Live For God and All Will Be Well

A portion of a letter from Edmund Botsford, pastor of Georgetown Baptist Church, Georgetown, South Carolina, to a young pastor friend, John Roberts. Botsford exhorted John and his new wife to talk freely to one another on spiritual subjects and to form the habit of praying together. With a bit of humor he told Mrs. Roberts if John was too backwards to converse with her, to let him know and he would scold him soundly! The letter was written November 24, 1802.

I sincerely wish you and the dear young lady with which you are connected, the best of blessings. Do, my dear young friend, from the first, make free to talk with the wife of your bosom, and that frequently, on divine subjects. Get her to pray with you; often be on your knees together, and do tell her from me, from your real friend, I beg her, I entreat her, not only to join you in prayer, but pray herself with you. O my young friends, do be praying husband and wife. Do not let shame prevent. O Mrs. Roberts, I earnestly entreat you to pray in secret with your husband; do my dear child get into the habit of praying with your husband; and if you find him backward to converse with you on spiritual subjects, let me know, and I will scold him soundly. I tell you both, live for God, and all will be well.

Memoirs of Elder Edmund Botsford, compiled and edited by Charles D. Mallary, first printed in 1832, now printed by Particular Baptist Press, Springfield, Missouri, 2004, p. 119.

O William! Consider Your Dangerous Situation

A selection from a letter by Rev. Edmund Botsford, Baptist pastor in South Carolina and member of the Charleston Association of Churches, to William B. Johnson, an unconverted young man. This is the conclusion to a letter that was hard-hitting about the young man’s sin. Johnson was later converted and became most useful in the kingdom of Christ. The letter was written August 15, 1803.

If you do not turn to him [Christ] with your whole heart, his justice will light on you, he will execute eternal punishment upon you. When I tell you these things, you can evade the force of them, and your natural politeness prevents you from unbecoming behavior; but you go away, and sin again, and do not the things you are required. I tell you, if you continue this practice, the eternal God will be aroused to anger, and swear you shall not enter his rest. When you are summoned to his bar, you must obey; then no evasion will do; you must answer to all that is alleged against you. And how will you answer? In the name of God, how will you answer? O William! If ever grace reaches your poor, blind, hard, unbelieving heart, you will have a worse opinion of it than any other person can. I sincerely wish you may make the discovery in time, but believe me, I greatly fear for you. I consider you in a dangerous situation. I shall not think it strange to see you at the left hand of the Judge, when we shall all make our appearance at his bar. God grant it may be otherwise. If it should be, a great change must take place.

The Memoirs of Elder Edmund Botsford, originally printed by W. Riley Charleston, South Carolonia, 1832, published by Particular Baptist Press, compiled and edited by Charles D. Mallary, with additional footnotes, illustrations and an index, 2004, pp. 124-125.