Joshua Redivivus, or Mr. Rutherford's Letters

and therefore faint not in your sufferings, & hazards for him, I proclaim & cry hell, sorrow, and shame upon all lusts, upon all by-lovers, that would take Christs room over his head in this little inch of love, of these narrow souls of ours that is due to sweetest Jesus. O highest, O fairest, O dearest Lord Jesus, take thine own from all bastard lovers! O that we could wadset, & sell all our part of times glory and times good things, for a lease, & tack of Christ for all eternity! O how are we misted, and mired with the love of things that are in this side of time and in this side of deaths water! where can we find a match to Christ, or an equal or a better then he among created things? Oh this world is out of all conceit, & all love with our well beloved. O that I could sell my laughter, joy, ease, and all for him; and be content of a straw-bed, and bread by weight, & water by measure, in the camp of our weeping Christ! I know his sackcloth and ashes, are better, then the fools laughter which is like the crackling of thorns under a pot. But alas we do not harden our faces against the cold north storms, which blow upon Christs fair face, we love well summer religion, & to be that which Sin hath made us, even as thin skinned, as if we were made of white paper, & would fain be carried to heaven in a cl•sse covered ⟨p. 14⟩chariot, wishing from our hearts, that Christ would give us surety, & his hand write, & his seal, for nothing but a fair summer, until we be landed, in at heavens gates; how many of us have been here deceived, & fainted, in the day of trial; amongst you there are some of this Stamp, I shall be sorry if my acquaintance A. T. hath left you, I vvill not believe he dare stay from Christs side, I desire that ye show him this from me, for I loved him once in Christ, neither can I change my mind, suddenly of him. But the truth is that many both of you, & too many also of your neighbour church of Scotland, have been like a rennent that sitteth meal free, & knoweth not his holding while his rights be questioned, and now I am persuaded, it vvil be asked at every one of us, on what terms we brook Christ, for we have sitten long meal-free, we found Christ without a wet foot, and He, and his gospel, came upon small charges to our Doors, but now we must wet our feet to seek him: our evil manners;

and therefore faint not in your sufferings, & hasards for him, I proclaim & cry hell, sorrow, and shame upon all lusts, upon all by-lovers, that would take Christs room over his head in this little inch of love, of these narrow souls of ours that is due to sweetest Jesus. O highest, O fairest, O dearest Lord Jesus, take thine ovvn from all bastard lovers! O that vve could wodset, & sell all our part of times glory and times good things, for a lease, & tack of Christ for all eternitie! O how are we misted, and mired with the love of things that are in this side of time and in this side of deaths water! where can we finde a match to Christ, or an equal or a better then he among created things? Oh this world is out of all conceit, & all love with our welbeloved. O that I could sell my laughter, joy, ease, and all for him; and be content of a straw-bed, and btead by weight, & water by measure, in the camp of our weeping Christ! I knovv his sackcloth and ashes, are better, then the fools laughter which is like the crackling of thornes under a pot. But alace we doe not harden our faces against the cold north stormes, which blow upon Christs fair face, we love well summer religion, & to be that which Sin hath made us, even as thin skinned, as if we were made of white paper, & would fain be carried to heaven in a clsse covered