Sunday, March 7, 2010

Ministry at Savannah Begins

Sun Mar 7 1736: I entered upon my ministry at Savannah, by preaching on the Epistle for the day, being the thirteenth of the First of Corinthians. In the Second Lesson, Luke 18, was our Lord’s prediction of the treatment which he himself (and consequently his followers) was to meet with from the world; and his gracious promise to those who are content nudi nudum Christum sequi: ‘Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house or friends or brethren or wife or children for the kingdom of God’s sake, which shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come everlasting life.’
Yet notwithstanding these plain declarations of our Lord, notwithstanding my own repeated experience, notwithstanding the experience of all the sincere followers of Christ whom I have ever talked with, read, or heard of; nay, and the reason of the thing, evincing to a demonstration that all who love not the light must hate him who is continually labouring to pour it in upon them; I do here bear witness against myself that when I saw the number of people crowding into the church, the deep attention with which they received the Word, and the seriousness that afterwards sat on all their faces, I could scarce refrain from giving the lie to experience and reason and Scripture all together. I could hardly believe that the greater, the far greater part of this attentive, serious people, would hereafter trample under foot that Word, and say all manner of evil falsely of him that spake it. O who can believe what their heart abhors? Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! Let us love thy cross! Then shall we believe. ‘If we suffer with thee, we shall also reign with thee!’