A Letter To The Congregation In Providence Chapel, Oakham – September 13th, 1868
To the Congregation in Providence Chapel, Oakham
Dear Friends,
It is a sad disappointment to me, and I doubt not will be so to many of you, that I am not able, from bodily indisposition, to stand up before you this morning and speak to you in the name of the Lord. But it has pleased the Lord to lay upon me one of those attacks of cold on my chest which so often, in times past, laid me aside, and which not only used so much to try my faith and patience, but yours also. Having been favored for thirteen Lord’s days to preach His Word, I was greatly in hopes that health and strength might have been given me to speak once more to those who were so long my own people, that our union and communion in the Lord might be strengthened and renewed, and that meeting once more in the house of prayer, we might realize the power and presence of the Lord in our midst.
But we live to prove that our thoughts are not the Lord’s thoughts, and that disappointment upon disappointment attends all our plans, even when they are made, as we hope, for the glory of God and the good of His people. You were looking perhaps too much to the instrument, and expecting that from the man which the Lord keeps in His own hands, the blessing which makes rich. It is a great trial to me that I cannot, as I hoped and expected, meet with you once more in the house of prayer, that heart might unite once more with heart in prayer and supplication, that I might preach to you again the Word of life, that our faith, hope, and love to the Lord might be strengthened, and our esteem and affection for each other renewed. It is however a great alleviation of my trial that our dear and esteemed friend Mr. Knill has so kindly determined to forego his engagement and preach in my stead, and may such a blessing rest on him, and the Word of God by him, that all disappointment may be removed, and you well reconciled to the will of God in this trying dispensation.
The Lord be with you and bless you.
Your affectionate Friend,
J. C. P.
Jesus is LORD! 
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