![The Voice of Faith in the Valley of Achor: Vol. 1 [of 2] / being a series of letters to several friends on religious subjects cover](/books/content/58616/OEBPS/2034518774263657253_cover.jpg)
I pressed his attention to that capital blessing, knowing that faith had to do with that alone to render us just before God; that while the blood of Jesus took away all sin, the obedience of Christ to the Law fulfilled all righteousness—the one excludes from hell, but the other brings us to heaven; “For in the Lord shall all the Seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” I had, after this, much uneasiness of mind on behalf of poor Mr. D. his situation with so many awful characters, in the same part of the prison, I knew was not very favorable to his growth in grace; yet I knew, if the work was genuine on his mind, it would be carried on; but some persons had attempted to console his mind with this idea, That on his trial it would be proved he was insane. I feared this would throw him into a careless frame about his soul, and I fear it did for a time, but the speedy approach of the assize alarmed him, and I hope the Lord quickened him again. I wrote to him not to listen to any such ideas for a moment, and reminded him of the first intimation of Satan to out first parents—“Ye shall not surely die.” I trust this had the desired effect; he was tried and cast for death, as I expected, and his fatal day was appointed, but deferred to wait the decision of the fate of another, who was afterwards reprieved. This was indeed rather an uncommon circumstance, but I fondly hoped the Lord had so appointed it, that poor Mr. D. might be the better capacitated to enter into his awful presence. In reference to his state of mind, during this period, the worthy minister of the place constantly visited him, and held forth the suitable consolations of the gospel to his view, nor were those visits in vain. I frequently heard Mr. D. pray aloud, and with much energy. The day before his execution (April 7, 1819) he was visited by a Nobleman and his respectable Friend, who, in imitation of their divine Lord, delights to go about doing good; may God prosper their efforts, and another day fulfil in those honorable persons all those gracious promises in the 41st Psalm, 1, 2, 3rd verses. Some pious, Friends from the Methodist Society often visited him, and prayed with him, and I trust felt the presence of the Lord with them; as an evidence of his approbation of their work of love, some continued with him all the night previous to his execution: Mr. D. received them kindly and gratefully. The visitors did not perceive the least sign of insanity, but a calm composedness of mind, and an humble trust in the atonement of Christ, and without the shadow of a doubt of the pardon of his sins. Believe me, I feel an emotion of gratitude and tears while I write this. He could give no account what induced him to commit the horrid deed, but spoke very composedly on every subject. He joined the gentlemen in prayer, and singing an hymn—
Behold the bleeding lamb of God,
Nail’d to the shameful tree;
How vast the love that him constrain’d
To bleed and die for me.
About an hour after, leaning upon the shoulder of one of the visitors, he requested him to sing that sweet hymn again, in which he joined them, with a sweet and heavenly frame of mind; but Satan was to have his last onset, and about the middle of the night the enemy harrassed him sorely, deep darkness pervaded his mind, and his heart trembled with fear. The dear friends perceiving this, advised him to retire and read alone, and they withdrew to the other end of the room. After he had read a little, he fell on his knees, and prayed most fervently, consistently, and scripturally. Satan left him, and his mind became quite serene. At seven in the morning, when he was preparing all things necessary for his final departure, he addressed a fellow prisoner in a most surprizing and affecting manner; spoke of the mercy he had received, and encouraged him to call on God for pardoning mercy, through the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. The visitors then read a letter from his dear friend, the uncle of the dear child, in which he praised God for the mercy Mr. D. had found, and from the tenor of the letter, we trust the day dawns on his mind, and the day star begins to shine.
Mr. D. attended the solemn service at the chapel, and received the Lord’s supper; not to make his peace with God, but in thankfulness to his dear Lord who had made it for him on mount Calvary. The solemn bell announced his approach, and my soul was overwhelmed with solemn grief, which I endeavored to vent out in prayers and tears. At nine o’Clock I heard him, having ascended the scaffold, in supplication, which increased in fervent entreaties, and committing his soul into the hands of the Redeemer. His petitions were earnest and importunate, and as he increased in agitation, so also in devout intreaties, crying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit; Look, look upon a poor murderer. Oh, by the blood of the cross, by the blood of calvary, look upon me. Lord have mercy upon me. Lord— here he was going to speak again, but the drop fell, and his soul took its flight to the bosom of its Saviour and its God; with Christ in his heart, heaven in his eye, and Lord—on his tongue. Thus died poor Mr. D. a sinner, saved by grace alone.
I trust his sad case was laid on the hearts of many God-fearing persons, and many prayers were put up for him, nor did they return empty. Some of our dear friends had several precious tokens for his good; and I am happy to say I gave some hope, that the death of Mr. D. is the means of the spiritual life of one in the family: perhaps it will not end here. I must add, that the worthy family to whom the child belonged, most freely forgave him the rash act, and paid every attention to him during his confinement.
From this short account of poor Mr. D. I think we may discover some of those blessed evidences which characterize a real believer. His brokenness of spirit and honest confessions, prove his humility before God: his crying day and night to the Lord, evidence his eternal election; his mind being led to the Saviour manifested his adoption, and his receiving the atonement and resting upon Jesus, shewed that his faith was genuine. His temptations demonstrate Satan’s hatred to him, and his entreaties for mercy to the last moment, prove that he had obtained mercy: “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” I would call your attention in this letter, to the infinite evil of sin, the mystery of divine providence, the wonders of almighty grace, and the necessity of fervent prayer for divine keeping; “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe;” but this would fill a volume. You can recollect I have observed, that the Lord in general resents a murder in his own way, and in his own time, although the murderer may escape condign punishment. This has been proved in many instances, one of which I have just read in the Methodist Magazine, which I will just mention in few words.
A gentleman was riding over Hounslow Heath, when a poor man, with his little boy, ran after him to solicit relief; but the gentleman refusing, the beggar continued his intreaties, which aggravated him that he drew his sword and laid the poor beggar on the ground, and then rode away: the poor boy screamed out that his father was killed. Ten years after this, as he was riding near the same place, some boys were playing at cricket, and one of them hit the gentleman’s toe with his ball. It was painful, and a surgeon at Brentford, told him it would prove of dangerous consequence. He came to London for advice, and was informed he must suffer amputation, as a mortification had actually taken place. He would not give his consent to this, and death approached. The doctor asked him if he knew any thing of the boy who had thrown the ball, and he said he did, for he well remembered he was the son of the old man, whom he had killed some years before.—Verily, there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Wishing you all grace, I remain,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXXVI.
Achor’s Vale, February 16, 1819.
Miss Grummant.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,
I am quite grieved the Ancient Paper you was so kind as to lend me, has not been returned to me; if I was out from this place I could procure another, and will do so, God willing; but I will tell you every word of it.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE PERSON OF JESUS,
As it was found in an Ancient Manuscript, sent by Publius Lentulus, President of Judea, to the Senate of Rome.
There lives at this time in Judea, a Man of singular Character whose name is Jesus Christ; the barbarians esteem him as a Prophet, but his own followers adore him as the immediate offspring of the immortal God. He is endued with such unparalleled virtue, as to call back the dead from their graves, and to heal every kind of disease with a word or a touch. His person is tall, and elegantly shaped, his aspect amiable and reverend; his hair flows into those beauteous shades which no united colours can match, falling into graceful curls below his ears, agreeably couching on his shoulders, and parting on the crown of his head, like the head dress of the sect of the Nazarenes. His forehead is very plain, smooth, and large, his cheeks without a spot or wrinkle, save that of a lovely red, his nose and mouth are formed with exquisite symmetry, his beard is thick, and of a colour suitable to the hair of his head, reaching a little below his chin, and parted in the middle like a fork, his eyes grey, bright and clear, quick and serene. He rebukes with majesty, counsels with mildness, pleasant in speech, and invites with the most tender and persuasive language; his whole address, whether by word or deed, being courteous and friendly, elegant, grave, and characteristic of so exalted a being. No man has seen him laugh, but the whole world beheld him weep frequently, and so persuasive are his tears, that the multitude cannot withhold theirs from joining in sympathy with his. He is very temperate, modest, and wise, in short, whatever this Phænomenon may turn out in the end, he seems, at present a man, for his excellent beauty and divine perfections, every way surpassing the Children of Men.
This is certainly a very pretty description of the human nature of our dear Lord, and I feel half inclined to suppose that our first parent Adam, was a little like him in person—this is only a carnal notion, I acknowledge, but I cannot forbear to indulge it. The psalmist David, said of Christ, eight hundred years before he came, “Thou art fairer than the children of men:” yet this dear visage and beauty was marred, spoiled, more than any man’s; grief had so affected him, that when but thirty, he looked like a man of fifty years of age. He was a man of sorrows, and his most intimate acquaintance was grief; he saw such an infinite evil in sin, the hourly insults poured upon God by the whole world; he saw Jehovah slighted, ridiculed, abused, hated, and opposed; his whole heart loved Jehovah, and this broke his heart, lay heavy on his spirits, and caused him to say, as in his own common prayer book, the Psalms, “Rivers of water run down mine eyes, because men keep not thy law.” He saw the dreadful state his own children were in, and what he had to endure to make an atonement for them. Every now and then one of his soul pangs took him; hence we read of his being troubled in spirit, agitated and troubled in soul. This was some time before his sufferings in the garden. But while we admire his outward beauty as man, what vast beauty possessed his mind—wisdom, prudence, chastity, holiness, zeal, understanding, faith, hope, love, and joy; in the principle—mercy, commiseration, pity, affection, patience, gratitude, and fidelity. Look at his actions, and they all correspond with the holy principles of his mind, and this holy nature was the image of God, the exemplar pattern and likeness of the new man of grace in the souls of God’s children; but Oh, what an exalted idea does the sacred pages give us of this blessed Jesus; he was, he is God-Man. His body was but the casket, his divinity the rich jewel it contained. He was united to the Son of God, to God the Son, who is over all, God blessed for ever. He is God-Man, he possesses every divine perfection; he is Jehovah, God and Lord; he is stiled, Jehovah 330 times in the old Testament; he is called God 90 times in the old Testament, and 25 times in the new. He has put away sin by his obedience and sufferings; he is exalted above the heavens. How truly beautiful and glorious he appears in the midst of heaven, wearing our nature, but shining brighter than a million suns—the delight of the Father and the Holy Spirit—the joy of saints and angels; and whatever was his appearance on earth, we can form no idea of his human nature in heaven. God bless you while young, with some very sweet views of him, that he may be dear to your heart in youth and age, in life and death.
So prays your affectionate well
wisher,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXXVII.
Achor’s tale, September 29, 1818.
Mr. G. Gray.
MY DEAR BROTHER,
What can I say to you, and how can I sufficiently thank you for your kindness and benevolence of heart and conduct; well might the apostle exhort, “Let us not love in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth;” and this has been your conduct to me since my abode at the sign of the unstrung harp, near the weeping willows, by the rivers of Babylon. Here I at present live, but what the Lord promised the Israelites in captivity, he is most graciously fulfilling in my case. I need not remind you that Achor was a valley in Jericho, where Achor the son of Carmi was stoned; perhaps the valley borrowed its name from the circumstance itself. Achor means trouble, and you know what is written in your favorite chapter, 2nd of Hosea. What an affecting picture the Lord has given us of Israel’s ingratitude and rebellion; but having determined from all eternity, that where sin hath abounded, there grace also should much more abound, and triumph over all the sin of his people, which has brought them into so much trouble, as Achan did the Israelites, that in the very midst of that valley of Achor, he would open a door of hope, and give them strong consolations; that there he would manifest his pardoning love, display his eternal power, sanctify the cross to them, reveal his love to the heart, and though in the very midst of trouble, yet his people should sing of his mercy, truth, faithfulness, kindness, and righteousness, all which are displayed in their marriage union to Christ, the date of which is as ancient as eternal election. The grand displays of it was in the great act of the Redeemer’s incarnation. The means to bring about this union, was the removal of all the awful impediments which were in the way, by the obedience, the sufferings, death, burial, resurrection and ascension, intercession and life of Christ, as Mediator in heaven for us. Nor can this blessed union be felt or enjoyed by us, till God the Holy Ghost has subdued our enmity, quickened our souls, reconciled us to God’s mind, shewed us the person, love, and work of Christ; made us willing by his power, created holy desires in the soul, and enabled us to say, Thou, Oh my God, in Christ art the thing that I long for. Here is union felt; and as the soul is led on in the knowledge of the great things of God, it is enabled to trace the origin of this union to the counsels of eternity. I trust you will, my dear brother, be enabled when you are called forth to stand up as a spokesman for your dear Lord, declare what you know of the counsel of God, not that you, or any other preacher, either know or can declare the whole counsel of God. Nothing is more common than this expression, and nothing can be more erroneous. I do not believe any one ever declared the whole counsel of God, since our Lord and his apostles on earth—they declared the whole, perfectly and infallibly; but other ministers, however faithful they are, must not say so, it is an error; but what the Lord has taught you, that you can declare, even the truth as contained in the grand doctrines of the Gospel; the perfections and glories of the divide Jesus, the original ruin and present corruption and misery of man, the spirituality of the holy law of God, the perfect satisfaction of Christ, complete justification by his imputed righteousness, regeneration by the operations of the eternal spirit, spiritual faith and evangelical repentance towards God; love to, arising from the knowledge of the adorable Trinity in Unity, the warfare between the flesh and the spirit, the trials of the way, the temptations of the adversary, the strength, light, and comfort afforded us; the stability of the eternal covenant, the depths of divine mercy, the perpetuity of eternal love, with all the happy consequences of these truths in the life, conduct, and the whole conversation. You and I, my brother, are not afraid these great truths will make their possessors careless of their conduct; No, every sin felt and discovered, or the least outbreakings of it, is as a dagger to the heart, a load upon the mind, nor can there be any rest till a fresh manifestation of pardon is felt. We consider the work of the ministry to be the greatest work and the highest honour ever conferred on a poor fallen creature here. To make use of the language of good old Mr. Ryland, here is full scope for fear, hope, gratitude, justice, compassion, zeal, interest, ambition, glory, pleasure, and unbounded fire; rise ambition, rise glory into intense fire, and joy without bounds or end. Reflect, O my soul, what astonishing glory for me to be decreed and ordained by the great Head of the Church, to copy God’s eternal thoughts, to receive the infusions of ideas from all the holy inspired penmen; to be called out of nothing, out of meanness, obscurity, baseness, sin, and misery, to stand in the place and room of the eternal Son of God, to paint his perfections, to blaze abroad his glories about the world, to display the virtue of his blood, and tell of his astonishing death, the grandest action in the empire of God—to express this action in a thousand points of light, to have the most intimate treaties with immortal souls, to do nothing but transact with souls—blood-bought souls; to be an ambassador, an angel, a representative of the Son of God; to be put into his place (in a certain sense) as a preacher, to have commerce with deathless souls, to be inrolled by Christ in this time state amongst the faithful and zealous preachers, and for Christ to value us as dear and important to himself, and to the church. This subject is so great, I scarcely know how to write it, but so interesting, I must send you a line or two more. What a glory to revive gospel doctrines, to display Christ’s glory, and to raise the credit of the work of the Spirit; to die with the highest dignity, angels and good men around my bed, and God himself within my soul. O what a glory is this, to rise up amidst throngs of admiring smiling angels, before the throne of the Son of God; to see all the great and good preachers in heaven look at me as I rise, to hear them say, Here, see, here he comes from his study, from his pulpit, and from the bed of death to our shining worlds, and to his Master’s throne. See how Jesus looks at him, see how he crowns him. Hark what he says to him, Well done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. See him bring forth the crown of glory, and put it on my head, for Christ will not trust the noblest angel in heaven to crown his saints: he will do it himself, and will say, Here, ye labourers, take your reward; ye shepherds, take your honour; ye soldiers take your military glory; ye ambassadors, ye stewards, ye angels of the churches, take your immortal crowns, live for ever surrounded with sun beams, and crowned with stars.
May this felicity be yours and mine—’tis well, perhaps, the dignity, importance, responsibility, and trials of the ministry, are hid from our eyes at the entrance on the work, or I think none would go into it at all. What I have since seen, had I seen it before, I do not think I should so willingly have run, but would rather have been dragged. There is but one thing would ever make me very willing to enter on the sacred work, and it is that—and that love which makes me willing to go forward again. Do you ask me what that is? Why the same which made Isaiah willing to go, after he had seen the glory of Christ God-Man, having finished salvation’s work, exalted, glorified, and adored, revealing the word of pardon with power to his soul, and assuring him he was pardoned; then he said, Here am I, send me —. See 6th chapter of Isaiah. I know the passage will bear a higher comment, but I humbly conceive it represents Isaiah’s commission, and I can assure you, it is only such feelings, views, and enjoyments, that make me willing now, whatever were my motives before. I can appeal to the Lord, as the searcher of all hearts, I want nothing now to do with the ministry, but to proclaim all that I am led to understand by the terms God-Man Mediator.
Farewell. Let this epistle be read to all those who expound in the vestry on Friday nights.
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXXVIII.
Valley of Achor.
Miss Ingle.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,
I send you back the Diary of your late dear sister, which I have perused with mingled emotions of joy and grief, of pleasure and pain. Blessed be God for the grace given her in Christ Jesus, before the world began, and manifested to her in so many pleasing and painful ways. I wish I had money to spare to send it into the world; but alas, I am straitened, yet I have cause to be eternally thankful, and I beg the Lord will bring me home to glory, to praise his dear name for it. My heart is most sensibly affected with your dear mother’s trials: what a constant visitor affliction is at your house. How many times hath death looked in, and took away those of your family that were particularly dear to you all. Nor is he easy, he is on the road again. The glorious conquerer of death, has by his obedience and sufferings, his blood and death, converted him into an angel of peace, a messenger of joy, sent to conduct you to the upper and better house—
Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in.
The pulling down the earthly house is all the misery, but it has got the leprosy in the walls, and it must come down. Sin, that tyrant and ugly monster, has rendered it necessary that it should be changed, in order to enjoy union to the happy soul in another state. The body has sinned with the soul, and it must suffer with it, the body was redeemed with the soul, and it must also be saved with it. But in order to enjoy that, it must experience a change by sickness and death. This is a painful subject, but the Lord will make it familiar to you. I trust whenever death comes to you, he will wear an angel’s form, that he will be only your Lord’s porter, sent to open the gates of glory, and conduct you through the consecrated way which our Lord has trod. As all things are now dying with you, I humbly hope the Lord will most graciously visit your soul with his love, shew you that your sins are forgiven through the doing and dying of a precious Saviour. He has blotted out, done away, hid, removed, and covered all the sins of every coming sinner; and he says, Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, and he will abundantly pardon; precious text. Returning to the Lord, is the heart, mind, faith, and hope of a soul, who was chosen in Christ, and united to Christ. Now, by the power of the spirit bending, inclining, seeking, and desiring Christ. Coming to the Lord our God is moving in mind to the Father, as a God of love, grace, and mercy, in Christ to us. Yet, if the Lord is drawing you to Christ, as your only hope, mark, he will have mercy, he will abundantly pardon. Are you, my dear girl, seeking his favour and mercy to be manifested to your soul, convinced of your need of it? is your heart set upon it? do you believe that you shall be lost without it? and has God the ever blessed Spirit shewn you that Christ is a suitable Saviour, and that he is the gift of the Father’s love to guilty man? And do you choose him as your Saviour and only hope, your atoning sacrifice, and your only righteousness? God be praised, you have ever heard the gospel, which has pointed you to him, though you know it is not enough to be pointed to Christ, but we want bringing to him. Hence the promise, They shall come, and I will lead them.
Let me conclude this short letter by reciting a few texts, to encourage you in seeking the Lord. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. If thou seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him if thou seek him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. Thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Your heart shall live that seek God. I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek me in vain. Ye shall seek me, and find me when ye search for me with all your heart. Seek ye the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Seek ye me, and ye shall live. The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. He that cometh to God, must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him for good.
These are among the many precious promises that the Lord has given to his people, to encourage them to seek his face, his favour, and his friendship. May the Holy Ghost shine on his word, and shine into your beast; to give you joy and peace in believing.
Grace be with you,
Ruhamah.
The dear girl is since gone home to glory, testifying as she sunk in death, that the Saviour was very precious to her soul.
LETTER XXXIX.
Valley of Achor, April 12, 1819.
Mr. Edmunds.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
It is many months ago since I saw you, but I hope you are still in the ways of God, looking unto Jesus. You and I have been taught to see there is nothing but misery and destruction out of Christ, nor any hope but in his word and work. The Lord has opened to us the spirituality of his law, and often reflected an humbling sense of his displeasure on the mind. Sin has been felt, and guilt has laid us low—fear, dread, and darkness has been on the soul, and bondage, enmity, rebellion, and distance, has been most sensibly experienced. These things have frequently beset me since I have been here, and although they have been painful feelings, I esteem them after they are over, as to the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. But the Father not only chastens us, but he draws us to Christ. He first teaches us our lost state. I do not say the Lord communicates this bondage, this darkness and misery, but we are quickened to feel our sinfulness, and all these unpleasant sensations come on, of course; but being thus chastened, we are taught the value of Christ, by seeing our need of a Mediator, a surety, a better righteousness, and an intercessor in the light of the word; and by the spirit we see the exact suitableness of Christ, and are quickened to long for a sense of his mercy, the pardon of sin, and peace with God, in God’s own way. This we desire above all things else; and the adorable Father draws us out in holy, humble desires, fervent breathings, and earnest entreaties for the joys of pardoning love, and a gracious visit from Christ. The Father kindly guides our eyes to the promises, the invitations, the precious declarations, and kind words of the Saviour in the Gospel. These draw the heart; and as faith gathers sweet views, so hope springs up, and the fears of death and hell, with a sense of God’s anger, gradually abate. The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus in the word, and in our hearts; gives us blessed views of his person and love, his infinite condescension, and his most blessed work in putting away sin, and fulfilling the law; conquering death and subduing hell; and as living a life of mediation in heaven for us. These things become precious, as the mind is opened to receive these truths; and as power is felt, so the fruits appear. His love is seen, and this sight under the spirit’s power melts us into nothing, produces godly sorrow, sweet repentance and humility, self loathing, and glowing love to God. This, this my dear friend is my past, and often is my present experience, and my conscience can witness to it; and as to the bad opinion which good men have of me, it once distressed me; but since I have found the good opinion of crowds has been a snare to my soul, has puffed me up with pride, and set me down in carnal ease, I am best without it. Applause does not agree with my spiritual constitution, I grow best in the valley. Can the flag or the rush grow without the mire? I wish I had never courted the applause of man, but had been a little more anxious for the approbation of God and my conscience. A good name was an idol, and the Devil has run away with mine; no doubt in many cases I have justly deserved it, and now it is my duty, privilege and mercy, to learn what God means by this trial. Hence the command, Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it; and the men of wisdom shall see thy name. I have taken the highest seat in God’s house, but the dung hill and the lowest form in the school suits me now. I have been building my nest in the tree of creature friendship, but this storm has blown it down, and now I am glad to embrace the rock I wet with the showers from the mountains of trouble; but I find shelter, hope, and solid rest in Jesus and his finished work. I shall be more fit to preach when I return, than I was before; but I will never preach again, till the Lord evidently calls me out. I ran once, but I ran too fast, and fell into trouble. When God lifts me up again, I shall stand more surely and safely, because I hope to stand in the Son, to abide in the vine, to continue in the truth, to keep in the love of God, and all that these expressions imply.
I trust you and your’s are growing in grace, that you still find the Saviour precious, your helper and deliverer. The Lord is with me, and I know it, and the good of it will be seen after many days. Kind respects to those who still secretly esteem me for my master’s sake.
Your’s,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XL.
Valley of Achor, June 1st, 1819.
Dear Miss Smith,
The little Poem on Friendship which I read to you, and you was so kind as to compliment, will be published shortly, separate from this little work. It is a good remark I have somewhere met with, that Friendship is a plant of too delicate a nature to grow, with any great degree of luxuriancy and fruitfulness, in the soil of the human heart; but I ever wish to prize its buds, its blossoms, its fruits, its very leaves, and above all, its Divine Root; and I have a hope founded upon the doing and dying of the adorable Friend of guilty man, that I shall enjoy this best of gifts in its eternal bloom, in a brighter better world, when the winds of scandal shall howl no more; the tumultuous waves and the roaring billows of complicated grief shall distress my already tempest-tossed mind no more for ever. I have found many acquaintance who hummed about me in the warmth of prosperity, but like summer insects, those butterflies disappeared, when the cold blasts of adversity, by reproach, struck a few of my outward enjoyments; but I am more divinely led to the enjoyment of that love which can never alter or decay. I have learned wisdom now, in some measure, to discriminate between friends and acquaintance; and although the latter have started back in the day of battle, yet the former still bear me on their hearts in the right place, and here they present me, that my trials may be sanctified to me, and to the Church at large. David had many acquaintances, but did not find a Jonathan every day. In the Church, or in the world, my trials are great; but these would not have been so (speaking after the manner of men) if all my acquaintance had been real friends.
I beg to conclude this note with a few jingling verses, with my most affectionate and grateful respects to your dear father and mother, and hope ever to bear in mind their unwearied kindness.
Had all mine acquaintance been friends,
At whose urgent request I have run,
To answer some frivolous end,
And injure me when I had done—Had all mine acquaintance been friends,
My case before God they would lay,
And, knowing his will in his word,
Have helpt me to watch and to pray.Had all mine acquaintance been friends,
They ne’er would have robb’d me of peace,
But comforted, cheer’d, and upheld,
And wish’d me an increase of grace.Had all mine acquaintance been friends,
They ne’er would have wounded my name,
But covered my errors in love,
And reproved when I was to blame.Had all my acquaintance been friends,
They’d ne’er have rejoic’d in my fall,
But pitied, and prayed, and upheld,
And for strength on my Saviour wou’d call.Had all mine acquaintance been friends,
They ne’er would have left me in woe,
But wept in my grief and distress,
And encourag’d me onward to go.Were all my acquaintance such friends
As Miss S— and her parents so kind,
My spirits much higher would tend,
While gratitude fir’d my mind.
Ruhamah.
LETTER XLI.
Valley of Achor, February 2nd. 1818.
Mr. & Mrs. Martin.
MY VERY DEAR, FAITHFUL, and TRIED FRIENDS,
Grace and peace be to you both. I would have wrote before now, but not knowing your direction, I waited till I had the pleasure of hearing of you, which I did this day, from my much esteemed Friend Mrs. Brown. I have no news to relate, I only write to assure you the Lord is very gracious to me; and by his word, and by his spirit, he bears up my sinking mind like pillars of marble. I am a monument of mercy indeed, and so you would say, if you knew my broken heart and afflicted mind. I am at times brought very low, but then I get lifted up from the dunghill, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. I trust you will not be moved by the things which have happened to me. There is now and ever will in this world be a peculiar mystery in divine providence; but God is his own interpreter—the dear Saviour is the great Head of the Church, and as he loves us, desires our company, and wants to give some particular expression of his love; so he brings low, empties us, chastens, tries, and alarms us. The cup of salvation being allotted us, we must meet with alarming providences, which are not explained to us, till he reveals himself, as our brother, gives us a double mess, and an exchange of raiment. The things that have befallen me, I trust are in covenant love; the Lord is only putting on his yoke, and opening a way to manifest his grace the clearer, and to prove the riches of his mercy. O that we may yet praise him who is our helper, and in due time will be our deliverer. My sun is gone ten degrees back, like Hezekiah’s, but the Lord will bring it up. My master has given orders, and I, for shame, have taken the lowest seat. I feel convictions of sin sharper, but I find Christ more than ever blessed. O could every brick and book in my room speak, they would tell what passes between God and my soul. I am grieved to be here, on account of my friends, my family, and the cause of God, and my poor heart is at times completely melted. I am in real sorrow, yet I have now, and shall ever have cause to bless God for what I am learning in this painful school.
I would now ask how is my dear afflicted companion in tribulation Mr. M. I trust our dear Lord has appeared for him in his kind providence, and that the Saviour is precious to his soul; I am begging the Lord to teach me how to live a life of faith on the Son of God. Christ himself, when here below, lived and died in faith, and the Apostle said, He lived on Christ as crucified, as his righteousness, his intercessor, his head and representative. This is the life I want to live; but then I find there is no life but as it is given me daily, nor can I exercise this life of faith, but as power is given from above. We live by virtue of being quickened by the spirit, though we often get dead, dark, cold, carnal, and lifeless, so that we can hardly call it a life. But the Apostle says, Not I, but Christ liveth in me. I want my dear Mrs. M. to notice this expression. I hope, as a Child of God, and as deeply tried, I am alive in your mind, I exist, I live in your mind—you often think of me, but you cannot do for me what you would: I take the will for the deed. Now, as we see what it is for a friend to live in us, the subject is clear to you: Christ has an existence in your mind, as you have heard of him; this is the difference between a worldling and a believer; the former hears of Christ, that is enough for him; the other not only hears, but Christ has a place in the mind, as he is set forth in the word: the will makes choice of him, the affections are fixed on him, faith trusts in him, hope expects him, patience waits for him, love enjoys him, and, as our views enlarge, and power is given to see him taking away sin, conscience enjoys peace with God, because it is given to faith to see God is everlastingly at peace with us. Well may the Apostle say, Lord increase our faith; this is what I want, and I hope my much-loved friends are favoured with it. I am at present in the furnace but the Lord regulates the heat, and I am at times so happy I really dont want to come out of it; but sometimes it is so hot, all the dross and tin of my rebellion boils up, and I am astonished the Lord ever lets me live at all. I wonder at his patience and forbearance, and when I taste his mercy and love, my affections are led out to him again, and I long to get to glory to praise him as I desire to do. I have much to be thankful for; my wants are supplied, and the Lord is with me, so that it is better with me now than the last two years of my liberty; the Lord has both pardoned and subdued my sins, and he is leading me on in the divine life—only the weather is cold, nights are long, my company is bad, and I have hardly time or place for reading or writing, except what I get by stealth. How long this trial will last, I know not, I long for it to be over, but I fear I shall loose my sweet seasons. My heart is overcome with grief, when I think of the poor Packet Distress: she is out at sea, in the dark and in the deep. I want my heart fixed at all times, trusting in the Lord; I know it will be well with them that fear the Lord, and I have reason to believe the Lord has blessed me with that grace, and keeps me in it, but we find that more sensibly at one time than another, so David found it; how he feared the Lord when his conscience checked him for cutting off the lappet of Saul’s coat, but where was his fear of God in the Matter of Uriah? We want our weak graces kept alive, maintained, and exercised on their proper object; they must be tried, and as God tries our graces, so he gives us an opportunity of trying him, and as we have found him faithful in times past, so we shall again, to his own honour. He knoweth the path I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold—Christ is the gold, and we are said to be predestinated to be conformed to his image, both in spirit, trials, and glory. The Apostle has set before us a noble army of cross-bearers, and after he had advised the Church to notice those stars in the 11th of Hebrews, he recommends a perpetual looking at the Son, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross; and a cross is allotted for all the saints, either in soul, body, circumstances, family, from Satan or some sin, from saint or from sinner. This has been the Lot of God’s family, and you cannot say that you have been exempt—many, and deep have been your trials, but you are still the living, the living to praise him. God be with you.
Your’s,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XLII.
Valley of Achor, August 1st, 1819.
Mrs. Harbro.
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,
I trust you are well in health, with your family; it is just a year ago since I last wrote to you, which letter being wrote under very peculiar circumstances, and under the powerful influence of grace which I felt at that time, which letter I have in reserve to be published at a future period, when the Lord turns my captivity. Many, and great have been your changes and trials since that time; we live in a world of changes and vicissitudes, it may justly be compared to the sea, ever restless and uneasy, exposed to many storms and dangers, but the Lord has engaged to conduct us safe home, and will surely bring us to that haven of eternal rest and peace; and as this is the case, we need not murmur, although our Ferry Boat is a little tossed about, and some of the passengers prove very troublesome, we shall soon get home, eternal love has sworn to bring us safely there; and though the mountains depart, and the hills be removed, yet his kindness shall never depart from us, nor the covenant of his peace ever be removed. The Lord foresaw what poor sinners we should be, and he could have prevented it, had it been agreeable to his eternal purposes; but if it had been prevented, what should we have known of the boundless mercy of his heart, and how could we have known any thing of the lovely precious Saviour and Redeemer. God had decreed that the vessels of his glory should be vessels of his mercy first, and all he has purposed, promised, and done, is for the riches of his grace, in kindness towards us, by Christ Jesus; and this free unmerited favor of a covenant God, has brought salvation of every kind to us: we have experienced some of them, and there are thousands of salvations which we are not sensible of, that attend us daily. I trust the Lord is leading you on to a better acquaintance with the person and work of Jesus, and though you lament that you do not feel so much love to him, as you did in your earlier experience, yet you are learning wisdom—“Whom shall he teach wisdom, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine, but those who are weaned from the breast, and drawn from the milk.” Isaiah xxviii, 9. After this weaning time is over, we feel our need of spiritual armour, and we are called out to fight; but never let us forget him who hath said, My grace is sufficient for thee.
I beg you to accept my best wishes, in the language of a favorite, now in glory.
I wish you much increase of every grace,
I wish you strength to run your christian race,
I wish you patience under every rod,
I wish you much sweet fellowship with God,
I wish your evidences bright may shine,
I wish you joy and comfort all divine,
I wish you very strong in precious faith,
I wish you well through life, and well in death,
I wish you safe on the celestial shore,
And there I wish you well for evermore.
Kind respects to Mr. H. and family.
Your’s, truly,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XLIII.
Achor’s Vale, June 1st 1819.
Mr. Sweetland.
MY DEAR KIND FRIEND,
I hope the Lord Jesus is precious to your soul, that your heart is fixed on him, and that you are daily looking to him for life and salvation. I hope every fresh feeling sense of sin, urges you to his blood and righteousness, as the only remedy, as the serpent-bit-Israelites of old were to look to the brazen serpent: all were to look at it; some looked stedfastly, others feebly, some had a full, near, distinct view of it, but others only had a feeble, distant, imperfect, confused sight, and many, perhaps, could hardly raise their dying eyes to catch a glimpse of it; yet, they all looked, at some rate or other, and all who looked, lived, and were healed. This points out the various states of God’s dear people, in the strength and weakness of their faith, as exercised on the dear Saviour; and as it shews the diversity of their cases, so it also points out the various frames of mind an individual soul may experience. There are times when we are strong in faith, persuaded the work is begun, and we can look to the Lord with stedfast eye; but there are other seasons when faith seems to languish, love to be dead, and hope seems to have perished, the world and its cares have carried the mind away, and Satan has confused and perplexed us. Nothing seems left in the soul, but perhaps a little desire, and that hardly awake or felt. Here we stumble, till the work is again revived, and the dew descends again. This made the prophet of old exclaim, Wilt thou not revive us again, and, Oh Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. And when the Saviour draws near, we are grieved that we should slight him so ungratefully, and as love flows in, godly sorrow flows out. To this repentance we are called by the Spirit, and it is a change of the mind; this change is God’s work on us: we cannot produce it, and yet it so important, that we cannot be saved without it, it must be wrought in us by the power of God. Christ is exalted to give it in his most blessed characters, as a Prince and a Saviour: this is a dissolving the heart, or rather the new heart in exercise, under the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit; the mind is overcome with a sense of the long suffering of God towards us, and a feeling discovery of his love to us, in Christ Jesus, with a view of our own depravity, and base backslidings; we mourn that we ever offended such a Saviour, or sinned against such love; we are ashamed of ourselves, especially when we see our God sweetly pacified, and his heart full of love towards us. This was the holy generous feeling of Mary Magdalen, and this work must be felt in some humble degree, if ever we are saved, for except we repent, we must perish in our sins, because this repentance is the effect—not the cause of pardon, nor is it produced from any fear or dread of hell, but from a sense of love, because we have had the baseness and ingratitude, the cruelty and the bitterness to sin against a good, a gracious, a kind, and a bountiful God: we loath ourselves in our own sight for our abominations, and as this is the fruit of the Spirit, so it is pleasant and acceptable to God. I hope my dear friend will be favored with this blessing, it is an evidence of pardon, pardon is an evidence of redemption, and that is the gift of God; and this gift is an evidence of eternal love.
I trust you are in health, no doubt you feel your mortality, by many attacks of pain of body. We are poor dying mortals, the creatures of a day; we do all fade as a leaf, not as a tree, but as a weak, helpless, trembling leaf, but precious faith in our Lord, and his love, his sacred name, and his complete work—this assures us we have a building of God, eternal in the heavens, and that building is Christ
Yet a season, and you know
Happy entrance shall be given,
All our sorrows left below,
And earth exchang’d for heaven.
The Lord be with you, and reward you for your affectionate kindness to the most unworthy
Ruhamah.
LETTER XLIV.
Achor’s Vale, June 1st. 1819.
Mr. Farq.
MY DEAR BROTHER,
I trust the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will reign triumphant in your soul, till it is consummated in endless bliss. Various are the fears, doubts, and misgivings of heart, to which you have been liable; many have been the Workings of inbred corruption, and the power of sin, as stirred up by the law, and which lay hid, till they were seen and felt by you; this being attended with gloominess, dejection, and legal striving, shews that it was the work of the law; and the Lord taking the opportunity to lead you to Jesus, as the atoning sacrifice, and the end of the law for righteousness, shews the greatness of his rich grace, and the boundless love of his heart. But God and your own soul best knows, what distress of mind is experienced before the Saviour speaks peace to the heart, and assures it of its acceptance and justification before God, in his own work: yet, amidst all the distress, a truly awakened grace-taught soul experiences, there is a clearing to, and a humble trusting in Christ, so that if you had died in that distress of mind, you would most certainly have been saved, seeing our interest in Christ does not save the soul, it was saved in the Lord long before we had an existence; but no humbled believer can rest short of the knowledge and personal enjoyment of that salvation, by the leadings and teachings of the Holy Spirit, as the glorifier of Christ. I remember this was my case, and I find it has been yours’: this is the secret path which no fowl knoweth, and the vulture’s eye hath not yet seen: all spiritual teaching is the evidence of our interest in the electing love of God, all others are passed by. I do not wonder at your esteem for that sweet chapter, the 50th of Isaiah, it would fill an immense volume to do it justice, in describing its full glories; the Holy Spirit led the mind of the prophet very divinely into the knowledge of Christ, as the atonement and justification of his people; and this subject is most sweetly set forth in this chapter, with an affectionate address to poor souls walking in darkness, about their interest in Christ, and a direction given them how to act in such a state. The chapter opens with the reason why the Lord had rejected the Jews, and why he put them away, viz. for their awful and obstinate rejection of the person, the ministry, the miracles, and work of the Son of God. The adorable Redeemer then asserts the dignity of his own God-head, as manifested in the awful and grand display of his works of power, justice, and vengeance; these great themes are set forth in the three first verses. The Saviour then describes his commission from the Father, to accomplish the calling and redemption of the elect, agreeable to an ancient stipulation, or covenant, subsisting between the father and the Son; he next points out his ability for the work as God-Man, and his qualifications, by the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit without measure upon him, in the 4th and 5th verse’s. Next follows his voluntary abasement of himself into the hands of his enemies, with the firmness of his mind, and the constancy of his love to his church, as manifested in his unparalleled sorrows, his confidence in his being carried through the great and arduous work of the redemption of his church, and his full triumph over all his enemies; the help that was promised him by his Father, in the covenant, and the challenge that he would give to the enemies of his dear people, for whom he should work out a complete righteousness; read the 6, 7, 8, and 9th verses. Christ Jesus did in the love of his heart engage, agreeable to the call of the Father, to become the surety of his Church: all their sins being imputed to him, he stood guilty in the eye of the law, and justice of God; and having given ample satisfaction to justice, fulfilled the law, made reconciliation, glorified all the perfections of God, and put away sin: he was justified in the Spirit at his resurrection, having paid the debt, he received the receipt in full, and upon his triumphant entrance into glory, bearing the marks and scars in his sacred body, with the virtue of his work fresh in the mind of God, and sweetly accepted by him, he gives the challenge to law, to justice, to all. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect, unpardoned, unatoned for? Who will contend with me? let us stand together: Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me! This is Christ’s universal challenge to all accusers of his children: he has done the work, nothing can be added to it, or taken from it, and the adorable Father imputes this work to his Church; faith is given them to receive this atonement and righteousness, and power is given them to enjoy it as their own; and this believing and receiving the work the Lord Jesus has accomplished, is called, obeying Christ’s voice; while the work of God on the heart is stiled, fearing the Lord. This fear, and this obedience are evidences of interest in the great work of the Triumphant Conquerer of sin, death, and hell. And, whoever among the Lord’s called ones, are walking without a sense of God’s love, find a sense of interest in the Redeemer; without the light of comfort, the light of joy, and the light of love; though darkness is felt by them, and nothing but darkness without them, yet they are not totally in the dark, but they are the children of the light, and of the day. Let such trust in Jesus, and stay their minds upon the Spirit’s testimony of Christ; but this trusting and staying is the gift of God. The chapter then concludes with an address to all pharisees, who reject the perfect work of Christ, and who trust in a form of godliness, without the power. Such compass themselves about with their own sparks, walk in their own light, and die, at last, in sorrow. The parable of the foolish virgins will illustrate this last verse.
Excuse the brevity of these remarks. Affectionate respects to your better half.
Your’s,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XLV.
Valley of Achor, Nov. 14th, 1818.
Mr. Freeman.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Grace be with you. The hand of our Father has separated us for a time; this is done in infinite wisdom, and I hope in covenant love. I do not pretend to say my case is similar to the holy apostle Paul’s, but I trust there is the same grand end to be answered, by my captivity. Several, I hope, will have to bless God that I was ever brought into this place: some poor run-away servant, like Onesimus—some prodigal character, and strange to tell, some proud and self-conceited pharisee, I hope, has learnt a little by my feeble efforts in this place—the only way to God. I have great hopes of an awful character also—nor have I any great desire to leave this captivity, till I see what the Lord is about to do with him. I see much wisdom in my removal from the Church for a time: many grew tired of the repeated messages of mercy which I constantly delivered, and would travel all day long in search of some other preachers: this was not acting like contented children. And I know also, that the Lord would remove me away for a time, because those Israelites began to loathe the manna; for this purpose fiery serpents were sent in among them. Christ calls some people serpents, and their lying tongues are compared to fire. These have stung the people, but let us look to him who is lifted upon the pole of the Gospel, and who alone can cure our wounds, and heal all our diseases. I am much pleased in hopes of seeing this sweet text yet accomplished, (30th Isaiah) “Moreover the light of the moon, shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, when the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wind”—Selah. But my dear Friend, I also am highly culpable; persecution having ceased, and prosperity come on, faith could not grow in this state. I mixed too much with the world, and grew too careless of God’s tried ones—the rod was wanted, had it been spared, I should have been spoilt, but my heavenly Father would not spare for my much crying; it is now my duty, and mercy to detain this messenger, and read what the Lord means by it, knowing the master’s feet is behind, I hope, with many a blessing for us all. It is in this confidence I hope yet to praise Him, who now supports, consoles, upholds, and often smiles on my soul. In his presence is life—My presence shall go with thee. Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Is not this presence the Holy Spirit himself, who is promised to the Church? And is not Christ himself the very life of the soul? Is he not the very life of heaven above, and the life of the Church? Do you not see and feel a deadness in a congregation, and under a sermon, if your Lord is not all in all? Is not every place without him, like the empty grave of Christ? They may be good moral men, both the minister and the people; such angels may be sitting at the head and feet of that Church, but no spiritual Mary can be happy, if the Master is not there. The grave cloaths may be well folded up, and the napkin that was about the head, in a place by itself; these things our dear Lord left behind him, and if the veil is taken from our eyes, if our bonds are loosed, we must leave those things which bound us by nature. Legal ceremonies and pharisaic works—these must be left in Christ’s grave, we have nothing to do with them; if we be risen with Christ, we must seek those things which are above. I trust you are quickened by his power, that the Holy Spirit is leading you to Christ, as the resurrection and the very life of your soul: that you feel after him, when he is distant, feel for him in his sorrows, and feel miserable when you are not allowed to draw near. Is this your experience? blessed be God if it is. Do observe—when all is dark within then it is your time to go out to Christ: only read the 3rd. and the former part of the 5th chapter of Solomon’s Song, and if light is given you on these chapters, it will cast a radiancy on the way the Lord has led you. Still beg of God that my trials may be of use to me, and to many—time is on the wing, and if prayer did not succeed in keeping me from this place, nor yet in my speedy deliverance, yet, I have blessings in abundance, and this trial will turn out for the furtherance of the truth, through your prayers.
I hope the pious friendly Females I had the pleasure of seeing with you, are all well: give them my kind love, tell them it will be well. Wishing you every covenant blessing in enjoyment, especially that in the 8th chapter of Hebrews—10, 11, and 12th verses,
I remain, your’s, in
Christ,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XLVI.
Achor’s Vale, January 23rd. 1819.
Miss Watts.
MY EVER DEAR FRIEND,
Grace and peace be with you. I received and read your simple, but sincere testimony of the work of God on your soul, with pleasure—Oh! that the ever adorable Spirit would increase it, that you may abound in knowledge and judgement. It is a mercy to be called by grace in our early days. What shall we render to the Lord, for thinking upon us in our low estate; for bestowing a thought of us in the councils of eternity, and appointing us to obtain salvation, by the doing and dying of a glorious Redeemer? We are poor, lost, vile, guilty creatures, in and of ourselves: we are ten thousand times more vile and sinful than we can possibly conceive; there is not an evil done under the sun, but we have got the root of it in our hearts. This I have often declared, but I am now more sensibly led to know it; the Lord is gradually teaching me in deep experience, what I have often preached to others. I have many sad moments, but the Saviour smiles again, and then I get up and run on a little while; but, alas! the burden of a body of sin and death, sinks my spirits again, and sometimes I have darkness on my path; but I must tell you, that when I am drove out from every joy, hope, comfort, or pleasure, I always find it most blessed to cast myself at the dear Saviour’s feet, saying
Lord thine arm must be reveal’d
Ere I can by faith be heal’d,
Since I scarce can look to thee,
Cast a gracious look on me,
At thy feet I humbly lay,
Shine, Oh! shine my fears away.
What a special favour, my dear friend, to be led to the Saviour, to know him in any measure, by the teachings of his own Spirit; to desire him above all, and to make up all our happiness alone in him. When you look around you on those who are destitute of grace, and whose souls abhor the very sound of religion, and others who are contented with a bare outside shew; these have a form and a name to live, but they are dead, and why do we differ from them—this is an act of pure mercy and covenant love. We do not envy their state, although they possess every comfort in life, nor does Satan trouble them; but we are chastened and judged of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. We are brought into judgement in our own hearts, God the Spirit illuminates and quickens the conscience, we feel our guilt, we acknowledge the justice of our sentence, and see that God would be just if he cut us off, and sent us to hell. We are filled with fears, we are distrest in mind, nor can any solid comfort be felt, only as God is pleased to give us scriptural views of Christ—as the gift of the Father’s love, as every way suited to act for us with God, as our Mediator, being God with God, and man with man, well calculated to make an atonement, to bring God and man together, into a state of reconciliation; to obey the law which we had violated, and to endure that very curse which we had deserved—blessing on his dear name, he felt all the hell in his precious soul and sacred body, which we had deserved, and he left nothing for us to do, but to believe and to take the comfort of it. And here it is we want much light, life, and power; that we may be able to receive this great work in such a way, as to produce peace, love, and joy. We want the heart persuaded into this truth; hence the Saviour said, Receive the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And these are some of the many precious truths we want power to receive—I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions. In the Lord shall thou be justified, and shall glory. Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Having begun the good work, he will finish it. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
The Lord give my much loved friend power to take, receive, and enjoy these precious truths in her own soul. I am much melted into wonder, and gratitude, and praise, when I hear the Lord has ever blessed my poor message to any of his dear people, that he ever gave testimony to the word of his grace, by my feeble instrumentality—glory be to his name, he has made me manifest to your soul that he sent me to preach; and having experienced his love, you are enabled to prove it, by sympathising with me in my sorrows, and helping to comfort me in tribulation. May the dear Lord bring me back in the fulness of the blessings of the gospel of Christ, truly humbled in spirit, and with a heart and a mouth full of Christ, that I may yet praise him who is the health of my countenance, and my merciful God.
Grace, mercy, and peace be your’s, in enjoyment and dependence, and God be glorified in your present and your eternal salvation.—I remain,
Your affectionate and grateful
Friend,
Ruhamah.