(Preached at Shieldaig, Ross-shire, on Sabbath, 25th August, 1901.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”*
— 2 Timothy 4: 7, 8.
- This sermon was preached on the occasion of the lamented death of the Rev. Donald Macdonald, Shieldaig, which took place on Tuesday, the 20th August, 1901 — Ed.
The Apostle Paul, who was a prisoner at Rome when he wrote this Epistle, begins this chapter by giving a most solemn charge to Timothy concerning his work as an evangelist. There are two things in the exhortation he gives — (1) “Preach the word” (verse 2). The Word of God was to be the matter of his preaching, and not the word of man. “To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (2) “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of the ministry” (verse 5).
The apostle enforces his exhortation by three strong arguments or reasons. The first reason is Timothy’s accountability to God at the great day of judgment for the discharge of his duty in the office of the ministry of the Gospel. “I charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” (verse 1). The consideration of their responsibility to God at the last day ought to make ministers faithful in the discharge of the duties of their office. The second reason is that Paul foresaw that heresies were to be introduced into the Church by false teachers. These teachers would preach fables instead of the Word of God, and when the people would be brought under the influence of their teaching they would not endure sound doctrine. There would be plenty of men in the office of the ministry, but the great majority of them would not be the ministers of Jesus Christ. Congregations, in electing pastors, would make choice of those who taught “fables” in place of the Word of the Lord. All congregations, therefore, that forsook the faith once delivered to the saints, would be supplied with heretical ministers — no vacant congregation among them — and so numerous would be the false teachers that a number of them might be got for each congregation. The people, having itching ears, would heap them up to themselves. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (verses 3, 4). For this reason it became Timothy to watch in all things, to endure afflictions, to do the work of an evangelist, to make full proof of his ministry. The third reason of the exhortation is that Paul was soon to be removed from the Church on earth. “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” Timothy was to be left behind; the burden of the Lord’s cause was to lie the more on him. When some of the ministers of Christ, who were faithful in their day, are taken away from His work on earth, those still left ought the more to take the burden of the Lord’s cause upon them, and to prove faithful to the trust committed to them.
In the words of the text the apostle, both for his own consolation and for the encouragement of Timothy, gives a review of his past life as an apostle and a minister of Jesus Christ, and his prospect of everlasting happiness after death.
In speaking from the text let us consider four things:-
I. — Paul’s review of his past life — “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”;
II. — His prospect in view of death — “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness”;
III. — The time when he expected to receive the crown — “At that day”; and
IV. — That the crown is not peculiar to Paul, but is the common privilege of all believers — “And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
I. — Paul’s review of his past life.
He was now on the brink of eternity, and he looks back on his Christian course in the world. When men come to the end of their days in the world, it well becomes them to review their past life; for they are soon to render an account of the things done in the body, whether these be good or evil. Many shrink from this task because they have spent their whole life in sin, and in forgetfulness of God and of the things that belong to their everlasting peace. But the apostle could look back on much of his past life with pleasure and a great measure of satisfaction. He was not yet perfect, but he was faithful to the end in the work to which he was divinely called. Of course, his only ground of hope for salvation was the finished work of Christ — His atoning sacrifice — but his own work, the fruit of the Spirit, as a Christian and an apostle of Jesus Christ, was to be taken into account, as he was responsible to God at the day of judgment for the trust committed to him. As to this he could speak with great satisfaction, his conscience bearing witness with him. He could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” In the review the apostle makes, he mentions three things which comprise the whole work of his past life from the time of his conversion to Christianity to the close of his course, to which he now draws near.
1. “I have fought a good fight.”
The apostle was a good soldier of Jesus Christ. His life was a spiritual warfare. He began that warfare as soon as he was made a new creature and believed in Christ. He spent all his time before his conversion in the service of Satan, although he thought he was serving God. Many who are diligent and zealous in religion are serving the devil as much as those who live in open transgression of the law of God. But when it pleased God to reveal His Son in Paul, he forsook his old master, and enlisted in the service of Christ — the Captain of salvation. He was hitherto a faithful servant of Satan; he is now a faithful servant of Christ. What a great change grace can make! He is now preaching the faith which once he tried to destroy. Paul is now on Christ’s side, and has to fight. Before his conversion he fought against Christ, His people, and cause in the world; but now he begins to fight for Christ and His kingdom. In this warfare he has to contend with three formidable adversaries — “the world, the devil, and the flesh.” These three works in combination, the devil acting as the commanding general of the world and the flesh. But we may speak of them separately.
(1) The world.
The world here signifies the men of the world, or worldly men. Christ speaking of His own people, says, “Ye are not of the world; I have chosen you out of the world.” No sooner was Paul converted than the world turned against him — the world in the Church and the world outside the Church. The Jews were on friendly terms with him till he became a Christian and an apostle of Jesus Christ, but now they become his bitterest enemies. But the cause of the apostle’s contention with the men of the world, whether Jews or Gentiles, was not their attacks upon himself personally, but their attacks on Christ and His cause in the Church. He pitied them, prayed for them, preached the Gospel to them, and earnestly desired their salvation. But so long as they fight against Christ and His kingdom he must, as a faithful servant of Christ, fight against them. They are the aggressors; he is on the defence. He is defending the cause of his Lord and Master. If he is on the offensive side it is only for the purpose of overthrowing the strongholds of sin and Satan in the hearts of men. He was sent by Christ “to turn sinners from darkness unto light, and the power of Satan unto God.” The fight in which the apostle is engaged against the world is “a good fight”.
(2) He has to fight against “the devil”.
There are some men who do not believe in the existence of the devil, but this is because they are spiritually dead. When sinners are quickened by the Spirit of God they soon discover that this evil spirit exists. When they leave his camp and service he makes himself known. He wakens up with renewed energy, and uses every means in his power to make them return to their natural allegiance to him. And when he finds that his efforts in this respect are in vain, he adopts another method of dealing with them — he persecutes them. He uses the men of the world as his willing instruments, and very often men who profess to be the people of God. Paul suffered more from the Jews than from the heathen. So it is still. The people of God suffer more from graceless men in the church than from those who make no profession of the religion of Christ. These are the best servants of the old serpent to do his work. And what men cannot do he employs his host of fallen angels to accomplish. The apostle felt this. He says, “We are not ignorant of his devices.” “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” All God’s people who are left long in the world suffer from the devil, and have to fight against him, but the ministers of Christ suffer more from him than others. As in times of war between earthly kingdoms, the enemies aim more at the generals, captains, and other prominent officers in the army for the purpose of killing them than they do at the common soldiers, so Satan assails ministers more than others. As they are set up as watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem, they are more exposed to his assaults, and he hits more at them. They are ruinous to his kingdom, and the evil one hates them with perfect hatred. There are however, some men in the office of the ministry whom he does not annoy, for the simple reason that they serve him better in that capacity than in any other. But such shall suffer from him in eternity.
There are various ways by which the prince of darkness inflicts sufferings on the people of God — by manifold temptations, persecutions, heresies in the church, &c., &c., but they are not left to contend against him in their own strength. Christ is with them in the conflict. They are weak and helpless in themselves, but He says, “Fear not, worm Jacob, I will help thee.” “My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness.” He provides them with an armour whereby they are to fight. They are commanded to put on that armour — the whole armour. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” This is the armour whereby Paul fought the good fight of faith; it is the armour by which all the ministers of Christ fight; it is the armour by which all the people of God fight. It is of God’s making; it is therefore complete. It is stored up in the Bible that the soldiers of Christ in every age and place in the world may put it on, and fight the good fight of faith under the banner of the glorious Captain of their salvation — Jesus Christ. The devil has an armour for his own soldiers, and, alas! many in this age who profess to be the servants of Christ have put on that armour. They fight Christ while they profess to be for Him; they are fed and clothed in body by King Jesus, but they serve the devil! They are in the office of the ministry, like some of old, for a piece of bread.
(3) The flesh.
Flesh here means sinful nature. Believers are not in the flesh — they are not in a state of nature — but as long as they are in this world the flesh is in them. The Spirit of God wrought in them a new nature, but a sinful nature is in them also. Although they are perfectly justified, yet they are not perfectly sanctified. There are thus in them two principles — the Spirit and the flesh, or, in other words, grace and sin. Hence the conflict between these two opposite principles. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” The Lord might, if He willed, make His people perfect in their sanctification in the day of their justification; but for wise ends He leaves them to struggle with indwelling sin till death, when they shall be made perfect in holiness, and shall immediately pass into glory. The image of God was lost entirely and at once when man sinned, but its restoration is by a gradual process. Believers “are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.” “He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” But during their sojourn in the wilderness of this world the Lord’s people have the flesh to contend with. The flesh warreth against them; and they must war against the flesh. The apostle Paul found the flesh his worst enemy; it made him groan, bleed, and cry bitterly, “Oh, wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” The world and the devil could not injure him were it not for the flesh. His contest with the flesh, however, had a higher end than this. He loved God, he earnestly desired to be delivered from sin, which God hates, and to be perfectly conformed to His holy image. He had a hard struggle with these three enemies, but now at the end he shouts the shout of victory, “I have fought a good fight.”
2. “I have finished my course.”
Believers have to run a race, as well as to fight a fight. The apostle here calls it a course. It is the journey of the Lord’s people from the date of their new birth to the day of their departure out of this world. The course of some is long; the course of others is short. As the Lord has fixed the bounds of our habitation, so He has fixed the space of time we are to live in this world. Paul’s course, like that of other Christians, was from the time of his conversion to the time of his death. It was within that space he did all his fighting as a good soldier of Jesus Christ; performed all his labours as an apostle and minister of the Gospel, and endured all his sufferings. He has now come to the end of his course, and says, “I have finished my course.” He was at that time a prisoner, and he knew that his end was near. The Lord made this known to him. His work on earth was done, or his enemies could not put him to death. He was now ready to be offered, and the time of his departure from the church militant to the church triumphant was at hand.
3. “I have kept the faith.”
What is meant by the word faith? In some parts of Scripture this word means the grace of faith — the faith whereby we receive Christ in the offer of the Gospel, and rest on Him alone for salvation; in other parts it means the word of faith, which is our warrant to believe in Christ, or the doctrine of the Gospel — including all the counsel of God revealed in His Word. It is in the latter sense we are to understand faith here. This is the faith which was once delivered to the saints. The word of reconciliation was committed to the apostles, and they kept it. Paul says, “I have kept the faith.” He not only preached the faith, but he also kept it. This was a great comfort to him at the close of his ministry. Others threw away the Gospel, and began to preach fables in its place, but Paul kept it, so that it came down to us pure and entire. In keeping the faith he had to contend for it; for there were many trying to take it from him and from the church. But he kept it, although he lost his life at last for his faithfulness. He does not grudge that loss because he kept the faith. So pleased he is to lay down his life for the sake of the Gospel that he says, “I am now ready to be offered,” for “I have kept the faith,” which is to overcome the world. It is the duty of ministers, not only to preach the Word of God, but also to defend and keep it for coming generations. We cannot keep any word but that which we received. God gave us His Word, which is able to make us wise unto salvation. Those that will be faithful in keeping the faith may face death and eternity with joy as the apostle did, but on the other hand, those that will not keep it, after solemnly vowing to do so, may expect terrible accusations of conscience at their dying hour. I would not wish to be present at their death bed.
II. — Paul’s prospect in view of death — “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.”
He told us what he did during his past life as a Christian and an apostle: he fought a good fight, he finished his course, he kept the faith. He now tells us what are his prospects in the eternal world to which he is going. He expects a crown. He has not yet received it, but it is laid up for him. He is still on earth; he shall not receive it until he cross Jordan; when he arrives in the kingdom of glory he will get it. He is on his way to that kingdom; he is on the very borders of it. Another step forward and he is within the kingdom. He will receive the crown then. He is sure of it. God’s word is his warrant; Christ’s merit is the ground of his hope, and his sonship is his title.
What are we to understand by the crown the apostle hoped to receive? It is spoken of in Scripture as “an exceeding weight of glory.” The Lord will give grace and glory.” He will give grace to His people on earth; He will give them glory in heaven. Grace prepares them, and makes them meet for heaven. Glory is grace ripened to maturity; grace is the seed sown; glory is grace made perfect. Christians are imperfect in grace during their time in this world. They are therefore exhorted to grow in grace. In heaven they are perfect — “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but holy and without blemish.” The perfection of their nature in the holy image of God is included in the crown. Again, in heaven they shall be made kings, and as kings are crowned, so they shall be crowned. Their exalted state with Christ in heaven is their crown. They are in the most glorious condition which rational creatures are capable of. They are nearer Christ than angels that never sinned! No wonder that the apostle desired to depart, and be with Christ, which is far better. Oh, to die is gain to those who are in Christ! It may therefore be designated “a crown”. The apostle calls it “a crown of righteousness.” In Rev. 2: 10, it is called “a crown of life”. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” In 1 Peter 5: 4, it is called “a crown of Glory.” “And when the chief shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” And in our text it is called “a crown of righteousness.”
Now, although these three different descriptions are given of it, it is the same crown described in different ways, according to the circumstances of those to whom it is held forth for their comfort and encouragement, as may be gathered from the passages of Scripture referred to.
It may be called “a crown of righteousness” for at least two reasons. (1) Because it is secured by, and given to the redeemed on the ground of the righteousness of Christ. Salvation from first to last — grace and glory — is given to sinners for the sake of Christ, who secured that blessing for His people by His atoning death. (2) Because it is a just thing that they should receive this crown. Christ, the giver of the crown, is called the righteous Judge. When He punishes the wicked in hell and crowns the righteous with glory in heaven, He acts justly in doing so. “It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,” etc. — (2 Thes. 1: 6, 7). At the day of judgment it will be as clear as noon-day, when the sun shines in his full brightness, that the punishment of the wicked and the glory of the righteous are according to justice. However unworthy in themselves God’s people are, it is a righteous thing that they should be crowned with glory. “Worthy is the Lamb,” who was slain for them. “God is just in all his ways, and holy in all his works.”
III. — The time when the apostle expected to receive the crown — “At that day”.
There are two days when the crown shall be given.
1. The day when the soul shall enter heaven, immediately after death.
Going through the shadow of the valley of death it is still night, except as it is made bright by the presence of Christ. He comes to meet the soul, to convey it safely to the Father’s house, where there are many mansions. When He introduces the soul into that house then there will be a day, an everlasting day, whose sun shall never go down. That is the first day on which the believer shall receive the crown, with respect to his soul. Christ Himself shall put the crown on his head.
2. The second day is the day of the resurrection of the body.
The body shall then be raised up in glory, re-united to the soul, and the whole person — soul and body — shall receive the crown of righteousness. It is not the same persons who carry the body to the grave that will carry it from the grave to heaven. Men carry it to the grave; angels will carry it from the grave to glory. It is Christ that will quicken the body. “I will raise it up at the last day.” But He will employ angels — His ministering spirits — to carry it. The body shall leave behind it in the grave all the infirmities that attached to it in the state of imperfection; it shall be made perfect and fit for the state of glory. It shall bear no mark of old age, such as grey hairs, dullness of hearing, dimness of vision, or any weakness whatsoever. So great the change shall be that you would wonder if it was the same body you saw on earth. Yea, the believer himself shall be in such a mist of wonder as Peter was in when he was in a miraculous manner taken out of prison. He for a time stood in doubt as to whether his release was real. So it shall be in the case of the believer at the resurrection with regard to his body; the change shall be so great. But after all we have said, how little we can say about the state of the saints in glory! “It does not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear, we know we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
IV. — The crown is not peculiar to Paul, but is the common privilege of all believers — “And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Christ redeemed by His blood not only apostles and prophets and ministers of the Gospel, but also all the members of His mystical body. All the redeemed are made the children of God by the effectual work of the Holy Spirit in them. Being children they are heirs, “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” They are therefore entitled to the inheritance of their Father. They shall receive the crown of righteousness. But each person shall participate in the glory that shall be revealed in the measure of his growth in grace and usefulness in the Lord’s vineyard on earth. Although they all receive the crown on the ground of the merit of Christ, yet there will be a difference in their glory, as one star differs from another in glory. There are some stars greater and brighter than others. So it shall be in heaven. They that have turned many to righteousness shall have more glory than others. Paul says of some — he was the instrument of their conversion — “Ye are my crown.” These would be jewels in his crown. They that make more attainment in grace on earth shall have more glory in heaven. (Matt 25: 20, 21) In nature the fruit of the harvest depends on the growth of the seed sown in spring; the more growth the more fruit in harvest. There are, in like manner, degrees of glory in the state of the saints in heaven. Believers are vessels of honour. But all the vessels are not of the same size and capacity; some are large, others are small. The large vessels contain more than the small ones, but both shall be filled with glory; the large vessel cannot keep but its fill, and the small vessel may say, “My cup is overflowing. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel.” There will be no jealousy or discontentment among the saints in heaven; all will be fully satisfied with their lot, and they will praise the Lord for ever and ever.
The apostle gives a characteristic mark of those who shall receive the crown — they “love his appearing.” The appearing of Christ means His second coming. He came the first time to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself; He will come the second time without sin, for the final salvation of His people. It is said of these that they look for Him. (Heb. 9: 28). They look for Him, and “love his appearing”. The appearing of Christ at the last day will be most glorious. He shall appear in glory. It is to judge the world — the quick and the dead — He shall come again, to glorify His saints, and to punish the wicked. The mark the apostle gives here is a distinguishing one. It is a text by which we should try ourselves. When you think of the second coming of Christ to judgment, do you love His appearing? Or do you dread and hate it, like the criminal who dreads the sight of the judge who is to pronounce sentence on him? The wicked would wish that Christ should never come again, but His own people love His appearing. They love Himself; they love His first coming, and they love His second coming. They love His appearing, because it is then He shall be glorified in His saints, and admired of all them that believe; they love His appearing, because He comes to raise their bodies and to glorify them with their souls (they now wait for the adoption of the body); they love His appearing, because it is at His second advent vengeance shall be executed on His and their enemies, even “those who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Many live as if there were no God, as if there were no distinction between good and evil, as if there were no account to render of the things done in the body. Many trample upon the cause of Christ and persecute His people. This is a grievance to the Lord’s people, but all shall be put right and finally settled when Christ, the righteous Judge, shall come again. They love His appearing, for these among other reasons. Happy are they who, in view of Christ’s second advent, can say at death with the apostle, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Now, dear friends, you all know the solemn circumstances under which we meet here to-day. The words of our text can be appropriately applied to your late beloved pastor, who departed this life on Tuesday last, and whose remains you laid in the grave at Applecross on Friday. He fought a good fight, he finished his course, he kept the faith, and he received the crown of righteousness.
Mr Macdonald’s career as a preacher.
Mr Macdonald’s career as a preacher may be divided into three parts — (1) as a schoolmaster; (2) as a probationer; (3) as an ordained minister. In the year 1850 he was employed as a teacher of one of the schools of the “Ladies’ Society for the Religious Improvement of the remote Highlands and Islands”. That Christian Society planted schools in many necessitous districts in the Highlands. As part of their object was to help godly young men who studied for the ministry, students only were employed as teachers, and Mr Macdonald having finished his first session at the university, was employed as one of their first teachers. It was that year the Society began their good work. It was also the year in which Mr Macdonald realised a comforting sense of his interest in Christ. His joy was great, his cup was running over. Besides his work at the school during the week, he began to conduct meetings on the Sabbath. Old and young flocked to hear him. All felt that a man of God had come among them. The fruit of his labours in that district, I believe, met him in heaven on his entrance there. He laboured as a teacher in connection with the Society till he finished his curriculum in the Divinity Hall — teaching the school during the summer months, and attending college in winter. He taught as a schoolmaster in three different districts in South Uist — Uskeva, on the east side of Benbecula, Grininish on the west, and latterly at Stonybridge in the parish of South Uist. In all these places he conducted religious meetings on Sabbath days, and his services were much appreciated and much in demand by the Lord’s people, and were also made effectual by the Spirit to the conversion of sinners. After finishing his course at college he was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by the Presbytery of Skye, and laboured as a probationer in various parts of the Highlands till he was settled as an ordained minister at Shieldaig in the year 1870. He laboured faithfully in this congregation till the end of his life on earth. Mr Macdonald had fully completed his jubilee in the service of Christ.
Mr Macdonald as a preacher.
His preaching was largely experimental; it was so because he experienced the power of God’s Word — law and Gospel — in his own soul as few did. He could say, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you; that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” He preached the doctrines of the Word also. His experience was produced by the Word. He preached with great energy and unction when the Lord gave him liberty. He was dependent on the Lord in declaring His message. Few ministers have understood the words of Christ, “Without me ye can do nothing,” better than Mr Macdonald. He would require to receive something for his own soul before he could minister the bread of life to others. I often compared him to the prophet who came to the widow who was gathering sticks to prepare the last morsel for herself and her son. He asked her to give him something first (1 Kings 17: 13). When Mr Macdonald received from the Lord, he would then give to the people, and living souls would be fed, refreshed, and comforted. Though he was thus dependent on the Lord for utterance, yet he did not neglect his duty of preparing for the pulpit. The many sermons which he has left behind him in manuscript are an evidence of his diligence in this respect. He always rose early on Sabbath or any other day he had to preach, and read over carefully and prayerfully his note book. Although he would, as he did, preach the same sermons over and over again, he would deliver them with new unction, so that they would be as new and refreshing to the hearers as the first time they were delivered. Such was his nearness to Him who is the fountain of life!
Mr Macdonald as a man of prayer.
Prayer was his element; he prayed “without ceasing”. In the manse, in the church, in the field, at sea or on land, in company or alone, he breathed out prayer. I never saw a man that prayed so much as he did. He kept up communion with the Lord by prayer and meditation. When he prayed in the closet or at family worship he wrestled in prayer till he enjoyed the presence of the Lord, and when he got that blessing he would continue long in the exercise, rejoicing in His favour, in which there is life. Even when asking a blessing on the food of which he was to partake, or returning thanks, he was the same. The enjoyment of God was the all in all to him. This accounts for his long, but most sweet and savoury exercises. His prayers, however, were not exclusively for himself; they embraced others also. He prayed for the Lord’s people; for sinners, that they might be saved; for the destruction of the kingdom of Satan, and the coming of the kingdom of God’s dear Son. He believed that “the earth shall yet be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” and he prayed for the fulfilment of that promise. Many a prayer he offered up for salvation of souls in his own congregation.
Mr Macdonald was a most spiritually minded man.
Mr Macdonald was a most spiritually minded man, and he, like Enoch, “walked with God”. In this respect he was a man in a generation. There have been in this generation greater ministers intellectually, but as for spirituality of mind and nearness to the Lord I knew none that would excel him. Since he first tasted that the Lord was gracious he maintained fellowship (not unbroken) with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ to the end of his pilgrimage in the wilderness. The fire of his first love to Christ kept on blazing to the end. Dr. Kennedy said in the course of a sermon that there were some (who were notable for their love to Christ) whose love to Christ never cooled in their heart. This may be truly said of Mr Macdonald, though this was by no means his own feeling or opinion. When he enjoyed Christ the heat of his love was great, and when he went mourning, seeking Him whom he loved, it was as great, though not as comfortable. But it was Christ’s love to him that was the cause of his love to Christ. He spoke sparingly of his own love to Christ, but not so of Christ’s love to the Church. The descriptions he used often to give of Christ’s love to the Church reminded one of those given of it by the great Samuel Rutherford.
Mr Macdonald had conflicts as well as enjoyments. He, like the apostle, had to fight against the world, the devil, and the flesh. He experienced the enmity of godless men to a large extent; but he fought as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and overcame at last. Though weak in body he had the heart and courage of a soldier. He would yield to no man, whatever his position in the Church or in the world might be, in that which he considered to be right. Some men thought they might twist him as they pleased, but found out in the attempt that he was not a reed to be shaken with the wind. His conflicts with the devil were severe, frequent, and of long continuance, even to the end. He was not ignorant of Satan’s devices. So well known these were to him that when the evil one latterly approached him with his temptations, he would say, “I know thy black face; get thee behind me, Satan.” As for struggles with the flesh or indwelling sin, few had a deeper experience of them. He had a deep sense of the sinfulness of his nature, which made him often cry, “O, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” He had to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, at a time when many were trying to take it away from the Church. He faithfully contended for it, and kept it for this and coming generations.
During Mr Macdonald’s time at Shieldaig — about thirty years — he changed five dwelling houses. When he came to Shieldaig he put up in a small house in the village. Shortly afterwards he got a better house, in which he lived till the manse was built. When he was evicted from the manse by the Presbytery of Lochcarron in 1893, on account of his faithfulness to God’s truth, he put up in a small cottage on the south side of the loch. The Free Presbyterian Manse, which was built four years ago, was his last dwelling-place on earth. He is now in “the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” There he is at rest; there he is truly happy in the enjoyment of God for ever. “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.”
In conclusion, a word to the congregation. The Lord favoured you much by giving you such a godly pastor as Mr Macdonald. Much was given you, and much shall be required of you. He laboured long among you; preached the Gospel to you in love and faithfulness; and earnestly and sincerely sought your salvation. Though dead, yet he speaketh. Pray that the word spoken to you may be blessed to you. If you die in your sins after all you have heard from the lips that are now closed by the hand of death, he will rise up in judgment as a witness against you at the last day, and add his amen to your everlasting condemnation. You who are the Lord’s people, and mourn the removal of your beloved pastor, let the thought comfort you that he has gone before you to heaven. You shall soon follow him; you shall meet him again where there shall be no separation. Follow his teaching and the example he has set before you. Be faithful unto death, and you shall receive a crown of life.
This is the first breach that death has made on the ministry of our Church. I consider myself as the next to be taken away. Younger ministers may be called away before me, but according to the course of nature, I cannot expect to be long in this world. The removal of my brother and companion in labour is a new call to me to be up and doing for the Lord while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work. It is with mingled feelings I think of the departure of my dear friend — feelings of sorrow and joy. I deeply mourn his loss on earth, and I rejoice to think of his happiness with Christ in glory. He left a blank behind him — a blank in the manse, a blank in the congregation, a blank in the Church, and a blank in the world. Mr Archibald Cook used to say when he heard of the death of a godly person, “So much of heaven has been taken from the world.” I may add that his removal has caused a breach in my own heart. May the Lord raise up other faithful ministers for His work on earth!