but I can assure you I have never forgotten you, from the first day of
our acquaintance. I often anticipate the period when, I hope, we shall
often yet meet on praying ground—in the church militant, and finally, in
the church triumphant. At present the church is in a militant state; the
term is military, and implies a warfare, contending powers, within and
without. The worst lays within—every evil done in this world, and every
sin in devils; we have the root of them in our hearts; this we must feel,
groan under, and lament; we derived this nature from our first parent,
his sin became our’s, as we stood in him, we sinned in him, and fell with
him, we are guilty of his sin, and it is imputed to us. So we also took
a most corrupt nature, and this is seen as soon as we can shew it. We go
astray from the womb, and should stray into hell, if it was not for the
grace of God; and being depraved, how could we do any thing that is good.
Alas! if our salvation depended on a good thought, we must have been lost
for ever. Almighty mercy has shewn you those things; and when you hear
any talk, or see them hoping upon their own goodness, does it not raise
disgust in your mind at the sentiment. Bless God for causing you to
differ; you might have been left to the blindness of your mind, the
perversity of your will, and the hatred of the heart to God! You find
these things still working, but they do not reign. They, and every other
evil in the heart, are like rebellious prisoners, are often contriving
schemes to get out, and to regain the old liberty you used to give them;
but although they rebel, and may prevail against you, yet, they never can
take the castle of the heart. There may be a bias, a propensity to evil,
but you can never be a carnal man again—you may look like one, feel like
one, and suffer like one; but though this may grieve you, it shall never
be accomplished in the way Satan desires. Hence Solomon says, There is
vanity I have seen on the earth; that there be just men, to whom it
happeneth according to the work of the wicked, and that there be wicked
men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I
said, This also is vanity. I trust your convictions are genuine, and
this is the first work of the Spirit, to prepare the way for the
revelation of Christ to the soul. Christ has no room in an unhumbled,
hard, careless, unconvinced, unbroken spirit. He has declared he will
dwell with none but those who contrite and humbled—These characters are
particularly described in his commission, as set forth in Isaiah xli, 1,
2, 3. This was the first text our dear Lord took when he preached in the
Synagogue; and although we have no account of the sermon, yet the
substance of it was given by our Lord to his disciples, on the Mount, in
the 5th of Matthew, where we have an eight-fold description of the
persons interested in him, as the eternal life of his saints. God’s
blessing on mount Zion, is life for evermore; and when the Priest, under
the old Law, declared the blessing to the people, he always said, The
Lord bless thee; so Christ, our great High Priest, began his sermon with
blessing—it was no part of his work to pronounce the curse of the Law.
Hence he said to the Jews, Think not that I will accuse you to the
Father, there is one that accuseth you already, Moses, in whom you trust.
There is nothing in the heart of Christ to his people, but love, mercy,
pity, goodwill, and kindness; he knows all our sins and God-provoking
crimes, in thought, word, and deed, but these he does not so much as
mention, only by pleading his precious blood for their forgiveness, and
by setting his work against our sins. Hence these two precious texts,
“I, even I, am he that blotteth I out thy transgressions.” “The blood of
Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” It is in the present
tense, it is above, yea, infinitely above all our sins. The precious
work of Christ is compared to a sea, for its abundance; and our guilt is
compared to a mountain, which may be cast into the sea, but it would be
soon lost there. This arises from the dignity of the person who died for
us, it was Jehovah Jesus—possessing every divine perfection in his
nature, God over all blessed for ever, who condescended to take up our
nature, and obey the law, as man—which himself has given, as God. This
was surprising love indeed, love to his own law, and love to us, as
sinners. May we love him with every power and passion on earth and in
heaven. Christ God-Man is our Saviour—he is the Head of the Church, as
the elect, and the only Saviour of her, as fallen. He is Prophet,
Priest, and King to us; and these grand offices he has gloriously delayed
in obtaining our salvation, and by the holy influences of the Spirit
making them known to us. As blind and ignorant, we need God-Man for our
Instructor. As rebels against God, and slaves to Satan, we need him for
our King, to subdue and conquer us. As bound over to judgment, and
exposed to misery, we need him as our Priest, to intercede for us. And
this will give you sweet light into that glorious, but well known text,
9th Isaiah, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Here is the whole of Christ
made manifest, in his two natures, divine and human. Here are his
blessed offices, Counsellor in his prophetic office, the everlasting
Father, in his priestly office, the mighty God and Prince of Peace, in
his kingly office. May this subject be precious to your soul, and may
God the holy Ghost give you supernatural ideas of Christ, and of the
Father’s love to him, and in him. Most hearers are satisfied with their
own natural knowledge of Christ; may you and I be blest with supernatural
views—if the Lord favours me with much of this blessing, I shall not
murmur at two years captivity. The liberty of the soul is of the
greatest importance; and very often those who have the greatest bondage
of body and circumstances, are favored with the sweetest access to God.
When the streams of creature comfort run dry, the fountain is most
divinely prized. Seek his favour, and labour in spirit for the fullest
assurance of faith, hope, and spiritual understanding.
My kindest love to your better half, and her dear mother. Something
strikes my mind I shall meet you all three in heaven. I know not what
will befal me in future; the Lord is able to make it light at midnight,
and I think I know what it means—’tis darkness all round me, strange it
should be light within, yet so I sometimes find it. The Egyptian enemies
are in total darkness, but the spiritual Israelites have light in their
dwellings. I cannot send your dear wife and mother but these three
verses.
Great God I would not ask to see,
What in futurity shall be;
If light and bliss attend my days,
Then let my future hours be praise.
Is darkness and distress my share,
Then let me trust thy guardian care.
Enough for me, if love divine,
At length through every cloud shall shine.
Yet _this_ my soul desires to know,
Be _this_ my only wish below,
That Christ is _mine_—this great request
Grant blessed Lord, and I am blest.
My heart is so sweetly opened in writing to you all, that you must pardon
every error. I hope you do me the favor of taking in my scrawl every
fort’night. Give my kind love to dear Mrs. Wise, and to Mrs. Barns—God
bless you all.
Your’s, truly,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXIX.
_Valley of Achor_, _Dec._ 1_st_, 1819.
Mrs. WISE.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I have had such repeated proofs of your kindness and concern, that I may
well address you thus, I cannot sufficiently express my obligations—this
is a subject I know is not very pleasant to you, but gratitude compels me
to make this acknowledgment. I beg the Lord to bless you with much
grace, in the knowledge of himself; this will be making you really wise
indeed, you will then become wise in spirit, as well as name. God has
promised that all his people shall know him, from the least to the
greatest, this is the joint work of the adorable Trinity. The Father
teaches us out of his love, and after chastening us with a sense of his
displeasure with our sins, he clothes us with the righteousness of
Christ, and draws our hearts to Christ. The dear Saviour accepts us, and
shews us the love of the Father to us, opens his own work, instructs us
in the knowledge of his person, nature, engagements and offices; while
the ever blessed Spirit displays his kind offices, by bearing testimony
of Christ in his exact suitableness to us. He reveals the dignity,
excellency, and value of Christ; he bears witness to our spirits that we
are the children of God. This he does in his ordinary operations, by
enabling us to see, that our experience and views, are agreeable to his
promises; that his leadings and teachings, are the very footsteps of the
flock; that his word and our experience corresponds. Thus the ever
adorable Spirit, as a witness, enables us to compare spiritual things
with spiritual, spiritual experience with spiritual truths in the word.
In this gracious influence, you would do well to examine the word. Look,
for instance, into many precious Psalms, see how they suit you; then read
many grand parts of Isaiah, particularly the 54th chapter; then the
latter part of Ezekiel, 36th chapter; the 3rd of John, 10th of Romans,
and indeed wherever the work of the Spirit is set forth—because the work
of the Holy Spirit in the heart, is the sure evidence of an interest in
the love of God, and in the person, love, and grace of Christ. This is
an infallible testimony; but sometimes the Lord more sensibly overcomes
the soul with his love, and extends peace like a river; then our comforts
abound, our joys are real, and we feel that we are at peace with God. We
get then indeed upon the mount of high communion and fellowship, we feel
his love, we feel the comforts of the Gospel, we feel the joys of his
salvation. Now, in both these instances the Spirit bears witness; the
first is common, the latter special. I prize the first because it
abides, the last, only is enjoyed but seldom—I could wish it always did,
but where would be the warfare, where would be the carrying a daily
cross. I have experienced both in this place, more divinely than even I
did before; and I am brought to hate sin more than ever, for these three
reasons especially; because it is high rebellion against the best of
Fathers; because it murdered the Son of God; and because it is so
offensive to the Holy Spirit. These are the reasons; and you know it is
one thing to hate sin, because of the injuries it does us, and another
thing to hate it, because it offends the Lord. May you feel the
consolations of the Holy Spirit often in your soul, and when you do not,
still, I trust, you will be led to the Father’s record of Christ, and the
ever blessed Spirit’s testimony of him; and as your faith increases, so
you will find it most blessed to live in believing views of him, as the
everlasting covenant Head of his people, as putting away sin, as making
intercession for you, and daily presenting your person to God; and as
your righteousness, strength, your joy, and your all. And if you live a
thousand years in the church militant, you will never out-live this
humble doting of faith—
A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms I fall;
Be thou my strength and righteousness,
My Jesus, and my all.
True wisdom consists in fearing the Lord. Behold, the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom. It also consists in flying to Christ for refuge—The
prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself. It consists in the
knowing our sins are forgiven us—The Day Spring from on high hath visited
us, to give the knowledge of salvation, by the forgiveness of sin.—It
also consists in the blessed operations of the Holy Spirit—The wisdom
which is from above is pure, peaceable, and heavenly. And true wisdom
also consists in a good knowledge of the word of God. This is able in
the power of God, to make us wise to salvation.—May this be your happy
experience, and you will be wise indeed.
Very kind respects to Mr. F. his dear Mother, and Spouse.
I remain your well-wisher,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXX.
_Achor’s Vale_, _January_ 23_rd_, 1818.
Mrs. BARNES.
MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,
I trust these lines will find you well in health, seeking the Lord from a
feeling sense of need, waiting for more grace, that you may love the
Saviour more, and serve him better. He is a good master, and I have
found him so. He is kind, loving, and gracious, and no doubt I shall
prove him so to the end. I find him now in his supporting hand, his
sacred presence, his word sweet in reading, and his throne still open to
receive my petitions. I am shut out from my public work, but I am not
shut out from God, and I shall yet see why I am put in this place,
through the cruelty of a wicked man, who has sworn falsely, both before a
magistrate and a judge, when I could not defend myself, but he will have
his reward another day. No doubt I am sent here for some very great end,
and if it is but for the good of one soul, it will be worth all my
sorrow. I only want to live to know more of Christ, to bring forth more
fruit to God, and to be useful to others—and I may be useful here, as
well as in any other place. I hope you will be favored by the blessed
Spirit with an enlarged mind, to see such excellencies in Christ—as
God-Man Mediator, as bearing all your sin, as suffering in your stead, as
obeying the law for you, taking away the sting of death, rising for your
life, ascending to heaven, and appearing in your room for you before God;
in a prepared place to make intercession with God, to send you every
blessing, and to wait till your appointed time, then he will send for you
home, to be with him for ever. There you will see his face, and never,
never sin. These are blessings you must long for, if you belong to God.
Sin must be felt as a burden, sin must be hated as an enemy, sin must be
fled from as a serpent, sin must be pardoned and took away before God;
and nothing can do this for us, but the precious blood of Christ, and the
free favour of God, manifested in the work of the Holy Spirit, leading
our minds to the Saviour, and enabling us to believe in him to the saving
of the soul. O that you may be blessed with clearer knowledge, stronger
faith, greater love, and sweeter obedience. I am grieved I am not able
to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, as I once did, but I live in
the hopes of being a greater blessing to the church than I ever was
before; but, I trust, if I ever do again, I shall keep many at a greater
distance than I did before. I am at times broken-hearted about the cause
of Christ, especially that part of it I had the management of. It is
like a ship at sea, we will call her the Packet Distress—the disciples
went out to sea, night came on, the wind blew hard, the sea arose in
consequence of it, the poor ship was in the dark, and in the deep. No
sails were unfurled, they were obliged to tug at the oar, and after they
had rowed a great way, Jesus was seen on the water coming towards them;
but although when they were toiling in rowing, and what is very blessed
to remember is, that while they were tossed about on the stormy sea,
Jesus was on a mountain, praying for them. This circumstance was in the
6th chapter of Mark, 45 to 51st verse; the 6th of John, 16 to 21st verse.
I need not tell you a great storm has arose, by reason of a great wind
that has blown—blessed be God it is but wind, and the Lord commands that,
and he must allay it, when he has accomplished all the ends he had in
view. And though he permits these things, he has some grand end in
view—he will be glorified in all he permits. The sailors had no sails up
in this storm, it was too great, and perhaps very little love is felt by
those who are tempest tossed, so that we must ply the oar of all-prayer
together, and in due time the dear Redeemer will appeal to our joy. He
is now in heaven, I hope pleading the cause of his poor tried people, and
in life own time, when we are tired in toiling and rowing, we shall see
him treading down the proud waves of our enemies, and calling out—_It is
I_, _be not afraid_. Then all will be calm again—none can make it calm
but the Saviour; to him let us look, in him let us hope, life has all
power in heaven and in earth, and none can stay his hand, or say, What
doest thou? I hope we shall yet see better days, and live more to God’s
glory. This we cannot do without more grace, and when we feel what poor
sinners we are, then is the time to pray for more grace. It is not
enough to be convinced we are sinners, but we must know we are pardoned
sinners, and as we receive this knowledge, so our sins are subdued.
Nothing can so truly subdue sin, as the hope, or the full assurance they
are forgiven. I hope the Lord is shewing you what you are in yourself,
humbling you with the most blessed views of Christ, and at times giving
you a spirit of prayer, and of hearing, and tho’ you are not able to read
much, yet I trust many sweet texts of scripture come to your mind, to
encourage you to hope for salvation, through the doing and dying of
Christ. I hope you will be led to know more of Christ and his precious
salvation, more of his person and work, by the teaching of the Holy
Spirit, that you may feel the earnests of heaven. The Lord has promised
we shall know him, from the least to the greatest, that he will be
merciful to our souls, and that we shall be satisfied with his favour.
This is all that is worth living for, and as it is to his glory, so we
glorify him by seeking after this.
I have many precious moments in this place alone. I find the Saviour
very dear to my heart, and though I am much distressed at times about my
family, on whose account I weep in secret very bitterly, and also about
my friends, who have been persecuted for my sake. These things grieve my
soul, but yet I have much to be thankful for. All the persons I am
situated with, treat me with great respect, and my dear friends supply my
wants. Thus I am favored, time is on the wing, eternity and heaven draws
near, we shall soon have done with all temporal things, and God will then
fill every power of the soul. May your life be in faith, and your death
glorious. May God be with you, and among many mercies, may you be
thankful the Lord has blessed you with so good a master and mistress, who
indulges you with an opportunity of hearing the Gospel—what would I have
given for such a situation once. May the Saviour bless them.
I remain, your’s, truly,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXXI.
_Valley of Achor_, _Oct._ 20_th_, 1818.
Mr. LAWSON.
MY DEAR BROTHER in the GREAT HEAD of the CHURCH.
In your kind visit to me last Sunday, you dropped a word which I caught,
on that very important text which has sometimes troubled some of God’s
dear children, 66th Psalm, 18th verse, “If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me.” The reason why the children of the most high
are staggered about this text, is because they are the unhappy subjects
of the body of sin and death—of course, they feel those strong
propensities to sin, of every kind, a carnal nature, with which they are
tried, they feel lusts or desires after that which is contrary to God—in
their flesh or _old man_, there is nothing that is good. This flesh does
not mean the body. For there are many good things in that vessel. There
is a regenerated soul, there are principles of grace, there is the Holy
Spirit in it, as his own temple. But the flesh, the carnal part of an
elect person, as regenerated, is distinct from both the body and the
soul; yet both are at times influenced, led captive, overcome and
ensnared by this plague, this burden, this grief, this old man, so called
by the Apostle, and by Solomon called a strange woman, against which, he,
in the person of Christ, cautions his children in many places in the book
of Proverbs. The worst part we feel of this evil principle, is the
sinful desires for sensual and carnal gratifications. This was the
way-faring man, who came to David, and would not be satisfied without the
ewe lamb; and this same traveller often visits us; for though he is an
inmate with God’s children, yet through the reign of Grace, he is not our
king, ruler, or associate. The grace of God has altered all our minds,
took the throne of our hearts, and reigns king here. For thus runs the
covenant promise, Sin shall not have the dominion over you, grace shall
reign. We have fell out with sin, we have another nature which hates
sin, nor can it ever entertain it more. We hate iniquity by the holy
principle in us. This iniquity which the Psalmist refers to, I humbly
conceive, means those awful principles of pride, and self-righteousness,
in which mankind are involved, and by which they deceive their souls. I
need not remind you of the distinction between transgression and
iniquity; the one refers to the out-breakings of sin into acts of
immorality; the other refers to the carnal ambitious principles of
free-will, independence, and self-sufficiency. David had seen an end of
perfection, by the application of the law; he had been in the horrible
pit, and miry clay, and had been led to see that his own righteousness
could not bear the strict scrutiny of God’s justice, and that in God’s
sight, no flesh living could be justified, by any thing they could do.
His mind was fixed on the adorable Redeemer, as his surety, mediator,
righteousness, and intercessor—here his heart was fixed, trusting on this
he lived and died. Through this medium alone, his soul had access to
God, his prayers were heard and answered, his requests were received, and
his petitions granted. This was an evidence that he had an holy
principle within him that hated iniquity, although he had an opposite
principle within him that did regard iniquity. The Lord looks upon us as
we are in Christ, and as we are under the reign of grace, which destroys
the reign of sin, transgression, and iniquity. David hated all the works
of the flesh, and above all, those cursed principles which are in
opposition to the humiliating doctrines of the Gospel, which teach men to
look to, trust in, and make their own works, either in whole or in part,
a Saviour. The Lord had appeared to David, as a prayer-answering God;
this was an undeniable proof that he did not regard iniquity in his
regenerated soul, and every answer to prayer which we receive, is a most
blessed evidence to us, that grace has done the same for us which it did
for David. Hence he acknowledges the mercy, in the two following verses.
I beg you to read the connection from 16th verse to the close. But my
dear friend, may we not look a little higher than David or any chosen
vessel; may not this passage belong to David’s Lord, of whom he speaks
throughout the book of Psalms. Was not his nature entirely free from sin
and iniquity; was he not holy, harmless, and undefiled, separated and
free from iniquity as God himself; and if he had not been so, he could
not have made an atonement for his Church, nor wrought out a
righteousness for them; but having completed the work, by his interest he
obtained the gift of the Holy Ghost, to abide in and with his people for
ever. In this view, only read over the above verse, and you will see a
peculiar glory in them, in reference to Christ. May he be very dear to
your heart, living and dying; may you be led to his person and work, and
feel joy and peace in believing in the love which God hath for you in
Christ.
Your’s, truly,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXXII.
_Achor’s Vale_, _November_ 18th, 1818.
Mrs. MARCH.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I well know the cause why you are absent from chapel—if a preacher does
not stand manifest to your conscience, you cannot hear him, nor can I
blame you. The time of my deliverance I hope will come, when I trust to
meet the Lord’s people once more, and abide with them, till sickness and
death finally separate.