Christopher Love's letter to Wife

Christopher Love was a Pastor in London who was arrested with six others and charged with plotting to restore Charles II to the throne in England. Though Love denied the charges, he was beheaded on August 22, 1651, at the age of thirty three. Love and his wife had five children, two daughters who died at a very young age, and three sons, the youngest being born after Love was killed.

Before his execution, Christopher Love sent one final letter to Mary, his wife. His faith in the eternal promises of God, and his selfless care and love for His wife are remarkable evidences of the grace of our Savior. I know this is a long read, but it is well worth it!  Notice on Point 4 how Christopher values and exhorts his wife to imperishable beauty.

"My Most Gracious Beloved,

I am now going from a prison to a palace: I have finished my work, and am now going to receive my wages. I am going to Heaven, where are two of my children, and leaving you on earth, where there are three of my babes These two above, need not my care; but the three below need thine. It comforts me to think, two of my children are in the bosom of Abraham, and three of them will be in the arms and care of such a tender and godly mother. I know you are a woman of sorrowful spirit, yet be comforted though your sorrows be great for your husband going out of the world, yet your pains shall be the less in bringing your child into the world; you shall be a joyful mother, though you be a sad widow; God hath many mercies in store for you; the prayer of a dying husband, for you, will not be lost. To my shame I speak it, I never prayed for you at liberty, as I have done in prison. I can write much, but I have few practical counsels to leave with you, viz.,

1. Keep under a sound, orthodox, soul searching ministry. Oh! There are many deceivers gone out into the world, but Christ's sheep know His voice, and a stranger they will not follow. Attend any minister that teacheth the way of truth; and follow Solomon's advice, Proverbs 19:27.

2. Bring up your children in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord. The mother ought to be a teacher in the father's absence, Proverbs 31:1, "The words that his mother taught him..." And Timothy was instructed by his grandmother, 1 Timothy 1:5.

3. Pray in your family daily, that yours may be in the number of the families who call upon God.

4. Labor for a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God, is of great price, 1 Peter 3:4

5. Pour not on the comforts you want, but upon the mercies you have. Look rather at God's ending in afflicting, than to the measure and degree of your affliction.

6. Labor to clear up your evidence for heaven when God takes from you the comfort of earth, so that as your sufferings do abound, your consolation in Christ may abound much more, 2 Corinthians 1:5.

7. O, my dear soul wherefore dost though doubt, whose heart has been laid upright, whose walking has been holy... I could venture my soul this day in thy soul's stead, such a confidence I have in you.

8. When you find your heart secure, presumptuous and proud, then pour upon corruption more than grace: then look upon your grace without infirmities.

9. Study the covenant of grace, and merits of Christ... Oh! My love! Rest thou in the love of God, the bosom of Christ.

10. Swallow up your will in the will of God. It is a bitter cup we are to drink, but it is the cup of our Father which has been put into our hands. When Paul was to suffer at Jerusalem, the Christians said, "The will of the Lord be done!" Oh! Say ye so, when I go to the Tower-Hill, (place of execution),"The will of the Lord be done!"

11. Rejoice in my joy. To mourn of me inordinately argues, that you either envy or suspect my happiness. The joy of the Lord is my strength; Oh! Let it be yours also! Dear wife, farewell: I will call thee wife no more: I shall see thy face no more: yet I am not much troubled, for now I am going to meet the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, to whom I shall be eternally married.

12. Refuse not to marry, when God offers you a fair opportunity; but be sure you marry in the Lord; and one of good disposition, that he may not grieve you, but give you a comfortable livelihood in the world.

Farewell, dear love, and again I say farewell. The Lord Jesus be with your spirit, the Maker of heaven and earth be a husband to you; and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ be a Father to your children--

So prays your dying, your most affectionate friend till death,

Christopher Love

The Day of my Glorification

From the Tower of London, August 22, 1651

Comments

[Tina]

Wow. You don't hear such admonition and encouragement much these days - from the "death bed" or otherwise. Such parting thoughts are, I think, symptomatic of what John Piper calls "breathing God-saturated air". Ours is typically saturated with other things...and though there is nothing new under the sun, I do believe the bombardment is much greater now with the help of mass media. At least that is the way it seems to me.

I didn't intend to write all of that...simply to add a similar link. It is something Jonathan Edwards wrote about his future wife as he was falling in love with her...

http://www.4literature.net/Jonathan_Edwards/Of_Sarah_Pierrepont_Who_Afterward_Beca/

[Clarissa Ramos]

Thank you so much for posting this. We women have a tendency to become discouraged and assume that every man "out there" is naturally selfish and unable to view a woman with genuine, selfless care and concern. A good many of us need to be reminded (too often, I'm afraid - a weakness on our part and one that should be taken to the Lord) that there ARE men that the Lord has raised up who do seek the benefit of others - women included - before their own .

Every example of this we come across helps to counter the MANY examples to the contrary that we experience each and every day. When men like you and Christopher Love make an effort to display this kind of selfless character and Christ-likeness, we women are encouraged and enabled to trust a little more. Thank you.