Two godly letters of the pious martyr Mr. James Renwick
TWO GODLY
LETTERS
Of the pious MARTYR
Mr. James Renwick,
TO THE
Right Honourable the Society of Srangers at Lewarden in Friezland.
To which is added, His
NEGATIVE DUTIES.
EDINBURGH:
Beloved in our Lord,
THE report of the continuance of your sympathy with us, and of the increase of your zeal for the Lord of hosts, is greatly encouraging and refreshing to me: And which thing, together with the great uniteness of my heart unto you, impels me to presume upon the writing of a line unto you, tho' I be unapt to write unto any such, and know not how to explicate my self; for that which I mainly desire is, to commend unto the world the loveliness of Christ, the preciousness of his cause, the easiness of his yoke, and the sweetness of his cross (whereof I am sure, ye are not ignorant) But, O, this is a work above the reach of poor, serimp, finite creatures. Who can think, who can speak, or who can write of this? The immensurableness and freedom of the grace of Christ, the boundlesness of his power, and infiniteness of his love, is such a bottomless deep of joyful wonder, wherein these, who are made perfect, are everlastingly drowned. What can we in this falling tabernacle say or think, who but see in part, and know in part? But O! let us take our eyes from beholding vanities, and feed them allenarly upon the fulness and all-sufficiency of precious and glorious Christ; what doubts and fears can we have? But enough is there to solve and answer them all unto us; and I think, if we poor creatures, whenever a doubt or fear did arise, presently turned our eyes to contemplate Christ's free all sufficiency, we would find it immediately to evanish (as dispelled smoke) indiscernable: But ah! our tempers are sinfully ready, rather to pore upon our fears, than to employ Christ for our help; and hereby, the life which we might have of joyful praise, is turned into a life of dispondent anxiety. O, they that see Christ to be theirs, can find no want; and what mad fools, idle Persons and foolish choosers are they, who make it not their work to have Christ: But I confess, Christ, unto many (even that profess much) is as the ample world is to them; they have a passing view of Christ, with the illiterate, illuminate eve of the mind; but have neither a renewed heart to affect him only for himself, as the all-satisfying and enriching pearl of price: Others think that they have a love to him, but their desires are after that which is his, and not after himself; they desire liberation from the guilt and punishment of sin, and a Possession of a heaven, which they build up to themselves in their brain; but they care not tho' there were no such a thing as the Christ. O! what a spurious love is this? Can any in reason think, but a suiter, whom a maid condescended to match with, only upon the account of his estate, without regard of his person, had good ground to refuse such base and spurious love? And how shall Christ regard the adulterate love of such self-seekers? And another sort of folk cover over their pride with a vizard of humility, and cry forth, Christ is a king, and they are fitting upon a dunghil, how can they consent to so great and high a match? if they were queens they would do it. But O! that such would consider, that while they seek any thing in themselves to commend them to Christ, they will stagger and stay away: But let them lay aside their coyness, and once come to him and match with him, and he will make them queens and matches meet for himself. Christ comes to woo his Bride in the garments of condescendency; he took upon him our nature, that he might say to the worms of the earth ye are my brethren and my sisters: And, O glorious is he in these garments, being also cloathed in the robes of ravishing majesty. How compleat and how free a Saviour is he? yea, how communicative a good? so that each of his own have him so, as if not any other besides them had him: Each of us have as much of the fun, as we would have, tho' there were no others on the earth to partake with us; so is the enjoyment of that blessed Son of righteouness to all his chosen, each of them hath him all. O, what a blessed enjoyment is this, which each of his saints doth enjoy without envying or wronging one another! what a blessed choice is Christ! what a lovely choice is he! O! he is lovely, and all that chose him will say, he is lovely, and that they have made a brave bargain. What was said of the heathen Socrates, all that knew him loved him; and if they did not love him, it is because they did not know him. Indeed they that love not Christ, it is because they do not know him. If he were known what a great, gracious, powerful, loving, beautiful and excellent One he is, the heart would be filled with love unto him. If he were known, the souls out-cry would be, he is altogether matchless! who is like unto him? Love thinketh the beloved hath no parallel; and love loveth all that is the beloved's: Hence, as Christ is lovely to his own, so his cause is precious, it is precious, it is precious, it is his declarative glory; it is that whereby he maketh his name known. How honourable is it to be an owner of the same! what badges of honour are reproaches, and revellings upon that account! as love unto him make his cause precious, so, where that is, nothing will be thought too costly to bellow, upon the causes account: What will love not undergo? what will love not forego for the beloved's honour? We need no more to commend this common cause unto us, than this, it is Christ's cause; and seeing his glory is concerned in it, that is our honour to be concerned with it: So love to the lovely one, or an uptaking of his lovliness which cannot but beget love to him, making his yoke easy. Love is as oil to our wheels, to make them run swiftly and lightly, the way of his commandments. O love makes obedience an easy and pleasant work: For the command binds the conscience, and love gains the affections: So, where conscience and inclination go together, it must needs be an easy work. Christ's yoke was easy and pleasant unto David, Psal. cxix. 127, I love thy Commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold! And that which is greatly to be marked there, is, as the world was casting of Christ's yoke, so David was taking it on more heartsomly: They have made void thy law, therefore I love thy commandments, &c. faith he, a mark of a true love indeed; the more that Christ is rejected and despised by others, the more is he to be beloved by his own. O what shall be said of love to Christ! Love is a resolute soldier for him, love is a valiant champion in his lists; love despiseth, yea, (I may say) wisheth for difficulties, to get it self shown Love sees not a spot upon all the cross; love gets never a bitter cup put into his hand, but the beloved's frowns; it thinks not his cross bitter, but reads delightsomeness engraven upon it; love will rejoice to cross the natural parts of the will to please Christ, love will not stand to venture upon the swellings of Jordan with him and for him; the heaps of great waters are nothing in love's eye; the deeper that love wades, it thinks it the sweeter, losses, wandrings, tossings, death and dangers are nothing to love, for, Cant. viii. 6, 7. Love is strong as death, jealousie is cruel as the grave, the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame; many waters cannot quence love, neither can the floods drown it: If a man would give all substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned O what shall I say? Let us love Christ, let us love him and exalt his grace; and they that do not, nor never will love him, let them Anathema Maranatha. Now,
Right honourable and dearly beloved in our lovely Lord, ye have expressed greatly your love to wronged Christ and his precious Cause, by your standing still to condole and commiserate the case of his mournful and distressed people in this land : Ye have evidenced heart-sympathy with us; your hands have not been bound up from helping, strengthning and encouraging us; ye have been iustruments to minister a refreshful cup of consolation unto us; ye have stood with us when others have left us: O stand by truth and duty; keep thereby, tho’ all men should deny the one, and forsake the other, let this be your study and our study, and so let us stand one with and for another: Let nothing damp you, nor mar your confidence; the cause is the Lords, he shall prevail, he will overturn thrones and kingdoms and get himself a name: And amongst the rest, the tribe of Levi must get a clash: But, go ye on, let it be your only work to follow the Lord fully and sincerely, and your latter end shall be peace. Thus commiting you all to the Lord, for directing and upholding grace, for his making you in your places and stations (as hitherto he hath done in a great measure) brazen-walls and iron-pillars against all error and ungodliness; and for his enabling you by his grace to endure to the end; that so, ye may everlastingly triumph with him in glory. So, hoping that I need not desire you to be mindful of a poor, wrestling, bleeding and wronged Church; and of him, whose life is wading through snares, discouragments, hazards, deaths and dangers; and who is,
Right honourable and dearly beloved in the Lord,
Your real and constant friend and servant in all Christian duties,
Right Honourable and dearly beloved in our sweet Lord,
I Have had often blushes with my self, when I thought upon my omitting to write unto you; but I may say, it was neither voluntary nor wilful, but necessitate: For, a man under such various exigencies of providences, as I am, cannot be master of his own purposes. And beside, that I am daily looking out; either to be presently ⟨k⟩illed, where I may be found, or else draged into a prison or scaffold. Various; weighty and perplexing Occurences, day by day, come inevitably into my way; which take up my thoughts, filling my spirit with care, my hands with business. But, if I had proven as forgetful of you, as I have been blocked up from saluting you with a line from my hand; I had been far out of my duty before the Lord, and grosly ungrateful toward you. Howbeit, right honourable and dearly beloved, I need not insist in apoligizing for my self with you; for I know, ye have such a feeling of our burdens, that ye commiserate our case, and pity our perplexities: Therefore, I'll break off this, and go on in what the Lord giveth me to say.
There is no rational creature, which doth not set some one thing or other before its eyes, as its main end and chief good; and according to the various predominants in sensual and mad-men, are their various main ends. Hence it is that there did result so many different opinions among heathen philosophers, about man's chief good. But, here is the great mistake with foolish, vain men, that what ever they seek after it is but few, who do bend toward the true chief good, which is God. There are indeed gods many and lords many: For whatever any fixeth his desires upon, and aimeth in all his actions at the obtaining and enjoying thereof is his lord and his god; whether it be honour or riches, or some object or other of vile concupiscence; yet there is but one God, who is truly and only desire-worthy, love-worthy, and honour-worthy. This one hath not a match or a parallel: For what can equal him? Yea, what in any worth, can come the length of the latchet of his shoes? He is that inestimable jewel, invaluable treasure, and incomparable pearl of price, that only worthy desire of all nations. O take a look of him as he is the being of beings, having being of himself independent of all other beings, and upon whom all other things depend in their being and operations. In him we live, in him we move, and of him we have our being. Do not all the pieces of the creation, heaven, earth and sea, sun, moon, and stars, the commonest and unworthiest creature that moveth upon the earth, bear large characters of his wisdom, power and goodness? Doth not his mysterious common providence, making the sharpest sighted of his creatures hid their faces, and become silent before him; declare him to be God; and that he is of one mind, and who can turn him? Do not the various Instruments that execute his will, signified by four chariots, Zech. vi. I. bringing about various dispensations, signified by the different colours of the horses; whether calamities of war, signified by the red; other doleful miseries signified by the black; mixed dispensations, black and white (so to speak) of mercy and judgment, signified by the grizzled and bay: or dispensations of mercy, signified by the white: I say, do not all these come forth from between the two mountains of brass? The one mountain signifieth his unalterable decree, and the other his effectual providence, which watcheth and waiteth that instuments bring nothing to the birth, but what hath been conceived in the womb of his eternal purpose. O take a look of him in his perfections; he is without measure and limits, without beginning and ending; he is one and the same in his nature, in his counsels, and in his love; he perfectly knoweth himself; and all things that are possible, he can do all things which do not imply a contradiction, and argue imperfection: He is good and doth good; he is righteous in himself, and equal in all his ways of dealing with his creatures; he is true without any dissimulation; he is holy, and delighteth in his own holiness, and in every resemblance of it in his angels and saints. But, O who can think of him? And who can speak of him? He is infinite in all his attributes; and every perfection hath a perfect meeting in him: Albeit some of his attributes be in some degree communicable to his creatures, yet they are all in him, in an altogether incommunicable manner and measure; and there is nothing in God but what is God; for this is his name, I AM THAT I AM. And again, I say, who can think of him, and who can speak of him? who can comprehend him or compass him about? Who by understanding can search out God? Humble and believing ignorance is better than curious and prying knowledge: For, all that we can know of him is, to know that we cannot know him. Let us yet come a little nearer, and take a look of him, as he is our Saviour, in his condescendency, love, power, faithfulness, and other properties: O how condescending is he, though he be that high and lofty one, the Fathers equal, yet he stooped so low as to take upon him the nature of man, and all the sinless infirmities that attend it; He became flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, and that in the lowly condition of a servant; he suites the creatures affection, as if it were of some worth, and seeks men and women to match with him; O how loving is he? it is strong love that he beareth to that feed of Abraham: Doth not this shine in all that he hath done? He emptied himself that they might become full; he made himself poor, tho' maker and possessor of heaven and earth, that they might become rich; he fulfiled the law for them, that he might purchase to them life and happiness; he made himself a sacrifice unto the death, that he might satisfy offended justice, and make reconciliation for them: O such a death! so cursed! so shameful! so painful and so lingering! but above all, he had the full weight of the wrath of God to bear; which all the strength of angels and men could not have endured: But he being God, he could not fall under it, O what manner of love is this? In effect he did not care what he suffer'd; let justice charge home upon him with all its rigour and severity, seeing he was to gain his point, and purchase a part of mankind from Satan to himself, from sin to holiness, from misery to happiness; So that man, however unworthy, base, sinful and miserable, yet is the center of his love. O how powerful is he! he is mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost; all the strong holds of the soul cannot hold out against him; his power is irresitable; by this he can do what he will; and by his love he will do what we need: And again, he is so faithful, that what he saith he doth: He will not retract one promise that is gone out of his mouth; neither will he fail in fulfilling all his threatnings. Much might be said of these things; but not the thousandth part of the truth can be told: When we win to his house above, and see him as he is, we will be ashamed of all our bablings about him; they that have been most ravish'd with his love, and most eloquent to speak forth the praise of his comliness and properties, will see that they have been but, at best, babes learning to speak. O! What shall I say? He is the wonderful, matchless, and glorious, inestimable jewel, and incomparable pearl of price. O but who would not chuse him! who would not give away themselves unto him! Let man look through heaven and earth, and seek a portion where he will, he shall not find the like of Christ. O then! let us be altogether his and nothing our own. Our time let it be his, our understanding and will let them be his, our affections let them be his, the travel of our souls let it be his, our strengths let it be his, our names, lives, and enjoyments let them all be his; let us be fully surrendred, and intirely consecrated unto him. This is a comprehensive matter indeed. But what else should we be taken up with, but with the improvement of this resignation, always travelling thro' his properties, viewing them as our riches, delighting to improve our interest in him, by receiving from his hand what we need, and that he improve his interest in us, by doing with us, and taking from us as he pleaseth. Let us see him, and observe and say, what have we to do any more with our Idols. Oh that vanity should get so much as one look from me! I think he never took more pains upon any, that they might be emptied of all things besides himself, and not have a will of their own, nor affection to any other thing; & yet, ah! the bad entertainment he gets off my hand: I can neither esteem him my self, nor commend him to others, tho' my work be to trumpet aloud his praise, and to be an under-suiter to gain the bride's consent to the lovely Bridegroom; I can do nothing in it, and little can angels do in it to any purpose: Yet, I can tell this unto all, that my Master infinitely passeth my commendation; he is so excellent, that, it would be an obscuring of his excellency for me to bable about it. O! right honourable and dear friends, are ye not longing for the full enjoyment of him, looking out for the breaking of the day, and the flying away of the shadows, that ye may no more see him darkly as through a glass, but may behold him as he is, and enjoy him perfectly and constantly? This, O this! what a happiness is this! And what shall I say more? for ye know more of him than I can tell you; and all that I can say, is, but (as it were) to bring you to remembrance.
I thank God on your behalf, that your zeal is heard of in many places. Ye have become companions with us in our afflictions; your sympathy with this persecuted party is evident to us all, and we hear that we have a great Room in your prayers; man cannot repay your kindness to us, but I know you look not to man in it, doing it out of love to the Lord; for ye have no outward encouragement to it. O that the Lord, who hath joined together a few of Lewarden and a party in Scotland, in such oneness of mind and affection, may, when he returns to us again, join Scotland and Friezland in covenant together, to serve the Lord their God! And ye, O beloved, grow in grace and endure to the end. I doubt not but you have laid your all at Christ's feet. O take nothing back again: Be resolute in his cause, and valiant in his matters: When his kingdom is so low, let him want none of your help, that is competent for you, and he shall help you; own him, and he will own you, stand with him, and he will stand with you, and make you victorious; whoever fight against you, ye shall overcome; It is good fighting in Christ's camp, for all his soldiers shall certainly prevail. O look to your captain and encouragement, that ye faint not. I apprehend that ye meet with fore blows and bickerings; yea, I think, that ye scarcely want any conflict that we have, save that ye are not as yet in such hazard of your lives: But, as nothing more than this doth endear you unto us; So, no external condition will more draw out God's heart towards you. But, this I will say, be well resolved against whatever man can do unto you: I ⟨t⟩hink no christian ought now to be secure; the man of sin is plotting and strengthning his force what he can, and he will not be content with a part of Christ's kingdom; his aim is at all; he stirs himself now so fast in his saddle, that I think, it is not long to his fall: However, many lands may look for strange plagues, tho' Britain and Ireland shall be made the center of God's judgements; yet his indignation shall not be contained within these limits. O judgements! sudden and sore wasted judgements are coming on Britain and Ireland. Christ mounted on the red horse of severity, will ride through the breadth and length of thir lands. The appearance of some parties did fill many with temporal expectations; but they did not make some change their thoughts: As they knew little of God's way, who looked for such good from such hands; So, I thought them fools who conjectur'd that a delivery should come before a desolation. I say again, be well resolved against what man can do unto you: For, there are no more Christians than there are Martyrs in resolution and affection: The kingdom of heaven must be taken by violence, and the violent take it by force; and the more and greater difficulties be in the way, a right fight of the kingdom makes the way the more pleasant. O fear not difficulties: For many trials, that, when looked upon at a distance, seem big and mounting, yet when they and ye meet, ye shall find them nothing. If I could commend any thing beside Christ, it would be the cross of Christ: These things which make carnal on-lookers think my condition hard and miserable, make me think it sweet and pleasant: I have found hazards, reproaches, contempts, weariness, cold, night-wandrings, stormy tempests and deserts so desirable, that it is a greater difficulty to me, not to be ambitious of these things, than to submit unto to them. O rejoice in the cross, for it is all paved with love! the fewer that will bear it, it is your greater honour to be friends to it: Follow Christ with the cross upon your backs, and set none else before you, as your leader; for man is a poor, fallible; changeable creature: Let it be your care not to fall upon the stumbling-blocks cast in your way; neither to cast stumbling-blocks in the way of any: Wo to the world because of offences: Tho' ye have your own share of the revilings of this time, yet be not reproached into reproachers; Though the sowerness of others grieve you, yet let it aot infect you; but let zeal be accompanied with meekness, that ye may be free of passion and prejudice; and let meekness be backed with zeal, that ye may be free of luke-warmness and indifferency: Let meekness be extended toward all persons, and zeal against all sins: And as ye would not lose your ground, be positive against sin in the first proposal and motion thereof; ye will not get it shifted by, and your selves kept free from it, by hiding your selves, and not appearing freely against it, though there may be an unwillingness unto it: I conceive Aaron had no will to make the Golden Calf, and he thonght to have gotten it put out of the Israelites minds, by bidding them break off their golden Earings and bring them unto him; but this simple shift would not do it: The saint of God is pitifully insnared; and if he was simple, in opposing that abomination, he got as silly an excuse for himself; it would not have been thought that a child would have said, there came out this calf. Now,
Commit your cause unto the Lord, for judgment and righteouness shall yet meet together again upon earth: He is interested in his own work, and therefore he can neither forget it nor forsake it: And, such as wait for him shall never be put to shame. But,
O long and cry for his appearance, that he may right wrongs, and rule for himself, and claim his own right of possession; that the promised day may come, that this shall be voiced alongst the heavens, the kingdoms of the earth are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ: He is busy in order to this; he is carrying on a discovery of all sorts of folk, enemies and others: I thought that his discovery had been near through Scotland before this; but he lets me see my self a fool, for so judging; But happy are they who are sincere and intire; they need not fear, for when they are tired they shall come forth as gold.
Now as our present case, I wot not well what to say to you anent it, there are so many mercies and judgments in it to be spoken of. God hath taken this last year many from us, by banishment and by death, on scaffolds, especially on the fields, where none (for the most part) were to see them die, but the executioners: and yet God fills up their rooms again; neither are these things permitted to damp such as are left: Some have (which is more sad) fallen off from us; and yet God is filling up their places also, and making others more stedfast, and notwithstanding both of persecutions, and reproaches, the Lord hath opened doors for me in several places in Scotland, where there used to be no such access before, and hath multiplied my work so upon my hands (I speak it to his praise) that I have observed my work (I say) to be now in some shires threefold, and in some four fold more than it was. O, that God would send forth more labourers! there seems to be much ado in Scotland with them. Also it is almost incredible to tell what zeal, what tenderness, what painfulness in duty, what circumspectness of walk in many young ones of ten, eleven twelve and fourteen years of age, in many places of Scotland; which I look upon as one of the visiblest and greatest tokens for good that we have. But,
Right honourable and dearly beloved, not to detain you further; I acknowledge my self your debtor while I live, for your many prayers put up for this poor distressed church, whereof, I know, I have had a share; for your sympathy and kindness otherways manifested to us: For your care of that family with you, wherein we are all concerned: and particularly, for your encouraging, strengthening of, and kindness to my dear and worthy friend, our right honourable Delegate. I bless the Lord who hath given you zeal for himself, and hath helped you to stand with a poor despised party in many stours for his interest. I commend you to him, that he may make his rich grace more and more abound in you, that he may perfect what concerns you, and make you persevere unto the end, and himself be your exceeding rich reward. I hope I need not desire you to pray for me. I am,
Right honourable and dearly beloved,
Your obliged friend and obedient
Servant in the Lord,
Mr. Renwicks's NEGATIVE DUTIES are,
(1.) Ye must not be given to wine: Ye must not be Lovers, nor followers of strong drink, nor tipple away time in Ale-houses. (2.) Ye must not be covetous, nor greedy of filthy Lucre. (3) Ye must not be soon angry, neither upon real, nor conceived cause of provocation. (4) Ye must not be strikers nor brawlers, nor given to quarreling and contentions. (5) You must not be self-willed, adhering pertinaciously, and without reason, to your own judgments, and refusing to hearken to the judgment of your brethren, tho' sound and wholesome. (6) Ye must not be novices, or such as are newly come to the faith, lest ye be puffed up with pride, and fall into the condemnation of the devil: The spirits of novices are not yet well ballasted, nor brought low by frequent exercises of the Cross; and so come to be more easily puffed up: Therefore there is need that ye be excercised soldiers of Jesus Christ, and who by experience are taught to know the wiles of the devil, and are able to endure hardness.
FINIS.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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