Caithness

“ FORBES, ROBERT (1708–1775) , bishop of Ross and Caithness, was born in 1708 at Rayne in Aberdeenshire, where his father was schoolmaster. He was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen (A.M. 1726) . In 1735 he went to Edinburgh, was ordained priest by Bishop Freebairn, and ere long appointed minister of the episcopal congregation at Leith, a town which was his home for the rest of his life. ”

“ He was one of the bishops who, ‘clothed in silk and velvet,’ rode in procession between the earls and the lords at the opening of the parliament at Perth in 1606. The general assembly at Linlithgow in December of the same year appointed him, as bishop, perpetual moderator of the presbytery of Caithness, which was charged by the privy council (17 Jan. 1607) to receive him as such within twenty-four hours on pain of rebellion. ”

“ The general assembly which met at Aberdeen the same year called his conduct in question, and expressed a wish that Patrick Forbes [q. v.] should be appointed to the vacant see. But the promotion of the Bishop of Caithness seems to have been already decided on at court, and he was formally elected by the chapter of the diocese. ”

“ Sometimes I think I can be useful in the vineyard of the Lord, but if that time ever comes, I must have more purity of heart, more of the Spirit of the living God, and stronger faith. I must have that wisdom which is from above which is first peaceable, then pure; easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ”

“ But if there be among us, most beloved brother, the fear of God, if the maintenance of the faith prevail, if we keep the precepts of Christ, if we guard the incorrupt and inviolate sanctity of His spouse, if the words of the Lord abide in our thoughts and hearts, when he says, “Thinkest thou, when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” ”

“ Such is the peace of the confessional! The soul, the intelligence, the honor, the self-respect, the conscience, are there sacrificed. There they must die! Yes, the confessional is a veritable tomb of human conscience, a sepulchre of human honesty, dignity and liberty; the grave-yard of human soul! By its means, man, whom God hath made in his own image, is converted into the likeness of the beast that perishes; woman, created by God to be the glory and help-mate of man, is transformed into the vile and trembling slave of the priest. ”

“ Surely Jesus did not mean to offer His own presence as a substitute for that of God, but as being in very truth Divine, when He bade His disciples, in reliance upon Him, to go forth and convert the world.
And this is the true test which divides faith from presumption, and unbelief from prudence: do we go because God is with us in Christ, or because we ourselves are strong and wise? Do we hold back because we are not sure of His commission, or only because we distrust ourselves? “Humility without faith is too timorous; faith without humility is too hasty.” ”

“ A mere profession of religion, unaccompanied by the active virtues of piety, will give no light. Let us then look closely within, and ask, Have we any light of grace ourselves? And in connection with this, and following it, will come the inquiry, What good are we doing to the world by it? Oh, my brethren, the Saviour bids us look around us upon our fellow-men and ask, What has all our religion amounted to? What have we accomplished for God’s glory? How much light have we scattered? Whom have we enlightened and saved through our Christian influence? ”

“ I apprehend they may be produced as a proof, both that Christian faith implies a confidence in the love of God, and that such a confidence has a direct tendency to salvation, to holiness both of heart and life.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! Are not these words an expression of Christian faith? As direct an one as can well be conceived? And I appeal to every man, whether they do not express the strongest confidence of the love of God? ”

“ Human nature—acting through the relations of the family—should elicit love and loving trust; non-human nature—acting through the seas and skies, with their suggestions of vastness and power—should elicit awe and awful trust; and the combination of these two natural influences should elicit love, trust and awe, which three-fold result constitutes worship.
Has the worship of God through the mediation of Christ entirely superseded—was it intended to supersede—the worship of God through the mediation of the visible World? ”

“ Such is the spirit of the Saviour’s words before us, and the practical inquiry for us all is, How do our lives correspond with this spirit?
First of all, have we really any light to shed around us? A mere profession is worthless as an empty lamp. Have our hearts been illuminated by divine grace? Has the darkness [Pg 116] of guilt and ignorance and error been scattered there; and have we tasted the sweets of pardon, peace, and sanctification?
Depend upon it, we can give no light to others without first having our own hearts illuminated by the Holy Spirit. ”

“ I conquered one belief after another, until now, strong and well, I meet every belief with confidence. “I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.” For two years I have realized the peace and confidence which the knowledge that God is all-powerful and always present alone can give. Feeling a great desire to spread Christian Science, that it may do the good to others that it has to me, not only physically but spiritually, I ask if you have any missionaries in the work. ”

“ Then, when conscience is aroused, and the overhanging clouds of divine justice darken this side and alarm us, then we set out for heaven, and heed the invitation of the Saviour which beckons us to the other side. It is at such a time the believer enters on a Christian life. ”

“ The Christian doctrine teacheth us all those dispositions that make us affable and courteous, gentle and kind, without any morose leaven of pride or vanity, which entered into the composition of most heathen schemes: so we are taught to be meek and lowly. Our Saviour’s last legacy was peace, and He commands us to forgive our offending brother unto seventy times seven. Christian wisdom is full of mercy and good works, teaching the height of all moral virtues, of which the heathens fell infinitely short. ”

“ I have known this many a day that there needs no priest to make a confession valid, but that to every truly penitent heart the way to the very throne of Heaven is open, and that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. If I regretted aught, it was that I must die without another kind of confession—the confessing my faith openly before men. ”

“ LET US BE TRUE TO THE FAITH. We should set an example; we should be true to the faith, as Brother Stephens sings to us; true to the faith! We should be true to our covenants, true to our God, and true to one another, and to the interests of Zion, no matter what the consequences may be, no matter what may result. ”

“ Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith; and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the Priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. ”

“ We who desire to abide for ever should do the will of God, who is everlasting.
15. Now that is the will of God which Christ both did and taught. Humility in conversation; stedfastness in faith; modesty in words; justice in deeds; mercifulness in works; discipline in morals; to be unable to do a wrong, and to be able to bear a wrong when done; to keep peace with the brethren; to love God with all one’s heart; to love Him in that He is a Father; to fear Him in that He is God; to prefer nothing whatever to Christ, because He did not prefer anything to us; to adhere inseparably to His love ”

“ With all her fervor, and enthusiasm, and speculation, her religion is not tinctured in the least with gloom. No doubt, no hesitation, no despondency, spreads a cloud over her soul; but all is bright, clear, positive, and at times ecstatic. Her trust is in God, and from him she looks for good, and not evil. ”

“ And that we may not be moved by their rejection and terrified by persecution or death, the Saviour presently adds: But a hair of your head shall not perish: in your patience you shall possess your souls. [5] If then a single hair shall not perish, how then can the faithful perish? Therefore, dear friends, study to keep the true faith and the sure hope. Stand firmly in the love of God’s word and cleave to it with earnest desire, listening to those whom the Saviour hath sent, that they may preach His gospel to you with fearless constancy, and withstand ravening wolves and false prophets. ”

“ Declaring What Benefit the Virtue of Continency Affords, and What Evil It is Without, He Concludes the Book.
1. Discipline, the safeguard of hope, the bond of faith, the guide of the way of salvation, the stimulus and nourishment of good dispositions, the teacher of virtue, causes us to abide always in Christ, and to live continually for God, and to attain to the heavenly promises and to the divine rewards. To follow her is wholesome, and to turn away from her and neglect her is deadly. ”

“ And so, if I were to write at length, I could cite one illustration after another of transformed lives—lives charged with a new spirit shown in the work achieved, the sufferings borne, the persecutions accepted, deep spiritual gladness experienced in the midst of pain, the fellowship with God realized day after day' (Benoyendra Nath Sen, The Spirit of the New Dispensation) . The test of a religion is its capacity for producing noble men and women.
MANIFESTATION God Himself in His inmost essence cannot be either imagined or comprehended, cannot be named. ”

“ Fifthly, In order to fix religion in the minds of men, because truth never appears so fair as when confronted with falsehood, they directed books to be published, that denied the being of a God, the divinity of the Second and Third Person, the truth of all revelation, and the immortality of the soul. To this we owe that great sense of religion, that respect and kindness of the clergy, and that true love of virtue, so manifest of late years among the youth of our nation. ”

“ I endeavoured to represent God our Creator and Governor, as a friend to his creatures, and strove to the utmost of my power to fix the love, regard and confidence of our mourning friends on God our Creator. This you will recollect, and I cannot suppose that you believe that a person can truly believe in the divine goodness, and love his Creator as the greatest good, and put confidence in him, so as to draw consolation, in the day of adversity, from such confidence, and still be a stranger to true penitence. ”

“ And the question which our conscience is always asking about that which we are tempted to believe is not, 'Is it comfortable and pleasant?' but, 'Is it true?' That the Prophet preached certain doctrines, and predicted that spiritual comfort would be found in them, proves only his sympathy with human nature and his knowledge of it ”

“ With this confidence ought I to enter into the Church, to assist at mass, and to behold the sacred Host and chalice when they are elevated For, as St. Bernard says, great faith attains to great things; and the more the affection of confidence dilates itself, the more we shall obtain of God's mercy. ”

“ And so the requirement of the Gospel which we call faith has in it quite as much of the element of obedience as of the element of trust. And the presence of that element is just what makes the difference between a sham and a real faith. ‘Faith which has not works is dead, being alone.’ A faith which is all trust and no obedience is neither trust nor obedience. ”

“ Thus you see, that you have to render an account of your wives and children, of your substance, and everything that pertains to this earth, and you cannot avoid it, without suffering a loss.
I want to get you to live your religion, and worship our God. I am not troubled about our not prospering; I trouble myself about living my religion and being faithful to the things of God, and that leads me to confidence, if not in myself, in my leader. ”

“ Love, justice, gentleness, peace, reason, sympathy and pity, all humane feelings and promptings are with us sentiments of “unnatural” or supernatural religion which we profess in our churches, but in which we really have no faith as good for actual life. ”

“ In that faith and practise I have lived, and in that faith and practise I shall die.—Midlothian Speech: William Ewart Gladstone.
A Study in Purity of Style
13. Is this a reality? or is your Christianity a romance? is your profession a dream? No, I am sure that your Christianity is not a romance, and I am [Pg 141] equally sure that your profession is not a dream. It is because I believe this that I appeal to you with confidence, and that I have hope and faith in the future. ”

“ Miss —— remains so long in the confessional-box! they receive the holy communion so frequently; they both speak so eloquently and so often of the admirable piety, modesty, holiness, patience, charity, of their incomparable spiritual Father!
Every one congratulates them on their new and exemplary life; and they accept the compliment with the utmost humility, attributing their rapid progress in Christian virtues to the holiness of their confessor. He is such a spiritual man! ”