PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Letters of Samuel Rutherford (Third Edition)
Rutherford, Samuel, 1600?-1661 · 345,819 words · 915 reading sections
(_GLOOMY PROSPECTS FOR THE BACKSLIDING CHURCH--THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF BELIEVERS CAUSE OF GREAT GRIEF--THE DAY OF CHRIST._)
SIR,--I can write nothing for the present concerning these times (whatever others may think), but that which speaketh wrath and judgment to these kingdoms. If ever ye, or any of that land, received the Gospel in truth (as I am confident ye and they did), there is here a great departure from that faith, and our sufferin…
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LONDON, _April 17, 1646_. CCCXXIII.--_To EARLSTON, Elder._…
9 wordsSECTION 783(_CHRIST'S WAY OF AFFLICTING THE BEST--OBLIGATION TO FREE GRACE--ENDURING THE CROSS._)
SIR,--I know that ye have learned long ago, ere I knew anything of Christ, that if we had the cross at our own election, we would either have law-surety for freedom from it, or then we would have it honeyed and sugared with comforts, so as the sweet should overmaster the gall and wormwood. Christ knoweth how to breed t…
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LONDON, _May 15, 1646_. CCCXXIV.--_To his Reverend and worthy Brother_, MR. GEORGE GILLESPIE.[463] [463] Gillespie was lying on his deathbed when this letter was written to him by Rutherford, who had heard of the dangerous illness of his friend. He died on the 17th of December following.…
49 wordsSECTION 785(_PROSPECT OF DEATH--CHRIST THE TRUE SUPPORT IN DEATH._)
REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,--I cannot speak to you. The way ye know; the passage is free and not stopped; the print of the footsteps of the Forerunner is clear and manifest; many have gone before you. Ye will not sleep long in the dust, before The Daybreak. It is a far shorter piece of the hinder-end of the night to you…
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ST. ANDREWS, _Sept. 27, 1648_. CCCXXV.--_To SIR JAMES STEWART, Lord Provost of Edinburgh_.[467] [467] As an accurate facsimile of this letter from the original, among the papers of the Town Council of Edinburgh, is inserted here, it has been thought proper, in this instance, to retain Rutherford's orthography. [SIR …
524 wordsSECTION 787(_ON THE DEATH OF A CHILD--GOD AFFLICTS IN ORDER TO SAVE US FROM THE WORLD._)
DEAR SISTER,--I have heard how the Lord hath visited you, in removing the child Archibald. I hope ye see that the setting down of the weight of your confidence and affection upon any created thing, whether husband or child, is a deceiving thing; and that the creature is not able to bear the weight, but sinketh down to …
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ST. ANDREWS, _Aug. 14, 1649_. [470] Rutherford was married a second time on 24th March 1649, about five months previous to the date of this Letter, to Jean M'Math. CCCXXVII.--_To the_ EARL OF BALCARRAS. [ALEXANDER LINDSAY, second Lord Balcarras, and first Earl of Balcarras, to whom this letter is addressed, was a ma…
393 wordsSECTION 789(_REGARDING SOME MISUNDERSTANDING._)
MY VERY HONOURABLE LORD,--I am sorry that your Lordship should be offended at any sinistrous misinformation concerning your supposed discountenancing of ministers. For the general I can say nothing, being utterly ignorant thereof. I hope your Lordship will make the best use of it may be. For myself, I owe no thanks to …
268 wordsSECTION 790S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _Dec. 24, 1649_. [471] Mr. David Forret, or Forrest, was minister of Kilconquhar. He had formerly been minister of Deninno, where he appears in 1639. He was translated thence to Forgan in 1640; and to Kilconquhar, May 27, 1646. He refused to conform to Prelacy in 1662, but was not ejected, and died Februa…
308 wordsSECTION 791(_SINGLENESS OF AIM--JUDGMENT IN REGARD TO ADVERSARIES._)
MUCH HONOURED AND TRULY WORTHY,--I hope I shall not need to show you that ye are in greater hazard from yourself, and your own spirit (which should be watched over, that your actings for God may be clean, spiritual, purely for God, for the Prince of the kings of the earth), than ye can be in danger from your enemies. O…
681 wordsSECTION 792S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _Aug. 10, 1650_. CCCXXIX.--_To the worthy and much honoured_ COLONEL GILBERT KER.…
15 wordsSECTION 793(_COURAGE IN DAYS OF REBUKE--GOD'S ARRANGEMENTS ALL WISE._)
MUCH HONOURED AND WORTHY SIR,--What I wrote to you before, I spake not upon any private warrant. I am where I was. Cromwell and his army (I shall not say but there may be, and are, several sober and godly among them, who have either joined through misinformation, or have gone alongst with the rest in the simplicity of …
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ST. ANDREWS, _Sept. 5, 1650_. CCCXXX.--_To MR. WILLIAM GUTHRIE, when the army was at Stirling, after the defeat at Dunbar,[475] and the godly in the West were falsely branded with intended compliance with the usurpers, about the time when those debates and that difference concerning the Public Resolutions arose._[476]…
439 wordsSECTION 795(_DEPRESSION UNDER DARK TRIALS--DANGER OF COMPLIANCE._)
REVEREND BROTHER,--I did not dream of such shortness of breath, and fainting in the way toward our country. I thought that I had no more to do than die in my nest, and bow down my sinful head, and let Him put on the crown, and so end. I have suffered much; but this is the thickest darkness, and the straitest step of th…
468 wordsSECTION 796ST. ANDREWS.
CCCXXXI.--_To the worthy and much honoured_ COLONEL GILBERT KER.…
10 wordsSECTION 797(_COURAGE IN THE LORD'S CAUSE--DUTY IN REGARD TO PROVIDENCE TO BE OBSERVED--SAFETY IN THIS._)
MUCH HONOURED AND WORTHY SIR,--It is considerable that the Lord may, and often doth call to a work and yet hide Himself, and try the faith of His own. If I conceive aright, the Lord hath called you to act against that enemy; and the withdrawers of their sword (in my weak apprehension) add their zeal unto, and take upon…
776 wordsSECTION 798S. R.
PERTH, _Nov. 23, 1650_. CCCXXXII.--_To the much honoured and truly worthy_ COLONEL GILBERT KER.…
15 wordsSECTION 799(_CHRISTS CAUSE DESERVES SERVICE AND SUFFERING FROM US._)
"For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it."--HAB. ii. 3, 4. MUCH HONOURED AND WORTHY SIR,--Your chains now shine as much for Christ (the cause being His) as your sword was made famous in acting for that cause; and blessed are such as can will…
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Sir, many eyes are upon you, and the godly are exceedingly refreshed that ye listen not to the ways of many about you, who with fair words make merchandise of souls. Sir, if the way you are in be not the way of Christ, then wo to me, for I am eternally lost. But truly, the Lord Christ's dealings with Colonel Gilbert Ke…
371 wordsSECTION 801S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _Jan. 7, 1651_. CCCXXXIII.--_To the much honoured and truly worthy COLONEL GILBERT KER, when taken prisoner._…
20 wordsSECTION 802(_COMFORTING THOUGHTS TO THE AFFLICTED--DARKNESS OF THE TIMES--FELLOWSHIP IN CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS--SATISFACTION WITH HIS PROVIDENCES._)
MUCH HONOURED AND WORTHY SIR,--I have heard of your continued captivity in England, as well as in this afflicted land. But, go where ye will, ye cannot go from under your Shadow, which is broader than many kingdoms. Ye change lodging and countries; but the same Lord is before you, if ye were carried away captive to the…
759 wordsSECTION 803Part 803
Ye have not, I conceive, seen such searching and trying times as now these are. And yet the question will be drawn to a more narrow state, and multitudes will yet leave the cause; for we took all into the covenant that offered to build with us. But Christ must have but a small remnant (few nobles, if any; few ministers…
1,038 wordsSECTION 804Part 804
[483] The Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. [484] Isa. xxii. 25 is alluded to, where the Hebrew word means either "broken," or cut down. See note, p. 655. Worthy Sir, I mind you to the Hearer of prayer. Oh help me in that kind. The Spirit of Jesus be with your spirit. Yours, in his only Lord Jesus,…
57 wordsSECTION 805S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _May 14, 1651_. CCCXXXIV.--_To the worthy and much honoured_ COLONEL GILBERT KER.…
15 wordsSECTION 806(_COMFORT UNDER THE CLOUD HANGING OVER SCOTLAND--DISSUASION FROM LEAVING SCOTLAND._)
MUCH HONOURED AND WORTHY SIR,--I know not why the people of God should not take notice of the bonds of any who have blood in readiness to be let out for His cause; and I judge it was not of you that ye died not in the undecided controversy which the Lord of the whole earth hath with the men whom He hath sent against us…
542 wordsSECTION 807S. R.
EDINBURGH, _May 18, 1651_. CCCXXXV.--_To my_ LADY KENMURE.…
9 wordsSECTION 808(_DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT IS MAN'S AND CHRIST'S, AND BETWEEN CHRIST HIMSELF AND HIS BLESSINGS._)
MADAM,--Grace, mercy, and peace be to you.--We are fallen in winnowing and trying times. I am glad that your breath serveth you to run to the end, in the same condition and way wherein ye have walked these twenty years past. It is either the way of peace, or we are yet in our sins, and have missed the way. The Lord, it…
454 wordsSECTION 809S. R.
GLASGOW, _Sept. 28, 1651_. CCCXXXVI.--_To_ LADY RALSTON.[486] [486] Wodrow MSS. vol. xlv. 8vo, No. 13. "This letter," says Wodrow, "is taken from a copy; but is certainly Mr. Rutherford's to Lady Ralston of that ilk, which I have from her grandchild, and, as far as I can see, is not printed." [LADY RALSTON, whose ma…
302 wordsSECTION 810(_DUTY OF PREFERRING TO LIVE RATHER THAN DIE--WANT OF UNION IN THE JUDGMENTS OF THE GODLY._)
RIGHT WORTHY ESTEEMED IN YOUR EXCELLENT LORD JESUS,--With much desire I have longed to hear how you were, since I heard of your being so near the harbour, as seemed; and now, to my great satisfaction, I am informed of your recovery. As for yourself, I grant, to have entered in at the ports of the mansions of glory had …
1,086 wordsSECTION 811Part 811
[487] Too? [488] Come to know how much we are changed. [489] Rutherford alludes to the opposition made by the Protesters to the Public Resolutions. [490] Nevertheless. Yours in all trouble,…
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_October 1651_. Tender my respects to your dear husband, who is indeed precious in the account of the honest here, for his faithfulness in the hour of temptation. CCCXXXVII.--_To a Minister of Glasgow_.[491] [491] From a copy among the Wodrow MSS. vol. xlv. 8vo, No. 14. "I had it," says Wodrow, "from the Laird of Ra…
469 wordsSECTION 813(_ENCOURAGING WORDS TO A SUFFERING BROTHER--WHY MEN SHRINK FROM CHRIST'S TESTIMONY._)
SIR,--I long to see you, since you gave a public testimony for your Master, and are become a sufferer for Him. Until I shall be able to see you, I thought it duty to write to you that I remember you as I am able. Your zeal and faithfulness for our Master and your mother church have made your name honourable and preciou…
1,169 wordsSECTION 814Part 814
[492] Enjoy? Because I am not able to see you yet, and fearing that when I come to Glasgow I shall not find you there, I thought good to write. CCCXXXVIII.--_For the Right Honourable and Christian Lady, the_ LADY KENMURE.…
41 wordsSECTION 815(_A WORD TO CHEER IN TIMES OF DARKNESS._)
MADAM,--Grace, mercy, and peace be to you.--The Lord is gracious who keepeth your Ladyship in the furnace, when many put out their hand to iniquity one way or other. We are now shouldering and casting down one another in the dark, and the godly are hidden from the godly. We make our own chains heavier by joining with t…
336 wordsSECTION 816S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _Jan. 28, 1653_. CCCXXXIX.--_For_ GRIZZEL FULLERTON. [Letter V.]…
11 wordsSECTION 817(_EXHORTATION TO FOLLOW CHRIST FULLY WHEN OTHERS ARE COLD._)
MISTRESS,--Remembering well what relation I had to your dear mother (now blessed and perfected with glory),[493] and being confident that yourself looketh that way (which, except I be eternally lost, is the way of peace and of life), I should be ungrateful to forget those, whom, by the covenant of the Lord, I cannot bu…
625 wordsSECTION 818S. R.
EDINBURGH, _March 14, 1653_. CCCXL.--_To_ MR. THOMAS WYLIE.[497] [497] From the original, among the Wodrow MSS. vol. xxix. 4to, No. 66. This letter is addressed on the back, "For his Reverend and dear Brother, Mr. Thomas Wylie, Minister of the Gospel at Kirkcudbright, and Moderator of the Presbytery there."…
51 wordsSECTION 819(_REGARDING A LETTER OF EXPLANATION._)
RIGHT REVEREND,--I look on it as a significant expression of your respect to me, and above all deserving in me, that you take notice of any appearance of clouds, or alienation of mind among brethren; and am glad of your testimony of my brother. I had no interest but brotherly advice, and hearty desire of the real prosp…
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ST. ANDREWS, _March 23, 1653_. CCCXLI.--_To my_ LADY KENMURE.…
10 wordsSECTION 821(_PRESENT NEED HELPED BY PAST EXPERIENCE._)
MADAM,--Grace, mercy, and peace be to you.--I know that ye think of an outgoing, and that your quartering in time, and your abode in this life, is short; "for we flee away as a shadow." The declining of the sun, and the lengthening of the shadow, say that our journey is short and near the end. I speak it, because I hav…
281 wordsSECTION 822S. R.
EDINBURGH, _May 27, 1653_. CCCXLII.--_For the Right Honourable and truly worthy_ COLONEL GILBERT KER.…
15 wordsSECTION 823(_DEADNESS--HOPES OF REFRESHMENT--DISTANCE FROM GOD--NEARNESS DELIGHTED IN._)
MUCH HONOURED IN THE LORD,--How it is with you may appear by your letters to some with us; but it is the complaint of not a few of such as were in Christ before me, that most of us inhabit and dwell in a parched land. The people of the Lord are like a land not rained upon. Though some dare not deny that this is the gar…
667 wordsSECTION 824Part 824
Yet this can hardly say anything to us who do so much please ourselves in our deadness, and are almost gone from godly thirst and missing too, being half-satisfied with our witheredness. No doubt we have marred His influences, and have not seconded nor smiled upon His actings upon us. Nor have we been much of his strai…
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ST ANDREWS, _July 1653_. CCCXLIII.--_For the truly honourable_ COLONEL GILBERT KER.[498] [498] From a copy among the Wodrow MSS. vol. lix. folio, No. 5. There is probably an error as to the date of this letter. From an allusion in it to a vacancy in one of the professorships of St. Mary's or the New College of St. An…
79 wordsSECTION 826(_THE STATE OF THE LAND._)
MUCH HONOURED,--I bless the Lord for His good hand, who declares that His sovereign presence is alike in England and all places, and sways hearts as pleases Him. The book of holy providence is good marginal notes on His revealed will, in His word, and speaks much to us, could we read and understand what He writes, both…
515 wordsSECTION 827S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _April 2, 1654_. Remember my love in Christ to Mr. Livingstone. CCCXLIV.--_For MR. JOHN SCOT, at Oxnam._. [MR. JOHN SCOT, minister of Oxnam, zealously adhered to the Protesters; and Rutherford's letters to him have chiefly a reference to the proceedings of that party. After the restoration of Charles II…
225 wordsSECTION 828(_EXCUSE FOR ABSENCE FROM DUTY._)
REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,--No man oweth more to the church of God with you, than poor and wretched I. But when weakness of body, and the Lord by it, did forbid me to undertake a lesser journey to Edinburgh, I am forbidden far more to journey thither. And believe it, nothing besides this doth hinder. I am unable to ove…
282 wordsSECTION 829S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _June 15, 1655_. CCCXLV.--_To my_ LADY KENMURE.…
10 wordsSECTION 830(_THOUGHTS FOR A TIME OF SICKNESS, ABOUT THE LIFE TO COME._)
MADAM,--I have been so long silent, that I am almost ashamed now to speak. I hear of your weakly condition of body, which speaketh some warning to you to look for a longer life, where ye shall have more leisure to praise than time can give you here. It shall be loss to many; but sure yourself, Madam, shall be only[504]…
289 wordsSECTION 831ST. ANDREWS.
CCCXLVI.--_To_ SIMEON ASHE. [MR. ASHE was a Puritan minister in London during the time of the civil wars. He died in 1662.]…
23 wordsSECTION 832(_VIEWS OF THE PRESBYTERIANS AS TO ALLEGIANCE TO THE PROTECTOR._)
REVEREND WORTHY SIR,--I would recommend to you the bearer, Mr. James Simpson,[505] a faithful preacher of the Gospel. Be pleased to hear him. I trust he shall give you a true and faithful relation of our affairs. You may be pleased to believe me, that men who have borrowed your ear to blacken the godly in the land, and…
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1656. CCCXLVII.--_To my_ LADY KENMURE.…
6 wordsSECTION 834(_UNKINDNESS OF THE CREATURE--GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN PERMITTING HIS CHILDREN TO BE INJURED BY MEN._)
MADAM,--I confess that I have cause to be grieved at my long silence or laziness in writing. I am also afflicted to hear, that such who were debtors to your Ladyship for better dealing have served you with such prevarication. Ye know that crookedness is neither strong, nor long enduring; and ye know likewise, that thes…
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ST. ANDREWS, _June 1657_. CCCXLVIII.--_To my_ LADY KENMURE.…
9 wordsSECTION 836(_GOD'S DEALINGS WITH THE LAND._)
MADAM,--I should not forget you; but my deadness under a threatening stroke, both of a falling church (a broken covenant, a despised remnant) and a craziness of body, that I cannot get a piece sickly clay carried about from one house or town to another, lieth most heavy on me. The Lord hath removed Scotland's crown, fo…
271 wordsSECTION 837S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _Nov. 20, 1657_. CCCXLIX.--_For MR. JOHN SCOT, at Oxnam._ [John Livingstone, in his letter to his parishioners at Ancrum, says: "Oxnam is not far off from you, and I hope Mr. Scot doth and will declare for the sworn Reformation, and testify against present defection."]…
49 wordsSECTION 838(_PROTESTERS' TOLERATION._)
REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,--I saw from C. K. a testimony of your Presbytery against toleration, in which ye have been instrumental. The Lord give strength to do more. I think it both rare and necessary, and would account it a great mercy, if there were an addition of a postscript from divers ministers and elders, out o…
145 wordsSECTION 839S. R.
ST. ANDREWS, _April 2, 1658_. CCCL.--_For MR. JOHN SCOT, at Oxnam._…
13 wordsSECTION 840(_GLOOMY TIMES--MEANS OF PROMOTING GODLINESS._)
DEAR BROTHER,--Faint not; but be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. I look on it as a rich mercy that the Lord is with you, strengthening you to quicken fainters, to warm and warn any that are cold or dead, or who deaden others. Believe that it will be your peace in the end. The times are sad; yet I per…
244 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.