Entitled to the Benediction of the Savior
by Rev. David T. Myers

In the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pronounced a blessing upon His followers in Matthew 5:10, 11 when He said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (NASB) There can be no doubt that the subject of our post today was entitled to the benediction of the Savior in her life.

Her name at birth was Margaret Wemyss, but through marriage with the Lord of Colvill, she was called Lady Colvill. From that union, which ended with the death of her husband in 1671, she bore two daughters. Our focus today is on this wife, and her son. The former was “A Lady of the Covenant,” and steadfast in her adherence to Presbyterianism in Scotland.

Her “crimes” were two-fold in the eyes of the Anglican government. When Presbyterian ministers were ejected in Scotland from their pulpits and parishes, they began to minister the Word and Sacraments in the fields and pastures of the people. Anywhere from mere handfuls to many thousands of laypeople would attend these field worship services, among them being Lady Colvill. To do so was to risk persecution, as the authorities frequently sent out troops of soldiers to fine and imprison and even kill these Presbyterians.

Her second “crime” was that she, being in a high and prosperous position in the realm, was frequently able to extend hospitality to these ejected Presbyterian pastors, providing for them with food and accommodations in her own home. When it became too dangerous to hold worship services in the fields, she opened up her home, holding services in the evening hours. From time to time, she, like hundreds of other Covenanters, was forced to flee to the mountains for safety.

Through all of this, to give her son a sound religious upbringing, she instructed him in the common doctrines of biblical Christianity, especially those of the Reformed faith. This especially met with opposition from the government, as Parliament had passed a law in 1662 that none should teach the second generation except those who had been approved by the Anglican bishops. When she insisted on teaching him herself, she was imprisoned  in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The order which was signed by the Lords of Session was signed on this day, December 2, 1684. It read, “The Lady Colvill is imprisoned in Edinburgh tollbooth (e.g. prison), by the privy council, for her irregularities, and particularly for breeding up her son, the Lord Colvill, in fanaticism and other disloyal principles, and abstracting and putting him out of the way, when the council was going to commit his education to others . . . .”

Translated for our readers, the above order means that Lady Colvill was imprisoned for withdrawing from her parish church, attending house and field preaching, and particularly for training her son in the principles of Presbytery and the Covenant.

Lady Colvill remained in difficult circumstances for several months in prison. In a rare exception, she was freed from prison so as to recover her health. But soon she was ordered back to prison. We lose track of her history at this point, but it is obvious that she endured much for her Christian Presbyterian convictions.

Words to Live By:
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for such affliction, the Savior reminds us in our text above. What present and future persecution we suffer for Christ puts us in the same line of the saints of the past who suffered for the Savior’s cause. Be in preparation now for such times. Their likelihood increases even in our nation of America more and more. While none have been killed in our land, there are those who for the cause of Christ have had their businesses destroyed because of Christian convictions. Pray for them and be in prayer that we will remain faithful to Him and His cause.

Licensed to Preach the Gospel
by Rev. David T. Myers

Having had one post already on John Paton, we consider another from his remarkable life. It was on this day, December 1, 1857, that he was licensed to be a preacher of the gospel by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. It would be just four months later that he would be ordained as a minister of the gospel. But what is significant about this date in December is that he had already been faithfully carrying on the work of the gospel as  a home missionary with the Glasgow City Mission in Glasgow, Scotland.

The latter city mission advertises itself even now as the world’s first City Mission, having begun in 1826. His ministry with them was that of working in one of the poor and downtrodden neighborhoods of that city, seeking to lead its citizens to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Yes, temporal needs were to be provided to them. But as the slogan on the city mission states, “Providing hope for Today, Tomorrow, Eternity.” And clearly the need was great, for as Paton wrote on page 55 of his Autobiography, “in many of its closets and courts, sins and vice walked about openly—naked and not ashamed.”

Upon being assigned to his particular neighborhood, Paton sums up his ministry as “being expected to spend four hours daily in visiting from house to house, holding small prayer meetings amongst those visited, calling them together for evening meetings, and trying by all means to do whatever good was possible amongst them.”

After the first year of fairly exhausting labors in their midst, John Paton could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who attended his public meetings.  But then the site of those meetings was hardly inviting in that it was, in his words, “a hay loft under which a cow feeder kept a large number of cows, and which was reached by an outside rickety wooden stairs.” (p. 56). Finding so little spiritual fruit, the directors of the city mission planned to move the young missionary to a more promising neighborhood, but John Paton begged for more time, even six months longer. Thankfully the directors agreed, and within that time, attendance doubled and then doubled again. Particularly helpful was the move to buildings purchased for the ministry by Dr. Symington’s congregation, where Rev. Paton was a member.

Notice, dear reader, the following description of his work there: On Sunday morning at 7 am, Paton offered a Bible study, which was eventually attended by 70 to 100 people. No day off on Monday either! Another Bible study was offered on Monday night. Wednesday was the weekly prayer meeting. Thursday brought a Shorter Catechism class, which turned into a Communicant’s class for church membership. Seven members from this theological class eventually entered the ministry. Friday night was a Singing class, which taught church music to the attendees. And Saturday night was a Total Abstinence class for the many drunkards in the neighborhood. All together, some five to six hundred residents regularly attended meetings led by Rev. Paton. Whew!

And yes, during this busy schedule, John Paton continued on with his own education at the University of Glasgow, the Reformed Presbyterian Divinity Hall, and also classes in medicine at the Andersonian College. God’s Spirit was doing much with this young man, and would do much for him in the future.

Words to Love By: 
John Paton said, “I was sustained by the lofty aim which burned all these year bright within my soul, namely—to be qualified a preacher of the Gospel of Christ, to be owned and used by Him for the salvation of perishing [men and women].” ( p. 82)  Oh, how the visible church today, even the local congregation where you yourself are a member, needs people who have as their aim in life, that of being “owned and used by Him” for the salvation of others. Pray with us, will you, that the Lord of the harvest will send laborers into the fields.

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.“—Luke 10:2, ESV.