Wesley Corpus

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- Just at the time when you resolved to quit your trifling companion, God gave you a serious one [See letters of April 16, 1756 and March 7, 1758.]: a plain token that He will withhold from you no good thing, if you will yet turn to Him. Do you now find your mind disengaged and free Can you say, Delco dehinc omnes ex animo mulieres [‘Henceforth I blot out all women from my mind.’] If so, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free Be not entangled again in that yoke of bondage. Beware of the very first approach, and watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. I hope Mr. Drake [See letters of Sept. 25, 1755, and Dec. 4, 1756.] is determined to contract no acquaintance with any man that knows not God. Let him have sense and learning and every other recommendation, still it will not quit cost; it is necessary to be courteous to all. But that does not imply intimacy. He knows, and we know, the value of time. See that you improve every part of The least of these a serious care demands; For though they’re little, they are golden sands. --I am Your affectionate brother. To Samuel Furly [11] LONDON, November 26, 1756. MY DEAR BROTHER, -- You would do weft to meet earlier in the evening -- at seven, if not sooner; and to begin your meeting with close examination of each other’s progress for the day past. I am afraid an hour and half is too little. At Oxford we always met at six. You should likewise have your eyes all round, to see if you can’t add another to your number. Probably some parts of the Serious Call or Christian Perfection might be a means of awakening her again. But whether it would or not is very uncertain; for when a person has once quenched the Spirit, we cannot be assured God will restore it again. However one would spare no pains in a case of such importance, and there are such instances of God's longsuffering that we cannot despair of any.