word. I have no commentators here to explain it, but hope the Lord will
give me a little light into it, as I write this short note on it,
particularly that important address, in the 10th verse, which you beg a
few thoughts on. The compass of a very long letter, would be too short
to set forth one half the beauties and excellencies contained in this
part of sacred writ. The prophet Isaiah is supposed to be the most
evangelical of all the prophets, not, but all the rest wrote of the same
grand object, Christ, but this great man was led more deeply into the
subject. He lived under the reigns of several kings, and died a martyr,
under the reign of Manasseh. It is supposed he was sawn asunder with a
wooden saw. He was led most divinely to see the person, glory, love,
work, and the kingdom of Christ, the nature of the Gospel dispensation,
and the peculiar happiness of the Church, in the first dawn of that
period, and its full meridian in the latter day glory. To these distant
times, he, no doubt, alludes in the five first verses of this chapter.
The conquests of grace, is particularly pointed out in the 4th verse.
When Christ, to whom all judgment is given, shall reign in the power of
his Gospel, in every part of the world, and when fierce persecutors, who
have been as swords and spears against the saints, those being converted,
should be made useful characters in the Lord’s garden. We are exhorted
to walk in the light of the gospel, and perhaps our Lord, and his servant
John, alludes to this text in their several addresses to the saints, in
the Gospel and Epistles of John. We may, with propriety, call Isaiah the
Old Testament Apostle—such were his clear views of Christ, that one would
think we were reading a history of circumstances past, more than a
prophesy of what was to come, although he lived, probably, seven hundred
years before the events themselves took place. The prophet then
proceeds, from the 6th verse of this chapter, and the following verses,
to predict the desolation of Jerusalem, for those sins which had so much
displeased the Lord, particularly the reigning sin of idolatry, to which
the Jews were so awfully prone. This prophecy may allude to the first
captivity, by Nebuchadnezzar, which was a very desolating siege, but more
particularly to the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, by
the Roman armies, for their rejection of the Gospel, the murder of the
Son of God, and their persecution of the apostles and ministers of
Christ. The Jews were all wedded to their own works, and trusting in
them, is idolatry. This was their base conduct, both rich and poor,
therefore the Lord was determined to break up house-keeping with them,
and devote the whole land to destruction; and such should be the terrors
of the siege, that the prophet is commanded to direct the attention of
many to the holes of the rocks and caves of the earth—such should be
horrors experienced by all the inhabitants of Judea, from the terrible
majesty of Jehovah, when he should shake the earth with his awful
vengeance. This subject is again and again repeated, to shew its
certainty and its horror, a faint shadow of the last great day, when our
God shall appear in grandeur, our world shall be in flames, when
consternation shall turn every unprepared heart pale as the second death,
24th Matthew; and the 6th of Revelations should be read with this
chapter, but I humbly conceive this address in the 10th verse, may be
applied to God’s children, who should live to see these awful times, and
indeed, viewed in a gospel sense, there is no period when the exhortation
is needless. We are sinners, guilty, polluted, undone, and
hell-deserving. God, as viewed in the law, is truly awful. He appears,
and every truly awakened soul sees him, and dreads him as a sin-avenging
God, who will by no means of man’s devising, clear the guilty. The
sinner who is under the hand of the law, feels the intolerable burden of
his own sins, views the holiness of God, the extent and spirituality of
the commandments, and groans under fearful apprehensions of eternal woe,
and who finds he can do nothing but sin in thought, word, and deed,
notwithstanding all his vows, watchings, and care; yet his mind
apprehending the faithfulness and unchangeableness of God, who has
declared, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. This awful perfection
dwells on his mind, and the horrors, real and imaginary, seize his
spirits. Here he feels the evil of sin, the terrors of the Almighty, the
nature of the law, the impossibility of being saved by it, the awful
state of all who are out of Christ, however moral their deportment, or
clear their doctrinal views. Here a soul sees his need of a surety, his
need of a better righteousness than his own, his need of an atonement,
and a Saviour, who is God-Man Mediator. This is learning the subject
from real heart felt experience; and this explains many passages in the
Bible, descriptive of the feelings of many who were brought into this
state. This is being planted into the likeness of Christ’s death, and
when such souls are brought into the liberty of the gospel, they know,
even if they cannot explain, what it is to be planted into the likeness
of his resurrection also. Now to all such tried souls, exercised with
the terrors of God, and fearing his wrath and terrible majesty, as a
sin-avenging God, to all such is the address made, Enter into the rock,
and hide thee in the dust. When the prophet Jeremiah was exercised, with
some awful impressions of the divine majesty, he describes a soul made so
willing to see his interest in pardoning mercy, that he putteth his mouth
in the dust. If so be there may be hope, the lowest place that can be,
suits such an one, yea, in the very dust, pleading for mercy and pardon,
through the blood of the Lamb, and his law-fulfilling righteousness. I
have often been in this state; and perhaps the prophet refers to such a
state in the 29th chapter, 4th verse, And thy speech shall whisper out of
the dust. This, although many miseries are experienced, is a safe state;
but none can believe that we are thus exercised, till God raises the poor
from the dust, and the needy from the dunghill. See 113 Psalm, 1st of
Samuel, ii, 7, 8. The command is, Enter into the rock. There is no
safety but in him, he is the rock, and his work is perfect. He is the
high, holy, fruitful, refreshing, foundation; shelter, safety, defence,
and strength of his church. Here many a soul has run, and found safety,
help, comfort, and peace: this is the only dwelling place for a
law-condemned sinner, who has fled for refuge; here alone is firm,
floating, and solid peace, all, all is sea beside. I must refer you to
that blessed circumstance, recorded in 33rd Exodus, and the close of the
chapter. This will greatly assist your spiritual views of the passage
under consideration. It is only in Christ we can see the glory of God.
To enter in, is the mind enabled by God the Spirit’s power, to receive
the truth, and to be led by the same Spirit to apprehend the Lord Jesus
Christ, as he is revealed. This is the truth that makes us free, hand as
it enters into the mind, so we sweetly enter into it.
Your’s, truly,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXXIV.
_Valley of Achor_, _April_ 4_th_, 1819.
Mrs. LAWSON,
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,
With grief of heart I have to inform you, that poor Dean is appointed to
die on Thursday morning. This is a most distressing circumstance, as I
know the poor fellow entertained a hope that it would be proved an act of
insanity. My feelings will be sorely distressed, as I shall have the
pain to hear his poor trembling footsteps on the scaffold. May God
prepare his soul, and assure him of his interest in Christ. May he feel
the pardoning love of God—this will be as pillars of marble, to support
his sinking heart. Oh that he may be washed in the dear Redeemer’s
blood, and clothed with his righteousness, that he may be accepted of the
Father the moment the soul quits the body. Glad should I be to visit
him, and pray with him, but that is not allowed. Last night I was very
low about him, and suddenly opened upon the 37th Psalm, The Lord will not
leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. If his last
letter to me was genuine, he is saved in the Lord, with an everlasting
salvation. His soul is every thing now, the body will soon be lifeless.
Solemn thought, affecting idea—to be cut off by an untimely death, in the
height of health and manhood! How truly awful; what has sin done, and Oh
how great is the power of Satan. The Lord will put an end to the empire
of Satan, and confine him down to darkness, fire, and chains, and we
shall say Amen to Satan’s sentence. I trust poor Dean has found mercy at
the hands of God. Various letters I have sent him, and glad I am the
Lord enabled me to point him to the bleeding cross. His first letter to
me, was a proof his mind was very dark, and his last letter proves his
increase in light and faith; if the Lord has thus blessed my poor letters
to him, you and I can see that I was not sent here in vain. It is well,
the Lord has many means to bring his children to the knowledge of the
truth. What God did to Pharaoh, and his host, reached the ear of Rahab
the harlot, in Jericho, and she was converted. The fame of Solomon’s
wisdom was heard in the country of the Sabeans, and proved the conversion
of the queen of Sheba. The wonderful destruction of the Assyrian army,
reached to Babylon, from thence came the wise men to worship Christ, and
a church was formed there. A famine drove Naomi from Bethlehem, and she
carried the knowledge of the true God to the country of Moab, which
proved the conversion of Ruth. The Syrians invaded Israel, and took a
little maid captive, which terminated in the conversion of Namaan. A
famine drove Elijah to a widow at Zidon, and Elisha’s passing by a house
at Shunem, proved their conversion. Paul and Silas were taken up, and
put in prison, and Onesimus was confined in the same place for felony,
and Paul was the means of his conversion there. A person swore that
against me which I knew nothing about, and I was doomed to this place for
a time. I dread the approach of Thursday, the shock will be great, but
it will be soon over; and then, O what a transition—what bliss will his
spirit feel, and what gratitude to God for bringing him home from an
ignominious death, to eternal life. I have been informed Mr. Hyat, of
the Tabernacle, visited him several times, and those visits have been
blessed to his soul. I find faith and patience wants strengthening, but
all fullness is in Christ. I am glad prayer is making in the Church for
Mr. D.
Ever your’s,
_Ruhamah_.
LETTER XXXV.
_Valley of Achor_, _May_ 8_th_, 1819.
Mrs. O,
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I well know your concern about the state of poor Mr. D. Yourself and
your dear sister—dear indeed by a three-fold cord of nature, grace and
trials, have expressed much anxiety for some information on the subject
of his conversion and end. I have but few materials to furnish you with
that account, as my situation precluded all intercourse with him, except
by letter and a distant view of each other. This was no small matter of
sorrow to me, for many weeks, nor could I often help exclaiming in the
pathetic language of Jeremiah, “Truly this is a grief, but must I bear
it.”
Some time ago, I wrote a few lines to your dear sister, giving her an
account of the death of three unhappy men (see Letter 19) but as I could
gain no satisfaction about them, sufficient to call your attention to
admire that grace, which I was informed they were favored with, I left
the subject. God forbid that I should exercise more charity to dying
men, than the Lord has manifested. I am well convinced that the Judge of
all the earth will do right; and although he giveth not account of his
matters, yet the day will declare his righteousness, and every dark and
mysterious providence will be unfolded; let us therefore wait the great
teacher, Death, and God adore. I am not enraptured with the various
accounts of the closing scene of many, nor am I moved with the darkness
to which God’s dear people may be liable at the end of their warfare; all
was darkness when the eternal Son of God was dying, yet, he was the Son
of God, and Satan may be permitted to harrass a believer to the very
gates of heaven; yet thousands are deluded to the last moment, whose
hopes are built upon the sand, and whose religion sinks with their lives,
when their false refuges and lying confidences give way. Many profane
graceless characters die like lambs, but Oh, could we see what terrors
surround them upon its approach to an angry God, in the world of spirits,
it would harrow up our very souls. Many proud pharisees, who are
trusting in themselves that they are righteous, that they are better than
others, die in the same state. Many flaming, professors, who boast they
have done much for God, and his cause, find in death that God has done
nothing for them; and those who only have received the system of truth in
the notion, and yet destitute of its power, are in the same awful state.
Many who have come to an ignominious end, have been left to die with a
lie in their mouths, declaring their innocence of their crimes; and
others have patched up a peace with God, as they call it, by a little
sorrow for sin, the receiving the sacrament, by forgiving their enemies,
and dying in peace with all the world. These are some of the various
delusions, in which many of our poor fallen race leave this world for
eternity; but I am happy to say, that I believe many have gone from the
fatal drop to endless bliss, who have been convinced of sin, cried for
mercy in God’s way, and obtained a sense of pardoning mercy through the
doing and dying of the adorable Mediator. This has inspired a holy
confidence in the mind, that maketh not ashamed, a hope that cannot fail,
as it centers in the person and finished work of Christ. Great indeed
has been the false confidence of many. Mary, queen of Scots, a rigid
papist, went to the block to be beheaded, in a strong confidence.
Rosseau, the infidel philosopher, died as calm as a summer’s evening
breeze, and the celebrated Addison said in death, “See in what
tranquility a christian can die;” and yet, alas! what was the ground of
their hopes? But the person who is the subject of this letter, was
indeed better taught, and we must appeal to the church and the world on
his behalf, and say, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire.”
It is a mercy to find the Pearl of great Price in early life, as it saves
the soul from a thousand thorns, which gall the consciences of those, who
do not experience the pardon of their sins till the terrors of death
approach. The Lord has given us one particular instance in his word, of
the victory of his grace in the soul, as the body was wracking in the
agonies of death, and this is recorded that none might despair, and none
might presume. Two malefactors were crucified with our dear Lord, on
Golgotha; and when impious profane wretches, with the hell-hardened
priests, were insulting him in his agonies, thieves that were crucified
with him, did cast the same in his teeth. This shews the awful state
they were both in, but Oh, the freeness and sovereignty of divine
grace—the Lord selected one of those to be an instance of it—at this
awful period the Lord Jesus looked upon him, and began his work of grace;
the effects were soon visible, in reproving his companion, and submission
to his fate, the acknowledgment of his just sentence, with a high
commendation of the illustrious sufferer. This was presently vented
again in prayer, crying first to his companion in sin and sorrow, “Dost
thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? We indeed,
justly suffer, but this man hath done nothing amiss.” Then perhaps
writhing his agonising body towards his Redeemer, he strove to shew his
veneration, by lowly bowing his head. The effort tore his lengthening
wounds, and the blood gushed forth in larger streams; but disregarding
the pain, and the streaming blood, he cried, “Lord, remember me, when
thou comest into thy kingdom.” The dear Saviour, with a divine smile,
which entered the heart of the poor malefactor, looked on him with
benignity, grace, and love; and with a gentle voice replied, “This day
shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” No doubt this sweet promise was
attended with the full pardon of his sins, a sense of divine love, and a
joy full of glory. The peace of God, which his dear Lord was now making
for him, filled his wondering mind, and fitted his new-born soul for
celestial triumphs. Here was grace indeed—sovereign, rich, and free. He
saw his Redeemer in agonies, he beheld the midnight darkness which veiled
the heavens, he felt the earth quake, and he heard the rocks split when
his Lord exclaimed “It is finished.” No doubt with strange emotions of
love, grief, wonder, capture, surprise, adoration, and joy, he cast his
dying eyes on his suffering Saviour; he saw our Jesus bow his dear head
in death, having obtained eternal redemption for all who come to God
through him; and no doubt he longed for the moment when he should breathe
his last—but his heart was once more to be broken. The soldiers came to
break the legs of the malefactors, but his Lord was dead already; and the
poor thief, with dim dying eyes; yet saw the murderous villain drive a
spear in the heart of that Christ that had pardoned his sin; his soul
struggled to get through the body, to the bosom of its Saviour and its
God. His legs being broken, he then expired, and his disimprisoned soul
fled to the paradise promised him. This was grace indeed.
Oh for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break.
This almighty grace, I humbly trust, accomplished the salvation of Mr. D.
It appears from what I can learn, that he had lived in thoughtlessness
and folly, and those amusements which are calculated to fasten the bands
of spiritual death the firmer; but the Lord stopped him in his mad
career, in a very awful way, and with one tremendous sin, punished
others, and made it an awful, but gracious means to bring him to
reflection, to seeking the Lord, and to that repentance that needeth not
to be repented of. Sin rose to its heighth, Satan did his utmost, and
the hand of the Lord appeared; the awful moment of temptation came, he
complied, he sinned with an high hand and an uplifted arm—ignorant of the
nature of sin, he vainly supposed a child wanted no Saviour, forgetting
it is written, “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me.” He performed the fatal act, and ushered the soul of the
child into eternity, destroyed its body, robbed its dear parents of its
affectionate embrace, involved them in sorrow, and plunged himself into
the deepest horrors, real and imaginary; forfeited his life to the just
laws of his country, and if grace had not been manifested, he would have
complicated his own everlasting destruction. Oh, the extent of the
crime! how dreadful! His tortured heart could feel no rest day nor
night, till he gave himself up to justice. I saw him come into prison,
and strange to tell, I felt a spirit of prayer for him influence my mind,
which, more or less, abode with me till his execution. I knew how it
would be with him, and I daily feared he would die by his own hands; but
the Lord appeared gracious, not only in preserving him, but in giving him
a serious concern about his never dying soul. There was a person in the
same class with him, who had been for some time also with me; this person
often took occasion to talk seriously with Mr. *** D. and observing the
state of his mind, he advised him to write to me; but I being a stranger
to him, and his mind sadly agitated, he requested his companion to write
to me, and lay before me his distressed feelings, and begged to know from
me if there were any hopes held out in scripture, for such a character as
he was, and if there were any murderer ever obtained eternal life. I
endeavored to answer him according to the word of God, assured him I was
glad to find him under concern for his soul, and asking the way to God.
I pointed out the nature and design of the Gospel, in the revelation of a
Saviour, exactly suited to such sinners as he was; the invitation to poor
sinners, who were led to cry for mercy from a feeling sense of need; the
freeness of divine grace, and above all, I constantly urged the necessity
of an application of the atonement to the conscience, and shewed him
according to my poor abilities, that the salvation he now stood in need
of, consisted in the sense of pardoning mercy. This I urged upon him to
cry day and night for, and never rest till he knew for himself his sins
were forgiven, and then I knew all the happy holy consequences that would
follow.
I next pointed out the excellency of the good and just laws of the land
in which we live, and although I was most cruelly charged as an enemy to
all laws, divine and human, yet this was as false as God was true, as I
consider the wholesome laws of the country, to come the nearest to the
precepts of the sacred scriptures, and that a Christian, in his best
state of mind, esteemed and loved every law of God. Great peace have
they which love thy law. The next step I took, was to point out those
parts of scripture, which suited his case and this I constantly enforced,
as I hoped he grew in knowledge, and in seeking the Lord; but I did not
answer the question in reference to the possibility of a murderer’s
salvation, for some time after, because I considered it necessary that he
should be truly wounded, till the healing balm was brought.
I shall not enlarge upon the subject of the various letters I sent him in
his unhappy situation, but with respect to the question, “The doubt in
the minds of many, whether it is possible for a person guilty of murder,
to obtain eternal life:” The scriptures are clear upon this subject.
Many have obtained it, although they most justly forfeit their natural
lives, agreeable to the divine injunction, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood,
by man shall his blood be shed.” And if a murderer is not detected and
executed by the laws of his country, yet, in general, some evil befals
them, and they seldom die a natural death; for the word of God is mostly
fulfilled in this particular. But, with respect to the soul, the
salvation of that is an act of free, sovereign mercy. The passage of
John’s Epistle, 3rd chapter, 15th verse, should be read in its connexion,
and you will find that it explains itself, “Whoever hateth his brother is
a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him.” This text refers to those hypocrites in a profession of religion,
who, in heart, hate those that are truly called of God to the enjoyment
of the truth; and such, indeed, is the nature of the holy law of God,
that it views unjust anger in the mind, as murder; so says the Lord and
fulfiller of his own law, 5th of Matthew. Who then can hope for
salvation from the broken Covenant of Works; but it is very evident that
some who have committed murder have been pardoned by the blood of the
atonement, and are now in heaven. God’s highly distinguished servants,
both Moses and David, were guilty of Murder; Moses killed an Egyptian and
hid him in the sand, and David gave orders to captain-general Joab to
place Uriah in the front of the battle, that he might be killed; this
cruel act was resented by the Lord, for although his sins were pardoned,
yet David had a broken heart within, and perpetual wars without. While
Manasseh was in a state of nature, it is said he wrought _very much evil_
in the sight of the Lord—moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood _very
much_—and yet, Oh the wonders of free victorious grace! Manasseh is
brought into trouble, into a prison, and into fetters, and there the Lord
convinced him of sin, humbled his heart, gave him a spirit of prayer, and
made himself known to him as a sin pardoning God. Some of the murderers
of the Son of God were pardoned: for these the dear Saviour prayed, while
they were in the very act of crucifying him, “Father forgive them.” And
when the bold and faithful apostle Peter preached to them, he charged the
murder of the Saviour to their consciences, God gave them faith to
believe in him, grace to receive his word, repentance unto life, and they
were baptized in the name of that very Jesus whom they had crucified. I
might also mention Saul of Tarsus, who gives a most affecting account of
himself, in the 26th of the Acts. And who can tell the list of those who
have been humbled and renewed by the grace of God, and who went from the
fatal gibbet to glory? This I trust was the sad, but through mercy,
happy case with Mr. D.
After the lapse of a few weeks, when his agitated bosom would permit him,
he wrote to me—there was nothing in his letter but what was very natural
to expect from a person in his situation; yet, from a few sentences, I
was encouraged in my hope that he was seeking the Lord. I gained
information of him every week, and always wrote to him accordingly. His
fears, terrors, and horrors overwhelmed his trembling spirit, and I hoped
there was more than nature in it. Some pious men brought him some
religions Tracts. Good Mr. Smith of Penzance, once visited him, and by
the good hand of God, his terrors abated, and his mind was gradually
opened by the Holy Spirit, to see the value of Christ, and to make
application to him for that mercy and grace he delights to display. I
frequently observed him at the chapel, and when our worthy Chaplain
advanced any precious sentence of the fullness and freeness of grace, he
used to look at me with smiling approbation; by this I could see he was,
at least, gaining some knowledge of the right way, and rejoicing in the
truth. He experienced very violent temptations from the enemy, sometimes
to suicide, then to doubt the authenticity of the Bible. Various were
his tossings of mind and deep was his distress, till the Lord led him to
receive the atonement in his mind with power; this was done in the use of
the means. I could humbly wish to have known _how_ this came into his
mind, whether by the impression of any scripture, or in any open
manifestation of power, light, and liberty. I heard he was more
comfortable than he used to be, and wrote to him to know the ground of
that comfort, and the real state of his mind, to which he sent me the
following simple and plain Letter.
Mr. C.
MY DEAR FRIEND & WELL WISHER,