Alexander Gordon of Earlston, not far from Anwoth, was summoned
before the High Commission by the bishop of Glasgow for preventing the
intrusion of an unpopular nominee of the bishop into a vacant parish.
This charge was not proceeded with, but on a later, similar charge he
was heavily fined. He was a leading Churchman and a member of the
Scottish Parliament.
MUHH HONORED SIR, -- Grace, mercy, and peace be to you. I received your
letter, which refreshed me. Except from your son, and my brother, I
have seen few letters from my acquaintance in that country; which
maketh me heavy. But I have the company of a Lord who can teach us all
to be kind, and has the right gate of it. It pleaseth Him to come and
dine with a sad prisoner, and a solitary stranger. But I verily think
now, that Christ has led me up to a nick in Christianity that I was
never at before. I think all before was but childhood and bairn's play.
I look back to what I was before, and I laugh to see the sand-houses I
built when I was a child.
At first the remembrance of many fair feast-days with my Lord Jesus
in public, which are now changed into silent Sabbaths, raised a great
tempest, and (if I may speak so) made the devil ado in my soul. The
devil came in, and would prompt me to lay the blame on Him as a hard
master. But now these mists are blown away, and I am not only silenced
as to all quarreling, but fully satisfied.
Christ beareth me good company. He has eased me, when I saw it not,
lifting the cross off my shoulders, so that I think it to be but a
feather, because underneath are everlasting arms. Nothing breaketh my
heart, but that I cannot get the daughters of Jerusalem to tell them of
my Bridegroom's glory. I charge you in the name of Christ that ye tell
all that ye come to of it, and yet it is above telling and
understanding. Oh, if all the kingdom were as I am, except my bonds! I
write now what I have seen as well as heard. Now and then my silence
burneth up my spirit; but Christ has said, 'Thy stipend is running up
with interest ill in heaven, as if thou wert preaching'; and this from
a King's mouth rejoiceth my heart. At other times I am sad, dwelling in
Kedar's tents.
There are none (that I yet know of) but two persons in this town that
I dare give my word for. And the Lord has removed my brethren and my
acquaintance far from me; and it may be, that I shall be forgotten in
the place where the Lord made me the instrument to do some good. But I
see that this is vanity in me; let Him make of me what He pleaseth.
Sir, write to me, I beseech you. I pray you also be kind to my
afflicted brother. Remember my love to your wife; and the prayer and
blessing of the prisoner of Christ be on you. Frequent your meetings
for prayer and communion with God, they would be sweet meetings to me.
Yours in the Lord Jesus.
ABERDEEN, Feb. 16, 1637
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Rutherford was also known for his spiritual and devotional works, such as Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself and his Letters. Concerning his Letters, Charles Spurgeon wrote: "When we are dead and gone let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford's Letters to be the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men". Published versions of the Letters contain 365 letters and fit well with reading one per day.
Rutherford was a strong supporter of the divine right of Presbytery, the principle that the Bible calls for Presbyterian church government. Among his polemical works are Due Right of Presbyteries (1644), Lex, Rex (1644), and Free Disputation against Pretended Liberty of Conscience.
Samuel Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author. He was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.
Born in the village of Nisbet, Roxburghshire, Rutherford was educated at Edinburgh University, where he became in 1623 Regent of Humanity (Professor of Latin). In 1627 he was settled as minister of Anwoth in Galloway, from where he was banished to Aberdeen for nonconformity. His patron in Galloway was John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure. On the re-establishment of Presbytery in 1638 he was made Professor of Divinity at St. Andrews, and in 1651 Rector of St. Mary's College there. At the Restoration he was deprived of all his offices.
Rutherford's political book Lex, Rex (meaning "the law [and] the king" or "the law [is] king") presented a theory of limited government and constitutionalism. It was an explicit refutation of the doctrine of "Rex Lex" or "the king is the law." Rutherford was also known for his spiritual and devotional works, such as Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself and his Letters.