LETTER XXVI.
Valley of Achor, Sept. 5th, 1818.
Mrs. Dudley.
MY DEAR TRIED FRIEND,
The Lord accepts the will for the deed, from his dear people. You: would do me much good, if it lay in your power; but the Lord has enabled you to say, To will, is present with me; and the Apostle says, If there was a willing mind, it is accepted. David wanted to build an house for the Lord, but he had not liberty; yet the dear Saviour sent him word, it was well it was in his heart. The will was accepted.—Pious Mary had once anointed her Saviour, and she intended to do it again at his burial; but fearing she might not have the honor to embalm him, she came before hand, and anointed him to his burial. The Saviour accepted the will for the deed, and declared, wherever the Gospel was preached, this kind act should be noticed. So we find in our experience. We would love God—without a rival. We would know him as he is in Christ; perfectly; we would enjoy him uninterruptedly; we would hold perpetual communion with him; we would serve him, day and night; we would never dishonour him, grieve him, offend him, or slight him; we would never sin against him any more. But O, we cannot attain to this; how to perform that which is good, we find we cannot. So we would comfort the saints, relieve the afflicted, cheer the disconsolate, plead for the truth, and support the cause of God. Bring into the way of truth all our dear friends; and if it was agreeable to the decrees of God, we would bring in all to the knowledge of the truth—however dark you may feel, however miserable you may seem, I hope the Lord will over-rule that, to bring you out of yourself, daily to die to self, daily to be looking to Jesus, and being satisfied that he is your eternal all, that he has taken away all your guilt, that he has bore all your sins, that he has obeyed for you, that he is your intercessor before the throne, that he lives to plead your cause, manage all your concerns, turn every apparent evil into good, will never leave you until he has done all the good he his promised unto you.
I am a little acquainted with your trials; much as I am tried myself, I would not exchange troubles with you. I thank you for your kind wish, that I may be favored with the divine presence, this is the general prayer of the Lord’s people, for me, and I am much honored with it. What shall I render to the Lord. I hope he is leading me to the knowledge of Christ, it is eternal life to know him; and God has promised us an heart to know him, so as to live upon him, make use of him, and give him all the glory. As this is so capital a blessing, so I must remind you that this is the work of the Holy Ghost, in the heart; and his sacred indwelling, is the presence of God. Let thy Presence go with me, prayed Moses. This was typified by the Cloudy Pillar, which abode upon, encompassed round, and led, protected, and cheered the Israelites, for forty years; and although they often rebelled, fretted, complained, and sinned against God, yet he bore with their manners, changed his conduct, tried them, and permitted them to be beset by enemies, yet he did not take away the cloudy pillar. You know how to apply this subject. I bless God the work is going on in your soul, and if the following things I see in you, and gather from your kind letter, are evidences of the work of God, my dear friend is in possession of it. A being quickened to see the misery of a fallen nature. Humbling views of your own nothingness. An earnest desire for communion with Christ, in his own ordinances. A patient, yet longing, waiting for pardoning love to be manifested to the soul, with power. A daily cross, felt from nature, sin, Satan, and the world. A grief of heart, that you cannot serve the Lord as you desire. Sympathy with the tried people of God. Gratitude for past experiences, of the power of God on the soul. A coming out of self daily, and leaning upon Jesus, the best beloved. This is the path—go on dear Friend—
Wrestle until your God be known,
’Till you can call the Lord your own.
Your’s, in him,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXVII.
Valley of Achor, Nov. 18th, 1818.
Mr. & Mrs. Tungate.
MY DEAR FRIENDS,
I trust the God of all grace is carrying on his own work in both your souls. This may be doubted by you in your darkest seasons, but when you feel the word with power, when you get access to God, when you feel joy and peace in believing, when you feel Christ very precious to your soul, then you are at a point about it. None can persuade you out of your feelings, nor dispute you out of your esteem for, and love to Christ, his truths, his people, or his word. Your spiritual birth is clear, your title to heaven is plain, you have then a sensible witness in yourself, that you are born of God, and that you know God. You have had such seasons: this is tasting the new wine of the kingdom, this is finding the Pearl of great Price, this is the new heart of flesh, this is the right spirit, this is coming into the banqueting house, this is being fed with honey out of the rock, this is enjoying the fatted calf; the ring of eternal love, the wedding garment, and the shoes of the gospel of peace. This is finding the piece of silver, and proving wisdom’s ways pleasantness, and her paths peace. This is walking in the light of God’s countenance, and receiving the end of our faith—the present salvation of the soul. I have had a few such times as these since I have been here, but these have not lasted long; I wish they had so overpowered me, that they had broke up old nature, and ushered me into the full enjoyment of God. But the sun is gone down, night is come on again, the beasts of the forest creep forth, the Devil takes every advantage, and the world seems to frown, yet every thing urges the necessity of walking by faith, of making use of Christ as the Almighty physician, the healer of breaches, and the restorer of wanderers. This is the name that is very precious to us, I am the Lord that healeth thee; and every gracious look from him, melts us, renews us, revives us, and conquers the heart. This was the look that melted Peter. A great traveller and writer says he saw some rocks abroad, which dropped water when the sun shone on them. This was true, indeed, of Peter, whose name signifies a rock, or a stone; and it is equally true of us, who are called stones. I ever wish to be under the soul melting influence of the Holy Spirit. Oh, that he would so blessedly overcome our hearts with his love, in great power. This is what I am praying to feel very often, yet, it is the will of our divine Lord, to exercise our minds sharply with sore trials; and, the very worst of all trials, is a being daily burdened with sin, working within, and, like prisoners, either entreating for liberty, or trying to get out. These often hide the Saviour from us, and make it winter in the soul; faith is weak, hope is low, love is cold, and patience is gone sick to bed; yet the Lord is at hand, he is very near, although we see him not, nor feel him. Jacob said, The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Philosophers say, The sun is nearer to us in winter than in summer; this does not appear true, but it has been, and is very easily proved. So Christ, the Son of righteousness, is nearer to us in our winter graces of faith and patience, than in our summer graces of joy, hope, peace, and love. He makes his way to us, when we cannot find the way to him, he seeks us, when we cannot seek him, he can find us, and he holds us, when we cannot find him, or claim him as our’s. That precious text, 13th Zechariah, and last verse, is often precious to me in this furnace; the God of truth promises, first, I will bring you through; second, They shall call on my name; third, I will try them; fourth, I will say they are mine; fifth, and they shall say the Lord is mine. What a feast does this text afford me in those days of my calamity; some parts have been fulfilled in my experience, the other part will ere long: and as soon as the deliverance comes, we must look out for some other trials.
The Christian’s seldom long at ease,
One Trial gone, another doth him seize.
This is the way; but as loved, redeemed, called, pardoned by precious blood, and justified by imputed righteousness, we shall get safe home, to celebrate eternal mercy, as displayed by a triune God in our salvation. I long for the time to meet you both again, at the table of the Lord. I trust Christ will be more dear to us than ever, that we shall be dying daily, and living in, and by, and with Christ.
Your’s, truly,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXVIII.
Achor’s Vale, January 26th, 1819.
Mr. Farmer.
MY MUCH ESTEEMED FRIEND,
You must think me very unkind, and seemingly negligent in writing to you, but I can assure you I have never forgotten you, from the first day of our acquaintance. I often anticipate the period when, I hope, we shall often yet meet on praying ground—in the church militant, and finally, in the church triumphant. At present the church is in a militant state; the term is military, and implies a warfare, contending powers, within and without. The worst lays within—every evil done in this world, and every sin in devils; we have the root of them in our hearts; this we must feel, groan under, and lament; we derived this nature from our first parent, his sin became our’s, as we stood in him, we sinned in him, and fell with him, we are guilty of his sin, and it is imputed to us. So we also took a most corrupt nature, and this is seen as soon as we can shew it. We go astray from the womb, and should stray into hell, if it was not for the grace of God; and being depraved, how could we do any thing that is good. Alas! if our salvation depended on a good thought, we must have been lost for ever. Almighty mercy has shewn you those things; and when you hear any talk, or see them hoping upon their own goodness, does it not raise disgust in your mind at the sentiment. Bless God for causing you to differ; you might have been left to the blindness of your mind, the perversity of your will, and the hatred of the heart to God! You find these things still working, but they do not reign. They, and every other evil in the heart, are like rebellious prisoners, are often contriving schemes to get out, and to regain the old liberty you used to give them; but although they rebel, and may prevail against you, yet, they never can take the castle of the heart. There may be a bias, a propensity to evil, but you can never be a carnal man again—you may look like one, feel like one, and suffer like one; but though this may grieve you, it shall never be accomplished in the way Satan desires. Hence Solomon says, There is vanity I have seen on the earth; that there be just men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, and that there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said, This also is vanity. I trust your convictions are genuine, and this is the first work of the Spirit, to prepare the way for the revelation of Christ to the soul. Christ has no room in an unhumbled, hard, careless, unconvinced, unbroken spirit. He has declared he will dwell with none but those who contrite and humbled—These characters are particularly described in his commission, as set forth in Isaiah xli, 1, 2, 3. This was the first text our dear Lord took when he preached in the Synagogue; and although we have no account of the sermon, yet the substance of it was given by our Lord to his disciples, on the Mount, in the 5th of Matthew, where we have an eight-fold description of the persons interested in him, as the eternal life of his saints. God’s blessing on mount Zion, is life for evermore; and when the Priest, under the old Law, declared the blessing to the people, he always said, The Lord bless thee; so Christ, our great High Priest, began his sermon with blessing—it was no part of his work to pronounce the curse of the Law. Hence he said to the Jews, Think not that I will accuse you to the Father, there is one that accuseth you already, Moses, in whom you trust. There is nothing in the heart of Christ to his people, but love, mercy, pity, goodwill, and kindness; he knows all our sins and God-provoking crimes, in thought, word, and deed, but these he does not so much as mention, only by pleading his precious blood for their forgiveness, and by setting his work against our sins. Hence these two precious texts, “I, even I, am he that blotteth I out thy transgressions.” “The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” It is in the present tense, it is above, yea, infinitely above all our sins. The precious work of Christ is compared to a sea, for its abundance; and our guilt is compared to a mountain, which may be cast into the sea, but it would be soon lost there. This arises from the dignity of the person who died for us, it was Jehovah Jesus—possessing every divine perfection in his nature, God over all blessed for ever, who condescended to take up our nature, and obey the law, as man—which himself has given, as God. This was surprising love indeed, love to his own law, and love to us, as sinners. May we love him with every power and passion on earth and in heaven. Christ God-Man is our Saviour—he is the Head of the Church, as the elect, and the only Saviour of her, as fallen. He is Prophet, Priest, and King to us; and these grand offices he has gloriously delayed in obtaining our salvation, and by the holy influences of the Spirit making them known to us. As blind and ignorant, we need God-Man for our Instructor. As rebels against God, and slaves to Satan, we need him for our King, to subdue and conquer us. As bound over to judgment, and exposed to misery, we need him as our Priest, to intercede for us. And this will give you sweet light into that glorious, but well known text, 9th Isaiah, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Here is the whole of Christ made manifest, in his two natures, divine and human. Here are his blessed offices, Counsellor in his prophetic office, the everlasting Father, in his priestly office, the mighty God and Prince of Peace, in his kingly office. May this subject be precious to your soul, and may God the holy Ghost give you supernatural ideas of Christ, and of the Father’s love to him, and in him. Most hearers are satisfied with their own natural knowledge of Christ; may you and I be blest with supernatural views—if the Lord favours me with much of this blessing, I shall not murmur at two years captivity. The liberty of the soul is of the greatest importance; and very often those who have the greatest bondage of body and circumstances, are favored with the sweetest access to God. When the streams of creature comfort run dry, the fountain is most divinely prized. Seek his favour, and labour in spirit for the fullest assurance of faith, hope, and spiritual understanding.
My kindest love to your better half, and her dear mother. Something strikes my mind I shall meet you all three in heaven. I know not what will befal me in future; the Lord is able to make it light at midnight, and I think I know what it means—’tis darkness all round me, strange it should be light within, yet so I sometimes find it. The Egyptian enemies are in total darkness, but the spiritual Israelites have light in their dwellings. I cannot send your dear wife and mother but these three verses.
Great God I would not ask to see,
What in futurity shall be;
If light and bliss attend my days,
Then let my future hours be praise.Is darkness and distress my share,
Then let me trust thy guardian care.
Enough for me, if love divine,
At length through every cloud shall shine.Yet this my soul desires to know,
Be this my only wish below,
That Christ is mine—this great request
Grant blessed Lord, and I am blest.
My heart is so sweetly opened in writing to you all, that you must pardon every error. I hope you do me the favor of taking in my scrawl every fort’night. Give my kind love to dear Mrs. Wise, and to Mrs. Barns—God bless you all.
Your’s, truly,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXIX.
Valley of Achor, Dec. 1st, 1819.
Mrs. Wise.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I have had such repeated proofs of your kindness and concern, that I may well address you thus, I cannot sufficiently express my obligations—this is a subject I know is not very pleasant to you, but gratitude compels me to make this acknowledgment. I beg the Lord to bless you with much grace, in the knowledge of himself; this will be making you really wise indeed, you will then become wise in spirit, as well as name. God has promised that all his people shall know him, from the least to the greatest, this is the joint work of the adorable Trinity. The Father teaches us out of his love, and after chastening us with a sense of his displeasure with our sins, he clothes us with the righteousness of Christ, and draws our hearts to Christ. The dear Saviour accepts us, and shews us the love of the Father to us, opens his own work, instructs us in the knowledge of his person, nature, engagements and offices; while the ever blessed Spirit displays his kind offices, by bearing testimony of Christ in his exact suitableness to us. He reveals the dignity, excellency, and value of Christ; he bears witness to our spirits that we are the children of God. This he does in his ordinary operations, by enabling us to see, that our experience and views, are agreeable to his promises; that his leadings and teachings, are the very footsteps of the flock; that his word and our experience corresponds. Thus the ever adorable Spirit, as a witness, enables us to compare spiritual things with spiritual, spiritual experience with spiritual truths in the word. In this gracious influence, you would do well to examine the word. Look, for instance, into many precious Psalms, see how they suit you; then read many grand parts of Isaiah, particularly the 54th chapter; then the latter part of Ezekiel, 36th chapter; the 3rd of John, 10th of Romans, and indeed wherever the work of the Spirit is set forth—because the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, is the sure evidence of an interest in the love of God, and in the person, love, and grace of Christ. This is an infallible testimony; but sometimes the Lord more sensibly overcomes the soul with his love, and extends peace like a river; then our comforts abound, our joys are real, and we feel that we are at peace with God. We get then indeed upon the mount of high communion and fellowship, we feel his love, we feel the comforts of the Gospel, we feel the joys of his salvation. Now, in both these instances the Spirit bears witness; the first is common, the latter special. I prize the first because it abides, the last, only is enjoyed but seldom—I could wish it always did, but where would be the warfare, where would be the carrying a daily cross. I have experienced both in this place, more divinely than even I did before; and I am brought to hate sin more than ever, for these three reasons especially; because it is high rebellion against the best of Fathers; because it murdered the Son of God; and because it is so offensive to the Holy Spirit. These are the reasons; and you know it is one thing to hate sin, because of the injuries it does us, and another thing to hate it, because it offends the Lord. May you feel the consolations of the Holy Spirit often in your soul, and when you do not, still, I trust, you will be led to the Father’s record of Christ, and the ever blessed Spirit’s testimony of him; and as your faith increases, so you will find it most blessed to live in believing views of him, as the everlasting covenant Head of his people, as putting away sin, as making intercession for you, and daily presenting your person to God; and as your righteousness, strength, your joy, and your all. And if you live a thousand years in the church militant, you will never out-live this humble doting of faith—
A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms I fall;
Be thou my strength and righteousness,
My Jesus, and my all.
True wisdom consists in fearing the Lord. Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. It also consists in flying to Christ for refuge—The prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself. It consists in the knowing our sins are forgiven us—The Day Spring from on high hath visited us, to give the knowledge of salvation, by the forgiveness of sin.—It also consists in the blessed operations of the Holy Spirit—The wisdom which is from above is pure, peaceable, and heavenly. And true wisdom also consists in a good knowledge of the word of God. This is able in the power of God, to make us wise to salvation.—May this be your happy experience, and you will be wise indeed.
Very kind respects to Mr. F. his dear Mother, and Spouse.
I remain your well-wisher,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXX.
Achor’s Vale, January 23rd, 1818.
Mrs. Barnes.
MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,
I trust these lines will find you well in health, seeking the Lord from a feeling sense of need, waiting for more grace, that you may love the Saviour more, and serve him better. He is a good master, and I have found him so. He is kind, loving, and gracious, and no doubt I shall prove him so to the end. I find him now in his supporting hand, his sacred presence, his word sweet in reading, and his throne still open to receive my petitions. I am shut out from my public work, but I am not shut out from God, and I shall yet see why I am put in this place, through the cruelty of a wicked man, who has sworn falsely, both before a magistrate and a judge, when I could not defend myself, but he will have his reward another day. No doubt I am sent here for some very great end, and if it is but for the good of one soul, it will be worth all my sorrow. I only want to live to know more of Christ, to bring forth more fruit to God, and to be useful to others—and I may be useful here, as well as in any other place. I hope you will be favored by the blessed Spirit with an enlarged mind, to see such excellencies in Christ—as God-Man Mediator, as bearing all your sin, as suffering in your stead, as obeying the law for you, taking away the sting of death, rising for your life, ascending to heaven, and appearing in your room for you before God; in a prepared place to make intercession with God, to send you every blessing, and to wait till your appointed time, then he will send for you home, to be with him for ever. There you will see his face, and never, never sin. These are blessings you must long for, if you belong to God. Sin must be felt as a burden, sin must be hated as an enemy, sin must be fled from as a serpent, sin must be pardoned and took away before God; and nothing can do this for us, but the precious blood of Christ, and the free favour of God, manifested in the work of the Holy Spirit, leading our minds to the Saviour, and enabling us to believe in him to the saving of the soul. O that you may be blessed with clearer knowledge, stronger faith, greater love, and sweeter obedience. I am grieved I am not able to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, as I once did, but I live in the hopes of being a greater blessing to the church than I ever was before; but, I trust, if I ever do again, I shall keep many at a greater distance than I did before. I am at times broken-hearted about the cause of Christ, especially that part of it I had the management of. It is like a ship at sea, we will call her the Packet Distress—the disciples went out to sea, night came on, the wind blew hard, the sea arose in consequence of it, the poor ship was in the dark, and in the deep. No sails were unfurled, they were obliged to tug at the oar, and after they had rowed a great way, Jesus was seen on the water coming towards them; but although when they were toiling in rowing, and what is very blessed to remember is, that while they were tossed about on the stormy sea, Jesus was on a mountain, praying for them. This circumstance was in the 6th chapter of Mark, 45 to 51st verse; the 6th of John, 16 to 21st verse. I need not tell you a great storm has arose, by reason of a great wind that has blown—blessed be God it is but wind, and the Lord commands that, and he must allay it, when he has accomplished all the ends he had in view. And though he permits these things, he has some grand end in view—he will be glorified in all he permits. The sailors had no sails up in this storm, it was too great, and perhaps very little love is felt by those who are tempest tossed, so that we must ply the oar of all-prayer together, and in due time the dear Redeemer will appeal to our joy. He is now in heaven, I hope pleading the cause of his poor tried people, and in life own time, when we are tired in toiling and rowing, we shall see him treading down the proud waves of our enemies, and calling out—It is I, be not afraid. Then all will be calm again—none can make it calm but the Saviour; to him let us look, in him let us hope, life has all power in heaven and in earth, and none can stay his hand, or say, What doest thou? I hope we shall yet see better days, and live more to God’s glory. This we cannot do without more grace, and when we feel what poor sinners we are, then is the time to pray for more grace. It is not enough to be convinced we are sinners, but we must know we are pardoned sinners, and as we receive this knowledge, so our sins are subdued. Nothing can so truly subdue sin, as the hope, or the full assurance they are forgiven. I hope the Lord is shewing you what you are in yourself, humbling you with the most blessed views of Christ, and at times giving you a spirit of prayer, and of hearing, and tho’ you are not able to read much, yet I trust many sweet texts of scripture come to your mind, to encourage you to hope for salvation, through the doing and dying of Christ. I hope you will be led to know more of Christ and his precious salvation, more of his person and work, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that you may feel the earnests of heaven. The Lord has promised we shall know him, from the least to the greatest, that he will be merciful to our souls, and that we shall be satisfied with his favour. This is all that is worth living for, and as it is to his glory, so we glorify him by seeking after this.
I have many precious moments in this place alone. I find the Saviour very dear to my heart, and though I am much distressed at times about my family, on whose account I weep in secret very bitterly, and also about my friends, who have been persecuted for my sake. These things grieve my soul, but yet I have much to be thankful for. All the persons I am situated with, treat me with great respect, and my dear friends supply my wants. Thus I am favored, time is on the wing, eternity and heaven draws near, we shall soon have done with all temporal things, and God will then fill every power of the soul. May your life be in faith, and your death glorious. May God be with you, and among many mercies, may you be thankful the Lord has blessed you with so good a master and mistress, who indulges you with an opportunity of hearing the Gospel—what would I have given for such a situation once. May the Saviour bless them.
I remain, your’s, truly,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXXI.
Valley of Achor, Oct. 20th, 1818.
Mr. Lawson.
MY DEAR BROTHER in the GREAT HEAD of the CHURCH.
In your kind visit to me last Sunday, you dropped a word which I caught, on that very important text which has sometimes troubled some of God’s dear children, 66th Psalm, 18th verse, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” The reason why the children of the most high are staggered about this text, is because they are the unhappy subjects of the body of sin and death—of course, they feel those strong propensities to sin, of every kind, a carnal nature, with which they are tried, they feel lusts or desires after that which is contrary to God—in their flesh or old man, there is nothing that is good. This flesh does not mean the body. For there are many good things in that vessel. There is a regenerated soul, there are principles of grace, there is the Holy Spirit in it, as his own temple. But the flesh, the carnal part of an elect person, as regenerated, is distinct from both the body and the soul; yet both are at times influenced, led captive, overcome and ensnared by this plague, this burden, this grief, this old man, so called by the Apostle, and by Solomon called a strange woman, against which, he, in the person of Christ, cautions his children in many places in the book of Proverbs. The worst part we feel of this evil principle, is the sinful desires for sensual and carnal gratifications. This was the way-faring man, who came to David, and would not be satisfied without the ewe lamb; and this same traveller often visits us; for though he is an inmate with God’s children, yet through the reign of Grace, he is not our king, ruler, or associate. The grace of God has altered all our minds, took the throne of our hearts, and reigns king here. For thus runs the covenant promise, Sin shall not have the dominion over you, grace shall reign. We have fell out with sin, we have another nature which hates sin, nor can it ever entertain it more. We hate iniquity by the holy principle in us. This iniquity which the Psalmist refers to, I humbly conceive, means those awful principles of pride, and self-righteousness, in which mankind are involved, and by which they deceive their souls. I need not remind you of the distinction between transgression and iniquity; the one refers to the out-breakings of sin into acts of immorality; the other refers to the carnal ambitious principles of free-will, independence, and self-sufficiency. David had seen an end of perfection, by the application of the law; he had been in the horrible pit, and miry clay, and had been led to see that his own righteousness could not bear the strict scrutiny of God’s justice, and that in God’s sight, no flesh living could be justified, by any thing they could do. His mind was fixed on the adorable Redeemer, as his surety, mediator, righteousness, and intercessor—here his heart was fixed, trusting on this he lived and died. Through this medium alone, his soul had access to God, his prayers were heard and answered, his requests were received, and his petitions granted. This was an evidence that he had an holy principle within him that hated iniquity, although he had an opposite principle within him that did regard iniquity. The Lord looks upon us as we are in Christ, and as we are under the reign of grace, which destroys the reign of sin, transgression, and iniquity. David hated all the works of the flesh, and above all, those cursed principles which are in opposition to the humiliating doctrines of the Gospel, which teach men to look to, trust in, and make their own works, either in whole or in part, a Saviour. The Lord had appeared to David, as a prayer-answering God; this was an undeniable proof that he did not regard iniquity in his regenerated soul, and every answer to prayer which we receive, is a most blessed evidence to us, that grace has done the same for us which it did for David. Hence he acknowledges the mercy, in the two following verses. I beg you to read the connection from 16th verse to the close. But my dear friend, may we not look a little higher than David or any chosen vessel; may not this passage belong to David’s Lord, of whom he speaks throughout the book of Psalms. Was not his nature entirely free from sin and iniquity; was he not holy, harmless, and undefiled, separated and free from iniquity as God himself; and if he had not been so, he could not have made an atonement for his Church, nor wrought out a righteousness for them; but having completed the work, by his interest he obtained the gift of the Holy Ghost, to abide in and with his people for ever. In this view, only read over the above verse, and you will see a peculiar glory in them, in reference to Christ. May he be very dear to your heart, living and dying; may you be led to his person and work, and feel joy and peace in believing in the love which God hath for you in Christ.
Your’s, truly,
Ruhamah.
LETTER XXXII.
Achor’s Vale, November 18th, 1818.
Mrs. March.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I well know the cause why you are absent from chapel—if a preacher does not stand manifest to your conscience, you cannot hear him, nor can I blame you. The time of my deliverance I hope will come, when I trust to meet the Lord’s people once more, and abide with them, till sickness and death finally separate.
The second chapter of Isaiah is a very grand and solemn part of God’s word. I have no commentators here to explain it, but hope the Lord will give me a little light into it, as I write this short note on it, particularly that important address, in the 10th verse, which you beg a few thoughts on. The compass of a very long letter, would be too short to set forth one half the beauties and excellencies contained in this part of sacred writ. The prophet Isaiah is supposed to be the most evangelical of all the prophets, not, but all the rest wrote of the same grand object, Christ, but this great man was led more deeply into the subject. He lived under the reigns of several kings, and died a martyr, under the reign of Manasseh. It is supposed he was sawn asunder with a wooden saw. He was led most divinely to see the person, glory, love, work, and the kingdom of Christ, the nature of the Gospel dispensation, and the peculiar happiness of the Church, in the first dawn of that period, and its full meridian in the latter day glory. To these distant times, he, no doubt, alludes in the five first verses of this chapter. The conquests of grace, is particularly pointed out in the 4th verse. When Christ, to whom all judgment is given, shall reign in the power of his Gospel, in every part of the world, and when fierce persecutors, who have been as swords and spears against the saints, those being converted, should be made useful characters in the Lord’s garden. We are exhorted to walk in the light of the gospel, and perhaps our Lord, and his servant John, alludes to this text in their several addresses to the saints, in the Gospel and Epistles of John. We may, with propriety, call Isaiah the Old Testament Apostle—such were his clear views of Christ, that one would think we were reading a history of circumstances past, more than a prophesy of what was to come, although he lived, probably, seven hundred years before the events themselves took place. The prophet then proceeds, from the 6th verse of this chapter, and the following verses, to predict the desolation of Jerusalem, for those sins which had so much displeased the Lord, particularly the reigning sin of idolatry, to which the Jews were so awfully prone. This prophecy may allude to the first captivity, by Nebuchadnezzar, which was a very desolating siege, but more particularly to the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, by the Roman armies, for their rejection of the Gospel, the murder of the Son of God, and their persecution of the apostles and ministers of Christ. The Jews were all wedded to their own works, and trusting in them, is idolatry. This was their base conduct, both rich and poor, therefore the Lord was determined to break up house-keeping with them, and devote the whole land to destruction; and such should be the terrors of the siege, that the prophet is commanded to direct the attention of many to the holes of the rocks and caves of the earth—such should be horrors experienced by all the inhabitants of Judea, from the terrible majesty of Jehovah, when he should shake the earth with his awful vengeance. This subject is again and again repeated, to shew its certainty and its horror, a faint shadow of the last great day, when our God shall appear in grandeur, our world shall be in flames, when consternation shall turn every unprepared heart pale as the second death, 24th Matthew; and the 6th of Revelations should be read with this chapter, but I humbly conceive this address in the 10th verse, may be applied to God’s children, who should live to see these awful times, and indeed, viewed in a gospel sense, there is no period when the exhortation is needless. We are sinners, guilty, polluted, undone, and hell-deserving. God, as viewed in the law, is truly awful. He appears, and every truly awakened soul sees him, and dreads him as a sin-avenging God, who will by no means of man’s devising, clear the guilty. The sinner who is under the hand of the law, feels the intolerable burden of his own sins, views the holiness of God, the extent and spirituality of the commandments, and groans under fearful apprehensions of eternal woe, and who finds he can do nothing but sin in thought, word, and deed, notwithstanding all his vows, watchings, and care; yet his mind apprehending the faithfulness and unchangeableness of God, who has declared, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. This awful perfection dwells on his mind, and the horrors, real and imaginary, seize his spirits. Here he feels the evil of sin, the terrors of the Almighty, the nature of the law, the impossibility of being saved by it, the awful state of all who are out of Christ, however moral their deportment, or clear their doctrinal views. Here a soul sees his need of a surety, his need of a better righteousness than his own, his need of an atonement, and a Saviour, who is God-Man Mediator. This is learning the subject from real heart felt experience; and this explains many passages in the Bible, descriptive of the feelings of many who were brought into this state. This is being planted into the likeness of Christ’s death, and when such souls are brought into the liberty of the gospel, they know, even if they cannot explain, what it is to be planted into the likeness of his resurrection also. Now to all such tried souls, exercised with the terrors of God, and fearing his wrath and terrible majesty, as a sin-avenging God, to all such is the address made, Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust. When the prophet Jeremiah was exercised, with some awful impressions of the divine majesty, he describes a soul made so willing to see his interest in pardoning mercy, that he putteth his mouth in the dust. If so be there may be hope, the lowest place that can be, suits such an one, yea, in the very dust, pleading for mercy and pardon, through the blood of the Lamb, and his law-fulfilling righteousness. I have often been in this state; and perhaps the prophet refers to such a state in the 29th chapter, 4th verse, And thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. This, although many miseries are experienced, is a safe state; but none can believe that we are thus exercised, till God raises the poor from the dust, and the needy from the dunghill. See 113 Psalm, 1st of Samuel, ii, 7, 8. The command is, Enter into the rock. There is no safety but in him, he is the rock, and his work is perfect. He is the high, holy, fruitful, refreshing, foundation; shelter, safety, defence, and strength of his church. Here many a soul has run, and found safety, help, comfort, and peace: this is the only dwelling place for a law-condemned sinner, who has fled for refuge; here alone is firm, floating, and solid peace, all, all is sea beside. I must refer you to that blessed circumstance, recorded in 33rd Exodus, and the close of the chapter. This will greatly assist your spiritual views of the passage under consideration. It is only in Christ we can see the glory of God. To enter in, is the mind enabled by God the Spirit’s power, to receive the truth, and to be led by the same Spirit to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is revealed. This is the truth that makes us free, hand as it enters into the mind, so we sweetly enter into it.
Your’s, truly,
Ruhamah.