James Renwick was the child of godly parents in humble life. His father,
Andrew Renwick, was a weaver, and his mother, Elizabeth Corson, is
especially mentioned, like the mother and grandmother of Timothy, or
like Monica, the mother of Augustine, as a woman of strong faith, and
eminently prayerful. As several of her children had died in infancy, she
earnestly sought that the Lord would give her a child, who would not
only be an heir of glory, but who might live to serve God in his
generation. Her prayer was heard and graciously answered. The son of her
vows was born at Moniaive, in the parish of Glencairn, Gallowayshire, on
the 15th of February, 1662. His father died before he reached the age of
fourteen, but not before he felt assured--probably from observing in the
boy remarkable indications of early piety--that, though his course on
earth would be short, the Lord would make singular use of him in his
service. The early training of this distinguished martyr was, in a great
measure, through the instrumentality of a devoted mother, who could
boast of no worldly affluence or accomplishments, but whose heart was
richly pervaded by the grace of the Spirit, and intensely concerned for
the Saviour's glory; and who, in times of great difficulty and great
trial, maintained unwavering confidence in the faithful word of promise.
If James Renwick was not "sanctified from the womb," there was clear
evidence afforded, that, in early childhood, he was the subject of
gracious motions of the Spirit. At two years of age, he was observed to
be aiming at secret prayer; and as his childhood advanced, he evinced
love to the ways of God, by reading and pondering the Scriptures,
delight in secret prayer, and by reverential regard to the authority of
his parents. Like Luther, and other eminent servants of God, Renwick was
trained for his life-work in the school of _temptation_; he experienced
painful mental conflicts, and the assaults of the tempter, at a very
early period. It is recorded that, at six years of age, he was conscious
of distressing doubts, in relation to the Divine existence and
perfections. These exercised and agitated his mind for a period of two
years. In answer to prayer, and by meditation on the power and goodness
of God, as seen in creation, he overcame the temptation, and attained to
internal composure and tranquillity. At a time of life considerably
subsequent, when he had reached mature youth, and had acquired extensive
acquaintance with Scriptural truth, a like temptation again assailed
him. He himself relates that he fell into deeper perplexity and distress
about these fundamental truths. Like the excellent Robert Bruce of the
First Reformation, he was strongly tempted to atheism. So powerful at
one time was the assault, that, being in the fields and looking to the
distant mountains, he exclaimed, "Were all these devouring furnaces of
burning brimstone, he would be content to go through them, if he could
thereby be assured of the existence of God." There was at length made
for him a way of escape from this severe temptation, and not only did he
attain to a full and joyful persuasion of God's existence, but to the
assurance of his personal interest in God as his covenant portion.
James Renwick was endowed with a vigorous reflective mind, and from his
childhood he was devoted to reading and study. Amidst considerable
difficulties, he commenced and prosecuted with ardour studies for the
ministry. There is ample evidence from his writings that his attainments
in learning were by no means superficial. Through the kindness of
friends raised up in providence, he was enabled to pursue classical
studies in Edinburgh, and while attending the University there, he
maintained himself till he had finished the undergraduate course, partly
by teaching and aiding others in their studies. When his scholarship
entitled him to a University degree, he refused to receive this honour,
because it was required at the time that students, on graduating, should
swear the oath of allegiance, which expressly owned the royal supremacy.
In company with two fellow-students, he sometime after received his
degree privately.
Continuing in Edinburgh to prosecute his studies, he was brought to
attend the private fellowship-meetings of the persecuted covenanters. He
met with the "outed" ministers, and was led to study, by the light of
the Divine word and the teaching of the Spirit, the exciting and deeply
important questions of the day. Thus did he become convinced of the
numerous defections from the principles and ends of the Covenanted
Reformation, of the majority of the ministers and Presbyterian people of
Scotland; and he was persuaded that the stricter Covenanters,--the
followers of Cargill and Cameron, and those associated in Societies, and
who frequented conventicles,--alone consistently carried out the grand
principles and aims of the national vows. At length, after much
searching of heart, and according to his words, testifying to his deep
conscientiousness, "with great grief, reluctance, and trembling of
soul," he became identified with the persecuted remnant. Soon after,
while yet only _nineteen years of age_, Renwick witnessed the martyrdom
of the venerable servant of Christ, Donald Cargill. He stood near the
scaffold, beheld his courageous and triumphant departure to glory, and
heard the clear and powerful last words, in which he nobly testified for
the crown-rights of the Redeemer, and against Erastian usurpation. "As
to the causes of my suffering," said the dying martyr, "the chief
is--not acknowledging the present Authority, as it is established in the
Supremacy and Explanatory Act. This is the magistracy I have resisted,
that which is invested with Christ's power. Seeing that power taken from
Christ, which is His glory, and made the essential of an earthly crown,
it seemed to me as if one were wearing my husband's garments, after he
had killed him. There is no distinction we can make, that can free the
acknowledger from being a partaker of this sacrilegious robbing of God.
And it is but to cheat our consciences to acknowledge the _civil power_
alone, that it is of the essence of the crown; and seeing they are so
express, we ought to be plain; for otherwise, we deny our testimony and
consent that Christ be robbed of His glory."
These mighty utterances, so solemnly confirmed by the martyr's blood,
could not fail to make a deep impression on the heart of the youthful
Renwick. His purpose was fixed, and his resolution taken, to maintain
the same great principles; and reproach and persecution and death could
not turn him aside. His Christian decision had its reward. He declared
that he did not fully know what the gracious presence of God with His
people meant, till he joined the fellowship of the persecuted remnant. A
large measure of the spirit of the "faithful Cargill" rested on his
youthful successor; and when, some two years after, he entered on the
work of the ministry, it was justly said--"he took up the Covenanted
Banner as it fell from the hands of Cargill."
At the time that Renwick united with the Society People, they were
destitute of a public ministry. Cargill and Cameron had sealed their
testimony with their blood. The Churches were either filled with
Episcopal curates, or by time-serving Presbyterian ministers, who had
accepted the indulgence flowing from the royal supremacy. By an act of
Parliament passed in 1672 against "unlawful ordinations," the way to the
ministry was barred against all who could not accept Prelatical
ordination. The Societies, having organized a general correspondence,
earnestly desired a stated ministry, while they manifested the strictest
regard to scriptural order. Animated by a noble public spirit, they
selected James Renwick and two other young men, and sent them to
complete their studies for the ministry in Holland, then renowned for
its theological Seminaries, where deep sympathy was manifested for the
suffering Church of Scotland. He studied at the university of Groningen,
where some of the most distinguished theologians in Europe occupied
professorial Chairs. Studying in the spirit of entire devotedness, and
actuated by an earnest desire to return to Scotland, where there was
pressing need for faithful ministerial services, he made such
proficiency, that in a short time, he was fully qualified to receive
ordination. According to the usage of the Dutch Church, he was ordained
at Groningen, by a Classis or Presbytery of learned and godly ministers,
who evinced their catholic spirit by yielding to his request to allow
him to subscribe the standards of the Church of Scotland, instead of
their own formula. There was remarkable evidence of God's gracious
presence being enjoyed in the solemn service.--It has been appropriately
said, that as the conflicts of the German reformation were acted over by
Luther in his cloister, before he was called to his public work, so the
struggles of the covenanted cause in Scotland, were first engaged in by
Renwick in his retirement and solitary chamber in Groningen. There he
clearly foresaw the conflicts and trials that awaited him; and in near
communion with God, he yielded himself up as an entire self-sacrifice,
anticipating the blessed recompense of the reward. In the early Pagan
persecutions, the church was sometimes symbolically represented by an ox
with a plough on the one side, and an altar on the other, with the
inscription, "Ready for either"--prepared for work or slaughter. Such
was the spirit of Renwick, as he looked forward to the work that lay
before him in his native land. In a letter written from Holland at this
time, he says, "My longings and earnest desire to be in that land, and
with the pleasant remnant, are very great. I cannot tell what may be in
it, but I hope the Lord hath either some work to work, or else is minded
presently to call for a testimony at my hand. If He give me frame and
furniture, I desire to welcome either of them."
Renwick returned from Holland in the autumn of 1683. Escaping some
dangers at sea, he visited Dublin, where he bore a faithful testimony
against the silence of ministers in the public cause, and left behind
him a favourable impression on the minds of some of his Christian zeal
and devotedness. In September, 1683, he landed in Scotland, and on the
3d of November, he entered on his arduous work of preaching the Gospel
in the fields, and lifting up the standard of a covenanted testimony. He
preached on that day at Darmead in the parish of Cambusnethan. From that
time, till he closed his glorious career and won the martyr's crown, he
preached with eminent fidelity and great power the glorious gospel of
the grace of God. His public labours were continued for a period of
nearly five years, and extended to many districts in the east, south,
and west of Scotland. In remote glens, unfrequented moorlands, often in
the night season, and amid storm and tempest, when the men of blood
could not venture out of their lairs, to pursue the work of destruction,
he displayed a standard for truth, and eagerly laboured to win souls to
Christ. His last sermon was preached at _Borrowstoness_, from Isaiah
liii. 1, on January 29th, 1688.
Though he ever testified boldly against the defections of the times,
especially the Indulgence, and insisted on disowning the papist James,
as not being a constitutional monarch, and on maintaining fully
Presbyterian order and discipline, and all the covenanted attainments,
his discourses were eminently evangelical. His darling themes were
salvation through Christ, and the great matters of practical godliness.
With wonderful enlargement and attractive sweetness, he unfolded the
covenant of grace--the matchless person and love of Christ--the finished
atonement, and its sufficiency for advancing the glory of the Godhead,
and for the complete salvation of elect sinners. Considering Renwick's
youth, being but _nineteen_ years of age when he entered on his great
work, he was endowed with singular qualifications as a preacher of the
gospel. These remarkably fitted him for the great work to which he was
called--promoting the Redeemer's glory, in awakening and converting
sinners, and in edifying and comforting the Church in a season of
suffering and trial. He was, moreover, gifted with personal talents,
natural and acquired, that rendered him an attractive and powerful
preacher of the gospel. His aspect was solemn and engaging. His personal
appearance, even when harassed by incessant labours and privations,
night wanderings and hair-breadth escapes from enemies, was sweet and
prepossessing. His manner in preaching was lucid and affecting. His
whole heart was thrown into his discourses. He often rose to the height
of the most moving eloquence; and with the constant reality of God's
presence and love, and the dread realities of persecution, and violent
death, and eternity, before him, he poured out his soul in such strains
of heavenly enlargement, that his hearers were melted, subdued, and
raised above the fear of death, and the terror of enemies.
The following account of Renwick's manner of preaching, and of the
impressions made on his hearers is taken from an unpublished MS. of
Ebenezer Nesbit, son of Captain Nesbit of Hardhill, and may be regarded
as descriptive of the way in which he proclaimed the gospel to the
"flock in the wilderness," during his brief but singularly efficient
ministry. Need we wonder, after reading this narrative, at the spiritual
effects of his preaching to thousands in his day, and at the precious
fruits that resulted from his labours long afterwards, and the sweet
savour of his name throughout subsequent times? "The latter end of this
year, I heard that great man of God, Mr. James Renwick, preach on Song
iii. 9, 10, when he treated greatly on the covenant of redemption agreed
on between God the Father and God the Son, in favour of the elect; as
also on the covenant of grace established with believers in Christ. Oh,
this was a great and sweet day of the gospel! for he handled and pressed
the privileges of the covenant of grace with seraphic enlargement, to
the great edification of the hearers. Sweet and charming were the offers
which he made of Christ to all sorts of sinners. There was one thing
that day that was very remarkable to me; for though it was rain from
morning to night, and so wet as if we had been drenched in water, yet
not one of us fell sick. And though there was a tent fixed for him, he
would not go into it, but stood without in the rain and preached; which
example had a great influence on the people to patience, when they saw
his sympathy with them. And though he was the only minister that kept
closest to his text, and had the best method for the judgment and
memory, of any that ever I heard; yet now, when he preached, the people
crowded close together, because of the rain, he digressed a little, and
said, with a pleasant, melting voice, 'My dear friends, be not disturbed
because of the rain. For to have a covenant-interest in Christ, the true
Solomon, and in the benefits of his blessed purchase, is well worth the
enduring of all temporal, elementary storms that can fall on us. And
this Solomon, who is here pointed at, endured a far other kind of storm
for his people--even a storm of unmixed wrath. And oh, what would poor
damned reprobates in hell give for this day's offer of sweet and lovely
Christ. And oh, how welcome would our suffering friends in prison and
banishment make this day's offer of Christ.' 'And, for my own part,'
said he, 'as the Lord will keep me, I shall bear my equal share in this
rain, in sympathy with you.' And he returned to his sweet Subject again,
and offered us grace and reconciliation with God, through Christ, by his
Spirit.
"Words would fail me to express my own frame, and the frame of many
others; only this I may say, we would have been glad to have endured any
kind of death, to have been home at the uninterrupted enjoyment of that
glorious Redeemer who was so livelily and clearly offered to us that
day.
"He was the only man that I ever knew that had an unstained integrity.
He was a lively and faithful minister of Christ and a worthy Christian,
such as none who were acquaint with him could say any other but this,
that he was a beloved Jedidiah of the Lord. I never knew a man more
richly endowed with grace, more equal in his temper, more equal in his
spiritual frame, and more equal in walk and conversation. When I speak
of him as a man--none more lovely in features, none more prudent, none
more brave and heroic in spirit; and yet none more meek, none more
humane and condescending. He was every way so rational, as well as
religious, that there was reason to think that the powers of his reason
were as much strengthened and sanctified as any man's I ever heard of.
When I speak of him as a Christian--none more meek, and yet none more
prudently bold against those who were bold to sin--none more frequent
and fervent in religions duties, such as prayer, converse, meditation,
self-examination, preaching, prefacing, lecturing, baptizing, and
catechising; none more methodical in teaching and instructing,
accompanied with a sweet, charming eloquence, in holding forth Christ,
as the only remedy for lost sinners; none more hated of the world, and
yet none more strengthened and upheld by the everlasting arms of
Jehovah, to be steadfast, and abound in the way of the Lord, to the
death; wherefore he might be justly called "Antipas," Christ's faithful
martyr. And as I lived then to know him to be so of a truth, so, by the
good hand of God, I yet live, thirty-six years after him, to testify
that no man upon just grounds had any thing to lay to his charge. When
all the critical and straitening circumstances of that period are well
considered, save that he was liable to natural and sinful infirmities,
as all men are when in this life, and yet he was as little guilty in
this way as any I ever knew or heard of, he was the liveliest and most
engaging preacher to close with Christ, of any I ever heard. His
converse was pious, prudent, and meek; his reasoning and debating was
the same, carrying almost with it full evidence of the truth of what he
asserted. And for steadfastness in the way of the Lord, few came his
length. He learned the truth and counted the cost, and so sealed it with
his blood. Of all men that ever I knew, I would be in the least danger
of committing a hyperbole when speaking in his commendation. And yet I
speak not this to praise men, but for the glory and honour of God in
Christ, who makes men to differ so much from others, and in some periods
of the Church more than others."
The "LECTURES AND SERMONS" of James Renwick that remain were published
from the notes taken, at the time of their delivery, by some of his
attached hearers and followers. They were not prepared with any view to
future publication; and the trying circumstances in which their devoted
author was placed, wholly prevented any correction or revisal. Yet they
contain not only remarkably clear expositions of the word, and a full
exhibition of the scheme of salvation, but also many passages which, for
searching application to the conscience, and moving eloquence, are
unsurpassed in the discourses of eminent preachers either in ancient or
modern times. As specimens of the matter of Renwick's discourses
delivered in the _Conventicles_, in the fields, amidst all dangers and
incidents of weather, and by night as well as day, the following are
selected from the published reports of his hearers:--
In a discourse on Song i. 7,--"Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth,
where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon,"--he thus earnestly pleads,
"Love Him, and you shall not come short of the enjoyment of Him
hereafter. It is true, faith is that which, as an instrument, apprehends
Christ and engrafts us in Him; yet it worketh by love, and love
accompanieth faith, as the sunbeams do the sun. Oh what shall I say?
Love him! love him! Ye cannot bestow your love so well. Turn others to
the door, and take in this Beloved. Here I make offer of Him unto you,
here I present Him unto you! Lift up your heads, O ye doors, that the
king of glory may come in. I present a glorious Conqueror _this night_,
to be your guest. O cast ye open the two foldings of the door of your
hearts, to wit, that ye may receive Him; cast ye open the hearty consent
of faith and love, that He may take up His abode with you. Oh, what say
ye to it? Friends, will ye close with Christ? I obtest you by his own
excellency, I obtest you by the joys of heaven, and the torments of
hell, that you close with Him. _All of you come, whatever you have been
or are; none of you_ shall be cast _out_. Whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely."
"Seeing it is the duty of people to set their love upon Christ, I exhort
you to give some testimonies of love. Think ye that ye love him? Will ye
then show that? I would expostulate for some testimonies of your love.
When Peter confessed that he loved Christ, our Lord desires him to show
that by feeding His lambs and sheep. It is true, you cannot show your
love that way, for ye are not called to that office; but ye ought to
show it in the way that is competent to you in your stations. So as I
was saying before, I expostulate with you for some testimonies of your
love. "Make a free and full resignation of yourselves and your all to
Christ, that ye may say with the spouse, I am my Beloved's! Oh, ye
should not prig (higgle) with Him about anything. Some prig with Him
about their hearts, and will have a part thereof in their darling idols,
which they cannot think to quit. Some prig with Him about their time,
and will make religion but their by-work. If their worldly employments
be throng, they will neglect the worship in their families, and prayer
in secret. Others, if they keep any family worship, it is in the
evening: ordinarily they are impatient, and haste to an end in it: and
neglect it in the morning altogether. Oh, what a sad prigging is this.
Some prig with him about their relations. They will not quit these when
He calls them to suffer for His sake; but will tempt them, or will
insinuate upon them to comply, and deny His cause. Some prig with Him
about their possessions, and yielding to this or that iniquity, will
keep their houses and lands, they will not quit them. And some will prig
with Him about their lives; and if the swearing of a sinful oath, the
subscribing to an iniquitous bond, or denying of His cause, will save
their lives, they will not lose them. Oh, what sad prigging is this! Oh,
be ashamed of it. Will ye lay all at his feet, and count it your honour
and joy that He dispose of the same as He pleaseth? Give this testimony
of your love to Christ, rejoice in Him when present, and keep His room
empty when absent. I say rejoice in him when present. I need not press
you much to do this, for in his presence there is great joy: though the
enjoyment of Him here be imperfect, yet it brings exceeding gladness
with it. Therefore saith the Psalmist,--'Thou hast put gladness in my
heart, more than when corn and wine are increased.' But when He is
absent, see that ye keep His room empty for Him. When He sees it meet at
any time for your correction, trial, and instruction, to withdraw
Himself, or hide His face, then idols or other lovers will readily
present themselves, and seek to possess His room. But, be chaste and
true to your Beloved, as the spouse who, in His absence, could not be
contented, but used all means and diligence until she found Him."
In a sermon on Song v. 16,--"His mouth is most sweet, yea, He is
altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my friend, O ye
daughters of Jerusalem,"--the following affecting views are presented:
"The second property of Christ's love is, that it is a _strong_ love,
which appears from what He hath done for sinners. He has done great
things for sinners. He took upon Himself all the sinless infirmities of
human nature--not sinful nature. Yea, He endured a shameful and
lingering death, besides a flood of wrath that he waded through, such a
flood of wrath as would have drowned all the sons and daughters of Adam
to all eternity. Thus 'He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him.' Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Oh, my friends,
if ye will follow Christ through all the steps of his humiliation, ye
may see that the love of Christ is strong love, which makes him endure
such things for sinners. He gives great things to sinners, whereby He
shows the strength of his love to them; for He gives grace and glory,
and no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly; for He
saith, 'Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me, be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me.'
Christ gives the believer union with himself and communion in glory with
the Father, even a share of that glory which the Father giveth Him, He
giveth them. He gives them a crown of righteousness which shall never
fade away; and He gives them to drink of the rivers of his pleasures,
that are at his right hand for evermore. Oh, my friends, Christ doth not
prig with His spouse: He will keep nothing back from them, that He sees
to be for her profit.--Oh, but His love is _strong_. He requires no more
for all that He has done, and all that He hath given, but that He see
the travail of His soul. He will think but little of all that He hath
done, if we will but accept of His love, and lay our love upon Him. Yea,
so may be said of Him, as was said of Jacob,--the seven years that he
served for Rachel seemed but a few days, for the love that He bare unto
her. His love is so strong, that although thou shouldest run away from
Him never so fast, yet His love will overtake thee, and bring thee back
again. Paul ran very fast in opposition to His love, when he was going
to Damascus to persecute the Church. But Christ's love overtook him
suddenly. Manasseh ran very fast from Christ, when he made the streets
of Jerusalem to run with innocent blood, and set up an abomination in
the house of God, and used witchcraft; and yet Christ's love overtook
him, and brought him back again from the pit. If thou art one of those
that the Father hath given to the Son, though thou shouldest run to the
brink of hell, He will bring thee back again from thence.
"Christ's love is _pure_ and _sincere_ love. 'Herein is love, not that
we loved Him, but that He loved us;" not for any advantage that He can
have by us, for He is infinite in all perfections without us; therefore
we can neither enrich Him, nor add any more glory to Him. We may well
magnify His power; that is all we can do, and all the advantage is our
own. Christ's love is not a base love; He loves us not for His good or
advantage, but for our real good and advantage. It is pure and sincere
love, for all the advantage is ours.
"Christ's love is an _enriching_ love, for those upon whom His love is
bestowed are no more poor. How can they be poor who have Christ for
their riches? for, saith the Apostle, 'All things are yours, and ye are
Christ's, and Christ is God's.' If ye have this love bestowed on you,
then all other things are made to serve for your good--ye shall lack
nothing.
"Christ's love is a _free_ love. He gives His love freely, without any
reward, and so it is free love; the offer is _alike to all_. If ye will
but take it off his hand, He makes open proclamation of it to you all,
saying, 'Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.' Oh, my
friends, all other love is infinitely beneath this. He took not on him
the nature of angels, but He took the seed of Abraham. Oh, my friends,
God hath made us the centre of His love; and therefore, I beseech you,
do not despise His love. He came not to redeem any of the fallen angels,
but the seed of Abraham."
In the following moving terms, he pleads with his hearers to accept of
Christ and his salvation:--"Your eternal enjoyment of God will be your
element, which ye shall for ever delight in, and this shall be to praise
and admire his love. For, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath
it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things that the Lord
hath prepared for them that love Him. Oh, then, sirs, what think ye of
Christ? Will ye not, at _this time_, say, He is your Beloved and your
Friend? Oh, give your consent to become His friends, and accept of Him
as your friend. I leave this offer at your door; He is willing to
befriend you, if you will come into an estate of friendship with Him.
Come, come, and take His offer off his hand. Say not that ye have
continued so long in sin, that ye know not if He will befriend you now;
for if ye will come to Him, He will yet befriend you. Therefore, for the
Lord's sake, put not away such an offer, but take it _in the present
time_; for ye know not if ever ye shall have an offer again. If ye will
not take his offer off His hand _this day_, I will be a witness against
you in the great day of judgment, that this day, the Son of
righteousness offered Himself to be your friend, and ye have made light
of the offer. Yea, the hills and mountains about us shall be witnesses
that ye had Christ in your offer such a _day_, in such a _place_;
therefore, my dear friends, say now that He is your beloved, and that He
is your friend."
His close dealing with the conscience, and his solemn warnings and
exhortations are exemplified in the following passages:--
"Consider your own condition without Christ. Ye are lost and undone,
limbs of Satan, children of wrath, hell to be your dwelling-place, and
devils and damned souls to be your company eternally, and where sin
shall be your eternal torment. This is your condition without Jesus
Christ. What think ye of eternal exclusion from the presence and comfort
of God? What think ye of hell, where there is nothing but utter
darkness, weeping and wailing for evermore, to be your dwelling-place?
What think ye of devils to be your continual company? And what think ye
of sin to be your continual life--always blaspheming the glorious name
of God? And what think ye of your final condition--to be in continual
torment--always weeping and gnashing your teeth? All this, I say, is
abiding you who will not embrace Jesus Christ, whatever your profession
be. For, believe me, a profession will not save you from this eternal
misery, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. Whatever your sufferings be
here, yet ye shall suffer this hereafter, if ye receive not Jesus
Christ. My heart bleeds for many sufferers in Scotland, who shall suffer
everlasting torment in hell, because they will not receive and embrace
Jesus Christ, this gracious and free Saviour, who is now in your offer.
Oh, embrace Jesus Christ, otherwise, be ye who ye will, and do what ye
will, God's justice shall pursue you, and He shall have war against you
without cessation: there shall be no discharge in that war. The great
warriors of the earth are all lying with their weapons broken under
their heads; but here is a war that hath no end. You who will not
receive Jesus Christ, you will see that ye have made an evil choice,
when ye pass through the dark gates of hell, to the inner chambers
thereof. To move you, further consider, that if ye will take Him, ye
shall have Him and all His. Ye shall drink of the waters of life; your
feet shall stand on the sea of glass before the throne. Ye shall have
His name, and bear His image, and wear a crown of pure gold upon your
heads, and follow the Lamb with palms in your hands, saying,
'Hallelujah! and glory, and honour and power, unto the Lord our God.' Ye
shall have the fine white linen garments of Christ's righteousness, to
wear in heaven, in clothing eternally. Ye shall have the glorious cloud
of witnesses--angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, for your
continual company; and ye shall have a life of love and joy everlasting,
with Him that is altogether lovely. Oh, then, come and take Jesus
Christ. Would ye make a happy choice? Then take Him and embrace Him, old
and young, man and woman, lad and lass. Now Christ is in your offer; and
you are all invited to come to Him. And now I charge you all, as ye
respect the glory of God, and as ye desire this happy condition that I
have spoken of to you, slight not this offer. Now the golden chain of
salvation is let down to you. Grip, grip it fast, before it is taken up
again. Go not away fools, lest ye never be at such a market-day again.
"What shall I say to persuade you? Let the excellency and glory of His
great name do it. Be entreated to accept of Christ in this present
offer. Here I obtest you, by what He hath purchased for sinners, and by
what He has suffered, come and embrace Him. I obtest you by the blood He
shed on the cross; I obtest you by the great drops of blood He shed in
the garden, and by all the joys that are above the clouds in heaven,
that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you, by all the torments of
hell, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you by the glory of
heaven, and by the crowns which believers put on His head, that ye
slight not this offer.
"Here I take every man and woman to witness against one another, that ye
had Christ in your offer; and I shall be a witness against all of you
that have not received Christ _this night_. Yea, though he should never
be glorified in such a sort by me, yet I will be a witness against you.
Here, before the throne of grace, I declare in His name, that I have
made an offer of Him unto you; and, therefore, your blood shall be upon
your own heads if ye perish, and I shall be free of the same."
In another place, he presses with like earnestness acceptance of the
gospel offer:--"If ye would be rightly concerned, ye must at once come,
and be a right son or daughter of the church, and member of Jesus
Christ; until then, ye cannot have a fellow-feeling of the body. Come
then, and Christ will give you a fellow-feeling with the sufferings of
the church. Come and embrace Himself, and He will set the stamp of
natural children upon you. Without Him, ye can do nothing; without Him,
ye cannot be concerned with the sufferings of His name and members.
Refuse not; reject not His offers, when He calls you to Himself. It is
hard to say if some of you shall have an offer again. _Now_ is the
acceptable time--_now_ is the day of salvation. He is _now_ spreading
his net, and will ye not come about the net's mouth, that a catch of you
may be gotten. He is proclaiming unto you that He hath invincible power,
though managed by apparent weakness. Oh, find you any of this
irresistible power of Christ? Oh, come unto Him who is the joy of
heaven, and it shall be a joyful time in heaven. He will have a good
report of you through heaven, if ye shall have it to say that some poor
lad or lass hath put a crown upon His head in such a place. But oh, how
sad will it be, if Christ shall have it to say, 'I gave offer of myself
to a people like stocks and stones, but they would not hear!'"
On the duty of devoting the best to God's service, in another discourse,
he thus forcibly reasons:--
"Observe, that it cannot but be a great injury against God, and procure
a curse, when people employ not their best things in His service. This
is clear from the words, 'Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock
a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing.' So
men that employ not their best things in the Lord's service, believe it,
they are chargeable with this. He calls for your best things in His
service, and not that you should spend that upon your lusts. Ye are
called to employ the best of your time in his service; and many of you
give Him but the refuse of your time, or at least, He gets but your
by-time for His service. But ye should give Him the best of your time
and strength, and your hearts--all should be employed in his service. Do
not say that you do the best that you can; for I am persuaded that there
is none of you but may do more for Him than ye do. Do not say that ye
improve the talent that He hath given you to trade with, for ye but
misimprove it; and the best of you, we fear, come short of improving it.
If ye improve it, ye should find it increase upon your hand, and you
would appear like his children. But because people do not improve their
time and abilities to lay them out for God, it procures a curse. For
though our obligations go far beyond our duties that we do, yet when we
do not lay out all our abilities for Him, and do not bestow our love,
our affections, and our time, and all that we have for Him, but bestow
them upon other things, we procure His curse. Young folks, set to the
work, and be entreated to give up yourselves to his service, and employ
your best things for Him, now when your desires are fast and quick. Oh,
will ye bestow them on precious Christ? You have a brave prize put in
your hand, if ye set aright to the work; ye may see Zion's King come
back, and the crown set upon his head again."
Urging the necessity of being found within the kingdom of God, he
says:--
"Seeing that the gate is very strait and narrow that leads to the
kingdom of heaven, then what shall become of many of you, that never
came the length that hypocrites have come? Oh, what will ye say, and how
will ye meet with God, when He comes to count with you for a preached
gospel? What will ye think of a Mediator that was offered to you, whom
ye slighted and despised; when the heaven and earth shall melt away; and
great men, and mean men, shall howl and cry, and all the tribes of the
earth shall wail because of Him? Oh! this will be the portion of
hypocrites from God.
"It is of use for trial--for all of you to try yourselves, and ponder in
your hearts, and say, 'Oh, soul, whether art thou in the kingdom of
heaven or not?' Oh, be exhorted to this, whatever be thy state, O man
and woman. It is safe for thee to search thy state; if matters be right
betwixt God and thy soul, it will be thy peace; if not, thou mayest
possibly get righted. For my part, I count him the best Christian that
is most accurate in this searching and communing with his own heart; for
if ye neglect this, ye may come to lose the sight of your interest in
Christ, if ever ye had it. Do not satisfy yourselves with being near the
kingdom of God, but go into it. For this end, break the bargain and
peace with your lusts and idols; and make up your peace with God through
Christ, our Peace-maker, and ye shall find great advantage in the
exchange; for the wicked have peace, but with sin and sinful men, but
the godly have peace with God. Oh, will ye quit all other things, and
seek to be interested in Him? For it is to be feared that many here have
proclaimed peace with sin, and some idol, or other. Oh, break the
bargain, and make peace with Christ! Make choice of Him; for He can give
you that which no other lover can give you. O break that peace with your
lusts and idols, and make peace with Him. Remember, He offers himself to
you freely this day. Choose, therefore, what ye will do. O seek for the
fulness of the Spirit of Christ, and rest upon nothing but upon himself
alone; and seek to be in the kingdom of God, by the thorough work of
conversion upon your souls.
"And now to all that are in the kingdom, I proclaim peace in the name of
God, whatever troubles they are under here. So enter into the kingdom
through Christ only, for that is the way to it. But as for you who will
not come to him, and enter into the kingdom through Christ only, who is
the way to it, I do, in like manner, proclaim war with that soul from
God, whatever ye be in profession. O friends, lay it to heart, and
choose you whether it be better to have heaven's peace, and the devil
and the world's feud; or to have the devil and the world's peace, and
feud with God for ever! And now to Him who is purchaser of true peace,
be glory and praise for ever. Amen."
When it is understood that the discourses from which these extracts are
taken were preached in the open air, and often in the night time, amidst
the exposure both of the preacher and the hearers to all changes of the
weather, not unfrequently in rain and tempest; and that the "Sermons and
Lectures" that bear Renwick's name, were not prepared in a quiet study,
in peaceful times, but in the midst of frequent removings, incessant
labours, and manifold dangers, and that they are transmitted to us from
the imperfect notes, and the recollection of attached
hearers,--themselves the objects of fierce persecution,--they cannot
fail to impress us with a vivid idea of the remarkable power and
fidelity as a preacher of the youthful martyr, and to account, at the
same time, for the popularity and salutary effects of his preaching.