Copyright: (c)copyright 1994 William J. Carson


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HEAVENLY LETTERS

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Contents Letters
HEAVENLY LETTERS

  Letters

 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 The Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

  Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)

 Why this File is named "fire&ice.hlp"

 A Poem based on Letter 131

  About Samuel Rutherford

  How to Navigate through "Heavenly Letters"

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Contents About SR
HEAVENLY LETTERS

  Letters

  About Samuel Rutherford

  Who Was Samuel Rutherford?

  Where To Read More By Rutherford

  A Sample of the Original Letters

  How to Navigate through "Heavenly Letters"

  More Information About This File

  Click Here If You Need Help With This Type of File


Contents How To Navigate
HEAVENLY LETTERS

  Letters

  About Samuel Rutherford

  How to Navigate through "Heavenly Letters"

  Features of this file

  More Information About This File

  Click Here If You Need Help With This Type of File


Contents About This File
HEAVENLY LETTERS

  Letters

  About Samuel Rutherford

  How to Navigate through "Heavenly Letters"

  More Information About This File

  About the Editing of These Letters

  Comments

  Copyright Matters


  The Life and Times of Samuel Rutherford

  The Significance of Samuel Rutherford


  Books available by and about Rutherford

  Where to Order Them


  A Specimen of a Letter as Rutherford Wrote It


The Significance of Samuel Rutherford

As a historical figure, the author of Lex Rex will always be considered important.  Although the concept of limited government (i.e. the rule of law, as opposed to arbitrary rule) did not originate with Rutherford, his publication of Lex Rex changed the course of political history.  It is widely believed that Lex Rex is one of the foundations of American government, and it preserved England from the horrors of a French Revolution.

Of course Rutherford will always be beloved by those who love the Doctrines of Grace.  His godly, magnificent letters will read and enjoyed until Christ returns.

 Books available by and about Rutherford

 To the Letters


The Life and Times of Samuel Rutherford

Before and During his Exile

Rutherford was born about the year 1600 in Nisbet, Scotland.  Little is known of his early life.  In 1627 he earned a M.A. from Edinburgh College, where he was appointed Professor of Humanity.  He became pastor of the church in Anwoth in 1627.

Anwoth was a rural parish, and the people were scattered in farms over the hills.  He had a true pastor's heart, and he was ceaseless in his labours for his flock.  We are told that men said of Rutherford, "He was always praying, always preaching, always visiting the sick, always catechising, always writing and studying."  Of course it helps when you get up at 3:00 every morning!

His first years in Anwoth, though, were touched with sadness.  His wife was ill for a year and a month, before she died in their new home.  Two children also died during this period.  Nevertheless God used this time of suffering to prepare Rutherford to be God's comforter of suffering people.

Rutheford's preaching was unparalleled.  While he was not a good speaker, his preaching drew great attention.  An English merchant said of him, "I came to Irvine, and heard a well-favoured, proper old man (Dickson) with a long beard, and that man showed me all my heart.  Then I went to St. Andrews, where I heard a sweet, majestic-looking man (Blair), and he showed me the majesty of God.  After him I heard a little, fair man (Rutherford), and he showed me the loveliness of Christ."

In 1636 Rutherford published a book defending the doctrines of grace (Calvinism) against Armininism.  This put him in conflict with the Church authorities, which were dominated by the English Episcopacy.  Rutherford was called before the High Court, deprived of his ministerial office, and exiled to Aberdeen.

This exile was a sore trial for the beloved pastor.  He felt that being separated from his congregation was unbearable.  However, because of his exile, we now have many of the letters he wrote to his flock, and so the evil of his banishment has been turned into a great blessing for the church worldwide.

 After His Exile


After His Exile

In 1638 the struggles between Parliament and King in England, and Presbyterianism vs. Episcopacy in Scotland culminated in momentous events for Rutherford.  In the confusion of the times, he simply slipped out of Aberdeen and returned to his beloved Anwoth.  But it was not for long.  The Kirk (Church of Scotland) held a General Assembly that year, restoring full Presbyterianism to the land.  In addition, they appointed Rutherford a Professor of Theology of St. Andrews, although he negotiated to be allowed to preach at least once a week.

The Westminster Assembly began their famous meetings in 1643, and Rutherford was one of the five Scottish commissioners invited to attend the proceedings.  Although the Scots were not allowed to vote, they had an influence far exceeding their number.  Rutherford is thought to have been the principal influence on the Shorter Catechism, for example.

During this period in England, Rutherford wrote his best-known work, Lex Rex, or "The Law, the King."  This book argued for limited government, and limitations on the current idea of the Divine Right of Kings.

When the monarchy was restored in 1660, it was clear that the author of Lex Rex would could expect trouble.  When the summons came in 1661, charging him with treason, and demanding his appearance on a certain day, Rutherford refused to go.  From his deathbed, he answered, "I must answer my first summons; and before your day arrives, I will be where few kings and great folks come."  He died on 30th March 1661.

 The Significance of Samuel Rutherford


Books Available by Rutherford
Books Available by and about Rutherford

Two hundred and eighty-four of Rutherford's letters were first published in 1664, only three years after his death.  Over the years more letters were added and his Letters went through many editions and translations.  Andrew Bonar prepared an edition of 365 letters with a biographical sketch, index, glossary, and other aids to the reader in 1863.  This edition, subsequently altered in 1891, was reprinted by the Banner of Truth Trust in 1984.

The Trust currently has a paperback edition of 69 letters available. It is inexpensive and will well repay the careful reader.  It may be ordered from Great Christian Books or the Banner of Truth.

Lex Rex is available from Sprinkle Publications and may be ordered from Great Christian Books.

Faith Cook has written two books about Rutherford.  Grace in Winter is a series of poems inspired by Rutherford's letters.  Samuel Rutherford and His Friends is a slim volume of fascinating biographical sketches of Rutherford and several of his correspondents.  They are both wonderful books, available from both Great Christian Books and the Banner of Truth.

 A Poem by Faith Cook based on Letter 131

 Where to Order Them


Where to Order Books about Rutherford

GREAT CHRISTIAN BOOKS

229 S. Bridge Street

P.O. Box 8000

Elkton, MD 21922-8000

For a free catalog, call (from the USA) 1-800-775-5422

or fax 1-800-291-6341

From outside the USA call +1 410 392 0800

fax +1 410 392 8842

BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST

3 Murrayfield Road

Edinburgh EH12 6EL

P.O. Box 621

Carlisle, PA  17013 USA

 A Specimen of a Letter as Rutherford Wrote It

 To the Letters


A Specimen of a Letter as Rutherford Wrote It

This is from a "sample" included by Bonar in the 1891 edition of the Letters, on page 740. It is a portion of letter 340.

Sir  I would ere now have writtin to you had I not knowin yor health weaker an weaker could scarce ha permitt you to hear.  I need not speak.  The way you know and have preached to others the skill of the Guyd and the glorie of the hom beyond death  An qn he says com and sie it will be yor gain to obey and goe out to meet the brydgroom  What accession is mad to the higher hous off his kingdom sould not be our loss though it be reall loss to the church of God  bot we count on way and the Lord counts anoyr way  He is infallible and the onlie wyse God and needs non of us...

 How to Use the Unique Features of this File

 To the Letters

 My Favourite Passage in these Letters


  How to Use the Unique Features of this File


Features of this File

Title Icons

At the top of each page (in the letters) are two icons, a book [image] and a page [image].  Clicking on the book tells you which letter you are reading, and which letters preceed and follow the current one.  The page icon works similarly, so you can see where you are in each letter.  In addition, clicking on the small books or pages which appear takes you to that letter or page.

Footnote Icons

There are three kinds of footnote icons.  Each of them give you additional information about the text.

 A red footnote leads to more information about Rutherford's life and times.

 A blue footnotes leads to a Bible verse, either mentioned or alluded to by Rutherford.

 A green footnote leads to another text related to the current text.

 About the Editing of These Letters


At the top of a letter page, this gives you a list of the letters.


At the top of a letter page, this gives you a list of the pages in the letter.


This takes you to explanatory information about Rutherford's life and times.


This takes you to a Bible verse.


This takes you to a related page.


  About the Editing of These Letters


 Please Send In Your Comments


 Copyright Matters


About the Editing of These Letters

The discerning reader will notice that these five letters may be somewhat removed from their original state.  Not only did Rutherford live 300 years ago, but he wrote in a mixture of English and Scottish Gaelic.  His letters were edited once already by Andrew Bonar in the 19th Century, and so the reader is wise to wonder about a second editing.  Just how true to the original are these five letters?

All I can say is that I have tried to be faithful to Rutherford's intent.  The reader is encouraged to read Bonar's edition and draw his own conclusions.  Surely it is a good thing to make his letters more widely known. If public demand were to be the cause of a real scholar (which I am not) to prepare a modern edition of Rutherford's letters, I think the church would be well served.

The actual amount of editing I have done is relatively small.  I have modernised the language, of course, and shortened Rutherford's Latinate sentence structure.  Some archaic or Gaelic words have been replaced with their modern equivalents.

I am embarrassed to say that in a few cases Rutherford's sentiments seemed to be at variance with our modern sensibilities.  His reliance on God's providence was so strong, that his choice of words may appear callous or insensitive to modern readers.  While this is more a failing of our shallow age, rather than of Rutherford himself, I reluctantly chose to "tone down" those passages.  Again, the reader is referred to Bonar's edition.

 Please Send In Your Comments

 A Specimen of a Letter as Rutherford Wrote It

 Books available by and about Rutherford

 To the Letters

 My Favourite Passage in these Letters


Send In Your Comments

Your comments and suggestions about Samuel Rutherford and this file are appreciated.  Please send them by e-mail to Bill Carson, 100340.3163@compuserve.com. You may also visit Fire and Ice: Puritan and Reformed Writings at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/WCarson/

 Copyright Matters


Copyright Matters

Scriptures marked (NIV)  taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.  Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.  Used by permission.

 To the Letters


Greetings - Disdain Temporary Glory
 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

Greetings - Disdain Temporary Glory

To Jean Brown,

Mistress,

Grace, Mercy, and peace be to you.  I am glad that you follow closely after Christ in this dark and cloudy time.  It is a good thing to sell the things of this world in order to buy Him, [image] for when all these days are over we will find that it was a good investment to have a part in Christ.  I confidently believe that His enemies will be His footstool, [image] [image] and what are now growing flowers will be dead, withered grass.  The honour and the glory will fall off many things that for a time appear beautiful.

 Leave Worldly Comforts Behind

 A Poem based on this letter


 Leave Worldly Comforts Behind

It would be foolish to think that Christ and the Gospel would come and sit down at our fireside.  No, we must leave our comfortable warm houses and seek after Christ and His Gospel.  It is not the sunny side of Christ [image] that we must expect, and we must not forsake him if we lack it.  Let us set our faces against whatever we find in life, until He and we are though the briers and prickly bushes and on dry ground.  Our soft nature would prefer to be carried through the troubles of this life in Christ's arms. But it is His wisdom, who knows what we're made of, that His bairns [image] go with wet and cold feet to heaven.  Oh, how sweet a thing it would be for us, if we would learn how to make our burdens light, by preparing our hearts for the burden, which requires us to make our Lord's will the law of our hearts.

 Christ's Light Will Shine


 Christ's Light Will Shine

I find Christ and His cross [image] not unpleasant or troublesome guests, as men would call them.  No, I think patience makes the water Christ gives us good wine, and His dross silver and gold.  We have a good reason for continuing to wait:  before long our Master will be back for us and shine His light into the whole world, making visible the blacks and whites.  Happy are those who will be found ready.  Our hour-glass doesn't have long enough to run for us to become weary.  In fact, time itself will dissolve our cares and sorrow.  Our heaven is in the bud and growing up until the harvest.  Why shouldn't we persevere, seeing that our whole life time is a few grains of sand?  Therefore I commend Christ to you, as your last-living and longest-living Husband, the staff of your old age.  Let Him now have the rest of your days.  Don't worry about the storm when you're sailing in Christ's ship:  no passenger will ever fall overboard.  Even the most sea-sick passenger is sure to come to land safely.

 His Great Love - Our Little Faith


 His Great Love - Our Little Faith

I myself am in as sweet communion with Christ as a poor sinner can be.  I am only pained that He has much beauty and loveliness, and I little love.  He has great power and mercy, and I little faith.  He has much light, and I poor eyesight.  O that I would see Him in the sweetness of His love, and in His marriage-clothes, [image] and were over head and ears in love with that princely one, Christ Jesus my Lord!  Alas, my broken dish, my leaky bottle, can hold so little of Christ Jesus!

 Christ on the Auction Block


 Christ on the Auction Block

I have joy in this, that I would gladly die before I put Christ's property at the disposal of men who choose to follow their own wills.  Alas, this land has put Christ up for bid in a public auction.  Blessed are they who would hold the crown on His head and buy Christ's honour with their own losses.

 Family Advice - Farewell


 Family Advice - Farewell

I rejoice to hear that your son John is coming to visit Christ and taste of His love.  I hope that he will not become careless [image] or regret his choice.  I have always (as I often told you in person) a great love to Mr. John Brown because I thought I saw more of Christ in him than in his brothers.  I wish I could write to him, to encourage him to stand by my sweet Master.  Please have him read this letter, and tell him of the joy I will have if he will stand for my Lord Jesus.

Grace be with you, yours, in his sweet Jesus,

Samuel Rutherford

Aberdeen, Scotland March 13, 1637

 A Poem based on this letter

 Next Letter

 Contents

 Comments


Rutherford wrote this during a period of political and religious instability.  He himself was in exile because of his resistance to these changes. Rutherford believed that in the final analysis, Christ would be the judge of his case.


How can we be Christians and not expect Christ to not take us outside of our comfort zone?  It is unreasonable to expect our Lord not to radically change our lives.


Such as health, wealth, and prosperity.


Scottish expression meaning "dear children".


That is, the scandal of following Christ, I Peter 2:8.


That is, sorting out those who really belong to Christ and those who merely have a religious form.


Rutherford is saying that God, in His wisdom, is using the experiences of this life to prepare us for heaven.  In this sense heaven will be more blessed for us because of these experiences.  Therefore the time between our conversion and death may be seen as a "budding" process preparing us for heaven.


Rutherford's correspondent was a remarried widow, whose husband was chronically ill.


That is, when Christ returns.


There were monetary rewards for ministers if they would approve of the changes in the Church of Scotland.  However, Rutherford could not go along because his conscience was Christ's property.  He would rather die than have it up for sale.


That is, of his recent decision to stand for Christ.


 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 Greetings - Disdaining Temporary Glory

 Leave Worldly Comforts Behind

 Christ's Light Will Shine

 His Great Love - Our Little Faith

 Christ on the Auction Block

 Family Advice - Farewell


"The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.""  --  Psa 110:1 (NIV)


"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ"  --  Phil 3:8 (NIV)


"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away."  --  Psa 37:1,2 (NIV)


"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."  --  Deu 33:27 (NIV)


Greetings - Our Heavenly Dwelling
 The Heavenly Mansions--The Earth a Shadow

(Letter 247)

Greetings - Our Heavenly Dwelling

To Janet Kennedy,

Loving and Dear Sister, Grace, mercy, and peace be to you. I received your letter. I know that the favour of Christ which is in you (whom the virgins [image] love to follow) cannot be blown away with winds, either from hell, or the foul-smelling air of this defiled world. Sit far aback from the walls of this house of disease, even the pollutions of this defiled world. Keep your taste [image], your love, and hope in heaven; it is not good that your love and your Lord should be in two different countries. Up, up after your lover [image], that you and He may be together. A King from heaven has sent for you: by faith he is showing you the New Jerusalem, and is taking you along in the Spirit, and showing you all the rooms for rest and dwelling in heaven. He says, "All these are yours, this palace is for you and Christ."  Indeed, if you alone were the only person chosen by God for salvation, Christ would have built that one house for you and Himself:  now it is for you and many others also.

 Our Journey to Heaven


 Our Journey to Heaven

Take with you on your journey [image] what you may carry with you. You can take your conscience, faith, hope, patience, meekness, goodness, and brotherly kindness, for these products are valuable in the high and new country you are travelling to. But the other things, which are the world's vanity and trash, since they are the house-sweepings, you would do best not to carry them with you. You found them here, so leave them here in the house. Your sun is well-turned and low; be sure you are close to the lodging-place before night comes. We go one at a time [image] out of this great market, until the whole town will be empty, and the two lodging-places will be filled, heaven and Hell. At length there will be nothing in the earth except empty walls and burnt ashes; [image]  therefore it is better to leave.

 The Struggle with the Powers of this World


 The Struggle with the Powers of this World

Antichrist and his master [image] are working hard to fill up Hell and to seduce many. Many stars, great lights in the church are falling from heaven, causing many to be misled and seduced. They leave their faith, and sell their birthright by their hungry rooting for I know not what. Hold onto Christ hard!  Truly I esteem Christ is the best property I have. He is my companion in prison.  Having Him, even though my cross might be as heavy as ten mountains of iron, when He puts His sweet shoulder under me and it, my cross [image] is but a feather. I please myself in the choice of Christ; He is all my desire in heaven and earth. I rejoice that He is in heaven before me.

 Our Assurance in Christ


 Our Assurance in Christ

God send a joyful meeting. In the meantime God is sending the price of our tickets, by which I mean the taste of Christ's love, to sweeten the journey and to encourage a breathless runner. When I lose my breath, climbing up the mountain, He makes new breath.

 Farewell


 Farewell

Now the very God of peace establish you to the day of His appearing,

Yours, in the only Lord Jesus,

 Samuel Rutherford.

from Aberdeen, Scotland  Sept. 9, 1637

 Next Letter

 Contents

 Comments


An allusion to Psalm 45:14  "She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.  With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King's palace."  Rutherford is saying that she is a special object of Christ's love, and will be robed with heavenly blessings.


Affections or emotional desires.


Rutherford's favourite term for Jesus Christ. Compare Song of Songs 1:4 "Take me away with you- let us hurry!  Let the king bring me into his chambers."  The Puritans interpreted the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) as a allegory of Christ and His Church.


To Heaven.


In death.


The Pope and the Devil. Rutherford saw the changes in the Church of Scotland imposed by the English King Charles I as a prelude to re-imposing Catholicism in England and Scotland. It was for speaking out against these changes that he was exiled to Aberdeen.


At this time he was not locked up in prison.  His exile away from his church, family, and friends felt to him like a prison.


That is, the pain of being separated from his beloved congregation.


Perhaps Rutherford feared that one of them would die before his release from exile, in which case they would be joyfully reunited, pastor and church member, in heaven.


 Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Greetings - Our Heavenly Dwelling

 Our Journey to Heaven

 The Struggle with the Powers of this World

 Our Assurance in Christ

 Farewell


That is, they will gain money and property.  But what is that worth, in view of eternity?


A Quote from John Owen
A quote from John Owen:

"No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter, who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in this world."


"That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat."  --  2 Pet 3:12 (NIV)


"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."  --  John 16:7 (NIV)


Greetings - Walk in the Truth
 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

Greetings - Walk in the Truth

To the Lady Cardoness

Worthy and well-beloved in the Lord,

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you.  I long to read a letter from you, so that I may know how your soul prospers.  My desire and longing is to hear that you walk in the truth, and that you are content to follow the despised but most lovely Son of God.

 Visitations of Love


 Visitations of Love

I cannot but recommend Him to you, as your Husband, your Well-beloved, your Portion, your Comfort, and your Joy.  I say this of the Lovely One, because considering what He has done for me, I can say nothing else.  He has watered with His sweet comforts an oppressed prisoner.  He was always kind to my soul; but never so kind as now, in my greatest extremities.  I dine and sup with Christ.  He visits my soul with the visitations of love, even in the middle of the night.

 The Value of a Clear Conscience


 The Value of a Clear Conscience

I am completely convinced that what I am now suffering for is nothing less than Christ's own truth, and Christ's own way to heaven.  I exhort you in the name of Christ to continue in the truth which I delivered to you.  Make Christ sure to your soul; for your day draws near to the end.  Many slide back now, who seemed to be Christ's friends, and prove themselves dishonest to Him.  Be faithful to the death, and you shall have the crown of life.  This hand-breadth of your days (of which the Spirit of God speaks, Psalm 39:5) [image] will, within a short time, come to a finger breadth, and at length to nothing.  Oh, how sweet and comfortable will the feast of a good conscience be to you, when your eyes will be clouded, your face become pale, and your breath turn cold.  Then your poor soul will come sighing to the windows of the house of clay of your dying body, and will long to be let out, and to have the jailer to open the door that the prisoner may be set free!  You draw close to the shore:  look to your accounts; ask your Guide to take you to the other side.

 Think of Who You Are


 Think of Who You Are

Don't let the world be your portion, who are you to be satisfied with dead clay?  You are not an illegitimate child, but a rightful heir of the King.  Therefore set your heart on your inheritance.  Go up beforehand, and see your lodging.  Look through all your Father's rooms in heaven, because in your Father's house are many dwelling places.  Men take a sight of lands before they buy them.  I know that Christ has made the bargain already, but think kindly of the house you are going to, and see it often.  Set your heart on things that are above, where Christ is at the right hand of God.

 Family Concerns


 Family Concerns

Stir up your husband to mind his own country at home.  Counsel him to deal mercifully with the poor people of God under him.  They are Christ's, and not his; therefore desire him to show them merciful dealing and kindness, and to be good to their souls.  I desire you to write to me.  It may be that my parish forget me; but my witness is in heaven that I dare not, I do not forget them.  They are my sighs in the night and my tears in the day.  I think myself like a husband plucked from the wife of his youth.  O Lord, be my judge:  what joy would it be to my soul to hear that my ministry has left the Son of God among them, and that they are walking in Christ!

 Farewell


 Farewell

Remember my love to your son and daughter.  Desire them from me to seek the Lord in their youth, and to give Him the morning of their days.  Acquaint them with the word of God and prayer.

Grace be with you.  Pray for the prisoner of Christ.  In my heart I forget you not.

Your lawful and loving pastor, in his only Lord Jesus.

Samuel Rutherford

Aberdeen, Scotland March 6, 1637.

 Next Letter

 Contents

 Comments


He was not in prison, but his exile felt like a prison.


We do not know exactly what his "extremities" were, but they included his loneliness, separation from his congregation, and his being forbidden to preach.


He was exiled because he opposed the changes forced upon the Church of Scotland by the English.  A modern person might think that Rutherford was making too much of what the English wanted.  However, Rutherford felt that the Bible was the only rule of worship, and he was willing to suffer and die for Scripture.

The Puritans believed in the Scriptural principle that God speaks to us through our conscience.  If we disobey our conscience, we are disobeying God, and thus rejecting God's way of salvation.


That is, leaders in the Church of Scotland who caved in under the English pressure.


"You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath." Psalm 39:5 (NIV)


He is probably referring to himself as a prisoner, as well as all of us a "prisoners" in the flesh.  In heaven we will be completely free.


Death is often referred to as a river.  Heaven is the "other shore."


"So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." Gal 4:7 (NIV)


"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:2 (NIV)


That is, in his separation from her and the rest of his congregation.


 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

 Greetings - Walk in the Truth

 Visitations of Love

 The Value of a Clear Conscience

 Think of Who You Are

 Family Concerns

 Farewell


 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

 Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)


 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

 Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)


 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

 Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)


 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

 Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)


 His Wisdom in Our Trials (Letter 131)

 Heavenly Mansions - The Earth a Shadow (Letter 247)

 Heavenly Mindedness (Letter 103)

 Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)


Christ's Prisoner
Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Greetings - Thanksgiving for Recovery

To Lady Kenmure

Madam, grace, mercy, and peace be to you.  Your letter refreshed me.  The right hand of Him who has authority over life and death have been gracious to that sweet child.    I dare not, I do not, forget him and your ladyship in my prayers.

 How to Respond to Failure


 How to Respond to Failure

Madam, in regard to yourself. I am encouraged when people complain about their failures, so long as they are trying to do something about them.  This is because I see many people who think that holiness is satisfied, if they merely complain, and then do nothing.  It is as if saying "I am sick" could cure an invalid. These people seem to think that complaining about failure was a magic charm to eradicate guilt!  I am glad that you are wrestling and struggling on [image] in this dead age, when many have lost tongue, arms, and legs for Christ.

 Labour for Communion with Christ


 Labour for Communion with Christ

I urge you, Madam, a nearer communion with Christ, and a growing communion.  There are curtains to be opened in Christ that we have never seen before, and new layers of love in Him.  I despair that I will ever make it to the far end of that love, there are so many layers in it.  Therefore dig deep, and sweat, and labour.  Take pains for Him, and set aside as much time as you can in each day for Him.  Christ will be won with labour.

 Christ's Love for a Prisoner


 Christ's Love for a Prisoner

I, His exiled prisoner, sought Him, and He has taken pity on me, and made a moan for me, as he does for His own.  I do not know what to do with Christ.  His love surrounds me and overwhelms me.  I am burdened by it; but oh, how sweet and lovely is that burden!  I dare not keep it inside me.  I am so in love with His love, that if His love were not in heaven, I would not be willing to go there.  Oh, what pondering, what telling there is in Christ's love!

 Love at No Cost


 Love at No Cost

I fear nothing now so much as losing Christ's cross, [image] and the showers of love that accompany it.  I wonder how it could be that such a slave could be exalted to a place of honour, at His own elbow.  O that I should ever kiss such a fair, fair, fair face as Christ's!  But I dare not refuse to be loved.  There is nothing within me, that is the cause for Him to look upon me and love me.  God never gained anything from me.  His love cost me nothing.  Oh, the many pounds [image] of His love under which I am sweetly pressed!

 Stage Christianity


 Stage Christianity

Now, Madam, let me tell you that most people only have a stage Christianity.  They consider it to be a mask easily put on or taken off.  I myself thought it would be an easy thing to be a Christian, and that seeking God would only be like a jaunt next door.  But O the windings, the turnings, the ups and downs that He has led me through!  And even so, it still seems as if it will be a long way to the shore.

 Arrows of Love


 Arrows of Love

He speaks in my inmost being during the night.  When I awake, I find His love arrows, that He shot at me, sticking in my heart.  Who will help me to praise?  Who will come to lift up with me, and set on high, His great love?  And yet I find that a flood of challenges will come in at midsummer, and question me.  But it is only to keep a sinner in order.

 How to Consider the World


 How to Consider the World

In your letter, you mentioned friends who have left me.  I would not think the world to be worldly if friends did not leave me.  Using God's wisdom, I hope to use the world as an intelligent employer uses an untrustworthy employee.  He does not trust him with money or anything important that he might steal.  I pray to God that I will not trust this world with my joys, comforts, or confidence.  If I did, it would put Christ out of His proper place in my heart.   Indeed, Madam, from my few experiences I counsel you to give Christ the authority over all the business of your life.  Fasten all your burdens on the Peg fastened in David's house (Isa. 22:23).  Woe to me, if ever the world should teach me anything about consolation.  Away, away, with any such false teachers.  Christ then would laugh at me and say, "Now you're warned.  Be careful who you trust."

 A Wail for Scotland


That is, his friends who left him because of his stand for Christ in the Church of Scotland.  They caved in to the pressure from those in authority.


 A Wail for Scotland

Woe is me, for my mother the prostitute, the Kirk of Scotland! Oh, who will wail for her!

 Farewell - Family Concerns


 Farewell - Family Concerns

Now the presence of the great Angel of the Covenant [image] be with you and that sweet child.

Yours in his sweet Lord Jesus,

Samuel Rutherford

Aberdeen, Scotland March 7, 1637

 Next Letter

 Contents

 Comments


 Christ's Prisoner (Letter 104)

 Greetings - Thanksgiving for Recovery

 How to Respond to Failure

 Labour for Communion with Christ

 Christ's Love for a Prisoner

 Love at No Cost

 Stage Christianity

 Arrows of Love

 How to Consider the World

 A Wail for Scotland

 Farewell - Family Concerns


Apparently Lady's Kenmure's son had been seriously ill, but his life was spared in answer to prayer.


Imagine, Rutherford wrote this before instant coffee and sanctification in 5 easy steps!


"No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1 Cor 9:27 (NIV)


In other words, many people retreated into formalism, rather than stand up for the Gospel, either privately or publicly.  Notice how Rutherford sees a close connection between the two.


"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall." 2 Pet 1:10 (NIV)


"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Phil 2:12,13 (NIV)

Notice, Rutherford is not saying that we are saved by our works.  He is arguing against a passive Christianity.


"Cross" means his suffering for the cause of Christ.  He sees that suffering for the cross, and the blessings that accompany the cross, are inseparable.


An allusion to the Song of Solomon, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth-- for your love is more delightful than wine." Song 1:2 (NIV). The Song of Solomon was a favourite book of many of the Puritans, which they interpreted as an allegory of Christ and His Church.


"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Eph 3:18 (NIV)


This might be a pun by Rutherford.  God's love didn't cost him anything (he couldn't pay for it), so it could not be valued in money (pounds sterling, £).  Nevertheless God's love constrains him to live according to that love, which is a weight (i.e. pounds) he feels acutely.


"Shore" is a common image for death.  Here Rutherford thinks of death as the culmination of God's purposes for him.  When he is with Christ in heaven, all the turnings of his life will be shown to be meaningful.


"He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long." Lamentations 3:12-14 (NIV)


Rutherford is saying that although he is conscious of God's love at night, he awakes to see that in God's providence he is being persecuted.  He sees himself alone in the struggle for the purity of Christ's church.  (Although in fact powerful forces were gathering that would soon set him free.)

Notice that Rutherford sees no contradiction between vivid, strong feelings of Christ's love and suffering as part of God's providence.  They are both part of God's way with His children.


Certain powerful men had recently taken even greater powers to themselves.  In all probability, during the next summer Rutherford would be tried and sentenced to death.  However, God would bring confusion to their plans, and Rutherford would return to his beloved congregation in Anwoth.


That is to say, a Christian's greatest joys, comforts, and confidence are to be found in Christ alone.  All other joys, etc., are to be put in a lower priority.


"I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will be a seat of honour for the house of his father." Isa 22:23 (NIV)


He sorrows for the Church of Scotland, which had been so recently blessed with Revival, but now threatens to be accommodated to English alterations.  Specifically Rutherford sees the changes introduced by the English as the beginning of a return to Roman Catholicism.  In Rutherford's mind, a church that is faithful to the Bible cannot be associated with Catholicism.

Rutherford's sorrow is compounded by the fact that a church that has been given great blessing also has greater responsibility.  It is all the more reprehensible for a Bible-believing church to turn away from her first love.  Those in similar positions today should take note.


"'See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' says the LORD Almighty." Mal 3:1 (NIV) (Apparently the version of the Bible Rutherford used, the Geneva Bible, used the word "Angel" in this verse.)


That is, the son mentioned in the first paragraph.


Greetings - May Christ Comfort You
Fire and Ice:  Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)

 Greetings - May Christ Comfort You

To Lady Kenmure (on the death of her husband),

My Very Noble And Worthy Lady,

I often call to mind the comforts that I, a poor friendless stranger, received from your ladyship here in a strange part of the country, [image] when my Lord took from me the delight of mine eyes (Ezek. 24:16). Although my wound is not yet fully healed and cured, [image] I trust that your Lord, remembering what He did for me, will give you comfort now that He has made you a widow. This has happened in order that you may be a free woman for Christ, who is now seeking the love of your true heart. Therefore, when you lie alone in your bed, let Christ be as a bundle of myrrh, to sleep and lie all the night between your breasts (Cant. 1:13).

 Christian Character Proven in Suffering


 Christian Character Proven in Suffering

Consider, that of all the crosses spoken of in our Lord's Word, this one gives you a special right to make God your Husband [image] (which was not so yours while your husband was alive). Therefore try to read God's mercy out of this visitation; [image] however I must say from the depths of my own suffering that the mourning for the husband of your youth is, as God' says Himself, the heaviest worldly sorrow (Joel 1:8). But though this be the heaviest burden that ever lay upon your back, yet you know that if we will wait upon Him who hides His face for a while, it lies upon God's honour and truth to be a Husband to the widow. See and consider then what you have lost, in proportion to eternity. Madam, let me implore you, in the bowels of Christ Jesus, and by the comforts of His Spirit, and because you know that in the future you will appear before him: let God, and men, and angels now see what is in you. The Lord has pierced the vessel; it will be known whether there be in it wine or water. Let your faith and patience be seen, that it may be known your only beloved first and last has been Christ.

 The Suitable Object of Your Love


 The Suitable Object of Your Love

Therefore, now cast your whole love upon Jesus Christ; He alone is a suitable object for your love and all the affections of your soul. God has dried up one channel of your love by the removal of your husband. Let now that river run upon Christ. I dare say that God's hammering of you from your youth is only to make you a fair carved stone in the high upper temple of the New Jerusalem. Your Lord never thought this world's worthless, imitation glory a gift worthy of you; and therefore would not bestow it on you, because he is offering you a better portion. Let the small change go; the great inheritance is yours. You are a child of the house, and joy is laid up for you; it is long in coming, but none the worse for that. I am now expecting to see, and that with joy and comfort, that which I hoped of you: that you have laid such strength upon the Holy One of Israel, that you defy troubles, and that your soul is a castle that may be besieged, but cannot be taken.

 Fire and Ice


 Fire and Ice

After all, why do you think this world is so important? This world has never treated you like a friend. You owe it little love. Why you should you go courting after it? The world will never be a faithful partner to you. Never seek warm fire under cold ice. This is not a field where your happiness grows; it is up above, where there are a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Rev. 7:9). What you could never get here you shall find there. Consider how in all these trials (and truly they have been many) your Lord has been loosening you at the root from perishing things, and hunting after you to grip your soul. Madam, for the Son of God's sake, do not weaken His grip on you, but stay and abide in the love of God, as Jude says (Jude 21).

 Lift Up Your Head - Farewell


 Lift Up Your Head - Farewell

Now, Madam, I hope your Ladyship will not be offended by anything I have said. If I have failed your Ladyship, it is because I did not live up to your generous love and respect, and I beg a full pardon for it. Again, my dear and noble lady, let me beseech you to lift up your head, for the day of your redemption draws near. Remember, that star that shined in Galloway [image] is now shining in another world. Now I pray that God may answer, in His own way, to your soul, and that He may be to you the God of all consolations.

Thus I remain,

Your Ladyship's at all dutiful obedience in the Lord,

Samuel Rutherford

Anwoth, Scotland Sept. 14, 1634.

 Contents

 Comments


Lady Kenmure provided many comforts for Rutherford and his family when they settled in Anwoth.  She helped him during the long illness of his wife, culminating in her death 4 years before this letter was written.


"Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears."  Ezek 24:16 (NIV)


"My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts." Song of Songs 1:13 (NIV)


That is, the sorrow for the death of his own wife and children.


"You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth". Isa 54:4,5 (NIV)


"Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth."  Joel 1:8 (NIV)


The Puritans strongly believed that all the events of our lives are part of God's providence.  Therefore his redemptive purpose and mercies can be found in every happening, both good and bad.


I know that the sound of this grates on the modern ear.  Rutherford himself had lost two children and his wife within the previous four years. He had no conception, as we do, that Jesus came so that we might be happy, self-actualised, etc.  Rutherford would even say that the Bible knows nothing of these ideas.  However, if only we had a portion of Rutherford's tenacious faith in Jesus, it would revolutionise our outlook.  While our pains would perhaps still be as bitter, surely our joys would be much, much greater.


Rutherford believes that suffering has a redemptive purpose.  It is part of God preparing us for heaven.  He therefore exhorts Lady Kenmure to show forth Christian character in her grief.


"Through glory and dishonour, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything." 2 Cor 6:8-10 (NIV)


That is, she should realise that the world will never be a lasting marriage partner.  Only Christ will be forever.


"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands." Rev 7:9 (NIV)


"Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." Jude 21 (NIV)


"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.""  --  Luke 21:28 (NIV)


That is, Lord Kenmure (her late husband).


"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Cor 1:3,4 (NIV)


 Fire and Ice: Comfort in Mourning (Letter 37)

 Greetings - Christ's Comfort in Mourning

 Christian Character Proven in Suffering

 The Suitable Object of Your Love

 Fire and Ice

 Lift Up Your Head - Farewell


If you are browsing this file, this is the end.

If you have been reading these letters, you understand that some day you will stand before a holy God.  Don't you see that you cannot stand in your own righteousness?  Ask Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour.  Pray to God for a new heart, to love him and belong to Christ.  Jesus is a lovely Saviour, he alone is the suitable object for your affections.  Never seek for warm fire under cold ice-- only in Christ will you find satisfaction for your soul.


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A Poem based on Letter 131
A Poem based on Letter 131:

Through Brier and Bush

Soft nature seeks a path of ease

Secure from strange alarms;

Borne through the troubled scenes of life

In Christ's protecting arms;

Yet nobler far our strength to draw

From grace to call His will our law.

For Christ who knows our feeble mould

Ordains that here below

Through brier and bush to heavenly ground

His bairns wet-shod must go;

Past hostile thorn His steps to trace

And follow still with steadfast face.

Our heav'n is in the bud and soon

Must to a harvest grow;

For time's brief span shall eat away

And root out every woe.

Then watch in hope till sorrows end,

And Christ appear - our living Friend.

By Faith Cook

from Grace in Winter, p. 89

(c) 1989 Faith Cook

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