Editorial
God's Decree Unchangeable
Yet Another Idol
Daniel Rowland
Four Kinds
of Universalism
Annual General Meeting
Vital Godliness
Books
Letter
In a sermon preached on 'Coronation Sunday' (31 May 1953) our late brother Kenneth Howard remarked on the warm affection the new queen inspired, the dignity of service to which she had been called and the heavy responsibilities God had laid on her young shoulders. At the close of the sermon he expressed his desire that the power of godliness would be revived in the nation, and that we may again become known as 'the People of the Bible'.
Now, in the year of Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee, we are in a position to review half a century of her reign and see how far Mr Howard's desires have been realized. The fact that the monarchy is still with us at all is a wonder of God' s amazing forbearance, for the sins of both the royal family and the nation have been enough to provoke Him to destroy both it and us together.
Yet thankfully we are conscious still of considerable national affection for the Queen' s person, of the dignified way in which she has served her subjects and the steady persistence (despite considerable adversity) with which she has devoted herself to the onerous duties of monarchy.
Having said this, we cannot help but observe a lamentable failure in both the royal family and successive governments to uphold the Biblical, Protestant and Reformed Faith to which Her Majesty pledged her allegiance at her coronation. Also, instead of a mighty revival of true religion we have seen a dreadful apostasy from the standards of faith and conduct for which we were once renowned. As for being 'the People of the Bible' even our university quiz teams (to name no others) have demonstrated our deplorable ignorance of God's Holy Word. May the God who has threatened: 'Shall I not visit for these things?... Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?' (Jer 5.29) have mercy on us and run us back to Himself before our day of grace is past.
by Christopher Ness
The second property of the divine decree of predestination: it is UNCHANGEABLE. Hence it is compared to 'mountains of brass" (Zech 6.1) and it is called "the immutability of His counsel." (Heb 6.17)
This is made evident by sundry reasons:
1. The divine decree has an unchangeable fountain: to wit, the
unchangeableness of God. "He is in one mind, and who can turn Him?" (Job
23.13). He desires and He does it; no created being can interpose between the
desire and the doing, to hinder their meeting together. "God is not a man, that
He should lie, or the son of man that He should repent" (Num 23.19). "I am
the LORD, I change not" (Mal 3.6); with Him is no "variableness, neither
shadow of turning" (James 1.17). "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever,
the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psa 33.11). "There are many
devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand"
(Prov 19.21).
Man is a poor changeable creature and changes his mind oftener than his garment, both from the darkness of his understanding and the perverseness of his will; he frequently sees something that he saw not before; but there is no such imperfection in God, all things are naked before Him, dissected, or with their faces upward. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb 4.18). He knows all His works (their natures and circumstances) as perfectly in the beginning of the world as He will do at the end. And He abides still in one mind when His dispensations are changed. for He decreed the change of them from all eternity.
2. The decree of Election stands upon an unchangeable foundation, to wit, that Rock of ages, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever" (Heb 13.8). As the first Adam was the foundation stone in the decree of creation, so the last Adam, even Jesus, is the foundation stone in the decree of election. God has blessed us in Him, yea, and we shall be blessed: He has chosen us in Him, pardoned us in Him, sealed us in Him, built us up and completed us in Him, "according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim 1.9). All those acts of grace are said to be in Christ. Who has blessed us in Christ (Eph 1.3); chosen us in Him (v4); pardoned us -- in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (v7); in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed, (v18); rooted and built up in Him (Col 2.7); and ye are complete in Him (v10).
Indeed, Christ Himself was under divine ordination. He verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1.20) and is called the elect stone (1 Pet 2.6). Christ is the first person elected. "Behold My servant whom I have chosen, Mine elect, etc. (Isa 42.1; Matt 12.18). Christ was chosen as the Head, and we [were chosen] as His members; therefore are we said to be given to Christ. "Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me." (John 17.6).
Now, so long as this foundation stands sure, so long does the superstructure remain unchangeable. The temple stood firmly upon those two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, i.e., stability and strength; so the decree of election stands sure upon Christ the Foundation; and none can pluck an elect soul from off this Foundation. None can pluck any of Christ' s out of His hands. Christ will lose none that are given to Him; He will fulfil His Father's will by taking care of them all. "And this is the Father' s will, which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day" (John 6.39). "They shall never perish" (John 10.28).
3. It is unchangeable, because it is a decree written in heaven, and so is above the reach of either angry men or enraged devils to cancel. The Lord knoweth them that are His (2 Tim 2.19); they are "the assembly and church of the First-born, written in heaven" (Heb 12.28). Thence it is called "the Lamb' s book of life," which contains a catalogue of the elect, determined by the unalterable counsel of God; which number can neither be increased nor diminished.
This is to be rejoiced in above dominion over devils: "rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10.20); which, if our names may be written in heaven today and blotted out tomorrow, would be no such ground of joy. If the decrees of the Medes and Persians, which were but earthly writings, were unalterable (Dan 6.8). how much more the decrees of the great God, written in heaven, must be unchangeable. Must Pilate say, "what I have written, I have written" (John 19.22); that is to say, "my writing shall not to be altered," and shall not God say so much more? "I know (saith Solomon) that what God doth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it" (Eccl 3.14). "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass: I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa 46.10,11).
The sun may sooner be stopped in his course than God hindered of His work or in His will. Nature, angels, devils, men, may all be resisted, and so miss of their design; not so God: for "who hath resisted His will?" All those chariots of human occurrences and dispensations come forth from between those mountains of brass, the unalterable decrees of God (Zech 6.1 ); and should it be granted that one soul may be blotted out of this book of life (this writing in heaven) then it is possible that all may be so; and, by consequence, it may be supposed that that book may become empty and useless as waste paper. and that Christ may be a head without a body.
4. It is unchangeable, for the decree concerning the end includes the means to that end, and binds them altogether with an irrefragable chain, which can never be broken. The predestinated, called, justified. glorified ones, are the same (Rom 8.30). Therefore the purpose of God concerning election must stand (Rom 9.11). God does not decree the end without the means, nor the means without the end, but both together. As a purpose for building includes the hewing of stone and squaring of timber, and all other materials for building work; and as a decree for war implies arms, horses. ammunition and all warlike provisions; so here, all that are elected to salvation are elected to sanctification also. God ordains to the means as well as to the end. "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed" (Acts 13.48). God has ordained that we should walk in good works. (Eph 2.10). We are elected unto obedience, through the "sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Peter 1.2); therefore God has promised to sanctify those whom He purposed to save.
We teach with Augustine that " election is an ordaining to grace as well as to glory." In predestination, therefore, the means of salvation are no less absolutely decreed than salvation itself. We may not conceive that God's decree runs after this form: "I will predestinate Peter to salvation, if it should so happen that he doth believe and persevere"; but rather thus: "I do predestinate Peter to salvation, which, that he may infallibly obtain, I will give him both faith and perseverance." Were it otherwise the foundation would not stand sure; yea, and God's gifts would not be without repentance if God did not absolutely decree to give and bestow faith and perseverance to His elected ones. The covenant of grace runs in this tenure: "I will be a God to you, and ye shall be a people unto Me." that is, "I will make you so."
Inferences drawn from the foregoing:
1. A name written in heaven, where no thief, no rust, no moth comes to destroy
it, is better than to be enrolled in princely courts: 'tis a name better than of sons
and daughters, to be a free citizen of heaven.
2. Though we are changeable creatures, yet unchangeable love is towards us, that keeps faster hold of us than we of it.
3. It is infinite condescension that the great God should hold a poor lump of clay so fast in His Almighty hands as to secure our interest to all eternity. (John 10.28-29; 1 Pet 1.4-5).
Professor Watt of Belfast used to say that the Reformation took place without the help of Arminianism, and that when it eventually entered the Church it did so as a troubler. How true! Its infiltration into Reformed churches, besides its influence among other religious bodies outside them, has caused untold damage.
At its root lies a fatal flaw in its view of the character of God. By emphasising the love of God at the expense of His holiness, justice and sovereignty, it has both deceived millions of souls as to their salvation and robbed God of much of His glory.
Just recently Arminianism has spawned a movement which embarrasses even Arminians by its distortion of the character of God. This movement is known as the 'Open Theism' or 'Open-ness of God' school. We feel constrained to examine its claims in the light of Scripture because its exponents are professing evangelicals who claim to be faithful to Scripture.
At the heart of the 'Open-ness of God' theory is a new model of God in relation to His providence. While its leading notions stem from classic Arminianism, which stresses the free will of man to respond to God either for or against Him, it departs radically from classic Arminianism in claiming that the future is unknown to God. This is because the future is unknowable. Since it has not yet happened it simply cannot be known, even by God. The theory is thus based (let us face it squarely) on the alleged ignorance of God and freedom of man. How can man be free, it is argued, if God knows already precisely what choices he will make? Consequently, because God is open to the future as man is, He learns from what happens in providence, responds to what happens, and plans for the future based on what He knows of the past and the present. Being ignorant of the future, God is truly open to new ideas and developments. This being so, we humans are to co-operate with Him in shaping the future.
It is in this 'light' that the members of the 'Open-ness of God` school -- Clark Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker and David Basinger -- interpret such Biblical events as the Fall (Gen 3), the intended sacrifice by Abraham of Isaac (Gen 22), the Golden Calf episode (Exod 32) and the Crucifixion. According to them God was surprised that Adam and Eve made such a rash decision as to disobey Him. Furthermore, He discovered for the first time that He could trust Abraham to obey Him. Before the patriarch proved his obedience by raising his arm to sacrifice his son, God 'did not know' whether Abraham would obey or not. 'Now He knows.' Not only that, God changed His mind and decided not to destroy idolatrous Israel after Moses had interceded for them. Finally, both Father and Son came to understand in Gethsemane (and not before) that there was no other way for Jesus but the cross. Many such things appear in the group's symposium: 'The Open-ness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God.'
Is this the God of the Bible? We think not, for the following reasons:
1. Holy Scripture expressly reveals God as the One who knows all things -
past, present and future. 'All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him
with whom we have to do.' (Heb 4.13). 'God .. knoweth all things.' (I John
3.20). 'Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.' (Jer 1.5). 'Now I tell
you before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He.
(John 13.19).
And so the believer can pray: 'My times are in Thy hand.' (Psa 31.15). 'Into Thine hand I commit my spirit.' (Psa 31.5).
With reference to the afore-mentioned events, Wilhelmus a Brakel rightly says: 'From God's perspective... everything is an absolute certainty', even when it is unknown to us. Man's free agency 'does not contradict the certain fore-knowledge of God.' By a truly incomprehensible concurrence, we do what God surely knows (and has certainly decreed) we shall do. As Charles Hedge says: 'The distinction between knowledge and foreknowledge is only in us. There is no such difference in God.' 'Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.' (Acts 15.18).
2. Every passage of Scripture in which God seems to be ignorant of the future, so that He is said to 'come down' or wait to see what will happen, is to be viewed as an accommodation to our time-restricted limitations. God often speaks in the manner of men, but this is only to make us aware that He knows everything about us. He knows us from all eternity. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us. Rather than try to bring it down to the level of our ignorance, we should worship and adore Him for it.
3. Unless God knows the future as well as the past and present, all prophecy is nothing but guess-work. But did God guess that Christ would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, when Judah would cease to produce an earthly king? (Isa 7.14: Mic 5.2; Gen 49.10). Did God guess that His Son would end His earthly ministry pierced in His hands and feet, that He would rise from the dead and reign till all His enemies would lick the dust before Him? (Psa 22.16; Psa 16.10; Psa 72.9). The thought is blasphemous. God knew all along everything about His Son, for He is omniscient.
4. If God is ignorant of the future, all prayer to Him concerning it is useless. Yet He expressly commands us: 'Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' (Isa 62.6-7). Why plead with Him at all if He is not in absolute control of the future, as He has been in control of the past and is in control of the present? Why ask Him for guidance, protection or provision, if He is as ignorant of the future as we are?
This new movement has forged yet another idol out of the warped imagination of man, for it posits a god who neither fore-knows the future nor fore-ordains it. Such a god does not exist. Well did John Calvin say that man's heart is an 'idol factory.
Classic Arminianism at ]east believes in One who fore-knows the future, even though it erroneously claims that He fore-ordains it only insofar as He knows what man will do.
By contrast, classic Calvinism worships the God who both fore-knows and fore-ordains whatever comes to pass, according to the wise and holy counsel of His inviolable will. And so we may sing with Joseph Hart:
How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable Friend!
His love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end.
'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We'll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that's to come.
Among the faithful messengers whom God raised up to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to Wales, not the least important was Daniel Rowland, Llangeitho, Cardiganshire. His biographer says: 'It is not too much to say that there never has been any single individual in Wales in any age who has contributed so much towards the promotion of true religion through the country as the ]ate Daniel Rowland of Llangeitho.' His father, like so many of the 'clergymen' of his time, and of our time also, was wholly ignorant of true religion. His son Daniel was trained for the ministry, but was brought up in such a home and under such influences that he had no idea of the solemn responsibilities of the sacred office. He succeeded his father in the incumbency of Llangeitho, and began his dead ministry in a light and frivolous way. It is traditionally reported of him that he excelled in all kinds of sports, and that he was a ringleader in corrupt amusements.
'There was,' says his biographer, 'commonly in every parish some place where the vain, the foolish and the dissolute assembled; and there among them Rowland, it is said, appeared the foremost, the liveliest and the most active of the party, after having been in Church reading, praying and preaching in the morning.' The religious state of the parish, as might be expected from such a ministry, was deplorable. The following account will give a fair idea how matters stood about 1742 at Bala, which was typical of other parts of Wales: 'The common people were more inclined to go to church on Sabbath mornings than the gentry; but in the afternoons they greedily followed their amusements. There was hardly a Sabbath afternoon on which they had not, in some part of the country, some place for sports. Here the youths exhibited their strength and a great number of the people of the neighbourhood came together to look at them. On Saturday nights, especially in summer, the young people, both males and females, kept what was called singing nights, and amused themselves by singing with the harp and dancing till the dawn of the Sabbath. In Bala they were usually on the Sabbath afternoons singing and dancing in the public-houses, playing tennis under the Hall, bobbing, etc. There was in every comer of the town some sport going on until night. The interludes in summer were played in the loft of the hall on the afternoons of the Sabbath, and both the gentry and the common people thus amused themselves together, and profaned the Lord's Day. There was also a great number of those called travelling people, who came occasionally to this town. These were wanderers who travelled the country for the sake of begging, if not for worse purposes. They were people of corrupt and depraved lives, an oppression on the country, and a shame to the magistrates who suffered them. This in part was the state of the country as to morals in the year 1742 and a good while after that. As to true religion and godliness, if by their fruits they are known, there was here but little of them, at least as things appeared to me.
As already indicated, Rowland began his ministry as an unconverted man, and God in judgment might have left him to perish for daringly entering the sacred office without the one qualification without which all other qualifications are vain. But God, who deals with men not according to their sins, but according to His great mercy, visited him in a very unexpected way. Rowland had gone with a number of his people to hear Griffith Jones, who was to preach at Llanddewibrevi in the vicinity. Whatever may have been Rowland's motive in going he little anticipated what purposes the God of salvation had for him on this eventful day. He came to the preaching a proud, self-conceited man, but went home with his head bent to the ground. His biographer describes the incident that had such momentous consequences for him: 'His appearance at this time was very vain, full of conceit and levity. So large was the assembly that there was no room for them to sit down; and in the midst of them, just opposite the preacher, stood Rowland, evidently conceited and full of himself, and his countenance showing no small measure of contempt. His appearance was such as to draw the attention of Mr. Jones while he was preaching, and so much so that he suspended his discourse and offered up a very earnest and affecting prayer for the vain young man that stood before him, beseeching God in an especial manner to make him a suitable instrument for turning many from darkness into light. His prayer produced an amazing effect on Rowland' s mind. The proud looks disappeared and on the way home the vain talk was no longer heard. With his face towards the ground, he seemed very thoughtful. It was thus that the great change commenced.'
From this day on Rowland was a different man, and his preaching was different. He began by preaching the law, pointing out its high demands and dreadful threats. 'Awful and extremely terrifying was the message,' says his biographer, 'nothing but the consuming flashes and dreadful thunders of the law, with hardly anything like the joyful sound of the gospel. Endless condemnation deserved by sinners was what he set forth with unusual power and energy. His own spirit seemed to have been filled with great and awful terror. He appeared as if he wished to kindle the fire of hell around the transgressors of God's law that he might terrify them. He unfolded the indignation of heaven against sin with amazing clearness, earnestness and vigour. But there was no harshness in his voice nor stern-ness in his countenance; but, on the contrary, the most melting tenderness. He spoke as one overflowing with compassion and under the deepest conviction of his own unworthiness.' His preaching was his actual experience, and wonderful effects followed it. Thousands flocked to hear him. The most thoughtless were sobered and the hardhearted, profane and godless wept under the proclamation of the awful message of condemnation. But deep though the convictions were, those so affected were not brought into the liberty of the gospel. 'Deep convictions,' says his biographer, referring to this period of his ministry, 'and hardly anything else were produced. According to what the writer has heard from the oldest of Rowland's followers he has consulted, those convictions lasted for some years -- perhaps four or five, and he continued all that time in the same awful strain of preaching.'
He found at this time in Philip Pugh, a neighbouring Presbyterian minister, a true and judicious friend. When critics pointed to Rowland' s defects, Pugh gently admonished them. 'Let him alone,' he would say, 'he is an instrument raised by God for some great work. He will improve in a short time. God will bring him right by degrees.'
A few years after Rowland' s conversion a very remarkable change took place in his preaching. As his aged friend Pugh listened to the solemn truths declared with such power and deep conviction, he felt, notwithstanding the tremendous effect produced, that there was something seriously lacking And, acting as a true friend, he pointed out to Rowland that something more was required in his preaching. 'Preach the gospel to the people,' he said, 'point them to the balm of Gilead and the blood of Christ.' Rowland remonstrated with him, saying that he could only preach what he had experienced. 'Yes ! but tell the people that the gospel message is in the Bible though you do not yet feel its power; proclaim it on the authority of God's Word.' It was advice given in love, and in love it was taken. And through the abundant mercy of God the 'son of thunder' became also a 'son of consolation.' The law was still proclaimed, but the gospel trumpet sounded its clear, sweet and cheering message, gladdening the hearts of thousands as they listened to God's messenger. His biographer has dealt with this notable change with spiritual insight and sober discrimination, -- 'It was the Law he preached at first, and after some time he preached also the Gospel. He did not throughout his ministry leave off proclaiming the Law in its high demands and awful threatenings; but he proclaimed as fully, as often and as clearly the unfathomable treasures of the Gospel. This was probably the reason that the deepest convictions were produced under his ministry, not only at first, but throughout the whole course of his life ... Breaking up the ground and harrowing was a very thorough work under his ministry. On this account probably it was that the religion of those who had been converted through him was purer, more serious and more heavenly than I have observed in any other instances. There was something very tender and melting in their spirit, and their experience seemed deeper than what is found commonly in pious people. The clearness and authority, the power and vigour. the sympathy and earnestness which he displayed before while preaching the law he displayed now while preaching the gospel, and that perhaps in a higher degree and to a greater extent. If he proclaimed before a righteous law, which required perfect obedience, and threatened eternal condemnation to its transgressors, he now proclaimed the complete obedience that was rendered to it by Him who came in the believer' s place as being fully sufficient for the justification of the worst and the most guilty of men who saw and bewailed their miserable condition. The fulness of Christ and His readiness to receive the vilest and the most wretched, and to forgive freely all their sins, he set forth with so much clearness and effect that those who were before wounded by the arrows of conviction were filled with amazement and with joy unspeakable.
Christmas Evans, himself a prince of preachers, has left a memorable description of Rowland's preaching: 'While Rowland was preaching,' he says, 'the fashion of his countenance became altered; his voice became as if inspired; the worldly, dead and careless spirit was cast out by his presence. The people, as it were, drew near to the cloud, towards Christ, and Moses and Elijah. Eternity. with its realities, rushed upon their vision. These mighty influences were felt more or less for fifty years.'
There are one or two interesting incidents in connection with his preaching which are worthy of note. On one occasion while he was preaching on the Lord's Day a 'gentleman' who had been out hunting dropped into the service on his way home with the intention of making sport of 'the parson.' When Rowland came in this sportsman stood up and made grimaces at the minister to try and disconcert him. Nothing daunted. Rowland carried on preaching, and as he pointed out the claims of God' s law and the penalty that it exacted, the man was over-awed and began to tremble and weep. When the service was over the man came to Rowland and asked him to stay with him, and during his lifetime gave abundant evidence of being a truly regenerated man.
In his own district Rowland's former Sabbath-breaking companions continued in their evil ways. Rowland's spirit was stirred within him, and as he could not get them to come to the church services he determined to hold an open-air meeting at 'the Devil's playground.' He proclaimed God' a truth with great power and authority in their hearing, and from that day Satan lost his power in assembling these Sabbath profaners at the spot where so many were making a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.
As he would not stop preaching wherever he had an opportunity he was cast out of the Established Church of England, but he had a higher commission than that of men for preaching the truths of God, and thousands rejoiced in the precious truths that fell from his lips. The effect produced by his preaching at times was extraordinary. He preached with great feeling, and it is recorded that so solemnly impressed was he on one occasion that as he uttered the words referring to the Redeemer's sufferings: 'thine agony and bloody sweat', the vast congregation completely broke down.
As a true servant of Christ he fully recognised that conversion was not the work of man, but of God, as the following anecdote clearly shows: 'There is a man, he said, 'whom I converted.'
'Very probably, sir,' was the reply, 'but you have converted many besides him.
'No, friend,' he added, 'you do not understand me; it was I, and not God, that converted him; for he is gone back, poor man, to the world; but it would have been otherwise had God converted him.'
Rowland died in his 77th year, on 16th October, 1790. He had served in the Lord's vineyard for fifty-three years, an abundant blessing having rested on his labours. His removal caused great sorrow to thousands who had heard the gospel as glad tidings from his lips.
(Adapted from an old magazine)
All things work together for good to them that love God. (Rom, 8.28.)
by Daniel Rowland
Observe what He says. Make thou no exception, when He makes none. All, remember He excepts nothing. Be thou confirmed in thy faith: give glory to God, and resolve with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." The Almighty may seem for a season to be your enemy, in order that He may become your eternal Friend. Oh! believers, after all your tribulation and anguish, you must concede with David, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes." Under all your disquietudes you must exclaim, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! " His glory is seen when He works by means; it is more seen when He works without means: it is seen above all when He works contrary to means. It was a great work to open the eyes of the blind; it was greater still to do it by applying clay and spittle, things more likely, some think, to take away sight than to restore. He sent a horror of great darkness on Abraham when He was preparing to give him the best light. He touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh and lamed him when He was going to bless him. He smote Paul with blindness when He was intending to open the eyes of his mind. He refused the request of the woman of Canaan for a while, but afterwards she obtained her desire. See, therefore, that all the paths of the Lord are mercy, and that all things work together for good to them that love Him.
Even affliction is very useful and profitable to the godly. The prodigal son had no thought of returning to his father's house till he had been humbled by adversity. Hagar was haughty under Abraham's roof, and despised her mistress, but in the wilderness she was meek and lowly. Jonah sleeps on board ship, but in the whale's belly he watches and prays. Manasseh lived as a libertine in Jerusalem, and committed the most enormous crimes, but when he was bound in chains in the prison at Babylon his heart was turned to seek the Lord his God. Bodily pain and disease have been instrumental in rousing many to seek Christ, when those who were in high health have given themselves no concern about Him. The ground which is not rent and tom with the plough bears nothing but thistles and thorns. The vines will run wild in process of time if they he not pruned and trimmed. So would our wild hearts be overrun with filthy, poisonous weeds if the true Vine-dresser did nor often check their growth by crosses and sanctified troubles. "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." Our Saviour says, "Every branch that beareth fruit My Father purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit." There can be no gold or silver finely wrought without being first purified with fire, and no elegant houses built with stones till the hammers have squared and smoothed them. So we can neither become vessels of honour in the house of our Father till we are melted in the furnace of affliction, nor lively stones in the walls of New Jerusalem till the hand of the Lord has beaten off our proud excrescences and tumours with His own hammers.
He does not say that all things will, but do, work together for good. The work is on the wheel, and every movement of the wheel is for your benefit. Not only the angels who encamp around you, or the saints who continually pray for you, but even your enemies, the old dragon and his angels, are engaged in this matter. It is true this is not their design. No! They think they are carrying on their own work of destroying you, as it is said of the Assyrian whom the Lord sent to punish a hypocritical nation: "Howbeit, he meaneth not so," yet it was God's work that he was carrying on, though he did not intend to do so. All the events that take place in the world carry on the same work -- the glory of the Father and the salvation of His children. Every illness and infirmity that may seize you, every loss you may meet with, every reproach you may endure, every shame that may colour your faces, every sorrow in your hearts, every agony and pain in your flesh, every aching in your bones, are for your good. Every change in your condition -- your fine weather and your rough weather, your sunny weather and your cloudy weather, your ebbing and your flowing, your liberty and your imprisonment, all turn out for good.
Oh, Christians, see what a harvest of blessings ripens from this text! The Lord is at work, all creation is at work, men and angels, friends and foes, all are busy working together for good. Oh, dear Lord Jesus, what hast Thou seen in us that Thou shouldest order things so wondrously for us, and make all things -- all things to work together for our good?
From time to time the question is asked as to how many shall be saved. Shall all, regardless of their creed, worship, character and life-style? Or is this glorious privilege reserved for only some? The current claim that God gathers up all creation into His loving purpose should make us reconsider the question. For it is argued that if God's redeeming purpose is universal in scope, why should we any longer accept Christianity's arrogant claim to be the one true religion? Since there are many 'windows onto God', why should we continue to support Christian evangelization of the nations? As we are all 'going to heaven', why may not each of us go there in his own way, and leave others to go there in theirs? Such universalistic claims voiced by religious pluralists call for a Reformed response.
In general, we may identify four kinds of universalism. Three of them are false, while only the fourth is true.
I. Radical Universalism. John Hick, the author of such 'give-away' titles as God and the Universe of Faith and God Has Many Names, argues that as there is only one God, who is accessible to all religions, the universe of faiths must not focus on any particular religion, even Christianity with its superior credentials, but on God Himself.
To some, this view may sound very plausible. Yet clearly Hick can reach such a conclusion only by mis-reading Holy Scripture, removing every distinctive tenet of the Christian Faith and rejecting the unique claims of Christ. Is it not expressly written that Holy Scripture was written to be believed (John 20.31), that Biblical Christianity should regulate all our faith and conduct (John 5.39; Eccles 12.13), and that Christ is the only Mediator between God and men, and therefore the only way to God (I Tim 2.5; Acts 4.12; John 14.6)? On this ground alone Radical Universalism is to be rejected.
2. Liberal Universalism. Under the influence of the Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, Vatican II and the papal encyclical Redemptor Hominis affirm that non-[Roman] Catholic religions reflect 'a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men', and that since Christ redeems mankind by virtue of His incarnation, all men shall ultimately be saved. Karl Rahner and Hans Kung adopt a similar approach, stressing like de Chardin the cosmic centrality of Christ.
Such avowed Protestants as Karl Barth and William Barclay also embrace universalism, one on the grounds that all are condemned in Christ's death but accepted in His resurrection, the other on the basis of the alleged universal Fatherhood of God and the universal scope of the Love of God in Christ.
Suffice to say that Holy Scripture expressly teaches the salvation of only the elect (Eph I; Rom 9), and clearly implies that few will be saved (Luke 13.23-24; Isa 1.9). Along with Radical Universalism we must therefore reject Liberal Universalism.
3. Evangelical Universalism. Recently some writers who profess to believe in the inspiration and authority of Scripture and to uphold the uniqueness and finality of Christ have popularized a brand of Evangelical Universalism that is more Arminian than Arminius. Clark Pinnock, in A Wideness in God's Mercy, and John Sanders, in No Other Name, are typical. Pinnock claims that certain Biblical 'pagan saints' leg Jethro, Rahab and Cornelius) all received salvation through their own religions. For his part Sanders believes that the unevangelized may benefit from Christ' s saving work without even hearing of it. What shall we say to these things?
Firstly, Paul clearly states that 'faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God', and that while 'whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved', yet 'How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent?' (Rom 10.17,13-15).
Secondly, Peter expressly says of Christ: 'Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.' (Acts 4.12).
Lastly, our Lord Himself authoritatively claims: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.' (John 14.6).
It is therefore impossible to be saved without hearing the Gospel, receiving Christ as the only Mediator and going to God only by Him.
At root this Evangelical Universalism is no better than its Radical and Liberal counterparts, and should be rejected as much as them.
4. Biblical Universalism. In contrast to these erroneous forms of universalism, the Bible teaches a true universalism. It repeatedly states that God's saving purpose is universal in scope in that the 'elect from every nation' are embraced by it. As Geerhardus Vos says in his Biblical Theology, even the particularism of the Old Testament merely serves and leads up to the universalism of the New.
Hence John 3.16, both misunderstood and misapplied by Arminians, refers to the truth that God's love for our corrupt world (and not merely for the Jews) is so great that He is willing to save whoever believes on Christ from any and every part of it.
This too is why the apostles went at their Lord's command to 'the uttermost parts of the earth', preaching the Gospel of redeeming grace to all without exception, both Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, old and young. (Acts 1.8; Matt 28.19-20; Rom 10.12-13; 11:11-25).
Finally, when all the redeemed are assembled around the throne of God and of the Lamb, they shall have been gathered, not from this or that particular country, but 'out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.' (Rev 5.9).
Here is a universalism that is thoroughly Biblical. It embraces all who are sovereignly chosen by God the Father, lovingly redeemed by God the Son, effectually called and sanctified by God the Spirit, graciously invited to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, invincibly made willing to receive Him, freely justified and adopted into God's family by His grace, kept firmly by His power till their sanctification is completed, and joyfully welcomed into glory.
They shall be brought with gladness great
And mirth on every side
Into the palace of the King,
And there they shall abide. (Psalm 45.15. Metrical Version.)
This is a universalism that leaves nothing to the vagaries of 'chance', the misplaced optimism of religious dreamers, or the 'free-will' of man, but which secures the salvation of God's chosen with absolute certainty. O may it be ours!
The Annual General Meeting of the Sovereign Grace Union took place at Enon Baptist Chapel, Chatham, Kent, on 1 June. We thank our gracious God for the warm hospitality shown on the occasion by the church there. Following the Business Meeting Dr Peter Rowell addressed the gathering on the Five Points of Calvinism as taught by our Lord. The Committee was re-elected nom con.
Secretary's Report Mr Chairman, Committee Members and Members and Friends of the Sovereign Grace Union: as our beloved land sinks deeper and deeper into sin we are convinced more than ever of the need for a bold proclamation of the doctrines of grace such as the Union offers. Leaders in both Church and State are constantly ringing the changes in policy and organisation, vainly hoping for remedies for our national ills. What is needed, however, is not a change in society that leaves individuals unchanged, but the regeneration of individuals who will then go on to influence society for God and righteousness. As long as this need remains, so long will the testimony of the Union be needed.
Having said that, I must report with some sorrow the failure of over fifty subscribers to our magazine to renew their subscriptions for two years, thereby forcing us (according to the Committee's agreed policy) to remove their names from our mailing list. On the other hand, we are grateful for twenty-five new subscribers since the last Annual General Meeting.
We are also disappointed to have our free offer of new pamphlets to several Christian booksellers and agencies not taken up. Battersby on Justification and Flavel on Christ the only Mediator are only two of the titles which might (with God' s blessing) help to stem the tide of apostasy that threatens to engulf the churches.
Nevertheless, we are thankful that the Committee has been able to meet four times in the past year to further the work of the Union. that the Auxiliaries have held many valuable meetings in which the doctrines of grace have been preached (some in the historical context of the Reformation). that our Australian agent continues his good work 'down under' and that individual members are doing what they can to promote the 'truth as it is in Jesus.' May our gracious God enable us to continue the work well into the future.
[For a summary of the Union's accounts, please contact our Office.]
[Of all the Reformed writers in the 19th century, none was more doctrinally sound, experientially searching and practically realistic than William S. Plumer (1802-1880). A graduate of Old Princeton, Plumer was widely known as pre-eminently a preacher of the Gospel, while a contemporary described his public prayers as "the tender pleadings of a soul in communion with God." Among his publications is a book of sterling worth entitled Vital Godliness. The following quotations are taken from it.]
There is not a doctrine of revelation the power of which ought not to be felt in the human soul.
An external remedy will not cure an internal disease.
Let no man ... suppose that he is willing to come to Christ and that Christ is not willing to receive him.
Every man's heart has always been more wicked than he ever thought it to be.
All bad company is dangerous.
Let no man lay down anything as essential unless in His Word God has made it so.
The air we breathe, the water we drink, is not more free than is Gospel grace.
To refuse to rely upon Christ's finished work is to reject the sinner's only hope.
We cannot have too low an opinion of ourselves or too high an opinion of Christ.
God will not be dictated to.
Conviction is not a saving grace.
A sinner under conviction is in great danger of being more anxious to be comforted than to be converted.
In practical religion there is no greater mistake than the persuasion that if we are pleased with ourselves, God is also pleased with us.
When God's cause languishes, the righteous must be sad.
Fear of man is a great foe to grace.
Your salvation depends not on your comfortable or uncomfortable frames, but on the grace and power of God.
Be conscientious in the performance of every duty.
In fulfilling His promise, God will choose His own time.
No man acts so wisely as he who implicitly believes God.
Come to the study of God's Word not as a judge or a critic, but as a child, a scholar, a criminal. [slightly altered]
The world is full of mournful cases of persons who believed what was agreeable (in Scripture) and rejected all else.
Yield your understanding to be taught of God, yield your heart to be purified and educated for God, yield your life (to be) a sacrifice to God.
Always believe just what God has revealed for your salvation.
Mere regret is not repentance.
True repentance is sorrow for sin, ending in reformation.
He does not really confess sin who does not forsake it.
Nothing can be kinder than God's urgent calls to repent.
Some indeed complain of bad memory, but very few of bad judgment.
How many profess to see into things which they have never studied.
If you would be more like God, know how little you are yet like Him.
Blessed is the man who avoids little sins and minds little duties.
The great attraction of the moral law is that it is a copy of God's character.
It is not of the nature of true love to God to count the cost, or to make much of its services.
The righteous wish to please God. His will is their law. His favour is their life.
His smile is their joy.
Logic is a poor substitute for love.
He who finds his heart warmed with love to God need not trouble himself respecting his election.
Child of sorrow, come and welcome to Jesus Christ. He will give you rest. His peace shall rule your heart.
We are all by nature prone to narrow-mindedness.
Perhaps there is no better evidence of a renewed heart than a cordial forgiveness of injuries, nor a surer sign that we are yet in our sins than carrying old grudges about with us.
Whoever heard of a happy or thriving church where the spirit of love was not?
Perhaps there is no method of teaching any grace so well as by example.
[The apostle John] His love was not blind and fond. It did not make him pretend brotherly love to those enemies of righteousness who had crept into the church under false pretences.
Brotherly love never willingly leaves one to perish in his ignorance, errors or vices. It goes after the lost sheep.
If we will mind His glory, He will mind our welfare.
We are ... not at liberty to forsake God or deny His truth in order to promote peace.
The world is never pleased with the people of God.
Men of the world have no better temper towards Christianity than when they crucified its Author.
He who would be a Christian must be so at the risk of all he counts dear in this life.
God's Word and Spirit are always on the side of truth and duty, and may be infallibly relied on.
If a man is not content in that state he is in, he will not be content in any state he would be in. [anonymous quote]
The best men that ever lived have had their names cast out as evil.
If God should give you your way, how much would satisfy you?
God may cross you without doing you any injustice.
Your will is the will of a sinner.
You should be glad that Jehovah governs the universe, that He governs you.
It is a great attainment to lie passive in God's hands, and know no will but His.
"The greatest preacher God has ever given to Wales", "a wrestler with God", "a gentle humble man whose fervent piety, holy zeal and unblemished life earned him the respect of many warm-hearted Christians." These are some of the characteristics of this remarkable man brought out by this well-researched and excellent biography. Set in the context of the early growth of the Baptist cause in Wales amidst great poverty and ignorance, Christmas Evans's life reminds us just how much a man of keen sensitivity, vivid imagination, powerful emotions, flowing eloquence and utter dependence on God can be the means of conversion for hundreds of precious souls. Tim Shenton does not hide Evans's faults, failings and idiosyncrasies; but the main emphasis is on the one-eyed preacher's Christ- centred, personally-applied ministry. The book is also historically informative, giving us sketches of other influential ministers, of the growth of Welsh Nonconformity and of the harmful effects of Sandemanianism on the churches. A well-produced and spiritually-uplifting work.
King of the Cannibals by Jim Cromarty. 288pp. Pbk. £8.95. This graphically-told and well-illustrated story of John G. Paton, the godly missionary to the New Hebrides, is ideal for children of all ages, either read by themselves or to them. Paton's truly heroic and self-sacrificing life has already inspired some to devote themselves to taking the Gospel to others. May it be blessed by God to move others to do the same. Strongly recommended.
The Narrow Gate and The Heavenly Footman by John Bunyan. 144pp. Hdbk. £7.95. This modernised edition of two of the great tinker's classics should be welcomed by all who find Puritan language difficult. It reminds us not only that few shall be saved but also that the way to heaven by grace and holiness is glorious as well as difficult.
The Saint and his Saviour by C.H. Spurgeon. 336pp. Hdbk. £10.95. Unabridged but lightly edited by Tony Cappocia, this classic is full of Spurgeonic warmth and encouragement for God' s struggling saints. It is good to see it in this format.
Is God Past His Sell-By Date? by John Blanchard. 272pp. Pbk. £7.99. This reviewer wonders how any Christian man can speak of his God in the terms of the title. I refer him to Question 54 of the Shorter Catechism with Scripture proofs: "What is required in the Third Commandment? The Third Commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word and works." Surely we should address our 'throwaway' society in His terms, not its.
We have also received from E.P. an 'interactive resource' made up of Bible studies linked to the publisher's own web-site. It allows readers to ask questions and make comments on the titles. So far, those on Colossians and Philemon by Michael Bentley (208pp. Pbk. £6), Ecclesiastes by Gordon Keddie (348pp. Pbk. £8) and The Bible Book by Book by Roger Elsworth (256pp. Pbk. £8) are very similar in content to the modern commentaries put out by Banner of Truth and Christian Focus Publications.
Also received from E.P. are What the Scriptures Teach by E.F. Kevan (80pp. Pbk. £3.95), You Can't Fool God by PeterJeffrey (l28pp. Pbk. £4.95) and Where Was God On September 11th by John Blanchard. (32pp. Pbk. £9.95 for pack of 10). We would like to have reviewed Sharon James's God's Design For Women (364pp. Pbk. £8.95), a strongly Biblical and anti-feminist-movement study in true Christian womanhood, and Peter Naylor's fine Study Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1, chapters 1-7, but lack of space precludes.
Expository Preaching With Word Pictures by Jack Hughes. 303pp. Pbk. £10.99. The author of this study in 'word pictures' taken from the writings of the Puritan Thomas Watson was motivated to produce this title by two beliefs. (l) that expository preaching is God's cure for spiritual mal-nourishment, and (2) that striking and memorable audio-visual images are much needed in addressing the visually-orientated hearers of today. The value of this method of communicating truth cannot be over-estimated, provided that it is not over- done. When they clarify and explain the Biblical text they can be very powerful. Dr Hughes chooses Thomas Watson to re-enforce his thesis because he is such 'a great word artist.' Noting many Biblical 'word pictures', answering objections to their use and suggesting ways of creating our own. the author crowns his persuasive study with an 'an gallery' of some of Watson's most telling word pictures, fully justifying his contention that good word pictures hold people`s attention, help their understanding and aid their memory. Incidentally, one sentence in particular appealed to this reviewer, indicating the author's firm belief in preaching unpalatable truths: "It is obvious that Jesus never read Dale Carnegie`s book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People"'! Excellent value both for the principles it lays down and the examples it cites.
We expect to review in our next issue (DV) John Brown of Haddington's excellent Systematic Theology. 576pp. Hdbk. £19.99
For quality of production and standards of true doctrine and godliness the titles put out by this publisher cannot be bettered. From this reviewer they receive unqualified recommendation.
In the Works of Christopher Love (Vol. 1. The Combat between the Flesh and Spirit, Heaven's Glory, Hell's Terror), The Mortified Christian and The Right Hearing of Sermons, The Zealous Christian and A Treatise of Effectual Calling and Election (by the same author) this little-known Puritan offers us the most incisive, lucid, discerning mirror of every man' a spiritual experience (both the reprobate and the elect) I have come across. For example, Love's observed differences between 'heady' and 'holy' violence in prayer and between the 'sad' and 'consolatory' conclusions one must draw over Christ- rejecters and accepters respectively mark him out as a spiritual casuist of the highest order. This perceptive spirituality, coupled with Love' a simple, direct and affectionate way of addressing people (just as if he were in conversation with them) draws the heart out to God and to His servant as few modern writings do. Those of us who have read Burgess on Assurance, Witsius on The Covenants, Pollock on Effectual Calling and Owen on The Mortification of Sin find the same glorious truths in Love, though in a far more readable style. This may be due in part to Don Kistler's judicious editing, but most of it belongs to Love's own way of addressing his hearers. Having read, too, the letters that passed between him and his wife during his last days on earth, one knows that here was a man in whose heart God lived and wrought miracles of grace. I venture to state that whoever reads these titles with his heart open to the Searcher of all our ways cannot fail to reap great spiritual benefit.
The Works of Henry Scougal. 353pp. Hdbk. N.P. Henry Scougal (1650-78) was one of those spiritually-precocious geniuses (like Andrew Gray and George Gillespie) who graced the Scottish church scene during one of its most notable periods. Known almost exclusively for his Life of God in the Soul of Man, Scougal resembles the devout Robert Leighton in his almost exclusive attention to 'heart religion', as distinct from dogmatic theology and speculative philosophy on Biblical themes. In his thought-processes he is remarkably akin to Jonathan Edwards -- Biblical, logical, calm and finely-tuned. His mental cast in a section on Christian love appears so like Edwards's that one might have been reading the latter's Charity and its Fruits. [Did Scougal influence Edwards?] Besides the Life of God, which showed men such as Whitefield, Doddridge, the Wesley brothers and Edward Bickersteth what true religion is, this volume contains Nine Discourses on Important Subjects of Religion, Private Reflections and Occasional Meditations (Not unlike Pascal's Thoughts), Essays Moral and Divine, along with George Gairden's Funeral Sermon preached on Scougal's death. All these works of Scougal are marked by theological depth, sound Christian experience and pastoral warmth. (The sermons on Loving Our Enemies, a grace in little evidence among 'Reformed' Christians, and on There Are But A Small Number Saved are worth the price of the whole volume.) At times Scougal reaches rare heights of pathos, while his unsparing censure of sin and his repeated insistence on the necessity of faith, love, purity and humility should drive every reader to prayer. No doubt Scougal's secret lay in the daily practice of his own counsel: meditate on Christ crucified till your heart is deeply affected in a spiritual way. A wonderful collection.
The Good Doctor by Alan C. Clifford. 319pp. Pbk. £ 9.95 +£ 1.60 p & p. This enlightening biography is a tercentenary tribute to Dr Philip Doddridge, known better for his hymns than for his part in the 18'" century Evangelical Revival. In it the author redresses the balance by showing us the great contribution to this work of God by this warm-hearted and charitable 'pastor, evangelist, academic tutor, hymn-writer, author, theologian, philanthropist, patriot and most excellent useful Christian.'
We follow Doddridge through his formative years to Northampton, where he was a diligent and loving pastor for 21 years and where his famous Academy 'gave the mightiest impulse to the work of rearing an educated Non-conformist ministry in England.' In the years before the Awakening Doddridge's moderation helped to pilot the churches 'through years of fierce and damaging theological controversy towards the goal of revival' and to build bridges between the Old Evangelicals and the New. Concerned as much for Christian love as for theological orthodoxy, Doddridge was on this account both misunderstood and vilified. The main thrust of the biography is to remove such misrepresentation and show him as a 'tender, humble, charitable spirit' and a 'Reformed Biblical theologian who desired to be Christian without the exaggerated zeal of a bigot' or the 'cultivated vagueness of a compromiser.' In this the author succeeds. Doddridge emerges as a true Protestant with a catholic heart, to whom parry spirit was anathema.
Glimpses into Doddridge's home life, in which domestic piety was made the foundation of Christian education, are both 'cheering and challenging', while his hymns, Family Expositor and Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul reveal the Christ-centred quality of his Calvinism.
Perhaps the most edifying pans of the book are the extensive quotations from Doddridge's own writings. Here Dr Clifford wisely allows him to speak for himself. As he does so our hearts warm to a man whose consuming desire was to win souls for Christ and whose strength and life were devoted to the glorifying of God. The author believes that we need Doddridges today to 'purge the poison' from our spiritually and morally decadent society. May his heart-warming assessment of 'the Good Doctor' encourage us to pray for the raising up of such men to this end.
The Atonement Controversy in Welsh Theological Literature and Debate 1707-1841 by Owen Thomas, translated by John Aaron. 391pp. Hdbk. £18.95.
Let's Study Hebrews by Hywel R Jones. 169pp. Pbk. £5.95.
The Free Offer of the Gospel by John Murray. 30pp. Pbk. £1.25.
1 & 2 Timothy and Titus by Patrick Fairbairn. 451pp. Hdbk. £13.95.
Justification Vindicated by Robert Traill. 77pp. Pbk. £3.75.
A Call to Prayer by J.C.Ry]e. 32pp. Pbk. £1.25.
Regrettably, owing to lack of space, our review of these titles will have to wait until the next issue of Peace and Truth (DV).
[Recently both Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield have been criticized by some petty, carping minds who are not worthy to be named alongside them. The following letter indicates the spirit in which one held the other. It also explains why we in Britain are experiencing such spiritual barrenness. May it therefore be used of God to stir us up to prayer for ourselves, that we may be given the same spirit, and for our beloved but apostate nation, that the God of all grace would return to us in mercy again. Ed.]
My request to you is that in your intended journey through New England the next summer, you would be pleased to visit Northampton. I hope it is not wholly from curiosity that I desire to see and hear you in this place; but I apprehend, from what I have heard, that you are one that has the blessing of heaven attending you wherever you go; and I have a great desire, if it may be the will of God, that such a blessing as attends your person and labors may descend on this town, and may enter mine own house, and that I may receive it in mine own soul.
Indeed I am fearful whether you will not be disappointed in New England, and have less success here than in other places: we who have dwelt in a land that has been distinguished with light, and have long enjoyed the gospel, and have been glutted with it, and have despised it, are I fear more hardened than most of those places where you have preached hitherto. But yet I hope in that power and mercy of God that has appeared so triumphant in the success of your labors in other places, that he will send a blessing with you even to us, though we are unworthy of it...I fear that it is too much for me to desire a particular remembrance in your prayers, when I consider how many thousands do desire it, who can't all be particularly mentioned; and I am far from thinking myself worthy to be distinguished. But pray, Sir, let your heart be lifted to God for me among others, that God would bestow much of that blessed Spirit on me that he has bestowed on you, and make me also an instrument of his glory.
I am, reverend Sir,
Unworthy to be called your fellow laborer,
Jonathan Edwards.
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