Dear wife, farewell!
(An excerpt from a letter by Christopher Love,
to his wife, on the morning of his execution)
My most gracious beloved,
I am now going from a prison to a palace!
I have finished my work. I am now to receive
my wages. I am going to heaven! Rejoice in my
joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength. O, let it
be yours also! Dear wife, farewell! I will call
you wife no more! I shall see your face no more!
Yet I am not much troubled; for now I am going
to meet the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to whom I shall be eternally married!
Your dying, yet most affectionate friend until death,
Christopher Love,
August 22, 1651, the day of my glorification!
For those of you who have never heard of Rev. Christopher Love, he was a 17th century Welsh Presbyterian pastor in London. He and a group of other Presbyterian ministers (including the beloved Thomas Watson) were all arrested by Oliver Cromwell's folks, charged with devising a plan to restore Charles II to power. The others were released, but Love was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1651.
What a heartfelt letter to his wife, whom I'm sure he loved dearly. Here was a man headed for certain death, yet his faith in Christ was so strong that he went rejoicing to his beheading. Though I'm sure he loved his wife, he was not troubled by not seeing her again, for where he was going, the Lord was there. He would be united with Christ for eternity! The blessedness of being in the presence of Christ for eternity far surpasses any temporal joy. No worries, if she had the same kind of faith in Christ, she would later join them in glory where she would then be joined to Christ forever.
I pray that when my time comes I will also go into death rejoicing because of what I know is on the other side.
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