James Guthrie

[The martyr to whom reference is here made is James
Guthrie, whose last words were, " The Covenants ! the cov
enants shall yet be Scotland's reviving." In the story of
his life, as told by the Rev. Thomas Thomson, is the fol-
lowing passage which Mrs. Menteath has made the subject
of her touching poem : " James Guthrie had a son named
William, about four or five years old ; so young, indeed,
and therefore so ignorant of the dismal tragedy that was
approaching, that James Cowie (Mr. Guthrie's servant,
precentor, and amanuensis) could scarcely detain him from
playing in the streets on the day of his father's execution.
Guthrie, whose soul yearned over his boy, so soon to be-
come an orphan, took him upon his knee and gave him
such advices as were suited to his capacity. He bade him
to become serious — to become religious — and to be sure to
devote himself to that honest and holy course in which his
father had walked to the death. 'Willie,' he said, 'they
will tell you. and cast up to you, that your father was hang-
ed ; but think not shame of it, for it is upon a good cause.'
After the execution, the head was set up on the Nether
Bow Port as a spectacle for the finger of scorn to point at.
But among those who repaired thither, and looked up at
the long grey hairs rustling in the wind, and the features
embrowning and drying in the sun, one little hoy was oft-
en seen gazing fixedly upon that countenance with looks
of love and terror — and still returning, day after day, and
hour after hour, as if there was for him a language in that
silent head which none else could hear. And who could
that child be but Guthrie's young son — the little ' Willie'
of the Martyr's last affectionate counsels and cares? His
love of playing in the streets was now over ; a new occu-
pation had absorbed him ; and as he returned from these
pilgrimages, we may conceive with what feelings his moth-
er heard him when, on her anxious inquiry as to where he
had been, his usual reply was, ' I have been seeing my
father's head !' The dyiug admonitions of the departed
parent, enforced by such a solemnizing spectacle, seem to
have sunk deep into William's heart ; for it was observed
that after his father's death, he spent much time in solitude,
and was often employed in prayer. Resolving to walk in
his father's steps, he directed his studies to the^jhurch,
and became a scholar of excellent promise ; but he died in
early youth, when he was entering upon trials to be licensed
as a preacher."]

0. the sunrise! the sunrise hath wondrous power
To gladden all living things;
It breaks on the chill night’s milkiest hour.
Like a smile from the King of kings!
“Pis earliest June, and the earth hatli thrilled
With the earnest of summer given :
And the very city’s self is tilled
With the breath and the beam of heaven !

A glory is circling the stern dark brow
Of Dunedin’s fortress old,
And a gleam is waking, more faintly now.
Her Tolbooth prison-hold,
“Where one hath risen, but not from sleep.
To gaze on that dawning sky —
True wife! what aileth thee now to weepy
Heaven brightens ere I die!” continue

Deut 19:14
Deut 27:17
Prov 22:28
Prov 23:10-12
Hos 5:8-10

Why the Westminster Standards are more important than ever today:

An image of the kind of person that the Westminster Standards type of Presbyterianism bred, in the lands of those times they were authored.

One person, describes The Scottish Peasant of those times, as the most remarkable man in Europe. Furthermore, the writer who said that, was an Anglo-catholic, rather than a Calvinist.

Dignity, intellect and character, of the typical Scottish peasant, largely flowed from the memorization of the shorter Catechism. They were far more equipped as a result of memorizing the shorter catechism, for conceptual thinking, than most 21 st century citizens of England or America.

They lived in huts, and toiled the land, wore kilts, and often seemed intellectually stinted due to their simplicity, in living, yet they are described as the most remarkable men in Europe. In the days when Education started to be esteemed and prized and sought after, it was the Scottish peasants, who were the most remarkable. And that was a result of the effect, of them memorizing, applying and believing, the Westminster Standards. What a man believes, so he is.

Nowadays, those entering the ministry are taught it, whereas it was written for children, and most 8 year olds in those days, had it memorized. How far we have fallen! What a tenth of their nobility we desire and should crave.

The covenanters had a strictness of life and behaviour and worship By that, I mean, they were a self denying lot in following the word of God. Their whole lives were regulated a by the Scriptures.

These men and women were courageous to the last. They had a high regard for people in need, and denied themselves to fulfil that need, and their courage seemed to know no bounds , as the list of martyrs shows us. They counted it a joy to sacrifice for the Lord. They lived in dangerous times, deadly times to believe and uphold the Truth of God that they did, but their actions proved by far more than speech, and didn’t only defend causes where they had very little to lose like we do today, in our self indulgent soft societies.

Calvinist’s in those days, were marked by a love of God and truth, justice, purity of character , and historically, they always shone in all these virtues above any other professing group of Christians.

One person wrote of the Calvinist’s of those times:

“We may with confidence maintain, that the world has never known, a higher type of Stalwart manhood, nor a gentler, purer, or more lovable womanhood, than has prevailed amongst those people in whose hearts and lives has entered the Calvinist creed. ”

Rather than the slant that is put on puritans historically, and the spin, which distorts the truth, and calls evil good and good evil, and presents those men and women as harsh, severe, unloving fanatics, the above is the truth, and history bears witness to testify to the truth of it.

Do you think the Covenanters or Calvinists today are producing the same kind of character? I would say unhesitatingly, a resounding no in many cases! Some of those traits remain, but the ones that made them stand out a head and shoulders above others, is no longer the typical Calvinist or Covenanter, of either England or America. I get infuriated at times, by how much it is not true. How their luke warm sense of serving, is a joke as compared to those days. As to my mind, it disgraces the great, rich, noble heritage that the name today trades on, yet fails to live up to in many cases. Today Reformed doesn’t always mean reformed. That’s where the crux lies I believe.

The Biblical picture we have of the true Christian home, is built on the standards and beliefs and practices of the Westminster Divines; they lived and breathed Scripture; the family homes were the nurseries of the church.

The democratic nations we live in, where the individual is upper most in importance, where political correctness is the emphasis, means Presbyterianism, built upon the Westminster Standards has been squeezed out. And man has become his own god. The landmarks and boundaries have not just been removed, they have been eradicated, as if they never existed. The covenants, made and swore to in Scotland, are no longer remembered, or even known anything about by most Christians in my country, even though it is their own country, that historically was at the fore of all these events.

Everything is now relative, on if it fits man’s taste, rather than us bending to God’s will, again, man is Sovereign of his own destiny, sovereign of our own behaviour and conduct, his own god. Discipline, both in our family homes, and self-discipline, is a dirty word.  Ignorant people within the so-called Reformed church but where Deformed would be the better term, believe that practicing it, and denying ourselves, makes us no better than the monks, of trying to win God’s favour, by our works, rather than the truth being of simply being obedient to what God desires and doing it cheerfully, not counting it a burden but a joy.

Presbyterianism, as set forth by the Westminster Standards, give us liberty. Presbyterianism and Tyranny cannot co-exist.. The same is true of the true Calvinistic or Reformed faith. We don’t need to be genius’ or above intelligence any more than anyone else. Some of us are distinctly below the majority! But again, where Calvinism and ignorance meet, one of them leaves the field.

We have an heir to the throne here, who will have to change the constitution if and when he takes the throne, to not be Defender of THE faith, but to become as he has said he will, “Defender of Faiths.” And that all faiths are equal. That is a scary thought to my mind, and I also wonder if he will take the oath as his mother did before him at the Coronation, for her to uphold the True religion in Scotland, as that is still included in the coronation oaths. She apparently took it but her son plans to openly defy that. Christ is the ruler of the Kings of the earth, but Charles seems in some form to be resurrecting to some degree, the divine right of kings by what he proposes. As the Scripture references above clearly show, God pours out his wrath on the removing of the landmarks and boundaries, and I believe the spiritual decay and decline that exists in England is evidence of that.

All the men who just before the writing of the Westminster standards, who were at the front of upholding tyranny, like King Charles, I and Archbishop Laud, were executed shortly after the completion of the Standards, and tyranny started to be squeezed out. Tthose works of Westminster, gave us liberty. True Liberty. The only True Liberty is liberty in Christ, which we find in the pages of Scripture.

Most faiths are accepted in our society, on a live and let live basis. If you take a different view you are seen as an intolerant bigot.  It is only the True Faith, the Reformed faith, based upon the Biblical teachings of the Westminster standards that today, makes for there being hostility against us. Universalism, popery, and arminianism, will be gladly tolerated. Yet try and tell people from a world view based on the Westminster Standards your point of view, you will not get the toleration or live and let live attitude you will be an outcast, someone who is causing “schism” because you hold to the truth, among the brethren here who hold to otherwise. Furthermore, the choice will have to be made, between pleasing the Lord and holding to the truth, or pleasing men, and your Christian brethren on one’s own doorstep, at the cost of betraying the truth you love. There is no contest! Yes, we need the courage, and nobility, of those Scottish peasants, that were so remarkable, even among the best of Christians, we are not prepared to go so far, or be as fierce and have the same goals and the same priorities. Our courage we leave behind the door, by comparison to protect ourselves and put ourselves first, which is why the easy way out of almost any situation, is the most oft chosen option. We are not prepared to suffer unduly, for either the Truth or the brethren. In doing so, we move the landmarks and make them shaky. The nobility that lived in a grass hut, among the Scottish peasants, in the fields of Scotland, put us to shame. They had so little, yet were willing to part with it all, even with dear life. We need to get our landmarks and boundaries put back in place. Only then, can or will England and America revive. And Scotland can once again glory, in the upholding of the Covenants!

“Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? I shall not die.’ Then, just before the end, he lifted the napkin from his face, and cried, ‘The Covenants, the Covenants shall yet be Scotland’s reviving!’ [from an account of James Guthrie’s martyrdom]

[Blog owners note: of course there are may faithful calvinists around today, but sadly, there are also those who shame the name and noble heritage. And within the Reformed faith on the days of those Scottish peasants in the hills of Scotland that was not the case.  And Calvinism in these days, often doesn't represent Calvin's Calvinism at all, but a luke-warm, watered down version of it.  Those who hold to the same Calvinism as Calvin, are for the most part faithful Christians. There will always be the exception in any faithful church, as theology maketh no Christain, not on its own at least.  But Presbyterianism has taken on some many forms since those days, that Presbyteiranism in our day, doesn't always mean reformed.  They should call  themselves something other, to not degrade, defame and shame the noble history of Calvinsim.]

This is an anecdote from the Covenanter wars, in Scotland. I believe it was Guthrie who proclaimed at his execution, “The Covenants, they shall yet be Scotland’s reviving.”  That still holds true in my opinion. The below anecdote is from when Guthrie was awaiting execution, and Mr Pollock with his question was referring to the executioners axe.

Not  long before his execution a Perth minister said to him, “we have a Scotch Proverb, ‘Jouk [duck] that the wave may may go over you. Will you jouk a little, Mr Guthrie?’

“Mr Pollack,” returned Guthrie gravely, “there is no jouking in the cause of Christ.” [cited from “Light in the North” by J.D. Douglas

The Covenanters of Scotland are often referred to as extrme, yet, surely their “extremity” took all mans glory and right set Christ upon His throne, above anyone or anything.  If you are going to call them “extreme” you sould also need to call Christ like wise. It seems t me, if we got those unswerving, unbendable, rigid state of attitude back, where Christ is always set first, is always in view in everything,  ia EVERYTHING, and anything displeasing to him, is immediately shunned, even at cost of death, that it would be a lot better than the ducking the cause of Christ we seem to see on a daily basis now. Half measures and making sure self is still put before Christ and his cause if the cause would cost us the least inconvience, many a time that is true.  Let alone if it cost us life or limb, or the safety of our families, as it did these brave men and women of Scotland.

They have set his head on the Netherbow,
To scorch in the summer air;
And months go by, and the winter’s snow
Falls white on its thin grey hair.
And still that same look that in death he wore
Is sealed on the solemn brow -
A look as of one who had travailed sore,
But whose pangs were ended now.
Harriet Stuart Menteith, Lays Of The Kirk And Covenant on Guthries execution.