Xlvii. to William Gordon
Samuel Rutherford emphasizes the importance of acknowledging spiritual struggles and seeking Christ's healing grace amidst doubt and pain.
Samuel Rutherford addresses the struggles of feeling spiritually dead and doubting one's faith, emphasizing that Christ is willing to take our weaknesses and brokenness, as He is the Physician who heals and restores. He encourages embracing the pain and challenges that come with recognizing our sins and shortcomings, as they draw us closer to Christ's saving grace. Rutherford highlights the importance of fighting against spiritual battles, rather than expecting immediate victory, and entrusting our faith to Christ to sustain us in the midst of struggles.
Text
DEAR BROTHER, -- Ye complain that ye want a mark of the sound work of
grace and love in your soul. For answer, consider for your satisfaction
(till God send more) I John 3.14. And as for your complaint of
deadnes.~ and doubting. Christ will, I hope, take your deadness and you
together. They are bodies full of holes, running boils, and broken
bones which need mending, that Christ the Physician taketh up: whole
vessels are not for the Mediator Christ's art. Publicans, sinners,
whores, harlots, are ready market-wares for Christ. The only thing that
will bring sinners within a cast of Christ's drawing arm is that which
ye write of, some feeling of death and sin. That bringeth forth
complaints; and, therefore, out of sense complain more, and be more
acquaint with all the cramps, stitches, and soulswoonings that trouble
you. The more pain, and the more night-watching, and the more fevers,
the better. A soul bleeding to death, till Christ were sent for, and
cried for in all haste, to come and stem the blood, and close up the
hole in the wound with His own heart and balm, were a very good
disease, when many are dying of a whole heart. We have all too little
of hell-pain and terrors that way; nay, God send me such a hell as
Christ has promised to make a heaven of. Alas! I am not come that far
on the way, as to say in sad earnest, 'Lord Jesus, great and sovereign
Physician, here is a pained patient for Thee.' But the thing that we
mistake is the want of victory. We hold that to be the mark of one that
has no grace. Nay, say I, the want of fighting were a mark of no grace;
but I shall not say the want of victory is such a mark. If my fire and
the devil's water make crackling like thunder in the air, I am the less
feared; for where there is fire, it is Christ's part, which I lay and
bind upon Him, to keep in the coal, and to pray the Father that my
faith fail not, if I in the meantime be wrestling, and doing, and
fighting, and mourning.
Pray for me, that the Lord would give me house-room again, to hold a
candle to this dark world. -- Grace, grace be with you.
ABERDEEN, 1637
Sermon Outline
- I points: - Understanding the need for grace - Recognizing feelings of deadness and doubt - The role of Christ as the Physician
- II points: - The importance of acknowledging sin - Complaints as a sign of spiritual awareness - The necessity of feeling pain for healing
- III points: - The misconception of victory in faith - The value of struggle and fighting against sin - The assurance of Christ's presence in our battles
- IV points: - The significance of prayer in our struggles - Seeking grace in times of darkness - The call to be a light in the world
Key Quotes
“The only thing that will bring sinners within a cast of Christ's drawing arm is that which ye write of, some feeling of death and sin.” — Samuel Rutherford
“A soul bleeding to death, till Christ were sent for, and cried for in all haste, to come and stem the blood, were a very good disease.” — Samuel Rutherford
“If my fire and the devil's water make crackling like thunder in the air, I am the less feared.” — Samuel Rutherford
Application Points
- Recognize your spiritual struggles as a pathway to deeper faith.
- Pray earnestly for Christ's presence in your battles against sin.
- Embrace the pain of your spiritual journey as a sign of growth and reliance on God's grace.