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Title:
"Love's
Last Letter"
Author: Christopher
Love
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The memory of
the righteous is blessed.”
Romans 8:35-39
Introduction:
The affections of a husband for his wife written down in a letter
before he is executed. Christopher Love was beheaded for alleged
conspiracy against the current Lord Protector of England, Oliver
Cromwell. Love, Thomas Watson and William Jenkyn were among those
imprisoned for treason. Cromwell charged them with conspiring to bring
back the monarchy and the King after parliament had charged the king
with treason and beheaded him. Watson was released, Jenkyn died in
prison, and Christopher Love was beheaded. The following letter is one
of many to Mr. Love’s wife. However, this is Mr. Love’s last letter to
his wife on the day he suffered.
_________________________________________
My most gracious Beloved,
I am now going from a prison to a
palace: I have finished my work, and am now going to receive my wages.
I am going to heaven, where are two of my children, and leaving you on
earth, where there are three of my babes. These two above, need not my
care; but the three below need thine. It comforts me to think, two of
my children are in the bosom of Abraham, and three of them will be in
the arms and care of such a tender and godly mother. I know you are a
woman of sorrowful spirit, yet be comforted, though you sorrows be great
for you husband going out of the world, yet your pains shall be the less
in bringing your child into the world; you shall be a joyful mother,
though you be a sad widow; God hath many mercies in store for you; the
prayer of a dying husband for you, will not be lost. To my shame I
speak it, I never prayed for you at liberty, as I have done in prison.
I can write much, but I have few practical counsels to leave with you,
viz.,
1. Keep under a sound, orthodox,
soul searching ministry. Oh! There are many deceivers gone out into the
world, but Christ’s sheep know His voice, and a stranger they will not
follow. Attend any minister that teacheth the way of God in truth; and
follow Solomon’s advice, Proverbs 19:27.
2. Bring up your children in the
knowledge and admonition of the Lord. The mother ought to be a teacher
in the father’s absence, Proverbs 31:1, “The words that his mother
taught him.” And Timothy was instructed by his grandmother, 1 Timothy
1:5.
3. Pray in your family daily, that
yours may be in the number of the families who call upon God.
4. Labor for a meek and quiet
spirit, which in the sight of God, is of great price, 1 Peter 3:4.
5. Pour not on the comforts you
want, but upon the mercies you have. Look rather at God’s ending in
afflicting, than to the measure and degree of your affliction.
6. Labor to clear up your evidence
for heaven when God takes from you the comfort of earth, so that as your
sufferings do abound, your consolation in Christ may abound much more, 2
Corinthians 1:5. Though it be good to maintain a holy jealously of
heart, yet it is still ill of you to cherish fears and doubts touching
the truth of your graces. If ever I had confidence touching the grace
of another, I have confidence of grace in you; as Peter said of Silvanus,
I am persuaded that this is the grace of God wherein ye stand, 1 Peter
5:12.
7. O, my dear soul wherefore dost
thou doubt, who heart has been laid upright, whose walking has been
holy, &c. I could venture my soul this day in they soul’s stead, such a
confidence I have in you.
8. When you find your heart secure,
presumptuous and proud, then pour upon corruption more than grace: then
look upon your grace without infirmities.
9. Study the covenant of grace, and
merits of Christ, and be troubled if you can; you are interested in such
a covenant that accepts purposes for performances, desires for deeds,
sincerity for perfection, the righteousness of another, viz., that of
Jesus Christ, as it were your own alone. Oh! My love! Rest thou in the
love of God, the bosom of Christ.
10. Swallow up your will in the
will of God. It is a bitter cup we are to drink, but it is the cup of
our Father which has been put into our hands. When Paul was to suffer
at Jerusalem, the Christians said, “The will of the Lord be done!” Oh!
Say ye so, when I go to the Tower-Hill, “The will of the Lord be done!”
11. Rejoice in my joy. To mourn
for me inordinately argues, that you either envy or suspect my
happiness. The joy of the Lord is my strength; Oh! Let it be yours
also! Dear wife, farewell: I will call thee wife no more: I shall see
thy face no more: yet I am not much troubled, for now I am going to meet
the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, to whom I shall be eternally married.
12. Refuse not to marry, when God
offers you a fair opportunity; but be sure you marry in the Lord; and
one of a good disposition, that he may not grieve you, but give you a
comfortable livelihood in the world.
Farewell dear love, and again I say
farewell. The Lord Jesus be with your spirit, the Maker of heaven and
earth be a husband to you; and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ be a
father to your children - so prays your dying,
Your most affectionate friend till death,
Christopher Love
The day of my glorification.
From the Tower of London, August 22, 1651
_________________
A special thanks to “A Puritan’s Mind” for this
letter and introduction. You can visit their website at
http://www.apuritansmind.com/
* * *
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“Heavenly Notes 2003”
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