Bearing His Sacred Reproach

A portion of a letter from George Whitefield to a friend (perhaps George Stonehouse) in England. Whitefield was in Savannah, Georgia, on one of his many trips to America. Whatever trial this brother was facing, Whitefield wrote an edifying letter. The letter was written June 26, 1740.

Go on, dear Sir, go on, and follow your glorious Master without the camp, bearing his sacred reproach. Never fear the scourge of the tongue, or the threatenings that are daily breathed out against the Lord and against his Christ. Suffer we must, I believe, and that great things. Our Lord, by his providence, begins to shew it. Ere long, perhaps, we may sing in a prison, and have our feet set fast in the stocks. But faith in Jesus turns a prison into a palace, and makes a bed of flames become a bed of down. Let us be faithful today and our Lord will support us tomorrow.

Letters of George Whitefield: For the Period 1734-1742, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976, reprinted from The Works of George Whitefield, 1771, p. 193.

Baptism in the Open River

A selection from a letter by C. H. Spurgeon to a Mr. Soper. Soper had written to Spurgeon reporting the conduct of some villagers after an outdoor baptism at Sheepwash. There were many opponents in England to baptisms by the Baptist. Spurgeon reflected on opposition he had faced in his early days when pastoring in Cambridgeshire. He then commended public baptisms for the effect they had on those who observed them. The letter was written May 13, 1885.

Baptism in the open river is so Scriptural, and, withal, such a public testimony, that I hope our friends will never abandon it. The reproach is to be bravely borne; for, if you hide away in the meeting-house, it will follow you there. We are most numerous where the ordinance is most known. Next to the Word of God, a baptizing service is the best argument for baptism.

Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Selected with Notes, by Iain H. Murray, Banner of Truth, p. 156.