54 THE SAPLING STRENGTHENED. "My dear Girl, TO E. C. "Swansea, September 16th, 1847. "It gave me great pleasure to receive a letter from you, and greater to hear that I, in the hands of the Lord, had been made useful to you; may the Lord bless you. I sympathise with you in all your afflictions of soul and body; the Lord has tried you though young in years, but why 'you may say 'has He done this?' Because He loves you with an everlasting love. 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.' It is to try our faith and love to God, therefore take courage. He has said, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.' And what a multitude of precious invitations there are in His blessed word for those who feel themselves to be great sinners, in the sight of a Holy God! We are exceedingly bound to give thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,' Col. i. 12. "Then let us consider for what end He hath called us. To glorify Him and enjoy Him for ever, even that we should shew forth the praises of our Lord THE PLANTING OF THE LORD. 55 Jesus Christ. May it be the earnest desire of our souls to answer this end. And now, dear Girl, since the Lord has shewn you something of the sinfulness of your heart by nature, and your undone, lost, and ruined condition without a Saviour, and has led you by His Spirit to see yourself perfect, only through his precious blood, I would say, unite with His people. Do you love them? Follow His ordinances; do you love them? For He says, 'If ye love Me, keep my commandments;' and Baptism and the Lord's Supper are commands of the Lord, which He has enjoined upon those who feel their sins are washed away by the precious blood of Christ; for those who hope that he shed his for them. "I often think of you all, and often wish myself with you on the Sabbath-day; for this is a barren wilderness land. We have, however, found a little few, gathered about three miles off, where we can make ourselves quite at home; and not any school there yet. So you see we have plenty of work before us. What the Lord has brought us here for, will be made manifest to us I have no doubt: we would desire to leave all things in His hands, for He does all things well. Mr. Bland unites with me, in kind remembrances to self, and all who may desire to be remembered then you hope he will be like little Samuel of old; I can say this is the greatest blessing which I desire him, and I often pray that this may be (if the Lord's will), or if not, that he may be taken from me now. You say you often think of what I used to talk to you about; I am glad to hear this, and I pray God it may be as seed sown in good ground: which in after days may spring up an hundred fold to his glory. You know I used to tell you that it was the Lord's work to change the heart, to bring a soul out of nature's darkness to behold his marvellous light. "Have you ever felt yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God? Have you ever felt your need of a Saviour? Have you ever been led by the Holy Spirit of God, to Christ, for pardon? We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Do you know anything of this by heartfelt experience? If so, God has begun the work; and he will carry it on to the day of his power. If not, you are still under the wrath of God, and remember that unless you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And now, dear Girl, there are many errors abroad in the world, and much called truth that is not truth; believe not all you hear, but search the Scriptures. Not only remember this, but put it in practice. I very much want to see you all again; I seem to have been away a very long time, I have need of patience to wait my appointed time. "Dear Elizabeth, "Swansea, October 10th, 1847. You tell me you oftener think of me now I am away from you, than when you were with me; such, I think, is the case generally, it is with me. "I did not think it would be so hard to part from you all, till I had occasion to try; I can assure you it 58 PREPARED FOR TRANSPLANTING. is very painful to me, sometimes, when I think of how many happy hours I have spent with you all, and now separated by so many miles; yet I wish to be submissive to the will of God, knowing that he chooseth our habitations for us, and all things shall work together for good to them that love God, and are called according to His eternal purpose. "It is encouraging to hear that you have not forgotten all that has been said to you, by your teacher. I pray God, if it were his sovereign will, that you may be brought, while early in life, to see yourself a great sinner, and Christ a great Saviour; for unless we pass from death unto life here, we cannot expect eternal life hereafter. This is a matter of great importance, think over it and pray over it. acquainted with Scripture, but you will well acquainted with it; go on then and study, this will be putting into practice what you tell me Mr. Bland said to you, the last Sunday he was with you, Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.' You are well never be too "I am happy to hear that the numbers increase, and could wish you another school room. I am glad you have my sister in my place, and hope you will be good, obedient, and thoughtful children: then she will |