Richmond, Ind., Feb. 18, 1877
MY BELOVED BROTHER IN CHRIST-Your most touching letter, telling us of the going home of your beloved wife, reached us on this day two weeks ago, and while we could not but sorrow with you, yet we thanked God for the sweet testimony to His all-sufficiency in every trial, and were enabled in a small measure to share, as it were, her joy in being with the Lord. It was a great privilege to receive your letter just on the day it came, as brethren R. S. S. and Dr. A. were here to spend the day with us. They had told us before your letter came from the office of your bereavement, and Dr. A. had given us some account of the gracious comfort given by God at the funeral. To the eyes of men you have indeed a severe trial, and indeed to your own soul the grief must be more intense than any who have not been through the like can tell. But, oh! bow the wonderful sufficiency of God's grace is manifested in such trials, and how they intensify the preciousness of our fellowship with the Father and with His Son. How God uses such opportunities to show, not only to the stricken one, but to all His saints, what a sustainer and provider He is. We pray for you often that God will cause all these things to work out to His own glory, and that you may be supported, strengthened, and instructed in all, and only made the more useful.
How joyfully the heart can rest on the precious certainty that the time of our separation from Him is not long. As I contemplate the possibility of His coming soon, I often feel everything within me stirred up to the necessity there is for being diligent in what He gives us to do, and I long for opportunities to present the gracious invitation to "come" once more.
We have been made glad to-day by a letter from Brother S., enclosing a letter written in Oct., 1876, to Brother P. J. L., by Brother and Sister Brown, of Fairfield, 0. They are standing out of men's things for God alone. They are but fifteen miles from here, and we hope God will bring us together before long. Brother P. J. L. is now in New York, I suppose; please give my love to him, and tell him my house is open for him to share with me what I have if God bring him here. Yours in the risen Lord, A. B.