is equal with the Father, one in the undivided essence, the object of
worship, possessed of every divine perfection, the way to God, the
suitable Saviour of his church, and the glory of God, angels, and saints;
but these are enough one would think, to convince any reasonable being,
but such, alas, is human depravity, that nothing short of almighty power
can give faith to believe the record which God has given of his Son. In
these few texts, our adorable Jesus is called the Lord of Hosts, the
mighty God, Jehovah, God over all; my God, the most high God, and the
Almighty; and if the testimony of a worm might be added—
That Christ is God I can avouch,
And for his people cares,
For I have pray’d to him as such,
And he has heard my prayers.
The Lord give you an experimental knowledge of himself as your Saviour.
I remain, your affectionate Father,
_Ruhamah_.
P.S. Have you seen that truly excellent tract, called the Young
Cottager, written by that blessed man of God, Rev. Leigh Richmond? I beg
you will often read it, as it, I think, excels all the tracts I ever
read, except Dr. Hawker’s; it possesses the elegance of Hervey and the
fervour of Hawker, sweetly combined.
LETTER XIX.
_Achor’s Vale_, _September_ 1, 1818.
Miss DAVIES,
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,
I fear my nerves will scarcely permit me to drop you a few lines. What a
day have I passed through! Solemn period, but I hope blissful one to the
unhappy, happy men. No doubt you felt for me exceedingly, knowing how
near to me the late events would occur. On Sunday our worthy Chaplain
preached the condemned sermon, I choose rather to call it their
coronation sermon, as he then gave a most, affecting, but blessed account
of their state, and looking round upon a weeping congregation, he begged
leave to use the words of his master, on a very affecting occasion,
“Daughters of Jerusalem, weep for yourselves, not me.” The poor men who
were condensed to die, wanted no pity, they had obtained mercy, they now
only needed the prayers of God’s people, for his upholding hand, his
supporting power, and his soul-comforting presence, at the last, the
solemn, the affecting moment of their dissolution. I am informed they
had it, but as I have not yet had the particulars of their conversion and
happy death from any spiritual person, I cannot write you to that effect,
but as soon as I can possibly gain the account, I will send it to you,
knowing your heart will, and does leap for joy, at the real conversion of
any sinner, but especially those who were so near death and eternity. I
hope the account will be well authenticated. This morning, Monday, I
awoke early, and was enabled to pour out strong cries and supplications
to God, for the poor men, that they might feel the joys of salvation, as
they approached their painful end. At seven o’clock the solemn
church-bell tolled; but at eight o’-clock, all my powers were affected by
the chapel bell answering it. I knew then the procession was begun, I
knew then the subject was real, every stroke of the church bell seemed to
say, _Come_! and every sound of the chapel bell responsed, _We come_!
_We come_! I felt every sound at my heart, and it again brought me on my
knees in earnest prayer, that a dear Saviour would meet them at the place
of execution. They arrived about an hour after on the place; I could not
see them, but I heard nearly all that passed. The first sound was
singing, I judged it was the lamentation of a sinner, one verse, and
which I think comprehends every thing at once.
Mercy, good Lord, mercy I ask—
This is the total sum,
For mercy, Lord, is all my suit,
Lord let that mercy come.
This prayer will suit the holiest believer, living and dying. After a
pause, as I judged, everything was preparing for the awful stroke. I
heard one of them pray, but not being near enough I could not distinguish
his words. As he drew to a close I heard the fatal drop fall which
launched them into the presence of God. I burst into tears, yea I
thought my heart would have broke. I could only then dart up ejaculatory
prayers that the Lord Jesus would receive their departing spirits. But
grief overpowered me all the day; I could not lift up my head with any
pleasure. I was pensive and distressed. A multitude of very affecting
ideas floated on my mind, and grief and gratitude took their several
turns; but I am as well as can be expected after so severe a shock. I
only fear a revival of sorrow on Sunday, when I sit in view of the spot
where I last saw them. Glad shall I be to send you some good account of
them in my next.
On the evening previous to the execution, I read part of the solemn
funeral service of the Church, and expounded to the prisoners in this
class, the 15th of the first of Corinthians. The subject of the
Resurrection was very interesting, and my mind was devoutly engaged for
some time with the chapter. I had occasion, for the first time I
believe, to expatiate on that singular verse, 29, Else what shall they do
who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not?—The passage would
receive some easier comment if rendered _over_ the dead, as Greek critics
will allow, it being customary for the primitive christians to baptize
their proselytes over the graves of the believing dead. This is the way
some learned men make it out. The plain matter of fact is, that
superstition had began to encroach on the simplicity of the Gospel, even
in Paul’s days, and many ignorantly supposed that the ordinance of
Baptism was inseparably connected with the pardon of Sin. From this
mistaken notion, many postponed their Baptism till their last moments;
the consequence of which was, many dying suddenly were not baptized at
all—their superstitious relatives imagined it would be an act of charity
to the dead to be baptized for them, in their name and stead, begging of
God at the same time, to accept the Baptism of the proxy, as though it
had been administered to the principal. Hence others translate the
passage, What shall they do who are baptized _for_, or instead of the
dead. But if the dead rise not again this imaginary labour of love can
answer no valuable end. Why then do you doubt the Resurrection of the
dead?
May God the Holy Spirit quicken our souls into the enjoyment of the
favour of God, the knowledge of our pardon and justification in Christ,
and enable us to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, is the earnest
prayer of
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XX.
_Achor’s Vale_, _June_ 6, 1818.
Mrs. BLINKINSOP,
MY MOST AFFECTIONATE FRIEND,
Can I ever forget your concern, good wishes, prayers, and endeavours for
my best interest? You have carefully watched for my good as a Sister,
felt for me as a Mother, and done me all the good you could as a
Christian. May God most kindly reward you, and if not in this world, in
temporal things, he will own you in that day when he shall make up his
jewels—and never will he let your dear children, perhaps, go unrewarded.
He will be a God to you and a Guardian to them.
I hear you think of going into the country this summer, if so I shall not
be favored with a visit for a long time. I hope you will not go, but
that I must leave to your better judgement. I have been very much cast
down since I last saw you, nor do I expect to be much otherwise. When we
walk contrary to God, we know that he will walk contrary to us; but he
has most kindly declared that when the heart is humbled, he will appear
to our joy. I find the third chapter of the Lamentations of Jeremiah
very sweet to me at times, it is worth your reading, as it is so suitable
to my case and state, and no doubt you will find it good to read it very
often; the former part no doubt belongs to Christ—he was the man that had
seen affliction, by the rod of God’s wrath, and it is well for us that he
bore that for us, or else we must have borne it for ever, in that place
where hope never comes. You have found him a good and gracious Saviour.
He has helped you in many a need. He has delivered you in many a
trouble. He has enabled you to believe in him, to love him as he is set
forth in the Gospel, a Saviour. He is well calculated to be a Saviour,
as he is God with God. He loved our nature so well that he chose it in
preference to the angels, though we had sinned worse than they did—yet
such was his love for us that he gave himself for us. He lived an holy
life of obedience for us, which the adorable Father imputes to us for our
justification, while the ever blessed Spirit opens our blind eyes, and
gives us to see, and feel our need of that righteousness; having none of
our own fit to appear before God in, we need it, believe in it, trust in
it, and hope to be saved by it. O my dear, kind friend! may you and I be
better acquainted with God’s love in providing such a way for a poor
sinner to be saved. May we have a stronger faith, a larger mind and
affections, to receive Christ as he is revealed in the Word. The Bible
reveals Christ to us, but the Spirit must reveal Christ in us. We are
poor guilty creatures, and need pardon for all sin. He has shed his
blood to make atonement—a satisfaction for sin, and having died for our
sin, he is gone to heaven to present his Person and his Work to God for
us. He is interceding there—he ever lives to plead our cause, to conquer
our enemies, to carry on the work of salvation, to hear our prayers, to
watch over us in our sorrows, to support us in our calamity, to deliver
us, in his own time and way, and finally to bring us home to glory—
There we shall see his face,
And never, never sin;
There, from the rivers of his grace,
Drink endless pleasures in.
There we may meet to celebrate the riches of divine grace, and experience
the joys of that friendship, which is only begun in this world, but is
often sadly interrupted by sin and sorrow.
Fearing you will leave town, I thought it right to drop this token of my
most sincere regard and gratitude. May every good be thine, and God be
glorified in our eternal salvation. What is there in this lower world
worth living for?—it is full of changes, trials, and sorrow. May we come
up out of the wilderness, leaning on the beloved, longing to get home,
and daily dying to all the world. Getting better acquainted with Jesus,
by the teachings of the Holy Spirit. I feel at times very much deprest
indeed, but have no doubt but that all things will work for good, and,
Though painful at present ’twill cease before long,
And then, O how pleasant the conqueror’s song.
God bless you, my dear, my much-loved friend—time is on the wing—soon we
shall look back and say, He hath done all things well.
I remain, Your’s truly,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXI.
_Achor’s Vale_, _Dec._ 6, 1818.
Mrs. DARBY,
MY DEAR SISTER IN THE LORD,
I have read your letter, with sacred pleasure, containing an account of
the Lord’s gracious dealings with your soul. I wish every member of the
Church would write me something of their experience, that I might judge
of their state, for, as experience worketh hope, when we know a person’s
experience we can judge of their hope. It is the custom of some
Churches, when persons are admitted, to give in a written experience;
this is a good custom, as many people are too timid to appear and speak
of the dealings of God with them, in the whole face of an assembly, not
that they are ashamed of the work of God upon them, but they may be
naturally timid. I have always endeavoured to be as familiar to those
who come to me about spiritual things as I could, with any propriety, and
even that has been attended with a disadvantage, as the enemy has turned
_that_ against one. I wish I could never speak to any but the Lord’s own
children. I never found _them_ any snare to my soul, but I have found
mere empty gay professors to be a snare. David personated Christ when he
expressed the feelings of his soul, in the 16th Psalm, “The saints, the
excellent of the earth, are my delight.” The Lord made David sick of
every body else, yet no man was ever so plagued with a parcel of
hypocrites as he was. His prime minister, Achithophel, was a snare to
him. His chief captain, Joab, was always a trouble, and his darling son,
Absalom, was always a most profound, ungrateful, cruel hypocrite. Yet
the Lord’s people were dear to David’s soul, and why? because they were
dear to Christ; bore his image, trusted in him, looked for him, and
walked as it became their profession. And I must remind Mrs. D. that the
Apostle has pointed out a most decided evidence of a real believer, “We
know we are passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. And
he that loves _him_ that begets, loves him, also, that is begotten of
_him_.” You could not love a believer as a child of God; if you was not
a child of God yourself. Sinners love sinners, but they cannot saints,
as saints. But while I would have you bless God for this grace given
you, and while I would bless God on your behalf, yet, I trust, you will
not rest on present attainments, but go on to know Christ, that you may
be found in him. I always find it the safest way to thank God for what
he has done for me, but when I reflect upon the attainments of hypocrites
I am alarmed, and go to the Saviour, daily, just as I did when I first
set out, a poor needy, guilty sinner in myself, condemned by law and
conscience, with a nature as depraved as the worst creature breathing,
and standing in as much need of teaching and keepings of drawing and
renewing, as I ever did. To this Paul alludes, nay exhorts, “As ye have
received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him.” You can well
remember the bondage of spirit you felt under the Law, and how precious
the person of Christ, as a complete Saviour, was to you—how precious he
appeared in his mediatorial capacity, as an atoning sacrifice, putting
away sin, as the end of the law, fulfilling all its demands, and, as an
intercessor, pleading your cause. You need this same Jesus every day,
and will want him as much in the article of death, as you did when the
Lord first gave you to feel your need of him—and I am sure you will bless
the Lord for ever leading you to feel that need so deeply. We are great
sinners, and need a great Saviour, every day, and all the day. In
reading your letter of the Lord’s dealings with you, I cannot help
exclaiming, And will God in very deed dwell with sinners on the earth?
Yes, for he has said “I will dwell in them, and walk in them.” Male and
female are all one in Christ Jesus. He has condescended to choose a
portion of our nature, and unite it to the dear Son of his love—the Son
of God—God the Son: and in the choice of our nature, and the person of
his Son, he chose all the millions that shall be saved, united them to
Christ, and then viewed them complete in him. Thus the head and the
members rose together in the mind, the purpose, and decree of Jehovah.
To these he designed to manifest himself as the God of all grace, in the
covenant of redemption and mercy—in the mysterious incarnation of
Christ—in the meritorious holiness of his life—in the putting away sin by
his awful sorrows, and in rising from the dead to justify his own work,
and as the first fruits of them that sleep in him. And is it not
wonderful that God the Holy Spirit should ever visit you? Can you not
often ask, with your sister Ruth, “Why have I found grace in thy sight,
that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am but a stranger.” It
becomes you to be thankful. This will bring more blessings to you, in a
way of enjoyment; and as the Lord has taught you, humbled your spirit,
and melted you with his love—brought you to receive the truth in the love
of it, so I trust you will be more devoted to him. He is worthy of your
highest affection, your daily addresses, and warmest gratitude. The Lord
help you to adorn that gospel you love, to sympathize with the afflicted
in the household of faith, to warn the unruly, and encourage the weak
ones of the flock. Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head
lack no ointment. Strive to become a mother in Israel, by an increase of
spiritual knowledge; then your faith will grow, and your hope abound.
Kind respects to Mr. D. I am much pleased the Lord has not forgotten
him, he has seen the meaning of God’s promise; “I will take you one of
city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” And the
Saviour, will, I trust, present you all faultless, before the throne of
his glory, to himself in himself in the millennium; and at last he will
present you to _his_ Father and your Father, _his_ God and your God, when
God, Father, Son, and Spirit will be all in all.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you all, as a family. Pray for me, that
I may be kept and sanctified.
Your’s, in him,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXII.
_Valley of Achor_, _March_ 1_st_, 1818.
Miss HARRIS.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND.
Mr. K. requested I would drop you a few lines. I beg your acceptance of
such as I may write at this time, in very painful circumstances. Believe
me, my friend, I most sensibly feel the hand of God; my poor heart it
broken, my sighs are many, and my heart it faint. But I call to mind
past times, when I certainly have known, tasted, and felt the precious
truth I once preached, and then I thank God and take courage. The Lord
has designed from all eternity, to bring his children home to his eternal
bliss; but then he has, also, appointed all the means to lead to that one
grand end. This was, perhaps, shewn to pious Jacob, in a vision of a
ladder, which he afterwards called the house of God, and the gate of
Heaven. Christ is all these; he is the way, he is the house, he is the
gate: and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead his people up to him,
as the way of life.
This is the way God has taught me, and the way only where I find any
solid peace in a world of cares, sin, and death. These are the seven
steps up the ladder, up the way of life; and the steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord and he shall direct his way, and I am sure he always
directs to the dear Redeemer. May you feel inwardly directed to him, and
in the word, and by a faithful ministry outwardly directed also. But it
is not enough to be directed there, we must be led by a divine hand,
power must be put forth, for the kingdom is not in word, but in power.
Nor am I satisfied with any person’s ministry, except I feel _that_
power—any man with truth floating in his head, may send me to Jesus; but
I want the power to attend that direction, to bring me to him, knowing,
that as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
A soul, when formed anew, quickened and illuminated, is led to Christ by
God the Father, who owns and receives the soul. Nor is there any coming
in reality, but as we are led. You may see this in our first parents;
Eve was a part of Adam, and we are a part of Christ, the fruit of his
sufferings and death. For except a corn of wheat fall into the ground,
and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth fruit. The
Lord having formed Eve, brought her to Adam, and he declared the union
between her and him. He loved her, received her, and she was dear to
him. I leave you to make all other reflections upon this subject, and
trust the blessed spirit will lead you to see and enjoy it in your own
soul. I am truly happy the Lord has impressed your mind with his spirit,
while in youth—’tis most blessed to know the adorable Trinity, as our new
Creators, in this time of our life. Altho’ we have got to bear the
burden and heat of the day yet it is a mercy to be hired early in the
morning, it is all of grace, from first to last, nor will one chosen
vessel in glory, have any greater share of God’s smiles, or be nearer the
throne than another, though called as early as Jeremiah and John the
Baptist, or late as the Thief on the Cross. You will have much to
struggle with, many days of darkness and grief, but the blessed spirit
will turn all into good for you, by taking every opportunity of
glorifying Christ, in his salvation and offices; and the deeper your
knowledge of Jesus, the richer will be your soul in heavenly things. The
more you are brought into an acquaintance with the God-Man Mediator, the
sweeter will be your communion and fellowship, till it arrives to real
earnests and foretastes of glory. But all the principal difficulty will
consist in being led to understand how to live a life of faith, out of
self, upon the Son of God—it is for want of the clear knowledge of this,
I am in my present trouble; this may astonish you, but God knoweth I lie
not—a future day may explain that to the Church. I understand the Lord
has blessed you with an affectionate heart towards your dear Mother, and
he will reward it. I have often envied the felicity of those who have a
kind mother to care for, watch over, pity, and help them; but Ah! poor me
was left by parents, cruel and unkind, to perish, till I was found an
helpless infant. For me no tender mother has yielded her fostering care,
but
Left on the world’s bleak waste, forlorn,
In sin conceiv’d, to sorrow born:
No guide the dreary waste to tread,
Above, no friendly shelter spread.
But the Lord had some kind, and I hope gracious design, in preserving me
till now, though my distress has often made me blame, like Job, the kind
hand that took me up when an out-cast. I am still the child of woe, the
hand of God and man appears against me in providence, and my distress of
mind is great—my dear friends deprived of my public labors, and exposed
to the shafts of cruel calumny. My dear family without a fond mother,
and now deprived of a father they dearly loved, and whose paternal
embraces they eagerly prized: but now
No Children run to lisp their Sire’s return,
Or climb his knees, the envied kiss to share—
Excuse me, tears will not let me proceed. May the dear Saviour bless
you. We live in a dying world; a few more rising and setting suns will
settle all. May we aim to know, to win, and to be found in Christ:
clothed with his righteousness, pardoned with his blood, purified by his
spirit, filled with his love, and for ever delighted with his glory.
Your’s, truly,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXIII.
_Valley of Achor_, _January_ 3_rd_, 1819.
Mrs. BROWN,
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,