As you desired me to send you, in writing, some directions how to conduct yourself in your Christian course, I would now answer your request. The sweet remembrance of the great things I have lately seen at your church, inclines me to do anything in my power, to contribute to the spiritual joy and prosperity of God�s people there.
1. I would advise you to keep up as great a earnestness in religion, as if you knew yourself to be in a state of nature, and were seeking conversion. We advise people under conviction, to be earnest and violent for the kingdom of heaven; but when they have attained to conversion, they ought not to be the less watchful, laborious, and earnest, in the whole work of religion, but the more so; for they are under infinitely greater obligations. For lack of this, many people, in a few months after their conversion, have begun to lose their sweet and lively sense of spiritual things, and to grow cold and dark, and have "pierced themselves through with many sorrows;� whereas, if they had done as the apostle did, (Phil. 3:12-14.) their path would have been "as the shining light, which shines more and more unto the perfect day."
2. Do not leave off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we exhort unconverted people to strive for, and a degree of which you have had already in conversion. Pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive sight, that you may know yourself, and be brought to God�s footstool; and that you may see the glory of God and Christ, and may be raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart. Those who have most of these things, have need still to pray for them; for there is so much blindness and hardness, pride and death remaining, that they still need to have that work of God wrought upon them, further to enlighten and enliven them, that shall be bringing them out of darkness into God�s marvelous light, and be a kind of new conversion and resurrection from the dead. There are very few requests that are proper for an impenitent man, that are not also, in some sense, proper for the godly.
3. When you hear a sermon, hear for yourself. Though what is spoken may be more especially directed to the unconverted, or to those that, in other respects, are in different circumstances from yourself; yet, let the chief intent of your mind be to consider, "In what respect is this applicable to me? and what improvement ought I to make of this, for my own soul�s good?"
4. Though God has forgiven and forgotten your past sins, yet do not forget them yourself: often remember, what a wretched bond-slave you were in the land of Egypt. Often bring to mind your particular acts of sin before conversion; as the blessed apostle Paul is often mentioning his old blaspheming, persecuting spirit, and his injuriousness to the renewed; humbling his heart, and acknowledging that he was "the least of the apostles," and not worthy "to be called an apostle," and the "least of all saints," and the "chief of sinners;" and be often confessing your old sins to God, and let that text be often in your mind, (Ezekiel 16:63.) "that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I am pacified toward you for all that you has done, says the Lord God."
5. Remember, that you have more cause, on some accounts, a thousand times, to lament and humble yourself for sins that have been committed since conversion, than before, because of the infinitely greater obligations that are upon you to live to God, and to look upon the faithfulness of Christ, in unchangeably continuing his loving-kindness, notwithstanding all your great unworthiness since your conversion.
6. Be always greatly abased for your remaining sin, and never think that you lie low enough for it; but yet be not discouraged or disheartened by it; for, though we are exceeding sinful, yet we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; the preciousness of whose blood, the merit of whose righteousness, and the greatness of whose love and faithfulness, infinitely overtop the highest mountains of our sins.
7. When you engage in the duty of prayer, or come to the Lord�s supper, or attend any other duty of divine worship, come to Christ as Mary Magdalen1 did; (Luke 7:37, 38.) come, and cast yourself at his feet, and kiss them, and pour forth upon him the sweet perfumed ointment of divine love, out of a pure and broken heart, as she poured the precious ointment out of her pure broken alabaster box.
8. Remember, that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the greatest disturber of the soul�s peace, and of sweet communion with Christ: it was the first sin committed, and lies lowest in the foundation of Satan�s whole building, and is with the greatest difficulty rooted out, and is the most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps insensibly into the midst of religion, even, sometimes, under the disguise of humility itself.
9. That you may pass a correct judgment concerning yourself, always look upon those as the best discoveries, and the best comforts, that have most of these two effects: those that make you least and lowest, and most like a child; and those that most engage and fix your heart, in a full and firm disposition to deny yourself for God, and to spend and be spent for him.
10. If at any time you fall into doubts about the state of your soul, in dark and dull frames of mind, it is proper to review your past experience; but do not consume too much time and strength in this way: rather apply yourself, with all your might, to a pledge pursuit after renewed experience, new light, and new lively acts of faith and love. One new discovery of the glory of Christ�s face, will do more toward scattering clouds of darkness in one minute, than examining old experience, by the best marks that can be given, through a whole year.
11. When the exercise of grace is low, and corruption prevails, and by that means fear prevails; do not desire to have fear cast out any other way, than by the reviving and prevailing of love in the heart: by this, fear will be effectually expelled, as darkness in a room vanishes away, when the pleasant beams of the sun are let into it.
12. When you counsel and warn others, do it earnestly, and affectionately, and thoroughly; and when you are speaking to your equals, let your warnings be intermixed with expressions of your sense of your own unworthiness, and of the sovereign grace that makes you differ.
13. If you would set up religious meetings of young women by yourselves, to be attended once in a while, besides the other meetings that you attend, I should think it would be very proper and profitable.
14. Under special difficulties, or when in great need of, or great longings after, any particular mercy, for yourself or others, set apart a day for secret prayer and fasting by yourself alone; and let the day be spent, not only in petitions for the mercies you desire, but in searching your heart, and in looking over your past life, and confessing your sins before God, not as is accustomed to be done in public prayer, but by a very particular rehearsal before God of the sins of your past life, from your childhood hitherto, before and after conversion, with the circumstances and aggravations attending them, and spreading all the abominations of your heart very particularly, and fully as possible, before him.
15. Do not let the adversaries of the cross have occasion to reproach religion on your account. How holily should the children of God, the redeemed and the beloved of the Son of God, behave themselves. Therefore, "walk as children of the light, and of the day," and "adorn the doctrine of God your Savior;" and especially, abound in what are called the Christian virtues, and make you like the Lamb of God: be meek and lowly of heart, and full of pure, heavenly, and humble love to all; abound in deeds of love to others, and self-denial for others; and let there be in you a disposition to account others better than yourself.
16. In all your course, walk with God, and follow Christ, as a little, poor, helpless child, taking hold of Christ�s hand, keeping your eye on the marks of the wounds in his hands and side, whence came the blood that cleanses you from sin, and hiding your nakedness under the skirt of the white shining robes of his righteousness.
17. Pray much for the ministers and the church of God; especially, that he would carry on his glorious work which he has now begun, until the world shall be full of his glory."
Particularly I would beg a special interest in your prayers and the prayers of your Christian companions, both when you are alone and when you are together, for your affectionate friend, who rejoices over you and desires to be your servant.
ahhh.... i was hopeful for that comment, in the 1700's all they had to do was work and study God's word. They were so much more advanced than we are in the theology of God's word. We are all about ourselves,and our pursuits of selfish desire. For pete sake we can't sit through a 45 minute sermon from a minister without complaining bitterly all the way home,and through Sunday dinner to boot. We are a week people who are only worried about the flesh, not our souls.
John 14:23: Jesus says, �If anyone loves Me, he will:rolleyes: obey My teaching, My Father will love him, and We will make Our home with you!"
I John 2:3-5: �We know that we:rolleyes: have come to know Him **IF** we obey His commands. The man who says, �I know Him,� but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the Truth is not him. But if anyone **OBEYS HIS WORD**, God's **LOVE** is truly made complete in Him!!�
So let us read God's Word daily {Acts 17:11} and then *DO WHAT IT SAYS*! {James 1:22,25}
Acts 17:11: �The Bereans:rolleyes: were of noble character, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures *EVERY DAY*!�
James 1:22,25: �Do not merely listen to the Word. *DO WHAT IT SAYS*!... and he who continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but *DOING IT*�will be blessed in what he:rolleyes: does.
2 Peter 1:3-11: �His Divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith {a 100% Free Gift}; goodness, and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, LOVE. For if you possess these qualities in **INCREASING MEASURE**, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a **RICH WELCOME** into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!�:applause::angel:
Matthew 16:27; Jesus says, �The Son of Man is going to come in **HIS FATHER'S GLORY WITH HIS ANGELS** {See Matt 24:30,31 & 2 Thess 1:6-10}, and *THEN* He will reward each person according to what he has done.�
Revelation 22:12: Jesus says, �Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done!� {When Jesus comes in His Father's glory with His angels}
2 Corinthians 5:10: For we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, {When Jesus comes in His Father's glory with His angels} whether good or bad.�
Ephesians 2:8-10: It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is NOT from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
So Salvation is the ***FREE GIFT*** of God's grace and good works with eternal rewards can only be performed by the saved.
Salvation is a 100% Free Gift and REWARDS are 100 % earned.
Matthew 5:14,16: Jesus says, �You are the LIGHT of the world...Let your LIGHT shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
I Corinthians 3:6-9: Paul says, �The Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed. Apollos watered it, but God made it grow... The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers!�
Daniel 12:3: �Those who impart wisdom will shine:glow: like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever!!�
So let our lights *SHINE* with the many gifts God has given us and we can have a REVIVAL with the hope of countless eternal rewards for faithful and loving service.
I Corinthians 1:7: For �You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be *REVEALED*!�
Peter 1:13: �Therefore, prepare your minds for ACTION, and set your hope {*FULLY*} on the grace to be given YOU when Jesus Christ is {*REVEALED*}!!:applause::angel::peace:
