writing Looking Unto Jesus was recovering from a serious illness in 1653.^76 Related
is the addition of the Saints Suffering section in the later editions in Media. He
understood suffering as a spiritual duty that could shape and further encourage a
person’s spiritual growth. Further, Ambrose includes three deathbed experiences that
reveal personal experiences of ravishment. Edward Gee, a colleague of Ambrose who
died in 1659, experienced spiritual ravishment and heavenly joy that await fulfillment
beyond this life.^77 A second deathbed experience was Mr. Holland, who in
preparation for his death asked his minister to expound Romans 8. Those words
produced an experience of being ravished in his spirit.^78 A third example was an
unnamed “godly woman” who was overwhelmed with spiritual desertion but as she
approached the Lord’s Supper she was filled with unspeakable joy. This soul-
ravishing joy continued for a fortnight after eating at the Lord’s Table.^79 The fact that
a person could prepare for and deepen his or her desire and love for Jesus is further
reinforced by a lengthy meditation composed to stir up the soul to seek and love
Christ more fully. He imagines Jesus speaking to the soul and reminding her that
while the soul has mistreated and been unkind to Jesus, Jesus still remains “thy friend,
thy Lord, thy brother, thy husband, and thy head.” Ambrose suggests that these
“blessed words” of Jesus caused the person to fall at his feet and cry out, “my Saviour
and my Lord”. In response, he continues the soliloquy; “[o] my soul rouze up, can
thy heart be cold when thou thinkest of this? What? Art thou not yet transported, and
ravished with love?”^80
(^76) Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus (^) , To the Reader, [1].
(^77) Ambrose, War with Devils, 184.
(^78) Ambrose, Communion with Angels, 283.
(^79) Ambrose, Communion with Angels, 263. Ambrose also connects Jesus’ absence
with the increase of desire in (^80) Ambrose, Media (1657), 231.Looking Unto Jesus , 211.