52. - To Mr. Greenwood. 53. - To James Ireland, Esq.
52. - TO MR. GREENWOOD.
LONDON, - - - - - , 1777.
MY dear companion in tribulation, and in the patience of Jesus. Peace be multiplied unto you, and resignation by the cross of Jesus. I bear your foot on my heart, and cast my heart on Him, to whom all burdens are lighter than a feather. Paschal said, when the rod of tribulation was upon him, “Now I begin to be a Christian,” meaning a follower of the Man of sorrows. By his pierced feet may yours be eased. Hold this fast, “Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.” Accept a rod as a token of your adoption, and be willing to be made perfect in patience by sufferings. In the meantime rejoice that Christ’s sufferings are over, - that they are atoning, - and that they have purchased our comforts. If you can come safely to - morrow, you will bring a blessing to your poor pensioner, who remains in the bonds of grateful, brotherly love, yours,
J. FLETCHER.
53. - TO JAMES IRELAND, ESQ.
NEWINGTON, Feb. 24, 1777.
MY DEAR FRIEND, - Let us abandon ourselves without reserve to God, who is alike the God of all grace when he chastises, as when he blesses us. Be a son of Abraham, - be an imitator of God. Abraham refused not to offer up his Isaac, and God has delivered his only Son to death for us. Refuse nothing to this God of love and tender compassion. The sacrifice of those things which are most precious to us, is the least unworthy of him; and had we a thousand Isaacs, we ought to keep back nothing from him. Perhaps the Lord hath heard your prayer and ours. If your Isaac lives, may he be devoted to the Lord as was Samuel; and may the God of Elijah have all the glory of his recovery. If he be dead, prepare to follow him, and do not envy him the sweet repose which he enjoys, and in which we shall soon share with him.
Adieu. They forbid my writing, but I will write to the last, “Blessed be God who giveth us the victory over death and its pains, by Jesus Christ!” In him I am, and shall always be altogether yours. I am your ten thousand times obliged friend,
J. FLETCHER.
P. S. Your second letter, which reached me when the above was written, informs me of your loss; but why should I call God’s securing your son, and giving him eternal life, your loss? It is Christ’s gain, who sees in that sweet child the travail of his childhood; and it is your son’s gain, since his conflicts and dangers are now over, and nothing awaits him but an eternal increase of happiness. Who knows but that God, who foresees all the storms of corruption, and rocks of sin we are likely to meet with in the sea of life, has taken your dear child at the best, and by this premature death secures him from eternal death? Come, then, do not repine. God has made you the instrument of adding one more little cherub to the heavenly host. And in this light you may well say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord!” He is better than ten sons. Your son is in his bosom, and this new cord should now draw you from earth to heaven with a fresh degree of power - with an irresistible attraction.
I thank you ten thousand times over for all your repeated marks of love and generosity to me and mine: the burden is too great to bear; I must cast it upon Him who can bless you ten thousand times over, and turn all your seeming losses into the greatest blessings. May the God of all consolation help you to reap the earliest and ripest fruit of the affliction whereby he gives you a new token of your adoption. Remember my kind love, and present my best thanks to Mrs. Ireland. Yours, &c,
J. FLETCHER.
54. - TO MISS PERRONET.
NEWINGTON, April 21, 1777.
MY DEAR FRIEND, - A thousand thanks to you for your kind, comfortable lines. This prospect of going to see Jesus and his glorified members, and among them your dear departed brother, my now everliving friend - this sweet prospect is enough to make me quietly and joyfully submit to leave all my Shoreham friends, and all the excellent ones of the earth. But why do I talk of going to leave any of Christ’s members, by going to be more intimately united to the Head?