A57970:1396
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 46: To a Christian friend upon the death of his wife. (46)
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.
To a Christian friend upon the death of his wife. (46)
Worthy friend.
I Desire to suffer with you in the loss of a loving & good wife, now gone before, [according to the method & order of him of whose understanding there is no searching out] whither ye are to follow: He that made yesterday to go before this day, & the former generation, in birth & life, to have been before this present generation, & hath made some flowers to grow and die & wither in the month of May, & others in June, cannot be challenged in the order he hath made of things without souls: And some order he must keep also here, that one might bury another: Therefore I hope ye shall be dumb & silent because the Lord hath done it: what creatures or under-causes do in sinful mistakes, are ordered in wisdom by your Father, at whose feet your own soul & your heaven lieth, & so the days of your wife. If the place she hath left were any other then a prison of ⟨p. 433⟩sin, & the home she is gone to, any other then where her •ead & Saviour is King of the land, your grief had been more rational; But I trust your faith of the resurrection of the dead in Christ, to glory & immortality, will lead you to suspend your longing for her, till the morning & dawning of that day, when the Archangel shall descend with a shout, to gather all his prisoners out of the grave up to himself: To believe this is best for you, & to be silent because he hath done it, i your wisdom: It is much to come out of the Lord's School of trial, wiser & more experienced in the ways of God: And it is our happiness, when Christ openeth a vein, he taketh nothing but ill blood from his sick ones: Christ hath skill to do (and if our corruption mar not) the art of mercy in correcting: we cannot of our selves take away the tin, the lead & the scum that remaineth in us: And if Christ be not Master-of-work, & if the furnace go it's alone, he not standing nigh the melting of his own vessel, the labour were lost & the founder should melt in vain: God knoweth some of us have lost much fire, sweating & pains to our Lord Jesus, & the vessel is almost marred, the furnace & rod of God spilt, & day-light burnt, & the reprobate metal not taken away, so as some are to answer to the Majesty of God for the abuse of many good crosses & rich afflictions lost without the quiet fruit of righteousness: