A57970:498
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 1 › Letter 86: To ALEXANDER GORDON of Earlestoun. (86.)
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.
Much honoured Sir.
Grace, mercy & peace be to you: I received your letter which refreshed me: Except from your son & my brother; I have seen few l•tters from my acquaintance in that country, which maketh me heavy: But I have the company of a Lord, who can teach us all to be kind & hath the right gate of it: though for the present I have seven up's & down's every day, yet I am abundantly comforted & feasted with my King & well-beloved d•ily. It pleaseth him to come & dine with a sad prisoner, & a solitary stranger: His spikenard casteth a smell, yet my sweet hath some sour mixed with it; wherein I must acquiesce, for there is no reason that his comforts be too cheap, seeing they are delicates, why should he not make them so to his own? But I verily think now, Christ hath led me up to a nick in Christianity that I was never at before, I think all before was but child-hood & bairns-play. Since I departed from you, I have been scalded, while the smoke of hell's fire went in at my throat, & I would have bought peace with a thousand years torment in hell: & I have been up also, after these deep down-castings & sorrows, before the Lamb's white throne in my father's inner court, the great King'• dining hall, & Christ did cast a cove•ing of love over me, he hath cast in a coal in my soul, & it is s•oking •mong the straw & keeping the hearth warm: I look back to what I was before, & I laugh to see the sand-houses I built when I was a child. At first the remembrance of many fair feast-days with my Lord Jesus in ⟨p. 175⟩public, with are now changed into silent sabbaths, raised a great tempest, & [if I may speak so] made the Devil a doe in my soul: the devil came in, & would prompt me to make a plea with Christ, & to lay the blame on him as a hard master: But now these mists are blown away, & I am not only silenced as to all quarrelling, but fully satisfied. Now I wonder that any man living can laugh upon the world or give it a hearty good-day. The Lord Jesus hath handled me so, that as I am now disposed, I think never to be in this world's common again for a night's lodging: Christ beareth me good company; he hath eased me when I saw it not, lifting the cross off my shoulders, so that I think it to be but a feather, because underneath are everlasting arms.