Letter from Daniel Muir to John Muir, 1866 Feb 24

Creator

Daniel Muir

Recipient

John Muir

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Transcription

[2]commanded to cut it down why comb[illegible] the ground, But I fear that very many who do profess to be inlightened respecting Spiritual matters are in greater darkness than they imagion , at least they do not seem to be affected much with it if any for they seemingly keep at too great a distance from god as if conviction [and?] all that they had attained to that their [illegible] with Christ was only formal, as if they had no certainty whether they had received pardon or not, or whether they were in his kingdom or Satans. whether they are governed by the Spirit of god, or the flesh whether they are under the law or under grace, whether they are justified by Jesus Christs good works or their own good works, allways in bondage except when their freedom is imaginary and you know that would not profit them anything on a dieing bed, nor in life either. It appears then that both the unenlightened man and the hypocrite have got their eyes shut up, & also their easy, & their understanding takein from them, by the god of this world, & if god has not mercy upon them they never will be in a better state. Now my Son as I do not know for certain your present state of mind in relation to its safety, as their may be great changes by grace, wrought upon both you, & me since I & you spoke last on that a[illegible], So that untill we get better informed, I shall only Speak of my own State, and advise you as my gracious god & Saviour may inable me, for our mutual profit. As reguards my own State in the Sight of god, & as he has revealed myself to my self I think their never was a more fitting creature, as I have been, on the face of the earth. I there for have been one of the Chiefest of Siners, the thorns that crowned my blessed Saviour the nails that pearced his holy hands & feet, & the spear that pearced his innocent side, was formed of my most filthy sins, yet I believe that the blood that flowed thireby, hath perfectly washed away that awefull filth of sin, when self rightiousness nor northing else could have done it. & the glory & the praise be unto god the Father, who hath made Christ Jesus unto me Wisdom, Rightio usness , Santification, & Redemption, & who hath sent down his Holy Spirit into my heart, to lead me into all truth & rightiousness, & produce in me[3]love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, & temperance against which there is no law, and I believe though I can do nothing more of myself in the future, then I have done in the past, to please god yet I have his precious promises to enable me to do what I could not do before. My grace shall be sufficient for you therefore I can like Paul take pleasure in infirmaties, [illegible], reproaches, persucuti -ons, & Distresses for when I am weak then am I strong, and my god has given me to believe that he will finish what he has began for the work is all his from begining to end all I can do is to love & praise & follow him in the faith & that not of myself it is the gift of god. That my son is a better portrait of myself, for it is of gods making, then any creature could have drawn for you, of my vile old man. So you need not wonder at my scruples about having portraits taken of myself, there is no image like gods, & I hope he will give me more & more of that everyday for Jesus sake Amen. Now my son suffer a word of councell from your father / Examin yourself whether you are in the faith prove your own self pray to you heavenly father that he would for Christs sake, lead you to see the vileness of your natural state as he has drawn the picture of it in his word this he will do by his Holy Spirit, that he would give you faith to rest upon his word of truth according to the Scriptures & that everything that is opposed to his every word, is lies, whether it comes from the Devil, your own heart, or the world, & by this you will know how you stand befor god. Pray also that he would be pleased to reveal his Son in you see John 6:37. 44.45. Receive Jesus Christ according to the the gospel as the gift of god freely offered to you, See John 6:29; 1 John 3:23. & John 1:12. The following passages will show you what you have to leave for Jesus in order that you may be his disciple Luke 14:26. Matt 19:29. Mark 10:29.30.

Location

Buffalo, [Wisc]

Date Original

1866 Feb 24

Source

Original letter dimensions: 25.0 x 40.0 cm

Resource Identifier

muir01_0778-let.tif

File Identifier

Reel 01, Image 0778

Copyright Status

Copyright status unknown

Copyright Statement

Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Owning Institution

University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.

Page Number

Page 2