Sun 23 Sep
Chris Roberts adult Sunday School on 'I believe in Jesus Christ.' Before Paul preached Ps 67 we had an infant and adult baptism, the latter an Afghan convert. Littles came for birthday and anniversary lunch but I was so tired I slept after and also at evening service time.
Mon 24 Sep
Pain in chest leg side again. GP says I am anaemic and orders tests.
Tu 25 Sep
Urology consultant at Central Middlesex says I am looking well in he lighter of him thinking I might die in he July operation.
Wed 26 Sep
Six of us a house group on Amos 7. Completed my Rutherford Revised 365 letters.
Th 27 Sep
Lunch with the Littles a Pillars he West London University Restaurant run by the catering students. Best value lunch in Ealing.
Fri 28 Sep
Tried the new Koz Ocabasi Turkish Restaurant a the end if our road. Very well patronised for a new venture. Enjoyable, especially the Raki. Rewrote our wills with a change of executor.
Sat 29 Sep
Great to see Japan beat Ireland.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Rutherford in Verse
LAST WORDS.
Mrs. A. R. Cousin, wife of Rev. W. Cousin, Free Church minister of Melrose, has woven into a delightful poem many of Samuel Rutherford’s most remarkable utterances. This piece has become almost a household hymn, known over all our country, and in America no less. It is entitled sometimes by its first line, “The sands of time are sinking,” and sometimes,“The Last Words of S. R.,” though it takes in many of his sayings, besides his deathbed words.
Mrs. A. R. Cousin, wife of Rev. W. Cousin, Free Church minister of Melrose, has woven into a delightful poem many of Samuel Rutherford’s most remarkable utterances. This piece has become almost a household hymn, known over all our country, and in America no less. It is entitled sometimes by its first line, “The sands of time are sinking,” and sometimes,“The Last Words of S. R.,” though it takes in many of his sayings, besides his deathbed words.
The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of Heaven breaks,
The summer morn I’ve sighed for,
The fair sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! well it is for ever,
Oh! well for evermore,
My nest hung in no forest
Of all this death-doom’d shore:
Yea, let the vain world vanish,
As from the ship the strand,
While glory—glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land,
There the Red Rose of Sharon
Unfolds its heartsome bloom,
And fills the air of Heaven
With ravishing perfume:—
Oh! to behold it blossom,
While by its fragrance fann’d,
Where glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land,
The dawn of Heaven breaks,
The summer morn I’ve sighed for,
The fair sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! well it is for ever,
Oh! well for evermore,
My nest hung in no forest
Of all this death-doom’d shore:
Yea, let the vain world vanish,
As from the ship the strand,
While glory—glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land,
There the Red Rose of Sharon
Unfolds its heartsome bloom,
And fills the air of Heaven
With ravishing perfume:—
Oh! to behold it blossom,
While by its fragrance fann’d,
Where glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land,
The King there in His beauty,
Without a veil, is seen:
It were a well-spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between.
The Lamb, with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! Christ He is the Fountain,
The deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted,
More deep I’ll drink above:
There, to an ocean fulness,
His mercy doth expand,
And glory—glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
E’en Anwoth was not heaven—
E’en preaching was not Christ;
And in my sea-beat prison
My Lord and I held tryst:
And aye my murkiest storm-cloud
Was by a rainbow spann’d,
Caught from the glory dwelling In Immanuel’s land.
But that He built a heaven
Of His surpassing love,
A little New Jerusalem,
Like to the one above,—
“Lord, take me o’er the water,”
Had been my loud demand,
“Take me to love’s own country,
Unto Immanuel’s land.”
But flowers need night’s cool darkness,
The moonlight and the dew;
So Christ, from one who loved it,
His shining oft withdrew;
And then for cause of absence,
My troubled soul I scann’d—
But glory, shadeless, shineth In Immanuel’s land.
The little birds of Anwoth
I used to count them blest,—
Now, beside happier altars
Without a veil, is seen:
It were a well-spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between.
The Lamb, with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! Christ He is the Fountain,
The deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted,
More deep I’ll drink above:
There, to an ocean fulness,
His mercy doth expand,
And glory—glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
E’en Anwoth was not heaven—
E’en preaching was not Christ;
And in my sea-beat prison
My Lord and I held tryst:
And aye my murkiest storm-cloud
Was by a rainbow spann’d,
Caught from the glory dwelling In Immanuel’s land.
But that He built a heaven
Of His surpassing love,
A little New Jerusalem,
Like to the one above,—
“Lord, take me o’er the water,”
Had been my loud demand,
“Take me to love’s own country,
Unto Immanuel’s land.”
But flowers need night’s cool darkness,
The moonlight and the dew;
So Christ, from one who loved it,
His shining oft withdrew;
And then for cause of absence,
My troubled soul I scann’d—
But glory, shadeless, shineth In Immanuel’s land.
The little birds of Anwoth
I used to count them blest,—
Now, beside happier altars
I go to build my nest:
O’er these there broods no silence,
No graves around them stand,
For glory, deathless, dwelleth
In Immmanuel’s land.
Fair Anwoth by the Solway,
To me thou still art dear!
E’en from the verge of Heaven
I drop for thee a tear.
Oh! if one soul from Anwoth
Meet me at God’s right hand,
My Heaven will be two Heavens,
In Immanuel’s land.
I have wrestled on towards Heaven,
’Gainst storm, and wind, and tide:—
Now, like a weary traveller,
That leaneth on his guide,
Amid the shades of evening,
While sinks life’s ling’ring sand,
I hail the glory dawning
From Immanuel’s land.
Deep waters cross’d life’s pathway,
The hedge of thorns was sharp;
Now these lie all behind me—
Oh! for a well-tuned harp!
Oh! to join Halleluiah
With yon triumphant band,
Who sing, where glory dwelleth, In Immanuel’s land.
With mercy and with judgment
My web of time He wove,
And aye the dews of sorrow
Were lustred with His love.
I’ll bless the hand that guided,
I’ll bless the heart that plann’d,
When throned where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
Soon shall the cup of glory
Wash down earth’s bitterest woes,
Soon shall the desert-briar
Break into Eden’s rose:
The curse shall change to blessing—
The name on earth that’s bann’d,
O’er these there broods no silence,
No graves around them stand,
For glory, deathless, dwelleth
In Immmanuel’s land.
Fair Anwoth by the Solway,
To me thou still art dear!
E’en from the verge of Heaven
I drop for thee a tear.
Oh! if one soul from Anwoth
Meet me at God’s right hand,
My Heaven will be two Heavens,
In Immanuel’s land.
I have wrestled on towards Heaven,
’Gainst storm, and wind, and tide:—
Now, like a weary traveller,
That leaneth on his guide,
Amid the shades of evening,
While sinks life’s ling’ring sand,
I hail the glory dawning
From Immanuel’s land.
Deep waters cross’d life’s pathway,
The hedge of thorns was sharp;
Now these lie all behind me—
Oh! for a well-tuned harp!
Oh! to join Halleluiah
With yon triumphant band,
Who sing, where glory dwelleth, In Immanuel’s land.
With mercy and with judgment
My web of time He wove,
And aye the dews of sorrow
Were lustred with His love.
I’ll bless the hand that guided,
I’ll bless the heart that plann’d,
When throned where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
Soon shall the cup of glory
Wash down earth’s bitterest woes,
Soon shall the desert-briar
Break into Eden’s rose:
The curse shall change to blessing—
The name on earth that’s bann’d,
Be graven on the white stone
In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! I am my Belovèd’s,
And my Beloved is mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner
Into His “House of wine.”
I stand upon His merit,
I know no other stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
I shall sleep sound in Jesus,
Fill’d with His likeness rise,
To live and to adore Him,
To see Him with these eyes.
’Tween me and resurrection
But Paradise doth stand;
Then—then for glory dwelling
In Immanuel’s land!
The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of Grace—
Not at the crown He gifteth,
But on His piercèd hand:
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.
I have borne scorn and hatred,
I have borne wrong and shame,
Earth’s proud ones have reproach’d me,
For Christ’s thrice blessed name:—
Where God His seal set fairest
They’ve stamp’d their foulest brand;
But judgment shines like noonday
In Immanuel’s land.
They’ve summoned me before them,
But there I may not come,—
My Lord says, “Come up hither,”
My Lord says, “Welcome Home!”
My kingly King, at His white throne,
My presence doth command,
Where glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land.
I have asked this be sung a my funeral - as many verses as they can manage!
In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! I am my Belovèd’s,
And my Beloved is mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner
Into His “House of wine.”
I stand upon His merit,
I know no other stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
I shall sleep sound in Jesus,
Fill’d with His likeness rise,
To live and to adore Him,
To see Him with these eyes.
’Tween me and resurrection
But Paradise doth stand;
Then—then for glory dwelling
In Immanuel’s land!
The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of Grace—
Not at the crown He gifteth,
But on His piercèd hand:
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.
I have borne scorn and hatred,
I have borne wrong and shame,
Earth’s proud ones have reproach’d me,
For Christ’s thrice blessed name:—
Where God His seal set fairest
They’ve stamp’d their foulest brand;
But judgment shines like noonday
In Immanuel’s land.
They’ve summoned me before them,
But there I may not come,—
My Lord says, “Come up hither,”
My Lord says, “Welcome Home!”
My kingly King, at His white throne,
My presence doth command,
Where glory—glory dwelleth In Immanuel’s land.
I have asked this be sung a my funeral - as many verses as they can manage!
Rutherford Revised (365)
365. To Mr. John Murray, Minister of Methven From St. Andrews
Reverend and Dear Brother,—If I rightly apprehend our condi- tion, we are in a way of declining. We were, within these few years, more in the conscionable use of means, and the Lord did shine upon us in some measure; and now we are fallen from that which we were. It is judged fit by some (and many of our solidest professors) that if we cannot have them in congregations, yet families and private persons may have days of humiliation, at least the last Wednesday of every month or thereabout, according to the best conveniency of Providence. And if this were gone about in your country, and in Stirlingshire, Fife, in Merse, Teviotdale, the West, in Nithsdale and Galloway, and other places, it would prove our strength and help; for we are few and very low. Our enemies are not idle; and there is a faintness and heartless discouragement on the spirits of many. These are to ask that you would combine with Mr. Robert Campbell,Mr. John Cruickshanks, and other of our brethren in your area, to stir up one another that we may wrestle with the Lord for the remnant. I am confident the Lord will yet be inquired of us for this. Though the same particular day be not observed, yet, where many are on work, some salvation from the Lord’s arm is to be expected. I am decaying most sensibly, and I should look on it as a mercy if the Lord would send a wakening among His own. And blessed shall he be who shall blow the trumpet to cause other sleeping ones awake, and shall help to build the wastes, and the fallen tent of David. I shall earnestly desire you do bestir yourself in his.I shall write to J——, and to others here, and do the best I can to give you a convenient account; for nothing is left to us but that.
So remembering me to your wife, and expecting your help, I rest, Your own brother, S. R.
Mr. Robert Anderson is most eagerly desired for by the parishioners of Leuchars, and as strenuously opposed by our brethren here.
Mr. Robert Anderson is most eagerly desired for by the parishioners of Leuchars, and as strenuously opposed by our brethren here.
Rutherford Revised (364)
364. To (Brethren in) Aberdeen From St. Andrews
Reverend and Dearly Beloved in the Lord,—Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
There were some who rendered thanks, with knees bowed to Him “of whom is named the whole family in heaven and earth,” when they heard of “your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus;” and rejoiced not a little, that where Christ was scarce named, in flavour and power of the Gospel, even in Aberdeen, there Christ has a few names precious to Him, who will walk with Him in white. We looked on it (He knows whom we desire to serve in our spirit in the Gospel of His Son) as a part of the fulfilling of that, “The wilderness and solitary place will be glad for them; and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isa. 35:1). But now it is more grievous to us than a thousand deaths, when we hear that you are shaken, and so soon removed from that which you once acknowledged to be the way of God. Dearly beloved, the sheep follow Christ, who calls them by name: a stranger they will not follow, but they fly from him, for they do no know the voice of a stranger. You know the way, by which you were sealed to the day of redemption; and you received the Spirit, by the hearing of faith. Do not part from that way, unless you see there is no rest for your souls in it. Neither listen to them that say, “Many were converted under episcopal as well as under presbyterial government, and yet the godly gave testimony against bishops;” for the instruments of conversion loathed Episcopacy, with the ceremonies of it, and never sealed it with their sufferings. We shall desire instances of any engaged by oaths, and sufferings of the faithful messengers of God, and the manifestations of the Lord’s presence, in the way you now forsake, who yet turned from it, and went one step toward sinful separation (and did it in that way you now aim at), and did yet flourish and grow in grace. But we can bring proofs of many who left it, and went further on to abominable ways of error. And you do not have it in your power where you shall lodge at night, having once left the way of God. And many, we know, lost peace and communion with God, and fell into a condition of withering, and not being able to find their lovers, were forced to return to their first Husband. We shall beg you, consider what a stumbling it is to malignant opposers of the way and cause of God (who with their ears heard you, and with their eyes saw you, so strenuously take part with the godly in their sufferings, and profess yourselves for religion, truth, doctrine, government of the house of God, His Covenant and cause), if now you build again what you once destroyed, and destroy what you built. And will you not make yourselves, by so doing, transgressors? How will it wound the hearts of the godly, stain the profession, darken the glory of the Gospel, shake the faith of many, weaken the hands of all, if you (and you first of all in this kingdom) will stretch out the hand to demolish the walls of our Jerusalem, by reason of which the Lord made her “terrible as an army with banners!” For when kings came, and saw the palaces and walls of it, they marvelled and were troubled, and sped away; fear took hold on them there, and pain as of a woman in labour. And we will be grieved, if you should be heirs to the guiltiness of breaking down the same hedge of the vineyard, for the which the sad indignation of God follows this day the Royal Family, many Nobles, houses great and fair, and all the Bishops' party in these three kingdoms. And when your dear brethren are weak and fainting, will we believe that you will leave us, and be divided from this so blessed a union? The Lord Jesus Christ, we trust, will walk in the middle of the golden candlesticks, and be with us, if you will be gone from us. Beloved in the Lord, we cannot but be persuaded better things of you; and we will not conceal from you that we are ignorant what to answer when we are reproved, on your behalf, in regard that your change to another gospel-way (which the Lord stop!) is so much the more scandalous, that the sudden alteration (unknown to us before) now overtakes you when men come among you against whom the furrows of the fields of Scotland do complain. Do not forget , dear brethren, that Christ has now the fan in His hand, and this is also the day of the Lord, that will burn as an oven; and that Christ now sitts as a refiner of silver, purifying the sons of Levi, and purging them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness; and those that keep the word of His (not their own) patience shall be delivered from the hour of temptation, that will come on all the earth to try them.
There were some who rendered thanks, with knees bowed to Him “of whom is named the whole family in heaven and earth,” when they heard of “your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus;” and rejoiced not a little, that where Christ was scarce named, in flavour and power of the Gospel, even in Aberdeen, there Christ has a few names precious to Him, who will walk with Him in white. We looked on it (He knows whom we desire to serve in our spirit in the Gospel of His Son) as a part of the fulfilling of that, “The wilderness and solitary place will be glad for them; and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isa. 35:1). But now it is more grievous to us than a thousand deaths, when we hear that you are shaken, and so soon removed from that which you once acknowledged to be the way of God. Dearly beloved, the sheep follow Christ, who calls them by name: a stranger they will not follow, but they fly from him, for they do no know the voice of a stranger. You know the way, by which you were sealed to the day of redemption; and you received the Spirit, by the hearing of faith. Do not part from that way, unless you see there is no rest for your souls in it. Neither listen to them that say, “Many were converted under episcopal as well as under presbyterial government, and yet the godly gave testimony against bishops;” for the instruments of conversion loathed Episcopacy, with the ceremonies of it, and never sealed it with their sufferings. We shall desire instances of any engaged by oaths, and sufferings of the faithful messengers of God, and the manifestations of the Lord’s presence, in the way you now forsake, who yet turned from it, and went one step toward sinful separation (and did it in that way you now aim at), and did yet flourish and grow in grace. But we can bring proofs of many who left it, and went further on to abominable ways of error. And you do not have it in your power where you shall lodge at night, having once left the way of God. And many, we know, lost peace and communion with God, and fell into a condition of withering, and not being able to find their lovers, were forced to return to their first Husband. We shall beg you, consider what a stumbling it is to malignant opposers of the way and cause of God (who with their ears heard you, and with their eyes saw you, so strenuously take part with the godly in their sufferings, and profess yourselves for religion, truth, doctrine, government of the house of God, His Covenant and cause), if now you build again what you once destroyed, and destroy what you built. And will you not make yourselves, by so doing, transgressors? How will it wound the hearts of the godly, stain the profession, darken the glory of the Gospel, shake the faith of many, weaken the hands of all, if you (and you first of all in this kingdom) will stretch out the hand to demolish the walls of our Jerusalem, by reason of which the Lord made her “terrible as an army with banners!” For when kings came, and saw the palaces and walls of it, they marvelled and were troubled, and sped away; fear took hold on them there, and pain as of a woman in labour. And we will be grieved, if you should be heirs to the guiltiness of breaking down the same hedge of the vineyard, for the which the sad indignation of God follows this day the Royal Family, many Nobles, houses great and fair, and all the Bishops' party in these three kingdoms. And when your dear brethren are weak and fainting, will we believe that you will leave us, and be divided from this so blessed a union? The Lord Jesus Christ, we trust, will walk in the middle of the golden candlesticks, and be with us, if you will be gone from us. Beloved in the Lord, we cannot but be persuaded better things of you; and we will not conceal from you that we are ignorant what to answer when we are reproved, on your behalf, in regard that your change to another gospel-way (which the Lord stop!) is so much the more scandalous, that the sudden alteration (unknown to us before) now overtakes you when men come among you against whom the furrows of the fields of Scotland do complain. Do not forget , dear brethren, that Christ has now the fan in His hand, and this is also the day of the Lord, that will burn as an oven; and that Christ now sitts as a refiner of silver, purifying the sons of Levi, and purging them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness; and those that keep the word of His (not their own) patience shall be delivered from the hour of temptation, that will come on all the earth to try them.
If you exclude all non-converts from the visible city of God (in which, daily, multitudes in Scotland, in all the four quarters of the land, above whatever our fathers saw, throng into Christ), will they not be left to the lions and wild beasts of the forest, even to Jesuits, seminary-priests, and other seducers? For the magistrate has no power to compel them to hear the Gospel, nor do you have any church-power over them, as you teach; and they do not bring love to the Gospel and to Christ out of the womb with them; and so they must be left to embrace what religion is most suitable to corrupt nature. Nor can it be a way approved by the Lord in Scripture, to excommunicate from the visible church (which is the office-house of the free grace of Christ, and His draw-net) all the crowds of non- converts, baptized, and visibly within the covenant of grace, which are in Great Britain, and all the reformed churches; and so to shut the gates of the Lord’s gracious calling upon all these (because they are not, in your judgment, chosen to salvation), when once you are within yourselves. For how can the Lord call Egypt His people, and Assyria the work of His hands, and all the Gentiles (who for numbers are as the flocks of Kedar, and the abundance of the sea) the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, if you number infants (as many do), and all such as your charity cannot judge converts (as others do) among heathens and pagans, who have not a visible claim and interest in Christ? The candlestick is not yours, nor the house; but Christ fixs and removes the one, and builds or throws down the other, according to His sovereignty. We in humility judge ourselves, though the chief of sinners, the sons of Zion and of the seed of Christ; if you part from us, and carry from here the candlestick, let our Father be judge, and show us why the Lord has called you to come out from among us. We look upon this visible church, though black and spotted, as the hospital and guest-house of sick, halt, injured, and withered, over which Christ is Lord, Doctor, and Master: and we would wait on those that are not yet in Christ, as our Lord waited on us and you both. We, therefore, your brethren, children of one Father, cannot but with tears and exceeding sorrow of heart earnestly entreat, beseech, and swear you, by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, by His sufferings and precious ransom which He paid for us both, by the consolations of His Spirit, by your appearance before the dreadful tribunal of our Lord Jesus, yes, and charge you before God and the same Lord Jesus, “who shall judge the living and the dead, at His appearing, and His kingdom;” do not break the spirits and hearts of those to whom you are as dear as their own soul. Do not leave the assemblies of the people of God; let us not divide.
Not a few of the people of God in this shire of Fife (in whose name I now write) dare say, if you leave, that you will leave Christ behind you with us, and the golden candlesticks; and shut yourselves, we much fear, out of the hearts and prayers of thousands dear to Jesus Christ in Scotland. Therefore, before ye fix judgment and practice on any untrodden path, let a day of humiliation be agreed upon by us all, and our Father’s mind and will inquired, through our one common Saviour. And let us see one another’s faces at best conveniency, and plead the interest of Christ, and be comforted; and not be stumbled at your ways.
So expecting your answer, we shall pray that the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, may make you perfect in every work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. And I shall remain,
Your affectionate brother in the Lord, S. R.
So expecting your answer, we shall pray that the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, may make you perfect in every work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. And I shall remain,
Your affectionate brother in the Lord, S. R.
Rutherford Revised (363)
363. To Mr. Robert Campbell
[Mr. Robert Campbell was minister of a parish in the Presbytery of Dunkeld. He was a Protester, and after the restoration of Charles II. was ejected for nonconformity to Bishops. Rutherford died on the 20th of March 1661, shortly after this letter was written.]
Reverend and Dear Brother,—You know that this is a time in which all men almost seek their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ. You are alone, as a beacon on the top of a mountain; but do not faint : Christ is a numerous crowd Himself, yes, millions. Though all the nations were convened against Him round about, yet do not doubt He will, at last, arise for the cry of the poor and needy.
Reverend and Dear Brother,—You know that this is a time in which all men almost seek their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ. You are alone, as a beacon on the top of a mountain; but do not faint : Christ is a numerous crowd Himself, yes, millions. Though all the nations were convened against Him round about, yet do not doubt He will, at last, arise for the cry of the poor and needy.
For me, I am now near to eternity; and, for ten thousand worlds I dare not venture to pass from the protestation against the corruptions of the time, nor go along with the shameless apostasy of the many silent and dumb watchmen of Scotland. But I think it my last duty to enter a protest in heaven, before the righteous Judge, against the practical and legal breach of Covenant, and all oaths imposed on the consciences of the Lord’s people, and all popish, superstitious, and idolatrous mandates of men. Know that the overthrow of the sworn Reformation, the introducing of Popery and the mystery of iniquity, is now set on foot in the three kingdoms; and whosoever would keep their clothes clean are under that command, “Touch not, taste not, handle not.”
The Lord calls you, dear brother, to be still “steadfast, unmoveable, and abounding in the work of the Lord.” Our royal kingly Master is upon His journey, and will come, and will not delayy; and blessed is the servant who will be found watching when He comes. Do not fear men, for the Lord is your light and salvation. It is true, it is somewhat sad and comfortless that you are alone; but so it was with our precious Master: nor are you alone, for the Father is with you. It is possible that I shall not be an eyewitness to it in the flesh, but I believe He comes quickly who will remove our darkness, and shine gloriously in the Isle of Britain, as a crowned King, either in a formally sworn covenant, or in His own glorious way; which I leave to the determination of His infinite wisdom and goodness. And this is the hope and confidence of a dying man, who is longing and fainting for the salvation of God.
Beware of the ensnaring ties and obligations, by any handwriting or otherwise, to give unlimited obedience to any authority, but only in the Lord. For all innocent self-defence (which is according to the Covenant, the Word of God, and the laudable example of the reformed churches) is now intended to be utterly subverted and condemned: and what is taken from Christ, as the flower of His prerogative-royal, is now put upon the head of a mortal power; which must be that great idol of indignation that provokes the eyes of His glory. Dear brother, let us mind the rich promises that are made to those that overcome, knowing that those that endure to the end shall be saved.
The Lord calls you, dear brother, to be still “steadfast, unmoveable, and abounding in the work of the Lord.” Our royal kingly Master is upon His journey, and will come, and will not delayy; and blessed is the servant who will be found watching when He comes. Do not fear men, for the Lord is your light and salvation. It is true, it is somewhat sad and comfortless that you are alone; but so it was with our precious Master: nor are you alone, for the Father is with you. It is possible that I shall not be an eyewitness to it in the flesh, but I believe He comes quickly who will remove our darkness, and shine gloriously in the Isle of Britain, as a crowned King, either in a formally sworn covenant, or in His own glorious way; which I leave to the determination of His infinite wisdom and goodness. And this is the hope and confidence of a dying man, who is longing and fainting for the salvation of God.
Beware of the ensnaring ties and obligations, by any handwriting or otherwise, to give unlimited obedience to any authority, but only in the Lord. For all innocent self-defence (which is according to the Covenant, the Word of God, and the laudable example of the reformed churches) is now intended to be utterly subverted and condemned: and what is taken from Christ, as the flower of His prerogative-royal, is now put upon the head of a mortal power; which must be that great idol of indignation that provokes the eyes of His glory. Dear brother, let us mind the rich promises that are made to those that overcome, knowing that those that endure to the end shall be saved.
Thus recommending you to the rich grace of God, I remain,
Your affectionate brother in Christ, S.R.
Rutherford Revised (362)
362. For my Reverend and dear Brother, Chris's soldier in bonds, Mr. James Guthrie, Minister of he Gospel at Stirling From St. Andrew 15 Feb 1661
Dear Brother,—We are very often comforted with the word of promise; though we stumble not a little at the work of holy providence, some earthly men flourishing as a green herb, and the people of God counted as sheep for the slaughter, and killed all the day long. And yet both word of promise, and work of providence, are from Him whose ways are equal, straight, holy, and spotless.
As for me, when I think of God’s dispensations, He might justly have brought to the market-cross, and to the light, my unseen and secret abominations; which would have been no small reproach to the holy name and precious truths of Christ. But in mercy He has covered these, and shaped and carved out more honourable causes of suffering, of which we are unworthy.
And now, dear brother, much depends upon the way and manner of suffering, especially that His precious truths be owned with all heavenly boldness, and a reason of our hope given in meekness and fear; and the royal crown, and absolute supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of the kings of the earth, affirmed as is becoming. For certain it is that Christ will reign, the Father’s King in Mount Zion, and His sworn covenant will not be buried. It is not denied that our practical breach of covenant first, and then, our legal breach of it by enacting the same mischief and framing it into a law, may heavily provoke our sweetest Lord. Yet there are a few names in the land that have not defiled their clothess, and holy chidden on whom the Lord will have mercy, like the four or five olive- berries on the top of the shaken olive-tree (Isa. xvii. 6): and their eye will be toward the Lord their Maker. Do not think it that men plot against you; whether it be to exile, the earth is the Lord’s; or perpetual imprisonment, the Lord is your light and liberty; or a violent and public death,for the kingdom of heaven consists of a fair company of glorified martyrs and witnesses; of whom Jesus Christ is the chief witness, who for that cause was born, and came into the world. You are happy if you give testimony to the world of your preferring Jesus Christ to all powers. And the Lord will make the innocency and Christian loyalty of His defamed and despised witnesses in this land to shine to after-generations, and will take The Man-Child up to God and to His throne, and prepare a hiding- place in the wilderness for the mother, and cause the earth to help the Woman. Do not be terrified; do no fret. Forgive your enemies; bless, and do not curse; for, though both you and I should be silent, sad and heavy is the judgment and indignation of the Lord, that is on the unfaithful watchmen of the Church of Scotland. The souls under the altar are crying for justice, and there is an answer returned already. The Lord’s salvation will not delay.
As for me, when I think of God’s dispensations, He might justly have brought to the market-cross, and to the light, my unseen and secret abominations; which would have been no small reproach to the holy name and precious truths of Christ. But in mercy He has covered these, and shaped and carved out more honourable causes of suffering, of which we are unworthy.
And now, dear brother, much depends upon the way and manner of suffering, especially that His precious truths be owned with all heavenly boldness, and a reason of our hope given in meekness and fear; and the royal crown, and absolute supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of the kings of the earth, affirmed as is becoming. For certain it is that Christ will reign, the Father’s King in Mount Zion, and His sworn covenant will not be buried. It is not denied that our practical breach of covenant first, and then, our legal breach of it by enacting the same mischief and framing it into a law, may heavily provoke our sweetest Lord. Yet there are a few names in the land that have not defiled their clothess, and holy chidden on whom the Lord will have mercy, like the four or five olive- berries on the top of the shaken olive-tree (Isa. xvii. 6): and their eye will be toward the Lord their Maker. Do not think it that men plot against you; whether it be to exile, the earth is the Lord’s; or perpetual imprisonment, the Lord is your light and liberty; or a violent and public death,for the kingdom of heaven consists of a fair company of glorified martyrs and witnesses; of whom Jesus Christ is the chief witness, who for that cause was born, and came into the world. You are happy if you give testimony to the world of your preferring Jesus Christ to all powers. And the Lord will make the innocency and Christian loyalty of His defamed and despised witnesses in this land to shine to after-generations, and will take The Man-Child up to God and to His throne, and prepare a hiding- place in the wilderness for the mother, and cause the earth to help the Woman. Do not be terrified; do no fret. Forgive your enemies; bless, and do not curse; for, though both you and I should be silent, sad and heavy is the judgment and indignation of the Lord, that is on the unfaithful watchmen of the Church of Scotland. The souls under the altar are crying for justice, and there is an answer returned already. The Lord’s salvation will not delay.
Put the burden of wife and children on the Lord Christ; He cares for you and them. Your blood is precious in His sight. The everlasting consolations of the Lord bear you up and give you hope; for your salvation (if not deliverance) is concluded.
Your own brother, S. R.
Your own brother, S. R.
Rutherford's Correspondents (20)James Guthrie
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Guthrie, the eldest son of the laird of Guthrie, Forfarshire, was born about 1612. He was educated at St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, where he graduated with an MA, and became one of the regents, distinguished for his lectures on philosophy.
At this time Guthrie was an episcopalian, and is said to have been zealous for prelacy and the ceremonies. Yet on 16 December 1638 the strongly antiprelatic assembly at Glasgow put him in the list of those ready for ecclesiastical vacancies. In January 1639 Samuel Rutherford was made divinity professor at the University of St Andrews, and under his influence Guthrie became a Presbyterian.
In 1642 he was ordained minister of Lauder, Berwickshire, and soon distinguished himself in the cause of the National Covenant. He was a member of the General Assembly from 1644 to 1651; in the first year he received (15 May) £15 towards the expenses of his attendance from the Kirk session of Stow, Midlothian. In 1646 he was one of seven commissioners appointed by the Committee of Estates to wait on Charles I at Newcastle-on-Tyne with a letter from the general assembly whose purport was, according to Kilpatrick, to press on Charles Presbyterianism and the Solemn League and Covenant.He preached before the Scottish Parliament on 10 January 1649, and on 16 January before the parliamentary commission for the visitation of the University of St. Andrews. Next month a movement was made for his removal to Edinburgh. He preached on 13 July before the parliamentary commission for the visitation of the University of Edinburgh. In November he was translated to the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling where he remained for ten years.
The origin of the dispute goes back to the year 1647, when, after difficult and intricate negotiations, Charles was delivered up to the English Parliament, and after an attempt to escape from Hampton Courtwas taken and committed as a prisoner to Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight. While there, a secret treaty was framed between him and representatives from Scotland, in which he agreed under certain conditions to accept the Solemn League and Covenant, and to establish Presbyterianism for three years in England. This treaty, known as the "Engagement," though approved by the Scottish Parliament, was rejected and condemned by the Commission of Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which instructed every minister to preach against it, and to use his utmost influence to prevent the Marquis of Hamilton's expedition for the relief of the King from proving successful. The defeat of his army at Preston, while it extinguished the hopes of his party, widened the breach which had now been made in the once united ranks of the Covenanters. Two parties were formed, which regarded one another with unconcealed hostility: the Engagers, so called from the Engagement which Hamilton had made with the King; and the Remonstrants or strict Covenanters who were under the leadership of Warriston and Argyll. James Guthrie wanted the full force of the Covenants in national life in all parts of the kingdoms and opposed the Engagement and supporting the army which backed it; he became a Remonstrator.
This breach was still further widened by an Act of the Scottish Parliament, known as the Act of Classes, which was passed on 23 January 1649, a week before Charles was beheaded. According to the act, the various ranks of Malignants or Engagers were declared incapable of holding any office of public trust or employment, whether in Church or in State. The first result of this Act was to throw the management of public affairs into the hands of those who were afterwards defeated by Cromwell at Dunbar in September 1650. Following Dunbar there was some soul-searching to determine what had gone wrong. This led to the Western Remonstrance which was read before the government on 22 October 1650 at Stirling.[15] The Remonstrance was also considered by the Commission of Assembly starting on 25 November 1650.[ Essentially God was considered to have withdrawn his favour due to Achan-like sin at a personal and a national level. They did not shy away from listing even the king's sins. The proposed remedy was repentance and purification.
Others took a different view and blamed the defeat at Dunbar on the purging of some 5000 able men from the army and therefore wanted the conditions for entry into the army relaxed. On 14 December 1650, the Commission of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at Perth replied to a question from the government as to who would be allowed to fight in the army Following this reply the Parliament on 23 December 1650 passed its "Act of Levy" which in a contra-Gideon-like manner, expanded the list of those who would be allowed to fight.
By and by, when the Engagers returned to power, the Act of Classes was repealed, and a new army was levied which, to a large extent, was officered and filled by men who were regarded as unfaithful to the Covenant. In favour of this proceeding, however, the Church, forsaking the higher sphere, issued certain Resolutions, which were strenuously protested against by a large and influential minority. Such was the origin of the controversy between the Resolutioners and Protesters, which raged with unabated animosity for many years.
Those in favour of the loosening of the conditions for fighting were known as Resolutioners, a name derived from their approval of the resolutions of Commission and Parliament for the levy of 23rd December
The Church of Scotland was now unhappily split into two contending sections. Old friends who had fought side by side in earlier days became opponents, and there was much bitterness and occasionally misrepresentations, due in some cases to misunderstandings, exaggerated reports or false rumours. Of the Resolutioners, Robert Douglas was, by head and shoulders, the acknowledged leader. His ministerial supporters included David Dickson, Robert Baillie, and James Wood. Among the Protesters the most outstanding ministers were James Guthrie, Samuel Rutherfurd, Andrew Cant, Patrick Gillespie, and John Livingstone; and, of the elders, Wariston and Sir John Cheisly; the two most strenuous fighters being Guthrie and WaristonSamuel Rutherford is known to have stayed with Guthrie in Stirling
From the first, Guthrie ranged himself amongst the Protesters, and, indeed, was generally regarded as one of their principal leaders. By this time he had been translated to Stirling, where he had, as his colleague, Mr. Bennett, a man of kindred spirit, with whom, on the questions of the day, he was generally in agreement. Hew Scott's later edition says Guthrie came to Stirling around November 1650 although Kilpatrick discusses 1649.Not satisfied with expressing in a letter to the Commission of Assembly their dissatisfaction with the aforesaid Resolutions, they continued to preach against them and to denounce them as involving the nation in sin. For this they were cited to appear before the Committee of Estates at Perth, where Charles II was now holding his Court, and, having done so, they refused to acknowledge the King's right to interfere with them in the discharge of their ministerial functions.
- "This our protestation' they said, "we make, not from any disrespect to the King's Majesty or your Lordships' authority, nor from any purpose to decline or disobey the same in anything civil, but from the tender regard which we have and owe unto the liberties and privileges of the Church of Jesus Christ, which both the King's Majesty and your Lordships and we are in so solemn a way bound to maintain and preserve inviolable."[
In 1650 Guthrie treated General John Middleton with a high-handedness which sealed his own fate. Middleton, who joined Charles II immediately on his landing on 23 June, took the lead in a project for a royalist army in the north. On 17 October Guthrie, by the "Western Remonstrance", withdrew from the royalist cause; on 14 December he sent a letter to the general assembly at Perth denouncing Middleton as an enemy of the Covenant, and proposing his excommunication.Guthrie was appointed to pronounce the sentence next Sunday, and, despite a letter from the assembly bidding him delay the act, carried out the original order. At the next meeting of the commission (2 January 1651) Middleton was loosed from the sentence after public penance. He never forgave the affront.
The same meeting of commission which ordered Middleton's excommunication had passed a unanimous resolution authorising the acceptance of the military services of all but "obstinate" enemies of the covenant. Guthrie and his colleague, David Bennett, preached against this resolution. Summoned (19 February and 28 February) to Perth by the Committee of Estates to answer to the king for their conduct, they appeared, but, while acknowledging the king's civil authority, protested against his ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and declined to submit to what they called "a heighe prowoking the eiyes of the Lord's glorie". The attack on the resolution was led at the next meeting of the General Assembly at St. Andrews (16 July) by John Menzies, divinity professor in the Marischal College, Aberdeen, Guthrie strongly supported him. The assembly met by adjournment at Dundee (22 July), when a protestation against the action of the commission was read, those who had signed it absenting themselves, as from an unlawful assembly. The church was now divided into "resolutioners" and "protesters". Guthrie and two others were deposed by the assembly on 30 July; but for the alarm of Oliver Cromwell's approach, which dispersed the assembly, other "protesters" would have been similarly dealt with. A rupture took place in nearly every presbytery; the "protesters" met by themselves, and held their own synod in Edinburgh. They even turned for protection to Cromwell. On 8 August 1654 Guthrie was appointed by the English Privy Council one of the 'triers' and a visitor for the universities.
A conference between "resolutioners" and "protesters" at Edinburgh was rendered abortive by the attitude of Guthrie and Warriston. At a riot in Stirling on the election (1656) of a successor to Bennett, Guthrie was attacked with stones by "resolutioners". Kirk Session records from the time still survive.[30] Both parties appealed to Cromwell in London in 1656. The champion of the "resolutioners" was James Sharp, afterwards archbishop, whose arguments led Cromwell to refuse the plea of the "protesters" for a commission in their favour. Cromwell assured the "protesters" that he was "for monarchical government, and that in the person of the king"; yet there is no doubt that Guthrie's insistence on the king's rights injured his chances. The cause of the "protesters" was further weakened by the defection of some of them (including Menzies) to independency, a development which increased Guthrie's opposition to Cromwell's government.[28]
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The Restoration rendered the prospects of the "protesters" hopeless. Guthrie and nine others met in Edinburgh (23 August 1660) and drew up a "humble petition" to the king setting forth their loyalty, and reminding him of his obligations as a covenanter. The meeting was ordered to disperse, and as the warning was unheeded arrests were made. Guthrie was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. On 25 September his stipend was sequestrated. He was transferred to Dundee on 20 October, and thence to Stirling, where he remained till his trial. On 20 February 1661 he was arraigned for high treason before the parliament, Middleton presiding as commissioner. The indictment had six counts.
The charges against Guthrie were six in number: (1) His contriving, consenting to, and exhibiting before the Committee of Estates the paper called The Western Remonstrance. (2) His contriving, writing, and publishing the abominable pamphlet called "The Causes of God's wrath." (3) His contriving, writing and subscribing the paper called "The Humble Petition," of the 23 of August last, when he was apprehended. (4) His convocating of the King's lieges at several times, without warrant or authority, to the disturbance of the peace of the State and of the Church. (5) His refusal, by appeal and protest presented at Perth, to acknowledge the King as judge in certain matters. (6) Some treasonable expressions alleged to have been used by him in a meeting, in 1650 or 1651.
On February 20, 1651, his indictment being read, Guthrie delivered an excellent speech, which may be found in Wodrow's HistoryExpressing the hope that the Lord Commissioner (Middleton, who was known to have a grudge against him) would "patiently and without interruption" hear him, he reminded his judges that the law of God, referred to in the indictment, is the supreme law, not only of religion, but also of righteousness, and that all laws and Acts of Parliament are to be understood and expounded in the light of our solemn vows and covenants.
The contriving of the "western remonstrance" and the rejection of the king's ecclesiastical authority were, from a legal point of view, the most formidable charges. In the preparation of his defence he surprised his counsel by the accuracy of his knowledge of Scots law. The trial was not concluded until 11 April. Guthrie's closing appeal made a strong impression. Several members withdrew; but only Tweeddale spoke in his favour, proposing banishment in place of the extreme penalty. On 28 May parliament ordered him to be hanged at the cross of Edinburgh on 1 June, in company with William Govan, an obscure deserter. Guthrie's farewell letter (1 June 1661) to his wife shows great strength of character. At eleven o'clock the same day he signed a paper to dispose of the rumour that he was willing to retract. At dinner he called for cheese, saying his physicians had forbidden it, but he was beyond the need of such precautions. He spoke at the scaffold for about an hour, leaving a copy of his speech to be given to his son when he came of age. He is also reported to have left his ring with his niece. Opportunities of escape, he said, he had rejected, as flight might be taken as an admission of guilt. At the last moment he "raised the napkin from his eyes", and lifted up his voice for the covenants. His head was fixed on the Nether Bow port
- The legend runs that, a few weeks later, drops of blood fell from it on to Middleton's coach, making a new cover necessary, as "all the art of man could not wash out" the indelible stains. In 1688 Alexander Hamilton, a divinity student (died 29 January 1738, minister of Stirling), removed the head and buried it. The headless trunk was laid out by "ladies of quality", who dipped their handkerchiefs in the blood, George Stirling pouring "a phial of fragrant ointment" on the corpse; it was interred in the aisle of St. Giles' Church.
Guthrie's age at death was "about 49". He is celebrated as one of the first of the martyrs of the covenant, James Renwick being one of the last. The two are thus commemorated in the inscription upon the ‘martyrs' monument’ in the Greyfriars' churchyard, Edinburgh, the Westminster Abbey of Scotland:
- But as for them, no cause was to be found
- Worthy of death but only they were found,
- Constant and steadfast, zealous witnessing
- For the Prerogatives of CHRIST their KING
- Which Truths were seal'd by famous Guthrie's head,
- And all along to Mr. Renwick's blood,
- They did endure the wrath of enemies
- Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries
- But yet they're those who from such troubles came
- And now triumph in glory with the LAMB.
The monument marks Renwick's burial-place, being fixed to the wall close to the spot where criminals were interred.
The Scottish parliament reversed the attainder on 22 July 1690. His name ("famous Guthrie's head") is commemorated in the rude lines on the "martyrs' monument" in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh. By his party he was called "Sickerfoot" ("Sure-foot").[
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