A selection from a letter by the Puritan preacher, Joseph Alleine, to his congregation from prison. He was ejected for nonconformity in 1662 and was arrested and imprisoned because he continued to preach. While in prison he wrote his congregation numerous letters. John Wesley referred to him as “the English Rutherford.” This letter was written November 22, 1663.
The Lord taketh infinite care for you; see that it be your care, the care of your very hearts, to please the Lord. Set your hearts to it as the business of your lives, and the very end of your beings, to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing… He must be pleased, though all the world be displeased. Let it be enough to you to have his good-will. Let this be the one thing that you bend yourselves to seek; and if you set to seek it, you may be sure to find it.
Life and Letters of Joseph Alleine, by Rev. Richard Baxter, Theodosia Alleine, and others, with a new introduction by Joel R. Beeke and Herb Samworth, Reformation Heritage Books, reprinted in 2003, p. 187-88.
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