Free Church Presbyterianism, by Rev. James Begg, D.D.
Opening Address:
THE HAND OF GOD IN THE DISRUPTION,
and the vital importance of Free Church Principles.
Being an address delivered at the Opening of the General Assembly of the Free
Church of Scotland, on the 18th of May 1865.
THE MODERATOR, on taking
the chair, said —
"Fathers and Brethren, It would be mere affectation
were I not to acknowledge the sense which I entertain of the honour
which this Assembly has been pleased to confer upon me, by placing me
in a chair made illustrious by so many eminent predecessors. But it
would be worse than affectation did I not express my deep feeling of
unworthiness of such an honour, And did not cast myself — especially in
the circumstances in which I have been placed, in the adorable
providence of God,1 — on the kind indulgence and support of this House
in the discharge of the important duties to which I have been called.
Such an event as this in one's history naturally leads to a personal
retrospect; and I may say that I have been conversant with the
principles of the Disruption from my infancy.
[Footnote 1: Dr Begg here referred to a severe wound which he had
received from the upsetting of a railway carriage, and from the effects
of which he had not then finally recovered. ]
I heard, many years
before this Free Church was dreamt of, the doctrine of the spiritual
independence of the Church, the struggles of Knox, Henderson, and
others, the atrocities of the violent settlements, several of which
took place in our neighbourhood, discussed in my father's manse by
eminent men long since gone to their rest. I studied under Dr Chalmers,
and sat under Dr Andrew Thomson. The first Assembly of which I was a
member was that in which the Disruption struggle commenced. I was
privileged to take a small part in the whole of the ten years'
conflict, as I have since been in the probably still more important
twenty-two years' work of rebuilding the Church in its present form. [Applause.] It would be entirely out of place in this venerable
audience to expound the principles of the Disruption. They are well
known, and time has only illustrated their great value and vital
importance. It is admitted on all hands that Christ's people were in
the early ages free to choose their ministers, even as they have always
had, and must have, a solemn responsibility in determining under what
ministry they shall place themselves and their children. They must not,
at their peril, sit under a ministry that shall starve them by the want
of true doctrine, or poison them by false doctrine; but this implies
the liberty of choice.
"Thou shalt not hear the instruction which
causeth to err from the words of truth."
"Believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits, whether they be of God."
The first utterance of the
Reformed Church of Scotland on the subject, bearing on its front the
broad impress of John Knox, was, "It appertaineth to the people, and to
every several congregation, to elect their minister." [Applause.] The
opposite system of selling the souls of whole parishes, like cattle in
the public market, to a patron so-called, and giving a man who may not
only be no member of the Church, but its open enemy, a power of
thrusting in its ministers, is a corruption so gross, that, as our
ancestors said, it could proceed only from the Pope's Kirk and
corruption of the canon law, and ought to have no place in this light
of Reformation. [Applause.] It was both the emblem and the parent of
spiritual declension, and was openly re-introduced for this purpose by
the illegal Act of Queen Anne, after patronage had been swept away by
the Revolution struggle. The Act of Queen Anne never was, therefore,
entitled to any respect at the hands of the really honest Presbyterians
of Scotland; and the first dawn of revived spiritual life in the Church
made a struggle against it, or at least against the abuses of it,
natural and necessary. Out of this
struggle, however, arose a question far more vital, viz., the sole
authority of Christ as the Head and Lawgiver of the Church; and it was,
as is well known, mainly out of this latter question that the
Disruption sprang.
A question has often been asked, Why was it
necessary that a course so extreme as that of the Disruption should be
adopted? We may say, in answer to this, with the poet, — "God moves in
a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." We fought for the Church
Establishment as a proper homage of the State to Christ, and as in
keeping with the homage which all nations must ultimately pay to Him;
for "the nation and kingdom that will not serve him shall perish: those
nations shall be utterly wasted." But it is one thing for a nation to
serve Christ, and a very different thing for a nation to seek to make
the Church of Christ its subordinate and slave. The one is right; the
other is impious.
I remember well — for I was with him — with what
overwhelming power Dr Chalmers urged this in his Church Establishment
lectures before one of the most brilliant audiences that ever assembled
in London. This, in truth, was the turning point in the whole debate on
this subject. The Church of Christ must ever be free, established or
disestablished, to serve Him according to His own Word. On this all our
ancestors insisted as vital.2 The moment it became otherwise, and the
Church as established in Scotland was declared for the first time by
the highest authority to be merely "the creature of the State," our
position in it became indefensible and intolerable. On the part of the
Church, therefore, the answer is, that she was left in the end no
alternative but either to break off from the State, or manifest glaring
treachery to her Lord and her people.
[Footnote 2: "This power ecclesiastical flows immediately from God and the Mediator
Jesus Christ, and is spiritual, not having a temporal head on earth, but
only Christ, the only spiritual king and governor of his Kirk. It is a
title falsely usurped by Antichrist to call himself head of the Kirk,
and ought not to be attributed to angel nor man, of what estate that
ever he be, saving to Christ the only Head and Monarch of his Kirk.
Therefore this power and policy of the Kirk should lean upon the Word
immediately as the only ground thereof, and should be taken from the
pure fountains of the Scriptures, the Kirk hearing the voice of Christ,
the only spiritual King, and being ruled by His laws." — Second Book of
Discipline.]
A few words from the celebrated
John Livingstone to the people of Ancrum on a similar occasion,
although in more tyrannical days, are equally explanatory of our case:—
"I could have been well content," said he, "although it had been with
many discouragement's and straits, to have gone on and served you all
as I could in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; but the prerogative royal of
Jesus Christ and the peace of a man's conscience are not to be violated
on any consideration, neither could there have been a blessing on ought
that is done against these."
But on the part of the State also, on the
other hand, we think we can see, in calmly reflecting on the subject,
that the result, strange at the time, was wisely ordered in the
wonderful providence of God, as that most conducive to the spiritual
interests of the cause of Christ in Scotland and the world.
The state
of vital religion was very low in many parts of Scotland, especially in
the south, and in some parts of the north, under the blighting
operation of a system which put men into the priest's office simply
that they might eat a piece of bread.
In the Life of the late excellent
Duchess of Gordon, by our friend Mr Moody Stuart — [applause] — an
instance is given of this in the north.
The Duchess, then the
Marchioness of Huntly, had erected a school in Strathbogie, and the
parents and children had assembled for its opening. The parish minister
was asked by the Marchioness to pray for a blessing, and, "having
declined on the ground of not being prepared, she turned to her husband
and said 'Huntly, will you do it?' He complied at once, and offered a
brief prayer, to the great delight of the people."
I could give even
more humbling illustrations of the state of matters from my own
observations in the south of Scotland, where I was first settled.
In the palmy days of Moderatism, the lists of the great
patrons were sent to the managers at Edinburgh, that they might be
expurgated of the names of all suspected of evangelical principles; and
"like priest like people" came to be the rule in many districts. I have
heard the older ministers say, that to be a popular preacher, in other
words, a preacher of the gospel, in those days was destructive to a
man's prospects in life. Witherspoon, in ridiculing this state of
feeling in his "Characteristics," supposes a case. A sermon has been
preached with the greatest approbation before the Presbytery, but it is
afterwards preached in a congregation, and they also approve of it. It
is quite clear that, after all, both he and it ought to be condemned,
for the Presbytery were never so uniform in judging right as the people
were in judging wrong. [Applause and laughter.] Now, mark what was
accomplished by the unexpected proceedings of 1843, — exactly this day
twenty-two years ago. By forcing the matter to the issue of a
Disruption, all our half measures, our vetoes, our liberum arbitriums,
and so forth, were at once scattered to the winds, and the Church came
out into perfect freedom. I should say, from what I know of Scotland,
that nothing short of this could have accomplished the object at which
we were aiming, at least during the present generation, if ever.
Suppose the veto had been established by Act of Parliament, such is the
enormous territorial power of many of our landlords, — greater than
that of any landlords out of Russia, — that its exercise in many
districts would have been entirely defeated.
This came out very clearly
during the Disruption struggle, and probably emboldened our rulers to
proceed to extremities, — a supposition rendered more probable by the
extensive combination afterwards formed to make a Free Church
impossible in certain districts by the refusal of sites.
I remember of
visiting — to give only one instance — during that period, with Dr
Guthrie, a large village of nearly a thousand people. There were two
inns in the place, with halls for meetings; but all the people and
innkeepers were tenants-at-will of a powerful nobleman. Both of the
innkeepers told us that they durst not allow us to address the people
in their halls, as the factor had intimated to them, that if they did
so they must immediately quit the place. The people told us that a
similar intimation had been made to them even if they came out on the
street to hear us in the open air, although they all intimated that
they agreed entirely with our views. — What would have been the value
even of an absolute veto in such circumstances? Nothing. Only the
break-up and crash of the Disruption could have set such a people free,
as it actually did, for in that place there is now a flourishing Free
Church. [Applause.] Suppose even patronage had been abolished, it would
have required twenty, thirty, or forty years to terminate existing
incumbencies, and bring the new system into general operation. During
that period the power of the parochial system would have effectually
prevented the gospel from crossing the limits of certain districts,
whilst during that period also the Church again might have largely gone
to sleep.
On the other hand, it was so arranged by the sudden crash of
the Disruption, that all these artificial boundaries were levelled at
once; all the strongholds of Moderatism, the growth of generations,
were rendered accessible in a day; the entire people of Scotland were
emancipated from all trammels; the gospel had free course through the
green dales and scattered villages of the south, amidst the sturdy
peasantry of the Don and the Dee, throughout the wilds of Argyll,
Inverness, and Sutherland, and to the uttermost ends of Scotland. [Applause.] Nay, whilst a small reform would have made no impression,
the earthquake shout of a self-emancipated people re-echoed to the ends
of the earth, and made the Christians of other lands thank God and take
courage, because of a new proof thus afforded that Christianity was as
strong to endure and as mighty to triumph over all difficulties, and if
necessary, over the potentates of earth, as in the apostolic age. [Applause.] These are mighty results of the Disruption, for which all
generations will be thankful; and I do not see how they could have been
accomplished except by a Divine wisdom, which defeated our well-meaning
but short sighted plans, and led us, like blind men, in a way that we
knew not. [Applause.]
Another great result was necessary to be
accomplished, and, so far as I can see, could be accomplished also in
no other way.
The flood of apostolic benevolence had been dried up, and
the liberality of the Church had become stinted, both in and out of the
Establishment. A vast work required to be done, both for the neglected
heathen at home and the perishing millions abroad. Something was
necessary to break up the fountains of benevolence anew, and to prove
that the Church of Christ, under the reviving power of the Spirit of
God, is equal to her mighty task, nay is, in this respect, entirely
independent of the principalities and powers of earth. And never did
the power of spring more suddenly break up the frost of a northern
winter than the Disruption opened the hearts of the people of Scotland
to give as they had never given before. God seemed to act towards our
Church as He did towards Solomon. Solomon, when asked to choose, chose
wisdom, and God threw in unasked, in addition, abundance of silver and
gold. Our Church had grace to choose the honour of Christ in the hour
of trial; our ministers abandoned their pleasant manses and gardens for
Christ's sake; and God has not only in a wonderful way replaced these
blessings, but He has placed wealth at the disposal of this
dis-established Church far greater than the Presbyterian Church of
Scotland ever possessed even in her palmiest days. [Applause.]
It was
formerly remarked that Dissenters would build a meeting-house whilst
heritors discussed a broken pane. Dr Chalmers asked in vain for
£10,000 a-year from the Government; and the old inveterate
"bawbee" had come to be the limit of a Scotchman's contribution for
benevolent objects. [Laughter.] But the strong heat of the Disruption
made all this vanish like smoke.
Now a Scotchman's liberality, although
still far short, like the faith of the ancient Roman Christians, is
"spoken of throughout the whole world," and "our zeal hath provoked
very many." Ever since the Disruption, the contributions towards the
Free Church have averaged about £350,000 a year, or £50,000
a year more than the revenue of the Church Establishment, including the
value of manses and glebes. We would thus not only have been false to
truth, but, as it has turned out, immense pecuniary losers, apart from
the Disruption. The amount contributed to the Free Church since 1843
has been no less than about £7,000,000 sterling. [Applause.]
Now,
the world and the Church needed this lesson, and yet it is hard to see
how it could have been obtained in Scotland in any other way than by
the Disruption. Our financial arrangements in regard to the support of
ministers have also, by the Divine blessing in guiding our counsels,
been managed with singular wisdom. Our Sustentation Fund, as hitherto
conducted, has enabled the Church to plant and uphold ministers in all
parts of Scotland, — in the poorer districts as well as in
the richer, — to fill not only the Lowlands, but the noble
Highlands and Islands,
with the gospel which the people prize so highly. It has given us many
of the advantages of a Church establishment without its disadvantages,
and helped to solve the question of ecclesiastical finance for all the
Free Churches of the world.
Yet this is only the beginning. The whole
world still remains to be subdued to Christ, and these are only the
first openings of the fountain previously very much sealed, — the first
drops of that mighty shower which shall at length make the wilderness
and the solitary place to be glad everywhere, and the moral deserts to
rejoice and blossom as the rose, when God shall say to the north, Give
up, and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my
daughters from the ends of the earth. [Applause.] Another very
important result of the struggle may yet be in the future.
The
prevailing view at the time of the Disruption was, that it was a
process merely of scattering and breaking to pieces. The dearest ties
of families were often rent asunder; and we sang, with great sincerity,
"O Lord, thou hast rejected us,
And scattered us abroad;
Thou justly
hast displeased been:
Return to us, O God.
Unto thy people thou hard
things
Hast showed, and on them sent;
And thou hast caused us to drink
Wine of astonishment."
Thus we sang at the very time when we could add
with joy, as the only apparent solution of the problem, —
"And yet a
banner thou hast given
To those who thee do fear,
That it by them,
because of truth,
Displayed may appear;
That thy beloved people may
Delivered be from thrall.
Save by the power of thy right hand,
And hear
me when I call." [Applause.]
But He who is wonderful in counsel and
excellent in working might, after all, be preparing, by that process of
breaking to pieces, for a more comprehensive and vital union. Some time
and sifting may still be necessary; but if, in a way thoroughly
consistent and honouring to God's truth, without which union is a mere
conspiracy against truth, the scattered children of the Covenanters,
the sons of Erskine, Gillespie, and Chalmers — [applause] — shall be
brought to meet around a common centre, and in these days of trouble,
and rebuke, and blasphemy, to blend their several protests into one
broad standard uplifted on high, and emblazoned with Christ's crown and
covenant, Scotland may again become glorious as in the days of old;
nay, her latter end may become better than her beginning. [Applause.]
In the preface to the last work of the celebrated and godly James
Durham, published in 1659; it is said, describing the then state of
things, —
"He who some time made us a praise in the earth hath now made
us a hissing reproach to all that are round about us. He who once by
our unity and one shoulder service did make us beautiful as Tirza,
comely as Jerusalem, and terrible as an army with banners, hath now,
alas! (which is one of the most embittering ingredients of our cup),
instead of giving us one heart and one way, in His anger divided,
sub-divided, weakened, disjointed, and broken us, so that Judah vexeth
Ephraim, and Ephraim envieth Judah, and every man's hand almost is
against his brother; and through our lamentable and most unseasonable
intestine jars and divisions we bite and devour one another, and are
like to be consumed one of another. O, tell it not in Gath, publish it
not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines
rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph, that when God
hath cast us all down together, we endeavour to keep down and to tread
upon one another; that when He hath been justly angry with our mother,
her children are sinfully angry with one another; and when He hath cast
us into the furnace, we are even there struggling and wrestling one
with another, to the increasing of the flame."
The students of history
know that this strife was soon quenched in blood; but they also know
that the best men of those times, whilst earnest friends of truth, were
also, as they ever are, earnest friends of union.
The whole struggle of
the Second Reformation was in one aspect a struggle in behalf of a
great union of true Presbyterianism; and it is interesting to notice
with what wisdom Durham seeks to deal with the perplexing divisions of
his time. In the work to which we have referred he gives the following
advice, which is still most worthy of our study: —
"Choice," says he,
"also would be made of the subject first to be spoken of. What may be
thought most subject to mistake, heat, or contention, would be left to
the last place, and what may be conceived most plausible-like to both
would be begun at, that it may be rather known wherein men agree than
wherein they differ, at the entry at least. Possibly also, union in
fundamental things being accorded unto, it may make way for moderating
affections in other things less fundamental, ... because, beginning
at some point of doctrine or particular of practice wherein the
difference is highest, doth often at the entry ruffle men's humours,
and break off conferences abruptly." [Applause and laughter.]
There are
no doubt questions of great delicacy in the projected unions of the
present day, although there never was a time when union, if it be only
in the truth, was more loudly called for. [Hear, hear.] The very
difficulties which lie in our way ought to lead us to distrust mere
carnal wisdom, and to cast ourselves on the care and guidance of Him
who hath hitherto made our way plain before us. And if by Him we and
the mass of the other leading Dissenters of Scotland, on the basis of
Scripture, are brought to see eye to eye, and to sing together with the
voice, we may surely, with more emphasis than ever, be enabled to sing
the old song of 1843, —
"When Sion's bondage God turned back,
As men
that dreamed were we."
And still we may add to it a new song, which at
that time we did not sing so much, —
"God doth build up Jerusalem,
And
He it is alone
That the dispersed of Israel
Doth gather into one." [Loud applause.]
But whilst it is right to contemplate for the glory of
God the many past and prospective blessings which have flowed from a
firm adherence to principle at the time of the Disruption, it may be
well also to glance at the opposite course of procedure, — the result
of an abandonment of the principle of the sole Headship of Christ in
the Church.
In our own Establishment, the result was the immediate
intrusion of Mr Young at Auchterarder, followed by similar acts of
intrusion since, — the reponing of the deposed Strathbogie ministers by
the mere authority of the civil court; and whilst our protest has never
been answered, the settling of so sacred a matter as the ordination and
induction of ministers is managed now by a mere Act of Parliament, just
as if ministers of Christ were only so many higher policemen. [Laughter.] The Church has thus consented to merge herself so far into
the State, and to become even in the most sacred matters only a part of
one of the kingdoms of this world, — all this, of course, to secure her
endowments. In other words, she sells her own freedom and the Kingship
of Christ for self; and if the sinful and fatal concession thus made
has not yet been driven to farther issues by the civil courts, it is
only because an emergency has not yet arisen.
Between obeying Christ
and Cæsar, the distance is infinite. No doubt, even the
Establishment still professes to uphold the Headship of Christ; but
there are two principles which effectually settle this claim. The one
is, "No man can serve two masters;" and the other is, "His servants ye
are whom ye obey." [Loud and prolonged applause.] The obedience
rendered to Cæsar rather than to Christ at the testing time of
the Disruption, and since, settles the question.
The ministers of the
Established Church, even though willing, cannot now obey Christ in
settling ministers, except in so far as they are allowed to do so by
Lord Aberdeen's Act; and that Act expressly excludes the will of the
people, apart from mere technical reasons, as entitled to the least
weight in a matter so important; so that both Church and people are now
equally enslaved by the civil power. The Jews might therefore as well
have claimed to be loyal to Christ when they arrayed him in a scarlet
robe, and put a reed in his hand, and a crown of thorns upon his head,
crying, "Hail, King of the Jews," at the very time when their conduct
as well as their words said, "We have no king but Cæsar," as our
modern Churchmen are entitled to claim that they are loyal to Him when
in every case of debate they regulate their conduct by Acts of
Parliament, and not by the Acts of the Apostles.3 [Applause and
laughter.] Besides, no one can tell now whither the Establishment is
tending.
[Footnote 3: This
sentence has been perverted by one of our newspapers,
which affirmed that I had "exhibited a parallel between the members of
the Established Church and the Jews aiding in the Crucifixion." It is
scarcely necessary to say, that there is not one word about the
"Crucifixion" in the sentence. It was intended to convey, and, fairly
interpreted, only does convey, an illustration of the contrast between
professed loyalty and true submission to the kingly authority of
Christ.]
It is well, however, that the ultimate bearing of Erastianism
can be tested more effectually now than it has yet been in Scotland in modern times viz., by the experience of the great and powerful Church
of England, many of whose ministers are excellent, but whose
constitution is essentially Erastian. In her Articles, she proclaims,
and makes no disguise of the matter, that "the Queen's Majesty is
supreme judge in all questions and causes, ecclesiastical as well as
civil." This was one of the invincible grounds of opposition to that
Church on the part of our wise and discerning ancestors. "This was the
needle," said one of them, "which drew in the whole thread of
corruption" — [laughter] — and so it has turned out. The Popish element
in that Church has often been developed with impunity; and lately, on
what is called Good Friday, at Norwich, two ministers of that Church
produced a wooden cross and an image of Christ, the one exclaiming,
"Behold the wood of the cross!" the other responding, and teaching the
people to respond, "Come, let us adore" when a scene of as abject
idolatry followed as ever took place in the Church of Rome.
These men
maintain their positions with impunity because the free action of the
Church is hampered by the Erastian form of her connection with the
State. But in our day it has further been solemnly declared that a man
may hold essentially infidel opinions and still be a minister of the
Church of England. Not only can infidels and reprobates compel the
administration of sacraments as a civil right, as hitherto, but a
minister of that Church now who denies — to use the language of a
friend — the whole source of truth, viz., to an undefined extent the
inspiration of the Word of God, — the whole substance of truth, viz.,
the substitution of Christ's righteousness by faith as the ground of
our acceptance with God, — and the whole sanctions of truth, viz., the
doctrine of future punishment, and consequently of reward, — may still
remain a minister of the Church of England, and set all men at
defiance.
A man that is a heretic can no longer be rejected, as the
Apostle commands. No doubt, ten thousand ministers of that Church have
protested against two of these conclusions; but what is the value of
their protest, after issuing which they have quietly sunk again into
inaction? [Hear, hear.] This course only emboldens the aggressors. What
they should protest against is the vicious principle which makes such a
result possible, — which puts it in the power, not of the Queen — for
that is a mere legal fiction — but of civil judges, who may be of any
or no religion, — who may be, as Dr Pusey has justly said, moral or
immoral, to give law to the Church of Christ. This decision is now
final, and can only be altered by an Act of Parliament, not likely to
be passed.
Such a startling result is, in our opinion, a sufficient
vindication of all that we or our ancestors in all ages have done and
suffered in the way of protesting against this monstrous system of
Erastianism. [Applause.] When the Disruption was about to happen, Dr
Chalmers wrote a strong letter to the Bishops of England, urging the
importance of the principle involved; but I think he told me that from
not one of them did he receive an answer. Whether any of them may be
disposed, now that the case has come to their own doors, to fight a
battle for the liberty and purity of their Church, remains to be seen.
Some great purgation of the temple is obviously necessary. [Laughter.]
They have a stronger ground to struggle than old Azariah the high
priest, with his fourscore priests, that were valiant men, had when
they resisted, with Divine approbation, the aggressions of Uzziah, and
said, "It appertaineth not thee to burn incense: go out of the
sanctuary, for thou hast transgressed — [applause and laughter] —
neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God." But if this
may not be, and if matters are to proceed, as they undoubtedly will
after such a decision, from bad to worse, here is at least one
alternative that all the many good ministers and people may adopt in
England, as we have adopted it in Scotland, viz., to come out and be
separate. [Applause.] There is a text of the Bible which seems to have
been written to meet this very case, — "Be, not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness, and what
concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel?" The apostle adds, as if anticipating the very
conjunction of infidelity and Romanism, now found in ominous
development in the Church of England, — "What agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. [Applause.]
Our struggle,
therefore, of which some would make light, really turned upon the
grandest and most momentous issue which can be presented to the minds
of men, viz., whether Christ or Cæsar is to rule in the Church of
God. To maintain the undivided supremacy of Christ in His Church is
worthy of any sacrifice. It is a principle to be surrendered only with
life. Next to a dying Saviour, a living, present, reigning Saviour is
the most vital truth of spiritual religion. [Applause.] That "the
government should be on the shoulder" of the child born, the Saviour
given, was the burden of ancient prophecy. That "all power is given to
Christ in heaven and on earth" is the only basis of every minister's
commission; for Christ says, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all
nations." That Christ is "by the right hand of God exalted," was the
true origin of the mission of the Holy Spirit, and is the only ground
still on which we are entitled to expect His continued presence and
blessing, — that blessing without which all preaching is vain.
This
grand principle pervaded and formed the very essence of the entire
struggles of our ancestors. The "Cloud of Witnesses," — that noblest
record that any modern Church possesses, — is simply a record of an
intense love to a present Christ, and a faith ready to brave all
dangers rather than practically deny a living and reigning Saviour.
They overcame, not only "by the blood of the Lamb," but also "by the
word of their testimony" in behalf of this imperishable truth. This
noble principle has been the parent of all our liberties.
The great
despotisms of the world have all been established on the basis of
ignorance of the Word of God, and by combining all power, civil and
ecclesiastical, in a single human centre, as we see at present in the
Pope of Rome on the one hand, and the Emperor of Russia on the other.
True liberty, on the other hand, has ever sprung from the Bible, and
had for its motto, "Render to Cæsar the things which are
Cæsars, and to God the things which are God's." Lord MaCaulay
says of the undoubted founders of English liberty, — "The Puritans
espoused the cause of civil liberty mainly because it was the cause of
religion." The eloquent Dr Charters says, — "The standard of the
Scottish Covenanters upon the mountains of Scotland indicated to the
vigilant eye of William that the nation was ripe for a change. They
watered with their blood the tree of liberty, and we have risen to eat
of the pleasant fruits." This grand principle of the supreme authority
of Christ is the true foundation of all loyalty; not that base
selfishness which sometimes usurps the name, but which only licks the
hand by whom it hopes to be fed; but that noble spirit of manly duty
which obeys not merely "for wrath, but for conscience' sake." The great
Marquis of Argyll said on the scaffold, — "I would caveat this. People
will be ready to think this a kind of instigation to rebellion in me;
but they are very far wrong that think religion and loyalty are not
well consistent. Whoever they be that separate them, religion is not to
be blamed, but they. It is true, it is the duty of every Christian to
be loyal; yet I think the order of things is to be observed as well as
their natures, — the order of religion as well as the nature of it.
Religion must not be the cockboat; it must be the ship. God must have
what is His as well as Cæsar what is his; and these are the best
subjects that are the best Christians." [Applause.]
This great
spiritual principle of the Headship of Christ is the very life of
missions, as all our missionaries at once proclaimed at the Disruption.
The noble object of every true missionary is to gather the millions of
a conquered world around the throne and cross of Jesus, until the cry
goes up under the whole heaven, "The kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." The prayers of David, the
son of Jesse, will end and be swallowed up in praise, when the glories
of Christ are inscribed on the highest mountain tops of earth, and all
its authorities yield a willing submission to Messiah the prince. This
time shall come, not withstanding the coldness and infidelity of the
present age. To wait and work for this time is the duty entrusted to
this Church, and to all the people of God. This time shall surely and
quickly come. "His name shall endure for ever; His name shall be
continued as long as the sun; men shall be blessed in Him; all nations
shall call Him blessed."
Nay, we may ascend to a still higher platform.
There will be no Erastianism in Heaven. Heaven will be the consummation
of Messiah's glory. There shall be cast at the feet of Christ, when all
His enemies are made His footstool; and the song of eternity shall for
ever "worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive wisdom, and power,
and glory and honour, and blessing." The Lord hasten it in His own time [Applause.]
Fathers and brethren, every new Assembly reminds us of
losses sustained, in the holy providence of God. Besides beloved
brethren in the ministry carried away to their rest and reward, amongst
whom I would specially mention the late Mr Forman of Leven, the loss of
such men as Robert Morrieson, Professor Miller, James Bridges, William
Campbell, Richard Kidston, and Hugh Tennent, cannot fail to be deeply
felt. They have left behind them a noble example.
But our great
consolation is, that the Head of the Church, who never dies or Ages,
can raise up other equally large hearted and zealous friends to supply
their places. Amongst these causes of sorrow, however, there is at
least one of joy: Dr Duff has been brought back amongst us — [applause]
— to give, let us hope, a new and more permanent impulse, by the Divine
blessing, to that noble cause to which he has devoted his life. I
deeply regret that he is prohibited by his medical advisers from being
present in this Assembly but I trust that his heart will be cheered by
the results of the present meeting.
Above all, let us each seek by
earnest prayer the special presence and blessing of our exalted King,
and Head in this Assembly, and that all our business may be conducted
as in His presence, and with a single eye to His glory." [Loud and
prolonged applause.]