A Barnstaple Patriarch
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ROBT. CLEAVER CHAPMAN, the Barnstaple
Patriarch, who died in his 100th year, wrote:
"All that is demanded of a child of Adam, that
he may
pass out of death into life, is that he should take his due
place in the presence of God, acknowledge his sin, and
accept the Saviour Jesus. The bar to the salvation of any
sinner is in himself, not in God.
Let the poor sinner
account his own righteousness as
dung and rags, he will
receive Christ; God will not, He cannot, shut
him out from
His heart. I am everywhere zealous to say that there is
no need for a sinner crying to God for mercy, but there is
need that the sinner should confess
himself not entitled to
a morsel of bread nor a cup of cold water; and the moment
he owns his unworthiness, he cannot
reject what God
gives. Eternal life is the
property of every one who
chooses to have it."
Mr. Chapman, in reply to a friend some years ago,
wrote: "My day of birth natural is 4th January, 1803.
I
have known Christ by the Word and Spirit of our God
more than threescore years and ten, all happy, all blessed.
I am giving thanks continually, and in my constant
review of all my life I see more and more cause for thanks-
giving to God and praising His Holy Name, together with
deeper reason for self-abasement."
Mr. Chapman's "Choice Sayings" have had
an extensive
sale. He died in Barnstaple on June 12, 1902.
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