John Brown
(1722-1787) was raised in extreme poverty, but his herdsman father was a
godly man who led the family in worship morning and evening. He died when
John was eleven, and his dear mother followed soon after, leaving the youth
to earn his living as a shepherd in the hills around Abernethy, Scotland.
From an early age he gave evidence of the work of Christ in him, and also of
prodigious academic abilities
– to the disbelief of many, he taught himself New Testament
Greek while in the fields with his flock. Having sought righteousness by the
works of the law, he at length received and grew in the knowledge of God's
grace, and as a good soldier of Jesus Christ was enabled to endure many
early hardships and persecutions. He eventually became renowned as a pastor
– though in a small Presbyterian denomination
– and for his literary works such as the Self-Interpreting
Bible and his devotional notes on the Metrical Psalms.
MY
DEAR HEARERS.
Having through the patience and mercy of God, long
laboured among you, not as I ought, far, far from it, but as I could, I must
now leave you, to appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account
of my stewardship. You cannot say that I ever appeared to covet any man’s
silver or gold, or apparel, or ever uttered one murmur about what you gave me;
or that I sought yours, not you. You cannot charge me with idling away my
devoted time in vain chat, either with you or others, or with spending it in
worldly business, reading of plays, romances, or the like. If I had, what an
awful appearance should I soon have before my all-seeing Judge! You cannot
pretend that I spared either body or mind in the service of your souls, or
that I put you off with airy conceits of man’s wisdom, or anything else than
the truths of God. Though I was not ashamed, as I thought Providence called
me, to give you hints of the truth presently injured, and for the support of
which is the declared end of the Secession, yet I laboured chiefly to show and
inculcate upon your consciences the most important truths concerning your
sinfulness and misery, and the way of salvation from both through Christ, and
laboured to hunt you out of your lying refuges, and give your consciences no
rest but in Christ and Him crucified. The delight of my soul was to commend
Him and His free and great salvation to your souls, and to direct and
encourage you to receive and walk in Him. I call heaven and earth to record
against you this day, that I laboured to set life
and death, blessing and cursing, before you, and to persuade you to choose
life that ye might live. By the grace of God, I have endeavoured, however
poorly, to live holily, justly, and unblameably among you. And now I leave all
these discourses, exhortations, instructions, and examples, as a testimony for
the Lord against you, if you lay not your eternal salvation to heart, as the one thing needful, the better part which shall never be
taken from you.
But
I have no confidence in any of these things before God as my Judge. I see such
weakness, such deficiency, such unfaithfulness, such imprudence, such
unfervency, and unconcern, such selfishness, in all that I have done as a
minister or a Christian, as richly deserves the deepest damnation of hell. I
have no hope of eternal happiness but in Jesus’ blood, which cleanseth
from all sin, in redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of my
sins, according to the riches of His
grace. It is the everlasting covenant of God’s free grace, well ordered
in all things and sure, that is all my
salvation and all my desire.
Now
I die firmly persuaded [of the truth] of those things which I preached unto
you. I never preached unto you any other way of salvation than I essayed to
use for myself. I now, when dying, set to my seal that God is true. After all
that I have said of the sinfulness of your hearts, I have not represented to
you the ten-thousandth part of their vileness and guilt. Knowing, in some
measure, the terrors of the Lord, I endeavoured to persuade you that it was a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of His wrath. But who knoweth the power
of His wrath? Knowing, in some measure, the deceitfulness of sin, and the
devices of Satan, I laboured to warn you of them. But what especially
delighted my heart was, to set before you the excellencies, the love, the
labours of our Redeemer, and God in Him, giving Himself, and applying Himself
to sinful men; and to represent to you the work of God on the heart in the day
of His power, and the exercise of the heart in its diversified frames. What I
saw, and tasted, and handled, both of the bitter and the sweet in religion,
declared I unto you. Little as I am acquainted with the Lord, I will leave it
as my dying testimony, that there is
none like Christ, there is nothing like fellowship with Christ. I dare
aver before God, angels, and men that I would not exchange the pleasures of
religion which I have enjoyed, especially in the days of my youth, for all the
pleasures, profits, and honours of this world, since the creation till the
present moment, ten thousand times told. For what, then, would I ever exchange
my entrance into the joy of a being for ever with my Lord? Truly God hath been
good to a soul that but poorly sought Him. Oh! what
would He be to yours, if you would earnestly seek Him! With what
heart-ravishing power and grace He hath testified against my wicked and
unbelieving heart, that He is God, even my God! And whom
have I in heaven but Him? nor is there any on earth
whom I desire besides Him. My heart and flesh fail, but God is the strength of
my heart and my portion for ever. Left early by both father and mother, God
hath taken me up, and been the orphan’s stay. He hath given my
the heritage of them that fear Him. The lines have fallen to me in
pleasant places. I have a goodly heritage. The Lord is the portion of mine
inheritance and of my cup; He maintaineth my lot: Yea, mine own God is he, my
God that doth me save.
Had
I ten thousand worlds in my offer, and these secured to me for ever, they
should be utterly contemned. “Doubtless I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; and I do count them but
dung to win him, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but the righteousness of God which is through faith.”
Now,
when I go to give my account to God, think what it must be! Alas! must
it be that, in too great conformity to your careless neighbours, some did not
attend the means of grace at examinations, in meetings for prayer and
spiritual conference, as ye ought? Must it be that ye were called, but you
made light of the marriage with Christ, and of His great salvation? Must it be
that ye contented yourselves with a form of godliness, without knowing the
power of it? Must it be that some few, trampling on their most solemn
engagements, forsook me, having loved this present world? Must it be that
others were not careful to train up their seed for the Lord? Must it be, that
ye often heard the most searching sermons, or the most delightful, and went
away quite unaffected? Or must it be that you were awakened, that your souls
looked to Jesus and were enlightened; that ye believed with your heart unto
salvation; that ye harrowed in the seed of the truth, which I sowed among you,
by serious meditation and fervent prayer; that ye laboured to win souls to
Christ? Alas! I fear many of you will go down to hell with a lie in your hand,
with all the gospel sermons and exhortations you ever heard in your
conscience, to assist it to upbraid, gnaw, and torment you! My dearly beloved
hearers, shall I see you next in everlasting fire prepared for the devil and
his angels? Shall I see those faces all in flames at the last day, and those
eyes, which often looked at me, looking lively bright horror at the
judgement-seat of Christ? Must I hear the Redeemer bid you depart from Him as
cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels? And
must I, who have so often prayed for your salvation, and preached for your
salvation, add my hearty AMEN to the sentence of your eternal damnation? God
forbid!
Let
me then beseech you, now, without a moment’s delay, to consider your ways.
Listen to the Lord’s invitations! Believe His self-giving declarations and
promises, which, times without number, have, with some measure of earnestness,
been sounded in your ears. For the Lord’s sake, dare not, at your infinite
peril, to see me again in your sins, and refusers of my glorious Redeemer and
Master? Oh! give Him your hearts, give Him your
hearts! I never complained of you giving me too little. Nay, I thought myself
happier than most of my brethren as to all outward matters. But I always
thought and complained that you did not use my Master Christ as I wished in
your hearts, lives, and houses. And now I ask nothing for myself, or any of my
family, but make this my only dying request to you, that you would receive my
Master Christ into your hearts and houses. Could my soul speak back to you
from the eternal state, could all my rotting bones and sinews, and every atom
of my body, speak back to you from the grave, they should all cry, “Oh that
you were wise, that you understood this, that you would consider your latter
end!” Oh that you would give my Master, Christ, these ignorant, guilty,
polluted, and enslaved hearts of yours, that He, as made of God unto you
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, might enter in and fill
them for evermore with His grace and truth! Oh, say not to a dying, a dead
minister, but to a living Redeemer, and His Father, and blessed Spirit, NAY.
Dearly
beloved, whom I wish to be my joy and crown in the day of the Lord, suffer me
to speak from the dead to you. Let me obtest you, by all your inexpressible
sinfulness and misery, by all the perfections, words and works of God, by all
the excellencies, offices, relations, labours, sufferings, glory, and fulness
of Christ, by all the joys of heaven and horrors of hell, now to make serious
work of the eternal salvation of your souls. Try what improvement you have
made of all my ministrations. Call to mind what of my texts, sermons, or other
instructions you can; and pray them over before the Lord, applying them
closely to your own conscience and heart. Wash yourselves thoroughly in the
blood of Jesus Christ from all the sins of holy things since you and I met
together.
I
recommend to you, young persons, my two addresses annexed to my Catechisms;
and to you, parents and masters, my address in the Awakening Call, and my sermons on Raising up Children to Christ, as a part of my dying words to you.
They will rise up in judgement against you, if you contemn them.
With
respect to your obtaining another minister, let me beseech you, by much
fervent prayer, get him first from the Lord. And
let it be your care to call one whose sermons you find to touch your
consciences. May the Lord preserve you from such as aim chiefly to tickle your
fancy, and seek themselves rather than Jesus Christ the Lord! Let there be no
strife among you in calling him. And when you get him, labour at his entrance
to receive his message from Christ with great greediness. Let your vacancy
make you hungry and thirsty for the Gospel. And let all hands and hearts be
intent on raising up a seed for Christ in poor withered and wicked East
Lothian.
Oh!
how it would delight my soul to be informed, in the
manner of the eternal state, that Christ had come along with my successor,
conquering and to conquer! How gladly should I see you and him by hundreds at
the right hand of Christ at the great day, though I should scarcely have my
ten! Oh, if Christ were so exalted, so remembered among you, as to make me
scarcely thought of! I desire to decrease, that He may increase.
“Now
unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath
given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, be honour and
glory, dominion and blessing, for ever and ever.
“This
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
Your
once affectionate pastor,
JOHN
BROWN.
Reference
“John
Brown of Haddington” by Robert Mackenzie. Banner of Truth Trust, 1964. pp
262-267.
