“Paternal counsel to the pastor of a small congregation” by John Brown of Haddington

“The Rev. John Brown of Haddington, clarum et venerabile nomen (‘a famous and venerable name’), in a letter of paternal counsels and cautions to one of his pupils newly ordained over a small congregation, wrote thus:

‘I know the vanity of your heart, and that you will feel mortified that your congregation is very small, in comparison with those of your brethren around you; but assure yourself on the word of an old man, that when you come to give an account of them to the Lord Christ, at His judgment-seat, you will think you have had enough.’“

–John Brown of Haddington, cited by Alexander Grossart in “The Soul’s Conflict With Itself,” in The Works of Richard Sibbes, Vol. 1 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), 1: 294.