A selection from a letter by Samuel Pearce, pastor of the Cannon Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, England, to Mr. Matthias, a friend he met while preaching in Ireland. The General Evangelical Society in Dublin invited him to come to Ireland to preach the gospel. He made several friends on his mission there from the University of Dublin, Mr. Matthias being one of them. Pearce wrote of how much he valued his new friends. He also shared with him the joy in the Lord that he was experiencing at that time. The letter was written in September or October, 1776.
I thank God, I never, I think, rejoiced habitually so much in him as I have done of late. "God is love." That makes me happy. I rejoice that God reigns; that he reigns over all; that he reigns over me; over my crosses, my comforts, my family, my friends, my senses, my mental powers, my designs, my words, my preaching, my conduct; that he is God over all, blessed for ever. I am willing to live, yet I long to die, to be freed from all error and all sin. I have nothing else to trouble me; no other cross to carry. The sun shines without all day long; but I am sensible of internal darkness. Well, through grace it shall be all light by and by. Yes, you and I shall be angels of light; all Mercuries then; all near the Sun; always in motion; always glowing with zeal, and flaming with love. Oh for the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness!
A Heart for Missions: The Classic Memoir of Samuel Pearce, by Andrew Fuller, with an introduction by Michael Haykin, reprinted by Solid Ground Christian Books, 2006, p. 88.
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