ST. ANDREWS, _20th Oct. 1643_.
CCCVII.--_To a Young Man in Anwoth_.
[This letter is from the "Christian Instructor" of January 1839,
furnished by one who was in possession of the MS. It was written
at _St. Andrews_, but both date and address are lost. It is
supposed to have been addressed to one of his former
parishioners, a young man in Anwoth, of some influence.]
(_NECESSITY OF GODLINESS IN ITS POWER._)
WORTHY SIR,--I am heartily glad that you have any mind of me, or my
ministry while I was with you. I wish you the fruit of it. I trust
that you strive for the power of godliness, that has been so preached
in the land; for salvation cometh not to every man's door, and the
way to heaven is a straiter and narrower passage than each man
thinketh. And you are now in the most glassy part of your life, when
it is easy to follow, and when the lusts of youth are rank and strong.
And happy are you that can pass through these dangers with a good
conscience. So my real advice is, that you acquaint yourself with
prayer, and with searching the Scriptures of God, that He may show you
that good way that bringeth rest to the soul. The ordinary faith and
the country godliness will not save you. There must be more nor the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ere ever a man enter the
kingdom of God. And I shall desire that you will take to heart the
worth and price of an immortal soul, and the necessity of dying, and
the fearful account of judgment at the back of death, that you may be
saved.
As for my ministry among you again, I can easier desire it than see
through it. The Lord of the harvest take care for you, and send you a
pastor according to God's heart; and that's as rare as ever, for all
our reformation.
Remember my heart's love and respect to your mother and sister. Grace
be with you.
Your sometime pastor and still friend in God,