God says in His Word: “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” He also declares: “As the heavens are higher than the earth . . . so are . . . my thoughts (higher) than your thoughts.” When Samuel was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be king over Israel, whenever he saw Eliab he said: “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord showed Samuel that it was otherwise. He said to Samuel: “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” It was David, a man after God’s own heart, who was to reign over Israel after Saul.
When, in the providence of God, the Lord raised up men who would be instrumental in preserving a testimony on the side of truth in 1893, the men of God’s choosing were not those whom men would have expected to be leaders in such an enterprise. They were virtually unknown, except to some of the godly, who valued their ministrations highly. They were born in North Uist, far from the madding crowds of the cities, in one of the islands of the Outer Hebrides. How honoured was that island to be the birth place of these men, who alone, out of the hundreds of ministers in Scotland at that time, stood on the side of truth. Like Luther, they could do no other because they saw clearly the issues that were at stake.
It was thought that Rev. MacAskill, Dingwall, a leader among the Constitutionalists at that time, would stand on the side of truth and separate from the Disruption Free Church when the Declaratory Act was passed. Indeed, he ventured to say to a godly mother in Israel, that if no one else would stand he would. The godly woman replied, that the Lord would not so honour him, but would raise up a poor Mordechai to maintain His Cause. And so it came about. It is not the vain boasters, it is not the proud or the carnally bold that the Lord chooses. “He knoweth the proud afar off.” “He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.”
What, then, were the characteristics of the men whom the Lord chose — Rev. Donald MacFarlane and Rev. Donald MacDonald — to raise a witness on the side of truth? Two of their outstanding features were humility and meekness. In this they were like the Master whom they served, who Himself said: “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” They had been with Jesus and had learned of Him. They were men of prayer and knew in reality what fellowship and communion was with the Lord at a Throne of grace. Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, they could not but reflect something of the glory of the One with whom they had been communing. It was such men that the Lord chose, not men filled with their own importance, but humble men of God, Spirit-taught men, true ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
The preservation of the Free Presbyterian Church, throughout its history, has been dependent on the Lord raising up such men, and so it will be in the future. When few such are being raised up then it is a matter of great concern to the true people of God. Prayer to the Lord for the raising up of men with the stamp of godliness would be the most effectual way of securing the prosperity and preservation of the Free Presbyterian Church. There are plenty of men in evangelical Church circles in our day who do not have the stamp of true godliness. Such can only be a hindrance and a burden to the Lord’s Cause, whatever other gifts they might possess. The Disruption Free Church was full of men of gifts and their gifts only brought that Church to ruin.
Let us plead then for the raising up of men (and women) in our Church, faithful men, humble men, godly men to fill our pulpits and pews, and men and women of such a stamp of godliness that their very lives would speak to the people of this generation. This generation has not been favoured to see real vital godliness in the lives of professing christians, except in a few rare instances. Men once knew that these godly men and women had something which they did not possess. Christians in our day may go in and out among the world, and make no impact whatever, not because of the blindness of these people, but because Christian profession is at such a low ebb. These things ought not so to be.
How are we to obtain in this dark day faithful servants of Christ to proclaim the everlasting gospel to their fellow-sinners? Where are they to be found at such a time as this? The Saviour has made this plain. He has said: “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into His harvest.” Divinely-sent, divinely-commissioned ambassadors of the Cross would be a blessing to any people. The God of heaven who took a vicious persecutor of the Church of Christ, a Saul of Tarsus, and made him a bold, fearless preacher of the Cross, can do so again and again and again. What a change He effected in Saul of Tarsus when men could say, that “he which persecuted us in time past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed”. When the Lord will arise, in answer to the pleadings and cries of His people, one thing is sure, He will not lack instruments to forward His glorious work, though He should take them out of the darkest corner of Satan’s camp. It is true of His servants as well as of His people, that He took them from the dust and from the dunghill to set them among the princes of His people.
So, too, can the Lord raise up in His Church office-bearers, men answering to the description given in the Scriptures of those fitted for such offices. They will be men who will enter into the duties of their office with their whole heart, and they will uphold the hands of those who are sent forth to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, in addition to this, the Lord is able to raise up in His Church a praying people who will be earnest at a Throne of grace, pleading for the advancement of His Cause and kingdom in their midst, and throughout the whole world. We are encouraged to believe this from the fact that it was a people of this stamp who, when Rev. D. MacFarlane and Rev. D. MacDonald raised a testimony on the side of truth, joined with them in that testimony with their whole heart. They proved, in their day and generation, stalwarts for the truth, and were a staunch support to the Cause of Christ. Is it any wonder that a season of spiritual prosperity was experienced at that early period in our Church’s history? May such a time come again, in the merciful kindness of the Lord, to revive His weary heritage.
Let us bemoan the low state to which we have fallen. Let us plead for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our Church, at home and abroad, as we approach our Centenary. May we say with the Psalmist:
“Do thou, O God, arise and plead
the Cause that is thine own:
Remember how thou art reproach’d
still by the foolish one.”
Frequently those have most real honour done them, who least court the shadow of it.
Matthew Henry.
Sermon
by Rev D. N. Macleod, Ullapool
(Preached at Plockton, on Monday, 26th July, 1948)
“And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Matt. 28: 18, 19 & 20.
Before the Lord Jesus suffered and died, He made an appointment with His disciples to meet Him on a certain mountain in Galilee after He was risen from the dead. He knew well that death could not hold Him, that as He was going to die, He was going to rise again, and live again, and live after the power of an endless life. He did not forget that appointment for he told the women to whom He revealed Himself after his resurrection to go to His disciples to remind them of it and to be there and He would meet them. The disciples obeyed the message and went to Galilee and the apostle Paul tells us that there were over 500 assembled on the mount. Matthew here tells that when they saw Him coming some of them doubted. They were not very sure who it was. Was it He or not, that is when He appeared at a distance, but when He came nearer, they all knew Him. It is one of the proofs of the veracity of God’s word that Matthew recorded that they had doubt, for he was not afraid to record it. If he were writing about one that he was himself making a hero, he would very likely mention nothing like this that would happen to be true about him, but he was not in the least afraid. He was recording things just as they were and he was not afraid to tell the future generations that some of them had this doubt when they saw Him but that afterwards that doubt vanished. Christ met them on the mount, and met them to set them apart for their work.
We shall notice in the first place what He said to them about His power.
In the second place the commission and where they were to go; to all the ends of the world; and what they were to do with men and women — they were to baptise them.
In the third place what they were to teach.
In the fourth place, His own promise unto them and unto the church. He promised to be with them always, even unto the end of the world. And Jesus came unto them saying “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
He is speaking of Himself as the God-man, the only mediator between God and man, the only Saviour and the Captain of salvation made perfect through sufferings — all power in heaven and earth is given Him; that is owned by Him, for He received a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father; that He has omnipotent power; that everything is possible to Him as the Head of His church on earth. He has this power — all power in heaven and on earth. The disciples were to remember that, in sending them forth, He was behind them to defend them and to uphold them, to work with them. They were not sent forth in their own strength. They were sent forth in His strength, with all His power behind them. That is all power in heaven and on earth and that is the same now as it was the first time. He has not changed. All His sent ambassadors have that power behind them. They are to remember that. They must not forget it. They must not cease to trust Him. It is meant to be their strength to enable them to do His will, no matter how things may be, no matter what they may think, no matter how hard the work may be or what it may cost themselves, that He is behind them with that power and that in order to prosper their work and in order to make them victorious over all the power that may be against them and that even the power of the gates of hell of which He spoke on another occasion “upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against thee”.
Having spoken to them of that power He gave them this commission, saying to them, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. It was as the apostle Paul refers to, it was to the Jews and then to the Greeks. The middle wall of partition was entirely removed, not one stone was left upon another in it, and the Gospel of salvation, which is the power of God and the wisdom of God was to go forth into all nations, kindreds and tongues. They were to go and teach them, that is teach them the truth, teach them the doctrines of His own gospel, and they were also to baptise them — to make disciples of them. The church, that is, the reformed church always insisted on this in dispensing the sacrament of baptism that it would be connected with preaching or teaching the word of God. That was one of the things they had against private baptism. The disciples here were asked to teach and make disciples of such as would believe, by baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, for although baptism was observed before then and John Baptist baptised in Jordan and although His own disciples were sent forth to baptise in Judea, baptism, or the sacrament of baptism, was not instituted as a sacrament until this time when He gave them this commission. It is then that it was instituted as a sacrament to continue in the church to the end of time and to be observed once in the case of every person, for baptism is only to be administered once. Baptism is in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, that is, in the name of the three persons of the Godhead. The three persons have their own work in man’s salvation. The great work of redemption was devised by God the Father, the plan of redemption is His. It was worked out by His Son, Jesus Christ, and it is applied by the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Three-in-one. A great work in truth. A work that none could do but the Triune God. What should make us think much of it, and make us willing to receive it apart from the effect and our need, is that it is the work that was done by the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It also means that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are under an obligation to see that the salvation of every believer is not only begun but is carried on and finished. They are all concerned in it. They undertook that in the case of all the redeemed. In the case of all baptised persons to whom the sacrament of baptism is made effectual unto salvation. They are not left with mere signs but are made partakers of the things signified by water and by the word in the sacrament for the salvation of that person will be assured, will not only be begun but carried on and finished for it is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. This is a great privilege. This is truly a marvel. Very little is thought of it as a rule, so little that people speak of it as putting the water on, that is all that it means to them, that the water is to be put on and it is to be feared that many rest quite satisfied with that and if they are baptised they seek nothing more than just the fact that cold water was put upon their person. The cold water, although that is the element used in the sacrament, will never mean this, that the sinner is saved. He must be made a partaker of all that water signifies and seals and that is what we have been trying to bring before you, as what the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost undertook to do in the case of those who are redeemed — baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
They were not to teach whatever they liked themselves or whatever pleased themselves. Some may think that they can preach anything, but they are confined to this, to what they were themselves taught, what Christ gave them, what they learned of Him, the doctrines He gave them, they were to teach and carefully observe that they would teach nothing else, nothing of their own, nothing belonging to man at all, only the doctrines that He gave — that is, the Gospel. We live in a day when Christ’s authority is quite overthrown. It is not only that the authority of the Bible is overthrown, both testaments, but Christ’s authority is overthrown. It is not what He said at all that is true, it is not what He said that people are to believe, and believe as the truth and nothing but the truth. Christ is given a low place in our day. Men are to be feared above him. We are quite ready to do as we are exhorted to do and give honour unto whom honour is due, to give men the honour due unto them, but what we are saying just now is exceedingly sad, that the honour of men is given a higher place by far than the doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners no longer come to Him as He lovingly invites them to come saying, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, take my yolk upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” They do not come to learn of Him at all. There are many nowadays that are not ashamed to say that they would teach Him — that they know far more than He knew. A few years ago we read in the press of a minister in Galashiels who said openly at a meeting of their Presbytery that they knew many things that Christ did not know and were able to teach Him things that He did not know, but that is only a man usurping Christ’s place, taking His place from Him, taking away the authority from Him, and overthrowing Him as much as lies in their power but that does not interfere with Him in the least, that makes no change on Him. He still has all power in heaven and on earth. He is still the Truth and His word is true. His doctrines are still the same. Not one jot or tittle of what He taught has fallen to the ground, nothing has been changed of what He has revealed. It is still true what was taught by Him, as it was put by one of his servants, the Prophet Ezekiel, “Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him and woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him.” It is still true and still the same that he that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned, that unless sinners will repent they must perish, that there is none other name given among men or in heaven whereby we must be saved, that besides Him there is no Saviour. There is no other salvation for lost sinners but the salvation He has wrought out for them, and that salvation is free, absolutely free — that is, without money and without price. It is offered to whomsoever of the human race, that is willing to accept it. It is still true that whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved. It is also unto all nations whatsoever I have commanded you. There is no saviour beside Him, no salvation apart from Him. There is no other gospel for poor perishing sinners and perishing sinners must be given nothing else, nothing but what He commanded — that is His inspired word — what we have in this book before us.
“Whatsoever I have commanded you,” and then he gave them this great promise, “Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world, Amen.” I am with you alway. You will not go anywhere but He will go with you. As you go forth to all nations of the earth I am with you in this work that I gave you. I am with you no matter where you be, I am with you no matter how you are finding things, whether things are prospering with you or not, whether you are finding things difficult or easy, whether you are received yourselves or whether you are rejected — I am with you alway and I am with you night and day. There will not be a single moment in which this will not be true of you, “Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end,” and true to the end of time, even unto the end of the world. What a gracious, precious promise this is, a promise that He cannot forget. He does not forget. A promise that He does fulfil. He abides by it. We are to receive this promise in our own day. No matter how things are or may be, no matter how we find things, no matter what condition we may be in, or where our lot may be cast, whether we are welcome or not, but that does not interfere with His promise at all. We are to receive this promise, rest in it, in the fulfilment of it as being as true now, as it was when He first spoke it, as true now of all His servants as it was then, of all who are His people now as it was then, for it is to be to the end of the world and that is that He is with us as we were singing, “God in the midst of her doth dwell, nothing shall her remove.” That is what is true of His church in the world, of His servants and of His people, that He is with them, and with them, they are to remember, with all His power. All power in heaven and on earth. With them as anointed with the oil of joy and gladness above His fellows, with the Holy Spirit above measure, for it was not by measure it was given to Him. With them to enlighten them, to instruct them, to quicken them by way of enlivening them, when any decay sets in, or any falling away, to liven them again and to give them fellowship with Himself and communion with Him. To give them, as the apostle John puts it, to strengthen them to equip them for their work, to work with them and to enable them to finish the work He gives them. He enables them to be faithful unto Him and faithful even unto death, enables them to bear with hardships for His sake, to endure sufferings for His sake, to persevere to follow on to know Himself, and to be victorious at last. He is with them always. Lo I am with you alway. The Lord’s people often feel afraid, even when they have such a precious promise as this. They feel afraid to apply it to themselves. They will agree, very readily agree, that it belongs to the Lord’s people. It is true of them but they cannot apply it to themselves. They are afraid to take it. We have no reason to be afraid of that kind of fear if our faith is in Him, if our only hope is in Him and our whole trust is in Him, if we have made choice of Him, if He is the beloved of our hearts, if He is to us fairer than the sons of men, if there is none like unto Him, none that we can give His place to, if He has become all and in all to us. We are to take this promise with all other promises. It is meant for us. It is given to us. If we do not take it we lose its whole benefit. If we go through this world in the way, professing him, professing to be His, and yet afraid to take such a promise as this, a promise of His own presence with us, of having Himself with us, what shall we be like? We shall be as weak as water, ready to tremble at the least sign of danger, we shall lack the comfort of it, we shall lack the strength of it. Let us remember this that Christ knew that His disciples needed this. He knows that His people need it still. He gave this promise to them because He knew that they needed it. That is why He gave it. He knows that His poor people need it. Let them beware of this, of allowing the unbelief of their hearts and the temptations of the evil one rob them of His precious promises and of all the grace and the strength and the comfort that is in them. It was never more necessary for everyone to have a firm hold of it than today. How can we expect to persevere unto the end, how can we expect to get through all that meets us and all that confronts us every day, inwardly and outwardly if not in this way, by Himself being with us, dwelling in us by His Holy Spirit. We cannot any longer have His bodily presence. He is no longer known after the flesh but we have Him abiding in us and with us by His Holy Spirit, and by His Word, “Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end.” No words of mine can convince anyone of the absolute necessity of this, of having a firm hold of this precious promise unless the Holy Spirit Himself is pleased to confirm it, but it is one of the things that has been before my mind for a long time. Every year we are seeing some failing, some ceasing, some going back. We are also seeing this, we are seeing others weak and trembling, and some perhaps owing to the very little use they are to Christ and His Cause on earth because they have not got the strength. They are not leaning on Himself, depending wholly on Him. They are not going forth in His strength. They will not come to Him for counsel, for advice. They are not setting Him before them in their ways. They are professing His name, and that publicly, but nevertheless they are doing it without Christ being in it at all. That is what we are trying to get at today. We are seeing it so plainly before us and we are seeing the evils of it. Some may be tempted to think that it is godliness for them to give in wholly to this, that it could not, as it were, be true of them at any rate, although it can be true of others, of them making the same profession of their faith in Jesus Christ, but they give in to them, but depend on it if you begin to give in, Satan will do his utmost to get the victory over you and it will not be difficult for him. Let us see to this that if we profess Him in the world, and if we profess to be His people in the world that we are not going to go through the world without Him; that we are not making a step without Him, that we are not engaging in any work without Him, because we cannot do it. “Without me ye can do nothing.” We are not going to overcome by our own wisdom and strength, it is only by His grace being made perfect in our weakness that we can overcome. “Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end.” We must believe this promise, even in our day, sad as it is, when we are seeing such things that pain and grieve us — that His word is not blessed, sinners are not quickened, the number of His people are getting fewer, we are not seeing some added to the church as it used to be. We are seeing that the word is preached, the same doctrines are delivered, and nothing is given but what has the authority of His own word, and a special effort is made to have it that nothing be given to perishing souls but His own word, and yet that is what we see. We are seeing that there are no conversions. That is as far as we can see. Along with that we see no signs of increase of grace and of the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and we see but little sign of growing in grace and bearing fruit, the fruits of the Spirit, yet notwithstanding all this we must believe that the promise still stands true. Christ still abides by it and owns it, as ready to fulfill it, and it is in His own wonderful way He is fulfilling it. “Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end.” It would be well for us coming up to the close of another communion season, when we part to have ourselves firmly rooted in the truth and it is a great promise — “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” believing that the Lord is still with His church, still with His people. He has not parted with them. He has not disowned them. He is still with them, and still with them the very same as He was from the beginning. It is Himself, the same Person that is with them still. Try and take that with you away home. That it is the Christ of God that gave the promise that abides with you, and abides by His promise. He is bound to fulfil it and is fulfilling it and that is the Person who is going home with you. It is the same Person that is to accompany you away from this Communion, as you put your faith and trust in Him, and as you devote yourself to Him and give your whole heart to Him. That is the Person who is to accompany you to your homes and abide with you until the day of your death, and will see to it that you will abide with Him throughout the endless ages of eternity. We are not left with doubtful things at all. We make them doubtful to ourselves by our unbelief and carnality, and worldliness, by listening to the temptations of our evil hearts and the temptations of the world. We make things that are absolutely certain to be doubtful to ourselves, and depend upon it, my dear friends, that the Lord is as willing to fulfill His promise to us as to those to whom He first gave it, that is, His disciples. “All power in heaven and in earth is given unto you.” Let us see that we will teach nothing to our fellow sinners but what we have in the word of God — To teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and think much more of your baptism, not to make salvation of the sacrament but what will be yours if it is made effectual unto you.
What you became an heir of the day you were received as a member of Christ’s visible church, you are to receive as a member of His invisible church, that is the true church. What inheritance will be yours then — Improve your baptism, and do not rest satisfied that you were merely baptised. Do not rest satisfied with being a member of the visible church. You are part of the visible church by baptism. Seek with all your might to enter into the invisible church, to be of the true church — bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh — Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. His people are expected to observe all things, to do them willingly and then there is His own promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, Amen”.