Rev A. McPherson
This address was given to the Edinburgh Congregation on the occasion of the Induction, as noted above, of the late Rev. D.B. MacLeod to the pastorate of the Congregation. MY BROTHER in the ministry who has just spoken had no difficulty in identifying the person he was speaking to. I have some difficulty in identifying the Congregation. In front of me there is a considerable throng and it is only here and there that I recognise individuals who belong to the Edinburgh Congregation. But, I’m sure all of them who can be here are here, and what a pleasure it is to see the effort made by your elder to come from his sick bed and be present on this occasion.
Well, through the kindness of the Lord, you as a congregation, once again have a minister; one who is not a novice, who is godly, experienced, and an earnest preacher who will give you well balanced, scriptural preaching, addressed to heart, mind and conscience.
The settlement of a pastor over you affects you as individuals. You have reason to be thankful that the Call was accepted. Therefore, it is your duty to humbly resolve to avail yourselves to the full of the benefits of this ministry. This means regular attendance upon the public means of grace, and that under them the Lord’s people among you would seek growth in grace and knowledge, and pray that your minister will be helped to open up the Scriptures to you so that your souls will be nourished by heart warming views of the great salvation of the triune God.
And let your desire be to meet with the Lord in the public means of grace. He has promised that where two or three are gathered in His name He is in the midst of them. Be praying that in the public means of grace you will be meeting with the Lord; that you will get views of the Saviour Himself, and come under the influences of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I would seriously advise the unconverted among you to pray that you may be brought, under this ministry, to faith and repentance. Do not be resentful should heart secrets, which you thought were known only to yourself, be brought to your attention in the preaching of the minister. It is not that he personally knows the state of your heart or the things that pass through your mind, but it has been given to him by the Lord to mention these matters. The Spirit of the Lord has brought him to say these things and therefore you should take them as addressed by the Lord Himself to you, and act upon them by God’s help.
There should be a sense of urgency on the part of every unsaved sinner because the natural heart does not become softer with the passing of time, and procrastination and rejection of Christ may seal the doom of the church attender who never gives himself or herself over to the genuine, urgent seeking of Christ and salvation.
To parents I would say, keep your families under the influences of the Word of God. This will help to strengthen your own authority, it will promote filial obedience on their part, and it will instruct them in moral conduct. Above such benefits, of course, there is the possibility for them of salvation by grace. Welcome your pastor’s visits (and it is certain that he will visit for he has a reputation for that) and let it be apparent to all the household that you regard your minister as a servant of Jesus Christ.
You are affected not only as individuals but also as a congregation. Your minister’s duty is to promote your spiritual and moral interests. The fruit of his piety, prayers, experience, accomplishments and studies are now yours. Obtain the benefit by prayerful, regular attendance on his ministry. Seek God’s power to go with that ministry so that there will be the arresting, convincing, illuminating and drawing of the lost, and the strengthening and comforting of the saved.
Guard your minister’s reputation. Do nothing, or say nothing to others, that will diminish respect for him. Ministers, not least in this day which we live, are vulnerable to the aspersions which thoughtless, or disgruntled, or spiteful persons may cast on them.
And guard against the egalitarian spirit which is so powerful in our day, and which takes this form sometimes, “What are ministers more than other men?” Well, one of the many answers of the Bible to that is this, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Esteem your minister very highly in love for his work’s sake. Personal affection for him, I am sure, will develop also.
So may the Lord be with you as you enter a new stage in your history as a congregation. It may be that His blessing on this ministry will extend beyond yourselves to this community, this historic city in which you as a congregation are placed. Who can tell but this may happen — that your minister may be enabled to exercise a great, a good and a scriptural influence upon those who govern this city, those who belong to it, those who think themselves to be the intellectual lights and opinion formers, and so on. May the Lord Himself, with whom nothing is impossible, grant it.
We are apt to think that there will be a continued decline of the church of God; that it will weaken more and more; that there will be no betterment. That is wrong. When it pleases the Lord He will arise and plead His cause and build up His Zion. Let us be earnestly praying that the Lord Himself, by His great power, will bring about a tremendous spiritual and moral change in this city, in this land, and in the whole world. The day is coming, we are sure, when all the ends of the world shall remember and shall turn unto the Lord. May He grant it in His mercy.