A Free Ransom Given for Sold Souls

A morsel of a letter by Samuel Rutherford. It was written to a friend, Alexander Gordon, who promoted and supported the Presbyterian cause in Scotland. No letters ever written by mortal man are so full of Christ as Rutherford's. Spurgeon thought them to be the nearest thing to inspiration than any writings of mere men. This letter is as always, full of Christ. It was written in 1637.

Sinners can do nothing but make wounds, that Christ may heal them; and make debts, that He may pay them, and make falls, that He may raise them; and make deaths, that He may quicken them; and spin out and dig hells for themselves, that he may ransom them. Now, I will bless the Lord that ever there was such a thing as the free grace of God, and a free ransom given for sold souls; only, alas! guiltiness maketh me ashamed to apply to Christ, and to think it pride in me to put out my unclean and withered hand to such a Saviour. But it is neither shame nor pride for a drowning man to swim to a rock, nor for a shipbroken soul to run himself ashore upon Christ.

Letters of Samuel Rutherford: With a Sketch of his Life and Biographical Notices of His Correspondents, by the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, first published in 1664, reprinted by the Banner of Truth Trust, 1984, Letter # CCXVII, pp. 425-26.

Opposition

A selection from a letter by John Broadus to his good friend and co-laborer in teaching, J. P. Boyce. Boyce was president of the Baptist seminary in Greenville, SC. He was responsible for raising funds for the relocation of the school to Louisville, KY. His task was difficult. He faced, in the words of Tom Nettles, "post-Civil War distress, Landmark contrariness, and institutional suspicion." These things made it difficult to secure sufficient financial interest in the school. At a particularly low point, Broadus wrote a letter to boost his low spirits. Eventually Boyce met with success but his endurance through the difficult days was helped by the encouragement of friends like Broadus. The letter was written March 4, 1873.

I do not wonder that you sometimes feel discouraged, painfully. The task is difficult, and the kind of opposition encountered is very depressing. But life is always a battle. My dear Fellow, nobody but you can do this thing. I believe you can do it, and it will be, all things considered, one of the great achievements of our time. To have carried it through will be a comfort and a pleasure to you through life, a matter of joy and pride to many who love and honor you, an occasion of thanksgiving through eternity. Opposition—every good thing encounters opposition. Think of Paul, of Jesus! Nay, Nay, no such words as fail. Somehow, somehow, you are bound to succeed.

James Petigru Boyce: A Southern Baptist Statesman, by Thomas J. Nettles, P & R Publishing, 2009, p. 255.

Sins That Have Always Attended Me

A portion of a letter from William Carey, missionary to India, to one of his dear friends and chief supporters in England, John Ryland. Jeremy Walker, pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley, England, posted this excerpt on his excellent blog, The Wanderer (http://eardstapa.wordpress.com/). In the letter Carey laments his weaknesses and sins. We would do well to examine our own lives for surely the same sins that plagued him are true of us.

I am convinced that some sins have always attended me, as if they made a part of my constitution; among these I reckon pride, or rather vanity,—an evil which I have detected frequently, but have never been free from to this day. Indolence in divine things is constitutional: few people can think what necessity I am constantly under of summoning all my resolution to engage in any thing which God has commanded. This makes me peculiarly unfit for the ministry, and much more so for the office of a missionary. I now doubt seriously, whether persons of such a constitution should be engaged in the Christian ministry. This, and what I am going to mention, fill me with continued guilt. A want of character and firmness has always predominated in me. I have not resolution enough to reprove sin, to introduce serious and evangelical conversation in carnal company, especially among the great, to whom I have sometimes access. I sometimes labor with myself long, and at last cannot prevail sufficiently to break silence; or, if I introduce a subject, want resolution to keep it up, if the company do not show a readiness thereto.

Memoir of William Carey D.D., by Eustace Carey, first published in 1836, pp. 37-38.

Flee From Idolatry

An extract from a letter by Ruth Bryan (1805-1860) to a woman she had become acquainted with and to whom she wrote letters to till her death. Her letters were most profitable to the recipient and to many others who have read them since. Miss Bryan always sounded an encouraging note to her correspondents. The encouraging note in this letter included a word about consecrating children to the Lord and not letting them become idols. The letter was written May, 1854.

The Lord bless you, and be not silent to you, and keep you from idols. May your children be kept in their proper place, blessed of the Lord, held in the Lord, and consecrated to the Lord. You will not wish to gain for them the admiration of the world, because you would shudder that they should hereafter be embraced by it, and embosomed in it. A mother in this vicinity lately lost a precious daughter of sixteen. As she stood over the coffin, she said, 'There lies my beautiful girl. Oh, I have been proud of her!' and, turning to a minister who stood beside, 'Do you think, sir, the Lord has taken her away on my account, because I was proud of her? I have been too proud of her.' I do not know the minister's reply, but that which we are to learn from the mother's deep anguish is very plain—'Flee from idolatry' [1 Cor. 10:14].

The Marvelous Riches of Savoring Christ: Letters of Ruth Bryan, with a Preface by the Rev. A. Moody Stuart, Reformation Heritage Books, 2005, p. 55.

Far Be It From Us To Repine

A portion of a letter from John Newton to his beloved wife, Mary. She was away carrying for her father. They were to be together again but the weather became a hindrance. He was disappointed that he would not see her when planned but bemoaned his lack of trust in the Lord more so. The letter was written from his home in Olney, England, January 7, 1776.

I suppose, if Self had his will, he would think his journey to you, of such importance, that no snow should have fallen to retard it, or make it inconvenient. Poor proud creature! What a presumptuous worm, to admit one thought against the appointment of the most High; instead of being duly thankful, that you and I, are safely sheltered, and well provided for, in this severe weather! What hardships are some person suffering this morning, while you, I hope, are sleeping peacefully in your bed, and I am sitting by a good fire. Far be it from us to repine, if in some things our inclinations are a little crossed. It is often, yea always, in mercy when they are. We have seen it so in many instances already, and shall hereafter see that it was so in all.

Letters to a Wife: Written in England from 1755 to 1785, by the author of Cardiphonia (a pen name for John Newton), vol. 2, London, 1793, pp. 192-93.

On Ill Terms with Myself

A selection from a letter by John Newton to his close friend, Rev. William Bull, who was pastor of a dissenting congregation about five miles from Olney. This letter was written in the cold of winter (January 27, 1778), when Newton said “cold predominates in my frostbound spirit.”

I have reason to be upon ill terms with myself. It is strange that pride should ever find any thing in my experience to feed upon; but this completes my character for folly, vileness, and inconsistence, that I am not only poor but proud; and, though I am convinced I am a very wretch, as nothing before the Lord, I am prone to go forth among my fellow-creatures as though I were wise and good.

Letters of John Newton: with Biographical Sketches and Notes, by Josiah Bull, reprinted by the Banner of Truth, p. 301.