striking at the root of a fault, of which both she and you were, I think, more guilty than any other two persons I have known in my life. O may God deliver both you and me from all bitterness and evil-speaking, as well as from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism! With regard to my own character, and my doctrine likewise, I shall answer you very plainly. By a Christian, I mean one who so believes in Christ, as that sin hath no more dominion over him: And in this obvious sense of the word, I was not a Christian till May the 24th last past. For till then sin had the dominion over me, although I fought with it continually; but surely, then, from that time to this it hath not;-such is the free grace of God in Christ. What sins they were which till then reigned over me, and from which, by the grace of God, I am now free, I am ready to declare on the house-top, if it may be for the glory of God. If you ask by what means I am made free, (though not perfect, neither infallibly sure of my perseverance,) I answer, By faith in Christ; by such a sort or degree of faith as I had not till that day. My desire of this faith I knew long before, though not so clearly till Sunday, January the 8th last, when being in the midst of the great deep, I wrote a few lines, in the bitterness of my soul, some of which I have transcribed; and may the good God sanctify them both to you and me! By the most infallible of all proofs, inward feeling, I am convinced, 1. Of unbelief; having no such faith in Christ, as will prevent my heart's being troubled; which it could not be if I believed in God, and rightly believed also in him. 2. Of pride throughout my life past; inasmuch as I thought I had what I find I had not. Lord, save, or I perish! Save me, (1.) By such a faith in thee and in thy Christ as implies trust, confidence, peace in life and in death. (2.) By such humility as may fill my heart, from this hour for ever, with a piercing, uninterrupted sense, Nihil est quod hactenus feci; having evidently built without a foundation. * (3.) By such a recollection, that I may cry to thee every moment, but more especially when all is calm, (if it should so please thee,) "Give me faith, or I die! Give me a lowly spirit, • What I have been hitherto doing amounts to nothing.-EDIT. VOL. XII. D otherwise, mihi non sit suave vivere.” * Jesus! Υιε δαβιδ, ελέησον μοι. † Amen! Come Lord Some measure of this faith, which bringeth salvation, or victory over sin, and which implies peace, and trust in God through Christ, I now enjoy by his free mercy; though in very deed it is in me but as a grain of mustard-seed: For the ppopia wisews, the seal of the Spirit, the love of God shed abroad in my heart, and producing joy in the Holy Ghost, "joy which no man taketh away, joy unspeakable and full of glory;" this witness of the Spirit I have not, but I patiently wait for it. I know many who have already received it; more than one or two in the very hour we were praying for it. And having seen and spoken with a cloud of witnesses abroad, as well as in my own country, I cannot doubt but that believers who wait and pray for it will find these scriptures fulfilled in themselves. My hope is, that they will be fulfilled in me: I build on Christ, the Rock of Ages; on his sure mercies described in his word, and on his promises, all which I know are yea, and amen. Those who have not yet received joy in the Holy Ghost, the love of God, and the plerophory of faith, (any or all of which I take to be the witness of the Spirit with our spirit, that we are the sons of God,) I believe to be Christians in that imperfect sense wherein I may call myself such; and I exhort them to pray that God would give them also "to rejoice in hope of the glory of God," and to feel "His love shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto them." On men I build not, neither on Matilda Chipman's word, whom I have not talked with five minutes in my life; nor on any thing peculiar in the weak, well-meant relation of William Hervey, who yet is a serious, humble-acting Christian. But have you been building on these? Yes; I find them, more or less, in almost every letter you have written on the subject. Yet were all that has been said on "visions, dreams, and balls of fire," to be fairly proposed in syllogisms, I believe it would not prove a jot more on one than on the other side of the question. O brother, would to God you would leave disputing concerning the things which you know not, (if indeed you know them not,) and beg of God to fill up what is yet wanting in you! Why should not you also seek till you receive "that peace of * May life itself no longer be pleasant to me.-EDIT. God which passeth all understanding?" Who shall hinder you, notwithstanding the manifold temptations, from rejoicing with joy unspeakable, by reason of glory ?" Amen! Lord Jesus! May you, and all who are near of kin to you, (if you have it not already,) feel his love shed abroad in your heart, by his Spirit which dwelleth in you; and be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of your inheritance. I am Yours and my sister's most affectionate brother. XXIII.-To the Same. November 30, 1738. I BELIEVE every Christian who has not yet received it, should pray for the witness of God's Spirit with his spirit that he is a child of God. In being a child of God, the pardon of his sins is included; therefore I believe the Spirit of God will witness this also. That this witness is from God, the very terms imply; and this witness I believe is necessary for my salvation. How far invincible ignorance may excuse others, I know not. But this, you say, is delusive and dangerous, because it encourages and abets idle visions and dreams. It encourages,-true; accidentally, but not essentially. And that it does this accidentally, or that weak minds may pervert it to an idle use, is no objection against it; for so they may pervert every truth in the oracles of God; more especially that dangerous doctrine of Joel, cited by St. Peter: "It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Such visions, indeed, as you mention are given up: Does it follow that visions and dreams in general" are bad branches of a bad root?" God forbid. This would prove more than you desire. DEAR BROTHER, XXIV.-To the Same. BRISTOL, May 10, 1739. THE having abundance of work upon my hands is only a cause of my not writing sooner. The cause was rather my unwillingness to continue an unprofitable dispute. The gospel promises to you and me, and our children, and all that are afar off, even as many of those whom the Lord our God shall call, as are not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, "the witness of God's Spirit with their spirit, that they are the children of God;" that they are now, at this hour, all accepted in the Beloved; but it witnesses not that they shall be. It is an assurance of present salvation only; therefore, not necessarily perpetual, neither irreversible. I am one of many witnesses of this matter of fact, that God does now make good this his promise daily, very frequently during a representation (how made I know not, but not to the outward eye) of Christ either hanging on the cross, or standing on the right hand of God. And this I know to be of God, because from that hour the person so affected is a new creature, both as to his inward tempers and outward life. "Old things are passed away; and all things become new." A very late instance of this I will give you: While we were praying at a society here, on Tuesday the 1st instant, the power of God (so I call it) came so mightily among us, that one, and another, and another, fell down as thunderstruck. In that hour many that were in deep anguish of spirit, were all filled with peace and joy. Ten persons, till then in sin, doubt, and fear, found such a change, that sin had no more dominion over them; and instead of the spirit of fear, they are now filled with that of love, and joy, and a sound mind. A Quaker who stood by was very angry at them, and was biting his lips and knitting his brows, when the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he fell down as one dead. We prayed over him, and he soon lifted up his head with joy, and joined with us in thanksgiving. A bystander, one John Haydon, was quite enraged at this, and, being unable to deny something supernatural in it, laboured beyond measure to convince all his acquaintance, that it was a delusion of the devil. I was met in the street the next day by one who informed me that John Haydon was fallen raving mad. It seems he had sat down to dinner, but wanted first to make an end of a sermon he was reading. At the last page he suddenly changed colour, fell off his chair, and began screaming terribly, and beating himself against the ground. I found him on the floor, the room being full of people, whom his wife would have kept away; but he cried out, " No; let them all come; let all the world see the just judgment of God." Two or three were 66 I said it was a delusion of Then he roared aloud, “O Yea, thou legion of devils! holding him as well as they could. He immediately fixed his eyes on me, and said, "Ay, this is he I said deceived the people; but God hath overtaken me. the devil; but this is no delusion." thou devil! Thou cursed devil! Thou canst not stay in me. Christ will cast thee out. I know his work is begun. Tear me to pieces if thou wilt. But thou canst not hurt me." He then beat himself again, and groaned again, with violent sweats, and heaving of the breast. We prayed with him, and God put a new song in his mouth. The words were, which he pronounced with a clear, strong voice, “This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made: We will rejoice and be glad in it. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from this time forth for evermore." I called again an hour after. We found his body quite worn out, and his voice lost. But his soul was full of joy. and love, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. I am now in as good health (thanks be to God!) as I ever was since I remember, and I believe shall be so as long as I live; for I do not expect to have a lingering death. The reasons that induce me to think I shall not live long old are such as you would not apprehend to be of any weight. I am under no concern on this head. Let my Master see to it. more! may the God of love be with you and my sister more and I am, dear Brother, Your ever affectionate Brother. DEAR SIR, XXV. To a Friend. October 10, 1735. I HAVE been hitherto unwilling to mention the grounds of my design of embarking for Georgia, for two reasons;—one, because they were such as I know few men would judge to be of any weight;-the other, because I was afraid of making favourable judges think of me above what they ought to think: And what a snare this must be to my own soul, I know by dearbought experience. But, on farther reflection, I am convinced that I ought to speak the truth with all boldness, even though it should appear |