On board the Savannah, April 10, 1740.
My dear Brother,
YOU, as well as your dear associates, are much upon my heart. I long to hear that you are advanced in grace, and grown in the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord. I say your Lord; for I hope, ere now, you can appropriate Christ to yourself, and, without the least diffidence or doubt, cry out assuredly, “My Lord and my God.” When the soul says this, then, but not till then, is it truly married to the dear Lord Jesus; then are we true children of the bridegroom, and are real partakers of the supper of the Lamb. This, this is faith: this is believing; not with the head; not in notion only; but with the heart, indeed and in truth. The soul now puts its amen, and sets the seal to God’s everlasting promises; it now soars upwards towards heavenly things, and feels continually the invisible realities of another world. Though sometimes overshadowed by a cloud, yet still it knows that its Redeemer liveth, and justifieth the ungodly. It cannot doubt of his favour, though sometimes he is pleased to withdraw his sensible presence. The root of the matter is twisted round every faculty of the soul, which daily is supported with this assurance, that Christ can no more forsake the soul he loves, than he can forsake himself. Oh my dear brother, I find myself much carried out to write of that divine life, that divine mystery of godliness, the hidden kingdom of God in the heart. If any thing I can say, or do, or write, may be any way serviceable to dear Mr. C——, it will much rejoice
His most unworthy brother and servant in Christ,
G. W.
LETTER CLXXVI.
To Mr. I—— B——.
On board the Savannah, April 10, 1740.
My dear, dear Friend,