Blackfriars, March 5, 1770

My very dear Friend: — I waited on

, and he told me he was to call at

in his way home. I could not resist the opportunity of sending in writing my thanks for your last kind letter. My heart rejoices, and is thankful for many things which you say in it, of your dependence on the finished salvation of Jesus, and of your desire to experience more of his graces and blessings. I see what stops you; the very same that stops me. And I would lay before you the Gospel motives and encouragements to get on, revealed in the Word, and I hope in some measure made useful to me by the Spirit of God.

I have remarked, in conversing with you, and in all your letters, the workings of a legal and self-righteous temper, apt to nurse guilty fears, and to cherish misgivings and suspicions of your interest in the great salvation. The same are daily disturbing my peace, and are the very plague of my life. The only remedy against them is to look well to the conscience, where they have their rise, and to use all appointed means for establishing it in the peace of God. This is the main point. A holy walk, and successful warfare, depend entirely on the testimony of conscience. The believer’s chief business is to learn to resist and to overcome guilt, fear, and unbelief, that these things being kept out of his conscience, the peace of God may rule there always and by all means. Then it will be what the Scripture calls a good conscience. And when this is good, all goes on well. Now, that is a good conscience which witnesses to the truth as it is in Jesus. Conscience, I suppose, is that faculty of the soul which, under the teaching of the Holy Ghost, compares the sinner’s heart and life with the holy law of God, brings him in guilty for transgressing its precepts, and leaves him under guilt and condemnation, to suffer its just penalties. The Gospel sets forth to him an infinitely perfect righteousness, to satisfy the precepts; and an everlastingly sufficient atonement, even the sacrifice of Jehovah Jesus, to satisfy the penalties of the law. When he is enabled to believe in this righteousness and in this atonement, his conscience is saved from guilt and condemnation; yea, it acquits and justifies the sinner, and brings in a true verdict for him. It says the same that God himself does; pleads its discharge from the express words of the great charter of grace, under the broad seal of heaven. With the royal grants and immunities therein graciously vouchsafed, it stops the mouth of unbelief. “Thou art freely forgiven all trespasses; thou art justified from all things; thou art a son of my love, and shalt be an heir of my glory: I, even I, the Lord God, am thine, and thou shalt be mine for ever.” Here the believer triumphs; and why may not you and I, too? I do, thanks be to Infinite grace. I believe these words on the testimony of God, as spoken to me. My conscience bears witness to the truth of the Divine record. It is now a good conscience; it agrees with God, and looks upon him as reconciled perfectly: it fears to dishonor him, by calling in question the infinite value of Christ’s righteousness and atonement, or by doubting of their being mine, while I feel my want of them, and have any dependence upon them. Thus the peace of God rules, takes the lead in the conscience, and subdues guilty fears; rules ALWAYS. The covenant is like the Divine covenanters in the Godhead, always the same; the free grant of the righteousness and atonement of Immanuel always the same; my want of them always the same; and mine interest, though not in my sense, yet in God’s purpose, always the same. These Gospel motives should teach you and me to maintain this peace always, and by ALL MEANS. Everything should help to promote it. Corruptions, enemies, temptations from every quarter, should, by all means, establish our hearts in the peace of God; we should be trying at it, fighting for it, and, as it is our privilege, Ave should never yield, but fight hard to keep a conscience void of offence. This is warring a good warfare when we hold the mystery of faith in a pure conscience.

Believe me, my dear friend, the management of your conscience is the first and great lesson in the school of Christ. And your chief mistakes and falls come from its not being governed by the Word and Spirit of God. Look to it, then, and hear, and read, and pray, and walk; that the testimony of your conscience may be agreeable to the truth as it is in Jesus. Insomuch, that, when you feel anything wrong, when you are low in spirits, your sins displease, your duties cannot please you, you should remember that these very things, rightly managed, will establish your conscience in the peace of God; because they will bring you to live entirely by the faith of the Son of God. Every new day you live to learn from them, that you have nothing to trust to but the righteousness and the atonement of Jesus; and, therefore, depending on this sure foundation, you may safely build your hopes of God’s being in friendship with you, yea, in an unchangeable and everlasting friendship. O that your heart may be sprinkled from an evil conscience; and mind, that is an evil one, which, through unbelief, refuses to build its peace upon the life and death of Immanuel. And that is a good conscience, which has peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, and expects all the love of the Father to come freely through the Son. This is the second lesson in the school of Christ — “How shall the heart he made and kept happij in the love of God?” I answer, by believing that he is perfectly reconciled, and loves you. While there is guilt in the conscience, and you look upon the law broken, the punishment deserved, and the almighty Judge engaged to inflict it, you can no more love God than you can love pain. But when you hear the Gospel preaching peace by Jesus Christ, and can mix faith with it, then God is discovered as related to you in the closest bond of love, even your dearest friend, your most loving Father; which will draw out the affections of your heart to him: “For we love him, because he first loved us.” His love is first, yours is second: his is the cause, yours is the effect. He enables you to believe his love to you, and that excites your love to him.

You see, then, how much depends upon the testimony of the conscience. When this is on Christ’s side, and bears a faithful witness for him, then your heart will be happy; you will have joy and peace in believing.” God is reconciled to me: he is my God; we are agreed, and ‘now we walk together.

He bids me call him Father; and I know he has bowels of love and fatherly affection for me: he sees me, accepts me in Jesus, and rests in his love to me. My title is clear to all spiritual blessings; because, God being my God and Father, all things are mine.”

If you live like a Christian, these should be the constant breathings of your heart. Your happy walk depends entirely on the belief of God’s being perfectly reconciled to you in his Son. And, therefore, you should not be aiming at getting any new title to your heavenly Father’s love, but at new enjoyment. All is yours in title; but you are to seek for more, still more possession: every day you should be seeking to believe more, to enjoy more, of the riches of your Father’s love in Jesus. And nothing will stop your growing enjoyment, if the peace of God rule in your heart always, and by all means.

My dear friend, attend closely to this: for want of it, O what sad mistakes have I made! You will always find, when your heart departs from the Lord, that there has been some guilt laying upon the conscience, and representing God to you in some other light than as your most loving Father. But, pray mind. he has always the affection, as well as the name. He changeth not in his love. He is to all his children ever of one mind. And, therefore, when you desire to enjoy his love, and in the enjoyment of it to find your heart happy, look at nothing to bring you to the Father but the Son. Read your share in his love, take possession of it, for nothing done in you, or by you, now, or at any time, but only in and for the salvation of Jesus, in whom his Father is your Father. Thus walk with him; making Christ your way, and Christ your end. Keep walking on, leaning upon Christ every step for strength, for lictory over all corruptions and over all enemies, which would try to stop you from the enjoyment of your Father’s love. Trust in Christ for all the blessings of it, for everything that can keep you safe, and make you happy all your way: and depend upon it, through Christ, you will find the company and presence of your God and Father a very heaven here, as well as in glory.

Mrs., would you daily walk with a

happy heart? Then you must learn to make up all your happiness in the love which the Father bears to you in his dear Son. This is to be all your salvation, and all your desire. You must look quite away from your graces, your gifts, your duties. God does not love you for these — he loves you in his Son; and you, in believing this, are to exercise your graces and gifts, and to be found in the way of duty, that you may have fellowship with him in his love.

This is the hardest task of all. I find it so to this day, and I know your temptations; therefore I would finish this long scrawl with an account of the influence of the former truths. Get a ready answer to this question: How are my tempers to be regulated, and my conversation to be so ordered, that I may, night and day, enjoy the peace and the love of my reconciled God and Father?” The way is, to walk humbly with your God. Do not disown what the Holy Spii’it has taught you: give him the honor of his own grace: he has, indeed he has, learnt you to say, Abba, Father. God is tjoiir Father in Jesus. Walk humbly with him as such; so will you enjoy his sweet peace, and partake of his happy love. While these rule in the conscience and in the heart, the tempers opposite to them will be resisted and overcome.

T] e Divine Teacher will discover the secret workings of guilt and unbelief, and keep them from destroying the peace of conscience. By his almighty grace he will mortify carnal affections, and crucify every idol love: he will preserve the heart, as a chaste virgin, for its heavenly Lover. Rebel nature will resist, yea, always: but it cannot overcome the Lord God omnipotent: he will bring all things into subjection to himself. He will; nay, let me say, he has. I appeal to yourself. Speak out for God. Does not your conscience say, “I have nothing to do with any pretences to be my own Saviour; the righteousness of Jesus, and his atonement on the tree, are all my salvation?” Does not your heart say (I am sure I have heard you say), “This is all my desire?” Do not your hopes say, “We have cast our anchor upon Jesus; thank God, we can never be disappointed!” Do not your fears say, “I would not for the world do anything to displease my God and Father. Blessed Spirit, rule in me, rule over me, mortify the old man, and quicken the new man day by day?”

Since God has done all this for you, O do not dishonor his work by hearkening to proud self, the old man of sin, who is ever reasoning within you against the glory of Divine grace. He would have you to look at yourself, and to draw your safety and happiness from some pleasing views of your own goodness. He will be always tempting you to this: but remember, that you are not to look or to depend in the least upon yourself, but wholly upon God reconciled in Jesus. Whatever is your own, and comes from self, is to show you the necessity of walking humbly with your God. Do not you feel, to this hour, that self is made up of sinfulness, wants, temptations and miseries? None of these should stop you, but each should help to make you walk more humbly with your God. They are to show you your constant need of salvation, and to keep you always dependent on God for it. No failings in duty, no sense of indwelling sin, no weakness, no opposition, should separate you in conscience or heart from your reconciled God, but should bring you to walk in nearer fellowship with him — by which alone you will enjoy more conformity to him. Pride will be hid from you. Every high thought will be brought down: grace, sovereign grace, will reign.

And the Lord will receive all, I am sure it is his due, all the glory.

Here is a wide field before me: but I stop. When you send me word that you have learnt so to manage the weapons of your warfare as to be able to maintain peace in your conscience, and happiness in your heart, and victory in your tempers and walk, then I will take up the subject where I leave off, and go on with it. In the mean time, remember this great truth, God is your Father in Jesus; you know it by faith; yea, you enjoy the comforts of it j and, therefore, the end of your walk is not to procure a title to your Father’s love, but to maintain the enjoyment of it. May the Lord the Spirit make you a happy partaker of it every day more abundantly!

I hear of the goodness of our dear Lord

to, I bless him from my heart for her.

May she never want his rich cordials to comfort her soul as long as she has a body of sin and death to struggle with! My respects to all that family. May God sanctify the present dispensation to every one of them!

My kind love to Mr., and to Mr.

John, and every good wish for that favorite child. He grows a fine boy, and says many pretty things. Take care, my friends, of your hearts; he has rather too much room in them. Grow in love to the Giver as you grow in love to him, and all will be well.

Recommend me to Mr. B y; beg him

for Jesus’ sake to put up prayers for a cumberer of the ground. I am sure I do not forget him. May he never forget me before a throne of grace.

See how I scribble on. Throw a veil of love over all, and believe me to be, in bonds never to be broken, tied by the hand of Jesus, your friend and servant, W. R.