A57970:696
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
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.
Dearly beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dearly beloved in our Lord Iesus Christ.
Grace, mercy & peace be to you: Few know the heart of a stranger & prisoner, I am in the hands of mine enemies: I would honest & lawful means were essayed for bringing me home to my charge, now when Mr A. R. & Mr H. R. are restored. It concerneth you of Galloway most to use supplications and addresses for this purpose, and try if by fair means I can be brought back again: As for liberty, without I be restored to my flock, it is little to me, for my silence is my greatest prison: However it b•, I wait for the Lord, I hope not to rot in my sufferings: Lord give me submission to wait on my heart is sad that my days flee away & I do no service to my Lord in his house, now when his harvest and the souls of perishing people require it; but his ways are not like my ways, neither can I find him out. O that he would shine upon my darkness, and bring forth my morning light from under the thick cloud, that men have spread over me! O that the Almighty would lay my cause in a balance and weigh me, if my soul was not taken up, when others were sleeping, how to have Christ betrothed with a Bride in that part of the land! but that day that my mouth was most unjustly and cruelly closed, the bloom fell off my branches, and my joy did cast the flower; How be it I have been casting my self under Christ's feet, and wrestling to believe under a hidden and covered Lord; yet my fainting cometh before I eat, and my faith hath bowed with the sore cast and under this almost insupportable weight: O that it break not! I dare not say that the Lord hath put out my candle, and hath cast water upon my poor coal, and broken the stakes of my tabernacle; But I have tasted bitterness and eaten gall ⟨p. 246⟩& wormwood since that day, my Master laid bonds upon me to speak no more: I speak not this because the Lord is uncouth to me, but because beholders that stand on dry land see not my sea-storm: The witnesses of my cross are but strangers to my sad days & nights. O that Christ would let me alone & speak love to me & come home to me & bring summer with him! O that I might preach his beauty & glory as once I did, before my clay-tent be removed to darkness, & that I might lift Christ off the ground & my branches might be watered with the dew of God, & my joy in his work might grow green again & bud & send out a flower! But I am but a short sighted creature & my candle casteth not light afar off: