Rev James R Tallach
The Regenerating Work of the Spirit. This work is best described in the chapter of the Confession of Faith on effectual calling: “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace” (10:1).
This is a mysterious work. Thus Solomon says, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all” (Ecc 11:5). And again Jesus said to Nicodemus: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (Jn
2The Pastoral Epistles, pp 214-5.
1This is the final part of a paper presented to the Theological Conference of 2005. The previous section dealt with the place of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, and the question of a preparatory work.
3:8). It is a work that comes from above: “Ye must be born again”, or from above (Jn 3:7).
As noted above, Adam’s spiritual life was from within himself, but the life infused by the Spirit at regeneration is from God. He is the fountain of life (Ps 36:9), and that life, for the believer, is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3). The fullness of this life is communicated to Christ the Mediator, and to us from Him, so that we receive out of His fullness (Jn 1:16). The fountain then is in God, the fullness is in Christ, and the shedding abroad of that life is by the Spirit (Rom 8:11). Kuyper writes of this mystical union with Emmanuel: “It is a union invisible and intangible; the ear fails to perceive it and it eludes all investigation; yet it is very real union and communion, by which the life of the Lord Jesus directly affects and controls us. As the unborn babe lives on the mother-blood, which has its heartbeat outside of him, so we also live on the Christ-life, which has its heartbeat not in our soul but outside of it, in heaven above, in Christ Jesus.”2
The manner of the communication of that life is by way of the new covenant. The order is, first, “I will write [My law] in their hearts”; that is, a new principle of life will be infused. And secondly they will walk in God’s statutes; that is, vital signs of true religion will arise from that soul. This work of regeneration pervades the whole soul. As the Fall brought depravity to every faculty of the soul, although no man was as evil as was possible, so grace affects all the faculties of the soul, yet not so as to sanctify the soul perfectly. As John Newton said, “I am not what I was, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I hope to be, but by the grace of God I am what I am”.
The mind, which by nature is enmity to God and unable to discern spiritual things, is given an understanding of spiritual things. “The Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true” (1 Jn 5:20). This is a saving gift: “Give me understanding and I shall keep Thy law” (Ps 119:34). The mind is thereby renovated and the soul made obedient to God, “renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph 4:23). The will is the principal seat of rebellion in the soul and the place where depravity mainly shows itself, but the work of regeneration makes a willing people in the day of the power of the Spirit of Christ (Ps 110:3).
A principle of holiness and righteousness is implanted instead of the original righteousness lost at the Fall. A spirit of love is shed abroad in the affections by the Spirit of God. This was the promise of the Old Testament: “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deut 30:6). In the New Testament, Paul says, “The love of
2Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit, London, 1900, p337.
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom 5:5). This divine act is accomplished without violence to the soul, as the sinner is drawn with bands of love and cords of a man. Significantly the terms used to describe this activity are: “I will allure her” (Hos 2:14), and: “Draw me, and we will run after Thee” (Song 1:4).
All this is accomplished within the context of the Word. “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14). Thus regeneration is effected by the Word: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Pet 1:23). There is no confusion in the Greek New Testament over the relative roles of the Spirit and the Word in the work of regeneration, as the prepositions used in each case are different. Regeneration is effected by (Gk, ek) the Spirit and by or through (Gk, dia) the instrumentality of the Word. The Word is the instrument in the hand of the Spirit in regeneration. The Word brings the knowledge of Christ, and the Spirit unites the soul to Him by faith, as the branch is engrafted into the vine. “I am the true vine”, Jesus said, “and My Father is the husbandman . . . abide in Me” (Jn 15:1,4). The Spirit may also work without the Word, as the Confession of Faith reminds us: “Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how He pleaseth; so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word” (10:3).
The Word calls for repentance and faith, and the Spirit forges these two graces in the heart. As the Word is written on the fleshy tables of the heart, they are ever found together in the renewed life and expressed in different ways: leaving and cleaving: “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9); fleeing: “Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18); mourning and rejoicing: “They shall look on Me whom they have pierced and mourn for Him” (Zec 12:10); despising the wages of sin and admiring the gift of God: “How many hired servants of my father have food and to spare and I perish with hunger!” (Luke 15:17).
Warfield says, “At the root of all, lies an act unseen by God alone, and mediated by nothing, a direct creative act of the Spirit, the new birth. This new birth pushes itself into man’s own consciousness through the call of the Word, responded to under the persuasive movements of the Spirit; his conscious possession of it is thus mediated by the Word.”3
Conclusion. We have noticed something of the work of the Spirit in applying the decree of the covenant of grace and the merits of Christ’s death to a dead
3Quoted in S B Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, IVP, 1997, p 125.
and unregenerate soul. The Nicene Creed states: “I believe in the Holy Ghost”.4 This is not merely a belief that the Spirit exists, in the sense that London and New York exist, but it expresses a trust in the Third Person of the Trinity as we trust the Father and as we trust the Son. This trust is illustrated by the Children of Israel following the Spirit through the wilderness: “As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst Thou lead Thy people, to make Thyself a glorious name” (Is 63:14). That trust is expressed by David: “Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness” (Ps 143:10). That trust is particularly well vindicated by the work of the Spirit in regeneration.
Obituary
Mr Finlay Thomson
A few hundred yards beyond the house where Finlay Thomson lived most of his days, there stands prominently, on its own, a place of worship known as Teampall Moluaidh, a building dating from the twelfth or thirteenth century and which, we are informed, was possibly built on the site of an earlier church. Moluag, as he is known in history, and after whom this building is named, was a sixth-century contemporary of Columba and would doubtless have preached the same gospel as that eminent missionary. That gospel, we are told by such as are competent to judge, was scriptural and not as yet corrupted by Rome; it was that which, at the outset, was entrusted to those commissioned to begin the evangelisation of the world by preaching repentance and remission of sins at Jerusalem. We do not know what form of worship is followed by those who use the building at present, but its presence there to this day bears testimony to the fact that the gospel of salvation was preached in Lewis at an early stage of the Christian era.
Times of darkness no doubt followed over the centuries but one would like to think that the Lord did not permit the light kindled to be totally extinguished. Whatever may have happened over the intervening centuries, it is certain that, in more recent times, Christians of no ordinary stature were
4Quoted in G F MacLear, Introduction to the Creeds, London, 1889, p 31.
raised up within the bounds of the sea-girt parish of Ness, and that is what we believe the subject of this brief obituary proved himself to be in his own day and generation. We are told that all the Thomsons in Lewis may trace their presence in that island to the arrival, in 1739, of a James Thomson, an SSPCK schoolmaster, who taught in a school at Swainbost. The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge was “an Edinburgh-based benevolent society which sought to promote Protestantism, chiefly in its Presbyterian form”; so the name Thomson has, in Ness, been associated with the gospel for a long time.
As far as Finlay’s forebears are concerned, the first person of that name mentioned in the pages of this Magazine was his godly great-grandmother Margaret Thomson, or Mairead Donn, as she was popularly known. She was one of those who stood faithful in 1893 “among the honourable women who followed Christ in His down-trode Cause at that time” and has left a fragrant memory behind her. Her son, Donald, was to be a stalwart pillar, as Rev William MacLean remarked in his obituary: “When Andrew Finlayson, who succeeded Malcolm MacLeod as missionary in Ness, died at the comparatively early age of 52 in January, 1935, the burden of the congregation fell on the shoulders of Donald Thomson and his brother elder, John Morrison, the son of a worthy father who stood in the day of trial. . . . From 1937 until his death (in 1948), the congregation of Ness was favoured to have Donald Thomson to feed them as David did his people, according to the integrity of his heart and to guide them according to the skilfulness of his hands.”
Finlay Thomson was born in Ness, at the family home in Skigersta, on 17 October 1938. Although neither his father nor his mother made a public profession of faith, their life and walk were exemplary to the extent that one would be inclined to cherish the hope that it was well with them at last. Theirs was a Christian home and under its roof the family of five boys and one girl born to them were taught to respect the Sabbath and to attend the means of grace. In those days almost every household in Skigersta was Free Presbyterian, and in that village, as indeed generally throughout the Ness community, there were not a few God-fearing men and women who sought to influence others for good.
The presence of such had its own effect on the rising generation. In this connection, we are told that one Sabbath morning, while Finlay was still a little boy, he was allotted the duty of taking the cow along the road, presumably to pasture. On the way, he happened very briefly to play football with a stone which he came across on the road. This was observed and reported to his father. On Monday, Finlay, after having no doubt received paternal admonition, was summoned to appear before Christina MacDonald
(“Banntrach Rudair”), a widow who lived nearby, and who is still remembered in Ness as a much-beloved, godly matriarch whose smiting did not break the head of any whose misconduct she felt obliged to reprove; on the contrary, it was a kindness remembered, as in Finlay’s case, over a lifetime. It might be said of her what was said by one who appreciated the interest taken in him by the noted Separatist, John Grant: “I’ll get the rod from John, but then I’ll get honey with it”. There was also the watchful eye of Rev William MacLean!
At the age of 17, Finlay, like many of his contemporaries, joined the merchant navy, and for some years he was employed as a deckhand by the New Zealand Shipping Company. It appears that at this time he did have some thoughts as to his spiritual state, but these thoughts were transient, like the morning cloud. Out of regard to the minister concerned and also no doubt as a result of his upbringing, he several times, while his ship was berthed in Auckland, attended services conducted in that city by Rev William MacLean; Mr MacLean had visited Australia and New Zealand as a deputy in 1962 and the following year he accepted a call to Gisborne.
In 1963, Finlay elected to give up deep-sea sailing and having, with the help of his family, built a house in Skigersta, he married Catherine MacRitchie, whose home was very near the one in which he was born. For some time, he earned his living working as a weaver, but that was only until the opportunity presented itself of returning to sea, this time as a fisherman. In the port of Stornoway and further afield he, in due course, became well known as a first-class seaman and expert fisherman. Strong in physique, manly and courageous, he was much respected by those who sailed with him, especially after he came to skipper his own boat. For seven years, until he suffered an injury to his right hand, he was a member of the group of intrepid Nessmen who annually visit Sulasgeir to harvest the young of the solan goose (“an guga”), spending around 14 days on that rocky islet situated 40 miles north of the Butt of Lewis. He used to dwell on the unity and friendship which prevailed among them and how he relished the “family” worship in which they engaged morning and evening. In his time, this worship was conducted by Donald Murray, a much-respected elder in the Free Church, but Finlay took part and often led the singing.
It was after he became a fisherman that the Spirit of God began to strive with him and the salvation of his soul accordingly became the one thing needful. The Bible began to accompany him to the wheelhouse. In seeking to enter into the kingdom, he was to discover that he had to contend, not only with foes present within as a result of his fall in Adam and the corruption of his whole nature, but also the opposition of Satan without.
We are informed that he was much affected by a sermon he heard preached in the Lionel church in October 1972 and that from that time forth he turned his back on the world, although he did not yet have the assurance he sought. At this time, apparently, chapter 23 in the Book of Job became precious to him and he often quoted the words of verse 10: “But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold”. He was wont to say that he did not understand the last part of the verse, but towards the end of his life he confided that he was now beginning to do so and was to some extent able to enter into its deep meaning. The following Spring, the communion seasons in Lewis followed one another in due order and Finlay, if at all possible, was in attendance. We are told that he could never understand how anyone in health and having the opportunity to attend could be absent on such occasions.
He was present at the Stornoway communion in February 1973 and was a guest, with others, in Mary Ann Matheson’s house between the services. Some verses from Psalm 107 were sung, with Dr Hugh Gillies leading the praise, and he was so much affected and overcome by the words of verse 29. “The storm is changed into a calm / at His command and will; / So that the waves which raged before, / now quiet are and still,” that he had to leave the room. It is thought it was then he obtained the assurance that he was indeed within the circle of the divine favour, and thus on the way to the desired haven. Throughout his life he felt spiritually bound to the Lord’s people present on that occasion. In March 1973, the Session gladly received him as a communicant member and, over the years which followed, his walk, life and conversation proved that its confidence in him was not misplaced. He was elected a deacon in 1975 and five years later he was ordained to the eldership. As an office-bearer he was exemplary.
He was much attached to Gaelic, his mother tongue, and much preferred to use it, rather than English, when expressing his thoughts and engaging in prayer. He had a way with young people and many became very closely attached to him. The testimony of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was precious to him and in church courts he was ever anxious to prevent any change being introduced that might adversely affect it. His personal and oft-expressed desire was to leave to posterity what he himself had inherited. The words of Malcolm MacLeod, a missionary in Ness in the 1890s, exactly reflect Finlay’s aim and attitude: “When our fishing boats would be leaving for the English fishing grounds, the boats behind would try and keep those in front always in sight; each boat would aim at steering as directly as possible in the line of the one going before”. At times of crisis, as in 1989, he remained rock-firm in his attachment to the Church of his fathers, and his
example no doubt influenced others who might have been inclined to waver. His godliness was both sincere and transparent.
Around 1989, his health began to deteriorate and shortly thereafter he had to bring his seafaring days to an end. Over the years which followed, he bore his affliction with remarkable patience, although at times he endured much pain and suffering. The nature of his trouble was such that there was little that physicians could do apart from making the pain more bearable. He was several times hospitalised in Stornoway, Glasgow and Inverness and, in Stornoway at least, if it was at all possible, he conducted family worship in the ward, being joined by other like-minded patients. He was humble and self-effacing above many, but in such circumstances, he did not fail to let his light shine before men, in a manner that earned the respect even of strangers present. In 1997, he was rushed to the Western Isles Hospital after sustaining a heart attack and, for a time, his life was in the balance. However, he recovered and for the next few years he was found, as health permitted, attending the public means of grace.
In July 2003, his youngest daughter Catherine, at the age of 21, suddenly took ill and died. This was an unexpected event, which her loving parents and siblings felt deeply. Finlay sorrowed, but no one heard him murmur. Those closest to him say that this sad event left its mark and it appeared to have the effect of drawing him nearer to his God. It was noticed that, at family worship, he obtained much nearness to Him in prayer.
Over the last period of his sojourning, he suffered much but, as stars shine in the night, so, in very trying circumstances, his light shone before men. His mind was constantly on the truth. In hospital, when his ability to speak was impaired, he wrote down his thoughts on a pad. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain”, he wrote on 3 July 2006, and the following day, “He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows – soirbhichidh rùn an Tighearna ’na làimh”.5 “Wednesday was not a good day,” he wrote on July 7, “can’t get near the Lord.” He complained that he found the world breaking in and taking away his thoughts. The last entry was: “I was waiting on the Lord to give me the truth and I opened the Bible at Philippians 1. We have to leave all our worries at the Lord’s feet – the family and everything in the Lord’s hands.” We are told by his widow that “on August 24 he was very conscious that it was his last day on earth. His reply, on being asked how he was feeling was, ‘It’ll be better when it is all over. It’s not me that’s doing it. It’s Someone else who is doing it for me.’ After some sleep, he sat up in bed and said, ‘It’s good to be in the Lord.’” These were the last words she heard from him.
Shortly thereafter his spirit departed to be with Christ, which is far better.
5“The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”
The date was 24 August 2006. On the occasion of his funeral, the family worship in the Lionel church was attended by a multitude from all parts of the Western Isles, the number far exceeding the capacity of the building. He was laid to rest in the grave of his fathers in the Habost cemetery, situated within sight of his home in Eoropie, beside the ocean so familiar to him in life and from which he procured his livelihood over so many years. Not far away lie the graves of Rev William MacRae and Rev Alexander Morrison, faithful ministers whom Finlay loved and respected in life and of whom he often spoke. They sleep in Jesus, as do others there who also were lovely in their lives. Neither the thunderous roar of the Atlantic rollers breaking on the nearby beach nor any other sound shall awake them until “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God”. “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.”
The Ness congregation, the whole community and all who love and care for the Cause of Christ have reason to mourn the loss sustained. We can only hope and pray that the Lord will raise up others to fill the breach. To his devoted, like-minded widow we anew extend our sympathy as well as to his two sons, three daughters and, also, to his four siblings, one of whom, Norman, is an elder in the Ness congregation. (Rev) J MacLeod