Robert Murray McCheyne – said, June 26, 1839

Robert Murray McCheyne (born 5/21/1813, Scotland, died 3/25/1843) is said to have written in a letter on this date, 6/26/1839 –

“Joy is increased by spreading it to others.”

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Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane – death, Feb. 19, 1869

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”

Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane died this date, 2/19/1869, near Melrose – about 30 miles southeast of Edinburgh, Scotland.  (She was born 6/18/1830 at Edinburgh, Scotland.)  This lady, reported to have been called “The Sunbeam,” gave the world “There Were Ninety and Nine” and “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” (both published posthumously).

Ira D. Sankey is reported to have “written” the music for this poem (from a Brit newspaper) as he was playing it to a Scottish audience after D. L. Moody preached.  What genius?  Maybe, and what power of inspiration by the Holy Spirit.  This is said to be Sankey’s first try at writing a hymn/Gospel song tune.

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James Montgomery – wrote on this date, Oct. 13, 1834

In the hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me,
Lest by base denial I depart from Thee.
When Thou seest me waver, with a look recall,
Nor for fear or favor suffer me to fall.

With forbidden pleasures would this vain world charm,
Or its sordid treasures spread to work me harm,
Bring to my remembrance sad Gethsemane,
Or, in darker semblance, cross-crowned Calvary.

Should Thy mercy send me sorrow, toil and woe,
Or should pain attend me on my path below,
Grant that I may never fail Thy hand to see;
Grant that I may ever cast my care on Thee.

When my last hour cometh, fraught with strife and pain,
When my dust returneth to the dust again,
On Thy truth relying, through that mortal strife,
Jesus, take me, dying, to eternal life.

The above poem (hymn) was penned this date 10/13/1834 by James Montgomery. 

James Montgomery was born 11/4/1771 in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland where his father John was a minister in the Moravian Church.  In 1783, his parents were sent to the West Indies as missionaries and left James in the Moravian settlement near Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland. He passed from this life, 4/30/1854, Mount, Shef­field, Eng­land.

 Montgomery become the editor/owned of the Sheffield Iris.  In addition he wrote 400 hymns including “Hail To the Lord’s Anointed” “Angels From the Realms of Glory,” “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” “Prayer is the Souls’ Sincere Desire.”

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Duncan Campbell – death, Mar. 28, 1972

 “Is God real to you?  …Oh, tell me is God the supreme reality in your experience?”

            – Andrew Woolsey, Duncan Campbell (London: Hodder & Stroughton,1974), 32.

“We are the ambassadors of eternity in the courts of time…it is our business to permeate the courts of time with the atmosphere of eternity.”

             – Andrew Woolsey, Duncan Campbell (London: Hodder & Stroughton,1974), 64.

“Preach the Word! Sing the Word! Live the Word, anything outside of this has no sanction in heaven.”

            – Andrew Woolsey, Duncan Campbell (London: Hodder & Stroughton,1974), 152.

“The New Testament reveals Jesus as a realist.  He will never be popular.”

            – Andrew Woolsey, Duncan Campbell (London: Hodder & Stroughton,1974), 190.

Duncan Campbell died this date, 3/28/1972, Cantonal Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. He was born 2/13/1898, near Ardchattan Church, Scotland.  He married his wife, Shona, in December 1925, at Glasgow, Scotland.  God used him bringing revival and hunger for revival, in more than one country including the USA.

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Robert Murray McCheyne – wrote, Feb. 27, 1839

“Most of God’s people are content to be saved from the hell that is without. They are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within.”

Robert Murray McCheyne on this date, 2/27/1839, is said to have written the above in a letter.

He was a pastor who was born 5/21/1813 at Edinburg, Scotland and died 3/25/1843, at Dundee, Scotland.

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Horatius Bonar – birth, Dec. 19, 1808

Blessèd night, when first that plain
Echoed with the joyful strain,
“Peace has come to earth again.”
Alleluia!

Blessèd hills, that heard the song,
Of the glorious angel throng
Swelling all your slopes along.
Alleluia!

Happy shepherds, on whose ear
Fell the tidings glad and clear,
“God to man is drawing near.”
Alleluia!

Thus revealed to shepherds’ eyes
Hidden from the great and wise,
Entering earth in lowly guise:
Alleluia!

We adore Thee as our King,
And to Thee our song we sing,
Our best offering to Thee bring,
Alleluia!

Blessèd Babe of Bethlehem,
Owner of earth’s diadem,
Claim and wear the radiant gem
Alleluia!

Horatius Bonar was born this date, 12/19/1808, at Edinburgh, Scotland.  He pastored North Presbyterian Church of Kelso.  He left the state church in 1843 to serve with the Free Church of Scotland.

Bonar was one of the editors of “The Border Watch,” the official paper of the Free Church, and for many years, because of his keen interest in the second coming of Christ, was editor of “The Journal of Prophecy.”  In 1866 he became pastor of Chalmers Memorial Free Church, Edinburgh, named for Thomas Chalmers, the leader/first moderator of the Free Church of Scotland.

Horatius Bonar has been regarded as a eminent hymn writer of Scotland, penning over 600 hymns among which are “I was a wandering sheep” “Glory Be to God the Father” “Here, O My Lord, I See You Face to Face” “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” and “I Lay My Sins on Jesus” He also authored several missionary biographies.  Bonar died 7/31/1889, also at Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land.

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James Montgomery – birth, Nov. 4, 1771

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains
That reach The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters Heav’n with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”

The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.

No prayer is made by man alone
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus, on th’eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

O Thou by Whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.

James Montgomery was born this date, 11/4/1771, at Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland.  His family moved to a Mo­rav­i­an set­tle­ment at Grace­hill, near Bal­ly­mena, Coun­ty An­trim, Ireland when he was about five. After attending Ful­neck Sem­in­ary in York­shire and a couple of job tries he started working for a newspaper owner.  James eventually bough him out, renamed it the “Sheffield Iris” and edited it of the next 32 years.  He supported the abolitionist cause and equally or more strongly supported the cause of the British Bible Society and foreign missions.  Montgomery is credited with writing some 400 hymns among which one finds the above and his famous “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”  He died 4/30/1854, at Shef­field, Eng­land.

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William Paton Mackay, MD – death, Aug. 22, 1885

We praise Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.

Refrain

Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

2. We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.

3. All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.

4. All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

 5. Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.

William Paton Mackay, MD, died this date,  8/22/1885 at Portree, Scotland.  After graduating from the University of Edinburgh and practicing medicine he was ordained, and in 1868 started pastoring Prospect Street Presbyterian Church in Hull.  Mackay was born 5/13/1839 at Montrose, Scotland.

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Oswald Chambers – birth, Jul. 24, 1874

God nowhere tells to give up things for the sake of giving them up…give them up for…the only thing worth having–viz. life with Him.

                – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (NY: Dodd, 1935), 8.

 

The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him.

                – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (NY: Dodd, 1935), 18.

 

If you are depending upon anything but Him [God], you will never know when He is gone.            – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (NY: Dodd, 1935), 20.

 

Get into the habit of saying, “Speak, Lord,” and life will become a romance.

                – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (NY: Dodd, 1935), 30.

 

…Sanctification…an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth and an immense broadening of all our interests in God.

                – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (NY: Dodd, 1935), 39.

 

 

Oswald Chambers was born this date, 7/24/1874 at Aberdeen, Scotland.  He taught briefly at God’s Bible School in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He spent the last two years of his life serving as a YMCA secretary among soldiers in Egypt, during WWI. Chamber’s wife, Biddy, was an expert in shorthand and was able to catch many of his talks at Zeitoun Camp (outside Cairo) in print.  His My Utmost for His Highest is one of the most popular devotionals in print.  He died in Egypt 11/15/1917.

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Henry Drummond – death, Mar. 11, 1897

There is only one thing greater than happiness in the world and that is holiness.

                – Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World (NY: James Pott & Co., 1890), 23.

 

Love waives even self-satisfaction.

                – Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World (NY: James Pott & Co., 1890), 26.

 

Nothing is a hardship to love.

                – Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World (NY: James Pott & Co., 1890), 29.

 

…The people who influence you are the people who believe in you.

                – Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World (NY: James Pott & Co., 1890), 37.

 

No man can become a saint in his sleep.

                – Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World (NY: James Pott & Co., 1890), 60.

 

Henry Drummond died this date (3/11/1897) at Tunbridge Wells, England.  Drummond was born in Stirling, Scotland 8/17/1851. 

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