29 September 1742

Anne Dutton, Great Gransden, to George Whitefield, in Scotland, 29 September 1742.

Sept. 29, 1742.

My very Dear and Reverend Brother,

         Grace unto you, and Peace be multiplied, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Blessed Comforter.

         The acceptable Favour of your last, gave me much Pleasure; for which I give humble Thanks. Indeed I long’d to hear from you, but I knew your Work too well to conceive any Offence given in that you wrote no sooner. I am exceeding unworthy of your Notice, and esteem it a peculiar Favour, that God puts it into your Heart ever to remember poor me. Christ takes it kindly, my dear Brother, that you now and then cast a Glance of Favour upon the least of His. He well knows, with what Difficulty you redeem Time for that Service. He knows, not only your Love to Him and His, but the Labour of it also: And not only your Works, but the [14] Labour you are at to perform them. And none of your Labours of Love, even to the least Part of it, shall in any wise lose its Reward. Christ will lose nothing, none of your Services, but a full Reward shall be given you of the Prince of Love, according to His abundant Grace. It much delights our dear Lord, to see us love one another. He sees with Pleasure, the Union and Communion of Saints, as the Fruit of his Blood. He died to make us one with Himself, and with each other; and if we are twain, if we don’t love as Brethren, as united in the Lamb’s Blood, we don’t walk as the Redeemed of the Lord. Oh the Glory of the Unity we shall one Day enjoy, when we are made perfectly one with the innumerable Multitude of the saved Ones, and one in the Son, and in the Father, by one and the same Spirit! No more Discord then among the Saints, no more separate Interest, no more Diversity of Worship, nor Distance of Place; but all the vast Number of the whole Elect, gathered together from the four Winds, brought up into the [15] Unity of the Faith, and the Knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man; shall together in one august Assembly, in one living Temple, under one and the same Display of Divine Glory, with one Heart, Soul and Voice, worship one GOD, as their ALL in All unto Ages without End!

“They all are one, in One they all agree:

                 One is their ALL, which makes all one to be.”

         Lord, hasten the Glory-Day! It comes! it comes, my Brother! Don’t you see the Day dawn? the Morning Star appear? What labour you so hard for in Christ’s Gospel? Is it not to make ready a People prepared for the Lord? Is it not to espouse many unto one Husband? whom you may present as a chaste Virgin unto Christ? Oh glorious Work! And don’t you see how the Bridgroom cometh? what haste he makes! what mighty Steps he takes! Behold, he comes quickly! leaping on the Mountains, and skipping [16] on the Hills! He sheweth himself through the Lettice; by and by we shall see him Face to Face, and be bless’d with the full and eternal Vision of his Glory! Mean Time, labour hard in the Lord’s Work; do all you can according to his Working, to get the Bride ready for the Marriage-Glory with her Royal Bridegroom! Oh dear Man of God, the Attendance you give to this Work, and the Diligence you shew in it, doth as it were forbid me to press you forward, to bid a winged Flame, Fly! But CHRIST flies, and You must fly. The winged Flame of His Love, brings Him sweetly, swiftly, graciously, to save His Bride! Enkindled then with this Fire of God, this Flame of JEHOVAH, Fly after Him; the Lord is gone out before you; wing the Way; run through Oppositions; lick up the Waters of Affliction, and always abound in the Work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. Amongst his Children he has chosen you, that Multitudes by your Mouth should hear the Word of the [17] Gospel, and believe! I know you say, Why me, Lord? Indeed it is all of Grace! and, Behold how he loved you! He loved you Anciently, Freely, Richly, and will love you Eternally! The Wonders of God’s Love which daily opens to your View, with a new amazing Glory, are no new Things to God; but the new Fruits of his old Love, or the new Displays of his everlasting Thoughts of Grace towards you in Christ! The God all all Grace called a Council in Himself before the World was, how He might lay out his Grace upon you, to the Glory of its exceeding Riches, according to the Infinity of His Wisdom, He then resolved to be this God gracious unto you! When therefore you see God, even your Father, pouring out new Blessings upon you daily through Christ, O trace the Stream to the Fountain-Head, to the ALL of Spiritual Blessings, wherewith He bless’d you in Christ, before the Foundation of the World, and to that Eternal, Boundless Love, which is the Source of all your Bliss! For God’s Dispensations of Grace in Time, towards the Heirs of [18] Salvation, are but the Transcript of His Eternal Decrees, the opening, or unfolding of His manifest Wisdom and Grace, in the Eternal Council of His Will concerning them. And Think, my dear Brother, when the Eternal Omniscient GOD, with one View beheld all the Creatures He resolved to make, in the Glass of his own Decrees, how freely he lov’d you, in that he chose you unto Eternal Life, and to such eminent Service, while thousands were pass’d by! This was Free Love indeed! And behold, it is as Rich as it is Free! Oh, can you count up a thousandth Part of those exceeding Riches of Grace which God’s Free Love hath laid out upon you through Jesus Christ! Are not Love’s Riches unsearchable! Oh how great is that Goodness which he has laid out upon you! And yet, behold! He has Goodness, and Immensity, and Eternity of Goodness laid up for you! God’s Love, like Himself, knows no Decay, Change, or End! And this Love of God, this God of Love, through the Once-Bleeding Lamb, [19] will be an exuberant, inexhaustible, and eternal Sea of Bliss unto you! O Love the Lord therefore! you have nothing else to do but to love him. Love Him in Doing; Love Him in Suffering. You see how He loves you into, and through both, and every Way crowns you with His Loving-kindness! How goodly is your Heritage! How pleasant is your Place! how extensive is your Border! How does it press on from one Place to another! From Privilege to Privilege! And O the Immensity of that Love, which drew the Line of it! Verily, your Time-Lot is exceeding Large, and your Eternal Lot Ineffable!

         Oh Man, greatly beloved! my Heart rejoiceth with you, in all your Joy. I rejoice to hear, while you see such glorious Days of the Son of Man. O may you pass on from Glory to Glory, and still see greater Things than these! And since you are so highly favoured, don’t think it a strange Thing, to meet with Opposition from every Quarter. If you are for Christ, you must have Earth [20] and Hell against you. Never was any great Work done for God, but It and Its Instruments met with great Opposition: which only served as a Foil, to illustrate the Glory of the Power which bears down all before it. In vain the Heathen rage, and the Kings of the Earth set themselves, and the Rulers take Counsel together against the LORD, and against His Anointed. For yet he has set his King upon his holy Hill of Zion. Since the Strength of JESUS is yours, fear no adverse Power. None of the Powers of Darkness are a Match for Omnipotence. The Lord is on your Side, live in Him, and to Him; and fear not what Men, or Devils can do unto you. The Lord on High is mightier than many Waters, than the mighty Waves of the Sea. Since you have glorious Consolations, you must have close Trials to poize you. A Thorn in the Flesh is given you, lest you should be exalted above Measure. But the Grace of Christ is sufficient for you, and His Power shall rest upon [21] you. Into His Arms I commit you. Forget not before Him: In Him,

         Dear Sir, I am

                     Your most Affectionate

                                 Humble Servant, &c.

Text: “The Copy of a Letter from a Friend in the Coiuntry, to the Rev. Mr. Whitefield in Scotland,” in The Weekly History: or,  An Account of the Most Remarkable Particulars relating to the Present Progress of the Gospel, ed. John Lewis (London: Printed and Sold by John Lewis, in Bartholomew-Close, near West-Smithfield, 1742), Vol. II, no. 1, pp. 13-21.