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on: Lord hold us here. Now to this tutor, and rich Lord, I recommend you hold fast till he come, and remember his prifoner. Grace, grace be with you.

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GRace, mercy and peace be to you. I received your letter: I

blefs our high and only wife Lord, who hath broken the fnare that men had laid for you; and I hope, that now he shall keep you in his house, in despite of the powers of hell. Who knoweth, but the streets of our Jerufalem fhall yet be filled with young men, and with old men and boys, and women with child; and that they fhall plant vines in the mountains of Samaria? I am fure, the wheels, paces and motions of this poor church, are tempered and ruled not as men would, but according to the good pleafure and infinite wisdom of our only wife Lord.

waiting in hope, that my innocency, in this honourable cause, shall melt this cloud that men have caften over me. I know, my Lord had his own quarrels against me, and that my drofs ftood in need of this hot furnace; but I rejoice in this, that fair truth, beautiful truth (whofe glory my Lord cleareth to me more and more) beareth me company; and that my weak aims to honour my Master in bringing guests to his houfe, now fwell upon me in comforts; and that I am not afraid to want a witness in heaven that it was my joy to have a crown put upon Chrift's head in that country. O what joy would I have, to fee the wind turn upon the enemies of the cross of Chrift, and to fee my Lord Jefus reftored with the voice of praise to his own free throne again; and to be brought amongst you, to fee the beauty of the Lord's house! I hope that my country will not be fo filly, as to fuffer men to pluck you away from them, and that ye will ufe means to keep my place empty, and to bring me back again to the people, to whom I have Chrift's right and his church's lawful calling. Dear brother, let Christ be dearer and dearer to you; let the conqueft of fouls be top and root, flower and bloom of your joys and defires, in this fide of fun and moon and in the day, when the Lord fhall pull up the four stakes of this clay tent of the earth, and the laft pickle of fand shall be at the nick of falling down in your watch glafs, and the master thall call the fervants of the vineyard to give them their hire; ye will efteem the bloom of this world's glory like the colours of the rainbow, that no man can put in his purfe and treafure: your la bour and pains fhall then fmile upon you. My Lord now hath given me experience (howbeit weak and fmall) that our best fare is

hunger;

hunger; we are but at God's by-board, in this lower houfe; we have caufe to long for fupper-time, and the high table, up in the high palace: this world deserveth nothing but the outer court of our foul. Lord, haften the marriage fupper of the Lamb. I find it ftill peace to give up with this prefent world, as with an old decourted and cast-off lover: my bread and drink in it, is not fo much worth, that I should not loath the inns, and pack up my desires for Chrift, that I have fent out to the fecklefs creatures in it. Grace, grace be with you.

Aberd. 1637.

Your affectionate brother and
Chrift's prifoner, S. R.

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131. To the Laird of CALLY.

Much honoured Sir,

Grace, mercy and peace be to you. I long to hear how your foul profpereth: I have that confidence, that your foul mindeth Chrift and falvation: I befeech you in the Lord, give more pains and diligence to fetch heaven, than the country fort of lazy profeffors, who think their own faith and their own godliness, because it is their own, beft; and content themselves with a coldrife custom and course, with a refolution to fummer and winter in that fort of profeffion that the multitude and the times favour most; and are still shaping and clipping and carving their faith, according as it may best stand with their fummer fun and a whole skin ; and fo breathe out hot and cold in God's matters, according to the course of the times: this is their compass they fail toward heaven by, instead of a better. Worthy and dear Sir, feparate yourfelf from fuck, and bend yourfelf to the utmost of your strength and breath, in running faft for falvation; and in taking Chrift's kingdom, ufe violence. It cof Chrift and all his followers sharp fhowers and hot fweats, ere they won to the top of the mountain: but ftill our foft nature would have heaven coming to our bed-fide, when we are sleeping, and lying down with us, that we might go to heaven in warm clothes; but all that came there found wet feet by the way, and fharp ftorms, that did take the hide off their face, and found to's and fro's, and up's and down's, and many by the way. It is impoffible a man can take his lufts to heaven with him, fuch wares as thefe will not be welcome there. O how loth are we to forego our packalds and burdens, that hinder us to run our race with patience! It is no fmall work to displease and anger nature, that we may please God. Oifit be hard to win one foot or half an inch, out of our own will, our own wit, out of our own ease, and worldly lufts; and fo to deny ourself, and to fay, It is not I but Chrift, not I but grace, not God's glory, not I but God's love constraining me, not I but the Lord's word, not I but Chrift's command

ing power as King in me! O what pains; and what a death is it to nature, to turn to me, myfelf, my luft, my eafe, my credit, over in my Lord, my Saviour, my King, and my God, my Lord's will, my Lord's grace! But alas! that idol, that whorish creature, myfelf, is the mafter-idol we all bow to. What made Evah mifcarry? and what hurried her headlong upon the forbidden fruit but that wretched thing, herfelf? what drew that brother murderer to kill Abel that wild himfelf. What drove the old world on to corrupt their ways? who but themselves, and their own pleasure? What was the cause of Solomon's falling into idolatry, and multiplying of ftrange wives? what but himfelf, whom he would rather please than God? What was the hook that took David and snared him first in adultery, but his felf-luft; and then in murder, but his felf-credit and self-honour? What led Peter on to deny his Lord? was it not a piece of himself, and self love to a whole skin? What made Judas fell his Master for thirty pieces of money, but a piece of felf-love, idolizing of avaricious felf? What made Demas to go off the way of the gospel, to embrace this prefent world? even felf-love and love of gain for himself. Every man blameth the devil for his fins; but the great devil, the house devil of every man, the house-devil that eateth and lyeth in every man's bofom, is that idol that killeth all, himself. O bleffed are they, who can de ny themselves, and put Chrift in the room of themselves! O would to the Lord, I had, not a myself, but Chrift; not a my luft, but Chrift; not a my eafe, but Chrift; not a my honour, but Chrift! Ofweet word! Gal. ii. 20. I live no more, but Ghrift liveth in me! O if every one would put away himself, his own self, his own eafe, his own pleasure, his own credit, and his own twenty things, his own hundred things, that he fetteth up as idols above Christ I Dear Sir, I know ye will be looking back to your old felf, and to your felf-luft and felf-idol, that ye fet up in the lufts of youth, above Chrift. Worthy Sir, pardon this my freedom of love. God is my witness, that it is out of an earnest defire after your foul's eternal welfare, that I ufe this freedom of speech: your fun, I know, is lower, and your evening fky and fun fetting nearer than when I faw you laft: ftrive to end your task before night, and to make Chrift yourself, and to acquaint your love and your heart with the Lord. Stand now by Christ and his truth, when fo many fall foully, and are falfe to him. I hope, ye love him and his truth, let me have power with you to confirm you in him. I think more of my Lord's fweet crofs, than of a crown of gold, and a free kingdom lying to it. Sir, I remember you in my prayers to the Lord, according to my promife: help me with your prayers, that our Lord would be pleased to bring me amongst you again, with the gofpel of Chrift. Grace, grace be with you.

Aberd. 1637.

Yours in his sweetest Lord and Mafter, S. R. 132. To

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132. To JOHN GORDON of Cardeness, younger. Dearly beloved in our Lord,

Race, mercy and peace be to you. I long exceedingly to hear

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prayers and careful thoughts. Sir, remember that a precious treafure and prize is upon this fhort play that ye are now upon; even the eternity of well or wo to your foul, ftandeth upon the little point of your ill or well employed fhort and swift-posting fand-glafs : seek the Lord while he may be found; the Lord waiteth upon you. Your foul is of no little price; gold nor filver, of as much bounds as would cover the highest heavens round about, cannot buy it. To live as others do, and to be free of open fins, that the world crieth shame upon, will not bring you to heaven; as much civility and country-difcretion as would ly between you and heaven, will not lead you one foot or one inch above condemned nature: and therefore take pains upon feeking of falvation, and give your will, wit, humour, the green defires of youth's pleasures, off your hand to Chrift. It is not poffible for you to know, till experience teach you, how dangerous a time youth is: it is like green and wet timber; when Chrift cafteth fire on it, it taketh not fire. There is need here of more than ordinary pains; for corrupt nature hath a good back friend of youth; and finning against light will put out your candle, and stupify your confcience, and bring upon it more coverings and fkin, and lefs feeling and fenfe of guiltinefs; and when that is done, the devil is like a mad horfe, that hath broken the bridle, and runneth away with his rider whither he lifteth. Learn to know that which the apoftle knew, the deceitfulness of fin: ftrive to make prayer, and reading, and holy company, and holy conference, your delight; and when delight cometh in, ye fhall by little and little smell the sweetness of Chrift, till at length your foul be over head and ears in Christ's sweetness: then fhall ye be taken up to the top of the mountain with the Lord, to know the ravishments of fpiritual love, and the glory and excellency of a feen, revealed, felt and embraced Chrift; and then ye fhall not be able to loofe yourself off Chrift, and to bind your foul to old lovers: then, and never till then, are all the paces, motions, walkings and wheels of your foul in a right tune, and in a fpiritual temper. But if this world and the lufts thereof be your delight, I know not what Chrift can make of you; ye cannot be metal to be a veffel of glory and mercy. As the Lord liveth, thousand thoufands are beguiled with fecurity, because God, and wrath, and judgment are not terrible to them. Stand in awe of God, and of the warnings of a checking and rebuking confcience: make others to fee Chrift in you, moving, doing, fpeaking and thinking; your actions will smell of

him, if he be in you: there is an instinct in the new-born babes of Chrift like the inftinct of nature, that leads birds to build their nefts, and bring up their young, and love fuch and fuch places, as woods, forefts and wildernesses, better than other places: the inftinct of nature maketh a man love his mother-country, above all countries; the inftinct of renewed nature, and fupernatural grace, will lead you to fuch and fuch works, as to love your country above, to figh to be clothed with your houfe not made with hands, and to call your borrowed prison here below, a borrowed prifon; and to look upon it fervant-like and pilgrim-like: and the pilgrim's eye and look is a difdainful-like discontented-cast of his eye; his heart crying after his eye, Fy, fy, this is not like my country. I recommend to you the mending of a hole, and reforming of a failing, one or other, every week; and put off a fin for a piece of it, as of anger, wrath, luft, intemperance, every day, that ye may more eafily mafter the remnant of your corruption. God hath given you a wife; love her, and let her breafts fatisfy you: and, for the Lord's fake, drink no waters but out of your own ciftern; ftrange wells are poifon. Strive to learn fome newway against your corruption, from the man of God, M. W. D. or other fervants of God: fleep not found, till ye find yourself in that cafe, that ye dare look death in the face, and durft hazard your foul upon eternity, I am fure many ells and inches of the fhort thread of your life are byhand, fince I faw you: and that thread hath an end, and ye have no hands to caft a knot, and add one day or a finger-breadth to the end of it: when hearing, and seeing, and the outer walls of the clayhouse shall fall down, and life fhall render the befieged castle of clay to death and judgment, and ye find your time worn ebb and run out, what thoughts will ye then have of idol pleasures, that poffibly are now fweet? What bud or hire would ye then give for the Lord's favour? and what a price would ye then give for pardon? It were not amifs to think, What if I were to receive a doom, and to enter into a furnace of fire and brimftone? what if it come to this, that I fhall have no portion but utter darkness? and what if I be brought to this, to be banished from the presence of God, and to be given over to God's ferjeants, the devil, and the power of the second death? Put your foul, by fuppofition, in such a case, and confider what horror would take hold of you, and what then ye would esteem of pleasing yourself in the courfe of fin! O dear Sir, for the Lord's fake, awake to live righteously, and love your poor foul! and, after ye have feen this my letter, fay with yourself, The Lord will feek an account of this warning I have received. Lodge Chrift in your family. Receive no ftranger hireling as your paftor. I blefs your children. Grace be with you. Aberd. 1637. Your lawful and loving paftor, S. R. 133. To

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