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Robert Haldane
Robert Haldane (1764–1842) was a Scottish preacher, theologian, and philanthropist whose ministry significantly shaped evangelical Christianity in Scotland and beyond during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born on February 28, 1764, in London, England, he was the eldest son of James Haldane of Airthrey and Katherine Duncan, part of a prominent Scottish family. Orphaned by age ten, he was raised by his grandmother, Lady Lundie, and uncles, attending Dundee Grammar School, the Royal High School in Edinburgh, and briefly the University of Edinburgh. At 16, he joined the Royal Navy, serving under his uncle Adam Duncan on HMS Monarch and later HMS Foudroyant during the American Revolutionary War, distinguishing himself in combat before retiring in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris. Converted in 1795 amid the French Revolution’s tumult, influenced by David Bogue of Gosport, Haldane dedicated his life and fortune to spreading the gospel. In 1785, he married Katherine Cochrane Oswald, with whom he had one daughter, Margaret. Haldane’s preaching career emerged from his wealth and evangelical zeal, though he was never formally ordained. After selling his Airthrey estate in 1798, he funded the construction of preaching tabernacles, like the Circus Church in Edinburgh, and established seminaries to train itinerant preachers, countering the Moderate dominance in the Church of Scotland. With his brother James, he planted 85 independent churches across Scotland and Ireland, practicing baptism by immersion and congregational governance, influenced by thinkers like John Glas and Robert Sandeman. His most impactful ministry came in 1816–1819, when he traveled to Geneva and Montauban, sparking a revival among theological students—including César Malan and Frédéric Monod—through his expositions of Romans, later published as Commentaire sur l'Épître aux Romains (1819). A prolific writer, his works like The Evidence and Authority of Divine Revelation (1816) and Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans bolstered evangelical theology. Haldane died on December 12, 1842, in Edinburgh, buried in Glasgow Cathedral’s Oswald family plot, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose resources and conviction fueled a widespread gospel movement, despite resistance from established churches.
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Robert Haldane preaches on the comforting truth that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Believers are assured that even in the midst of overwhelming adverse circumstances, everything is orchestrated by God to lead them to their heavenly inheritance. God, as the first cause, governs all second causes to ultimately work for the good of His children, using even afflictions to contribute to their well-being.
All Things Work Together
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). That all things work together for the good of them that love God, is a truth affording the highest consolation. These words teach believers that whatever may be the number and overwhelming character of adverse circumstances, they are all contributing to conduct them into the possession of the inheritance provided for them in heaven. That they are thus working for the good of the children of God, is manifest from the consideration that God governs the world. The first cause of all is God; second causes are all His creatures, whether angels, good or bad men, animals, or the inanimate creation. Second causes move only under His direction; and when God withdraws His hand, they cannot move at all, as it is written, 'In Him we live, and move, and have our .' As God, then, the first cause, moves all second causes against His enemies, so, when He is favourable to us, He employs all to move and work for our good, as it is said, 'In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground; and will break the bow, and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely' (Hos. 2:18). And as of men it is said, 'When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him,' (Prov. 16:7). If all things work together f or good, there is nothing within the compass of being that is not, in one way or other, advantageous to the children of God. All the attributes of God, all the offices of Christ, all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, are combined for their good. The creation of the world, the fall and the redemption of man, all the dispensations of Providence, whether prosperous or adverse, all occurrences and events-all things, whatsoever they be-work for their good. They work together in their efficacy, in their unity, and in their connection. They do not work thus of themselves: it is God that turns all things to the good of His children. The afflictions of believers, in a peculiar manner, contribute to this end.
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Robert Haldane (1764–1842) was a Scottish preacher, theologian, and philanthropist whose ministry significantly shaped evangelical Christianity in Scotland and beyond during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born on February 28, 1764, in London, England, he was the eldest son of James Haldane of Airthrey and Katherine Duncan, part of a prominent Scottish family. Orphaned by age ten, he was raised by his grandmother, Lady Lundie, and uncles, attending Dundee Grammar School, the Royal High School in Edinburgh, and briefly the University of Edinburgh. At 16, he joined the Royal Navy, serving under his uncle Adam Duncan on HMS Monarch and later HMS Foudroyant during the American Revolutionary War, distinguishing himself in combat before retiring in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris. Converted in 1795 amid the French Revolution’s tumult, influenced by David Bogue of Gosport, Haldane dedicated his life and fortune to spreading the gospel. In 1785, he married Katherine Cochrane Oswald, with whom he had one daughter, Margaret. Haldane’s preaching career emerged from his wealth and evangelical zeal, though he was never formally ordained. After selling his Airthrey estate in 1798, he funded the construction of preaching tabernacles, like the Circus Church in Edinburgh, and established seminaries to train itinerant preachers, countering the Moderate dominance in the Church of Scotland. With his brother James, he planted 85 independent churches across Scotland and Ireland, practicing baptism by immersion and congregational governance, influenced by thinkers like John Glas and Robert Sandeman. His most impactful ministry came in 1816–1819, when he traveled to Geneva and Montauban, sparking a revival among theological students—including César Malan and Frédéric Monod—through his expositions of Romans, later published as Commentaire sur l'Épître aux Romains (1819). A prolific writer, his works like The Evidence and Authority of Divine Revelation (1816) and Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans bolstered evangelical theology. Haldane died on December 12, 1842, in Edinburgh, buried in Glasgow Cathedral’s Oswald family plot, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose resources and conviction fueled a widespread gospel movement, despite resistance from established churches.