Letters in Two Parts, Part 2 · LETTER 9
To my Lady KENMURE (9.)
MADAM.
HAving saluted you in the Lord Jesus, I thought it my duty, having the occasion of this bearer, to write again unto your La: though I have no new purpose but what I wrote of before: Yet ye cannot be too often awakned to go forward towards your city, since your way is long, and [for any thing ye know] your day is short; & your Lord requireth of you as ye advance in years, & steal forward insensibly towards eternity, that your saith may grow and ripen for the Lords harvest, for the great husband-man giveth a season to his fruits that they may come to maturitie, & having gotten their fill of the tree, they may then be shaken & gathered in for his use; whereas the wicked rot upon the tree, & their branch shall not be green. Job. 15. 32. 33. He shall shake off his unripe grapes as the vine, and shall cast oft his flower as the olive. It is God's mercy to you, …adam, that … giveth you your fill, even to loathing, of this bitter world, that ye may willingly leave it, & like a full and satisfied banquetter, long for the drawing of the table; and at last having trampled under your feet, all the …otten pleasure that are under un & Moon; and having rejoyced as though ye rejoyced not, and having bought as though ye possessed not, 1 Cor. 7. 30. Ye may like an old crazie ship, arrive at your Lord's harbour, & be made welcome, as one of these who have ever had one foot loose from this earth, longing for that place where your soul shall feast & banquet for ever & ever, upon a gloriou… sight of the incomprehensible Trinity, & where ye shall see the fair face of the man Christ; even the beautifull face that was once for your cause more marred then any of the visages of the sons of men. Isa: 52, 14. And was all covered with spitting & blood: Be content to wade through the waters betwixt you & glory with Him, holding his hand fast, for he knoweth all the foords: Howbeit ye may be duckt, yet ye cannot drown, being in his company: & ye may all the way to glory, see the way bedewed with his blood who is the fore-runner: be not afraid therefore, when ye come even to the black & swelling river of death, to put in your foot & wade after him; the current how strong soever cannot carry you down the water to Hell, the Son of God, his death & resurrection are stepping-stones & a stay to you: set down your feet by faith upon these stones, & goe through as on dry land: If ye knew what he is preparing for you, ye would be too glad; he will not [it may be] give you a full-draught, till ye come up to the well-head, and drink, yea drink abundantly of the pure river of the water of Life, that proceedeth out from the Throne of God and from the Lamb. Rev. 22, 1. Madam, …tire not, weary not, I dare finde you the Son of God caution when ye are got up thither, and have casten your eyes to view the golden city and the fair & never-withering tree of Life, that beareth twelve manner of fruits every monethmonth, ye shall then say, four and twenty hours abode in that place is worth threescore & ten years sorrow upon earth. If ye can but say, ye long earnestly to be carried up thither [as I hope you cannot for shame deny him the honour of having wrought that desire in your soul] then hath your Lord given you earnest: And, Madam, doe ye beleeve that our Lord will lose his earnest, & rue of the bargain, & change his minde, as if he were a man that can lye, or the son of man that can repent? Nay, he is unchangeable, & the same this year that he was the former year: And his Son Jesus, who upon earth eat & drank with publicans & sinners, & spake & conferred with whores & harlots, & put up his holy hand and touched the lepers filthy skin, & came evermore nigh sinners; even now in glory, is yet that same Lord: His honour & his great court in leaven hath not made him forget his poor friends on earth: In him, honours change not manners, and he doeth yet desire your company: Take him for the old Christ, and claim still kindness to him, and say, Oh it is so, He is not changed, but I am changed: Nay, it is a part of his unchangeable love, and an article of the new covenant to keep you that ye cannot dispon him, nor sell him: He hath not played fast and loose with us in the Covenant of Grace, so, that we may run from him at our pleasure: His love hath made the bargain surer then so; for Jesus, as the cautioner is bound for us, Heb, 7, 22. And it cannot stand with his honour to die in the burrows [as we use to say] and lose these whom he must render again to the father, when he shall give up the Kingdom to him: Consent and say Am… to the promises, and ye have sealed That God is tru… and Christ is yours: This is an easie market: Ye but look on with faith; for Christ suffered all and paid all. Madam, fearing I be tedious, to your La: I must stop here, desiring alwayes to hear that your La: is well, and that ye have still your face up the mountain. Pray for us, Madam, and for Zion whereof ye are apart: We expect a trial: God's wheat in this land must goe through Satan's sieve, but their faith shall not fail. I am still wrestling in our Lord's work, and have been tried and tempted with brethren who look awry to the Gospel. Now he that is able to keep you untill that day, preserve your soul, body & spirit, & present you before his face with his own Bride, spotless & blamless.
Anwoth. Nov. 26. 1631. Your La to be commanded alwayes in the Lord Iesus. S R.