GLASGOW, 17th March 1858.
MY DEAR MRS. MANSON,—Thanks for writing me, for in truth I was meditating to write you (i.e. your husband and you=one), but could not make out whereabouts you were at this time. I am glad you are to be near Crieff ; we may see you now and then. But I will be afraid to say much to Mr. Manson about ministerial work, lest thereby I sadden him,—only he is one who can say, 'It is the Lord,' and so be as content to sit still as to labour—
'They also serve who only stand and wait.'
Indeed this is by far the most self-denying work, and so may be found the most glorifying to God. I cannot but hope, too, that the Master has some work for Mr. Manson. Tell him that Wycliffe, when forbidden by the bishop to preach for a season, set the more eagerly to his translation, and remind him that Southwood may become a Wartburg, and he a Luther!
As for yourself, no doubt your change of life, the very removal of former cares, and the kind of vacation-state you are in, will cause your soul at times to feel as if under a cloudy sky. But you well know to judge of God's love only by His Unspeakable Gift,—a gift irrevocably given, and given to you,—never by frames and states and feelings and your own thoughts. When Mr. Manson came back to you on the day of the eclipse, did he report that the sun was changed? No, he reported that his light had been intercepted for a few minutes, and that never were men more fully alive to the inexhaustible and unchangeable lustre of that globe of light, than when for a moment deprived of its actual presence.
Your husband is somewhat lazy, he has not written me this long time. I think I will make that an excuse for saying no more at present, so good-bye for this time. Pray for us.—Yours truly in the Lord,
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."