Xxxix. to Marion Mcnaught
Samuel Rutherford, a prisoner, calls on the people to pray and supplicate for his release and the well-being of the kirk, emphasizing the importance of faithfulness to Christ and the Gospel.
Samuel Rutherford, in a letter from Aberdeen in 1637, expresses his longing to return to his flock and continue serving the Lord despite being a prisoner of his enemies. He acknowledges his sadness at not being able to minister to his people and prays for God's guidance and light in his dark times. Rutherford's deep desire is to preach the beauty and glory of God once again and see his joy in the Lord's work restored.
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DEARLY BELOVED IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, -- Grace, mercy, and peace be
to you. Few know the heart of a stranger and prisoner. I am in the
hands of mine enemies. I would that honest and lawful means were
essayed for bringing me home to my charge, now when Mr A. R. and Mr H.
R. are restored. It concerneth you of Galloway most, to use
supplications and addresses for this purpose, and try if by fair means
I can be brought back again. As for liberty, without I be restored to
my flock, it is little to me; for my silence is my greatest prison.
However it be, I wait for the Lord; I hope not to rot in my sufferings:
Lord, give me submission to wait on. My heart is sad that my days flee
away, and I do no service to my Lord in His house, now when His harvest
and the souls of perishing people require it. But His ways are not like
my ways, neither can I find Him out. Oh that He would shine upon my
darkness, and bring forth my morning light from under the thick cloud
that men have spread over me!
But that day that my mouth was most unjustly and cruelly closed, the
bloom fell off my branches and my joy did cast the flower. O that I
might preach His beauty and glory as once I did, and my branches be
watered with the dew of God, and my joy in His work grow green again
and bud and send out a flower! O, that I may wait for Him till the
morning of this benighted kirk break out! This poor, afflicted kirk had
a fair morning, but her night came upon her before her noonday, and she
was like a traveler forced to take house in the morning of his journey.
And now her adversaries are the chief men in the land; her ways mourn;
her gates languish; her children sigh for bread. O, that my Lord would
bring me again amongst you with abundance of the Gospel of Christ.
Remember my love in the Lord to your husband; God make him faithful
to Christ! And my blessing to your three children. Faint not in prayer
for this kirk. Desire my people not to receive a stranger and intruder
upon my ministry. Let me stand in that right and station that my Lord
Jesus gave me. Grace, grace, be with you.
ABERDEEN, 1637
Sermon Outline
- I. Introduction
- A. Samuel Rutherford's situation as a prisoner and his longing to return to his flock
- B. The importance of prayer and supplication for his release
- II. The Value of Liberty
- A. Rutherford's perspective on liberty without his flock
- B. His desire to serve the Lord and His people
- III. The Importance of Prayer
- A. The need for prayer and supplication for Rutherford's release
- B. The impact of prayer on the kirk and its people
- IV. The State of the Kirk
- A. The kirk's decline and its adversaries
- B. The need for faithfulness to Christ and the Gospel
- V. Conclusion
- A. Rutherford's love and blessing for the people and their families
- B. The importance of standing firm in their faith and prayer
Key Quotes
“My silence is my greatest prison.” — Samuel Rutherford
“Oh that He would shine upon my darkness, and bring forth my morning light from under the thick cloud that men have spread over me!” — Samuel Rutherford
“O, that I may wait for Him till the morning of this benighted kirk break out!” — Samuel Rutherford
Application Points
- Pray and supplicate for those in need, just as Rutherford asks for the people's prayers.
- Stand firm in your faith, even in the face of adversity, as Rutherford encourages the people to do.
- Seek to serve the Lord and His people, as Rutherford longs to do.