The Best Physic
William Gadsby
My dear Friends in the Friend of sinners, and in very
deed I can say, from the contents of Mrs. S.'s kind letters, my dear
Sisters in Christ,
I was very glad to hear from you, and to find that
our brother M— still improves in his health, and I can truly say that I
have greatly rejoiced to find that the Lord is so gracious unto him.
Blessed be the glorious name of our covenant God, he has verified that
precious promise in the experience of our dear brother; "I will be as
the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots
as Lebanon; his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the
olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon." O what an infinite blessing to be
able, under the unction of God the Holy Ghost, to say, "This God is my
God for ever and ever; he will be my Guide even unto death." In very
deed there is no god like the God of Jeshurun. Honours crown his brow,
he will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus our Lord. A covenant God forsake his blood-bought bride! No,
never, never. Bless his precious name, he has betrothed her to himself
for ever, in righteousness, in judgment, in loving-kindness, in mercies,
(or bowels,) and in faithfulness; (Hos. ii. 19, 2O;) so that come what
will, all is and must be well with Zion.
I must now inform my friends
that, through the dispensations of my God, I was last Lord's day
confined to my room by reason of affliction, which is the first Lord's
day that I have been wholly confined since I came to Manchester. I was
rather fearful of a high fever and inflammation of the chest, but
through the good hand of God upon me, I am wonderfully restored, and
hope to be able to
speak a little tomorrow in the dear name of my
Lord. I have been much supported in my affliction, and have had some
sweet views of God's glory in Christ, and of my own interest in all new
covenant blessings. The third and fourth chapters of Exodus, and part of
the sixth, have been sweet indeed to my soul. O how blessed it is to
have the glorious promises of a covenant God sealed upon our hearts! for
though at times, like Moses, we may raise our unbelieving fears and
objections, God's promise is for ever sure, and in the end shall
completely upset all the power of unbelief. These precious promises,
with their connections, have been much blessed to my soul; "Certainly I
will be with thee;" (Exod. iii. 12O. "Now therefore go, and I will be
with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." (Exod. iv. 12.)
What blessing is there that we have not in Christ? Verily, none; for "all things are ours, for we are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
The
contents of your letters have done both me and some of my friends good,
and we have indeed rejoiced with you and our dear brother M—, and
praised God for his kindness towards him. A few more storms, and a few
more lifts by the way, and we shall be for ever with the Lord, free,
everlastingly free from sin, cursed sin. Then shall we sing and never
sigh again. Thrice blessed day! yea, thrice blessed state, when we shall
be like our dear Lord, and see him as he is!
That the Lord may bless
you and all the friends with his sweet presence, is the prayer of, yours
in the Lord,
November, 1829. W. GADSBY.
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