A57970:1290
Joshua Redivivus, or Mr. Rutherford's Letters
Joshua redivivus, or, Mr. Rutherford's letters divided into two parts, the first, containing these which were written from Aberdeen, where he was confined by a sentence of the high commission ... partly on account of his non-conformance : the second, containing some which were written from Anwoth ... / now published for the use of all the people of God ... by a well-wisher to the work & people of God.Joshua redivivus, or, Mr. Rutherfoord's letters divided into two parts, the first, containing these which were written from Aberdeen, where he was confined by a sentence of the high commission ... partly on account of his non-conformance : the second, containing some which were written from Anwoth ... / now published for the use of all the people of God ... by a wellwisher to the work & people of God.
Rotterdam? : s.n., 1664
Part 2 › Letter 27: To the persecuted Church in Ireland. (27)
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
So they are called the sufferings of Christ, & the reproach of Christ, Col. 2: 24. Heb. 11: 26. As when two are partners & owners of a ship, the half of the gain & half of the loss belongeth to either of the two; so Christ in our sufferings is half-gainer & half-loser with us: Yea, the heaviest end of the black tree of the cross lieth on your Lord, it falleth first upon him, & it but reboundeth off him upon you: The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Psal. 69: 9. Your sufferings are your treasure, & are greater riches then the treasures of Egypt, Heb, 11; 26. And if your cross come first through Christ's fingers ere it come to you, it receiveth a fair lustre from him, it getteth a taste & a relish of the King's spikenard & of heaven's perfume, & the half of the gain, when Christ's ship full of gold cometh home, shall be yours: It is an augmenting of your treasure to be rich in sufferings, to be in labours abundant, in stripes above measure, 2. Cor. 11: ver. 23. & to have the sufferings of Christ abounding in you 2. Cor. 1: 5. is a part of heaven's stock: Your goods are not lost which they have plucked from you, for your Lord hath them in keeping; they are but arrested & seized upon, he shall loose the arrest: Ye shall be fed with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, Isa. 38. 14. Till I shall be in the hall-floor of the highest palace and get a a draught of glory out of Christ's hand above and beyond Time and beyond Death, I will never it's like see fairer days, then I saw under that blessed tree of my Lord's cross: His kisses then were King's kisses, these kisses were sweet and soul-reviving, one of them at that time was worth two and a half [if I may speak so] of Christ's week-days kisses. O sweet, sweet for evermore, to see a rose of heaven growing in as ill ground as hell, and to see Christ's love, his embracements, his dinners and suppers of joy, peace, faith, goodness, long-suffering and patience, growing and springing like the flowers of God's garden, out of such stony and cursed ground as the hatred of the Prelates and the malice of their High Commission & the Antichrist's bloody hand & heart! Is not here art and wisdom? is not here heaven indented in hell [if I may say