Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) is widely regarded as the greatest Scotsman of the nineteenth century. Under God he was the leader who was used to transform the church in Scotland from dead Moderatism to lively Evangelicalism. He was the father of the Free Church.

What are the lessons we can learn from his life?

1. There is Hope for Unconverted Ministers⤒🔗

Chalmers went to university at the age of 11 and began studying divinity at 15. He was licensed at 19 and became parish minister of Kilmany at 23. Though Chalmers had a godly father he followed the prevailing religious outlook of the day and despised Evangelicals. For several years his church declined as he spent his time and energy teaching Maths and Chemistry at St Andrews. But following the deaths of a sister and uncle and a four month confinement to his room with consumption (TB) he was a humbled man. Wilberforce’s Practical view of Christianity and Scott’s Force of Truth were used to bring him to full assurance of salvation. Like Paul of old he became a mighty champion of what he previously despised. Pray for, and witness to unconverted ministers.

2. Personal Piety is Essential←⤒🔗

Though possessing great natural gifts, Chalmers’ ministry was a failure till his conversion. Attendances at Kilmany church declined. However following his new birth he dedicated himself to studying the Scriptures, reading the Puritans and praying. Family worship was instituted in the home twice daily. He was characterised by the fear of God and not man. The church was now crowded on a Sabbath. Calls came from larger churches in London and Glasgow. William Cunningham who heard his first lectures in divinity in Edinburgh spoke of ‘the deep sense of the glory of God’s presence’ and the saintly Rabbi Duncan described him as ‘a heavenly minded man’. It is great holiness that God blesses rather than great gifts.

3. Compassion for the Needy←⤒🔗

Jesus was moved when he saw suffering. A woman bent many years with infirmity drew out his sympathy as did blind Bartimaeus begging by the wayside or the weeping widow of Nain following her son’s body to the grave. Chalmers, soon after his conversion, became actively involved in helping the poor of Kilmany. When he came to be minister of the Tron Church in Glasgow, the wealthy multitudes attending his church did not satisfy him for he saw the grinding, hopeless poverty of many around his church. He persuaded the city authorities to set up a new parish (St John’s) encompassing 10,000 of the poorest of Glasgow. He divided the area into 25 districts and he appointed a deacon to look after the material needs of the 400 or so individuals in the district.

Even in his old age he was seen weeping over the depravity and destitution of the inhabitants of the West Port in Edinburgh. Soon he had visitors organised to help relieve the poverty, a school set up, a church built and Rev William Tasker appointed. Are we troubled today by the poverty and destitution we see even if it is caused by drink?

4. Evangelistic Concern←⤒🔗

Chalmers’ primary concern was with the souls of men and women. In his preaching he freely offered Christ and pleaded with men and women to repent. Along with the deacons he appointed to each district in St John’s (Glasgow) an elder who would bring the gospel and see to the spiritual needs. He himself was an indefatigable visitor. The story is told of a dying man who was asked if he wanted the visit of a minister. ‘Yes’, he said, ‘send for that man whom I turned away thirty times’. Many in Glasgow were converted under his ministry and his students too were characterised by evangelistic zeal. He stirred up M’Cheyne, the Bonars, Somerville and others to evangelistically visit the poorest parts of Edinburgh.

5. The Importance of Preparing Men for the Ministry←⤒🔗

Though Chalmers had a great sphere of labour in St John’s in Glasgow, his doorbell ringing every few minutes with people enquiring about their souls, yet when the call came to teach Moral Philosophy at St Andrews he took up the challenge. He felt that the work of preparing men for the ministry was a higher and more important calling. He saw the relationship between philosophy and divinity as similar to that between the law and the gospel. Later, when invited to become professor of Moral Philosophy at London University, or Professor of Divinity in Edinburgh on a much lower wage, he chose Edinburgh. Several of his students at St Andrews became evangelical ministers and six became missionaries, of whom the most famous was Dr Duff, the missionary to India. Teaching divinity at Edinburgh he was at the very centre of the Church. He was the leader who stirred their hearts with a passion for Christ. Ninety per cent of his students joined the Free Church at the Disruption. Although few read Chalmers’ writings today (Works 25 Volumes) those of his students – Cunningham, James Buchanan, the Bonars, Smeaton, Hugh Martin etc. are widely read.

6. The Headship of Christ←⤒🔗

Chalmers was by nature very conservative. He believed strongly in the Establishment Principle – the state is to support the true church and the church is to advise the state. However he also was firmly convinced of the headship of Christ alone over the church. Erastianism, the view held by the Anglican Church, in which the Queen (and so the civil government) is head of the church was anathema to him.

He famously asserted at the Disruption that he left a vitiated establishment in the hopes of returning in due course to a pure one. He argued long and hard first in church courts and then with the civil courts and government against intrusionism – the idea that rich patrons or the civil authorities had the right to appoint ministers to churches against the wishes of the congregation. Further he believed that when the church courts discipline a man the civil courts have no right to interfere and restore such.

7. Must Obey God Rather than Men←⤒🔗

The Moderates believed that one should always obey the civil courts. Chalmers agreed that in civil matters this was the duty of the Christian. However if there was a conflict between the will of God and the dictates of men then, like the disciples of old who were commanded by the authorities not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus they replied,

Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Acts 4:19-20

Increasingly today we too find ourselves in situations where we have to make choices. We ‘honour the king’, yet we fear God more.

8. Catholic Emancipation←⤒🔗

Catholic emancipation raised interesting and controversial issues. Chalmers believed that instead of continuing to persecute the Roman Catholics of Ireland they should be given the vote and the freedom to practise their religion. He believed that the state should positively support the true church but should not persecute those who followed other faiths. He believed that the practices of the time were simply uniting the Irish as a nation against the throne of Britain and creating the glory of martyrdom. He asserted:

Give me the circulation of the Bible and I will overthrow the tyranny of Antichrist and establish Christianity on its ruins. Carnal weapons do not further the kingdom of God.

9. The Power of Littles←⤒🔗

One of the challenges which faced Chalmers was to devise a system by which the church, once separated from the state, could survive. Up till this point the state provided the stipends for ministers. He came up with the idea of the Sustentation Fund. Collectors would go round the parish (he wished weekly but accepted monthly) and collect from every house. These pennies added up so that following the Disruption not only were the salaries of the 470 ministers who left the Established Church paid but also manses, churches and schools were built, and home and foreign mission work vastly expanded. Similarly when faced with the poverty of the city slums he believed that every little helped. Begin in a small area doing what you can and so set a pattern for others. If each member fulfils their role the body as a whole will function healthily.

10. The Tide can Turn←⤒🔗

When Chalmers was growing up dead Moderatism controlled the Church of Scotland. But with God’s blessing, first under the leadership of Andrew Thomson but then especially under the direction of Chalmers, the Church was transformed and the nation evangelised. J W Alexander of New York wrote when he visited Scotland in 1851:

These few days in Scotland have shown me a permanent revival of religion … The preciousness of it is, that religion is founded on chapter and verse; free from outcry and sanctimony … I am among the best people on earth. A thousand times have I said to myself, “Oh if my father could just for one hour hear these prayers, and observe these fruits of unadulterated Calvinistic seed!” Here is the fruit of prayers sent up by Rutherfords and Bostons.

Oh that God would raise up another Chalmers! Oh that we would cry to Him in faith for the pouring out of His Spirit! He is able to use lesser men like us. But Oh that we would give all the glory to Him!