Anne Dutton's
Letters on Spiritual Subjects
My Dear and Honored Brethren,
Great things has the Lord done for your souls, in showing you your misery by
sin, your lost and undone state by nature, in revealing Christ
the glorious remedy, and in drawing your hearts to cleave unto Him by faith
and love, as the only Savior. And not a soul of you who look and come to
Christ for life—shall ever die—shall die eternally. No, my dear brethren,
you who have believed in Jesus, who have trusted your souls in the Savior's
hands, have passed from death to life, and shall not come into condemnation.
Your state in Christ is forever secure. No death—not the first death as a
curse, as penal, nor yet the second death—shall ever light upon you who are
entered by faith into Christ as your life. You who look to the once-dying
Savior for all salvation, shall live by His death. You who feast upon the
sacrificed Lamb, shall live and reign with Him, as the Lamb's bride, forever
and ever. Thus shall it be done unto you, my brethren, whom the King of
Glory delights to honor. Oh, free, rich, glorious
grace!
What? did the Lord of all love us, and give Himself for
us? For us creatures, for us sinners, rebels against His crown, His enemies,
and haters of His ways, who deserved to be companions with devils, and were
fit fuel for everlasting burnings! What, my brethren, could the King of
glory see in us to attract His love? Were we not in His foreview most
loathsome, abominable objects? And yet we, even we, found grace in His
sight. O! He loved us freely from the infinite grace of His own heart, and
the sovereign good pleasure of His will. And He so loved us, that rather
than we should die, Himself would die for us—that rather than we should
perish in our guilt and pollution, Himself, His righteous, holy Self, would
bear our sins, be made a curse for us, and endure all that flaming wrath
that we had deserved! Oh, never was there such a lover as our dear Lord
Jesus.
He loved and lived, loved and died, loved and rose for
us, loves and sits at God's right hand for us, to save us to the uttermost
by His prevailing intercession, in the virtue of His infinite satisfaction,
even all those that come unto God by Him. Oh, glorious Lover! He ever lives,
He ever loves, and from His love and life He will raise us from all sin and
misery, unto all grace and glory, and crown us with Him to reign in life
eternal. And in all, will He rejoice over us to do good, with His whole
heart and His whole soul, yes, delight to honor us, to lift us beggars from
the ash-heap, to set us among princes, and make us inherit the throne of
glory!
What love and honor, then, my dear brethren, are due from
saved souls unto God the Savior! O for hearts all-enkindled with His love,
to love and honor Him, who first, who thus has loved us! Let us forget the
things that are behind, and press forward towards the mark—perfect holiness
and glory—for this prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. By
faith and patience, in all holy obedience, let us run the race that is set
before us, and strive who shall outstrip each other, while we look unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who leads on the foremost and
brings up those behind, yes, has said to the weakest soul, "with the last, I
am He."
Wishing all increase of grace here, and a weighty crown
of glory at Christ's appearing, I commit you to Him on whom you have
believed.