THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY, “COME”

The Spirit And The Bride Say, “Come”

He preached for only one year.

HUGH MCKAIL was licensed to preach by the Church of Scotland in 1661, at the age of twenty, and preached his last public sermon at the age of twenty-one. In it he said, “The Scripture doth abundantly evidence that the people of God have been persecuted sometimes by a Pharaoh on the throne, sometimes by a Haman in the state, and sometimes by a Judas in the church.” The Pharaohs, Hamans, and Judases of Scotland hounded Hugh McKail to his death at the age of twenty-six.

McKail, who studied at the University of Edinburgh, was a scholarly young minister. He was a Covenanter—a group committed to preserving Presbyterianism and opposing any governmental control over the church. Pitted against the Covenanters was King Charles II, who came to the throne of England in 1660 and was intent on destroying the Presbyterian Church in Scotland by requiring adherence to the Church of England, of which he was the head.

After four years of hiding from the intense persecution, Hugh McKail was already dying of tuberculosis by the time he was captured in 1666. Taken before the tribunal in Edinburgh, McKail revealed nothing regarding the Covenanters. He was then subjected to a form of torture called the boot in which one of his legs was literally crushed. Miraculously stoic, he breathed no word of betrayal against his fellow Covenanters.

As soon as McKail’s inquisitors considered him well enough recovered, they held another hearing. Refusing to plead guilty to rebellion against the Crown, McKail was sentenced to death by hanging. Hearing his sentence, McKail replied, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Back in his cell he said to a friend, “O how good news: to be within four days’ journey to enjoy the sight of Jesus Christ.”

Hugh McKail was led out to the scaffold at two o’clock in the afternoon on December 22, 1666. Climbing the ladder to the scaffold dragging his mangled leg, he called down to those to be hanged after him, “Friends and fellow sufferers, do not be afraid; every step of this ladder is a degree nearer heaven.” Then with the rope around his neck, he turned and addressed the crowd: “This is my comfort, I know that my Redeemer liveth. And now I do willingly lay down my life for the truth and cause of God, the Covenants and work of Reformation, which were once counted the glory of this nation; and it is for endeavoring to defend this . . . that I embrace this rope . . . and that you may know what the ground of my encouragement in this work is, I shall read to you in the last chapter of the Bible.”

After reading from Revelation 22 his closing words were:

Here you see the glory that is to be revealed on me: a “‘pure river of water of life”; and here you see my access to the glory and reward: “Let him who is athirst, come”; and here you see my welcome: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.

I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God; to my King and your King, to the blessed apostles and martyrs, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the great assembly of the firstborn, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant; and I bid you all farewell, for God will be more comfortable to you than I could be, and He will be now more refreshing to me than you can be. Farewell, farewell in the Lord!

Reflection

Can you imagine what it would be like to be tortured by inquisitors trying to obtain the names of your fellow Christians so that they in turn could be tortured? Hugh McKail had his leg crushed but refused to betray his Christian friends. How do you think he was able to endure the torture?

I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen. This is a true saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him.

2 Timothy 2:10-12