TWO LETTERS TO THE INHABITANTS OF BALNAGUARD - Burns, William Chalmers

TWO LETTERS TO THE INHABITANTS OF BLACKGUARD; A VILLAGE IN STRATHTAY  1841

Note: The following Lines were printed without my knowledge at Aberfeldy. I have consented to allow
them to be printed again, praying that Jehovah may condescend to bless any word of his own that is in them
to those dear fellow-sinners who may read them.

Wm. C.Burns Perth, May 20, 1841.

LETTER – Aberdeen, November 17, 1840

My Dear Friend in the Lord,

I have long delayed writing to you, with the view of being able to send a short address to the dear people of Blackguard; but finding my time constantly occupied with the Lord’s work here, I am compelled at length
just to send you a few lines to show that I have not forgot you, and to put you in remembrance of the Lord’s dealings with you at the time that he was graciously pleased, in so remarkable a way, to send me to Blackguard.I was rejoiced to hear from Mr. Allan (The minister of Little Dunked, the parish in which Blackguard is situated.) that there seems to be a real awakening among the people at your little village; and I have also learned from other individuals some farther particulars regarding the progress of the Lord’s work among  you. I am, however, very anxious to hear more exact accounts, whether good or bad, that I may be stirred up to give Jehovah praise for all that he is doing, and to wrestle with him that he may stay the hand of the wicked one, and carry on his own glorious and saving work, in opposition to all the power of sin, the world,
and the devil.I would warn such as have been concerned, even deeply, and constantly, against imagining that conviction is the same as conversion. The sinner is never safe, whatever experience he may have had, until he takes refuge in the atoning blood of Jesus from the guilt of his sins, and flees to the promise of the Holy Ghost for deliverance from its reigning, and indwelling power. Sin and Satan are not easily subdued, as everyone who enters on the Christian life is well aware. A Christian’s faith finds no bed to rest upon but the infinite merits
of Jesus, and the almighty power of the Holy Ghost. If the work is not deep, and divine, sinner-emptying, and Christ-exalting, it will not be lasting; and if it should last, it will be a lasting delusion, which, like the
religion of the foolish virgins, will deceive the soul, and cheat it of the inheritance of eternal life. Oh! I would exhort all that are concerned among you to dig deep, and to lay the foundation of their hope for
eternity on the immovable rock of Emmanuel’s righteousness and grace. Every other foundation will give way when the billows of death begin to roll, and the storms of divine wrath burst forth on an ungodly world; but that blessed soul which has been brought by the Holy Spirit to seek Christ all its salvation and all its desires, will then be found safely resting on the Rock of Ages, and will rejoice amid the ruin of worlds, and the dismay, and horror, and destruction of millions of the unconverted. Let all, then, seek with the whole heart that the Lord would savings apprehend them by his almighty Spirit, and give them such views of the glory and love of Jesus as will make the world appear an empty shadow, sin hideous and loathsome, and all creature enjoyments as nothing; yea as dross and dung in comparison with Immanuel. He is the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely! I was rejoiced to hear that several prayer meetings have been formed among the people. In holding these I would encourage them to persevere, always remembering that the Lord hath said, not only “where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them,” but also when thou prayest enter into thy closet, and pray to thy Father who is in secret. Public religion, without closet fellowship with God, is hypocrisy, which may deceive the world, and deceive the soul itself, but cannot deceive a heart-searching God. Oh! let the dear people be much in secret prayer and meditation on the Lord’s word, if they would be with Jesus and be like him. Write me soon, and I will write again.The work of the Lord is going on here, to the praise of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; though, alas! tens of thousands are still at ease, under the wrath of God. Oh! that the Lord would awaken them, and all condemned sleepers among you. Remember me to the people as their humble servant in the Lord.In haste, Yours, Wm. C. Burns

To: Mr. Cameron, Teacher, Balnaguard Dundee, December 22, 1840

My Dear Friends in the Lord,

I cannot express the feelings of joy and praise to God with which I this day received a letter from Mr. Cameron, giving me an account of the Lord’s work among you; and, though I am very much occupied in the
work of Jesus here, I cannot but hasten to send you a few lines that I may express my longings after you in the bowels of Jesus Christ; and my earnest desire and prayer that he who hath begun a good work in you,
may carry it on till the day of Jesus Christ. Truly the Lord hath thought of you when you thought not of him: he hath been found of them that sought him not: he hath been made manifest to them that asked not
after him. Never did the Lord shew more clearly than in the case of your dear village, that he does not visit us for anything good in us, or because we are seeking after him. He saw nothing in you except sin and
rebellion against his blessed and holy laws, and yet he came and called you to follow him! How wonderful it is to think that all the meetings which I had with you at Blackguard, and all the meetings you have had with others since, arose from the circumstance of my losing the coach to Gratefully, and being obliged to go a-foot. (When I passed this favored hamlet, on the day referred to, the people were busy cutting down the abundant harvest; and little did I think, as I walked along, that Jehovah intended on that day to have an in gathering of souls into the kingdom of his Son. But so great was the anxiety that had been produced in the souls of many, at previous meetings, that some of the people came running and begged that we should have a prayer meeting, though it were but for half an hour. I waited wondering at the leading of God, which had brought us together so unexpectedly. In a few minutes the school-room was
crowded: and when we prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, nearly all wept together! It was, indeed, a season that I can never forget; and one which, I have little doubt, some will remember with joy throughout eternity. Ah! but there will be not a few, I fear, who may cry in hell, “Oh I that I had not been there. I rejected the Son of God, I resisted the Holy Ghost!” Alas, I shall this be always the case at such set
times for favoring Zion. Blackguard is six miles from Aberfeldy, and used to be noted for smuggling. – W.C.B.) The Lord has wonderful ways of working: his ways are far above and out of our sight; and he often
hides his greatest mercies under a cloud of trials and disappointments. I am sure you often think of that day when we first met at Blackguard, in the School-house, so unexpectedly both to you and me. Often do I remember it, and often have I spoken of it to others as one of the most remarkable things that have occurred to me as a preacher of Jesus’ Gospel. You remember that we sung the last eight lines of the seventieth Psalm, “Oh Lord in thee let all be glad,” &c; and our hearts were full when we knelt down and prayed, and then rose up to bid each other farewell. Oh! dear fellow-sinners, I often think on that day and cry, “Bless the Lord
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”I rejoice to hear of your prayer meetings, now amounting, I am told to six, since the boys and girls began
to assemble together, as well as the older people. I remember once hearing a little girl praying in Dundee, and she wept and cried, “O Lord! I am a young creature, but oh! I am an old, hardened sinner.” So I hope
some of the young people at Blackguard are feeling. Another in Dundee when asked if she loved Jesus, said, with tears running down her tender cheeks, “Yes.” Why do you love Jesus? “Because he is the good
Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep.” It was a good reason indeed. Oh, that he may gather many among you, both old and young, as lambs, with his arms, and carry you in his bosom! May you lie as John,
the disciple whom Jesus loved, lay at the supper, on the breast of Jesus. Oh that was a blessed place to be in! infinitely better than a king’s throne! And yet the blessed Jesus invites us all to his bosom; and will case out
none that come unto him. I am very anxious that, while you meet together for prayer and praise, and reading the Lord’s Word, you should watch against spiritual pride, and hypocrisy, which we are in great danger of at all times, but especially when we are beginning the Christian life. Oh! if you wish to be the Lord’s true followers, see that you be united to him by the Holy Ghost; seek after close fellowship with the Lord Jesus in
secret; tremble at the thought of grieving the blessed Spirit; study the Lord’s word daily and hourly as you have opportunity; make the godly your companions; come out from the world which lieth in the wicked one,
forsaking all its sinful customs; and wait for the coming of the LORD JESUS. I would specially at this season entreat you to watch and pray against those snares which the devil, the deceiver and murderer of souls, will lay for you at the beginning of a new year. There is no time when the devil is more anxious to bind his perishing slaves with new chains of sin, than when they are entering on another year of their existence,
knowing that, if he gets them to begin the year in his service, it will be likelier that they will continue to serve him to the end of it. Oh! remember in what way many of you spent the last New Year’s Day. Would you
like to spend another in the same manner? Are you not yet ready to renounce the glass, the dance, and the song? If you are not, you are none of Christ’s and shall never taste the cup of everlasting salvation; never leap for joy on the shore of Emmanuel’s land; never join in the song of the redeemed in heaven! Oh! may the Lord enable you to stand the mockery that will be cast upon you being singular, and not like other people. May He cause you to find it sweeter to weep at His feet for sin, than to laugh, and dance, and drink, and make merry on the road to hell -fire with the ungodly world? Christ was mocked for us; shall we be afraid to be mocked for him? He suffered, and bled, and died on the accursed tree for us; and shall we be unwilling to suffer for him, even though it was to the loss of life itself. Hear what he says, “He that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that losed his life for my sake and the Gospel’s, shall keep it unto life eternal.”Mr. Cameron will write me after the beginning of the year, and let me know whether you have spent the
New Year’s Day as the followers of Jesus should. And, oh! if you would be afraid to sin were I at your right hand, remember that the holy eye of God is ever upon you, and that his heart is grieved when we leave the
fountain of living waters, and hew out to ourselves broken and empty cisterns that can hold no water. “Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now, the just shall live by faith; but if any
man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” May you not be of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe unto the saving of the soul. In many places where the Lord has been
pouring out his Spirit during this year, the people of God will be meeting on New Year’s Day, at eleven o’clock, A.M., and at six or seven o’clock, P.M. to pray that the new year may be a year of the Lord’s great
love and power in the hearts of sinners. Would you join us? I would wish much that you should join with us also on the last evening of this year, when so many serve the devil and go with lightning speed to hell! We
shall then unite in thanksgiving and in prayer, trying to weep for those who are still going forward on the broad road! You do not know how much I would like to meet you again. Pray that I may be brought to you soon, if it be the Lord’s blessed will. Oh! let us pray for each other while we are separated; and when we meet, whether on earth or in eternity, may we rejoice together in the glory and grace of Immanuel, who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. – I am, in haste, dear friends,

Your humble and attached servant, In the Lord Immanuel,

Wm. C. Burns

To those of the Inhabitants of Balnaguard, who are setting their faces Zion-ward.

P.S. – Study Psalms 116, & 119, Isaiah 51:1-13, 1 Corinthians 6:14-18.