20 INDIA STREET, 1st Decr.1885.
MY DEAR MR. ARMSTRONG,
— It was very kind in Mrs. Armstrong to write to me, letting me know that you are making some progress. I wonder what your meditations have been. Did you ever see the little book I enclose (Thoughts in Prospect of Death, by D.Rintoul)— the observations of one (I remember him in my college days in Edinburgh) who thought himself drawing nearer and nearer Eternity, like one in a boat gliding down the river to the sea? Perhaps you will have some 'thoughts' to give us. You may have got some fresh and suggestive views of the ministry— 'thoughts by a minister laid aside for some months.' You no doubt get special visits of the Master, for He says, 'In the time of trouble I will hide I him in My pavilion, in the secret of My Tabernacle (far, far in!) will I hide him.
With kindest thanks to Mrs. Armstrong and brotherly sympathy for you, dear Trophimus,—
Believe me, yours in the Lord,
ANDREW A. BONAR.
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GLASGOW, 1886.
MY DEAR MR. ARMSTRONG,
—It is very kind in you to write me. At our last prayer-meeting (it was in my house), we all remembered you and offered special prayer for you. But you must not be at all cast down (Mrs. Armstrong : 'Easy to say this, but he is not laid aside yet himself! '). You are like Samuel Rutherford feeling so keenly his 'dumb Sabbaths,' and yet these days became vocal with strains of heavenly poetry, as he got time to muse upon the love of Him who had loved His servant 'out of the pit of corruption' (see Isa. 38:17; margin, Hebrew). Who knoweth but you have been drawn aside in order to bring down showers by your strong cries and intercession for the Land; the Church, your Congregation, your Brethren, etc. Do you know I almost envied you when I read your letter, for often I get scarcely an hour free from interruption through the week, and it seems so desirable to have every day many hours for meditation and prayer.
Kindest sympathy as well as kindest regards to Mrs. Armstrong. Sing Psalm 42:11 and 43:5, and when praying for the brethren remember me also—Yours truly, dear brother,
ANDREW A. BONAR.
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Andrew Bonar (1810 - 1892)
He was a well-known pastor in Scotland with the Free Church. His brother Horatius was another well-known minister who was contemporary with Robert Murray Mchyene and others in those days. They saw a move of revival in their churches where the Spirit brought many immediate conversations in a short period of time.He is best known for his work on compiling the life of the prophet of Dundee: Robert Murray Mchyene: "Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne." One cannot read this volume and feel the sobriety of eternity and the fear of the Lord. He also wrote a wonderful volume on Leviticus.
Andrew Alexander Bonar was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and the youngest brother of Horatius Bonar.
He studied at Edinburgh; was minister at Collace, Perthshire, 1838 - 1856 (both in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church); and of Finnieston Free Church, Glasgow, 1856 till his death.
He was identified with evangelical and revival movements and adhered to the doctrine of premillennialism. With Robert Murray McCheyne he visited Palestine in 1839 to inquire into the condition of the Jews there. During the visit of Dwight L. Moody to Britain in 1874 and 1875, Moody was warmly welcomed by Bonar, despite the latter receiving considerable criticism from other Calvinist ministers in the Free Church.
Andrew Bonar preached from the whole Bible, the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. When one of his friends remarked on his originality in finding subjects for preaching, and wondered where he got all his texts, he just lifted up his Bible. He did not ignore any part of it, but explained it all. He did not shy away from any passages that might be seen as unpopular or unpleasant. Even the first chapters of Chronicles became 'God calling the roll of mankind.' He made it come alive as a history of men and women, living in their time, as we live in ours, accountable to God.
Christ and Him crucified was at the centre of all his preaching, in all parts of the Bible. He declared 'the whole counsel of God', and was deeply aware of his responsibility as a man of God. He spent hours every day in prayer and meditation of the Scriptures, and asking for the Holy Spirit to show the truth to him, so that he might pass it on to his flock. He wrote in a letter: "Persevering prayerfulness is harder for the flesh than preaching."
Above all, he was aware that his personal holiness would be of crucial importance to his preaching, as his remark shows: "Sins of teachers are teachers of sins."