MUCH HONORED SIR, -- Grace, mercy, and peace be to you. I am well.
Christ triumpheth in me, blessed be His name. I have all things. I
burden no man. I see that this earth and the fatness thereof is my
Father's. Sweet, sweet is the cross of my Lord. The blessing of God
upon the cross of my Lord Jesus! My enemies have contributed (beside
their design) to make me blessed. This is my palace, not my prison;
especially, when my Lord shineth and smileth upon His poor afflicted
and sold Joseph, who is separated from his brethren. But, oh, my
neglects! Oh, my unseen guiltiness! I imagined that a sufferer for
Christ kept the keys of Christ's treasure, and might take out his
heart-full of comforts when he pleased; but I see, a sufferer and a
witness shall be holden at the door, as well as another poor sinner,
and be glad to eat with the bairns, and to take the by-board.
Sir, lay the foundation thus, and ye shall not soon shrink, nor be
shaken. Make tight work at the bottom, and your ship shall ride against
all storms, if withal your anchor be fastened on good ground; I mean
within the vail. And verily I think this is all, to gain Christ. All
other things are shadows, dreams, fancies, and nothing.
Sir, remember my love to your mother. I pray for mercy and grace to
her; I wish her on-going toward heaven. As I promised to write, so show
her that I want nothing in my Lord's service. Christ will not be in
such a poor man's common as mine. Grace, grace be with you.
ABERDEEN, Sept. 22, 1637
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Rutherford was also known for his spiritual and devotional works, such as Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself and his Letters. Concerning his Letters, Charles Spurgeon wrote: "When we are dead and gone let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford's Letters to be the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men". Published versions of the Letters contain 365 letters and fit well with reading one per day.
Rutherford was a strong supporter of the divine right of Presbytery, the principle that the Bible calls for Presbyterian church government. Among his polemical works are Due Right of Presbyteries (1644), Lex, Rex (1644), and Free Disputation against Pretended Liberty of Conscience.
Samuel Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author. He was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.
Born in the village of Nisbet, Roxburghshire, Rutherford was educated at Edinburgh University, where he became in 1623 Regent of Humanity (Professor of Latin). In 1627 he was settled as minister of Anwoth in Galloway, from where he was banished to Aberdeen for nonconformity. His patron in Galloway was John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure. On the re-establishment of Presbytery in 1638 he was made Professor of Divinity at St. Andrews, and in 1651 Rector of St. Mary's College there. At the Restoration he was deprived of all his offices.
Rutherford's political book Lex, Rex (meaning "the law [and] the king" or "the law [is] king") presented a theory of limited government and constitutionalism. It was an explicit refutation of the doctrine of "Rex Lex" or "the king is the law." Rutherford was also known for his spiritual and devotional works, such as Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself and his Letters.