I Much Wish to See this Mission Settle on a Permanent Foundation

A selection from a letter by missionary William Carey, to Andrew Fuller, one of the pastors who held the ropes in England while he mined for souls in India. Carey was concerned that the next generation of Christians in the home churches might not care for the work as Fuller and others had, and that the Mission would fail because of lack of funds. The matter-of-fact statements made by Carey are not reflective of weak faith but were meant to encourage Fuller and others to pass along to the next generation a love for the mission work in Serampore and all of India. The letter was written February 5, 1800.

I fear dear Bro. [Samuel] Pearce is dead [he died Oct. 10, 1799, but Carey did not yet know]. You, Bro. [John] Ryland [Jr.] and a few of the most active to provide funds for the Mission may soon die; and the work may fall through for want of active persons who will feel interested in it as you do.

The Publick mind may tire soon, especially if success is much longer delayed. In that case the Mission must be broken up for want of funds to support it and then all that is done will be lost…

I have written so much about our temporal concerns in all our Letters, because I fear some of them (may) miscarry and also because I much wish to see this Mission settle on a permanent foundation.

The Journal and Selected Letters of William Carey, collected and edited by Terry G. Carter, Smyth & Helwys, 2000, pp. 196-97.

I Want More Heart Religion

A portion of a letter by Samuel Pearce, pastor of Canon Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, England, to Mr. Steadman, a friend from college days at Bristol Baptist Academy. The letter illustrates some of the difficulties in preaching that every faithful pastor faces. It was written May 9, 1792.

In preaching, I have often peculiar liberty; at other times barren. I suppose my experience is like that of most of my brethren; but I am not weary of my work. I hope still that I am willing to spend and be spent, so that I may win souls to Christ, and finish my course with joy; but I want more heart religion; I want a more habitual sense of the divine presence; I want to walk with God as Enoch walked.

Memoirs of the late Rev. Samuel Pearce, A.M. with Extracts from Some of His Most Interesting Letters, compiled by Andrew Fuller, D.D., fifth American edition, Boston, 1828, pp. 11-12.

He Reigns Over All

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.

Praying for Missionaries

A selection from a letter by Samuel Pearce, pastor of the Cannon Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, England, to William Carey, missionary in India. Pearce desired to join Carey in his work but his congregation and other pastor friends persuaded him not to go. He regarded their counsel “as the voice of God.” Though he did not go to India, he was a major supporter of the work of Carey and did much to promote missions. This letter was written March 27, 1795:

Daily in our closets and in our families do we remember you before God; and, in the sanctuary, the tribes of God’s spiritual Israel wrestle hard for you Sabbath after Sabbath. Nor shall we pray in vain—God, even our own God, will bless you; his promise is on your side, and through him you shall do valiantly; never will he forsake his servants, nor leave them unassisted in their work; but your ‘confidence is strong;’ I rejoice that it is so, for ‘this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith;’ and he who hath been the author of that faith will, I doubt not, be the finisher of it too.

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. 53.