A LETTER BY THE LATE MR. J. WARBURTON

Dear Friend, I was sorry to hear of your being unwell in body; but, my dear friend,

“Whatever cross lies at thy door,
It cometh from the Lord”;

and,

“Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit.”

Bless His dear name, He carries the keys of death and of hell; and nothing can move but by His sovereign will and pleasure.

But methinks you are saying the dear man is taking me to be a partaker of grace; but I am afraid I am not in the secret, and shall prove at last to have had nothing but an empty lamp of profession and destitude of oil. My dear friend, I am not deceived. I haven’t God’s testimony that you have “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” I have no doubt you are shaken, and many times fearful how it will end; but, my friend, hear the word of the Lord, that shall stand fast for ever and ever, whatever your fears or mine may be. His counsel shall stand and His word shall never fail: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Now, my friend, have you not felt yourself for years a poor, helpless, unworthy, vile, polluted, ill and hell-deserving wretch? And have not you felt and proved in your own soul that from the crown of your head to the sole of your foot you were one mass of sin? And has not your soul cried unto God, “Unclean, unclean?” And has not your soul proved again and again that all your righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and cried out, “O that I may be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness of God, which is by faith unto and upon all that believe?”

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted”; and how many hundreds of times has your soul mourned to see and feel what a hard, unfeeling, unthankful heart you have to groan under and confess from your very soul, “I am as a beast before Thee; I am a worm and no man; I am as a brother to dragons and a companion to owls; I roar like a bear and mourn sore like a dove. O, that I knew where I could find Him, that I might come even to His seat. I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments?” Has not your soul panted for Him as the heart panteth for the water brooks? Has not your soul been brought to know that there is no other name given under heaven whereby your worthless, helpless, polluted soul can be saved but the Lord Jesus Christ? And have you any rock but Him to rest upon, any refuge to hide in, any other righteousness to cover, any other fountain to wash in, any other help to look to, any other way that your soul deserves to be found in, any other smiles that are worth notice?

Is not Jesus the chief of ten thousand to your soul? And would not you rather out of choice have one look of love from Him than all the riches and honors that the whole world can give? My hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as you are a partaker of the sufferings so shall you be also of the consolations. Was it ever known that a bruised reed can be broken, that smoking flax can be quenched, that the lame shall be disappointed of taking the prey? What! Shall the word of our God fail of its accomplishment, and the devil and unbelief overturn the omnipotent God? No, my friend, “Fear not”, saith the Lord, “for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth up against thee thou shalt condemn; for this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord. I will lead the blind by a way they know not, and lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do for them and not forsake them. When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. Shall not God avenge His own elect which cry night and day unto Him? Yea; He will avenge them speedily, though He bear long with them.”

My dear friend, I feel confident the Lord has taught you that salvation is of the Lord, and you cannot deny it; But it has been times and times your very soul’s cry, “O Lord, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”

My soul has sweet liberty with God in pleading with Him on your account; and whether your present sickness is for death or life, I believe it will be all right. My heart’s desire is that He will whisper into your soul, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” I know this would be more acceptable in your soul than all the gold and silver in the world. It is the Lord’s own pleasure to reveal His loving kindness when He will, and how He will, and to whom He will! and His word is, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”

May God bless you with waiting at His footstool, and with answers of peace, that you may sing and exclaim with David, “I love the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplication. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.”

This is my prayer, my heart’s request.

Trowbridge, Dec. 16, 1846.

(The friend of whom the above letter was addressed, and whom we well knew for many years, had been signally delivered and blessed many years before under Mr. Warburton; but had fallen into a low, desponding state of mind, in which he seemed much to have lost the recollection of past mercies and almost to view himself as deceived and deluded, so as to have little hope or expectation even of being saved. It was under this trial that the above letter was written. But afterwards it pleased the Lord to break in upon his soul; and though he was still tempted through a good part of his life to doubt and fear, yet at the last the Lord so manifested Himself upon his dying bed that he breathed forth his soul in the sweet assurance of being for ever with Him in glory. — Ed.)

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