The Life And Testimony Of Elizabeth Walters
Gospel Standard 1857:
Death. On March 25th, 1857, aged 20 years, Elizabeth Walters, the beloved niece of C. H. Walters, pastor of the Baptist church, South Chard, of which church she was a member at the time of her death. Her parents were strongly attached to the forms and ceremonies of the Church of England, in which they brought her up till she was about nine years of age, when it pleased God to remove her to reside with her uncle, where her mind became impressed with a feeling sense of her state as a lost sinner. The first powerful impressions were in an address delivered by J. J. of B., to the Sunday-school children and others, which, with other things, caused her, through the Spirit of God, to seek his mercy as a poor, hell-deserving sinner. Under the weight of her burden she went into secret places, mourning before the Lord, entreating him to speak pardon to her soul; and well did she remember his breaking in upon her distressed soul with his pardoning grace, to her great joy and peace. She prized her Bible very much, and read it daily, and seeing her path marked out therein, was led thereby to make a public profession of her faith in the Lord Jesus and union with his people. She was immersed at the age of seventeen years, and continued to walk in the Lord’s appointed ways unto the end. Circumstances occurred by which she was deprived of a faithful ministry for a time; during which she was held in great bondage, till the Lord in his goodness removed her, with her uncle, to Jersey, where the word was blessed to her, feeling at times so overcome with the manifestations of the Lord’s love as to be obliged to beg Him to stay his hand; though at other times her felt unworthiness was so great that she sank down into deep distress. Very frequently at the Lord’s Supper, the dying love of Christ for such an unworthy wretch as she felt her self to be caused her to weep tears of gratitude. The word was made very comforting to her during her sojourn at Jersey, which was about eighteen months, so that, by the blessing of God, she was enabled to say with God’s servant, David, “God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation and all my desire.” But God having made it very plain that he had called her uncle to S. C., to labor in his vineyard, she removed with him, when she tell into such darkness of soul that she was in deep distress, and was so tempted to think the body, or anything sooner than the distressing state of deadness she was then in; when it pleased the Lord to lay his afflicting hand upon her, and to manifest himself very blessedly to her in it. She then very frequently exclaimed, “Good and gracious is the Lord! Jesus is very, very precious to my soul! Should the Lord permit me to go to chapel again, I think I shall be enabled to praise him with a loud noise.” She was troubled with a very distressing cough and very great weakness, but was very patient, being much comforted of God, her exceeding joy. About a fortnight before her departure, she was, as it were, caught up by Jesus, by the sweet flowing down of his precious love; so that she was filled with blessings and praises for a very considerable time. She seemed to have a most captivating view of his glorious person, in which her countenance was most heavenly and her soul full of the love of Christ, during which she felt free from pain and weakness. Three or four friends were in the room. They were filled with joy and praise, and thought she would have gone to glory then; but her mother went to her and clasped her round, which disturbed her; when she continued looking upwards, and said, “I can’t see him now, my precious Saviour! I think he is gone.” But she never lost the savour of that visit. She spoke to her mother about the unscriptural way in which she was bringing up her sisters, telling her that sprinkling children in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost was what the wicked did in rebellion against God’s own order, and that confirmation would do her sisters more harm than good; that nothing but the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul would make them new creatures in Christ Jesus; that she had been held in that snare, but thanked God that he had broken it, and brought her out to the praise of his sovereign grace. She very often thanked the Lord that he had been so very good in bringing her out of the errors in which she had been trained into a sound, God-glorifying, sinner-humbling, soul-sanctifying gospel ministry, by which she was made to know the preciousness of Jesus and his gospel, which was so very sweet and precious to her in the prospect of eternity. A few hours before her death she held a sweet conversation with her uncle, in which she was full of joy in the prospect of soon seeing her Saviour as he is; but, after taking leave of her friends, she sank into a state in which she appeared to be contending with adverse powers, to her great discomfort; and then a more fearful object still, that caused a short terror, till a lovely one changed the scene; after which she was quite still and quiet, and gently breathed out her soul, with a heavenly smile, into the arms of Jesus.
C. H. W.
Elizabeth Walters (1837-1857) was a Strict and Particular Baptist believer. She was the niece of C. H. Walters, pastor of the church meeting at South Chard, of which she was a member at the time of her death.
