Josiah Forster

“ May you guard against indolence, carelessness, or irreverence as to the things of religion, and strive to know your thoughts brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So great is the goodness of our Heavenly Father, that he at times grants to those who thus present themselves before him, an inward sense of his continued mercy and providence. And when he, the Lord Almighty, confers upon our souls an evidence of his love and of his watchful care,—which whilst we accept it in humility, we feel that it would be ingratitude not to believe to come from him—what more can we desire ”

“ Our Lord himself hath taught us the duties which we are each of us to fulfil. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat, because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” ”

“ Follow the leadings of this heavenly guide: accept with grateful and obedient hearts the convictions for sin, which are mercifully granted; then may you rest upon the assurance uttered by our ever present Saviour: “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Prayer is an individual duty: thus to draw nigh unto God is one of the greatest privileges which a Christian enjoys. Avail yourselves of it in filial trust and reverent fear. Pour out your souls in secret humble supplication, in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the Father of mercies. ”

“ But be induced to believe, nay, are not some of you convinced by experience that it is so, that the burthen of sin is grievous? “The wages of sin is death;” “to be carnally minded is death;” death to the enjoyment of that life which is hid with Christ in God, death and misery in the world to come; whilst “the gift of God is eternal life:” “to be spiritually minded is life and peace:” godliness has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
The work of religion is indeed an individual work: it is that which no man can perform for another. ”

“ Having often felt a lively interest in your present and future happiness, and this feeling of Christian solicitude continuing, I venture to offer for your acceptance a written testimonial of brotherly love.
It is my earnest desire, that under a sense of the infinite value of your immortal souls, you may be induced frequently to meditate on the things of eternity; seriously to ask yourselves whether you are, in humility and faith, seeking earnestly for the help of the Holy Spirit, to live in the pure and filial fear of God, and to keep his commandments. ”

“ I would encourage you to examine, in a humble, teachable spirit, into the evidences of the Christian religion. May you prefer that course of serious reading which leads to inward, experimental piety, which promotes vital, unostentatious religion, and strengthens the desire to be approved by Him who seeth and knoweth the heart, rather than of men who often form mistaken judgments of others. But be intreated, in love, to be very careful that neither by reading nor by association with others, the mind is injured by opinions which weaken a firm faith in the doctrines of the Gospel. ”

“ Small as our numbers are, compared with the bulk of the community among whom we live, I believe, that if we are faithful to God, we have an important part to act as a distinct religious Society. It is therefore my fervent desire, that, accepting the whole truth of the Gospel, and walking in accordance therewith, as it is set forth by the Evangelists and Apostles—that, living in love and charity towards all men, we may all, younger and older, unitedly labour for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. ”

“ This single eye unto God, through faith in his beloved Son, so much the theme of the sacred volume, should, in my apprehension, if we act consistently with our profession, be the moving cause of our religious proceedings, as members of our Christian Society. As these views are received and acted upon, they lead from looking unto any man as a needful guide in the way of life and salvation; and as we come direct to Christ, we shall grow in grace, and be ingrafted into him, the true and living vine. ”

“ It is a delightful occupation of time to make ourselves acquainted with the works of a kind and gracious Providence, as displayed in the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms; and as far as our faculties will enable us to do so, to study those laws by which, in his infinite wisdom, our all-wise Creator has regulated and preserves the universe—the workmanship of his holy hands. ”

“ May I feel the force of these reflections, whilst thus, in love, offering them to your serious attention.
Great is the privilege of knowing that we have not a High Priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities; but who having been tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, is able to succour those that are tempted. It is true wisdom often to call to mind the contradiction of sinners which the Lord Jesus endured, and that for the benefit of each one of us. ”

“ The most experienced Christians have to acknowledge that salvation is the free and unmerited gift of God. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” ”

“ The true believer in him is often reminded, to his own humiliation, that in us, that is in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing; that all our fresh supplies of wisdom and strength come from above; and that we ought from day to day to be pressing after that blessed state, in which we may humbly trust that Christ is known to be unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. The further you advance in the Christian life, the more will you be brought to see, that such is our high calling of God in Christ Jesus ”

“ Be not perplexed or distressed, if in the moral government of the world, if in the state of the church of Christ, even if in Holy Scripture, you meet with some things which are beyond the comprehension of the reason of man. Our gracious Heavenly Father is altogether perfect and infinitely wise; but the faculties and perceptions which He has granted to us are very limited: here we see but in part, and know but in part. We are constantly called to the exercise of faith: it becomes us, as reasonable and dependent beings, to trust in God ”

“ As we are preserved humble and serious, in bowedness of spirit before the Lord, in our assemblies for divine worship, we are most likely to be prepared to join in public prayer, when rightly uttered, or to be edified by the ministry which we may hear. The offerings of those who may be called to exercise such gifts amongst us, are not to be judged of as the mere productions of the human understanding. The ministry which our religious Society acknowledges, is that which comes from the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit ”

“ Let your whole conversation, therefore (by which we may understand our daily intercourse among men) , be as becometh the Gospel. The true love of God and of Christ leads from the love of the world, of its false policy and maxims. If the affections be set on things above, what pleasure can be derived from indulging in the vain and fluctuating fashions of men? Intimate association with those who are not seeking the kingdom of heaven cannot be a safe course. ”

“ What a blessing it is to be permitted to attain to a well-grounded hope, that having sought, earnestly and honestly sought, to live according to the will of God, we shall be accepted of him, in and through our blessed Saviour, not having on our own righteousness, but being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. May this, my dear young friends, be the happy attainment of every one of you. ”

“ Love and kindness, charity and forbearance, are virtues essential to a Christian. How often are they exhibited and enforced in the Bible! They sweeten the toils and trials of life; they are the very element in which the servant of Christ delights to dwell. May you be qualified to say so from your own experience. In judging of the actions of others, be candid, and put a kind and favourable construction upon them. Dwell upon their good qualities, be not blind to their faults ”

“ The Lord Jesus Christ declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life; that no man cometh unto the Father but by him. He further said, “No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him.” The drawings of this infinite love are afforded through the operation of the Holy Spirit on the human mind, convincing of sin and attracting the soul unto Christ. ”

“ Christianity is an active and a social principle. A true sense of the love of God in Christ Jesus, of our great debt of gratitude for the multiplied mercies and blessings conferred upon us through him, leads us to a willingness to benefit others, to help and to comfort them; to promote their happiness in time, to feel and to manifest a strong interest for their happiness in eternity. In the performance of these duties, it is well to have a continued reference to the second commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Many will be the occasions on which you may keep this injunction ”

“ It is our duty to exercise a right understanding in the fear of the Lord, even in religious matters. We may be exposed to delusion; but humility, a filial fear of God, a correct view of Holy Scripture, and a sense of the subtle, transforming insinuations of the devil, are strong safeguards against it. But what a blessed privilege it is to be weaned from all undue dependence on instrumental help; to be brought, through faith and obedience, to that single trust in the Lord, in which we can humbly and reverently feel, that in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength ”

“ To such the Holy Scriptures are indeed precious and delightful; they rejoice to meditate on the law of the Lord, to exercise their understandings on that law in his fear, and to dwell upon his promises in a humble trust that they may be fulfilled in their blessed experience. Feeling an increasing sense of their own helplessness and sinfulness, they will flee for refuge and for succour to the Saviour of men, and be brought to feel that with him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ”

“ It is the power of the Lord which not only converts but purifies the soul; and a gentle, humbling sense of that power may be, and often is lost, through a creaturely activity in the things of religion. In the economy of divine Providence, a growth in the spiritual life does not appear to be ordinarily very rapid; in grace, as in nature, we see that as the advance is steady, it becomes most durable and substantial, and there is the greatest fitness for service and usefulness in the church. ”

“ Avoid light, frivolous reading, it is a dangerous occupation of time; it renders irksome serious and sober reflection on the things of eternity. On the other hand, let me invite you to read that which is calculated to profit and to instruct. Whilst cultivating the talents and employing the time, entrusted to you in earlier life for the acquisition of solid and useful knowledge, may you pursue every study with a constant reference to the gracious Giver of all that we have and all that we are ”

“ But it is the office of the Holy Spirit to show unto man his secret sins, and to enable him to subdue them. The sufficiency of divine grace for the cleansing of the soul from its ever-varying forms of pollution, is to me a striking evidence of its divine nature. ”

“ It is right, at the same time, to remember, that the servant of Christ, however he may be employed, will act in love and in patience, committing his feeble services to the blessing of his Lord, with a full persuasion, that except this blessing be conferred, all his efforts are to no purpose. He well knows that it is his duty, whilst he may humbly take comfort in the fruit of his labours, to remember that the Lord confers the blessing according to his own good pleasure ”

“ In the progress of this work many are the conflicts which are passed through, many are the humiliations which are experienced; but as these are patiently endured, as you humbly yield yourselves to the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit, a sense of pardon is granted, the soul is sustained by the Comforter, the fruits of self-denial are produced, love to God and love to man increase, and a hope and trust in the availing intercession of our Holy Redeemer are afforded, which the world can neither bestow nor destroy. ”

“ Others may have met with fewer adverse circumstances, but whatever be our situation godliness is profitable unto all things; and the surest protection to those who are setting out in life is, to have a humble yet firm trust in God, and a living practical faith in the promises of the Gospel. ”

“ Guard against covetousness in any shape; be liberal to the poor according to the means placed within your reach. Be thoroughly honest and open-hearted; keep to truth and sincerity on all occasions; watch and pray, and that continually, that you may be strengthened to shun every avenue to immorality in thought, word, or deed. Be careful, when engaged in any way in the concerns of trade, that whilst diligent in business, you are fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Let your moderation appear unto all men; let all your proceedings be marked by strict Christian integrity. ”