ftrength. Dear brother, may the God of all grace comfort your heart, and fucceed your ftudies, and make you an inftrument of good to his people in your day. This is the conftant prayer of Your affectionate brother, DAVID BRAINERD. To his Brother ISRAEL, at Haddam, MY DEAR BROTHER, -THERE is but one thing, that deferves our highest care and most ardent defires; and that is, that we may answer the great end, for which we were made; viz. to glorify that God, who has given us our beings and all our comforts, and to do all the good we poffibly can, to our fellow men, while we live in the world: And verily life is not worth the having, if it be not improved for this noble end and purpose. Yet, alas, how little is this thought of among mankind! Moft men feem to live to themselves, without much regard to the glory of God, or the good of their fellow creatures; they earnestly defire, and eagerly pursue after the riches, the honours, and the pleasures of life, as if they really fuppofed, that wealth, or greatness, or merriment, could make their immortal fouls happy. But alas, what falfe and delufive dreams are these! And how miferable will thofe ere long be, who are not awaked out of them, to fee that all their happinefs confifts in living to God, and becoming holy as he is holy! O, may you never fall into the tempers and vanities, the fenfuality and folly of the prefent world. You are, by Divine Providence, left as it were alone in a wide world, to act for yourself: Be sure then to remember, it is a world of temptation. You have no earthly parents to be the means of forming your youth to piety and virtue, by their pious examples, and feafonable counfels; Let this then excite you with greater diligence and fervency to look up to the Father of Mercies for grace and affiftance against all the vanities of the world. And if you would glorify God, anfwer his juft expectations from you, and make your own foul happy in this and the toming world, obferve thefe few directions; though not from a father, yet from a brother who is touched with a tender concern for your prefent and future happiness. And, Firft, Refolve upon, and daily endeavour to practise a life of seriousness, and strict sobriety. The wife man will tell you the great advantage of fuch a life, Ecclef. vii. 3. Think of the life of Chrift; and when you can find that he was pleased with jefting and vain merriment, then you may indulge it in yourself. Again, Be careful to make a good improvement of precious time. When you ceafe from labour, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer: And while your hands are labouring, let your heart be employed, as much as poffible, in divine thoughts. Further, Take heed that you faithfully perform the bufinefs you have to do in the world, from a regard to the commands of God; and not from an ambitious defire of being esteemed better than others. We should always look upon ourselves as God's fervants, placed in God's world, to do his work; and accordingly labour faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can. Again, Never expect any fatisfaction or happiness from the world. If you hope for happiness in the world, hope for it from God, and not from the world. Do not think you fhall be more happy, if you live to fuch or such a ftate of life, if you live to be for yourfelf, to be fettled in the world, or if you should gain any estate in it: But look upon it that you fhall then be happy, when you can be conftantly employed for God, and not for yourself; and defire to live in this world, only to do and suffer what God allots to you. When you can be of the fpirit and temper of angels, who are willing to come down into this lower world, to perform what God commands them, though their defires are heavenly, and not in the leaft fet on earthly things, then you will be of that temper that you ought to have. Coloff. iii. 2. Once more, Never think that you can live to God by your own power or strength; but always look to and rely on him for affiftance, yea, for all strength and grace. There is no greater truth, than this, That we can do nothing of ourselves; John xv. 5. and 2 Cor. iii. 5. Yet nothing but our own experience can effectually teach it to us. Indeed we are a long time in learning, that all our ftrength and falvation is in God. This is a life, that I think no unconverted man can poffibly live; and yet it is a life that every godly foul is preffing after, in fome good measure. Let it then be your great concern, thus to devote yourself and your all to God. I long to fee you, that I may fay much more to you than I now can, for your benefit and welfare; but I defire to commit you to, and leave you with the Father of Mercies, and God of all grace; praying that you may be directed fafely through an evil world, to God's heavenly kingdom. I am your affectionate loving brother DAVID BRAINERD. To a SPECIAL FRIEND. The FORKS of DELAWARE, July 31, 1744. -CERTAINLY the greatest, the nobleft pleasure of intelligent creatures must refult from their acquaintance with the bleffed God, and with their own rational and immortal fouls. And O, how divinely fweet and entertaining is it, to look into our own fouls, when we can find all our powers and paffions united and engaged in pursuit after God, our whole fouls longing and paffionately breathing after a conformity to him, and the full enjoy. ment of him: Verily there are no hours pafs away with fo much divine pleasure, as those that are spent in communing with God and our own hearts. O, how fweet is a fpirit of devotion, a fpirit of seriousness and divine fo. lemnity, a fpirit of gofpel fimplicity, love, tenderness ! O how defirable, and how profitable to the chriftian life, is a fpirit of holy watchfulness, and godly jealoufy over ourselves; when our fouls are afraid of nothing fo much as that we fhall grieve and offend the bleffed God, whom at fuch times we apprehend, or at leaft hope, to be a fa. ther and friend; whom we then love and long to please, rather than to be happy ourselves; or at least we delight to derive our happinefs from pleafing and glorifying him! Surely this is a pious temper, worthy of the highest am bition and closest pursuit of intelligent creatures and holy christians. O how vaftly fuperior is the pleafure, peace, and fatisfaction derived from thefe divine frames, to that which we, alas, fometimes purfue in things impertinent and trifling! Our own bitter experience teaches us, that in the midst of fuch laughter the heart is forrowful, and there is no true fatisfaction but in God. But alas! How fhall we obtain and retain this sweet spirit of religion and devotion? Let us follow the apostle's direction, Phil. ii. 12. and labour upon the encouragement he there mentions, verse 13. For it is God only can afford us this favour; and he will be fought to, and it is fit we should wait upon him for fo rich a mercy. O, may the God of all grace afford us the grace and influences of his Divine Spirit; and help us that we may from our hearts esteem it our greatest liberty and happiness, that whether we live, we may live to the Lord, or whether we die, we may die to the Lord; that in life and death we may be his. I am in a very poor state of health; I think, fcarce ever poorer: But through divine goodness, I am not difcontented under my weakness, and confinement to this wil. dernefs; I bless God for this retirement. I never was more thankful for any thing, than I have been of late for the neceffity I am under of self denial in many refpects. I love to be a pilgrim and stranger in this wilderness: It feems most fit for fuch a poor, ignorant, worthless, defpifed creature as I. I would not change my present million for any other business in the whole world. I may tell you freely, without vanity and oftentation, God has of late given me great freedom and fervency in prayer, when I have been fo weak and feeble, my nature feemed as if it would speedily dilffolve. I feel as if my all was loft, and I was undone for this world, if the poor heathen may not be converted. I feel in general, different from what I did when I faw you laft; at least, more crucified to all the enjoyments of life. It would be very refreshing to me, to fee you here in this defart; especially in my weak difconfolate hours: But, I think I could be content never to see you, or any of my friends again in this world, if God would bless my labours here to the conversion of the poor Indians. I have much that I could willingly commmunicate to you, which I must omit, until Providence gives us leave to fee each other. In the mean time I reft, Your obliged friend and fervant, DAVID BRAINERD. To a SPECIAL FRIEND, a Minifler of the Gospel in New-Jersey. The FORKS of DELAWARE, Dec. 24, 1744. REV. AND DEAR BROTHER, I HAVE little to fay to you, about fpiritual joys, and those blessed refreshments, and divine confolations, with which I have been much favoured in times paft: But this I can tell you, that if I gain experience in no other point, yet I am fure I do in this, viz. that the present world has nothing in it to fatisfy an immortal foul; and hence, that it is not to be desired for itself, but only because God may be seen and ferved in it: And I wifh I could be more patient and willing to live in it for this end, than I can usually find myself to be. It is no virtue, I know, to defire death, only to be freed from the miseries of life: But I want that divine hope, which you obferved, when I saw you laft, was the very finews of vital religion. Earth can do us no good, and if there be no hope of our doing good on earth, "How can we defire to live in it? And yet we ought to defire, or at least to be refigned to tarry in it; because it is the will of our allwife Sovereign. But perhaps thefe thoughts will appear melancholy and gloomy, and confequently will be very undefirable to you; and therefore I forbear to add. I wish you may not read them in the fame circumstances in which I write them. I have a little more to do and fuffer in a dark difconfolate world; and then I hope to be as happy as you are. I should ask you to pray for me, were I worth your concern. May the Lord enable us both to endure hardness as good foldiers of Jefus Chrift; |