April - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

--'\\Sermon. 491His truth and cause in the world. He often took men who werevery insignificant in the eyes of the great men of the world,"God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confoundthe things that are mighty" (1. Cor. i. 2-6). This was veryclearly seen in the beginning of the history of the ChristianChurch. . Christ did not choose as His disciples great men suchas kiiugs, Rabbis and lawyers, ete., but He took a few fishermenand sent them forth as lambs among wolves to set up HisChurch among the nations. "Go," He said, "and teach allnations" and" 10, I am with you alway even unto the end ofthe world." They were to teach them to observe whatsoeverHe commanded them. They were to be "the pillar and groundof the truth." They had no social standing among men and allthe powers, Church and State were against them and' thoughthey could do nothing in their own strength yet because Christ,in the power of His Spirit, went with them they turned theworld upside down. '!.'heir weakness only proved that theexcellency of the power was of God and not of man..This was also seen in the history of the Free PresbyterianChurch. During the controversy which took place at the timeof the passing of the Declaratory Act of 1892 into law therewere man~' who boasted that should that Act be passed they wouldsuffer the loss of their manses and salaries rather than remainunder it. But when the day of trial came like the children of;Ephraim "they turned back in the day of battle" (Ps. lxxviii. 9),God did not honour these men to be "the pillar and groundof the truth" in upholding and defending it when it was fallenin the street. He took two humble, gracious men, Revs. DonaldMacfarlane and Donald Macdonald who never aspired to belead'ers, nor did they sound their trumpets as to what they woulddo but when they saw the interests of God's truth, which was.dearer to them than life, at 8take, they fearlessly stepped forwa1'lland raised a testimony on its behalf in face of much persecutionand the loss of all theiT earthly comfoTts but" they took joyfullythe spoiling of their goods." 'l'hey became" the pillar and groundof the truth" in this land.