Blackfriars, May 2, 1769

I WROTE to my good friend at Christmas, and got an answer at Easter. Indeed, I began to think you had dropped me; for I make myself sure of nothing, but of my dear Lord’s unchangeable love. Yet I corrected myself for thinking so of you: but I was tempted, and I have combustible enough to feed any, yea, every temptation. The Lord keep me from others, as he did from this.

You ask my opinion of inoculation. People, who reason upon wwldly motives, may do as they please. To others I would relate the case of a great Doctor in divinity, and a great Christian, who had an only son. His wife was for, the Doctor was against, inoculation. They had many disputes about it. The Doctor said he could not do it in faith; the wife said she could do it, because she believed it to be for the best. Neither side would yield: so they agreed to put it off till the one or the other should give up their opinion, and both be of one mind. The child was thus left in God’s hand — he got the small-pox in the natural way, and did well.

I attend to your complaints of yourself. They are true. You might make a thousand more, and alike true. But, my dear friend, what of all this? Is not Jesus the Saviour of such sinners as you are? Pray, take heed of getting into a complaining temper, and contracting a habit of it; for there is no greater enemy to Jesus, to the growth of your communion with him, and to the liveliness of your heart towards him. I would have you sensible of all your causes of complaint, but satisfied under them, and willing to be just what you are. In this poverty of spirit, needy, sinful, helpless, dependent temper, consists the very life of faith: for while you feel thus, everything in you and about you says, “You must go to Jesus — you can do nothing without him; he must counsel, and strengthen, and comfort; he must save — he must be a Jesus to you every moment, and in everything.” What reply does the believer make? “It is true, without him I can do nothing — I am helpless, and his strength is perfected in my utter weakness; most gladly, therefore, do I glory in my weakness, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me.” O for more of Paul’s happy experience! He had no such gladness as that which arose from communion with Jesus, and he gloried in that which helped him to this communion, by making it absolutely necessary for him. He did not commit sin on purpose; but, being a sinner, he did not wish not to be one in himself: it was his joy, yea, his crown of rejoicing, that God-Jesus and sinful Paul were one. Here he found his heaven; Jesus was united to the sinner, as meat is to the hungry; and Paul lived upon him, feasted on him, enjoyed Jesus, as the hungry do their meat. It was such a feast, that Paul would not wish to have no appetite, but rather to have it enlarged, that he might live more upon the bread of God, and grow up more into Christ Jesus.

What! must I always be this poor, needy sinner? Yes; always, till you get into heaven. And then you will be perfectly humbled, and have nothing within you to rob Jesus of any part of his glory. All your salvation, from the councils of eternity to the eternal fulfillment of them, will then be plain; you will see, confess, and be happy in confessing, that sovereign grace did all for you, and in you. And in the perfect sense of this you will triumph in being a SINNER SAVED, and in this you will triumph as long as heaven is heaven.

But thus you keep on complaining: “I find myself too often poring over my own inward sinfulness and misery, and consequently giving way to unbelief, whenever my poor reason tells me I should be rejoicing in the God of my salvation.” And what, then; unbelief is in you, felt or not; and unbelief given way to, is your burden — this makes for you. And it only proves that you are still at school, learning your second lesson, and that is, how the God of your salvation, being received, is to be enjoyed. You own he is received. You call him, the God of my salvation. Observe, my dear friend, now this Jesus is yours, all is yours. You have an undoubted right and title to Him, and to His; improve it, then, and make use of his fullness. Your estate is clear and boundless; you have only to receive the income of it in grace, as well as in glory. I pray you, my dear friend, to study this lesson, and if the Lord the Spirit help you to learn it well, it will save you from many an aching heart. Observe, Jesus is yours; after this, you are not to seek for any new title to any part of salvation. This is also secured; but you are called upon to enjoy the purchased salvation, and to be a happy receiver out of the Saviour’s fullness. Suppose you live thus ever so well, receive ever so much, what you enjoy in Christ is no part of your title to Christ; what you receive from Christ, is not your title to pardon, to righteousness, or to holiness. He is received for these purposes — He, Christ himself; and your enjoying him for these purposes, is not your title to pardon, &c. What Christ does for you, or in you, or by you, is not to be looked at so as not to look still simply at Christ himself. What he is, and what he did for you, here is all your salvation. What he does in you, or by you, here is the enjoyment of this salvation in its fruits and effects: but these fruits and effects do not make you holy; oh, no! the poor beggars who are fed at our king’s table will never say, we pay the king for our meat by eating a great deal; or, his meat feeds us, and therfore we make ourselves strong; or, his grace nourishes us, and, therefore, we make ourselves holy. No, no; they are taught better. They will always acknowledge, the more we receive out of the fullness of Jesus, we find ourselves more happy, and the fruits of our interest in him are more abundant to our comfort, and to his glory, but our debt increases; and the better we are fed and clothed, and kept up with his royal bounty, he leaves us nothing to glory in, except his overflowing grace. In this spirit his people hear, and read, and pray, and attend means and ordinances; they do not seek holiness in these, not to be made holy by them, bvit they do attend in faith, sanctified first by the faith that is in Jesus, and in that faith enjoying him in all they do. Christ is my sanctification before I can do anything aright, and what I do aright does not make me holy, but shows that I am holy. Every living branch is ingrafted into the root and stock of holiness, and its leaves and fruit do not make it to be in the vine, but only prove that it is in it. A member is not made living by doing its office. The eye does not live by seeing, but it is a living eye, and therefore sees. You must be a living member in the mystical body, before you can do your office in it. Doing your office does not make you, but only shows that you are a living member. My dear friend, weigh these things well. I verily believe the Holy Spirit is now teaching you this lesson: for I see you cannot be content with yourself, nor your graces, nor gifts; improve this Divine teaching, and learn to build all your hopes of holiness on Christ, made of God sanctification for you. And the more clearly you believe this, you will love

the God of your salvation more; your spiritual enemies will be more subdued, and in heart and life you will be more devoted to God, to his ways and will. I give you this advice from my own knowledge. Give me credit, and try, and you will soon find cause to give God his glory.

I hope to look upon you, and say on this subject more than I can on paper. Remember me in love and respect. The good will of your unchangeable Friend be with you and yours, and me and mine.

W. R.