6 January  1743

Anne Dutton, Great Gransden, to John Lewis, London, 6 January 1742/43.

Jan. 6, 1742-3.

My dear Brother in Christ,

         I Wonder at the Grace, that makes my poor Letters a Comfort to your Soul! CHRIST is ALL and in All; and I am nothing, less than [14] nothing, and Vanity. It hath pleased the FATHER, that in him all Fulness should dwell. The Members of Christ’s Body, in and of themselves, are empty, mere Vacuities. But the Fulness of the Head, filleth all in all! And tho’ I am the most unworthy, the least and last, yet the Fulness of Christ fills me! It fills me notwithstanding my great Emptiness, and greater Unworthiness, and flows thro’ me, little me, into the other and greater Members of the Body! All Glory to my Lord, the Filling Head, for all that satisfying Joy, with which thro’ me he has filled any, and so many of his dear Members! It was Grace unknown! that put me, vile me, among the happy, blessed Number! – that keeps me in the Body, and under the Influence of the Head, makes me of some Use to my dear Fellow-Members; so that the Superior cannot say to inferior Me, We have no need of thee! O infinite Grace! It is the LORD’s doing, and marvellous in my Eyes! The Heavens will praise Him for the Wonders of his Grace, towards [15] me, such a Hell-deserving Sinner – My Desert was, to have gone down to the Lowest Pit, to have sunk beneath the Weight of Sin, and God’s Almighty Wrath, into the Abyss of eternal Misery! But Oh behold, I am Redeemed by the LAMB’s Blood! The Lord of Life gave Himself to Death for my Ransom! JESUS, the Son of GOD, took my Nature, and Law-place, sustain’d my Person, bore my Sin and Curse, and endur’d that infinite Vengeance, which was my Desert! And having drank up the Cup of Wrath, finish’d Sin, and swallow’d up Death in Himself, when He dy’d for me upon the Cross; Himself, in the Immensity of his own Love and Life, as my Risen Glorify’d Head upon the Throne, is become the Lord of Life, the Giver of eternal Life unto Me, in all its glorious Beginnings, and never-ending Fulness! – And amidst the glorious Flows of Love and Life upon Me, I esteem my Lord’s using me as an Instrument in his Hand, to feed his dear Lambs, a very rich one! [16] Oh the Grace, the exceeding Riches of Grace, which the GOD of all Grace displays herein!  Never was a poor Sinner so unworthy, to be made of any use, to any one Soul, as vile me! But Grace Reigns, through the Bleeding LAMB, in the State and Majesty of GOD! of JEHOVAH! and displays its Glories in making the Chief of Sinners, Objects of the choicest Mercy! And while Free-Grace, lays out it Riches, and casts abroad its Rays upon Us; let us bow down before it, adore its infinite Greatness, live joyfully uner its sweet Influence, and humbly and thankfully praise this Grace, in Heart, Lip, and Life! And wherein we fail; let us get by Faith to the Foot of the Cross, Look again to the Saviour whom we have pierced, Mourn and be in Bitterness for Him, Wash in the Fountain of his Blood, and from new Life suck’d out of Christ’s Death, let us go forth afresh, in all manner of holy Conversation, to honour Free-Grace, more than ever! And thus, with increasing Brightness, [17] let us labour to praise Free-Grace, in the present Time; until bless’d Eternity comes on, and then, all-in-Tune, we’ll warble out its Praises, and shout its Glories, in Life and Love, endless and unknown!

         I rejoice with you, my Dear Brother, that the Lord has given you a Heart to love Him; a new Nature, to which Christ, his People, his Cause and Work is Precious. What distinguishing Grace is this, That has given you to see your own Misery as a Sinner, and the Excellency of Christ as a Saviour; while Thousands round about you, neither Know their deadly Disease, nor the glorious Remedy! That CHRIST should be the chief of ten thousand unto you, while others see no Beauty in the fairest of all Fairs, the altogether Lovely JESUS! It’s wondrous Grace to you, that hath made Christ’s People, to be in your Esteem, the Excellent of the Earth; while the World knoweth them not! How is it likewise that the rising Cause of the dear Redeemer, should be your Glory and Joy; while Thousands [18] despise and oppose it! And that Christ’s Work should be your Delight, your Freedom, your glorious Liberty; while so many will have none of Him for their Master, but are the willing Slaves of Sin and Satan! – I know you say, It is all of Grace! Free-Grace, that maketh me to differ from another! And this Grace, my Brother, that hath begun your Salvation, will finish it, with Power omnipotent, unto Glory compleat! You have experienced much of the Loving-kindness of the LORD; and He hath but begun to love you. There are Ages to come, even the endless Ages of Eternity, in which he will shew the exceeding Riches of His Grace, in his Kindness towards you, through CHRIST JESUS! – Wherefore go on chearfully, to love and serve the Lord, thro’ your little Inch of Time. The more you do for Christ, the sweeter will be His Work to you in this World; and the greater will be your Reward, your Crown of Glory in the World to come. [19]

         I rejoice to hear, that your Work, in publishing the Progress of Christ’s Gospel, is so exceeding Delightful to you. The Lord make it, still more and more, a rich Means of your Increase in Grace, and Preparation for Glory! – Unto the tender Care of our great Shepherd, I commit you; and requesting your Prayers for the least of His; am,

         Dear Sir,

                     Yours Affectionately

                                 in Christ Jesus,

                                             ---- -----. [Anne Dutton]

Text: “The Copy of another Letter from the same Friend in the Country, to the Printer of this Book,” 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. 2, pp. 13-19.