TO

REV. BISHOP JANES AND LADY,

WHOSE EXPERIENCE AND PRACTICE FURNISH

TO THE PRAISE OF GOD,

A DAILY EXHIBITION OF FAITH AND ITS EFFECTS,

THIS VOLUME

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

BY,
THE AUTHOR

Craig L. Adams

CONTENTS.

LETTERS No. 1 - 8: To Mr. M.

• No. I. — To Mr. M_____. Mr. M acknowledges himself unawakened — What is faith? — Interview with a Hicksite friend — Displeasure incurred — Doings and sayings at a class meeting — An unlikely subject of prayer presented — All things possible with God — Mrs. W.'s inquiry — The sinner condemned already — The culprit C_____; his agony when under condemnation, the effect of his faith in man — Mr. M_____ not a believer in the Bible as the word of God; otherwise not unawakened — Indescribable solicitude — Influential friends cannot save. Mr. M_____ under condemnation — Why the word of God has not the same effect as a voice from heaven.
• No. II. — To Mr. M_____. Mr.M_____. inquires the way — Inquiries as to the effect of faith — Evidences of the in-being of faith — Perilous condition acknowledged — Hardness of heart confessed and bemoaned — Heart not impenitent — Not required to save ourselves — Sinful to stay away from the Saviour — A letter to a sincere inquirer — Difficulties in the way of salvation — Repentance known by its fruit; a gift from God, and must be acknowledged.
• No. III. — To Mr. M_____. Mr. M_____ inquires whether the power to believe may not be withheld — The power to exercise faith never withheld from the truly sincere — Difficulty with one who had been seeking the Lord four years, — and how removed — Man possesses the awful power of pronouncing his own blessings and curses — Five individuals converted the same day on which they were awakened — Difficulty with Mr. S_____. — Of one who thought it was too late.
• No. IV. — To Mr. M_____. Sincerity and earnestness not sufficient to insure salvation — An illustration of how faith is the gift of God — How to show fruit meet for repentance — An error in presenting petitions for awakened persons — Lad on the roof of a building; he is saved — The man near a cataract; Not saved by doing nothing.
• No. V. — To Mr. M_____. A matter of surprise with Mr. M_____ Reasons for delay wholly with the creature — Singular case of a lady where conviction followed conversion — Late Rev. S. M. Relates a similar case — God ever meets us on the ground of his word — How to keep a new heart — Progression required — The Bible; its excellence — The scheme of salvation conditional.
• No. VI. — To Mr. M_____. To Mr. M____. Condemned and justified at the same moment impossible — Case of a young lady who mistook a state of condemnation for one of justification; she was not intentionally hypocritical — How the mistake may imperceptibly be made — Condition upon which a state of justification is retained — How soon may perfection be attained?
• No. VII. — To Mr. M_____. To Mr. M____. The summit of Christian attainment may never be reached in time — Paul not perfect in attainment — He professes perfection, and in what sense — A state of perfection requiring progression urged — Christian, Not Adamic, perfection, the object — It already belongs to man as soon as the conditions upon which it is offered are met.
• No. VIII. — To Mr. M_____. Inquiries relative to the length of time intervening between a state of justification and entire sanctification — Mr. Wesley's views on the subject — How backslidings might be less frequent — Another inquiry from my Hicksite friend — Unreasonable not to be holy — How unholy professors encourage skepticism — The case of a young man whose friends were professing Christians — Salvation from all sin may be obtained now — How a housekeeper obtained it.

LETTERS No. 9-16: To Mrs. W., To Mrs. R.

• No. IX. — To Mrs. W_____. An apology — Fruits of holiness partially enjoyed — Work of the Spirit, and tenderness of conscience at an early age — Regret — Difficulties — The cost counted — Activity required — Intense breathings — A wrong standard of experience — A darling object — Great Things Anticipated.
• No. X. — To Mrs. W_____. A sacrifice contemplated — The surrender is made — The seal of consecration enstamped — Apprehends a state of holiness — Exults in the knowledge of the sanctification of body, soul, and spirit - Scruples removed — Christ all in all.
• No. XI. — To Mrs. W_____. The bliss of dwelling in God — Blessings are received for the good of others — Confession contemplated — What had been a hinderance for years — Hearty submission to the order of God.
• No. XII. — To Mrs. W_____. The adversary foiled — Unbroken quiet — Tempted in a dream — Sweet repose — Encouragement given during sleep — Peace, the heritage of the believer.
• No. XIII. — To Mrs. W_____. Temptation relative to retaining the blessing — Mental conflict — Peace — Confession — Desires to know the precise foundation of faith — A statement of the way in which prayer was answered — The consequences of turning out of the way apprehended.
• No. XIV. — To Mrs. W_____. Heaven begun below — Holiness the believer's strength — "If I get it I cannot keep it" — Remark of Dr. B — Mysticism — Consecration a simple act — Holiness maintained by constant faith — The Scriptures a medium of communion with God — The way of the cross — A new existence — The command, "Be ye holy" — Effect on the world of universal holiness in the church.
• No. XV. — To Mrs. R_____. Questions — Unreasonable not to be holy — Danger of slighting convictions — Sad remembrances — A fearful state — Count the cost — Decision — Self-sacrifice — The martyrs — The offense of the cross not ceased — Self-distrust — The way opened to the holiest — Temptations.
• No. XVI. — To Mrs. R_____. Power of faith — Terms of the covenant — Unsanctified resting in creature-good — Self-denial — A Jewish offerer —The Christian's altar; where? — It is Christ; it is here—The sacrifice to be offered — The altar sanctifieth the gift — Sinfulness of doubting it — The altar greater than the gift — Self-sacrifice reasonable; our duty; its benefits —The offering must touch the altar —The will must be resigned.

LETTERS No. 17-26: To Mr. K., To Mr. P.

• No. XVII. — To Mr. K_____. An impression confirmed — Religious joy — Temptation succeeds — Unwise inference — Holiness a state of character, not of emotion — The disciple with Jesus in the wilderness, and on the mount — The disciples on Tabor — The unwise request — The disciple as his Master — The crown coveted; not the cross.
• No. XVIII. — To Mr. K_____. Mr. K 's statement of his case — Questions — Mr. K 's resolution — Comparison — Inconsistency of Mr. K 's position — May the sanctification of the soul be achieved gradually? &c. — "God's word its own evidence" — Correspondence between faith and confession — "Have I lost my will?" — Answer — Illustrations — The obedient child — Abraham — The Savior — Family government — Ruling by love — Daily intercession — Household dedication — Restraint — Abraham's family — Joshua — Eli.
• No. XIX. — To Mr. K_____. Remarkable visit of the Spirit — A new heart given to a little child — "I want to pray more" — An accusation of the tempter — Little W_____ — Infantile anticipation — Propriety.
• No. XX. — To Mr. K_____. Faith receives Christ in all his offices — Distrustfulness — Illustration — A specific kind of unbelief pointed out — The Bible the voice of God to man — Reference to 2 Pet. i, 21 — Profession on the authority of the WORD urged — Waverings in faith sinful — Triumphs of Satan — Loss to the church — Slight notions of the sin of unbelief lamented.
• No. XXI. — To Mr. K_____. "Only unbelief — Ancient Israel — Borders of the promised land reached — Met and vanquished by an enemy — Who was it? — God dishonored by unbelief.
• No. XXII. — To Mr. P_____. Difficulties in the distance — Humility and decision — Divine protection — Daniel — Workers together with God — Witness of the Spirit — Distinction between faith and sight — Abraham; his patient faith — The wavering one.
• No. XXIII. — To Mr. P_____. Premature application, of the promises — Not willing to be holy - Paul's concise statement of the way to holiness — Distinction between consecration and sanctification — Obedience must precede appropriating faith — Wickedness of removing a sacrifice from the altar — Thomas — The will; its language — Of one who gave up his will.
• No. XXIV. — To Mr. P_____. Temptation as to the genuineness of faith — "Man-work" — Faith without works — "Workers together with God" — Queries about self-sanctification — Answers — Scriptural test — Exhortation.
• No. XXV. — To Mr. P_____. Baptism of the Spirit — The just shall live by faith — Witness of the Spirit — Answer delayed — Need of patience — My sister — Interview with Rev. T. Merritt — Confession — Steadfastness — Zeal.
• No. XXVI. — To Mr. P_____. Mr. P.'s singular statement of his case — Conclusions questioned — Illustration — The effect of my faith in Mr. P — Witness of the Spirit — "The Spirit speaketh expressly" — The Bible the voice of the Spirit — The blessing apprehended in the promise — Faith in a dark hour — Resignation.

LETTERS No. 27-37: To Bishop and Mrs. H., To Rev. T. M., To Rev. Mr. K., To Mrs. B, To the Members of the _____ Church, To ______, To Mr. J, To Rev. _____.

• No. XXVII. — To Bishop and Mrs. H____. Separated friends — The day of my espousals — Judge W , and Judge R — Happiness without holiness — A forty years' seeker obtains the blessing in a few hours — An evening on the camp ground — Struggles of a minister for holiness; his confession — The morning; doubt; profession; the witness — A member of his flock — Conversation — Full salvation in five minutes — Brother and sister B — "This now salvation" — A youth — Proposition — Decision — Self-denial — Sweet peace.
• No. XXVIII. — To Rev. T____ M____. "Third Monday evening meetings" — Rev, Mr. C, — Our calling — Mrs. _____ — The testimony of a maid in Israel — Searching the Scriptures — "It is all here" — A pious visit — Interrogations — An object of great desire — Withstood by Satan — The vow — The assurance — "Let it be now" — Suggestion — The word — The victory — Delay — Trial — A hearty profession of full salvation.
• No. XXIX. — To Rev. Mr. K_____. "The Guide" — E_____ street Church — One hundred witnesses — Revival — A local preacher — Long-continued efforts to obtain holiness — The sacrifice — The rest — Remark of Dr. — Sixty persons set apart for God — The camp prayer meeting — A passer-by arrested — A searching preacher — Revival in Baltimore — The work of God in A_____ street in 1831 — Morning meetings — Men and angels — Holiness the strength of the church — Satan's favorite instrument — A reproachful compliment — "And shall teach men so."
• No. XXX. — To Mrs. B_____. Mark xi, 24 — 1 John v, 14, 15 — An illustration — Answers to prayer — "The faithful and true" — "In God will I praise his word" — The bank bill — The infidel minister — Faith and sense — The word personified — An end of the difficulty.
• No. XXXI. — To Mrs. B_____. Presumption taken for faith — Doctrines abused — The assertion, "Believe that you have it, and you have it," not Scriptural — Importunate prayer unanswered — An unauthorized petitioner — The Pharisee — The seeker of sanctification — The lame and blind offered in sacrifice. The backslider's prayer — Divine direction sought in vain — Meddling with secret things — Why some parents cannot believe — Unholy hands lifted up.
• No. XXXII. — To the Members of the _____ Church. The church is a family — Intercessions — Revival prevented — The sin of one man — A reproach to Christ — Social gatherings versus class meetings — A wonderful deception — The convicted — Cruel friends — "Who ruined that soul?" — God's decree nullified — A revival in God's order — Death busy and the church idle — "Curse ye Meroz."
• No. XXXIII. — To the Members of the _____ Church. Neglect of the stated means — A remark of Mr. Wesley — An engagement to meet a friend — Who broke it? — One in three at class — What Thomas lost — All strong, and all at work — "Begin at my sanctuary" — Six left of three hundred — An estimate — Nursing fathers and mothers.
• No. XXXIV. — To _____. Memoir of Mrs. — The common people — Good news — A commanding post — Ability equal to duty — Our calling as a church — "The high doctrines of our creed" — Mysteries — A popular young minister — Mr. Wesley's last advice — How others regard us — A dilemma — Professor — Disappointment — A Presbyterian's opinion of a Methodist congregation — "What do ye more than others."
• No. XXXV. — To Mr. J_____. Disposition of property — Inequalities of human condition — Responsibility graduated by possession — Prudent foresight recommended by Solomon — Of those who heap together riches — Comparative liberality — Censoriousness — "Are rich men required to give up all?" — Community of goods — A debate.
• No. XXXVI. — To Mr. J_____. A stumbling block. — " One hundred dollars instead of six" — The wealthy father and his two sons — Jacob's vow — Large income for the Lord's treasury — A broken vow — Obstacle to religious prosperity — Tests of fidelity — David's view of liberality — Systematic mode of giving — The tenth devoted — "Giveth and yet increaseth" — Missionaries.
• No. XXXVII. — To Rev. _____. "Why cannot I believe?" — Plain dealing — An elevated position in the church — How attained — Our reputation belongs to God — Expulsions from the ministry — "Why insist on terms?" — A resolve to stand or fall with truth — Ashamed of Christ's words — The sin of ignorance — Acknowledgment — Objection to Scripture phraseology — Paul's conduct — Reputation — Not resigned to Christ — "How can ye believe?" — Fellowship with Him who made him self of no reputation — Christ's benediction on the outcast.

LETTERS No. 38-48: To Rev. Mr. H., To Rev. Mr. M., To Miss S., To Mr. C., To Mrs. D., To Mrs. E., To Mr. K., To Miss D., To Rev. Mr. H., To Mr. C.

• No. XXXVIII. — To Rev. Mr. H____. Heaven's nobility incog — Views presented by the Spirit on the subject of confession — A sanctified soul hails from heaven - The force of the clause, "in earth as in heaven" — An angel on earth; his singleness of purpose; his heroic zeal — "My boast in the Lord."
• No. XXXIX. — To Rev. Mr. M_____. Questions proposed — " What is the witness of the Spirit?" — Wesley's definition — "He that believeth hath the witness" — A promissory note — Ten years' experience — Whether we believe or not is matter of consciousness — "What are the evidences of entire sanctification?" — "The Spirit itself beareth witness" — "By what marks may we know that we are entirely sanctified?" — Sympathy with Christ — The mind of Christ — Continuous walking in Christ.
• No. XL. — To Miss S_____. The divine image borne and reflected — The doctrine of entire sanctification at conversion considered — It is anti-Wesleyan — Unscriptural — Christians urged to go on to perfection — Desires for holiness the result not of backslidings, but of an active and growing faith — Humiliating confession of an errorist.
• No. XLI. — To Miss S_____. Mr. Wesley's views — The author's habit of mind — Evidence of justification previous to entire sanctification — Movement of the denominations toward the unity of the faith — Tuesday meeting — A charming sight — Quotations from Wesley — Experience of David — The apostles — A cloud of witnesses — Caleb and Joshua — The danger of refusing to go on to perfection.
• No. XLII. — To Mr. C_____. The willing and obedient — Profession and practice — The cross — "I will guide thee by mine eye" — Lessons of experience — The importance of immediate action in the use of present grace — A temptation not to speak definitely yielded to — Sad effects — Reproved, but not rejected — God doth not afflict willingly — Holiness may be forfeited by neglect — A strange testimony — Reply — Acknowledgment — Lingering in duty — Its consequences — Views of personal obligation.
• No. XLIII. — To Mrs. D_____. Establishing grace — God's worthies — Few excel — Instability — Unlike God — Let your yea be yea, and your nay nay — The seal of the Spirit — Our Father's testament — Spiritual ambition — Ann Cutler.
• No. XLIV. — To Mrs. E_____. Disappointment — Our recent interview — Sad change — Fault-finding versus prayer — Ministers need encouragement — "Our minister is not popular" — Harmful effects — Speaking evil of ministers — A false light — Confession — A stumbling block — "Touch not mine anointed" — A family regulation with respect to the reputation of ministers.
• No. XLV. — To Mr. K_____. Solicitude — A twenty years' seeker — The longer and the shorter way — Remarkable experience in the steam cars — A meeting established for the promotion of holiness — How holiness sustains in the hour of trial, exemplified — The difference between willingness and obedience — A quotation from Mr. Wesley.
• No. XLVI. — To Miss D_____. A little child learning to walk — The Divine Sympathy proportioned to our feebleness — "I will hold thy right hand" — Shrinkings from duty — "I have ordained you" — The weak made strong — " Worldly Christians!" — A light in the world.
• No. XLVII. — To Rev. Mr. H_____. Specified wants; presented, supplied, doubted — The inference — The great exchange; a man given and a God received — "Was God unfaithful?" — Mr. H 's statement of his experience — A precise answer to a specific request — Confession delayed; urged — Witnesses of perfect love needed in the ministry.
• No. XLVIII. — To Mr. C_____. Impelled to activity by the Word — An enthusiastic doctrine — A nice point — Quietism — Abraham pleading for Sodom — Moses pleading for Israel — Christ in the person of his saints.

LETTERS No. 49-55: To Mrs. _____, To Mrs. H., To Rev. Mr. _____, To Rev. Mr. M., To Mr. L., To Mrs. J., To Rev. U.

• No. XLIX. — To Mrs. ____. Led by a right way — Domestic cares — A Mother's Trials — Tests of grace should be welcome — Predictions — Trials — Triumphs — Mrs. Susannah Wesley — Daughters of Sarah — The Wesley Family - Influence of American republicanism on American wives — Quotation from Mrs. W.'s biography — Apology.
• No. L. — To Mrs. H_____. Wandering thoughts — Satanic resistance — A strong testimony in the midst of temptation — Satan defied — God tempted by questionings — A life of faith — The cost counted — Unwavering reliance — Fruits of faith — A precious gem — Shortness of time — Sudden death contemplated.
• No. LI. — To Rev. Mr. _____. The children of God are one in interest — Obligations vary according to relationships — Abraham's unheard-of path of duty — Remarkable requisition — Satan's subtleties — Just where light meets us — Willing is not doing — The appearance of evil — A questionable practice cripples faith — Crucifixion of the flesh required — David's sacrifice — God will help you — An old habit broken.
• No. LII. — To Rev. Mr. M_____. Can persons who are sincerely pious be deceived? — Satan transforms himself — A visit from a fiend clothed in an angel garb imagined; he quotes Scripture — How Christ received such a one — Satan loves a shining mark — A sure method of finding him out — The Bible the only chart — Satan may answer petitions presented on wrong premises — Gracious assurances may be counterfeited.
• No. LIII. — To Mr. L_____. Witness of holiness lost — Unholy class leaders responsible for lowness of piety in the membership — The faithfulness of God proved when the blessing was lost — A light may be extinguished — Gifts derived from God must be diffused — Necessity of coming back — Promises may not be appropriated until the conditions are met — In what a state of holiness consists.
• No. LIV. — To Mrs. J_____. Responsibility of parents in regard to the salvation of their children — A memorable struggle — The Spirit's intercession — Prayer answered — Parents should resolve on the salvation of their children — Children under sentence of death — A child born of the Spirit — Young converts may be holy — An interesting disciple — Remarks of a minister.
• No. LV. — To Rev. Mr. U_____. Of the act of faith — Humiliating perceptions — Shrinkings from a profession of holiness — The direct path — A ceaseless sacrifice — The key which opens the door — What is the act of faith? — Terms of the covenant — Faith, not works, the ground of acceptance — The blessedness of purity — Why do some receive the blessing sooner than others who are equally sincere? — How example may hinder — How the blessing may be obtained — Tears of desire shed, yet a willingness to be holy not attained.