In the pretty village of Ardrishaig, on the shores of Loch Fyne, in the Argyllshire Highlands of Scotland, Jamie Chalmers spent his early years. His father, who was a stone mason, had come from the Granite City, to help in the building of a new quay at Inveraray, near to the fine old castle of that name, the seat of the Dukes of Argyll for generations. Here the romping, sturdy boy, full of courage and adventure, spent his boyhood among the hardy fishermen of the Loch, gaining knowledge of the management of boats, and several times narrowly escaped being drowned. The first sixpence he ever possessed, he earned by learning and repeating from memory the twenty-third Psalm to his father, when he returned on a Saturday night from his week’s work at Inveraray. His parents were of the old Scottish Presbyterian type, who accustomed their children to read and reverence the Word of God, and although this of itself did not make them “born again” Christians, it was of untold value to those who, in after years, became children of God and servants of Jesus Christ.
When James was eight years old, the family removed to Glenaray, near Inveraray, and young Chalmers attended a Bible Class conducted in the village by a godly man named Meikle, who set before his lads the Gospel in its simplicity, and sought to interest them in its wonder-working power by telling of its triumphs in distant lands. Missionary enterprise was only in its infancy among the people of Scotland in these early years, so far as the South Sea Islands were concerned. The work of some of the missionary pioneers there, was beginning to arouse a more general interest, and to stir up the people of God to prayer and practical fellowship, in the work of evangelizing the dwellers in the habitations of darkness and cannibalism. On a Sunday afternoon at the close of the class, Mr. Meikle read a letter to the lads, from a missionary in the Fiji Islands, telling of the need of Gospel laborers among the savages there, and finished by saying, “I wonder if there is a boy here this afternoon who will become a missionary, and take the Gospel to these cannibals?” Jamie Chalmers’ heart beat fast as these words were spoken, and he said to himself— “By God’s help, I will.” He left the other lads of the class that afternoon and hurried home along the road toward his home alone, and when he reached a point of the road where there is a wall, he climbed over, knelt down on the other side, and removing his cap from his head, prayed that God would accept and send him out as a missionary to the heathen. But Jamie Chalmers yet lacked the first and chief qualification which every messenger of Christ must have, namely, to be saved himself and set on the way to heaven. Some who have never known such an experience, have, no doubt, gone forth to “evangelize the heathen,” but their mission—as all such efforts of the unconverted must—has proved a failure; for how can any man or woman, at home or abroad, proclaim a salvation to others of which they know nothing themselves?
Chalmers tells how quickly that afternoon’s resolution and prayer were forgotten, and how for some years after, he lapsed into utter carelessness, and fell into bad company, which led him astray. But God had His eye upon him, and by a way that he knew not, was about to bring about the great event of his life, namely, his conversion.
Conversion and Confession of Christ
In the year 1859, two earnest preachers from the North of Ireland Revival, which was then in progress, came across to Inveraray to hold meetings. Gatherings of this sort were very unusual in Argyllshire, and some of the young fellows of the village determined to go and disturb the “Revivalists,” and break up their meetings. Chalmers was persuaded to attend the first meeting, and as he went up the stairs leading to the room, he was met by the sound of singing— “such singing,” he says, “as I had never heard before, it was so joyful.” A simple, straight Gospel address followed, from the words, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)), every word of which seemed to be specially prepared for and went straight to the heart of young Chalmers, causing deep conviction of sin and making him thoroughly miserable. The following Sunday night he was in sore distress, and thought there was no salvation for him. On the Monday, his old friend Mr. Meikle came to his aid, and opening his Bible, read the words in 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)— “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,” and these words brought life and light to his soul. James Chalmers was then and there converted, as all who come as sinners, casting themselves wholly on the Son of God and His all-cleansing blood, once for all shed for sinners, are, and he confessed Him at once as his Saviour and Lord, and began in his own village and among his own people to testify for his new Master. This was the beginning of the life work to which the Lord had called him, and for which his conversion to God and confession of Christ, were the first and chief stages of his preparation for entering upon. How grand it is to be saved in life’s early day! To be set free from the slavery of sin, emancipated from the dominion of Satan, severed from the present evil world, and set on the road to glory, singing and serving the Lord Jesus Christ all along the way. Two years after James Chalmers had been converted, he met the earnest Samoan missionary, Dr. Turner, who had spent upwards of forty years in the South Sea Islands, and heard from his lips what the Lord was doing in that great mission field. The old desire of his boyhood, and the resolution made behind the wall on the Glenaray road, came back, with new force this time, with the love of Christ as its constraining power, and again, as a sinner saved by grace, and a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, Chalmers offered himself to the Lord for His work among the cannibals of the South Seas. Two years of house-to-house work among Glasgow slums, where he was made familiar with life in its lowest forms, was a good education, and after a period of study and preparation, Chalmers and his young wife sailed on January 4th, 1866, in the mission ship, John Williams as a pioneer to the South Sea Islanders. You need to be saved, just as surely, and in the same way as James Chalmers, the Scottish lad, who became the missionary martyr of the South Seas. And the same Jesus who saved him is able to save you today.