Nations and Their Gods

Jeremiah’s time was one of great departure from the worship of the true God. This led the Lord to ask, through the prophet: “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit?” (Jer 2:11). It must have been something unheard of for any country to give up the gods that previous generations had worshipped and to follow a new religion – even although none of these gods had any actual existence. Yet there was one exception to this constancy in religion: the followers of Jehovah – the true God, the God who really existed, the God who did good to His people, and who was their glory – had turned away from Him and had taken up idolatry. And the folly of doing so is illustrated in the way the Psalmist describes the idolatry of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai: “They changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass” (Ps 106:20).

There was no reason for Satan to tempt other peoples to give up their particular idols for others, but he could see any number of reasons to tempt the people of Israel and Judah to forsake their God and to follow idols. Those who succumbed to these temptations had never been sincere followers of the Lord, but Satan well knew that once they became idolaters, they were so much less likely to forsake his kingdom and begin to trust in the Lord, to fear Him and to love Him with all their heart. These things might yet happen in the goodness of God, if He would cause them to recall something from His Word and if He would apply that truth to their souls. But, in departing from God, they hardened their hearts; they became more resistant to the truth, making it much more unlikely that they would ever be saved.

Over the past century and more, many have departed from Christianity, even from congregations that remained faithful to the truths of God’s Word. Again, we can believe that Satan was very active with his temptations; he fully realised the advantages to his kingdom if sinners would leave off attending public worship, if they would give up reading the Bible and stop praying. Then he would be so much less likely to lose them to the kingdom of God; he would keep them going along the broad way that leads to everlasting destruction. So he has been doing his utmost to influence sinners brought up under the gospel to consider the world and its ways attractive, to immerse themselves in sinful entertainments, to make idols of possessions and of worldly companions, while tempting them to believe that Christianity, especially biblical Christianity, is completely out of date – something that no self-respecting modern individual should have any connection with.

Clearly the Bible has been losing its authority over the people of countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States for many years. One result has been the passing of laws which are completely out of line with God’s commands: for instance, those legalising abortion and same-sex marriage. And proposals to allow assisted suicide rear their ugly heads from time to time, while it is already legal in countries such as Canada and the Netherlands. When people change their religion, they also change their morality and it does not profit. Propagandists, from the present President of the United States downwards, have trumpeted the idea that a woman should have control over her own body, which, when translated, means that she has a right to have her unborn child disposed of – to have an actual human being killed, not a potential person.

There were two huge influences on Protestant countries in particular, in the nineteenth century, leading them to change their gods. One had its greatest effect on the Church, the other on science, but they both had major effects on society in general. The first was Higher Criticism, a set of theories about how the Bible came into existence. The details of nineteenth-century theories have been largely forgotten, but they undermined confidence in the inspiration and infallibility of the whole of Scripture. It was particularly those theories that were undermining confidence in the reliability of Scripture in the nineteenth-century Free Church of Scotland – a main factor in the need for the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church as a separate body. And when large swathes of the Christian Church throughout the world were losing a sense of the accuracy and authority of God’s revelation, it could hardly be expected that the world would retain any great respect for what is the foundation of all proper religious thinking.

The second influence was the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin was not the first to promote the idea of evolution, but his books, particularly The Origin of Species, first published in 1859, gave the theory a major boost. If everything came into existence, as people increasingly believed, by a whole series of small natural changes, occurring randomly, then there was no need to believe in a divine Creator, and people were left with the feeling that there was no compelling reason to believe in God at all.

They changed their religion and it did not profit them. Let us notice two very serious and negative consequences of the change. The first is that those who do not believe in God have no one to go to when they are in trouble – no one, that is, greater than themselves and their fellow human beings, no one who is able to give effective help. On the other hand, how many true Christians have found support in times of trouble, in both the spiritual realm and the temporal! They have obeyed the call, “Let us . . . come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”. It is “Jesus the Son of God” who is King on that throne, the “high priest which [can] be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; [for He] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:14-16).

The second consequence follows from the fact that we must die and enter into the presence of God. And “what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk 8:36). And what shall it profit him if he will fill his days with godless enjoyment without considering his latter end in the light of God’s revelation? He is not fit for heaven and the only alternative is endless punishment in hell – not least for turning away from Christ, the fountain of living water, which is graciously revealed in Scripture. What profit is there for anyone in turning away from true religion in the hope of living the most wonderful life, according to the standards of the world in any particular age, if death will find them unprepared?

Most people today in formerly-Christian countries feel free to seek enjoyment in any way they choose, without the restraint of biblical precepts, such as the Seventh Commandment and the Fourth. But God does exist, and He has spoken. He has given a revelation which is perfectly reliable and absolutely authoritative. Accordingly, a solemn obligation lies on everyone who has ever come in contact with the Bible and its teachings to believe these truths, to study them and to put them into practice. It is worth adding that those who turn away from a Christianity which aims to keep to the full revelation of Scripture, and follow instead what is less scriptural, either in doctrine or practice, or both, are acting foolishly; it will not profit.

Is there any hope that the tide will turn, that godless sinners will give up their secular outlook and seek the Lord and that nations will embrace the true religion? Of course there is. Yet we cannot tell when “all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord” (Ps 22:27). We know it will happen, because God has revealed it, and we know too that it is He who must bring about that turning of the tide; it is beyond human power. But God works through means, such as the circulation of the Scriptures, the preaching of the gospel and the witness of individual Christians. Let God’s children pray earnestly that it would please Him to give the Holy Spirit to bless His Word powerfully wherever sinners read it or hear it proclaimed.

Walking with God^1

A Sermon by John Macdonald

Genesis 5:24. Enoch walked with God.

The Christian should ever have a watchful attitude. As the eyes of a servant are to his master, or of a child to his father, so ought the believer to have his faith directed to his God. He should especially seat himself under the vast heaven of providence and, with the telescope of the Word, sweep the whole canopy of events and movements of providence, for these fulfill God’s will and are rich revelations to the children of men of His character.

We invite those of you who are thus minded to turn aside with us for a little to behold by faith one wonderful movement of God’s arm which took place nearly 5000 years ago, when one bright luminary among the patriarchs suddenly disappeared from man’s vision and re-appeared, as quickly, in the presence of the angels of glory. Behold your Lord, by an extraordinary and sovereign act snatching Enoch His servant, from this sinful, mortal world, divesting him at once of all corruption and mortality, transporting him to His kingdom of glory, and setting him there as his first crown jewel, perfected from among men in soul and body, for eternity. Such a singular procedure was only once repeated, in the case of Elijah, the great prophet and reformer of Israel. Surely then there is something worthy of note in this, the first of the two cases of deathless translation.

Now, what was the character of this man Enoch, whom God delighted so to honour, and in whose translation He gave so clear a manifestation of what God most loves and which He will have near to Him in heaven? That character is simply described in these few words, “Enoch walked with God”. This was what so much pleased God – never was a biography written like this: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him”. If the Christian can have an object of envy, it must be such a character as that and such an end, though in another form.

It forthwith becomes our duty to seek after and practise, with all our might, what we know to be good and pleasing in the sight of God, even as the Lord Jesus Christ says, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them”, and as also His blessed apostle says, “And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”

Let us then direct New Testament light to this Old Testament fact, especially as we find that light concentrated on this very case in Hebrews 11:5-6. And may the Lord the Spirit enlighten us!

1. The first idea that strikes us on this subject is that, if Enoch walked with God, he must have been reconciled to God and God to him. Reconciliation is essential to a godly life. God and man are at variance on account of sin; man hates the holy character of God, and God hates man’s unholy character. God is angry with man’s sin; and man is angry with God on this account. The sentence of eternal death is upon man for his rebellion, hatred and anger towards his Lord, and the sinner contends unto death against this sentence of justice and so sinks deeper and deeper under the curse. Such was the original condition of Enoch and of every saint now in heaven, as well as of every believer now existing on earth.

How is this variance removed? How is reconciliation effected? How shall the sentence of death be executed that God’s anger may be removed, the curse cancelled, the enmity of the sinner slain and himself justified? The world groans for an answer, but can find none from all her children; therefore the world, being unreconciled, cannot walk with God.

But the gospel tells us: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them”. In the cross, or sacrificial death of Christ, the enmity was slain and peace was made. In the sacrifice of Christ, the evil of sin is seen and its guilt punished. The character of God as a sovereign was honoured, and the authority of His law magnified, in the sentence of death being fulfilled and the curse fully executed; so God may now righteously and graciously forgive whom He pleases and reconcile to Himself the guiltiest of Adam’s race.

In this cross of Christ too, man sees the love of God displayed infinitely and also the loveliness of His character. And being humbled in the dust on account of his own vileness and enmity, man seeks reconciliation with his blessed and beloved Sovereign. Finding the way open, and hearing the invitation, “Be ye reconciled”, he enters in and finds peace for his soul. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” The first promise and the ordinance of sacrifice were the avenues by which Enoch entered into a state of reconciliation with his God. And by the gospel of the grace of the Lord we must now become the “friends of God” and walk with Him in all godliness of life. “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day; and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.”

1. Renewal of spirit must also be understood as necessary in order to walk with God. As a fallen being, man is the very opposite of God, instead of being His image as at first. There is no congeniality of spirit, no oneness of mind between them. God is sovereign, but man is rebellious; God is spiritual, but man is carnal; God is holy and righteous, but man is unholy and unrighteous; God is light, but man is darkness; God is love, but man is hatred. How can parties, so different in character, ever walk together in real unity of mind, even if a reconciled relationship is established? There cannot be this walking together without a change in one of the parties. But God cannot change – He is good and unchangeably perfect. Man then must be changed, in order to correspond with his Lord.

But how shall he be changed in his inward nature? How shall he become a new creature? How shall he be born when he is old? Again the world groans for an answer, but in vain; her sons cannot solve the problem. Therefore the world unrenewed cannot walk with her God. But in the gospel it is said that a man may be “born again . . . of the Spirit”, and so he shall “enter into the kingdom of God”. By the regenerating work of the Holy Ghost, a man becomes partaker of “the divine nature”. Being “born of the flesh”, he is flesh; but being “born of the Spirit”, he is spirit, or becomes like the Spirit. The life of God is in him, like a fountain of living water. His understanding is enlightened, so that he knows his Lord; his heart is renewed, so that he loves his Lord; his conscience is purified, so that he waits upon his Lord.

He is thus given a capacity for walking with God in spirit and in truth. Reconciled in state and conformed in nature, the foundation of a blessed union is laid; and as regeneration grows up into full sanctification, and grace advances towards glory, so does the soul draw nearer to its God. There are inward and sore conflicts with indwelling sin, and there are outward and painful trials, for the Lord’s sake, but all these only send the believer more into the presence of his God and make him more fit for dwelling with Him for evermore. Thus Enoch was sanctified and ripened for heaven. That Spirit who ministered in the patriarchs – who strove with sinners before the flood, until in anger He left them – worked effectually in Enoch then and has continued His gracious ministration in all saints to this day. And it is just in proportion as we walk in the Spirit that we shall walk with God. Let us remember and hold fast this precious promise, “I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God” (Ezek 36:27,28).

1. In order to walk with God, we must have faith. God is a Spirit, invisible to the flesh. Therefore, in order to commune with Him, we must have some corresponding spiritual power and some corresponding spiritual medium of sight. That medium is divine truth, however it may be revealed; to the soul it is light in which God is manifested. The power by which we see is faith; for faith is to receive light from the Word and to apprehend the objects set forth. “Faith is the substance [or confidence] of things hoped for, the evidence [or conviction] of things not seen.” Enoch had this faith, for it is written: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:5-6).

Such faith we must have. Testimony being to faith what light is to the eye, we must see God revealed in His Word, as we see the sun revealed in its own rays; and so we may walk in the brightness of His face. Enoch saw God revealed in the promise and in sacrifice, and on Him so seen he firmly believed. No image made by hands, no imagination of the mind, can take the place of faith. When the gospel of Christ comes in word to us, and the Holy Spirit comes with power within us, then we meet with God in Christ reconciling us unto Himself. True faith never rests in the mere Word, even as the eye does not rest in the light; it passes on to the substantial object revealed in the truth and terminates there. Such is the living faith of a true saint who walks with God according to His varied manifestations.

When faith beholds Him in His glory, Humility falls down at His feet and worships Him. Zeal bows his head clad in armour and says, Lord, here am I, send me. Hope fixes her pure eye on His everlasting throne and whispers, He is the same, yesterday, today and for ever. Joy takes up his harp of grace, and sings, “Upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God My God”. Sorrow wipes her wet cheek and adds in a plaintive voice, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.” Patience takes up his cross and girds up his loins, saying, Thou doest all things well. And Love, with fixed, unwavering gaze, silently drinks in the divine glory and unconsciously shines – reflecting, like Stephen’s face, the lustre of the heavenly throne. Let us seek such faith as this! Let us seek the power of faith from the Spirit, the medium of it from the gospel, the object of it in God the Father, and the end of it in the salvation of our souls by Jesus Christ. “Lord, increase our faith.”

1. Personal communion with God is certainly involved in walking with Him. This naturally springs out of that living faith of which we have just spoken, which is, in fact, the life of faith in exercise. When the Apostle John describes the chief privilege of believers, he says, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ”. Who can read over the Book of Psalms without observing how it overflows with such communion? And who can study the Epistles without seeing that communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit constitutes the joy and glory of a saint’s life in this world? There is a mutual acquaintance between the Lord and His people. He “knoweth them that are His”, and they know Him in whom they believe.

There is a mutual communication of mind between them; they make known their needs and requests unto God, and He reveals Himself to them as their Father, Redeemer and Comforter. There is reciprocity of action, in giving and receiving. The Lord gives Himself to them as their covenant God, and they give themselves to Him as His covenant people. The souls of the saints of God are affected by a sense of His presence or absence, His smile or His frown, His favour or His displeasure. They seek Him, they thirst for Him, they faint for Him, they cry out for Him, and He is found of them. “When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” In prayer they speak to God; in His Word, they hear Him; on His Sabbaths, they rest with Him; in His sacraments, they taste and handle the pledges of His love; in meditation, they walk in His secret chamber; in worship, they are openly with Him in His courts.

God’s people go forth to meet Him in the dispensations of His providence, sometimes lifting up their faces for joy in the bright sunshine, sometimes covering their heads for sorrow and shame. Sometimes He takes them up into His chariot for a little while in triumph; at other times they lie with their faces in the dust, while He passes by. In the discharge of duty, saints seek communion with their Lord. They desire always to have Him as their witness and their helper, to have Him present with them as the supreme end of their activity. They would make their own business the Lord’s service, and so they would commune with Him constantly in all the common details of life. This is the triumph, this is the crown of godliness, in this world. Blessed is the man who thus walks up and down with his God.

Men may, and do, deny that there is any such divine fellowship, but the Christian, holding the Bible in his hand, can return the sigh of compassion for the smile of scorn. Poor men, says he, they are blind and therefore they say there is no sun and that we have no communion with its rays. Lord, grant them their sight; then they shall see the sun, and their fellowship shall be with us. Let us seek such personal communion with God and we shall then understand the benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all”.

1. Separation from an evil world must evidently arise out of a life of communion with God. Enoch was distinguished from the men of his day by his holy walk. He stood alone, as an oak in the midst of the tempest, as a rock amidst the raging of the sea. He was a witness for God against the world, and he constantly rebuked the rampant ungodliness by which he was surrounded. It is vain to think that we can walk with God and with the world too. We must separate ourselves from the world’s principle, for it is pride; we must separate from its practice, for it is rebellion; we must separate from its profession, for it is hypocrisy; we must separate from its purpose, for it is selfishness. We must shine as lights, making manifest the evil that is around us, bearing testimony for God and against sinners, even unto death; despising the world’s censure as dross and counting its reproach as the dust under our feet. “The friendship of the world is enmity with God,” are the words of the divine Spirit; it is also written: “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”.

The world hates the character and the law of God, in proportion as these are made manifest, or brought into contact with its pleasures or pursuits. It therefore hates the people of Christ in proportion to their holiness or conformity to Him. O let us separate from such a world, except to do it good! And let us remember that they who live with the world must also die with it and share its doom for ever. The grand test of separation is in adherence to God’s authority and God’s grace; sinful men cannot endure these two things in practice. And if we abide steadfastly in them, we shall soon find that the world itself declares that we do not belong to it. Let us never forget that description of true saints, embodied in Christ’s intercessory prayer: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”. They of whom this cannot truly be said have no place in Christ’s intercession, and if this is so, who shall bless them?

1. Patient continuance unto the end is included in Enoch’s walking with God; for it was only interrupted by his passage to glory. They who truly walk with God will not be deterred by obstacles, for greater is He that is with them than all who can be against them. They will not be deterred by conscious weakness, for God’s “strength is made perfect in weakness”. They will not be afraid of the world, for Christ has said, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. Indwelling sin shall not prevail to destroy them, for it is written: “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace”. They shall be found glorying in tribulation, because it “worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope”.

The Spirit of God dwelling within them, and the Son of God interceding for them, and the fatherly love of God resting on them, according to the eternal covenant, they are thus kept “through faith unto salvation”. Their duty is to walk in this their privilege, even to the end. Enoch, while walking with God from day to day, was suddenly removed to glory. So shall it be with the saints of the Lord now. Some day – when groaning under the evils of life, it may be – you shall receive a summons in your mortal bodies to depart and be with the Lord for ever. Then you shall see Enoch, and above all you shall see Enoch’s God. Blessed are the people whom the Lord, when He comes, shall find waiting for Him; they shall enter into the joy of their Lord.

Are there saints before me at this time? To you I say, happy are you, however few and despised by the world. Go on and fear no evil. Walk as reconciled with God, through the constant reception and sprinkling of the precious blood of Christ. Walk in conformity of mind, by a constant submission of yourselves to the blessed Spirit of grace. Walk in lively faith in the divine testimony. Walk in personal communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, carrying on spiritual and heavenly communion, praying “without ceasing”. Walk in nonconformity to the world; although in it, do not be of it; adhere always to the Lord’s Word, grace and cause. Walk also in patience, “giving thanks always for all things” and “casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you”.

As you value your soul’s salvation, the honour of your Lord and Saviour, and the good of your fellow men – as you would value a holy and useful life, or a blessed and glorious eternity; as you would be Christians indeed and be found accepted at the coming of your Lord – let me beseech you to walk closely with your God. At last you shall hear a voice say, “Come up hither”. And when you have gone up, men will say of you too, in your measure: These walked with God among us; and now, they are not; for He has taken them. Arise, let us follow them.

Men of the world, God knows you, for I speak for Him, and He knows all the secrets of your hearts as they are directed towards Himself. You do not walk with Him, nor do you seek to do so. Self is your god, and according to your own course. You are not reconciled through the blood of Christ; you walk unrenewed in the spirit of your minds; and you have no living faith in the living God. You treat Him as an infinite shadow, and His Son as an incarnate creed. You seek no communion with the Father of your spirits, but you love His enemies and you rejoice in the company of hypocrites, apostates, Sabbath-breakers, fornicators, swearers and infidels. The very idea of walking with God is a mystery to you, or else a nonentity.

Now we beseech you to reflect, to repent, to turn from this most unnatural state of estrangement from God. In His name, and by His authority, we beseech you, “Be ye reconciled” to Him. Behold the cross, the symbol of peace, the meeting place of souls for pardon, the starting point of walking with God; behold that cross revealed to you, for we preach to you “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified”. Come, be reconciled. Lay down your enmity and take up God’s friendship. Lay down your guilt and take up a free pardon. Lay down the flesh and take up the spirit. Lay down sight and take up faith. Lay down the world and take up heaven. Lay down your self-righteous works and take up grace. Lay down sin and take up salvation. Lay down time and take up eternity. Lay down care and take up peace. Lay down sorrow and despair, and take up joy and hope. Lay down all evil and take up all good. All, all this is free to you at the cross of Christ.

You are welcome; you are invited; you are besought; you are commanded to do all this freely, “without money and without price”. Arise then, my fellow-sinners, arise. Seek the Lord while He may be found, and walk and commune with Him. Be “followers of them who through faith and patience [now] inherit the promises” and are with Enoch in heavenly glory.

^1 Taken, with editing, from Precious Seed, Discourses by Scottish Worthies. Macdonald (1779-1849) was formerly a minister on the Black Isle. He often preached away from home and his ministry was greatly blessed. Do Thyself No Harm, a first volume of his Works, has been published by Reformation Press; it is available from the F P Bookroom.

Weak Gracious Souls Encouraged (1)^1

Thomas Brooks

Consider that probabilities of grace, of sincerity, of an interest in Christ, and of salvation, may be a very great support, and a special cordial and comfort to many precious Christians that lack that sweet and blessed assurance that their souls do earnestly long after. There are doubtless many thousands of “the precious sons” and daughters “of Zion, comparable to fine gold” (Lam 4:2), that do not have a clear and full assurance of their interest in Christ, nor of the saving work of God upon their souls; yet they are able to plead many probabilities of grace and of an interest in Christ. Now doubtless probabilities of grace and of an interest in Christ may serve to keep off fears and doubts, and darkness and sadness, and all rash and peremptory conclusions against a man’s own soul and his everlasting welfare. They may contribute very much to keeping up a great deal of peace, comfort and quietness in his soul. The probable grounds that you have grace, and that God has begun to work powerfully and savingly upon you, are mercies that are worth more than ten thousand worlds. Will you please dwell seriously and often on these ten particulars.

[1.] Though many weak gracious souls do not enjoy communion with God
in joy and delight, yet they do enjoy communion with God in sorrow and tears (Hos 12:4; Is 38:3; Ps 51:17). A man may have communion with God in a heart-humbling, a heart-melting and a heart-abasing way, when he has no communion with God in a heart-reviving, a heart-cheering and a heart-comforting way. It is a very great mistake among many weak, tender-spirited Christians to think that they have no communion with God in duties, unless they meet with God embracing and kissing, cheering and comforting their souls.

O that all Christians would remember once for all that a Christian may have as real communion with God in a heart-humbling way as he can have in a heart-comforting way (Jn 20:11-19). A Christian may have as choice communion with God when his eyes are full of tears as he can have when his heart is full of joy. When a godly man upon his dying bed was asked which were his most joyful days, either those before his conversion or those since his conversion, he cried out, “O give me my mourning days again; give me my mourning days again, for they were my joyfullest days”. Many times a poor Christian has more joy in his heart when his eyes are full of tears.

[2.] Though many poor, weak, doubting, trembling Christians dare not say that they love the Lord Jesus Christ, yet they dare say that they would love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their hearts and with all their souls, and they dare say that, if it were in their power, they would even shed tears of blood because they cannot love Christ both as they would and as they should.^2 Blessed John Bradford would sit and weep at dinner till the tears fell on his plate, because he could love God no more. So the poor, doubting, trembling Christian mourns and laments because he can love Christ no more. “A man may love gold and yet not have it, but no man loves God but he is sure to have God,” says Augustine. A good man once cried out, “I had rather have one Christ than a thousand worlds”.

[3.] Though many poor, weak, doubting, trembling Christians dare not say that they have grace, yet they dare say that they prize the least dram of grace above all the gold and silver of the Indies. If all the world was a lump of gold, and in their hands to dispose of it, they would give it for grace – yea, for a little grace. Now certainly no man can thus prize grace highly but he that has grace. No man sees the worth and lustre of grace, no man sees a beauty and excellency in grace, and no man can value grace above the gold of Ophir, but he whose heart has been changed and whose eyes have been opened by the Spirit of grace.

[4.] Though many poor, doubting, trembling Christians dare not say that their condition is good, that their condition is safe and happy, yet they dare say that they would not for ten thousand worlds change their condition with the vain, debauched men of the world, who delight in sin, who wallow in sin, who make a sport of sin, and who live under the reign and dominion of sin. They had rather, with Lazarus, be full of sores and full of needs, and live and die in rags and, after all, be carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom, than to fare sumptuously every day and be clothed gloriously, with the rich man, and perish eternally (Lk 16). Though they are poor and wicked men are rich, though they are brought low and wicked men exalted, though they are empty and wicked men full, though they are low and wicked men high, though they enjoy nothing and wicked men enjoy everything, yet they would not change conditions with them, for as many worlds as there be men in this world.

[5.] Though poor, doubting, staggering, trembling Christians dare not say that they do not sin, because “there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not” (Ecc 7:20), and because no man “can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin” (Prov 20:9), and because “in many things we offend all” (Jas 3:2), and because “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8, 3:6,8-10); yet they dare say that they would not willingly, wilfully, wickedly, resolutely, maliciously and habitually sin against the Lord to gain the whole world. Though they dare not say they do not sin, yet they dare say that, if they might have their choice, they would never dishonour God more, or crucify the Lord of glory more, or grieve the Spirit of grace more, or wound conscience more, or cloud the face of God more, or darken their evidences for heaven more, or interrupt their communion with God more.

^1 Taken, with editing, from A Cabinet of Jewels, in Brooks’ Works, vol 3. Five further points will appear in a future issue of the Magazine, God willing. Brooks (1608-80) was a noted Puritan minister.
^2 It was a famous saying of Augustine: He does not love Christ at all that does not love Christ above all.

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (2)^1

George Hutcheson

John 4:7-9. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink. (For His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

1. Providence may be intending much mercy to those who are unworthy of it and are little minding it; for this “woman of Samaria”, who was a vile woman, came to draw water and minded nothing else. Yet providence made her meet with the Saviour of sinners, when He was actually under the feeling of our infirmities, being weary and thirsty, and so a suitable Lord to deal with a woman so unconscious of God’s law.

2. It is no strange thing to see Christ and His followers in great need of outward things – to see them need a drink of water and have scarcely anyone willing to supply them and to have their dinner to seek at dinner-time, for our humbled Lord has sanctified these things to His followers in His own Person. By this need He has recovered their right to outward benefits, which was forfeited in Adam.

3. Christ humbled Himself and became poor, that through His poverty we might become rich. Yet has He also left an example to His lowliest followers of studying an honest way of living and providing for their subsistence, and not by scandalous begging, or by being burdensome to others, for He sent His disciples to buy food.

4. There may be something between Christ and those He will do good to that it is not fitting that even disciples should know. Therefore, among other causes, “the disciples were gone away unto the city”, that they might not be witnesses to Christ’s ripping up of her shameful fault in this conference, nor to her sins in what she said to Him.

5. It is a commendable practice in men to be constant in their habit and fashions, and not affect novelty in them; for in this Christ has given an example, being known at first to be a Jew by His dress and language.

6. It need not seem strange if Christ or His people are not only in need and get no supply, but are mocked and insulted in their necessities by those who may help them; for Christ, being thirsty, gets a taunt instead of a drink (compare John 19:28,29 with Ps 69:21).

7. Contentions about religion are ordinarily very hot, and lead not only to the alienation of affections, but even to breaking the bonds of civil society and converse. So it was here: “the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans”.

8. It is from a malicious heart to insult any over their miseries and to take advantage of the misery of those they hate to do them all the spite they can; for her taunt implies as much: “How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans”. It is as if she had said, You do not regard us at other times, but now, when you are in need, you seek us, and therefore I will not answer Thee.

9. Self-love is so deeply rooted in everyone that even the basest cannot endure to be despised; for the ground of her quarrel is that they were despised by the Jews: “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans”.

10. Christ is a Lord who will not hold back because of any impediment, but will come over them all to reconcile sinners to Himself; for He keeps no such distance with Samaritans, nor with an immoral woman among them, and counts it His glory to take so sinful a creature.

^1 These are the “Doctrines”, or lessons, as edited, that Hutcheson (1626-74) draws from these verses, in his Exposition of the Gospel of John.

David Ross (1)^1

Rev Ewen MacQueen

David Ross was born at Milton, Evelix, near Dornoch. It is not likely, as I heard from his own mouth, that he was very strong when he was a child. At one time, he told us, he was so weak that his parents gave up hope of his recovery. As was customary for parents who had a care for their own souls and those of their children, his father went to fetch a man, highly regarded in the community as one who had the mind of Christ, that he might conduct family worship beside, as they thought, the deathbed of the child. The man went with David’s father and performed this duty. When he rose from his knees, he looked the child’s father in the face and said, “You are expecting his death, but I tell you he will be at the head of your cortege going into the town of Dornoch”. And as he said, so it was fulfilled. From that day David progressed back to health and, as the godly man said, David would say, “I went bare-headed, bare-footed, at the head of the cortege to the grave”.

He was thus, while yet young, left an orphan, but there was every appearance that the One of whom it is written, that He is “the widow’s stay, the orphan’s help”, was leading David’s soul to Himself. Before reaching nine years of age he took delight in secret prayer.

It would appear that his father did not leave enough money to keep, for long, a widow and orphans comfortably provided for, and David, while yet in his teens, was employed by a farmer as a keeper of calves. This farmer was in Kirkton, above Golspie. The farmer had many servants, some of them very uncouth, given to swearing and other evils. David was among them as Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, without defiling his soul. He was to be found morning and evening, and at other times also, in the calves’ compound pouring out his soul in the ears of Him who has said, “Those that seek Me early shall find Me”. And the farmer would be setting up David and his conduct before the swearing men saying, “You should learn a lesson from the keeper of the calves and be ashamed of your own conduct”. Although he was of the world himself, he saw that David was in every way in a more enviable state than the strong, grown-up men who were the servants of Satan.

At that time there was an eminent man in Backies, above Dunrobin, whose name was George Graham. David found his way to his house and, in the nights throughout the winter, when he had fed the calves, he took himself off to George’s house. When George would see him coming, he would give him a very affectionate welcome; and because his own heart had been warmed by the love of Christ, he would begin to speak to David of his Beloved. And many a time, when David was an old man, he would tell us many savoury things about George Graham.

It would seem that Alexander Gair, who was an object of fear to graceless ministers, came to see George, and a few godly men accompanied him. When they came in through the door and George saw them, he arose before them in a welcoming way and said, “My friends of my company, have you come?” But he feared that his spirit went out too far to men and he rebuked himself, saying, “But it’s not you that would serve my purpose”. At that Alexander Gair playfully said, “If we will not do for you, who would supply your need?” To which George replied, “You are good to help in time of need”. Before these warriors parted they had a warm night together. Food was arranged and George was made to ask the blessing. When he began, he called upon the name of the Lord, saying, “Pity Thy poor sheep that are toothless, and who are tethered by unbelief in the wilds of discouragement”. . . .

It seems at this particular time [at Kirkton] that David was allowed home from Saturday till Monday. He left very early one Sabbath morning for Creich, where the sacrament of the Supper was being administered that day. It was at that time customary for ministers who feared God to offer an exhortation after serving the table. This particular day it was Rev John Kennedy, Redcastle, that exhorted the people, basing it on the words which Jacob put into Esau’s mouth when he sent his servants with the herds to meet him: “Whose art thou and whither goest thou?” The words and the handling of them by the minister had a great effect on David’s soul. Until the day of his death he would say, “I never heard such a sermon”. When he had to return on Monday to the calves, we may be sure that his prayers in secret were not less frequent.

His master held him in great esteem and, although he was but very young, he laid upon him the responsibility of taking fattened heifers that he had sold to a London butcher. This greatly troubled David, who had never been far away from his birthplace, but the farmer convinced him that he had no one as trustworthy as him to send with them. David asked permission to go and consult George Graham and to ask him to pray for him if he was to go with them. When David expressed his concern to George, George went out to the barn, and after he had been there a while, as David would say, “pleading with the upper side”, he came in and said, “You will go with them, poor David, and you will prosper well from your departure until your return”.

The boat came into the port and the heifers were put on board, and as soon as they cast off, the boat’s sail filled with wind until, three days later, they were within the London river. It seems that the sailors themselves were amazed at the headway they made, because one of them came to David and said, “My boy, I believe that you must have a mother that is praying for you, for I have been this long at sea, and in my lifetime I have never had a voyage like this one”. David safely delivered the heifers and returned safely home.

He was now growing up, so he set his face towards the south. For several years he remained there and, over that period, he sought the bread of life from the mouths of those most spiritually minded in Glasgow at the time. There was one whom he often spoke about, Jonathan Anderson. He was wont to say that he was a spiritually minded man and that he never saw a more orderly congregation than his under the preaching of the Word. At the Disruption in 1843, there was no doubt in the mind of David as to which side he should follow. He cast his lot in with the Free Church.

Working with him there would be Irishmen and Lowlanders, and many a thing he told us of these times. There was one Irishman of whom he often spoke, who came under the influence of the truth; when he came to the knowledge of Christ, he would say, “What a pity that I did not know this before I was born”. By this he meant that, if this knowledge had been his, he would not have gone astray as he did.

After spending some years in Glasgow, he returned home again to the parish where he was born, and he had a small croft above Evelix. At that time there were God-fearing men in the district and they were keeping a prayer meeting every Saturday evening in a schoolhouse located above David’s house, which was called the Birichen schoolhouse. David had a speckled pony with which he brought home his peats. He had only one bag to take home and when he saw the godly old men making their way to the meeting, he thought that since he was only a young man, there would be no harm in not letting the pony loose until the last bag had been taken home. And as he would say himself, “The speckled pony and I got on happily”.

Everything went well until, on the road, they drew near to home, David walking by the side of the speckled pony. Without warning, the speckled pony jumped up and leapt onto the moor, himself and the cart. The peats were scattered all over the place but the pony came to no harm, nor did the cart. “But I was taught a lesson”, said David, “so that I never again put a harness on the speckled pony on the evening of the prayer meeting nor did I myself miss attending the meeting.” From that time David was found with the men who delighted to make known their requests unto God, but he himself would not be found engaging in public prayer.

^1 This article is the first part of a translation of an account of the life of David Ross, Dornoch, which was written in Gaelic. The first articles were printed in volume 22 of The Free Presbyterian Magazine.

Having been the minister of the Dornoch congregation from 1903 until 1912, Mr MacQueen was well placed to put on record what we have here of the life, walk and conversation of this beloved and faithful Christian man; he was also well qualified to do so. Having known, and possibly spent some time in the company of, some of the well-known and eminently godly worthies of the past, such as Alexander Gair, Joseph MacKay and Peter Stewart, David might well be regarded as one of the last links with them. Before his death, Rev Archibald Cook (1788-1865) spoke of the famine of hearing the words of Lord which he saw approaching and alluded to the feelings of a godly Israelite as he saw the ark – “the symbol of God’s presence” – being “carried over the brow of the hill into the land of the Philistines” as akin to his own feelings as he looked into the future. “I bless the Lord,” he said, “that I got a glimpse of the ark before it has been quite taken away out of this land.”

Since David Ross was 47 years of age when these words were uttered, we take it that he also had knowledge and experience of the godliness which marked that generation whose departure the Daviot minister lamented. He lived to see the departure of the Free Church of Scotland from the foundation on which it was set at the Disruption. When the Declaratory Act was passed, it constitutionally ceased to be that body although still retaining the name. David Ross, as might be expected, joined those who separated from it and, in doing so, took with them unimpaired the constitution of the Disruption Free Church. They took the name Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. For clarity and to avoid confusion, the name was changed, but the constitution remained intact.

[This footnote was written by Rev John MacLeod, who translated these articles.]

The Love of Christ^1

William Nixon

Revelation 1:5. Unto Him that loved us.

The love of Jesus passes knowledge. It fills immensity and eternity at once. It is the theme of the universe. The saints on earth live upon it. The redeemed on high proclaim its wonders. The cherubim labour to penetrate and lay open more and more its unfathomable depths. It feeds the fervour of the seraphim. It forms the object of infinite delight to God Himself. This love of Christ is the love, not of a mere man, or even of an angel or archangel, but of a divine person, of One who is the same in substance with the Father and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory. And it is love manifested, not to illustrious and holy creatures, not even to such creatures as our first parents when as yet they bore the image of God in paradise, but to fallen, rebellious, miserable creatures, who deserved no mercy, who merited nothing but wrath.

The history of the love of this glorious and gracious Redeemer to such unworthy objects is indeed wonderful. In the depths of the eternity that is past, the Son of God entered into a covenant with the Father, on behalf of ruined sinners, in view of what He would do for them in the fullness of time. From everlasting He rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and His delight was with the sons of men. When our first parents fell and were full of conscious guilt and fear and they tried to hide from the presence of Christ, He came to the trembling culprits in the garden and declared Himself their Saviour. After that, He often appeared in the most gracious manner to the patriarchs, often in a human form – an intimation that, at the appointed season, He was actually to become God manifested in the flesh and to dwell with men upon the earth. He also continued in the midst of His ancient people from the time of their deliverance out of Egypt, and onward through all the successive ages of their history.

In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them and carried them all the days of old. And many were the attractive manifestations which He made of Himself, to familiarise them with His favourable presence and fill them with holy confidence in His grace and truth. At length this high and holy One was born into the world, after being long predicted, typified and looked for. Then to make His love the more striking, He not only veiled His boundless glory in our nature, but took our nature in its meanest and most afflicted form. He descended, so far as that was possible, into the very lowest depths of our suffering and wretchedness, that He might raise out of these depths even the chief of sinners. His life on earth was, out of love to sinners, spent in incessant dangers, labours and sufferings.

He went about continually doing good. He daily felt it more blessed to give than to receive. He gave His time, His thoughts, His very life for sinners. He wrought miracles of mercy on their bodies. He laboured to infuse peace into their souls. He sought out the vilest places for His ministry, lingered in pity over the vilest sinners, and let them hear almost nothing but words of peace. He invited the labouring and heavy laden to come to Him for rest. He loved the most repulsive sinners with a matchless love; and while they penitently and gratefully washed His feet with their tears, He washed them from their sins in His blood.

He stood on earth, He lived, He taught, He obeyed, He suffered, He died as the surety of sinners. For them He suffered all the effects of sin. His life commenced and was worn out in lowliness and endurance, amid privations and pain, reproach and violence, sorrow and sighing. He was wounded and stunned by the ingratitude, contempt and blasphemies which assailed Him on every side. He was afflicted by the conduct of His followers, by their ignorance, prejudices, carnality, fickleness and treachery, as well as by their circumstances of discomfort and danger. He also bore the hostility of Satan and his angels and foiled their most formidable assaults. He did not shrink from His conflict with these powers of darkness until He had utterly vanquished them and dragged them captive at His chariot wheels.

More than all, and to crown all, He bore the wrath of God due to them for sin, until He sank into the agony of His abandonment and was brought to the dust of death. Even then His love did not die. Even in the grave, He left the indelible marks of His love by sanctifying that gloomy prison into a cheerful resting-place for His people’s dust. Then He rose triumphant, went to heaven and took possession of the inheritance which He had purchased for Himself and for His people. There He is preparing mansions for them, into which He is gradually gathering them from this lower world. There too He intercedes for them. From thence also He sends the Spirit to intercede within them. Thus He saves them to the uttermost and makes all things work together for their good.

Every past age has witnessed the actual fruits of His work as Saviour, in sinners saved from sin and death and hell and brought to glory. At this moment, there are on earth not a few who are living monuments of His grace and power, who are washed from their sins in His blood, quickened by His Spirit, and who shall live together with Him. In every age, sinners shall be made to know His redeeming love, until the whole Church, with not one member missing, is sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the Word and presented to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Then the redeemed shall begin to ascribe glory and dominion eternally to Jesus, for having loved them and washed them from their sins in His blood, and made them kings unto God.

Impenitent sinners who continue to despise this love of Christ must soon feel “the wrath of the Lamb”. Desponding inquirers after Christ may well cast themselves upon the love of Him who is thus alike able and willing to save them to the uttermost. Believers ought to seek from Him a mind enlightened and a heart renewed by God, and walk in His commandments and ordinances blameless, as they would know more and more the love of Christ, which passes knowledge.

Without pardon, a sinner would be the more miserable the nearer he was brought to the throne of an offended God; and without holiness he would feel an indescribable irksomeness in that state where there is nothing but what is holy. And where are pardon and holiness acquired but on earth?

J A James

Human character is worthless in proportion as abhorrence of sin is lacking in it.

W G T Shedd

^1 Taken with editing from The Christian’s Daily Companion. Nixon (1803-1900) was a minister in Montrose.

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd^1

John Newton

Just now that sweet expression of David occurred to my thoughts, “The Lord is my Shepherd”. Permit me, without plan or premeditation, to make a few observations upon it; and may your Lordship feel the peace, the confidence, the blessedness which a believing application of the words is suited to inspire.

The Socinians^2 and others, in their foolish, laboured attempts to darken the principal glory and foundation comfort of the gospel, employ their clever but false argumentation against those texts which expressly and doctrinally declare the Redeemer’s character. They exult if, in any manuscript or ancient version, they can find a variation from the received copies which seems to favour their cause. But we may refuse to accept the authority of disputed texts, and maintain the truth against their cavils from the current language and tenor of the whole Scripture. David’s words in Psalm 23 are a decisive proof that Jesus is Jehovah, if they will but allow two things, which I think they cannot deny: (1) the Saviour assumes to Himself the character of the Shepherd of His people; (2) He did not come into the world to lessen those advantages which the servants of God enjoyed before His incarnation.

From these statements, which cannot be disputed without setting aside the whole New Testament, the conclusion is undeniable; for if Jehovah was David’s Shepherd, unless Jesus is Jehovah, we who live under the gospel have an unspeakable disadvantage, in being entrusted to the care of one who, according to the Socinians, is a mere man, and, on the Arian^3 scheme, is at the most a creature, and infinitely short of possessing those perfections which David contemplated in his Shepherd. He had a Shepherd whose wisdom and power were infinite; and might therefore warrantably conclude he should not want and need not fear. And we also may conclude the same if our Shepherd is the Lord, or Jehovah, but not otherwise.

Besides, the very nature of the Shepherd’s work for such frail creatures, as we are, requires those attributes which are incommunicably divine to discharge it properly. He must intimately know every individual of the flock. His eye must be upon every one of them, His ear open to their prayers, and His arm stretched out for their relief, in all places and in all ages. Every thought of every heart must be open to His view; and His wisdom must penetrate, and His arm control and overrule, all the hidden and complicated machinations of the powers of darkness. He must administer universal providence, over all the nations, families and individuals on earth, or He could not effectually help those who put their trust in Him, in that immense variety of cases and circumstances which they experience.

Reason, as well as Scripture, may convince us that He who gathers the outcasts of Israel – who heals the broken in heart, who upholds all that fall and raises up all that are bowed down, and upon whom the eyes of all wait for their support – can be no other than He who counts the number of the stars and calls them all by their names, who is great in power and whose understanding is infinite. To this purpose likewise the prophet Isaiah describes this mighty Shepherd (40:9-17), both as to His person and office.

But is this not indeed the great mystery of godliness? How just is the Apostle’s observation, that “no man can say, Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost”! How astonishing the thought, that the Maker of heaven and earth, the Holy One of Israel, before whose presence the earth shook, the heavens dropped – when He displayed a faint emblem of His majesty upon Sinai – should afterwards appear in the form of a servant and hang upon a cross, the sport and scorn of wicked men!

I cannot wonder that to the wise men of the world this appears absurd, unreasonable and impossible; yet to right reason, to reason enlightened and sanctified, however amazing the statement may be, yet it appears true and necessary that a holy God is pleased to pardon sinners in a way suited to display the awe-inspiring glories of His justice. The same arguments which prove the blood of bulls and goats insufficient to take away sin will also demonstrate that the utmost doings or sufferings of men or angels are insufficient. The Redeemer of sinners must be mighty; He must have a personal dignity to stamp such a value on His undertakings, that thereby God may appear just, as well as merciful, in justifying the ungodly for His sake; and He must be all-sufficient to bless, and almighty to protect, those who come to Him for safety and life.

Such a one is our Shepherd. This is He of whom we, through grace, are enabled to say, We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. We are His by every tie and by right: He made us, He redeemed us, He reclaimed us from the hand of our enemies; and we are His by the voluntary surrender of ourselves. Though we once slighted, despised and opposed Him, He made us willing in the day of His power: He knocked at the door of our hearts; but we (at least I) barred and fastened it against Him as much and as long as possible; but when He revealed His love, we could stand out no longer. Like sheep, we are weak, destitute, defenceless, prone to wander, unable to return and always surrounded with wolves; but all is made up in the fullness, ability, wisdom, compassion, care and faithfulness of our great Shepherd. He guides, protects, feeds, heals and restores, and will be our guide and our God even until death. Then He will meet us, receive us, and present us unto Himself, and we shall be near Him and like Him and with Him for ever.

What a subject is this! I trust it is the joy of your heart. Placed as you are by His hand in a superior rank, you see and feel that the highest honours, and the most important concerns that terminate with the present life, are as trivial as the sports of children, in comparison with the views and the privileges you derive from the glorious gospel; and your situation in life renders the grace bestowed upon you the more conspicuous and distinguishing.

I have somewhere met with a similar reflection of Henry IV of France, to this purpose: that, though many came into the world on the same day as he, he was probably the only one among them that was born to be a king. Your Lordship is acquainted with many who, if not born on the same day with you, were born to titles, estates and honours; but how few of them were born to the honour of making a public and consistent profession of the glorious gospel! The hour is coming when all honours and possessions except this, which comes from God, will be eclipsed and will vanish, and, “like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a wreck behind”. How miserable will they then be who must leave their all!

But grace and faith can make the lowest state of life supportable, and make it most desirable to be dismissed from it. Of the former I have many living proofs and witnesses around me. Your Lordship, I trust, will have a sweet experience of the latter when, after having fulfilled the will of God in your generation, you shall be called (in some yet distant day, I hope) to enter into your Master’s joy. In the mean time, how valuable are life, talents, influence and opportunities of every kind, if we are enabled to make good use of all and lay it out for Him who has thus loved us, thus provided for us! As to myself, I would hope there are few who have so clear a sense of their obligations to Him, yet who make such unsuitable and feeble returns as I do. I think I have a desire to serve Him better; but, alas, evil is present with me. Surely I shall feel something like shame and regret for my coldness, even in heaven, for I find I am never happier than when I am most ashamed of myself upon this account here.

Repentance unto life is not a superficial emotion causing one, like King Saul or Judas, to cry, “I have sinned”; but it is a deep, soul-moving affection, which makes men, like David, cry, “I have sinned against the Lord”. It abhors all sin, however secret or gainful or small it may be esteemed.

W S Plumer

Human character is worthless in proportion as abhorrence of sin is lacking in it.

W G T Shedd

^1 One of Newton’s “Letters to a Nobleman”, taken with editing from his Works, vol. 1.
^2 They held many serious errors, but especially they denied the divinity of Christ.
^3 Arians deny that Christ is fully God and deny also that He is eternal. The sect known as Jehovah’s Witnesses are Arian.