Chapter XI: Letter II: To the Reverend Mr. S

_My dear Friend and Brother_,

IT is a great pleasure to me to think (as you ♦you say) that my letter to you, will also be to two of your brethren, who stand in the same state of earnestness to know how to be faithful and useful in their ministry, as you do: I hope God will increase your number.

♦ duplicate word “you” removed

The first business of a clergyman awakened by God into a sensibility, and love of the truths of the gospel, and making them equally felt, and loved by others, is thankfully, and calmly, to adhere to, and give way to the increase of this new-risen light, and by turning his heart to God, as the sole author of it, humbly to beg of him, that all that, which he feels a desire of doing to those under his cure, may be first truly and fully done in himself.

Now the way to become more and more awakened, to feel more and more of this first conviction, is not to reason yourself into a deeper sensibility of it by finding out arguments: but the true way is, to keep close to the presence and power of God, which has manifested itself within you, willingly resigned to, and solely depending upon the one work of his all-creating word, and all-quickening spirit, which is always more or less powerful in us, according as we more or less depend upon it.

And God is always ours, in such proportion as we are his: as our faith is in him, such is his presence in us. What an error therefore, to turn one thought, from him, or cast a look after any help but his; for, if we ask _all_ of him, if we seek for all in him, if we knock only at his own door for mercy in Christ Jesus, and patiently wait there, God’s kingdom must come, and his will must be done in us.

And therefore all the progress of your first conviction, which by the grace of God you have had from above, consists in the simplicity of your faith, in adhering to it, as the work of God in your soul, which can only go on in God’s way, and can never cease to go on in you, any more than God can cease to be that which he is, but so far as it is stopped by your want of faith in it, or trusting to something else along with it. God is found, as soon as he alone is sought; but to seek God alone, is nothing else but the giving up ourselves unto him. For God is not absent from us in any other respect, than as the spirit of our mind is _turned_ from him, and not left wholly to him.

*This _spirit of faith_, which not here or there, or now and then, but every where, and in all things, looks up to God alone, trusts solely in him, depends absolutely upon him, expects all from him, and does all it does for him, is the utmost perfection of piety in this life. And this is that union with God, in which man was at first created, and to which he is again called, and will be fully restored by God and man being made one Christ.

_Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost._ These are always together, the one can never be without the other.

This was _Stephen_’s qualification for the deaconship, not because of any thing high or peculiar in that office, but because the gospel dispensation was the opening a kingdom of God amongst men, a spiritual theocracy, in which as God, and man fallen from God, were united in Christ, so an union of immediate operation between God and man was restored. Hence this dispensation was called, in distinction from all that went before it in outward types, figures, and shadows, a _ministration of the Spirit_, that is, an immediate operation of the Spirit of God itself in man, in which nothing human, or depending upon the power of man’s wit, ability, or natural powers, had any place, but all things begun in and under obedience to the Spirit, and all were done in the power of faith united with God.

Therefore to be a faithful minister of this new covenant between God and man, is to live by faith alone, to act only, and constantly under its power, to desire no will, understanding, or ability as a labourer in Christ’s vineyard, but what comes from faith, and full dependance upon God’s immediate operation in and upon us.

This is that very thing which is expressly commanded by St. _Peter_, saying, _If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God_, if any _man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth_. For all which he giveth this reason, which will be a reason as long as the world standeth, viz. _That in all things God may be glorified thro’ Jesus Christ_. A plain declaration, that where this is not done, there God is not glorified by Christians through Christ Jesus.

*God created men and angels solely for the _glory of his love_; and therefore angels and men can give no other glory to God, but that of yielding themselves up to the work of his creating love, manifesting itself in the several powers of their natural life, so that the first creating love, which brought them into being, may go on creating, and working in them, according to its own never-ceasing will, to communicate good for ever and ever. This is their living to the praise and glory of God, namely by owning themselves, in all that they are, and have, and do, to be mere instruments of his power, presence, and goodness in them, and to them; which is all the glory they can return to their Creator, and all the glory for which he created them.

We can no otherwise worship God in spirit and in truth, than as our spirit seeks only to, depends only upon, and in all things adores, the life-giving power of his universal Spirit; as the creator, upholder, and doer of all that is or can be good, either in time or eternity. For nothing can be good, but that which is according to the will of God, and nothing can be according to the will of God, but that which is done by his own Spirit. This is unchangeable, whether in heaven, or in earth. And this is the one end of all the dispensations of God, however various, towards fallen man, _viz._ to bring man into an union with God. Comply with all the outward modes and institutions of religion, believe the letter, own the meaning of scripture facts, symbols, and doctrines; but if you seek to gain some other good from them, than that of being led from your own will, and own spirit, that the will of God, and the Spirit of God may do all that is willed, and done by you; however steadily you may adhere to such a religion, you stand as fixed and steadily in your own fallen state. For the restoration of fallen man, is nothing else but the restoration of him to his first state, under the will and Spirit of God, in and for which he was created.

You may here perhaps think that I am speaking too much at large, and not closely to the particular matter of your enquiry. But my intention hath been, so to speak to you on this occasion, as to lay a ground for a proper behaviour, under every circumstance of the outward work of your ministry. All things must be set right in yourself first, before you can rightly assist others.

I do not mean, that you must be first in a state of perfection, before you can be fitted to teach others. But I mean that you must first see, _in what_ to place your own perfection, before you can rightly direct others in the way to it.

For this reason I have said all that is said above, to help you to set out under a right sense of all that religion is to do for yourself. When these things are not notionally, but practically known, then are you enabled, according to your measure, to speak of the truths of religion, to those that are ignorant, or insensible of them.

Your work is, to call every one home to himself, and help every heart to know its own state, to seek and find, and feel his inward life and death, which have their birth, and growth, and strife, against one another, in every son of _Adam_.

And as this is the one good way of preaching, so it is, of all others, the most powerful and penetrating into the hearts of all men, let their condition be what it will.

Their _hearing ears_, though ever so sunk into dullness, will be forced more or less, to feel the power of that voice which speaks nothing but what is, and must be in some sort within themselves.

And this is the great end of outward preaching, to give loud notice of the call of God in their souls, which though unheard, or neglected by them, is yet always subsisting within them. It is to make such outward sounds, as may reach and stir up the inward hearing of the heart. It is so to strike all the outward senses of the soul, that from sleeping in an inward insensibility of its own life and death, it may be brought into an awakened perception of itself, and be forced to know, that the evil of death which is in it, will be its eternal master, unless it seeks for victory in the name, and power, and mediation of Christ, the only Prince of life, and Lord of glory, and who only hath the keys of heaven, of death and hell, in his hands.

Hence you will be qualified, to open in your hearers, a right knowledge of the reality of every virtue and vice you are discoursing upon.

For since all that is good and evil, is only so to them, because it lives in their heart; they may easily be taught, that no virtue, whether it be humility, or charity, has any goodness in it, but as it springs in, and from the heart, nor any vice, whether it be pride, or wrath, is any farther renounced, than as its power, and place in the heart is destroyed. And thus the insignificancy and vanity of an outward formality of a virtuous behaviour, and every thing short of a new heart, and new spirit in, and through the power of Christ, dwelling in them, may be fully shewn to be self-delusion, and self-destruction.

Your next great point, as a preacher, should be to bring men to an entire faith in, and absolute dependance upon, the continual power and operation of the Spirit of God in them.

All churches, even down to the Socinians, are forced, in obedience to the letter of scripture, to hold _something_ of this doctrine.

But as all churches, for many ages, have had as much recourse to learning, art, and science to qualify ministers for the preaching of the gospel, as if it was _merely_ a work of man’s wisdom, so ecclesiastics, for the most part, come forth in the power of human qualifications, and more or less trust to their own ability, according as they are more or less proficients in science and literature, languages and rhetoric.

To this, more than to any other cause, is the _great apostasy_ of all Christendom to be attributed. This was the door, at which the _whole spirit_ of the world entered into possession of the Christian church.

Worldly desires and interests, vanity, pride, envy, contention, bitterness, and ambition, the death of all that is good in the soul, have now, and always had their chief nourishment and support, from a sense of the merit, and sufficiency of literal accomplishments.

Humility, meekness, patience, faith, hope, contempt of the world and heavenly affections (the very life of Jesus in the soul) are by few people less desired, or more hard to be practised, than by great _wits_, _classical critics_, _linguists_, _historians_ and _orators_ in holy orders.

Now to bring a man to a full dependance upon, and faith in the continual operation of the Holy Spirit, as the only raiser and preserver of the life of God in their hearts, it is not enough, you sometimes, or _often_ preach upon the subject, but every thing that you inculcate, should be directed _constantly_ to it, and all that you exhort men to, should be required, only as a means of obtaining, and concurring with, that Holy Spirit, which is, and only can be, the _life_ and _truth_ of goodness. And all that you turn them from, should be as from something that resists, and grieves that blessed Spirit of God, which always wills to remove all evil out of our souls, and make us again partakers of the divine nature.

For as they only are Christians, who are born of the Spirit, so nothing should be taught Christians, but as a _work_ of the Spirit; nor any _thing_ sought, but by the _power_ of the Spirit, as well in hearing as teaching. It is owing to the want of this, that there is so much preaching and hearing, and so little benefit either of the preacher or hearer.

The labour of the preacher is, for the most part, to display logic, argument, and eloquence, upon religious subjects; and so he is just as much united to God by his own religious discourses, as the pleader at the bar is, by his law and oratory upon right and wrong.

And the hearers, by their regarding such accomplishments, go away just as much helped, to be new men in Christ Jesus, as by hearing a cause of great equity well pleaded at the bar.

Now in both these cases, with regard to preacher and people, the error is, trusting to a power in themselves; the one in an ability, to persuade powerfully; the other in an ability, to act according to that which they hear.

And so the natural man goes on preaching, and the natural man goes on hearing the things of God, in a fruitless course. And thus it must be, so long as either preacher or hearers, seek any thing else but to edify, and be edified in, and through the immediate power and essential presence of the Holy Spirit, working in them.

*The way therefore to be a faithful, and fruitful labourer in the vineyard of Christ, is to stand yourself in a full dependance on the Spirit of God, as having no power, but as his instrument, and by his influence, in all that you do; and to call others, not to their own strength or rational powers, but to a full hope and faith of having all that they want, from God alone; calling them to himself, to a birth of essential, inherent goodness, wisdom and holiness from his own eternal word and Holy Spirit, living and dwelling in them. For as God is all that the fallen soul wants, so nothing but God alone, can communicate himself to it; all therefore is lost labour, but the total conversion of the soul, to the _immediate, essential_ operation of God in it.

As to the other parts of your office, whether they relate to things prescribed, or to such as are to be done, according to your best discretion, there will not be much difficulty, if you stand in the state above described.

As to several _outward forms_ and _orders_ in the church, they must be supposed to partake, in their degree, of that Spirit, which has so long bore rule in all church divisions. But the private man is not to consider, how outward things should be, according to the primitive plan, but how the inward truth, which is meant by them, may be fully adhered to.

Baptism and the Lord’s supper, are differently practised in almost every particular church.

But the way to be free from scruples herein, is to keep yourself, and your people wholly intent on that _spiritual good_, of which these institutions are the appointed outward figures, namely that spiritual regeneration, which is meant by baptism, and that _spiritual living in Christ_, and Christ in us, which is meant by the supper of the Lord. And then, though the sacraments practised by you should have any outward imperfection in them, they would be of the same benefit to you, as they were to those who used them in their first, outwardly perfect form. And thus you will be led neither to over-rate, nor disregard such use of them, as is according to the present state of the church. It is only the inward regenerate Christian, that knows how to make a right use of all outward things. His soul being in such a state of union with God and man, as it ought to be, takes every thing by the right handle, and turns every thing into a means of carrying on his love towards God and man. To the pure, all things are pure.

When you visit the _sick_, or well _awakened_, or _dully senseless_, go as in obedience to God, as on his errand, and say only what the love of God and man suggests to your heart, without any anxiety about the success of it; that is God’s work. Only see that the love, the tenderness, and patience of God towards sinners, be uppermost in all that you do to man. Nothing is to be shewn to man, _but his want of God_; nothing can shew him this so powerfully, so convincingly, as love. And as love is the fulfilling of the whole law, so love is the fulfilling of all the work of the ministry.

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