no duine? Cha’n eil. Amadain (tha E’g ràdh). Tha Criosd dha gairm “Amadain,” mar a bu mhaith a dh’fhaodadh E, oir ciod e’n amaideas is moth na so, a bhi air a thogail suas gu h-uile le creutairean bàsmhor agus a bhi dearmad agus a di-chuimhneachadh Dia neo-chochlaidheach? Seadh, agus a bhi’g earalachadh anam a bhi gabhail fhois mar an ceudna, do bhrigh gu’n robh e cur thairis le comhfhurtachdan a chreutair. Gu dearbh, na’n robh e air a ràdh, Anam, gabh t-fhois bi subhach, tha ionmhasan neamhaidh air a chur suas ann am pailteas air do shon; ‘s e Dia do chuid, ‘s e Criosd da chuid, ‘s e ‘n Spiorad beannaichte an Comhfurtair do chuid, is leat neamh agus beatha mhaireannach, bhitheadh na ni coltach, ach a chridhe bhi air a thoirt suas le nitheamh feolmhor gu h-uile, dha’n roghnachadh
roimh Dhia, agus a bhi’g earalachadh anam fois a ghabhail agus a bhi subhach air chosg na nithean sin, ‘s e so aimeadachd le fianuis, agus co thoill an t-ainm, amadan, mar a thoill esan?
Ciod a their mi? Tha so, ‘s e sin, a bhi deanamh roghainn de-n chreutair air thoseach air Dia, na leithid de dh’amaideas, agus air a cheann mu dheireadh gu’n ruisge e gu naire agus gu masladh gu bràth gach neach a tha ciontach dheth, agus tha’n leithidean sin airidh air crochadh an slabhruidhean mar mhuiintir a tha ciontach de na comharraidhean is àirde air amaideachd agus cuthach. “Feuch so am fear nach d’rinn a neart do Dhia, ach a dh’earb a pailteas a bheartais, agus a neartaich e fein ‘n a aingidheachd.” Salm lii.7. Feuch, is e so an duine a roghnaich an creutair air thoseach air Dia, a rinn saoibhreas, agus cha’n e Dia a chuibhronn: is e so an t-aman, an dearbh amandan, an duine cuthaich sin; seadh, co air bith iad a ni so, chi iad mu dheireadh (ged a dh’fhaodas e bhi tuilleadh is anamoch) agus gheibh siad iad fein a bhi ‘n an amadain. Aig a chrioich (tha’m faidh ag ràdh mu leithid sin do neach) bithidh e na amadan. Ier.xvii.11. Aig a chrioich bithidh e na amadan. Aig a chrioich bithidh e na amadan! Ciod e! An robh e ‘n a dhuine glic aig a thoseach agus na shuibhal? Ni h-eadh, bha e na amadan fad an t-siubhal. Seadh, ged a bha e ne amadan, bha e dha smuainteachadh fein glic, ach mu dheireadh chi e aimeadachd, chi e gu’m b’ fhiar amadan e da-ríreadh. Agus O cia mar a ni sealladh air a leithid sin de dh’amaideas a chràdh agus a phianadh? Oh fhearaibh, ‘n uair a chi sibh sibh fein a dol a mach a dh’ionnsuidh staid neo chaochlaidheach, mar a bhitheas sibh an uine ghearr, cia mar a dh’iteas sibh sibh fien a thabha ‘ur n’aimideas, ann a bhi deanamh roghainn de chreutairean caochlaidheach air thoseach air Dia neo-chaochlaidheach? Labhram, uime sin, ris gach aon agaibh, mar ann an Gnath. xxiii. 5. Tha daoine a smuainteachadh gur e’n gliocas is àirde a bhi faotainn beartais, ach, fhearaibh, bitheadh fios cinnteach agaibh gur e aimeadas a tha’n so.
(R’a leantainn.)