2. LETTERS TO MRS. SCOTT'S BROTHER IN LAW. 1778-1785. NEAR the close of the sixth chapter of my father's Life, a series of letters is adverted to, addressed to the husband of my mother's sister, and mainly employed in urging an immediate and decided attention to the great concerns of religion. This series I shall here introduce, preserving, in their proper places, (in order to avoid any mutilation of the letters,) the few specimens which have already been given to the public. "DEAR BROTHER, "Weston Underwood, August 11, 1778. "Religion was so much the subject of conversation with us when you were in Bucks, that I hope it will not be a disagreeable subject of correspondence. I am so deeply sensible of the importance of religion, that is, of the concerns of eternity, the interests of our immortal souls, and the way and manner in which we may be accepted by a just, holy, almighty, and eternal God, that I am naturally led to think every one as much impressed with the sense of these things as I am; though I have abundant evidence that there are but very few who pay much regard to them: and, of those who do pay some regard, most are so much blinded and prejudiced by the world, by Satan, and by sin, that their religion is one of their own making, and they know little of that religion which the word of God proposes to us. Now, when you were with us, I felt comfortable under the persuasion that the Lord had sent you with the design of making your coming useful to you: that he had opened your mind to attend to the things which, in public and private, were discoursed to you: you seemed to receive them so willing ly, and with such a desire of hearing more and more. You may remember that, though I told you my views of religion over and over, yet I laid little stress upon that: I told you withal, that I did not want you to believe them because I taught them, but because the Lord taught them. The Bible being the word of God, his message to us, able to make us wise unto salvation, the great point I labored to impress upon your mind was, the absolute necessity of taking our religion from that book alone, and the obligation we are under to search the scriptures daily, to know what indeed they do contain: to receive what they contain as certain truth, however men, even learned men, and preachers may contradict them; and however contrary they may be to our former notions and conceptions; and how mysterious soever some things in them may appear. -The next thing I labored to impress was, the necessity of prayer in general, for whatever we want; but especially, when we read the holy scriptures, that we may be enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand them. The word of God teaches us, that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned: that the Lord must open the understanding before we can understand the scriptures: that, if any man want wisdom, he must ask it of God: that no man cometh unto Christ but as taught of God: that we are to trust in the Lord with all our heart, and not to lean to our own understanding; in all our ways to acknowledge him, and he will direct our paths: that we must receive the blessings of Christ's kingdom with the teachable humility of a little child, knowing that a man can receive nothing except it be given him of God. Now, could I persuade you (the Lord blessing my words,) to enter upon this course of reading God's word, and prayer, then, I trust, I should have put you into the right way of searching, and the Lord would teach you. Then the papers I put into your hands, and the hints I might from time to time drop in my letters, might be useful.— But this is the first point I wish to gain. By this you may see that I do not want to proselyte you to a system of opinions, but to send you to the word and the Spirit of the Lord, to be taught the way of Salvation as it is in Jesus. But I know experimentally how carefulness about many things makes one neglect the one thing needful: how backward and indisposed all are to enter upon a course of strict religion: how Satan takes advantage of our corruptions, and besets us on every side: how powerful the allurements of the world are. I can make many allowances for you, but none that will excuse you. I can only drop one hint more, and that is, that a sinner's salvation is an act of grace; that we are to seek it of the Lord as a free gift; first, seeking an interest in Christ's blood for pardon and peace with God, by faith; and, secondly, the converting grace of the Holy Spirit to create us anew unto good works, which is a part of our salvation; and, lastly, continued supplies of grace to help us to go on as we have set out. My paper is full. We join in love and duty, and especially in prayers to God for you all, for health and comfort here, but particularly that we may all obtain this salvation by Jesus Christ, and meet in heaven. "Your most sincerely affectionate brother, "DEAR BROTHER, "Weston Underwood, January 15, 1779. "YOUR letter gave me great pleasure, not only as it intimates that you are all in tolerable health, but also, and particularly, as it shews that you have not forgotten what you heard and saw amongst us: because, though the important concerns of religion generally, when new to any person, make some little impression upon him, if not an open profligate who can make a jest of them, yet that impression generally wears off, when he returns into the business, hurry, pleasure, and diversions of the world. It is seed sown by the way-side, or among thorns; and either the devil takes it out of his heart, or the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, or the desires of other things enter in, and choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. But as, after so long a time, you continue to have serious desires, and purposes of carrying into practice what you were then put upon considering, I would take it as a token for good, and hope that the Lord sent you to Weston to learn something which should be for your everlasting benefit. In order that it may be so, I shall be heartily willing, from time to time, to give you any instructions or information I am able, accompanied, I will assure you, with earnest prayer to God for a blessing upon you and your's. I would, therefore, first, renew my old advice of making it a rule every day to read some portion of the word of God, seriously, attentively, with prayer to God for the teaching of his Holy Spirit to enable you rightly to understand it. For the natural man receiveth not, &c. If the Lord do but incline your heart thus to search the scriptures, and to pray continually to him to teach, guide, help, and bless you, you will continually get forward in your acquaintance with spiritual things. Indeed, the word of God meditated on daily, and being instant in prayer, both to be taught what are our wants, and how we may have them supplied, and for that supply as we see our need of it, and discover where it may be had, are, to a sincere soul, which indeed desires to serve God in his appointed way, the great means, both of learning that way, and being enabled to walk in it. "The state of your mind, as you describe it, previously to your coming to Weston, is what we call an unawakened state; and is what we all have, more or less, had experience of. Being blinded by Satan, and deceived by our own self-love; and being ignorant of God's justice and holiness, and of the strictness, spirituality, and perfection of his law; and not thinking much of that solemn judgment, wherein we must give an account of our thoughts, words, and actions, according to that law; we judge of ourselves, and of characters, according to the notions and customs of the world: and, if we fancy any are worse than ourselves, we generally flatter ourselves into our own good opinion, and, without further inquiry, take it for granted that all is well. And this, notwithstanding, perhaps, that we utterly neglect God, and our duty to him, and live wholly without him in the world: notwithstanding that we are strangers to the love of God, our love being placed upon the world, and the things of the world, making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. Thus, walking in the broad way, according to the course of the world, and thinking well of ourselves, we look no further, or but little further: and if, at any time, any outward wickedness makes conscience a little uneasy, we think that abstaining in future, or at most some few forms of prayer, repeated as an unwelcome task, will atone for it. Therewith we lull conscience asleep again; and thus live utter strangers to any feeling sense of our need of that Saviour, who came to seek and save that which was lost; and cannot possibly know what to make of the glorious things said of him,-his preciousness, -his boundless love,-his unsearchable riches, his being the Christian's wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, his all in all. In this state, while the strong man, armed with our ignorance, prejudice, self-love, and love of the world, keeps the castle of our hearts, and his goods are in peace, the Lord finds those that are saved. By some providence or other, he brings them in the way of hearing some faithful and close preacher; or he brings them acquainted with some of his believing people; or he puts them upon a diligent reading of the scriptures: these means he who gives the increase blesses to them; his Spirit convinces them of sin; they hear or read of God as a just and holy God; they find themselves affected in an uncommon manner with the discoveries made to their souls of these his attributes; they learn that he requires truth in the inward parts, the supreme unabated love of himselfthe whole heart and soul: they find his law strict to the uttermost, making no allowance, requiring perfection, and pronouncing awful curses upon every transgressor; that his perfection forbids him to make any other law; that his dealings with the angels that fell, with the old world, with Sodom and Gomorrah, with Egypt, with the seven nations of Canaan, yea, with his own people, the Jews, for their sins, loudly proclaim his strict, justice and hatred of iniquity: comparing their lives, their tempers, their very imagined virtues and duties, with the strict and perfect law, they find that all comes short; they are alarmed; they feel themselves sinners; they see their danger, and begin to seek for a remedy. But, being still strangers to the origin of these evils, the depravity of man's fallen nature, they think they can amend; as you say, assume an absolute power over themselves, when they please; they try, but are disappointed. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Perhaps they try again, and sometimes are in great distress. What must I do to be saved? becomes the question. Self, the world, and man's natural wisdom, make many answers. The soul makes trial of them all without success; till, finding its fears more pressing, and its corruptions more busy, its resolutions wavering, its services consciously imperfect and unpleasant, at length it is brought, sometimes sooner, sometimes later, to consider the apostle's answer, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.-As appears by your letter to me, you are not fully come up to this point yet. You must probably be left to try other schemes first, in |