England 1861
To Mr P
Beloved brother
I was pleased to receive your letter. I greatly value having news of our dear friends in France. Now I am very busy in England where the work is expanding a lot. So you should not be surprised if I do not reply immediately, or think that such a fault was deliberate. For 5am to 11pm I am busy all the time; only sometimes I wonder if I should do so much desk work, but at least I believe it feeds other younger brothers in their work; they have more courage and I am happy to take a back-seat place – really, I consider this to be my present work. In the afternoons, between 2pm and 9pm I visit people and have meetings, but being so absorbed in my work, I am all the more glad to receive news about the brethren. God has granted me this favour and I am blessed by it. I have news from the South of France, but less from Switzerland.
You can imagine how much I thank God for the blessing resulting from the tour of our dear friends from P and I do not doubt that they do so in their hearts too, and I still trust that your dear brother will one day be used. May he keep very near the Lord, and read the Word for himself – I say ‘for himself’ not for his work, because this is the true way to read. The Lord says, “ If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” One drinks for oneself; one is thirsty oneself : that is how rivers of living water flow for others. One goes to Jesus for that – and all that is included in the ‘I’ is judged fundamentally in the heart, and grace acts bit by bit. Doubtlessly in judging oneself from the outset, one continues to walk in this way, but such judgment is constantly renewed in detail. One cannot work well if one is not in communion with the Lord. One must also have love for souls, for consequent on their interest one must carry them: one knows their needs and in which way the Word applies to them. Also the work must be undertaken with seriousness, with humility, in a spirit of service, with a feeling that one is dealing not just with the intellect but with the souls, which is an essential difference. We have to find in our work the feeling that we are working on souls on God’s behalf in a true spirit of service. It is in this that visits are profitable for our ministry, we can grapple with souls, be it publicly or in going house to house, and we see how the word applies to peoples’ needs, even if they do not understand it. Whatever the level of the truth it might be, the soul does not receive anything unless it applies to his or her current state. When John the Baptist spoke of the Lamb of God, his disciples said that they had “ seen the Messias ; when the Lord spoke of “ a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”, the woman said “ Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?”
Coming back to the visits, the love of Christ is working there, and we feel it. For my part, I find that they always do good; I do not believe that a man can exercise a useful and blessed ministry without visiting souls. He might be able to give a very beautiful lecture, full of truths, but his link with souls will be lacking. God, without doubt, can supply anything that is lacking, but one cannot expect to feel a blessing from such a ministry. Young doctors must visit hospitals and attend clinics in order to be true doctors. At least it does us good, exercising and nourishing charity, and God takes pleasure in that. I bless God when I see labourers coming to life. He has given us a certain number of them, more evangelists, blessed in their ministry, than shepherds. Nevertheless there are some of the latter.
You will have seen my letter to F. for there is a real blessing in this country. At first there was a lot of excitement, but now things have calmed down a lot. Two labourers have been really blessed, although they count conversions rather precipitately. One of them, converted in the revival last year, who is moving at a great pace, but really devoted, believes he had 120 conversions in one month; I don’t think that can be right, but I believe there are some. In all events the run-down, the miserable, the Roman Catholics listen to him with attention. He is no more than 18 years old. This case is exceptional, but this is the sort of thing that there is – he thunders and speaks nonetheless with a true love for souls, only I am convinced that some excitement of the flesh accompanies his ministry. I have written to F to warn him while being careful – I who am so cold – not to discourage or let the young man get cold.
What a maze, humanly speaking, or rather amongst such a mix-up we find ourselves in down here. What a consolation it is to know that God sees through it all like a transparent glass, and that His perfect grace deals with it all, but that gives us a reason to be humble and go out of sight. I can say, thank God, that I have total confidence in Him, and I greatly enjoy the sense of His perfect grace and faithfulness, conscious, weak though I am, of what is in me. What grace that is! But I should like to be more directly and consistently occupied with souls. I continue to preach, and there are many present. I have good news of Montbeliard: at B. there has been several conversions, and also much opposition. They tried to establish a Moravian meeting there and about ten of them joined the brethren. The meetings in the vicinity are blessed and are added to…
The Word is always so precious to you, and tests you by its power when you read it, is it not? I see, more distinctly than ever, the practical power of the Spirit in the Christian way, and in the Word, a clear distinction between the life of the last Adam and that of the first. That is nothing new, but it is deeper and clearer in my heart, as also the new position in which the Christian is, without leaving aside man’s responsibility and the action of the Spirit in relation to that responsibility. What a picture we see in Acts 7, as to the exterior view of things: on one side man resisting, and on the other filled with the Holy Spirit…
Greet the brethren with affection
Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013
Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.
