LUTHERMUIR GOSPEL HALL
by Dan Gillies
The Mercat (or market) Cross, at the centre of the broad market place in the heart of the quaint village of Fettercairn, is a monument of great historical interest.
The Current cross is believed to date from around 1670, but its shaft is possibly older, having once stood in the ancient village of Kincardine, which lay two and a half miles north-east of Fettercairn.
The cross was multifunctional, incorporating a sundial for telling the time. It was also the village stocks to which petty criminals were chained to an iron collar. Woe betide the village vandals in those days!
On the west side of the shaft is a groove that is about 953mm in length. This formed the ancient Scot measure of an “ell” and served as a standard length for traders, making cheating less likely.
Every false measure when placed alongside the “ell” would immediately be exposed and the dishonest trader found out.
God also has an absolute unchanging moral standard and sadly, when even the best of people are placed alongside of it, they all come short. The Bible declares, “there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22,23).
Just as human justice in ancient days would possibly have demanded a dishonest trader to be chained to the Mercat Cross, so God’s justice demands that your sin and mine should be punished. Yet God, in His love, sent His Son into the world, “to be the Saviour of the world “ (1 John 4:14). In one amazing act of love the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, submitted Himself to the death of the cross. Hanging there, He took the
guilty sinner’s place, paying in full the tremendous debt of sin with His own precious blood. The apostle Peter, writing to Christians, would remind them that, “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter3:18). God’s justice has been satisfied.
Dear reader, the God in whose hand your breath is, and against whom you have sinned, longs that you should be reconciled to Him. On your part you must be prepared to repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has raised from the dead and highly exalted. Upon believing you will be immediately forgiven and eternally saved. No better time than now!