(see152,165)
Dear Brother,- Grace , mercy and peace be to you. I rejoice that you cannot be ris of Christ (if I may say so), but that he must He will have you. Take yourself to Christ, my dear brother. It is a great business to be rid of the superfluous and of those things with which Christ cannot live. I am confident with my own cross, that Christ has made mine from eternity, because it is Christ’s and mine together.I an not surprised that winter is outside heaven, for there is no winter in it; all the saints therefore, have their own share of winter before their eternal summer. Oh for the long day and the high sun,and the fair garden, and the King’s Great City above the visible heavens.! Let us suffer what God lays on; for some have one cross, some seven, some ten, some half a cross. Yet all the saints have whole and full joy; and seven crosses have seven joys. Christ is cumbered with me (so to speak) and my cross; but He does not leave me; there is no disagreement. I find the very frowns of Christ’s wooing, a soul sweet and lovely. I would rather have chrit’s blows and love strokes, than another king’s kiss. Though some speak evil of Christ, I hope to die with love thoughts of Hm. Oh that there are so few tongues in heaven and earth to extol Him! I do not want His praises to decline among us. Do not let Christ be low and lightly esteemed among us: but let all hearts and all tongues take their share and contribute something to make Hm great in Mount Zion. So recommending you to His grace, and remembering my love to your wife, and mother and kind brother, R,B., and asking you to remember my imprisonment, I rest,
Yours in his sweet Lord Jesus, S.R.
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