LETTER XII.
Valley of Achor, March 16, 1819.
To I. R. Esq.
MY DEAR SIR,
I am truly happy to hear that the Lord has restored you again in some measure to health. I was much affected at the news of your sudden indisposition, and knew not what was the will of God concerning you, but through mercy, I trust your spared life is for the glory of God, and will be a means of your increasing in knowledge, that your mind may be better prepared for the special Service of God, and that you may be ready to take your flight as soon as the Lord, the Master cometh and calleth for you. Every attack of the constitution is a messenger sent to let us know our frailty: these tabernacles of flesh are but weak, and hang on a precarious thread; our bones are the stakes, the cords are the sinews, and the breath is the main pillar. Great God, on what a slender thread hangs everlasting things; the eternal state of all the dead hangs on such feeble strings.
God has laid an everlasting foundation for his dear people in the everlasting covenant; the effect of his everlasting love, the profound depth of his infinite wisdom, which has secured an everlasting salvation, by an everlasting righteousness, which will be to the everlasting praise of Jehovah, and to the everlasting joy of his dear church.
Then at his throne our crowns we’ll cast,
And shout, I am saved, I am saved at last!
Your indisposition, and indeed every other calamity is as that messenger of whom the prophet Elisha gave orders to notice, Look, as when the messenger cometh, hold him fast, and shut to the door, is not the sound of his master’s feet behind? So may we detain every message of sorrow. Ask the question, Why is this sent me? what does he say from his master? But why ask this? the sound of Christ is heard, Behold, I come quickly. Our deep concern of soul, and every conviction of sin, every fear of death, judgment, and eternity should be entertained, thought over, and made use of, to go to God with, and entreat the manifestation of pardoning love and mercy. Hence, he has promised to be found of them that seek him, to be found as a God in Christ, in whom all fulness dwells, and having all the blessings of an everlasting covenant to bestow upon the heirs of promise. He giveth to them just as they need; but these blessings are only given to the poor and helpless, the lost, the guilty, and the vile, and till this is the case with us, we can never be in earnest about Christ, and his Salvation. Wretches that feel what help they need, will bless the helping hand; and till the Saviour puts forth his power, we can do no more than the mariners did with Jonah aboard; the men rowed hard to bring it to land, but the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Christ is the only one who can still the tempest of a distressed mind, and bring us on our knees, exclaiming, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him. This is a comfort to me in my most dreary prospects.
I remain yours,
With respect,
Ruhamah.