Letter to John Newton

To Rev. John Newton,

Oh, what is man! How easily we spy the vanity and inconsistency in another, and how hardly we discern it in ourselves.

The foulest stain, and worst absurdity in our nature, is pride! And yet this vile hedgehog so rolls himself up in his bristly coat, that we can seldom get a sight of his claws.

Pride cleaves to us, like a shirt soaked in tar cleaves to the skin. No sharp ploughing and harrowing will clear the ground of it. This foul weed will be sure to spring up with the next rain!

Pride follows me like my shadow!

This diabolical sin has brought more scourges on my back than everything else! It is of so insinuating a nature, that I know not how to rid myself of it.

I hate it and love it.

I quarrel with it and embrace it.

I dread it and yet allow it to lie in my bosom.

It pleads a right, through the fall, to be a tenant for life. It has such an amazing appetite that it can feed both on grace and garbage! It will be as warm and snug in a monastery, as a brothel and be as much delighted with a fine prayer, as a foul curse!

Lord, save me! If pride must dwell with me, let it not be a lordly master, but a loathed viper!

Oh, that I could once say unto you, foul pride: "Farewell forever!"

There is no Christian grace, but pride will creep into its bosom and mix with it as freely as oil with oil.

Nor is Lady Pride ever so delighted as when she becomes intimate with humility, and by soft caresses and kind speeches, encourages the sweet damsel to think highly of herself, even when she looks and talks humbly.

One moment she whispers and tells me that I am a fine fellow and then I am elated.

By and by, she calls me a fool and then I am sullen.

I can do no religious act, but pride is skulking at my elbow and much affecting me both by her smiles and frowns.

This foul pride besieges my heart, besets all my steps, and meets me at every turn.

Pride has more heads than a Hydra! (A mythological serpentine water monster which had many heads. Every time someone would cut off one of them, two more heads would grow out!)

Pride has more shapes than Proteus! (A mythical Greek figure who could assume a different shape at will.)

It is such an odd mysterious evil that I can even be proud of loathing my pride.

Henceforth if you ask my real name, it is Pride!

Yours,

John Berridge

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A Love Stroke

Dear Madam,

You thought right that I should pity you, when I knew the cause of the lameness of your hands. For whom that loves can forbear the greatest pity to a worthy friend who was used most cruelly? Cruel treatment was this from the creature but a love-stroke of God your Father! You have hereby seen the wonders of His infinite goodness which He has wrought for you in that support under and deliverance from those many and great distresses which at present are to your wonder, joy and praise, and shall be to the advance of your felicity in eternal glory and to God's honor, unto endless ages!

I think my afflictions are nothing if compared with those which you have passed through. Afflicted in body, from head to foot severely terrified in soul so exceedingly brought to the very brink of death and the grave in the former, and, as it were, into the belly of hell in the latter; and yet, everlasting arms underneath you in all this, the consolations of God given to your heart, and great deliverance to your body from its sore distress as an answer to social prayer how great, how wondrous was the grace! And when a little raised up yourself, to be so soon plunged into distress by the awful affliction of your dear sister, and ever since to be exercised with such various scenes of distresses through which you have been called to pass, and yet maintained in life in the life of nature and in the life of grace, and favored with the use of your natural and spiritual senses, how bright towards you have been the displays of the Lord's excellent loving-kindness! You may well say, "in deaths often; troubled on every side."

But when you shall have come up at last out of all great tribulations having washed your robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and are presented faultless before the throne of God how sweet, how ineffably sweet, will be your eternal glory-rest! Then you will reflect with the highest pleasure upon all your past sorrows, and in unknown transports of joy and praise forever adore that wise grace which conducted you safely and advantageously through all the terrors and dangers of the wilderness. Most surely, your joy and glory, and God's joy and glory in yours, is to be exceeding great, or you would not have met with such great miseries and griefs in the present state.

I am glad that you long, dear Madam, to devote yourself and you're all unto God, and to be of special service to His praise, who has shown towards you such wonders of grace. And let the Lord's past appearances for you, in your great and sore troubles, encourage you to trust in Him for delivering grace, even to the last of your distresses. For He who said unto you, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God" is still the same. And so, He will be through all your earthly-necessities, and to an endless eternity. It is His covenant with you to "work marvels."

And think, O woman of sorrows, think, and think again Christ, the tree of life, is cast into all your deaths, and will not He well sweeten these bitter waters. Oh, what is Christ, your Christ? "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!" He is God in your nature, a Father, a brother, a Husband, a Friend, that ever lives and ever loves! For love, in all relations, His is immense and endless; for life, He is the Lord of it an immensity, an eternity of life dwells in Him for you, to perpetuate and perfect your life of grace, and to ripen it into the life of glory! Yes, to maintain your unknown felicity to a boundless eternity. And having Him, who is love, who is life, your love and life with you in all your deaths will not He make every bittersweet, and swallow up all your deaths in the infinity of His love and life? Yes, verily, He will for you, both in soul and body, swallow up death in victory, in state and maintain you in a glorious immortality to a blessed eternity. And so wondrously will He work for you, that He will bring life, and an increase of it, out of every death that passes over you.

Is it not better, infinitely better to have Christ with you as your own Lord Jesus, amid ten thousand deaths, for this small moment of time, who will swallow them all up in perfect victory and eternal glory in the world to come than to be surrounded with all the outward felicity of the present state, with all the splendors of a worldling's honors and pleasures those ‘glow-worm glories’ which will suddenly be no more and sent away from Christ at last, with a "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire?" May you be enabled to rejoice then in your portion, your soul-sustaining, your soul-satisfying, your life-giving portion, and walk worthy of your portion, by a constant dependence on Him, and a joyful expectance from Him, until you are fully blessed with the complete possession of Him who fills all in all, and will fill you brimful of light and life, of joy and glory, endless and unknown!

Oh, dear Madam, you are straitened in me, a little babe, a little child, who cannot speak; but you are not straitened for immense and eternal bliss in your Jesus. The tongues of angels and archangels, in all their innumerable armies, can never, never tell a thousandth part of His infinite fullness, beauties, and glories! What then can an earthworm, the least, think or speak of that infinitely glorious Lord? When all is said that can be uttered by the greatest of men, it may be fitly said of their most comprehensive speeches concerning Him, "There was the hiding of His glory!" Yes, when the Lord Himself is set forth in the bright display of His power, it is said, "And there was the hiding of His glory!" What, in the display of it? Yes, with regard to the infinity of it in His own immense and unsearchable essence!

But it is enough, Madam, to make you inconceivably blessed, that in Him, this infinite Him, you have an entire and eternal interest. God grant you the joy of this ineffable felicity. I mourn that I can say no more of this vast and endless storehouse of blessings. Confusion covers me that I have thus veiled Him, when I would gladly have given you a glimpse of His glory. God grant you "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" to your unspeakable joy!

~ Anne Dutton

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Dear Heavy Heart

Heavy heart, this book is meant for you. He who sends forth this volume knows the heart of a mourner by a kindred experience and is most anxious to be a "son of consolation" to the sorrowing. This little volume is meant to scare the night-raven, of which Milton tells us that it sits "where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wings." By most men it is known as Religious Melancholy, but we call it by the older and more scriptural name of Mourning in Zion. By whatever name it is called it is none the more pleasant.

To meet the sadness of the heart, we have taken a prescription, not from Galen or Hippocrates, but from the great gospel prophet, Isaiah; and its one and only ingredient is Christ Jesus himself, who is anointed to comfort the distressed in heart, and fulfills his office by giving himself to them to meet all their needs. The sermons which make up this book are full of Christ Jesus, the consolation of Israel; and if, in any degree, they cheer the desponding it will be entirely due to himself, their object and their theme. He is to a mourning heart:

"Sweet as refreshing dews or summer showers; To the long parching thirst of drooping flowers."

No heart, however broken, needs any balm but Jesus to work its perfect cure. Sorrows, which like Noah's flood, drown all are soon assuaged by a word from his lips. Get him and keep him, O bruised and bleeding heart and you are healed. For broken hearts the broken-hearted Savior died, and for them he lives and pleads. Look to him, mourner and the black horror of despair shall end.

Your heartily,
Charles Spurgeon

Isaiah 61:3 ...  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. ❤

An Immense Ocean ...

Dear friend, 

May Jesus be yours-all that He is, and all that He has. Then you will be as rich as an archangel! May He captivate you more with His infinite beauty and enable you to live more blessedly upon His infinite fullness, that He may keep His royal court in your soul! 

The more you are acquainted with Him, the more you will grow in love to Him; for He is altogether lovely, an immense ocean of everlasting love! The loveliness of the whole world is but a drop compared to His immeasurable love. What must Heaven be, where His love is to be fully manifested and enjoyed forever! There we shall see Him! 

Oh, for that day! But even along our pilgrim way, He walks with us and makes our hearts burn within us. These sweet foretastes of His love draw us on and whet our appetite for Heaven. A few more of these foretastes, and we shall get to the fountainhead and drink rivers of pleasure forevermore! 

To His precious dear heart's love, I commend you and yours, and am for His sake your friend and servant, 

William Romaine

Jeremiah 31:3 ... The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

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(To Mr. H. B.) London, 1808

Dear Sir,

For three weeks after I wrote to you last, I enjoyed much of God's presence; "the candle of the Lord" shone bright upon my head and "his visitation preserved my spirit;" and I often thought this was fitting me for some serious affliction, and that I would soon be fast "bound in affliction and iron." And surely the thing that I greatly feared came upon me, so that my spirit was overwhelmed within me.

The enemy tried hard to turn me out of the chapel, telling me I was not fit to walk about; he has made me to skulk and hide myself where I could, like a thief that is detected. He followed me as close in my business, so that I was obliged to resign much of my employment. These things made me cry infinitely to God for help, for I knew not where it would all end. I could neither eat, drink, nor sleep; everybody perceived something was wrong with me, but none could find out the cause, for I told nobody the real state of my case. O what a hornet's nest appeared within! What rebellion, self-will, what tender compassion for self, and what secret anger sometimes against God—for not appearing immediately to deliver me!

I have often lain on the floor weeping and calling upon God for a long time together, and it seemed as if the more I cried and groaned, the less help I found. I thought I went in faith; but alas! there was no resignation, and conscience has often secretly told me that from my heart I could not add these words, "if consistent with your righteous will." O no! I would gladly be delivered at all events; no patiently waiting, nor quietly hoping. Here I lay for six weeks, like a fool brayed in a mortar.

God has at length given me light and understanding to see that it was his hand upon me, and that for good. He has given me a measure of fitness and submission, and enabled me feelingly to say, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." But then I am more brutish and prouder than any man, and therefore the furnace must be heated sevenfold. I would be something, and God is showing me that I am less than nothing. I was taking the highest room; but God has said, go down to the lowest, and give every man place.

Yours faithfully, James Bourne

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Encouragement to a Burdened Soul

My Very Dear,

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, by the anointing and teaching of the Holy Comforter. "For," said our Lord, "He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said unto you." "He will guide you into all truth." "He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me." The Holy Spirit is the living guide to Jesus. It is He who says, with power, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." It is He who convinces of sin, who wounds, and probes the wound, and lays open the evil of our nature, causing us to know that we are corrupt within and without. But He not only thus discovers the malady, but He also applies the remedy. He abases the sinner; and exalts the Savior. He gives the deep sense of sin that the great salvation may be more appreciated and enjoyed. We are as bad as we can be, and it is needful to know it; but the knowledge of our depravity will not save us. It is, "Look unto ME, and be saved, all the ends of the earth." Some seem to glory in their deep discoveries of depravity; but nay, rather "let him that glories, glory in the Lord."

The end of a thing is better than the beginning: the beginning of the Lord's teaching is to know ourselves; the end to know Him, whom to know is life eternal, and happy is it for those who tarry not in all the plain, but amidst all the sense of sin and the loathing of self, are kept pressing on, crying, "That I may know Him;" "that I may find Him;" "that I may be found in Him;" "I press towards the mark;" "I long for the prize."

We read, Luke 6:19, "The whole crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming out from Him and healing them all." Their miseries pressed them on to seek His mercies; and so, the poor woman with the issue of blood; it seemed incurable; it made her unclean. How dare she approach the Holy Jesus? How dare she presume to touch His unspotted garment? Ah, but she believed that He had power, and that that power was to be received by faith; and thus, she obtained the cure. "Somebody did touch Me; I know that power has gone out from Me." She had believed with the heart, and thus He drew her on to confess with the mouth, and then He openly gave her the full reward of her faith "Daughter, be of good comfort: your faith had made you whole; go in peace." (Luke 8:43-48)

Ah, many are now thronging and pressing Jesus by noisy profession, but only a few are getting the healing virtue, and those are unclean diseased ones who think themselves most unlikely of all. But of Him they hear; and "faith comes by hearing." To Him they are brought, for "all that the Father gives me shall come to me." And they do not come in vain, for "he who comes to me I will never cast out." "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Yes, power to forgive sins also. Yes, my precious Savior, with hand and heart do I subscribe thus--You have power to save those whom no one else could or would; for You have clothed such a vile sinner as I am with the garments of salvation. You have covered me with the robe of righteousness. Therefore, my soul does greatly rejoice in the Lord and is joyful in my God. Oh, those words, "My God!" when lawfully and feelingly uttered, have in them a world of blessedness!

Well, you see how it is with me. I am still delighting in the love of the altogether lovely Jesus; but not half enough. What do you think of Christ? Surely my heart's desire is, that He may be enthroned in your affections, for "He is worthy," and the more unworthy you feel, the better He will suit you! In your flesh "dwells no good thing." While you dwell in that tent you will find evil, only evil. Like the father of the faithful, you will have to go forth into the land (Deuteronomy 8:7-9) which the Lord will show you; but He must order all your journeying, as He says, "I will guide you with my eye, I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go."

It seems, however, that at present you are under the ministry of condemnation, because you are resting in your own righteousness, which you will never establish, as it is contrary to the law of faith. (Romans 10:3) The contrast is, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not alter the flesh, but after the Spirit." This is the ministry of righteousness which follows the other and exceeds in glory; for the work of righteousness is peace, "and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever." Here is that which establishes us. "You have set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established." (2 Chronicles 20:20) "In righteousness shall you be established." (Isaiah 54:14) "He that establishes us in Christ and has anointed us is God, (2 Corinthians 1:21) who also seals us with that Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance." (Ephesians 1:13, 14)

All the operations of that Spirit in the soul are either to make known or make way for Christ; the latter seems at present His work in your heart. He is discovering your evil and shaking your movable things. (Hebrews 12:27) Like John, He goes before the Lord to prepare His way. Be of good cheer, this Divine Messenger betokens that the Lord is at hand. He would not have showed you all these things if He meant to destroy you. "I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified" "through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

The Lord blesses you and grants you the instructions of wisdom for the training of your dear child, and all else you are called to. And now, farewell! May you be brought home at the appointed season in safety, and with dew resting upon your branch. As your husband is a lover of husbandry, he perhaps will not be offended with the Christian love and greeting of a gleaner, who can feelingly say, "The Lord bless you," (Ruth 2:4) and make you a blessing. (Micah 5:7) This is the true wish of my heart for you both.

Your very affectionately,
Ruth

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"Farewell"

My very Dear Sister in our precious Lord,

I rejoice to hear of your soul's prosperity under those afflictions which have attended your body. I have again been visited with illness and am weak. The hand the heart of our own God our God of love is in everything to us. In all, let us love, bless, and adore His name, for honorable and glorious are all His works, and most worthy is He of praise from us in all. Under the sweet, enlarging influence of God's free love, we love Him and as much when He frowns as when He smiles.

A believing, loving, adoring spirit, under divine chastisement, is an excellent spirit a God-glorifying frame of soul. Our afflictions, light as they are, as being laid upon us and we supported under them by the Lord's all-gracious and almighty hand, are made blessings to us. They may well be borne by us, not only as they are designed for, and shall end in, our soul's present and eternal advantage, but also, and chiefly, in that our God is and will be glorified thereby His displaying the glory of His infinite love, grace, mercy, wisdom, power, faithfulness, and fatherly goodness towards us in them and by our ascribing all honor in filial duty unto Him.

Our God is infinitely concerned for our good in every affliction. So let us be earnestly, yes only, concerned about His glory as to our duty therein, casting all our care upon Him who cares for us.

We shall bless God, when we come to heaven, for every kind and degree of affliction that we passed through on earth for every trial, and for every circumstance attending it, wherein we are enabled to glorify God.

After this heavenly temper, and an increase therein, let us labor while pilgrims on this earth. A submissive, patient, cheerful, thankful frame of spirit, under the afflicting hand of God, is that honor, that reverence which we owe to Him as a Father and ineffably sweet, and exceedingly profitable is this unto us as His children. In a little, little while, sin and sorrow shall be no more. A fullness, an eternity of joy and glory in the immediate presence of God and the Lamb awaits us.

Our afflictions are given to us as a fruit of the Father's grace, of the Son's purchase and intercession, and as a season of the Spirit's preparing us below for that glory which is prepared for us above. Oh, my dear sister, all things are ours, whether life, or death, or things present, or things to come. Time with all its changes, its comforts and crosses, and eternity with all its great and unchangeable glories, are ours! Christ is ours, and all things in and with Him, and we are His, and shall shortly be with Him where He is, to behold His glory! We shall be like Him, perfectly so for we shall see Him as He is! We shall not be long absent from but shall shortly be forever with the Lord to see, to love, to praise Him perfectly and eternally. Oh, blessed day! It hastens upon us. A day without clouds, without decline, without end! A magnificent, bright day, that will spread its glories over all, when the Lord will be our everlasting light, and our God our glory!

Then farewell forever! Farewell trials! Farewell sin! Farewell sorrow! Farewell death! Farewell darkness! Farewell pain! Farewell weakness! Mortality shall be swallowed in life! And in the meantime, my dear sister, let us go on in faith and hope of that eternal life which God, who cannot lie, has promised; and loving and adoring the Lord in all things, let us follow the Lamb, even wherever He goes, until we reach immortal glory with Him. And now, my dear child, unto the tender care of your everlasting Father, I commit you. May His presence be with you, and His blessing be upon you continually.

[Anne Dutton]

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"Vacations"

My dear brother, 

I well remember how much I used to think of vacations when I was a boy. But it pains me to consider how much of this precious time was altogether wasted. But you will say, "Must we study all the time? May we never play?" Surely, I do not mean this. No one can be a greater friend to recreation than I. I consider recreation not only harmless but absolutely necessary. But what I mean is that even in play one should not be foolish or unreasonable. 

There is such a thing as being profitably employed, at the same time that one is entertained. And there is a certain way of spending vacations so as to get neither profit nor recreation. Gustavus was a schoolmate of mine, and a more idle lad I never knew. Half his time seemed to be spent in lounging over his books, yawning, stretching, and wishing that the play-hour had come. But how did he use this time of recreation when it came? I think I see him even now. When the Saturday afternoon, or any of the regular vacations came, Gustavus seemed as much at a loss as when he was at his desk in the schoolroom. He had no plan laid out, no arrangements made for his sports or exercise. 

Now, I like a boy to have some method even in his play. Gustavus used to saunter along the road on his way homeward, as if he scarcely knew what to do with himself. Then he would put away his books and come out again. What he was going to do next, he could not tell. Sometimes he would lie under the trees, or hang upon the gate, or lounge in the lanes, waiting for some of the other boys to come along. Gustavus was thus more uncomfortable than if he had been at his books. And at the end of a vacation, he used to feel more exhausted and worn out, than his younger brother who had been working in the field. 

There is no profit in such vacations as these they encourage idleness and irresolution. Take another picture of another boy. Matthew went to the same school. While he was at his desk he was always employed, and scarcely ever looked away from his lesson. His whole soul was engaged in it. But when school was out, and books put away, there was not a livelier fellow in the whole school than Matthew vacations were full of pleasure to him, and full of profit, too. He always had something planned beforehand. Sometimes he had formed a group to climb the neighboring mountains, or to build a fort in the edge of the woods, or to visit some of the villages. Sometimes he used to work for hours with the carpenter's tools which his uncle had given him; and thus, he received exercise as well as amusement. But what he chiefly loved was to go with his father to walk in the woods, and gather flowers, and learn the names of trees, plants, and minerals. You will now be able to understand me, when I say, do not waste your vacations. 

One of the most important ways of spending them is in taking active exercise a wholesome game at ball, or an hour's ride on a good horse, will fit you for studying so much the better when you return to your lessons. It is a duty for us to take care of our health. Many people ruin their health in youth; and then it is almost impossible to live either comfortably or usefully. Visits to your friends may also be paid in your vacations. It is a good sign for boys to be fond of accompanying their mothers and sisters in their visits. Thus, they learn good manners and escape that clownishness which is apt to grow upon students. 

When I see a boy ready to sneak out of the room, I naturally conclude that he will never be a well-bred man. And this is more important than you might think at first; for when young men grow up, they need and desire some society. And if they have become so foolishly bashful, or disgracefully awkward, as to shrink from the society of their mothers and sisters, they will be very apt to go out into bad company. Lastly, whatever you do, do it upon principle, do it conscientiously, and you will never regret it. 

Your affectionate brother, 

James

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Letter to a Young Wife

My Dear Lizzie, 

I have just received the pleasing news of your marriage with one so worthy of your trust and affection. Of course, you are very happy; for there is no more perfect happiness for a young and loving woman, than to center her heart's best feelings upon one being to feel her destiny bound up in his to become, as it were, a very part of his life. Perhaps, at such a time, my dear girl, it may seem unkind to throw the least shadow over the bright sky of your happiness; but I cannot refrain from giving you some little advice now, at the outset of your new life. You are looking forward are you not? with perfect confidence to the future. You think that the sea upon which you are launched, will ever remain calm and untroubled as now; that you will go on forever thus, joyous and happy thus, free from care and sorrow. 

But, oh, remember, there is no sunshine that is not clouded over sometimes; no stream so smooth as to be always undisturbed. Then, make up your mind to have cares, perplexities, and trials such as have never troubled you before; and be prepared to meet them. As yet, you are to your husband the same perfect being that you were before marriage, free from all that is wrong your follies even regarded as delightful. You are now placed upon a pedestal a very goddess; but, believe me, you must soon descend to take your place among mortals, and well for you if you can do it gracefully. 

Believe me, dearest, I have no wish to sadden your spirit only to prepare it for the trials which must come to perplex it. You must learn to have your faults commented upon, one by one and yet be meek and patient under reproach. You must learn to have your sayings which you have heard praised as witticisms regarded as mere nonsense. You must learn to yield even when you seem to be in the right; to give up your will even when your husband seems obstinate and unreasonable; to be chided when you expected praise; and have your utmost endeavors to do rightly regarded as mere duties. 

But, be not cast down by this dark side of the picture. You will be happier, spite of all these trials, than you have ever been if you only resolve to be firm in the path of duty: to strive to do well always; to return a kind answer for a harsh word; and, above all, to control your temper. There may be times when this may seem impossible; but always remember that one angry word provokes another, and that thus the beautiful gem of wedded affection is tarnished, until what seemed to be the purest gold is found only gilded brass. Amiability is the most necessary of all virtues in a wife, and perhaps the most difficult of all others to retain. Pray fervently for a meek forbearing spirit; cherish your kindly impulses and leave the rest to your Father in Heaven. 

I shall, if you like, write you again upon this subject. You know I have been wedded long enough to have had some little experience, and if it can benefit you, you are welcome to it. 

Adieu for a while,

Ever your friend.

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Letter 3. 1768

Dear friend, 

I have been hoping for some time to hear from you, but an acquaintance informed me that you were ill.  This news prompted me to write as soon as I could find leisure. The Lord has seen fit to visit you with much sickness of late; I say He has seen fit, for all our trials are under his immediate direction, and we are never in heaviness without a need-be. I trust he does and will give you strength equal to your day and sweeten what would be otherwise bitter with the essence of his precious love. I hope soon to hear that you are restored to health, and that you have found cause to praise him for his loving rod. 

How happy is the state of a believer, to have a sure promise that all shall work together for good in the end; and in the meantime, he has a sure refuge where to find present relief, support, and protection! How comfortable is it, when trouble is near, to know that the Lord is near likewise, and to commit ourselves and all our cares simply to him, believing that his eye is upon us, and his ear is open to our prayers. Under the conduct of such a Shepherd, we need not fear. Though we are called to pass through fire and water, through the valley of the shadow of death he will be with us and will show himself mighty on our behalf. 

It seems almost needless to say, that we were very happy in the company of ****. The only inconvenience was, that it renewed the pain it always gives me to part with them. Though the visit was as long as I could possibly expect, it seemed very short. This must be the case while we are here our earthly pleasures are short, interrupted, and mixed with troubles. This world is not and cannot be our rest. But it will not be always the case. We are traveling to a better world, where every evil and imperfection shall cease; then we shall be forever with the Lord, and with each other. May the prospect of this blessed hope revive our fainting spirits and make us willing to endure hardships as good soldiers of Jesus Christ! Here we must often sow in tears but there we shall reap in joy, and all tears shall be wiped from our eyes forever. 

I hope the conversation of friends whom I so greatly love and honor, afforded me not only pleasure but profit. It left a savor upon my mind and stirred up my languid desires after the Lord. I wish I could say the good effect has remained with me to this hour but, alas! I am a poor creature and have had many causes of humiliation since. But, blessed be God! amidst all my changes I find the foundation stands sure; and I am seldom or never left to doubt either of the Lord's love to me or the reality of the desires he has given me towards himself. Though when I measure my love by the degree of its exercise, or the fruits it produces, I have reason to sit down ashamed as the chief of sinners and the least of all saints. But in Him I have righteousness and peace, and in Him I must and will rejoice! 

I would willingly fill up my sheet but feel a straightness in my spirit and know not what further to say. O for a ray of Divine light to set me at liberty, that I might write a few lines worth reading, something that might warm my heart, and comfort yours! Then the subject must be Jesus but of him what can I say that you do not know? Well, though you know him, you are glad to hear of him again and again. Come then, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. Let us adore him for his love, that love which has a height, and depth, and length, and breadth, beyond the grasp of our poor conceptions; a love that moved him to empty himself, to take on him the form of a servant, and to be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; a love that pitied us in our lost estate, that found us when we sought him not; a love that spoke peace to our souls in the day of our distress; a love that bears with all our present weakness, mistakes, backslidings, and shortcomings; a love that is always watchful, always ready to guide, to comfort, and to heal; a love that will not be wearied, cannot be conquered, and is incapable of changes; a love that will in the end prevail over all opposition, will perfect that which concerns us, and will not leave us until it has brought us perfect in holiness and happiness, to rejoice in his presence in glory. 

The love of Christ! it is the wonder, the joy, the song of angels; and the sense of it shed abroad in our hearts makes life pleasant and death welcome. Alas! what a heart have I that I love him no better! But I hope he has given me a desire to make him my all in all, and to account everything loss and dross, which dares to stand in competition with him.

John Newton

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"It is The Truth"

My dear Brother, 

My sermon seems to be received among you much in the same manner as I expected. Nature is the same in Rutland as in Berks, I rejoice to say that the doctrines which I preach receive the very testimony which the gospel always did and always will. You will find that scarcely three respectable people will speak well of it, and very few of the poor. But there shall be a remnant to say, "It is the truth." 

When I read the Scriptures, I daily discover that the little I know of the word of God is as a drop in a bucket compared to the whole. The Bible to most is a sealed book. What Ahab said to Elijah, "Are you he who troubles Israel?" may be said of me at Sutton. The Lord has been pleased to enable me to speak such things that I have troubled Sutton and the neighboring villages. Some have learned that they are wrong; whether I am or not, they are sure they are. 

The Lord is making me useful, by bringing many to a knowledge of the truth. But I caused none to cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" until I preached election, etc., boldly. My old nature fought against the truths for a long time, but when the Lord teaches, we must learn. Read your Bible; get well acquainted with it. 

Yours very affectionately, 

William Tiptaft

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"Marvelous Mercy!"

An excerpt from the diary of James Smith

December 31, 1855. 

The last day of the year 1855-a year characterized by many severe trials, many sore temptations, and innumerable mercies. In some things, it closes differently to what I expected but how differently it may have closed! I might have been in Hell! 

O terrible thought! I might have been on a sick bed, tormented with excruciating pain, or reduced to a state of infantile weakness. I might have been in great and sore troubles, tossed with tempests, and not comforted. I might have been without a pastorate and without a loving people. 

Or I might have been guilty of some heinous sin, lost my character, and been a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth! Blessed forever blessed be the Lord-that such is not my case! My health is good, my hope in Christ is steady, my congregation good, and I trust the Lord will yet work a great work by me. 

And now, Lord, I desire to confess before you the sins of this past year: I have sinned with my tongue-and with my temper. I have sinned in my heart-and in my life. I have omitted duties. I have committed sins. My motives have often been impure. My aims have not been sufficiently high and holy. I have been impatient, fretful, irritable, rash, jealous, envious, discontented and ungrateful. 

O may the blood of Jesus wash out every stain! I renounce all hope-but what centers in Jesus! I have no refuge, no hiding-place, no strong tower, no place of safety-but Jesus. Christ in His person, Christ in His finished work, Christ in His glorious intercession- is all my hope, all my confidence, all my joy! I am His servant-and wish to serve Him alone. I am His subject-and wish to be ruled by Him alone. I am His purchased property-and wish to be consecrated entirely, eternally, and altogether to Him! 

[James Smith]

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"A Love Stroke"

Dear Madam,

You thought right that I should pity you, when I knew the cause of the lameness of your hands. For whom that loves can forbear the greatest pity to a worthy friend who was used most cruelly? Cruel treatment was this from the creature but a love-stroke of God your Father! You have hereby seen the wonders of His infinite goodness which He has wrought for you in that support under and deliverance from those many and great distresses which at present are to your wonder, joy and praise, and shall be to the advance of your felicity in eternal glory and to God's honor, unto endless ages!

I think my afflictions are nothing if compared with those which you have passed through. Afflicted in body, from head to foot severely terrified in soul so exceedingly brought to the very brink of death and the grave in the former, and, as it were, into the belly of hell in the latter; and yet, everlasting arms underneath you in all this, the consolations of God given to your heart, and great deliverance to your body from its sore distress as an answer to social prayer—how great, how wondrous was the grace! And when a little raised up yourself, to be so soon plunged into distress by the awful affliction of your dear sister, and ever since to be exercised with such various scenes of distresses through which you have been called to pass, and yet maintained in life—in the life of nature and in the life of grace, and favored with the use of your natural and spiritual senses, how bright towards you have been the displays of the Lord's excellent loving-kindness! You may well say, "in deaths often; troubled on every side."

But when you shall have come up at last out of all great tribulations having washed your robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and are presented faultless before the throne of God how sweet, how ineffably sweet, will be your eternal glory-rest! Then you will reflect with the highest pleasure upon all your past sorrows, and in unknown transports of joy and praise forever adore that wise grace which conducted you safely and advantageously through all the terrors and dangers of the wilderness. Most surely, your joy and glory, and God's joy and glory in yours, is to be exceeding great, or you would not have met with such great miseries and griefs in the present state.

I am glad that you long, dear Madam, to devote yourself and your-all unto God, and to be of special service to His praise, who has shown towards you such wonders of grace. And let the Lord's past appearances for you, in your great and sore troubles, encourage you to trust in Him for delivering grace, even to the last of your distresses. For He who said unto you, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God" is still the same. And so, He will be through all your earthly-necessities, and to an endless eternity. It is His covenant with you to "work marvels."

And think, O woman of sorrows, think, and think again Christ, the tree of life, is cast into all your deaths, and will not He well sweeten these bitter waters. Oh, what is Christ, your Christ? "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!" He is God in your nature, a Father, a brother, a Husband, a Friend, that ever lives and ever loves! For love, in all relations, His is immense and endless; for life, He is the Lord of it an immensity, an eternity of life dwells in Him for you, to perpetuate and perfect your life of grace, and to ripen it into the life of glory! Yes, to maintain your unknown felicity to a boundless eternity. And having Him, who is love, who is life, your love and life with you in all your deaths will not He make every bittersweet, and swallow up all your deaths in the infinity of His love and life? Yes, verily, He will for you, both in soul and body, swallow up death in victory, in state and maintain you in a glorious immortality to a blessed eternity. And so wondrously will He work for you, that He will bring life, and an increase of it, out of every death that passes over you.

Is it not better, infinitely better to have Christ with you as your own Lord Jesus, amid ten thousand deaths, for this small moment of time, who will swallow them all up in perfect victory and eternal glory in the world to come than to be surrounded with all the outward felicity of the present state, with all the splendors of a worldling's honors and pleasures those ‘glow-worm glories’ which will suddenly be no more and sent away from Christ at last, with a "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire?" May you be enabled to rejoice then in your portion, your soul-sustaining, your soul-satisfying, your life-giving portion, and walk worthy of your portion, by a constant dependence on Him, and a joyful expectance from Him, until you are fully blessed with the complete possession of Him who fills all in all, and will fill you brimful of light and life, of joy and glory, endless and unknown!

Oh, dear Madam, you are straitened in me, a little babe, a little child, who cannot speak; but you are not straitened for immense and eternal bliss in your Jesus. The tongues of angels and archangels, in all their innumerable armies, can never, never tell a thousandth part of His infinite fullness, beauties, and glories! What then can an earthworm, the least, think or speak of that infinitely glorious Lord? When all is said that can be uttered by the greatest of men, it may be fitly said of their most comprehensive speeches concerning Him, "There was the hiding of His glory!" Yes, when the Lord Himself is set forth in the bright display of His power, it is said, "And there was the hiding of His glory!" What, in the display of it? Yes, with regard to the infinity of it in His own immense and unsearchable essence!

But it is enough, Madam, to make you inconceivably blessed, that in Him, this infinite Him, you have an entire and eternal interest. God grant you the joy of this ineffable felicity. I mourn that I can say no more of this vast and endless storehouse of blessings. Confusion covers me that I have thus veiled Him, when I would gladly have given you a glimpse of His glory. God grant you "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" to your unspeakable joy!

[Anne Dutton]

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Letter To His daughter, Miss Catharine

My Dear Kitty, 

You have given me much pleasure in writing so full an account of Mr. Riland's sermon: you must have attended closely. Strive to be as attentive under every sermon. Avoid, with all of your might, a trifling spirit under preaching, and in your secret prayer. Great is the gain which is sure to follow from being quite in earnest, and laboring against sloth and laziness. 

On the contrary, no benefit is received from making many prayers in a spirit of indifference. No benefit from hearing sermons or reading God's most holy Word unless our heart is engaged. His Spirit is grieved; our hearts are hardened; we bring religion into contempt, and not one evil temper is ever conquered. 

Fix it always in your mind, that you are to answer the end for which you are born: to follow His example and be made like Him.

[Henry Venn]

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To a Fellow Minister

Dear Sir, 

I received your letter and dare not say that I am sorry for your fall, nor indeed for any afflictions that God lays on His children; they are tokens of His fatherly love, and needful medicine for us. Rather would I pray that while God keeps you in the furnace, you may be still, and feel your dross and tin being purged away. The Lord Jesus gives me a dose of this medicine most days; and I am never so well as when I am taking it, though I frequently make a crooked face at it.  If your heart is as my heart, it will need many a bitter potion to cleanse and strengthen it! 

Afflictions have been to me some of my greatest mercies. No lasting gain do I get, but in a furnace. Comforts of every kind make me either light or lofty, and swell me, though imperceivably, with self-sufficiency. Indeed, so much dross, native and acquired, is found in my heart, that I have constant need of a furnace. Jesus has selected a suitable furnace for me, not a hot and hasty one, which seems likely to harden and consume me, but one with a gentle and lingering heat, which melts my heart gradually, and lets out some of its dross. 

Though I cannot love a furnace yet the longer I live, the more I see of its need and its use. A believer seldom walks steadily and brightly, unless he is well-furnaced. Why do you write to me with so much reverence? Is this befitting language from one sinner to another sinner? Ought the dust of the earth to elevate his kindred ashes? Should a frog croak out a compliment to a toad? May the Lord water your soul, and your vineyard, and teach you to know nothing, and preach nothing but Jesus Christ! 

For His sake, I am your servant, 

John Berridge

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Letter To His Daughter

My Dear Kitty, 

Yelling, July 31, 1782. 

You have given me much pleasure in writing so full an account of Mr. Riland's sermon: you must have attended closely. Strive to be as attentive under every sermon. Avoid, with all of your might, a trifling spirit under preaching, and in your secret prayer. Great is the gain which is sure to follow from being quite in earnest, and laboring against sloth and laziness. 

On the contrary, no benefit is received from making many prayers in a spirit of indifference. No benefit from hearing sermons or reading God's most holy Word unless our heart is engaged. His Spirit is grieved; our hearts are hardened; we bring religion into contempt, and not one evil temper is ever conquered. 

Fix it always in your mind, that you are to answer the end for which you are born: to follow His example and be made like Him. 

[Henry Venn]

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(To his sister E.) 1807

Dear Sister, 

I was permitted for years to go on in my own strength, to let me see what mighty acts I could perform. A self-righteous spirit will lead us to make such a patch-work garment as will for a while conceal the filthy imaginations of the heart; and thus, we carefully preserve our reputation and honor and get the name of devout Christians; the chief of our food is the applause of those about us. If we are disposed to exercise our charity, we take care to blow the trumpet, lest we should not be seen by men; and leave nothing undone but the weightier matters of the law. But as God had purposes of grace towards me, I was not allowed to go on in this spirit to the end; for all my fair and fond hopes of keeping everything straight, shunning the cross, and appearing outwardly devout, were brought down being founded on my own strength and on my own wisdom. I was permitted to raise this airy tower until it reached nearly to Heaven but the Lord looked down and scattered all my lofty thoughts, and I was obliged to acknowledge that the wisdom of man is foolishness with God, and I was so hemmed in on every side as to be made to cry, "Lord, save me, or I perish!" 

In this frame of mind, I was allowed to continue for some time, until I was filled with my own devices (Proverbs 1:30). I felt much pity for myself and much enmity against God, and thought I was dealt harshly with; and began to look for nothing but the fiery indignation of the Lord. Every refuge seemed to fail me, every false confidence was destroyed; my life hung in perpetual doubt, and every outward providence untoward. But underneath all this there certainly was an almighty arm of mercy, so that though exceedingly perplexed, I was not in utter despair; and it was in the midst of the darkest outward providences that the Lord was pleased to raise my soul to a hope that Jesus would reveal himself to me as my friend; and in the strength of this I was enabled to go many days. For faith, though "as a grain of mustard seed," yet being of the operation of the Holy Spirit, will enable us to creep along fearful of our own strength, looking to Christ for strength, hoping and despairing. So it was with me, until at length be revealed himself to me as the sinner's all in all; and then I knew the Lord by this most glorious name "I AM THAT I AM." 

Yours affectionately, James Bourne

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Heart-Searching Suitable to a Birthday

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them. Number 6:24-27

My beloved, 

 I have been told that you this day attain your twenty-first year. Will you accept an affectionate greeting from a pilgrim friend? and will you allow me to express the feelings of my heart, though they be not so lively or so congratulatory as may seem to comport with a birthday. You have reached another milestone on the pathway of life, and where does it find you? In a medium path between the world and Christ? Ah! there is no middle path. Consider it, and then "consider your ways;" for either you are serving the Lord or serving His enemies the world, the flesh, and the devil. I do think you sometimes long to be on the Lord's side, and that your heart says of His people "Numbered with them may I be, Here and in eternity." 

 My heart says Amen; and may it be soon, that I may have joy over you in the Lord, and that He may have the cream of your life, the flower of your days for He is worthy. He who bled and died for sinners such as you and I, is worthy of all our powers, and of a thousand hearts if we had them. May the blessed Spirit make you feel deeply your need of Him, and this very day, if it be His holy will, may your language be "Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it in Your courts above." 

 Most heartily I desire for you a spiritual birthday in the fulfillment of that precious promise "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Then will you say, "My Father, you are the guide of my youth;" and only then will you find true happiness, for "Fading is the worldling's treasure, all his boasted pomp and show; Solid joys and lasting pleasure, none but Zion's pilgrims know!" Though not with you, I am bearing you on my heart before the Lord. May He guide you every step in life and grant you the blessings of the upper and the nether springs. Forgive the intrusion of these poor lines from one who watches for your never-dying soul; and, with tender love, remains your affectionate friend, 

Ruth Bryan

Psalm 90:12 ...  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. ❤

"Blessed By God"

My dear Brother,

 I am happy to say that the sermon has been blessed by God in this neighborhood and consequently has made a very great stir. I received a letter from a poor man at some distance, thanking me for printing the sermon, as it has been a comfort to his soul and to others. Of course, I shall have neither the praise of the unbelievers, nor their good wishes. The gospel is a fan that will separate the chaff from the wheat. The Pharisees and philosophers get but little hope from me, and will, therefore, seek more flattering preaching elsewhere. I am thankful to say the Lord enables me to be faithful; but it will avail nothing to assent to this or that doctrine, unless the Lord writes it on the heart. What is received in the flesh is all nothing, for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, nor can he know them; consequently, a man must be born again of the Spirit to understand then. By nature, there is no difference among us; we are all sprung from Adam, and Christ says, "A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit." The Scriptures make no distinction in us; we are all vile sinners. "What then? are we better than they? No, in nowise." 

 The more you know of the truth in a spiritual way, the humbler you will be. To know the mysteries of the gospel it is necessary that you be taught of the Spirit, so as to divide the law and the gospel, and the flesh and the Spirit. Then you will understand the two covenants. Read your Bible frequently. The whole work of salvation is Christ's, and Christ's alone. It is to Him we owe all blessing, in Him all fullness dwells, and we are complete in Him. If you can understand and realize that happy, are you. Faith will not profit you without love to Christ and His people. He will then be precious to your soul, and you will rejoice in Him. You will see when the true light shines into your heart, that you are vile and sinful. You will say with the bride, "I am black, because the sun has looked upon me." We must be taught of God, that we are not even able to think a good thought. We shall then give all the glory to God and shall not then think that we can choose between good and evil. A child must be born before it receives milk, and so must man be born again before he can receive the sincere milk of the word. 

Praying that grace, peace, and love may be multiplied, I am yours most affectionately, 

William Tiptaft

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A Faithful Minister!

Dear fellow pastor, 

You have desired a good work; may the Lord give you the desires of your heart. May He give you the wisdom of Daniel, the meekness of Moses, the courage of Joshua, the zeal of Paul, and that self-abasement and humility which Job and Isaiah felt when they not only had heard of Him by the hearing of the ear-but when they saw His glory and abhorred themselves in dust and ashes! 

May you be taught of God for none teaches like Him-and come forth an able minister of the New Covenant, well instructed to rightly divide and faithfully distribute the Word of truth. In the school of Christ, you will have to learn some lessons which are not very pleasant to flesh and blood. You must learn to labor, to run, to fight, to wrestle-and many other hard exercises; some of which will try your strength, and others your patience. You know the common expression, 'a jack of all trades'. 

I am sure a minister had need be such a one: a brave soldier, an alert watchman, a caring shepherd, a hardworking farmer, a skillful builder, a wise counselor, a competent physician, and a loving nurse. But do not be discouraged-you have a wonderful and a gracious Master, who does not only give instructions, but power and ability! He engages that His grace shall be sufficient, at all times and in all circumstances, for those who simply give themselves up to His teaching and His service. 

[John Newton]

1 Timothy 4:12 ...  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

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