ABERDEEN, _Sept. 13, 1637_.
CCLXIII.--_To_ MARION M'NAUGHT.
(_HOPE IN TRIAL--PRAYER AND WATCHFULNESS._)
DEAREST IN OUR LORD JESUS,--Count it your honour, that Christ hath
begun at you to refine you first. "Fear not," saith the Amen, the True
and Faithful Witness. I write to you, as my Master liveth, upon the
word of my royal King, continue in prayer and in watching, and your
glorious deliverance is coming! Christ is not far off. A fig, a straw,
for all the bits of clay that are risen against us! Ye shall thresh
the mountains, and fan them like chaff (Isa. xli. 15, 16). If ye slack
your hands at your meetings, and your watching to prayer, then it
would seem that our Rock hath sold us; but be diligent, and be not
discouraged. I charge you in Christ, to rejoice, give thanks, believe,
be strong in the Lord. That burning bush in Galloway and Kirkcudbright
shall not be burnt to ashes, for the Lord is in the bush. Be not
discouraged that banishment is to be procured, by the King's warrant
to the Council, against me: the earth is my Lord's. I am filled with
His sweet love, and running over. I rejoice to hear that ye are on
your journey. Such news as I hear, of all your faith and love, rejoice
my sad heart.
Pray for me, for they seek my hurt; but I give myself to prayer. The
blessing of my Lord, and the blessing of a prisoner of Christ be with
you. O chosen and greatly beloved woman, faint not. Fy, fy; if ye
faint now, ye lose a good cause. Double your meetings; cease not for
Zion's sake, and hold not your peace till He make Jerusalem a praise
in the earth.
Yours, in Christ Jesus his Lord,