MADAM, -- I would not omit the opportunity of remembering your Ladyship,
still harping upon that string, which in our whole lifetime is never
too often touched upon (nor is our lesson well enough learned), that
there is a necessity of advancing in the way to the kingdom of God, of
the contempt of the world, of denying ourself and bearing of our Lord's
cross, which is no less needful for us than daily food. And among many
marks that we are on this journey, and under sail toward heaven, this
is one, when the love of God so filleth our hearts, that we forget to
love, and care not much for the having, or wanting of, other things.
For this cause God's bairns take well with spoiling of their goods,
knowing in themselves that they have in heaven a better and an enduring
substance (Heb. 10.34). That day that the earth and the works therein
shall be burned with fire (II Pet. 3.10), your hidden hope and your
life shall appear. And therefore, since ye have not now many years to
your endless eternity, and know not how soon the sky above your head
will rive, and the Son of man will be seen in the clouds of heaven,
what better and wiser course can ye take, than to think that your one
foot is here, and your other foot in the life to come, and to leave off
loving, desiring, or grieving, for the wants that shall be made up when
your Lord and ye shall meet. Then shall ye rejoice 'with joy
unspeakable and full of glory -- and your joy shall no one take from
you.' It is enough that the Lord has promised you great things; only
let the time of bestowing them be His own. It is not for us to set an
hour-glass to the Creator of time. It will be; for God has said it,
bide His harvest. His day is better than your day; He putteth not the
hook in the corn, till it be ripe and full-eared. The great Angel of
the Covenant bear you company, till the trumpet shall sound, and the
voice of the archangel awaken the dead.
Ye shall find it your only happiness, under whatsoever thing
disturbeth and crosseth the peace of your mind in this life, to love
nothing for itself, but only God for Himself. Our love to Him should
not begin on earth as it shall be in heaven; for the bride taketh not,
by a thousand degrees, so much delight in her wedding garments as she
does in her bridegroom; so we, in the life to come, howbeit clothed
with glory as with a robe, shall not be so much affected with the glory
that goeth about us, as with the Bridegroom's joyful face and presence.
Madam, if ye can win to this here, the field is won.
Fearing to be tedious to you, I break off here, commending you (as I
trust to do while I live), your person, ways, burdens, and all that
concerneth you, to that Almighty who is able to bear you and your
burdens. I still remember you to Him who will cause you one day to
laugh.
ANWOTH, Jan. 14, 1632
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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.