J. Church

“ I bow my knees to the God of all grace, and say, “Not unto me, not unto me, but to thy name be all the glory.” And what can I say more? It well becometh the just to be thankful. Gratitude, blessing, and praise is the sacrifice of the heart and lips, which is due to God. The Lord be pleased to maintain this spirit in our minds. Gratitude is sometimes excited and led out by the retrospect we take of the Lord’s dealings with us, and discerning his love and wisdom in all his dispensations, however gloomy for the time ”

“ I saw from the Word that election was a sovereign, holy, wise, gracious act of Jehovah, before all worlds; that Christ’s election was first, as head, and the church was chosen in him, that the head and the body were alike chosen, loved, and viewed as one—and this choice was for the glory of God, for the glory of Christ, and for the holiness and eternal happiness of the church. God chose his people that they might be holy, not because they were so, but that they might be so; and he predestinated the same people to enjoy his presence, love, and glory, to all eternity. ”

“ You may talk to many about the works of creation and redemption, and they may give credit to it; but if you talk to them about the work of God the Holy Spirit on the heart, they will hiss like a serpent, and soon manifest their enmity to you and the work itself. But, my dear friend, although God has been pleased to begin, and is actually carrying on this work in our hearts, have we not more formidable foes within: are not our inward enemies worse than every outward foe? Let me appeal to your conscience. Do you not at times give way to doubting, and God-dishonouring unbelief? ”

“ I am sometimes grieved that the Lord’s tried people are so much prone to look at second causes, and rebel against or resent the instruments which afflict them; it is a mercy to be enabled to forgive, freely, fully, and sincerely, those who, from bad motives, attempt to injure us; for this conduct we have the very best of examples. O for grace to imitate them. I do believe that neither priest nor Levite, neither professor or profane, had any other motives in opposing me for so many years, but what have arisen from ignorance, envy, and hatred to truth. ”

“ What a mercy there are others who are building on a firmer basis. I bless God that he was pleased to open my mind to receive the complete perfect work of the dear Redeemer; that he shewed me it was neither my works nor my faith, (as a grace, nor as an act) that could justify me before God. I must have a perfect law-fulfilling righteousness, wrought out by the holy nature and holy life of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the surety of his church—as God-man Mediator—to build on any thing less, is building on the sand, and the dreadful consequences must be—the curse, wrath, and eternal death. ”

“ But now another very keen temptation beset me, respecting the doctrine of eternal election, and its attendant reprobation. This was painted to me, in the most horrible terms, as the most cruel and unjust act, such as could never be attributed to a merciful God. Erroneous books, preachers, professors, carnal reason, and the devil, all combined to oppose it. A very plain reason that the doctrine is of God—or else such would never oppose it; if the doctrine was of the world, the world would love its own—but, because it is of God, therefore they hate it. ”

“ The Lord raised up a friend for Joseph in trouble, and for David in his deep affliction, and for the great apostle for whom he prays—that he, Onesiphorus, may find mercy in that day, for he hath oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. Such friends are the gift of the Friend of Sinners, and such friendship is a part of conformity to his image; praying for one another in secret; reproving with meekness, but fidelity, when permitted to err; speaking well of each other, when absent, and helping each other in trouble, are the genuine fruits of divine love in the heart ”

“ Trusting in him, hoping in him, delighting in him—these are precious evidences of our eternal election of God. Prayer is an evidence also. Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him? The soul-breathing, desiring, thirsting after the favor and friendship of God. These desires going up to Him, as created by the Holy Spirit, in the day of prosperity or the night of adversity, are the precious evidences of electing love. Holiness is another evidence. We were chosen to be holy, and that we should walk in good works. ”

“ A separation from the house of God, the perplexities of the church, the hypocrisy of some of the preachers, the grief of my family, the loss of liberty, the company around me, the joy of my foes, and fearing the truth should suffer by my supposed and reported faults, with the length of time appointed me—these things, it was natural to suppose, must have created the most poignant distress. The many months before me seemed so many years; but this led me to reflect on an eternity of joy or woe, the final doom of the righteous and the wicked. Eternity! Eternity!—a pleasing and dreadful thought. ”

“ I beg you to observe, the soul is the seat of the new man; it is not the creation of a new soul, but it is a divine in-dwelling of the Spirit; a partaking of a divine nature. This is the new bottle which the Saviour alludes to, which alone can hold the gracious manifestations of divine love, and all the truth, as it is in Jesus. ”

“ Doubtless many mothers are culpable; but it is more easy to prove, that the father is the greater murderer, who first seduced perhaps a lovely woman, and afterwards most basely, cruelly, and inhumanly deserted both mother and child. I think the father will be found the most culpable in the last great day. This excellent institution, speaking after the manner of men, has saved its thousands of lives, and must be reckoned amongst the rest of those excellent charities, which are the glory of British humanity, notwithstanding all the depravities of our fallen nature. ”

“ They are, in one sense, freed from temptations: for though numberless temptations fly about them, yet they trouble them not. At all times their souls are even and calm, their hearts are steadfast and unmoveable: their peace, flowing as a river, passeth all understanding, and they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. For they are sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption, having the witness in themselves, that there is laid up for them a crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give them in that day—” What a collection of lies! ”

“ Here I close my remarks on my mother.—Who she was, and why we were separated, the day will declare it—when every dark and mysterious providence will be unfolded, and mortality swallowed up of life. With respect to my treatment at the Foundling Hospital—I speak it to the honour of the Governors of that excellent place,—the treatment of the children is admirable, the food is good, the master, mistresses, and nurses, are kind—and were I dying, and leaving orphan children behind me, with the promise they should be nursed there, I should die happy on that subject. ”

“ O, the hypocrisy of the human heart! How often is the Almighty mocked by thousands who use this expression in prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and at the same time are daily acting against the revealed will of God. How great is the forbearance of God with guilty man. I was however indulged with this situation, though I was no more fit for it than a child; it was to carry heavy loads chiefly, yet my master was kind and patient with me, he saw my weakness and accommodated me as well as circumstances would admit. It was in this situation you first knew me, 20 years ago. ”

“ A thousand notions of the doctrine of the Trinity, however clear they may be, will never bring a man to heaven; he must have the love of the Father in his heart, and the blood of atonement in his conscience, by the operation of the Eternal Spirit. This, and this only, is real heart-felt religion, which will stand the test in life, death, judgment, and eternity. ”

“ I desire that we may consider the increase of Arminianism: an error that maketh the grace of God lacquey it after the will of man; that maketh the sheep to keep the shepherd; and makes mortal seed of the immortal God. I desire that we may look into the very belly and bowels of the Trojan horse, to see if there be not in it men ready to open the gates to Romish tyranny and Spanish monarchy. For an Arminian is the spawn of a Papist ”

“ Natural conscience legally biassed, and external appearances in the dispensations of Providence leads us on till we exclaim in the passionate language of Jacob, “All these things are against me.” Falling amongst thieves, we are stripped and wounded, and left half dead; or to keep up the metaphor, these witnesses would swear us out of our eternal life. But blessed be God, conscience can witness to the sincerity of our souls, the reality of our faith that it is unfeigned, the goodness of our hope that it is founded upon the person and work of Christ ”

“ The Lord Jesus, as the surety of his church, has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and is gone to heaven to plead our cause before the Father. Had I known the everlasting virtue of his blood, or the glory of his obedience, O, what soul distresses should I have escaped! but when just wrought upon by the Spirit, sitting under a blind ministry, and reading legal blind authors, it is not to be wondered at that a soul should beheld in bondage. ”

“ Is not this giving place to satan, to harrass your mind, and keep up the distance between God, and your soul; setting you at questioning the reality of a work of grace in the heart, and begetting a fear in your soul that you are nothing but an hypocrite? The world, perhaps, joins in it and says the same: oh, you are nothing but an hypocrite. Perhaps providence seems contrary, troubles befal you, the members of the same church are permitted to suspect your religion, and condemn you only as an hypocrite. ”

“ Hence the command to Ezekiel, “Turn again, son of man, thou shalt yet see greater abominations than these.” Oh! the patience and forbearance of God with such hell-deserving sinners. Oh! the love of his heart, and the greatness, freeness, and power of his grace, give, oh, give him the glory for ever.
Yours, J. C.
LETTER XXVI.
“For the Spirit itself, Himself beareth witness with our Spirits, that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs.” ”

“ It is our mercy, the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of God’s children, is given to them to abide with them. Never will he leave his own to the power of sin or to satan. The Psalmist was blest with this confidence when he said—“The Lord will perfect that which concerned me; forsake not the work of thy hands; thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever.” ”

“ Yet, alas! what sad seasons of darkness, doubts and fears come on till these clouds which come betwixt, are dispersed by some precious manifestation of love; the holy spirit creating in the mind some very precious exalted views of Christ, clear apprehensions of the love of God, his secret purposes, and decrees the glorious covenant of redemption, the gracious transactions of each adorable person in the Trinity, respecting the salvation of the church; the truth as it is in Christ producing holy meltings of soul, and filling it with all joy and peace in believing ”

“ I say not this to encourage sin—to charge me with this, is to charge the whole Word of God with it. Foolish worldlings, who can be no judges of what either constitutes or characterises a Christian, vainly suppose that to be a Christian is in every respect to be a spotless person: and surely this is the wish of a Christian; this is the desire of his heart—but who upon earth ever attained it—none but the Divine Saviour. The Lord grant us increasing conformity to his own image. ”

“ The apostle Paul was first converted, then he was baptized, and then he preached the gospel; and, after these things, he assayed to join himself to the church; but, this is no more rule for believers now than the manner of his conversion was for ours. Some are gently led along, others are deeply exercised with the bondage of the law; some have had a drop of the wrath of God, on the spirit, as David, Job, Heman, and, perhaps, Paul; but, others, only have a slight apprehension of it, yet enough to shew them their need of Christ, as a surety, righteousness, atonement, and complete Saviour. ”

“ After I had been in this furnace some weeks, in which I felt as others do in similar cases, much grief, anger, rebellion, and discontent, but not quite without a spirit of prayer that I might be favored with the very gracious visits of the Saviour, and a sense of God’s approbation in my own soul, though despised by others, I entreated the Lord to shew me the exceeding sinfulness of sin, as well as I could bear it; for I am convinced no man could ever behold sin in all its malignity—none but the God-Man could bear that—yet I desired to see sin as most abominable in God’s sight. ”

“ It is a good remark I have somewhere met with—that friendship is a plant of too delicate a nature to grow with any great degree of luxuriancy and fruitfulness in the soil of the human heart; but I ever wish to prize its buds, its blossoms, its fruit, its very leaves ”

“ The Lord has called you out at times to be a public witness to his truth in several schools and villages, in the Itinerant Societies. This is an arduous but most delightful work; and if it was the will of God, I would devote myself entirely to that sacred employment—for though you return on Sunday evening with a tired body, yet your mind is happy: not encumbered with the cares of a church, the tempers, whims, and vexations of your hearers, nor the envy of your brethren, which abounds, if you prosper—but every minister will see it needful to abide in that work in which the Lord has called him ”

“ Whitfield’s, “There are two mysteries we can never comprehend, the mystery of Godliness, as set forth in the gospel, and the mystery of iniquity which works in the heart.” No one can possibly prize the holy person and precious work of Christ, but those who are led by the Spirit into an acquaintance with their own hearts. This knowledge of the human heart distinguishes a believer from an hypocrite, and a mere carnal professor; it is the most painful part of our experience, but it is very useful. ”

“ With all the faults with which the believer is guilty, as a sinner in Adam, he never does, he never can sin, that grace may abound. He cannot sin as a believer; when he sins at all, it is not upon the free-grace principles of the gospel. God forbid; these teach him to deny all ungodliness, but to his grief he carries about with him a body of sin; and the scriptures declare there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. ”

“ Sin has a voice against us—natural conscience has a voice, and is always finding fault, and the devil is sure to accuse us right or wrong; and declare we have no part in David, nor no inheritance in the Son of Jesse. Till these accusers are borne down by better witnesses, and where the one fails the other is sure to prove victorious. The first witness is our spirit, an enlightened conscience—and the second is the holy condescending spirit of truth, the infallible witness.—Good men have called this twofold witness, the common and the uncommon, or the ordinary and extraordinary witness. ”