Back...at last!

It's been a long time since I posted. A lot's been going on....

Anyway, I thought I would come back with an encouraging thought from my buddy, Samuel Rutherford. First a little story:

Last summer I was in a friend's wedding. Nathan and I have been friends since high school, and I really enjoy our friendship, so of course I was excited when he asked me to be in his wedding. The last you think about at a time like that is, "Oh, I wonder what my groom's gift will be." Nevertheless, at the rehearsal dinner, Nathan gave all his groomsmen their gifts. For some reason when he came to give me mine, lots of people gathered around with big smiles on their faces and cameras poised and waiting. Obviously they knew something I did not!

The moment had come. I closed my eyes and ripped off the paper. It was a book. I knew that before I opened it. But what book? That was my question. I finally turned and looked, and I was in shock. The title was Quaint Sermons of Samuel Rutherford. That was not the shock. The book didn't look like this one:
It looked much different. (I'll put a pic up soon.) It was not the fancy little reprint from recent days. It was an original 1885 copy! Now, granted that's still 200 years after Rutherford himself, but this book is a rare jewel! Needless to say I was flabergasted!

Anyway, today I read part of one of the sermons in there. Rutherford speaks on the text, "Fear not, thou worm, Jacob," from Isaiah 41. The whole text is as follows:

Isaiah 41:14-16 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

It was an encouragement to hear Rutherford remind me, in typical Puritan meditative style, that even worm Jacob need not fear when his redeemer promises, "I will help thee." What an amazing thought! I need not fear. My Redeemer has promised to be my help. And he has promised that the result will be that I will rejoice in the Lord and will glory in the Holy One of Israel! All troubles and difficulties are put into perspective when I am reminded that God sees the end of the wicked; he sees their schemes and laughs at them, for he knows the end of their deeds.

Thank you, Rutherford, for reminding me of that!

Reviving Rutherford

It's been a while since I posted on Samuel Rutherford, so let me take the time right now to commend to you again The Letters of Samuel Rutherford.

Charles Spurgeon said of them, "When we are dead and gone let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford’s Letters to be the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men."
Richard Baxter also said that apart from the Bible, "such a book as Mr. Rutherford’s Letters the world never saw the like."

On November 22, 1636, writing from his exile in Aberdeen, Rutherford declares, "[Men] talk of Christ by the book and the tongue and no more; but to come nigh Christ and [clasp] him and embrace him is another thing." Rutherford knew what it meant to come near to Christ and to embrace him, and his letters show that reality.

Rutherford was radically out of step with 21st century American Christianity when he said, "I would fain learn not to idolize comfort, sense, joy, and sweet felt presence. All these are but creatures and nothing but the kingly robe, the gold ring, and the bracelets of the Bridegroom. The Bridegroom himself is better than all the ornaments that are about him."

Oh that we might learn from Samuel Rutherford to embrace the Bridegroom himself and not settle for the mere bracelets of comfort! For anyone who wants an intimate communion with "sweet, lovely Christ" I wholeheartedly commend to you The Letters of Samuel Rutherford.