April - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

Book Review 123aloud: “Ho”. How precious is water to the exhausted traveller! Were we inthe wilderness almost perishing of thirst, and were the smallest fountain ofwater discovered, how quickly we would rush to it! How eagerly we woulddrink of it, muddy and polluted though it might be, even amidst the thirstycamels’ feet! And when we are in the moral wilderness and when our soulfaints in us, how amazing that, when the fountain of life has been pointedout, we should need to be urged to drink of it! He who freely offers the livingwater knows that we must perish if we do not drink; and the passionate andurgent cry is, Come, come, come, and take freely, not only water, but wineand milk, without money, and without price – water, to save from death;milk, to nourish and strengthen; and wine, to cheer and gladden the faintingsoul. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take thewater of life freely.”Book ReviewArchibald G Brown, Spurgeon’s Successor, by Iain H Murray, published bythe Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 419 pages, £16.00, obtainable from the FreePresbyterian Bookroom.Brown (1844-1922) was a Baptist pastor very much in the mould of C HSpurgeon. He did spend around three years as pastor of the MetropolitanTabernacle some years after Spurgeon’s death, but during the most activepart of his life he was minister of the East London Tabernacle, which wassituated not far from where the Free Presbyterian congregation in Londonpresently worships.From the numbers attending, Brown came to the conclusion in 1869 thatthe original building at Stepney Green ought to be replaced by one whichwould be at least three times as large. The new structure could accommodate3000 and many found salvation there through Brown’s preaching. One instance,which illustrates the difference between then and now in Evangelicalattitudes to worldly entertainments, was a young local woman who first attendedthe East London Tabernacle on a Sabbath evening. “For nine years heroccupation had been to sing at a playhouse and to dance in ballets. That iswhere she would have been found the previous evening. But the word preachedso touched her heart that she could not go back to it the next evening.Pike [an earlier biographer] has recorded her reaction: ‘Knowing what shenow did of her condition as a sinner in the Lord’s sight, she was afraid togo; and although the employment represented her livelihood she has never