Substance of a letter from Jonathan Edwards to the wife of Sir "William Pepperrel, Governor of Massachusetts, on the occasion of the death of her son; written in the year 1751.

Dear Madam :

When you spoke of my writing to you I soon determined what should be the subject of my letter. It was that which appeared to me to be the most proper subject of contemplation for one in your circumstances.

. . . . And this was the Lord Jesus Christ;- particularly the amiableness of His character, which renders Him worthy that we should love Him and take Him for our only portion, our rest, hope and joy; and His great and unparalleled love towards us. ….

Let us, then, contemplate the loveliness of our Blessed Redeemer, which entitles Him to our highest love; and, when clearly seen, leads us to find a sweet complacency and satisfaction of soul in Him, of whatever else we are deprived. The Scriptures assure us that He who came into this world in our nature, and freely laid down His life for us, was truly possessed of all the fullness of the Godhead; of His infinite greatness, majesty and glory; His infinite wisdom, purity and holiness; His infinite
righteousness and goodness. He is called the " Brightness of God's glory and the Express Image of His Person." He is the Image, the Expression of infinite beauty, in contemplation of which the Father had all His unspeakable happiness from eternity. That eternal and unspeakable happiness of the Godhead is represented as a kind of social happiness in the society of the Persons of the Trinity. Prov. 8:30:"Then was I by Him as one brought up with Him, I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." This glorious Person came down from heaven to be the Light of the World, that by Him the beauty of the Godhead might shine forth in the brightest and fullest manner to the children of men.

Infinite wisdom has also contrived that we should behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to the greatest advantage; in such a manner as is best fitted to engage our attention and win our hearts, as well as inspire us with the most perfect complacency and delight. For Christ having, by becoming man, come down from His infinite exaltation above us, has made Himself our Kinsman. And His glory shining upon us through His human nature, the manifestation is wonderfully adapted to the strength of the human vision; so that, though it appears in all its effulgence, it is yet attempered to our sight. He is indeed possessed of infinite majesty to inspire us with reverence and adoration:yet that majesty need not terrify us, for we behold it blended with humility, meekness and sweet condescension. We may feel the most profound reverence and self-abasement, and yet our hearts be drawn forth sweetly and powerfully into an intimacy the most free, confidential and delightful. The dread naturally inspired by His greatness is dispelled by the contemplation of His gentleness and humility:while the familiarity which might otherwise arise from the view of the loveliness of His character merely, is ever prevented by the consciousness of His infinite majesty and glory; and the sight of all His perfections united fills us with sweet surprise and humble confidence; with reverence, love and delightful adoration.

This glory of Christ is properly and in the highest sense divine. He shines in all the brightness of glory that is inherent in the Godhead. Such is the exceeding brightness of this Sun of Righteousness that, in comparison with it, the light of the natural sun is as darkness; and hence when He shall appear in His glory the brightness of the natural sun shall disappear as the little stars do when the sun arises. So says the prophet Isaiah:"The moon shall be confounded and the sun shall be ashamed when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and before his ancients gloriously." But although His light is thus bright, and His beams go forth with infinite strength, yet, as they proceed from the Lamb of God and shine through His meek and lowly human nature, they are supremely soft and mild, and, instead of dazzling and overpowering our feeble sight, like a smooth ointment or a gentle eye-salve, they are vivifying and healing. Thus on them who fear God's name "the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His beams."-Mal. 4:2. It is like the light of the morning, a morning without clouds, as the dew on the grass, under whose in-fluence the souls of His people are as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Thus are the beams of His beauty and brightness fitted for the support and reviving of the afflicted. He heals the broken in spirit and bindeth up their wounds. When the spirits of His people are cut down by the scythe, he comes down upon them in a sweet and heavenly influence like rain upon the mown grass and like showers that water the earth.-Ps. 72:6.

But especially are the beams of Christ's glory infinitely softened by His love to men, the love that passeth knowledge. The glory of His person consists pre-eminently in that infinite goodness and grace of which He made so wonderful a manifestation in His love to us. The apostle John tells us that God is light, and again that God is love; and the light of His glory is an infinitely sweet light, because it is the light of love. But especially does it appear so in the Person of our Redeemer, who was infinitely the most wonderful example of love that was ever witnessed. All the perfections of God have their highest manifestation in the work of redemption vastly more than in the work of creation. In other works we see Him indirectly; but here we see the immediate glory of His face.-2 Cor. 3:18. In His other works we see Him at a distance; but in this we come near and behold the infinite treasures of His heart.-Eph. 3:8-10. It is a work of love to us and a work of which Christ is the author.

His loveliness and His love have both their greatest and most affecting manifestation in those sufferings which He endured for us at His death. Therein, above all, appeared His holiness, His love to God, and His hatred of sin, in that, when He desired to save sinners, rather than that a sensible testimony should not be seen against sin and the justice of God be vindicated, He chose to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Thus in the same act He manifested in the highest conceivable degree His infinite hatred of sin and His infinite love to sinners. His holiness appeared like a fire burning with infinite vehemence against sin, at the same time that His love to sinners appeared like a sweet flame burning with an infinite fervency of benevolence. It is the beauty and glory of His love to us polluted sinners that it is an infinitely pure love, and it is the peculiar sweetness and endearment of His holiness that it has its most glorious manifestation in such an act of love to us.* *Writing to a lady in affliction, Edwards dwells more on what Christ is personally to us. It is, nevertheless, of the highest importance to see that what makes Him an all-sufficient source of consolation to me, in any and every circumstance, is that His death on the cross perfectly glorified God, in respect of my sin. Hence, in beholding the cross, the thought of His love to God, is above that of His love to me. It is what he undertook, and accomplished, on behalf of God, that gives all its value to His work for me. It is also important to see that the cross was more than a sensible testimony against sin. The awful cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" implies something deeper than that; something indicated-not explained, it could not be explained-by, "He hath made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us," 2 Cor. 5:21, and His presence in the glory at God's right hand assures me of what the other half of that verse states, " We are become the righteousness of God in Him." Moreover, His death was my death-the end not only of my sin, but of me. " I have been crucified with Christ. "* All the perfections of Christ both divine and human have their highest manifestation in this wonderful act of His love to men-His offering up Himself a sacrifice for us, under these extreme sufferings. Herein have abounded towards us the riches of His grace in all wisdom and prudence.-Eph. 1:8.

Herein appears His perfect righteousness; herein, too, was the great display of His humility, in being willing to descend so low for us,-His obedience to God, His submission, patience and meekness, when He went as a lamb to the slaughter, praying God to forgive His crucifiers. And how affecting this manifestation of His excellency and amiableness to our minds when it chiefly shines forth in such an act of love to us.

We see, then, how rich and how adequate is God's provision for our consolation, giving us a Redeemer of such glory and such love, especially when we consider the ends of this great manifestation of beauty and love in His death. He suffered that we might be delivered. His soul was exceeding sorrowful to take away sorrow and impart everlasting consolation. He was oppressed that we might be supported-overwhelmed in the darkness of death that we might have the light of life. He was cast into the furnace of God's wrath that we might drink the river of His pleasures. His soul was overwhelmed with a flood of sorrow that our hearts might be overwhelmed with a flood of eternal joy.

We may also well remember in what circumstances our Redeemer now is. He was dead, but He is alive and He lives for evermore. We have Him to go to in all our afflictions. He is not one who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but was tried in all points like as we are, apart from sin. He is a hiding place from the storm and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Having found Him who is as the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, we may sit under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit will be sweet to our taste. He said to his disciples " In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace." He will be our light in the darkness. Our morning star, in a little while He will arise upon our souls, the sure harbinger of approaching day; and our sun shall no more go down. We shall see His face; there will be no interposing cloud, no veil; the Lord shall be our everlasting light and our Redeemer our glory.