Anxious Cries for Your Salvation

A selection from a letter by Mary Jones, wife of the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones. She wrote her son Charles about a cousin who had given himself to drink. She exhorted her son against the sin of intemperance. She said, "I honestly believe that every man who takes a glass, saving in cases of sickness or ill health, or who makes a practice of offering it to his friends, is treading the broad road to ruin himself and drawing others along with him." Since he was not yet converted to Christ, she also pleaded with him, as she often did in her letters, to be saved. The letter was written February 28, 1860.

Have you read the paper I put into your hands as we parted [a tract, perhaps]? Daily does my soul go out to the precious Saviour in anxious cries for your salvation. When, my son, are you going to consider the interests of your immortal soul? Are you daily reading the Word of God? Do you pray? I know that the Holy Spirit alone can enlighten your heart and new create it, but you must "seek if you would find," "knock if you would have the door of mercy opened." Will you not say with the Psalmist: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquities. Blot out my sins, and remember no more my transgressions."

The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War, edited by Robert Manson Myers, Yale University Press, 1972, pp. 564-65.

Every Returning Birthday

A portion of a letter by Rev. Henry Venn, Church of England minister, to his son John on his 20th birthday. He recounted his son's birth in a depraved state, his upbringing and education, and then his conversion. He was a thankful father, happy to know that his son was a follower of Jesus Christ but also that he had given himself to the work of the ministry. His joy is expressed in this natal letter and wise counsel, peppered with hope, characterizes the last paragraph, a letter written March 9, 1779.

… With every requisite qualification as a scholar, and with a character unsullied by conformity to the world, you may, if life is spared, be admitted amongst the witnesses who testify against the evil doctrine and evil practice everywhere prevailing, and come forth engrossed by one grand purpose, from which nothing shall ever divert you—a purpose, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, to spend and be spent in His service—to follow, though with very unequal steps, yet still with all your might to follow, the example of the Apostles, in the doctrine you preach, in the self-denied life you will lead, in the longing desire of our heart to see the lost saved, and the slaves of sin and Satan returning to Zion with everlasting joy upon their heads, transformed into the Divine image, and, with all gratitude, confessing they heard from your lips what they found the means of their salvation. In this most blessed employment (if it please our adorable Saviour) may you work for many years! And every returning birthday solemnly present yourself before Him, to be endued with more wisdom, knowledge, and grace; till, in the appointed hour, you are called to give account of your ministry, and find the day of your death infinitely better than the day of your birth! This is the wish, the ardent, constant prayer, of your affectionate father…

Letters of Henry Venn, by John Venn, first published in 1835, republished by the Banner of Truth, 1993, pp. 273-74.

May Your Child Be His Child

A selection from a letter by John Newton to John Ryland, Jr. Ryland's wife, Elizabeth, had just given birth to their first and only child. Mrs. Ryland died a few weeks after giving birth. Newton wrote a letter of sympathy then but this letter was full of rejoicing for the little boy that graced their home. The letter was written December 16, 1786. Having a granddaughter born this past week, Nasia Marie Hewlett (pictured here), reminded me of Mr. Newton's prayer for the Rylands.


I will join you in praising the Lord for his goodness. May he crown the mercy by raising up Mrs. Ryland to praise him in his house. And may your child be his. You have now another comfort, another care, and what, if grace prevent not, might be another snare; but to those who feel their own weakness, grace is all-sufficient. My best wishes await you both.

Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letter to John Ryland, Jr., edited by Grant Gordon, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009, letter #36, p. 181.

Under God All Depends on the Mother

A selection from a letter by Rev. Benjamin Morgan Palmer to his daughter Anna, who recently had given birth to a son. He wrote to comfort her for she has lost her first child, a daughter, at birth. He also wrote to challenge her to be a dedicated mother. The letter was written January 4, 1869.

This time it is a son! What a solemn responsibilities cluster around that word! This boy-babe is after a while to be a man. Can you tell what a vast intellect may be slumbering within that little head? Who knows but that the fate of an empire may be wrapped in the folds of his career? Those little hands may wield the destiny of this great Republic—and that tiny voice may sway the councils of a nation; who knows! That little heart, it may be a volcano of passions, to be belched forth in smoke and fire upon a devastated earth—or it may be the well-spring of a mighty stream of beneficence to refresh and fertilize the world. Which shall it be? Do not stagger, nor be affrighted, when I answer that under God all depends upon the mother.

A fearful trust is reposed in you, my daughter, in this boy’s birth; for of a truth, in time and in the great hereafter, he will be just what you shall make him. It is too late to shrink back in terror. He is yours; and the great God, who gave him to you, says, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages’ [Exodus 2:9]. Mark the terms of the contract, for therein lies the trust, and the comfort too. ‘Nurse it for me’—that is the trust; ‘and I will give thee thy wages’—this is the assurance. Both are bound together. If you nurse it for God, you shave have ample recompense…

The Life and Letters of Benjamin Morgan Palmer, by Thomas Cary Johnson, Banner of Truth, p. 383.

Neglect Not the One Thing Needful

A selection from a letter by Rev. J. H. Thornwell to his son, Gillespie, fifteen years of age at the time. He longed for the salvation of his children and often addressed his desire when writing to them. This letter was written August 4, 1859.

My cup of earthly happiness would be full, if you, and Jimmie, and Charlie, were only true Christians. You would then be safe for time and for eternity. Depend upon it, my dear son, you will never repent of it, if you should now give your heart unto the Lord. Let me beg you to seek, this summer, the salvation of your soul. You will have time to think, and read, and pray. Write to me that you are not neglecting the one thing needful…

The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, by B. H. Palmer, first published in 1875, republished by the Banner of Truth, 1974, p. 442.

Public Prayer a Holy Work

A selection from a letter by John Elias to his son about praying in public. The younger Elias requested spiritual counsel from his father for he had been asked to lead in public prayer. His father cautioned him to be watchful and exemplary. He believed that leading in prayer in the assembly of the Lord’s people a task not to be entered into lightly. The letter was written October 18, 1821.

Moreover, consider well carefully what is your own motive in such a great undertaking, especially when you feel some desires and propensity for it. Be very careful that you have no end in view for such a holy work, but to glorify the Lord. Besides, be assured that if you engage in such a public part of the service of God, it will be necessary for you to be more watchful and circumspect in all your conduct and conversation, such as becometh the Gospel of Christ; the more public we may be engaged in his service, the greater will be the dishonor we shall bring upon his cause if we should be inconsistent. If any one takes the place and work of an elder, he should have the spirit and conduct of such a person.

John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays, by Edward Morgan, first published in 1844, published by the Banner of Truth in 1973, pp. 208-09.

To See and Feel Your Need of a Precious Saviour

A selection from a letter by Mary Jones, wife of the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones. She wrote her son Charles about the death of a young man, George Helm. She used the opportunity to press on him his need for Christ. The letter was written on February 16, 1858.

Would that I could know how he died. I have often thought of his spiritual state. Did he return to the Ark of Safety? Had he an opportunity to seek his Saviour’s face? We may never know. Your father and myself gave him at parting a little token of our interest in his spiritual welfare. Why was he taken and you are left? God’s sovereignty has so ordained it, but for some wise design. My dear son, I pray the Lord to open your eyes and open your heart by this stroke to see and feel your need of a precious Saviour. Oh, to live without Christ and to die without Christ is to be lost forever! Poor, lost, and guilty as we are, we must have an Advocate with the Father—divine and all-sufficient Jesus Christ the Righteous!

The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War, edited by Robert Manson Myers, Yale University Press, 1972, p. 394. Iain Murray makes reference to this book of letters in a chapter on the Jones’s in his recent book, Heroes (published by The Banner of Truth Trust).

Master Your Temper

A portion of a letter by the Welsh pastor, John Elias, to his son John who was away at school. Edward Morgan said of Elias, “How few professors and ministers pay so much attention to the spiritual interest of their children as Elias did!” Elias’s son was sixteen years of age when this letter was written in 1819.

Take great care of thy temper; learn to be master of it now in thy youthful days; yea, if some laugh at thee, or despise thee, or offend thee, receive it mildly, and take care that thou dost not suffer thy self to be under the dominion of an angry, surly, and revengeful temper. It is not manly, much less Christian-like – nay, it is Satan-like. Therefore, my dear son, beware of this temper; it is a disgrace to the human nature; it is a great defect in the moral character of man, to say that he is of a rash, angry, and revengeful temper.

John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays, by Edward Morgan, first published in 1844, reprinted by the Banner of Truth, 1973, p. 204.