A relic remains of those old autumn days, of which it is worth while to tell you. It happened in the year 1836 that the family papers belonging to an old French house were turned out of the ancient chests and cupboards in which they had been stored up for centuries. Numbers of old letters were there, written long, long ago, which no one had cared to read for several generations. Would anyone care to read them, now that they were brought out of their dark hiding-places? No: it was settled at once that they should one and all be thrown into the fire. But, as packet after packet was thus cast into the flames, one small packet was observed to have a label, “Letters concerning military matters only.” “That will be worth keeping,” said the owner. And thus the small packet was preserved. But when it was untied, it proved, alas! to have been labeled in mistake for some packet already burnt. It contained only some ancient letters, written more than 300 years before, and concerning no military matters at all. There were letters from the young canon, Master Peter, and from his friends, and from William Farel. And thus we can go back to that autumn of 1526, and read some of the words which William Farel wrote at Strasbourg, on the 16th of October, to the knight Nicholas d’Esch at the town of Metz:—
“Grace be to you, mercy and peace, my good lord and brother, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus, for the sake of Him who shed His blood for us. May He fill you with strength and power from above, to bear His Name before all, and to fight valiantly for the glory of His gospel * * * For all false teaching is a denial of Jesus Christ, and all true teaching is a confession of Him—for example, if we teach that by simple faith and trust in Jesus Christ we are saved, and not by anything besides. For by that means (faith and trust in Jesus) we have eternal life; we are made good trees, children of light, children of God, and of the kingdom. And from this root spring the fruits of life, good fruits, works of light, such as beseem the children of God. Not works that give life, or save, but works that declare that we have eternal life and salvation. For he who knows God, who has tasted the endless love and mercy of God in his own experience—he who knows what honor and blessing God has put upon him by Jesus Christ—will be burning with the love of God, shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit, who is the sign and mark set upon his heart, the earnest of life eternal. And such an one will not only be unable to refrain from thanking his Father for such great blessings, but he will also do the works of true faith and love, to magnify and exalt the name of his Father, so that others may know Him also. He will do these works, not for fear he should be damned if he does not do them, but to glorify his Father. Yes, he would not fear for that end to go down into hell, willing, like Moses and Saint Paul, to be blotted out of the book of life, and to be accursed from Christ, rather than that the Name of Jesus should be dishonored.
“There are those who say, 'If you do this or that, you will be saved,' or ‘if you do not this or that,’ ‘if you are not washed with water,’ ‘if you do not perform some outward work men can see with their eyes,’ you will not be saved. Such people deny Jesus and His work. For He would have died in vain, and His blood would be worth nothing, if without such or such a work it could not save.
“It is very true, on the other hand, that where there is fire there will be heat, so that we are right in saying, where we do not see the fruits of faith, nor feel the warmth of love, there is no faith, or very little. And we must stand in doubt of anyone, as being a child of God, if he does not give proof of it. But still less are those children of God who perform certain works which have the appearance of goodness, doing them all the while simply from fear of hell or death. For in truth the Christian heart, where faith dwells, will do nothing except for the purpose of glorifying God, and drawing others to Him =============================
“You ask for a Bible. You can get small ones at Paris, and I believe soon there will be a new translation of the five books of Moses, by which means the Lord will be better known.
“I need not write to you of my desire. Willingly would I turn myself into a mouse, if by that means I could get an entrance into the place (Metz) where I desire to work for Him, to whom I owe everything. May the Lord give us grace to serve Him in purity and holiness =============================
“And, above all, let us keep ourselves in the gentleness of Jesus, who desires that we should learn of Him. Our Lord waits a long while for sinners to turn to Him, and thus we must wait for those whom our Lord will draw to Himself. We should think it a great thing, if at first they do not blaspheme God and His Word—a greater thing if they will listen to it—still greater if they get so far as to speak well of it and think it true, and thus at last they come to magnify it and to be subject to it. We see how the Lord bore with the small faith and the great stupidity of His apostles. And He is in truth the glass into which we should look to see how we should walk. If men had done this heretofore, we should not see things in the state in which they are now. But blessed be God, that by any means whatever, souls are brought to know Jesus and believe in Him. For if we look at the apostles, what were they when Jesus first sent them out to preach? How weak they were! How little faith they had! Therefore let a man not draw back, but if by any means he can preach Christ, let him preach Him, committing himself to the Lord. Let him preach with all his might, and stir up others to do the same. For the use of the Word will strengthen weak faith, and will teach us better what faith is, so that we shall come, like the apostles, and ask the Lord to increase it. And may it please Him to do this for us, having mercy upon us, and upon His poor sheep kept in gross ignorance and in captivity to Satan. May the Lord grant them to hear His holy word preached in purity!
“Salute, I pray you, my lord, your brother, and all those who love Him, who alone should be loved. You may send your letters to this town, directed to Capito.
“One word more. Let Jesus hold and possess your whole heart, so that you may not think of any other thing than Jesus only, may do nothing except for Jesus, so that here and hereafter you may be always abiding in Jesus =============================
“Yours, with my whole heart, in our Lord,” WILLIAM FAREL.
“P.S. I am in want of nothing; on the contrary, I am as rich as Job, thanks to God, who has given me hitherto, and gives me day by day enough to live upon, but in moderation, such as I desire =============================”
Addressed to “The very noble Knight, Messire Nicholas d’Esch, at Metz.”
Such was the old letter, so strangely preserved from the flames, to speak to us now, as to the good knight so long ago. And it was not without a purpose that the eye of God rested upon that letter, and guided the careless hand that labeled it. There were words there that told of the Son whom He loved, which He would have to be read again in these last lukewarm days. “Let Jesus hold and possess your whole heart so that you may not think of any other thing than Jesus only, may do nothing except for Jesus.” May this be a word in season to you who read it, and may He whom Farel loved become more precious and more glorious to you, so that you may thank the Lord in the ages of eternity for the work which He gave His servant to do on that day in October, and he may hereafter thank Him with you that Christ became to you the One who filled your heart and satisfied it forever.