And now, “I commend you to the grace of God;” earnestly desiring, that a plentiful portion of the divine Spirit may rest upon you; that you may _live to God_ in every capacity, and that you may be richly qualified for the “inheritance of the saints in light.” I scarce expect to see your face any more in the body; and therefore intreat you to accept this as the last token of love, from _Your sincerely affectionate dying friend_, DAVID BRAINERD. * * * * * To his Brother John, at Bethel, the Town of Christian Indians in New-Jersey, written at Boston, ♦not long before his death. ♦ “before” replaced with “not long before” per Errata _Dear Brother_, *I AM now just on the verge of _eternity_, expecting very speedily to appear in the unseen world. I feel myself no more an inhabitant on earth, and sometimes earnestly long to “depart and be with Christ.” I bless God, he has for some years given me an abiding conviction, that it is impossible for any rational creature to enjoy true happiness without being entirely “devoted to him.” Under the influence of this conviction I have in some measure acted: Oh that I had done more so! I saw both the excellency and necessity of holiness; but never in such a manner as now, when I am just brought to the sides of the grave. Oh, my brother, pursue after holiness: press towards the blessed mark; and let your thirsty soul continually say, “I shall never be sanctified till I awake in thy likeness.” And now, my dear brother, as I must press you to pursue after _personal_ holiness, to be as much in _fasting_ and _prayer_ as your health will allow, and to live above the rate of _common Christians_: so I must intreat you to attend to your public work; labour to distinguish between true and false religion; and to that end, watch the motions of God’s Spirit upon your own heart; look to him for help, and impartially compare your experiences with his word. Charge my people in the name of their _dying minister_, yea, in the name of _him who was dead and is alive_, to live and walk as becomes the gospel. Tell them, how great the expectations of God and his people are from them, and how awfully they will wound God’s cause, if they fall into vice: as well as fatally prejudice other poor Indians. *Always insist, that their joys are _delusive_, although they may have been rapt up into the _third heavens_, unless the main tenor of their _lives_ be spiritual, watchful and holy. In pressing these things, “thou shalt both save thyself, and those that hear thee.”――