Full text of "Standard sermons, consisting of forty-four discourses, published in four volumes, in 1746, 1748, 1750, and 1760 (4th ed., 1787); to which are added nine additional sermons, published in vols. I to IV of Wesley's Collected works, 1771;"

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WESLEY'S STANDARD SERMONS

THE ' PREACHING ' PORTRAIT OF JOHN WESEEY

From a mezzotint by Bland, after the painting ly John Russell, R.A., 1773

WESLEY'S
STANDARD SERMONS

CONSISTING OF FORTY-FOUR DISCOURSES, PUBLISHED IN
FOUR VOLUMES, in 1746, 1748, 1750, and 1760 (Fourth Edition, 1787)

TO WHICH ARE ADDED

NINE ADDITIONAL SERMONS

PUBLISHED IN VOLS. I to IV OF WESLEY'S COLLECTED

WORKS, 1771

EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY

EDWARD H. SUGDEN, M.A., B.Sc, Litt.D.

(Master of Queeris College, University of Melbourne)

VOLUME I

LONDON: THE EPWORTH PRESS

Published by
THE EPWORTH PRESS

(FRANK H. CUMBERS)
25-35 City Road, London, E.C.i

New York . Toronto
Me/bourne . Capetown

/.ST, 7. 5*4

MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN

First Annotated Edition 1921
Second Annotated Edition 1935
Third Annotated Edition 195 1

DEDICATED
TO THE MEMORY OF MY BELOVED FATHER

JAMES SUGDEN

A MINISTER OF THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH
FROM 1846 TO 1884

WHOSE LIFE WAS AN EXEMPLIFICATION OF
MR. WESLEY'S RULE

You have nothing to do but to save souls ;
Therefore spend and be spent in this work.

PREFACE

It is remarkable that though John Wesley's Four Volumes of
Sermons are part of the standard of Methodist doctrine, and have
to be read and approved by all our ministers, no edition of them
with annotations has hitherto been issued. I have endeavoured
to supply this lack.

The text has been founded on Thomas Jackson's revised and
corrected edition of 1825, for which he received the special thanks
of the Conference. In its Preface he says, ' Copies of the most
authentic editions of Mr. Wesley's Sermons, printed in his lifetime,
have been carefully collated throughout ; and every effort has been
made to present an edition at once complete and correct.' A
comparison of Jackson's volumes with the earlier editions, especially
with the fourth, issued in 1787-8, proves that Jackson took the
latter as the basis of his text, and not the edition of the Sermons
published as part of the Works in 1771. This is somewhat strange,
as he was responsible for the statement that the number of Standard
Sermons was fifty-three and that they were those contained in the
1771 edition (see below, vol. ii, p. 336). Stranger still is the fact
that in the third edition of the Works, published under Jackson's
supervision in 1829, the less correct 177 1 text was reverted to, and
has been used ever since. The most important insertions and
alterations now made are enclosed in square brackets, and will be
found as follows : Vol. I, pp. 41, 43, 45, 46, 48, 51, 62, 63, 72,
77, 80, 100, 123, 207, 285, 289, 294, 360, 456, 519 ; Vol. II, 20,
32, 185, 248, 359, 517, 518, 520. In this matter Mr. A. Wallington
has rendered me valuable service in comparing the various editions.

The notes include —

(1) Some account of the occasion of the first preaching of each
sermon, as far as that could be ascertained from the Journal and
other sources ;

(2) An attempt to show the relation of Wesley's teaching to
more modern developments of theology ;

8 Preface

(3) Corrections of his exegesis, where the progress of biblical
study has made them necessary ;

(4) Identification of the many quotations from classical and
English literature which occur in the Sermons ;

(5) Occasional interpretations of words and usages which have
become more or less obsolete.

(6) Some indication of the development of Wesley's own views,
as shown by differences between the earlier and later sermons.

I am solely responsible for the opinions expressed, and I need
hardly say that they have no official authority.

My hope is that this work will attract fresh attention to these
wonderful discourses, and cause them to be more widely read and
studied. I have found them full of spiritual blessing and stimulus ;
and I am convinced that it will be of the greatest service to our
beloved Church that our ministers and people should recover
Wesley's theological standpoint, and should especially be inspired
by his passion for souls.

I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness, first of all, to the
Standard edition of the Journal, and Mr. Curnock's invaluable notes
therein contained ; and to the publications of the Wesley Historical
Society. Then I have consulted from time to time Tyerman's
Life oj Wesley, with its excellent index ; the older and more recent
lives of Wesley ; and the various histories of Methodism. Dr.
W. B. Pope's Theology has always been at my elbow ; and Dr.
Osborn's monumental edition of the Hymns and Poems of the
Wesleys has helped me to identify many of the quotations. I have
used the 1872 edition of the Collected Works, and also the 1771
edition issued by Wesley. The collection of original editions of
Wesley's publications in our Queen's College Library, numbering
some 400, has of course been constantly referred to.

E. H. S.

CONTENTS

Preface to the Sermons.

SERMON

PA'iF

General Introduction — 13

I. The Standard Sermons (pp. 13-16)

II. The Exact Relation of the Standards to the
Ministry and Membership of the Methodist
Church (pp. 17-26)

I. Salvation by Faith 35

By grace are ye saved through faith. — Eph. ii. 8.

II. The Almost Christian .... 53

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. — Acts xxvi. 28.

III. Awake, thou that Sleepest .... 68

Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. — Eph. v. 14.

IV. Scriptural Christianity .... 87

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. — Acts iv. 31.

V. Justification by Faith 112

To him that workelh not, but believeth on Him that jus ti fie th the
ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness. —
Rom. iv. 5.

VI. The Righteousness of Faith .... 131

Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the
man which doeth those things shall live by them ; &c. — Rom.
x. 5-8.

10 Contents

SERMON PAGE

VII. The Way to the Kingdom .... 147

The kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye, and believe the
gospel. — Mark i. 15.

VIII. The First-fruits of the Spirit . . . 162

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
—Rom. viii. I.

IX. The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption . 178

Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear ;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. — Rom. viii. 15.

X. The Witness of the Spirit .... 199

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God. — Rom. viii. 16.

XI. The Witness of our own Spirit . . . 219

This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in
simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but
by the grace of God, we have had oar conversation in the
world. — 2 Cor. i. 12.

XII. The Means of Grace 237

Ye are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept
them. — Mai. iii. 7.

XIII. The Circumcision of the Heart . . . 263

Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
letter. — Rom. ii. 29.

XIV. The Marks of the New Birth . . . 280

So is every one that is born of the Spirit. — John iii. 8.

XV. The Great Privilege of those that are

Born of God 298

Whosoever is bom of God doth not commit sin. — 1 John iii. 9.

Contents 1 1

SERMON PAGE

XVI. Sermon on the Mount — i .... 315

And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain r and
when He was set, His disciples came unto Him i &c. —
Matt. v. 1-4.

XVII. Sermon on the Mount — 11 .... 335

Blessed are the meek I &c. — Matt. v. 5-7.

XVIII. Sermon on the Mount — in . . . 356

Blessed are the pure in heart i &>c. — Matt. v. 8-12.

XIX. Sermon on the Mount — iv. . . . 378

Ye are the salt of the earth : &c. — Matt. v. 13-16.

XX. Sermon on the Mount — v .... 398

Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the
Prophets : I am not come to destroy : &-c. — Matt. v.
17-20.

XXI. Sermon on the Mount — vi. . . . 423

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen
of them : &c. — Matt. vi. 1-15.

XXII. Sermon on the Mount — vn . . . 448

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad
countenance t &c. — Matt. vi. 16-18.

XXIII. Sermon on the Mount — vm . . . 471

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt : &c. — Matt. vi. 19-23.

XXIV. Sermon on the Mount — ix . . . 495

No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the
one, and love the other i &c. — Matt. vi. 24-34.

XXV. Sermon on the Mount — x .... 517

Judge not, that ye be not judged : &c. — Matt. vii. 1-12.

XXVI. Sermon on the Mount — xi . . . 532

Enter ye in at the strait gate i &c. — Matt. vii. 13. 14.

OLD AND NEW NUMERATION OF SERMONS
Old New Old New Old New

III

VII

VIII

XII

XIII

XIV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

II
III

VII
VIII

X
XLV

XLV I

XLV 1 1

XLV III

XII
XIII
XIV

XIX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXXI

XXXII

XXXIII

XXXIV

XXXV

XXXVI

XV
XLIX

XVI

XVII
XVIII

XIX

XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV

XXV
XXVI
XXVII
XXVIII
XXIX
XXX
XXXI

XXXVII

XXXVIII

XXXIX

XLI

XLII

XLIII

XLIV

XLV

XLVI

XLVII

XLVIII

XLIX

LII

LIU

XXXII
XXXIII
XXXIV
XXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII

XXXVIII

XXXIX

XLI

XLII

XLIII

XLIV

LII

LIU

The numbers of the non-standard Sermons are printed in italics.

INTRODUCTION
I

THE STANDARD SERMONS

John Wesley published four volumes of Sermons, dated respec-
tively 1746, 1748, 1750, and 1760. In 1763 he prepared a Model
Deed for his preaching-houses, in which it was provided that persons
appointed by the Conference should ' have and enjoy the premises '
only on condition ' that the said persons preach no other doctrine
than is contained in Mr. Wesley's Notes upon the New Testament
and four volumes of sermons.' This clause must necessarily refer
to the four volumes already published. In a second undated
edition of the 1750 volume a sermon is added on ' Wandering
Thoughts,' bringing the total number up to forty-four. In 1771
he published an edition of his collected Works, the first four volumes
of which contained the above forty-four sermons (including ' Wan-
dering Thoughts ') and nine others, viz. :

XI. The Witness of the Spirit — Discc

XIII. On Sin in Believers

XIV. The Repentance of Believers
XV. The Great Assize
XX. The Lord our Righteousness

XLIII. The Scripture Way of Salvation

LI. The Good Steward

LII. The Reformation of Manners

LIII. On the Death of Mr. Whitefield

This makes a total of fifty- three.1

In 1787-8 an edition in eight volumes was published, the first
four of which were identical with the volumes of 1746, 1748, 1750,
and 1760, including the sermon on ' Wandering Thoughts ' ; but did
not contain the nine sermons added in the edition of 1771. After
1787 the form of the words in the Model Deed was altered to ' the
first four volumes of sermons. ' The text of the present Model Deed

irse II

dated 1767

•

„ 1767

„ 1758

:, 1765

„ 1765

„ 1768

„ 1763

„ 1770

1 In the present work the above
nine sermons are placed after the
forty-four, and are numbered XLV

to LIII respectively. This numera-
tion is followed throughout. See
table opposite.

14 Introduction

makes the standard to be ' what is contained in certain Notes on
the New Testament, commonly reputed to be the Notes of the
said John Wesley, and . . . the First Four Volumes of Sermons
commonly reputed to be written and published by him.'

For a long time it was assumed that the Fifty-three sermons in
the first four volumes of the Works were intended ; but the question
was raised by the Rev. R. Green in 1894 as to which sermons really
constituted the Standard ; and after obtaining Counsel's opinion,
the Conference of 1914 placed on record that the phrase in the
Model Deed applies to the first four volumes of Wesley's Sermons,
published in eight volumes in 1787-8 ; and that the total number
of sermons is forty-four. The case submitted to Counsel, and the
opinion of Mr. Owen Thompson, are given below, Vol. II, pp. 331-40.

The legal position is now therefore settled ; but it is interesting
to inquire why Wesley introduced the nine additional sermons
in the 177 1 edition. That he reverted to the original editions in
the four volumes of 1787-8 only shows that he realized the legal
difficulty that would have arisen had he changed the standard
of doctrine set out in the deeds executed before 1771 ; not that he
had changed his mind as to the importance of the added sermons.
Why then did he add them ? In the preface to the 1771 Works
(I quote here and elsewhere from a copy of the original edition
presented to the Library of our Theological Hall in Melbourne
by the late Dr. Osborn in 1870), par. 2, he says : ' I wanted to
methodize these tracts, to range them under proper heads, placing
those together which were on similar subjects and in such order
that one might illustrate another. This it is easy to see may be
of use to the serious reader, who will then readily observe that there
is scarce any subject of importance, either in practical or
controversial divinity, which is not treated of more or less, either
professedly or occasionally.' His aims were thus elucidation and
completeness of presentation. He knew that the previous four
volumes formed part of the legal standard of doctrine for his
preachers ; and he could not alter that without creating difficulties.
Moreover, he had already said in the preface to the volume of 1746,
' I am not conscious that there is any one point of doctrine, on which
I am accustomed to speak in public, which is not here, incidentally,
if not professedly, laid before every Christian reader.' But the
twenty-five years which had passed since their first publication
had brought out certain objections, and certain new proofs, in
regard to doctrines dealt with in the first editions ; and there was

Introduction 15

no reason why he should not in this 1771 edition — which he might
reasonably expect to be the last, seeing that he was now in his
sixty-eighth year — introduce in their proper place additional
sermons, not as changing the standard, but as making clearer and
more explicit what was already there. Hence he inserted after
the first sermon on the Witness of the Spirit a second discourse
on the same subject. Time had shown it to be ' a grand part of
the testimony which God has given ' to the Methodists ; the
experience of a great multitude had confirmed its truth ; the
preaching of it had aroused violent and determined opposition ;
and there had been some dangerous misunderstandings as to its
meaning. These points are all dealt with in the second discourse.
The strong teaching of No. XI, in which it might seem to be argued
that no one who ever committed sin could be called a Christian,
needed some qualification ; and at its conclusion in the 177 1 edition
Wesley says, ' It may easily be observed that the preceding discourse
describes the experience of those that are strong in faith. But
hereby those that are weak in faith may be discouraged : to prevent
which the following discourse may be of use.' Then is added
No. XLVI, on Sin in Believers, and No. XLVII, on The Repentance
of Believers, which is the natural corollary of No. XLVI. There
was no sermon in the original forty-four treating explicitly of the
Last Judgement ; hence is inserted for the sake of completeness
No. XLVIII, The Great Assize. The next addition to the original
list is No. XLIX, The Lord our Righteousness, which is inserted,
as pars. 6-9 declare, to show the consistency of Wesley's teaching
in 1765 with all that he has said ' for near eight-and-twenty years ' ;
and to make clear his attitude towards the Mystics, Quakers,
Presbyterians, and Independents ; and specifically towards Law,
Barclay, and Taylor (par. 16). No. L, The Scripture Way of Salva-
tion, is on the old topic of Justification by Faith ; but it is especially
intended to vindicate Wesley from the charge which ' has been
roundly and vehemently affirmed for these five-and-twenty years '
that he taught sanctification by works (par. iii. 3). In the fourth
volume of the Works, after including the remaining sermons of
the 1760 edition, and the tracts which there follow, he found that
he had still about 80 pages to fill, in order to make the volume
uniform in size with the first three, which have respectively 350,
354, and 355 pages ; he therefore inserted after the sermons and
before the tracts, three sermons preached on special occasions,
Nos. LI, LII, and LIII, which bring the number of pages up to 353

16 Introduction

A similar consideration serves to show why the Great Assize sermon
was placed where it stands (No. XV in the first volume). Wesley
wished to make the volumes in the Works correspond, as closely
as he could, with the four volumes previously published. Now
the second volume (of 1748) begins with the sermon preached at
St. Mary's, Oxford, on The Circumcision of the Heart on January 1,
1733, as the first had begun with the Oxford sermon on Salvation
by Faith ; and it includes exactly the sermons in the second volume
of the Works, excepting No. XLIX, The Lord our Righteousness.
Unless The Circumcision of the Heart were put into the first volume,
or some other sermon added in its place, the first volume would
have been twenty-four pages short, in comparison with the remaining
three; by inserting The Great Assize in Vol. I, the pages are made
UP to 350 ; and The Circumcision of the Heart is retained as the
first in Vol. II. The insertion of No. L (The Scripture Way of
Salvation) in Vol. Ill of the 1771 edition is to be accounted for
in the same way ; it brings Vol. Ill up to 355 pages.
Our conclusion, therefore, is —

(1) Nos. LI, LII, and LIII have nothing to do with the Standard
of Doctrine :

(2) Nos. XLVI and XLVII are intended as a qualification of
the teaching of No. XI, and whilst not part of the Standard, are
important as an authoritative interpretation of No. XI ; and No.
XLV stands in the same relation to No. X.

(3) No. XLVIII is not an addition to the Standard of Doctrine ;
for its teaching is quite clearly contained in the Notes on the New
Testament ; but it is intended to secure that the doctrine of the Last
Things shall be definitely recognized as part of Wesley's teaching.

(4) Nos. XLIX and L are intended to show that Wesley had
not changed his views during the twenty-five years since the publica-
tion of the first volume of the Sermons on the questions therein
treated.

Therefore, whilst I fully concur in the decision of the Conference
of 1914, 1 have thought it best to include all the fifty-three sermons
in the 177 1 edition : the earlier additions because they help to
interpret the Standard Sermons ; and the last three, partly for the
sake of completeness, and partly for the special interest of the
occasions on which they were preached.

The Forty-four Sermons are given below in the order in which they
appeared in the volumes of 1746, 1748, 1750, and 1760, and the
remaining nine are placed at the end, and renumbered accordingly.

Introduction 17

THE EXACT RELATION OF THE STANDARDS TO THE

MINISTRY AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE

METHODIST CHURCH

Methodism had originally no doctrinal test (except by implication)
for church, or rather, society membership. ' There is only one
condition previously required in those who desire admission into
these societies, viz. : "a desire to flee from the wrath to come,
to be saved from their sins," ' and this is to be proved by their
avoiding evil, doing good, and attending upon the ordinances of
God, As regards our members, therefore, no doctrinal test is
imposed, save in so far as a desire to be saved from sin and the
wrath to come, and a saving faith in Jesus Christ, imply certain
doctrinal beliefs. But for our ministers, local preachers, and
office-bearers certain doctrinal tests are prescribed, and these are
safeguarded, first, by the trustees of the churches, second, by the
Conference and its subordinate courts, and, third, by the conscience
of the individual concerned.

First, then, as to the powers and duties of trustees. The doctrinal
standard to which every minister of the Methodist Church is required
to conform is legally defined in the Model Deed as follows : ' No
person or persons whomsoever shall ... be permitted to preach
. . . who shall maintain, promulgate, or teach any doctrine or
practice contrary to what is contained in certain Notes on the
New Testament, commonly reputed to be the notes of the said
John Wesley, and in the first four volumes of sermons commonly
reputed to be written and published by him.' This formula goes
back to the original Model Deed prepared by Wesley and incorpor-
ated by him in the Large Minutes, where the words run :(j Provided
always that the said persons preach no other doctrine than is con-
tained in Mr. Wesley's Notes upon the New Testament and four
volumes of sermons.' Consequently it is one of the duties of
trustees ' to permit no person to preach or conduct worship on the
trust property who maintains, promulgates, or teaches any doctrine
or practice contrary to what is contained in John Wesley's Notes
on the New Testament, and in the first four volumes1 of his
sermons as at present published.'

So far the position is clear. No minister or local preacher can

1 Now. as decided in 1914, forty-four sermons.
w.s.s. 1 — 2

1 8 Introduction

legally preach any doctrine contrary to the Notes and Sermons
(hereinafter referred to as the Standards). No question is raised
as to his personal belief ; so far as the Model Deed is concerned,
he may believe what he likes, provided he does not preach anything
contrary to the Standards, and he is at perfect liberty to preach
new doctrines, provided they are not contrary to the Standards.
As to whether he violates this condition or not, the trustees of the
churches are judges, and it is obvious that no further power could
reasonably be given to them. They cannot exclude any one from
the pulpit on suspicion or even on certainty that he is not orthodox
in his belief. They can only judge by what he says in the pulpit,
and if that is not contrary to the Standards, they cannot take any
action.

The Conference, however, must, and does, go further than this.
Every candidate for the ministry must be certified by the superin-
tendent who proposes him that he ' has read and approves ' the
Standards. Before ordination he is required ' to pass an oral
theological examination, including his acquaintance with Wesley's
works, especially the first fifty-three1 Sermons and the Notes on
the New Testament,' and, further, ' to be examined as to . . . his
belief in the doctrines of the Church, and to promise that if his
views of doctrine change he will quietly retire from the ministry.'
At his ordination he is asked two doctrinal questions — (i) ' Are
you persuaded that the Holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all
doctrine required of necessity for eternal salvation through faith
of Jesus Christ ? and are you determined to teach nothing as
required of necessity to eternal salvation but that which you shall
be persuaded may be concluded and proved by the Scripture ?
(2) ' I have further to inquire whether you have read the first four
volumes of Mr. Wesley's Sermons and his Notes on the New Testa-
ment, and whether you believe that the system of doctrine therein
contained is in accordance with the Holy Scriptures. ' Subsequently
every minister must answer for himself the question asked annually
at the District Synod, ' Does he believe and preach our doctrines ? '

It will be observed, however, that no law is laid down as to what
action the Conference shall take in case the answers to any of
these questions are in the negative. As the law stands no candidate
can be brought forward who does not ' approve ' the Standards ;
subsequently inquiry is made annually as to his belief in them,
but it is nowhere said that the Conference must remove him from

1 Ibid.

Introduction 19

the ministry if his answers are in the negative ; it has apparently
full power to deal with each case as it may judge best, provided,
always, that the legal requirement of the Model Deed is not violated.
At the same time the onus of responsibility is laid upon each
individual by his promise that if he changes his views of doctrine
he will quietly retire. If, therefore, a minister is clear that his
view of any doctrine is contrary to that contained in the Standards,
he is bound by his promise to resign, though it would apparently
be competent for the Conference to decline to accept his resignation.
If, however, his views change, but in such a way that he still believes
them to be not contrary to the Standards, he is not bound to resign,
though it is in the power of the Conference to examine into his
views and to act upon its own judgement accordingly.

The two important questions therefore to determine are : (1)
What exactly are the doctrines taught in the Standards in which
belief is obligatory ? and (2) what is meant by a belief being
' contrary to the Standards ' ?

As to the first point, the phrases used vary ; the candidate must
approve the Standards ; the man who is to be ordained is asked
whether he believes that the system of doctrine contained in them
is in accordance with the Holy Scripture which he has just declared
to contain all doctrine required of necessity for eternal salvation ;
the ordained minister is asked whether he believes ' our doctrines ' ;
and it must be presumed that these various phrases — ' the doctrine
contained in ' the Standards, ' the system of doctrine contained in
the Standards,' ' our doctrines ' — were intended to be practically
synonymous, and each phrase must be allowed to throw light upon
the others. The second phrase shows that it is the system of
doctrine in the Standards, not isolated statements to be found in
them, that is intended ; and the third phrase, which Wesley con-
stantly used — ' our doctrines ' — is defined in the original edition
of the Large Minutes under question 59 (' What can be done in
order to the future union of the Methodists ? '), where Wesley
suggests that all the ministers should sign an agreement ' to preach
the old Methodist doctrines, and no other, contained in the Minutes
of the Conference.' Reference to the Minutes shows that these
doctrines are justification by faith, entire sanctification, the atone-
ment of our Lord, assurance of pardon by the witness of the Spirit,
the impossibility of a sincere seeker after the Truth being lost,
and free grace as opposed to predestinarianism.

The eternal punishment of the finally impenitent is also affirmed,

20 Introduction

but it is expressly stated that it only applies to those who have
heard the Gospel. The phrase ' our doctrines,' therefore, does not
mean the whole round of Christian orthodoxy, but specifically the
doctrines concerned with sin and salvation, which marked out the
early Methodists. And this is the system of doctrine contained in
the sermons, as a study of their titles at once demonstrates. Other
doctrines are incidentally mentioned, but only these are system-
atically treated, and it was of these and no others that Wesley was
thinking when he demanded from his helpers that they should
believe and preach ' our doctrines. ' He would never have described
the Thirty-nine Articles as ' our ' doctrines ; they contain the
doctrines of the Church of England, and Wesley, of course, accepted
them himself ; but by ' our ' doctrines he meant the Methodist
teaching peculiar to himself and his followers at that time in regard
to salvation by faith and Christian holiness. That this is so is shown
by the fact that two questions are asked in the Ordination Service ;
if the second question had been intended to cover the whole ground
of the Christian faith, it would be unnecessary to ask the first as
well. But the inspiration and sufficiency of Scripture is not a
specifically Methodist doctrine ; it belongs to the whole Protestant
Church ; and so the question on the system of doctrine in the
Standards does not include it, and it is therefore separately asked.
' Our main doctrines,' says Wesley, ' which include all the rest, are
repentance, faith, and holiness. The first of these we account, as
it were, the porch of religion ; the next, the door ; the third,
religion itself.' As Dr. Fitchett, in his chapter on ' The Effective
Doctrines of Methodism,' l has said, ' The enduring controversies
which have torn asunder the Christian Church lie in what may be
called the realm of metaphysical theology. And the working
theology of Methodism, since it is supremely occupied with a great
cluster of evangelical doctrines, has escaped these controversies.'
John Wesley was a Pragmatist before Professor James had
popularized that term. ' His theology,' if I may again quote Dr.
Fitchett, ' is one which links doctrine to conduct. It has the salt
of reality. Here are doctrines realized in human experience and
tested by that experience. ' ' Our ' doctrines include no such
metaphysical theory of the Trinity as is embodied in the Athanasian
Creed. ' I dare not insist,' says Wesley in his sermon on the Trinity,
' upon any one's using the word Trinity or Person. I use them
myself because I know of none better, but if any man has any

Wesley and his Century, pp. 423-34.

Introduction 21

scruple concerning them, who shall constrain him to use them?
I cannot.' The fact of original sin Wesley strongly maintains,
but he expressly disclaims any specific theory about it. ' It is
quite beyond my understanding; it is a depth which I cannot
fathom.' And, again, ' Some have attempted to explain this
intricate affair. I do not commend their wisdom. I do not
attempt to explain even how I at this moment stretch out my hand
or move my finger.' And in the same paragraph is a profound
sentence, applying to much more than this particular doctrine :
' Our perception of truth cannot be false ; our understanding or
apprehension of things may.' As to the misleading connotation
of the phrase ' total ' depravity, he says (Minutes, 1745) : ' How
can we maintain that all works done before we have a sense of the
pardoning love of God are sin, and as such an abomination to
Him ? The works of him who has heard the Gospel and does not
believe are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to
be done. And yet we know not how to say that they are an abomi-
nation to the Lord in him who feareth God, and from that principle
does the best he can. ' The fact of the atonement shines luminously
in every sermon ; but there is no attempt to frame a systematic
theory even of this great central truth. There is no theory of the
hypostatic union of the two natures in our Lord, though the facts
of His true deity and perfect manhood are definitely taught.

Every one knows Wesley's profession that he was homo unius
libri — ' a man of one book ' ; but, as Dr Fitchett has pointed out
in the chapter above referred to, ' Methodism is committed to no
special theory as to the inspiration of Scripture.' Indeed, Wesley
was a critic, both higher and lower, before those much misunder-
stood terms were invented. In the preface to the Notes on the
New Testament he says : ' Those various readings which have a
vast majority of ancient copies and translations on their side, I
have without scruple incorporated with the text ; which I have
divided all along according to the matter it contains.' In his
preface to the Notes on the Old Testament he declares it to be his
purpose ' to give the direct literal meaning of every verse, of every
sentence, and, as far as I am able, of every word in the oracles of
God. My intention is to make men think and assist them in
thinking.' And in the preface to the Book of Joshua he states
almost exactly the modern critical view : ' These books (Joshua to
Esther) were probably collections of the authentic records of the
nation which some of the prophets were divinely direcfed and

22 Introduction

assisted to put together. It seems the substance of the several
histories was written under divine direction when the events had
just happened, and long after put into the form wherein they stand
now, perhaps all by the same hand.' His suggestion that these
books may not have taken their present form until after the time
of Ahasuerus (the Greek Xerxes) goes as far as anything that the
modern critics have suggested. But it is at least clear that the
documentary theory of the origin of these books was the one which
he adopted.

As to the subject of the final doom of the impenitent, he repeats
and applies with the utmost earnestness the Scriptural doctrine
of eternal punishment ; but he expressly says in one of his latest
sermons (on Living without God) : ' I do not conceive that any
man living has a right to sentence all the heathen and Mahometan
world to damnation.' And again: 'I believe the merciful God
regards the lives and tempers of men more than their ideas. I
believe He respects the goodness of the heart rather than the
clearness of the head ; and that if the heart of a man be filled with
the humble, gentle, patient love of God and man, God will not cast
him into everlasting fire because his ideas are not clear or because
his conceptions are confused.'

This was the state of the case at Wesley's death ; every candidate
for the ministry was required to satisfy the Conference as to
his belief in Methodist doctrine ; but after he had been once
received into full connexion, no further inquiry was made unless
some charge of failure in orthodoxy was brought against him.
But at the Conference of 1812 it was directed that at the annual
District Meeting certain questions should be asked in regard to
each minister ; amongst them being this, ' Does he believe and
preach our doctrines ? ' and in the year 18 14 the Conference, feeling
the need of more exact definition, made a list of the doctrines to
which the ' unequivocal assent ' of every candidate for ordination
is required. ' A Trinity of Persons in the unity of the Godhead ;
the total depravity of all men by nature in consequence of Adam's
fall ; the atonement made by Christ for the sins of all the human
race; justification by faith; the absolute necessity of holiness
both in heart and life ; the direct witness of the Spirit ; and the
proper eternity of future rewards and punishments. And in 1827,
in consequence of Dr. Adam Clarke's teaching in his Commentary,
the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of Christ was added to the list,
and it was directed that every candidate for ordination should be

Introduction 23

expressly examined on this point, in spite of Dr. Clarke's protest.
' Such tests of church fellowship and ministerial communion,' he
said, ' never disgraced Methodism until now. Mr. Wesley would
have abhorred such, as he would have abhorred the devil, whatever
attachment he might have had to the general sense of the doctrine.'
However, the resolution was passed, and has never been repealed.
It was an unfortunate step, taken in a moment of panic, which
happily has had no successors, and, I trust, never will.
The actual law, then, is as follows :

(1) Negatively, that it is illegal for any one, minister or layman,
to preach in our pulpits any doctrine contrary to the Standards.

(2) Positively, that every minister shall be asked annually
whether he believes and preaches our doctrines, the meaning and
content of that somewhat vague expression being determined by
Wesley's usage and by the list above quoted from the Minutes of
1814, plus the Doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of our Lord.

(3) That the procedure to be taken in the event of a negative
answer to that question is nowhere determined by our laws, but is
left in the hands of the Conference.

(4) That any minister who changes his views on doctrine,
presumably in such a way that his new views are contrary to the
Standards, is bound by his promise given before his ordination
quietly to retire.

It is necessary now to inquire what is intended by a doctrine
' contrary ' to the Standards. We must carefully distinguish
between ' difference ' and ' contrariety.' Things may be different
without being contrary. The flower is different from the bud, but
not contrary to it. The man is different from the child, but not
contrary to him. And so our statements, even of the peculiar
Methodist doctrines, may be different from, without being contrary
to, John Wesley's. There is a development in doctrine as well as
in life ; indeed, life without development, whether in Nature or in
thought, is inconceivable. For example, the wonderfully enlight-
ening theory of the Atonement worked out in Dr. Scott Lidgett's
Fernley Lecture ' is different from any view that is formulated by
Wesley ; but it is a development, not a contradiction, of Wesley's
teaching. Similarly, the view of eternal punishment which
eliminates from it the idea of physical torture differs from that
suggested in the Standards, but does not contradict it. The
essential deity of our Lord is not contradicted when the voluntary

1 The Spiritual Principle of the Atonement, 1897.

24 Introduction

limitations which His humanity imposed upon Him are emphasized
more strongly than they are in Wesley's writings.

To deny the legitimacy of such developments is to take our
stand with Pius X and the encyclical named with unconscious
irony Pascendi gregis ; we cannot allow that the development of
theology ceased with John Wesley, any more than with that prince
of theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas. To think such a thing
possible comes perilously near to blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit, who has been given to guide the Church into all truth, and
assuredly did not close His work in 1791 when Wesley died. For
this sin there is no forgiveness ; the Church that finalizes its doctrines
at any point in its history has sealed its own death-warrant.

That Wesley would never have dreamed of blocking by the
dead hand of his personal authority all future developments in
theology is clear from his own definite statement in the preface
to the Sermons : ' But some may say, I have mistaken the way
myself, although I take upon me to teach it to others. It is very
possible that I have. But I trust, whereinsoever I have been
mistaken, my mind is open to conviction. I sincerely desire to
be better informed. ' This is not the language of a man who believes
that he has finalized the truth, or who would desire to impose his
own conclusions as infallible and unchangeable upon the whole
future Church.

So far I have been dealing purely with what may be called
' Statute Law.' But evidently this law needs some authoritative
interpretation ; for many questions may reasonably be raised as
to its precise meaning. Now, such interpretation can only be
given by the supreme court of the Church, and, just as the common
law of England is absolutely authoritative as an interpretation
by the courts of the meaning of the Acts of Parliament, so the
decisions of our Supreme Doctrinal Court, the British Wesleyan
Conference, must govern our interpretation of our Standards of
Doctrine.

Such decisions may be given explicitly, when a charge of want
of orthodoxy is made against some minister ; as e.g. in the case of
Dr. Adam Clarke in 1827 (a summary of all such decisions of Confer-
ence would be a valuable addition to our Methodist literature) ;
or implicitly, by publication in such a series as the Fernley Lectures ;
or by failure to institute proceedings against a minister whose
published views do not accord with the hitherto usual interpreta-
tions of our doctrines.

Introduction 25

Finally, it is of interest to determine precisely what power the
Conference has to deal with our Standards of Doctrine. It could
not, without an Act of Parliament, alter the provisions of the
Model Deed, or permit any doctrine contrary to the Standards
to be preached in our pulpits. It has, however, power to define
what our doctrines are, as was done in 1814 ; and to decide whether
any specific doctrine is or is not contrary to the Standards. It
has also full power to determine its own action in the case of any
minister who does not believe and preach our doctrines, or any
one of them ; save that it cannot permit him to preach any doctrine
ruled to be contrary to the Standards in any of our trust properties.
Assuming that the Conference ruled that a given doctrine was not
so contrary, and any body of trustees disagreed with that ruling, the
ultimate decision would rest with the Courts of Law, and finally
with the House of Lords.

Methodism, then, has on the one hand a very definite body of
doctrines to which she rejoices to be bound. ' It asserts the liberty
of the moral agent, and indicates the spiritual nature and essential
royalty of man. It is very clear as to the atoning work of Christ
and the office and work of the Spirit ; it insists on the necessity
of personal holiness, and holds out the possibility of a victory over
the apostate nature by affirming a sanctification which is entire,
and a perfection in love which is not ultimate and final, but pro-
gressive in its development for ever. It looks on man as utterly
lost on account of sin. But warm and generous as the sunlight of
God, it looks every man in the face, and says, " Christ died for
you." It preaches the glad news that to every believer in Christ
the invited Spirit will come and enthrone Himself in the heart as a
witness of Sonship and the living Comforter. It preaches the
dreadful truth of eternal punishment, and warns men to flee from
the wrath to come ; and it makes known the everlasting blessedness
of those who fight the good fight of faith, and obtain the crown
of righteousness.' To this eloquent summary given by Rev.
Charles H. Kelly 1 1 need not add a word.

On the other hand, the utmost freedom of thought is granted
to us on subjects which, however important, do not essentially
touch these vital doctrines. To quote a witty American Bishop,
we do not believe that no one can enter the kingdom of God except
through the mouth of Jonah's whale ; nor do we hold that the
fact that our fathers looked at things with their own eyes binds

1 Wesley, the Man, his Teaching, and his Work, p. 15.

26 Introduction

us never to look at them with ours. I am bold to affirm that no
Church combines so happily security as to the essential doctrines
of salvation with liberty of thought as to all questions of speculative
theology. ' In this age of intellectual daring,' to quote from
Dr. Clifford's address at the Wesley Centenary celebrations, ' we
must not alienate the young mind by mental cowardice.' We
must on occasion be ready to give sympathy and guidance to our
young people, who are disturbed and perplexed by the discussions
which they find in every newspaper and magazine. But the main
part of our ministry we shall be wise to devote to those great
doctrines of sin and salvation by which men live. Let us never
forget that we are set in the Church ' for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of ministering, for the building up of the body of Christ,
till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ.'

SERMONS

O N

Several Occafions :

I N

THREE VOLUMES.

B Y

JOHN WESLEY, M.A.

Fellow of Lincoln-College, Oxford.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

Printed by W. Strahan: And fold by
T. Trye, near Gray-'s-Inn Gate, Holbourn;
and at the Foundery, near Upper. Moorfields.
Mdccxlvi.

Facsimile of Titlepage to First Edition.

In Wesley's proposals for printing three volumes of
Sermons by subscription dated September 7, 1745, the
price is fixed at 2s. 6d. each volume ' in quires.' He hopes
that the first volume will be in the press by Michaelmas,
and delivered to subscribers by or before Christmas.

The volume is dated 1746. It is \zmo, pp. xii, 250.
It has no Table of Contents or Index, but has 12 Sermons
(Nos. I-XII) and a list of 'Books published by Mr. John
and Charles Wesley' which fills two pages and contains
seventy items, the last of which is ' Sermons on Several
Occasions,' vol. I, price 2s. 6d.

Second Edition, London : W. Bowyer, 1754 (identical
with first edition) ; Third, Bristol : W. Pine, 1769 ;
Fourth, Paramore, 1787 / Fifth, 1796.

PREFACE TO THE SERMONS

1. The following Sermons contain the substance of what I
have been preaching for between eight and nine years last past.
During that time I have frequently spoken in public, on every
subject in the ensuing collection ; and I am not conscious that
there is any one point of doctrine, on which I am accustomed
to speak in public, which is not here, incidentally, if not profes-
sedly, laid before every Christian reader. Every serious man
who peruses these will therefore see, in the clearest manner,
what these doctrines are which I embrace and teach as the
essentials of true religion.

2. But I am thoroughly sensible, these are not proposed in
such a manner as some may expect. Nothing here appears
in an elaborate, elegant, or oratorical dress. If it had been

Par. i. This preface appears in the
1746 volume of the Sermons ; the
' eight or nine years last past ' cover
the period since Wesley's conversion
in 1738. It is to be noticed that
these sermons were written in order
to be preached ; not in the first in-
stance with a view to publication.
A study of the texts recorded in the
Journal, and of the Sermon List ap-
pended to the Standard Edition of
the Journal by Mr. Curnock, shows
that the majority of them were actu-
ally preached, some of them many
times. Methodism is the only branch
of the Christian Church which bases
its theology on preached sermons ;
hence the emphasis which it lays
upon the practical doctrines of re-
ligion, and the comparatively small
importance which it attaches to the

more speculative and theoretical
aspects of divine truth.

2. Compare the following para-
graph in The Connoisseur, August 1,
r754. which almost suggests that the
authors, Colman and Thornton, had
seen this preface. It is not unlikely
that they may have done so, for
they were both Christ Church men,
and could not fail to know some-
thing of the Wesleys. ' This affec-
tation ' (i.e. the use of long words
and technical terms) ' is never more
offensive than when it gets into the
pulpit. The greater part of almost
every audience that sits under our
preachers are ignorant and illiterate,
and should therefore have every-
thing delivered to them in as plain,
simple, and intelligible a manner as
possible. Hard words, if they have

30 Preface to the Sermons

my desire or design to write thus, my leisure would not permit.
But, in truth, I, at present, designed nothing less ; for I now
write, as I generally speak, ad populum — to the bulk of man-
kind, to those who neither relish nor understand the art of
speaking ; but who, notwithstanding, are competent judges
of those truths which are necessary to present and future
happiness. I mention this, that curious readers may spare
themselves the labour of seeking for what they will not find.

3. I design plain truth for plain people : therefore, of set
purpose, I abstain from all nice and philosophical speculations ;
from all perplexed and intricate reasonings ; and, as far as
possible, from even the show of learning, unless in sometimes
citing the original Scripture. I labour to avoid all words which
are not easy to be understood, all which are not used in common
life ; and, in particular, those kinds of technical terms that so
frequently occur in Bodies of Divinity ; those modes of speak-
ing which men of reading are intimately acquainted with, but
which to common people are an unknown tongue. Yet, I am
not assured, that I do not sometimes slide into them unawares ;
it is so extremely natural to imagine that a word which is
familiar to ourselves is so to all the world.

4. Nay, my design is, in some sense, to forget all that ever
I have read in my life. I mean to speak, in the general, as if

any meaning, can only serve to Wesley sometimes does this, but it

make them stare ; and they can is usually to justify some rendering

never be edified by what they do not or interpretation which differs from

understand. Young clergymen, just that of the Authorized Version,
come from the University, are proud 4. The qualifying phrases ' in some

of showing the world that they have sense,' ' in general,' must be allowed

been reading the Fathers, and are their full weight. Wesley was an

fond of entering on the most abstruse omnivorous reader. In the very

points of divinity. But they would paragraph in the letter quoted by

employ their time more to their own him in the Journal, May 14, 1765,

credit, as well as the improvement in which he says, ' In 1730 I began

of their hearers, if they would rather to be homo unius libri, to study

endeavour to explain and enforce the (comparatively) no book but the

precepts of the Apostles and Evan- Bible,' he mentions his indebtedness

gelists, than retail the confused to Taylor's Holy Living and Law's

hypotheses of crabbed metaphy- Christian Perfection and Serious Call.

sicians.' In the so-called Large Minutes, pub-

3. ' The original Scripture,' i.e. lished 1770, Question 32, he says to

the scripture in the original Greek. his preachers: ' 1. Read the most

Preface to the Sermons

I had never read one author, ancient or modern (always ex-
cepting the inspired). I am persuaded, that, on the one hand,
this may be a means of enabling me more clearly to express
the sentiments of my heart, while I simply follow the chain of
my own thoughts, without entangling myself with those of
other men ; and that, on the other, I shall come with fewer
weights upon my mind, with less of prejudice and preposses-
sion, either to search for myself, or to deliver to others, the
naked truths of the gospel.

5. To candid, reasonable men, I am not afraid to lay open
what have been the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have
thought, I am a creature of a day, passing through life as an
arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God, and
returning to God : just hovering over the great gulf ; till, a
few moments hence, I am no more seen ; I drop into an un-
changeable eternity ! I want to know one thing — the way to
heaven ; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself
has condescended to teach the way ; for this very end He came

useful books, and that regularly and
constantly. ..." But I read only
the Bible." Then you ought to
teach others to read only the Bible,
and by parity of reason, to hear only
the Bible : but if so, you need preach
no more. Just so said George Bell.
And what is the fruit ? Why, now
he neither reads the Bible nor any-
thing else. This is rank enthusiasm.
If you need no book but the Bible,
you are got above St. Paul. He
wanted others too. " Bring the
books," says he, " but especially the
parchments," those wrote on parch-
ment. " But I have no taste for
reading." Contract a taste for it
by use, or return to your trade.'

5. The concluding sentences ex-
plain the meaning of the previous
paragraph. Wesley's method was,
first, to study the Bible with prayer
and meditation ; then to consult the
experience of others ; and finally,
to examine what had been written

on the subject. This is expressed
also in the general Preface to the
Works (1771), par. 4 : ' In this edition
I present to serious and candid men
my last and maturest thoughts :
agreeable, I hope, to Scripture, rea-
son, and Christian antiquity.' He
recognizes the value of Christian ex-
perience, which is the living voice
of the Holy Spirit, and of the tradi-
tion of the Church ; but in complete
accordance with the Protestant view,
he puts the Bible first ; primus inter
pares, we might now be disposed to
say ; but still primus.

Many have called attention to the
splendour of this whole paragraph.
It recalls irresistibly the speech of
Edwin's chief, as given by Bede
(Eccles. Hist. ii. 13) : ' The present
life of man, O King, seems to me, in
comparison of that Time which is
unknown to us, like to a sparrow
swiftly flying through the room, well
warmed with the fire made in the

32 Preface to the Sermons

from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me
that book ! At any price, give me the book of God ! I have
it : here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius
libri. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit
down alone : only God is here. In His presence I open, I
read His book ; for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is
there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read ? Does
anything appear dark or intricate ? I lift up my heart to the
Father of Lights : ' Lord, is it not Thy word, " If any man
lack wisdom, let him ask of God " ? Thou " givest liberally,
and upbraidest not." Thou hast said, " If any be willing to do
Thy will, he shall know." I am willing to do, let me know, Thy
will.' I then search after and consider parallel passages of
Scripture, ' comparing spiritual things with spiritual.' I
meditate thereon with all the attention and earnestness of
which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remains, I con-
sult those who are experienced in the things of God ; and then
the writings whereby, being dead, they yet speak. And what
I thus learn, that I teach.

6. I have accordingly set down in the following sermons
what I find in the Bible concerning the way to heaven ; with
a view to distinguish this way of God from all those which are
the inventions of men. I have endeavoured to describe the
true, the scriptural, experimental religion, so as to omit nothing
which is a real part thereof, and to add nothing thereto which
is not. And herein it is more especially my desire, first, to
guard those who are just setting their faces toward heaven (and
who, having little acquaintance with the things of God, are the

midst of it, . . . while the storms of as we shall see hereafter ; but it
rain and snow prevail abroad ; the never interfered with his earnest de-
sparrow, I say, flying in at one door sire to make life better for men here
and immediately out at another, . . . — mentally and physically, as well
vanishes out of your sight, returning as spiritually.

from one winter to another.' Homo unius libri — ' a man of one

' I want to know one thing — the book.' The phrase goes back to

way to heaven.' This view of re- the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas,

ligion, as being mainly concerned ' Cavete hominem unius libri ' ; which

with the securing of heaven, affects is quoted by Jeremy Taylor, where

to some extent the perspective of Wesley probably found it.
Wesley's teaching about salvation,

Preface to the Sermons 33

more liable to be turned out of the way), from formality, from
mere outside religion, which has almost driven heart-religion
out of the world ; and, secondly, to warn those who know the
religion of the heart, the faith which worketh by love, lest at any
time they make void the law through faith, and so fall back into
the snare of the devil.

7. By the advice and at the request of some of my friends,
I have prefixed to the other sermons contained in this volume,
three sermons of my own, and one of my brother's, preached
before the University of Oxford. My design required some
discourses on those heads ; and I preferred these before any
others, as being a stronger answer than any which can be drawn
up now, to those who have frequently asserted that we have
changed our doctrine of late, and do not preach now what we
did some years ago. Any man of understanding may now
judge for himself, when he has compared the latter with the
former sermons.

8. But some may say, I have mistaken the way myself,
although I take upon me to teach it to others. It is probable
many will think this ; and it is very possible that I have.
But I trust, whereinsoever I have mistaken, my mind is open
to conviction. I sincerely desire to be better informed. I say
to God and man, ' What I know not, teach thou me ! '

9. Are you persuaded you see more clearly than me ? It
is not unlikely that you may. Then treat me as you would
desire to be treated yourself upon a change of circumstances.
Point me out a better way than I have yet known. Show me
it is so, by plain proof of Scripture. And if I linger in the path
I have been accustomed to tread, and am therefore unwilling
to leave it, labour with me a little ; take me by the hand, and
lead me as I am able to bear. But be not displeased if I entreat
you not to beat me down in order to quicken my pace : I can
go but feebly and slowly at best ; then, I should not be able to

8 and 9. The modesty of par. 8 his gift of humour, of which perhaps

sufficiently vindicates Wesley from the best example is to be found in

any intention of setting up his con- the preface to his Complete English

elusions as the final word in theology. Dictionary. See Green's Bibliography,

The playful irony of par. 9 illustrates No. 162.
w.s.s. 1 — 3

34 Preface to the Sermons

go at all. May I not request of you, further, not to give me
hard names, in order to bring me into the right way ? Suppose
I were ever so much in the wrong, I doubt this would not set
me right. Rather, it would make me run so much the farther
from you, and so get more and more out of the way.

10. Nay, perhaps, if you are angry, so shall I be too ; and
then there will be small hopes of finding the truth. If once
anger arise, rjire Kairvos (as Homer somewhere expresses it),
this smoke will so dim the eyes of my soul, that I shall be able to
see nothing clearly. For God's sake, if it be possible to avoid
it, let us not provoke one another to wrath. Let us not kindle
in each other this fire of hell ; much less blow it up into a flame.
If we could discern truth by that dreadful light, would it not
be loss, rather than gain ? For, how far is love, even with
many wrong opinions, to be preferred before truth itself without
love ! We may die without the knowledge of many truths,
and yet be carried into Abraham's bosom. But, if we die
without love, what will knowledge avail ? Just as much as it
avails the devil and his angels.

The God of love forbid we should ever make the trial ! May
He prepare us for the knowledge of all truth, by filling pur hearts
with all His love, and with all joy and peace in believing !

10. Wesley had a great admira- Odyssey in September 1769, and

tion for Homer. In Journal, Au- thought it far better than the Iliad,

gust 12, 1748, he says: ' What an ' on all occasions recommending the

amazing genius had this man, to fear of God, with justice, mercy, and

write with such strength of thought truth.' This reference i3 to Iliad

and beauty of expression, when he xviii. no, where Achilles says that

had none to go before him ! And x^0J (wrath) av5pG>v tv ar-qOeuaiv

what a vein of piety runs through de£erai, vvre na-rcvos, ' rises high in the

his whole work I ' He read the breast of men, like smoke.'

SERMON I
SALVATION BY FAITH

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University,

on June ii, 1738

Five of the Standard Sermons were preached in St. Mary's before
the University of Oxford; viz. Nos. I, II, IV, and XIII by John, and
III by Charles Wesley. The preachers were appointed from the
various colleges in turn by the Vice-Chancellor, and all Masters of Arts
of two or more years' standing, who were presbyters or deacons of the
Church of England, were liable to be called upon to officiate. Wesley
tells us {Journal, July 25, 1741) that his turn came about once in three
years. The sermons were preached at two in the afternoon on all
Sundays and at 10 a.m. on saints' days, except in the Long Vacation,
and had to be delivered in English, except on certain special occasions,
on which Latin was to be used. Notice of at least two months had
to be given to the preacher, and he received a fee of three guineas. If
any statement was made in the sermon contrary to the doctrine or
discipline of the Church of England, the Vice-Chancellor had authority
to demand a copy of the sermon, which was submitted to the Professors
of Theology ; and they had power to suspend the preacher from
preaching again within the precincts of the University unless he re-
canted his statements . This power was exercised in the case of Wesley's
Sermon IV, on Scriptural Christianity (q.v.). All Doctors, Masters,
graduates, and scholars were required diligently to attend these
services, unless they could find some reasonable excuse for their
absence. See Statuta Universitaiis Oxoniensis Titnlus XII, De Con-
cionibus.

This sermon was preached on June 11, 1738 (not June 18, as stated
in the note to the sermon in Works, 1771). The Journal only says,
under date June 8, ' On Saturday came to Stanton Harcourt ' (a village
in Oxfordshire, about six miles due west of Oxford, with a population
of about 500 souls) . ' Having preached faith in Christ there on Sunday
the nth, I went on to Oxford ; and thence on Monday to London.'
Apparently he tried over his discourse at Stanton Harcourt in the
morning, and then went on to Oxford, and preached it there in the

36 Sermon I

afternoon. The meeting in Aldersgate Street where Paul, Luther, and
Wesley appear in such a significant conjunction, and where Wesley felt
' my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone
for salvation, and an assurance was given me that He had taken away
my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death,' took
place on May 24. His new experience was thus only eighteen days
old when he uttered this great manifesto before the University. The
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the High Street of Oxford has
reverberated to many epoch-making utterances. Here Cranmer wit-
nessed a good confession, before he went out to seal his faith with his
blood at the stake near Balliol, where Latimer and Ridley had already
suffered ; here Newman and Pusey preached those sermons which led
to the Catholic revival in the Church of England in the nineteenth
century ; but never have its ancient walls re-echoed words of more
far-reaching importance in the history of religion than when on
this day John Wesley blew the first trumpet-call of the Evangelical
Revival.

This was not a new sermon composed for the occasion ; Wesley
had preached on May 14 at St. Ann's, Aldersgate, and at the Savoy
Chapel, on ' free salvation by faith in the blood of Christ ' — doubtless
this sermon. Indeed, it was probably written in America. Note the
denial of the possibility of good works before justification, the lack of
personal passion in the definition of faith, the uncompromising state-
ment in ii. 6 of the complete absence of sin in the believer, and the
confusion of justification with regeneration — all marks of Wesley's
earlier period. Still, it was a favourite discourse of his ; and there
are several records of his having preached it in the Journal, and in
the sermon list up to the end of 1760 : notably on his father's tomb-
stone at Epworth on June 7, 1742. He re-wrote it entirely in 1765
and published it under the title of ' The Scripture Way of Salvation,'
and placed it as No. XLIII in the 1771 edition.1 It is interesting to
compare the two sermons. The divisions are the same ; but in the
second salvation is taken to include prevenient grace, justification,
and sanctification, which is spoken of as identical with regeneration
in its beginning but as going on gradually to entire sanctification.
It is allowed that good works may be done before conversion, and
are indeed remotely necessary to it, though not properly a condition
of salvation. The doctrine that there is no sin in a believer is
declared to be extremely mischievous, as blocking the way to the
seeking of entire sanctification, with which the rest of the sermon is
concerned.

1 No. L in the present ed. See vol. ii, p. 442.

Salvation by Faith 37

By grace are ye saved through faith. — Eph. ii. 8.

1. All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are
of His mere grace, bounty, or favour ; His free, undeserved
favour ; favour altogether undeserved ; man having no claim
to the least of His mercies. It was free grace that ' formed
man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living
soul,' and stamped on that soul the image of God, and ' put
all things under his feet.' The same free grace continues to
us, at this day, life, and breath, and all things. For there is
nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least
thing at God's hand. ' All our works, Thou, O God, hast
wrought in us.' These, therefore, are so many more instances
of free mercy : and whatever righteousness may be found in
man, this is also the gift of God.

2. Wherewithal then shall a sinful man atone for any the
least of his sins ? With his own works ? No. Were they
ever so many or holy, they are not his own, but God's. But
indeed they are all unholy and sinful themselves, so that every

Par. i. The conception of God as before God " ? i.e. before he be-
an absolute Sovereign, which under- lieved in Christ ? A. It does seem
lies this paragraph, fails to recognize that he was, in some degree. But
the true relationship between God we speak not of those who have not
and man which our Lord reveals to heard the gospel. Q. 8. But were
us, when He teaches us to call God those works of his splendid sins ?
' Our Father.' Even creation im- A. No ; nor were they done without
plies a certain claim by the creature the grace of Christ. Cj. 9. How,
on the Creator ; still more does then, can we maintain that all works
Fatherhood involve a claim on the done before we have a sense of the
part of the children. Having brought pardoning love of God are sin ? And,
us into being under conditions for as such, an abomination to Him ?
which we were not responsible, God A. The works of him who has heard
(we say reverently) is bound as our the gospel and does not believe are
Father to provide for those needs not done as God hath willed and
which are thereby occasioned ; and commanded them to be done. And
above all, for our salvation from sin. yet we know not how to say that

2. Wesley changed his opinion as they are an abomination to the

to the nature of good works done Lord in him who feareth God, and

before conversion. In Minutes, 1745 from that principle does the best he

(Friday, August 2), we find : ' Q. 7. can.' Similarly in the note on

Have we duly considered the case Acts x. 4 (1755) he says : ' Dare any

of Cornelius ? Was he not in the man say. These were only splendid

favour of God, when his " prayers sins ? Or that they were an

and alms came up for a memorial abomination before God ? And yet

Sermon I

one of them needs a fresh atonement. Only corrupt fruit
grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is altogether corrupt
and abominable ; being ' come short of the glory of God,' the
glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul, after the
image of his great Creator. Therefore, having nothing, neither
righteousness nor works, to plead, his mouth is utterly stopped
before God.

3. If then sinful men find favour with God, it is ' grace
upon grace ! ' If God vouchsafe still to pour fresh blessings
upon us, yea, the greatest of all blessings, salvation ; what can
we say to these things, but, ' Thanks be unto God for His
unspeakable gift ! ' And thus it is. Herein ' God commendeth
His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died ' to save us. ' By grace ' then ' are ye saved through
faith.' Grace is the source, faith the condition, of salvation.

Now, that we fall not short of the grace of God, it concerns
us carefully to inquire —

I. What faith it is through which we are saved.
II. What is the salvation wthich is through faith.
III. How we may answer some objections.

I. What faith it is through which we are saved.

1. And, first, it is not barely the faith of a Heathen.

Now, God requireth of a Heathen to believe, ' that God is ;
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him ' ; and
that He is to be sought by glorifying Him as God, by giving
Him thanks for all things, and by a careful practice of moral
virtue, of justice, mercy, and truth, toward their fellow
creatures. A Greek or Roman, therefore, yea, a Scythian or

it is certain, in the Christian sense,
Cornelius was then an unbeliever.'
But this modification of the uncom-
promising statement that such works
' are all unholy and Sinful ' does not
affect the argument ; however good
they may be, they cannot atone for
past sins ; at best we have but done
that it was our duty to do, and have
not acquired any merit.

3. The first quotation hardly bears
the sense here given to it. St.
John (i. 16) says, ' We have received
X&t»-v avrl x^/)tror, grace instead of
grace ; for the law was given through
Moses, grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ.' The law was itself a
gift of grace, but we have received,
instead of it, the greater grace and
the profounder truth of the gospel.

Salvation by Faith 39

Indian, was without excuse if he did not believe thus much :
the being and attributes of God, a future state of reward and
punishment, and the obligatory nature of moral virtue. For
this is barely the faith of a Heathen.

2. Nor, secondly, is it the faith of a devil, though this goes
much farther than that of a Heathen. For the devil believes,
not only that there is a wise and powerful God, gracious to
reward, and just to punish ; but also, that Jesus is the Son of
God, the Christ, the Saviour of the world. So we find him
declaring, in express terms, ' I know Thee who Thou art ; the
Holy One of God ' (Luke iv. 34). Nor can we doubt but that
unhappy spirit believes all those words which came out of the
mouth of the Holy One ; yea, and whatsoever else was written
by those holy men of old, of two of whom he was compelled
to give that glorious testimony, ' These men are the servants
of the most high God, who show unto you the way of salvation.'
Thus much, then, the great enemy of God and man believes,
and trembles in believing, — that God was made manifest
in the flesh ; that He will ' tread all enemies under His feet ' ;
and that ' all Scripture was given by inspiration of God.'
Thus far goeth the faith of a devil.

3. Thirdly. The faith through which we are saved, in
that sense of the word which will hereafter be explained, is
not barely that which the Apostles themselves had while
Christ was yet upon earth ; though they so believed on Him as
to ' leave all and follow Him ' ; although they had then power
to work miracles, to ' heal all manner of sickness, and all
manner of disease ' ; yea, they had then ' power and authority
over all devils ' ; and, which is beyond all this, were sent by
their Master to ' preach the kingdom of God.'

4. What faith is it then through which we are saved ?
It may be answered, first, in general, it is a faith in Christ :
Christ, and God through Christ, are the proper objects of it.

I. 3. In Minutes, June 16, 1747, 4. The view that faith is rather

Q. 4, Wesley says : ' The apostles emotional than intellectual is en-

themselves had not the proper tirely in accord with the conclusions

Christian faith till after the Day of of the most recent psychologists.

Pentecost.' In fact, it is an act of the whole man.

40 Sermon I

Herein, therefore, it is sufficiently, absolutely distinguished
from the faith either of ancient or modern Heathens. And
from the faith of a devil it is fully distinguished by this : it is
not barely a speculative, rational thing, a cold, lifeless assent, a
train of ideas in the head ; but also a disposition of the heart.
For thus saith the Scripture, ' With the heart man belie veth
unto righteousness ' ; and, ' If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe with thy heart that
God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved/

5. And herein does it differ from that faith which the
Apostles themselves had while our Lord was on earth, that it
acknowledges the necessity and merit of His death, and the
power of His resurrection. It acknowledges His death as the
only sufficient means of redeeming man from death eternal,
and His resurrection as the restoration of us all to life and
immortality ; inasmuch as He ' was delivered for our sins, and
rose again for our justification.' Christian faith is, then, not
only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full
reliance on the blood of Christ ; a trust in the merits of His
life, death, and resurrection ; a recumbency upon Him as our

not of any one faculty. It must brain, but between heart and mouth ;
have some intellectual basis — though the inward experience and the out-
this may be very slight, as we may ward confession. It thus proves
judge from the conversions of men what Wesley intended, but it goes
who have no knowledge at all of farther than he saw ; faith is an act
theology ; it is prompted by emotion ; of the whole inward man.
but its essence is an act of the will, 5. Nothing could be better than
what Methodists often speak of as this definition of faith ; and it lays
a venturing upon Christ ; and it the right emphasis on the act of the
always results in an active effort to will, expressed by reliance, trust, re-
realize the new ideal. In the pas- cumbency, closing with Him, cleav-
sage quoted by Wesley, the word ing to Him. The only possible
Kapdia (heart) means the whole per- emendation that can be suggested
sonality of man ; not, like our 'heart,' is that the words 'as far as it is
exclusively the emotions. Both the known ' should be added to ' the
Hebrews and the Greeks used the whole gospel of Christ.' Assent to
word ' bowels ' to indicate the emo- the whole gospel is certainly not
tions ; and they never distinguished, essential to salvation.
as we do, between the heart and the This view of the nature of faith
brain as the seats of emotion and in- is now so generally accepted that
tellect respectively. The contrast it seems at first sight surprising that
in the text is not between heart and it should have met with so much

Salvation by Faith 41

atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us. [It
is a sure confidence which a man hath in God, that through
the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to
the favour of God ;] and, in consequence hereof, a closing with
Him, and cleaving to Him, as our ' wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption,' or, in one word, our salvation.

II. What salvation it is, which is through this faith, is the
second thing to be considered.

1. And, first, whatsoever else it imply, it is a present
salvation. It is something attainable, yea, actually attained,
on earth, by those who are partakers of this faith. For thus
saith the Apostle to the believers at Ephesus, and in them to
the believers of all ages, not, Ye shall be (though that also is
true), but, ' Ye are saved through faith.'

2. Ye are saved (to comprise all in one word) from sin.
This is the salvation which is through faith. This is that
great salvation foretold by the angel, before God brought His
First-begotten into the world : ' Thou shalt call His name
Jesus ; for He shall save His people from their sins.' And
neither here, nor in other parts of holy writ, is there any
limitation or restriction. All His people, or, as it is elsewhere

opposition when it was preached by No. 459 (August 16, 171 2), Addison,

Wesley. But it must be remembered comparing morality with faith, says

that in the current theological litera- that morality has the pre-eminence

ture of the time faith was almost in several respects, one of which is

always used in the sense of assent ' Because the rule of morality is

to some proposition on evidence much more certain than that of

adduced ; and, in particular, assent faith, all the civilized nations of the

to the creed of the Church and to world agreeing in the great points of

the truth of the Bible. Feeling was morality, as much as they differ in

not to be allowed to interfere with those of faith ' ; and later he says

the cool conclusions of dispassionate that the ' excellency of faith ' is

reason ; and the worst sin was identical with ' the belief of revealed

' enthusiasm,' which was regarded religion.' It is assumed throughout

as bad form — an unpardonable fault that a man can live a moral life if

in that age of chilly correctness. The he likes ; and the best that can be

admirable Essays on Morality which said of faith is that it ' strengthens

are found in the periodical literature and supports morality.'
of the early eighteenth century in- II. 1. It is noticeable that not

variably emphasize the supreme one word is said in this sermon about

importance of conduct, as contrasted salvation from hell,
with feeling. Thus in the Spectator,

42 Sermon I

expressed, ' all that believe in Him/ He will save from all their
sins ; from original and actual, past and present sin, ' of the
flesh and of the spirit.' Through faith that is in Him, they are
saved both from the guilt and from the power of it.

3. First, from the guilt of all past sin : for, whereas all
the world is guilty before God, insomuch that should He
' be extreme to mark what is done amiss, there is none that
could abide it ' : and whereas, ' by the law is ' only ' the
knowledge of sin,' but no deliverance from it, so that, ' by '
fulfilling ' the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified in
His sight ' : now, ' the righteousness of God, which is by
faith of Jesus Christ, is manifested unto all that believe.'
Now, ' they are justified freely by His grace, through the
redemption that is in Jesus Christ.' ' Him God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for (or by) the remission of the sins that are
past.' Now hath Christ taken away ' the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us.' He hath ' blotted out the hand-
writing that was against us, taking it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross.' ' There is therefore no condemnation now to
them which ' believe ' in Christ Jesus.'

4. And being saved from guilt, they are saved from fear.
Not indeed from a filial fear of offending ; but from all servile

3. The interpretation of Rom. iii. Wesley tried to bring about an
25 cannot be sustained. Neither agreement with him, and set out the
' for ' nor ' by ' gives the correct concessions which he was prepared
meaning of 8id, which is ' on account to make. The document is given in
of.' The death of Christ manifests the Journal, August 24, 1743. In it
the righteousness of God (1) in the he says : ' I incline to believe that
passing over of sins committed be- there is a state attainable in this life
fore the coming of Christ, and (2) from which a man cannot finally
in the present justification of the fall ; and that he has attained this
believer. For example, David was who can say, " Old things are passed
forgiven before the Atonement had away; all things" in me "are be-
been effected ; but God is justified come new." ' But Whitefield re-
in forgiving him because of the fused the eirenicon ; and Wesley
Atonement which was to be effected quite retracted from the position
for the sins of the whole world, in- which for the sake of peace he had
eluding those of former times. adopted in this document. The con-

4. The question of final persever- eluding paragraph of Serious Thoughts
ance was one of those which divided -upon the Perseverance of the Saints
Wesley from Whitefield. In 1743 (1751) says: ' If the Scriptures are

Salvation by Faith

fear ; from that fear which hath torment ; from fear of punish-
ment ; from fear of the wrath of God, whom they now no
longer regard as a severe Master, but as an indulgent Father.
' They have not received again the spirit of bondage, but the
Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father : the Spirit
itself also bearing witness with their spirits, that they are the
children of God.' They are also saved from the fear, though
not from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God,
and coming short of the great and precious promises. [They
are sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise, which is the earnest
of their inheritance (Eph. i. 13).] Thus have they ' peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. They rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. And the love of God is shed abroad in their
hearts, through the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them.' And
hereby they are persuaded (though perhaps not at all times,

true, . . . those who are sanctified by
the blood of the covenant may never-
theless so fall from God as to perish
everlastingly.' In a letter dated
August 3, 1789 (Works, xiii. 116), he
says that the doctrine of uncondi-
tional perseverance ' leads the way
by easy steps first to presumption,
and then to black despair. . . . What
a blessing it is . . . that you have
been saved from this poisonous doc-
trine ! '

' Perhaps not at all times,' &c.
Wesley is speaking from his own
experience. The night after his
conversion he ' was much buffeted
with temptations ' ; the next day
he was tempted to think that his
faith was not real ; on May 31 he
' grieved the Spirit of God . . . and
was troubled and in heaviness.' Even
on October 14 he writes in hisjoumal:
' I have not that joy in the Holy
Ghost ; no settled, lasting joy. Nor
have I such a peace as excludes the
possibility either of fear or doubt.'
On January 4, 1739, he speaks more
strongly still : ' I affirm I am not
a Christian now. I do not love

either the Father or the Son. . . . Joy
in the Holy Ghost I have not. . . . Yet
again, I have not the peace of God.'
In all this we have, what we so often
find in him, the conclusions of his
severe logic conflicting with experi-
ence. He did not at first realize that
the ideal of the Christian life, as
described in Scripture, is by its nature
attainable only by long effort ; that
it is something to be aimed at, not
immediately reached.

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for ?

In one of Lewis Carroll's parodies
of the Mathematical Tripos papers
he has a question in which an ele-
phant walking up a plank is a factor ;
and Carroll humorously adds in
brackets, ' The weight of the ele-
phant may be regarded as negligible I '
When Wesley was formulating his
theological theories about sin, and
Christian perfection, and other mat-
ters, he too often began by disre-
garding the weight of the elephant ;
but his strong common sense in-
variably came to the rescue in the
long run.

44 Sermon I

nor with the same fullness of persuasion), that ' neither death,
nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

5. Again : through this faith they are saved from the
power of sin, as well as from the guilt of it. So the Apostle
declares, ' Ye know that He was manifested to take away our
sins ; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth
not ' (1 John iii. 5, &c). Again : ' Little children, let no
man deceive you. He that committeth sin is of the devil.
Whosoever believeth is born of God. And whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin ; for His seed remaineth in him :
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.' Once more :
' We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not ; but he
that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one
toucheth him not ' (1 John v. 18).

6. He that is, by faith, born of God sinneth not (1) by any
habitual sin ; for all habitual sin is sin reigning : but sin
cannot reign in any that believeth. Nor (2) by any wilful
sin ; for his will, while he abideth in the faith, is utterly set
against all sin, and abhorreth it as deadly poisoh. Nor (3)
by any sinful desire ; for he continually desireth the holy and
perfect will of God ; and any tendency to an unholy desire, he

6. Wesley soon found reason to does not need to take a bath every
modify these strong statements. As time he soils his feet. Sin is a sick-
to habitual sin, there can be no ness, but it need not be unto death,
question. As to wilful sin, it may The life imparted when a man is
be theoretically said that a believer, born again is not destroyed, though
as long as he believes, cannot wil- it is enfeebled, by a single lapse of
fully sin ; and in the Minutes, 1744, the will into sin. Practically this is
Q. 9, Wesley affirms: ' If a believer admitted in Minutes, 1745, when it
wilfully sins, he casts away his faith ; is stated that from the moment of
neither is it possible he should have justification ' the believer gradually
justifying faith again, without pre- dies to sin, and grows in grace. Yet
viously repenting.' That he cannot sin remains in him ; yea, the seed
be forgiven without repentance may of all sin, till he is sanctified through-
be admitted ; but it is surely a mis- out in spirit, soul, and body.' As to
use of language to say that he must, sinful desires, the possibility of the
so to speak, go back to the begin- rising of unholy desires in the be-
ning, and be born again. As our liever is here admitted ; and is
Lord suggests (John xiii. 10), a man expressly affirmed in the sermon on

Salvation by Faith 45

by the grace of God, stifleth in the birth. Nor (4) doth he sin
by infirmities, whether in act, word, or thought ; for his
infirmities have no concurrence of his will ; and without this
they are not properly sins. Thus, ' he that is born of God doth
not commit sin ' : and though he cannot say he hath not sinned,
yet now ' he sinneth not.'

7. This then is the salvation which is through faith, even
in the present world : a salvation from sin, and the conse-
quences of sin, both often expressed in the word justification ;
which, taken in the largest sense, implies a deliverance from
guilt and punishment, by the atonement of Christ actually
applied to the soul of the sinner now believing on Him, and a
deliverance from the [whole body] of sin, through Christ formed
in his heart. So that he who is thus justified, or saved by faith,
is indeed born again. He is bom again of the Spirit unto a
new life, which ' is hid with Christ in God.' [He is a new
creature : old things are passed away : all things in him are
become new.] And as a new-born babe he gladly receives the
ahokov, ' sincere milk of the word, and grows thereby ' ; going
on in the might of the Lord his God, from faith to faith, from
grace to grace, until at length, he comes unto ' a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.'

Sin in Believers, v. 2 : ' Although relative one ' ; and goes on : ' Yet
we are renewed, purified, sanctified, they come to one and the same
the moment we truly believe in thing ; as every one that believes is
Christ, yet we are not then renewed, both justified and born of God.'
cleansed, purified altogether ; but This is true in point of time ; but
the flesh, the evil nature, still re- the distinction in thought is real,
mains (though subdued) and wars and it is better to maintain it. In
against the Spirit.' But Sermons Sermon XV, pars. 1-3, the distinc-
XLVI and XLVII should be read tion is very clearly stated and its
and compared with this paragraph. importance maintained.
As to infirmities, in which there is The original Greek word, trans-
no concurrence of the will, there is lated ' sincere ' (&5o\oi>), is omitted
no question of sin at all. See also in the 1771 edition. It was quoted
Sermons VIII and XXXIX. in the first edition, and doubtless in
7. Justification is here used gene- the delivery of the sermon before
rically to include pardon and regene- the University, because the English
ration. In Sermon XLVI, ii. 1, rendering is inadequate. The word
Wesley distinguishes regeneration as is shown by many examples in the
' implying an inward, actual change ' Papyri to mean ' pure, unadulter-
from justification, which implies ' a ated.*

46 Sermon I

III. The first usual objection to this is,

1. That to preach salvation, or justification, by faith only,
is to preach against holiness and good works. To which a
short answer might be given : ' It would be so, if we spake,
as some do, of a faith which was separate from these ; but
we speak of a faith which is not so, but [necessarily] productive
of all good works, and all holiness.'

2. But it may be of use to consider it more at large ;
especially since it is no new objection, but as old as St. Paul's
time : for even then it was asked, ' Do we not make void the
law through faith ? ' We answer, first, all who preach not
faith do manifestly make void the law ; either directly and
grossly, by limitations and comments that eat out all the
spirit of the text ; or indirectly, by not pointing out the only
means whereby it is possible to perform it. Whereas, secondly,
' we establish the law,' both by showing its full extent and
spiritual meaning ; and by calling all to that living way,
whereby ' the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in them.'
These, while they trust in the blood of Christ alone, use all the
ordinances which He hath appointed, do all the ' good works
which He had before prepared that they should walk therein,'
and enjoy and manifest all holy and heavenly tempers, even
the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

3. But does not preaching this faith lead men into pride ?
We answer, Accidentally it may : therefore ought every

III. 1. Wesley never varied in his ously abused ' ; but he regards the
teaching as to the relation between dispute as to the term ' a mere strife
faith and works. In Minutes, 1745, of words,' and declines to continue
Q. 25, we find" ' Does faith supersede it. Still, his own preference is to
(set aside the necessity of) holiness affirm that ' faith in Christ is the
or good works ? A. In no wise. sole condition of justification.' See
So far from it, that it implies both, note on Sermon XXII, 2.
as a cause doth its effects.' He 3. ' Of yourselves cometh neither
admits, however, under an earlier your faith nor your salvation.' If
question (No. 2) that ' fruits or works this be so, where does human re-
meet for repentance go before faith, sponsibility come in ? The passage
supposing there be opportunity for quoted (Eph. ii. 8) will not bear the
them,' and that in this sense they weight of this statement ; it does
may be regarded as * conditions of not say that faith is the gift of God ;
justification ' ; he thinks that the but that salvation (t-oDto, this whole
word * condition ' has been ' griev- thing) is the gift of God. The power

Salvation by Faith 47

believer to be earnestly cautioned, in the words of the great
Apostle, ' Because of unbelief,' the first branches ' were broken
off ; and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but
fear. If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest
He spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity
of God ! On them which fell, severity ; but towards thee,
goodness, if thou continue in His goodness ; otherwise thou
also shalt be cut off.' And while he continues therein, he
will remember those words of St. Paul, foreseeing and answering
this very objection (Rom. in. 27), ' Where is boasting then ?
It is excluded. By what law ? of works ? Nay : but by
the law of faith.' If a man were justified by his works, he
would have whereof to glory. But there is no glorying for
him ' that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth
the ungodly ' (Rom. iv. 5). To the same effect are the words
both preceding and following the text (Eph. ii. 4, &c.) : ' God,
who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved),
that He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves.' Of
yourselves cometh neither your faith nor your salvation :
' it is the gift of God ' ; the free, undeserved gift ; the faith
through which ye are saved, as well as the salvation which He
of His own good pleasure, His mere favour, annexes thereto.

to believe, like every other power ' Natural free-will, in the present
both of mind and body, is the gift state of mankind, I do not under-
of God, bestowed, like the power to stand ; I only assert that there is a
breathe, on every man ; the disposi- measure of free-will supernaturally
Hon to believe is wrought in man by restored to every man, together with
the Spirit of God, and without it that supernatural light which " en-
faith is impossible ; and this gift of lightens every man that cometh into
God 'cometh upon all men unto the world." ' And again: ' We can-
justification of life.' Nevertheless, not allow that man can only resist,
it is left to our own choice (and this and not in anywise "work together
also is a gift of God) to decide whether with God"; or that God is so the
we will use the power and yield to whole worker of our salvation, as
the disposition, so as actually to to exclude man's working at all.
exercise the faith which bringcth This I dare not say.' But this does
salvation. In Predestination Cahr'y not make faith a meritorious cause
Considered, pars 45-7, Wesley say-.: of our salvation ; the price has been

48 Sermon I

That ye believe, is one instance of His grace ; that believing
ye are saved, another. ' Not of works, lest any man should
boast.' For all our works, all our righteousness, which were
before our believing, merited nothing of God but condemna-
tion ; so far were they from deserving faith, which therefore,
whenever given, is not of works. Neither is salvation of the
works we do when we believe ; for it is then God that worketh
in us : and, therefore, that He giveth us a reward for what He
Himself worketh, only commendeth the riches of His mercy,
but leaveth us nothing whereof to glory.

4. However, may not the speaking thus of the mercy of
God, as saving or justifying freely by faith only, encourage
men in sin ? Indeed, it may and will : many will ' continue in
sin that grace may abound ' ; but their blood is upon their
own head. The goodness of God ought to lead them to repent-
ance ; and so it will those who are sincere of heart. When
they know there is yet forgiveness with Him, they will cry
aloud that He would blot out their sins also, through faith
which is in Jesus. And if they earnestly cry, and faint not ;
if they seek Him in all the means He hath appointed ; if they
refuse to be comforted till He come ; ' He will come, and will
not tarry.' And He can do much work in a short time. Many
are the examples, in the Acts of the Apostles, of God's [shedding
abroad] this faith in men's hearts, even like lightning falling
from heaven. So in the same hour that Paul and Silas began
to preach, the jailer repented, believed, and was baptized; as
were three thousand, by St. Peter, on the day of Pentecost,
who all repented and believed at his first preaching. And,
blessed be God, there are now many living proofs that He is
still ' mighty to save.'

5. Yet to the same truth, placed in another view, a quite
contrary objection is made : ' If a man cannot be saved by all

paid once for all by our Lord ; that by the death of our Saviour, is only

I stretch out my hand to receive one aspect of the truth, and may

what He has bought for me, is a con- easily be pressed too far.

dition of my possessing it, but is ' All our works . . . merited no-

not any part of the price. But, in- thing of God but condemnation.'

deed, the conception of salvation as See note on par. I. 1,

something bought or merited, even

Salvation by Faith 49

that he can do, this will drive men to despaii.' True, to
despair of being saved by their own works, their own merits
or righteousness. And so it ought ; for none can trust in the
merits of Christ, till he has utterly renounced his own. He
that ' goeth about to establish his own righteousness ' cannot
receive the righteousness of God. The righteousness which is
of faith cannot be given him while he trusteth in that which
is of the law.

6. But this, it is said, is an uncomfortable doctrine. The
devil spoke like himself, that is, without either truth or shame,
when he dared to suggest to men that it is such. It is the
only comfortable one, it is ' very full of comfort,' to all self-
destroyed, self-condemned sinners. That ' whosoever believeth
on Him shall not be ashamed : that the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon Him ' : here is comfort, high as
heaven, stronger than death ! What ! Mercy for all ? For
Zacchaeus, a public robber ? For Mary Magdalene, a common
harlot ? Methinks I hear one say, ' Then I, even I, may hope
for mercy ! ' And so thou mayest, thou afflicted one, whom
none hath comforted ! God will not cast out thy prayer. Nay,
perhaps He may say the next hour, ' Be of good cheer, thy sins
are forgiven thee ' ; so forgiven, that they shall reign over
thee no more ; yea, and that ' the Holy Spirit shall bear
witness with thy spirit that thou art a child of God.' O glad
tidings ! tidings of great joy, which are sent unto all people !
' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters : come
ye, and buy, without money and without price.' Whatsoever
your sins be, ' though red like crimson,' though more than
the hairs of your head, ' return ye unto the Lord, and He will
have mercy upon you ; and to our God, for He will abundantly
pardon.'

7. When no more objections occur, then we are simply
told that salvation by faith only ought not to be preached as
the first doctrine, or, at least, not to be preached to all. But
what saith the Holy Ghost ? ' Other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ.' So then,
that ' whosoever believeth on Him shall be saved,' is, and
must be, the foundation of all our preaching ; that is, must be

W.S.8. I — 4

50 Sermon I

preached first. ' Well, but not to all.' To whom then are we
not to preach it ? Whom shall we except ? The poor ? Nay ;
they have a peculiar right to have the gospel preached unto
them. The unlearned ? No. God hath revealed these things
unto unlearned and ignorant men from the beginning. The
young ? By no means. ' Suffer these,' in any wise, to come
unto Christ, ' and forbid them not.' The sinners ? Least of
all. ' He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repen-
tance.' (Why then, if any, we are to except the rich, the
learned, the reputable, the moral men. And, it is true, they
too often except themselves from hearing ; yet we must speak
the words of our Lord. For thus the tenor of our commission
runs, ' Go and preach the gospel to every creature.' If any
man wrest it, or any part of it, to his destruction, he must bear
his own burden. But still, ' as the Lord liveth, whatsoever
the Lord saith unto us, that we will speak.'

8. At this time, more especially, will we speak, that ' by
grace are ye saved through faith ' : because, never was the
maintaining this doctrine more seasonable than it is at this
day. Nothing but this can effectually prevent the increase
of the Romish delusion among us. It is endless to attack,
one by one, all the errors of that Church. But salvation by
faith strikes at the root, and all fall at once where this is
established. It was this doctrine, which our Church justly
calls the strong rock and foundation of the Christian religion,
that first drove Popery out of these kingdoms ; and it is this
alone can keep it out. Nothing but this can give a check to
that immorality which hath ' overspread the land as a flood.'
Can you empty the great deep, drop by drop ? Then you may
reform us by dissuasives from particular vices. But let the

8. ' The strong rock,' &c. Quoted Oxford, that John Henry Newman,

from the second part of the homily a century later, preached the ser-

' Of Salvation.' A wise and weighty mons that heralded the advent of

paragraph ; good to be read and Tractarianism. Remembering this,

pondered over by many of our how significant the words of Wesley

modern champions of Protestantism in this great sermon — the sermon

and of our social reformers. As Mr. that heralded the advent of the

Curnock says in his note (Journal, Methodist Revival ! '
vol. i. p. 484), ' It was in St. Mary's,

Salvation by Faith 51

' righteousness which is of God by faith ' be brought in, and
so shall its proud waves be stayed. Nothing but this can stop
the mouths of those who ' glory in their shame, and openly
deny the Lord that bought them.' They can talk as sublimely
of the law, as he that hath it written by God in his heart. To
hear them speak on this head might incline one to think they
were not far from the kingdom of God : but take them out of
the law into the gospel ; begin with the righteousness of faith ;
with Christ, ' the end of the law to every one that believeth ' ;
and those who but now appeared almost, if not altogether,
Christians, stand confessed the sons of perdition ; as far from
life and salvation (God be merciful unto them !) as the depth
of hell from the height of heaven.

9. For this reason the adversary so rages whenever ' salva-
tion by faith ' is declared to the world : for this reason did he
stir up earth and hell, to destroy those who first preached it.
And for the same reason, knowing that faith alone could over-
turn the foundations of his kingdom, did he call forth all his
forces, and employ all his arts of lies and calumny, to affright
[that champion of the Lord of hosts,] Martin Luther, from
reviving it. Nor can we wonder thereat ; for, as that man of
God observes, ' How would it enrage a proud, strong man
armed, to be stopped and set at nought by a little child coming
against him with a reed in his hand ! ' especially when he
knew that little child would surely overthrow him, and tread
him under foot. Even so, Lord Jesus ! Thus hath Thy
strength been ever ' made perfect in weakness ' ! Go forth
then, thou little child that believest in Him, and His ' right
hand shall teach thee terrible things ! ' Though thou art
helpless and weak as an infant of days, the strong man shall
not be able to stand before thee. Thou shalt prevail over
him, and subdue him, and overthrow him, and trample him

9. The reference to Martin Luther strangely warmed.' He later (1749)
becomes doubly significant when we translated the Life of Luther. But in
remember that it was whilst listen- Journal, June 15, 1741, he criticizes
ing to his introduction to his Com- Luther's Galatians most severely,
mentary on Romans, that, eighteen I have not yet identified this quota-
days before, Wesley ' felt his heart tion.

52 Sermon. I

under thy feet. Thou shalt march on, under the great Captain
of thy salvation, ' conquering and to conquer,' until all thine
enemies are destroyed, and ' death is swallowed up in victory.'

Now, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ ; to whom, with the Father and the
Holy Ghost, be blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanks-
giving, and honour, and power, and might, for ever and ever.
Amen.

SERMON II

THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University

on July 25, 1741

This sermon was preached on Sunday afternoon at two o'clock. Wesley
says (Journal of this date) : ' It being my turn (which comes about
once in three years) I preached at St. Mary's before the University. So
numerous a congregation (from whatever motives they came) I have
seldom seen at Oxford. My text was the confession of poor Agrippa.'
He had already preached the same sermon in Charles Square, London,
in the open air on June 28. He had intended to preach before the
University the sermon on Isaiah i. 21, ' How is the faithful city become
a harlot ! ' which is published in the later editions of Wesley's Works
as No. CXXXIV. It was found after his death in English, dated
June 24, 1 741 ; and also in Latin. Dr. Adam Clarke supplemented
the imperfect English copy from the Latin for publication. Wesley
read it on June 28 to Lady Huntingdon ; but she dissuaded him
from preaching it at St. Mary's. It was an outspoken attack on the
doctrine and practice of the University, covering much the same
ground as Section IV of the sermon on Scriptural Christianity, preached
in 1744, for which John Wesley was excluded thereafter from the
pulpit of St. Mary's, but expressed in much more violent language.
The Deists are branded as ' the first-born of Satan ' ; Tillotson and
Bull are criticized by name as having endeavoured to ' sap the very
foundation of our Church ' by their teaching on justification and
holiness ; ' the faith of a devil and the life of a heathen make up
what most men call a good Christian ' in Oxford. Levity in College
I chapel, Sabbath-breaking, novel-reading and gambling, idleness (' O
! what is so scarce as learning save religion ! ' he exclaims), non-observ-
ance of the Statutes, perjury in the subscription to the Articles and
Homilies of the Church, are all vehemently denounced, to say nothing
of the loss of the very notion of religion. There was much justifica-
tion for what Wesley proposed to say ; but undoubtedly her lady-
ship's advice was prudent. Consequently he decided to preach The

54 Sermon II

Almost Christian, and re-wrote it for the occasion in his rooms at
Lincoln College. He published it later in the year.

No wonder there was a large congregation. Since his last appear-
ance in St. Mary's three years before, John Wesley had become the
best known and the most abused man in England. He had been
excluded from all the churches in London save four ; he had begun the
practice of preaching in the open air ; he had founded the ' Societies '
which were the germ of the Methodist Church ; his preaching had
been attended by strange bodily convulsions both in London and
Bristol ; he had acquired and opened for worship the Foundery on
Windmill Hill, north-west of Finsbury Square ; love-feasts (the very
name of which suggested all sorts of filthy attacks), and watch-night
services had been started ; laymen had been permitted to exhort and
preach ; the papers were full of abuse of both Wesley and the Metho-
dists. It is surprising that the University authorities allowed him
to preach in St. Mary's ; it is not at all surprising that Oxford flocked
to see and hear him.

It is hardly necessary to point out that the text will not bear Wesley's
interpretation ; it may mean ' With but little persuasion thou wouldest
fain make me a Christian ' ; or ' In a little time, &c. ' ; but certainly
not 'Almost.' And, even accepting the A.V. translation, Agrippa
does not say ' Thou persuadest me to be an almost Christian,' but
' Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian ' — a very different
thing. However, Wesley attempts no exposition of his text ; it is
used merely as a motto, and ' poor Agrippa ' is thrown overboard
before the vessel has weighed anchor, and is never picked up again.
The phrase itself is doubtful English ; though Southey adopted the
idiom and called himself ' an almost Quaker.'

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. — Acts xxvi. 28.

And many there are who go thus far : ever since the Christian
religion was in the world, there have been many in every age
and nation who were almost persuaded to be Christians. But
seeing it avails nothing before God to go only thus far, it highly
imports us to consider, —

I. What is implied in being almost,
II. What in being altogether, a Christian.

I. (i.) 1. Now, in the being almost a Christian is implied,
first, heathen honesty. No one, I suppose, will make any
question of this ; especially, since by heathen honesty here, I

The Almost Christian 55

mean, not that which is recommended in the writings of their
philosophers only, but such as the common Heathens expected
one of another, and many of them actually practised. By the
rules of this they were taught that they ought not to be unjust ;
not to take away their neighbour's goods, either by robbery
or theft ; not to oppress the poor, neither to use extortion
toward any ; not to cheat or overreach either the poor or rich,
in whatsoever commerce they had with them ; to defraud no
man of his right ; and, if it were possible, to owe no man
anything.

2. Again : the common Heathens allowed, that some regard
was to be paid to truth, as well as to justice. And, accordingly,
they not only held him in abomination who was foresworn,
who called God to witness to a lie ; but him also who was
known to be a slanderer of his neighbour, who falsely accused
any man. And, indeed, little better did they esteem wilful
liars of any sort ; accounting them the disgrace of human
kind, and the pests of society.

3. Yet again : there was a sort of love and assistance which
they expected one from another. They expected whatever
assistance any one could give another, without prejudice to
himself. And this they extended not only to those little
offices of humanity which are performed without any expense
or labour, but likewise to the feeding the hungry, if they had
food to spare ; the clothing the naked with their own super-
fluous raiment ; and, in general, the giving, to any that needed,
such things as they needed not themselves. Thus far, in the

I. par. 1. Here and elsewhere Wes- in the eighteenth century it had no

ley uses ' heathen ' in the sense of such connotation, and is constantly

' non-Christian ' ; the remarkable used of the Greeks and Romans,

development of Foreign Missionary without any intention of reproach or

effort in the nineteenth century has blame. So that we must beware of

affected the meaning of the word, thinking that Wesley is sneering at

so that we use it mainly of the Horace or Aristotle, when he speaks

peoples to whom Christian mission- of them as ' the heathen poet ' and

aries have been sent, and especially ' the heathen moralist ' respectively.

of those who, like the Polynesians, It is of the ethics of the Greeks and

are not only non-Christian, but are Romans that he is thinking in this

also uncivilized and barbarous. But section of the sermon.

56 Sermon II

lowest account of it, heathen honesty went ; the first thing
implied in the being almost a Christian.

(ii.) 4. A second thing implied in the being almost a Christian
is, the having a form of godliness ; of that godliness which is
prescribed in the gospel of Christ ; the having the outside of a
real Christian. Accordingly, the almost Christian does nothing
which the gospel forbids. He taketh not the name of God in
vain ; he blesseth, and curseth not ; he sweareth not at all,
but his communication is, yea, yea ; nay, nay. He profanes
not the day of the Lord, nor suffers it to be profaned, even by
the stranger that is within his gates. He not only avoids all
actual adultery, fornication, and uncleanness, but every word
or look that either directly or indirectly tends thereto ; nay,
and all idle words, abstaining both from all detraction, back-
biting, talebearing, evil speaking, and from ' all foolish talking
and jesting ' — evrpcnreXla, a kind of virtue in the heathen
moralist's account — briefly, from all conversation that is not
' good to the use of edifying,' and that, consequently, ' grieves
the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed to the day of
redemption.'

5. He abstains from ' wine wherein is excess ' ; from revel-
lings and gluttony. He avoids, as much as in him lies, all
strife and contention, continually endeavouring to live peace-
ably with all men. And, if he suffer wrong, he avengeth not
himself, neither returns evil for evil. He is no railer, no
brawler, no scoffer, either at the faults or infirmities of his
neighbour. He does not willingly wrong, hurt, or grieve any
man ; but in all things acts and speaks by that plain rule,

4. evrpaireXla is the word used by rind its expression in the smoking-

St. Paul in Eph. v. 4, and trans- room story ; and so the word itself

lated in the A.V. and R.V. ' jesting.' became degraded in meaning. It is

Its proper meaning is ' witty, lively in this latter sense that St. Paul

talk ' ; and in this sense Aristotle warns the Ephesians against it. Of

(' the heathen moralist ') (Eth. Nic. true evrpaireXia Wesley was himself

ii. 7) makes it the virtuous mean a master ; witness his famous retort

between the vicious extremes of on Beau Nash, ' Sir, I dare not judge

pw/j.o\oxia (ribaldry) and aypoiKla of you by common report ' {Journal,

(boorish stupidity). But there is June 5, 1739).

always a danger that wit should 5. This negative form of the Golden

degenerate into impropriety, and Rule is ascribed in the Talmud

The Almost Christian 57

' Whatsoever thou wouldest not he should do unto thee, that
do not thou to another.'

6. And in doing good, he does not confine himself to cheap
and easy offices of kindness, but labours and suffers for the
profit of many, that by all means he may help some. In spite
of toil or pain, ' whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he doeth
it with all his might ' ; whether it be for his friends, or for his
enemies ; for the evil, or for the good. For being ' not sloth-
ful ' in this, or in any ' business,' as he ' hath opportunity '
he doeth ' good,' all manner of good, ' to all men ' ; and to
their souls as well as their bodies. He reproves the wicked,
instructs the ignorant, confirms the wavering, quickens the
good, and comforts the afflicted. He labours to awaken those
that sleep ; to lead those whom God hath already awakened
to the ' Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness,' that they
may wash therein and be clean ; and to stir up those who are
saved through faith, to adorn the gospel of Christ in all things.

7. He that hath the form of godliness uses also the means.-
of grace ; yea, all of them, and at all opportunities. He
constantly frequents the house of God ; and that, not as the
manner of some is, who come into the presence of the Most
High, either loaded with gold and costly apparel, or in all
the gaudy vanity of dress, and either by their unseasonable
civilities to each other, or the impertinent gaiety of their
behaviour, disclaim all pretensions to the form as well as to
the power of godliness. Would to God there were none even
among ourselves who fall under the same condemnation ! who
come into this house, it may be, gazing about, or with all the

(Sabb. xxxi. i) to Hillel ; ' whatso- proprieties of behaviour in church,

ever,' he is reported to have said, 'is For one example: in No. 460,

hateful to thyself, do not to another. August 18, 1712, Steele speaks of

This is the whole law ; all the rest ' the ceremonies, bows, curtsies,

is the unfolding of its meaning.' whisperings, smiles, winks, nods,

But in the next paragraph Wesley with other familiar arts of saluta-

assumes that his typical ' almost tion, which take up in our churches

Christian ' also obeys the rule in the so much time that might be better

positive form in which our Lord employed ' ; and satirizes those who

enunciates it in Matt. vii. 12. after being at church ' shall give a

7. There are numerous articles in particular account how two or three

the Spectator on the common im- hundred people were dressed.'

Sermon II

signs of the most listless, careless indifference, though some-
times they may seem to use a prayer to God for His blessing
on what they are entering upon ; who, during that awful
service, are either asleep, or reclined in the most convenient
posture for it ; or, as though they supposed God was asleep,
talking with one another, or looking round, as utterly void of
employment. Neither let these be accused of the form of
godliness. No ; he who has even this, behaves with seriousness
and attention, in every part of that solemn service. More
especially, when he approaches the table of the Lord, it is not
with a light or careless behaviour, but with an air, gesture, and
deportment which speaks nothing else but ' God be merciful to
me a sinner ! '

8. To this, if we add the constant use of family prayer, by
those who are masters of families, and the setting times apart
for private addresses to God, with a daily seriousness of be-
haviour ; he who uniformly practises this outward religion,
has the form of godliness. There needs but one thing more
in order to his being almost a Christian, and that is, sincerity.

(iii.) 9. By sincerity I mean, a real, inward principle of
religion, from whence these outward actions flow. And,
indeed, if we have not this, we have not heathen honesty ; no,
not so much of it as will answer the demand of a heathen
Epicurean poet. Even this poor wretch, in his sober intervals,
is able to testify,

Oderunt peccare boni, viriutis amove ;
Oderutit peccare mali, formidine poenae.

So that, if a man only abstains from doing evil in order to

9. The ' heathen Epicurean poet '
is Horace ; the quotation is taken
from Ep. I. xvi. 52, but is evidently
given from memory ; it should be :

Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore ;
Tu nihil admittes in te formidine poenae.

i.e. ' The good hate to sin through
love of virtue ; you, on the con-
trary, commit no crime that will tell
against you through dread of punish-

ment.' Horace's point is that a man
who refrains from crime because he
is afraid of the penalty is not a good
man at all, and has his reward in full
in escaping it Just before this pas-
sage (lines 46-8) a slave says to the
poet, ' I am not a thief or runaway ' ;
Horace answers, ' You have your
reward (Habes pretium) ; you shall
not be flogged.' The slave continues,
' I have not killed a man ' ; and the

The Almost Christian

avoid punishment, Non pasces in cruce corvos, saith the Pagan ;
there, ' thou hast thy reward.' But even he will not allow
such a harmless man as this to be so much as a good Heathen.
If, then, any man, from the same motive, viz. to avoid punish-
ment, to avoid the loss of his friends, or his gain, or his reputa-
tion, should not only abstain from doing evil, but also do ever
so much good ; yea, and use all the means of grace ; yet we
could not with any propriety say, this man is even almost a
Christian ! If he has no better principle in his heart, he is
only a hypocrite altogether.

10. Sincerity, therefore, is necessarily implied in the being
almost a Christian ; a real design to serve God, a hearty desire
to do His will. It is necessarily implied, that a man have a
sincere view of pleasing God in all things ; in all his conversa-
tion ; in all his actions ; in all he does or leaves undone.
This design, if any man be almost a Christian, runs through
the whole tenor of his life. This is the moving principle, both
in his doing good, his abstaining from evil, and his using the
ordinances of God.

ii. But here it will probably be inquired, ' Is it possible
that any man living should go so far as this, and, nevertheless,
be only almost a Christian ? What more than this can be

reply is, ' Non pasces in cruce corvos '
— ' You shall not be hung on the
cross to feed the crows.' Wesley
fairly represents Horace's position ;
but it is hardly correct to describe
him as ' an Epicurean ' ; as Sir
Theodore Martin says, ' His taste was
as catholic in philosophy as in
literature. He was of no school,
but sought in the teachings of them
all such principles as would make
life easier, better, and happier.' And
surely he would have smiled if he
could have foreseen that one day he
would be called by a young Oxford
don a poor wretch with some few
' sober intervals ' I

ii. Wesley is in this point the
victim of his severe logic. He argues :

No one is a Christian who has nut

saving faith, working by love to God
and man.

A man can be imagined who is
absolutely moral and sincere, but
who has not this faith and love.

Therefore such a man is not a
Christian.

This is incontestable ; but the
point Wesley fails to observe is that
there never was and never could be
such a man as he describes. If there
were, the whole argument of the
Epistle to the Romans is falsified.
St. Paul affirms the impossibility of
any man keeping the law of God
without the grace which comes
through faith ; but Wesley's almost
Christian has succeeded where Paul
himself confesses to utter failure ;
' to will is present with me, but to

Sermon II

implied in the being a Christian altogether ? I answer, first,
that it is possible to go thus far, and yet be but almost a Chris-
tian, I learn, not only from the oracles of God, but also from
the sure testimony of experience.

12. Brethren, great is ' my boldness towards you in this
behalf.' And ' forgive me this wrong,' if I declare my own
folly upon the house-top, for yours and the gospel's sake. —
Suffer me, then, to speak freely of myself, even as of another
man. I am content to be abased, so ye may be exalted, and
to be yet more vile for the glory of my Lord.

13. I did go thus far for many years, as many of this place
can testify ; using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have a
conscience void of offence ; redeeming the time ; buying up
every opportunity of doing all good to all men ; constantly

do that which is good is not.' The
seventh chapter of Romans is the
true account of the man who tries
sincerely to keep the law without
the saving grace of God. Indeed,
as St. Paul says to the Galatians, ' If
righteousness is through the law,
then Christ died for nought.' Wesley
knew this well enough, and in Ser-
mon IX, ii. 7, speaking of one who
is trying to live a perfect moral life,
he says, ' Though he strive with all
his might, he cannot conquer ; Sin
is mightier than he. . . . He re-
solves against sin, but yet sins on.'
But in this sermon he is so concerned
to show that the root of Christianity
is faith, realized in conscious experi-
ence, that he forgets what he had
said in Sermon I, ii. 2, ' Ye are saved
(to comprise all in one word) from
sin. This is the salvation which is
through faith.' Jesus came to save
His people from their sins ; not
primarily to give them a new experi-
ence. True, it is only through that
new experience that they can be
saved from their sins ; but the ex-
perience is not an end in itself, but
a means to an end. Wesley pictures

a man who has achieved the end
without the means, which is impos-
sible ; and then argues that this
fictitious person is not a Christian.

Moreover, can it be said without
absurdity that one who lives the
life described in par. 6 has no love
for man ; or that' one who has ' a
real design to serve God, a hearty
desire to do His will,' and through
whose whole life the principle runs
of ' a sincere view of pleasing God
in all things,' has neither faith in
God nor love for Him ?

The conclusion of the sermon is
sound — that no man can be a Chris-
tian in the scriptural sense without
saving faith ; but it is equally true
that no man could live such a life
as Wesley here describes without
saving faith. Theoretically the two
things may be considered apart ;
practically they are inseparable, as
being respectively cause and effect.

12. ' Yet more vile ' : see note in
Journal, Standard edition, ii. 172.

13. Wesley's description of him-
self in Journal, January 29, 1738,
agrees with this paragraph. ' I,
who went to America to convert

The Almost Christian

and carefully using all the public and all the private means of
grace ; endeavouring after a steady seriousness of behaviour,
at all times, and in all places ; and, God is my record, before
whom I stand, doing all this in sincerity ; having a real design
to serve God ; a hearty desire to do His will in all things ; to
please Him who had called me to ' fight the good fight,' and to
'lay hold on eternal life.' Yet my own conscience beareth
me witness in the Holy Ghost, that all this time I was but
almost a Christian.

II. If it be inquired, ' What more than this is implied in
the being altogether a Christian ? ' I answer,

(i.) i. First, The love of God. For thus saith His word,
' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and

others, was never myself converted
to God ' ; but later he added a note,
' I am not sure of this.' And again,
' I am a child of wrath, an heir of
hell,' to which the note is later
added, ' I believe not.' In another
note he says, ' I had even then the
faith of a servant, though not that
of a son.' Writing to his brother
Samuel five months after his con-
version, he says, ' I was not a Chris-
tian till the 24th of May last past.'
But in January 1739 he says {Jour-
nal, January 4, 1739), ' My friends
affirm I am mad, because I said I was
not a Christian a year ago. I affirm I
am not a Christian now ' ; and after
giving his reasons, which are really
that he does not realize continuously
the ideal of Christian experience set
forth in the New Testament, he
reiterates once and again, ' I am not
a Christian.' He fails to see that
the experience set forth there is an
ideal to be aimed at and approxi-
mated to ever more perfectly ; and
that Paul never dreamed of saying,
' I am not a Christian ' because he
was conscious that he had not yet
attained, neither was as yet made

perfect. Wesley's own sane criticism
of his error should be read along
with what he says here ; in Sermon
CVI, On Faith, par. n, he says:
' Indeed, nearly fifty years ago,
when the Preachers, commonly called
Methodists, began to preach . . . sal-
vation by faith, they were not
sufficiently apprised of the difference
between a servant and a child of
God. They did not clearly under-
stand that every one " that feareth
God and worketh righteousness, is
accepted of Him." They frequently
asked those who feared God, "Do
you know that your sins are for-
given ? " and upon their answering
"No," immediately replied, "Then
you are a child of the devil." No ; that
does not follow. It might have been
said (and it is all that can be said
with propriety), " Hitherto you are
only a servant, you are not a child of
God." ' Now surely a servant of God
may be properly called a Christian ;
and it is a misuse of language to say
that Wesley during his years of
earnest devotion at Oxford, and
whilst he was ministering in Georgia,
was not a Christian.

62 Sermon II

with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength.' Such a love [of God] is this, as engrosses the whole
heart, as takes up all the affections, as fills the entire capacity of
the soul, and employs the utmost extent of all its faculties. He
that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit continually ' rejoic-
eth in God his Saviour.' His delight is in the Lord, his Lord
and his All, to whom ' in everything he giveth thanks. All his
desire is unto God, and to the remembrance of His name.'
His heart is ever crying out, ' Whom have I in heaven but
Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside
Thee.' Indeed, what can he desire beside God ? Not the
world, or the things of the world : for he is ' crucified to the
world, and the world crucified to him.' He is crucified to
' the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of
life.' Yea, he is dead to pride of every kind : for ' love is not
puffed up ' ; but ' he that dwelling in love, dwelleth in God,
and God in him,' is less than nothing in his own eyes.

(ii.) 2. The second thing implied in the being altogether a
Christian is, the love of our neighbour. For thus said our
Lord, in the following words, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.' If any man ask, 'Who is my • neighbour ? ' we
reply, Every man in the world ; every child of His who is the
Father of the spirits of all flesh. Nor may we in any wise
except our enemies, or the enemies of God and their own souls.
But every Christian loveth these also as himself, yea, ' as Christ
loved us.' He that would more fully understand what manner
of love this is, may consider St. Paul's description of it. It is
' long-suffering and kind.' It ' envieth not.' It is not rash
or hasty in judging. It ' is not puffed up ' ; but maketh him
that loves, the least, the servant, of all. Love ' doth not
behave itself unseemly ' ; but becometh ' all things to all men.'
She ' seeketh not her own ' ; but only the good of others, that
they may be saved. ' Love is not provoked.' It casteth out
wrath, which he who hath is [not made perfect] in love. ' It
thinketh no evil. It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in
the truth. It covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth
all things, endureth all things.'

(iii.) 3. There is yet one thing more that may be separately

The Almost Christian 63

considered, though it cannot actually be separate from the
preceding, which is implied in the being altogether a Christian ;
and that is the ground of all, even faith. Very excellent
things are spoken of this throughout the oracles of God.
' Every one,' saith the beloved disciple, ' that believeth is
born of God.' ' To as many as received Him, gave He power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His
name.' And ' this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.' Yea, our Lord Himself declares, ' He that
believeth in the Son hath everlasting life ; and cometh not
into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.'

4. But here let no man deceive his own soul. ' It is diligently
to be noted, the faith which bringeth not forth repentance,
and love, and all good works, is not that right living faith
[which is here spoken of], but a dead and devilish one. For
even the devils believe that Christ was born of a virgin ; that
He wrought all kinds of miracles, declaring Himself very God ;
that, for our sakes, He suffered a most painful death, to
redeem us from death everlasting ; that He rose again the
third day ; that He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at
the right hand of the Father, and at the end of the world
shall come again to judge both the quick and dead. These
articles of our faith the devils believe, and so they believe
all that is written in the Old and New Testament. And yet
for all this faith, they be but devils. They remain still in
their damnable estate, lacking the very true Christian faith.'

5. ' The right and true Christian faith is ' (to go on in the
words of our own Church), ' not only to believe that Holy
Scripture and the Articles of our Faith are true, but also to
have a sure trust and confidence to be saved from everlasting
damnation by Christ. It is a sure trust and confidence which
a man hath in God, that, by the merits of Christ, his sins are
forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God ; whereof
doth follow a loving heart, to obey His commandments.'

II. 4. The quotation in this and abbreviated it somewhat, though
the following paragraph is from the without omitting anything of import-
Homily on the Salvation of Man- ance.
kind, part iii ; but Wesley has

64 Sermon II

6. Now, whosoever has this faith, which ' purifies the
heart ' (by the power of God, who dwelleth therein) from pride,
anger, desire, ' from all unrighteousness,' from ' all filthiness
of flesh and spirit ' ; which fills it with love stronger than
death, both to God and to all mankind ; love that doeth the
works of God, glorying to spend and to be spent for all men,
and that endureth with joy, not only the reproach of Christ,
the being mocked, despised, and hated of all men, but whatso-
ever the wisdom of God permits the malice of men or devils
to inflict, — whosoever has this faith, thus working by love, is
not almost only, but altogether, a Christian.

7. But who are the living witnesses of these things ? I
beseech you, brethren, as in the presence of that God before
whom ' hell and destruction are without a covering — how
much more the hearts of the children of men ? ' — that each of
you would ask his own heart, ' Am I of that number ? Do I
so far practise justice, mercy, and truth, as even the rules of
heathen honesty require ? If so, have I the very outside of a
Christian ? the form of godliness ? Do I abstain from evil —
from whatsoever is forbidden in the written Word of God ?
Do I, whatever good my hand findeth to do, do it with my
might ? Do I seriously use all the ordinances of God at all
opportunities ? And is all this done with a sincere design and
desire to please God in all things ? '

8. Are not many of you conscious that you never came
thus far ; that you have not been even almost a Christian ;
that you have not come up to the standard of heathen honesty ;
at least, not to the form of Christian godliness ? — much less
hath God seen sincerity in you, a real design of pleasing Him
in all things. You never so much as intended to devote all
your words and works, your business, studies, diversions, to
His glory. You never even designed or desired, that whatso-
ever you did should be done ' in the name of the Lord Jesus,'
and as such should be ' a spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God
through Christ.'

9. But, supposing you had, do good designs and good desires
make a Christian ? By no means, unless they are brought to
good effect. ' Hell is paved,' saith one, ' with good intentions.'

The Almost Christian 65

The great question of all, then, still remains. Is the love of
God shed abroad in your heart ? Can you cry out, ' My God,
and my All ' ? Do you desire nothing but Him ? Are you
happy in God ? Is He your glory, your delight, your crown
of rejoicing ? And is this commandment written in your
heart, ' That he who loveth God love his brother also ' ? Do
you then love your neighbour as yourself ? Do you love every
man, even your enemies, even the enemies of God, as your
own soul ? as Christ loved you ? Yea, dost thou believe that
Christ loved thee, and gave Himself for thee ? Hast thou
faith in His blood ? Believest thou the Lamb of God hath
taken away thy sins, and cast them as a stone into the depth
of the sea ? that He hath blotted out the handwriting that was
against thee, taking it out of the way, nailing it to His cross ?
Hast thou indeed redemption through His blood, even the
remission of thy sins ? And doth His Spirit bear witness with
thy spirit, that thou art a child of God ?

10. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
now standeth in the midst of us, knoweth, that if any man
die without this faith and this love, good it were for him that
he had never been born. Awake, then, thou that sleepest, and

9. This well-known proverb occurs cerity of an unbeliever that ' if he
in Whitlock's Zootomia (1654) in the persevere therein, God will infallibly
form, ' It is a saying among divines give him faith.' And in the Minutes
that Hell is full of good intentions of 1747 he says, ' Men may have
and meanings.' Herbert, Jacula many good tempers, and a blameless
Prudentum, p. n (1633), has, ' Hell life (speaking in a loose sense), by
is full of good meanings and wishes.' nature and habit, with preventing
Boswell, Life of Johnson, II. xi, re- grace ; and yet not have faith and
lates that Johnson quoted it : ' Sir, the love of God. It is scarce pos-
Hell is paved with good intentions.' sible for us to know all the circum-

10. It might be supposed from stances relating to such persons, as
the opening of this paragraph that to judge certainly concerning them.
Wesley thought it possible that such Bat this we know, if Christ is not
a person as his almost Christian revealed in them, they are not yet
might be damned. His logic com- Christian believers.' The question
pels such a conclusion from the pre- is then asked : Q. 11. ' But what will
mises ; but, as so often happened, become of them then, suppose they
his common sense was too strong in die in this state ? ' And the answer
the long run for his logic. In the is : ' That is a supposition not to be
Minutes of 1 746 he lays it down that made. They cannot die in this
God has so much regard for the sin- state. They must go backward or

w.s.s. 1 — 5

Sermon II

call upon thy God : call in the day when He may be found.
Let Him not rest, till He make His ' goodness to pass before
thee ' ; till He proclaim unto thee the name of the Lord, ' The
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin.' Let no man
persuade thee, by vain words, to rest short of this prize of thy
high calling. But cry unto Him day and night, who, ' while
we were without strength, died for the ungodly,' until thou
knowest in whom thou hast believed, and canst say, ' My
Lord, and my God ! ' Remember, ' always to pray, and not

forward. If they continue to seek,
they will surely find righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
We are confirmed in this belief by
the many instances we have seen of
such as these finding peace at the
last hour. And it is not impossible
but others may then be made par-
takers of like precious faith, and yet
go hence without giving any out-
ward proof of the change which
God hath wrought.' Probably Wes-
ley was thinking of his brother
Samuel, who had strongly objected
to his teaching on the subject of
conscious assurance of salvation, and
had been greatly disturbed by the
reports of the fits and visions and
other abnormal phenomena which
had taken place ; so much so that
in a letter to Mrs. Hutton of June
17, 1738, he says, 'I heartily
pray God to stop the progress of
this lunacy.' He died on Novem-
ber 6, 1739 ; and in Journal, Novem-
ber 21, 1739, Wesley records a visit
to his widow, and says, ' We could
not but rejoice at hearing from one
who had attended my brother in all
his weakness, that, several days
before he went hence, God had
given him a calm and full assurance
of his interest in Christ. Oh may
every one who opposes it be thus

convinced that this doctrine is of
God !'

Wesley's views on this whole sub-
ject underwent considerable modi-
fication as the years went on. On
December 1, 1767, he records in his
Journal : ' Being alone in the coach,
I was considering several points of
importance. And thus much ap-
peared clear as the day :

' That a man may be saved who
cannot express himself properly con-
cerning Imputed Righteousness.
Therefore, to do this is not necessary
to salvation.

' That a man may be saved who
has not clear conceptions of it (yea,
that never heard the phrase). There-
fore, clear conceptions of it are not
necessary to salvation. Yea, it is
not necessary to salvation to use the
phrase at all.

' That a pious Churchman who
has not clear conceptions even of
Justification by Faith may be saved.
Therefore, clear conceptions even of
this are not necessary to salvation.

' That a Mystic who denies Justi-
fication by Faith (Mr. Law, for in-
stance) may be saved. But if so,
what becomes of articulus stands
vel cadentis ecclesiae ? ' [Luther's
famous description of the doctrine
of Justification by Faith ; the doc-

The Almost Christian 67

to faint,' till thou also canst lift up thy hand unto heaven, and
declare to Him that liveth for ever and ever, ' Lord, Thou
knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.'

II. May we all thus experience what it is to be, not almost
only, but altogether Christians ; being justified freely by His
grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus ; knowing we
have peace with God through Jesus Christ ; rejoicing in hope
of the glory of God ; and having the love of God shed abroad
in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto us !

trine by which, a church stands or righteousness, is accepted with
falls.] 'If so, is it not high time Him"'? The quotation is from
for us Horace, De Arte Poet. 97, where the

tragic poet, who wishes to affect the

Projicere ampullas et sesquipedalia verba;

nd to return to the plain woi
He that feareth God, and worketh guage and words half a yard long.'

feelings of his audience, is described
and to return to the plain word, as ' throwing overboard florid Ian-

SERMON III

AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST

Preached on Sunday, April 4, 1742, before the University

of Oxford

BY THE REV. CHARLES WESLEY, MA.,
Student of Christ Church

We may be thankful that Wesley included this sermon in his first
four volumes, although it was not preached by him but by his
brother Charles. It is the only sermon by Charles Wesley that was
published during his lifetime, except that on The Cause and Cure
of Earthquakes, written in 1750 (No. CXXIX in the later editions of
Wesley's Sermons), and the only other examples of his pulpit eloquence
are a dozen sermons published by his widow in 1816. On Trinity
Sunday, May 28, 1738, a week after his conversion, he records in his
journal, ' I then began writing my first sermon in the name of Christ
my Prophet ' — that is, his first sermon after his new experience ;
for he had been preaching frequently since his ordination in 1735,
and some of his Frederica discourses are contained in Mrs. Wesley's
volume. Until October 20, 1738, he always wrote his sermons in
full, and read them from the manuscript ; but on that day, being at
St. Antholin's church at the corner of Budge Row and Watling Street,
and finding the congregation very small, he ' thought of preaching
extempore ; and spake on Justification from Rom. iii. for three-
quarters of an hour, without hesitation.' On February 11 of the next
year he repeated the experiment at Islington Church, and preached
on blind Bartimaeus ' without notes.' After he began his itinerant
work, he almost always preached extempore ; and, if Adam Clarke
is to be trusted, he occasionally had his ' bad times ' ; but usually
he spoke with great freedom and power, and Whitehead testifies that
' his sermons were generally more awakening and useful ' than those
of his brother John. Henry Moore thinks that even his University
sermon ' falls short of many discourses which he delivered in the
highways ' ; and says : ' Where only God and conscious sinners were
before him, it seemed as if nothing could withstand the wisdom
and power with which he spake : to use the expression of a pious

Awake, thou that Steepest 69

man, " It was all thunder and lightning." ' Again he says : ' John's
preaching was all principles ; Charles's was all aphorisms.' In 1766
John wrote to him : ' In connexion I beat you ; but in strong, pointed
sentences you beat me.' In other words, John was a logician ; Charles
a poet. In this and the Earthquake sermon no one can fail to admire
the power of vivid description, the continuous and most telling use
of scriptural phrases, the vehement note of personal appeal, the tre-
mendous culminative effect of the successive short sentences, which
come like a spray of bullets from a machine-gun. The bewildering
swiftness of his rapier-play beats down his opponent's guard and
does not allow him an instant to recover himself. He gains his point,
not by dint of argument, but by the irresistible rush of the torrent of
his emotion.

We have from the pen of Joseph Williams, a pious dissenter of
Kidderminster, a description of a sermon preached in the open air at
Bristol by Charles Wesley in September 1739 : ' Standing on a table
in a field, the preacher, with eyes and hands lifted up to heaven,
prayed with uncommon fervour and fluency. He then preached
about an hour in such a manner as I scarce ever heard any man preach.
Though I have heard many a finer sermon according to the common
taste or acceptation of sermons, I never heard any man discover such
evident signs of a vehement desire, or labour so earnestly to convince
his hearers, that they were all by nature in a sinful, lost, undone state.
He showed how great a change faith in Christ would produce in the
whole man. . . . With uncommon fervour he acquitted himself as
an ambassador of Christ. . . . And although he used no notes, nor
had anything in his hand but a Bible, yet he delivered his thoughts
in a rich, copious variety of expression, and with so much propriety,
that I could not observe anything incoherent or inanimate through
the whole performance, which he concluded with singing, prayer, and
the usual benediction.' He goes on to describe the evening meeting,
in which Charles Wesley expounded part of the twelfth chapter of
St. John ' in a sweet, savoury, spiritual manner,' and is filled with
admiration of the fervent prayers and the heavenly singing which
concluded the service. (Meth. Mag., 18 15, p. 457.)

This sermon was preached in St. Mary's before the University of
Oxford on Sunday afternoon, April 4, 1742. Unfortunately, Charles's
Journal is missing just at this time, but from John's we learn that
Charles left London for Oxford on the previous Wednesday. John
remained in London, and records : ' About two in the afternoon, being
the time my brother was preaching at Oxford, before the University,
I desired a few persons to meet with me and join in prayer.' Vicesimus
Knox, in his Lucubrations, No. 131 (1780), complains of the dullness of
the University sermons ; ' and yet,' he says, ' when it is considered
that the greater part of the audience in the University church

70 Sermon III

always consists of very young men and of the common parishioners, I
know not whether this apology ' (viz. that these sermons are merely
didactic) ' can fully justify the languor of a pulpit dissertation ' ; he
thinks a ' lively and more energetic address to the hearers ' would
be an improvement ; and laments that ' eloquence is less aimed at
in academical pulpits than ingenious, erudite, and inoffensive disquisi-
tion.' He would not have found anything to complain of on this
score in Charles Wesley's sermon !

In 1748 was published the Foreigner's Companion through the Uni-
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, by Matthew Salmon, one of the
original members of the Holy Club, who later quarrelled with the
Wesleys. On p. 25 he says : ' The times of the day the University
go to this church, are ten in the morning and two in the afternoon
on Sundays and holidays, the sermon usually lasting about half an
hour. But when I happened to be in Oxford in 1742, Mr. Wesley, the
Methodist, of Christ Church, entertained his audience two hours, and,
having insulted and abused all degrees, from the highest to the lowest,
was in a manner hissed out of the pulpit by the lads.' Charles Wesley
in his Journal, April 15, 1750, quotes this passage ; and adds : ' And
high time for them to do so, if the historian said true ; but, unfortu-
nately for him, I measured the time by my watch, and it was within
the hour ; I abused neither high nor low, as my sermon, in print, will
prove ; neither was I hissed out of the pulpit, or treated with the
least incivility, either by young or old. What, then, shall I say to
my old high-Church friend, whom I once so- much admired ? I
must rank him among the apocryphal writers, such as the judicious
Dr. Mather, the wary Bishop Burnet, and the most modest Mr. Old-
mixon.' (Apparently Charles had been reading Pope's Epistle to
Arbuthnot, published 1735 :

' From these the world will judge of men and books,
Not from the Burnets, Oldmixons, and Cooks.')

The sermon was published by Strahan the same year and went
through at least thirty-six editions. Thomas Jackson says : ' It is doubt-
ful whether any sermon in the English language, or in any language
upon earth, has passed through so many editions, or has been a means
of so much spiritual good.'

Awake, thou that Steepest

Awake, thou that steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall

give thee light. — Eph. v. 14.

In discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of
God —

I. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken :
II. Enforce the exhortation, ' Awake, thou that

SLEEPEST, AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD ' : AND,

III. Explain the promise made to such as do awake
and arise : ' Christ shall give thee light.'

1. 1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By
sleep is signified the natural state of man ; that deep sleep
of the soul, into which the sin of Adam hath cast all who
spring from his loins ; that supineness, indolence, and stupidity,
that insensibility of his real condition, wherein every man
comes into the world, and continues till the voice of God
awakes him.

2. Now, ' they that sleep, sleep in the night.' The state
of nature is a state of utter darkness ; a state wherein ' darkness
covers the earth, and gross darkness the people.' The poor
unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may have
as to other things, has no knowledge of himself : in this respect
' he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.' He knows
not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business in the present
world is, to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God
wherein he was created. He sees no necessity for the one thing
needful, even that inward universal change, that ' birth from
above,' figured out by baptism, which is the beginning of that

The text is quoted by St. Paul
from some unknown source : ' Where-
fore he saith.' Severian, who has
been followed by many modern com-
mentators, thinks it was a verse from
an early Christian hymn :

"Eytipe, 6 KadeC'duv,
Kai aviora. iic tQv veKp&v,
Kai iirKpavcra, croi 6 XptarSs-

If so, it was most happily chosen

by the greatest of Christian hymn-
writers as his text on this occasion.

1. par. 1. On original sin, see note
on Sermon V, sec. i.

2. ' Birth from above.' This is
the rendering of the phrase in
John hi. 3, adopted by Coverdale
and the Bishops' Bible of 1572. The
more usual rendering is ' again.'
The papyri furnish examples of both

72 Sermon III

total renovation, that sanctification of spirit, soul, and body,
' without which no man shall see the Lord.'

3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect
health. Fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is
[happy and] at liberty. He says, ' Peace ! Peace ! ' while the
devil, as ' a strong man armed,' is in full possession of his soul.
He sleeps on still, and takes his rest, though hell is moved from
beneath to meet him ; though the pit from whence there is no
return hath opened its mouth to swallow him up. A fire is
kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not ; yea, it burns him,
yet he lays it not to heart.

4. By one who sleeps, we are, therefore, to understand
(and would to God we might all understand it !) a sinner
satisfied in his sins ; contented to remain in his fallen state,
to live and die without the image of God ; one who is ignorant
both of his disease, and of the only remedy for it ; one who
never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice of
God, ' to flee from the wrath to come ' ; one that never yet
saw he was in danger of hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness
of his soul, ' What must I do to be saved ? '

5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is
usually the deepest of all : whether he be of the Laodicean
spirit, ' neither cold nor hot,' but a quiet, rational, inoffensive,
good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers ; or
whether he be zealous and orthodox, and, ' after the most
strait est sect of our religion,' live ' a Pharisee ' ; that is,
according to the scriptural account, one that justifies himself ;
one that labours to establish his own righteousness, as the
ground of his acceptance with God.

6. This is he, who, ' having a form of godliness, denies the
power thereof ' ; yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it
is found, as mere extravagance and delusion. Meanwhile,
the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that he is ' not as

meanings. Westcott, after a full not effected, by baptism ; (2) as the

discussion of the passage, decides in beginning, not the complete attain-

favour of ' again.' ment, of sanctification. Cf. Sermon

It is observable that regeneration I, ii. 6.
is here described (1) as figured out,

Awake, thou that Steepest 73

other men are ; adulterers, unjust, extortioners ' ; no, he doeth
no wrong to any man. He ' fasts twice in a week,' uses all
the means of grace, is constant at church and sacrament ; yea,
and ' gives tithes of all that he has ' ; does all the good that
he can : ' touching the righteousness of the law,' he is ' blame-
less ' : he wants nothing of godliness, but the power ; nothing
of religion, but the spirit ; nothing of Christianity, but the
truth and the life.

7. But know ye not, that, however highly esteemed among
men such a Christian as this may be, he is an abomination in
the sight of God, and an heir of every woe which the Son of
God, yesterday, to-day, and for ever, denounces against
' scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ' ? He hath ' made clean
the outside of the cup and the platter,' but within is full of
all filthiness. ' An evil disease cleaveth still unto him, so that
his inward parts are very wickedness.' Our Lord fitly com-
pares him to a ' painted sepulchre,' which ' appears beautiful
without ' ; but, nevertheless, is ' full of dead men's bones, and
of all uncleanness.' The bones indeed are no longer dry ; the
sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin covers
them above : but there is no breath in them, no Spirit of the
living God. And, ' if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of His.' ' Ye are Christ's, if so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you ' : but, if not, God knoweth that ye abide
in death, even until now.

8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to.
He abides in death, though he knows it not. He is dead unto
God, ' dead in trespasses and sins.' For, ' to be carnally
minded is death.' Even as it is written, ' By one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed
upon all men ' ; not only temporal death, but likewise spiritual
and eternal. ' In that day that thou eatest,' said God to
Adam, ' thou shalt surely die ' : not bodily (unless as he then
became mortal), but spiritually : thou shalt lose the life of thy
soul , thou shalt die to God ; shalt be separated from Him,
thy essential life and happiness.

7. The ' sinews and flesh ' are taken to mean the outward form of re-
ligion.

74 Sermon III

9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with
God ; insomuch that ' in the midst of ' natural ' life, we
are ' now in spiritual ' death.' And herein we remain till the
Second Adam becomes a quickening Spirit to us ; till He raises
the dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches, or honours. But,
before any dead soul can live, he ' hears ' (hearkens to) ' the
voice of the Son of God ' : he is made sensible of his lost estate,
and receives the sentence of death in himself. He knows
himself to be ' dead while he liveth ' ; dead to God, and all
the things of God ; having no more power to perform the
actions of a living Christian, than a dead body to perform
the functions of a living man.

10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin has not
' senses exercised to discern spiritual good and evil.' ' Having
eyes, he sees not ; he hath ears, and hears not.' He doth
not ' taste and see that the Lord is gracious.' He ' hath not
seen God at any time,' nor ' heard His voice,' nor ' handled
the word of life.' In vain is the name of Jesus ' like ointment
poured forth, and all His garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and
cassia.' The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception of
any objects of this kind. His heart is ' past feeling,' and
understandeth none of these things.

11. And hence, having no spiritual senses, no inlets of
spiritual knowledge, the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God ; nay, he is so far from receiving them,
that whatsoever is spiritually discerned is mere foolishness
unto him. He is not content with being utterly ignorant of
spiritual things, but he denies the very existence of them. And
spiritual sensation itself is to him the foolishness of folly.
' How,' saith he, ' can these things be ? How can any man
know that he is alive to God ? ' Even as you know that your
body is now alive. Faith is the life of the soul ; and if ye have
this life abiding in you, ye want no marks to evidence it to
yourself, but eXeyxos IIvev/xaTo^, that divine consciousness, that

9. Cf. with this and the two follow- It was probably suggested by

ing sections, Sermon XV, i. 6-10. John xvi. 8, ' He shall convict

11. The phrase IXe7xos Uvtv/xaros (^yfcO the world in respect of sin,

does not occur in the New Testament. &c.,' and Heb. xi. 1. 'Faith is the

Awake, thou that Steepest 75

witness of God, which is more and greater than ten thousand
human witnesses.

12. If He doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that
thou art a child of God, O that He might convince thee, thou
poor unawakened sinner, by His demonstration and power,
that thou art a child of the devil ! O that, as I prophesy,
there might now be ' a noise and a shaking ' ; and may ' the
bones come together, bone to his bone ! ' Then ' come from
the four winds, O Breath ! and breathe on these slain, that
they may live ! ' And do not ye harden your hearts, and
resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to convince you
of sin, ' because you believe not on the name of the only
begotten Son of God.'

II. 1. Wherefore, ' awake, thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead.' God calleth thee now by my mouth ; and
bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and
only concern below. ' What meanest thou, O sleeper ? Arise !
Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee,
that thou perish not.' A mighty tempest is stirred up round
about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of perdition,
the gulf of God's judgements. If thou wouldest escape them,
cast thyself into them. ' Judge thyself, and thou shalt not
be judged of the Lord.'

2. Awake, awake ! Stand up this moment, lest thou ' drink
at the Lord's hand the cup of His fury.' Stir up thyself to
lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy Righteousness, mighty to
save ! ' Shake thyself from the dust.' At least, let the earth-
quake of God's threatenings shake thee. Awake, and cry
out with the trembling jailer, ' What must I do to be saved ? '
And never rest till thou believest on the Lord Jesus,
with a faith which is His gift, by the operation of His Spirit.

IXeYx0* °* things not seen.' The II. i. ' Cast thyself into them.'

preacher does not distinguish so A curious application of the story

accurately as his brother the witness of Jonah ; as Jonah escaped the

of our own spirit and the witness of storm by being cast into the sea, so

the Spirit of God. we, to escape God's judgements, must

12. ' Child of the devil.' But see acquiesce in them, judge ourselves

note on Sermon II, i. 13. by His standards.

76 Sermon III

3. If I speak to any one of you, more than to another, it is
to thee, who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation.
' I have a message from God unto thee.' In His name, I
warn thee ' to flee from the wrath to come.' Thou unholy
soul, see thy picture in condemned Peter, lying in the dark
dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two chains, the
keepers before the door keeping the prison. The night is
far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought
forth to execution. And in these dreadful circumstances
thou art fast asleep ; thou art fast asleep in the devil's arms,
on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction !

4. 0 may the Angel of the Lord come upon thee, and the
light shine into thy prison ! And mayest thou feel the stroke
of an Almighty Hand, raising thee, with, ' Arise up quickly,
gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garment about
thee, and follow Me.'

5. Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of
worldly happiness ! Did not God create thee for Himself ?
Then thou canst not rest till thou restest in Him. Return,
thou wanderer ! Fly back to thy ark. This is not thy home.
Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art but a
stranger, a sojourner upon earth ; a creature of a day, but
just launching out into an unchangeable state. Make haste.
Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An
eternity of happiness, or an eternity of misery !

6. In what state is thy soul ? Was God, while I am yet
speaking, to require it of thee, art thou ready to meet death
and judgement ? Canst thou stand in His sight, who is of
' purer eyes than to behold iniquity ' ? Art thou ' meet to
be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light ' ? Hast
thou ' fought a good fight, and kept the faith ' ? Hast thou
secured the one thing needful ? Hast thou recovered the
image of God, even righteousness and true holiness ? Hast

5. Compare Augustine, Conjes- liebe du,' made at Savannah in 1736,

sions, Li:' Thou hast created us and printed in Psalms and Hymns,

for Thyself, and our heart is rest- i738 ; Hymn 531 in the present

less till it finds rest in Thee.' And Hymnbook.

John Wesley's translation of Ter- „ . . • • , .. .

J J My heart is pained, nor can it be

steegen's hymn, ' Verborgne Gottes- At rest, till it finds rest in Thee.

Awake, thou that Steepest

thou put off the old man, and put on the new ? Art thou
clothed upon with Christ ?

7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp ? grace in thy heart ? Dost
thou ' love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength ' ?
Is that mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus ? Art
thou a Christian indeed ; that is, a new creature ? Are old
things passed away, and all things become new ?

8. Art thou a ' partaker of the divine nature ' ? Knowest
thou not that ' Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate ' ?
Knowest thou that God ' dwelleth in thee, and thou in God,
by His Spirit, which He hath given thee ' ? Knowest thou
not that ' thy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou
hast of God ' ? Hast thou the witness in thyself ? the earnest
of thine inheritance? [Art thou sealed by that Spirit of
Promise, unto the day of redemption ? ] Hast thou ' received
the Holy Ghost ' ? Or dost thou start at the question, not
knowing ' whether there be any Holy Ghost ' ?

9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither
art a Christian, nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy very prayer
is turned into sin ; and thou hast solemnly mocked God this
very day, by praying for the inspiration of His Holy Spirit,
when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be
received.

10. Yet, on the authority of God's Word, and our own
Church, I must repeat the question, ' Hast thou received the
Holy Ghost ? ' If thou hast not, thou art not yet a Christian.
For a Christian is a man that is ' anointed with the Holy
Ghost and with power.' Thou art not yet made a partaker
of pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know what religion

9. The reference is to the Collect
at the beginning of the Communion
Service : ' Cleanse the thoughts of
our hearts by the inspiration of Thy
Holy Spirit.'

10. ' Anointed with the Holy
Ghost.' Evidently a reminiscence
of Acts x. 38 ; it is said there, not
of every Christian, but of our Lord.
This is the sort of slip which can

hardly be avoided at times by one
whose memory is so richly stored
with Scripture phrases as Charles
Wesley's was. The late Dr. Pope
was usually very happy in his use of
Scripture ; but once in the Didsbury
Chapel he is reported to have said,
speaking of the providential care of
God, ' Yes, brethren, we are not
ignorant of his devices.' Then sud-

yS Sermon III

is ? — that it is a participation of the divine nature ; the life of
God in the soul of man ; Christ formed in the heart ; ' Christ
in thee, the hope of glory ' ; happiness and holiness ; heaven
begun upon earth ; ' a kingdom of God within thee ; not meat
and drink,' no outward thing ; ' but righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost ' ; an everlasting kingdom brought
into thy soul ; a ' peace of God, that passeth all understand-
ing ' ; a ' joy unspeakable, and full of glory ' ?

ii. Knowest thou, that ' in Jesus Christ, neither circum-
cision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith that
worketh by love ' ; but a new creation ? Seest thou the
necessity of that inward change, that spiritual birth, that life
from the dead, that holiness ? And art thou thoroughly
convinced, that without it no man shall see the Lord ? Art
thou labouring after it ? — ' giving all diligence to make thy
calling and election sure,' ' working out thy salvation with fear
and trembling/ ' agonizing to enter in at the strait gate ' ?
Art thou in earnest about thy soul ? And canst thou tell the
Searcher of hearts, ' Thou, O God, art the thing that I long
for ! Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that I
would love Thee ! '

12. Thou hopest to be saved ; but what reason hast thou
to give of the hope that is in thee ? Is it because thou hast
done no harm ? or, because thou hast done much good ? or,
because thou art not like other men ; but wise, or learned, or
honest, and morally good ; esteemed of men, and of a fair
reputation ? Alas ! all this will never bring thee to God. It
is in His account lighter than vanity. Dost thou know Jesus
Christ, whom He hath sent ? Hath He taught thee, that ' by
grace we are saved through faith ; and that not of ourselves :

denly recollecting the context, he and the widow,' &c. The passage

ejaculated in horror, ' I beg your has no relation to the main conten-

pardon ! ' The next quotation is tion of this paragraph,

even less appropriate. 'Pure re- n. 'Agonizing.' Charles Wesley

ligion ' should rather be translated takes this as the closest representa-

' Pure and undented religious ser- tive in English of the Greek ayuvlfrcrde

vice, or observance'; and it is in Luke xiii. 24. In the Notes John

denned, in contradistinction to the translates it, ' Agonize. Strive as

Pharisaic idea of ecclesiastical cere- in an agony.' But none of the Eng-

monial, as ' visiting the fatherless lish versions has dared to adopt it.

Awake, thou that Steepest 79

it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast ' ?
Hast thou received the faithful saying, as the whole foundation
of thy hope, ' that Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners ' ? Hast thou learned what that meaneth, ' I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ? I am not
sent, but unto the lost sheep ' ? Art thou (he that heareth,
let him understand !) lost, dead, damned already ? Dost thou
know thy deserts ? Dost thou feel thy wants ? Art thou
' poor in spirit ' ? mourning for God, and refusing to be com-
forted ? Is the prodigal ' come to himself,' and well content
to be therefore thought ' beside himself ' by those who are
still feeding upon the husks which he hath left ? Art thou
willing to live godly in Christ Jesus ? And dost thou therefore
suffer persecution ? Do men say all manner of evil against
thee falsely, for the Son of Man's sake ?

13. O that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that
wakes the dead ; and feel that hammer of the Word, which
breaketh the rocks in pieces ! ' If ye will hear His voice to-day,
while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts.' Now,
' awake, thou that sleepest ' in spiritual death, that thou sleep
not in death eternal ! Feel thy lost estate, and ' arise from
the dead.' Leave thine old companions in sin and death.
Follow thou Jesus, and let the dead bury their dead. ' Save
thyself from this untoward generation.' ' Come out from
among them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean
thing, and the Lord shall receive thee.' ' Christ shall give
thee light.'

III. 1. This promise, I come, lastly, to explain. And how
encouraging a consideration is this, that whosoever thou art,
who obeyest His call, thou canst not seek His face in vain ! If
thou even now ' awakest, and arisest from the dead,' He hath
bound Himself to ' give thee light.' ' The Lord shall give
thee grace and glory ' ; the light of His grace here, and the
light of His glory when thou receivest the crown that fadeth
not away. ' Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and
thy darkness be as the noon-day.' ' God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, shall shine in thy heart ; to

8o Sermon III

give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ.' ' On them that fear the Lord shall the Sun of Right-
eousness arise with healing in His wings.' And in that day it
shall be said unto thee, ' Arise, shine ; for thy light is come,
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.' For Christ
shall reveal Himself in thee : and He is the true Light.

2. God is light, and will give Himself to every awakened
sinner that waiteth for Him ; and thou shalt then be a temple
of the living God, and Christ shall ' dwell in thy heart by
faith ' : and, ' being rooted and grounded in love, thou shalt
be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height of that love of Christ which
passeth knowledge,' [that thou mayest be rilled with all the
fullness of God.]

3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be ' an
habitation of God through His Spirit ' ; and, through His
Spirit dwelling in us, to be saints here, and partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light. So exceeding great are the
promises which are given unto us, actually given unto us who
believe ! For by faith ' we receive, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit which is of God ' — the sum of all the promises —
' that we may know the things that are freely given to us of
God.'

4. The Spirit of Christ is that great gift of God which, at
sundry times, and in divers manners, He hath promised to man,
and hath fully bestowed since the time that Christ was glorified.
Those promises, before made to the fathers, He hath thus
fulfilled : ' I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in My statutes ' (Ezek. xxxvi. 27). 'I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground :
I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon
thine offspring ' (Isa. xliv. 3).

5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things ; of remis-
sion of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. ' If thou canst
believe, all things are possible to him that belie veth.' ' Who
among you is there that feareth the Lord, and ' yet walketh
' in darkness, and hath no light ' ? I ask thee, in the name
of Jesus, Believest thou that His arm is not shortened at all ?

Awake, thou that Steepest 81

that He is still mighty to save ? that He is the same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever ? that He hath now power on earth to
forgive sins ? ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven.'
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven thee. Receive this,
' not as the word of man ; but as it is indeed, the word of
God ' ; and thou art justified freely through faith. Thou
shalt be sanctified also through faith which is in Jesus, and
shalt set to thy seal, even thine, that ' God hath given unto us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son.'

6. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you ; and
suffer ye the word of exhortation, even from one the least
esteemed in the Church. Your conscience beareth you witness
in the Holy Ghost, that these things are so, if so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. ' This is eternal life, to know
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent.'
This experimental knowledge, and this alone, is true Chris-
tianity. He is a Christian who hath received the Spirit of
Christ. He is not a Christian who hath not received Him.
Neither is it possible to have received Him, and not know it.

III. 6. ' Neither is it possible,' &c. We allow that there may be infinite

But John Wesley wrote to his degrees in seeing God.' The ques-

brother Samuel on October 23, 1738, tion is discussed again in Minutes,

five months after his conversion, June 16, 1747. After proving that

' This witness of the Spirit I have the doctrine of assurance is scrip-

not.' He writes again in November, tural, he asks (Q. 10) whether matter

' This witness, I believe, is neces- of fact does not prove that justifying

sary for my salvation. How far in- faith does not necessarily imply

vincible ignorance may excuse others, assurance ; and two cases are speci-

I know not.' The question is pro- fically mentioned under the disguise

posed in Minutes, August 2, 1745 of initials. The answer is, ' This

(Charles being present) : ' Q. 1 . Is contains the very strength of the

an assurance of God's pardoning love cause ' ; and the explanation which

absolutely necessary to our being follows is not at all decisive. There

in His favour ? ' The gist of the may be exempt cases ; general doc-

answersis: ' (1) There may be exempt trines must not be grounded on a

cases ; (2) We incline to think it is few experiments ; a moral life does

not necessary to outward holiness ; not prove that a man has faith ; we

(3) In regard to Papists, Quakers, do not know enough to judge certainly

and others who deny that they have about these persons. But if they

it, love hopeth all things ; (4) As to have not conscious faith, they are

those who die without it, we deter- not Christian believers ; yet it is

mine nothing ; we leave his soul in not to be supposed that they can die

the hands of Him that made it ; (5) in such a state. In 1745 John
w.s.s. 1—6

Sermon III

' For, at that day ' (when He cometh, saith our Lord), ' ye
shall 'know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in
you.' This is that ' Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him : but
ye know Him ; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you '
(John xiv. 17).

7. The world cannot receive Him, but utterly rejecteth the
Promise of the Father, contradicting and blaspheming. But
every spirit which confesseth not this is not of God. Yea,
' this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that
it should come into the world ; and even now it is in the world.'

Wesley writes to John Smith (prob-
ably a pseudonym for Thomas
Seeker), ' I will still believe, none is
a true Christian till he experiences
it,' i.e. the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, which none can have ' with-
out perceiving it as clearly as he
does the light of the sun.' But on
the other hand, John Wesley, in a
letter to Charles (Works, xii. 113),
says, ' If justifying faith necessarily
implies such an explicit assurance of
pardon, then every one who has it
not ... is under the wrath and under
the curse of God. But this is a sup-
position contrary to Scripture as
well as to experience.' In Ser-
mon XLV (1767) he allows that there
may be a real degree of long-suffer-
ing, of gentleness, of fidelity, meek-
ness, temperance, before we have a
testimony of our acceptance ; though
we are not to rest here, but con-
tinually to cry to God for the witness
of the Spirit.

In a letter to Melville Home,
Fletcher's successor at Madeley,
John Wesley says, ' When fifty years
ago my brother Charles and I, in
the simplicity of our hearts, told the
good people of England that unless
they knew their sins were forgiven,
they were under the wrath and curse
of God, I marvel, Melville, they did

not stone us ! The Methodists, I
hope, know better now ; we preach
assurance as we always did, as a
common privilege of the children of
God ; but we do not enforce it, under
the pain of damnation, denounced
on all who enjoy it not.' (Southey's
Life of Wesley, 1st ed., i. 295.)

Wesley is right in saying that this
' is the main doctrine of the Metho-
dists.' Christianity is not a creed
nor a system of ethics ; it is an ex-
perience, and therefore must be ex-
perienced. But he allows that there
are degrees in this experience ; and
if he had more explicitly admitted
that through prejudice, or ignorance,
or false humility, or temperament,
different people may describe their
experience in different terms ; and
if he had not at times complicated
the question by his anxiety to deter-
mine what will happen to good
people who die without having felt
able to profess that they enjoyed a
definite assurance of salvation, it
is hard to see how any objection to
his doctrine could be maintained.

7. The temptation to call his
opponents names is one to which an
impassioned orator is peculiarly
liable. The word Antichrist is only
used by St. John, and he employs it
in a perfectly definite sense. It is

Awake, thou that Steepest

He is Antichrist whosoever denies the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, or that the indwelling Spirit of God is the common
privilege of all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the unspeak-
able gift, the universal promise, the criterion of a real Christian.

8. It nothing helps them to say, ' We do not deny the
assistance of God's Spirit ; but only this inspiration, this
receiving the Holy Ghost, and being sensible of it. It is only
this feeling of the Spirit, this being moved by the Spirit, or filled
with it, which we deny to have any place in sound religion.'
But, in only denying this, you deny the whole Scriptures ; the
whole truth, and promise, and testimony of God.

9. Our own excellent Church knows nothing of this devilish
distinction ; but speaks plainly of ' feeling the Spirit of Christ ' ;
of being ' moved by the Holy Ghost ' and knowing and ' feeling
there is no other name than that of Jesus,' whereby we can
receive life and salvation. She teaches us all to pray for the
' inspiration of the Holy Spirit ' ; yea, that we may be ' filled
with the Holy Ghost.' Nay, and every Presbyter of hers
professes to receive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands.
Therefore, to deny any of these, is, in effect, to renounce the
Church of England, as well as the whole Christian revelation.

10. But ' the wisdom of God ' was always ' foolishness
with men.' No marvel, then, that the great mystery of the
gospel should be now also ' hid from the wise and prudent,'
as well as in the days of old ; that it should be almost univer-

' he who denies that Jesus is the
Messiah ' ; it is the spirit ' which
confesseth not that Jesus is from
God ' ; it is exhibited by those ' who
do not confess Jesus the Messiah
coming in flesh.' There is no justi-
fication for applying it as the preacher
does here.
9. The references are as follows :

Article xvii : The doctrine of Election is
full of comfort ' to godly persons, and
such as feel in themselves the working of
the Spirit of Christ.'

Office for Ordering of Deacons : ' Do you
trust that you are inwardly moved by
the Holy Ghost to take upon you this
Office and Ministration ? '

Order for Visitation of Sick : ' The Almighty
Lord . . . make thee know and feel that
there is none other Name under heaven
given to man, in whom, and through
whom, thou mayest receive health and
salvation, but only the name of our Lord
Jesus.'

Order for Holy Communion : ' Cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration
of Thy Holy Spirit.'

Order for Confirmation : ' Strengthen them
. . . with the Holy Ghost the Com-
forter.'

Office for Ordering of Priests : ' Receive the
Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a
Priest in the Church of God, now com-
mitted unto thee by the Imposition of
our hands.'

84 Sermon III

sally denied, ridiculed, and exploded, as mere frenzy ; and that
all who dare avow it still are branded with the names of madmen
and enthusiasts ! This is ' that falling away ' which was to
come ; that general apostasy of all orders and degrees of men,
which we even now find to have overspread the earth. ' Run
to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a
man,' a man that loveth the Lord his God with all his heart,
and serveth Him with all his strength. How does our own
land mourn (that we look no farther) under the overflowings
of ungodliness ! What villanies of every kind are committed
day by day ; yea, too often with impunity, by those who sin
with a high hand, and glory in their shame ! Who can reckon
up the oaths, curses, profaneness, blasphemies ; the lying,
slandering, evil-speaking ; the Sabbath-breaking, gluttony,
drunkenness, revenge ; the whoredoms, adulteries, and various
uncleanness ; the frauds, injustice, oppression, extortion,
which overspread our land as a flood ?

11. And even among those who have kept themselves
pure from these grosser abominations, how much anger
and pride, how much sloth and idleness, how much softness
and effeminacy, how much luxury and self-indulgence, how
much covetousness and ambition, how much thirst of praise,
how much love of the world, how much fear of man, is to be
found ! Meanwhile, how little of true religion ! For, where
is he that loveth either God or his neighbour, as He hath given

10. The word ' enthusiast ' was of all the virtues with the correct

almost always used in the eighteenth eighteenth-century wits. For a

century in the sense of ' one who more detailed denunciation of the

holds extravagant and visionary re- sins of the time, see Farther Appeal

ligious opinions,' ' one who pretends to Men of Reason and Religion,

to special divine illumination.' No Part II, sec. ii.

term of abuse was more often applied The ' falling away ' is a quotation

to the early Methodists. Horace from 2 Thess. ii. 8. Whatever St.

Walpole, in a letter dated October 10, Paul meant by it, he was certainly

1766, in describing a sermon by not thinking of the eighteenth cen-

John Wesley, says, ' Towards the tury. But there has hardly ever

end he exalted his voice, and acted been an earnest reformer since the

very ugly enthusiasm ' ; in other beginning of the Christian era who

words, he appealed to the feelings has not thought that he was living

of his hearers — a terrible lapse from in the days of the great Apostasis !
the good form which was the crown

Awake, thou that Steepest 85

us commandment ? On the one hand, are those who have
not so much as the form of godliness ; on the other, those who
have the form only : there stands the open, there the painted,
sepulchre. So that in very deed, whosoever were earnestly
to behold any public gathering together of the people (I fear
those in our churches are not to be excepted), might easily
perceive, ' that the one part were Sadducees, and the other
Pharisees ' : the one having almost as little concern about
religion, as if there were ' no resurrection, neither angel nor
spirit ' ; and the other making it a mere lifeless form, a dull
round of external performances, without either true faith, or
the love of God, or joy in the Holy Ghost !

12. Would to God I could except us of this place !
' Brethren, my heart's desire, and prayer to God, for you is,
that ye may be saved ' from this overflowing of ungodliness ;
and that here may its proud waves be stayed ! But is it so
indeed ? God knoweth, yea, and our own consciences, it is
not. Ye have not kept yourselves pure. Corrupt are we
also and abominable ; and few are there that understand any
more ; few that worship God in spirit and in truth. We, too,
are ' a generation that set not our hearts aright, and whose
spirit cleaveth not steadfastly unto God.' He hath appointed
us indeed to be ' the salt of the earth : but if the salt hath
lost its savour, it is thenceforth good for nothing ; but to be
cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men.'

13. And ' shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord ?
Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? ' Yea,
we know not how soon He may say to the sword, ' Sword
go through this land ! ' He hath given us long space to repent.
He lets us alone this year also : but He warns and awakens
us by thunder. His judgements are abroad in the earth ; and
we have all reason to expect the heaviest of all, even that
He ' should come unto us quickly, and remove our candlestick
out of its place, except we repent and do the first works ' ;
unless we return to the principles of the Reformation, the

12. ' This place ' is, of course, the see the latter part of Sermon IV
University of Oxford. For a fuller and Sermon CXXXIV.
and more severe indictment of it,

86 Sermon III

truth and simplicity of the gospel. Perhaps we are now
resisting the last effort of divine grace to save us. Perhaps
we have wellnigh ' filled up the measure of our iniquities,' by
rejecting the counsel of God against ourselves, and casting
out His messengers.

14. O God, ' in the midst of wrath, remember mercy ' !
Be glorified in our reformation, not in our destruction ! Let
us ' hear the rod, and Him that appointed it ' ! Now that
Thy ' judgements are abroad in the earth,' let the inhabitants
of the world ' learn righteousness ' !

15. My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep
before the ' great trumpet of the Lord be blown,' and our land
become a field of blood. O may we speedily see the things
that make for our peace, before they are hid from our eyes !
' Turn Thou us, O good Lord, and let Thine anger cease from
us. O Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this
vine ' ; and cause us to know ' the time of our visitation.'
' Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name !
O deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for Thy name's sake !
And so we will not go back from Thee. O let us live, and we
shall call upon Thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of
Hosts ! Show the light of Thy countenance, and we shall be
whole.'

' Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen ! '

15. England was engaged in a office; and he threw himself with

war against Spain. Vernon's attacks vigour into the war on behalf of

on Carthagena and Santiago had Maria Theresa. Meanwhile, the

miserably failed ; and Walpole, after Young Pretender was watching the

twenty-one years of power, found course of events, and was preparing

himself on January 21, 1742, with a for the attempt to regain the throne,

bare majority of three in the House, which came to a head in 1745. Well

and resigned. Carteret and his might the preacher look forward with

' drunken administration ' came into anxiety into the future !

SERMON IV

SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University,

on August 24, 1744

This was the last sermon preached before the University by Wesley.
The Sunday sermons were preached at two in the afternoon, but the
service on saints' days began at ten in the morning. As the hour
booms from the Tom Tower of Christ Church on August 24 (St.
Bartholomew's Day), 1744, a stately procession enters the venerable
Church of St. Mary the Virgin, headed by the Esquire Bedel carrying
the insignia of the Vice-Chancellor ; next comes the Vice-Chancellor
himself in his robes, followed by the preacher in full canonicals ; after
him walks the Proctors, and the Doctors of Divinity in all the glory
of their scarlet — capa et caputio coccineo indnti — bring up the rear.
The vast congregation rises as they enter ; and when they reach the
centre of the church, the Vice-Chancellor bows to the preacher and
moves to his throne, whilst John Wesley ascends the pulpit opposite.
A hymn is sung, and the ' bidding prayer ' is offered ; and with no
further preface the text is announced. ' And they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost.' We have four accounts by eye-witnesses of
this memorable service, which shall be now given in full.

First let the preacher himself speak. In Journal, Tuesday, August 21,
he says :

' I set out with a few friends for Oxford. On Wednesday my brother
met us from Bristol.' Friday, 24 (St. Bartholomew's Day) : ' I preached, I
suppose the last time, at St. Mary's. Be it so. I am now clear of the blood
of these men. I have fully delivered my own soul. The Beadle came to me
afterwards and told me the Vice-Chancellor had sent him for my notes. I
sent them without delay, not without admiring the wise providence of God.
Perhaps few men of note would have given a sermon of mine the reading if
I had put it into their hands ; but by this means it came to be read, prob-
ably more than once, by every man of eminence in the University. I left
Oxford about noon, preached at Wycombe [twenty-five miles south-east of
Oxford] in the evening ; and on Saturday, the 25th, returned to London.'

In A Short History of the Methodists (1781) he adds to the record
from the Journal :

88 Sermon IV

' And I am well pleased that it should be the very day on which, in the
last century, near two thousand burning and shining lights were put out at
one stroke [the reference is to the ejectment from their livings on August 24,
T662, of 2,000 clergymen, of whom Wesley's grandfather, John Westley,
was one, because they refused to take the oath prescribed in the Act of
Uniformity]. Yet what a wide difference is there between their case and
mine ! They were turned out of house and home, and all that they had ;
whereas I am only hindered from preaching, without any other loss ; and
that in a kind of honourable manner ; it being determined that, when my
next turn to preach came, they would pay another person to preach for me.
And so they did twice or thrice, even to the time that I resigned my fellow-
ship ' [which he did in 1751].

Charles Wesley, in his Journal, August 23, says :

' I went to Christ Church prayers with several of the brethren, who thought
it strange to see men in surplices talking, laughing, and pointing, as in a
play-house, the whole time of service. I got two or three hours' conference
with my brother ; and found the spirit which had drawn us formerly in this
place. I preached to a multitude of the brethren, gownsmen, and gentry
from the races [it was the Oxford race-week] who filled our inn and yard.
The strangers that intermeddled not with our joy seemed struck and aston-
ished with it, whilst we admonished one another in psalms and hymns, &c.

0 that all the world had a taste for oar diversion ! ! Friday, August 24.

1 joined my brother in stirring up the Society. They did run well, till the
Moravians turned them out of the way of God's ordinances. At ten I walked
with my brother and Mr. Piers and Meriton [two clergymen who had just
taken part in Wesley's first Conference in London] to St. Mary's, where
my brother bore his testimony before a crowded audience, much increased
by the racers. Never have I seen a more attentive congregation. They did
not let a word slip them. Some of the Heads stood up the whole time,
and fixed their eyes on him. If they can endure sound doctrine like his, he
will surely leave a blessing behind him. The Vice-Chancellor sent after
him, and desired his notes ; which he sealed up and sent immediately. We
walked back in form, the little band of us four, for of the rest durst none
join himself to us. I was a little diverted at the coyness of an old friend,
Mr. Wells, who sat just before me, but took great care to turn his back upon
me all the time, which did not hinder my seeing through him. At noon my
brother set out for London, and I for Bristol.'

In the undergraduates' gallery was a student of Wadham, called
Benjamin Kennicott, who through financial difficulties had come
somewhat late to the University and was now twenty-five years of
age. He afterwards became one of the most eminent of English
Hebrew and Oriental scholars; was Fellow of Exeter, Keeper of the
Radcliffe Library, and Canon of Christ Church. His Vetus Testamentum
Hebraicum cum variis lectionibus (1776-80) embodied the results of
the collation of 615 MSS. and 52 printed editions of the Hebrew Bible,
and gave a great impetus to the study of the text of the Old Testa-
ment. He wrote a full description of this service in a letter which

Scriptural Christianity 89

was published in the Methodist Magazine, January 1866, and from
which I here copy :

' On Friday last, being St. Bartholomew's Day, the famous Methodist,
Mr. John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln College, preached before the University ;
which being a matter of great curiosity at present, and may possibly be
greater in its consequences, I shall be particular in the account of it. All
that are Masters of Arts, and on the foundation of any College, are set down
in a roll, as they take their degree, and in that order preach before the Uni-
versity, or pay three guineas for a preacher in their stead, and as no clergy-
man can avoid his turn, so the University can refuse none ; otherwise Mr.
Wesley would not have preached. He came to Oxford some time before
[three days only], and preached frequently every day in courts, public-
houses, and elsewhere. On Friday morning, having held forth twice in
private, at five and at eight [I fear most of us degenerate moderns, with
such a service before us, would have stayed in bed to breakfast], he came
to St. Mary's at ten o'clock. There were present the Vice-Chancellor, the
proctors, most of the heads of houses, a vast number of gownsmen, and a
multitude of private people, with many of his followers, both brethren and
sisters, who, with general [this cannot be right ; I conjecture it is ' funeral ']
faces and plain attire, came from around to attend their master and teacher.
When he mounted the pulpit, I fixed my eyes on him and his behaviour.
He is neither tall nor fat ; for the latter would ill become a Methodist. His
black hair quite smooth, and parted very exactly ' [yes, Mr. Kennicott ;
this man had a way of doing everything ' very exactly '], added to a peculiar
composure in his countenance, showed him to be an uncommon man. His
prayer was soft, short, and conformable to the rules of the University.
[This rather suggests that he used a brief extempore prayer after the formal
bidding prayer.] His text, Acts iv. 31 : " And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost." And now he began to exalt his voice. He spoke the text
very slowly, and with an agreeable emphasis. His introduction was to
prove that the word all in the text was meant, not only of the apostles and
those who received the extraordinary, but of others who received the ordinary
influences (only) of the Holy Spirit ; and that of such there were many in
the infancy of the gospel, persons who had no business to perform besides
the reformation of their own lives, and therefore wanted the ordinary divine
influences only, to refresh them in their conversion and complete their Chris-
tianity. And this he chose to do, because, if the Holy Ghost was necessary
for men as private persons at first, it must be so in all ages. His division
of the text was, first, to show the influence of Christianity in its infancy on
individuals ; secondly, in its progress from one period to another ; thirdly,
in its final completion in the universal conversion of the world to the Christian
faith. Under these three heads he expressed himself like a very good scholar,
but a rigid zealot ; and then he came to what he called his plain, practical
conclusion. Here was what he had been preparing for all along ; and he
fired his address with so much zeal and unbounded satire as quite spoiled
what otherwise might have been turned to great advantage ; for as I liked
some, so I disliked other parts of his discourse extremely. Having, under
his third head, displayed the happiness of the world under it — complete
final reformation — " Now," says he, " where is this Christianity to be found ?

90 Sermon IV

Is this a Christian nation ? Is this a Christian city ? " — asserting the con-
trary to both. I liked some of his freedom ; such as calling the generality
of young gownsmen " a generation of triflers," and many other just invec-
tives. But, considering how many shining lights are here that are the glory
of the Christian cause, his sacred censure was much too flaming and strong,
and his charity much too weak in not making large allowances. But so far
from allowances, that, after having summed up the measure of our iniquities,
he concluded with a lifted-up eye in this most solemn form: " It is time for
Thee, Lord, to lay to Thine hand " — words full of such presumption and
seeming imprecation, that they gave an universal shock. This, and the
assertion that Oxford was not a Christian city, and this country not a Chris-
tian nation, were the most offensive parts of the sermon, except when he
accused the whole body (and confessed himself to be one of the number) of
the sin of perjury ; and for this reason, because, upon becoming members
of a College, every person takes an oath to observe the statutes of the
University, and no one observes them in all things. But this gave me no
uneasiness ; for in every oath the intention of the legislator is the only thing
you swear to observe ; and the legislators here mean that you shall observe
all their laws, or upon the violation of them submit to the punishment if
required ; and this being explained in the statute-book given to every
member, does, I think, solve the whole difficulty. Had these things been
omitted, and his censures moderated, I think his discourse, as to style and
delivery, would have been uncommonly pleasing to others as well as to
myself. He is allowed to be a man of great parts, and that by the excellent
Dean of Christ Church (Dr. Conybeare) ; for the day he preached, the dean
generously said of him, " John Wesley will always be thought a man of
sound sense, though an enthusiast." However, the Vice-Chancellor sent for
the sermon, and I hear the heads of colleges intend to show their resentment.'

Another youth was sitting in the body of the church amongst the
Dons ; for though only twenty years of age, he had a year before this
been elected a Fellow of All Souls. His name was William Black-
stone, destined to fame as the author of the Commentaries on the Laws
of England and a Judge of the realm. In a letter dated August 28,
1744, and reproduced in facsimile in Hurst's History of Methodism,
vol. ii. p. 602, he says :

* We were last Friday entertained at St. Mary's by a curious sermon from
Wesley the Methodist. Among other equally modest particulars he in-
formed us, 1 st That there was not one Christian among all the Heads of
Houses ; 2dly, that pride, gluttony, avarice, luxury, sensuality, and
drunkenness were the general characteristicks of all Fellows of Colleges, who
were useless to a proverbial uselessness. Lastly, that the younger part of
the University were a generation of triflers, all of them perjured, and not one
of them of any religion at all. His notes were demanded by the Vice-
Chancellor, but on mature deliberation it has been thought proper to punish
him by a mortifying neglect.'

It is pleasant to find Wesley, quoting from his quondam critic, thirty

Scriptural Christianity 91

years afterwards, in his Thoughts upon Slavery, and describing him
as ' that great ornament of his profession, Judge Blackstone.'

The sermon was published in October by Strahan, with a short
preface, omitted in the collected editions : ' It was not my design,
when I wrote, ever to print the latter part of the following sermon.
But the false and scurrilous accounts of it which have been published,
almost in every corner of the nation, constrain me to publish the
whole, just as it was preached ; that men of reason may judge for
themselves.' Ezekiel xxxiii. 4 was prefixed to the sermon, ' Whosoever
heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning,' &c. ; but
was omitted in the 1771 edition. Many separate editions of the sermon
were issued ; there are eleven in the Wesleyan Conference Office
Library.

I do not know where to find in religious literature anything to rival
the portrayal in the first three divisions of this sermon of Christian
experience, Christian activity, and a Christian world. There is hardly
a sentence which is not directly derived from the Scriptures ; but the
arrangement is so skilful that the impression is not of a pasticcio of
texts, but of a full flood of impassioned eloquence. It is an example
of the finest oratory, controlled by a strong logical sense, absolutely
free from artificial ornaments, sincere as the light, but glowing with
divine fire and fervour. And if the application is outspoken and severe,
it never degenerates into vulgar abuse ; there is no feeling as we read
that Wesley is exploiting the sins of the University for the sake of an
advertisement of himself ; he must be faithful, but there is a strain of
tenderness that is unmistakable ; and it must not be forgotten that
he did not mean to publish this part of his sermon. ' I love the
very sight of Oxford,' he says, in Plain Account of Kingswood School
(1781) ; 'I love the manner of life ; I love and esteem many of its
institutions.'

But his love did not blind him to its faults. In this same
pamphlet, whilst he admits the learning of the professors, he points
out that all that they do is to ' read now and then an ingenious lecture,
perhaps three or four times a year. They read it in the public schools ;
but who hears ? Often vel duo vel nemo.'' Some of the tutors ' are
men of eminent learning ' and are persons ' of piety and diligence ' ;
but there are many of another sort who are both ignorant and careless
of the welfare of their students. The examinations and exercises are
' an idle, useless interruption of useful studies.' They are ' horribly,
shockingly superficial,' ' an execrable insult upon common sense.'
The undergraduates for the most part ' no more concern themselves
with learning than with religion ' ; they are ' loungers and triflers.'
The posthumously published Sermon CXXXIV, which was not actually
preached, contains an even severer indictment. The evidence from
the literature of the eighteenth century abundantly justifies Wesley's

g2 Sermon IV

criticisms. Things were at their worst just at this time (1744) ;
and towards the end of the century they had begun to improve ;
possibly in part through the influence of his faithful dealing. The
best commentary on this part of the sermon will be found in
Godley's Oxford in the Eighteenth Century (1908) ; especially chapters
iii — vi.

The Vice-Chancellor who sent for the notes of the sermon was William
Hodges, Provost of Oriel, and ' a good scholar.' His objection to the
sermon was probably not based on doctrinal grounds, but on the
attack made in the presence of the undergraduates on the authorities
of the University.

History repeats itself. Morley, Life of Gladstone, i. 58, says: ' Glad-
stone always remembered among the wonderful sights of his life, St.
Mary's crammed in all parts by all orders when Mr. Bulteel, an out-
lying Calvinist, preached an accusatory sermon (some of it all too
true) against the University.' Bulteel, like Wesley, was an open-air
preacher ; and lost his living on that account.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. — Acts iv. 31.

i. The same expression occurs in the second chapter, where
we read, ' When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they
were all ' (the Apostles, with the women, and the mother of
Jesus, and His brethren) ' with one accord in one place. And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost ' : one immediate effect whereof
was, they ' began to speak with other tongues ' ; insomuch that,
both the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the other strangers
who ' came together, when this was noised abroad, heard them
speak, in their several tongues, the wonderful works of God '
(Acts ii. 1-6).

2. In this chapter we read, that when the Apostles and
brethren had been praying, and praising God, ' the place was
shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost.' Not that we find any visible
appearance here, such as had been in the former instance : nor
are we informed that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost
were then given to all or any of them ; such as the gifts of
' healing, of working ' other ' miracles, of prophecy, of dis-

Scriptural Christianity 93

cerning spirits, the speaking with divers kinds of tongues, and
the interpretation of tongues ' (1 Cor. xii. 9, 10).

3. Whether these gifts of the Holy Ghost were designed to
remain in the Church throughout all ages, and whether or no
they will be restored at the nearer approach of the ' restitution
of all things,' are questions which it is not needful to decide.
But it is needful to observe this, that, even in the infancy of the
Church, God divided them with a sparing hand. .Were all even
then prophets ? Were all workers of miracles ? Had all the
gifts of healing ? Did all speak with tongues ? No, in no wise.
Perhaps not one in a thousand. Probably none but the teachers
in the Church, and only some of them (1 Cor. xii. 28-30). It
was, therefore, for a more excellent purpose than this, that
' they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.'

4. It was, to give them (what none can deny to be essential
to all Christians in all ages) the mind which was in Christ, those
holy fruits of the Spirit, which whosoever hath not, is none of
His ; to fill them with ' love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle-
ness, goodness ' (Gal. v. 22-24) J to endue them with faith
(perhaps it might be rendered fidelity), with meekness and
temperance ; to enable them to crucify the flesh, with its

Par. 3. It is not possible to draw appear that these extraordinary gifts

a hard-and-fast line between the so- of the Holy Ghost were common in

called extraordinary and the ordinary the Church for more than two or

gifts of the Spirit. The first are three centuries. . . . The cause of this

occasional and special ; the second was not because there was no occa-

are common to all believers. But it sion for them because all the world

is not true that the former ceased was become Christian. The real

to be bestowed after the first three cause was " the love of many, "almost

centuries. No student of foreign of all Christians, so-called, was

missions will deny that they are still " waxed cold." This was the real

imparted where the necessity arises. cause why the extraordinary gifts

And the more important ones — the of the Holy Ghost were no longer

word of wisdom, the word of know- to be found in the Christian Church ;

ledge, faith, prophecy (i.e. the gift because the Christians were turned

of inspired preaching, not necessarily heathens again, and had only a dead

involving the foretelling of the form left.'

future), areas common now as in the 4. ' Fidelity.' Here, as often, Wes-

primitive Church. Wesley speaks ley anticipates the rendering of the

more fully on the subject in Ser- Revisers, who have here ' faithful-

mon LXXXIX, The More Excel- ness ' in place of the A.V. ' faith.'
lpnt Way. par. 2 : 'It does not

94 Sermon IV

affections and lusts, its passions and desires ; and in conse-
quence of that inward change, to fulfil all outward righteous-
ness ; to ' walk as Christ also walked,' in ' the work of faith,
in the patience of hope, the labour of love ' (i Thess. i. 3).

5. Without busying ourselves, then, in curious, needless
inquiries, touching those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, let
us take a nearer view of these His ordinary fruits, which we are
assured will remain throughout all ages ; — of that great work
of God among the children of men, which we are used to express
by one word, ' Christianity ' ; not as it implies a set of opinions,
a system of doctrines, but as it refers to men's hearts and lives.
And this Christianity it may be useful to consider under three
distinct views :

I. AS BEGINNING TO EXIST IN INDIVIDUALS :
II. AS SPREADING FROM ONE TO ANOTHER :
III. AS COVERING THE EARTH.

I design to close these considerations with a plain, practical
application.

1. 1. And, first, let us consider Christianity in its rise, as
beginning to exist in individuals.

Suppose, then, one of those who heard the Apostle Peter
preaching repentance and remission of sins, was pricked to the
heart, was convinced of sin, repented, and then believed in
Jesus. By this faith of the operation of God, which was the
very substance, or subsistence, of things hoped for (Heb. xi.
1), the demonstrative evidence of invisible things, he instantly
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby he now cried, ' Abba,
Father ' (Rom. viii. 15). Now first it was that he could call
Jesus Lord, by the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. xii. 3), the Spirit itself
bearing witness with his spirit, that he was a child of God
(Rom. viii. 16). Now it was that he could truly say, ' I live
not, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave Himself for me ' (Gal. ii. 20).

2. This, then, was the very essence of his faith, a divine
e\eyxo<i {evidence or conviction) of the love of God the Father,
through the Son of His love, to him a sinner, now accepted in

Scriptural Christianity 95

the Beloved. And, ' being justified by faith, he had peace
with God ' (Rom. v. 1), yea, 'the peace of God ruling in his
heart ' ; a peace which, passing all understanding {iravra vovv,
all barely rational conception), kept his heart and mind from
all doubt and fear, through the knowledge of Him in whom he
had believed. He could not, therefore, ' be afraid of any evil
tidings ' ; for his ' heart stood fast, believing in the Lord.' He
feared not what man could do unto him, knowing the very
hairs of his head were all numbered. He feared not all the
powers of darkness, whom God was daily bruising under his
feet. Least of all was he afraid to die ; nay, he desired to
' depart, and to be with Christ ' (Phil. i. 23) ; who, ' through
death, had destroyed him that had the power of death, even the
devil ; and delivered them who, through fear of death, were all
their life-time,' till then, ' subject to bondage ' (Heb. ii. 15).

3. His soul, therefore, magnified the Lord, and his spirit
rejoiced in God his Saviour. ' He rejoiced in Him with joy
unspeakable,' who had reconciled him to God, even the Father ;
' in whom he had redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins.' He rejoiced in that witness of God's Spirit with his
spirit, that he was a child of God ; and more abundantly, ' in
hope of the glory of God ' ; in hope of the glorious image of
God, and full renewal of his soul in righteousness and true
holiness ; and in hope of that crown of glory, that ' inheritance,
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.'

4. ' The love of God was also shed abroad in his heart by
the Holy Ghost which was given unto him' (Rom. v. 5).
' Because he was a son, God had sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father ! ' (Gal. iv. 6). And
that filial love of God was continually increased by the witness
he had in himself (1 John v. 10) of God's pardoning love to
him ; by ' beholding what manner of love it was which the
Father had bestowed upon him, that he should be called a child
of God ' (1 John iii. 1). So that God was the desire of his eyes,
and the joy of his heart ; his portion in time and in eternity.

I. 2. In spite of Lightfoot, I be- of all merely intellectual processes;,
lieve Wesley's interpretation is right. it cannot be attained by logical in-
The peace of God is beyond the reach ference, but is the gift of the Spirit.

96 Sermon IV

5. He that thus loved God could not but love his brother
also ; and ' not in word only, but in deed and in truth.' ' If
God,' said he, ' so loved us, we ought also to love one another '
(1 John iv. 11) ; yea, every soul of man, as ' the mercy of God
is over all His works ' (Ps. cxlv. 9). Agreeably hereto, the affec-
tion of this lover of God embraced all mankind for His sake ;
not excepting those whom he had never seen in the flesh, or those
of whom he knew nothing more than that they were ' the off-
spring of God,' for whose souls His Son had died ; not excepting
the ' evil ' and ' unthankful,' and least of all his enemies,
those who hated, or persecuted, or despitefully used him for
his Master's sake. These had a peculiar place, both in his heart
and in his prayers. He loved them ' even as Christ loved us.'

6. And ' love is not puffed up ' (1 Cor. xiii. 4). It abases to
the dust every soul wherein it dwells. Accordingly, he was
lowly of heart, little, mean, and vile in his own eyes. He
neither sought nor received the praise of men, but that which
cometh of God only. He was meek and long-suffering, gentle
to all, and easy to be entreated. Faithfulness and truth never
forsook him ; they were ' bound about his neck, and wrote on
the table of his heart.' By the same spirit he was enabled to
be temperate in all things, refraining his soul even as a weaned
child. He was ' crucified to the world, and the world crucified
to him ' ; superior to ' the desire of the flesh, the desire of the
eye, and the pride of life.' By the same almighty love was he
saved, both from passion and pride ; from lust and vanity ;
from ambition and covet ousness ; and from every temper
which was not in Christ.

7. It may easily be believed, he who had this love in his
heart would work no evil to his neighbour. It was impossible
for him, knowingly and designedly, to do harm to any man.
He was at the greatest distance from cruelty and wrong, from
any unjust or unkind action. With the same care did he ' set
a watch before his mouth, and keep the door of his lips,' lest
he should offend in tongue, either against justice, or against
mercy or truth. He put away all lying, falsehood, and fraud ;
neither was guile found in his mouth. He spake evil of no
man ; nor did an unkind word ever come out of his lips.

Scriptural Christianity 97

8. And as he was deeply sensible of the truth of that word,
' Without Me ye can do nothing,' and, consequently, of the
need he had to be watered of God every moment ; so he con-
tinued daily in all the ordinances of God, the stated channels
of His grace to man : ' in the Apostles' doctrine,' or teaching,
receiving that food of the soul with all readiness of heart ; in
' the breaking of bread,' which he found to be the communion
of the body of Christ ; and ' in the prayers ' and praises offered
up by the great congregation. And thus, he daily ' grew in
grace,' increasing in strength, in the knowledge and love of God.

9. But it did not satisfy him, barely to abstain from doing
evil. His soul was athirst to do good. The language of his
heart continually was, ' " My Father worketh hitherto, and I
work." My Lord went about doing good ; and shall not I
tread in His steps ? ' As he had opportunity, therefore, if he
could do no good of a higher kind, he fed the hungry, clothed
the naked, helped the fatherless or stranger, visited and as-
sisted them that were sick or in prison. He gave all his goods
to feed the poor. He rejoiced to labour or to suffer for them ;
and whereinsoever he might profit another, there especially
to ' deny himself.' He counted nothing too dear to part with
for them, as well remembering the word of his Lord, ' Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me ' (Matt. xxv. 40).

10. Such was Christianity in its rise. Such was a Christian
in ancient days. Such was every one of those who, when they
heard the threatenings of the chief priests and elders, ' lifted
up their voice to God with one accord, and were all filled with

8. It is curious that neither here, narrow and quite inadequate way
nor in par. i. 10 below, nor in Ser- of regarding it. Some modern com-
mon XII, ii. 1, on The Means of mentators (e.g. Hort and Zockler)
Grace, is 'the fellowship,' in which adopt this view; but the majority
these first converts are said to have take the word to mean ' co-operation
continued, as much as mentioned ; in the widest sense, including fellow-
and yet John Wesley was the founder ship in sympathy, suffering, and toil,'
of the class-meeting and the band. as well as mutual material help.
The explanation is found in the 10. It is to be observed in regard
Notes on the New Testament, where he to the communism of the Church at
interprets the fellowship to mean Jerusalem, (i) that it was not com-
' having all things common ' ; a pulsory. From Acts v. 4 it is clear

W.S.S. l-r-J

98 Sermon IV

the Holy Ghost. The multitude of them that believed were
of one heart and of one soul ' : so did the love of Him in
whom they had believed constrain them to love one another.
' Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he
possessed was his own ; but they had all things common ' : so
fully were they crucified to the world, and the world crucified
to them. ' And they continued steadfastly with one accord
in the Apostles' doctrine, and in the breaking of bread, and
in prayer ' (Acts ii. 42). ' And great grace was upon them
all : neither was there any among them that lacked : for as
many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and
brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them
down at the Apostles' feet : and distribution was made unto
every man according as he had need ' (Acts iv. 31-35).

II. 1. Let us take a view, in the second place, of this Christi-
anity, as spreading from one to another, and so gradually
making its way into the world : for such was the will of God
concerning it, who did not ' light a candle to put it under a
bushel, but that it might give light to all that were in the
house.' And this our Lord had declared to His first disciples,
' Ye are the salt of the earth,' ' the light of the world ' ; at the
same time that He gave that general command, ' Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven ' (Matt. v. 13-16).

2. And, indeed, supposing a few of these lovers of mankind
to see ' the whole world lying in wickedness,' can we believe
they would be unconcerned at the sight, at the misery of those
for whom their Lord died ? Would not their bowels yearn
over them, and their hearts melt away for very trouble ?
Could they then stand idle all the day long, even were there
no command from Him whom they loved ? Rather, would
they not labour, by all possible means, to pluck some of these

that both before and after the sale take, however praiseworthy its

of his possession, it was quite open motive ; for in a very few years it

to Ananias to do as he thought best became necessary for St. Paul to seek

with it ; (2) that the realization of contributions all over the world for

all their capital for immediate dis- the poor saints at Jerusalem,
tribution was an economical mis-

Scriptural Christianity 99

brands out of the burning ? Undoubtedly they would : they
would spare no pains to bring back whomsoever they could of
those poor ' sheep that had gone astray, to the great Shepherd
and Bishop of their souls ' (1 Pet. ii. 25).

3. So the Christians of old did. They laboured, having
opportunity, ' to do good unto all men ' (Gal. vi. 10), warning
them to flee from the wrath to come ; now, now to escape the
damnation of hell. They declared, ' The times of ignorance
God winked at ; but now He calleth all men everywhere to
repent ' (Acts xvii. 30). They cried aloud, Turn ye, turn ye,
from your evil ways ; ' so iniquity shall not be your ruin '
(Ezek. xviii. 30). They ' reasoned ' with them of ' temperance,
and righteousness/ or justice — of the virtues opposite to their
reigning sins ; ' and of judgement to come ' — of the wrath of
God which would surely be executed on evil-doers in that day
when He should judge the world (Acts xxiv. 25).

4. They endeavoured herein to speak to every man severally
as he had need. To the careless, to those who lay unconcerned
in darkness and in the shadow of death, they thundered,
' Awake, thou that sleepest ; arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light.' But to those who were already awakened
out of sleep, and groaning under a sense of the wrath of God,
their language was, ' We have an Advocate with the Father ;
He is the propitiation for our sins.' Meantime, those who had
believed, they provoked to love and to good works ; to patient
continuance in well-doing ; and to abound more and more in
that holiness without which no man can see the Lord (Heb.
xii. 14).

5. And their labour was not in vain in the Lord. His word
ran and was glorified. It grew mightily and prevailed. But
so much the more did offences prevail also. The world in
general were offended, ' because they testified of it, that the
works thereof were evil ' (John vii. 7). The men of pleasure

IT. 3. ' Winked at.' In the Notes No doubt Wesley had in his mind

on the New Testament Wesley adopts that this was the text from which

the much better rendering ' over- Charles Wesley had preached his

looked ' ; which is that of the R.V. great sermon in St. Mary's two years

4. ' Awake, thou that sleepest.' before.

ioo Sermon IV

were offended, not only because these men were made, as it
were, to reprove their thoughts. ' He professeth,' said they,
' to have the knowledge of God ; he calleth himself the child
of the Lord ; his life is not like other men's ; his ways are of
another fashion ; he abstaineth from our ways, as from filthi-
ness ; he maketh his boast, that God is his Father ' (Wis. ii.
13-16) ; but much more, because so many of their companions
were taken away, and would no more ' run with them to the
same excess of riot ' (1 Pet. iv. 4). The men of reputation
were offended, because, as the gospel spread, they declined in
the esteem of the people ; and because many no longer dared
to give them nattering titles, or to pay man the homage due to
God only. The men of trade called one another together, and
said, ' Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth :
but ye see and hear that these men have persuaded and turned
away much people ; so that this our craft is in danger to be set
at nought ' (Acts xix. 25, &c). Above all, the men of religion,
so called, the men of outside religion, ' the saints of the
world,' were offended, and ready at every opportunity to cry
out, ' Men of Israel, help ! We have found these men pestilent
fellows, movers of sedition throughout the world ' (Acts xxiv.
5). ' These are the men that teach all men everywhere against
the people, and against [the law] ' (Acts xxi. 28).

6. Thus it was that the heavens grew black with clouds,
and the storm gathered amain. For the more Christianity
spread, the more hurt was done, in the account of those who
received it not ; and the number increased of those who were
more and more enraged at these men who thus ' turned the
world upside down ' (Acts xvii. 6) ; insomuch that more and
more cried out, ' Away with such fellows from the earth ;
it is not fit that they should live ' ; yea, and sincerely believed,
that whosoever should kill them would do God service.

7. Meanwhile they did not fail to ' cast out their name as
evil ' (Luke vi. 22) ; so that ' this sect was everywhere spoken
against ' (Acts xxviii. 22). Men said all manner of evil of them,

5. How many modern Methodists we are not familiar with the Book of
ever read the Apocrypha ? At all Wisdom and the First Book of
events, it is to our great loss that Maccabees.

Scriptural Christianity

101

even as had been done of the prophets that were before them
(Matt. v. 12). And whatsoever any would affirm, others would
believe ; so that offences grew as the stars of heaven for multi-
tude. And hence arose, at the time foreordained of the Father,
persecution in all its forms. Some, for a season, suffered only
shame and reproach ; some, ' the spoiling of their goods ' ,*
' some had trial of mocking and scourging ; some of bonds and
imprisonment ' ; and others ' resisted unto blood ' (Heb. x. 34 ;
xi. 36, &c).

8. Now it was that the pillars of hell were shaken, and the
kingdom of God spread more and more. Sinners were every-
where ' turned from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God.' He gave His children ' such a mouth, and
such wisdom, as all their adversaries could not resist ' ; and
their lives were of equal force with their words. But above
all, their sufferings spake to all the world. They ' approved
themselves the servants of God, in afflictions, in necessities, in
distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours ;
in perils in the sea, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and
painfulness, in hunger and in thirst, in cold and nakedness '
(2 Cor. vi. 4, &c). And when, having fought the good fight,
they were led as sheep to the slaughter, and offered up on the
sacrifice and service of their faith, then the blood of each found
a voice, and the Heathen owned, ' He being dead, yet speaketh.'

9. Thus did Christianity spread itself in the earth. But
how soon did the tares appear with the wheat, and the mystery
of iniquity work, as well as the mystery of godliness ! How
soon did Satan find a seat, even in the temple of God, ' till the
woman fled into the wilderness,' and ' the faithful were again
minished from the children of men ' ! Here we tread a beaten

9. The reference is to 2 Thess. ii. 4,
which Wesley in the Notes on the
New Testament interprets as a pro-
phecy of the pretensions of the Pope
of Rome. But here he seems to
accept the more probable interpre-
tation, which sees in it a reference
to the claims to divine power and
worship made by the Roman Em-
perors. The flight of the woman

into the wilderness (Rev. xii. 6) is
generally interpreted to mean the
flight of the Christian Church of
Jerusalem into Peraea, when the
Romans besieged the city in a.d. 70 ;
but in the Notes Wesley explains it
as prefiguring the preservation of
the Protestant Church in Bohemia
and other trans-Danubian countries
of Europe during the Middle Ages

102 Sermon IV

path : the still increasing corruptions of the succeeding genera-
tions have been largely described, from time to time, by those
witnesses God raised up, to show that He had ' built His Church
upon a rock, and the gates of hell should not ' wholly ' prevail
against her ' (Matt. xvi. 18).

III. i. But shall we not see greater things than these ?
Yea, greater than have been yet from the beginning of the
world. Can Satan cause the truth of God to fail, or His prom-
ises to be of none effect ? If not, the time will come when
Christianity will prevail over all, and cover the earth. Let us
stand a little, and survey (the third thing which was proposed)
this strange sight, a Christian world. Of this the prophets of
old inquired and searched diligently (i Pet. i. 10, n, &c.) : of
this the Spirit which was in them testified : ' It shall come
to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be
exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. . . .
And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their
spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more ' (Isa. ii.
2, 4) . ' In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an Ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek :
and His rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in
that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again to recover the
remnant of His people ; and He shall set up an Ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the
earth ' (Isa. xi. 10-12). ' The wolf shall then dwell with the
lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf
and the young lion and the fatling together ; and a little child
shall lead them. They shall not hurt nor destroy, saith the
Lord, in all My holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea ' (Isa.
xi. 6-9).

2. To the same effect are the words of the great Apostle,
which it is evident have never yet been fulfilled. ' Hath God
cast away His people ? God forbid. But through their fall

Scriptural Christianity 103

salvation is come to the Gentiles. And if the diminishing of
them be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their full-
ness ? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant
of this mystery ; that blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in : and so all Israel
shall be saved ' (Rom. xi. 1, 11, 12, 25, 26).

3. Suppose now the fullness of time to be come, and the
prophecies to be accomplished. What a prospect is this ! All
is peace, ' quietness, and assurance for ever.' Here is no din
of arms, no ' confused noise,' no ' garments rolled in blood.'
' Destructions are come to a perpetual end ' : wars are ceased
from the earth. Neither are there any intestine jars remaining ;
no brother rising up against brother ; no country or city
divided against itself, and tearing out its own bowels. Civil
discord is at an end for evermore, and none is left either
to destroy or hurt his neighbour. Here is no oppression to
' make ' even ' the wise man mad ' ; no extortion to ' grind the
face of the poor ' ; no robbery or wrong ; no rapine or injustice ;
for all are ' content with such things as they possess.' Thus
' righteousness and peace have kissed each other ' (Ps. lxxxv.
10) ; they have ' taken root and filled the land ' ; ' righteous-
ness flourishing out of the earth ' ; and ' peace looking down
from heaven.'

4. And with righteousness or justice, mercy is also found.
The earth is no longer full of cruel habitations. The Lord
hath destroyed both the blood-thirsty and malicious, the
envious and revengeful man. Were there any provocation,
there is none that now knoweth to return evil for evil ; but
indeed there is none that doeth evil, no, not one : for all are
harmless as doves. And being filled with peace and joy in
believing, and united in one body, by one Spirit, they all love
as brethren, they are all of one heart and of one soul. ' Neither
saith any of them, that aught of the things which he possesseth
is his own.' There is none among them that lacketh ; for
every man loveth his neighbour as himself. And all walk by
one rule : ' Whatever ye would that men should do unto you,
even so do unto them.'

5. It follows, that no unkind word can ever be heard among

104 Sermon IV

them, no strife of tongues, no contention of any kind, no railing
or evil-speaking, but every one ' opens his mouth with wisdom,
and in his tongue there is the law of kindness.' Equally
incapable are they of fraud or guile : their love is without
dissimulation : their words are always the just expression of
their thoughts, opening a window into their breast, that whoso-
ever desires may look into their hearts, and see that only love
and God are there.

6. Thus, where the Lord Omnipotent taketh to Himself
His mighty power and reigneth, doth He ' subdue all things
to Himself,' cause every heart to overflow with love, and fill
every mouth with praise. ' Happy are the people that are
in such a case : yea, blessed are the people who have the Lord
for their God ' (Ps. cxliv. 15). ' Arise, shine,' saith the Lord ;
' for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
thee. Thou hast known that I the Lord am thy Saviour and
thy Redeemer, the mighty God of Jacob. I have made thy
officers peace, and thy exactors righteousness. Violence shall
no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within
thy borders ; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy
gates Praise. Thy people are all righteous ; they shall inherit
the land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My
hands, that I may be glorified. The sun shall be no more thy
light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon give light
unto thee ; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy glory ' (Isa. lx. 1, 16-19, 2I)-

IV. Having thus briefly considered Christianity, as be-
ginning, as going on, and as covering the earth, it remains
only that I should close the whole with a plain, practical
application.

1. And, first, I would ask, Where does this Christianity
now exist ? Where, I pray, do the Christians live ? Which
is the country, the inhabitants whereof are all thus filled with
the Holy Ghost ? — are all of one heart and of one soul ; cannot
suffer one among them to lack anything, but continually give
to every man as he hath need ; who, one and all, have the
love of God filling their hearts and constraining them to love

Scriptural Christianity 105

their neighbour as themselves ; who have all ' put on bowels
of mercy, humbleness of mind, gentleness, long-suffering ' —
who offend not in any kind, either by word or deed, against
justice, mercy, or truth ; but in every point do unto all men,
as they would these should do unto them ? With what pro-
priety can we term any a Christian country, which does not
answer this description ? Why then, let us confess we have
never yet seen a Christian country upon earth.

2. I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, if ye
do account me a madman or a fool, yet, as a fool bear with me.
It is utterly needful that some one should use great plainness of
speech towards you. It is more especially needful at this time ;
for who knoweth but it is the last ? Who knoweth how soon
the righteous Judge may say, ' I will no more be entreated for
this people ' ? ' Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in this
land, they should but deliver their own souls.' And who will
use this plainness, if I do not ? Therefore I, even I, will speak.
And I adjure you, by the living God, that ye steel not your
breasts against receiving a blessing at my hands. Do not say
in your hearts, Non persuadebis, etiamsi persaaseris ; or, in
other words, Lord, Thou shalt not send by whom Thou wilt send ;
let me rather perish in my blood, than be saved by this man !

3. Brethren, ' I am persuaded better things of you, though
I thus speak.' Let me ask you then, in tender love, and in
the spirit of meekness, Is this city a Christian city ? Is
Christianity, scriptural Christianity, found here ? Are we,
considered as a community of men, so ' filled with the Holy
Ghost,' as to enjoy in our hearts, and show forth in our lives,

IV. 2. Wesley was well aware of preaching-houses in London and

the strong prejudice against him, Bristol, seemed to show that he was

especially in Oxford. His preaching intending to organize his followers

in the open air, the extraordinary into a new sect of Dissenters, in spite

physical convulsions which had re- of all his protest to the contrary,

suited from his preaching, and his ' Thou shalt not persuade me, even

doctrine of the witness of the Spirit though thou hast persuaded me.'

as the common privilege of believers, This seems to be an Iambic Senarian ;

were universally stigmatized as the I have not been able to find it in

marks of a dangerous fanaticism ; Plautus or Terence. It may be

and his founding of the Methodist from one of Seneca's tragedies.
Societies and his setting-up of

io6 Sermon IV

the genuine fruits of that Spirit ? Are all the Magistrates,
all Heads and Governors of Colleges and Halls, and their
respective Societies (not to speak of the inhabitants of the
town), ' of one heart and one soul ' ? Is ' the love of God shed
abroad in our hearts ' ? Are our tempers the same that were in
Him ? And are our lives agreeable thereto ? Are we ' holy as
He who hath called us is holy in all manner of conversation ' ?

4. I entreat you to observe, that here are no peculiar notions
now under consideration ; that the question moved is not
concerning doubtful opinions of one kind or another, but con-
cerning the undoubted, fundamental branches (if there be any
such) of our common Christianity. And for the decision there-
of, I appeal to your own consciences, guided by the Word of
God. He therefore that is not condemned by his own heart,
let him go free.

5. In the fear, then, and in the presence of the great God,
before whom both you and I shall shortly appear, I pray you
that are in authority over us, whom I reverence for your office'
sake, to consider (and not after the manner of dissemblers with
God), are you ' filled with the Holy Ghost ' ? Are you lively
portraitures of Him whom ye are appointed to represent
among men ? ' I have said, Ye are Gods,' ye magistrates and
rulers ; ye are by office so nearly allied to the God of heaven !
In your several stations and degrees, ye are to show forth unto
us ' the Lord our Governor.' Are all the thoughts of your
hearts, all your tempers and desires, suitable to your high call-
ing ? Are all your words like unto those which come out of
the mouth of God ? Is there in all your actions dignity and
love ? — a greatness which words cannot express, which can flow
only from a heart ' full of God ' ; and yet consistent with the
character of ' man that is a worm, and the son of man that is a
worm ' ?

6. Ye venerable men, who are more especially called to
form the tender minds of youth, to dispel thence the shades of
ignorance and error, and train them up to be wise unto salva-
tion, are you ' filled with the Holy Ghost ' ? with all those
'fruits of the Spirit,' which your important office so indis-
pensably requires ? Is your heart whole with God ? full of

Scriptural Christianity 107

love and zeal to set up His kingdom on earth ? Do you
continually remind those under your care, that the one rational
end of all our studies, is to know, love, and serve ' the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent ' ? Do you
inculcate upon them day by day, that love alone never faileth
(whereas, whether there be tongues, they shall fail, or philo-
sophical knowledge, it shall vanish away) ; and that without
love, all learning is but splendid ignorance, pompous folly,
vexation of spirit ? Has all you teach an actual tendency to
the love of God, and of all mankind for His sake ? Have you
an eye to this end in whatever you prescribe, touching the
kind, the manner, and the measure of their studies ; desiring
and labouring that, wherever the lot of these young soldiers
of Christ is cast, they may be so many burning and shining
lights, adorning the gospel of Christ in all things ? And permit
me to ask, Do you put forth all your strength in the vast work
you have undertaken ? Do you labour herein with all your
might ? exerting every faculty of your soul, using every talent
which God hath lent you, and that to the uttermost of your
power ?

7. Let it not be said, that I speak here, as if all under your
care were intended to be clergymen. Not so ; I only speak
as if they were all intended to be Christians. But what example
is set them by us who enjoy the beneficence of our forefathers ?
by Fellows, Students, Scholars ; more especially those who
are of some rank and eminence ? Do ye, brethren, abound
in the fruits of the Spirit, in lowliness of mind, in self-denial
and mortification, in seriousness and composure of spirit, in
patience, meekness, sobriety, temperance ; and in unwearied,
restless endeavours to do good in every kind unto all men, to
relieve their outward wants, and to bring their souls to the
true knowledge and love of God ? Is this the general character
of Fellows of Colleges ? I fear it is not. Rather, have not

7. Nicholas Amherst, of St. John's, luxury and idleness ; he enjoys him-

writes in 1726 : ' When any person self and is dead to the world ; for a

is chosen Fellow of a College, he im- senior Fellow of a College lives and

mediately becomes a freeholder, and moulders away in a supine and

is settled for life in ease and plenty. yegular course of eating, drinking,

He wastes the rest of his days in sleeping, and cheating the juniors.'

108 Sermon IV

pride and haughtiness of spirit, impatience and peevishness,
sloth and indolence, gluttony and sensuality, and even a
proverbial uselessness, been objected to us, perhaps not always
by our enemies, nor wholly without ground ? O that God
would roll away this reproach from us, that the very memory
of it might perish for ever !

8. Many of us are more immediately consecrated to God,
called to minister in holy things. Are we then patterns to
the rest, ' in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in
faith, in purity ' (i Tim. iv. 12) ? Is there written on our
forehead and on our heart, ' Holiness to the Lord ' ? From
what motives did we enter upon this office ? Was it indeed
with a single eye ' to serve God, trusting that we were inwardly
moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon us this ministration,
for the promoting of His glory, and the edifying of His people ' ?
And have we ' clearly determined, by God's grace, to give
ourselves wholly to this office ' ? Do we forsake and set
aside, as much as in us lies, all worldly cares and studies ?
Do we apply ourselves wholly to this one thing, and draw all
our cares and studies this way ? Are we apt to teach ? Are
we taught of God, that we may be able to teach others also ?
Do we know God ? Do we know Jesus Christ ? Hath ' God
revealed His Son in us ' ? And hath He ' made us able
ministers of the new covenant ' ? Where then are the ' seals of
our apostleship ' ? Who, that were dead in trespasses and
sins, have been quickened by our word ? Have we a burning
zeal to save souls from death, so that for their sake we often
forget even to eat our bread ? Do we speak plain, ' by mani-
festation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's
conscience in the sight of God ' (2 Cor. iv. 2) ? Are we dead
to the world, and the things of the world, ' laying up all our
treasure in heaven ' ? Do we lord over God's heritage ? Or
are we the least, the servants of all ? When we bear the
reproach of Christ, does it sit heavy upon us ? Or do we
rejoice therein ? When we are smitten on the one cheek,

8. ' Trusting that we were in- services for the Ordering of Deacons
wardly moved,' &c. This and the and of Priests,
following quotations are from the

Scriptural Christianity 109

do we resent it ? Are we impatient of affronts ? Or do we
turn the other also ; not resisting the evil, but overcoming
evil with good ? Have we a bitter zeal, inciting us to strive
sharply and passionately with them that are out of the way ?
Or is our zeal the flame of love, so as to direct all our words
with sweetness, lowliness, and meekness of wisdom ?

9. Once more : what shall we say concerning the youth
of this place ? Have you either the form or the power of
Christian godliness ? Are you humble, teachable, advisable ;
or stubborn, self-willed, heady, and high-minded ? Are you
obedient to your superiors as to parents ? Or do you despise
those to whom you owe the tenderest reverence ? Are you
diligent in your easy business, pursuing your studies with all
your strength ? Do you redeem the time, crowding as much
work into every day as it can contain ? Rather, are ye not
conscious to yourselves, that you waste away day after day,
either in reading what has no tendency to Christianity, or in
gaming, or in — you know not what ? Are you better managers
of your fortune than of your time ? Do you, out of principle,
take care to owe no man anything ? Do you ' remember the
Sabbath-day, to keep it holy ' ; to spend it in the more im-
mediate worship of God ? When you are in His house, do you
consider that God is there ? Do you behave ' as seeing Him
that is invisible ' ? Do you know how to ' possess your bodies
in sanctification and honour ' ? Are not drunkenness and
uncleanness found among you ? Yea, are there not of you
who ' glory in their shame ' ? Do not many of you ' take the
name of God in vain/ perhaps habitually, without either
remorse or fear ? Yea, are there not a multitude of you that
are forsworn ? I fear, a swiftly-increasing multitude. Be
not surprised, brethren. Before God and this congregation,
I own myself to have been of the number, solemnly swearing
to observe all those customs, which I then knew nothing of ;
and those statutes, which I did not so much as read over,
either then, or for some years after. What is perjury, if this

9. This wholesale accusation of Wesley is mainly thinking of the
perjury is amplified in Sermon chapter of the Statutes ' De Moribus
CXXXIV, ii. 9. As this shows, Conformandis.' Now, each of the

no Sermon IV

is not ? But if it be, O what a weight of sin, yea, sin of no
common dye, lieth upon us ! And doth not the Most High
regard it ?

10. May it not be one of the consequences of this, that so
many of you are a generation of triflers ; triflers with God,
with one another, and with your own souls ? For, how few of
you spend, from one week to another, a single hour in private
prayer ! How few have any thought of God in the general
tenor of your conversation ! Who of you is in any degree
acquainted with the work of His Spirit, His supernatural work
in the souls of men ? Can you bear, unless now and then in
a church, any talk of the Holy Ghost ? Would you not take
it for granted, if one began such a conversation, that it was
either hypocrisy or enthusiasm ? In the name of the Lord
God Almighty, I ask, what religion are you of ? Even the
talk of Christianity, ye cannot, will not bear. O my brethren,
what a Christian city is this ! ' It is time for Thee, Lord, to
lay to Thine hand ! '

ii. For, indeed, what probability, what possibility, rather
(speaking after the manner of men), is there that Christianity,
scriptural Christianity, should be again the religion of this
place ? that all orders of men among us should speak and live
as men ' filled with the Holy Ghost ' ? By whom should this
Christianity be restored ? By those of you that are in
authority ? Are you convinced then that this is scriptural
Christianity ? Are you desirous it should be restored ? And
do ye not count your fortune, liberty, life, dear unto your-
selves, so ye may be instrumental in the restoring of it ?
But suppose ye have this desire, who hath any power propor-

rules laid down there includes a men should swear to keep rules which
penalty for the breach thereof ; and they have no intention of observing.
Kennicott's criticism is a fair one, Sir W. Hamilton, Disc, in Phil, and
that the student swears to obey the Lit., p. 401, charges against Oxford
statute or to accept the penally. ' the systematic perjury so natural-
Something must also be allowed for ized in a great seminary of religious
the fact that some of the Statutes education.' Still, the fault lies
were made for conditions which no rather in the authorities demanding
longer existed, and had become obso- an oath which they well know the
lete. But when all this is taken into students are not expected to keep,
consideration, it is not good that than in the students themselves,

Scriptural Christianity in

tioned to the effect ? Perhaps some of you have made a few
faint attempts, but with how small success ! Shall Chris-
tianity then be restored by young, unknown, inconsiderable
men ? I know not whether ye yourselves could suffer it.
Would not some of you cry out, ' Young man, in so doing thou
reproachest us ' ? But there is no danger of your being put
to the proof ; so hath iniquity overspread us like a flood.
Whom then shall God send ? — the famine, the pestilence (the
last messengers of God to a guilty land), or the sword, ' the
armies of the ' Romish ' aliens,' to reform us into our first
love ? Nay, ' rather let us fall into Thy hand, 0 Lord, and let
us not fall into the hand of man.'

Lord, save, or we perish ! Take us out of the mire, that
we sink not ! O help us against these enemies ! for vain is
the help of man. Unto Thee all things are possible. According
to the greatness of Thy power, preserve Thou those that are
appointed to die ; and preserve us in the manner that seemeth
to Thee good ; not as we will, but as Thou wilt !

ii. ' Young, unknown, and in- of thirty or forty may have as true
considerable men.' Wesley is think- a judgement in the things of God as
ing of his associates in the Holy Club one of fifty or fourscore ? '
at Oxford. It is difficult for those ' The armies of the Romish aliens.'
of us who have been long engaged In February the whole of England
in a college or university to realize had been thrown into trepidation
how our old pupils have grown up I by the threat of a French invasion
They are still to us the young fellows in the interests of the Young Pre-
we knew in their undergraduate tender, and war was declared against
days ; and so Wesley and Whitefield France on March 29. Rumours were
doubtless appeared to theOxforddons. rife that the Methodists were plot-
In his Farther Appeal (1745) Wesley ting against the House of Hanover,
says: ' A very common exception and both John and Charles Wesley
taken against these is, and was from were summoned before the magis-
the beginning, that " they are so trates to prove their loyalty. Two
young." Perhaps they are not so of Wesley's helpers, John Nelson and
young as you conceive. Mr. White- John Downes, were pressed for mili-
field is now upwards of thirty ; my tary service ; and Thomas Beard
brother is thirty-seven years of age ; was pressed and lodged in jail at
I have lived above forty-two years. Newcastle, where he died.
... Is it not possible that a person

SERMON V

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

This sermon was first published in the volume of 1746. The Journal
entry for October 6, 1739, at Gloucester, suggests, though it does not
prove, that the sermon was first preached then : ' At five in the even-
ing, I explained to about a thousand people the nature, the cause, and
the condition or instrument of justification, from these words : " To him
that worketh not," &c.' It was preached again at Markfield June 13,
1741, from his father's tombstone at Epworth on June 8, 1742, and
doubtless on many subsequent occasions. It is a clear exposition of
the doctrine of justification as held by St. Paul, by Luther, by the
Reformed Church of England, and substantially by all the Protestant
Churches. The only point on which it needs some restatement in
order to bring it into harmony with modern thought is its teaching
as to the origin of sin. Wesley accepts the story of the third chapter
of Genesis as literal history, and St. Paul's interpretation of it in
Romans v. as final and authoritative. Indeed, he rather goes beyond
anything that is actually stated in this old story in his picture of
primitive man in I. 1 as a being morally and spiritually ' perfect as
his Father in heaven is perfect.' Biology and anthropology will not allow
of this literal interpretation. What they indicate is that the primitive
pair, or primitive race, from which humanity took its origin, had
gradually developed in physical structure and psychical characteristics
from the lower animals of the vertebrate type. It had reached a point
when the instincts of hunger and thirst and sex and so forth were
fully developed ; when also admiration of colour and sound and
proportion had begun to be felt ; and when curiosity and the desire
for knowledge stirred man to activities of various kinds. Last of all
came the growth of a moral sense, and the idea of duty ; and then
only could the race be properly described as human. Before the
coming of the moral sense man was not sinful, neither was he holy;
he was simply non-moral, innocent as a dog or a horse is innocent.
But the moral sense involved a conflict with the older instincts and
motives ; and these, through their long tenure and their consequent
crystallization into habit, were necessarily stronger than the nascent
new-comer ; yet, though defeated, the moral sense revenged itself by
inspiring in the sinner shame and remorse, and a dread of the God

112

Justification by Faith 113

who was conceived as the ultimate source of the moral instincts. All
this is symbolically indicated in the story of the Fall. A command
is given which has a divine sanction, disobedience to which is wrong.
The temptation to disobey comes from the serpent, the most subtle
of all the lower animals, which therefore stands for the lower nature in
its highest development. (There is no suggestion in Genesis that the
serpent was an incarnation of the devil — that is quite a later addition ;
and its popular acceptance in England is due more to Milton than to
the Bible.) The temptation is accordingly addressed to the older
physical and psychical motives. ' The tree was good for food ' — there
is the appeal to the animal instinct of hunger ; ' it was pleasant to
the eyes ' — there is the appeal to the aesthetic sentiment ; ' it was a
tree to be desired to make one wise ' — there is the appeal to intellectual
curiosity. In St. Paul's language it was a challenge to man to ' fulfil
the desires of the flesh and the mind ' rather than the new impulse of
the spirit. The result was inevitable — the older habits and instincts
prevailed ; but with the defeat of conscience came the sense of shame,
manifesting itself symbolically in special relation to the most im-
perious of the instincts, and the dread of God and the separation
from Him, which is spiritual death. The human race is involved in
the sin of Adam, because it has received from him that human nature
which in its very constitution makes sin inevitable. The story of
the Fall is repeated, recapitulated, in the history of every individual
of the race. In the infant we find only the purely animal instincts
at work ; it eats and sleeps and nestles to the warmth of its mother's
embrace. Then gradually we see the beginnings of aesthetic feelings,
as it stretches out its hands to a brightly-coloured toy, or stops crying
to listen to the sound of music. Later still comes curiosity, and it
wants to grasp in its fingers or put into its mouth every new object
of vision ; and as it gains the power of speech, it pours out question
on question, to the distraction of its parents and friends. Last of all,
after a long interval, arises the dim consciousness that some things
which are desirable are naughty, and must not be done ; and the
conflict begins in which, sooner or later, every man discovers that
there is a law in his members, his bodily and intellectual outfit, warring
with the law of his better self, and bringing him into a slavery from
which he cannot free himself. The author of the Apocalypse of Baruch
hit on a profound truth when he said (liv. 19), ' Adam is therefore
not the cause [of sin] save only of his own soul, but each one of us
has been the Adam of his own soul.' Sin is universal, because human
nature is universal ; we derive it from Adam, only as we derive from
him through heredity all the predispositions to disease and physical
decay which are our common lot. As partakers of the Adamic or
human nature, we are born in sin ; but as partakers of the deutero-
Adamaic or divine nature, we may be so led by the Spirit that we
w.s.s. 1 — 8

H4 Sermon V

shall not fulfil the desires of the flesh, having been born again, ' not of
corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever.'

It is admitted that St. Paul in Romans v. interpreted the story of
Genesis literally ; but in this he followed the methods of exegesis in
which he had been trained. As Tennant says (Fall and Original Sin,
p. 250) : ' His ideas of the first man, the temptation of Eve, the Fall
and its results, were derived from the Jewish schools.' We are no
more bound to accept the details of his interpretation here than in his
treatment in Gal. iv. 21-31 of the story of Sarah and Hagar.

Wesley naturally accepted St. Paul's view ; but in his Treatise on
Original Sin he frankly says : ' That all men are liable to these
[penalties] for Adam's sin alone I do not assert ; but they are so,
for their own outward and inward sins, which, through their own fault,
spring from the infection of their nature.' And again, on the ques-
tion of the justice of God in punishing all mankind for the sin of Adam,
he says : ' I do not understand it. It is quite beyond my understanding.
It is a depth which I cannot fathom.' Nor does his view as to the
origin of sin affect the argument of this sermon in any degree. The
ground of the doctrine of justification is the universality of sin. How
it came to be so, how it came into the world at all, is irrelevant ; it
is here, and therefore some way of salvation from it must be found.
Underlying the whole argument, though not expressed in so many
words, there is the feeling that God needed, not only to justify the
ungodly, but to justify Himself ; and this He does by the gift of His
Son.

O felix culpa, quae talem meruit salvatorem I

To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted to him for righteousness. — Rom. iv. 5.

i. How a sinner may be justified before God, the Lord and
Judge of all, is a question of no common importance to every
child of man. It contains the foundation of all our hope,
inasmuch as while we are at enmity with God, there can be no
true peace, no solid joy, either in time or in eternity. What
peace can there be, while our own heart condemns us ; and
much more, He that is ' greater than our heart, and knoweth

Par. 1. Wesley's interpretation of within us of a sincere love of the
1 John iii. 20 is the one accepted by brethren, which is the sign of God's
so sound an exegete as Dr. Findlay. presence within us, will enable us
Westcott, on the other hand, para- to stay the accusations of our con-
phrases the passage : ' The sense science, whatever they may be, be-

Justification by Faith

all things ' ? What solid joy, either in this world or that to
come, while ' the wrath of God abideth on us ' ?

2. And yet how little hath this important question been
understood ? What confused notions have many had con-
cerning it ! Indeed, not only confused, but often utterly
false ; contrary to the truth, as light to darkness ; notions
absolutely inconsistent with the oracles of God, and with the
whole analogy of faith. And hence, erring concerning the
very foundation, they could not possibly build thereon ; at
least, not ' gold, silver, or precious stones,' which would
endure when tried as by fire ; but only ' hay and stubble,'
neither acceptable to God, nor profitable to man.

3. In order to do justice, as far as in me lies, to the vast
importance of the subject, to save those that seek the truth
in sincerity from ' vain jangling and strife of words,' to clear
the confusedness of thought into which so many have already
been led thereby, and to give them true and just conceptions
of this great mystery of godliness, I shall endeavour to show, —

I. What is the general ground of this whole

DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION ;

II. What justification is ;

III. Who they are that are justified ; and,

IV. On what terms they are justified.

I. I am first to show, what is the general ground of this
whole doctrine of justification.

cause God, who gives us this love,
and so blesses us with His fellow-
ship, is greater than our heart ; and
He, having perfect knowledge, for-
gives all on which our heart sadly
dwells.' The Revisers follow this
interpretation. Dr. Findlay says:
' The question is, Does the Apostle
say " God is greater than our heart
and knows all " by way of warning
to the over-confident and self-excus-
ing, to those tempted to disregard
their secret misgivings ; or by way
of comfort to the over-scrupulous

and self-tormenting, to those tempted
to brood over and magnify their mis-
givings ? ' His own preference is
for the first alternative ; ' Since his
own ignorant and partial heart con-
demns him, let him consider what
must be the verdict of the all-search-
ing and all-holy Judge ' {Fellowship
in the Life Eternal, p. 303). This is
supported by St. Paul's statement
in 1 Cor. iv. 4 : 'I know nothing
against myself ; yet not on this
ground am I justified. But He that
trieth me is the Lord.'

n6 Sermon V

i. In the image of God was man made ; holy as He that
created him is holy ; merciful as the Author of all is merciful ;
perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect. As God is love, so
man, dwelling in love, dwelt in God, and God in him. God
made him to be an ' image of His own eternity,' an incorrup-
tible picture of the God of glory. He was accordingly pure,
as God is pure, from every spot of sin. He knew not evil in
any kind or degree, but was inwardly and outwardly sinless and
undefiled. He ' loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and
with all his mind, and soul, and strength.'

2. To man, thus upright and perfect, God gave a perfect
law, to which He required full and perfect obedience. He
required full obedience in every point, and this to be performed
without any intermission, from the moment man became a
living soul, till the time of his trial should be ended. No
allowance was made for any falling short. As, indeed, there
was no need of any ; man being altogether equal to the task
assigned, and thoroughly furnished for every good word and
work.

3. To the entire law of love which was written in his heart
(against which, perhaps, he could not sin directly), it seemed
good to the sovereign wisdom of God to superadd one positive
law : ' Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree that groweth
in the midst of the garden ' ; annexing that penalty thereto,
' In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'

4. Such then was the state of man in Paradise. By the

I. 1. 'An image of His own eter- manity are ' I am myself,' ' I ought

nity ' (Wisdom ii. 23). This and the to do right,' ' I can pray.' As soon

following paragraphs involve an in- as he became capable of making

terpretation of the phrase ' God these statements, he became a Man,

created man in His own image ' self-determined, moral, religious,

which cannot be sustained. The But these faculties were at first rather

image of God in which man was capacities than achievements, and

created is the ground of his dominion the history of man has been the

over the lower animals ; and must record of the perpetual conflict be-

be sought in that which distinguishes tween them and ' the tiger and the

him from them — namely, self-con- ape,' the animal instincts and

scious personality, the recognition of motives which had so long domin-

moral distinctions, and the capacity ated him. See, however, the intro-

for fellowship with God. The three duction to this sermon.

fundamental propositions of Hu-

Justification by Faith 117

free, unmerited love of God, he was holy and happy : he knew,
loved, enjoyed God, which is, in substance, life everlasting.
And in this life of love he was to continue for ever, if he con-
tinued to obey God in all things ; but if he disobeyed Him in
any, he was to forfeit all. ' In that day,' said God, ' thou
shalt surely die.'

5. Man did disobey God. He ' ate of the tree, of which God
commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it.' And in
that day he was condemned by the righteous judgement of God.
Then also the sentence, whereof he was warned before, began
to take place upon him. For the moment he tasted that fruit,
he died. His soul died, was separated from God ; separate
from whom the soul has no more life than the body has when
separate from the soul. His body, likewise, became corruptible
and mortal ; so that death then took hold on this also. And
being already dead in spirit, dead to God, dead in sin, he
hastened on to death everlasting ; to the destruction both of
body and soul, in the fire never to be quenched.

6. Thus ' by one man sin entered into the world, and death

5. Wesley believed that physical were the penalty intended in the

death did not occur before the Fall sentence, ' In the day that thou

of Man. In Sermon LVI, ii. i, he eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,'

says : ' God Almighty . . . made no how is it that according to the story

corruption, no destruction, in the Adam lived 930 years after the

inanimate creation. He made not Fall ? But of course from the

death in the animal creation ; nei- biological point of view, it is impos-

ther its harbingers — sin and pain.' sible that under any circumstances

The geological record, the successive the body of man should have lasted

strata, which are the graveyards of longer than from seventy to a hun-

innumerable forgotten species of dred years. Death is as necessary

animals, conclusively disprove this, a part of physical development as

The only possible question is whether, birth. The death which sin has

if he had not sinned, man would brought is not the dissolution of soul

have been physically immortal. from body, but the spiritual death

Wesley thought so at this time ; but which alone makes physical death

even the story in Genesis does not terrible. ' The sting of death is

support his view ; and he changed sin ' ; apart from sin death would

his opinion later, as is seen in Ser- have had no terror, and would have

mon XXXIX, i. 3. If the body of been merely the translation of the

man had been immortal, why should soul to a fuller and more spiritual

it be necessary for him to eat of the life ; possibly enough without either

Tree of Life, in order that he might pain or reluctance,
live for ever ? And if physical death

n8 Sermon V

by sin. And so death passed upon all men,' as being contained
in him who was the common father and representative of us
all. Thus, ' through the offence of one,' all are dead, dead to
God, dead in sin, dwelling in a corruptible, mortal body,
shortly to be dissolved, and under the sentence of death eternal.
For as ' by one man's disobedience ' all ' were made sinners ' ;
so, by that offence of one ' judgement came upon all men to
condemnation ' (Rom. v. 12, &c).

7. In this state we were, even all mankind, when ' God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, to
the end we might not perish, but have everlasting life.' In
the fullness of time He was made man, another common Head
of mankind, a second general Parent and Representative of the
whole human race. And as such it was that ' He bore our
griefs,' ' the Lord laying upon Him the iniquities of us all.'
Then was He • wounded for our transgressions, and bruised
for our iniquities.' ' He made His soul an offering for sin ' :
He poured out His blood for the transgressors ; He ' bare our
sins in His own body on the tree,' that by His stripes we might
be healed : and by that one oblation of Himself, once offered,
He hath redeemed me and all mankind ; having thereby
' made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction
for the sins of the whole world.'

8. In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath ' tasted
death for every man,' God hath now ' reconciled the world to
Himself, not imputing to them their ' former ' trespasses.'
And thus, ' as by the offence of one judgement came upon all
men to condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one
the free gift came upon all men unto justification.' So that,
for the sake of His well-beloved Son, of what He hath done and
suffered for us, God now vouchsafes, on one only condition
(which Himself also enables us to perform), both to remit the
punishment due to our sins, to reinstate us in His favour, and
to restore our dead souls to spiritual life, as the earnest of life
eternal.

9. This, therefore, is the general ground of the whole doctrine

7. ' His one oblation.' See Prayer of Consecration in the Order for
Holy Communion.

Justification by Faith 119

of justification. By the sin of the first Adam, who was not
only the father, but likewise the representative, of us all, we all
fell short of the favour of God ; we all became children of wrath ;
or, as the Apostle expresses it, ' judgement came upon all men
to condemnation.' Even so, by the sacrifice for sin made by
the second Adam, as the representative of us all, God is so far
reconciled to all the world, that He hath given them a new
covenant ; the plain condition whereof being once fulfilled,
' there is no more condemnation ' for us, but ' we are justified
freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus
Christ.'

II. 1. But what is it to be justified ? What is justification ?
This was the second thing which I proposed to show. And it
is evident, from what has been already observed, that it is not
the being made actually just and righteous. This is sanctifica-
tion ; which is, indeed, in some degree, the immediate fruit of
justification, but, nevertheless, is a distinct gift of God, and of
a totally different nature. The one implies, what God does
for us through His Son ; the other, what He works in us by His
Spirit. So that, although some rare instances may be found,
wherein the term justified or justification is used in so wide a
sense as to include sanctification also ; yet, in general use, they
are sufficiently distinguished from each other, both by St.
Paul and the other inspired writers.

2. Neither is that far-fetched conceit, that justification is
the clearing us from accusation, particularly that of Satan,
easily proveable from any clear text of holy writ. In the whole
scriptural account of this matter, as above laid down, neither
that accuser nor his accusation appears to be at all taken in.
It cannot indeed be denied, that he is the ' accuser ' of men,
emphatically so called. But it does in no wise appear, that the
great Apostle hath any reference to this, more or less, in all that

II. 2. Apparently Wesley has in his supposed bargain. Augustine

his mind the theory of Origen that {De Lib. Arb. iii. 10) follows on similar

the human soul of our Lord was lines: 'God the Son subjugated

given to the devil as a ransom for even the devil to man, extorting no-

the souls of men ; but he could not thing from him by violence, but

retain it, and so was outwitted in overcoming him by the law of justice.'

120

Sermon V

he hath written touching justification, either to the Romans or
the Galatians.

3. It is also far easier to take for granted, than to prove from
any clear scripture testimony, that justification is the clearing
us from the accusation brought against us by the law : at least,
if this forced, unnatural way of speaking mean either more or
less than this, that whereas we have transgressed the law of
God, and thereby deserved the damnation of hell, God does not
inflict on those who are justified the punishment which they
had deserved.

4. Least of all does justification imply, that God is deceived
in those whom He justifies ; that He thinks them to be what, in
fact, they are not ; that He accounts them to be otherwise than
they are. It does by no means imply, that God judges con-
cerning us contrary to the real nature of things ; that He
esteems us better than we really are, or believes us righteous
when we are unrighteous. Surely no. The judgement of the
all-wise God is always according to truth. Neither can it ever
consist with His unerring wisdom, to think that I am innocent,
to judge that I am righteous or holy, because another is so.
He can no more, in this manner, confound me with Christ, than
with David or Abraham. Let any man, to whom God hath
given understanding, weigh this without prejudice ; and he
cannot but perceive, that such a notion of justification is neither
reconcileable to reason nor Scripture.

5. The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, the
forgiveness of sins. It is that act of God the Father, whereby,
for the sake of the propitiation made by the blood of His Son,
He ' showeth forth His righteousness ' (or mercy) ' by the re-

3. Wesley fails to recognize fully
the immanent necessity in the
Divine Nature of an atonement for
sin. Whether we regard God as the
Governor of the universe, or as the
Father of His family, His law must
be vindicated. Perhaps the idea
that the law brings an accusation
against us errs in personifying the
law, and so may be described as

eternal necessity for the Atonement
because of the violation of the law
still remains, and cannot be so easily
brushed out of the way. In Ser-
mon XLIX, ii. 6, this is clearly
enough stated : ' It pleased (God)
to prepare for us Christ's body and
blood, whereby our ransom might
be paid, and His justice satisfied.'
5. ' Righteousness ' (or ' mercy ').

' forced and unnatural ' ; but the So also in iv. 1 Wesley adds ' or

Justification by Faith

121

mission of the sins that are past.' This is the easy, natural
account of it given by St. Paul, throughout this whole epistle.
So he explains it himself, more particularly in this, and in the
following chapter. Thus, in the next verses but one to the
text, ' Blessed are they,' saith he, ' whose iniquities are for-
given, and whose sins are covered : blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin.' To him that is justified or for-
given, God ' will not impute sin ' to his condemnation. He
will not condemn him on that account, either in this world or in
that which is to come. His sins, all his past sins, in thought,
word and deed, are covered, are blotted out, shall not be re-
membered or mentioned against him, any more than if they had
not been. God will not inflict on that sinner what he deserved
to suffer, because the Son of His love hath suffered for him.
And from the time we are ' accepted through the Beloved,'
' reconciled to God through His blood,' He loves, and blesses,
and watches over us for good, even as if we had never sinned.
Indeed the Apostle in one place seems to extend the meaning
of the word much farther, where he says, ' Not the hearers of
the law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified.' Here he
appears to refer our justification to the sentence of the great
day. And so our Lord Himself unquestionably doth, when
He says, ' By thy words thou shalt be justified ' ; proving
thereby that ' for every idle word men shall speak, they shall

mercy ' to the text of St. Paul ;
which confirms the statement made
above on par. 3, that he failed, at
any rate at this time, to recognize
fully the necessity of the Atonement
from the legal point of view. In the
Notes, Rom. iii. 25, he makes the
same addition, ' His justice and
mercy.' The addition weakens the
Apostle's argument ; the aim of
which is to show that the death of
Christ met the whole claim of divine
justice, so that God could be just,
and the justifier of the believing
sinner ; or as St. John puts it, be
' faithful and just to forgive us our
sins.' Mercy provided the Atone-

ment ; but, the Atonement now made,
it is Justice that forgives. So Charles
Wesley in Hymn 42 (Hymns and
Sacred Poems, 1749) sings:

My pardon I claim,
For a sinner I am,
A sinner believing in Jesus's name.

'Not the hearers of the law.'
This is no real exception to the uni-
form usage of St. Paul ; for he is
speaking of the heathen who ' do
by nature the things of the law.'
Nor are the few occurrences of the
word ' justify ' in the Gospels rele-
vant to the technical meaning of the
word in St. Paul's Epistles.

122 Sermon V

give an account in the day of judgement ' ; but perhaps we
can hardly produce another instance of St. Paul's using the
word in that distant sense. In the general tenor of his writings,
it is evident he doth not ; and least of all in the text before us,
which undeniably speaks, not of those who have already
' finished their course,' but of those who are now just setting
out, just beginning to ' run the race which is set before them.'

III. i. But this is the third thing which was to be considered,
namely, Who are they that are justified ? And the Apostle
tells us expressly, the ungodly : ' He ' (that is, God) ' justifieth
the ungodly ' ; the ungodly of every kind and degree ; and
none but the ungodly. As ' they that are righteous need no
repentance,' so they need no forgiveness. It is only sinners
that have any occasion for pardon : it is sin alone which admits
of being forgiven. Forgiveness, therefore, has an immediate
reference to sin, and, in this respect, to nothing else. It is our
unrighteousness to which the pardoning God is merciful : it is
our iniquity which He ' remembereth no more.'

2. This seems not to be at all considered by those who so
vehemently contend that a man must be sanctified, that is,
holy, before he can be justified ; especially by such of them as
affirm, that universal holiness or obedience must precede
justification. (Unless they mean that justification at the last
day, which is wholly out of the present question.) So far from
it, that the very supposition is not only flatly impossible (for
where there is no love of God, there is no holiness, and there is
no love of God but from a sense of His loving us), but also
grossly, intrinsically absurd, contradictory to itself. For it
is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and under the notion
of a sinner. God justifieth not the godly, but the ungodly ;
not those that are holy already, but the unholy. Upon what
condition He doeth this, will be considered quickly : but
whatever it is, it cannot be holiness. To assert this, is to say
the Lamb of God takes away only those sins which were taken
away before.

III. 2 'Under the notion of a sinner,' i.e. considered as a sinner.

Justification by Faith 123

3. Does then the Good Shepherd seek and save only those
that are found already ? No. He seeks and saves that which
is lost. He pardons those who need His pardoning mercy.
He saves from the guilt of sin (and, at the same time, from the
power) sinners of every kind, of every degree ; men who, till
then, were altogether ungodly ; in whom the love of the Father
was not ; and, consequently, in whom dwelt no good thing,
no good or truly Christian temper ; but all such as were evil
and abominable — pride, anger, love of the world, the genuine
fruits of that carnal mind which is ' enmity against God.'

4. These who are sick, the burden of whose sins is intolerable,
are they that need a Physician ; these who are guilty, who
groan under the wrath of God, are they that need a pardon.
These who are condemned already, not only by God, but also by
their own conscience, as by a thousand witnesses, of all their
ungodliness, both in thought, and word, and work, cry aloud
for him that ' justifieth the ungodly,' through the redemption
that is in Jesus, — the ungodly, and ' him that worketh not ' ;
that worketh not, before he is justified, anything that is good,
that is truly virtuous or holy, but only evil continually. For
his heart is necessarily, essentially evil, till the love of God is
shed abroad therein. And while the tree is corrupt, so are the
fruits ; ' for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit.'

5. If it be objected, ' Nay, but a man, before he is justified,
may feed the hungry, or clothe the naked ; and these are good
works,' — the answer is easy : He may do these, even before
he is justified ; and these are, in one sense, ' good works ' —
they are ' good and profitable to men.' But it does not follow,
that they are, strictly speaking, good in themselves, or good
in the sight of God. All truly good works (to use the words of
our Church) follow after justification ; and they are therefore
good and ' acceptable to God in Christ,' because they ' spring
out of a true and living faith.' By a parity of reason, all works
done before justification are not good, in the Christian sense, foras-
much as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ (though [often]
from some kind of faith in God they may spring) ; ' yea rather,

5. See Articles xii. ami xiii. Bui see note on Sermon I, par. 1.

124

Sermon V

for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded
them to be done, we doubt not ' (how strange soever it may
appear to some) ' but they have the nature of sin.'

6. Perhaps those who doubt of this have not duly considered
the weighty reason which is here assigned, why no works done
before justification can be truly and properly good. The
argument plainly runs thus : —

No works are good, which are not done as God hath willed
and commanded them to be done :

But no works done before justification are done as God hath
willed and commanded them to be done :

Therefore, no works done before justification are good.

The first proposition is self-evident ; and the second — that
no works done before justification are done as God hath willed
and commanded them to be done — will appear equally plain
and undeniable, if we only consider, God hath willed and
commanded, that all our works should be done in charity
(iv arfdirrj), in love, in that love to God which produces love to
all mankind. But none of our works can be done in this love,
while the love of the Father (of God as our Father) is not in us ;
and this love cannot be in us till we receive the ' Spirit of
adoption, crying in our hearts, Abba, Father.' If, therefore,
God doth not justify the ungodly, and him that (in this sense)
worketh not, then hath Christ died in vain ; then, notwithstand-
ing His death, can no flesh living be justified.

IV. i. But on what terms, then, is he justified, who is
altogether ungodly, and till that time worketh not ? On one
alone, which is faith : he ' believeth in Him that justifieth
the ungodly.' And ' he that believeth is not condemned ' ;
yea, he is ' passed from death unto life.' ' For the righteous-

6. This argument is not convinc-
ing. St. Paul (i Cor. xvi. 14) says
to the factious Christians of Corinth,
' Let all that you do be done in
love ' ; but it is an unwarrantable
forcing of his meaning to say that
love stands for ' that love to God
which produces love to all mankind.'

And it is impossible to maintain that
no man before his conversion does
anything in love. Can it be said
without a manifest paradox that the
man described in Sermon II, i. 6,
does not act in love ?

IV. 1. 'Righteousness (or mercy) '.
See note on ii. 5 above.

Justification by Faith 125

ness ' (or mercy) ' of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe : whom God hath set forth for
a propitiation, through faith in His blood ; that He might be
just, and ' (consistently with His justice) ' the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus ' : ' therefore, we conclude, that a
man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law ' ;
without previous obedience to the moral law, which, indeed,
he could not, till now, perform. That it is the moral law,
and that alone, which is here intended, appears evidently
from the words that follow : ' Do we then make void the law
through faith ? God forbid ! Yea, we establish the law.'
What law do we establish by faith ? Not the ritual law :
not the ceremonial law of Moses. In no wise ; but the great,
unchangeable law of love, the holy love of God and of our
neighbour.

2. Faith in general is a divine, supernatural e'Xeyvo?, evi-
dence or conviction, ' of things not seen,' not discoverable by
our bodily senses, as being either past, future, or spiritual.
Justifying faith implies, not only a divine evidence or conviction
that ' God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself,'
but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that
He loved me, and gave Himself for me. And at what time
soever a sinner thus believes, be it in early childhood, in the
strength of his years, or when he is old and hoary-haired,
God justifieth that ungodly one : God, for the sake of His Son,
pardoneth and absolveth him who had in him, till then, no
good thing. Repentance, indeed, God had given him before ;
but that repentance was neither more nor less than a deep
sense of the want of all good, and the presence of all evil.
And whatever good he hath, or doeth, from that hour, when
he first believes in God through Christ, faith does not find, but
bring. This is the fruit of faith. First the tree is good, and
then the fruit is good also.

3. I cannot describe the nature of this faith better than in
the words of our own Church : ' The only instrument of
salvation ' (whereof justification is one branch) ' is faith ;
that is, a sure trust and confidence that God both hath and
will forgive our sins, that He hath accepted us again into His

126 Sermon V

favour, for the merits of Christ's death and passion. But here
we must take heed that we do not halt with God through an
inconstant, wavering faith : Peter, coming to Christ upon
the water, because he fainted in faith, was in danger of drown-
ing ; so we, if we begin to waver or doubt, it is to be feared
that we shall sink as Peter did, not into the water, but into
the bottomless pit of hell-fire.'

' Therefore, have a sure and constant faith, not only that
the death of Christ is available for all the world, but that He
hath made a full and sufficient sacrifice for thee, a perfect
cleansing of thy sins, so that thou mayest say, with the Apostle,
He loved thee, and gave Himself for thee. For this is to make
Christ thine own, and to apply His merits unto thyself.'

4. By affirming that this faith is the term or condition of
justification, I mean, first, that there is no justification without
it. ' He that believeth not is condemned already ' ; and so
long as he believeth not, that condemnation cannot be removed,
but ' the wrath of God abide th on him.' As ' there is no
other name given under heaven ' than that of Jesus of Nazareth,
no other merit whereby a condemned sinner can ever be saved
from the guilt of sin, so there is no other way of obtaining a
share in His merit, than by faith in His name. So that as long
as we are without this faith, we are ' strangers to the covenant
of promise,' we are ' aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and without God in the world.' Whatsoever virtues (so called)
a man may have — I speak of those unto whom the gospel is
preached ; for ' what have I to do to judge them that are
without ? ' — whatsoever good works (so accounted) he may
do, it profiteth not ; he is still a child of wrath, still under the
curse, till he believes in Jesus.

5. Faith, therefore, is the necessary condition of justification ;
yea, and the only necessary condition thereof. This is the

3. The first quotation is from the of the First Part of the Homily on

penultimate paragraph of the Second the Sacrament, also somewhat ab-

Homily on the Passion. Wesley breviated.

condenses it, but nothing of vital 4. Note the important qualifica-

importance is omitted. The second tion of the statement that there can

is from the penultimate paragraph be no good works before conversion.

Justification by Faith 127

second point carefully to be observed ; that, the very moment
God giveth faith (for it is the gift of God) to the ' ungodly '
that ' worketh not,' that ' faith is counted to him for righteous-
ness.' He hath no righteousness at all, antecedent to this ;
not so much as negative righteousness, or innocence. But
' faith is imputed to him for righteousness ' the very moment
that he believeth. Not that God (as was observed before)
thinketh him to be what he is not. But as ' He made Christ
to be sin for us,' that is, treated Him as a sinner, punishing
Him for our sins, so He counteth us righteous, from the time
we believe in Him : that is, He doth not punish us for our
sins ; yea, treats us as though we were guiltless and righteous.

6. Surely the difficulty of assenting to this proposition,
that ' faith is the only condition of justification,' must arise
from not understanding it. We mean thereby thus much,
that it is the only thing without which no one is justified ; the
only thing that is immediately, indispensably, absolutely
requisite in order to pardon. As, on the one hand, though a
man should have everything else without faith, yet he cannot
be justified ; so, on the other, though he be supposed to want
everything else, yet if he hath faith, he cannot but be justified.
For suppose a sinner of any kind or degree, in a full sense of
his total ungodliness, of his utter inability to think, speak, or
do good, and his absolute meetness for hell-fire ; suppose, I
say, this sinner, helpless and hopeless, casts himself wholly on
the mercy of God in Christ (which indeed he cannot do but
by the grace of God), who can doubt but he is forgiven in that
moment ? Who will affirm that any more is indispensably
required, before that sinner can be justified ?

Now, if there ever was one such instance from the beginning
of the world (and have there not been, and are there not, ten
thousand times ten thousand ?), it plainly follows, that faith
is, in the above sense, the sole condition of justification.

7. It does not become poor, guilty, sinful worms, who
receive whatsoever blessings they enjoy (from the least drop
of water that cools our tongue, to the immense riches of glory

5. ' It is the gift of God.' See note on Sermon I, ill. 3.

128

Sermon V

in eternity), of grace, of mere favour, and not of debt, to ask
of God the reasons of His conduct. It is not meet for us to
call Him in question, ' who giveth account to none of His
ways ' ; to demand, Why didst Thou make faith the condition,
the only condition, of justification ? Wherefore didst Thou
decree, He that believeth, and he only, shall be saved ? This is the
very point on which St. Paul so strongly insists in the ninth
chapter of this Epistle, viz. that the terms of pardon and
acceptance must depend, not on us, but on Him that calleth us :
that there is no unrighteousness with God, in fixing His own
terms, not according to ours, but His own good pleasure ;
who may justly say, ' I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy,' namely, on him who believeth in Jesus. ' So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,' to
choose the condition on which he shall find acceptance, ' but
of God that showeth mercy ' ; that accepteth none at all,
but of His own free love, His unmerited goodness. ' Therefore

7. Wesley accepts the interpreta-
tion given by Arminius of Rom. ix.
6-29. But to an impartial reader,
it must be clear that this is not what
St. Paul meant. He is asserting the
absolute sovereignty of God, as
Calvin saw, and not proving that
faith is the condition of justification.
There are three possible explana-
tions.

(1) Fritsche thinks that Paul was
carried away by his argument, and
so was led to contradict the whole
tenor of his teaching in the former
part of the Epistle.

(2) Meyer (with whom I agree)
holds that the absolute sovereignty
of God and the moral freedom of
man are two truths, or rather two
aspects of the truth, which are both
incontestably proved, yet cannot be
reconciled in our finite thought. In
all truths which have to do with the
Infinite, we find this irreconcilable
antithesis, as Sir W. Hamilton shows.
Is Space infinite or limited ? If

infinite, then there is no possibility
of fixing a locus for anything ; if
limited, we cannot avoid thinking
of space beyond the limit. Was
there ever a beginning to Time ? If
not, we could never have reached the
present moment ; if there was, there
must have been a moment before
that beginning. ... So with the
Trinity and Unity of the Godhead ;
the human and divine natures in the
one Christ : God is Three, God is
One ; Christ is God, Christ is man.
Each proposition is true, yet we can-
not by any effort of our intellect con-
ceive them as both true together, any
more than we can see at one glance
the two sides of a coin, or the whole
surface of a sphere. We accept each
statement as one aspect of the full-
orbed truth, but our finite mind
cannot grasp the two aspects in one.
So is it with the sovereignty of God
and the freewill of man. They are
the two sides of the one truth.
(3) Beyschlag and many others

Justification by Faith 129

hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy,' viz. on those
who believe on the Son of His love ; ' and whom He will,'
that is, those who believe not, ' He hardeneth,' leaves at last
to the hardness of their hearts.

8. One reason, however, we may humbly conceive, of God's
fixing this condition of justification, ' If thou believest in the
Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved,' was to hide pride from
man. Pride had already destroyed the very angels of God,
had cast down ' a third part of the stars of heaven.' It was
likewise in great measure owing to this, when the tempter
said, ' Ye shall be as gods,' that Adam fell from his own
steadfastness, and brought sin and death into the world. It
was therefore an instance of wisdom worthy of God, to appoint
such a condition of reconciliation for him and all his posterity,
as might effectually humble, might abase them to the dust.
And such is faith. It is peculiarly fitted for this end : for he
that cometh unto God by this faith, must fix his eye singly on
his own wickedness, on his guilt and helplessness, without
having the least regard to any supposed good in himself, to
any virtue or righteousness whatsoever. He must come as a
mere sinner, inwardly and outwardly, self-destroyed and self-
condemned, bringing nothing to God but ungodliness only,
pleading nothing of his own but sin and misery. Thus it is,
and thus alone, when his mouth is stopped, and he stands
utterly guilty before God, that he can look unto Jesus, as the
whole and sole propitiation for his sins. Thus only can he

think that St. Paul is dealing, not Enoch, and ultimately it rested on a

with individual but with national rabbinical interpretation of Gen. vi.

destiny, as realized in this world. 1-4. It was not, however, through

His subject is the position in his- pride, but through lust, that these

tory of the Jewish nation, not the ' sons of God ' fell. It is Milton

future doom of individuals. For a who has made the idea of the ambition

full discussion of this difficult ques- of Satan, and his consequent re-

tion, see Sanday and Headlam on bellion and defeat, familiar to English

Romans. readers. The fall of the ' third part

8. The story of the Fall of the of the stars ' (Rev. viii. 12) has

Angels rests upon a rather precarious nothing to do with the matter,
foundation. The only definite men- Wesley might have found a much

tion of it in Scripture is in the sixth better reason for God's fixing faith

verse of Jude, copied in 2 Pet. ii. 4. as the condition of salvation than

Jude took it from the Book of this. The essence of faith is that
W.s,s. 1 — 9

130 Sermon V

be found in Him, and receive the ' righteousness which is of
God by faith.'

9. Thou ungodly one, who hearest or readest these words !
thou vile, helpless, miserable sinner ! I charge thee before God
the Judge of all, go straight unto Him, with all thy ungodliness.
Take heed thou destroy not thy own soul by pleading thy
righteousness, more or less. Go as altogether ungodly, guilty,
lost, destroyed, deserving and dropping into hell ; and thou
shalt then find favour in His sight, and know that He justifieth
the ungodly. As such thou shalt be brought unto the blood
of sprinkling, as an undone, helpless, damned sinner. Thus
look unto fesus ! There is the Lamb of God, who taketh away
thy sins ! Plead thou no works, no righteousness of thine
own ! no humility, contrition, sincerity ! In no wise. That
were, in very deed, to deny the Lord that bought thee. No :
plead thou singly the blood of the covenant, the ransom paid
for thy proud, stubborn, sinful soul. Who art thou, that now
seest and feelest both thine inward and outward ungodliness ?
Thou art the man ! I want thee for my Lord ! I challenge
thee for a child of God by faith ! The Lord hath need of thee.
Thou who feelest thou art just fit for hell, art just fit to advance
His glory ; the glory of His free grace, justifying the ungodly
and him that worketh not. O come quickly ! Believe in
the Lord Jesus, and thou, even thou, art reconciled to God.

it unites the soul to Christ. He is delivers us from sin ; so that we
formed in our hearts by faith ; and can say, ' I no longer live, but Christ
it is this vital union with Him that liveth in me.'

SERMON VI
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH

Is Journal, June 12, 1742, Wesley says, ' I preached on the righteous-
ness of the law and the righteousness of faith.' [This was at Epworth.]
' While I was speaking, several dropped down as dead, and among
the rest such a cry was heard of sinners groaning for the righteousness
of faith as almost drowned my voice. But many of these soon lift
up their heads with joy, and broke out into thanksgiving, being assured
they now had the desire of their souls — the forgiveness of their sins.'
On June 17 he preached on the same subject at Sheffield, and ' had
not half finished my discourse when I was constrained to break off
in the midst, our hearts were so filled with a sense of the love of God,
and our mouths with prayer and thanksgiving. When we were some-
what satisfied herewith, I went on to call sinners to the salvation ready
to be revealed.'

It seems a pity that a sermon so clear, convincing, and effective
should have been based on a misinterpretation of the text. But so it
is. To begin with, Wesley affirms that the first verse refers to an alleged
covenant of works made with Adam while in Paradise, and not to the
covenant given by Moses. The passage occurs in Lev. xviii. 5, and
runs, ' Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and My judgements ;
which, if a man do, he shall live in them.' The phrase ' My statutes
and judgements ' is used several times in Leviticus, and refers always
to the laws which are there laid down. The Covenant of Works is a
theological fiction, which made its first appearance about the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century. It is not found in any of the creeds
or symbols, except the Westminster Confession (1648), in which
chap. vii. sec. 2 runs : ' The first covenant made with man was a
covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him
to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.'
Wesley admits that both passages ' were spoken by Moses himself to
the people of Israel, and that concerning the covenant which then
was.' Yet all through the sermon he takes the first passage as refer-
ring to the covenant of works. He rightly says that the second
passage also had its original reference to the law of Moses ; but he
fails to notice, at any rate explicitly, that St. Paul does not quote

131

132 Sermon VI

the exact words of Moses (Deut. xxx. 11-14), but modifies them to
suit his purpose, and puts them into the mouth of ' the righteousness
which is of faith ' personified. What Moses said was that the law
was not too hard for the people to observe ; it had not to be fetched
from heaven, or from over the sea ; on the contrary, it was actually
in their mouth and heart. St. Paul adapts this saying, which had
already become proverbial (see 4 Esdras iv. 8, Baruch Hi. 29, Jubilees
xxiv. 32), and makes the Righteousness of Faith say, ' It is not neces-
sary to bring Christ down from above ; He has already become in-
carnate amongst men : nor to bring Him back from the dead ; He
has already been raised from the grave ; there are no impossibilities
required of thee ; the word of salvation is in thy mouth and heart.
Thou hast but to believe on Christ in thy heart, and confess Him
with thy mouth, and thou art saved.' St. Paul's argument is that
the gospel, like the law, is clearly revealed to men by the preaching
of himself and his fellow apostles ; but, unlike the law, it demands
not a perfect and unbroken obedience to precepts, but a faith which
makes righteousness possible. Thus Wesley's premisses are all
wrong, but his conclusions are all right ; which happened sometimes
even to St. Paul himself, as in 1 Cor. ix. 9.

Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which

doeth those things shall live by them. ,
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in

thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven {that is, to bring Christ

down from above) ?
Or, Who shall descend into the deep (that is, to bring up Christ again from

the dead) ?
But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy

heart : that is, the word of faith, which we preach. — Rom. x. 5-8.

i. The Apostle does not here oppose the covenant given by
Moses, to the covenant given by Christ. If we ever imagined
this, it was for want of observing, that the latter as well as
the former part of these words were spoken by Moses himself
to the people of Israel, and that concerning the covenant which
then was (Deut. xxx. 11, 12, 14). But it is the covenant of
grace, which God, through Christ, hath established with men
in all ages (as well before and under the Jewish dispensation,
as since God was manifest in the flesh), which St. Paul here
opposes to the covenant of works, made with Adam while in
paradise, but commonly supposed to be the only covenant

The Righteousness of Faith 133

which God had made with man, particularly by those Jews
of whom the Apostle writes.

2. Of these it was that he so affectionately speaks in the
beginning of this chapter : ' My heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is, that they may be saved. For I bear them
record, that they have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness '
(of the justification that flows from His mere grace and mercy,
freely forgiving our sins through the Son of His love, through
the redemption which is in Jesus) ' and seeking to establish
their own righteousness ' (their own holiness, antecedent to
faith in ' Him that justifieth the ungodly,' as the ground of
their pardon and acceptance), ' have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God,' and consequently, seek death
in the error of their life.

3. They were ignorant that ' Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth,' — that, by the
oblation of Himself once offered, He had put an end to the
first law or covenant (which, indeed, was not given by God to
Moses, but to Adam in his state of innocence), the strict tenor
whereof, without any abatement, was, ' Do this, and live ' ;
and, at the same time, purchased for us that better covenant,
' Believe, and live ' ; believe, and thou shalt be saved ; now
saved, both from the guilt and power of sin, and, of consequence,
from the wages of it.

4. And how many are equally ignorant now, even among
those who are called by the name of Christ ! How many who
have now ' a zeal for God,' yet have it not ' according to know-
ledge ' ; but are still seeking ' to establish their own righteous-
ness ' as the ground of their pardon and acceptance ; and
therefore vehemently refuse to ' submit themselves unto the
righteousness of God ' ! Surely my heart's desire, and prayer to
God for you, brethren, is, that ye may be saved. And, in order
to remove this grand stumbling-block out of your way, I will
endeavour to show, first, what the righteousness is which is of

Par. 2. ' Seek death in the error of 3. ' The oblation,' &c. From the

their life.' Wisdom i. 12, ' Seek not Consecration Prayer in the Office for
death in the error of your life.' Holy Communion.

134 Sermon VI

the law, and what ' the righteousness which is of faith ' ;
secondly, the folly of trusting in the righteousness of the law,
and the wisdom of submitting to that which is of faith.

1. i. And, first, ' the righteousness which is of the law saith,
The man which doeth these things shall live by them.' Con-
stantly and perfectly observe all these things to do them, and
then thou shalt live for ever. This law, or covenant (usually
called the covenant of works), given by God to man in paradise,
required an obedience perfect in all its parts, entire and wanting
nothing, as the condition of his eternal continuance in the
holiness and happiness wherein he was created.

2. It required that man should fulfil all righteousness,
inward and outward, negative and positive : that he should not
only abstain from every idle word, and avoid every evil work,
but should keep every affection, every desire, every thought,
in obedience to the will of God ; that he should continue holy
as He which had created him was holy, both in heart, and in
all manner of conversation ; that he should be pure in heart,
even as God is pure ; perfect as his Father in heaven was
perfect : that he should love the Lord his God with all his heart,
with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength ;
that he should love every soul which God had made, even as
God had loved him : that by this universal benevolence, he
should dwell in God (who is love), and God in him : that he
should serve the Lord his God with all his strength, and in all
things singly aim at His glory.

3. These were the things which the righteousness of the
law required, that he who did them might live thereby. But
it farther required, that this entire obedience to God, this
inward and outward holiness, this conformity both of heart
and life to His will, should be perfect in degree. No abatement,
no allowance could possibly be made, for falling short in any
degree, as to any jot or tittle, either of the outward or the in-
ward law. If every commandment relating to outward things
was obeyed, yet that was not sufficient, unless every one was
obeyed with all the strength, in the highest measure, and most
perfect manner. Nor did it answer the demand of this

The Righteousness of Faith 135

covenant to love God with every power and faculty, unless
He were loved with the full capacity of each, with the whole
possibility of the soul.

4. One thing more was indispensably required by the right-
eousness of the law, namely, that this universal obedience, this
perfect holiness both of heart and life, should be perfectly
uninterrupted also, should continue without any intermission,
from the moment wherein God created man, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, until the days of his trial should
be ended, and he should be confirmed in life everlasting.

5. The righteousness, then, which is of the law, speaketh
on this wise : ' Thou, 0 man of God, stand fast in love, in the
image of God wherein thou art made. If thou wilt remain in
life, keep the commandments, which are now written in thy
heart. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Love, as
thyself, every soul that He hath made. Desire nothing but
God. Aim at God in every thought, in every word and work.
Swerve not in one motion of body or soul, from Him, thy mark,
and the prize of thy high calling ; and let all that is in thee
praise His holy name, every power and faculty of thy soul, in
every kind, in every degree, and at every moment of thine
existence. " This do, and thou shalt live " : thy light shall
shine, thy love shall flame, more and more, till thou art received
up into the house of God in the heavens, to reign with Him for
ever and ever.'

6. ' But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this
wise : Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ?
that is, to bring down Christ from above ' (as though it were
some impossible task which God required thee previously to
perform, in order to thine acceptance) ; ' or, Who shall descend
into the deep ? that is, to bring up Christ from the dead ' (as
though that were still remaining to be done, for the sake of
which thou wert to be accepted) ; ' but what saith it ? The
word,' according to the tenor of which thou mayest now be
accepted as an heir of life eternal, ' is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith, which we
preach ' — the new covenant which God hath now established
with sinful man through Christ Jesus.

136 Sermon VI

7. By ' the righteousness which is of faith ' is meant, that
condition of justification (and, in consequence, of present and
final salvation, if we endure therein unto the end) which was
given by God to fallen man, through the merits and mediation
of His only-begotten Son. This was in part revealed to Adam,
soon after his fall ; being contained in the original promise,
made to him, and his seed, concerning the Seed of the woman,
who should ' bruise the serpent's head ' (Gen. iii. 15). It
was a little more clearly revealed to Abraham, by the Angel
of God from heaven, saying, ' By Myself have I sworn, saith
the Lord, that in thy Seed shall all the nations of the world
be blessed ' (Gen. xxii. 16, 18). It was yet more fully made
known to Moses, to David, and to the prophets that followed ;
and, through them, to many of the people of God in their
respective generations. But still the bulk even of these were
ignorant of it ; and very few understood it clearly. Still ' life
and immortality ' were not so ' brought to light ' to the Jews
of old, as they are now unto us ' by the gospel.'

8. Now this covenant saith not to sinful man, ' Perform
unsinning obedience, ana live.' If this were the term, he
would have no more benefit by all which Christ hath done and
suffered for him, than if he was required, in order to life, to
' ascend into heaven, and bring down Christ from above ' ;

I. 7. The belief that Gen. iii. 15 but no victory is promised to either
was a prophecy of the victory of side. The serpent kills the man
Christ over the devil, which has given just as surely by biting his heel as
it the name of the Protevangelium, the man kills the serpent by crush-
is not found in the New Testament. ing its head. But the serpent being
It can be traced back to Irenaeus in the story the agent of temptation,
(Advers. Heres. iv. 40, v. 21), but as the most subtle of the lower
was popularized by Luther, and was animals, the passage points to the
commonly entertained after the six- never-ending fight between the higher
teenth century. In the first in- and the lower natures in man, be-
stance it can hardly be doubted that tween the law of the mind and the
nothing more was intended than to law in the members. Any Messianic
account for the enmity between man reference has to be brought to the
and the serpent-race. The descen- text ; it is not there. This view
dants of the woman are to make for, only adds force to Wesley's argu-
or attack, the head of the serpent, ment that the gospel was not known
whilst it makes for, or attacks, their in any degree of fullness to the Jews
heels. There is constant warfare, of old.

The Righteousness of Faith 137

or to ' descend into the deep,' into the invisible world, and
' bring up Christ from the dead.' It doth not require any
impossibility to be done (although, to mere man, what it
requires would be impossible ; but not to man assisted by the
Spirit of God) : this were only to mock human weakness.
Indeed, strictly speaking, the covenant of grace doth not require
us to do anything at all, as absolutely and indispensably neces-
sary in order to our justification ; but only to believe in Him
who, for the sake of His Son, and the propitiation which He
hath made, ' justifieth the ungodly that worketh not,' and
imputes his faith to him for righteousness. Even so Abraham
' believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteous-
ness ' (Gen. xv. 6). ' And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of faith . . . that he might be the
father of all them that believe . . . that righteousness might
be imputed unto them also ' (Rom. iv. 11). ' Now it was not
written for his sake alone, that it,' i.e. faith, ' was imputed to
him ; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed,' to whom
faith shall be imputed for righteousness, shall stand in the stead
of perfect obedience, in order to our acceptance with God, ' if
we believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ;
who was delivered ' to death ' for our offences, and was raised
again for our justification ' (Rom. iv. 23-25) : for the assurance
of the remission of our sins, and of a second life to come, to
them that believe.

9. What saith then the covenant of forgiveness, of unmerited
love, of pardoning mercy ? ' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved.' In the day thou belie vest, thou
shalt surely live. Thou shalt be restored to the favour of God ;
and in His pleasure is life. Thou shalt be saved from the curse,
and from the wrath, of God. Thou shalt be quickened from
the death of sin into the life of righteousness. And if thou
endure to the end, believing in Jesus, thou shalt never taste

8. This view of faith overlooks the that ye should believe on Him whom

fact that it is essentially an act of He hath sent.' On the question of

the will, not merely an attitude of imputation, see Sermon XLIX and

the intellect, or a state of the emo- the notes thereon,
tions. ' This is the work of God.

138 Sermon VI

the second death ; but, having suffered with thy Lord, shalt
also live and reign with Him for ever and ever.

10. Now ' this word is nigh thee.' This condition of life is
plain, easy, always at hand. ' It is in thy mouth, and in thy
heart,' through the operation of the Spirit of God. The
moment ' thou belie vest in thine heart ' in Him whom God
' hath raised from the dead,' and ' confessest with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus,' as thy Lord and thy God, ' thou shalt be saved '
from condemnation, from the guilt and punishment of thy
former sins, and shalt have power to serve God in true holiness
all the remaining days of thy life.

11. What is the difference then between the ' righteousness
which is of the law,' and the ' righteousness which is of faith ' ?
between the first covenant, or the covenant of works, and the
second, the covenant of grace ? The essential, unchangeable
difference is this : the one supposes him to whom it is given,
to be already holy and happy, created in the image and enjoying
the favour of God ; and prescribes the condition whereon he
may continue therein, in love and joy, life and immortality :
the other supposes him to whom it is given, to be now unholy
and unhappy, fallen short of the glorious image of God, having
the wrath of God abiding on him, and hastening, through sin,
whereby his soul is dead, to bodily death, and death ever-
lasting ; and to man in this state it prescribes the condition
whereon he may regain the pearl he has lost, may recover the
favour and image of God, may retrieve the life of God in his
soul, and be restored to the knowledge and the love of God,
which is the beginning of life eternal.

12. Again : the covenant of works, in order to man's con-
tinuance in the favour of God, in His knowledge and love, in
holiness and happiness, required of perfect man a perfect and
uninterrupted obedience to every point of the law of God.
Whereas, the covenant of grace, in order to man's recovery of
the favour and the life of God, requires only faith ; living faith
in Him who, through God, justifies him that obeyed not.

13. Yet, again : the covenant of works required of Adam,
and all his children, to pay the price themselves, in consideration
of which they were to receive all the future blessings of God.

The Righteousness of Faith

But in the covenant of grace, seeing we have nothing to pay,
God ' frankly forgives us all ' : provided only, that we believe
in Him who hath paid the price for us ; who hath given Himself
a ' propitiation for our sins, for the sins of the whole world.'

14. Thus the first covenant required what is now afar off
from all the children of men ; namely, unsinning obedience,
which is far from those who are ' conceived and born in sin.'
Whereas, the second requires what is nigh at hand ; as though
it should say, ' Thou art sin ! God is love ! Thou by sin art
fallen short of the glory of God ; yet there is mercy with Him.
Bring then all thy sins to the pardoning God, and they shall
vanish away as a cloud. If thou wert not ungodly, there
would be no room for Him to justify thee as ungodly. But
now draw near, in full assurance of faith. He speaketh, and
it is done. Fear not, only believe ; for even the just God
justifieth all that believe in Jesus.'

II. 1. These things considered, it will be easy to show, as
I proposed to do in the second place, the folly of trusting in
the ' righteousness which is of the law/ and the wisdom of
submitting to the ' righteousness which is of faith.'

The folly of those who still trust in the ' righteousness which
is of the law,' the terms of which are, ' Do this, and live,' may
abundantly appear from hence : they set out wrong ; their
very first step is a fundamental mistake : for, before they can
ever think of claiming any blessing on the terms of this covenant,
they must suppose themselves to be in his state with whom
this covenant was made. But how vain a supposition this is ;
since it was made with Adam in a state of innocence ! How
weak, therefore, must that whole building be, which stands on
such a foundation ! And how foolish are they who thus build
on the sand ; who seem never to have considered, that the
covenant of works was not given to man when he was ' dead
in trespasses and sins,' but when he was alive to God, when he
knew no sin, but was holy as God is holy ; who forget, that it
was never designed for the recovery of the favour and life of
God once lost, but only for the continuance and increase thereof,
till it should be complete in life everlasting

140 Sermon VI

2. Neither do they consider, who are thus seeking to establish
their ' own righteousness, which is of the law,' what manner
of obedience or righteousness that is which the law indispens-
ably requires. It must be perfect and entire in every point, or
it answers not the demand of the law. But which of you is able
to perform such obedience ? or, consequently, to live thereby ?
Who among you fulfils every jot and tittle even of the outward
commandments of God ? doing nothing, great or small, which
God forbids ? leaving nothing undone which He enjoins ?
speaking no idle word ? having your conversation always ' meet
to minister grace to the hearers ' ? and, ' whether you eat or
drink, or whatever you do, doing all to the glory of God ' ?
And how much less are you able to fulfil all the inward com-
mandments of God ; those which require, that every temper
and motion of your soul should be holiness unto the Lord !
Are you able to ' love God with all your heart ' ? to love all
mankind as your own soul ? to ' pray without ceasing ? in every-
thing to give thanks ' ? to have God always before you ? and
to keep every affection, desire, and thought, in obedience to
His law ?

3. You should farther consider, that the righteousness of
the law requires, not only the obeying every command of God,
negative and positive, internal and external, but likewise in
the perfect degree. In every instance whatever, the voice
of the law is, ' Thou shalt serve the Lord thy God with all thy
strength.' It allows no abatement of any kind : it excuses
no defect : it condemns every coming short of the full measure
of obedience, and immediately pronounces a curse on the
offender : it regards only the invariable rules of justice, and
saith, ' I know not to show mercy.'

4. Who then can appear before such a Judge, who is ' extreme
to mark what is done amiss ' ? How weak are they who
desire to be tried at the bar where ' no flesh living can be
justified ' ! — none of the offspring of Adam. For, suppose
we did now keep every commandment with all our strength ;
yet one single breach, which ever was, utterly destroys our
whole claim to life. If we have ever offended in any one point,
this righteousness is at an end. For the law condemns all

The Righteousness of Faith 141

who do not perform uninterrupted as well as perfect obedience.
So that, according to the sentence of this, for him who hath
once sinned, in any degree, ' there remaineth only a fearful
looking for of fiery indignation, which shall devour the adver-
saries ' of God.

5. Is it not then the very foolishness of folly, for fallen man
to seek life by this righteousness ? for man, who was ' shapen
in wickedness, and in sin did his mother conceive him ' ?
man, who is, by nature, all ' earthly, sensual, devilish ' ;
altogether ' corrupt and abominable ' ; in whom, till he find
grace, ' dwelleth no good thing ' ; nay, who cannot of himself
think one good thought ; who is indeed all sin, a mere lump
of ungodliness, and who commits sin in every breath he draws ;
whose actual transgressions, in word and deed, are more in
number than the hairs of his head ? What stupidity, what
senselessness, must it be for such an unclean, guilty, helpless
worm as this, to dream of seeking acceptance by his own
righteousness, of living by ' the righteousness which is of the
law'!

6. Now, whatsoever considerations prove the folly of
trusting in the ' righteousness which is of the law,' prove
equally the wisdom of submitting to the ' righteousness which
is of God by faith.' This were easy to be shown with regard
to each of the preceding considerations. But, to waive this,
the wisdom of the first step hereto, the disclaiming our own
righteousness, plainly appears from hence, that it is acting
according to truth, to the real nature of things. For, what

II. 5. This extreme view of the the grace of God. No man living is

total depravity of man, which Wes- entirely destitute of what is vulgarly

ley so often insists upon in order to called natural conscience. But this is

show how impossible it is for man not natural : it is more properly

to save himself by any merit of his termed preventing grace. Every

own, needs to be corrected, as he him- man has a greater or less measure

self later did correct it, by a con- of this, which waiteth not for the

sideration of the work of prevenient call of man.' So in his note on

grace. Thus in Sermon LXXXV, John i. 9 he says that this light is

Hi. 4, he says : ' There is no man that ' natural conscience, pointing out at

is in a state of mere nature ; there least the general lines of good and

is no man, unless he has quenched evil.'
the Spirit, that is wholly void of

142 Sermon VI

is it more, than to acknowledge with our heart as well as lips,
the true state wherein we are ? to acknowledge, that we bring
with us into the world a corrupt, sinful nature ; more corrupt,
indeed, than we can easily conceive, or find words to express ?
that hereby we are prone to all that is evil, and averse from
all that is good : that we are full of pride, self-will, unruly
passions, foolish desires, vile and inordinate affections ; lovers
of the world, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ? that
our lives have been no better than our hearts, but many ways
ungodly and unholy ; insomuch that our actual sins, both in
word and deed, have been as the stars of heaven for multitude ;
that, on all these accounts, we are displeasing to Him who is
of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and deserve nothing
from Him but indignation and wrath and death, the due wages
of sin ? that we cannot, by any of our righteousness (for
indeed we have none at all), nor by any of our works (for they
are as the tree upon which they grow), appease the wrath of
God, or avert the punishment we have justly deserved ; yea,
that, if left to ourselves, we shall only wax worse and worse,
sink deeper and deeper into sin, offend God more and more,
both with our evil works, and with the evil tempers of our
carnal mind, till we fill up the measure of our iniquities, and
bring upon ourselves swift destruction ? And is not this the
very state wherein by nature we are ? To acknowledge this,
then, both with our heart and lips, that is, to disclaim our
own righteousness, ' the righteousness which is of the law,'
is to act according to the real nature of things, and, conse-
quently, is an instance of true wisdom.

7. The wisdom of submitting to ' the righteousness of
faith ' appears, farther, from this consideration, that it is the
righteousness of God : I mean here, it is that method of recon-
ciliation with God which hath been chosen and established by
God Himself, not only as He is the God of wisdom, but as He
is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and of every creature
which He hath made. Now, as it is not meet for man to
say unto God, ' What doest Thou ? ' — as none, who is not
utterly void of understanding, will contend with One that is
mightier than he, with Him whose kingdom ruleth over all :

The Righteousness of Faith 143

so it is true wisdom, it is a mark of sound understanding, to
acquiesce in whatever He hath chosen ; to say in this, as in all
things, ' It is the Lord : let Him do what seemeth Him good.'

8. It may be farther considered, that it was of mere grace,
of free love, of undeserved mercy, that God hath vouchsafed to
sinful man any way of reconciliation with Himself ; that we
were not cut away from His hand, and utterly blotted out
of His remembrance. Therefore, whatever method He is
pleased to appoint, of His tender mercy, of His unmerited
goodness, whereby His enemies, who have so deeply revolted
from Him, so long and obstinately rebelled against Him, may
still find favour in His sight, it is doubtless our wisdom to
accept it with all thankfulness.

9. To mention but one consideration more. It is wisdom
to aim at the best end by the best means. Now the best end
which any creature can pursue is, happiness in God. And the
best end a fallen creature can pursue is, the recovery of the
favour and image of God. But the best, indeed the only
means under heaven given to a man, whereby he may regain
the favour of God, which is better than life itself, or the image
of God, which is the true life of the soul, is the submitting to
the ' righteousness which is of faith,' the believing in the
only-begotten Son of God.

III. 1. Whosoever therefore thou art, who desirest to be
forgiven and reconciled to the favour of God, do not say in
thy heart, ' I must first do this ; I must first conquer every
sin ; break off every evil word and work, and do all good to
all men ; or, I must first go to church, receive the Lord's
supper, hear more sermons, and say more prayers.' Alas,
my brother ! thou art clean gone out of the way. Thou art
still ' ignorant of the righteousness of God,' and art ' seeking
to establish thy own righteousness ' as the ground of thy
reconciliation. Knowest thou not, that thou canst do nothing
but sin, till thou art reconciled to God ? Wherefore, then,
dost thou say, ' I must do this and this first, and then I shall

III. Nothing could be more effec- the excuses of the sinner. It gets
tive than this practical dealing with right to the point every time.

r44 Sermon VI

believe ' ? Nay, but first believe ! Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the propitiation for thy sins. Let this good foundation
first be laid, and then thou shalt do all things well.

2. Neither say in thy heart, ' I cannot be accepted yet,
because I am not good enough.' Who is good enough, who ever
was, to merit acceptance at God's hands ? Was ever any
child of Adam good enough for this ? or will any till the con-
summation of all things ? And, as for thee, thou art not good
at all : there dwelleth in thee no good thing. And thou never
wilt be, till thou believe in Jesus. Rather thou wilt find thyself
worse and worse. But is there any need of being worse, in
order to be accepted ? Art thou not bad enough already ?
Indeed thou art ; and that God knoweth. And thou thyself
canst not deny it. Then delay not. All things are now ready.
' Arise, and wash away thy sins.' The fountain is open.
Now is the time to wash thee white in the blood of the Lamb.
Now He shall ' purge ' thee as ' with hyssop,' and thou shalt
' be clean ' : He shall ' wash ' thee, and thou shalt ' be whiter
than snow.'

3. Do not say, • But I am not contrite enough : I am not
sensible enough of my sins.' I know it. I would to God thou
wert more sensible of them, more contrite a thousand fold than
thou art. But do not stay for this. It may be, God will
make thee so, not before thou believest, but by believing. It
may be, thou wilt not weep much, till thou lovest much because
thou hast had much forgiven. In the meantime look unto
Jesus. Behold, how He loveth thee ! What could He have
done more for thee which He hath not done ?

O Lamb of God, was ever pain.
Was ever love like Thine ?

3. The quotation is the last two Hymn-Book (1736-7) ; and after-
lines of the Hymn on the Crucifixion wards in the Hymns and Sacred
by Samuel Wesley, senr. It was Poems (1739)- It found a place in
written before the famous fire at the the Hymn-Book of 1780, and has
Epworth Rectory in 1709, and the been retained in all the subsequent
MS. of it was found after the fire in editions. It begins
the Rectory garden. John Wesley Beholdi the Saviour of mankhld
published it in his Charlestown NailH to the shameful tree

The Righteousness of Faith

145

Look steadily upon Him, till He looks on thee, and breaks thy
hard heart. Then shall thy ' head ' be ' waters ' and thy
' eyes fountains of tears.'

4. Nor yet do thou say, ' I must do something more before
I come to Christ.' I grant, supposing thy Lord should delay
His coming, it were meet and right to wait for His appearing,
in doing, so far as thou hast power, whatsoever He hath com-
manded thee. But there is no necessity for making such a
supposition. How knowest thou that He will delay ? Perhaps
He will appear, as the dayspring from on high, before the
morning light. 0 do not set Him a time ! Expect Him every
hour. Now He is nigh ! even at the door !

5. And to what end wouldest thou wait for more sincerity
before thy sins are blotted out ? To make thee more worthy
of the grace of God ? Alas, thou art still ' establishing thy
own righteousness.' He will have mercy, not because thou
art worthy of it, but because His compassions fail not ; not
because thou art righteous, but because Jesus Christ hath
atoned for thy sins.

Again : if there be anything good in sincerity, why dost
thou expect it before thou hast faith ? — seeing faith itself is the
only root of whatever is really good and holy.

Above all, how long wilt thou forget, that whatsoever thou
doest, or whatsoever thou hast, before thy sins are forgiven
thee, it avails nothing with God toward the procuring of thy
forgiveness ! yea, and that it must all be cast behind thy back,

5. Wesley did not long maintain
the implication of the second clause
of this section, viz. that there can
be no sincerity worth anything ex-
cept as the result of faith. The
question of sincerity is largely dis-
cussed in the Minutes of 1746, May 13.
J[onathan] R[eeves] thought that he
was sincere ' in some measure '
before his conversion. Sincerity is
then defined as ' willingness to know
and do the whole will of God ' ;
and it is laid down that God has so
much regard to the sincerity of an
unbeliever, ' that, if he persevere
w.s.s. 1 — 10

therein, God will infallibly give him
faith.' It is said to be ' one condi-
tion of our acceptance,' therefore
evidently it must precede the act of
faith which brings salvation. Simi-
larly in Sermon IX, iv. 1 it is said :
' A man may be sincere in any of
these states ' (to wit, the natural,
the legal, and the evangelical) ; ' for
undoubtedly there may be sincere
heathens, as well as sincere Jews, or
Christians.' Still, the point remains
that a man is not saved because
of his sincerity, but because of his
faith.

146 Sermon VI

trampled under foot, made no account of, or thou wilt never
find favour in God's sight ; because, until then, thou canst not
ask it as a mere sinner, guilty, lost, undone, having nothing to
plead, nothing to offer to God, but only the merits of His well-
beloved Son, ' who loved thee, and gave Himself for thee ' !

6. To conclude. Whosoever thou art, O man, who hast
the sentence of death in thyself, who feelest thyself a con-
demned sinner, and hast the wrath of God abiding on thee :
unto thee saith the Lord, not, ' Do this ' — perfectly obey all
my commands — ' and live ' ; but, ' Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' ' The word of faith is nigh
unto thee ' : now, at this instant, in the present moment, and
in thy present state, sinner as thou art, just as thou art, believe
the gospel ; and ' I will be merciful unto thy unrighteousness,
and thy iniquities will I remember no more.'

SERMON VII
THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM

The structure of this sermon is peculiar. The first part of it is an
exposition of Rom. xiv. 17, ' The kingdom of God is not meat and
drink,' &c. ; the second is an application based on the second clause
of Mark i. 15, ' Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' On Sunday,
June 6, 1742, Wesley was at Epworth, and offered his services to
Mr. Romley the curate, ' but he did not care to accept of my assist-
ance. The church was exceeding full in the afternoon, a rumour
being spread that I was to preach. But the sermon on Quench
not the Spirit was not suitable to the expectation of many of the
hearers. Mr. Romley told them that one of the most dangerous
ways of quenching the Spirit was by enthusiasm ; and enlarged on
the character of an enthusiast in a very florid and oratorical manner.
After sermon John Taylor stood in the churchyard, and gave notice,
as the people were coming out, " Mr. Wesley, not being permitted to
preach in the church, designs to preach here at six o'clock." Accord-
ingly at six I came, and found such a congregation as I believe
Epworth never saw before. I stood near the east end of the church,
upon my father's tombstone, and cried, " The kingdom of heaven is
not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost." ' He remained eight days at Epworth, preaching every day
from his father's tombstone, his texts being, on Monday, Eph. ii. 8 —
the Oxford Sermon No. I ; on Tuesday Rom. iv. 5 (Sermon V) ; on
Wednesday Luke xviii. 10 ; on Thursday Rom. viii. 15 (Sermon IX) ;
on Friday Ezek. xxxvii. 1 seq. ; on Saturday Rom. x. 5 (Sermon VI),
and on Sunday Matt. v. 1 (Sermon XVI). In a letter to Mr. John
Smith, dated March 25, 1747, he says, ' I am well assured I did far
more good by preaching three days on my father's tomb than I did
by preaching three years in his pulpit.' The Rev. John Whitelamb,
who was for a time Samuel Wesley's curate at Epworth, and married
poor deformed Mary (Molly) Wesley in 1734, but lost her in November
of the same year, came over from Wroot, where he was still rector,
though his grief at the death of his wife and her baby had driven him
into unbelief, and heard John preach on the Tuesday. He wrote on
the Friday to Wesley : ' I saw you at Epworth on Tuesday evening.
Your way of thinking is so extraordinary that your presence creates

148 Sermon VII

an awe, as though you were an inhabitant of another world. ... I
cannot refrain from tears when I reflect, this is the man who at Oxford
was more than a father to me ; this is he whom I have heard expound,
or dispute publicly, or preach at St. Mary's, with such applause ; and
— oh, that I should ever add — whom I have lately heard preach at
Epworth, on his father's tombstone 1 '

There is little doubt that this sermon, or at any rate the first part
of it, was the first of this series of ' tombstone ' sermons. It was a
favourite of Wesley's, and is often mentioned in the Journal during
this and the following years ; and also in the sermon list at the end
of the Standard Edition of the Journal. It is quite different from
the one on the same text, No. XLVII, on The Repentance of
Believers, which was written in April 1767.

To the modern reader it seems strange that a sermon on The
Kingdom of God should make no reference at all to the social recon-
struction demanded by Christianity ; but Wesley was right in think-
ing that the only way to social salvation is through the salvation of
individual men and women. The kingdom in the heart must come
before the kingdom in society can be realized. Schemes for social
reform will never work until the men who constitute society are
themselves saved.

The kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye, and believe the gospel. —

Mark i. 15.

These words naturally lead us to consider, first, the nature
of true religion, here termed by our Lord ' the kingdom of
God/ which, saith He, ' is at hand ' ; and, secondly, the way
thereto, which He points out in those words, ' Repent ye, and
believe the gospel.'

1. 1. We are, first, to consider the nature of true religion,
here termed by our Lord ' the kingdom of God.' The same
expression the great Apostle uses in his Epistle to the Romans,
where he likewise explains his Lord's words, saying, ' The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness,
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ' (Rom. xiv. 17).

2. ' The kingdom of God,' or true religion, ' is not meat
and drink.' It is well known, that not only the unconverted
Jews, but great numbers of those who had received the faith
of Christ, were, notwithstanding, ' zealous of the law ' (Acts

The Way to the Kingdom 149

xxi. 20), even the ceremonial law of Moses. Whatsoever,
therefore, they found written therein, either concerning meat
and drink offerings, or the distinction between clean and
unclean meats, they not only observed themselves, but vehem-
ently pressed the same, even on those ' among the Gentiles '
(or Heathens) ' who were turned to God ' ; yea, to such a
degree, that some of them taught, wheresoever they came
among them, ' Except ye be circumcised, and keep the law '
(the whole ritual law), ' ye cannot be saved ' (Acts xv. 1, 24).

3. In opposition to these, the Apostle declares, both here
and in many other places, that true religion does not consist in
meat and drink, or in any ritual observances ; nor, indeed, in
any outward thing whatever ; in anything exterior to the heart ;
the whole substance thereof lying in ' righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost.'

4. Not in any outward thing ; such as forms or ceremonies,
even of the most excellent kind. Supposing these to be ever
so decent and significant, ever so expressive of inward things :
supposing them ever so helpful, not only to the vulgar, whose
thought reaches little farther than their sight ; but even to
men of understanding, men of stronger capacities, as doubtless
they may sometimes be ; yea, supposing them, as in the case
of the Jews, to be appointed by God Himself ; yet even during
the period of time wherein that appointment remains in force,
true religion does not principally consist therein ; nay, strictly
speaking, not at all. How much more must this hold con-
cerning such rites and forms as are only of human appointment !
The religion of Christ rises infinitely higher, and lies immensely
deeper, than all these. These are good in their place ; just so
far as they are in fact subservient to true religion. And it
were superstition to object against them, while they are applied
only as occasional helps to human weakness. But let no man
carry them farther. Let no man dream that they have any

I. Par. 4. This declaration as to his services. It was appropriate

the value of forms and ceremonies that it should be made at an open-air

is Wesley's answer to those who, service. But he never undervalued

like poor Whitelamb, were scandal- decency and order in divine service,

ized at his preaching in the open as long as it was not made a substi-

air and using extemporary prayer in tute for true religion.

150 Sermon VII

intrinsic worth ; or that religion cannot subsist without them.
This were to make them an abomination to the Lord.

5. The nature of religion is so far from consisting in these,
in forms of worship, or rites and ceremonies, that it does not
properly consist in any outward actions, of what kind soever.
It is true, a man cannot have any religion who is guilty of
vicious, immoral actions ; or who does to others what he would
not they should do unto him, if he were in the same circum-
stances. And it is also true, that he can have no real religion
who ' knows to do good, and doeth it not.' Yet may a man both
abstain from outward evil, and do good, and still have no
religion. Yea, two persons may do the same outward work ;
suppose feeding the hungry, or clothing the naked ; and, in the
meantime, one of these may be truly religious, and the other
have no religion at all ; for the one may act from the love of
God, and the other from the love of praise. So manifest it is,
that although true religion naturally leads to every good word
and work, yet the real nature thereof lies deeper still, even in
' the hidden man of the heart. '

6. I say of the heart. For neither does religion consist in
orthodoxy, or right opinions; which, although they are not
properly outward things, are not in the heart, but the under-
standing. A man may be orthodox in every point ; he may
not only espouse right opinions, but zealously defend them
against all opposers ; he may think justly concerning the in-
carnation of our Lord, concerning the ever-blessed Trinity,
and every other doctrine contained in the oracles of God ; he
may assent to all the three creeds— that called the Apostles',
the Nicene, and the Athanasian ; and yet it is possible he may
have no religion at all, no more than a Jew, Turk, or Pagan.
He may be almost as orthodox — as the devil (though indeed
not altogether ; for every man errs in something ; whereas

6. This distinction between the intellect, emotion, and will. A re-
heart and the understanding is not ligion which is all feeling is as imper-
scriptural. As has been already feet as a religion of pure intellect,
pointed out, the word translated True religion implies intellectual
' heart ' in the New Testament does conviction, emotional motive, and
not mean the emotions only, but ethical determination, and is a func-
includes the whole psychical nature, tion of the whole man.

The Way to the Kingdom

I5i

we cannot well conceive him to hold any erroneous opinion),
and may, all the while, be as great a stranger as he to the
religion of the heart.

7. This alone is religion, truly so called : this alone is in
the sight of God of great price. The Apostle sums it all up
in three particulars, ' righteousness, and peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost.' And, first, righteousness. We cannot be at a
loss concerning this, if we remember the words of our Lord,
describing the two grand branches thereof, on which ' hang
all the Law and the Prophets ' : ' Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy strength : this is the first and great
commandment ' (Mark xii. 30) ; the first and great branch of
Christian righteousness. Thou shalt delight thyself in the
Lord thy God ; thou shalt seek and find all happiness in Him.
He shall be ' thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward,' in
time and in eternity. All thy bones shall say, ' Whom have
I in heaven but Thee ? And there is none upon earth that I
desire beside Thee.' Thou shalt hear and fulfil His word, who
saith, ' My son, give me thy heart.' And, having given Him
thy heart, thy inmost soul, to reign there without a rival, thou
mayest well cry out, in the fullness of thy heart, ' I will love
Thee, 0 Lord, my strength. The Lord is my strong rock, and

7. That ' love is the fulfilling of
the law ' is incontestable ; but love
is not the same thing as righteous-
ness. Love is the root, righteousness
is the fruit. In the religious writings
of the eighteenth century, and in
some of the periodicals, such as
the Spectator, and particularly the
Rambler, there is abundance of good
ethical teaching ; but little or no-
thing is said about the religious
motive, the love to God and man,
which alone makes morality in the
fullest sense possible. Therefore
Wesley laid all the stress of his
teaching on the emotional motive
for morality. In the Plain Account
of Christian Perfection, entire sancti-

fication is defined as perfect love.
' A Methodist is one who loves the
Lord his God with all his heart . . .
and, loving God, he loves his neigh-
bour as himself.' This was most
necessary and salutary teaching ;
but there is a danger, as experience
has sadly shown, that it may result
in the under-valuing, or even the
neglect, of practical ethics. This
Wesley guarded against in the fol-
lowing paragraph. It has been too
common to find men who made the
loudest and most exultant profes-
sion of entire sanctification dishonest
in business or lax in their private
life. It is the general experience of
missionaries to the less civilized races,

152

Sermon VII

my defence ; my Saviour, my God, and my might, in whom I
will trust ; my buckler, the horn also of my salvation, and my
refuge.'

8. And the second commandment is like unto this; the
second great branch of Christian righteousness is closely and
inseparably connected therewith ; even, ' Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.' Thou shalt love-— thou shalt embrace
with the most tender good-will, the most earnest and cordial
affection, the most inflamed desires of preventing or removing
all evil, and of procuring for him every possible good. Thy
neighbour— that is, not only thy friend, thy kinsman, or thy
acquaintance ; not only the virtuous, the friendly, him that
loves thee, that prevents or returns thy kindness ; but every
child of man, every human creature, every soul which God
hath made ; not excepting him whom thou never hast seen in
the flesh, whom thou knowest not, either by face or name ;
not excepting him whom thou knowest to be evil and un-
thankful, him that still despitefully uses and persecutes thee :
him thou shalt love as thyself ; with the same invariable thirst
after his happiness in every kind ; the same unwearied care
to screen him from whatever might grieve or hurt either his
soul or body.

9. Now is not this love ' the fulfilling of the law ' ? the sum

like the Fijians or the Australian
aborigines, that their converts very
quickly attain to a remarkable degree
of religious emotion, without any
commensurate development of the
ethical sense. A negro may give a
most rapturous address in a love-
feast, with tears of sincere joy run-
ning down his face, and then go
away and rob a hen-roost without
any sense of incongruity. One of
the most unscrupulous business men
I ever knew could pray like a seraph
and preach like a prophet ; and I
do not think that he was a hypocrite
either ; only he kept his religious
emotion and his business practice in
water-tight compartments. Wesley's

attitude was most natural and in-
deed necessary in an age when any
expression of religious experience
was denounced as a manifestation of
enthusiasm and presumption ; but
in our day it is very needful to
emphasize the ethical side of re-
ligion, and to insist that no rapturous
realization of the love of God can
excuse a man from the duty of
carrying on his business on the prin-
ciples of the Sermon on the Mount,
and paying twenty shillings in the
pound ; and that this is what St.
Paul means when he says that the
kingdom of God is righteousness.
8. ' Prevents,' i.e. anticipates.

The Way to the Kingdom 153

of all Christian righteousness ? of all inward righteousness, —
for it necessarily implies ' bowels of mercies, humbleness of
mind ' (seeing ' love is not puffed up '), ' gentleness, meekness,
longsuffering ' (for love ' is not provoked,' but ' believeth,
hopeth, endure th all things ') : and of all outward righteous-
ness,— for ' love worketh no evil to his neighbour,' either by
word or deed. It cannot willingly hurt or grieve any one.
And it is zealous of good works. Every lover of mankind, as
he hath opportunity, ' doeth good unto all men,' being (without
partiality, and without hypocrisy) ' full of mercy and good
fruits.'

10. But true religion, or a heart right toward God and
man, implies happiness as well as holiness. For it is not only
' righteousness,' but also ' peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.'
What peace ? ' The peace of God,' which God only can give,
and the world cannot take away ; the peace which ' passeth all
understanding,' all barely rational conception ; being a super-
natural sensation, a divine taste, of ' the powers of the world to
come ' ; such as the natural man knoweth not, how wise soever
in the things of this world ; nor, indeed, can he know it, in his
present state, ' because it is spiritually discerned.' It is a peace
that banishes all doubt, all painful uncertainty ; the Spirit of
God bearing witness with the spirit of a Christian, that he is ' a
child of God.' And it banishes fear, all such fear as hath
torment : the fear of the wrath of God ; the fear of hell ; the
fear of the devil ; and, in particular, the fear of death : he that
hath the peace of God, desiring, if it were the will of God, ' to
depart, and to be with Christ.'

11. With this peace of God, wherever it is fixed in the soul,
there is also ' joy in the Holy Ghost ' ; joy wrought in the heart
by the Holy Ghost, by the ever-blessed Spirit of God. He it is
that worketh in us that calm, humble rejoicing in God, through
Christ Jesus, ' by whom we have now received the atonement,'
xaraWay^v, the reconciliation with God ; and that enables us

11. In rendering KaraWayriv re- ' happy ' for ' blessed ' in the quota-
conciliation, Wesley, as so often, tion from Psa. xxxii. i. The Hebrew
anticipates the Revised Version. He word, as in Psa. i. i, is a plural
is equally accurate in substituting noun: ' Oh the joys of the man,' &c.

154 Sermon VII

boldly to confirm the truth of the royal Psalmist's declaration,
' Blessed is the man ' (or rather, happy) ' whose unrighteousness
is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.' He it is that inspires
the Christian soul with that even, solid joy, which arises from
the testimony of the Spirit that he is a child of God ; and that
gives him to ' rejoice with joy unspeakable, in hope of the glory
of God ' ; hope both of the glorious image of God, which is in
part, and shall be fully, ' revealed in him ' ; and of that crown
of glory which fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for him.

12. This holiness and happiness, joined in one, are some-
times styled, in the inspired writings, ' the kingdom of God '
(as by our Lord in the text), and sometimes, ' the kingdom of
heaven.' It is termed, ' the kingdom of God,' because it is
the immediate fruit of God's reigning in the soul. So soon as
ever He takes unto Himself His mighty power, and sets up His
throne in our hearts, they are instantly filled with this ' right-
eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' It is called
' the kingdom of heaven,' because it is (in a degree) heaven
opened in the soul. For whosoever they are that experience
this, they can aver before angels and men,

Everlasting life is won,
Glory is on earth begun ;

according to the constant tenor of Scripture, which everywhere
bears record, God ' hath given unto us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He that hath the Son ' (reigning in his heart)
' hath life,' even life everlasting (i John v. n, 12). For ' this
is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent ' (John xvii. 3). And they to whom this

12. The first quotation is the last Psalms and Hymns (1786). The

two lines of verse 6 of Charles whole verse runs :
Wesley's Hymn after the Sacrament,

beginning ' Sons of God, triumphant Grace our everv thou§ht controls,

. . _ , ,,., , • ., rr Heaven is opened in our souls,

rise,' first published in the Hymns Everlasting life is won,

and Sacred Poems (1730), pt. ii. (vol. i. Glory is on earth begun,
p. 170, in Osborn's Poetical Works

of J. and C. Wesley). The first four The lines in the second quotation

verses were used by Toplady in his are the conclusion of the Paraphrase

The Way to the Kingdom 155

is given may confidently address God, though they were in the
midst of a fiery furnace, —

Thee, Lord, safe-shielded by Thy power,
Thee, Son of God, Jehovah, we adore ;
In form of man descending to appear :

To Thee be ceaseless hallelujahs given,
Praise, as in heaven Thy throne, we offer here ;

For where Thy presence is display'd, is heaven.

13. And this ' kingdom of God,' or of heaven, ' is at hand.'
As these words were originally spoken, they implied that ' the
time ' was then fulfilled, God being ' made manifest in the flesh,'
when He would set up His kingdom among men, and reign in
the hearts of His people. And is not the time now fulfilled ?
For, ' Lo,' (saith He), ' I am with you always,' you who preach
remission of sins in My name, ' even unto the end of the world '
(Matt, xxviii. 20). Wheresoever, therefore, the gospel of
Christ is preached, this His ' kingdom is nigh at hand.' It is
not far from every one of you. Ye may this hour enter there-
into, if so be ye hearken to His voice, ' Repent ye, and believe
the gospel.'

II. 1. This is the way ; walk ye in it. And, first, ' repent ' ;
that is, know yourselves. This is the first repentance, previous
to faith ; even conviction, or self-knowledge. Awake, then,
thou that sleepest. Know thyself to be a sinner, and what
manner of sinner thou art. Know that corruption of thy in-
most nature, whereby thou art very far gone from original
righteousness, whereby ' the flesh lusteth ' always ' contrary
to the Spirit,' through that ' carnal mind ' which ' is enmity

of the Song of the Three Children and the last line of the present pas-

(generally known as the Benedicite) sage is quoted in the Journal,

by the Rev. Mark Le-Pla, vicar of February 1 8, 1766. The whole poem

Finchingfield, in Essex. It was was published in Moral and Sacred

written as a thanksgiving to God Poems (1744), vol. ii. p. 107. The

after a recovery from sickness. In first line here is short of two syllables,

the Journal, March 3, 1740, Wesley indicated by a dash in the 1771 edi-

quotes two other lines from the same tion of the sermon. The missing

poem : word is ' therefore ' :

He deigns his influence to diffuse, Thee, therefore, Lord, safe-shielded by Thy
Secret, refreshing as the silent dews ; pow'r.

156 Sermon VII

against God,' which ' is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be.' Know that thou art corrupted in every power,
in every faculty of thy soul ; that thou art totally corrupted
in every one of these, all the foundations being out of course.
The eyes of thine understanding are darkened, so that they
cannot discern God, or the things of God. The clouds of ignor-
ance and error rest upon thee, and cover thee with the shadow
of death. Thou knowest nothing yet as thou oughtest to know,
neither God, nor the world, nor thyself. Thy will is no longer
the will of God, but is utterly perverse and distorted, averse
from all good, from all which God loves, and prone to all evil,
to every abomination which God hateth. Thy affections are
alienated from God, and scattered abroad over all the earth.
All thy passions, both thy desires and aversions, thy joys and
sorrows, thy hopes and fears, are out of frame, are either undue
in their degree, or placed on undue objects. So that there is
no soundness in thy soul ; but ' from the crown of the head, to
the sole of the foot ' (to use the strong expression of the prophet),
there are only ' wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.'

2. Such is the inbred corruption of thy heart, of thy very
inmost nature. And what manner of branches canst thou expect
to grow from such an evil root ? Hence springs unbelief ;
ever departing from the living God ; saying, ' Who is the Lord,
that I should serve Him ? Tush ! Thou God carest not for it.'
Hence independence ; affecting to be like the Most High.
Hence pride, in all its forms ; teaching thee to say, ' I am rich,
and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.' From this
evil fountain flow forth the bitter streams of vanity, thirst of
praise, ambition, covetousness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and the pride of life. From this arise anger, hatred,
malice, revenge, envy, jealousy, evil surmisings : from this, all
the foolish and hurtful lusts that now ' pierce thee through
with many sorrows,' and, if not timely prevented, will at length
drown thy soul in everlasting perdition.

3. And what fruits can grow on such branches as these ?
Only such as are bitter and evil continually. Of pride cometh
contention, vain boasting, seeking and receiving praise of men,
and so robbing God of that glory which He caDnot give unto

The Way to the Kingdom 157

another. Of the lust of the flesh come gluttony or drunken-
ness, luxury or sensuality, fornication, uncleanness ; variously
defiling that body which was designed for a temple of the
Holy Ghost : of unbelief, every evil word and work. But the
time would fail, shouldest thou reckon up all ; all the idle
words thou hast spoken, provoking the Most High, grieving
the Holy One of Israel ; all the evil works thou hast done,
either wholly evil in themselves, or, at least, not done to the
glory of God. For thy actual sins are more than thou art
able to express, more than the hairs of thy head. Who can
number the sands of the sea, or the drops of rain, or thy
iniquities ?

4. And knowest thou not that ' the wages of sin is death ' ?
— death, not only temporal, but eternal. ' The soul that
sinneth, it shall die ' ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it. It shall die the second death. This is the sentence, to
' be punished ' with never-ending death, ' with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of His power.' Knowest thou not that every sinner evo^o?
ea-ri rf) yeewrj rov irvpo<i, not properly ' is in danger of
hell -fire ' ; that expression is far too weak ; but rather ' is
under the sentence of hell-fire ' ; doomed already, just dragging
to execution. Thou art guilty of everlasting death. It is
the just reward of thy inward and outward wickedness. It
is just that the sentence should now take place. Dost thou
see, dost thou feel this ? Art thou thoroughly convinced
that thou deservest God's wrath, and everlasting damnation ?
Would God do thee no wrong, if He now commanded the
earth to open, and swallow thee up ? — if thou wert now to
go down quick into the pit, into the fire that never shall be
quenched ? If God hath given thee truly to repent, thou hast
a deep sense that these things are so ; and that it is of His
mere mercy thou art not consumed, swept away from the face
of the earth.

II. 4. The Greek phrase quoted Gehenna of fire, but he is not yet

means 'liable to,' not 'under sen- sentenced. Thus Xenophon speaks

tence of ' ; the sinner has committed of a man as ' liable to an indictment.'
a crime, the penalty of which is the

158 Sermon VII

5. And what wilt thou do to appease the wrath of God, to
atone for all thy sins, and to escape the punishment thou hast
so justly deserved ? Alas, thou canst do nothing ; nothing
that will in any wise make amends to God for one evil work,
or word, or thought. If thou couldest now do all things well,
if from this very hour till thy soul should return to God thou
couldest perform perfect, uninterrupted obedience, even this
would not atone for what is past. The not increasing thy
debt would not discharge it. It would still remain as great
as ever. Yea, the present and future obedience of all the men
upon earth, and all the angels in heaven, would never make
satisfaction to the justice of God for one single sin. How
vain, then, was the thought of atoning for thy own sins, by
anything thou couldest do ! It costeth far more to redeem
one soul, than all mankind is able to pay. So that were there
no other help for a guilty sinner, without doubt he must have
perished everlastingly.

6. But suppose perfect obedience, for the time to come,
could atone for the sins that are past, this would profit thee
nothing ; for thou art not able to perform it ; no, not in any
one point. Begin now : make the trial. Shake off that out-
ward sin that so easily besetteth thee. Thou canst not. How
then wilt thou change thy life from all evil to all good?
Indeed, it is impossible to be done, unless first thy heart be
changed. For, so long as the tree remains evil, it cannot
bring forth good fruit. But art thou able to change thy own
heart, from all sin to all holiness ? to quicken a soul that is
dead in sin — dead to God, and alive only to the world ? No
more than thou art able to quicken a dead body, to raise to
life him that lieth in the grave. Yea, thou art not able to
quicken thy soul in any degree, no more than to give any
degree of life to the dead body. Thou canst do nothing, more
or less, in this matter ; thou art utterly without strength. To
be deeply sensible of this, how helpless thou art, as well as
how guilty and how sinful, — this is that ' repentance not to be
repented of,' which is the forerunner of the kingdom of God.

7. If to this lively conviction of thy inward and outward
sins, of thy utter guiltiness and helplessness, there be added

The Way to the Kingdom 159

suitable affections, — sorrow of heart, for having despised thy
own mercies ; remorse, and self-condemnation, having thy
mouth stopped ; shame to lift up thine eyes to heaven ; fear
of the wrath of God abiding on thee, of His curse hanging over
thy head, and of the fiery indignation ready to devour those
who forget God, and obey not our Lord Jesus Christ ; earnest
desire to escape from that indignation, to cease from evil, and
learn to do well, — then I say unto thee, in the name of the
Lord, ' Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.' One
step more, and thou shalt enter in. Thou dost ' repent.'
Now, ' believe the gospel.'

8. The gospel (that is, good tidings, good news for guilty,
helpless sinners), in the largest sense of the word, means, the
whole revelation made to men by Jesus Christ ; and some-
times the whole account of what our Lord did and suffered
while He tabernacled among men. The substance of all is,
' Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners ' ; or, ' God
so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, to the
end we might not perish, but have everlasting life ' ; or, ' He
was bruised for our transgressions, He was wounded for our
iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and
with His stripes we are healed.'

9. Believe this, and the kingdom of God is thine. By faith
thou attainest the promise. ' He pardoneth and absolveth all
that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe His holy gospel.'
As soon as ever God hath spoken to thy heart, ' Be of good
cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,' His kingdom comes : thou
hast ' righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.'

10. Only beware thou do not deceive thy own soul, with
regard to the nature of this faith. It is not, as some have
fondly conceived, a bare assent to the truth of the Bible, of

8. ' Tabernacled ' is the literal 10. 'As some have fondly con-
translation of the Greek word used ceived.' Wesley is thinking especi-
by St. John, and is given as such in ally of the Sandemanians or Glasites,
the margin of the R.V. concerning whose teaching see in-

9. ' He pardoneth,' &c, is from troduction to Sermon L (below, vol.
the Absolution in the Order for ii. p. 442).

Morning Service.

160 Sermon VII

the articles of our Creed, or of all that is contained in the Old
and New Testament. The devils believe this, as well as I or
thou ! And yet they are devils still. But it is, over and
above this, a sure trust in the mercy of God, through Christ
Jesus. It is a confidence in a pardoning God. It is a divine
evidence or conviction that ' God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to Himself, not imputing to them their' former
' trespasses ' ; and in particular, that the Son of God hath
loved me, and given Himself for me ; and that I, even I, am
now reconciled to God by the blood of the cross.

ii. Dost thou thus believe ? Then the peace of God is in
thy heart, and sorrow and sighing flee away. Thou art no
longer in doubt of the love of God ; it is clear as the noon-day
sun. Thou criest out, ' My song shall be always of the loving-
kindness of the Lord : with my mouth will I ever be telling of
Thy truth, from one generation to another.' Thou art no
longer afraid of hell, or death, or him that had once the power
of death, the devil ; no, nor painfully afraid of God Himself ;
only thou hast a tender, filial fear of offending Him. Dost thou
believe ? Then thy ' soul doth magnify the Lord,' and thy
' spirit rejoiceth in God thy Saviour.' Thou rejoicest in that
thou hast ' redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins.' Thou rejoicest in that ' Spirit of adoption,' which
crieth in thy heart, ' Abba, Father ! ' Thou rejoicest in a
' hope full of immortality ' ; in reaching forth unto the ' mark
for the prize of thy high calling ' ; in an earnest expectation
of all the good things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him.

12. Dost thou now believe ? Then ' the love of God is '
now ' shed abroad in thy heart.' Thou lovest Him, because
He first loved us. And, because thou lovest God, thou lovest
thy brother also. And being filled with ' love, peace, joy,'
thou art also filled with ' long-suffering, gentleness, fidelity,
goodness, meekness, temperance,' and all the other fruits of
the same Spirit ; in a word, with whatever dispositions are
holy, are heavenly, or divine. For while thou ' beh oldest
with open,' uncovered ' face ' (the veil now being taken away)
1 the glory of the Lord,' His glorious love, and the glorious

The Way to the Kingdom 161

image wherein thou wast created, thou art ' changed into the
same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.'

13. This repentance, this faith, this peace, joy, love ; this
change from glory to glory, is what the wisdom of the world
has voted to be madness, mere enthusiasm, utter distraction.
But thou, O man of God, regard them not ; be thou moved
by none of these things. Thou knowest in whom thou hast
believed. See that no man take thy crown. Whereunto thou
hast already attained, hold fast, and follow, till thou attain all
the great and precious promises. And thou who hast not yet
known Him, let not vain men make thee ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. Be thou in nothing terrified by those who
speak evil of the things which they know not. God will soon
turn thy heaviness into joy. Oh, let not thy hands hang down !
Yet a little longer, and He will take away thy fears, and give
thee the spirit of a sound mind. He is nigh ' that justifieth :
who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that rose again, who is even now at the right hand of
God, making intercession ' for thee.

Now cast thyself on the Lamb of God, with all thy sins,
how many soever they be ; and ' an entrance shall ' now
' be ministered unto thee into the kingdom of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ ' !

13. ' Mere enthusiasm.' The ' a new sect of enthusiasts, or hypo-

Weekly Advertiser for June 13, 1741, crites, or both.' Wesley in Farther

suggests the erection of a Methodist Appeal, Part II (1745), says: 'To

hall on Blackheath. The main hall object enthusiasm to any person or

is to have as a decoration a piece of doctrine is but a decent method of

statuary in which the main figure is begging the question. . . . But

to be Enthusiasm, sitting in an easy- what does he mean by enthusiasm ?

chair, and just delivered of two Perhaps nothing at all : few have

beauteous babes, Superstition and any distinct idea of its meaning. . . .

Infidelity. The Bishop of Lichfield, I believe thinking men mean by

in a charge published in 1745, says, enthusiasm a sort of religious mad-

' All pretensions to the Spirit . . . are ness ; a false imagination of being

vain and insignificant, as they are inspired by God. And by an enthu-

claimed by modern enthusiasts.' In siast, one that fancies himself under

a tract of 1740 the Methodists are the influence of the Holy Ghost,

called ' crack - brained enthusiasts when, in fact, he is not. Let him

and profane hypocrites.' Dr. Joseph prove me guilty of this who can.'
Trapp in the same year calls them
W.s.s. 1 — 11

SERMON VIII
THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT

In the Journal, June 25, 1745, Wesley says: 'We rode to St. Just.
I preached at seven to the largest congregation I have seen since my
coming. At the meeting of the earnest, loving society all our hearts
were in a flame : and again at five in the morning, while I explained
" There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." ' On
July 15 he read prayers and preached on this text at Laneast church.
From the nature of its contents, this sermon was not suitable for
general use ; it needed a congregation of believers, and there are few
records of its being preached either in the Journal or the Sermon List.
But no doubt the substance of it was part of the continuous exposi-
tion of the Epistle to the Romans which was often given by Wesley
to his societies. It shows a distinct advance on his views of the
nature of sin and its continuance in believers suggested in some of
the earlier sermons ; indeed, it is a sort of first sketch for Sermon XLVI
on Sin in Believers.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. — Rom. viii. 1.

I. By ' them which are in Christ Jesus,' St. Paul evidently
means, those who truly believe in Him ; those who, ' being
justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord

Par. I. This paragraph shows that faith has two constructions: St.

Wesley had not quite fully appre- John always speaks of saving faith

ciated the force of the characteristic as Trio-revety eh XpicrrSv, believing

Pauline phrase ' in Christ.' It is into Christ, i.e. believing so as to be

true that he does put it clearly enough united vitally with Christ ; St. Paul,

in I. 1 below ; but in his present when he is thinking of justification,

thinking faith was so much concerned says viaTtvuv iirl Kpicri^ or iwi

with justification, that he hardly Xpiardv — i.e. believing upon Christ ;

realizes its equal importance as the but he also uses St. John's construc-

means of entering into vital fellow- tion both in his Epistles and in his

ship with Christ. In the NT. the sermons reported in the Acts of the

verb 7rurfftW in the sense of saving Apostles ; and his favourite phrase

162

The First-fruits of the Spirit 163

Jesus Christ.' They who thus believe do no longer ' walk
after the flesh,' no longer follow the motions of corrupt nature,
but ' after the Spirit ' ; both their thoughts, words, and works
are under the direction of the blessed Spirit of God.

2. ' There is therefore now no condemnation to ' these.
There is no condemnation to them from God ; for He hath
justified them ' freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Jesus.' He hath forgiven all their iniquities, and
blotted out all their sins. And there is no condemnation to
them from within ; for they ' have received, not the spirit of
the world, but trie Spirit which is of God ; that they might
know the things which are freely given to them of God '
(1 Cor. ii. 12) ; which Spirit ' beareth witness with their spirits,
that they are the children of God.' And to this is added the
testimony of their conscience, ' that in simplicity and godly
sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God,
they have had their conversation in the world ' (2 Cor. i. 12).

3. But because this scripture has been so frequently mis-
understood, and that in so dangerous a manner ; because such
multitudes of ' unlearned and unstable men ' (oi a/xaOels ical
ao-TrjpiKToi, men untaught of God, and consequently unestab-
lished in the truth which is after godliness) have wrested it to
their own destruction ; I propose to show, as clearly as I can,
first, who those are ' which are in Christ Jesus,' and ' walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit ' ; and, secondly, how
' there is no condemnation to ' these. I shall conclude with
some practical inferences.

' in Christ ' implies this. Justifying M, the dative suggesting more of

faith rests upon Christ ; sanctifying the state, and the accusative more

faith enters into union with Him. of the initial act of faith ; while ei's

Consequently, when here Paul speaks recalls at once the bringing of the

of ' them which are in Christ Jesus,' soul into that mystical union which

he does not mean primarily those Paul loved to express by lv Xpiary.'
who are justified by faith, but those 3. Both the adjectives in the

who are made one with Christ. As Greek quoted are hapax legomena

the late Dr. J. H. Moulton says in the N.T. Their meaning is ' un-

(Gram. of N.T. Greek, Proleg. 68) : taught ' and ' unstable ' ; Wesley's

' To repose one's trust upon God or addition ' untaught of God ' is hardly

Christ was well expressed by jr«n-ei5e<i> in the text.

164 Sermon VIII

1. 1. First, I am to show, who those are that ' are in Christ
Tesus.' And are they not those who believe in His name ?
those who are ' found in Him, not having their own righteous-
ness, but the righteousness which is of God by faith ' ? These,
' who have redemption through His blood,' are properly said
to be in Him ; for they dwell in Christ, and Christ in them.
They are joined unto the Lord in one Spirit. They are ingrafted
into Him, as branches into the vine. They are united, as
members to their head, in a manner which words cannot
express, nor could it before enter into their hearts to conceive.

2. Now ' whosoever abideth in Him, sinneth not ' ; ' walketh
not after the flesh.' The flesh, in the usual language of St.
Paul, signifies corrupt nature. In this sense he uses the word,
writing to the Galatians, ' The works of the flesh are manifest '
(Gal. v. 19) ; and a little before, ' Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfil the lust ' (or desire) ' of the flesh ' (ver. 16).
To prove which, namely, that those who ' walk by the Spirit '
do not ' fulfil the lusts of the flesh,' he immediately adds,
' For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusteth
against the flesh (for these are contrary to each other) ; that
ye may not do the things which ye would.' So the words are

o-opf = cdfxa + <^VX>)

Man = Body + Soul + Spirit : Flesh = Body +
Soul.

I. 2. The psychology of St. Paul and kills another dog ; but he does
receives much light from the theory not commit gin : the act is neither
of evolution. It may be expressed right nor wrong, but non-moral. A
thus : — man does exactly the same thing,

fulfilling the desire of the flesh and

!frrir.!^ltfX^ + ,r,'{{;'ia: *he s°ul against the law of duty,

which forbids murder ; and he is a
sinner. By his flesh man is akin to
the lower animals and shares their
The flesh, i.e. the body and (animal) instincts and desires ; by his spirit
soul, was first developed ; then he is a partaker of the divine nature,
when a certain point of develop- The flesh has the advantage of long
ment had been reached, the spirit, tenure and established habit, and is
or moral, self-conscious, personal in constant conflict with the spirit,
self was super-added. The flesh is which can only prevail by the rein-
not ' corrupt,' but non-moral ; sin forcement which comes from union
emerges as the result of the inevitable by faith with the Divine Spirit. See
conflict between the deep-seated in- introduction to Sermon V.
stincts and desires of the flesh and ' Desire ' is a better translation than

the law of duty. A dog fights with lust, which has been narrowed down

The First-fruits of the Spirit 165

literally translated (iva fxrj a av deXrjre ravra Troirjre), not, ' So
that ye cannot do the things that ye would ' ; as if the flesh
overcame the Spirit : a translation which hath not only
nothing to do with the original text of the Apostle, but likewise
makes his whole argument nothing worth ; yea, asserts just
the reverse of what he is proving.

3. They who are of Christ, who abide in Him, ' have crucified
the flesh with its affections and lusts.' They abstain from
all those works of the flesh ; from ' adultery and fornication ' ;
from ' uncleanness and lasciviousness ' ; from ' idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance ' ; from ' emulations, wrath,
strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings ' ; from every design, and word, and work, to which
the corruption of nature leads. Although they feel the root
of bitterness in themselves, yet are they endued with power
from on high to trample it continually under foot, so that it
cannot ' spring up to trouble them ' ; insomuch that every
fresh assault which they undergo only gives them fresh occasion
of praise, of crying out, ' Thanks be unto God, who giveth us
the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

4. They now ' walk after the Spirit,' both in their hearts
and lives. They are taught of Him to love God and their
neighbour, with a love which is as ' a well of water, springing
up into everlasting life.' And by Him they are led into every

in modern speech to one particular which I will ; but the evil which I
form of desire. The Greek word is will not, that I practise.' This is
quite general, and includes all the ascribed to ' the sin which dwelleth
desires of the flesh and of the mind. in me,' ' the law in the members,
'That ye may not do,' &c. The or bodily structure ' — in other words,
old view, that iva always expresses the inherited strength of the animal
purpose in the N.T. as in Attic instincts and passions.
Greek, has now been definitely dis- 3. ' Root of bitterness.' This ap-
proved. It is sometimes used like plication of Heb. xii. 15 is not justifi-
our 'that,' to introduce a noun- able. It is quoted from Deut. xxix.
sentence, and sometimes even of 18, and the reference is to individuals,
result, as in this passage. The mean- who prove a root of bitterness in the
ing is not ' that ye may not do,' community by falling from the
but ' so that ye do not the things grace of God. Wesley takes it to
which ye would.' The best com- mean the risings of fleshly desires
ment on this passage is Rom. vii. in the mind of the believer. See II. 5
19, ss. : ' For I do not do the good below.

166 Sermon VIII

holy desire, into every divine and heavenly temper, till every
thought which arises in their heart is holiness unto the Lord.
5. They who ' walk after the Spirit ' are also led by Him

into all holiness of conversation. Their ' speech is always in
grace, seasoned with salt ' ; with the love and fear of God.
' No corrupt communication comes out of their mouth ; but
only that which is good,' that which is ' to the use of edifying,'
which is ' meet to minister grace to the hearers.' And herein
likewise do they exercise themselves day and night, to do only
the things which please God ; in all their outward behaviour
to follow Him ' who left us an example that we might tread in
His steps ' ; in all their intercourse with their neighbour, to
walk in justice, mercy, and truth ; and ' whatsoever they do,'
in every circumstance of life, to ' do all to the glory of God.'

6. These are they who indeed ' walk after the Spirit.'
Being filled with faith and with the Holy Ghost, they possess
in their hearts, and show forth in their lives, in the whole
course of their words and actions, the genuine fruits of the
Spirit of God, namely, ' love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle-
ness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, temperance,' and whatsoever
else is lovely or praiseworthy. ' They adorn in all things
the gospel of God our Saviour ' ; and give full proof to all
mankind, that they are indeed actuated by the same Spirit
' which raised up Jesus from the dead.'

II. 1. I proposed to show, in the second place, how ' there
is no condemnation to them which are ' thus ' in Christ Jesus,'
and thus ' walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'

And, first, to believers in Christ, walking thus, ' there is
no condemnation ' on account of their past sins. God con-
demneth them not for any of these : they are as though they

5. 'Conversation' in 1 Pet. i. 15 your mouth,' shows, kept wholesome

means conduct, behaviour, not only by the grace of God. The notion

speech ; and is so used by Wesley that the Apostle is thinking of the

here, as the later part of the para- ' Attic salt ' of wit is quite foreign

graph shows. to his train of thought.

' Seasoned with salt ' — i.e., as the 6. Fidelity, not faith, is certainly

parallel passage in Eph. iv. 29, ' Let the meaning of the Apostle in this

no corrupt speech proceed out of passage.

The First-fruits of the Spirit

167

had never been ; they are cast ' as a stone into the depth of
the sea,' and He remembereth them no more. God, having
' set forth His Son to be a propitiation ' for them ' through
faith in His blood,' hath declared unto them ' His righteous-
ness for the remission of the sins that are past.' He layeth
therefore none of these to their charge ; their memorial is
perished with them.

2. And there is no condemnation in their own breast ; no
sense of guilt, or dread of the wrath of God. They ' have
the witness in themselves ' : they are conscious of their interest
in the blood of sprinkling. ' They have not received again
the spirit of bondage unto fear,' unto doubt and racking
uncertainty ; but they ' have received the Spirit of adoption,'
crying in their heart, ' Abba, Father.' Thus, being ' justified
by faith,' they have the peace of God ruling in their hearts ;
flowing from a continual sense of His pardoning mercy, and
' the answer of a good conscience toward God.1

3. If it be said, ' But sometimes a believer in Christ may
lose his sight of the mercy of God ; sometimes such darkness
may fall upon him that he no longer sees Him that is invisible,
no longer feels that witness in himself of his part in the atoning
blood ; and then he is inwardly condemned, he hath again " the
sentence of death in himself " ' : I answer, supposing it so

II. 1. The remission of the sins
that are past — this phrase in
Rom. iii. 25 has nothing to do with
the past sins of the believer ; it
means the sins committed by the
men who lived before the coming of
Christ, and who had been forgiven
because of His foreseen and pre-
ordained sacrifice.

3. Wesley himself, as we have
seen, passed through a long period
of darkness after his conversion.
More than six months after that ex-
perience, he writes in his Journal
(January 4, 1739) that he has not
the fruits of the Spirit ; neither love,
nor joy, nor peace ; and over and
over again he affirms, ' I am not a
Christian.' In Minutes, June 25,

1744, he says: ' It is certain, a be-
liever need never again come into
condemnation. It seems he need
not come into a state of doubt, or
fear, or darkness ; and that, ordin-
arily at least, he will not, unless by
ignorance or unfaithfulness. Yet it
is true that the first joy does seldom
last long ; that it is commonly fol-
lowed by doubts and fears ; and
that God frequently permits great
heaviness before any large manifes-
tation of Himself.' He deals fully
with the subject in Sermons XL and
XLI ; where he distinguishes be-
tween darkness, which is always
caused by sin, or ignorance, or temp-
tation ; and heaviness, which may be
due to bodily disorders, or calamity.

1 68 Sermon VIII

to be, supposing him not to see the mercy of God, then he is
not a believer : for faith implies light ; the light of God shining
upon the soul. So far, therefore, as any one loses this light,
he, for the time, loses his faith. And, no doubt, a true believer
in Christ may lose the light of faith ; and so far as this is lost,
he may, for a time, fall again into condemnation. But this
is not the case of them who now ' are in Christ Jesus,' who
now believe in His name. For so long as they believe, and walk
after the Spirit, neither God condemns them, nor their own
heart.

4. They are not condemned, secondly, for any present sins,
for now transgressing the commandments of God. For they
do not transgress them : they do not ' walk after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.' This is the continual proof of their ' love
of God, that they keep His commandments ' ; even as St.
John bears witness, ' Whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin. For His seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God ' : he cannot, so long as that
seed of God, that loving, holy faith remaineth in him. So long
as ' he keepeth himself ' herein, ' that wicked one toucheth
him not.' Now it is evident, he is not condemned for the sins
which he doth not commit at all. They, therefore, who are
thus ' led by the Spirit are not under the law ' (Gal. v. 18) :

or bereavement ; but he will not tive principle. The children of God
allow that God ever withdraws Him- can no more live in sin than the
self, merely of His own good plea- children of the devil out of it. To
sure, from the believer. Darkness the Christian man sin becomes a
implies that ' faith itself, if not moral impossibility.' But he adds,
totally lost, is, however, grievously what Wesley did not always con-
decayed ' ; heaviness is consistent sider, ' There is obviously a certain
with ' a clear, unshaken confidence idealism in the Apostle's sweeping
in God.' This is a modification of assertions. His dictum in verse 9
the statement in this paragraph that applies in its absolute truth to the
loss of light implies loss of faith. " perfect man " in Christ Jesus.
4. ' That seed of God.' Dr. Find- Principle must be wrought into
lay (Fellowship in the Life Eternal, habit before it has full play and
p. 266) says: 'That seed of God sway.' So my beloved Master,
dwelling in the believer in Christ is the Rev. Benjamin Hellier, in his
the power of the Holy Spirit. . . . Essay on Holiness (Life, p. 295, ss.)
Thus sin is got rid of not by repres- says : ' How can men be wholly
sion, but by pre-occupation. The spiritual and yet carnal ? . . . The
man is possessed by another genera- explanation is found in the difference

The First-fruits of the Spirit

169

not under the curse or condemnation of it ; for it condemns
none but those who break it. Thus, that law of God, ' Thou
shalt not steal,' condemns none but those who do steal. Thus,
' Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy,' condemns
those only who do not keep it holy. But against the fruits
of the Spirit ' there is no law ' (ver. 23) ; as the Apostle more
largely declares in those memorable words of his former Epistle
to Timothy : ' We know that the law is good, if a man use it
lawfully ; knowing this ' (if, while he uses the law of God, in
order either to convince or direct, he know and remember this),
on 8ifcala> vo/jlos ov tcelrai, (not ' that the law is not made for a
righteous man,' but) ' that the law does not lie against a right-
eous man ' : it has no force against him, no power to condemn
him ; ' but against the lawless and disobedient, against the
ungodly and sinners, against the unholy and profane ; according
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God ' (1 Tim. i. 8, 9, 11).

5. They are not condemned, thirdly, for inward sin, even
though it does now remain. That the corruption of nature
does still remain, even in those who are the children of God
by faith ; that they have in them the seeds of pride and vanity,
of anger, lust, and evil desire, yea, sin of every kind ; is too
plain to be denied, being matter of daily experience. And on
this account it is, that St. Paul, speaking to those whom he

existing between the ideal and the
actual.' But we are not to say that
the Christian who has not yet at-
tained the ideal is not a Christian at
all. Wesley's disposition as a
logician to divide the universe into
A and not-A made him too solici-
tous to label every one as either
Christian or not-Christian, and to
limit the name Christian to the
ideally perfect Christian. We do
not refuse to classify Homer as a
poet because he sometimes nods,
and so falls below his own ideal.
Westcott puts the matter from a
slightly different point of view :
' The ideas of divine sonship and

as the relationship with God is real,
sinful acts are but accidents. They
do not touch the essence of man's
being.'

Wesley's emendation of the A.V.
of 1 Tim. i. 9 cannot be sustained.
The Greek word is in its classical
sense ' is enacted ' — ' Law is not
enacted for a righteous man.'

5. The corruption of nature does
still remain ; or in more modern
language, the appropriate stimuli
still provoke response in the physical
and psychical nature. But these
thoughts are not sinful, unless and
until they are indulged and dwelt
upon. To quote Mr. Hellier once

sin are mutually exclusive. As long more (p. 308) : " We may have

170 Sermon VIII

had just before witnessed to be ' in Christ Jesus ' (1 Cor. i.
2, 9), to have been ' called of God into the fellowship ' (or
participation) ' of His Son Jesus Christ ' ; yet declares, ■ Breth-
ren, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal, even as unto babes in Christ ' (1 Cor. iii. 1) : ' babes in
Christ ' ■ so we see they were ' in Christ ' ; they were believers
in a low degree. And yet how much of sin remained in them !
of that ' carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God ' !

6. And yet, for all this, they are not condemned. Although
they feel the flesh, the evil nature, in them ; although they are
more sensible, day by day, that their ' heart is deceitful and
desperately wicked ' ; yet, so long as they do not yield thereto ;
so long as they give no place to the devil ; so long as they
maintain a continual war with all sin, with pride, anger, desire,
so that the flesh hath not dominion over them, but they still
' walk after the Spirit ' ; ' there is no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus.' God is well pleased with their
sincere, though imperfect obedience ; and they ' have confi-
dence toward God,' knowing they are His, ' by the Spirit which
He hath given ' them (1 John iii. 24).

7. Nay, fourthly, although they are continually convinced
of sin cleaving to all they do ; although they are conscious of
not fulfilling the perfect law, either in their thoughts, or words,
or works ; although they know they do not love the Lord
their God with all their heart, and mind, and soul, and strength ;
although they feel more or less of pride, or self-will, stealing
in and mixing with their best duties ; although even in their
more immediate intercourse with God, when they asseihble
themselves with the great congregation, and when they pour
our their souls in secret to Him who seeth all the thoughts and
intents of the heart, they are continually ashamed of their

passing through our minds a thou- tarily continued.' Or, as Milton

sand thoughts about sin, and yet says, Paradise Lost (v. 118):

have not one sinful thought.' The Evil into the mind of God or man

great and good Dr. Johnson, in the May come and go, so unapproved, and leave

Rambler, No. 8 (April 1750), says: No spot or blame behind.

* Thoughts are only criminal when 7. On the subject of this para-

they are first chosen, and then volun- graph see Sermon XXXVI.

The First-fruits of the Spirit 171

wandering thoughts, or of the deadness and dullness of their
affections ; yet there is no condemnation to them still, either
from God or from their own heart. The consideration of these
manifold defects only gives them a deeper sense, that they
have always need of the blood of sprinkling which speaks for
them in the ears of God, and that Advocate with the Father
' who ever liveth to make intercession for them.' So far are
these from driving them away from Him in whom they have
believed, that they rather drive them the closer to Him whom
they feel the want of every moment. And, at the same time,
the deeper sense they have of this want, the more earnest desire
do they feel, and the more diligent they are, as they ' have
received the Lord Jesus, so to walk in Him.'

8. They are not condemned, fifthly, for sins of infirmity,
as they are usually called. Perhaps it were advisable rather
to call them infirmities, that we may not seem to give any
countenance to sin, or to extenuate it in any degree, by thus
coupling it with infirmity. But (if we must retain so ambiguous
and dangerous an expression), by sins of infirmity I would
mean, such involuntary failings as the saying a thing we believe
true, though, in fact, it prove to be false ; or, the hurting our
neighbour without knowing or designing it, perhaps when we
designed to do him good. Though these are deviations from
the holy, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, yet they are
not properly sins, nor do they bring any guilt on the conscience
of ' them which are in Christ Jesus.' They separate not
between God and them, neither intercept the light of His
countenance ; as being no ways inconsistent with their general
character of ' walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'

9. Lastly. ' There is no condemnation ' to them for any-
thing whatever which it is not in their power to help ; whether
it be of an inward or outward nature, and whether it be doing
something or leaving something undone. For instance, the

8. Infirmities are not sins, any governs also the estimate of the so-
more than the acts or omissions men- called sins of surprise of par. n.
tioned in the next paragraph which The sinfulness of any act is deter -
it is not in our power to help. mined by the amount of concur-
' There is no guilt, because there is rence of the will.
no choice.' And this principle

172 Sermon VIII

Lord's supper is to be administered ; but you do not partake
thereof. Why do you not ? You are confined by sickness ;
therefore you cannot help omitting it ; and for the same
reason you are not condemned. There is no guilt, because,
there is no choice. As there ' is a willing mind, it is accepted
according to that a man hath, not according to that he hath
not.'

10. A believer, indeed, may sometimes be grieved, because
he cannot do what his soul longs for. He may cry out when
he is detained from worshipping God in the great congregation,
' Like as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth
my soul after Thee, O God. My soul is athirst for God, yea,
even for the living God : when shall I come to appear in the
presence of God ? ' He may earnestly desire (only still saying
in his heart, ' Not as I will, but as Thou wilt ') to ' go again with
the multitude, and bring them forth into the house of God.'
But still, if he cannot go, he feels no condemnation, no guilt,
no sense of God's displeasure ; but can cheerfully yield up
those desires with, ' O my soul, put thy trust in God ! for I
will yet give Him thanks, who is the help of my countenance
and my God.'

11. It is more difficult to determine concerning those which
are usually styled sins of surprise : as when one who commonly
in patience possesses his soul, on a sudden and violent tempta-
tion, speaks or acts in a manner not consistent with the royal
law, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' Perhaps it
is not easy to fix a general rule concerning transgressions of
this nature. We cannot say, either that men are, or that they
are not, condemned for sins of surprise in general : but it
seems, whenever a believer is by surprise overtaken in a fault,
there is more or less condemnation, as there is more or less
concurrence of his will. In proportion as a sinful desire, or
word or action is more or less voluntary, so we may conceive

10. These reminiscences from the which robbed the Methodist people
Prayer-Book version of Psa. xlii. are of their heritage in this beautiful
natural to a man who was using that version by substituting for it in ouv
version in the daily service. I have service-book the Authorized render-
never ceased to regret the pedantry ing.

The First-fruits of the Spirit 173

God is more or less displeased, and there is more or less guilt
upon the soul.

12. But if so, then there may be some sins of surprise which
bring much guilt and condemnation. For, in some instances,
our being surprised is owing to some wilful and culpable neglect ;
or to a sleepiness of soul which might have been prevented,
or shaken off before the temptation came. A man may be
previously warned either of God or man, that trials and dangers
are at hand ; and yet may say in his heart, ' A little more
slumber, a little more folding of the hands to rest.' Now, if
such an one afterwards fall, though unawares, into the snare
which he might have avoided, — that he fell unawares is no
excuse ; he might have foreseen and have shunned the danger.
The falling, even by surprise, in such an instance as this, is, in
effect, a wilful sin ; and, as such, must expose the sinner to
condemnation, both from God and his own conscience.

13. On the other hand, there may be sudden assaults, either
from the world, or the god of this world, and frequently from
our own evil hearts, which we did not, and hardly could,
foresee. And by these even a believer, while weak in faith,
may possibly be borne down, suppose into a degree of anger,
or thinking evil of another, with scarce any concurrence of his
will. Now, in such a case, the jealous God would undoubtedly
show him that he had done foolishly. He would be convinced
of having swerved from the perfect law, from the mind which
was in Christ, and consequently, grieved with a godly sorrow,
and lovingly ashamed before God. Yet need he not come into
condemnation. God layeth not folly to his charge, but hath
compassion upon him, ' even as a father pitieth his own
children.' And his heart condemneth him not : in the midst
of that sorrow and shame he can still say, ' I will trust and not
be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song ;
He also is become my salvation.'

III. 1. It remains only to draw some practical inferences
from the preceding considerations.

And, first, if there be ' no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus,' and ' walk not after the flesh, but after the

174 Sermon VIII

Spirit,' on account of their past sin ; then why art thou fearful,
O thou of little faith ? Though thy sins were once more in
number than the sand, what is that to thee, now thou art in
Christ Jesus ? ' Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect ? It is God that justifieth : who is he that con-
demneth ? ' All the sins thou hast committed from thy youth
up, until the hour when thou wast ' accepted in the Beloved,'
are driven away as chaff, are gone, are lost, swallowed up,
remembered no more. Thou art now ' born of the Spirit ' :
wilt thou be troubled or afraid of what is done before thou
wert born ? Away with thy fears ! Thou art not called to
fear, but to the ' spirit of love and of a sound mind.' Know
thy calling ! Rejoice in God thy Saviour, and give thanks
to God thy Father through Him.

2. Wilt thou say, ' But I have again committed sin, since I
had redemption through His blood ? And therefore it is,
that " I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." ' It is
meet thou shouldest abhor thyself ; and it is God who hath
wrought thee to this self-same thing. But, dost thou now
believe ? Hath He again enabled thee to say, ' I know that
my Redeemer liveth ' ; ' and the life which I now live, I live by
faith in the Son of God ' ? Then that faith again cancels all
that is past, and there is no condemnation to thee. At what-
soever time thou truly believest in the name of the Son of God,
all thy sins, antecedent to that hour, vanish away as the
morning dew. Now then, ' stand thou fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made thee free.' He hath once more
made thee free from the power of sin, as well as from the guilt
and punishment of it. O ' be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage ! ' — neither the vile, devilish bondage of sin,
of evil desires, evil tempers, or words, or works, the most
grievous yoke on this side hell ; nor the bondage of slavish,
tormenting fear, of guilt and self-condemnation.

3. But secondly, do all they which abide ' in Christ Jesus,
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit ' ? Then we
cannot but infer, that whosoever now committeth sin, hath no
part or lot in this matter. He is even now condemned by his

III. 3. See note on Sermon V, 1.

The First-fruits of the Spirit 175

own heart. But, ' if our heart condemn us,' if our own con-
science beareth witness that we are guilty, undoubtedly God
doth ; for ' He is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things ' ; so that we cannot deceive Him, if we can ourselves.
And think not to say, ' I was justified once ; my sins were once
forgiven me ' : I know not that ; neither will I dispute whether
they were or no. Perhaps at this distance of time, it is next
to impossible to know, with any tolerable degree of certainty,
whether that was a true, genuine work of God, or whether thou
didst only deceive thy own soul. But this I know, with the
utmost degree of certainty, ' he that committeth sin is of the
devil.' Therefore, thou art of thy father the devil. It cannot
be denied : for the works of thy father thou doest. O flatter
not thyself with vain hopes ! Say not to thy soul, ' Peace,
peace ' ! For there is no peace. Cry aloud ! Cry unto God
out of the deep ; if haply He may hear thy voice. Come unto
Him as at first, as wretched and poor, as sinful, miserable,
blind and naked ! And beware thou suffer thy soul to take no
rest, till His pardoning love be again revealed ; till He ' heal
thy backslidings,' and fill thee again with the ' faith that
worketh by love.'

4. Thirdly. Is there no condemnation to them which
' walk after the Spirit,' by reason of inward sin still remaining,
so long as they do not give way thereto ; nor by reason of sin
cleaving to all they do ? Then fret not thyself because of
ungodliness, though it still remain in thy heart. Repine
not, because thou still comest short of the glorious image of
God ; nor yet because pride, self-will, or unbelief, cleave to all
thy words and works. And be not afraid to know all this evil of
thy heart, to know thyself as also thou art known. Yea, desire
of God, that thou mayest not think of thyself more highly than
thou oughtest to think. Let thy continual prayer be,

Show me, as my soul can bear,

The depth of inbred sin ;
All the unbelief declare,

The pride that lurks within.

4. The quotation is from Charles for Christ the Prophet, in Hymns
Wesley's hymn, entitled 'Waiting and Sacred Poems, 1742. It is Hymn

176 Sermon VIII

But when He heareth thy prayer, and unveils thy heart ; when
He shows thee thoroughly what spirit thou art of ; then beware
that thy faith fail thee not, that thou surfer not thy shield to
be torn from thee. Be abased. Be humbled in the dust.
See thyself nothing, less than nothing, and vanity. But still,
' let not thy heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' Still
hold fast, ' I, even I, have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous.' ' And as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so is His love higher than even my sins.' Therefore
God is merciful to thee a sinner ! such a sinner as thou art !
God is love ; and Christ hath died ! Therefore the Father
Himself loveth thee ! Thou art His child ! Therefore He will
withhold from thee no manner of thing that is good. Is it
good, that the whole body of sin, which is now crucified in
thee, should be destroyed ? It shall be done ! Thou shalt be
' cleansed from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit.' Is it
good, that nothing should remain in thy heart but the pure
love of God alone ? Be of good cheer ! ' Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and mind, and soul, and
strength.' ' Faithful is He that hath promised, who also will
do it.' It is thy part, patiently to continue in the work of
faith, and in the labour of love ; and in cheerful peace, in
humble confidence, with calm and resigned and yet earnest
expectation, to wait till the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall
perform this.

5. Fourthly. If they that ' are in Christ,' and ' walk
after the Spirit,' are not condemned for sins of infirmity, as
neither for involuntary failings, nor for anything whatever
which they are not able to help ; then beware, 0 thou that
hast faith in His blood, that Satan herein gain no advantage
over thee. Thou art still foolish and weak, blind and igno-
rant ; more weak than any words can express ; more foolish
than it can yet enter into thy heart to conceive ; knowing

424 in the Methodist Hymn-Book, What a glowing, tender, sympa-

but there the first verse, ' Christ my thetic, and faithful thing is this whole

hidden life appear,' is omitted. application ! Note the personal

These lines are the first four of verse touch — Thou, thee.
5 (now 4).

The First-fruits of the Spirit 177

nothing yet as thou oughtest to know. Yet, let not all thy
weakness and folly, or any fruit thereof, which thou art not
yet able to avoid, shake thy faith, thy filial trust in God, or
disturb thy peace or joy in the Lord. The rule which some
give, as to wilful sins, and which, in that case, may perhaps
be dangerous, is undoubtedly wise and safe if it be applied
only to the case of weakness and infirmities. Art thou fallen,
O man of God ? Yet, do not lie there, fretting thyself and
bemoaning thy weakness ; but meekly say, ' Lord, I shall fall
thus every moment, unless Thou uphold me with Thy hand.'
And then arise ! Leap and walk ! Go on thy way ! ' Run
with patience the race that is set before thee.'

6. Lastly. Since a believer need not come into condem-
nation, even though he be surprised into what his soul abhors
(suppose his being surprised is not owing to any carelessness
or wilful neglect of his own) ; if thou who believest art thus
overtaken in a fault, then grieve unto the Lord : it shall be a
precious balm. Pour out thy heart before Him, and show Him
of thy trouble ; and pray with all thy might to Him who is
' touched with the feeling of thy infirmities,' that He would
establish, and strengthen, and settle thy soul, and suffer thee
to fall no more. But still He condemneth thee not. Where-
fore shouldest thou fear ? Thou hast no need of any ' fear
that hath torment.' Thou shalt love Him that loveth thee,
and it sufhceth : more love will bring more strength. And, as
soon as thou lovest Him with all thy heart, thou shalt be
' perfect and entire, lacking nothing.' Wait in peace for that
hour, when ' the God of peace shall sanctify thee wholly, so
that thy whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ' 1

W.S.3. 1 — 12

SERMON IX
THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND OF ADOPTION

In the Journal for Sunday, October 7, 1739, Wesley says, ' A few,
I trust, out of two or three thousand were awakened by the explana-
tion of those words : " Ye have not received the spirit of bondage,"
&c.' This was at Gloucester, and the service was held at seven
in the morning. On April 25 of the same year he records : ' To above
two thousand at Baptist Mills (Bristol) I explained that glorious scrip-
ture, describing the state of every true believer in Christ — every one
who by faith is born of God — " Ye have not received, "&c.' This
service was held at four in the afternoon. He preached it again at
Bristol at 7.30 a.m. on March 10, 1741 ; from his father's tombstone at
Epworth, June 10, 1742; and on September 17, 1743, at Morvah ' to
the largest congregation I have seen in Cornwall.'

The distinction, which is the essence of this sermon, between the
natural man, the awakened sinner, and the believer, is a sound and
useful one ; especially when the concession in iv. 2, that these states
may sometimes not be mutually exclusive, is borne in mind. But it
is doubtful whether St. Paul meant by ' a spirit of bondage ' the
temper of the convicted man ; it rather refers to the condition of a
Jew under the law, and of a Gentile under the sway of superstition, in
contrast with the liberty of the Christian. The earnest Jew or heathen
hopes to be saved by obedience to certain laws, precepts, and obser-
vances ; he is a slave to these, and is constantly in fear lest he should
have failed to keep them. The Pharisee, striving anxiously to observe
every point in the thousand and one precepts of the Mishnah, and the
savage of New Britain, hedged about at every moment of his life by
tabus and the dread of witchcraft, are equally slaves, and live in
constant fear of offending. This is the spirit of bondage tending to
fear to which St. Paul refers ; but it is perhaps justifiable to apply the
phrase to the convicted sinner, who is certainly an example of this
spirit, though not the only one.

178

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 179

Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear ; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. —
Rom. viii. 15.

i. St. Paul here speaks to those who are the children of God
by faith. ' Ye,' saith he, who are indeed His children, have
drank into His Spirit ; ' ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again unto fear ' ; but, ' because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts.' ' Ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.'

2. The spirit of bondage and fear is widely distant from
this loving Spirit of adoption : those who are influenced only
by slavish fear cannot be termed ' the sons of God ' ; yet
some of them may be styled His servants, and are ' not far
from the kingdom of heaven.'

3. But it is to be feared, the bulk of mankind, yea, of what

Par. 2. At first Wesley was dis-
posed to deny that any one who
had not received the spirit of adop-
tion was a Christian. But he found
it more and more impossible to main-
tain this position. As early as 1746,
in Minutes, May 13, Q. n, he de-
fines a ' Jew inwardly ' as ' a ser-
vant of God ; one who sincerely
obeys Him out of fear ; whereas a
Christian inwardly is a child of God ;
one who sincerely obeys Him out
of love.' In his own note on the
concluding portion of his sixth
Savannah Journal, in which he
speaks of his not having been con-
verted to God up to that time (1738),
he says, ' I had even then the faith
of a servant, though not that of a
son.' In Sermon CVI, on Faith,
i. 11, he says: 'Nearly fifty years
ago, when the Preachers, commonly
called Methodists, began to preach
that grand scriptural doctrine, sal-
vation by faith, they were not suffi-
ciently apprised of the difference
between a servant and a child of

God. They did not clearly under-
stand that every one " who feareth
God and worketh righteousness is
accepted of Him." ' And in Ser-
mon CX, on The Discoveries of Faith,
written at Yarm in 1788, par. 13, he
says, ' The faith of a servant implies
a divine evidence of the invisible
and the eternal world ; yea, an
evidence of the spiritual world, so
far as it can exist without living ex-
perience. Whosoever has attained
this, the faith of a servant, " feareth
God and escheweth evil " ; or, as it
is expressed by St. Peter, " feareth
God and worketh righteousness." In
consequence of which he is, in a
degree, as the Apostle observes,
" accepted with Him." . . . Every
one who has gone thus far in re-
ligion, who obeys God out of fear is
not in any wise to be despised ; see-
ing " the fear of the Lord is the be-
ginning of wisdom." Nevertheless,
he should be exhorted not to stop
there.'

180 Sermon IX

is called the Christian world, have not attained even this ;
but are still afar off, ' neither is God in all their thoughts.'
A few names may be found of those who love God ; a few
more there are that fear Him ; but the greater part have
neither the fear of God before their eyes, nor the love of God
in their hearts.

4. Perhaps most of you, who, by the mercy of God, now
partake of a better spirit, may remember the time when ye
were as they, when ye were under the same condemnation.
But at first ye knew it not, though ye were wallowing daily
in your sins and in your blood ; till, in due time, ye ' received
the spirit of fear ' (ye received, for this also is the gift of God) ;
and afterwards, fear vanished away, and the Spirit of love
filled your hearts.

5. One who is in the first state of mind, without fear or love,
is in Scripture termed a ' natural man ' : one who is under the
spirit of bondage and fear, is sometimes said to be ' under the
law ' (although that expression more frequently signifies one
who is under the Jewish dispensation, or who thinks himself
obliged to observe all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish
law) : but one who has exchanged the spirit of fear for the Spirit
of love is properly said to be ' under grace.'

4. ' This also is the gift of God.' whom the irvevna is still dormant,
The text will not carry the weight of and whose motives are those which
this inference. Sanday and Head- arise from the desires of the flesh
lam paraphrase the passage thus : and the mind. See introduction to
' When you were first baptized, and Sermon V, and note on Sermon VIII,
the communication of the Holy i. 2. This ' psychic ' man ' receiveth
Spirit sealed your admission into the not the things of the Spirit of God '
Christian fold, the energies which (1 Cor. ii. 14) ; our present body is
He imparted were surely not those of a ' psychic ' body (1 Cor. xv. 44), a
a slave.' Wesley recognizes the body developed hand in hand with
force of the aorist (ye received, not the psyche, and therefore adapted
ye have received) ; but he is not to fulfil its desires ; our resurrec-
justified in arguing that because we tion body will be a ' pneumatic '
did not receive the spirit of bondage body, adapted to the needs and
then, we or others did receive it at desires of the pneuma, or spirit. The
some other time. wisdom of this world is ' earthly,

5. ' The natural man.' This is psychic, devilish ' (Jas. iii. 15). The
the rather inadequate translation of mockers in Jude 19 are ' psychic,
the Greek &vdpuiros ^vxik6s, the not having a pneuma.'

psychical man ; i.e. the man in

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 181

Now, because it highly imports us to know what spirit we are
of, I shall endeavour to point out distinctly, first, the state of
a ' natural man ' ; secondly, that of one who is ' under the law ' ;
and, thirdly, of one who is ' under grace.'

I. I. And, first, the state of a natural man. This the
Scripture represents as a state of sleep : the voice of God to
him is, ' Awake, thou that sleepest.' For his soul is in a deep
sleep : his spiritual senses are not awake : they discern neither
spiritual good nor evil. The eyes of his understanding are
closed ; they are sealed together, and see not. Clouds and
darkness continually rest upon them ; for he lies in the valley
of the shadow of death. Hence, having no inlets for the
knowledge of spiritual things, all the avenues of his soul being
shut up, he is in gross, stupid ignorance of whatever he is most

I. i. The natural man is spoken
of inferentially as ' asleep ' in
Eph. v. 14 and 1 Thess. v. 6 ; but
the commoner figure for him is that
of death, especially in St. John's
Gospel and first Epistle : he is ' dead
in trespasses and sins ' (Eph. ii. 5),
he ' abideth in death ' (1 John hi. 14).
It is curious that Wesley should
have preferred the weaker figure of
sleep to the stronger and commoner
one of death. The pneuma is actu-
ally dead until revived by the breath
of the Spirit of God, the Giver of
Life. But, as is suggested in par.
iv. 2, no man is left without some
measure of the prevenient grace of
the Holy Spirit ; otherwise he could
never begin to stir with the faintest
pulse of spiritual life.

St. Paul's use of the word vovs,
understanding, requires some con-
sideration. Sometimes he seems to
make it almost equivalent to pneuma;
as in Rom. vii. 25, ' With my nous
I serve the law of God, but with my
sarx the law of sin ' ; 1 Cor. ii. 16,
' we have the nous of Christ,' which
is much the same thing as ' the spirit

(pneuma) of Christ.' More often it
seems to be a function of the ' natural
man ' ; it needs renewal (Rom. xii.
2 ; Eph. iv. 23) ; the Gentiles walk
in the ' vanity of their nous '
(Eph. iv. 17) ; and are described as
' corrupted in their nous ' (1 Tim.
vi. 6 ; 2 Tim. iii. 8) ; indeed, in
Col. ii. 18 we read of men ' puffed
up by the nous of the sarx.' The
solution of the puzzle is that nous
is a function of the psyche ; it is the
intellectual part of the natural man,
and through it he is able to reason
and apprehend truth ; a man need
not be converted in order to be a
great mathematician or scientist.
But it is also a function of the
pneuma, though subordinate to it ;
we are to pray with the pneuma and
with the nous also (1 Cor. xiv. 15).
The inspiration of the Spirit does not
supersede or invalidate the processes
of reason. So that it is hardly cor-
rect to say that in the natural man
' the eyes of his understanding are
closed, ' &c. This is true of spiritual
things, but not of all objects of
thought.

182 Sermon IX

concerned to know. He is utterly ignorant of God, knowing
nothing concerning Him as he ought to know. He is totally a
stranger to the law of God, as to its true, inward, spiritual
meaning. He has no conception of that evangelical holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord ; nor of the happiness
which they only find whose ' life is hid with Christ in God.'

2. And, for this very reason, because he is fast asleep, he
is, in some sense, at rest. Because he is blind, he is also
secure : he saith, ' Tush, there shall no harm happen unto
me.' The darkness which covers him on every side, keeps
him in a kind of peace ; so far as peace can consist with the
works of the devil, and with an earthly, devilish mind. He
sees not that he stands on the edge of the pit ; therefore he
fears it not. He cannot tremble at the danger he does not
know. He has not understanding enough to fear. Why is it
that he is in no dread of God ? Because he is totally ignorant
of Him : if not saying in his heart, ' There is no God ' ; or,
that ' He sitteth on the circle of the heavens, and humbleth '
not ' Himself to behold the things which are done on earth ' ;
yet satisfying himself as well, to all Epicurean intents and
purposes, by saying, ' God is merciful ' ; confounding and
swallowing up all at once in that unwieldy idea of mercy all
His holiness and essential hatred of sin ; all His justice, wisdom,
and truth. He is in no dread of the vengeance denounced
against those who obey not the blessed law of God, because
he understands it not. He imagines the main point is, to do
thus, to be outwardly blameless ; and sees not that it extends
to every temper, desire, thought, motion of the heart. Or he
fancies that the obligation hereto is ceased; that Christ came
to ' destroy the Law and the Prophets ' ; to save His people

I. 2. Secure ' ; that is, accord- good, nevertheless thought that the

ing to the old and more correct mean- highest form of pleasure was to be

ing of the word, ' free from care or found in plain living and high think-

anxiety,' not ' safe.' ing. Probably Wesley used the

"Epicurean': the word had come word here with some reference to
to be used generally in the sense of the teaching of Epicurus that ' God
' pleasure-loving, self-indulgent,' and does nothing, is not involved in any
even ' luxurious ' ; which was hardly occupations, performs no toil, re-
just to Epicurus, who, though he joices in His own wisdom and virtue '
taught that pleasure was the highest (Cic. De Nat. Deorum, i. 19).

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 183

in, not from, their sins ; to bring them to heaven without
holiness — notwithstanding His own words, ' Not one jot or
tittle of the law shall pass away, till all things are fulfilled ' ;
and, ' Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord ! shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will
of My Father which is in heaven.'

3. He is secure, because he is utterly ignorant of himself.
Hence he talks of ' repenting by-and-by ' ; he does not indeed
exactly know when, but some time or other before he dies;
taking it for granted, that this is quite in his own power.
For what should hinder his doing it, if he will ? If he does
but once set a resolution, no fear but he will make it good !

4. But this ignorance never so strongly glares, as in those
who are termed men of learning. If a natural man be one
of these, he can talk at large of his rational faculties, of the
freedom of his will, and the absolute necessity of such free-
dom, in order to constitute man a moral agent. He reads,
and argues, and proves to a demonstration, that every man

4. Wesley sets forth very clearly
his view on Freewill in Predestina-
tion Calmly Considered (1752), par.
45, ss. After quoting from the
Westminster Confession, chap. ix.
' God hath endued the will of man
with that natural liberty that is
neither forced nor, by an absolute
necessity of nature, determined to
do good or evil ' ; he says, ' I do
not carry free-will so far ; I mean, not
in moral things ; natural free-will
in the present state of mankind, I
do not understand ; I only assert
that there is a measure of free-will
supernaturally restored to every
man, together with that super-
natural light which " enlightens
every man that cometh into the
world.' " He accepts the teaching
of Article X of the Church of Eng-
land : ' The condition of man after
the fall of Adam is such, that he
cannot turn and prepare himself by
his own natural strength and good

works to faith and calling upon God.
Wherefore we have no power to do
good works, pleasant and acceptable
to God, without the grace of God by
Christ preventing us, that we may
have a good will, and working with
us when we have that good will.'
In a letter to John Mason, Novem-
ber 21, 1776, he speaks of the Cal-
vinistic supposition ' that a natural
man is as dead as a stone ' as utterly
false and absurd ; ' seeing no man
living is without some preventing
grace ; and every degree of grace
is a degree of life.' In other words,
the natural man does not exist in
rerum nalura, any more than the
' almost Christian ' described in Ser-
mon II. He is merely a museum
specimen, constructed a priori ; he
is conceivable (as a stone without
weight is conceivable, and may be
used in the hypothesis of a mathe-
matical problem) ; but you can
never find him.

184 Sermon IX

may do as he will ; may dispose his own heart to evil or good,
as it seems best in his own eyes. Thus the god of this world
spreads a double veil of blindness over his heart, lest, by any
means, ' the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should
shine ' upon it.

5. From the same ignorance of himself and God, there
may sometimes arise, in the natural man, a kind of joy, in
congratulating himself upon his own wisdom and goodness;
and what the world calls joy he may often possess. He may
have pleasure in various kinds ; either in gratifying the desires
of the flesh, or the desire of the eye, or the pride of life ;
particularly if he has large possessions ; if he enjoy an affluent
fortune ; then he may ' clothe ' himself ' in purple and fine
linen, and fare sumptuously every day.' And so long as he
thus doeth well unto himself, men will doubtless speak good of
him. They will say, ' He is a happy man.' For, indeed, this
is the sum of worldly happiness ; to dress, and visit, and talk,
and eat, and drink, and rise up to play.

6. It is not surprising, if one in such circumstances as
these, dosed with the opiates of flattery and sin, should
imagine, among his other waking dreams, that he walks in
great liberty. How easily may he persuade himself, that he is
at liberty from all vulgar errors, and from the prejudice of
education ; judging exactly right, and keeping clear of all
extremes. ' I am free,' may he say, ' from all the enthusiasm
of weak and narrow souls ; from superstition, the disease of fools
and cowards, always righteous over much ; and from bigotry,
continually incident to those who have not a free and generous
way of thinking.' And too sure it is, that he is altogether
free from the ' wisdom which cometh from above,' from holi-
ness, from the religion of the heart, from the whole mind
which was in Christ.

5. This summary of worldly hap- exhaustive. A man may find the

piness might easily be illustrated chief pleasure of his life in music,

from the satirical articles on fashion- or art, or literature, or scientific

able life in the Spectator and the inquiry, and yet be entirely devoid

Tatler and the other periodical of religion,
journals of the time ; but it is not

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 185

7. For all this time he is the servant of sin. He commits
sin, more or less, day by day. Yet he is not troubled : he ' is
in no bondage,' as some speak ; he feels no condemnation.
He contents himself (even though he should profess to believe
that the Christian Revelation is of God) with, ' Man is frail.
We are all weak. Every man has his infirmity.' Perhaps he
quotes Scripture : ' Why, does not Solomon say, The righteous
man falls into sin seven times a day? And, doubtless, they
are all hypocrites or enthusiasts who pretend to be better
than their neighbours.' If, at any time, a serious thought fix
upon him, he stifles it as soon as possible, with, ' Why should
I fear, since God is merciful, and Christ died for sinners ? '
Thus, he remains a willing servant of sin, content with the
bondage of corruption ; inwardly and outwardly unholy, and
satisfied therewith ; not only not conquering sin, but not
striving to conquer, particularly that sin which doth so easily
beset him.

8. Such is the state of every natural man ; whether he be
a gross, scandalous transgressor, or a more reputable and
decent sinner, having the form, though not the power, of god-
liness. But how can such an one be convinced of sin ? How
is he brought to repent, to be under the law, to receive the
spirit of bondage unto fear ? This is the point which is next
to be considered.

II. 1. By some awful providence, or by His word applied
with the demonstration of His Spirit, God touches the heart
of him that lay asleep in darkness and in the shadow of death.
He is terribly shaken out of his sleep, and awakes into a
consciousness of his danger. Perhaps in a moment, perhaps
by degrees, the eyes of his understanding are opened, and
now first (the veil being in part removed) discern the real

7. The natural man is made, prob- II. i. Wesley was thinking of

ably with intention, to quote Solo- Milton's description of the light of

mon incorrectly. What is said in hell (Par. Lost, i. 62) :

Prov. xxiv. 16, is, ' A just man falleth

, . , . . , . . A dungeon horrible on all sides round

seven times, and nseth up again, As one great furnace flam'd; yet from those

the reference being not to sin, but XT ,?lmet . ^ . ,

. . No light, but rather darkness visible

to misfortune. Serv'd only to discover sights of woe.

186 Sermon IX

state he is in. Horrid light breaks in upon his soul ; such
light as may be conceived to gleam from the bottomless pit,
from the lowest deep, from a lake of fire burning with brim-
stone. He at last sees the loving, the merciful God is also
' a consuming fire ' ; that He is a just God and a terrible,
rendering to every man according to his works, entering into
judgement with the ungodly for every idle word, yea, and for
the imaginations of the heart. He now clearly perceives, that
the great and holy God is 'of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity ' ; that He is an avenger of every one who rebelleth
against Him, and repay eth the wicked to his face ; and
that ' it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.'

2. The inward, spiritual meaning of the law of God now
begins to glare upon him. He perceives ' the commandment
is exceeding broad,' and there is ' nothing hid from the light
thereof.' He is convinced, that every part of it relates, not
barely to outward sin or obedience, but to what passes in the
secret recesses of the soul, which no eye but God's can pene-
trate. If he now hears, ' Thou shalt not kill,' God speaks in
thunder, ' He that hateth his brother is a murderer ' ; 'He
that saith unto his brother, Thou fool, is obnoxious to hell-fire.'
If the law say, ' Thou shalt not commit adultery,' the voice
of the Lord sounds in his ears, ' He that looketh on a woman
to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart.' And thus, in every point, he feels the Word of
God ' quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.'
It ' pierces even to the dividing asunder of his soul and
spirit, his joints and marrow.' And so much the more,
because he is conscious to himself of having neglected so
great salvation ; of having ' trodden under foot the Son of
God,' who would have saved him from his sins, and ' counted

2. ' Obnoxious to ' : in the old who sin wilfully after they have re-
sense of the word, liable to. ceived the knowledge of the truth ;

' Trodden under foot the Son and specifically to those converts

of God.' This passage (Heb. x. 29) from Judaism to Christianity who

is wrongly applied here to the have apostatized,
awakened sinner ; it refers to those

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 187

the blood of the covenant an unholy,' a common, unsanctifying
' thing.'

3. And as he knows, ' all things are naked and open unto
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do,' so he sees himself
naked, stripped of all the fig-leaves which he had sewed
together, of all his poor pretences to religion or virtue, and his
wretched excuses for sinning against God. He now sees him-
self, like the ancient sacrifices, Terpaxv^^^ov, cleft in sunder.
as it were, from the neck downward, so that all within him
stands confessed. His heart is bare, and he sees it is all sin,
' deceitful above all things, desperately wicked ' ; that it is
altogether corrupt and abominable, more than it is possible
for tongue to express ; that there dwelleth therein no good
thing, but unrighteousness and ungodliness only ; every motion
thereof, every temper and thought, being only evil continually.

4. And he not only sees, but feels in himself, by an emotion
of soul which he cannot describe, that for the sins of his heart,
were his life without blame (which yet it is not, and cannot
be ; seeing ' an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit '), he
deserves to be cast into the fire that never shall be quenched.
He feels that ' the wages,' the just reward, ' of sin,' of his
sin above all, ' is death ' ; even the second death, the death
which dieth not, the destruction of body and soul in hell.

5. Here ends his pleasing dream, his delusive rest, his false
peace, his vain security. His joy now vanishes as a cloud ;
pleasures, once loved, delight no more. They pall upon the
taste : he loathes the nauseous sweet ; he is weary to bear

3. ' Cieft in sunder,' &c. This is pneuma ' ; i.e., as Dr. Edwards
Chrysostom's interpretation of this paraphrases it, ' Revelation has separ-
difhcult word. Others, following ated between the life of heathenism
Philo's usage, take it to mean ' laid and the life of the Church, between
prostrate ' ; others again ' with the the natural man and the spiritual,
neck exposed by the throwing back between the darkness that compre-
of the head.' Wesley misses an im- hended it not, and the children of
portant point in the passage (Heb. iv. light who received it and thus
12), which bears directly on the dis- became children of God.'
tinction he draws between the 5. ' The nauseous sweet.' Doubt-
natural and the spiritual man : less a reference to the fruit of the
' The word of God cleaves through, Tree of Knowledge of Good and
even to the severance of psyche and Evil.

188 Sermon IX

them. The shadows of happiness flee away, and sink into
oblivion : so that he is stripped of all, and wanders to and fro,
seeking rest, but finding none.

6. The fumes of those opiates being now dispelled, he feels
the anguish of a wounded spirit. He finds that sin let loose
upon the soul (whether it be pride, anger, or evil desire,
whether self-will, malice, envy, revenge, or any other) is
perfect misery : he feels sorrow of heart for the blessings he
has lost, and the curse which is come upon him ; remorse for
having thus destroyed himself, and despised his own mercies ;
fear, from a lively sense of the wrath of God, and of the con-
sequences of His wrath, of the punishment which He has justly
deserved, and which he sees hanging over his head ; fear of
death, as being to him the gate of hell, the entrance of death
eternal ; fear of the devil, the executioner of the wrath and
righteous vengeance of God ; fear of men, who, if they were
able to kill his body, would thereby plunge both body and soul
into hell, — fear, sometimes arising to such a height, that the
poor, sinful, guilty soul is terrified with everything, with nothing,
with shades, with a leaf shaken of the wind. Yea, sometimes
it may even border upon distraction, making a man ' drunken
though not with wine,' suspending the exercise of the memory,
of the understanding, of all the natural faculties. Some-
times it may approach to the very brink of despair , so that
he who trembles at the name of death, may yet be ready to
plunge into it every moment, to ' choose strangling rather
than life.' Well may such a man roar, like him of old, for
the very disquietness of his heart. Well may he cry out,
' The spirit of a man may sustain his infirmities ; but a wounded
spirit who can bear ? '

7. Now he truly desires to break loose from sin, and begins
to struggle with it. But though he strive with all his might,
he carvqot conquer : sin is mightier than he. He would fain
escape ; but he is so fast in prison, that he cannot get forth.
He resolves against sin, but yet sins on : he sees the snare,
and abhors and runs into it. So much does his boasted
reason avail — only to enhance his guilt, and increase his
misery ! Such is the freedom of his will ; free only to evil ;

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 189

free to ' drink in iniquity like water ' ; to wander farther and
farther from the living God, and do more ' despite to the Spirit
of grace.'

8. The more he strives, wishes, labours to be free, the more
does he feel his chains, the grievous chains of sin, wherewith
Satan binds and ' leads him captive at his will ' ; his servant
he is, though he repine ever so much ; though he rebel, he
cannot prevail. He is still in bondage and fear, by reason of
sin : generally, of some outward sin, to which he is peculiarly
disposed, either by nature, custom, or outward circumstances ;
but always, of some inward sin, some evil temper or unholy
affection. And the more he frets against it the more it pre-
vails ; he may bite, but cannot break his chain. Thus he
toils without end, repenting and sinning, and repenting and
sinning again, till at length the poor, sinful, helpless wretch
is even at his wit's end, and can barely groan, ' 0 wretched
man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ? '

9. This whole struggle of one who is ' under the law,' under
the ' spirit of fear and bondage,' is beautifully described by
the Apostle in the foregoing chapter, speaking in the person
of an awakened man. ' I,' saith he, ' was alive without the
law once ' (verse 9) : I had much life, wisdom, strength, and
virtue ; so I thought : ' but when the commandment came,
sin revived, and I died ' : when the commandment, in its
spiritual meaning, came to my heart, with the power of God,
my inbred sin was stirred up, fretted, inflamed, and all my
virtue died away. ' And the commandment, which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew
me ' (verses 10, 11) : it came upon me unawares ; slew all
my hopes ; and plainly showed, in the midst of life I was
in death. ' Wherefore the law is holy, and the command-
ment holy, and just, and good ' (verse 12) : I no longer lay
the blame on this, but on the corruption of my own heart.
I acknowledge that ' the law is spiritual ; but I am carnal,
sold under sin ' (verse 14) : I now see both the spiritual nature
of the law ; and my own carnal, devilish heart ' sold under

190 Sermon IX

sin,' totally enslaved (like slaves bought with money, who
were absolutely at their master's disposal) : ' for that which
I do, I allow not ; for what I would, I do not ; but what I
hate, that I do ' (verse 15) : such is the bondage under which
I groan ; such the tyranny of my hard master. ' To will
is present with me ; but how to perform that which is good
I find not. For the good that I would, I do not ; but the
evil which I would not, that I do ' (verses 18, 19) : 'I find
a law,' an inward constraining power, ' that, when I would
do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in,' or consent
to, ' the law of God, after the inward man ' (verses 21, 22) :
in my ' mind ' (so the Apostle explains himself in the words
that immediately follow ; and so 6 eo-co avdpwTros, the inward
man, is understood in all other Greek writers) : ' but I see
another law in my members,' another constraining power,
' warring against the law of my mind,' or inward man, ' and
bringing me into captivity to the law ' or power ' of sin '
(verse 23) : dragging me, as it were, at my conqueror's chariot-
wheels, into the very thing which my soul abhors. ' O
wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the
body of this death ? ' (verse 24). Who shall deliver me from
this helpless, dying life, from this bondage of sin and misery ?
Till this is done, ' I myself ' (or rather, that I, avrbs eyco,
that man I am now personating) ' with the mind,' or inward

9. ' All other Greek writers. ' the other, and for giving to that
Plato, Rep. ix. 589 a, says : ' Actions part of the soul with which it reasons
and words ought to be such as will the title of the rational principle,
enable the inward man (6 ivrbs and to that part with which it loves
6,v6pwiros) to have the firmest con- and hungers and thirsts, and experi-
trol over the entire man ' ; and ences the flutter of the other desires,
later : ' The practices which are held the title of the irrational and con-
to be fair or foul, are fair or foul cupiscent principle, the ally of
according as they either subjugate sundry indulgences and pleasures.'
the brutal parts of our nature to the Philo says there is a man in man, a
man, perhaps I should rather say, better in a worse, an immortal in a
to the divine part — or make the tame mortal; Plotinus, Ennead, I. i. 10,
part the servant and slave of the says, * The body is animal, made like
wild.' Similarly in Rep. iv. 439 D, the beasts ; the true man is quite
he says: ' Then we shall have reason- other.'

able grounds for assuming that these ' That man I am now personat-

are two principles distinct one from ing.' The Greek will not bear this

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 191

man, ' serve the law of God ' ; my mind, my conscience, is
on God's side : ' but with my flesh,' with my body, ' the law
of sin ' (verse 25), being hurried away by a force I cannot resist.
10. How lively a portraiture is this of one ' under the
law ' ! one who feels the burden he cannot shake off ; who
pants after liberty, power, and love, but is in fear and bondage
still ! until the time that God answers the wretched man,
crying out, ' Who shall deliver me ' from this bondage of
sin, from this body of death ? — ' The grace of God through
Jesus Christ thy Lord.'

III. 1. Then it is that this miserable bondage ends, and he
is no more ' under the law, but under grace.' This state we
are, thirdly, to consider ; the state of one who has found grace
or favour in the sight of God, even the Father, and who has
the grace or power of the Holy Ghost reigning in his heart ;

translation ; it means not ' that I,'
but ' I myself,' i.e. the inward man.
The note on this passage in Sanday
and Headlam is in close agreement
with Wesley's general interpreta-
tion of the chapter, ' Three steps
appear to be distinguished (i) the
life of unconscious morality, happy,
but only from ignorance and thought-
lessness ; (2) then the sharp collision
between law and the sinful appetites
waking to activity ; (3) the end
which is at last put to the stress and
strain of this collision by the inter-
vention of Christ and the Spirit of
Christ.'

10. We may compare with Wes-
ley's description of the state of mind
of the convicted sinner the account
of it by Starbuck {Psychology of Re-
ligion) : ' There are many shades of
experience in this pre-conversion
state. An attempt at a classifica-
tion of them gave these not very
different groups : conviction for sin
proper, struggle after the new life ;
prayer, calling upon God ; sense of
estrangement from God ; doubts

and questionings ; tendency to re-
sist conviction ; depression and
sadness ; restlessness, anxiety, and
uncertainty ; helplessness and hu-
mility ; earnestness and seriousness ;
and various bodily affections. . . .
The central fact in all [is] the sense
of sin, while the other conditions are
various manifestations of this.' It
is most necessary to remember that
genuine conviction of sin does not
in every case involve the extreme
experiences described in Wesley's
picture. T speak feelingly, for I
suffered for some months from a
doubt of the reality of my own con-
version, because I had not had any
such poignant agonies of soul as I
had heard preachers associate with
true repentance. A sentence of
Henry Ward Beecher's, which I can-
not now identify exactly, saved me
from despair ; it was to the effect
that if repentance had been deep
enough to lead the sinner to forsake
his sins and seek mercy, nothing
more was necessary.

192 Sermon IX

who has received, in the language of the Apostle, the ' Spirit
of adoption, whereby ' he now cries, ' Abba, Father ! '

2. ' He cried unto the Lord in his trouble, and God delivers
him out of his distress.' His eyes are opened in quite another
manner than before, even to see a loving, gracious God.
While he is calling, ' I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory ! ' —
he hears a voice in his inmost soul, ' I will make all My good-
ness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the
Lord : I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I
will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.' And it is not
long before ' the Lord descends in the cloud, and proclaims
the name of the Lord.' Then he sees, but not with eyes of
flesh and blood, ' The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth ;
keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquities, and
transgressions, and sin.'

3. Heavenly, healing light now breaks in upon his soul.
He ' looks on Him whom he had pierced ' ; and ' God, who
out of darkness commanded light to shine, shineth in his
heart.' He sees the light of the glorious love of God, in the
face of Jesus Christ. He hath a divine ' evidence of things
not seen ' by sense, even of ' the deep things of God ' ; more
particularly of the love of God, of His pardoning love to him
that believes in Jesus. Overpowered with the sight, his whole
soul cries out, ' My Lord, and my God ! ' For he sees all his
iniquities laid on Him who ' bare them in His own body on
the tree ' : he beholds the Lamb of God taking away his sins.
How clearly now does he discern, that ' God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself ; making Him sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God through Him ' ; and that he himself is reconciled to
God, by that blood of the covenant !

4. Here end both the guilt and power of sin. He can now
say, ' I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the
flesh ' (even in this mortal body), ' I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.' Here end
remorse, and sorrow of heart, and the anguish of a wounded

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 193

spirit. ' God turneth his heaviness into joy.' He made sore,
and now His hands bind up. Here ends also that bondage
unto fear ; for ' his heart standeth fast, believing in the Lord.'
He cannot fear any longer the wrath of God ; for he knows it
is now turned away from him, and looks upon Him no more as
an angry Judge, but as a loving Father. He cannot fear the
devil, knowing he has ' no power, except it be given him from
above.' He fears not hell ; being an heir of the kingdom of
heaven : consequently, he has no fear of death ; by reason
whereof he was in time past, for so many years, ' subject to
bondage.' Rather, knowing that ' if the earthly house of this
tabernacle be dissolved, he hath a building of God — a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens ; he groaneth earnestly,
desiring to be clothed upon with that house which is from
heaven.' He groans to shake off this house of earth, that
' mortality ' may be ' swallowed up of life ' ; knowing that
God ' hath wrought him for the selfsame thing ; who hath also
given him the earnest of His Spirit.'

5. And ' where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty ' ;
liberty, not only from guilt and fear, but from sin, from that
heaviest of all yokes, that basest of all bondage. His labour
is not now in vain. The snare is broken, and he is delivered.
He not only strives, but likewise prevails ; he not only fights,
but conquers also. ' Henceforth he does not serve sin '
(chap. vi. 6, &c). He is ' dead unto sin, and alive unto God ' ;
' sin doth not now reign,' even ' in his mortal body,' nor doth
he ' obey it in the desires thereof.' He does not ' yield his
members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but as
instruments of righteousness unto God.' For ' being now
made free from sin, he is become the servant of righteousness.'

6. Thus ' having peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ,' ' rejoicing in hope of the glory of God,' and having
power over all sin, over every evil desire, and temper, and
word, and work, he is a living witness of the ' glorious liberty
of the sons of God ' ; all of whom, being partakers of like
precious faith, bear record with one voice, ' We have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ! '

7. It is this Spirit which continually ' worketh in them,
w.s.s. 1 — 13

194 Sermon IX

both to will and to do of His good pleasure.' It is He that
sheds the love of God abroad in their hearts, and the love of all
mankind ; thereby purifying their hearts from the love of the
world, from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the
pride of life. It is by Him they are delivered from anger and
pride, from all vile and inordinate affections. In consequence,
they are delivered from evil words and works, from all unholi-
ness of conversation ; doing no evil to any child of man, and
being zealous of all good works.

8. To sum up all : the natural man neither fears nor loves
God, one under the law fears, one under grace loves Him. The
first has no light in the things of God, but walks in utter dark-
ness ; the second sees the painful light of hell ; the third,
the joyous light of heaven. He that sleeps in death has a
false peace ; he that is awakened has no peace at all ; he that
believes has true peace, — the peace of God filling and ruling
his heart. The Heathen, baptized or unbaptized, hath a
fancied liberty, which is indeed licentiousness ; the Jew, or one
under the Jewish dispensation, is in heavy, grievous bondage ;
the Christian enjoys the true glorious liberty of the sons of
God. An unawakened child of the devil sins willingly ; one
that is awakened sins unwillingly ; a child of God ' sinneth
not,' but ' keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him
not.' To conclude : the natural man neither conquers nor
fights; the man under the law fights with sin, but cannot
conquer; the man under grace fights and conquers, yea, is
' more than conqueror through Him that loveth him.'

IV. i. From this plain account of the threefold state of
man, the natural, the legal, and the evangelical, it appears that
it is not sufficient to divide mankind into sincere and insincere.
A man may be sincere in any of these states ; not only when
he has the ' Spirit of adoption,' but while he has the ' spirit of

IV. I. The discussion of Sincerity ment that if an unbeliever ' perse-

in the Minutes, May 13, 1746, Q. 12 vere therein, God will infallibly give

ss., should be read in connexion with him faith.'
this paragraph ; especially the state-

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 195

bondage unto fear ' ; yea, while he has neither this fear, nor
love. For undoubtedly there may be sincere Heathens, as
well as sincere Jews or Christians. This circumstance, then,
does by no means prove that a man is in a state of acceptance
with God.

' Examine yourselves, therefore,' not only whether ye are
sincere, but ' whether ye be in the faith.' Examine narrowly
(for it imports you much), what is the ruling principle in your
soul ? Is it the love of God ? Is it the fear of God ? Or is it
neither one nor the other ? Is it not rather the love of the
world ? the love of pleasure, or gain ? of ease, or reputation ?
If so, you are not come so far as a Jew. You are but a Heathen
still. Have you heaven in your heart ? Have you the Spirit
of adoption, ever crying, Abba, Father ? Or do you cry unto
God, as ' out of the belly of hell,' overwhelmed with sorrow
and fear ? Or are you a stranger to this whole affair, and
cannot imagine what I mean ? Heathen, pull off the mask !
Thou hast never put on Christ ! Stand barefaced ! Look
up to heaven ; and own before Him that liveth for ever
and ever, thou hast no part either among the sons or servants
of God !

Whosoever thou art, Dost thou commit sin, or dost thou
not ? If thou dost, is it willingly or unwillingly ? In either
case, God hath told thee whose thou art : ' He that com-
mitteth sin is of the devil.' If thou committest it willingly,
thou art his faithful servant : he will not fail to reward thy
labour. If unwillingly, still thou art his servant. God deliver
thee out of his hands !

Art thou daily fighting against all sin ? and daily more
than conqueror ? I acknowledge thee for a child of God.
0 stand fast in thy glorious liberty ! Art thou fighting, but
not conquering ? striving for the mastery, but not able to
attain ? Then thou art not yet a believer in Christ ; but
follow on, and thou shalt know the Lord. Art thou not
fighting at all, but leading an easy, indolent, fashionable life ?
0 how hast thou dared to name the name of Christ, only to
make it a reproach among the Heathen ? Awake, thou
sleeper ! Call upon thy God, before the deep swallow thee up !

ig6

Sermon IX

2. Perhaps one reason why so many think of themselves
more highly than they ought to think, why they do not discern
what state they are in, is, because these several states of soul
are often mingled together, and in some measure meet in one
and the same person. Thus experience shows, that the legal
state, or state of fear, is frequently mixed with the natural ;
for few men are so fast asleep in sin, but they are sometimes
more or less awakened. As the Spirit of God does not ' wait
for the call of man,' so, at some times He will be heard. He
puts them in fear, so that, for a season at least, the Heathen
' know themselves to be but men.' They feel the burden of
sin, and earnestly desire to flee from the wrath to come. But
not long : they seldom suffer the arrows of conviction to go
deep into their souls; but quickly stifle the grace of God,
and return to their wallowing in the mire.

In like manner, the evangelical state, or state of love, is
frequently mixed with the legal. For few of those who have
the spirit of bondage and fear remain always without hope.
The wise and gracious God rarely suffers this ; ' for He remem-
bereth that we are but dust ' ; and He willeth not that ' the
flesh should fail before Him, or the spirit which He hath made.'
Therefore at such times as He seeth good, He gives a dawning
of light unto them that sit in darkness. He causes a part of
His goodness to pass before them, and shows He is a ' God that
heareth the prayer.' They see the promise, which is by faith
in Christ Jesus, though it be yet afar off ; and hereby they are
encouraged to ' run with patience the race which is set before
them.'

2. A most important paragraph,
which saves the whole sermon from
the sense of unreality and remoteness
from experience which it otherwise
gives. The descriptions of the
natural, the legal, and the evangeli-
cal state are not descriptions of
men, but of phases of experience
rarely or never found in their purity.
' These several states of soul are
often mingled together, and in some

measure meet in one and the same
person.' O wise and practical
teacher ! The key to Wesley's ap-
parent inconsistencies is this : he
first worked out his theology by
strict logical deduction from the
Scriptures ; and then he corrected
his conclusions by the test of actual
experience. His class-meetings were
a laboratory in which he verified or
modified his hypotheses.

The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption 197

3. Another reason why many deceive themselves, is, because
they do not consider how far a man may go, and yet be in a
natural, or, at best, a legal state. A man may be of a com-
passionate and a benevolent temper ; he may be affable,
courteous, generous, friendly ; he may have some degree of
meekness, patience, temperance, and of many other moral
virtues. He may feel many desires of shaking off all vice,
and of attaining higher degrees of virtue. He may abstain
from much evil ; perhaps from all that is grossly contrary to
justice, mercy, or truth. He may do much good, may feed
the hungry, clothe the naked, relieve the widow and fatherless.
He may attend public worship, use prayer in private, read
many books of devotion ; and yet, for all this, he may be a
mere natural man, knowing neither himself nor God ; equally
a stranger to the spirit of fear and to that of love ; having
neither repented, nor believed the gospel.

But suppose there were added to all this a deep conviction
of sin, with much fear of the wrath of God ; vehement desires
to cast off every sin, and to fulfil all righteousness ; frequent
rejoicing in hope, and touches of love often glancing upon the
soul ; yet neither do these prove a man to be under grace, to
have true, living, Christian faith, unless the Spirit of adoption
abide in his heart, unless he can continually cry, ' Abba,
Father ! '

4. Beware, then, thou who art called by the name of Christ,
that thou come not short of the mark of thy high calling.
Beware thou rest not, either in a natural state, with too many
that are accounted good Christians ; or in a legal state, wherein
those who are highly esteemed of men are generally content
to live and die. Nay, but God hath prepared better things
for thee, if thou follow on till thou attain. Thou art not called
to fear and tremble, like devils ; but to rejoice and love, like
the angels of God. ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength.' Thou shalt ' rejoice evermore ' ;
thou shalt ' pray without ceasing ' ; thou shalt ' in everything
give thanks.' Thou shalt do the will of God on earth as
it is done in heaven. O prove thou ' what is that good, and

198 Sermon IX

acceptable, and perfect will of God ' ! Now present thyself ' a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God ' ! ' Whereunto thou
hast already attained, hold fast,' by ' reaching forth unto those
things which are before ' ; until ' the God of peace make thee
perfect in every good work, working in thee that which is
well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ : to whom be
glory for ever and ever ! Amen ! '

SERMON X
THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT

DISCOURSE I

This sermon would seem to have been written for the edition of 1746.
In Sermon XLV (written and published in 1767), ii. 3, Wesley quotes
from this sermon, and says, ' After twenty years' further considera-
tion, I see no cause to retract any part of this.' I find no record of
its having been preached until August 11, 1753, where it stands in
the sermon list at the end of the Standard edition of the Journal
against St. Gennys, along with J as. i. 27. Wesley reached St. Gennys
on Saturday evening, August II, after preaching at Camelford at
noon, and getting wet through in ' such a shower of rain as I never
saw before in Europe.' On Sunday the 12th, ' I never saw so many
people in this church ; nor did I ever before speak so plainly to them.
They hear ; but when will they feel ? ' As no texts are set down in
the list for August 12, I take it that the two put down for August 11
are those that he preached from on the Sunday. ' Rom. viii. 15, &c,'
is set down as the subject of the morning exercise at the society
meeting at Bristol on Tuesday, March 10, 1741. Mr. Curnock says of
these morning exercises : ' For this duty he prayed and robed. Usually
he went fasting. Returning to his rooms, he drank chocolate or tea,
and at once proceeded to write in his journal, or in sermon form, or
in a paper for use in society meetings, the substance of the exposition
that morning given ' (Journal, II. p. 354 n.). This note refers to the
meetings at the Foundery, but doubtless those at Bristol were on the
same lines. This was probably the first form of this sermon, which
was elaborated and revised for the edition of 1746. It is rather a
tractate than a sermon, and was intended for publication, not for
pulpit delivery. But whilst it does not seem to have been often
preached, the doctrine which it defends formed part of almost every
sermon of Wesley's in these early years. For example, in Sermon I,
ii. 4, it is specified as one of the privileges of salvation by faith ; and
in Sermon IV, i. 3, we are told that the Christian of the apostolic
age ' rejoiced in that witness of God's Spirit with his spirit that he
was a child of God.'

199

200 Sermon X

This great doctrine, the clear statement of which was one of the
most important services rendered to the Church by Wesley, had been
obscured by the Sacramentarian teaching of the Romish Church,
and exaggerated by the Mystics. The Westminster Confession had
allowed it to be an ordinary gift of the Spirit to the believer ; but
stated that he may have to ' wait long and contend with many diffi-
culties before he be partaker of it.' On the other hand, it taught that
assurance, when once attained, is indefectible. The Anglican Articles
are vague ; in Art. XVII it is said that those who through grace
obey the calling of God ' be made sons of God by adoption ' ; but there
is no reference to the direct witness of the Spirit. Bishop Pearson,
however, in Exposition of Creed, Art. VIII, says, ' It is the office of
the Holy Ghost to assure us of the adoption of sons. . . . As, there-
fore, we are born again by the Spirit, and receive from Him our regenera-
tion, so we are also assured by the Spirit of our adoption ' ; and this
passage is quoted in proof thereof. It was not from his own Church,
but from the Moravians, and especially from the teaching of Peter
Bolder, that Wesley in the early part of 1738 learnt that one of the
fruits of true faith in Christ was ' constant peace, arising from a sense
of forgiveness.' ' I was quite amazed,' he says (Journal, May 24,
1738), ' and looked upon it as a new gospel.' Then on May 24 came
the great experience of realized salvation ; « an assurance was given
me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from
the law of sin and death.' For more than six months, however, he
suffered from doubt and frequent darkness ; but when he was once
fairly embarked on his evangelical mission, they disappeared and
troubled him no more. On September 3, 1739, he was much encour-
aged by his mother's experience. At first she had been fearful that
he had erred in this matter ; she told him she had scarce heard such
a thing mentioned as the having God's Spirit bearing witness with
our spirit ; and she had never dared to ask it for herself. But two
or three weeks before this conversation, as she was receiving the
Sacrament, she knew that God for Christ's sake had forgiven her all
her sins. Her father, Dr. Annesley, had had this experience, she
said, for over forty years, but had never preached it to others. As
early as January 25, 1740, Wesley says, ' I never yet knew one soul
thus saved without what you call the faith of assurance ; I mean a
sure confidence that by the merits of Christ he was reconciled to the
favour of God.' In the Minutes of 1744, in answer to Q. 8, ' Does any
one believe, who has not the witness in himself, or any longer than
he sees, loves, obeys God ? ' he says, ' We apprehend not.' In Minutes
of 1745 he dares not positively say that there are not exempt cases,
and allows that there may be infinite degrees in seeing God. In 1746
he admits that it is hard to judge of individual cases, as we do not
know all the circumstances ; but he affirms that all sincere persons

The Witness of the Spirit 201

who are striving for this assurance will surely find it before they
die. In the Farther Appeal (1745), Part I, he defends this doctrine
against the attack of the Bishop of Lichfield at full length ; and again
in 1747 in his Letters XLI and XLII to Mr. John Smith (who was
probably Thomas Seeker).

In 1747, a month after the Conference, he writes to Charles : ' By
justifying faith, I mean that faith which whosoever hath not is under
the wrath and curse of God. By a sense of pardon I mean a distinct,
explicit assurance that my sins are forgiven. I allow (1) That there
is such an explicit assurance ; (2) That it is the common privilege of
real Christians ; (3) That it is the proper Christian faith which purifies
the heart and overcomes the world. But I cannot allow that justi-
fying faith is such an assurance, or necessarily connected therewith.
Because, if justifying faith necessarily implies such an explicit assur-
ance of pardon, then every one who has it not, and every one so long
as he has it not, is under the wrath and curse of God. But this is
a supposition contrary to Scripture and experience (Isa. i. 10 and
Acts x. 34). Again, the assertion that justifying faith is a sense of
pardon is contrary to reason, it is flatly absurd. For how can a sense
of our having received pardon be the condition of our receiving it ? '
In other words, we do not believe, because we have received the
witness of the Spirit ; but normally we receive the witness of the
Spirit as soon as we believe.

This doctrine Wesley held and preached to the end ; but experi-
ence led him to discard more explicitly his first view that there could
be no salvation without assurance. Thus in his answer to Prof.
Rutherforth in 1768 he says : ' I believe a consciousness of being in the
favour of God (which I do not term full assurance, since it is frequently
weakened, nay, perhaps interrupted, by returns of doubt or fear) is
the common privilege of Christians, fearing God and working righteous-
ness. Yet I do not affirm there are no exceptions to this general
rule. . . . Therefore I have not, for many years, thought a conscious-
ness of acceptance to be essential to justifying faith.'

The opposition which was aroused by Wesley's teaching on this
point was due to the not unnatural reaction, after the Restoration,
from the extravagant claims of many of the Puritans to special divine
illumination. Thus Butler in Hudibras i. 1 describes Ralpho, the
squire, who stands for the Independents, as getting his knowledge
from the New Light :

' Whate'er men speak by this new light
Still they are sure to be i' th' right ;
'Tis a dark lanthorn of the Spirit
Which none see by but those that bear it ;
A light that falls down from on high
For Spiritual trades to cozen by.'

202 Sermon X

If a man could claim a direct illumination of the Spirit on one point,
why not on many, or all, others ? Thus the door would be thrown
open to all kinds of wild and extravagant ideas, against which it
would be impossible to argue, because their authors held them to be
the result of direct divine inspiration. Many good people, too, like
Mrs. Susanna Wesley, feared to be presumptuous if they claimed such
a gift. And when to this is added the unspiritual character of the
period, and its passion for cold correctness and good form, it is easy
to see why the early Methodists were branded as enthusiasts and
madmen, chiefly because they maintained the possibility and realiza-
tion of the direct witness of the Spirit. As Dr. Cutten {Psychological
Phenomena of Christianity, p. 234) says, ' Pentecost needed a defence
against the charge of drunkenness.'

Recent studies in the psychology of the spiritual life confirm Wesley's
teaching, though they do not always use his language. They agree in
holding that in some way there must be a direct communication of the
divine to the human spirit for the full development of the higher life.
Thus Prof. Boyce Gibson, of the Melbourne University (who bears two
names that will always be memorable in Methodism), says of Rudolf
Eucken : ' Eucken's own explicit conviction is that the immediate
revelation of this all-inclusive spiritual life to ours, and its power to
maintain itself steadily in presence of the perils and limitations of our
human nature, is an axiomatic fact, apart from which there can be
no root of truth or of reason in our lives at all. It is in this intimacy
of our life with God's that Eucken finds the new immediacy that can
alone satisfy the life that has broken from the immediacy of sense,
and inspire our human frailty for its redemptive mission in the world.'
Bergson holds that the highest thing in man is his ' susceptibility for
God,' which culminates in a ' real union of being ' with God. Von
Haering {Ethics of Christian Life, p. 197) says : ' The assurance of sal-
vation ... is a present experience of blessedness and a certain hope
of blessedness, and is present blessedness in fellowship with God.'
Dr. Cutten, in the work cited above, p. 250, says, in reference to the
theory that the experience of the witness of the Spirit is due to sug-
gestion : ' To say that it is suggestion only is doing violence to the
united testimony of thousands whose evidence is as valuable as any
in the land.'

The Spirit itself beareth witness with oar spirit, that we are the children

of God. — Rom. viii. 16.

I. How many vain men, not understanding what they spake,
neither whereof they affirmed, have wrested this scripture to
the great loss, if not the destruction, of their souls ! How

The Witness of the Spirit 203

many have mistaken the voice of their own imagination for
this witness of the Spirit of God, and thence idly presumed
they were the children of God, while they were doing the works
of the devil ! These are truly and properly enthusiasts ;
and, indeed, in the worst sense of the word. But with what
difficulty are they convinced thereof, especially if they have
drank deep into that spirit of error. All endeavours to bring
them to the knowledge of themselves, they will then account
fighting against God ; and that vehemence and impetuosity
of spirit, which they call ' contending earnestly for the faith,'
sets them so far above all the usual methods of conviction,
that we may well say, ' With men it is impossible.'

2. Who then can be surprised, if many reasonable men,
seeing the dreadful effects of this delusion, and labouring to
keep at the utmost distance from it, should sometimes lean
toward another extreme ? — if they are not forward to believe
any who speak of having this witness, concerning which others
have so grievously erred ? — if they are almost ready to set all
down for enthusiasts who use the expressions which have been
so terribly abused ? — yea, if they should question whether the
witness or testimony here spoken of be the privilege of ordinary
Christians, and not, rather, one of those extraordinary gifts
which they suppose belonged only to the apostolic age ?

3. But is there any necessity laid upon us of running either
into one extreme or the other ? May we not steer a middle
course — keep a sufficient distance from that spirit of error
and enthusiasm, without denying the gift of God, and giving

Par. 2. Gwatkin, in The Know- tolic age ; his words are : ' The fore-

ledge of God, ii. 242, says : ' There mentioned testimony of the Spirit

was some reason for the English dis- was the public testimony of miracu-

trust of what in the eighteenth cen- lous gifts ; and consequently the

tury was called Enthusiasm. ... A witness of the Spirit that we are the

very little study of John Wesley as children of God cannot possibly be

a politician or as a general observer applied to the private testimony of

will show one of the sanest minds of the Spirit given to our own con-

the eighteenth century.' sciences, as is pretended by modern

The Bishop of Lichfield, in a charge enthusiasts.' Wesley answers him

published in 1744, maintains that in the Farther Appeal, published in

the witness of the Spirit was one of 1745-
the extraordinary gifts of the Apos-

204 Sermon X

up the great privilege of His children ? Surely we may. In
order thereto, let us consider, in the presence and fear of God, —

I. What is this witness or testimony of our spirit ;

WHAT IS THE TESTIMONY OF GOD'S SPIRIT ; AND,
HOW DOES HE ' BEAR WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT THAT
WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD ' ?
II. HOW IS THIS JOINT TESTIMONY OF GOD'S SPIRIT AND
OUR OWN, CLEARLY AND SOLIDLY DISTINGUISHED
FROM THE PRESUMPTION OF A NATURAL MIND, AND
FROM THE DELUSION OF THE DEVIL ?

I. I. Let us first consider, what is the witness or testimony
of our spirit. But here I cannot but desire all those who are
for swallowing up the testimony of the Spirit of God in the
rational testimony of our own spirit, to observe, that in this
text the Apostle is so far from speaking of the testimony of
our own spirit only, that it may be questioned whether he speaks
of it at ail — whether he does not speak only of the testimony
of God's Spirit. It does not appear but the original text may
be fairly understood thus. The Apostle had just said, in the
preceding verse, ' Ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father ' ; and immediately subjoins,
Avrb to Ilvev/jia (some copies read, to clvto Tlvevfia) o-vfXfxapTvpel
tw TrvevfjLCLTL ijfxwv oti icT/iev TeKva &6ov ; which may be trans-
lated, ' The same Spirit beareth witness to our spirit, that we
are the children of God ' (The preposition avv only denoting,
that He witnesses this at the same time that He enables us to
cry, Abba, Father). But I contend not ; seeing so many other
texts, with the experience of all real Christians, sufficiently

I. i. ' The same Spirit.' This is neuter gender being, of course, due

the rendering in the Notes on the to purely grammatical reasons.

New Testament ; but it is certainly Then the suggestion that av/xfiaprvpel

wrong. I cannot imagine what means ' that He witnesses this at the

copies Wesley found with the read- same time that He enables us to cry,

ing rb avrb Uvev/xa (the same Spirit) ; Abba, Father ' is absurd. Obviously

Tischendorf does not even mention Wesley did not himself feel quite

any such variant in his Eighth sure of his ground — ' I contend

Critical Edition. Avrb to lived pa can not ' ! It was a pity to spoil this

only mean the Spirit Himself, the argument by such a weak start.

The Witness of the Spirit 205

evince, that there is in every believer, both the testimony of
God's Spirit, and the testimony of his own, that he is a child
of God.

2. With regard to the latter, the foundation thereof is laid
in those numerous texts of Scripture which describe the marks
of the children of God ; and that so plain, that he which
runneth may read them. These are also collected together,
and placed in the strongest light, by many both ancient and
modern writers. If any need farther light, he may receive it
by attending on the ministry of God's word ; by meditating
thereon before God in secret ; and by conversing with those
who have the knowledge of His ways. And by the reason or
understanding that God has given him, which religion was
designed not to extinguish, but to perfect — according to that
of the Apostle, ' Brethren, be not children in understanding ;
in malice ' or wickedness ' be ye children ; but in under-
standing be ye men ' (1 Cor. xiv. 20) — every man applying
those scriptural marks to himself may know whether he is a
child of God. Thus, if he know, first, ' as many as are led by
the Spirit of God,' into all holy tempers and actions, ' they
are the sons of God ' (for which he has the infallible assurance
of holy writ) ; secondly, I am thus ' led by the Spirit of God ' ;
he will easily conclude, ' Therefore I am a son of God.'

3. Agreeable to this are all those plain declarations of St.
John, in his First Epistle : ' Hereby we know that we do
know Him, if we keep His commandments ' (chap. ii. 3).
' Whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected : hereby know we that we are in Him ' ; that we are
indeed the children of God (verse 5). 'If ye know that He is
righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness
is born of Him ' (verse 29). ' We know that we have passed
from death unto life, because we love the brethren ' (chap. hi.
14). ' Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall

2. ' Not to extinguish but to per- Christianity. In a letter to his
feet.' An oblique hit at the Mystics, brother Samuel, November 23, 1736,
to whose teachings Wesley had been he says, ' They have absolutely re-
drawn when he was in Savannah, nounced their reason and under-
but whom he soon found to be ' the standing.'
most dangerous of the enemies ' of

206 Sermon X

assure our hearts before Him ' (verse 19) ; namely, because
we ' love one another, not in word, neither in tongue, but in
deed and in truth.' ' Hereby know we that we dwell in Him,
because He hath given us of His ' loving ' Spirit ' (chap. iv. 13).
And, ' Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the ' obedient
' Spirit which He hath given us ' (chap. hi. 24).

4. It is highly probable there never were any children of
God, from the beginning of the world unto this day, who were
farther advanced in the grace of God, and the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ, than the Apostle John, at the time
when he wrote these words, and the fathers in Christ to whom
he wrote. Notwithstanding which, it is evident, both the
Apostle himself, and all those pillars in God's temple, were
very far from despising these marks of their being the children
of God ; and that they applied them to their own souls for
the confirmation of their faith. .Yet all this is no other than
rational evidence, the witness of our spirit, our reason or
understanding. It all resolves into this : Those who have
these marks are children of God : but we have these marks :
therefore we are children of God.

5. But how does it appear, that we have these marks ?
This is a question which still remains. How does it appear,
that we do love God and our neighbour, and that we keep His
commandments ? Observe, that the meaning of the question
is, How does it appear to ourselves, not to others ? I would
ask him, then, that proposes this question, How does it appear
to you, that you are alive, and that you are now in ease, and
not in pain ? Are you not immediately conscious of it ? By
the same immediate consciousness, you will know if your soul
is alive to God ; if you are saved from the pain of proud wrath,
and have the ease of a meek and quiet spirit. By the same
means you cannot but perceive if you love, rejoice, and delight

5. The essential point is that one the introduction to the new world

who has by regeneration received of spiritual experiences, it must be

the gift of life in Christ cannot but accompanied by new perceptions and

be conscious of it. Whether regenera- new powers; and of these the re-

tion be regarded as a new birth, or cipient must be conscious. One

as a resurrection from the death of thing he knows, that, whereas he was

sin to the life of righteousness, or as blind, now he sees.

The Witness of the Spirit 207

in God. By the same you must be directly assured if you
love your neighbour as yourself ; if you are kindly affectioned
to all mankind, and full of gentleness and long-suffering.
And with regard to the outward mark of the children of God,
which is, according to St. John, the keeping His command-
ments, you undoubtedly know in your own breast, if, by the
grace of God, it belongs to you. Your conscience informs you
from day to day, if you do not take the name of God within
your lips, unless with seriousness and devotion, with reverence
and godly fear ; if you remember the Sabbath-day to keep it
holy ; if you honour your father and mother ; if you do to all as
you would they should do unto you ; if you possess your body
in sanctification and honour ; and if, whether you eat or drink,
you are temperate therein, and do all to the glory of God.

6. Now this is properly the testimony of our own spirit ;
even the testimony of our own conscience, that God hath given
us to be holy of heart, and holy in outward conversation. It
is a consciousness of our having received, in and by the Spirit
of adoption, the tempers mentioned in the Word of God, as
belonging to His adopted children ; even a loving heart toward
God, and toward all mankind ; hanging with child-like confi-
dence on God our Father, desiring nothing but Him, casting all
our care upon Him, and embracing every child of man with
earnest, tender affection, [so as to be ready to lay down our life
for our brother, as Christ laid down His life for us, — ] a conscious-
ness that we are inwardly conformed, by the Spirit of God, to the
image of His Son, and that we walk before Him in justice, mercy,
and truth, doing the things which are pleasing in His sight.

7. But what is that testimony of God's Spirit, which is
superadded to, and conjoined with, this ? How does He
' bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God ' ?
It is hard to find words in the language of men to explain ' the
deep things of God.' Indeed, there are none that will

7. The first sentence of this defini- hath loved us, or that our sins are

tion is unexceptionable ; the state- blotted out. These conclusions are

ment of the text is that the Spirit rather inferences from His direct

bears witness ' that we are the chil- witness to our adoption, than the

dren of God.' But the Spirit does subjects of direct revelation apart

not directly bear witness that Christ from that.

208 Sermon X

adequately express what the children of God experience. But
perhaps one might say (desiring any who are taught of God to
correct, to soften, or strengthen the expression), the testimony
of the Spirit is an inward impression on the soul, whereby the
Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child
of God ; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given Himself
for me ; and that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I,
am reconciled to God.

8. That this testimony of the Spirit of God must needs, in
the very nature of things, be antecedent to the testimony of
our own spirit, may appear from this single consideration. We
must be holy of heart, and holy in life, before we can be con-
scious that we are so ; before we can have the testimony of our
spirit, that we are inwardly and outwardly holy. But we must
love God, before we can be holy at all ; this being the root of
all holiness. Now we cannot love God, till we know He loves
us. ' We love Him, because He first loved us.' And we can-
not know His pardoning love to us, till His Spirit witnesses it
to our spirit. Since, therefore, this testimony of His Spirit
must precede the love of God and all holiness, of consequence
it must precede our inward consciousness thereof, or the
testimony of our spirit concerning them.

9. Then, and not till then — when the Spirit of God beareth
that witness to our spirit, ' God hath loved thee, and given

8. Wesley makes the mistake of a vital relation between two persons,
regarding adoption and regeneration one of whom begets and the other is
as two distinct operations of the begotten in the image of his father ;
Holy Spirit ; whereas they are two or it may be regarded as a legal re-
aspects of the same thing, distin- lation, in which both parties accept
guishable in thought but not in fact. certain responsibilities, and are en-
Dr. Pope (iii. 3) says: ' No terms titled to certain rights, the father
are more strictly correlative than to obedience, the son to protection
regeneration and adoption. They and heirship. St. John prefers the
describe the same blessing under two former, which is the deeper aspect
aspects ; the former referring to the of the matter, as being a natural
filial character, the latter to the filial process ; St. Paul emphasizes the
privilege. But they are not thus latter, which is artificial and arises
closely connected as cause and effect ; from legal enactment. It must be
they are co-ordinate, and the link remembered that adoption was very
between them is the common son- common in the communities of the
ship.' Sonship may be regarded as Roman Empire ; and the procedure

The Witness of the Spirit 209

His own Son to be the propitiation for thy sins ; the Son of
God hath loved thee, and hath washed thee from thy sins in
His blood ' — ' we love God, because He first loved us ' ; and,
for His sake, we love our brother also. And of this we cannot
but be conscious to ourselves ; we ' know the things that are
freely given to us of God.' We know that we love God, and
keep His commandments ; and ' hereby also we know that we
are of God.' This is that testimony of our own spirit, which,
so long as we continue to love God and keep His command-
ments, continues joined with the testimony of God's Spirit,
' that we are the children of God.'

10. Not that I would by any means be understood, by any-
thing which has been spoken concerning it, to exclude the
operation of the Spirit of God, even from the testimony of our
own spirit. In no wise. It is He that not only worketh in
us every manner of thing that is good, but also shines upon His
own work, and clearly shows what He has wrought. Accord-
ingly, this is spoken of by St. Paul, as one great end of our
receiving the Spirit, ' that we may know the things which are
freely given to us of God ' : that He may strengthen the
testimony of our conscience, touching our ' simplicity and godly
sincerity ' ; and give us to discern, in a fuller and stronger
light, that we now do the things which please Him.

11. Should it still be inquired, ' How does the Spirit of

was prescribed by law. The boy adopted into the family of God, with

who was to be adopted was legally all its rights of access to the Father

the slave of his natural father ; it and co-heirship with his elder brother

was first necessary, therefore, to re- Christ. Then he is sealed with the

deem him, and this was done in the Holy Spirit of promise, who bears

presence of seven witnesses, who set joint witness with his own spirit to

their seals to the document certify- the whole transaction. This witness

ing the transaction. Then the adop- is simultaneous, not, as Wesley tries

tive father touched the boy with to prove, successive. The Spirit

the ritual wand, and said, ' I claim bears witness along with our own

this man as my son.' Thencefor- spirit ; and the testimony is both

ward he became legally his son, joint and several. Neither is ' afore

entitled to a share in his inheritance, or after other.' The whole question

and to take part in the sacrifices of of adoption is treated most illuminat-

the family. So St. Paul describes ingly by my old school-fellow Dr.

the believer as first redeemed from W. E. B. Ball in his St. Paul and the

the bondage of the law, then as Roman Law.
w.s.s. 1 — 14

2io Sermon X

God " bear witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God," so as to exclude all doubt, and evince the reality of our
sonship ? ' — the answer is clear from what has been observed
above. And first, as to the witness of our spirit : the soul as
intimately and evidently perceives when it loves, delights, and
rejoices in God, as when it loves and delights in anything on
earth. And it can no more doubt, whether it loves, delights,
and rejoices or no, than whether it exists or no. If, therefore,
this be just reasoning,

He that now loves God, that delights and rejoices in Him
with an humble joy, an holy delight, and an obedient love, is
a child of God :

But I thus love, delight, and rejoice in God ;

Therefore, I am a child of God : —
Then a Christian can in no wise doubt of his being a child of
God. Of the former proposition he has as full an assurance
as he has that the Scriptures are of God ; and of his thus
loving God, he has an inward proof, which is nothing short of
self-evidence. Thus, the testimony of our own spirit is with
the most intimate conviction manifested to our hearts, in such
a manner, as beyond all reasonable doubt to evince the reality
of our sonship.

12. The manner how the divine testimony is manifested to
the heart, I do not take upon me to explain. Such knowledge
is too wonderful and excellent for me : I cannot attain unto
it. The wind bloweth, and I hear the sound thereof ; but I
cannot tell how it cometh, or whither it goeth. As no one
knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man that is
in him ; so the manner of the things of God knoweth no one,
save the Spirit of God. But the fact we know ; namely, that
the Spirit of God does give a believer such a testimony of his
adoption, that while it is present to the soul, he can no more
doubt the reality of his sonship, than he can doubt of the shin-
ing of the sun, while he stands in the full blaze of his beams.

12. Many of the first Methodists Wesley, whilst not questioning the

claimed to have received the witness genuineness of these experiences,

by an audible voice, or a flash of most sanely refuses to limit the Holy

light, or a vivid dream, or the appli- One of Israel to any particular

cation of some passage of Scripture. method of self -revelation.

The Witness of the Spirit 211

II. 1. How this joint testimony of God's Spirit and our
spirit may be clearly and solidly distinguished from the pre-
sumption of a natural mind, and from the delusion of the devil,
is the next thing to be considered. And it highly imports
all who desire the salvation of God, to consider it with the
deepest attention, as they would not deceive their own souls.
An error in this is generally observed to have the most fatal
consequences : the rather, because he that errs, seldom dis-
covers his mistake, till it is too late to remedy it.

2. And, first, how is this testimony to be distinguished
from the presumption of a natural mind ? It is certain, one
who was never convinced of sin is always ready to flatter him-
self, and to think of himself, especially in spiritual things, more
highly than he ought to think. And hence, it is in no wise
strange, if one who is vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
when he hears of this privilege of true Christians among whom
he undoubtedly ranks himself, should soon work himself up
into a persuasion that he is already possessed thereof. Such
instances now abound in the world, and have abounded in all
ages. How then may the real testimony of the Spirit with
our spirit be distinguished from this damning presumption ?

3. I answer, the holy Scriptures abound with marks, whereby
the one may be distinguished from the other. They describe,
in the plainest manner, the circumstances which go before,
which accompany, and which follow, the true, genuine testi-
mony of the Spirit of God with the spirit of a believer. Who-
ever carefully weighs and attends to these will not need to put
darkness for light. He will perceive so wide a difference, with
respect to all these, between the real and the pretended witness
of the Spirit, that there will be no danger, I might say, no
possibility, of confounding the one with the other.

4. By these, one who vainly presumes on the gift of God
might surely know, if he really desired it, that he hath been
hitherto ' given up to a strong delusion,' and suffered to believe

II. 4. This test is normally a Sermon IX, il. Wesley's converts,

sound one, provided it is understood especially in the earlier years of his

that repentance need not involve the evangelical mission, were almost all

agonizing experience described in people who had grown up in an

212 Sermon X

a lie. For the Scriptures lay down those clear, obvious marks,
as preceding, accompanying, and following that gift, which a
little reflection would convince him, beyond all doubt, were
never found in his soul. For instance : the Scripture describes
repentance, or conviction of sin, as constantly going before
this witness of pardon. So, ' Repent ; for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand ' (Matt. hi. 2). ' Repent ye, and believe
the gospel ' (Mark i. 15). ' Repent, and be baptized every one
of you, for the remission of sins ' (Acts ii. 38). ' Repent ye
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out ' (Acts hi. 19). In conformity whereto, our Church also,
continually places repentance before pardon, or the witness of
it. 'He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent,
and unfeignedly believe His holy gospel.' ' Almighty God
. . . hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them who, with
hearty repentance and true faith, turn unto Him.' But he is
a stranger even to this repentance : he hath never known a
broken and a contrite heart : ' the remembrance of his sins '
was never ' grievous unto him,' nor ' the burden of them
intolerable.' In repeating those words, he never meant what

irreligious atmosphere, and had lived for an hour, what these religious or

sinful lives. It was natural, therefore, irreligious struggles are. I always

that he should take their experience knew God loved me, and I was always

of repentance as the normal one. But grateful to Him for the world He

in tho case, happily not an infre- placed me in.' In my long associa-

quent one, where children have been tion with theological students, both

brought up in the nurture and ad- at Headingley and in Melbourne, I

monition of the Lord in godly homes have found many who were brought

and in the Sunday school, whilst up in godly homes, and who could

there is generally a time when they not remember any time when they

consciously and definitely surrender felt themselves estranged from God,

themselves to the service of Christ, nor recall any definite experience of

there will not be any such poignant conversion. Indeed, as Mr. HelHer

sense of sin as is here contemplated. always maintained, this ought to be

Dr. E. E. Hale, quoted in James's the normal experience of the children

Varieties of Religious Experience, of godly parents ; he went so far as

p. 82, testifies: ' Any man has an to say {Life, p. 344), ' There need be

advantage, not to be estimated, who no days in the life of our children

is born, as I was, into a family where without salvation.'

the religion is simple and rational ; The quotations are (1) from the

who is trained in the theory of such Absolution in the Order for Morning

a religion, so that he never knows, Prayer ; (2) from the Absolution in

The Witness of the Spirit 213

he said ; he merely paid a compliment to God. And were it
only from the want of this previous work of God, he hath too
great reason to believe that he hath grasped a mere shadow,
and never yet known the real privilege of the sons of God.

5. Again : the Scriptures describe the being born of God,
which must precede the witness that we are His children, as a
vast and mighty change ; a change ' from darkness to light,'
as well as ' from the power of Satan unto God ' j as a ' passing
from death unto life,' a resurrection from the dead. Thus
the Apostle to the Ephesians : ' You hath He quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins ' (ii. 1). And again, ' When
we were dead in sins, He hath quickened us together with
Christ ; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ' (verses 5, 6). But
what knoweth he, concerning whom we now speak, of any such
change as this ? He is altogether unacquainted with this
whole matter. This is a language which he does not under-
stand. He tells you he always was a Christian. He knows no
time when he had need of such a change. By this also, if he
give himself leave to think, may he know, that he is not born

the Order for Holy Communion ; other words, by the witness of our
(3) from the General Confession in own spirit. Prof. James agrees with
the Order for Holy Communion. this (Var. Relig. Exper. p. 238) :
5. A curious self-contradiction ! ' The real witness of the spirit to the
In i. 8 we have been told that the second birth is to be found only in
testimony of God's Spirit must needs the disposition of the genuine child
be antecedent to the testimony of of God, the permanently patient
our own spirit ; yet here it is stated heart, the love of self eradicated.'
that regeneration must precede the But this is to ignore the teaching of
witness of the Spirit. It is unusual section 9, that the witness of the
to find in Wesley such a confusion spirit is ' immediately and directly
of ideas ; he failed to make any perceived, if our spiritual senses are
clear distinction in thought between rightly disposed ' ; though in sec-
adoption and regeneration, or to tion 12, Wesley again falls into the
realize that, as we have seen, they same vicious circle, and says that we
are two aspects of one blessing, and can only determine whether our
are simultaneous. The tests that senses are rightly disposed by the
follow in sections 6-8 come to this, testimony of our own spirit. The
that we must determine the genuine- whole trouble is got rid of when it is
ness of the witness of the Spirit by recognized that we are dealing with
the existence in us of those tempers a avix/xaprvpla, a joint witness, the
which, if i. 8 and 9 are to be be- agreement of the two witnesses estab-
lieved, are some of its results ; in fishing the truth of their testimony.

214 Sermon X

of the Spirit ; that he has never yet known God ; but has
mistaken the voice of nature for the voice of God.

6. But waiving the consideration of whatever he has or has
not experienced in time past ; by the present marks may we
easily distinguish a child of God from a presumptuous self-
deceiver. The Scriptures describe that joy in the Lord which
accompanies the witness of His Spirit, as an humble joy ; a
joy that abases to the dust, that makes a pardoned sinner cry
out, ' I am vile ! What am I, or my father's house ! Now
mine eye seeth Thee, I abhor myself in dust and ashes ! ' And
wherever lowliness is, there is meekness, patience, gentleness,
long-suffering. There is a soft, yielding spirit ; a mildness and
sweetness, a tenderness of soul, which words cannot express.
But do these fruits attend that supposed testimony of the Spirit
in a presumptuous man ? Just the reverse. The more confi-
dent he is of the favour of God, the more is he lifted up ; the
more does he exalt himself ; the more haughty and assuming
is his whole behaviour. The stronger witness he imagines him-
self to have, the more overbearing is he to all around him ; the
more incapable of receiving any reproof ; the more impatient
of contradiction. Instead of being more meek, and gentle,
and teachable, more ' swift to hear, and slow to speak,' he is
more slow to hear, and swift to speak ; more unready to learn
of any one ; more fiery and vehement in his temper, and eager
in his conversation. Yea, perhaps, there will sometimes
appear a kind of fierceness in his air, his manner of speaking,
his whole deportment, as if he were just going to take the matter
out of God's hands, and himself to ' devour the adversaries.'

7. Once more : the Scriptures teach, ' This is the love of
God,' the sure mark thereof, ' that we keep His command-
ments ' (1 John v. 3). And our Lord Himself saith, ' He that
keepeth My commandments, he it is that loveth Me ' (John
xiv. 21). Love rejoices to obey ; to do, in every point, what-

6. So Prof. James says (Var. Societies ; John Cennick amongst

Relig. Exper., p. 343), ' Fanaticism others, whom he expelled from the

is found only where the character is Society in 1741.

masterful and aggressive.' Wesley 7. This Antinomian leaven was

had met cases of this kind in his also at work in the Societies at this

The Witness of the Spirit 215

ever is acceptable to the beloved. A true lover of God hastens
to do His will on earth as it is done in heaven. But is this the
character of the presumptuous pretender to the love of God ?
Nay, but His love gives him a liberty to disobey, to break, not
keep, the commandments of God. Perhaps, when he was in
fear of the wrath of God, he did labour to do His will. But
now, looking on himself as ' not under the law,' he thinks he
is no longer obliged to observe it. He is therefore less zealous
of good works ; less careful to abstain from evil ; less watchful
over his own heart ; less jealous over his tongue. He is less
earnest to deny himself, and to take up his cross daily. In a
word, the whole form of his life is changed, since he has fancied
himself to be at liberty. He is no longer ' exercising himself
unto godliness ' ; ' wrestling not only with flesh and blood,
but with principalities and powers,' enduring hardships,
' agonizing to enter in at the strait gate.' No ; he has found
an easier way to heaven ; a broad, smooth, flowery path ;
in which he can say to his soul, ' Soul, take thy ease ; eat,
drink, and be merry.' It follows, with undeniable evidence,
that he has not the true testimony of his own spirit. He
cannot be conscious of having those marks which he hath not ;
that lowliness, meekness, and obedience: nor yet can the
Spirit of the God of truth bear witness to a lie; or testify
that he is a child of God, when he is manifestly a child of
the devil.

8. Discover thyself, thou poor self-deceiver ! — thou who
art confident of being a child of God ; thou who sayest, ' I
have the witness in myself,' and therefore defiest all thy enemies.
Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting ; even in
the balance of the sanctuary. The word of the Lord hath
tried thy soul, and proved thee to be reprobate silver. Thou
art not lowly of heart ; therefore thou hast not received the
Spirit of Jesus unto this day. Thou art not gentle and meek ;
therefore thy joy is nothing worth : it is not joy in the Lord.

time. In 1746 (March 23) Wesley property, and to all women. One

records a conversation with J. W. Roger Ball, of Dublin, held the same

at Birmingham, in which this man views,
claimed to have a right to any one's

216 Sermon X

Thou dost not keep His commandments : therefore thou lovest
Him not, neither art thou partaker of the Holy Ghost. It is
consequently as certain and as evident as the oracles of God
can make it, His Spirit doth not bear witness with thy spirit
that thou art a child of God. O cry unto Him, that the scales
may fall off thine eyes ; that thou mayest know thyself as
thou art known ; that thou mayest receive the sentence of
death in thyself, till thou hear the voice that raises the dead,
saying, ' Be of good cheer : thy sins are forgiven ; thy faith
hath made thee whole.'

9. ' But how may one who has the real witness in himself
distinguish it from presumption ? ' How, I pray, do you
distinguish day from night ? How do you distinguish light
from darkness ; or the light of a star, or a glimmering taper,
from the light of the noonday sun ? Is there not an inherent,
obvious, essential difference between the one and the other ?
And do you not immediately and directly perceive that differ-
ence, provided your senses are rightly disposed ? In like
manner, there is an inherent, essential difference between
spiritual light and spiritual darkness ; and between the light
wherewith the Sun of Righteousness shines upon our heart,
and that glimmering light which arises only from ' sparks of
our own kindling ' : and this difference also is immediately
and directly perceived, if our spiritual senses are rightly
disposed.

10. To require a more minute and philosophical account of
the manner whereby we distinguish these, and of the criteria,
or intrinsic marks, whereby we know the voice of God, is to
make a demand which can never be answered ; no, not by one
who has the deepest knowledge of God. Suppose, when Paul
answered before Agrippa, the wise Roman had said, ' Thou
talkest of hearing the voice of the Son of God. How dost
thou know it was His voice ? By what criteria, what intrinsic
marks, dost thou know the voice of God ? Explain to me the
manner of distinguishing this from a human or angelic voice.'
Can you believe, the Apostle himself would have once attempted
to answer so idle a demand ? And yet, doubtless, the moment
he heard that voice, he knew it was the voice of God. But

The Witness of the Spirit 217

how he knew this, who is able to explain ? Perhaps neither
man nor angel.

11. To come yet closer : suppose God were now to speak
to any soul, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee,' He must be willing
that soul should know His voice ; otherwise He would speak
in vain. And He is able to effect this ; for, whenever He
wills, to do is present with Him. And He does effect it : that
soul is absolutely assured, ' This voice is the voice of God.'
But yet he who hath that witness in himself cannot explain
it to one who hath it not ; nor indeed is it to be expected that
he should. Were there any natural medium to prove, or
natural method to explain, the things of God to unexperienced
men, then the natural man might discern and know the things
of the Spirit of God. But this is utterly contrary to the
assertion of the Apostle, that ' he cannot know them, because
they are spiritually discerned ' ; even by spiritual senses,
which the natural man hath not.

12. ' But how shall I know that my spiritual senses are
rightly disposed ? ' This also is a question of vast importance ;
for if a man mistake in this, he may run on in endless error
and delusion. ' And how am I assured that this is not my
case ; and that I do not mistake the voice of the Spirit ? '
Even by the testimony of your own spirit : by ' the answer of
a good conscience toward God.' By the fruits which He hath
wrought in your spirit, you shall know the testimony of the
Spirit of God. Hereby you shall know that you are in no
delusion, that you have not deceived your own soul. The
immediate fruits of the Spirit, ruling in the heart, are ' love,
joy, peace, bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, meekness,
gentleness, long-suffering.' And the outward fruits are, the
doing good to all men ; the doing no evil to any ; and the
walking in the light — a zealous, uniform obedience to all the
commandments of God.

13. By the same fruits shall you distinguish this voice of
God from any delusion of the devil. That proud spirit cannot
humble thee before God. He neither can nor would soften
thy heart, and melt it first into earnest mourning after God,
and then into filial love. It is not the adversary of God and

218 Sermon X

man that enables thee to love thy neighbour; or to put on
meekness, gentleness, patience, temperance, and the whole
armour of God. He is not divided against himself, or a
destroyer of sin, his own work. No ; it is none but the Son
of God who cometh ' to destroy the works of the devil.' As
surely therefore as holiness is of God, and as sin is the work
of the devil, so surely the witness thou hast in thyself is not of
Satan, but of God.

14. Well then mayest thou say, ' Thanks be unto God for
His unspeakable gift ! ' Thanks be unto God, who giveth me
to ' know in whom I have believed ' ; who hath ' sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into my heart, crying, Abba, Father,'
and even now, ' bearing witness with my spirit that I am a
child of God ' ! And see, that not only thy lips, but thy life
show forth His praise. He hath sealed thee for His own ;
glorify Him then in thy body and thy spirit, which are His.
Beloved, if thou hast this hope in thyself, purify thyself, as He
is pure. While thou beholdest what manner of love the Father
hath given thee, that thou shouldest be called a child of God,
cleanse thyself ' from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God ' ; and let all thy thoughts, words,
and works be a spiritual sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God
through Christ Jesus !

SERMON XI
THE WITNESS OF OUR OWN SPIRIT

I can find no record either in the Journal or in the sermon list of the
preaching of this sermon. No doubt the substance of it was often
given to the Societies in the expositions which were regularly delivered
to them by Wesley ; but it is rather a treatise than a sermon, and
is not adapted for a general congregation. Even for believers it
needs, as Wesley felt, the qualifications which he added in the two
following sermons in the 177 1 edition. Sermon CV, on Conscience, is
from the first part of the same text.

The object of the sermon is to explain what is meant by the witness
of our own spirit referred to in Rom. viii. 16, as distinguished from
the witness of the Divine Spirit to our adoption ; the indirect as con-
trasted with the direct evidence of our acceptance. The text is not
the best that could have been chosen for this purpose. It is St. Paul's
vindication of his conduct at Corinth, which had been attacked by his
opponents on the ground that he was a designing adventurer, walking
according to the flesh (i.e. actuated by motives of mere worldly shrewd-
ness), enriching himself under pretence of a collection for the poor
saints at Jerusalem, and only refusing to take a salary in order to
impose on the generosity of his converts. He says in answer to this :
' The boast I make is this, as my conscience testifies to me, that my
whole conduct in worldly matters was regulated by holiness and godly
sincerity, not by the prudence of the natural man, but by the grace
of God, and that more particularly in my relations to you.' There is
no reference to his consciousness of acceptance with God, or the wit-
ness of his conscience to that. Moreover, the reading of the A.V.,
on which certain sections of the sermon are based, is doubtful ; for
&n\6rr]Ti (simplicity) the better attested reading is ayio-njn (holi-
ness) .

With regard to this question, it may be well to turn aside for a
moment from the explanations of the theologians to the actual experi-
ences immediately following after conversion. These have been scien-
tifically examined and tabulated by Prof. Starbuck and are summarized
by Prof. James in Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture X, as
follows :

219

220 Sermon XI

(i) The sense of the coming into life of a higher control ; which
results in the loss of all the worry, the sense that all is ultimately
well with one, the peace, the harmony, the willingness to be, even
though the outer conditions should remain the same.

(2) The sense of perceiving truths not known before. The mysteries
of life become lucid ; and often, nay, usually, the solution is more or
less unutterable in words.

(3) A sense of clean and beautiful newness within and without. This
is often accompanied by a sense of brilliant light, a light ineffable in
the soul and in nature.

(4) The most characteristic of all the elements of the conversion
crisis is the ecstasy of happiness produced.

Normally this new experience follows a period of depression, doubt,
misery, amounting often to utter despair. It is not the result of
argument or logical conviction, but follows instantly on the surrender
of self to Christ in faith. This is psychologically what is meant by
the witness of the Spirit ; but each convert will afterwards explain it
in his own way. To one it is the removal of the sense of condemna-
tion, i.e. Justification ; to a second it is the realization that God is
his loving Father, i.e. Adoption ; to a third it is the feeling that the
old self has gone, and that a new life has come into his soul, i.e. Re-
generation. But all these worketh that one and the same Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as He will. Therefore, though the
Scripture speaks specifically of the witness of the Spirit to adoption,
it would be absurd to say that the consciousness of forgiveness, and
the new birth, are not equally His work ; and therefore equally a
witness borne by Him to what has taken place. The distinction be-
tween justification, adoption, and regeneration is the result of a sound
analysis ; but we must not suppose that processes which can be
conceived separately in thought are necessarily separate in fact.
They are all included in the one process of conversion, and neither
can exist without the others. Adoption connects itself with the work
of the Father, justification with that of the Son, regeneration with
that of the Holy Ghost ; and like their divine authors, these three
are one. Moreover, to all three our own spirit bears conjoint witness
with the Holy Spirit, re-echoing to His testimony in the conscious
joy of pardon, the kindling love of sonship, the pulsing power of the
new life.

But all this is the starting-point of the process of sanctification ; the
gradual bringing of the whole thought and life into conformity with
the law of God ; and unless this follows, it is proof that the supposed
direct witness was a delusion. The fruits of the Spirit will be pro-
duced in ever richer fullness ; and of this fact both ourselves and
others can judge. This is really the indirect witness with which this
sermon is concerned — the testimony of a good conscience and a good

The Witness of our own Spirit 221

life. It is not right to limit the witness of our own spirit to this con-
firmatory testimony ; it is also a party to the direct witness. Hence
Dr. Pope thinks the ' indirect witness ' the preferable name (iii. 130).

This is our rejoicing, the testimony of oar conscience, that in simplicity
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God,
we have had our conversation in the world. — 2 Cor. i. 12.

1. Such is the voice of every true believer in Christ, so long
as he abides in faith and love. ' He that followeth Me,' saith
our Lord, ' walketh not in darkness ' : and while he hath the
light, he rejoiceth therein. As he hath ' received the Lord
Tesus Christ,' so he walketh in Him ; and while he walketh in
Him, the exhortation of the Apostle takes place in his soul,
day by day, ' Rejoice in the Lord always ; and again I say,
Rejoice.'

2. But that we may not build our house upon the sand
(lest when the rains descend, and the winds blow, and the
floods arise and beat upon it, it fall, and great be the fall
thereof), I intend in the following discourse to show what is
the nature and ground of a Christian's joy. We know, in
general, it is that happy peace, that calm satisfaction of spirit
which arises from such a testimony of his conscience, as is
here described by the Apostle. But, in order to understand
this the more thoroughly, it will be requisite to weigh all his
words ; whence will easily appear, both what we are to under-
stand by conscience, and what by the testimony thereof ; and
also, how he that hath this testimony rejoiceth evermore.

3. And, first, what are we to understand by conscience ?
What is the meaning of this word that is in every one's mouth ?
One would imagine it was an exceeding difficult thing to
discover this, when we consider how large and numerous

Par. 1. In John viii. 12 the tenses and its difficulty is not merely the

are future : ' shall not walk in dark- introduction of ' hard words ' into

ness.' the discussion. It falls within the

3. This somewhat contemptuous purview of biology, of psychology,

brushing aside of the philosophical of ethics, and of theology. Dr.

treatment of Conscience is hardly Davison, in his Fernley Lecture on

worthy of Wesley. The subject is The Christian Conscience, p. 72,

by no means easy to be understood, states some of the questions which

222

Sermon XI

volumes have been from time to time wrote on this subject ;
and how all the treasures of ancient and modern learning have
been ransacked, in order to explain it. And yet it is to be
feared, it has not received much light from all those elaborate
inquiries. Rather, have not most of those writers puzzled
the cause ; ' darkening counsel by words without knowledge ' ;
perplexing a subject, plain in itself and easy to be understood ?
For, set aside but hard words, and every man of an honest
heart will soon understand the thing.

4. God has made us thinking beings, capable of perceiving
what is present, and of reflecting or looking back on what is
past. In particular, we are capable of perceiving whatsoever
passes in our own hearts or lives ; of knowing whatsoever we
feel or do ; and that either while it passes, or when it is past.
This we mean when we say, man is a conscious being : he hath
a consciousness, or inward perception, both of things present
and past, relating to himself, of his own tempers and outward
behaviour. But what we usually term conscience implies some-
what more than this. It is not barely the knowledge of our
present or the remembrance of our preceding life. To remem-
ber, to bear witness either of past or present things, is only one,
and the least office of conscience : its main business is to

are raised in its study. Is it intui-
tive ? Does it judge self or others ?
Is it cognisant of motives or actions ?
Does it decide essential or compara-
tive moral quality ? Is it legisla-
tive, or critical, or judicial ? Is it
intellectual, or emotional, or voli-
tional ? Is it infallible ? Can it be
educated ? How is it related to re-
ligion ? These cannot be settled
peremptorily, even by a man of
honest heart.

Sermon CV, On Conscience, should
be read along with this section. It
was written at Bristol in the first
week in March 1 788, and speaks with
approbation of a treatise on the sub-
ject by Monsieur Placatt, a French
Protestant divine of the seventeenth

century who died in 1718 ; the views
of Francis Hutcheson are criticized
on the ground that he leaves God
wholly out of the question ; and the
sermon concludes with a long ex-
tract from a sermon on Universal
Conscientiousness by Dr. Annesley,
Wesley's maternal grandfather.

4. Originally and by derivation,
conscience is a synonym for con-
sciousness ; but from the first it
tended to be used in the sense of
' the faculty which pronounces upon
the moral quality of one's actions or
motives, approving the right and
condemning the wrong.' In current
modern speech the two words are
quite distinct.

The Witness of our own Spirit

223

excuse or accuse, to approve or disapprove, to acquit or
condemn.

5. Some late writers indeed have given a new name to this,
and have chose to style it a moral sense. But the old word
seems preferable to the new, were it only on this account,
that it is more common and familiar among men, and therefore
easier to be understood. And to Christians it is undeniably
preferable, on another account also ; namely, because it is
scriptural ; because it is the word which the wisdom of God
hath chose to use in the inspired writings.

5. The reference is to Lord Shaftes-
bury, who uses the phrase ' moral
sense ' in his Inquiry Concerning
Virtue, i. 3. 1 (1699) ; and specially
to Francis Hutcheson, who really
made it current. Born in 1694, ne
became Professor of Moral Phil-
osophy at Glasgow in 1729. His
Essay on the Nature and Conduct oj
the Passions and Affections, with
Illustrations on the Moral Sense, was
published in 1728, and his System of
Moral Philosophy in 1755. He
taught that moral distinctions are
apprehended directly by means of a
special capacity of the soul, which
he calls the Moral Sense. Wesley
read an account of his works in
Savannah in May 1737. In 1756
he studied with his preachers an
abridgement of his works (Journal,
December 22), and finished the read-
ing of it on July 31, 1758 (in both
places he calls him wrongly Hutchin-
son). On December 17, 1772, on
his way to Luton, he read ' Mr.
Hutcheson's Essay on the Passions,'
and remarks, ' He is a beautiful
writer, but his scheme cannot stand
unless the Bible falls.'

Conscience, Conscientia, is a literal
translation of the Greek a-weldrjai^,
which is used almost exclusively by
St. Paul, never in the Gospels or by
St. John, three times by St. Peter,
and five times in the Epistle to the

Hebrews. It had at first no moral
connotation, but meant knowledge
with, i.e. not bare consciousness, but
present consciousness compared with
past — reflection, judgement. In
Sermon CV, 2, Wesley says that it
implies ' the knowledge of two or
more things together ; suppose, the
knowledge of our words and actions,
and at the same time of their good-
ness or badness.' But I do not sup-
pose that St. Paul or any other
Greek writer thought any more of
the meaning of <rw- than a modern
English author thinks of the mean-
ing of the ' con- ' in conscience. The
word as a whole meant the moral
sense, and was so used. It is usage,
not derivation, that determines the
signification of words.

This definition of conscience is
imperfect, as it makes it merely a
cognitive faculty. It is more cor-
rectly defined in Sermon CV, 7 :
' First, it is a witness testifying what
we have done. Secondly, it is a
judge, passing sentence on what we
have done. Thirdly, it, in some sort,
executes the sentence, by occasion-
ing a degree of complacency in him
that does well, and a degree of un-
easiness in him that does evil.' Even
this does not quite recognize the
volitional aspect of conscience, by
virtue of which the judgement of
conscience carries with it the obliga-

224

Sermon XI

And according to the meaning wherein it is generally used
there, particularly in the Epistles of St. Paul, we may under-
stand by conscience, a faculty or power, implanted by God in
every soul that comes into the world, of perceiving what is
right or wrong in his own heart or life, in his tempers, thoughts,
words, and actions.

6. But what is the rule whereby men are to judge of right
and wrong ? whereby their conscience is to be directed ? The
rule of Heathens, as the Apostle teaches elsewhere, is ' the
law written in their hearts.' ' These,' saith he, ' not having

tion to act according to that judge-
ment. Dr. Davison (Christian Con-
science, p. 86) says : ' The judgement
of conscience is always more or less
accompanied by feeling — feelings
which condemn or acquit in a pecu-
liar and characteristic way. Fur-
ther, the judgement of conscience is
obviously and essentially connected
with action. An essential part of
the judgement which it pronounces
is the indefeasible obligation under
which every one who recognizes it
lies to cause it to become actual.'
It would appear that Wesley had
not read Bishop Butler's great Ser-
mon II, preached in the Rolls
Chapel, and published in 1726. The
Bishop says : ' There is a superior
principle of reflection or conscience
in every man, which distinguishes
between the internal principles of
his heart, as well as his external
actions ; which passes judgement
upon himself and them ; pronounces
determinately some actions to be in
themselves just, right, good ; others
to be in themselves evil, wrong, un-
just ; which, without being con-
sulted, without being advised with,
magisterially exerts itself, and ap-
proves or condemns him, the doer
of them, accordingly ; and which, if
not forcibly stopped, naturally and
always of course goes on to antici-
pate a higher and more effectual

sentence, which shall hereafter second
and affirm its own. . . . Had it
strength, as it has right, had it power,
as it has manifest authority, it would
absolutely govern the world.' Wes-
ley had interviewed Butler when he
was Bishop of Bristol on August 16
and 1 8, 1739. The Bishop criticized
what he supposed to be Wesley's
teaching — ' it is a horrid thing, a
very horrid thing ! ' — told him he
had no business in his diocese, and
advised him ' to go hence.' Such a
reception would not dispose him to
read Butler's Sermons. However,
in January 1746 he read the Analogy
and re-read it in May 1768 ; he
thought it a fine book, but too hard
for the Freethinkers for whom it was
intended. I think it likely he may
have read the sermons before 1788 ;
for in Sermon CV he speaks like
Butler of the natural conscience ;
and uses the story of Balaam, and
the passage about him in Micah
(vi. 5), just as Butler does in his Ser-
mon VII on the character of Balaam.
6. The rule of the heathen is what
is referred to in Sermon CV as the
natural conscience ; and there Wes-
ley asks, ' Can it be denied that
something of this is found in every
man born into the world ? ' But he
objects to the name ' natural con-
science ' on the ground that it is
not natural, but a supernatural gift

The Witness of our own Spirit

225

the ' outward ' law, are a law unto themselves : who show
the work of the law,' that which the outward law prescribes,
' written in their hearts,' by the ringer of God ; ' their con-
science also bearing witness,' whether they walk by this rule
or not, ' and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or even
excusing,' acquitting, defending them ; ?} teal diroXoyoufievcov
(Rom. ii. 14, 15). But the Christian rule of right and wrong
is the Word of God, the writings of the Old and New Testa-
ment ; all that the prophets and ' holy men of old ' wrote
' as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ' ; all that Scripture

of God, due to the direct influence of
the Holy Spirit. The same objec-
tion might be taken to calling any
human power or function natural ;
for they are all the gift of God, and
are only exercised in conjunction
with His Spirit ; ' in Him we live
and move and have our being.' In
this respect conscience differs in no
wise from our other faculties.

The rendering ' even excusing '
rather than ' also excusing ' is to be
preferred. The point is that the
function of conscience is far more
often prohibitive and accusatory
than the reverse. Socrates told his
judges (Plato, Apol. p. 31 d) that
from his boyhood a voice had come
to him which always dissuaded him
from doing what he was intending to
do, but never positively urged him
to do anything.

Conscience has the power to dis-
cern the difference between right
and wrong, and it might be supposed
that therefore it needs no guidance
or education. But this is a mis-
take. Every man knows what is
meant by beauty, and has the faculty
of discerning and appreciating it ;
but the aesthetic faculty needs a
standard, and has to be trained be-
fore it learns always to approve the
things that are really excellent in
art. So the conscience needs a
standard, and that is found by the

w.s.s. 1 — 15

Christian in the life and teaching of
Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New
Testament. Wesley makes the whole
Bible the standard ; but this is a
wrong position to take up. The
moral teaching of the Old Testament
is imperfect and at some points in
need of correction. Slavery, war,
persecution for theological opinions,
hatred of one's enemies, have all
been defended by quotations from
the Old Testament. That which was
said to the men of old requires to be
interpreted, or even abrogated by
Christ's ' But I say unto you.'

The second paragraph of this sec-
tion needs some modification. The
Bible does not contain a complete
code of moral laws. General prin-
ciples are laid down, but their
application is left to the individual
conscience ; and whilst it may be
true that ' nothing is evil but what
is here forbidden, either in terms,
or by undeniable inference,' yet the
drawing of such an undeniable in-
ference is often a matter of great
difficulty. Cases frequently arise of
conflict of duties, as between the law
of truth and the law of love ; and
modern conditions have brought
about new problems of conduct which
it is not by any means easy to bring
under any definite rule of the New
Testament. To decide these is the
function of the conscience, enlight-

226 Sermon XI

which was ' given by inspiration of God/ and which is indeed
' profitable for doctrine,' or teaching the whole will of God ;
' for reproof ' of what is contrary thereto ; for ' correction '
of error ; and ' for instruction,' or training us up, ' in righteous-
ness ' (2 Tim. iii. 16).

This is a lantern unto a Christian's feet, and a light in all his
paths. This alone he receives as his rule of right or wrong,
of whatever is really good or evil. He esteems nothing good, but
what is here enjoined, either directly or by plain consequence ;
he accounts nothing evil but what is here forbidden, either
in terms, or by undeniable inference. Whatever the Scripture
neither forbids nor enjoins, either directly or by plain conse-
quence, he believes to be of an indifferent nature ; to be in itself
neither good nor evil ; this being the whole and sole outward
rule whereby his conscience is to be directed in all things.

7. And if it be directed thereby in fact, then hath he ' the
answer of a good conscience toward God.' ' A good con-
science ' is what is elsewhere termed by the Apostle, ' a
conscience void of offence.' So, what he at one time expresses
thus, ' I have lived in all good conscience before God until
this day ' (Acts xxiii. 1) ; he denotes at another by that ex-
pression, ' Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a con-
science void of offence toward God, and toward men ' (chap.
xxiv. 16). Now, in order to this there is absolutely required,

ened and guided by the Holy Spirit. into God ' [i.e. so as to bring us into
Wesley lays a little too much stress fellowship with God] ; ' not the re-
on the 'written word of God,' and moval of physical defilement, but
does not adequately recognize the the demand [or stipulation] of a
function of the Holy Spirit, who is good conscience.' The candidate
given, not only to bring to our re- was asked certain questions, such as
membrance the things which Jesus ' Dost thou believe ? Wilt thou re-
said, but also to guide us into all nounce the world ? Wilt thou obey
the truth. In Sermon CV, 13, how- Christ ? ' and it was this demand
ever, the function of the Holy Spirit for an answer such as showed a good
is more fully recognized : ' In order conscience that was the essential
to the very existence of a good con- thing in baptism,
science, the continued influence of the Compare the definition of a good
Spirit of God is absolutely needful.' conscience in Sermon CV, 12: 'A
7. ' The answer of a good con- divine consciousness of walking in all
science,' &c. This difficult passage things according to the written word
probably means ' Baptism saves us of God.'

The Witness of our own Spirit 227

first, a right understanding of the Word of God, of His ' holy,
and acceptable, and perfect will ' concerning us, as it is re-
vealed therein. For it is impossible we should walk by a rule,
if we do not know what it means. There is, secondly, re-
quired (which how few have attained ! ) a true knowledge of
ourselves ; a knowledge both of our hearts and lives, of our
inward tempers and outward conversation : seeing, if we know
them not, it is not possible that we should compare them with
our rule. There is required, thirdly, an agreement of our
hearts and lives, of our tempers and conversation, of our
thoughts, and words, and works, with that rule, with the
written Word of God. For, without this, if we have any con-
science at all, it can be only an evil conscience. There is,
fourthly, required, an inward perception of this agreement
with our rule : and this habitual perception, this inward con-
sciousness itself, is properly a good conscience ; or, in the other
phrase of the Apostle, ' a conscience void of offence toward
God, and toward men.'

8. But whoever desires to have a conscience thus void of
offence, let him see that he lay the right foundation. Let him
remember, ' other foundation ' of this ' can no man lay, than
that which is laid, even Jesus Christ.' And let him also be
mindful, that no man buildeth on Him but by a living faith ;
that no man is a partaker of Christ, until he can clearly testify,
' The life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God ' ;
in Him who is now revealed in my heart ; who ' loved me,
and gave Himself for me.' Faith alone is that evidence, that
conviction, that demonstration of things invisible, whereby,
the eyes of our understanding being opened, and divine light
poured in upon them, we ' see the wondrous things of God's
law ' ; the excellency and purity of it ; the height, and depth,

8. So Dr. Davison {Christian Con- the glory of God revealed in Christ,

science, p. 196) : ' The law of the reflects like a mirror the glorious

Christian conscience is summed up character of the Saviour. He is the

in this, " Put ye on the Lord Jesus mirror that reflects, not all that is

Christ." ' in himself, but the manifested glory

This interpretation of 2 Cor. iii. 18 of Christ, which is thus reproduced

can hardly be justified. The Chris- and manifested in him.
tian, gazing with unveiled face on

228 Sermon XI

and length, and breadth thereof, and of every commandment
contained therein. It is by faith that, beholding ' the light of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,' we perceive, as
in a glass, all that is within ourselves, yea, the inmost motions of
our souls. And by this alone can that blessed love of God be
' shed abroad in our hearts,' which enables us so to love one
another as Christ loved us. By this is that gracious promise
fulfilled unto all the Israel of God, ' I will put My laws into
their mind, and write ' (or engrave) ' them in their hearts '
(Heb. viii. 10) ; hereby producing in their souls an entire
agreement with His holy and perfect law, and ' bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.'

And, as an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, so a good
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. As the heart therefore of a
believer, so likewise his life, is thoroughly conformed to the
rule of God's commandments ; in a consciousness whereof, he
can give glory to God, and say with the Apostle, ' This is our
rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace
of God, we have had our conversation in the world.'

9. ' We have had our conversation.' The Apostle in the
original expresses this by one single word, dveaTpdcptjfiev ; but
the meaning thereof is exceeding broad, taking in our whole
deportment, yea, every inward as well as outward circum-
stance, whether relating to our soul or body. It includes
every motion of our heart, of our tongue, of our hands and
bodily members. It extends to all our actions and words ;
to the employment of all our powers and faculties ; to the
manner of using every talent we have received, with respect
either to God or man.

10. ' We have had our conversation in the world ' ; even
in the world of the ungodly : not only among the children of
God (that were comparatively a little thing) ; but among the
children of the devil, among those that lie in wickedness,
eV ra> iroprjpm, in the wicked one. What a world is this !

10. ' In the wicked one ' is the meaning, rather than ' in wickedness '
(1 John v. 19).

The Witness of our own Spirit

229

How thoroughly impregnated with the spirit it continually
breathes ! As our God is good, and doeth good, so the god
of this world, and all his children, are evil, and do evil (so far
as they are suffered) to all the children of God. Like their
father, they are always lying in wait, or ' walking about,
seeking whom they may devour ' ; using fraud or force, secret
wiles or open violence, to destroy those who are not of the
world ; continually warring against our souls, and, by old or
new weapons, and devices of every kind, labouring to bring
them back into the snare of the devil, into the broad road that
leadeth to destruction.

11. ' We have had our ' whole ' conversation,' in such a
world, ' in simplicity and godly sincerity.' First, in simpli-
city : this is what our Lord recommends under the name of
a ' single eye.' ' The light of the body,' saith He, is ' the
eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall
be full of light.' The meaning whereof is this : What the
eye is to the body, that the intention is to all the words and
actions : if, therefore, this eye of thy soul be single, all thy
actions and conversation shall be ' full of light,' of the light
of heaven, of love, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

We are then simple of heart, when the eye of our mind is
singly fixed on God ; when in all things we aim at God alone,
as our God, our portion, our strength, our happiness, our ex-
ceeding great reward, our all, in time and eternity. This is
simplicity ; when a steady view, a single intention of pro-
moting His glory, of doing and suffering His blessed will, runs

11. Compare Sermon CXVIII, On
a Single Eye, written in 1789. As
we have said above, the better-sup-
ported reading is ' holiness ' ; but
I am not sure that ' simplicity ' is
not to be preferred. The words
AnAOTHTI and AIT0THTI might
easily be confused ; and the ten-
dency would be to substitute the
more familiar AniOTHTI for the less
common AnAOTHTI. The latter
word has the support of DEFGL and
the old Syriac and Latin versions ;

and I have a growing conviction
that these so-called Western read-
ings are often right. It certainly
suits the context much better. It
means literally ' simplicity,' the
absence of complication in the
motives, a single and straightforward
purpose. The passage in Matthew
(vi. 22) is not quite relevant here ; a
' single eye ' there means a sound,
healthy eye, as opposed to an ' evil
eye,' a diseased eye.

230 Sermon XI

through our whole soul, fills all our heart, and is the constant
spring of all our thoughts, desires, and purposes.

12. ' We have had our conversation in the world,' secondly,
in ' godly sincerity.' The difference between simplicity and
sincerity seems to be chiefly this : simplicity regards the in-
tention itself, sincerity the execution of it ; and this sincerity
relates not barely to our words, but to our whole conversation,
as described above. It is not here to be understood in that
narrow sense, wherein St. Paul himself sometimes uses it,
for speaking the truth, or abstaining from guile, from craft,
and dissimulation ; but in a more extensive meaning, as
actually hitting the mark, which we aim at by simplicity.
Accordingly, it implies in this place, that we do, in fact,
speak and do all to the glory of God ; that all our words are
not only pointed at this, but actually conducive thereto ;
that all our actions flow on in an even stream, uniformly
subservient to this great end ; and that in our whole lives,
we are moving straight toward God, and that continually ;
walking steadily on in the highway of holiness, in the paths
of justice, merc\, and truth.

13. This sincerity is termed by the Apostle, godly sin-
cerity, or the sincerity of God ; elXL/cpiveta Qeov ; to prevent
our mistaking or confounding it with the sincerity of the
Heathens (for they had also a kind of sincerity among them,
for which they professed no small veneration) ; likewise to
denote the object and end of this, as of every Christian
virtue, seeing whatever does not ultimately tend to God,

12. The word translated ' sin- God or man. The repetition ' sim-
cerity ' appears to mean by deriva- plicity and sincerity ' is for the sake
tion 'tested by the sunlight,' and of emphasis, both words having
so perfectly pure. T. H. Green trans- much the same meaning. By divorc-
lates it in this passage ' perfect open- ing his text from its context, Wesley
ness towards God.' The distinction was led into a fanciful exegesis ;
drawn by Wesley cannot be main- much as was the case in The Almost
tained. What St. Paul means is Christian sermon,
that in all his transactions at Corinth, 13. This is all imaginary; St.
his conscience testifies that he was Paul had no thought of distinguish-
absolutely straightforward, that his ing between Christian and heathen
alleged motives were his real motives, sincerity in this passage,
that he had nothing to conceal from

The Witness of oar own Spirit 231

sinks among ' the beggarly elements of the world.' By
styling it the sincerity of God, he also points out the Author
of it, the ' Father of lights, from whom every good and
perfect gift descendeth ' ; which is still more clearly declared
in the following words, ' Not with fleshly wisdom, but by the
grace of God.'

14. ' Not with fleshly wisdom ' : as if he had said, ' We
cannot thus converse in the world, by any natural strength of
understanding, neither by any naturally acquired knowledge
or wisdom. We cannot gain this simplicity, or practise this
sincerity, by the force either of good sense, good nature, or
good breeding. It overshoots all our native courage and
resolution, as well as all our precepts of philosophy. The
power of custom is not able to train us up to this, nor the
most exquisite rules of human education. Neither could I
Paul ever attain hereto, nowithstanding all the advantages
I enjoyed, so long as I was in the flesh, in my natural state, and
pursued it only by fleshly, natural wisdom.'

And yet surely, if any man could, Paul himself might
have attained thereto by that wisdom : for we can hardly
conceive any who was more highly favoured with all the gifts
both of nature and education. Besides his natural abilities,
probably not inferior to those of any person then upon the
earth, he had all the benefits of learning, studying at the
University of Tarsus, afterwards brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel, a person of the greatest account, both for knowledge
and integrity, that was then in the whole Jewish nation.

14. Tarsus was the seat of a tutor of Marcellus, and Nestor the
university of considerable reputa- Stoic, the tutor of Tiberius. But it
tion. Strabo (xiv. 4) says: 'So is very doubtful whether the young
great is the zeal of the inhabitants Saul, a Pharisee ' after the straitest
for philosophy and all other encyclic sect of our religion,' would have
training, that they have surpassed been allowed to attend the lectures
even Athens and Alexandria, and in a Gentile University. Dr. Find-
every other place one could mention lay, in his article on ' Paul ' in
in which philological and philosophi- Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, will
cal schools have arisen.' It pro only say that ' he could not but re-
duced such scholars as Athenodorus ceive intellectual stimulus, if only
the Stoic, the tutor of Octavius by way of aversion, from such a
Caesar, Nestor the Academician, the theatre of mental activity.' He

232 Sermon XI

And he had all the possible advantages of religious education,
being a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, trained up in the
very straitest sect or profession, distinguished from all others
by a more eminent strictness. And herein he had ' profited
above many ' others, ' who were his equals ' in years, ' being
more abundantly zealous ' of whatever he thought would
please God, and ' as touching the righteousness of the law,
blameless.' But it could not be, that he should hereby
attain this simplicity and godly sincerity. It was all but lost
labour ; in a deep, piercing sense of which he was at length
constrained to cry out, ' The things which were gain to me,
those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord ' (Phil. iii. 7, 8).

15. It could not be that ever he should attain to this, but
by the ' excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ ' our Lord ; or
' by the grace of God ' — another expression of nearly the
same import. By ' the grace of God ' is sometimes to be
understood that free love, that unmerited mercy, by which
I a sinner, through the merits of Christ, am now reconciled
to God. But in this place it rather means that power of God
the Holy Ghost, which ' worketh in us both to will and to do
of His good pleasure.' As soon as ever the grace of God in
the former sense, His pardoning love, is manifested to our
souls, the grace of God in the latter sense, the power of
His Spirit, takes place therein. And now we can perform,
through God, what to man was impossible. Now we can
order our conversation aright. We can do all things in the
light and power of that love, through Christ which strength-
ened us. We now have ' the testimony of our conscience,'

thinks, however, that after his He was an open-minded, liberal man,

return from his studies at Jerusalem and showed a sympathy for Greek

under Gamaliel, who encouraged learning and literature which was

Greek learning, he probably ' used rare amongst the Rabbis of his time,

the facilities afforded by his native All this is rather beside the mark,

city for studying the Gentile thought All that St. Paul means is that in

of the day.' Gamaliel the elder was his proceedings at Corinth he was

the grandson of the famous Hillel, not actuated by motives of mere

and a member of the Sanhedrin. human prudence and self-seeking.

I***

The Witness of our own Spirit 233

which we could never have by fleshly wisdom, ' that in
simplicity and godly sincerity we have our conversation in
the world.'

16. This is properly the ground of a Christian's joy. We
may now therefore readily conceive, how he that hath this
testimony in himself rejoiceth evermore. ' My soul,' may he
say, ' doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God
my Saviour.' I rejoice in Him, who, of His own unmerited
love, of His own free and tender mercy, ' hath called me into
this state of salvation,' wherein, through His power, I now
stand. I rejoice, because His Spirit beareth witness to my
spirit, that I am bought with the blood of the Lamb ; and
that, believing in Him, ' I am a member of Christ, a child of
God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.' I rejoice,
because the sense of God's love to me hath, by the same
Spirit, wrought in me to love Him, and to love for His sake
every child of man, every soul that He hath made. I rejoice,
because He gives me to feel in myself ' the mind that was in
Christ ' : simplicity, a single eye to Him in every motion of
my heart ; power always to fix the loving eye of my soul on
Him who ' loved me, and gave Himself for me ' ; to aim at
Him alone, at His glorious will, in all I think, or speak, or
do : purity, desiring nothing more but God ; ' crucifying
the flesh with its affections and lusts ' ; ' setting my affections
on things above, not on things of the earth ' : holiness, a
recovery of the image of God, a renewal of soul ' after His
likeness ' : and godly sincerity, directing all my words and
works, so as to conduce to His glory. In this I likewise
rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, because my conscience beareth
me witness in the Holy Ghost, by the light He continually
pours in upon it, that I ' walk worthy of the vocation where-
with I am called ' ; that I ' abstain from all appearance of
evil,' fleeing from sin as from the face of a serpent ; that as

16. The word used in the text evil.' This is an unfortunate and

does not mean ' joy,' but rather misleading translation. The Greek

' glorying, confident assertion.' All word is eI5os, corresponding to the

that Wesley says is true ; but it has Latin ' species ' ; and the papyri abun-

little or nothing to do with his text. dantly show that it means ' class,

' Abstain from all appearance of sort, kind.'

234 Sermon XI

I have opportunity I do all possible good, in every kind, to all
men ; that I follow my Lord in all my steps, and do what is
acceptable in His sight. I rejoice, because I both see and feel,
through the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, that all my
works are wrought in Him, yea, and that it is He who worketh
all my works in me. I rejoice in seeing through the light of
God, which shines in my heart, that I have power to walk in
His ways ; and that, through His grace, I turn not therefrom,
to the right hand or to the left.

17. Such is the ground and the nature of that joy whereby
an adult Christian rejoiceth evermore. And from all this we
may easily infer, first, that this is not a natural joy. It does
not arise from any natural cause : not from any sudden flow
of spirits. This may give a transient start of joy ; but the
Christian rejoiceth always. It cannot be owing to bodily health
or ease ; to strength and soundness of constitution : for it
is equally strong in sickness and pain ; yea, perhaps far stronger
than before. Many Christians have never experienced any
joy, to be compared with that which then filled their soul,
when the body was wellnigh worn out with pain, or consumed
away with pining sickness. Least of all can it be ascribed to
outward prosperity, to the favour of men, or plenty of worldly
goods ; for then, chiefly, when their faith has been tried as with
fire, by all manner of outward afflictions, have the children of
God rejoiced in Him, whom unseen they loved, even with joy
unspeakable. And never surely did men rejoice like those
who were used as ' the filth and offscouring of the world ' ;
who wandered to and fro, being in want of all things ; in
hunger, in cold, in nakedness ; who had trials, not only of

17. ' An adult Christian ' — an im- soul. From that time the believer
portant qualification. The New gradually dies to sin and grows in
Testament distinguishes between grace. Yet sin remains in him ; yea,
' babes in Christ,' ' young men,' and the seed of all sin, till he is sanctified
' full-grown men, even those who by throughout in spirit, soul, and body.'
reason of use have their senses exer- See the note at the end of this
cised to discern good and evil.' In sermon in the 1771 edition : ' The
Minutes, 1745, it is stated that in- preceding discourse describes the ex-
ward sanctification begins ' in the perience of those that are strong in
moment we are justified. The seed faith.' The word 'adult' was in-
of every virtue is then sown in the serted in the edition of 1771.

The Witness of our own Spirit 235

' cruel mockings,' but, ' moreover of bonds and imprison-
ments ' ; yea, who, at last, ' counted not their lives dear unto
themselves, so they might finish their course with joy.'

18. From the preceding considerations, we may, secondly,
infer, that the joy of a Christian does not arise from any blind-
ness of conscience, from his not being able to discern good
from evil. So far from it, that he was an utter stranger to
this joy, till the eyes of his understanding were opened ; that
he knew it not, until he had spiritual senses, fitted to discern
spiritual good and evil. And now the eye of his soul waxeth
not dim : he was never so sharp-sighted before : he has so
quick a perception of the smallest things, as is quite amazing
to the natural man. As a mote is visible in the sunbeam, so
to him who is walking in the light, in the beams of the uncreated
Sun, every mote of sin is visible. Nor does he close the eyes
of his conscience any more : that sleep is departed from him.
His soul is always broad awake : no more slumber or folding
of the hands to rest ! He is always standing on the tower, and
hearkening what his Lord will say concerning him ; and always
rejoicing in this very thing, in ' seeing Him that is invisible.'

19. Neither does the joy of a Christian arise, thirdly, from
any dullness or callousness of conscience. A kind of joy, it
is true, may arise from this, in those whose ' foolish hearts are
darkened ' ; whose heart is callous, unfeeling, dull of sense,
and consequently, without spiritual understanding. Because
of their senseless, unfeeling hearts, they may rejoice even in
committing sin ; and this they may probably call liberty ! —
which is indeed mere drunkenness of soul, a fatal numbness of
spirit, the stupid insensibility of a seared conscience. On the
contrary, a Christian has the most exquisite sensibility ; such
as he could not have conceived before. He never had such a

19. ' Liberty.' Wesley is thinking The quotation is the tenth verse

of the Antinomians, like Roger Ball, of the hymn in Hymns and Sacred

Mr. Green, William Cudworth, and Poems, 1742, entitled ' Watch in

Stephen Timmins, who were causing all Things ' (2 Tim. iv. 5). It be-

him a great deal of trouble about gins ' Jesu, my Saviour, Brother,

this time ; putting ' gospel heads on Friend,' and is divided in the Metho-

bodies ready to indulge every unholy dist Hymn-Book into Hymns 445

temper.' and 446.

236 Sermon XI

tenderness of conscience as he has had since the love of God
has reigned in his heart. And this also is his glory and joy, that
God hath heard his daily prayer :

O that my tender soul might fly

The first abhorr'd approach of ill ;
Quick as the apple of an eye,

The slightest touch of sin to feel.

20. To conclude. Christian joy is joy in obedience ; joy in
loving God, and keeping His commandments : and yet not
in keeping them as if we were thereby to fulfil the terms of the
covenant of works ; as if by any works or righteousness of ours
we were to procure pardon and acceptance with God. Not
so : we are already pardoned and accepted through the mercy
of God in Christ Jesus. Not as if we were by our own obedi-
ence to procure life, life from the death of sin : this also we
have already through the grace of God. Us ' hath He quick-
ened, who were dead in sins ' ; and now we are ' alive to God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.' But we rejoice in walking
according to the covenant of grace, in holy love and happy
obedience. We rejoice in knowing that, ' being justified
through His grace,' we have ' not received that grace of God in
vain ' ; that God having freely (not for the sake of our willing
or running, but through the blood of the Lamb) reconciled us
to Himself, we run, in the strength which He hath given us,
the way of His commandments. He hath ' girded us with
strength unto the war,' and we gladly ' fight the good fight of
faith.' We rejoice, through Him who liveth in our hearts by
faith, to ■ lay hold of eternal life.' This is our rejoicing, that
as our ' Father worketh hitherto,' so (not by our own might
or wisdom, but through the power of His Spirit, freely given in
Christ Jesus) we also work the works of God. And may He
work in us whatsoever is well-pleasing in His sight ! To
whom be the praise for ever and ever !

In the edition of 1771 Wesley adds anote here : ' It may easily be observed
that the preceding discourse describes the experience of those that are strong
in faith ; but hereby those that are weak in faith may be discouraged ; to
prevent which, the following discourse may be of use ' — i.e. Sermon XLVI,
on Sin in Believers.

SERMON XII
THE MEANS OF GRACE

This fine sermon was written as an antidote to the infection of ' still-
ness ' which came upon the Societies in 1739. In the preface to the
second part of the Journal Wesley says, ' About September 1739, while
my brother and I were absent, certain men crept in among them
unawares, greatly troubling and subverting their souls.' They taught
that the members would never get a clean heart ' till you leave off
using the means of grace, so called ; till you leave off running to
church and sacrament, and praying, and singing, and reading either
the Bible or any other book ; for you cannot use these things without
trusting in them.' The chief agent in this movement was Philip
Henry Molther, a Moravian missionary, who arrived in London on
October 18, 1739, and at once joined the Fetter Lane Society. On
December 31 Wesley had a long conversation with him, and set down
the summary of his views ; he taught, inter alia, that the way to faith
is to wait on Christ and be still ; that is, not to use the means of
grace ; not to go to church ; not to communicate ; not to fast ; not
to use so much private prayer ; not to read the Scripture ; because
it is impossible for a man to use them without trusting in them.
Spangenberg came to London about the same time and joined with
Molther ; and between them they converted to their ' stillness '
several of the Methodists, including Brown, Bowers, George Bell,
John Bray, and John Simpson. Even Charles Wesley was affected,
and on January 22, 1741, he stopped preaching and said he intended
to preach no more. The fit only lasted about three weeks ; but it
occasioned John much anxiety. Gambold, Westley Hall, and Ben-
jamin Ingham embraced the same error.

John Wesley at once attacked this mischievous form of Mysticism.
On November 15, 1739, ' I exhorted four or five thousand people at
Bristol neither to neglect nor rest in the means of grace ' ; and on
the 19th ' I exhorted the society to wait upon God in all His ordin-
ances.' This was doubtless substantially the present sermon. He
took up the several points in detail in his expositions to the society
at Fetter Lane in June 1740, speaking on the 24th on ' Why are ye
yet subject to ordinances ? ' on the 25th on ' All scripture is given

237

238 Sermon XII

by inspiration of God ' ; on the 26th on ' Search the Scriptures ' ;
and on the 27th and 28th on the Lord's Supper. The result was
that he and his followers left the Fetter Lane Society on July 20, and
met at the Foundery on the 23rd ; so providentially shaking off the
Moravian connexion, which would have been a great obstacle to
Wesley's work.

It must be remembered that the sermon was addressed to those
who were seeking the Lord, and had not yet received the witness of
the Spirit ; it was these whom the Moravians exhorted to ' stillness,'
not the assured believers. The only point that may be said to be
still open to discussion is whether unconverted men, who are seeking
salvation, should be admitted to the Lord's Supper ; as we shall
see, Wesley strongly held that they should be encouraged to com-
municate, and should take every opportunity of doing so.

The whole of the fourth part of the Journal, which was published
in 1744, should be read in this connexion ; and the two hymns by
Charles Wesley which are appended to it. The first, on The Means of
Grace, beginning ' Long have I seemed to serve Thee, Lord,' was
first published in Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740 {Collected Works, i.
233). Fifteen of its twenty- three verses were in the 1876 Hymn-Book
as Hymns 91 and 92. The second was republished in Hymns and
Sacred Poems (1749), 95, ' The Bloody Issue Cured ' {Collected Works,
iv. 251). Both emphasize the teaching of the sermon — that the means
of grace are necessary, but that the sinner must not trust in them
but in Christ.

As to the text, I have only found one reference to it ; on June 22,
1 741, Wesley allowed his Bible to open casually, and it opened at
Mai. iii., which he forthwith proceeded to expound. But many texts
would equally fit the sermon, and I imagine it was preached very
often in substance in the years 1739-46.

Ye are gone away from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them.

— Mal. iii. 7.

I. i. But are there any ordinances now, since life and
immortality were brought to light by the gospel ? Are there,
under the Christian dispensation, any means ordained of God,
as the usual channels of His grace ? This question could
never have been proposed in the apostolical church, unless by
one who openly avowed himself to be a Heathen ; the whole
body of Christians being agreed, that Christ had ordained
certain outward means, for conveying His grace into the souls
of men. Their constant practice set this beyond all dispute ;

The Means of Grace 239

for so long as ' all that believed were together, and had all things
common ' (Acts ii. 44), ' they continued steadfastly in the
teaching of the Apostles, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers ' (verse 42).

2. But in process of time, when ' the love of many waxed
cold,' some began to mistake the means for the end, and to
place religion, rather in doing those outward works, than in a
heart renewed after the image of God. They forgot that ' the
end of ' every ' commandment is love, out of a pure heart,' with
' faith unfeigned ' : the loving the Lord their God with all
their heart, and their neighbour as themselves : and the being
purified from pride, anger, and evil desire, by a ' faith of the
operation of God.' Others seemed to imagine, that though
religion did not principally consist in these outward means, yet
there was something in them wherewith God was well pleased ;
something that would still make them acceptable in His sight,
though they were not exact in the weightier matters of the law,
in justice, mercy, and the love of God.

3. It is evident, in those who abused them thus, they did
not conduce to the end for which they were ordained : rather,
the things which should have been for their health, were to
them an occasion of falling. They were so far from receiving
any blessing therein, that they only drew down a curse upon
their head ; so far from growing more heavenly in heart and
life, that they were twofold more the children of hell than
before. Others, clearly perceiving that these means did not
convey the grace of God to those children of the devil, began,
from this particular case, to draw a general conclusion, — that
they were not means of conveying the grace of God.

4. Yet the number of those who abused the ordinances of
God was far greater than of those who despised them, till
certain men arose, not only of great understanding (sometimes

I. Par. 1. Wesley might have out — ' in the breaking of the bread,'

made even more of the passage he i.e. the Lord's Supper, ' and in the

quotes,' it runs, 'And they con- prayers,' i.e. the common worship,
tinued steadfastly in the teaching of 4. The reference is to the Mystics

the apostles, and in the fellowship ' of the ancient Church — such as the

—curious that the founder of the hermits St. Antony and St. Macarius ;

class-meeting should have left this the Latins St. Ambrose and St. Bene-

240

Sermon XII

joined with considerable learning), but who likewise appeared
to be men of love, experimentally acquainted with true, inward
religion. Some of these were burning and shining lights,
persons famous in their generations, and such as had well
deserved of the Church of Christ, for standing in the gap against
the overflowings of ungodliness.

It cannot be supposed, that these holy and venerable men
intended any more, at first, than to show that outward religion
is nothing worth, without the religion of the heart ; that ' God
is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth ' ; that, therefore, external worship is lost

diet, the pseudo-Dionysius, St. Gre-
gory the Great ; the mediaevals Master
Eckhart, Jean Gerson, St. Theresa
and her disciple St. John of the
Cross ; Thomas a Kempis and John
Tauler ; and later still, Molinos and
Madame Guyon. These all taught
that the highest form of Christian
experience was the ecstatic rapture
and vision of God attained by ' pure '
prayer and contemplation, all out-
ward helps being as far as possible
discarded. Wesley made acquaint-
ance with them at Oxford, and
studied them further whilst he was
in Georgia, and he was at first
greatly drawn to their teaching.
On March 4, 1736, he read the Lives
of Tauler and Boehm, the latter of
whom especially attracted him. Writ-
ing in 1773 to Miss Bishop, he says,
' There are excellent things in most
of the Mystic writers. As almost all
of them lived in the Romish Church,
they were lights whom the gracious
providence of God raised up to shine
in a dark place. But they did not
give a clear, a steady, or a uniform
light. . . . Madam Guyon was a good
woman, and is a fine writer, but very
far from judicious. Her writings
will lead any one who is fond of
them into unscriptural Quietism.'
But he had little patience with the

developments of Mysticism in the
works of Jacob Behmen, the later
writings of William Law, and Thomas
Hartley's Paradise Restored. Writ-
ing to the last of these in 1764, he
says, ' I cannot but bewail your
vehement attachment to the Mystic
writers ; with whom I conversed
much for several years, and whom
I then admired, perhaps more than
you do now. But I found at length
an absolute necessity of giving up
either them or the Bible.' In his
Journal, February 5, 1764, he says
of the Mystics, ' They slight not only
works of piety, the ordinances of
God, but even works of mercy.' In
his letter to William Law in 1756 he
quotes him as saying, ' Seek for help
no other way, neither from men nor
books ; but wholly leave yourself to
God ' ; and remarks, ' How can a
man " leave himself wholly to God,"
in the total neglect of His ordin-
ances ? The old Bible way is to
" leave ourselves wholly to God " in
the constant use of all the means He
hath ordained.' On the same grounds
he objected to Quakerism, because
it set aside ordination and the
sacraments, and taught that all
worship other than that to which a
man is directly moved by the Spirit
is abominable idolatry.

The Means of Grace 241

labour, without a heart devoted to God ; that the outward
ordinances of God then profit much, when they advance in-
ward holiness ; but, when they advance it not, are unprofitable
and void, are lighter than vanity ; yea, that when they are
used, as it were, in the place of this, they are an utter abomina-
tion to the Lord.

5. Yet it is not strange, if some of these, being strongly
convinced of that horrid profanation of the ordinances of God,
which had spread itself over the whole Church, and wellnigh
driven true religion out of the world, in their fervent zeal for
the glory of God, and the recovery of souls from that fatal
delusion, spake as if outward religion were absolutely nothing,
as if it had no place in the religion of Christ. It is not surprising
at all, if they should not always have expressed themselves
with sufficient caution ; so that unwary hearers might believe
they condemned all outward means, as altogether unprofitable,
and as not designed of God to be the ordinary channels of
conveying His grace into the souls of men.

Nay, it is not impossible, some of these holy men did, at
length, themselves fall into this opinion : in particular those
who, not by choice, but by the providence of God, were cut off
from all these ordinances ; perhaps wandering up and down,
having no certain abiding-place, or dwelling in dens and caves
of the earth. These, experiencing the grace of God in them-
selves, though they were deprived of all outward means, might
infer that the same grace would be given to them who of set
purpose abstained from them.

6. And experience shows how easily this notion spreads,
and insinuates itself into the minds of men ; especially of those
who are thoroughly awakened out of the sleep of death, and
begin to feel the weight of their sins a burden too heavy to be
borne. These are usually impatient of their present state ;
and, trying every way to escape from it, they are always ready
to catch at any new thing, any new proposal of ease or happi-
ness. They have probably tried most outward means, and
found no ease in them : it may be, more and more of remorse,
and fear, and sorrow, and condemnation. It is easy, therefore,
to persuade these that it is better for them to abstain from all

W.S.S. I — 16

242 Sermon XII

those means. They are already weary of striving (as it seems)
in vain, of labouring in the fire ; and are therefore glad of any
pretence to cast aside that wherein their soul has no pleasure,
to give over the painful strife, and sink down into an indolent
inactivity.

II. i. In the following discourse, I propose to examine at
large whether there are any means of grace.

By ' means of grace,' I understand outward signs, words, or
actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the
ordinary channels whereby He might convey to men, pre-
venting, justifying, or sanctifying grace.

I use this expression, ' means of grace,' because I know
none better ; and because it has been generally used in the
Christian Church for many ages — in particular by our own
Church, which directs us to bless God both for the means of
grace, and hope of glory ; and teaches us, that a sacrament is
' an outward sign of inward grace, and a means whereby we
receive the same.'

The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret or
with the great congregation ; searching the Scriptures (which
implies reading, hearing, and meditating thereon) ; and re-
ceiving the Lord's supper, eating bread and drinking wine in
remembrance of Him ; and these we believe to be ordained of
God, as the ordinary channels of conveying His grace to the
souls of men.

II. i. ' Preventing,' i.e. preveni- Baptism is naturally omitted in

ent, going before conversion. this list, because practically all

' Means of grace ' ; the old ecclesi- those of whom Wesley was thinking

astical phrase is 'media gratiae.' The had already been baptized in in-

quotations are from the General fancy. Considering the large part

Thanksgiving, which was composed which singing played both in his

by Bishop Reynolds and first appears private devotions and his public

in the Prayer-Book of 1662 ; and services (see index to Standard

from the Catechism, where the edition of the Journal, s.v.), it is sur-

definition in full is ' An outward and prising that he does not mention

visible sign of an inward and spiritual praise as one of the means of grace ;

grace given unto us, ordained by but no doubt he included it under

Christ Himself, as a means whereby prayer. The omission of Christian

we receive the same, and a pledge fellowship is less easy to understand
to assure us thereof.'

The Means of Grace 243

2. But we allow, that the whole value of the means depends
on their actual subservience to the end of religion ; that, con-
sequently, all these means, when separate from the end, are
less than nothing and vanity ; that if they do not actually
conduce to the knowledge and love of God, they are not
acceptable in His sight ; yea, rather, they are an abomination
before Him, a stink in His nostrils ; He is weary to bear them.
Above all, if they are used as a kind of commutation for the
religion they were designed to subserve, it is not easy to find
words for the enormous folly and wickedness of thus turning
God's arms against Himself ; of keeping Christianity out of
the heart by those very means which were ordained for the
bringing it in.

3. We allow, likewise, that all outward means whatever,
if separate from the Spirit of God, cannot profit at all, cannot
conduce, in any degree, either to the knowledge or love of
God. Without controversy, the help that is done upon earth,
He doeth it Himself. It is He alone who, by His own almighty
power, worketh in us what is pleasing in His sight ; and all
outward things, unless He work in them and by them, are
mere weak and beggarly elements. Whosoever, therefore,
imagines there is any intrinsic power in any means whatsoever,
does greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power
of God. We know that there is no inherent power in the
words that are spoken in prayer, in the letter of Scripture read,
the sound thereof heard, or the bread and wine received in
the Lord's supper ; but that it is God alone who is the Giver
of every good gift, the Author of all grace ; that the whole
power is of Him, whereby, through any of these, there is any
blessing conveyed to our souls. We know, likewise, that He
is able to give the same grace, though there were no means on
the face of the earth. In this sense, we may affirm, that, with
regard to God, there is no such thing as means ; seeing He is
equally able to work whatsoever pleaseth Him, by any, or by
none at all.

4. We allow farther, that the use of all means whatever
will never atone for one sin ; that it is the blood of Christ
alone, whereby any sinner can be reconciled to God ; there

244 Sermon XII

being no other propitiation for our sins, no other fountain for
sin and uncleanness. Every believer in Christ is deeply con-
vinced that there is no merit but in Him; that there is no
merit in any of his own works ; not in uttering the prayer, or
searching the Scripture, or hearing the Word of God, or eating
of that bread and drinking of that cup. So that if no more
be intended by the expression some have used, ' Christ is the
only means of grace/ than this, — that He is the only meritorious
cause of it, it cannot be gainsaid by any who know the grace
of God.

5. Yet once more : we allow, though it is a melancholy
truth, that a large proportion of those who are called Christians,
do to this day abuse the means of grace to the destruction of
their souls. This is doubtless the case with all those who rest
content in the form of godliness, without the power. Either
they fondly presume they are Christians already, because they
do thus and thus (although Christ was never yet revealed in
their hearts, nor the love of God shed abroad therein) ; or else
they suppose they shall infallibly be so, barely because they
use these means ; idly dreaming (though perhaps hardly
conscious thereof), either that there is some kind of power
therein, whereby, sooner or later (they know not when), they
shall certainly be made holy ; or that there is a sort of merit in
using them, which will surely move God to give them holiness,
or accept them without it.

6. So little do they understand that great foundation of
the whole Christian building, ' By grace are ye saved ' : ye
are saved from your sins, from the guilt and power thereof,
ye are restored to the favour and image of God, not for any
works, merits, or deservings of yours, but by the free grace,
the mere mercy of God, through the merits of His well-beloved
Son : ye are thus saved, not by any power, wisdom, or strength,
which is in you, or in any other creature ; but merely through

4. 'Some have used.' On April 25, means of grace (particularly not to

1740, the two Wesleys interviewed communicate) ; . . . because they

Molther ; who amongst other things are not means of grace — there being

said, * That those who have not a no such thing as means of grace but

clean heart ought not to use the Christ only.'

The Means of Grace 245

the grace or power of the Holy Ghost, which worketh all in
all.

7. But the main question remains : ' We know this salvation
is the gift and the work of God ; but how (may one say who
is convinced he hath it not) may I attain thereto ? ' If you
say, ' Believe, and thou shalt be saved ! ' he answers, ' True ;
but how shall I believe ? ' You reply, ' Wait upon God.'
' Well ; but how am I to wait ? In the means of grace, or
out of them ? Am I to wait for the grace of God which
bringeth salvation, by using these means, or by laying them
aside ? '

8. It cannot possibly be conceived, that the Word of God
should give no direction in so important a point ; or, that the
Son of God, who came down from heaven for us men and for
our salvation, should have left us undetermined with regard to
a question wherein our salvation is so nearly concerned.

And, in fact, He hath not left us undetermined ; He hath
shown us the way wherein we should go. We have only to
consult the oracles of God ; to inquire what is written there ;
and, if we simply abide by their decision, there can no
possible doubt remain.

III. 1. According to this, according to the decision of holy
writ, all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the
means which He hath ordained ; in using, not in laying them
aside.

And, first, all who desire the grace of God are to wait for
it in the way of prayer. This is the express direction of our
Lord Himself. In His Sermon upon the Mount, after explain-
ing at large wherein religion consists, and describing the main
branches of it, He adds, ' Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek,
and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you :
for every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh
findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened ' (Matt.
vii. 7, 8). Here we are in the plainest manner directed to ask,
in order to, or as a means of, receiving ; to seek, in order to

8. The Nicene Creed says of our Lord, ' Who for us men and for our
salvation came down from heaven.'

246 Sermon XII

find, the grace of God, the pearl of great price ; and to knock,
to continue asking and seeking, if we would enter into His
kingdom.

2. That no doubt might remain, our Lord labours this
point in a more peculiar manner. He appeals to every man's
own heart : ' What man is there of you, who, if his son ask
bread, will he give him a stone ? or, if he ask a fish, will he
give him a serpent ? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven,' the Father of angels and men, the Father
of the spirits of all flesh, ' give good things to them that ask
Him ' ? (verses 9-1 1). Or, as He expresses Himself on another
occasion, including all good things in one, ' How much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask Him ? ' (Luke xi. 13). It should be particularly observed
here, that the persons directed to ask had not then received the
Holy Spirit : nevertheless our Lord directs them to use this
means, and promises that it should be effectual ; that upon
asking they should receive the Holy Spirit, from Him whose
mercy is over all His works.

3. The absolute necessity of using this means, if we would
receive any gift from God, yet farther appears from that
remarkable passage which immediately precedes these words :
' And He said unto them,' whom He had just been teaching
how to pray, ' Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go
unto him at midnight, and shall say unto him, Friend, lend
me three loaves : and he from within shall answer, Trouble me
not ; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he
will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because
of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he
needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given
you ' (Luke xi. 5, 7-9). ' Though he will not give him, because
he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and
give him as many as he needeth.' How could our blessed
Lord more plainly declare, that we may receive of God, by
this means, by importunately asking, what otherwise we
should not receive at all ?

4. ' He spake also another parable, to this end, that men

The Means of Grace 247

ought always to pray, and not to faint,' till through this
means they should receive of God whatsoever petition they
asked of Him : ' There was in a city a judge, which feared
not God, neither regarded man : and there was a widow in
that city ; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my
adversary. And he would not for a while ; but afterward he
said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man,
yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest
by her continual coming she weary me' (Luke xviii. 1-5).
The application of this our Lord Himself hath made : ' Hear
what the unjust judge saith ! ' Because she continues to ask,
because she will take no denial, therefore I will avenge her.
' And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and
night unto Him ? I tell you He will avenge them speedily,'
if they pray, and faint not.

5. A direction, equally full and express, to wait for the
blessings of God in private prayer, together with a positive
promise that, by this means, we shall obtain the request of our
lips, He hath given us in those well-known words : ' Enter
into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly ' (Matt. vi. 6).

6. If it be possible for any direction to be more clear, it is
that which God hath given us by the Apostle, with regard to
prayer of every kind, public or private, and the blessing
annexed thereto : ' If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally ' (if they ask ; otherwise
' ye have not, because ye ask not,' Jas. iv. 2), ' and upbraideth
not ; and it shall be given him ' (Jas. i. 5).

If it be objected, ' But this is no direction to unbelievers ;
to them who know not the pardoning grace of God : for the
Apostle adds, " But let him ask in faith " ; otherwise, " let
him not think that he shall receive anything of the Lord " ' :
I answer, The meaning of the word faith, in this place, is fixed
by the Apostle himself, as if it were on purpose to obviate this
objection, in the words immediately following : ' Let him

III. 6. The use of diaKplveo-Oai. in the N.T. and later Christian writ-
the sense of ' doubt ' is confined to ings ; but it naturally arises from

248

Sermon XII

ask in faith, nothing wavering,' nothing doubting, /j,r)Sev
Sta/cpivo/jievcx; : not doubting but God heareth his prayer,
and will fulfil the desire of his heart.

The gross, blasphemous absurdity of supposing faith, in
this place, to be taken in the full Christian meaning, appears
hence : it is supposing the Holy Ghost to direct a man who
knows he has not this faith (which is here termed wisdom), to
ask it of God, with a positive promise that ' it shall be given
him ' ; and then immediately to subjoin, that it shall not be
given him, unless he have it before he asks for it ! But who
can bear such a supposition ? From this scripture, therefore,
as well as those cited above, we must infer, that all who desire
the grace of God are to wait for it in the way of prayer.

7. Secondly. All who desire the grace of God are to wait
for it in searching the Scriptures.

Our Lord's direction, with regard to the use of this means,
is likewise plain and clear. ' Search the Scriptures,' saith
He to the unbelieving Jews, ' for they testify of Me ' (John v.
39). And for this very end did He direct them to search the
Scriptures, that they might believe in Him.

The objection, that ' this is not a command, but only an
assertion, that they did search the Scriptures,' is shamelessly
false. I desire those who urge it, to let us know how a com-
mand can be more clearly expressed, than in those terms,

the more literal meaning ' to make
a distinction.' It may mean either
to make a distinction in the objects
of prayer, as that one is legitimate
and another not ; or to make dis-
tinction, or to be divided, in one's
own mind, to be of divided soul (cf.
Jas. i. 8).

Certainly faith is here used in its
general sense, and not as equivalent
to saving faith ; but it is not quite
exact to say that wisdom here means
saving faith. It is true that to St.
James, as J. B. Mayor says, ' Wis-
dom is the principal thing, to which
he gives the same prominence as
St. Paul to faith, St. John to love,

St. Peter to hope ' ; but in this pas-
sage the context shows that the
wisdom to be asked for is that which
enables the Christian to understand
the use of trial. But Wesley need
not have been abusive ; it is hard to
see how this misinterpretation can
be described as ' blasphemous.'

7. ' Search the Scriptures.' Wes-
ley is himself too peremptory in his
condemnation of the alternative
rendering ' Ye search the Scriptures '
as shamelessly false. As every one
knows, the indicative second person
plural is identical in form with the
imperative ; so that the context
alone can decide which is intended.

Now, the point of the argument is just the words of the particular pas-

that the Jews search the scriptures sage he is considering without refer-

which really testify of Christ ; but ence to what precedes or follows ;

in spite of this they will not come and so often falls into error, as in

to Christ. They think that they this and the preceding case. His

have eternal life in the Scriptures ; warmth of denunciation of those

but it is only from Christ that they who do not agree with him he prob-

can have life. There was no need ably learned from the commentators

to exhort them to search the Scrip- on the classics, who abused their

tures ; they already did it with opponents with all the freedom and

meticulous care. Practically all the vigour of fish-wives ; and besides, he

modern commentators prefer the was feeling very indignant with the

indicative rendering ; and it is people who had made such trouble

adopted in the R.V. The outstand- with their Quietism in his societies,

ing weakness of Wesley as an 8. The alternative rendering, which

interpreter of the Scriptures is his is adopted by the R.V., ' Every

disregard of the context ; he takes scripture inspired of God is also

The Means of Grace 249

'Epeware ra<i ypa<j>d<;. It is as peremptory as so many words
can make it.

And what a blessing from God attends the use of this means,
appears from what is recorded concerning the Bereans : who,
after hearing St. Paul, ' searched the Scriptures daily, whether
those things were so. Therefore many of them believed,' —
found the grace of God, in the way which He had ordained
(Acts xvii. 11, 12).

It is probable, indeed, that in some of those who had 'received
the word with all readiness of mind,' ' faith came,' as the same
Apostle speaks, ' by hearing,' and was only confirmed by
reading the Scriptures : but it was observed above, that, under
the general term of searching the Scriptures, both hearing,
reading, and meditating are contained.

8. And that this is a means whereby God not only gives,
but also confirms and increases, true wisdom, we learn from
the words of St. Paul to Timothy : ' From a child thou hast
known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus ' (2 Tim.
iii. 15). The same truth (namely, that this is the great means
God has ordained for conveying His manifold grace to man)
is delivered, in the fullest manner that can be conceived, in the
words which immediately follow : ' All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God ' ; consequently, all Scripture is infallibly

250 Sermon XII

true ; ' and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness ' ; to the end ' that the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works '
(verses 16, 17).

9. It should be observed, that this is spoken primarily and
directly of the Scriptures which Timothy had known from a
child ; which must have been those of the Old Testament, for
the New was not then wrote. How far then was St. Paul
(though he was ' not a whit behind the very chief of the
Apostles,' nor, therefore, I presume, behind any man now
upon earth) from making light of the Old Testament!
Behold this, lest ye one day ' wonder and perish,' ye who
make so small account of one half of the oracles of God !
Yea, and that half of which the Holy Ghost expressly
declares, that it is ' profitable,' as a means ordained of God
for this very thing, ' for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness ' ; to the end, ' the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works.'

10. Nor is this profitable only for the men of God, for those
who walk already in the light of His countenance ; but also
for those who are yet in darkness, seeking Him whom they

profitable,' &c, does not affect the ' put no unnatural interpretation

argument of the paragraph, except upon it, but take the known phrases

as regards the interpolated paren- in their common obvious sense.'

thesis, ' Consequently, all scripture Moreover, he is not foolish enough

in infallibly true.' Wesley believed to suppose (as some of his followers

this in the strictest sense. In have done) that the A.V. is infallible.

Journal, August 24, 1776, he says, Indeed in Journal, September 14,

' If there be any mistakes in the 1785, he criticizes adversely the

Bible, there may as well be a thou- A.V. rendering of Ps. lxxiv. 12, and

sand. If there be one falsehood in adds, ' Many such emendations there

that Book, it did not come from the are in this translation ; one would

God of truth.' At the same time, he think King James had made them

allows the function of reason in the himself ! '

interpretation of the Bible. In Sermon 9. A seasonable observation. It
LXX, i. 6, he says, ' Is it not reason is often forgotten that all that is
(assisted by the Holy Ghost) which said in the New Testament in re-
enables us to understand what the gard to the authority and inspiration
Scriptures declare ? ' and in Sermon of the Scriptures refers to the Old
CXXXVI he directs that we must Testament only.

The Means of Grace 251

know not. Thus St. Peter : ' We have also a more sure word
of prophecy ' : literally, ' And we have the prophetic word
more sure ' : Kal exofiev fieftacorepov tov irpo^-qriKov \6yov '.
confirmed by our being ' eye-witnesses of His majesty,' and
' hearing the voice which came from the excellent glory,' ' unto
which ' — prophetic word ; so he styles the holy Scriptures —
' ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day-star arise in
your hearts ' (2 Pet. i. 19). Let all therefore who desire that
day to dawn upon their hearts, wait for it in searching the
Scriptures.

11. Thirdly. All who desire an increase of the grace of
God are to wait for it in partaking of the Lord's supper ; for
this also is a direction Himself hath given : ' The same night
in which He was betrayed He took bread, and brake it, and
said, Take, eat : this is My Body ' ; that is, the sacred sign of
My body : ' this do in remembrance of Me.' Likewise ' He
took the cup, saying, This cup is the new testament,' or cove-
nant, ' in My blood ' ; the sacred sign of that covenant : ' this
do ye in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this

10. This interpretation of the wrought at the Lord's Supper. Now,
passage in 2 Pet. i. 19 is adopted by one single instance of this kind
J. B. Mayor, in preference to Alf or d's, overthrows the whole assertion.'
that the prophetic word is a surer On the next day he showed at large
basis for faith than the transfigura- ' (1) That the Lord's Supper was
tion. ordained by God to be a means of

11. In Journal, June 27, 1740, conveying to men either preventing,
Wesley says : ' In latter times many or justifying, or sanctifying grace,
have affirmed that the Lord's Supper according to their several necessities,
is not a converting, but a confirming (2) That the persons for whom it
ordinance. And among us it has was ordained are all those who know
been diligently taught that none and feel that they want the grace
but those who are converted, who of God. (3) That there is no pre-
have received the Holy Ghost, who vious preparation indispensably
are believers in the full sense, ought necessary, but a desire to receive
to communicate. But experience whatever He pleases to give. And
shows the gross falsehood of that (4) That no fitness is required at the
assertion that the Lord's Supper is time of communicating, but a sense
not a converting ordinance. Ye are of our state, of our utter sinfulness
the witnesses. For many now pre- and helplessness.' These views he
sent know, the very beginning of defends in his Answer to Mr. Church,
your conversion to God . . . was iii. 3 (1744-5), and his letter to the

252 Sermon XII

bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death
till He come ' (1 Cor. xi. 23, &c.) : ye openly exhibit the same,
by these visible signs, before God, and angels, and men ; ye
manifest your solemn remembrance of His death, till He cometh
in the clouds of heaven.

Only ' let a man ' first ' examine himself,' whether he
understand the nature and design of this holy institution,
and whether he really desire to be himself made conformable
to the death of Christ ; and so, nothing doubting, ' let him eat
of that bread, and drink of that cup ' (verse 28).

Here, then, the direction first given by our Lord is expressly
repeated by the Apostle : ' Let him eat ; let him drink '
(eadiiro), TnveTco, both in the imperative mood) ; words not
implying a bare permission only, but a clear, explicit command ;
a command to all those who either already are filled with
peace and joy in believing, or can truly say, ' The remembrance
of our sins is grievous unto us, the burden of them is
intolerable.'

12. And that this is also an ordinary, stated means of
receiving the grace of God, is evident from those words of the
Apostle which occur in the preceding chapter : ' The cup of
blessing which we bless, is it not the communion,' or communi-

Bishop of London, i. 10, n (1747). quite in accord with Wesley's teach-
When, after Wesley's death, it had ing ; and the empowering of the
been decided, under the Plan of assistant, or minister, to admit any
Pacification of 1795, that the Lord's one whom he thinks fit, removes any
Supper could be administered by possible obstacle to an unconverted
Methodist preachers, if the majority but penitent person partaking of the
of the trustees and of the stewards Lord's Supper. Indeed, it is usual
and leaders desired it, it was re- for the minister to invite both
solved in 1796, ' No person shall be members of other churches and sin-
suffered to partake of the Lord's cere seekers after God to join in the
Supper among us, unless he be a observance of this Sacrament,
member of our society, or receive a The last line of the paragraph is
note of admission from the assist- appropriately quoted from the
ant,' and this was reaffirmed by the General Confession in the Order for
Conference of 1889. As any one Holy Communion ; in the Metho-
may become a member of the dist form of the service the conclud-
Methodist Church who has ' a desire ing words (' the burden of them is
to flee from the wrath to come, and intolerable ') are omitted,
be saved from his sins,' this rule is

The Means of Grace 253

cation, ' of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break,
is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? ' (1 Cor. x.
16). Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that
cup, the outward, visible means whereby God conveys into our
souls all that spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost, which were purchased by the body
of Christ once broken, and the blood of Christ once shed for
us ? Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God, eat
of that bread, and drink of that cup.

IV. 1. But as plainly as God hath pointed out the way
wherein He will be inquired after, innumerable are the objec-
tions which men, wise in their own eyes, have from time to
time raised against it. It may be needful to consider a few of
these ; not because they are of weight in themselves, but
because they have so often been used, especially of late years,
to turn the lame out of the way ; yea, to trouble and subvert
those who did run well, till Satan appeared as an angel of light.

The first and chief of these is, ' You cannot use these means
(as you call them) without trusting in them.' I pray, where is
this written ? I expect you should show me plain Scripture for
your assertion : otherwise I dare not receive it ; because I
am not convinced that you are wiser than God.

If it really had been as you assert, it is certain Christ must
have known it. And if He had known it, He would surely have
warned us ; He would have revealed it long ago. Therefore,
because He has not, because there is no tittle of this in the
whole revelation of Jesus Christ, I am as fully assured your
assertion is false, as that this revelation is of God.

' However, leave them off for a short time, to see whether
you trusted in them or no.' So I am to disobey God, in order

12. Wesley's interpretation is IV. i. 'Of late years': the

sound, as far as it goes ; but it omits reference is to Molther and his

what the context expressly empha- Quietist followers. See introduction

sizes, that in partaking of the bread above.

we enter into union, not only with ' Damnation ' : the Greek word

Christ, but with one another, by means ' condemnation,' not ' damna-

virtue of our common union with tion ' in the modern sense.
Him.

254 Sermon XII

to know whether I trust in obeying Him ! And do you avow
this advice ? Do you deliberately teach to ' do evil, that good
may come ' ? O tremble at the sentence of God against such
teachers ! Their ' damnation is just.'

' Nay, if you are troubled when you leave them off, it is
plain you trusted in them.' By no means. If I am troubled
when I wilfully disobey God, it is plain His Spirit is still striving
with me ; but if I am not troubled at wilful sin, it is plain I
am given up to a reprobate mind.

But what do you mean by ' trusting in them ' ? — looking
for the blessing of God therein ? believing, that if I wait in
this way, I shall attain what otherwise I should not ? So I
do. And so I will, God being my helper, even to my life's
end. By the grace of God, I will thus trust in them, till the
day of my death ; that is, I will believe, that whatever God
hath promised, He is faithful also to perform. And seeing He
hath promised to bless me in this way, I trust it shall be accord-
ing to His word.

2. It has been, secondly, objected, ' This is seeking salvation
by works.' Do you know the meaning of the expression you
use ? What is seeking salvation by works ? In the writings
of St. Paul, it means, either seeking to be saved by observing
the ritual works of the Mosaic law ; or expecting salvation
for the sake of our own works, by the merit of our own right-
eousness. But how is either of these implied in my waiting in
the way God has ordained, and expecting that He will meet me
there, because He has promised so to do ?

I do expect that He will fulfil His word, that He will meet
and bless me in this way. Yet not for the sake of any works
which I have done, nor for the merit of my righteousness ; but
merely through the merits, and sufferings, and love of His Son,
in whom He is always well pleased.

3. It has been vehemently objected, thirdly, ' that Christ
is the only means of grace.' I answer, This is mere playing
upon words. Explain your term, and the objection vanishes
away. When we say, ' Prayer is a means of grace,' we under-
stand a channel through which the grace of God is conveyed.
When you say, ' Christ is the means of grace,' you understand

The Means of Grace 255

the sole price and purchaser of it ; or, that ' no man cometh
unto the Father, but through Him.' And who denies it ? But
this is utterly wide of the question.

4. ' But does not the Scripture ' (it has been objected,
fourthly) ' direct us to wait for salvation ? Does not David
say, " My soul waiteth upon God ; for of Him cometh my
salvation " ? And does not Isaiah teach us the same thing
saying, " O Lord, we have waited for Thee " ? ' All this
cannot be denied. Seeing it is the gift of God, we are un-
doubtedly to wait on Him for salvation. But how shall we
wait ? If God Himself has appointed a way, can you find a
better way of waiting for Him ? But that He hath appointed
a way, hath been shown at large, and also what that way is.
The very words of the prophet which you cite, put this out of
all question. For the whole sentence runs thus : ' In the way
of Thy judgements,' or ordinances, ' 0 Lord, have we waited
for Thee ' (Isa. xxvi. 8). And in the very same way did
David wait, as his own words abundantly testify : ' I have
waited for Thy saving health, O Lord, and have kept Thy law.
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, and I shall keep
it unto the end.'

5. ' Yea,' say some, ' but God has appointed another way :
" Stand still, and see the salvation of God." '

Let us examine the Scriptures to which you refer. The
first of them, with the context, runs thus, —

' And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted
up their eyes ; and they were sore afraid. And they said unto
Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken
us away to die in the wilderness ? And Moses said unto the
people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the children
of Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and
stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it ; and the
children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of
the sea ' (Exod. xiv. 10, &c).

This was the salvation of God, which they stood still to see,
by marching forward with all their might !

The other passage, wherein this expression occurs, stands

256 Sermon XII

thus : ' There came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There
cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea.
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered
themselves together, to ask help of the Lord : even out of all
the cities they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood
in the congregation, in the house of the Lord. . . . Then upon
Jahaziel came the Spirit of the Lord. And he said, Be not
dismayed by reason of this great multitude. To-morrow go ye
down against them : ye shall not need to fight in this battle.
Set yourselves : stand ye still, and see the salvation of the
Lord. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth.
And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set
ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and
mount Seir ; . . . and every one helped to destroy another '
(2 Chron. xx. 2, &c).

Such was the salvation which the children of Judah saw.
But how does all this prove, that we ought not to wait for the
grace of God in the means which He hath ordained ?

6. I shall mention but one objection more, which, indeed,
does not properly belong to this head : nevertheless, because
it has been so frequently urged, I may not wholly pass it by.

' Does not St. Paul say, "If ye be dead with Christ, why
are ye subject to ordinances " ? (Col. ii. 20). Therefore, a
Christian, one that is dead with Christ, need not use the
ordinances any more.'

So you say, ' If I am a Christian, I am not subject to the
ordinances of Christ ' ! Surely, by the absurdity of this, you
must see at the first glance, that the ordinances here mentioned
cannot be the ordinances of Christ ; that they must needs be
the Jewish ordinances, to which it is certain a Christian is no
longer subject.

And the same undeniably appears from the words imme-
diately following, ' Touch not, taste not, handle not ' : all
evidently referring to the ancient ordinances of the Jewish
law.

So that this objection is the weakest of all. And, in spite
of all, that great truth must stand unshaken, — that all who

The Means of Grace 257

desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which
He hath ordained.

V. 1. But this being allowed, that all who desire the grace
of God are to wait for it in the means He hath ordained ; it
may still be inquired, how those means should be used, both as
to the order and the manner of using them.

With regard to the former, we may observe, there is a
kind of order, wherein God Himself is generally pleased to use
these means in bringing a sinner to salvation. A stupid,
senseless wretch is going on in his own way, not having God
in all his thoughts, when God comes upon him unawares,
perhaps by an awakening sermon or conversation, perhaps by
some awful providence, or, it may be, by an immediate stroke
of His convincing Spirit, without any outward means at all.
Having now a desire to flee from the wrath to come, he purposely
goes to hear how it may be done. If he finds a preacher who
speaks to the heart, he is amazed, and begins searching the
Scriptures, whether these things are so. The more he hears
and reads, the more convinced he is ; and the more he meditates
thereon day and night. Perhaps he finds some other book
which explains and enforces what he has heard and read in
Scripture. And by all these means, the arrows of conviction
sink deeper into his soul. He begins also to talk of the things of
God, which are ever uppermost in his thoughts ; yea, and to
talk with God; to pray to Him; although, through fear and
shame, he scarce knows what to say. But whether he can
speak or no, he cannot but pray, were it only in ' groans which
cannot be uttered.' Yet, being in doubt, whether ' the high
and lorty One that inhabiteth eternity ' will regard such a
sinner as him, he wants to pray with those who know God,
with the faithful, in the great congregation. But here he
observes others go up to the table of the Lord. He considers,
' Christ has said, " Do this ! " How is it that I do not ? I
am too great a sinner. I am not fit. I am not worthy.'
After struggling with these scruples awhile, he breaks through.
And thus he continues in God's way, in hearing, reading, medi-
tating, praying, and partaking of the Lord's supper, till God,
w.s.s. 1 — 17

258 Sermon XII

in the manner that pleases Him, speaks to his heart, ' Thy
faith hath saved thee. Go in peace.'

2. By observing this order of God, we may learn what
means to recommend to any particular soul. If any of these
will reach a stupid, careless sinner, it is probably hearing, or
conversation. To such, therefore, we might recommend these,
if he has ever any thought about salvation. To one who begins
to feel the weight of his sins, not only hearing the Word of
God, but reading it too, and perhaps other serious books, may
be a means of deeper conviction. May you not advise him
also to meditate on what he reads, that it may have its full
force upon his heart ? Yea, and to speak thereof, and not be
ashamed, particularly among those who walk in the same path.
When trouble and heaviness take hold upon him, should you
not then earnestly exhort him to pour out his soul before God ;

■ always to pray and not to faint ' ; and when he feels the
worthlessness of his own prayers, are you not to work together
with God, and remind him of going up into the house of the
Lord, and praying with all that fear Him ? But if he does
this, the dying word of his Lord will soon be brought to
his remembrance ; a plain intimation, that this is the time
when we should second the motions of the blessed Spirit.
And thus may we lead him, step by step, through all the
means which God has ordained ; not according to our own
will, but just as the providence and the Spirit of God go before
and open the way.

3. Yet, as we find no command in holy writ for any
particular order to be observed herein, so neither do the provi-
dence and the Spirit of God adhere to any without variation ;
but the means into which different men are led, and in which
they find the blessing of God, are varied, transposed, and com-
bined together, a thousand different ways. Yet still our wisdom
is to follow the leadings of His providence and His Spirit ; to
be guided herein (more especially as to the means wherein we
ourselves seek the grace of God), partly by His outward
providence, giving us the opportunity of using sometimes one
means, sometimes another, partly by our experience, which it
is whereby His free Spirit is pleased most to work in our heart.

The Means of Grace 259

And in the meantime, the sure and general rule for all who
groan for the salvation of God is this, — whenever opportunity
serves, use all the means which God has ordained ; for who
knows in which God will meet thee with the grace that bringeth
salvation ?

4. As to the manner of using them — whereon indeed it
wholly depends whether they shall convey any grace at all to
the user — it behoves us, first, always to retain a lively sense,
that God is above all means. Have a care, therefore, of limit-
ing the Almighty. He doeth whatsoever and whensoever it
pleaseth Him. He can convey His grace either in or out of
any of the means which He hath appointed. Perhaps He will.
' Who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been
His counsellor ? ' Look, then, every moment for His appear-
ing ! Be it at the hour you are employed in His ordinances ; "
or before, or after that hour ; or when you are hindered there-
from. He is not hindered ; He is always ready, always able,
always willing to save. ' It is the Lord : let Him do what
seemeth Him good ! '

Secondly. Before you use any means, let it be deeply im-
pressed on your soul, — there is no power in this. It is, in
itself, a poor, dead, empty thing : separate from God, it is a
dry leaf, a shadow. Neither is there any merit in my using
this ; nothing intrinsically pleasing to God ; nothing whereby
I deserve any favour at His hands, no, not a drop of water to
cool my tongue. But, because God bids, therefore I do; be-
cause He directs me to wait in this way, therefore here I wait
for His free mercy, whereof cometh my salvation.

Settle this in your heart, that the opus operatum, the mere
work done, profiteth nothing ; that there is no power to save
but in the Spirit of God, no merit but in the blood of Christ ;
that, consequently, even what God ordains, conveys no grace
to the soul, if you trust not in Him alone. On the other hand,
he that does truly trust in Him cannot fall short of the grace
of God, even though he were cut off from every outward ordi-
nance, though he were shut up in the centre of the earth.

Thirdly. In using all means, seek God alone. In and
through every outward thing, look singly to the power of His

260 Sermon XII

Spirit, and the merits of His Son. Beware you do not stick
in the work itself ; if you do, it is all lost labour. Nothing
short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, eye Him in all,
through all, and above all.

Remember also, to use all means as means ; as ordained, not
for their own sake, but in order to the renewal of your soul
in righteousness and true holiness. If, therefore, they actually
tend to this, well ; but, if not, they are dung and dross.

Lastly. After you have used any of these, take care how
you value yourself thereon ; how you congratulate yourself
as having done some great thing. This is turning all into
poison. Think, ' If God was not there, what does this avail ?
Have I not been adding sin to sin ? How long ? O Lord,
save, or I perish ! 0 lay not this sin to my charge ! ' If
God was there, if His love flowed into your heart, you have
forgot, as it were, the outward work. You see, you know,
you feel, God is all in all. Be abased. Sink down before
Him. Give Him all the praise. ' Let God in all things be
glorified through Christ Jesus.' Let all your bones cry out,
' My song shall be always of the lovingkindness of the Lord :
with my mouth will I ever be telling of Thy truth from one
generation to another ! '

4. The Canon of the Council of the mere administration of them,

Trent on this subject runs : ' Si quis quite apart from faith in the re-

dixerit per ipsa novae legis sacra- cipient, confers grace. The 25th

menta ex opere operato non conferri Article of the Church of England

gratiam sed solam fidem divinae affirms of the Sacraments, ' In such

promissionis ad gratiam consequen- only as worthily receive the same

dam sufficere, anathema sit,' i.e. ' If they have a wholesome effect or

any one shall affirm that grace is operation ' ; and Article XXIX

not conferred through the actual affirms, ' The wicked, and such as

sacraments of the New Law as the be void of a lively faith, although

result of their actual administration, they do carnally and visibly press

but that faith alone in the divine with their teeth (as Saint Augustine

promise is enough to obtain grace, saith) the Sacrament of the Body

let him be anathema.' In one sense and Blood of Christ, yet in no wise

this need not mean more than that are they partakers of Christ ; but

faith alone without the sacraments is rather, to their condemnation do

not sufficient ; but it has been more eat and drink the Sacrament of so

usually interpreted as teaching that great a thing.'

[Here ends the first volume of the Sermons]

SERMONS

O N

Several Occafions:

I N

THREE VOLUMES.

By
JOHN WESLEY, M. A.

Fellow of Lincoln-College , Oxford.

" I I ■ nil in mi _ ,

VOL. II.

LONDON:

Printed by W. Strahan: And fold by
T. Trye, near GrayVInn Gate, Holbcnjrn j
and at the Foundery, near Upper. Moorfields.
Mdccxlviii,

Facsit/iiU of Titte/age to First Edition

The volume (i2tno, pp. 312) contains twelve sermons,
Nos. XIII to XXIV. Second edition, Bristol : John Grab-
ham, no date. Identical with the first edition. A list of
' Books published by Mr. John and Charles Wesley ' fills
four pages at the end and contains eighty -four items.
Third edition, Bristol, Pine, 1769 / Fourth, Paramore,
1787 ; Fifth, 1797.

No Contents : no Index. The contents of the volume
are unchanged in all editions published during Wesley's
life, save that in the collected edition of his works pub-
lished in 1 771, the sermon on ' The Lord our Righteousness '
is inserted.

SERMON XIII
THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University,

on January i, 1733

As Wesley placed his sermon before the University on Salvation by
Faith first in his first volume, so he began the second with another
of his University sermons, preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, on January I,
1733. It may be well to recall that he became a student at Christ
Church in 1720 ; decided to take Orders, and was ordained deacon
in 1725, and began to study Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Holy
Dying, and Thomas a Kempis's De Imitatione Christi, with the result
that he resolved to ' give my heart, yea, all my heart, to God ' ; ' to
dedicate all my life to God, all my thoughts, and words, and actions ' ;
and this he proceeded to do with characteristic thoroughness. It is
not too much to speak of this as his first conversion ; though it was
not till May 24, 1738, that he received the consciousness that his sins
were forgiven, and the witness of the Spirit that he was a child of
God. But during the intervening years, though in his Georgia Journal
he says that he was not a Christian, his maturer reflection led him to
the more just conclusion that he was all this time a servant of God,
though he had not yet the faith of a son. His first sermon, of which
happily the MS. has been preserved, and was published in facsimile in
1903, was preached at South Leigh, a village near Witney, about ten
miles west of Oxford, on Matt. vi. 33. A photograph of the little church
may be seen in the Standard edition of the Journal, i. 63. On Wednes-
day, October 16, 1771, he says: ' I preached at South Leigh. Here it
was that I preached my first sermon six and forty years ago. One
man was in my present audience who heard it.' The earliest of his
published sermons (in the posthumous fifth series) was a funeral dis-
course on the death of young Robin Griffiths, preached at Broadway
(not, as is stated in the printed edition, at Epworth) on February 15,
1727. It was on 2 Sam. xii. 23, and is numbered CXXXV, and entitled
On Mourning for the Dead. In 1726 he was elected a Fellow of
Lincoln College, and in 1727 took his Master's degree ; and in this
same year he tells us, ' I read Mr. Law's Christian Perfection and
Serious Call, and more explicitly resolved to be all devoted to God,
in body, soul, and spirit.'

263

264 Sermon XIII

From August 1727 to November 1729 he was at Epworth and
Wroot, acting as his father's curate, and in 1728 was ordained priest
at Oxford by Bishop Potter. One sermon from this period has been
preserved on 2 Cor. ii. 17, and was published as No. CXXXVI in
the fifth (posthumous) series. In November 1729 he was summoned
back to Oxford by Dr. Morley, the Rector of Lincoln, and he con-
tinued in residence there until he went to Georgia in 1735. He found
that his brother Charles had gathered a few students round him at
Christ Church for the cultivation of the spiritual life, and he at once
became the head of this little society, which had already received
the nickname of ' Methodist ' from some University wag. It is not
necessary to describe again their devotion, their self-sacrifice, their strict
attention to all ecclesiastical rules, their diligent study of the Bible,
and above all their charity to the poor and their ministrations to the
prisoners in the jail. Their one guide was the Bible ; and it was in
1730 that John Wesley says he ' began to be homo unius libri, to
study (comparatively) no book but the Bible.' In 1732 he wrote a
sermon for his pupils On the Duty of Constant Communion, which
he afterwards published in the Arminian Magazine, 1787, p. 229,
and republished in the edition of the sermons in 1788, No. CI, with
this note : ' The following discourse was written about five and fifty
years ago, for the use of my pupils at Oxford. I have added very
little, but retrenched much ; as I then used more words than I do
now. But I thank God, I have not yet seen cause to alter my senti-
ments, in any point which is therein delivered.' In July 1732 he paid
a visit to William Law at Putney, and no doubt their intercourse
deepened the strong impression which Law's works had already pro-
duced upon him, and he began to study the Theologia Germanica and
other writings of the Mystics. Meantime, the Oxford Methodists had
come more and more into the public eye ; and in Fogg's Journal of
December 9, 1732, an abusive attack on them appeared, in which
they were charged with asceticism, voluntary affliction of their bodies,
fasting strictly twice a week, rising at four every morning, singing
hymns for two hours every day, and in short ' practising everything
contrary to the judgement of other persons.' The writer thinks their
motives are poverty, hypocrisy used as a veil for vice, enthusiasm,
madness, and superstitious scruples. It was immediately after this
ribald attack that Wesley was called upon to preach his first sermon
before the University on New Year's Day, 1733— the sermon now
under consideration. He thought well of it ; and in Journal, Sep-
tember 1, 1778, he says : ' I know not that I can write a better [sermon]
on the Circumcision of the Heart than I did five and forty years ago.
Perhaps, indeed, I may have read five or six hundred books more
than I had then, and may know a little more history or natural phil-
osophy than I did ; but I am not sensible that this has made any

The Circumcision of the Heart 265

essential addition to my knowledge in divinity. Forty years ago I
knew and preached every Christian doctrine which I preach now.'
It will be noted that this latter date only goes back to 1738, when
he first grasped the truth of conscious salvation by faith. In a letter
to a friend written in May 1765 he says : ' January i, 1733, I preached
the sermon on the Circumcision of the Heart, which contains all that
I now teach concerning salvation from all sin, and loving God with an
undivided heart. In the same year I printed (the first time I ventured
to print anything) for the use of my pupils, A Collection of Forms oj
Prayer, and in this I spoke explicitly of giving " the whole heart and
the whole life to God." This was then, as it is now, my idea of per-
fection, though I should have started at the word.'

The sermon was not published until it appeared in the second
volume of sermons in 1748 ; and in a footnote Wesley explains
that he has added to the sermon as originally preached the latter half
of i. 7, in which saving faith is defined as he came to understand it
in 1738. The influence of Jeremy Taylor and William Law is very
perceptible throughout, especially in the prominence given to humility,
which takes precedence even of the Pauline triad, faith, hope, and
love.

Wesley wrote in this same year a sermon on Eph. iv. 30, which was
published in the Arminian Magazine, 1798, p. 607, and included as
No. CXXXVIII in the fifth (posthumous) series. It is noteworthy
that both in this and the previous sermon the doctrine of the witness
of the Spirit is explicitly taught. To complete the record for this
period, he preached before the University on June 11, 1734, what
Charles calls his ' Jacobite sermon,' of which little seems to be known,
except that it was submitted to the Vice-Chancellor beforehand and
allowed by him. On Sunday, September 21, 1735, he preached before
the University on Job iii. 17, and at the request of several of the
hearers it was published the same year by C. Rivington — Wesley's
first published sermon. It appears as No. CXXVII in the fourth
(posthumous) series under the title of The Trouble and Rest of
Good Men ; and is remarkable for its statement that perfect holiness
is not found on earth, but that death shall destroy at once the whole
body of sin. The original edition is a fine bit of typography; quite
the best printed of any of Wesley's publications. It is mistakenly
given by Heylin as from Prov. iii. 17, under the title of The Pleasant-
ness of a Religious Life. Finally, we have Sermon CXLI, On the
Holy Spirit, from 2 Cor. iii. 17, the last in the fifth (posthumous)
series, which is said in the heading to have been preached at St. Mary's,
Oxford, on Whit Sunday, 1736. Wesley was in Frederica on that
date (June 13, 1736), meeting the first society in America; he reckons
this day as the second birthday of Methodism. So either the editor
of the sermon was mistaken in his date, or the sermon was read at

266 Sermon XIII

Oxford by Wesley's substitute — which is quite possible. On internal
evidence the sermon may well have been written by him before he
left England.

Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter. —

Rom. ii. 29.

i. It is the melancholy remark of an excellent man, that he
who now preaches the most essential duties of Christianity runs
the hazard of being esteemed, by a great part of his hearers,
' a setter forth of new doctrines.' Most men have so lived
away the substance of that religion, the profession whereof
they still retain, that no sooner are any of those truths pro-
posed which difference the Spirit of Christ from the spirit
of the world, than they cry out, ' Thou bringest strange
things to our ears ; we would know what these things mean ' :
though he is only preaching to them ' Jesus and the resur-
rection,' with the necessary consequence of it, — If Christ be
risen, ye ought then to die unto the world, and to live wholly
unto God.

Par. 1. Wesley has a very tan- every one.' Not to multiply quota-
talizing habit of quoting authorities tions, I will only add Lecky's sum-
in this vague way. Who was this mary of the matter in England in
' excellent man ' ? Samuel Wesley, the Eighteenth Century, I. i. p. 84 :
senior ? or William Law, with whom ' The more doctrinal aspects of re-
Wesley had had conversations at ligion were softened down, or suffered
his home in Putney a few months silently to recede, and, before the
before this ? Non liquet ! But his eighteenth century had much ad-
statement can be abundantly con- vanced, sermons had very generally
firmed. Bishop Butler, writing in become mere moral essays, charac-
the Analogy (Preface, section 2) terized chiefly by a cold good sense,
three years after this, says : ' It is and appealing almost exclusively to
come ... to be taken for granted, prudential motives. ... It was only
by many persons, that Christianity towards the close of the century that
is not so much as a subject of in- the influence of the Methodist move-
quiry ; but that it is, now at length, ment, extending gradually through
discovered to be fictitious. And the Established Church, introduced
accordingly they treat it, as if . . . a more emotional, and at the same
nothing remained, but to set it up as time a more dogmatic, type of preach-
a principal subject of mirth and ridi- ing.' Dr. Townsend's chapter on
cule.' In his charge to the clergy ' The Time and Conditions * (New
of Durham in 1751 he laments 'the History of Methodism, Book I. i.)
general decay of religion in this should be consulted,
nation, which is now observed by

The Circumcision of the Heart 267

2. A hard saying this to the natural man, who is alive
unto the world, and dead unto God ; and one that he will
not readily be persuaded to receive as the truth of God, unless
it be so qualified in the interpretation, as to have neither use
nor significancy left. He ' receiveth not the ' words ' of the
Spirit of God,' taken in their plain and obvious meaning ;
' they are foolishness unto him : neither ' indeed ' can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned ' : they are
perceivable only by that spiritual sense, which in him was
never yet awakened ; for want of which he must reject, as idle
fancies of men, what are both the wisdom and the power
of God.

3. That ' circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter ' — that the distinguishing mark of a true
follower of Christ, of one who is in a state of acceptance with
God, is not either outward circumcision, or baptism, or any
other outward form, but a right state of soul, a mind and spirit
renewed after the image of Him that created it — is one of
those important truths that can only be spiritually discerned.
And this the Apostle himself intimates in the next words :
' Whose praise is not of men, but of God.' As if he had
said, ' Expect not, whoever thou art, who thus followest thy
great Master, that the world, the men who follow Him not,
will say, " Well done, good and faithful servant ! " Know
that the circumcision of the heart, the seal of thy calling, is fool-
ishness with the world. Be content to wait for thy applause
till the day of thy Lord's appearing. In that day shalt thou
have praise of God, in the great assembly of men and angels.'

I design, first, particularly to inquire, wherein this circum-
cision of the heart consists; and, secondly, to mention some
reflections that naturally arise from such an inquiry.

I. 1. I am, first, to inquire, wherein that circumcision of
the heart consists, which will receive the praise of God. In
general we may observe, it is that habitual disposition of soul
which, in the sacred writings, is termed holiness ; and which
directly implies, the being cleansed from sin, ' from all filthi-
ness both of flesh and spirit ' ; and, by consequence, the being

268 Sermon XIII

endued with those virtues which were also in Christ Jesus ;
the being so ' renewed in the spirit of our mind/ as to be
' perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.'

2. To be more particular : circumcision of heart implies
humility, faith, hope, and charity. Humility, a right judge-
ment of ourselves, cleanses our minds from those high con-
ceits of our own perfections, from that undue opinion of our
own abilities and attainments, which are the genuine fruit of
a corrupted nature. This entirely cuts off that vain thought,
' I am rich, and wise, and have need of nothing ' ; and con-
vinces us that we are by nature ' wretched, and poor, and
miserable, and blind, and naked,' It convinces us, that in
our best estate we are, of ourselves, all sin and vanity ; that
confusion, and ignorance, and error reign over our understand-
ing ; that unreasonable, earthly, sensual, devilish passions usurp
authority over our will ; in a word, that there is no whole part
in our soul, that all the foundations of our nature are out of
course.

3. At the same time we are convinced, that we are not
sufficient of ourselves to help ourselves ; that, without the
Spirit of God, we can do nothing but add sin to sin ; that it
is He alone who worketh in us by His almighty power, either
to will or do that which is good ; it being as impossible for us
even to think a good thought, without the supernatural assist-
ance of His Spirit, as to create ourselves, or to renew our whole
souls in righteousness and true holiness.

4. A sure effect of our having formed this right judgement
of the sinfulness and helplessness of our nature, is a disregard
of that ' honour which cometh of man,' which is usually paid
to some supposed excellency in us. He who knows himself,
neither desires nor values the applause which he knows he
deserves not. It is therefore ' a very small thing with him, to
be judged by man's judgement.' He has all reason to think,

I. 2. ' Conceits,' i.e., conceptions, Graces. Indeed, this section of the

ideas — the original meaning of the sermon is based almost entirely on

word. chapter xvi of the Serious Call,

The influence of Law is clearly dis- which should be consulted by the

cernible in the position given to student,
humility as the first of the Christian

The Circumcision of the Heart 269

by comparing what it has said, either for or against him, with
what he feels in his own breast, that the world, as well as the
god of this world, was ' a liar from the beginning.' And even
as to those who are not of the world ; though he would choose,
if it were the will of God, that they should account of him as
of one desirous to be found a faithful steward of his Lord's
goods, if haply this might be a means of enabling him to be of
more use to his fellow servants, yet as this is the one end of his
wishing for their approbation, so he does not at all rest upon
it : for he is assured, that whatever God wills, he can never
want instruments to perform ; since He is able, even of these
stones, to raise up servants to do His pleasure.

5. This is that lowliness of mind, which they have learned
of Christ, who follow His example and tread in His steps. And
this knowledge of their disease, whereby they are more and more
cleansed from one part of it, pride and vanity, disposes
them to embrace, with a willing mind, the second thing implied
in circumcision of the heart, — that faith which alone is able to
make them whole, which is the one medicine given under
heaven to heal their sickness.

6. The best guide of the blind, the surest light of them
that are in darkness, the most perfect instructor of the foolish,
is faith. But it must be such a faith as is ' mighty through
God, to the pulling down of strongholds ' — to the overturning
all the prejudices of corrupt reason, all the false maxims
revered among men, all evil customs and habits, all that
' wisdom of the world which is foolishness with God ' ; as
' casteth down imaginations,' reasonings, ' and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ.'

7. ' All things are possible to him that ' thus ' believeth.'
'The eyes of his understanding being enlightened,' he sees
what is his calling ; even to glorify God, who hath bought
him with so high a price, in his body and in his spirit, which

7. The second part of this para- edition of the sermon in Vol. II of
graph (' but likewise ... the forgive- the sermons (1748) ; and it should
ness of sins ') was added in the be compared with the testimony

270

Sermon XIII

now are God's by redemption, as well as by creation. He
feels what is ' the exceeding greatness of His power,' who,
as He raised up Christ from the dead, so is able to quicken
us, dead in sin, ' by His Spirit which dwelleth in us.' ' This
is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith ' ;
that faith, which is not only an unshaken assent to all that
God hath revealed in Scripture — and in particular to those
important truths, ' Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners,' ' He bare our sins in His own body on the tree,'
' He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world,' — but likewise the
revelation of Christ in our hearts ; a divine evidence or con-
viction of His love, His free, unmerited love to me a sinner ; a
sure confidence in His pardoning mercy, wrought in us by the
Holy Ghost ; a confidence, whereby every true believer is
enabled to bear witness, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth,' that

given in the Journal, May 24, 1 738 :
' I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ
alone lor salvation ; and an assur-
ance was given me that He had
taken away my sins, even mine, and
saved me from the law of sin and
death.' Compare also the definition
in Sermon V, iv. 2 : ' Justifying faith
implies not only a divine evidence
or conviction that " God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto
Himself " ; but a sure trust and
confidence that Christ died for my
sins, that He loved me, and gave
Himself for me.' He had not found
this in Law ; and he wrote a letter
to him on May 14, 1738, in which he
says, ' For two years (more especi-
ally) I have been preaching after the
model of your two practical trea-
tises ; and all that heard have
allowed that the law is great, won-
derful, and holy. But no sooner
did they attempt to fulfil it, but
they found that it is too high for
man ; and that by doing " the
works of the law shall no flesh living

be justified." ' He goes on to com-
plain bitterly that Law had never
advised him to trust in Christ for
salvation ; and he explains this by
the supposition that Law had never
had justifying faith himself ; and
that this is the reason of his ' ex-
treme roughness, and morose and
sour behaviour.' The tone of the
letter is most unfortunate, considering
how much Wesley owed to the older
man ; and the patience and humility
of Law's answer ought to have
made his critic ashamed of himself,
though his answer to it gives no
sign of regret or apology. The
whole correspondence may be read
in Appendix XXVI to the Standard
edition of the Journal. Wesley's
tone is regrettable, indeed indefen-
sible ; but the substance of his
criticism is right : Law's books are
admirably calculated to convince
the sinner and to stimulate the be-
liever ; but they do not show the
way of salvation.

The Circumcision of the Heart 271

I have an ' Advocate with the Father,' and that ' Jesus Christ
the righteous ' is my Lord, and ' the propitiation for my sins '
— I know He hath ' loved me, and given Himself for me ' —
He hath reconciled me, even me, to God ; and I ' have redemp-
tion through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.'

8. Such a faith as this cannot fail to show evidently the
power of Him that inspires it, by delivering His children from
the yoke of sin, and ' purging their consciences from dead
works ' ; by strengthening them so, that they are no longer
constrained to obey sin in the desires thereof ; but instead of
' yielding their members unto it, as instruments of unrighteous-
ness,' they now ' yield themselves ' entirely ' unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead.'

9. Those who are thus by faith born of God have also strong
consolation through hope. This is the next thing which the
circumcision of the heart implies ; even the testimony of their
own spirit with the Spirit which witnesses in their hearts
that they are the children of God. Indeed it is the same
Spirit who works in them that clear and cheerful confidence
that their heart is upright toward God ; that good assurance,
that they now do, through His grace, the things which are
acceptable in His sight ; that they are now in the path which
leadeth to life, and shall, by the mercy of God, endure therein
to the end. It is He who giveth them a lively expectation of
receiving all good things at God's hand ; a joyous prospect of
that crown of glory which is reserved in heaven for them. By
this anchor a Christian is kept steady in the midst of the waves
of this troublesome world, and preserved from striking upon
either of those fatal rocks, — presumption or despair. He is
neither discouraged by the misconceived severity of his Lord,
nor does he ' despise the riches of His goodness.' He neither
apprehends the difficulties of the race set before him to be
greater than he has strength to conquer, nor expects them to
be so little as to yield in the conquest till he has put forth all
his strength. The experience he already has in the Christian
warfare, as it assures him his ' labour is not in vain,' if what-
ever his hand findeth to do, he doeth it with his might ' ; so
it forbids his entertaining so vain a thought, as that he can

272 Sermon XIII

otherwise gain any advantage ; as that any virtue can be
shown, any praise attained, by faint hearts and feeble hands ;
or, indeed, by any but those who pursue the same course with
the great Apostle of the Gentiles : 'I,' says he, ' so run, not
as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air :
but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection ; lest,
by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should
be a castaway.'

10. By the same discipline is every good soldier of Christ to
inure himself to endure hardship. Confirmed and strengthened
by this, he will be able not only to renounce the works of dark-
ness, but every appetite too, and every affection, which is not
subject to the law of God. For ' every one,' saith St. John,
' who hath this hope, purifieth himself even as He is pure.' It
is his daily care, by the grace of God in Christ, and through
the blood of the covenant, to purge the inmost recesses of his
soul from the lusts that before possessed and defiled it ; from
uncleanness, and envy, and malice, and wrath ; from every
passion and temper that is after the flesh, that either springs
from or cherishes his native corruption : as well knowing, that
he whose very body is the temple of God, ought to admit into
it nothing common or unclean ; and that holiness becometh
that house for ever, where the Spirit of holiness vouchsafes to
dwell.

11. Yet lackest thou one thing, whosoever thou art, that
to a deep humility, and a steadfast faith, hast joined a lively
hope, and thereby in a good measure cleansed thy heart from
its inbred pollution. If thou wilt be perfect, add to all these,
charity ; add love, and thou hast the circumcision of the heart.
' Love is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment.'
Very excellent things are spoken of love ; it is the essence, the
spirit, the life of all virtue. It is not only the first and great
command, but it is all the commandments in one. ' Whatso-
ever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are amiable,' or honourable ; ' if there be any virtue,

9. The A.V. of 1 Cor. ix. 27 is very blue) ' my body, and treat it as a
inadequate. The words mean 'I bond-slave.' The figure of the prize-
buffet ' (or bruise, beat black and fight in the previous verse is kept up.

The Circumcision of the Heart 273

if there be any praise,' they are all comprised in this one word,
— love. In this is perfection, and glory, and happiness. The
royal law of heaven and earth is this, ' Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength.'

12. Not that this forbids us to love anything besides God :
it implies that we love our brother also. Nor yet does it forbid
us (as some have strangely imagined) to take pleasure in any-
thing but God. To suppose this, is to suppose the Fountain
of holiness is directly the author of sin ; since He has insepar-
ably annexed pleasure to the use of those creatures which are
necessary to sustain the life He has given us. This, therefore,
can never be the meaning of His command. What the real
sense of it is, both our blessed Lord and His Apostles tell us
too frequently, and too plainly, to be misunderstood. They
all with one mouth bear witness, that the true meaning of those
several declarations, ' The Lord thy God is one Lord ' ; ' Thou
shalt have no other gods but Me ' ; ' Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy strength ' ; ' Thou shalt cleave unto
Him ' ; ' The desire of thy soul shall be to His name,' is no
other than this : The one perfect Good shall be your one ultimate
end. One thing shall ye desire for its own sake, — the fruition
of Him that is All in all. One happiness shall ye propose to
your souls, even an union with Him that made them ; the
having ' fellowship with the Father and the Son ' ; the being
joined to the Lord in one Spirit. One design you are to pursue
to the end of time, — the enjoyment of God in time and in
eternity. Desire other things, so far as they tend to this.
Love the creature, as it leads to the Creator. But in every
step you take, be this the glorious point that terminates your
view. Let every affection, and thought, and word, and work,

12. This is Wesley's answer to the and diversions are disapproved of ;

charge in Fogg's Journal which had and, in endeavouring to avoid luxury,

appeared in the previous month they not only exclude what is con-

against the Oxford Methodists : venient, but what is absolutely

' They avoid, as much as possible, necessary for the support of life ;

every object that may affect them fancying (as is thought) that religion

with any pleasant or grateful sen- was designed to contradict nature.'
sations. All social entertainments
w.s.s. 1 — 18

274 Sermon XIII

be subordinate to this. Whatever ye desire or fear, whatever
ye seek or shun, whatever ye think, speak or do, be it in order
to your happiness in God, the sole End, as well as Source, of
your being.

13. Have no end, no ultimate end, but God. Thus our
Lord : ' One thing is needful ' ; and if thine eye be singly
fixed on this one thing, ' thy whole body shall be full of light.'
Thus St. Paul : ' This one thing I do ; I press toward the mark,
for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.' Thus St.
James : ' Cleanse your hands, ye sinners ; and purify your
hearts, ye double-minded.' Thus St. John : ' Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.' The
seeking happiness in what gratifies either the desire of the
flesh, by agreeably striking upon the outward senses ; the
desire of the eye, of the imagination, by its novelty, greatness,
or beauty ; or the pride of life, whether by pomp, grandeur,
power, or, the usual consequence of them, applause and admira-
tion,— ' is not of the Father,' cometh not from, neither is
approved by, the Father of spirits : ' but of the world ' ; it is
the distinguishing mark of those who will not have Him to
reign over them.

II. 1. Thus have I particularly inquired, what that circum-
cision of heart is, which will obtain the praise of God. I am,
in the second place, to mention some reflections that naturally
arise from such an inquiry, as a plain rule whereby every man
may judge of himself, whether he be of the world or of God.

And, first, it is clear from what has been said, that no man
has a title to the praise of God, unless his heart is circumcised
by humility ; unless he is little, and base, and vile in his own
eyes ; unless he is deeply convinced of that inbred ' corruption
of his nature,' ' whereby he is very far gone from original
righteousness,' being prone to all evil, averse to all good,

II. 1. Article IX of the Church of nature of every man . . . whereby man
England runs : ' Original sin ... is is very far gone from original right -
the fault and corruption of the eousness.'

The Circumcision of the Heart 275

corrupt and abominable ; having a ' carnal mind which is
enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, nor
indeed can be ' ; unless he continually feels in his inmost soul,
that without the Spirit of God resting upon him, he can neither
think, nor desire, nor speak, nor act anything good, or well-
pleasing in His sight.

No man, I say, has a title to the praise of God, till he feels
his want of God ; nor indeed, till he seeketh that ' honour
which cometh of God ' only ; and neither desires nor pursues
that which cometh of man, unless so far only as it tends to
this.

2. Another truth, which naturally follows from what has
been said, is, that none shall obtain the honour that cometh
of God, unless his heart be circumcised by faith ; even a ' faith
of the operation of God ' ; unless, refusing to be any longer
led by his senses, appetites, or passions, or even by that blind
leader of the blind, so idolized by the world, natural reason,
he lives and walks by faith ; directs every step, as ' seeing
Him that is invisible ' ; ' looks not at the things that are
seen, which are temporal, but at the things that are not seen,
which are eternal ' ; and governs all his desires, designs, and
thoughts, all his actions and conversations, as one who is
entered in within the veil, where Jesus sits at the right hand
of God.

3. It were to be wished, that they were better acquainted
with this faith who employ much of their time and pains in
laying another foundation ; in grounding religion on the
eternal fitness of things, on the intrinsic excellence of virtue,
and the beauty of actions flowing from it ; on the reasons, as
they term them, of good and evil, and the relations, of beings
to each other. Either these accounts of the grounds of Chris-
tian duty coincide with the scriptural, or not. If they do,

3. This criticism of ethical phil- there prescribed as right, and others

osophy is unreasonable. The foun- condemned as wrong. Christianity

dation of Christian ethics is faith in is a reasonable religion ; and right

Christ, and its rules are to be found actions are not right because they

in the Scriptures ; but that does not are prescribed in the Bible ; they

in any way forbid us to inquire into are prescribed in the Bible because

the reason why certain actions are they are right. Wesley is aiming

276 Sermon XIII

why are well-meaning men perplexed, and drawn from the
weightier matters of the law, by a cloud of terms, whereby
the easiest truths are explained into obscurity ? If they are
not, then it behoves them to consider who is the author of
this new doctrine ; whether he is likely to be an angel from
heaven, who preacheth another gospel than that of Christ
Jesus ; though, if he were, God, not we, hath pronounced
his sentence : ' Let him be accursed.'

4. Our gospel, as it knows no other foundation of good
works than faith, or of faith than Christ, so it clearly informs
us, we are not His disciples while we either deny Him to be the
Author, or His Spirit to be the Inspirer and Perfecter, both of
our faith and works. ' If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his.' He alone can quicken those who
are dead unto God, can breathe into them the breath of Chris-
tian life, and so prevent, accompany, and follow them with
His grace, as to bring their good desires to good effect. And,
' as many as are thus led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God.' This is God's short and plain account of true
religion and virtue ; and ' other foundation can no man lay.'

5. From what has been said, we may, thirdly, learn, that
none is truly ' led by the Spirit,' unless that ' Spirit bear
witness with his spirit, that he is a child of God ' ; unless he
see the prize and the crown before him, and ' rejoice in hope of
the glory of God.' So greatly have they erred who have taught

especially at Samuel Clarke, who in punishments are necessary as the

his Boyle Lectures, published in sanctions of virtue. We find the

1705, maintained that ' from the same impatience of philosophical

necessary and eternal different rela- inquiry into ethical questions in

tions that different things bear to Sermon XI, 3.

one another result fitness and unfit- 5. It is curious to find this un-

ness of the application of different equivocal statement of the necessity

things or different relations one to for the witness of the Spirit at this

another ' ; and that this intuitively date.

discerned fitness is the foundation of The reference in the next sentence

the principles of morality. Hence is to Cudworth and the Cambridge

he held that a rational creature, as Platonists, who taught that man

such, must act in conformity with ought to aim at the realization of

its cognition of moral truth ; but absolute good for its own sake,

mankind having become unnatur- without any regard for its conse-

ally corrupted, future rewards and quences.

The Circumcision of the Heart 277

that, in serving God, we ought not to have a view to our own
happiness ! Nay, but we are often and expressly taught of
God, to have ' respect unto the recompense of reward ' ; to
balance the toil with the ' joy set before us,' these ' light
afflictions ' with that ' exceeding weight of glory.' Yea, we
are ' aliens to the covenant of promise,' we are ' without God
in the world,' until God, ' of His abundant mercy, hath begotten
us again unto a living hope of the inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away.'

6. But if these things are so, it is high time for those persons
to deal faithfully with their own souls, who are so far from
finding in themselves this joyful assurance that they fulfil
the terms, and shall obtain the promises, of that covenant,
as to quarrel with the covenant itself, and blaspheme the
terms of it ; to complain, they are too severe ; and that no
man ever did or shall live up to them. What is this but to
reproach God, as if He were an hard Master, requiring of His
servants more than He enables them to perform ? — as if He had
mocked the helpless works of His hands, by binding them to im-
possibilities ; by commanding them to overcome, where neither
their own strength nor His grace was sufficient for them ?

7. These blasphemers might almost persuade those to imagine
themselves guiltless, who, in the contrary extreme, hope to
fulfil the commands of God without taking any pains at all.
Vain hope ! that a child of Adam should ever expect to see
the kingdom of Christ and of God without striving, without
agonizing, first ' to enter in at the strait gate ' ; that one who
was ' conceived and born in sin,' and whose ' inward parts are
very wickedness,' should once entertain a thought of being
' purified as his Lord is pure,' unless he tread in His steps, and
'take up his cross daily,' unless he ' cut off his right hand,
and ' pluck out the right eye, and cast it from him ' ; that he
should ever dream of shaking off his old opinions, passions,

7. This paragraph seems to teach it was his view at this time, and he

that it is possible for a man to attain exemplified it in his practice. He

entire sanctification by his own was still seeking salvation by the

effort and self-denial. This Wesley works of the law.
afterwards strenuously denied ; but

278 Sermon XIII

tempers, of being ' sanctified throughout in spirit, soul, and
body,' without a constant and continued course of general self-
denial !

8. What less than this can we possibly infer from the
above-cited words of St. Paul, who, living ' in infirmities, in
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses ' for
Christ's sake ; who, being full of ' signs and wonders, and mighty
deeds,' who, having been ' caught up into the third heaven,' —
yet reckoned, as a late author strongly expresses it, that
all his virtues would be insecure, and even his salvation in
danger, without this constant self-denial ? ' So run I,' says he,
' not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air ' :
by which he plainly teaches us, that he who does not thus run,
who does not thus deny himself daily, does run uncertainly,
and fighteth to as little purpose as he that ' beateth the air.'

9. To as little purpose does he talk of ' fighting the fight of
faith,' as vainly hope to attain the crown of incorruption (as
we may, lastly, infer from the preceding observations), whose
heart is not circumcised by love. Love, cutting off both the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life —
engaging the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, in the ardent
pursuit of that one object — is so essential to a child of God,
that without it, whosoever liveth is counted dead before Him.
' Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not love, I am as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so

8. This whole paragraph is taken (i.e. by the translation ' charity ')
almost verbally from Law's Chris- ' and imagine that the charity treated
tian Perfection, vii. p. 246 (edition of in this chapter refers chiefly, if
of 1726). 'A late author' only not wholly, to outward actions, and
means an author who has lately to mean little more than almsgiving.'
published his work ; Law was, of But he is wrong in saying that the
course, still alive. rendering ' charity ' is not found till

9. Wesley anticipates most modern 1649. It was Wyclif's translation,
translators in preferring ' love ' to and reappears in the Rheims New
' charity ' in 1 Cor. xiii. He defends Testament (1582) and in the A.V.
this translation in Sermon XCI, On (1611). Tindal, Cranmer, Coverdale,
Charity, I. 1, on the ground that and the Geneva Bible have 'love';
' Thousands are misled thereby ' and are followed by the R.V.

The Circumcision of the Heart

279

as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.'
Nay, ' though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and my
body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.'
10. Here, then, is the sum of the perfect law ; this is the
true circumcision of the heart. Let the spirit return to God
that gave it, with the whole train of its affections. ' Unto the
place from whence all the rivers came,' thither let them flow
again. Other sacrifices from us He would not ; but the living
sacrifice of the heart He hath chosen. Let it be continually
offered up to God through Christ, in flames of holy love. And
let no creature be suffered to share with Him : for He is a
jealous God. His throne will He not divide with another : He
will reign without a rival. Be no design, no desire admitted
there, but what has Him for its ultimate object. This is the
way wherein those children of God once walked, who, being
dead, still speak to us : ' Desire not to live but to praise His
name : let all your thoughts, words, and works tend to His
glory. Set your heart firm on Him, and on other things only
as they are in and from Him. Let your soul be filled with so
entire a love of Him that you may love nothing but for His
sake.' ' Have a pure intention of heart, a steadfast regard to
His glory in all your actions.' ' Fix your eye upon the blessed
hope of your calling, and make all the things of the world
minister unto it.' For then, and not till then, is that ' mind
in us which was also in Christ Jesus ' ; when, in every motion
of our heart, in every word of our tongue, in every work of our
hands, we ' pursue nothing but in relation to Him, and in
subordination to His pleasure ' ; when we, too, neither think,
nor speak, nor act, to fulfil our ' own will, but the will of Him
that sent us ' ; when, whether we ' eat, or drink, or whatever
we do, we do all to the glory of God.'

10. 'Those children of God,' i.e. the
Mystic writers, many of whom Wesley
had studied. Leger, in La Jeunesse
de Wesley, p. 184, gives a list of those
who were ' his favourite Masters ' :
Clement of Alexandria, Chrysostom,
Macarius, Taylor, John Smith, Cud-
worth, Worthington, Henry More.

Richard Lucas, John Norris, Herbert,
Scougal, A. H. Francke, Boehm, Cas-
taniza, Francis de Sales, De Renty,
Retz, D'Olier, and Vincent de Paul;
he curiously omits Thomas a Kempis.
I have not identified the several
quotations, but in substance they can
be found in almost all these authors.

SERMON XIV
THE MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH

Wesley gave a series of expositions of the earlier chapters of St. John's
Gospel to the London societies in March and April 1741, this par-
ticular passage being entered as the subject for Friday, April 3. It
is entered as the text of a sermon on January 2, 1743, when he preached
from it at Epworth at 5 a.m. It was repeated at Evesham in the
evening of January 12. It appears in the sermon list about seven
times from 1750 to 1757. His favourite text on the New Birth was
the previous verse (Sermon No. XXXIX, q.v.).

The text is unfortunately chosen for this sermon. The context
is entirely disregarded and the passage taken merely as a motto.
The ' so ' obviously refers to the previous clause of the verse ; and
the meaning is that the processes of the new birth are as mysterious
and inexplicable as the blowing of the wind. The treatment of the
subject is analogous to that of the last sermon — The Circumcision of
the Heart — faith, hope, and love being the marks of the new birth ;
and the section on Love owes a good deal to chap, xx of Law's Serious
Call. It is related to the following sermon much as No. XI (The
Witness of our own Spirit) is related to No. XLVI (Sin in Believers).
The first sets out the ideal of the Christian life ; the second makes the
qualifications which practical experience shows to be necessary.

The teaching of the first paragraph on Baptismal Regeneration
requires a fuller consideration than a footnote would permit. The
Article (XXVII), Of Baptism, is not explicit. It states that baptism
is not only a sign of profession, but also a sign of regeneration or new
birth ; and that thereby ' the promises of the forgiveness of sin
and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost are
visibly signed and sealed ' ; but it does not definitely say that the
baptized infant is regenerated. The Office for Baptism is, however,
much more definite ; prayer is offered, ' Give Thy Holy Spirit to this
infant, that he may be born again, and be made an heir of everlasting
salvation ' ; and after the administration of the sacrament, the priest
shall say, ' Seeing that this child is regenerate and grafted into the
body of Christ's Church, let us give thanks to Almighty God ' ; and
again, ' We yield Thee most hearty thanks, most merciful Father,

280

The Marks of the New Birth 281

that it hath pleased Thee to regenerate this infant with Thy Holy
Spirit,' &c. Wesley was trained up in and accepted this view. In
Sermon XXXIX, iv. 2, he says : ' It is certain our Church supposes
that all who are baptized in their infancy are at the same time born
again ; and it is allowed that the whole Office for the Baptism of
Infants proceeds upon this supposition. Nor is it an objection of
any weight against this, that we cannot comprehend how this work
can be wrought in infants. For neither can we comprehend how it
is wrought in a person of riper years.' But he significantly adds,
' Whatever be the case with infants ' (which implies some hesitation
on his part) ' it is sure all of riper years who are baptized are not at
the same time born again.' So in Sermon XV, i. 1 : ' From all the
passages of holy writ wherein this expression " the being born of
God " occurs, we may learn that it implies not barely the being bap-
tized, or any outward change whatever ; but a vast inward change.'
In Journal, May 24, 1738, he says t ' I believe till I was about ten
years old, I had not sinned away that " washing of the Holy Ghost "
which was given me in baptism.' In the Treatise on Baptism, pub-
lished in 1756, he says ' that in baptism infants are (1) freed from the
guilt of original sin, so that, if they die before committing actual sin,
they will be saved ; (2) admitted into the new covenant relation
between God and His people, as by circumcision the children of Jews
were admitted into the old covenant ; (3) admitted into the Church ;
(4) made the children of God by adoption and grace. ' Herein,' he
says, ' a principle of grace is infused, which will not be wholly taken
away, unless we quench the Holy Spirit of God by long-continued
wickedness.' However, in the Sunday Service of the Methodists (1784
and 1786), the Office for Baptism was much abridged ; the three
passages quoted above were omitted ; the word ' regenerated ' is not
used, except in the quotation from John iii. 5 in the introductory
exhortation ; the minister at the end gives thanks ' that this child
is admitted into the body of Christ's Church,' and that it hath pleased
God ' to receive this infant for Thy own child by adoption, and to
admit him into Thy holy Church.' In the editions of 1857 and later,
the thanksgivings at the end were omitted altogether. When the
Book of Offices was revised in 1882, there was a strenuous debate in
the Conference over the alterations proposed in the Office for Bap-
tism. The reference to John iii. 5 was left out by the Committee,
as well as all phrases that might seem to suggest that the infant was
born again in baptism ; a prayer was added for the parents ; and the
short prayers, placed previously just before the act of baptism, were
transferred to the end of the service, to avoid the supposition that
they were meant to be answered at the time the child was baptized.
I was present at the debate, and well remember how it was urged by
some of the brethren that we were bound to accept the doctrine of

282 Sermon XIV

baptismal regeneration because Mr. Wesley affirmed it in the Standard
Sermons. Dr. Rigg replied that we were not bound to accept every
doctrine that might be incidentally mentioned in the Standards, but
only the general scheme of doctrine therein contained. The Confer-
ence supported this view, and the revised form was agreed to, with
the proviso that liberty should be left to any minister to use the older
form if he so desired (Minutes, 1882, p. 223). This, however, did not
prevent two well-known ministers from resigning their connexion
with the Conference and entering the Church of England. The Metho-
dist Church has thus definitely repudiated the view that the infant
is born again in baptism, though liberty of judgement is left to each
minister ; and it may fairly be argued that Wesley's revision of the
service in 1784 proves that in his later life he altered his earlier opinion.
Watson in his Institutes (Works, xii. 266) says: 'To the infant child it
is a visible reception into the same covenant and church — a pledge of
acceptance through Christ — the bestowment of a title to all the grace
of the covenant as circumstances may require, and as the mind of the
child may be capable, or made capable, of receiving it. . . . It secures,
too, the gift of the Holy Spirit in those secret spiritual influences by
which the actual regeneration of those children who die in infancy
is effected ; and which are a seed of life in those who are spared.' Dr.
W. B. Pope maintains that baptism is not a mere sign or badge of
Christian profession, nor only an impressive emblem of the washing
away of sin ; it does convey its accompanying grace to the recipient.
I remember being present during the Conference of 1885 at Trinity
Chapel, Southport, when Dr. Pope baptized a child ; and as he handed
it back to its parents, he said, ' Doubt not but your child has received
in this holy sacrament all the grace of which he is now capable.' Our
danger in Methodism has not been in the direction of over-estimating
the value of this sacrament, but rather in regarding it as merely
the recognition of the child's formal reception into the Church. Our
perfunctoriness in the administration of it, and our subsequent failure
to look after our baptized children and give them due pastoral atten-
tion, has been a grave cause of loss and harm to ourselves, and has
given no little advantage to those who have sought to cast discredit
on infant baptism and to urge our young people to be rebaptized by
immersion. It is a question whether we have not made a mistake
in dropping the rite of Confirmation without substituting for it some
solemn service at which our baptized children could consciously take
upon themselves the vows made for them at their baptism.

This sermon was first published in Vol. II of the Sermons in 1748.

The Marks of the New Birth 283

So is every one that is bom of the Spirit. — John iii. 8.

1. How is every one that is ' born of the Spirit ' — that is,
born again — born of God ? What is meant by the being
born again, the being born of God, or being born of the Spirit ?
What is implied in the being a son or a child of God, or having
the Spirit of adoption ? That these privileges, by the free
mercy of God, are ordinarily annexed to baptism (which is
thence termed by our Lord in a preceding verse, the being
' born of water and of the Spirit ') we know ; but we would
know what these privileges are : what is the new birth ?

2. Perhaps it is not needful to give a definition of this,
seeing the Scripture gives none. But as the question is of the
deepest concern to every child of man ; since, ' except a man
be born again,' born of the Spirit, ' he cannot see the kingdom
of God ' ; I propose to lay down the marks of it in the plainest
manner, just as I find them laid down in Scripture.

I. i. The first of these, and the foundation of all the rest,
is faith. So St. Paul, ' Ye are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus' (Gal. iii. 26). So St. John, 'To them gave
He power ' (igovaiav, right or privilege, it may rather be
translated) ' to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name ; which were born,' when they believed,

Par. 1. Some commentators have between the views of St. Paul and

questioned whether John iii. 5 has St. John on Sonship. St. Paul re-

any reference to Christian baptism, gards it as adoption, St. John as

as it was not instituted at the time regeneration ; though both make

of this conversation with Nicodemus ; faith the condition of receiving the

but, whilst he could only have under- blessing. In this passage (Gal. iii.

stood the words in the general sense 26) St. Paul also connects it with

of a baptism of initiation into the baptism, as is seen from the follow-

Kingdom, analogous to John's bap- ing verse, and with the new life in

tism, I cannot doubt that in our fellowship with Christ.
Lord's mind there was a clear pre- The interpretation of John i. 12, 13

vision of the baptism which He was is vitiated by this confusion. The

to institute ; just as in John vi. passage runs, ' As many as received

there is a prevision of the Sacrament Him, to them gave He legitimate

of the Lord's Supper. right to become children of God,

I. 1. Wesley does not seem to even to those who believe in His

have grasped clearly the distinction name ; who were begotten, not of

284 Sermon XIV

' not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,' not by natural
generation, ' nor of the will of man,' like those children adopted
by men, in whom no inward change is thereby wrought, ' but
of God ' (John i. 12, 13). And again, in his General Epistle,
' Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God '
(1 John v. 1).

2. But it is not a barely notional or speculative faith that
is here spoken of by the Apostles. It is not a bare assent to
this proposition, ' Jesus is the Christ ' ; nor indeed to all the
propositions contained in our creed, or in the Old and New
Testament. It is not merely an assent to any or all these
credible things, as credible. To say this, were to say (which
who could hear ?) that the devils were born of God ; for they
have this faith. They, trembling, believe, both that Jesus is
the Christ, and that all Scripture, having been given by in-
spiration of God, is true as God is true. It is not only an
assent to divine truth, upon the testimony of God, or upon the
evidence of miracles ; for they also heard the words of His
mouth, and knew Him to be a faithful and true witness. They
could not but receive the testimony He gave, both of Himself,
and of the Father which sent Him. They saw likewise the
mighty works which He did, and thence believed that He
' came forth from God.' Yet, notwithstanding this faith, they
are still ' reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgement
of the great day.'

3. For all this is no more than a dead faith. The true,
living, Christian faith, which whosoever hath is born of God, is
not only assent, an act of the understanding ; but a disposition,
which God hath wrought in his heart ; ' a sure trust and con-
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, that Jesus is the Messiah is here
nor of the will of man, but of God.' spoken of rather as the test and
There is no question here of adop- proof than the cause of the new birth,
tion, but of a divine begetting ; The apostle is thinking of those who
and this is not the result of mere claimed to be Christians whilst deny-
physical instinct, nor of the designed ing that Jesus was the Messiah ; see
gratification of it, nor even of the i John ii. 18-23.

purposed begetting of a child through 3. This whole paragraph is closely

its operation, but of God. dependent on the Homily on Salva-

The third passage quoted (1 John tion ; the phrase ' a dead faith '

v. 1) is not really relevant. Belief occurs there frequently ; ' a sure

The Marks of the New Birth 285

fidence in God, that, through the merits of Christ, his sins are
forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God.' This im-
plies, that a man first renounce himself ; that, in order to be
'found in Christ,' to be accepted through Him, he totally
rejects all ' confidence in the flesh ' ; that, ' having nothing to
pay,' having no trust in his own works or righteousness of
any kind, he comes to God as a lost, miserable, self-destroyed,
self-condemned, undone, helpless sinner ; as one whose mouth
is utterly stopped, and who is altogether ' guilty before God.'
Such a sense of sin (commonly called ' despair ' by those who
speak evil of the things they know not), together with a
full conviction, such as no words can express, that of Christ
only cometh our salvation, and an earnest desire of that sal-
vation, must precede a living faith, a trust in Him, who ' for
us paid our ransom by His death, and [for us] fulfilled the law
in His life.' This faith then, whereby we are born of God,
is ' not only a belief of all the articles of our faith, but also
a true confidence of the mercy of God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.'

4. An immediate and constant fruit of this faith whereby
we are born of God, a fruit which can in no wise be separated
from it, no, not for an hour, is power over sin, — power over
outward sin of every kind ; over every evil word and work ;
for wheresoever the blood of Christ is thus applied, it ' purgeth
the conscience from dead works,' — and over inward sin ; for
it purifieth the heart from every unholy desire and temper.
This fruit of faith St. Paul has largely described, in the sixth
chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. ' How shall we,' saith
he, ' who ' by faith ' are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? '

trust,' &c, is quoted from the third in that on Sin in Believers. It is

part of the Homily ; ' who for us admitted (Sermon XLVI, iii. i)

paid our ransom,' &c, is at the end that ' even in the regenerate there

of Part I of the Homily ; ' not only are two principles, contrary the one

a belief,' &c, is substantially from to the other,' and (Sermon XLVI,

Part III of the Homily. iii. 7) that believers ' are daily sen-

4. The uncompromising teaching sible of sin remaining in their heart ' ;

of this and the following paragraphs so that it is not true that ' the blood

on the absolute freedom from sin of of Christ . . . purifieth the heart from

the regenerate believer is corrected every unholy desire and temper,'

in the following sermon, as well as as here stated. Moreover, in the

286 Sermon XIV

' Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.'
' Likewise, reckon ye yourselves to be dead unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin
therefore reign ' even ' in your mortal body,' ' but yield your-
selves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead.' ' For
sin shall not have dominion over you. . . . God be thanked,
that ye were the servants of sin . . . but being made free,' —
the plain meaning is, God be thanked, that though ye were, in
time past, the servants of sin, yet now, ' being free from sin,
ye are become the servants of righteousness.'

5. The same invaluable privilege of the sons of God is as
strongly asserted by St. John ; particularly with regard to the
former branch of it, namely, power over outward sin. After
he had been crying out, as one astonished at the depth of the
riches of the goodness of God, ' Behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God ! Beloved, now are we the sons of God ;
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know
that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall
see Him as He is ' (1 John iii. 1, &c), — he soon adds, ' Who-
soever is born of God doth not commit sin ; for His seed
remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of
God ' (verse 9). But some men will say, ' True : whosoever

next sermon it is stated and proved preacher's own head ; for it is prao

from scriptural examples that ' those tically what he teaches in the next

whom we cannot deny to have been sermon. Of course St. John does

truly born of God nevertheless, not not say ' habitually,' for he is de-

only could, but did, commit sin, scribing an ideal, and no one should

even gross, outward sin.' It would desire to lower it. But it is all that

have saved Wesley much trouble if one can truthfully say of the average

he had recognized that we have in Christian, that he does not sin habil-

the New Testament an ideal set ually ; and that is no small thing,

before us, to which we can more and A man's character is to be judged

more approximate, until we are per- by his habitual, not his occasional,

fected in love, but which is not at actions. To take a very familiar

once attained when we are born illustration : an ideal bicyclist never

again. has a fall ; the actual bicyclist

5. This diatribe on the interpreta- habitually stays on his machine ; but

tion of 1 John iii. 9 as ' doth not he does not cease to be a bicyclist

commit sin habitually ' recoils on the because occasionally through care-

The Marks of the New Birth 287

is born of God doth not commit sin habitually.' Habitually !
Whence is that ? I read it not. It is not written in the Book.
God plainly saith, ' He doth not commit sin ' ; and thou addest,
habitually ! Who art thou that mendest the oracles of God ?
— that ' addest to the words of this book ' ? Beware, I
beseech thee, lest God ' add to thee all the plagues that are
written therein ' ! especially when the comment thou addest is
such as quite swallows up the text : so that by this fxedohela
Tr\dv7)<;, this artful method of deceiving, the precious promise
is utterly lost ; by this nvfida avOpwirvv, this tricking and
shuffling of men, the Word of God is made of none effect. O
beware, thou that thus takest from the words of this book,
that, taking away the whole meaning and spirit from them,
leavest only what may indeed be termed a dead letter, lest
God take away thy part out of the book of life !

6. Suffer we the Apostle to interpret his own words, by the
whole tenor of his discourse. In the fifth verse of this chapter,
he had said, ' Ye know that He,' Christ, ' was manifested
to take away our sins ; and in Him is no sin.' What is the
inference he draws from this ? ' Whosoever abideth in Him
sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither
known Him ' (1 John iii. 6). To his enforcement of this
important doctrine, he premises an highly necessary caution :
' Little children, let no man deceive you ' (verse 7) ; for many
will endeavour so to do ; to persuade you that you may be

lessness or over-confidence he takes 14) from which Wesley quotes these

a tumble. Wesley did not realize Greek phrases is an exhortation to

the tremendous importance of habit babes in Christ to form Christian

in the formation of character, or he habits, to grow up into Christ, who

would not have spoken so scornfully is the head, in all things. The baby's

of it here. Growth in holiness is hand moves at first spasmodically,

really the gradual development of and is but slightly under the control

the habit of holiness until it becomes of the brain ; but it gradually ' grows

automatic. The student should read up into the head,' establishes ner-

chapter ix in Part II of William vous connexions with the brain,

James's Principles of Psychology ; until it is habitually controlled from

and he will no longer think that it that centre, and until that control

is a trifling thing that a man should becomes automatic ; and it can per-

not sin habitually. form, almost without conscious effort,

There is a sort of poetical justice the complicated fingerings of a Liszt

in the fact that the passage (Eph. iv. rhapsody or a Bach fugue.

288 Sermon XIV

unrighteous, that you may commit sin, and yet be children of
God : ' He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He
is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the
devil sinneth from the beginning.' Then follows, ' Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin ; for His seed remaineth
in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.' ' In
this/ adds the Apostle, ' the children of God are manifest, and
the children of the devil.' By this plain mark (the committing
or not committing sin) are they distinguished from each other.
To the same effect are those words in his fifth chapter : ' We
know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not ; but he that
is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one
toucheth him not ' (verse 18).

7. Another fruit of this living faith is peace. For, ' being
justified by faith,' having all our sins blotted out, ' we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ' (Rom. v. 1).
This indeed our Lord Himself, the night before His death,
solemnly bequeathed to all His followers : ' Peace,' saith He,
' I leave with you ' (you who ' believe in God,' and ' believe
also in Me ') ; ' My peace I give unto you : not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid ' (John xiv. 27). And again : ' These
things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace '
(John xvi. 33). This is that 'peace of God which passeth
all understanding,' that serenity of soul which it hath not
entered into the heart of a natural man to conceive, and which
it is not possible for even the spiritual man to utter. And it
is a peace which all the powers of earth and hell are unable to
take from him. Waves and storms beat upon it, but they
shake it not ; for it is founded upon a rock. It keepeth the

7. ' Whatever is, is best ' : an He quotes from his poems ten times

obvious reminiscence of the last line in his Journal ; and this particular

of the first part of Pope's Essay on passage is quoted on March 14, 1789:

Man, published in 1732. The line ' In the evening I preached in

actually runs : Temple Church ; perhaps for the

~ . .. . , . ,,r. * ■ i 'ui last time. Well, " whatever is, is

One truth is clear, ' Whatever is, is right.' ' '

best. Charles used it in two of

John Wesley read Pope's Epistles his hymns : in the first verse of

in Savannah on March 14, 1737. Hymn CCIX in Hymns and Sacred

The Marks of the New Birth 289

hearts and minds of the children of God, at all times and in
all places. Whether they are in ease or in pain, in sickness or
health, in abundance or want, they are happy in God. In
every state they have learned to be content, yea, to give thanks
unto God through Christ Jesus ; being well assured, that
' whatsoever is, is best,' because it is His will concerning them :
so that in all the vicissitudes of life their heart ' standeth
fast, believing in the Lord.'

II. 1. A second scriptural mark of those who are born of
God, is hope. Thus St. Peter, speaking to all the children of
God who were then scattered abroad, saith, ' Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to
His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope ' (1 Pet. i. 3). 'EXirlSa ^otaav, a lively or living hope,
saith the Apostle ; because there is also a dead hope, as well as a
dead faith ; a hope which is not from God, but from the enemy
of God and man ; — as evidently appears by its fruits ; for, as
it is the offspring of pride, so it is the parent of every evil word
and work ; whereas, every man that hath in him this living
hope, is ' holy as He that calleth him is holy ' ; every man
that can truly say to his brethren in Christ, ' Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and we shall see Him as He is/ ' puri-
fieth himself, even as He is pure.'

2. This hope [, — termed in the Epistle to the Hebrews (x. 22),
Trk7jpo(f)opla 7rtcrTe<i)?, and elsewhere TrXrjpocpoptav i\7riBo<; (vi. 11) ;
in our translation ' the full assurance of faith, and the full
assurance of hope/ expressions the best which our language
could afford, although far weaker than those in the original, —
as described in Scripture,] implies, first, the testimony of
our own spirit, or conscience, that we walk ' in simplicity and
godly sincerity ' ; secondly [and chiefly] the testimony of the

Poems, 1749 (No. 533 in the 1876 boy, John James, who died of small-
Hymn-Book) : pox in January 1754, first published
Lord, we Thy will obey, in Funeral Hymns, second series,
And in Thy pleasure rest, 1759, and placed in the Revised
We, only we, can say, Hymn-Book of 1876 as No. 914. The
Whatever is, is best, — - ., ,

fourth verse ends :
and in a hymn written at Bristol Safe in Thy decree we rest,

during the illness of his only little Sure whatever is, is best.

W.S.S. I — T9

290 Sermon XIV

Spirit of God, ' bearing witness with/ or to, 'our spirit, that
we are the children of God,' ' and if children, then heirs, heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.'

3. Let us well observe what is here taught us by God Him-
self, touching this glorious privilege of His children. Who is
it that is here said to bear witness ? Not our spirit only, but
another ; even the Spirit of God : He it is who ' beareth
witness with our spirit.' What is it He beareth witness of ?
' That we are the children of God ; and if children, then heirs ;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ' (Rom. viii. 16, 17) ;
' if so be that we suffer with Him,' if we deny ourselves, if we
take up our cross daily, if we cheerfully endure persecution or
reproach for His sake, ' that we may also be glorified together.'
And in whom doth the Spirit of God bear this witness ? In
all who are the children of God. By this very argument does
the Apostle prove, in the preceding verses, that they are so :
' As many,' saith he, ' as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God.' ' For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear ; but ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ! ' It follows, ' the
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God ' (Rom. viii. 14-16).

4. The variation of the phrase in the fifteenth verse is
worthy our observation : ' Ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ! ' Ye, as many as
are the sons of God, have, in virtue of your sonship, received
that self-same Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
We, the apostles, prophets, teachers (for so the word may not
improperly be understood), we, through whom you have
believed, the ' ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries
of God.' As we and you have one Lord, so we have one Spirit :
as we have one faith, so we have one hope also. We and you
are sealed with one ' Spirit of promise,' the earnest of your

II. 4. It is doubtful whether the pronouns would have been ex-
change of person will carry this in- pressed — which they are not. The
terpretation ; if the distinction be- We means rather the whole body of
tween the Ye and the We had been Christian people, not merely the
intended to be so marked, surely the officials of the Church.

The Marks of the New Birth 291

and of our inheritance : the same Spirit bearing witness with
your and with our spirit, ' that we are the children of God.'

5. And thus is the Scripture fulfilled, ' Blessed are they
that mourn ; for they shall be comforted.' For it is easy to
believe, that though sorrow may precede this witness of God's
Spirit with our spirit (indeed must, in some degree, while we
groan under fear, and a sense of the wrath of God abiding on
us) ; yet, as soon as any man feeleth it in himself, his ' sorrow
is turned into joy.' Whatsoever his pain may have been
before ; yet, as soon as that ' hour is come, he remembereth
the anguish no more, for joy ' that he is born of God. It
may be, many of you have now sorrow, because you are 'aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel ' ; because you are conscious
to yourselves that you have not this Spirit ; that you are
' without hope and without God in the world.' But when
the Comforter is come, ' then your heart shall rejoice ' : yea,
' your joy shall be full,' and ' that joy no man taketh from
you ' (John xvi. 22). ' We joy in God,' will ye say, ' through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
atonement ' ; 'by whom we have access into this grace,' this
state of grace, of favour, or reconciliation with God, ' wherein
we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God ' (Rom. v. 2).
' Ye,' saith St. Peter, whom God hath ' begotten again unto
a lively hope, are kept by the power of God unto salvation :
wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations ; that the
trial of your faith may be found unto praise, and honour, and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ ; in whom, though now
ye see Him not, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory ' (1 Pet. i. 5, &c). Unspeakable indeed ! It is not for
the tongue of man to describe this joy in the Holy Ghost. It
is ' the hidden manna, which no man knoweth, save he that
receiveth it.' But this we know, it not only remains, but
overflows, in the depth of affliction. ' Are the consolations
of God small ' with His children, when all earthly comforts fail ?
Not so. But when sufferings most abound, the consolation
of His Spirit doth much more abound ; insomuch that the sons
of God ' laugh at destruction when it cometh ' ; at want, pain,

292 Sermon XIV

hell, and the grave ; as knowing Him who ' hath the keys of
death and hell/ and will shortly ' cast them into the bottomless
pit ' ; as hearing even now the great voice out of heaven,
saying, ' Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He
will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain ; for the former things are passed away ' (Rev. xxi.
3, 4).

III. 1. A third scriptural mark of those who are born of
God, and the greatest of all, is love ; even ' the love of God
shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given
unto them ' (Rom. v. 5). ' Because they are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying, Abba,
Father ! ' (Gal. iv. 6). By this Spirit, continually looking up
to God as their reconciled and loving Father, they cry to Him
for their daily bread, for all things needful, whether for their
souls or bodies. They continually pour out their hearts before
Him, knowing ' they have the petitions which they ask of
Him ' (1 John v. 15). Their delight is in Him. He is the joy
of their heart ; their ' shield,' and their ' exceeding great
reward.' The desire of their soul is toward Him ; it is their
' meat and drink to do His will ' ; and they are ' satisfied as
with marrow and fatness, while their mouth praiseth Him with
joyful lips ' (Ps. lxiii. 5).

2. And, in this sense also, ' every one who loveth Him that
begat, loveth Him that is begotten of Him ' (1 John v. 1).
His spirit rejoiceth in God his Saviour. He ' loveth the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity.' He is so ' joined unto the Lord/
as to be one spirit. His soul hangeth upon Him, and chooseth
Him as altogether lovely, ' the chief est among ten thousand.'
He knoweth, he feeleth what that means, ' My beloved is
mine, and I am His ' (Cant. ii. 16). ' Thou art fairer than the
children of men ; full of grace are Thy lips, because God hath
anointed Thee for ever ! ' (Ps. xlv. 2).

3. The necessary fruit of this love of God is the love of our

The Marks of the Neiv Birth 293

neighbour ; of every soul which God hath made ; not excepting
our enemies ; not excepting those who are now ' despitefully
using and persecuting us ' — a love whereby we love every man
as ourselves ; as we love our own souls. Nay, our Lord has
expressed it still more strongly, teaching us to ' love one another,
even as He hath loved us.' Accordingly, the commandment
written in the hearts of all those that love God is no other than
this, ' As I have loved you, so love ye one another.' Now,
' herein perceive we the love of God, in that He laid down
His life for us ' (1 John iii. 16). ' We ought,' then, as the
Apostle justly infers, ' to lay down our lives for the brethren.'
If we feel ourselves ready to do this, then do we truly love our
neighbour. Then ' we know that we have passed from death
unto life, because we ' thus ' love the brethren ' (1 John iii. 14).
' Hereby know we ' that we are born of God, that we ' dwell
in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His ' loving
' Spirit ' (iv. 13). For ' love is of God ; and every one that '
thus ' loveth is born of God, and knoweth God ' (iv. 7).

4. But some may possibly ask, ' Does not the Apostle say,
" This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments " ? '
(1 John v. 3). Yea, and this is the love of our neighbour also,
in the same sense as it is the love of God. But what would
you infer from hence ? that the keeping the outward com-
mandments is all that is implied in loving God with all your
heart, with all your mind, and soul, and strength, and in loving
your neighbour as yourself ? that the love of God is not an
affection of the soul, but merely an outward service ? and that
the love of our neighbour is not a disposition of heart, but
barely a course of outward works ? To mention so wild an
interpretation of the Apostle's words, is sufficiently to confute
it. The plain indisputable meaning of the text is, — this is
the sign or proof of the love of God, of our keeping the first
and great commandment, to keep all the rest of His com-
mandments. For true love, if it be once shed abroad in our
heart, will constrain us so to do ; since, whosoever loves God
with all his heart, cannot but serve Him with all his strength.

5. A second fruit, then, of the love of God (so far as it can
be distinguished from it) is universal obedience to Him we love,

294 Sermon XIV

and conformity to His will ; obedience to all the commands of
God, internal and external ; obedience of the heart and of the
life : in every temper, and in all manner of conversation. And
one of the tempers most obviously implied herein is, the being
' zealous of good works ' ; the hungering and thirsting to do
good, in every possible kind, unto all men ; the rejoicing to
' spend and be spent for them,' for every child of man ; not
looking for any recompense in this world, but only in the
resurrection of the just.

IV. i. Thus have I plainly laid down those marks of the
new birth which I find laid down in Scripture. Thus doth
God Himself answer that weighty question, What is it to be
born of God ? Such, if the appeal be made to the oracles of
God, is ' every one that is born of the Spirit.' This it is, in
the judgement of the Spirit of God, to be a son or a child of
God : it is, so to believe in God, through Christ, as ' not to
commit sin,' and to enjoy at all times, and in all places, that
' peace of God which passeth all understanding.' It is, so to
hope in God through the Son of His love, as to have not only
the ' testimony of a good conscience,' but also the Spirit of
God ' bearing witness with your spirits, that ye are the children of
God ' ; whence cannot but spring the rejoicing [evermore] in Him
through whom ye ' have received the atonement.' It is, so to
love God, who hath thus loved you, as you never did love any
creature : so that ye are constrained to love all men as your-
selves ; with a love not only ever burning in your hearts, but
flaming out in all your actions and conversations, and making
your whole life one ' labour of love,' one continued obedience
to those commands, ' Be ye merciful, as God is merciful ' ;
' Be ye holy, as I the Lord am holy ' ; ' Be ye perfect, as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect.'

2. Who then are ye that are thus born of God ? Ye
' know the things which are given to you of God.' Ye well
know that ye are the children of God, and ' can assure your
hearts before Him.' And every one of you who has observed
these words cannot but feel, and know of a truth, whether at
this hour (answer to God, and not to man !) you are thus a

The Marks of the New Birth 295

child of God or no. The question is not, what you was made
in baptism (do not evade) ; but, what are you now ? Is the
Spirit of adoption now in your heart ? To your own heart let
the appeal be made. I ask not, whether you was born of
water and of the Spirit ; but are you now the temple of the
Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you ? I allow you was ' circum-
cised with the circumcision of Christ ' (as St. Paul emphatically
terms baptism) ; but does the Spirit of Christ and of glory
now rest upon you ? Else, ' your circumcision is become
uncircumcision.'

3. Say not then in your heart, ' I was once baptized, therefore
I am now a child of God.' Alas, that consequence will by no
means hold. How many are the baptized gluttons and
drunkards, the baptized liars and common swearers, the
baptized railers and evil-speakers, the baptized whoremongers,
thieves, extortioners ? What think you ? Are these now the
children of God ? Verily, I say unto you, whosoever you are,
unto whom any one of the preceding characters belong, ' Ye
are of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye
do.' Unto you I call, in the name of Him whom you crucify
afresh, and in His words to your circumcised predecessors,
' Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell ? '

4. How, indeed, except ye be born again ? For ye are
now dead in trespasses and sins. To say, then, that ye cannot
be born again, that there is no new birth but in baptism, is to
seal you all under damnation, to consign you to hell, without
help, without hope. And perhaps some may think this just

IV. 2. ' You was.' When ' you ' in Sermon XXXIX, iv. i and 2,

was used as the singular of the pro- where it is stated (1) that baptism

noun, meaning ' thou,' the singular is not the new birth ; and (2) that

form ' was ' followed it throughout the new birth does not always accom-

the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eigh- pany baptism ; and in section 4 the

teenth centuries. It gives all the sinner who urges his baptism as a

force of a personal appeal to this reason why he should not now seek

paragraph. regeneration is dealt with in a very

' The circumcision of Christ ' : see faithful fashion, and told that by

Col. ii. 11, 12. his sins he has already denied his

3. See the fuller discussion of the baptism, and that, baptized or not,

relation of baptism to the new birth he must be born again.

296 Sermon XIV

and right. In their zeal for the Lord of Hosts, they may say,
' Yea, cut off the sinners, the Amalekites ! Let these Gibeon-
ites be utterly destroyed ! They deserve no less.' No ; nor
I, nor you. Mine and your desert, as well as theirs, is hell !
and it is mere mercy, free, undeserved mercy, that we are
not now in unquenchable fire. You will say, ' But we are
washed ' ; we were born again ' of water and of the Spirit.'
So were they : this, therefore, hinders not at all, but that ye
may now be even as they. Know ye not, that ' what is highly
esteemed of men is an abomination in the sight of God ' ?
Come forth, ye ' saints of the world,' ye that are honoured
of men, and see who will cast the first stone at them, at these
wretches not fit to live upon the earth, these common harlots,
adulterers, murderers. Only learn ye first what that meaneth,
' He that hateth his brother is a murderer ' (1 John iii. 15).
' He that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart ' (Matt. v. 28). ' Ye
adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God ? ' (Jas. iv. 4).

5. ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye ' also ' must be born
again.' ' Except ye ' also ' be born again, ye cannot see the
kingdom of God.' Lean no more on the staff of that broken
reed, that ye were born again in baptism. Who denies that
ye were then made children of God, and heirs of the kingdom
of heaven ? But, notwithstanding this, ye are now children
of the devil. Therefore, ye must be born again. And let not
Satan put it into your heart to cavil at a word, when the thing
is clear. Ye have heard what are the marks of the children
of God : all ye who have them not on your souls, baptized or
unbaptized, must needs receive them, or without doubt ye will
perish everlastingly. And if ye have been baptized, your only
hope is this, — that those who were made the children of God
by baptism, but are now the children of the devil, may yet
again receive ' power to become the sons of God ' ; that they

4. In Jas. iv. 4 the best attested been faithless to their relation to

reading is, ' Ye adulteresses, know God, which is often expressed under

ye not,' &c, the feminine being used the figure of marriage in the Old

to mean adulterous souls who have Testament.

The Marks of the New Birth 297

may receive again what they have lost, even the ' Spirit of
adoption, crying in their hearts, Abba, Father ! '

Amen, Lord Jesus ! May every one who prepareth his
heart yet again to seek Thy face receive again that Spirit of
adoption, and cry out, ' Abba, Father ! ' Let him now again
have power so to believe in Thy name as to become a child of
God ; as to know and feel he hath ' redemption in Thy blood,
even the forgiveness of sins ' ; and that he ' cannot commit
sin, because he is born of God.' Let him be now ' begotten
again unto a living hope,' so as to ' purify himself as Thou art
pure ' ; and ' because he is a son,' let the Spirit of love and
of glory rest upon him, cleansing him ' from all filthiness of
flesh and spirit,' and teaching him to ' perfect holiness in the
fear of God ' !

SERMON XV

THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF THOSE THAT
ARE BORN OF GOD

This fine practical sermon is evidently intended to modify the un-
compromising teaching of the previous discourse on the sinlessness
of believers. It bears many marks of being a later composition than
that: for example, the clear distinction drawn between justification
and regeneration in pars, i and 2 ; the more definite statement that
being born again is not ' barely the being baptized ' ; and the frank
admission that sin is possible in those ' whom we cannot deny to have
been truly born of God.' Wesley preached from this text at Lambeth
on September 23, 1739, ' and showed (to the amazement, it seemed,
of many who were present) how " he that is born of God doth not
commit sin," ' and at Kendalshire, near Bristol, on January 17,
1740 ; but I doubt if it was this sermon. It does not occur in the
sermon list ; though the previous verse is mentioned as a text in
1752. On the whole, the evidence is that it was written in the first
instance for publication, and as a supplement to Sermon XIV ; though
the substance of it may well have been given in the series of studies in
this epistle recorded in August 1740 at the Foundery, and in November
1740 at Bristol.

Whosoever is bom of God doth not commit sin. — 1 John iii. 9.

I. It has been frequently supposed, that the being born of
God was all one with the being justified ; that the new birth
and justification were only different expressions, denoting the
same thing : it being certain, on the one hand, that whoever
is justified is also born of God ; and, on the other, that whoever
is born of God is also justified ; yea, that both these gifts of
God are given to every believer in one and the same moment.

Par. 1. ' In one point of time,' try were from the nature of the case
Sec. The great majority of the cases instantaneous. Men and women
of conversion under Wesley's minis- who had been living in open sin or

298

The Great Privilege of those that are Bom of God 299

In one point of time his sins are blotted out, and he is born
again of God.

2. But though it be allowed, that justification and the new
birth are, in point of time, inseparable from each other, yet
they are easily distinguished, as being not the same, but things
of a widely different nature. Justification implies only a
relative, the new birth a real, change. God in justifying us
does something for us ; in begetting us again, He does the work
in us. The former changes our outward relation to God, so
that of enemies we become children ; by the latter our inmost
souls are changed, so that of sinners we become saints. The

in complete indifference to religion
were suddenly awakened to a sense
of their sin and need, and after pass-
ing through a period of distressing
conviction found immediate peace
and joy through trusting in Christ.
At first Wesley doubted the possi-
bility of so great a change being
wrought in a moment ; but in April
1738 he found in the Scriptures
' scarce any instances there of other
than instantaneous conversions ' ;
and the following day (April 23) he
received the evidence of several
living witnesses to the fact. His
own conversion and that of his
brother Charles in May confirmed
his conclusion. Whilst modern psy-
chologists are rather disposed to
regard conversions of this type as
extreme cases, and to emphasize the
gradual growth of the religious
character in young people who have
been brought up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord as the more
normal and ideal type, it must not
be forgotten that, though in many
cases there is no consciousness of any
definite time of conversion, in the
majority (at least that is my experi-
ence) there has been a day when
they consciously accepted Christ as
their Saviour. Perhaps that is partly
due to the insistence in Methodist

teaching on the need for clear deci-
sion and a positive act of faith as
the condition of salvation ; and it
may be noted that Prof. William
James, in Varieties of Religious Ex-
perience, p. 227, says : ' For Method-
ism, unless there have been a crisis
of this sort, salvation is only offered,
not effectively received, and Christ's
sacrifice in so far forth is incomplete.
Methodism surely here follows, if
not the healthier-minded, yet on the
whole the profounder spiritual in-
stinct.'

2. To one who, like St. Paul, has
been living a life of alienation from
Christ, conversion naturally seems
in the first instance the removal of
the burden of guilt and condemna-
tion (justification), and the restora-
tion to right relations with God
(adoption) ; to another who, like
St. John, has never known what it
is to be at enmity with the Saviour,
the emphasis lies on the new life of
joy and power over sin (regenera-
tion) and the new sense of purity
(sanctification). But this is a matter
of emphasis, not of fact ; and St.
John tells us how God is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, whilst
St. Paul prays for his converts that
Christ may dwell in their hearts by
faith. As Wesley implies conver-

300 Sermon XV

one restores us to the favour, the other to the image, of God.
The one is the taking away the guilt, the other the taking away
the power, of sin : so that, although they are joined together
in point of time, yet are they of wholly distinct natures.

3. The not discerning this, the not observing the wide
difference there is between being justified and being born
again, has occasioned exceeding great confusion of thought in
many who have treated on this subject ; particularly when they
have attempted to explain this great privilege of the children
of God ; to show how ' whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin.'

4. In order to apprehend this clearly, it may be necessary,
first, to consider what is the proper meaning of that expression,
' Whosoever is born of God ' ; and, secondly, to inquire in
what sense he ' doth not commit sin.'

1. 1. First, we are to consider, what is the proper meaning
of that expression, ' Whosoever is born of God.' And, in
general, from all the passages of holy writ wherein this expres-
sion, ' the being born of God,' occurs, we may learn that it
implies not barely the being baptized, or any outward change
whatever ; but a vast inward change, a change wrought in the
soul, by the operation of the Holy Ghost ; a change in the
whole manner of our existence ; for, from the moment we are
born of God, we live in quite another manner than we did
before ; we are, as it were, in another world.

2. The ground and reason of the expression is easy to be
understood. When we undergo this great change, we may,

sion is one and indivisible in fact, appears to have done the difference

though it may be analysed in thought )n the point of view of the two great

and its various elements distin- Apostles as regards the meaning of

guished. It is curious that so Sonship.

earnest a student as Wesley was I. 1. ' Not barely the being bap-
both of the earlier chapters of tized.' This is to guard against any
Romans and of the first Epistle of possible misunderstanding of what
John, both of which he frequently is said in the first paragraph of the
took as the subjects of his daily ex- previous sermon. For a fuller state-
positions to his societies, should not ment of Wesley's view, see Sermon
have realized more clearly than he XXXIX.

The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God 301

with much propriety, be said to be born again, because there
is so near a resemblance between the circumstances of the
natural and of the spiritual birth ; so that to consider the
circumstances of the natural birth, is the most easy way to
understand the spiritual.

3. The child which is not yet born subsists indeed by the
air, as does everything which has life ; but feels it not, nor
anything else, unless in a very dull and imperfect manner.
It hears little, if at all ; the organs of hearing being as yet closed
up. It sees nothing ; having its eyes fast shut, and being
surrounded with utter darkness. There are, it may be, some
faint beginnings of life, when the time of its birth draws nigh,
and some motion consequent thereon, whereby it is distin-
guished from a mere mass of matter ; but it has no senses ;
all these avenues of the soul are hitherto quite shut up. Of
consequence, it has scarce any intercourse with this visible
world ; nor any knowledge, conception, or idea, of the things
that occur therein.

4. The reason why he that is not yet born is wholly a stranger
to the visible world, is not because it is afar off (it is very nigh ;
it surrounds him on every side) ; but, partly, because he has
not those senses, they are not yet opened in his soul, whereby
alone it is possible to hold commerce with the material world ;
and partly, because so thick a veil is cast between, through
which he can discern nothing.

5. But no sooner is the child born into the world, than
he exists in a quite different manner. He now feels the air
with which he is surrounded, and which pours into him from
every side, as fast as he alternately breathes it back, to sustain
the flame of life : and hence springs a continual increase of

2. This analogy between physical newly-born child is not only sen-

and spiritual birth is admirably
worked out ; and especially the
point as to the need for spiritual re-
spiration for the continuance of tbe
new life. It is no mere fanciful
analogy, but an excellent case of
natural law in the spiritual world.
Indeed, Wesley might have gone a
step further, and shown that the

sible of the world into which he is
born, but is also capable of activity
in relation to it. He has a motor
as well as a sensory equipment,
which is strictly analogous to the
power over sin exercised by the re-
generate soul. He is not a passive
recipient, but an active agent.

302 Sermon XV

strength, of motion, and of sensation ; all the bodily senses
being now awakened, and furnished with their proper objects.
His eyes are now opened to perceive the light, which, silently
flowing in upon them, discovers not only itself, but an infinite
variety of things, with which before he was wholly unac-
quainted. His ears are unclosed, and sounds rush in with
endless diversity. Every sense is employed upon such objects
as are peculiarly suitable to it ; and by these inlets the soul,
having an open intercourse with the visible world, acquires
more and more knowledge of sensible things, of all the things
which are under the sun.

6. So it is with him that is born of God. Before that
great change is wrought, although he subsists by Him, in
whom all that have life ' live, and move, and have their being,'
yet he is not sensible of God ; he does not feel, he has no inward
consciousness of His presence. He does not perceive that
divine breath of life, without which he cannot subsist a moment :
nor is he sensible of any of the things of God ; they make no
impression upon his soul. God is continually calling to him
from on high, but he heareth not ; his ears are shut, so that
the ' voice of the charmer ' is lost on him, ' charm he never so
wisely.' He seeth not the things of the Spirit of God ; the
eyes of his understanding being closed, and utter darkness
covering his whole soul, surrounding him on every side. It
is true he may have some faint dawnings of life, some small
beginnings of spiritual motion ; but as yet he has no spiritual
senses capable of discerning spiritual objects ; consequently,
he ' discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God ; he cannot
know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'

7. Hence he has scarce any knowledge of the invisible
world, as he has scarce any intercourse with it. Not that it
is afar off : no : he is in the midst of it ; it encompasses him
round about. The other world, as we usually term it, is not
far from every one of us : it is above, and beneath, and on
every side. Only the natural man discerneth it not ; partly,
because he has no spiritual senses, whereby alone we can discern
the things of God ; partly, because so thick a veil is interposed
as he knows not how to penetrate.

The Great Privilege of those that are Bom of God 303

8. But when he is born of God, born of the Spirit, how is
the manner of his existence changed ! His whole soul is now
sensible of God, and he can say, by sure experience, ' Thou
art about my bed, and about my path ' ; I feel Thee in all my
ways : ' Thou besettest me behind and before, and layest Thy
hand upon me.' The spirit or breath of God is immediately
inspired, breathed into the new-born soul ; and the same breath
which comes from, returns to, God : as it is continually received
by faith, so it is continually rendered back by love, by prayer,
and praise, and thanksgiving ; love, and praise, and prayer
being the breath of every soul which is truly born of God.
And by this new kind of spiritual respiration, spiritual life is
not only sustained, but increased day by day, together with
spiritual strength, and motion, and sensation ; all the senses of
the soul being now awake, and capable of discerning spiritual
good and evil.

9. ' The eyes of his understanding ' are now ' open,' and
he ' seeth Him that is invisible.' He sees what is ' the exceed-
ing greatness of His power ' and of His love towards them that
believe. He sees that God is merciful to him a sinner ; that
he is reconciled through the Son of His love. He clearly
perceives both the pardoning love of God, and all His ' exceed-
ing great and precious promises.' ' God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined,' and doth shine,
' in his heart,' to enlighten him with ' the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' All the darkness is
now passed away, and he abides in the light of God's coun-
tenance.

10. His ears are now opened, and the voice of God no
longer calls in vain. He hears and obeys the heavenly calling ;
he knows the voice of his Shepherd. All his spiritual
senses being now awakened, he has a clear intercourse with
the invisible world ; and hence he knows more and more of
the things which before it could not ' enter into his heart to
conceive.' He now knows what the peace of God is ; what is
joy in the Holy Ghost ; what the love of God which is shed
abroad in the hearts of them that believe in Him through
Christ Jesus. Thus the veil being removed which before

304 Sermon XV

interrupted the light and voice, the knowledge and love of God,
he who is born of the Spirit dwelleth in love, ' dwelleth in God,
and God in him.'

II. 1. Having considered the meaning of that expression,
' Whosoever is born of God,' it remains, in the second place,
to inquire, in what sense he ' doth not commit sin.'

Now one who is so born of God, as hath been above de-
scribed, who continually receives into his soul the breath of
life from God, the gracious influence of His Spirit, and con-
tinually renders it back ; one who thus believes and loves,
who by faith perceives the continual actings of God upon his
spirit, and, by a kind of spiritual reaction returns the grace
he receives, in unceasing love, and praise, and prayer ; not only
doth not commit sin, while he thus keepeth himself, but so
long as this ' seed remaineth in him, he cannot sin, because he
is born of God.'

2. By sin, I here understand outward sin, according to the
plain, common acceptation of the word ; an actual, voluntary
transgression of the law ; of the revealed, written law of God ;
of any commandment of God, acknowledged to be such at
the time that it is transgressed. But ' whosoever is born of
God,' while he abideth in faith and love, and in the spirit of
prayer and thanksgiving, not only doth not, but cannot, thus
commit sin. So long as he thus believeth in God through
Christ, and loves Him, and is pouring out his heart before Him,
he cannot voluntarily transgress any command of God, either
by speaking or acting what he knows God hath forbidden : so
long that seed which remaineth in him, that loving, praying,
thankful faith, compels him to refrain from whatsoever he
knows to be an abom nation in the sight of God.

3. But here a difficulty will immediately occur ; and one
that to many has appeared insuperable, and induced them

II. 1. This sentence is quoted in the agent.' The older meaning is

the Oxford English Dictionary as the ' repulsion exerted in opposition to

earliest example of the use of ' re- impact or pressure.'
action ' in this sense ; ' the influ- 2. This restriction of the meaning

ence which a thing, acted upon by of sin is somewhat arbitrary ; but

another, exercises in return upon see section 7.

The Great Privilege of those that are Bom of God 305

to deny the plain assertion of the Apostle, and give up the
privilege of the children of God.

It is plain, in fact, that those whom we cannot deny to have
been truly born of God (the Spirit of God having given us
in His Word this infallible testimony concerning them),
nevertheless, not only could, but did, commit sin, even gross,
outward sin. They did transgress the plain, known laws of
God, speaking or acting what they knew He had forbidden.

4. Thus David was unquestionably born of God or ever
he was anointed king over Israel. He knew in whom he
had believed ; ' he was strong in faith, giving glory to God.'
' The Lord,' saith he, ' is my Shepherd ; therefore can I lack
nothing. He shall feed me in green pastures, and lead me
forth beside the waters of comfort. Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ;
for Thou art with me ' (Ps. xxiii. 1, &c). He was filled with
love ; such as often constrained him to cry out, ' I will love
Thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my stony rock,
and my defence ; . . . the horn also of my salvation, and my
refuge ' (Ps. xviii. 1, 2). He was a man of prayer ; pouring
out his soul before God in all circumstances of life ; and
abundant in praises and thanksgiving : ' Thy praise,' saith
he, ' shall be ever in my mouth ' (Ps. xxxiv. 1) : ' Thou art
my God, and I will thank Thee : Thou art my God, and I

4. Of the psalms here quoted, one the Book of Psalms. Thus the first
(Ps. xviii) is certainly by David ; line of verse 5 in Hymn 397 of the
xxiii and xxxiv are assigned to him 1876 Hymn-Book, 'Though eighteen
in the titles in the A.V. ; cxviii is hundred years are past,' &c, does
anonymous, and is judged by Dr. not prove that the hymn was not
Davison to belong to the period written by Charles Wesley ; any
after the Captivity. My own con- more than a reference to the Captivity
viction is that the critics have not in a psalm proves that it is post-
taken sufficiently into account the exilic, or to the Temple that it is
use of the Book of Psalms as the not Davidic in origin. However,
hymn-book of the Jewish Church, these questions had not arisen in
and the modifications that take place Wesley's time ; and he naturally
in successive editions of a hymn- accepts the titles as settling the
book to suit altered times and cir- question. In any case, there can be
cumstances. The growth of the no doubt as to the strong religious
Methodist Hymn-Book is the best strain in David's character. The
analogy I know to the growth of quotations are from the P. -B. version.
w.s.6. 1 — 20

306 Sermon XV

will praise Thee' (Ps. cxviii. 28). And yet such a child
of God could and did commit sin ; yea, the horrid sins of
adultery and murder.

5. And even after the Holy Ghost was more largely given,
after ' life and immortality were brought to light by the
gospel,' we want not instances of the same melancholy kind,
which were also doubtless written for our instruction. Thus
he who (probably from his selling all that he had, and bring-
ing the price for the relief of his poor brethren) was by the
Apostles themselves ' surnamed Barnabas,' that is, ' the son
of consolation ' (Acts iv. 36, 37) ; who was so honoured at
Antioch, as to be selected with Saul out of all the disciples,
to carry their relief unto the brethren in Judea (Acts xi. 29,
30) ; this Barnabas, who, at his return from Judea, was, by
the peculiar direction of the Holy Ghost, solemnly ' separated
from the other prophets and teachers, for the work where-
unto God had called him' (xiii. 1-4), even to accompany
the great Apostle among the Gentiles, and to be his fellow
labourer in every place, — nevertheless, was afterwards so
sharp (xv. 35, 39), in his contention with St. Paul (because
he ' thought it not good to take with them John,' in his visit-
ing the brethren a second time, ' who had departed from them
from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work ') that
he himself also departed from the work ; that he ' took John,
and sailed unto Cyprus ' (xv. 39) ; forsaking him to whom he
had been in so immediate a manner joined by the Holy Ghost.

6. An instance more astonishing than both these is given
by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians. When Peter, the

5. 'Barnabas' is more correctly tion at the sight of the idols at
interpreted ' Son of Exhortation.' Athens ; and is applied in the LXX
The conflict of judgement as to to the righteous anger of God
John Mark's fitness for missionary (Deut. xxix. 28 ; Jer. xxxix. 37).
work between Barnabas and Paul If difference of opinion as to a
does not necessarily involve any brother's suitability for a particular
sin on either side. Good men may piece of work is sinful, the Lord have
differ in opinion and may express mercy on the Stationing Committee !
their differences strongly, and act A better case might have been made
upon them, too, without committing out against Barnabas from his con-
sin. The word used of this conten- duct at Antioch, referred to in the
tion is used also of Paul's indigna- next paragraph.

The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God 307

aged, the zealous, the first of the apostles, one of the three
most highly favoured by his Lord, ' was come to Antioch, I
withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For
before that certain came from James, he did eat with the
Gentiles ' — the Heathens converted to the Christian faith — as
having been peculiarly taught of God, that he ' should not call
any man common or unclean ' (Acts x. 28). ' But when they
were come, he separated himself, fearing them which were
of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise
with him ; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away
with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the
manner of the Gentiles ' — not regarding the ceremonial law
of Moses — ' why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do
the Jews ' ? (Gal. ii. 11, &c). Here is also plain, undeniable
sin committed by one who was undoubtedly born of God.
But how can this be reconciled with the assertion of St. John,
if taken in the obvious literal meaning, that ' whosoever is
born of God, doth not commit sin ' ?

7. I answer, What has been long observed is this : so long
as ' he that is born of God keepeth himself ' (which he is
able to do by the grace of God), ' the wicked one toucheth
him not ' ; but if he keepeth not himself, if he abideth not in
the faith, he may commit sin even as another man.

It is easy therefore to understand, how any of these children
of God might be moved from his own steadfastness, and yet
the great truth of God, declared by the Apostle, remain stead-
fast and unshaken. He did not ' keep himself,' by that grace
of God which was sufficient for him. He fell, step by step,
first, into negative, inward sin, not ' stirring up the gift of God

7. This analysis of the successive desire inevitably awakens the

stages of the believer's fall into sin
is true to experience, as, alas ! we
all know too well. The only point
that provokes criticism is the admis-
sion that he may fall into positive
inward sin before he loses his faith.
The presence of a stimulus to wrong

thought of its gratification ; but
there is no sin as yet. But if the
attention is voluntarily withdrawn
from God and turned to the gratifica-
tion of desire, so as to dwell upon
it with satisfaction, positive inward
sin is committed ; but not before

308 Sermon XV

which was in him,' not ' watching unto prayer,' not ' pressing
on to the mark of the prize of his high calling ' : then into
positive inward sin, inclining to wickedness with his heart,
giving way to some evil desire or temper : next he lost his
faith, his sight of a pardoning God, and consequently his love
of God ; and, being then weak and like another man, he was
capable of committing even outward sin.

8. To explain this by a particular instance : David was
born of God, and saw God by faith. He loved God in sincerity.
He could truly say, ' Whom have I in heaven but Thee ?
and there is none upon earth,' neither person nor thing,
' that I desire in comparison of Thee.' But still there re-
mained in his heart that corruption of nature, which is the
seed of all evil.

' He was walking upon the roof of his house ' (2 Sam. xi.
2), probably praising the God whom his soul loved, when he
looked down, and saw Bathsheba. He felt a temptation ; a
thought which tended to evil. The Spirit of God did not fail
to convince him of this. He doubtless heard and knew the
warning voice ; but he yielded in some measure to the thought,
and the temptation began to prevail over him. Hereby his
spirit was sullied ; he saw God still ; but it was more dimly
than before. He loved God still ; but not in the same degree ;
not with the same strength and ardour of affection. Yet God
checked him again, though His Spirit was grieved ; and His
voice, though fainter and fainter, still whispered, ' Sin lieth at
the door ; look unto Me and be thou saved.' But he would
not hear ; he looked again, not unto God, but unto the for-
bidden object ; till nature was superior to grace, and kindled
lust in his soul.

faith, the vision of God, has been as to the nature of sin, that

to some extent lost. Or perhaps Wesley should here seem to admit

it would be better to say that the that inward sin is consistent with

loss of faith and the fixing of the the full possession of faith. He

attention on the forbidden gratifica- speaks more consistently in Sermon

tion are strictly contemporaneous, XLVI, iv. 13, ' A man may be in

and are indeed two aspects of one God's favour though he feel sin ;

mental attitude. It is rather aston- but not if he yields to it.'

ishing, in view of his earlier opinion 8. The horse rushing into the

The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God 309

The eye of his mind was now closed again, and God vanished
out of his sight. Faith, the divine, supernatural intercourse
with God, and the love of God, ceased together : he then rushed
on as a horse into the battle, and knowingly committed the
outward sin.

9. You see the unquestionable progress from grace to sin :
thus it goes on, from step to step. (1) The divine seed of
loving, conquering faith, remains in him that is born of God.
' He keepeth himself,' by the grace of God, and ' cannot com-
mit sin.' (2) A temptation arises ; whether from the world,
the flesh, or the devil, it matters not. (3) The Spirit of God
gives him warning that sin is near, and bids him more
abundantly watch unto prayer. (4) He gives way, in some
degree, to the temptation, which now begins to grow pleasing to
him. (5) The Holy Spirit is grieved ; his faith is weakened ;
and his love of God grows cold. (6) The Spirit reproves him
more sharply, and saith, ' This is the way ; walk thou in it.'
(7) He turns away from the painful voice of God, and listens
to the pleasing voice of the tempter. (8) Evil desire begins
and spreads in his soul, till faith and love vanish away : he is
then capable of committing outward sin, the power of the Lord
being departed from him.

10. To explain this by another instance : the Apostle Peter
was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost ; and hereby keeping
himself, he had a conscience void of offence toward God and
toward man.

Walking thus in simplicity and godly sincerity, ' before
that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles,'
knowing that what God had cleansed was not common or
unclean.

But ' when they were come,' a temptation arose in his
heart, ' to fear those of the circumcision ' (the Jewish con-
verts, who were zealous for circumcision and the other rites

battle used to be frequently asso- scriptural, though it probably took

ciated in our old Methodist prayer- its rise from the recollection of Job's

meetings with the greedy ox that war-horse who ' smelleth the battle

lappeth up water as a type of the afar off, the thunder of the captains

reckless sinner. The phrase is not and the shouting.'

3io Sermon XV

of the Mosaic law), and regard the favour and praise of these
men, more than the praise of God.

He was warned by the Spirit that sin was near : neverthe-
less, he yielded to it in some degree, even to sinful fear of
man, and his faith and love were proportionably weakened.

God reproved him again for giving place to the devil.
Yet he would not hearken to the voice of his Shepherd ; but
gave himself up to that slavish fear, and thereby quenched the
Spirit.

Then God disappeared, and faith and love being extinct,
he committed the outward sin : walking not uprightly, not
' according to the truth of the gospel,' he ' separated himself '
from his Christian brethren, and by his evil example, if not
advice also, ' compelled even the Gentiles to live after the
manner of the Jews ' ; to entangle themselves again with that
' yoke of bondage,' from which ' Christ had set them free.'

Thus it is unquestionably true, that he who is born of God,
keeping himself, doth not, cannot commit sin ; and yet, if he
keepeth not himself, he may commit all manner of sin with
greediness.

III. i. From the preceding considerations we may learn,
first, to give a clear and incontestable answer to a question
which has frequently perplexed many who were sincere of
heart : ' Does sin precede or follow the loss of faith ? Does
a child of God first commit sin, and thereby lose his faith ?
Or does he lose his faith first, before he can commit sin ? '

I answer, Some sin of omission, at least, must necessarily
precede the loss of faith ; some inward sin : but the loss of
faith must precede the committing outward sin.

The more any believer examines his own heart, the more

III. i. That some sin of omission blow, I had at once fixed my atten-

must necessarily precede the loss of tion on God, I should have been

faith cannot be maintained ; unless able to restrain myself ; but it is

it means the failure to turn at once rather pedantic to call this a sin of

to God in the moment of temptation. omission. Probably what Wesley

A man strikes me suddenly ; and means is that the cause of the failure

instinctively I strike back at him. to turn to God is that there has been

It is true that if, on receiving the some neglect of prayer and medita-

The Great Privilege of those that are Bom of God 311

will he be convinced of this : that faith, working by love,
excludes both inward and outward sin from a soul watching
unto prayer ; that nevertheless we are even then liable to
temptation, particularly to the sin that did easily beset us ;
that if the loving eye of the soul be steadily fixed on God,
the temptation soon vanishes away : but if not, if we are
ii;e\fc6/j,evot (as the Apostle James speaks, chap. i. 14), drawn
out of God by our own desire, and heXea^o^ievoi, caught by the
bait of present or promised pleasures ; then that desire, con-
ceived in us, brings forth sin ; and having by that inward sin
destroyed our faith, it casts us headlong into the snare of the
devil, so that we may commit any outward sin whatever.

2. From what has been said, we may learn, secondly, what
the life of God in the soul of a believer is ; wherein it properly
consists ; and what is immediately and necessarily implied
therein. It immediately and necessarily implies the continual
inspiration of God's Holy Spirit ; God's breathing into the
soul, and the soul's breathing back what it first receives from
God ; a continual action of God upon the soul, and a reaction
of the soul upon God ; an unceasing presence of God, the
loving, pardoning God, manifested to the heart, and perceived
by faith ; and an unceasing return of love, praise and prayer,
offering up all the thoughts of our hearts, all the words of our
tongues, all the works of our hands, all our body, soul, and
spirit, to be a holy sacrifice, acceptable unto God in Christ
Jesus.

3. And hence we may, thirdly, infer the absolute necessity

tion and the means of grace, which
has weakened the sense of the pre-
sence of God.

' So that we may commit any out-
ward sin whatever.' Again Wesley
seems to regard a single lapse into
outward sin as a complete forfeiture
of the favour of God, and a loss of
all that we have gained by conver-
sion. This is mischievous doctrine.
A man's character is to be judged
by his habitual acts, not by his occa-
sional lapses ; he does not need to

be born again after every slip into
sin. ' He that is bathed needeth not
save to wash his feet, but is gener-
ally [as a whole] clean.' As
William James says in Var. of Relig.
Exper., p. 257, ' That it [the con-
version experience] should for even
a short time show a human being
what the high-water mark of his
spiritual capacity is, this is what
constitutes its importance — an im-
portance which backsliding cannot
diminish.'

312 Sermon XV

of this reaction of the soul (whatsoever it be called), in order
to the continuance of the divine life therein. For it plainly
appears, God does not continue to act upon the soul, unless
the soul reacts upon God. He prevents us indeed with the
blessings of His goodness. He first loves us, and manifests
Himself unto us. While we are yet afar off, He calls us to
Himself, and shines upon our hearts. But if we do not then
love Him who first loved us ; if we will not hearken to His
voice ; if we turn our eye away from Him, and will not attend
to the light which He pours in upon us ; His Spirit will not
always strive : He will gradually withdraw, and leave us to the
darkness of our own hearts. He will not continue to breathe
into our soul, unless our soul breathes toward Him again ;
unless our love, and prayer, and thanksgiving return to Him,
a sacrifice wherewith He is well pleased.

4. Let us learn, lastly, to follow that direction of the great
Apostle, ' Be not high-minded, but fear.' Let us fear sin,
more than death or hell. Let us have a jealous (though not
painful) fear, lest we should lean to our own deceitful hearts.
' Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.' Even he who
now standeth fast in the grace of God, in the faith that over-
cometh the world, may nevertheless fall into inward sin, and
thereby ' make shipwreck of his faith.' And how easily then
will outward sin regain its dominion over him ! Thou, there-
fore, O man of God ! watch always, that thou mayest always
hear the voice of God ! Watch, that thou mayest pray with-
out ceasing, at all times, and in all places, pouring out thy
heart before Him ! So shalt thou always believe, and always
love, and never commit sin.

3. ' Prevents ' ; i.e. anticipates, goes before us.

-Ov-5^

SERMONS XVI-XXVIII

As a practical manual of Christian conduct, it would be hard to find
anything so good as this noble series of thirteen sermons. Nothing
could prove more conclusively that Wesley's enthusiastic preaching
of justification by faith gave no excuse to his followers for ' making
void the law through faith.' Their ethical teaching glows throughout
with spiritual fervour ; and their appeal to the conscience is irresis-
tible. They are a candle of the Lord, searching the innermost parts
of the soul ; and in reading them once again, I have been driven to
my knees in penitence and confession, many and many a time.

As an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, they have certain
obvious deficiencies. There is no attempt to show the relation of
our Lord's teaching to the Old Testament Scriptures and to the current
thought of His own time. Nor is there any discussion of the relation
of St. Matthew's version to that given in St. Luke's Gospel. It is
now generally agreed that we have in Luke vi. 20-49 a report of the
discourse as it was delivered by our Lord ; and that the author of
the first Gospel (Matthew or another) has incorporated with it many
sayings of our Lord spoken at other times and under other circum-
stances, which in his judgement threw light upon various points dealt
with ; and made the survey of the ethics of the kingdom more com-
plete. Moreover, he has given a deeper spiritual meaning to some
of the sayings than they conveyed in their first form ; as when he
changes ' Blessed are ye poor ' to ' Blessed are the poor in spirit.'
But we who believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures recognize in
these additions and modifications the comment of the Spirit of Christ
upon His words ; and His comments have no less authority than
the text on which they are based. And if Wesley finds in the Beati-
tudes, as he does, a summary of the Christian life, beginning with
repentance and proceeding through justification to entire sanctifica-
tion, it is no real objection to say that the meaning he attaches to
them cannot have been that which was suggested to the minds of
the first hearers of the sermon on the hill in Galilee ; for he, too, wrote
under the influence of the same Spirit, who has been given to guide
Christ's people into all the truth.

The foundation of these sermons was laid on the good ship Simmonds
during Wesley's voyage to Georgia in 1735. We have Ingham's
authority for saying that ' during the voyage Wesley went over our
Saviour's Sermon on the Mount.' In the Journal for April 1, 1739,
Wesley says: ' In the evening, Mr. Whitefield being gone [i.e. to visit
the Baldwin Street Society ; he did not leave Bristol till the next morn-

3i3

314 Sermons XVI-XXVIII

ing], I began expounding our Lord's Sermon on the Mount (one
pretty remarkable precedent of field-preaching, though I suppose
there were churches at that time also) to a little society which was
accustomed to meet once or twice a week in Nicholas Street.' This
was in Bristol, whither he had come the day before to meet White-
field. On February 17 Whitefield had for the first time preached in
the open air to some two hundred colliers at Kingswood ; and had
continued his outdoor services during the intervening six weeks.
Wesley heard him at the Bowling Green this same Sunday morning.
' I could scarce reconcile myself at first,' he says, ' to this strange way
of preaching in the fields, . . . having been all my life (till very lately)
so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should
have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done
in a church.' However, on Monday, April 2, he says : ' At four in
the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the
highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence
in a ground adjoining to the city to about three thousand people.'
The text was Isa. lxi. i, 2 ; the place was in St. Philip's Marsh near
the junction of Old Bread Street and Cheese Lane, then called the
Brickyard, and now occupied by the goods-yard of the Midland Rail-
way. On Saturday, July 21, he records : ' I began expounding, a
second time, our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. In the morning,
Sunday the 22nd, as I was explaining " Blessed are the poor in spirit "
to about three thousand people, we had a fair opportunity of showing
all men what manner of spirit we were of ; for in the middle of the
sermon the pressgang came, and seized on one of the hearers.' This
service was held on the Bowling Green in the heart of Bristol. Again
in October he went through the Sermon on the Mount and the Epistles
of St. John ' in Temple Backs,' still in Bristol. On Monday, June 16,
1740, he expounded Matt, v at Mr. Crouch's in London ; and in
September he went to get a little retirement to the vicarage at Bexley,
a village in Kent, about a dozen miles south-east of London, where
his old friend the Rev. Henry Piers was the incumbent ; ' where in the
mornings and evenings I expounded the Sermon on the Mount.' The
exposition was repeated once more at Kingswood in January 1741.
In June 1742, on Sunday the 13th, he relates: 'At six I preached for
the last time in Epworth churchyard to a vast multitude gathered
together from all points, on the beginning of our Lord's Sermon on
the Mount. I continued among them for near three hours ; and yet
we scarce knew how to part.' There are many records of the preaching
of individual sermons from the series to the end of Wesley's life. The
first nine were published in Vol. II of the sermons in 1748 ; the re-
maining four in Vol. Ill in 1750. No. XII was published separately
in 1758 under the title of A Caution against False Prophets, particularly
Recommended to the People called Methodists.

SERMON XVI
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE I

This particular sermon is recorded as having been preached near
Chepstow on October 15, 1739, and at Whitechapel on June 21, 1740.
On September 17, 1739, Wesley preached at Plaistow on ' Blessed are
they that mourn.' ' It pleased God,' he says, ' to give us in that
hour two living instances of that piercing sense both of the guilt and
power of sin, that dread of the wrath of God, and that full conviction
of man's inability either to remove the power, or atone for the guilt,
of sin (called by the world despair) ; in which properly consist that
poverty of spirit and mourning which are the gate of Christian blessed-
ness.' He preached again from this text at Wapping on July n, 1740.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain : and when He

was set, His disciples came unto Him :
And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted.

— Matt. v. 1-4.

I. Our Lord had now gone ' about all Galilee ' (Matt. iv. 23),
beginning at the time ' when John was cast into prison '
(verse 12), not only ' teaching in their synagogues, and preach-
ing the gospel of the kingdom,' but likewise ' healing all manner
of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.' It
was a natural consequence of this, that ' there followed Him
great multitudes from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from
Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from the region beyond
Jordan ' (verse 25). ' And seeing the multitudes/ whom no
synagogue could contain, even had there been any at hand, ' He
went up into a mountain,' where there was room for all that

315

316 Sermon XVI

came unto Him from every quarter. ' And when He was set,'
as the manner of the Jews was, ' His disciples came unto Him.
And He opened His mouth ' (an expression denoting the begin-
ning of a solemn discourse), ' and taught them, saying. ..."

2. Let us observe, who it is that is here speaking, that we
may take heed how we hear. It is the Lord of heaven and
earth, the Creator of all ; who, as such, has a right to dispose
of all His creatures ; the Lord our Governor, whose kingdom
is from everlasting, and ruleth over all ; the great Lawgiver,
who can well enforce all His laws, being ' able to save and to
destroy,' yea, to punish with ' everlasting destruction from
His presence and from the glory of His power.' It is the
eternal Wisdom of the Father, who knoweth whereof we are
made and understands our inmost frame ; who knows how we
stand related to God, to one another, to every creature which
God hath made, and, consequently, how to adapt every law He
prescribes to all the circumstances wherein He hath placed us.
It is He who is ' loving unto every man, whose mercy is over
all His works ' ; the God of love, who, having emptied Himself
of His eternal glory, is come forth from His Father to declare
His will to the children of men, and then goeth again to the
Father ; who is sent of God ' to open the eyes of the blind,
and to give light to them that sit in darkness.' It is the great
Prophet of the Lord, concerning whom God had solemnly
declared long ago, ' Whosoever will not hearken unto My words
which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him '
(Deut. xviii. 19) ; or, as the Apostle expresses it, ' Every soul
which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among
the people ' (Acts iii. 23).

3. And what is it which He is teaching ? The Son of God,
who came from heaven, is here showing us the way to heaven ;
to the place which He hath prepared for us ; the glory He had
before the world began. He is teaching us the true way to
life everlasting ; the royal way which leads to the kingdom ;
and the only true way — for there is none besides : all other
paths lead to destruction. From the character of the Speaker,
we are well assured that He hath declared the full and perfect
will of God. He hath uttered not one tittle too much — nothing

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: I 317

more than He had received of the Father ; nor too little —
He hath not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God ;
much less hath He uttered anything wrong, anything contrary
to the will of Him that sent Him. All His words are true and
right concerning all things, and shall stand fast for ever and
ever.

And we may easily remark, that in explaining and confirm-
ing these faithful and true sayings, He takes care to refute not
only the mistakes of the Scribes and Pharisees, which then were
the false comments whereby the Jewish teachers of that age
had perverted the Word of God, but all the practical mistakes
that are inconsistent with salvation, which should ever arise
in the Christian church ; all the comments whereby the
Christian teachers (so called) of any age or nation should
pervert the Word of God, and teach unwary souls to seek death
in the error of their life.

4. And hence we are naturally led to observe, whom it is
that He is here teaching. Not the Apostles alone : if so, He
had no need to have gone up into the mountain. A room in
the house of Matthew, or any of His disciples, would have
contained the twelve. Nor does it in any wise appear that the
disciples who came unto Him were the twelve only. 01
/xadrjTal avTov, without any force put upon the expression, may
be understood of all who desired to learn of Him.. But to put
this out of all question, to make it undeniably plain that
where it is said, ' He opened His mouth and taught them,' the
word them includes all the multitudes who went up with Him
into the mountain, we need only observe the concluding verses
of the seventh chapter : ' And it came to pass, when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the multitudes (ol oxkoi) were
astonished at His doctrine,' or teaching ; ' for He taught them,'
the multitudes, ' as one having authority, and not as the
Scribes.'

Par. 4. So Votaw, in article in trace of esoteric teaching. There is

Hastings' Diet, of the Bible (extra vol.): no portion of the discourse which does

' The sermon is not addressed ex- not pertain equally to all of Jesus's

clusively or specifically to the newly followers, present and future.'
appointed apostles. It contains no

318 Sermon XVI

Nor was it only those multitudes who were with Him on
the mount, to whom He now taught the way of salvation ; but
all the children of men ; the whole race of mankind ; the
children that were yet unborn ; all the generations to come,
even to the end of the world, who should ever hear the words
of this life.

5. And this all men allow, with regard to some parts of
the ensuing discourse. No man, for instance, denies that
what is said of poverty of spirit relates to all mankind. But
many have supposed, that other parts concerned only the
Apostles, or the first Christians, or the ministers of Christ ;
and were never designed for the generality of men, who, con-
sequently, have nothing at all to do with them.

But may we not justly inquire, who told them this, that
some parts of this discourse concerned only the Apostles, or
the Christians of the apostolic age, or the ministers of Christ ?
Bare assertions are not a sufficient proof to establish a point
of so great importance. Has then our Lord Himself taught
us, that some parts of His discourse do not concern all man-
kind ? Without doubt, had it been so, He would have told
us ; He could not have omitted so necessary an information.
But has He told us so ? Where ? In the discourse itself ?
No ; here is not the least intimation of it. Has He said so
elsewhere ? in any other of His discourses ? Not one word so
much as glancing this way can we find in anything He ever
spoke, either to the multitudes, or to His disciples. Has any
one of the Apostles, or other inspired writers, left such an
instruction upon record ? No such thing. No assertion of
this kind is to be found in all the oracles of God. Who then
are the men who are so much wiser than God — wise so far
above that is written ?

6. Perhaps they will say, that the reason of the thing
requires such a restriction to be made. If it does, it must be
on one of these two accounts ; because, without such a restric-
tion, the discourse would either be apparently absurd, or would
contradict some other scripture. But this is not the case. It
will plainly appear, when we come to examine the several
particulars, that there is no absurdity at all in applying all

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 319

which our Lord hath here delivered to all mankind. Neither
will it infer any contradiction to anything else He has delivered,
nor to any other scripture whatever. Nay, it will farther
appear, that either all the parts of this discourse are to be
applied to men in general, or no part ; seeing they are all
connected together, all joined as the stones in an arch, of which
you cannot take one away, without destroying the whole
fabric.

7. We may, lastly, observe, how our Lord teaches here.
And surely as at all times, so particularly at this, He speaks
' as never man spake.' Not as the holy men of old ; although
they also s'-'oke ' as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' Not
as Peter, or James, or John, or Paul : they were indeed wise
master-builders in His Church ; but still in this, in the degrees
of heavenly wisdom, the servant is not as his Lord. No, nor
even as Himself at any other time, or on any other occasion.
It does not appear, that it was ever His design, at any other
time or place, to lay down at once the whole plan of His
religion ; to give us a full prospect of Christianity ; to describe
at large the nature of that holiness without which no man shall
see the Lord. Particular branches of this He has indeed de-
scribed, on a thousand different occasions ; but never, besides
here, did He give, of set purpose, a general view of the whole.
Nay, we have nothing else of this kind in all the Bible ; unless
one should except that short sketch of holiness delivered by
God in those ten words or commandments to Moses, on mount
Sinai. But even here how wide a difference is there between
one and the other ! ' Even that which was made glorious had
no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth '
(2 Cor. iii. 10).

8. Above all, with what amazing love does the Son of God
here reveal His Father's will to man ! He does not bring us
again ' to the mount that burned with fire, nor unto blackness,
and darkness, and tempest.' He does not speak as when He
' thundered out of heaven ' ; when the Highest ' gave His
thunder, hailstones, and coals of fire.' He now addresses us
with His still, small voice, — ' Blessed,' or happy, ' are the poor
in spirit.' Happy are the mourners ; the meek ; those that

320

Sermon XVI

hunger after righteousness ; the merciful ; the pure in heart :
happy in the end, and in the way ; happy in this life, and m
life everlasting ! As if He had said, ' Who is he that lusteth
to live, and would fain see good days ? Behold, I show you
the thing which your soul longeth for ! See the way you have
so long sought in vain ; the way of pleasantness ; the path to
calm, joyous peace, to heaven below, and heaven above ! '

9. At the same time, with what authority does He teach !
Well might they say, ' Not as the Scribes.' Observe the
manner (but it cannot be expressed in words), the air, with
which He speaks ! Not as Moses, the servant of God ; not as
Abraham, His friend ; not as any of the prophets-, nor as any
of the sons of men. It is something more than human ; more
than can agree to any created being. It speaks the Creator of
all ! A God, a God appears ! Yea, 'O "flN, the Being of beings,
Jehovah, the Self-existent, the Supreme, the God who is over
all blessed for ever.

10. This divine discourse, delivered in the most excellent
method, every subsequent part illustrating those that precede,
is commonly, and not improperly, divided into three principal
branches : the first contained in the fifth, the second in the
sixth, and the third in the seventh chapter. In the first, the
sum of all true religion is laid down in eight particulars, which
are explained, and guarded against the false glosses of man, in
the following parts of the fifth chapter. In the second are
rules for that right intention which we are to preserve in all
our outward actions, unmixed with worldly desires, or anxious

8. ' Who is he that lusteth ? ' &c.
The Prayer-Book version of Ps. xxxiv.
12. ' Lusteth " is used in its old sense
of desireth eagerly.

9. ' Not as the Scribes.' The
better reading is ' their Scribes.'
There is no thought of Moses or the
Prophets ; the Scribes of our Lord's
time are referred to, and the point is
that they always rested on prece-
dent and authority, whereas our
Lord said ' I say unto you,' as having
Himself authority to speak.

10. Votaw's analysis is as follows :

Theme : The Ideal Life, or the True Righteous-
ness.

A. The ideal life described as to —

{a) its characteristics, v. 1-12.

(b) its mission, v. 13-16.

B. Its relation to the earlier Hebrew ideal,

v. 17-20.

C. Its outworkings.

(a) in deeds and motives, v. 21-48.
(6) in real religious worship, vi. 1-18.

(d) in treatment of others, vii. 1-12.

D. The duty of Living the Ideal Life, vii.

19-27.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 321

cares for even the necessaries of life. In the third are cautions
against the main hindrances of religion, closed with an appli-
cation of the whole.

1. 1. Our Lord first lays down the sum of all true religion
in eight particulars, which He explains and guards against the
false glosses of men, to the end of the fifth chapter.

Some have supposed that He designed, in these, to point out
the several stages of the Christian course — the steps which a
Christian successively takes in his journey to the promised
land ; others, that all the particulars here set down belong at
all times to every Christian. And why may we not allow both
the one and the other ? What inconsistency is there between
them ? It is undoubtedly true, that both poverty of spirit, and
every other temper which is here mentioned, are at all times
found, in a greater or less degree, in every real Christian.
And it is equally true, that real Christianity always begins in
poverty of spirit, and goes on in the order here set down,
till the ' man of God is made perfect.' We begin at the lowest
of these gifts of God ; yet so as not to relinquish this, when
we are called of God to come up higher ; but ' whereunto we
have already attained, we hold fast,' while we press on to what
is yet before, to the highest blessings of God in Christ Jesus.

2. The foundation of all is poverty of spirit : here, there-
fore, our Lord begins : ' Blessed,' saith He, ' are the poor in
spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

It may not improbably be supposed, that our Lord looked
on those who were round about Him, and, observing that not

I. 1. The number of the Beati-
tudes is apparently eight ; though
some commentators would reduce
them to seven (the sacred number),
either by not counting the last, as
not being co-ordinate in form with
the rest, or by omitting the third, as
a gloss introduced from Ps. xxxvii.
11. It is generally agreed that the
first four are of a negative character,
and express the state of spiritual
desire which leads to the possession
W.s.s. 1 — 21

of the Kingdom ; the second four
are positive, and describe the char-
acter and treatment of members of
the Kingdom. Tholuck agrees with
Wesley that there is an order of pro-
gression, but that it is not of such
a nature that each stage excludes
those which precede it.

2. In St. Luke the Beatitudes and
the Woes are all personally ex-
pressed : ' Blessed are ye poor men,'
&c. In the crowd on the hillside

322 Sermon XVI

many rich were there, but rather the poor of the world, took
occasion from thence to make a transition from temporal to
spiritual things. ' Blessed,' saith He (or happy — so the word
should be rendered, both in this and the following verses),
' are the poor in spirit.' He does not say, they that are poor
as to outward circumstances, it being not impossible that some
of these may be as far from happiness as a monarch upon his
throne ; but ' the poor in spirit ' — they who, whatever their
outward circumstances are, have that disposition of heart
which is the first step to all real, substantial happiness, either
in this world, or that which is to come.

3. Some have judged, that by the poor in spirit here, are
meant those who love poverty ; those who are free from covet -
ousness, from the love of money ; who fear, rather than desire,
riches. Perhaps they have been induced so to judge, by
wholly confining their thoughts to the very term ; or by con-
sidering that weighty observation of St. Paul, that ' the love
of money is the root of all evil.' And hence many have wholly
divested themselves, not only of riches, but of all worldly goods.
Hence also the vows of voluntary poverty seem to have arisen
in the Romish Church ; it being supposed that so eminent a
degree of this fundamental grace must be a large step toward
the ' kingdom of heaven.'

But these do not seem to have observed, first, that the
expression of St. Paul must be understood with some restric-
tion ; otherwise it is not true ; for the love of money is not

the majority were doubtless poor, in itself blessed. It is true that this
hard-working folk ; but there might spirit far more often goes with
well be amongst them some of the poverty than with riches — ' God
Pharisees, who stood apart with a hath chosen the poor in this world
certain scorn. But St. Matthew saw rich in faith ' ; but it is the spiritual
that the blessedness of which our temper, not the economic condition.
Lord spoke was not the result of that makes for happiness or wretched-
economic poverty, but of the sense ness.

of spiritual need which brought 3. What St. Paul does say is that

these people round our Saviour ; the love of money is a root of all

and his addition of ' in spirit ' guards evils ; not, as Wesley says, the root

the phrase against the misunder- of very many evils. It is one root

standing that would find in it a com- of all sorts of evil, but not the only

mendation of economic poverty as one.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 323

the root, the sole root, of all evil. There are a thousand other
roots of evil in the world, as sad experience daily shows. His
meaning can only be, it is the root of very many evils ; perhaps
of more than any single vice besides. Secondly, that this
sense of the expression, ' poor in spirit,' will by no means
suit our Lord's present design, which is to lay a general founda-
tion whereon the whole fabric of Christianity may be built ;
a design which would be in no wise answered by guarding
against one particular vice : so that, if even this were supposed
to be one part of His meaning, it could not possibly be the
whole. Thirdly, that it cannot be supposed to be any part of
His meaning, unless we charge Him with manifest tautology ;
seeing, if poverty of spirit were only freedom from covetousness,
from the love of money, or the desire of riches, it would coincide
with what He afterwards mentions, it would be only a branch
of purity of heart.

4. Who then are ' the poor in spirit ' ? Without question,
the humble ; they who know themselves ; who are convinced
of sin ; those to whom God hath given that first repentance,
which is previous to faith in Christ.

One of these can no longer say, ' I am rich, and increased
in goods, and have need of nothing ' ; as now knowing, that
he is ' wretched, and poor, and miserable, and blind, and
naked.' He is convinced that he is spiritually poor indeed;
having no spiritual good abiding in him. ' In me,' saith
he, ' dwelleth no good thing,' but whatsoever is evil and
abominable. He has a deep sense of the loathsome leprosy of
sin, which he brought with him from his mother's womb, which
overspreads his whole soul, and totally corrupts every power
and faculty thereof. He sees more and more of the evil tem-
pers which spring from that evil root : the pride and haughti-
ness of spirit, the constant bias to think of himself more highly
than he ought to think ; the vanity, the thirst after the esteem
or honour that cometh from men ; the hatred or envy, the
jealousy or revenge, the anger, malice, or bitterness ; the
inbred enmity both against God and man, which appears in
ten thousand shapes ; the love of the world, the self-will, the
foolish and hurtful desires, which cleave to his inmost soul. He

324 Sermon XVI

is conscious how deeply he has offended by his tongue ; if not
by profane, immodest, untrue, or unkind words, yet by dis-
course which was not ' good to the use of edifying,' not ' meet
to minister grace to the hearers,' which, consequently, was all
corrupt in God's account, and grievous to His Holy Spirit.
His evil works are now likewise ever in his sight : if he tells
them, they are more than he is able to express. He may
as well think to number the drops of rain, the sands of the sea,
or the days of eternity.

5. His guilt is now also before his face : he knows the punish-
ment he has deserved, were it only on account of his carnal
mind, the entire, universal corruption of his nature : how
much more, on account of all his evil desires and thoughts, of
all his sinful words and actions ! He cannot doubt for a
moment, but the least of these deserves the damnation of hell —
'the worm that dieth not, and the fire that never shall be
quenched.' Above all, the guilt of ' not believing on the name
of the only-begotten Son of God ' lies heavy upon him. How,
saith he, shall I escape, who ' neglect so great salvation ' ! 'He
that belie veth not is condemned already,' and ' the wrath of
God abideth on him.'

6. But what shall he give in exchange for his soul, which is
forfeited to the just vengeance of God ? ' Wherewithal shall
he come before the Lord ? ' How shall he pay Him that he
oweth ? Were he from this moment to perform the most
perfect obedience to every command of God, this would make
no amends for a single sin, for any one act of past disobedience ;
seeing he owes God all the service he is able to perform, from
this moment to all eternity : could he pay this, it would make
no manner of amends for what he ought to have done before.
He sees himself therefore utterly helpless with regard to atoning
for his past sins ; utterly unable to make any amends to God,
to pay any ransom for his own soul.

But if God would forgive him all that is past, on this one
condition, that he should sin no more ; that for the time to

4. ' Tells ' is used in its old sense Everv shepherd tells his tale

of ' counts * ; as in Milton's L'A llegro. Under the hawtbora ia the ddIe>

67 : That is, reckons up his flock.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: 1 325

come he should entirely and constantly obey all His commands ;
he well knows that this would profit him nothing, being a
condition he could never perform. He knows and feels that he
is not able to obey even the outward commands of God ; seeing
these cannot be obeyed while his heart remains in its natural
sinfulness and corruption ; inasmuch as an evil tree cannot
bring forth good fruit. But he cannot cleanse a sinful heart :
with men this is impossible : so that he is utterly at a loss even
how to begin walking in the path of God's commandments.
He knows not how to get one step forward in the way. En-
compassed with sin, and sorrow, and fear, and finding no way
to escape, he can only cry out, ' Lord, save, or I perish ! '

7. Poverty of spirit then, as it implies the first step we take
in running the race which is set before us, is a just sense of our
inward and outward sins, and of our guilt and helplessness.
This some have monstrously styled ' the virtue of humility ' ;
thus teaching us to be proud of knowing we deserve damnation !
But our Lord's expression is quite of another kind ; conveying
no idea to the hearer, but that of mere want, of naked sin,
of helpless guilt and misery.

8. The great apostle, where he endeavours to bring sinners
to God, speaks in a manner just answerable to this. ' The
wrath of God,' saith he, ' is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men ' (Rom. i. 18, &c.) ;
a charge which he immediately fixes on the heathen world,
and thereby proves they are under the wrath of God. He
next shows that the Jews were no better than they, and were
therefore under the same condemnation ; and all this, not in
order to their attaining ' the noble virtue of humility,' but

7. It is no more ' monstrous ' to tification ; in the Minutes, 1770, he

call humility a virtue than to call says : ' As to merit itself, of which we

pride a vice. But Wesley was ter- have been so dreadfully afraid ; we

ribly afraid of suggesting that are rewarded according to our works,

humility was in any degree a meri- yea, because of our works. How does

torious cause of salvation ; hence this differ from for the sake of our

he will not allow that it is a virtue works ? And how differs this from

at all. He modified in later life this secundum merita operum — as our

extreme view of the worthlessness works deserve ? Can you split this

o' all works and tempers before jus- hair ? I doubt T cannot.'

326 Sermon XVI

' that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world become
guilty before God.'

He proceeds to show, that they were helpless as well as
guilty ; which is the plain purport of all those expressions :
' Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified ' ; ' But now the righteousness of God, which is by
faith of Jesus Christ, without the law, is manifested ' ; ' We
conclude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of
the law,' — expressions all tending to the same point, even to
' hide pride from man ' ; to humble him to the dust, without
teaching him to reflect upon his humility as a virtue ; to
inspire him with that full, piercing conviction of his utter
sinfulness, guilt, and helplessness, which casts the sinner,
stripped of all, lost and undone, on his strong Helper, Jesus
Christ the righteous.

9. One cannot but observe here, that Christianity begins
just where heathen morality ends ; poverty of spirit, con-
viction of sin, the renouncing ourselves, the not having our
own righteousness (the very first point in the religion of Jesus
Christ), leaving all pagan religion behind. This was ever hid
from the wise men of this world ; insomuch that the whole
Roman language, even with all the improvements of the
Augustan age, does not afford so much as a name for humility
(the word from whence we borrow this, as is well known, bear-
ing in Latin a quite different meaning) ; no, nor was one
found in all the copious language of Greece, till it was made by
the great apostle.

10. O that we may feel what they were not able to express !
Sinner, awake ! Know thyself ! Know and feel, that thou

9. This observation is just. Humi- Tairetvo<f>po(riivq is first found in St.
litas in classical Latin means always Paul's address at Miletus (Acts xx.
meanness, baseness, abjectness ; it is 19) ; and was certainly a Christian
not till we come to Lactantius, a coinage, possibly enough, as Wesley
Christian writer of the third cen- suggests, his own. Aristotle (Elhica
tury a.d., that we find it in the Nicom. iv. 8) makes high-minded-
sense of humility. Similarly in ness the virtuous mean between
Greek TcnretJ^s and its compounds vanity and little-mindedness, which
always express mean-spiritedness, are both vices,
contemptibleness ; and the noun

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 327

wert ' shapen in wickedness,' and that ' in sin did thy mother
conceive thee ' ; and that thou thyself hast been heaping
sin upon sin, ever since thou couldest discern good from evil !
Sink under the mighty hand of God, as guilty of death eternal ;
and cast off, renounce, abhor, all imagination of ever being
able to help thyself ! Be it all thy hope to be washed in His
blood, and renewed by His almighty Spirit, who Himself ' bare
all our sins in His own body on the tree ' ! So shalt thou
witness, ' Happy are the pool in spirit : for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.'

11. This is that kingdom of heaven, or of God, which is
within us ; even ' righteousness, and peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost.' And what is ' righteousness,' but the life of
God in the soul ; the mind which was in Christ Jesus ; the
image of God stamped upon the heart, now renewed after the
likeness of Him that created it ? What is it but the love of
God, because He first loved us, and the love of all mankind for
His sake ?

And what is this ' peace,' the peace of God, but that calm
serenity of soul, that sweet repose in the blood of Jesus, which
leaves no doubt of our acceptance in Him ; which excludes all
fear, but the loving, filial fear of offending our Father which
is in heaven ?

This inward kingdom implies also ' joy in the Holy Ghost ' ;
who seals upon our hearts ' the redemption which is in Jesus,'
the righteousness of Christ imputed to us ' for the remission
of the sins that are past ' ; who giveth us now ' the earnest of
our inheritance,' of the crown which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will give at that day. And well may this be termed
' the kingdom of heaven ' ; seeing it is heaven already opened
in the soul : the first springing up of those rivers of pleasure
which flow at God's right hand for evermore.

11. Compare Sermon VII, where Remarks on Hill's Farrago Double-

this paragraph is elaborated. Distilled (1773), ' That phrase — the

In Sermon XLIX, 20, Wesley asks imputed righteousness of Christ — I

liberty to use the phrase ' imputed never did use.' He had forgotten

righteousness,' though he admits he this passage,
does not like it. But he savs in his

328 Sermon XVI

12. ' Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' Whosoever thou
art, to whom God hath given to be ' poor in spirit,' to feel
thyself lost, thou hast a right thereto, through the gracious
promise of Him who cannot lie. It is purchased for thee by
the blood of the Lamb. It is very nigh : thou art on the brink
of heaven ! Another step, and thou enterest into the kingdom
of righteousness, and peace, and joy ! Art thou all sin ? —
' Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the
world ! ' All unholy ? — see thy ' Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous ! ' Art thou unable to atone for
the least of thy sins ? — ' He is the propitiation for ' all thy
' sins.' Now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and all thy
sins are blotted out ! Art thou totally unclean in soul and
body ? — here is the ' fountain for sin and uncleanness ! '
' Arise, and wash away thy sins ! ' Stagger no more at the
promise through unbelief ! Give glory to God ! Dare to
believe ! Now cry out, from the ground of thy heart, —

Yes, I yield, I yield at last,

Listen to Thy speaking blood ;
Me, with all my sins, 1 cast

On my atoning God.

13. Then thou learnest of Him to be ' lowly of heart.'
And this is the true, genuine, Christian humility, which flows
from a sense of the love of God, reconciled to us in Christ
Jesus. Poverty of spirit, in this meaning of the word, begins
where a sense of guilt and of the wrath of God ends ; and is
a continual sense of our total dependence on Him, for every
good thought, or word, or work ; of our utter inability to all
good, unless He ' water us every moment ' ; and an abhorrence
of the praise of men, knowing that all praise is due unto God
only. With this is joined a loving shame, a tender humilia-
tion before God, even for the sins which we know He hath
forgiven us, and for the sin which still remaineth in our hearts,

12. The quotation is from a hymn Lord.' It is in the Methodist Hymn-
by Charles Wesley, first published in Book, No. 341.

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1742, be- 13. Compare Sermon XLVI, on

ginning, ' I will hearken what the Sin in Believers.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 329

although we know it is not imputed to our condemnation.
Nevertheless, the conviction we feel of inbred sin is deeper
and deeper every day. The more we grow in grace, the more
do we see of the desperate wickedness of our heart. The more
we advance in the knowledge and love of God, through our
Lord Jesus Christ (as great a mystery as this may appear to
those who know not the power of God unto salvation), the more
do we discern of our alienation from God, of the enmity that
is in our carnal mind, and the necessity of our being entirely
renewed in righteousness and true holiness.

II. 1. It is true, he has scarce any conception of this who
now begins to know the inward kingdom of heaven. ' In his
prosperity he saith, I shall never be moved ; Thou, Lord, hast
made my hill so strong.' Sin is so utterly bruised beneath
his feet, that he can scarce believe it remaineth in him. Even
temptation is silenced, and speaks not again : it cannot
approach, but stands afar off. He is borne aloft in the chariots
of joy and love : he soars ' as upon the wings of an eagle.'
But our Lord well knew that this triumphant state does not
often continue long : He therefore presently subjoins, ' Blessed
are they that mourn ; for they shall be comforted.'

2. Not that we can imagine this promise belongs to those
who mourn only on some worldly account ; who are in sorrow
and heaviness merely on account of some worldly trouble or
disappointment, such as the loss of their reputation or friends,
or the impairing of their fortune. As little title to it have they
who are afflicting themselves, through fear of some temporal
evil ; or who pine away with anxious care, or that desire of
earthly things which ' maketh the heart sick.' Let us not
think these ' shall receive anything from the Lord ' : He is
not in all their thoughts. Therefore it is that they thus ' walk
in a vain shadow, and disquiet themselves in vain.' ' And this
shall ye have of Mine hand.,' saith the Lord, ' ye shall lie down
in sorrow.'

3. The mourners of whom our Lord here speaks, are those

II. 3. That this was Wesley's own and he seems to have regarded it as
experience we have already seen ; normal, or at all events, usual. No

330

Sermon XVI

that mourn on quite another account : they that mourn after
God ; after Him in whom they did ' rejoice with joy unspeak-
able,' when He gave them to ' taste the good,' the pardoning
' word, and the powers of the world to come.' But He now
' hides His face and they are troubled ' ; they cannot see Him
through the dark cloud. But they see temptation and sin,
which they fondly supposed were gone never to return, arising
again, following after them amain, and holding them in on
every side. It is not strange if their soul is now disquieted
within them, and trouble and heaviness take hold upon them.
Nor will their great enemy fail to improve the occasion : to
ask, ' Where is now thy God ? Where is now the blessedness
whereof thou spakest ? the beginning of the kingdom of
heaven ? Yea, hath God said, " Thy sins are forgiven thee ? "
Surely God hath not said it. It was only a dream, a mere
delusion, a creature of thy own imagination. If thy sins are
forgiven, why art thou thus ? Can a pardoned sinner be thus
unholy ? ' And if then, instead of immediately crying to
God, they reason with him that is wiser than they, they will
be in heaviness indeed, in sorrow of heart, in anguish not to
be expressed. Nay, even when God shines again upon the
soul, and takes away all doubt of His past mercy, still he that
is weak in faith may be tempted and troubled on account of
what is to come ; especially when inward sin revives, and

doubt it is very common in the type
of conversion which he knew best ;
after the intense excitement of the
deliverance from sin, an emotional
reaction is almost inevitable. Ser-
mons XL and XLI deal with this
subject. In the former of these it
is recognized that one cause of this
reaction is ignorance ; and that is
very true. The more entirely emo-
tional conversion has been, the more
likely it is that a period of depres-
sion will follow it ; the larger the
part that reason has played, the
more stable will the convert's ex-
perience be. It seems to be sug-
gested here that God may deliber-

ately ' hide His face ' from the
believer for his trial ; but in Ser-
mon XL this is flatly denied : ' He
never deserts us, as some speak ; it
is we only that desert Him.' Tho-
luck follows Wesley in regarding
this mourning as the penitence of
the believer for his sins after con-
version ; but it is surely not right
to limit it to this form of sorrow :

In every sorrow of the heart
Eternal mercy bears a part.

Votaw would include in it ' all those
experiences of life which bring sad-
ness and sorrow to men.'

The first quotation is from Dr.
John Donne's Hymn to God the

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 331

thrusts sore at him that he may fall. Then may he again cry

out, —

I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun

My last thread, I shall perish on the shore I —

lest I should make shipwreck of the faith, and my last state be
worse than the first, —

Lest all my bread of life should fail,
And I sink down unchanged to hell !

4. Sure it is, that this 'affliction/ for the present, 'is not
joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless, afterward it bringeth forth
peaceable fruit unto them that are exercised thereby.' Blessed,
therefore, are they that thus mourn, if they ' tarry the Lord's
leisure,' and suffer not themselves to be turned out of the
way, by the miserable comforters of the world ; if they reso-
lutely reject all the comforts of sin, of folly, and vanity ; all
the idle diversions and amusements of the world ; all the
pleasures which ' perish in the using,' and which only tend
to benumb and stupefy the soul, that it may neither be sensible
of itself nor God. Blessed are they who ' follow on to know
the Lord,' and steadily refuse all other comfort. They shall
be comforted by the consolations of His Spirit ; by a fresh
manifestation of His love ; by such a witness of His accepting
them in the Beloved, as shall never more be taken away from
them. This ' full assurance of faith ' swallows up all doubt,
as well as all tormenting fear ; God now giving them a sure
hope of an enduring substance, and ' strong consolation through
grace.' Without disputing whether it be possible for any of
those to ' fall away, who were once enlightened, and made
partakers of the Holy Ghost,' it suffices them to say, by the
power now resting upon them, ' Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ ? . . . I am persuaded, that neither death,

Father ; it is quoted in the paper 3, Part II of C. Wesley's hymn

written at the end of the Sixth ' Groaning for Redemption,' in

Savannah Journal (Standard Edi- Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1742

tion, i. 418) as expressing Wesley's (Osborn, ii. p. 159). Verses 6 and 7

own experience at that time. The of Part IV are Hymn 477 in the

second is the last two lines of verse Methodist Hymn-Book.

332 Sermon XVI

nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord ' (Rom. viii. 35-39).

5. This whole process, both of mourning for an absent God,
and recovering the joy of His countenance, seems to be
shadowed out in what our Lord spoke to His Apostles, the
night before His passion : ' Do ye inquire of that I said, A
little while, and ye shall not see Me : and again, a little while,
and ye shall see Me ? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye
shall weep and lament ' ; namely, when ye do not see Me ;
' but the world shall rejoice ' ; shall triumph over you, as
though your hope were now come to an end. ' And ye shall
be sorrowful,' through doubt, through fear, through tempta-
tion, through vehement desire ; ' but your sorrow shall be
turned into joy,' by the return of Him whom your soul loveth,
' A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour
is come : but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she
remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born
into the world. And ye now have sorrow ' : ye mourn, and
cannot be comforted : ' but I will see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice,' with calm inward joy, ' and your joy no man
taketh from you ' (John xvi. 19-22).

6. But although this mourning is at an end, is lost in holy
joy, by the return of the Comforter, yet is there another, and
a blessed mourning it is, which abides in the children of God.
They still mourn for the sins and miseries of mankind : they
' weep with them that weep.' They weep for them that weep
not for themselves, for the sinners against their own souls.
They mourn for the weakness and unfaithfulness of those that
are, in some measure, saved from their sins. ' Who is weak,
and they are not weak ? Who is offended, and they burn
not ? ' They are grieved for the dishonour continually done
to the Majesty of heaven and earth. At all times they have
an awful sense of this, which brings a deep seriousness upon
their spirits; a seriousness which is not a little increased,
since the eyes of their understanding were opened, by their

5. ' Shadowed ' : used in its old sense of pictured.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I 333

continually seeing the vast ocean of eternity, without a bottom
or a shore, which has already swallowed up millions of millions
of men, and is gaping to devour them that yet remain. They
see here the house of God eternal in the heavens ; there, hell
and destruction without a covering ; and thence feel the
importance of every moment, which just appears, and is gone
for ever !

7. But all this wisdom of God is foolishness with the world.
The whole affair of mourning and poverty of spirit is with them
stupidity and dullness. Nay, it is well if they pass so favour-
able a judgement upon it ; if they do not vote it to be mere
moping and melancholy, if not downright lunacy and distrac-
tion. And it is no wonder at all, that this judgement should
be passed by those who know not God. Suppose, as two
persons were walking together, one should suddenly stop,
and with the strongest signs of fear and amazement, cry out,
' On what a precipice do we stand ! See, we are on the point
of being dashed in pieces ! Another step, and we shall fall into
that huge abyss ! Stop ! I will not go on for all the world ! ' —
when the other, who seemed, to himself at least, equally sharp-
sighted, looked forward and saw nothing of all this ; what
would he think of his companion, but that he was beside him-
self ; that his head was out of order ; that much religion (if
he was not guilty of ' much learning ') had certainly made him
mad !

8. But let not the children of God, ' the mourners in Sion,'
be moved by any of these things. Ye, whose eyes are enlight-
ened, be not troubled by those who walk on still in darkness.
Ye do not walk on in a vain shadow : God and eternity are
real things. Heaven and hell are in very deed open before you ;
and ye are on the edge of the great gulf. It has already
swallowed up more than words can express, nations, and
kindreds, and peoples, and tongues ; and still yawns to devour,
whether they see it or no, the giddy, miserable children of
men. O cry aloud ! Spare not ! Lift up your voice to Him
who grasps both time and eternity, both for yourselves and
your brethren, that ye may be counted worthy to escape the
destruction that cometh as a whirlwind ! that ye may be

334 Sermon XVI

brought safe through all the waves and storms, into the haven
where you would be ! Weep for yourselves, till He wipes
away the tears from your eyes. And even then, weep for the
miseries that come upon the earth, till the Lord of all shall
put a period to misery and sin, shall wipe away the tears from
all faces, and ' the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth,
as the waters cover the sea.'

SERMON XVII
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE II

On October 19, 1739, Wesley was at Cardiff, and says : ' At six almost
the whole town (I was informed) came together, to whom I explained
the six last Beatitudes ; but my heart was so enlarged I knew not
how to give over, so that we continued three hours.' Matt. v. 6 was
his text at Spitalfields on December 30, 1760.

Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they

shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy.

— Matt. v. 5-7.

1. i. When ' the winter is past,' when ' the time of singing
is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land ' ;
when He that comforts the mourners is now returned, ' that
He may abide with them for ever ' ; when, at the brightness
of His presence, the clouds disperse, the dark clouds of doubt
and uncertainty, the storms of fear flee away, the waves of
sorrow subside, and their spirit again rejoiceth in God their
Saviour ; then is it that this word is eminently fulfilled ; then
those whom He hath comforted can bear witness, ' Blessed,'
or happy, ' are the meek ; for they shall inherit the earth.'

2. But who are ' the meek ' ? Not those who grieve at
nothing, because they know nothing ; who are not discom-
posed at the evils that occur, because they discern not evil
from good. Not those who are sheltered from the shocks
of life by a stupid insensibility ; who have, either by nature
or art, the virtue of stocks and stones, and resent nothing,

335

336 Sermon XVII

because they feel nothing. Brute philosophers are wholly
unconcerned in this matter. Apathy is as far from meekness
as from humanity. So that one would not easily conceive
how any Christians of the purer ages, especially any of the
Fathers of the Church, could confound these, and mistake one
of the foulest errors of Heathenism for a branch of true
Christianity.

3. Nor does Christian meekness imply, the being without
zeal for God, any more than it does ignorance or insensibility.
No ; it keeps clear of every extreme, whether in excess or
defect. It does not destroy but balance the affections, which
the God of nature never designed should be rooted out by grace,
but only brought and kept under due regulations. It poises
the mind aright. It holds an even scale, with regard to anger,
and sorrow, and fear ; preserving the mean in every circum-
stance of life, and not declining either to the right hand or the
left.

4. Meekness, therefore, seems properly to relate to our-
selves : but it may be referred either to God or our neighbour.

I. Par. 2. ' Brute philosophers ' ; noster ' (' Seneca, who is often one

i.e. the Stoics, so called from their of ourselves ') ; and Jerome, Adv.

affectation of insensibility. In the Jovin. i. 49, calls him without quali-

Oxford Dictionary a quotation is fication' noster Seneca.' The system

given from J. Pope (ante 1744) : which produced such men as Cato,

Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus
The brute philosopher who ne'er has proved Aurelius ht not tQ be treated

The joy of loving or of being loved. ° . ,

disrespectfully, although its denial of

* Apathy ' : insensibility to plea- a personal God, its lack of a sense

sure and pain. Lewes, in Hist. of sin, its haughty exclusiveness and

Pkiloso. i. 260, says: 'Apathy was want of sympathy, and its lack of

considered by the Stoics as the faith in immortality, made it prac-

highest condition of humanity.' tically ineffective for the help of the

Pope, in Essay on Man, ii. 91 (1732), world. The student should read

has the dissertation on St. Paul and

Seneca in Lightfoot's Philippians.
In laiy Apathy let Stoics boast „, . , /V

Their virtue fixed. 3- This statement, and the corre-
sponding one below in section 5,

To brand Stoicism as ' one of the that none of the passions are de-

foulest errors of heathenism ' is a signed to be rooted out, will need

bit of controversial abuse, and un- to be remembered when we come to

worthy of a scholar like Wesley. the sermon on Christian Perfection.

Tertullian, De Anima, 20, speaks of 4. So Votawsays: ' The Old Testa-

' the Stoic Seneca as ' Seneca saepe ment conception of meekness seems

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 337

When this due composure of mind has reference to God,
it is usually termed ' resignation ' ; a calm acquiescence in
whatsoever is His will concerning us, even though it may
not be pleasing to nature ; saying continually, ' It is the
Lord ; let Him do what seemeth Him good.' When we
consider it more strictly with regard to ourselves, we style it
' patience ' or ' contentedness.' When it is exerted toward
other men, then it is ' mildness ' to the good, and ' gentleness '
to the evil.

5. They who are truly meek can clearly discern what is
evil ; and they can also suffer it. They are sensible of every-
thing of this kind, but still, meekness holds the reins. They
are exceeding ' zealous for the Lord of hosts ' ; but their zeal
is always guided by knowledge, and tempered, in every thought,
and word, and work, with the love of man, as well as the love
of God. They do not desire to extinguish any of the passions
which God has for wise ends implanted in their nature ; but
they have the mastery of all : they hold them all in subjection,
and employ them only in subservience to those ends. And
thus even the harsher and more unpleasing passions are appli-
cable to the noblest purposes ; even hatred, anger, and fear,
when engaged against sin, and regulated by faith and love, are
as walls and bulwarks to the soul, so that the wicked one
cannot approach to hurt it.

6. It is evident, this divine temper is not only to abide but
to increase in us day by day. Occasions of exercising, and
thereby increasing it, will never be wanting while we remain
upon earth. ' We have need of patience, that after we have
done ' and suffered ' the will of God, we may receive the pro-
mise.' We have need of resignation, that we may in all cir-
cumstances say, ' Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.' And we
have need of ' gentleness toward all men ' ; but especially
toward the evil and unthankful : otherwise we shall be over-
come of evil, instead of overcoming evil with good.

to concern a man's attitude towards gentleness, forgiveness, and self-
God rather than towards other men. abnegation in a man's relations to
... A necessary outworking of this his fellow men.'
meekness towards God is a quality of
w.s.s. 1 — 22

338 Sermon XVII

7. Nor does meekness restrain only the outward act, as the
Scribes and Pharisees taught of old, and the miserable teachers
who are not taught of God will not fail to do in all ages. Our
Lord guards against this, and shows the true extent of it, in
the following words : ' Ye have heard that it was said by them
of old time, Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgement ' (Matt. v. 21, &c.) : ' But I say
unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgement : and whosoever
shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council : but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger
of hell-fire.'

8. Our Lord here ranks under the head of murder, even
that anger which goes no farther than the heart ; which does
not show itself by any outward unkindness, no, not so much
as a passionate word. ' Whosoever is angry with his brother,'
with any man living, seeing we are all brethren ; whosoever
feels any unkindness in his heart, any temper contrary to love ;
whosoever is angry without a cause, without a sufficient cause,
or farther than that cause requires, ' shall be in danger of the
judgement ' ; evoxos ear at, ; shall, in that moment, be obnoxious
to the righteous judgement of God.

But would not one be inclined to prefer the reading of
those copies which omit the word elfdj, without a cause ? Is
it not entirely superfluous ? For if anger at persons be a
temper contrary to love, how can there be a cause, a sufficient
cause for it, — any that will justify it in the sight of God ?

Anger at sin we allow. In this sense we may be angry,
and yet we sin not. In this sense our Lord Himself is once
recorded to have been angry : ' He looked round about upon
them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.'

7. The use of the teaching of The better rendering is ' to the

verses 21-6 to illustrate this Beati- men of old time.'

tude is admirable for practical pur- 8. The critics almost all agree

poses, though it may be regarded with Wesley in omitting the words

as exegetically unsound. Its real ' without a cause,' for which there

object is to show the spiritual inter- is comparatively little documentary

pretation which is to be put upon evidence,
the old law in the Kingdom of God.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 339

He was grieved at the sinners, and angry at the sin. And this
is undoubtedly right before God.

9. ' And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca ' — whoso-
ever shall give way to anger, so as to utter any contemptuous
word. It is observed by commentators, that Raca is a Syriac
word, which properly signifies, empty, vain, foolish ; so that it
is as inoffensive an expression as can well be used, toward one
at whom we are displeased. And yet, whosoever shall use this,
as our Lord assures us, ' shall be in danger of the council ' ;
rather, shall be obnoxious thereto : he shall be liable to a
severer sentence from the Judge of all the earth.

' But whosoever shall say, Thou fool ' — whosoever shall so
give place to the devil, as to break out into reviling, into
designedly reproachful and contumelious language — ' shall be
obnoxious to hell-fire ' ; shall, in that instant, be liable to the
highest condemnation. It should be observed, that our Lord
describes all these as obnoxious to capital punishment. The
first to strangling, usually inflicted on those who were con-
demned in one of the inferior courts ; the second, to stoning,
which was frequently inflicted on those who were condemned by
the great Council at Jerusalem ; the third, to burning alive,

9. As the text stands, Wesley's This gives a better parallelism,

interpretation is the only possible and avoids the difficulty of creating

one ; the punishment in each case an unreal distinction between Raca

is death, but there is a difference and Fool.

of degree both in the courts and the Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom,
form of the penalty. The chief to the south-west of Jerusalem, was
difficulty is to see why it should be used as a dump for the refuse of the
worse to call a man a fool in Greek city, which was kept perpetually
than in Syriac ! for Raca was a burning ; hence in the Rabbinical
common term of abuse, and not a literature it was frequently used as
mere meaningless exclamation. I the name for the place of punish-
strongly incline to Bacon's re- ment of the godless. It was one of
arrangement of the passage, thus : the seven things created before the

Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, world, and its fire was sixty times

Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever killeth shall hotter than ordinary fire. Our Lord

be amenable to judgement ; fa \ hrase fc th sense

But I say unto you, Whosoever is angry with r r r

his brother shall be amenable to judgement. iQ which His hearers would under-

(Moreover it was said) Whosoever shall call stand it — the punishment of the
his brother Scoundrel shall be amenable to the sinner in the world to come. Burn-
out 1 say unto you) Whosoever calleth him ing alive was not Practised by the
Fool shall be amenable to the hell of fire. Jews at all ; such barbarity was left

340 Sermon XVII

inflicted only on the highest offenders, in the ' valley of the
sons of Hinnom ' ; r<xl 'Evvojjl, from which that word is
evidently taken which we translate ' hell.'

10. And whereas men naturally imagine, that God will
excuse their defect in some duties, for their exactness in others ;
our Lord next takes care to cut off that vain, though common
imagination. He shows, that it is impossible for any sinner to
commute with God ; who will not accept one duty for another,
nor take a part of obedience for the whole. He warns us, that
the performing our duty to God will not excuse us from our
duty to our neighbour ; that works of piety, as they are called,
will be so far from commending us to God, if we are wanting
in charity, that, on the contrary, that want of charity will make
all those works an abomination to the Lord.

' Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee ' — on
account of thy unkind behaviour toward him, of thy calling
him, ' Raca,' or, * Thou fool ' — think not that thy gift will
atone for thy anger ; or that it will find any acceptance with
God, so long as thy conscience is defiled with the guilt of un-
repented sin. ' Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go
thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother ' (at least do all
that in thee lies toward being reconciled), ' and then come
and offer thy gift ' (Matt. v. 23, 24).

11. And let there be no delay in what so nearly concerneth
thy soul. ' Agree with thine adversary quickly ' — now ; upon
the spot ; ' whiles thou art in the way with him ' — if it be
possible, before he go out of thy sight ; ' lest at any time the
adversary deliver thee to the judge ' — lest he appeal to God the
Judge of all ; ' and the judge deliver thee to the officer ' — to

to the heathen, and to the Roman very obvious. Apparently the ad-
Catholic Church of later days. In versary, or prosecutor, is the man
the two cases in which it is appar- who has been abused, and who is
ently set down as a punishment going to bring an action against his
(Lev. xx. 14 and xxi. 9), 'burned abuser; and the follower of Christ
with fire ' probably means ' branded,' is to seek to be reconciled with him,
not ' burned alive.' that judgement may not be given
11. The connexion of this passage against him, not only in the civil
with what has gone before is not court, but in the court of Heaven.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 341

Satan, the executioner of the wrath of God ; ' and thou be cast
into prison ' — into hell, there to be reserved to the judgement
of the great day. ' Verily I say unto thee, Thou shaft by no
means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing.' But this it is impossible for thee ever to do : seeing
thou hast nothing to pay. Therefore, if thou art once in that
prison, the smoke of thy torment must ' ascend up for ever
and ever.'

12. Meantime ' the meek shall inherit the earth.' Such
is the foolishness of worldly wisdom ! The wise of the world
had warned them again and again, that if they did not
resent such treatment, if they would tamely suffer themselves
to be thus abused, there would be no living for them upon
earth ; that they would never be able to procure the common
necessaries of life, nor to keep even what they had ; that they
could expect no peace, no quiet possession, no enjoyment of
anything. Most true, suppose there were no God in the
world ; or suppose He did not concern Himself with the chil-
dren of men : but ' when God ariseth to judgement, and to
help all the meek upon earth,' how doth He laugh all this
heathen wisdom to scorn, and turn the ' fierceness of man to
His praise ' ! He takes a peculiar care to provide them with
all things needful for life and godliness ; He secures to them
the provision He hath made, in spite of the force, fraud, or
malice of men ; and what He secures He gives them richly
to enjoy. It is sweet to them, be it little or much. As in
patience they possess their souls, so they truly possess what-
ever God hath given them. They are always content, always
pleased with what they have : it pleases them, because it pleases
God : so that while their heart, their desire, their joy is in
heaven, they may truly be said to ' inherit the earth.'

13. But there seems to be a yet farther meaning in these
words, even that they shall have a more eminent part in ' the
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness ' ; in that inherit-
ance, a general description of which (and the particulars we shall

13. Wesley did not trouble him- to Dr. Middleton (1749) in the words
self much about the Millennium. of the passage from Revelation here
He expresses his belief in a letter quoted. But in a letter to Mr.

342 Sermon XVII

know hereafter) St. John hath given in the twentieth chapter
of the Revelation : ' And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, . . . and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
. . . and bound him a thousand years. . . . And I saw the
souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and
for the Word of God, and of them which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark
upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead
lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This
is the first resuirection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with Him a thousand years.'

II. i. Our Lord has hitherto been more immediately
employed in removing the hindrances of true religion : such is
pride, the first grand hindrance of all religion, which is taken
away by poverty of spirit ; levity and thoughtlessness, which
prevent any religion from taking root in the soul, till they
are removed by holy mourning : such are anger, impatience,
discontent, which are all healed by Christian meekness. And
when once these hindrances are removed, these evil diseases of
the soul, which were continually raising false cravings therein,
and filling it with sickly appetites, the native appetite of
a heaven-born spirit returns ; it hungers and thirsts after
righteousness : and ' blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled.'

2. Righteousness, as was observed before, is the image of
God, the mind which was in Christ Jesus. It is every holy
and heavenly temper in one ; springing from, as well as termi-

Christopher Hopper (1788), CCCVI opinion at all upon the head ; lean

in Works, vol. xii, he says, ' I said determine nothing at all about it.

nothing in Bradford Church but These calculations are far above,

what follows : That Bengelius had out of my sight. I have only one

given it as his opinion . . . that the thing to do — to save my own soul

millennial reign of Christ would and those that hear me.'
begin in the year 1836. I have no

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 343

nating in, the love of God, as our Father and Redeemer, and
the love of all men for His sake.

3. ' Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after '
this : in order fully to understand which expression, we should
observe, first, that hunger and thirst are the strongest of all
our bodily appetites. In like manner this hunger in the soul,
this thirst after the image of God, is the strongest of all our
spiritual appetites, when it is once awakened in the heart ;
yea, it swallows up all the rest in that one great desire, — to
be renewed after the likeness of Him that created us. We
should, secondly, observe, that from the time we begin to
hunger and thirst, those appetites do not cease, but are more
and more craving and importunate, till we either eat and
drink, or die. And even so, from the time that we begin to
hunger and thirst after the whole mind which was in Christ,
these spiritual appetites do not cease, but cry after their food
with more and more importunity ; nor can they possibly
cease, before they are satisfied, while there is any spiritual life
remaining. We may, thirdly, observe, that hunger and thirst
are satisfied with nothing but meat and drink. If you would
give to him that is hungry all the world beside, all the elegance
of apparel, all the trappings of state, all the treasure upon
earth, yea, thousands of gold and silver ; if you would pay
him ever so much honour, — he regards it not : all these things
are then of no account with him. He would still say, ' These
are not the things I want : give me food, or else I die.' The
very same is the case with every soul that truly hungers and
thirsts after righteousness. He can find no comfort in any-
thing but this : he can be satisfied with nothing else. Whatever
you offer besides, it is lightly esteemed : whether it be riches,
or honour, or pleasure, he still says, ' This is not the thing
which I want ! Give me love, or else I die ! '

4. And it is as impossible to satisfy such a soul, a soul
that is athirst for God, the living God, with what the world
accounts religion, as with what they account happiness. The
religion of the world implies three things : (1) The doing no

II. 4. In Sermon II, on The account of what is here called 'the
Almost Christian, we have the full religion of the world.'

344 Sermon XVII

harm, the abstaining from outward sin ; at least from such as
is scandalous, as robbery, theft, common swearing, drunken-
ness : (2) The doing good, the relieving the poor ; the being
charitable, as it is called : (3) The using the means of grace :
at least the going to church and to the Lord's supper. He in
whom these three marks are found is termed by the world ' a
religious man.' But will this satisfy him who hungers after
God ? No : it is not food for his soul. He wants a religion
of a nobler kind, a religion higher and deeper than this. He
can no more feed on this poor, shallow, formal thing, than he
can ' fill his belly with the east wind.' True, he is careful to
abstain from the very appearance of evil ; he is zealous of
good works ; he attends all the ordinances of God : but all
this is not what he longs for. This is only the outside of that
religion which he insatiably hungers after. The knowledge of
God in Christ Jesus ; the life which is hid with Christ in
God ' ; the being ' joined unto the Lord in one spirit ' ; the
having ' fellowship with the Father and the Son ' ; the ' walk-
ing in the light as God is in the light ' ; the being ' purified
even as He is pure,' — this is the religion, the righteousness he
thirsts after ; nor can he rest, till he thus rests in God.

5. ' Blessed are they who ' thus ' hunger and thirst after
righteousness ; for they shall be filled.' They shall be filled
with the things which they long for ; even with righteousness
and true holiness. God shall satisfy them with the blessings
of His goodness, with the felicity of His chosen. He shall
feed them with the bread of heaven, with the manna of His
love. He shall give them to drink of His pleasures as out
of the river, which he that drinketh of shall never thirst, only
for more and more of the water of life. This thirst shall
endure for ever.

The painful thirst, the fond desire,
Thy joyous presence shall remove

But my full soul shall still require
A whole eternity of love.

5. The quotation is from Charles and Sacred Poems, 1742. The orig-

Wesley's hymn entitled ' Pleading inal contains twenty-eight verses,

the Promise of Sanctification ' Fifteen of them are in the 1876

(Ezek. xxxvi. 23, &c.), in Hymns Hymn-Book, divided into three

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 345

6. Whosoever then thou art, to whom God hath given to
' hunger and thirst after righteousness,' cry unto Him that
thou mayest never lose that inestimable gift — that this divine
appetite may never cease. If many rebuke thee, and bid thee
hold thy peace, regard them not ; yea, cry so much the more,
' Jesus, Master, have mercy on me ! ' ' Let me not live, but
to be holy as Thou art holy ! ' No more ' spend thy money
for that which is not bread, nor thy labour for that which
satisfieth not.' Canst thou hope to dig happiness out of the
earth— to find it in the things of the world ? O trample
under foot all its pleasures, despise its honours, count its
riches as dung and dross — yea, and all the things which are
beneath the sun — ' for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus,' for the entire renewal of thy soul in that image
of God wherein it was originally created. Beware of quench-
ing that blessed hunger and thirst, by what the world calls
' religion ' ; a religion of form, of outside show, which leaves
the heart as earthly and sensual as ever. Let nothing satisfy
thee but the power of godliness, but a religion that is spirit
and life ; thy dwelling in God, and God in thee — the being
an inhabitant of eternity ; the entering in by the blood of
sprinkling ' within the veil,' and sitting ' in heavenly places
with Christ Jesus.'

III. 1. And the more they are filled with the life of God,
the more tenderly will they be concerned for those who are
still without God in the world, still dead in trespasses and
sins. Nor shall this concern for others lose its reward.
' Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy.'

The word used by our Lord more immediately implies the

hymns (391-3)- It is reduced to In the copy after the sermon it is

two hymns (548-9) in the present ' The whole eternity of love.' In

Hymn-Book. It is printed in full the 1876 Hymn-Book it is as here ;

at the end of the sermon on Christian the verse is omitted in the present

Perfection, No. XXXV ; and at the Hymn-Book.

end of Fletcher's Last Check to III. 1. The extension of the mean-

Anlinomianism. This verse (the ing of ' merciful ' to cover the whole

22nd) is in the original, ground of love is more than justified

, . ,, t.„ . by the delightful ' inset ' of the com-

While my full soul doth still require J ° ... .

Thy whole eternity of love. ments on I Cor. Xlll. to which it

346 Sermon XVII

compassionate, the tender-hearted ; those who, far from
despising, earnestly grieve for, those that do not hunger after
God.

This eminent part of brotherly love is here, by a common
figure, put for the whole ; so that ' the merciful,' in the full
sense of the term, are they who love their neighbours as
themselves.

2. Because of the vast importance of this love — without
which, ' though we spake with the tongues of men and
angels, though we had the gift of prophecy, and understood
all mysteries, and all knowledge ; though we had all faith, so
as to remove mountains ; yea, though we gave all our goods
to feed the poor, and our very bodies to be burned, it would
profit us nothing ' — the wisdom of God has given us, by the
Apostle Paul, a full and particular account of it ; by con-
sidering which we shall most clearly discern who are the
merciful that shall obtain mercy.

3. ' Charity,' or love (as it were to be wished it had been
rendered throughout, being a far plainer and less ambiguous
word), the love of our neighbour as Christ hath loved us,
' suffereth long ' ; is patient towards all men : it suffers all
the weakness, ignorance, errors, infirmities, all the froward-
ness and littleness of faith, of the children of God ; all the
malice and wickedness of the children of the world. And it
suffers all this, not only for a time, for a short season, but to
the end ; still feeding our enemy when he hungers ; if he
thirst, still giving him drink : thus continually ' heaping coals
of fire,' of melting love, ' upon his head.'

4. And in every step toward this desirable end, the ' over-
coming evil with good/ ' love is kind ' {xjnjareuereu, a
word not easily translated) : it is soft, mild, benign. It stands
at the utmost distance from moroseness, from all harshness or

gives occasion. The sermon on ' Coals of fire.' Origen and the

Charity (No. XCI) should be read as majority of commentators rather

an introduction to these paragraphs. interpret this as meaning the burn-

3. On the rendering ' love ' rather ing pangs of shame and remorse

than ' charity,' see Sermon XIII, which the offender feels when good

ii. 9 and note. is returned for evil.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : 11 347

sourness of spirit ; and inspires the sufferer at once with the
most amiable sweetness, and the most fervent and tender
affection.

5. Consequently, ' love envieth not ' : it is impossible it
should ; it is directly opposite to that baneful temper. It
cannot be, that he who has this tender affection to all, who
earnestly wishes all temporal and spiritual blessings, all good
things in this world and the world to come, to every soul
that God hath made, should be pained at His bestowing any
good gift on any child of man. If he has himself received
the same, he does not grieve, but rejoice, that another par-
takes of the common benefit. If he has not, he blesses God
that his brother at least has, and is herein happier than
himself. And the greater his love, the more does he rejoice
in the blessings of all mankind ; the farther is he removed
from every kind and degree of envy toward any creature.

6. Love oh irepirepeverai,, — not ' vaunteth not itself ' ; which
coincides with the very next words ; but rather (as the word
likewise properly imports), is not rash or hasty in judging ;
it will not hastily condemn any one. It does not pass a
severe sentence, on a slight or sudden view of things : it
first weighs all the evidence, particularly that which is brought
in favour of the accused. A true lover of his neighbour
is not like the generality of men, who, even in cases of the
nicest nature, ' see a little, presume a great deal, and so
jump to the conclusion.' No : he proceeds with wariness
and circumspection, taking heed to every step ; willingly sub-
scribing to that rule of the ancient Heathen (O where will
the modern Christian appear !) 'I am so far from lightly
believing what one man says against another, that I will
not easily believe what a man says against himself. I will
always allow him second thoughts, and many times counsel
too.'

6. There is no justification for self-conceit which is spoken of in

Wesley's rendering ; the word be- the next clause.

longs to late Greek, and the meaning This ' ancient heathen ' was

is ' does not play the braggart.' It Seneca. See Sermon XXV, 13.
is the outward manifestation of the

348 Sermon XVII

7. It follows, love ' is not puffed up ' : it does not incline
or suffer any man ' to think more highly of himself than he
ought to think ' ; but rather to think soberly : yea, it humbles
the soul unto the dust. It destroys all high conceits engen-
dering pride ; and makes us rejoice to be as nothing, to be
little and vile, the lowest of all, the servant of all. They who
are ' kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love,'
cannot but ' in honour prefer one another.' Those who,
having the same love, are of one accord, do in lowliness of mind
' each esteem other better than themselves.'

8. ' It doth not behave itself unseemly ' ; it is not rude,
or willingly offensive to any. It ' renders to all their due ;
fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour ' ; courtesy,
civility, humanity to all the world ; in their several degrees
' honouring all men.' A late writer defines good breeding,
nay, the highest degree of it, politeness, ' A continual desire to
please, appearing in all the behaviour.' But if so, there
is none so well-bred as a Christian, a lover of all mankind.
For he cannot but desire to ' please all men for their good to
edification ' : and this desire cannot be hid ; it will necessarily
appear in all his intercourse with men. For his ' love is
without dissimulation ' : it will appear in all his actions and
conversation : yea, and will constrain him, though without
guile, ' to become all things to all men, if by any means he
may save some.'

9. And in becoming all things to all men, ' love seeketh
not her own.' In striving to please all men, the lover of
mankind has no eye at all to his own temporal advantage.
He covets no man's silver, or gold, or apparel : he desires
nothing but the salvation of their souls : yea, in some sense, he
may be said, not to seek his own spiritual, any more than tem-
poral, advantage ; for while he is on the full stretch to save
their souls from death, he, as it were, forgets himself. He

8. ' A late writer.' This definition appearing through the whole con-

of politeness is quoted again in Ser- versation.' Probably it is some-

mon C, ii. 4, as Addison's, and in a where in the Spectator, though I

slightly different form : ' A con- have not yet dropped on it.
stant desire of pleasing all men,

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 349

does not think of himself, so long as that zeal for the glory of
God swallows him up. Nay, at some times he may almost
seem, through an excess of love, to give up himself, both his
soul and his body ; while he cries out, with Moses, ' O, this
people have sinned a great sin ; yet now, if Thou wilt forgive
their sin — ; and if not, blot me out of the book which Thou
hast written ' (Exod. xxxii. 31, 32) ; or, with St. Paul, ' I could
wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh ' (Rom. ix. 3).

10. No marvel that such ' love is not provoked ' ; ov
Trapo^vverai. Let it be observed, the word easily, strangely
inserted in the translation, is not in the original : St. Paul's
words are absolute. ' Love is not provoked ' ; it is not pro-
voked to unkindness toward any one. Occasions indeed will
frequently occur ; outward provocations of various kinds ; but
love does not yield to provocation ; it triumphs over all. In
all trials it looketh unto Jesus, and is more than conqueror in
His love.

It is not improbable that our translators inserted that
word, as it were, to excuse the Apostle ; who, as they supposed,
might otherwise appear to be wanting in the very love which
he so beautifully describes. They seem to have supposed this
from a phrase in the Acts of the Apostles, which is likewise
very inaccurately translated. When Paul and Barnabas dis-
agreed concerning John, the translation runs thus, ' And the
contention was so sharp between them, that they departed
asunder ' (Acts xv. 39). This naturally induces the reader
to suppose, that they were equally sharp therein ; that St.
Paul, who was undoubtedly right, with regard to the point in
question (it being quite improper to take John with them
again, who had deserted them before), was as much provoked
as Barnabas, who gave such a proof of his anger, as to leave

10. The A.V. is the only version inserts the word easily, which might

in which the word ' easily ' is in- have been His Majesty's own.'

serted. Adam Clarke says sarcas- On the difference between Paul

tically, ' The translation made and and Barnabas, see note on Ser-

printed by the command of King mon XV, ii. 5.
James I, fol. 161 1 . . . improperly

350 Sermon XVII

the work for which he had been set apart by the Holy Ghost.
But the original imports no such thing ; nor does it affirm that
St. Paul was provoked at all. It simply says, 'Eyevero ovv
irapo^vafx,6<i, — ' And there was a sharpness/ a paroxysm of
anger ; in consequence of which Barnabas left St. Paul, took
John, and went his own way. Paul then ' chose Silas and
departed, being recommended by the brethren to the grace of
God ' (which is not said concerning Barnabas) ; ' and he went
through Syria and Cilicia,' as he had proposed, ' confirming the
churches.' But to return.

ii. Love prevents a thousand provocations which would
otherwise arise, because it ' thinketh no evil.' Indeed, the
merciful man cannot avoid knowing many things that are
evil ; he cannot but see them with his own eyes, and hear
them with his own ears. For love does not put out his eyes,
so that it is impossible for him not to see that such things are
done ; neither does it take away his understanding, any more
than his senses, so that he cannot but know that they are evil.
For instance ; when he sees a man strike his neighbour, or
hears him blaspheme God, he cannot either question the thing
done, or the words spoken, or doubt of their being evil : yet,
ov Xoyi&rai to kukov. The word Xoy^erai, ' thinketh,' does
not refer either to our seeing and hearing, or to the first and
involuntary acts of our understanding ; but to our willingly
thinking what we need not ; our inferring evil, where it does
not appear ; to our reasoning concerning things which we do
not see ; our supposing what we have neither seen nor heard.
This is what true love absolutely destroys. It tears up, root
and branch, all imagining what we have not known. It casts
out all jealousies, all evil surmisings, all readiness to believe
evil. It is frank, open, unsuspicious ; and, as it cannot design,
so neither does it fear, evil.

12. It ' rejoiceth not in iniquity ' ; common as this is,
even among those who bear the name of Christ, who scruple
not to rejoice over their enemy, when he falleth either into

1 1 . The word means ' does not down to be remembered afterwards ;
keep account of ' ; does not set it does not register evil done to a man.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 351

affliction, or error, or sin. Indeed, how hardly can they avoid
this, who are zealously attached to any party ! How difficult
is it for them not to be pleased with any fault which they
discover in those of the opposite party, — with any real or
supposed blemish, either in their principles or practice ! What
warm defender of any cause is clear of these ? Yea, who is so
calm as to be altogether free ? Who does not rejoice when
his adversary makes a false step, which he thinks will advantage
his own cause ? Only a man of love. He alone weeps over
either the sin or folly of his enemy, takes no pleasure in hearing
or in repeating it, but rather desires that it may be forgotten
for ever.

13. But he ' rejoiceth in the truth,' wheresoever it is found ;
in ' the truth which is after godliness ' ; bringing forth its
proper fruit, — holiness of heart, and holiness of conversation.
He rejoices to find that even those who oppose him, whether
with regard to opinions, or some points of practice, are never-
theless lovers of God, and in other respects unreprovable.
He is glad to hear good of them, and to speak all he can
consistently with truth and justice. Indeed, good in general
is his glory and joy, wherever diffused throughout the race
of mankind. As a citizen of the world he claims a share in
the happiness of all the inhabitants of it. Because he is a
man, he is not unconcerned in the welfare of any man ; but
enjoys whatsoever brings glory to God, and promotes peace
and good-will among men.

14. This ' love covereth all things ' (so, without all doubt,
irtivra are<yet should be translated ; for otherwise it would
be the very same with irdvTo, viropevei, ' endureth all things ') :
because the merciful man rejoiceth not in iniquity, neither
does he willingly make mention of it. Whatever evil he sees,
hears, or knows, he nevertheless conceals, so far as he can

13. Rather ' rejoiceth with the N.T. in which it occurs, it rather
truth.' ' Truth is personified, and means ' is proof against.' But there
love and truth rejoice together ' is room for difference of opinion,
(Robertson and Plummer). and Wesley's application of his in-

14. The word may mean ' covereth terpretation is excellent,
up ' ; but in the four passages in the

352 Sermon XVII

without making himself ' partaker of other men's sins.' Where-
soever or with whomsoever he is, if he sees anything which he
approves not, it goes not out of his lips, unless to the person
concerned, if haply he may gain his brother. So far is he from
making the faults or failings of others the matter of his conver-
sation, that of the absent he never does speak at all, unless he
can speak well. A talebearer, a backbiter, a whisperer, an
evil-speaker, is to him all one as a murderer. He would just
as soon cut his neighbour's throat, as thus murder his reputa-
tion. Just as soon would he think of diverting himself by
setting fire to his neighbour's house, as of thus ' scattering
abroad arrows, fire-brands, and death,' and saying, ' Am I
not in sport ? '

He makes one only exception. Sometimes he is convinced
that it is for the glory of God, or (which comes to the same)
the good of his neighbour, that an evil should not be covered.
In this case, for the benefit of the innocent, he is constrained
to declare the guilty. But even here, (i) He will not speak
at all, till love, superior love, constrains him. (2) He cannot
do it from a general confused view of doing good, or promoting
the glory of God, but from a clear sight of some particular
end, some determinate good, which he pursues. (3) Still he
cannot speak, unless he be fully convinced that this very
means is necessary to that end ; that the end cannot be
answered, at least not so effectually, by any other way.
(4) He then doeth it with the utmost sorrow and reluctance ;
using it as the last and worst medicine, a desperate remedy in
a desperate case, a kind of poison never to be used but to
expel poison. Consequently, (5) He uses it as sparingly as
possible. And this he does with fear and trembling, lest he
should transgress the law of love by speaking too much, more
than he would have done by not speaking at all.

15. Love ' believeth all things.' It is always willing to
think the best ; to put the most favourable construction on

15. ' When love has no evidence, best. And when hopes are repeatedly
it believes the best. When the disappointed, it still courageously
evidence is adverse, it hopes for the waits ' (Robertson and Plummer).

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 353

everything. It is ever ready to believe whatever may tend to
the advantage of any one's character. It is easily convinced
of (what it earnestly desires) the innocence and integrity of
any man ; or, at least, of the sincerity of his repentance, if he
had once erred from the way. It is glad to excuse whatever
is amiss ; to condemn the offender as little as possible ; and to
make all the allowance for human weakness which can be done
without betraying the truth of God.

16. And when it can no longer believe, then love ' hopeth
all things.' Is any evil related of any man ? Love hopes
that the relation is not true, that the thing related was never
done. Is it certain it was ? — ' But perhaps it was not done
with such circumstances as are related ; so that, allowing the
fact, there is room to hope it was not so ill as it is represented.'
Was the action apparently undeniably evil ? Love hopes the
intention was not so. Is it clear, the design was evil too ? —
' Yet might it not spring from the settled temper of the heart,
but from a start of passion, or from some vehement temptation,
which hurried the man beyond himself.' And even when it
cannot be doubted, but all the actions, designs, and tempers
are equally evil ; still love hopes that God will at last make
bare His arm, and get Himself the victory ; and that there
shall be 'joy in heaven over ' this ' one sinner that repenteth,
more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no
repentance.'

17. Lastly. It ' endureth all things.' This completes the
character of him that is truly merciful. He endureth not some,
not many, things only ; not most, but absolutely all things.
Whatever the injustice, the malice, the cruelty of men can
inflict, he is able to suffer. He calls nothing intolerable ; he
never says of anything, ' This is not to be borne.' No ; he
can not only do, but suffer, all things through Christ which
strengtheneth him. And all he suffers does not destroy his
love, nor impair it in the least. It is proof against all. It is
a flame that burns even in the midst of the great deep. ' Many
waters cannot quench ' his ' love, neither can the floods drown
it.' It triumphs over all. It 'never faileth,' either in time
or in eternity.

w.s.s. 1 — 23

354 Sermon XVII

In obedience to what heaven decrees,

Knowledge shall fail, and prophecy shall cease ;

But lasting charity's more ample sway,

Nor bound by time, nor subject to decay,

In happy triumph shall for ever live,

And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive.

So shall ' the merciful obtain mercy ' ; not only by the
blessing of God upon all their ways, by His now repaying the
love they bear to their brethren a thousand-fold into their own
bosom ; but likewise by ' an exceeding and eternal weight of
glory,' in the ' kingdom prepared for them from the beginning
of the world.'

18. For a little while you may say, ' Woe is me, that I ' am
constrained to ' dwell with Mesech, and to have my habitation
among the tents of Kedar ! ' You may pour out your soul,
and bemoan the loss of true, genuine love in the earth : lost
indeed ! You may well say (but not in the ancient sense),
' See how these Christians love one another ! ' these Christian
kingdoms, that are tearing out each other's bowels, desolating
one another with fire and sword ! these Christian armies, that
are sending each other by thousands, by ten thousands, quick
into hell ! these Christian nations, that are all on fire with
intestine broils, party against party, faction against faction !
these Christian cities, where deceit and fraud, oppression and
wrong, yea robbery and murder, go not out of their streets !
these Christian families, torn asunder with envy, jealousy,
anger, domestic jars, without number, without end ! yea, what

17. The quotation is from Prior's Moravia. In 1745 the British were
Charity, 31-6. The first line should defeated at Fontenoy, and the
be : Young Pretender made his famous

Thus, in obedience to what Heaven decrees. march from Scotland and reached

18. The war of the Spanish Sue- Preston, to the great alarm of Eng-
cession was going on from 1741 to land. The war with France con-
1748, when it was concluded by the tinued till 1748.

peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. England Wesley adopts the view that Baby-
entered it in 1742 ; in 1743 the Ion the Great in Rev. xviii means
English defeated the French at the Church of Rome. This was the
Dettingen. In 1744 Louis XV in- common Protestant interpretation,
vacled Flanders, and Frederick of though there can be no doubt that
Prussia attacked Bohemia and Pagan Rome was actually intended.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : II 355

is most dreadful, most to be lamented of all, these Christian
churches! — churches ('tell it not in Gath,' — but, alas! how
can we hide it, either from Jews, Turks, or Pagans ?) that bear
the name of Christ, the Prince of Peace, and wage continual
war with each other ! that convert sinners by burning them
alive ! that are ' drunk with the blood of the saints ' ! Does
this praise belong only to ' Babylon the Great, the mother of
harlots and abominations of the earth ' ? Nay, verily ; but
Reformed churches (so called) have fairly learned to tread in
her steps. Protestant churches too know how to persecute,
when they have power in their hands, even unto blood. And
meanwhile, how do they also anathematize each other ! devote
each other to the nethermost hell ! What wrath, what conten-
tion, what malice, what bitterness, is everywhere found among
them, even where they agree in essentials, and only differ in
opinions, or in the circumstantials of religion ! Who follows
after only the ' things that make for peace, and things where-
with one may edify another ' ? O God ! how long ? Shall
Thy promise fail ? Fear it not, ye little flock ! Against hope,
believe in hope ! It is your Father's good pleasure yet to
renew the face of the earth. Surely all these things shall come
to an end, and the inhabitants of the earth shall learn righteous-
ness. ' Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they know war any more.' ' The mountain of the Lord's
house shall be established on the top of the mountains ' ; and
' all the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of
our God.' ' They shall not ' then ' hurt or destroy in all His
holy mountain ' , but they shall call their ' walls salvation, and
their gates praise.' They shall all be without spot or blemish,
loving one another, even as Christ hath loved us. — Be thou
part of the first-fruits, if the harvest is not yet. Do thou love
thy neighbour as thyself. The Lord God fill thy heart with
such a love to every soul, that thou mayest be ready to lay
down thy life for his sake ! May thy soul continually overflow
with love, swallowing up every unkind and unholy temper, till
He calleth thee up into the region of love, there to reign with
Him for ever and ever !

SERMON XVIII
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE III

On Sunday, August 26, 1739, Wesley preached on the Bowling Green
in Bristol at a quarter to seven in the morning to a congregation of
4,000 from ' Blessed are the peace-makers,' &c. ; and at Rose Green
at five in the evening of the same day from Matt. v. 9-12, when he
estimates the hearers at 5,000. He had heard Whitefield preach in the
open air on April 1, 1739, at eight in the morning at the Bowling
Green, and at 4.15 in the evening at Rose Green. The next day he
followed Whitefield's example and held his first open-air service at
the Brickfields, taking for his text ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me,' &c. The Bowling Green was near the centre of the city, and
he regularly preached there throughout this year. Rose Green was a
flat piece of ground on the top of a high hill about two miles out of
Bristol amongst the collieries. Mr. H. J. Foster and Mr. H. Arnaud
Scott have identified it as the plot marked 227 on the Ordnance Map
sheet lxxii. 10. It was the place where Whitefield began field-
preaching on February 17 of this year. There were heaps of refuse
from the coal-pits scattered over the ground, one of which made an
excellent pulpit. It is sometimes referred to simply as ' The Mount,'
and it is not unlikely that Wesley recognized an encouraging coinci-
dence in the name, and took special satisfaction in choosing his text
from our Lord's Sermon on the Mount on this occasion. See Foster's
' Bristol Notes ' in W.H.S. iii. 2.

Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peace-makers : for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'' sake : for theirs is

the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say

all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven : for

so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. — Matt. v. 8-12.

I. I. How excellent things are spoken of the love of our
neighbour ! It is the ' fulfilling of the law/ ' the end of the

356

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 357

commandment.' Without this, all we have, all we do, all we
suffer, is of no value in the sight of God. But it is that love
of our neighbour which springs from the love of God : otherwise
itself is nothing worth. It behoves us, therefore, to examine
well upon what foundation our love of our neighbour stands ;
whether it is really built upon the love of God ; whether we do
' love Him because He first loved us ' ; whether we are pure
in heart : for this is the foundation which shall never be moved.
' Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God.'

2. ' The pure in heart ' are they whose hearts God hath
' purified even as He is pure ' ; who are purified, through
faith in the blood of Jesus, from every unholy affection ; who,
being ' cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfect
holiness in the ' loving ' fear of God.' They are, through
the power of His grace, purified from pride, by the deepest
poverty of spirit ; from anger, from every unkind or turbulent
passion, by meekness and gentleness ; from every desire but
to please and enjoy God, to know and love Him more and
more, by that hunger and thirst after righteousness which

I. par. 2. An admirable definition kinds of impurity have been lightly
of purity of heart ; it has been un- regarded, if not altogether condoned,
fortunate, however, that in common Selfishness, greed, uncharitableness,
parlance, and in a good deal of our gluttony, idleness, extravagance,
religious literature, purity has been bad temper, are just as contrary to
narrowed down to mean almost ex- purity of heart as incontinence ;
clusively sexual purity. When it is and should be visited with just as
said that a man is an impure man, much reprobation by the Church.
or even that he is immoral, it is That Wesley, especially in his earlier
taken to mean that he is guilty of period, was not uninfected by the
sexual indulgence. This tendency mediaeval conception of the superior
can be traced back to the old Gnostic sanctity of a single life is plain
view of the essential sinfulness of enough from his Thoughts on a Single
sexual intercourse ; and it has been Life, published in 1743 ; though he
greatly strengthened by the exag- lays the stress of his argument, not
gerated notion of the superior moral on any inherent sinfulness in the
character of virginity in both sexes marriage relation, but on the free-
fostered by the mediaeval and modern dom from distraction and worldly
Romish Church, with its false ideal cares enjoyed by the single man or
of the monastic life and the celi- woman. And one can see the influ-
bacy of the clergy. The mischief is ence of this point of view in his selec-
not that too much stress has been tion of verses 27-32 as being the
laid on the value of sexual purity — best illustration of verse 8.
that is impossible ; but that other

358 Sermon XV III

now engrosses their whole soul : so that now they love the
Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul,
and mind, and strength.

3. But how little has this purity of heart been regarded by
the false teachers of all ages ! They have taught men barely
to abstain from such outward impurities as God hath forbidden
by name ; but they did not strike at the heart ; and by not
guarding against, they in effect countenanced, inward corrup-
tions.

A remarkable instance of this, our Lord has given us in
the following words : ' Ye have heard that it was said by
them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery ' (verse 27) ;
and, in explaining this, those blind leaders of the blind only
insisted on men's abstaining from the outward act. ' But I
say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after
her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart '
(verse 28) ; for God requireth truth in the inward parts :
He searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins ; and if thou in-
cline unto iniquity with thy heart, the Lord will not hear thee.

4. And God admits no excuse for retaining anything which
is an occasion of impurity. Therefore, ' if thy right eye offend
thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee : for it is profitable
for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into hell ' (verse 29). If persons
as dear to thee as thy right eye be an occasion of thy thus
offending God, a means of exciting unholy desire in thy soul,
delay not, forcibly separate from them. ' And if thy right
hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee : for it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell ' (verse 30).
If any who seem as necessary to thee as thy right hand be an
occasion of sin, of impure desire ; even though it were never

4. The specific mention of the eye are repeated in Matt, xviii. 8 and

and the hand in this connexion is Mark ix. 47 in relation to sins

due to the fact that it is through against children. It is the awful

sight and touch that sexual tempta- sin of corrupting the innocence of

tion gains its greatest strength. It ' these little ones ' that our Lord

is very significant that these verses is there denouncing ; rather than

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: III 359

to go beyond the heart, never to break out in word or action ;
constrain thyself to an entire and final parting : cut them off
at a stroke : give them up to God. Any loss, whether of
pleasure, or substance, or friends, is preferable to the loss of
thy soul.

Two steps only it may not be improper to take before such
an absolute and final separation. First, try whether the un-
clean spirit may not be driven out by fasting and prayer, and
by carefully abstaining from every action, and word, and look,
which thou hast found to be an occasion of evil. Secondly,
if thou art not by this means delivered, ask counsel of him
that watcheth over thy soul, or, at least, of some who have
experience in the ways of God, touching the time and manner
of that separation ; but confer not with flesh and blood, lest
thou be ' given up to a strong delusion to believe a lie.'

5. Nor may marriage itself, holy and honourable as it is,
be used as a pretence for giving a loose to our desires. Indeed,
' it hath been said, Whosoever will put away his wife, let him
give her a writing of divorcement ' : and then all was well ;
though he alleged no cause, but that he did not like her, or
liked another better. ' But I say unto you, That whosoever
shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication '
(that is, adultery ; the word iropvela signifying unchastity in
general, either in the married or unmarried state), ' causeth her
to commit adultery,' if she marry again : ' and whosoever shall
marry her that is put away committeth adultery ' (verses 31, 32).

do that, let a man pluck out the writers, meaning to free from all re-
eye that gazes with foul longing on straint.

their fresh charm, cut off the hand Verses 29, 30, on divorce, have

that immodestly tampers with their probably been introduced here as

unsuspecting confidence. an additional example of the neces-

' Confer not with flesh and blood.' sity for bridling the sensual desires.

Wesley more than once misapplies The words appear to have been

this phrase. It means, as St. Paul actually spoken on another occasion,

uses it (Gal. i. 16), to consult with as related in xix. 3 and Mark x. 1 ;

other men, instead of following im- St. Luke (xvi. 18) has a similar com-

plicitly the guidance of the Spirit mand in another connexion. In the

of God. versions of Mark and Luke, re-mar -

5. To ' give a loose ' is a common riage of a divorced person is for-

phrase in the eighteenth-century bidden under any circumstances ;

360

Sermon XVIII

All polygamy is clearly forbidden in these words, wherein
our Lord expressly declares, that for any woman who has a
husband alive, to marry again is adultery. By parity of
reason, it is adultery for any man to marry again, so long as he
has a wife alive, yea, although they were divorced ; unless that
divorce had been for the cause of adultery : in that only case
there is no scripture which forbids [the innocent person] to marry
again.

6. Such is the purity of heart which God requires, and
works in those who believe on the Son of His love. And
' blessed are ' they who are thus ' pure in heart : for they shall
see God.' He will ' manifest Himself unto them,' not only ' as
He doth not unto the world,' but as He doth not always to His
own children. He will bless them with the clearest communi-
cations of His Spirit, the most intimate ' fellowship with the

in the versions in Matthew, re-mar-
riage is permitted where the divorce
has been made on the ground of
adultery. The former represents the
ideal view of marriage, as it will be
ultimately realized in the Kingdom
of God ; the latter is a concession
granted, like that in the Mosaic
law, for the hardness of men's hearts.
In the fully realized kingdom adul-
tery is unthinkable, and therefore
divorce will never take place ; but
under present conditions, where
adultery does occur, divorce and
subsequent re-marriage are permis-
sible. But the modern tendency
to make divorce and re-marriage
easy, on such grounds as desertion,
incompatibility of temper, cruelty,
and the like, is clearly contrary to
the spirit of our Lord's teaching ;
and individual cases of hardship
ought not to be allowed to outweigh
the public advantage of maintaining
the sacredness of the marriage bond.
Malachi (ii. 15) declares that the
divine purpose in monogamy was
the bringing-up of children in godli-
ness ; and the most cogent argument

against facility of divorce is that in
a state of society where divorce is
easy, family life is destroyed, and
children are robbed of their right to
the care and oversight of their
parents. Judicial separation need
not be refused where it has become
clear that no further family life is
possible ; but even so there is no
reason to allow re-marriage. It is
not without significance that in both
Matthew and Mark, our Lord's
teaching on divorce is immediately
followed by the incident of the bless-
ing of the little children. The reso-
lution of the Toronto Methodist
Oecumenical Conference of 191 1
(Proceedings, p. 661) sets forth the
Methodist position. Marriage is de-
clared to be a divine institution,
sacred and inviolable. An emphatic
protest is entered against ' the crime
of easy and unjustifiable divorce ' ;
and commendation is given to the
fidelity of Methodist ministers ' in
refusing to become partners in the
divorce evil by performing marriage
ceremonies for improperly divorced
people.'

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 361

Father and with the Son.' He will cause His presence to go
continually before them, and the light of His countenance to
shine upon them. It is the ceaseless prayer of their heart, ' I
beseech Thee, show me Thy glory ' ; and they have the peti-
tion they ask of Him. They now see Him by faith (the
veil of flesh being made, as it were, transparent), even in
these His lowest works, in all that surrounds them, in all that
God has created and made. They see Him in the height
above, and in the depth beneath ; they see Him filling all in all.
The pure in heart see all things full of God. They see Him in
the firmament of heaven ; in the moon, walking in brightness ;
in the sun, when he rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. They
see Him ' making the clouds His chariots, and walking upon the
wings of the wind.' They see Him ' preparing rain for the
earth, and blessing the increase of it ; giving grass for the
cattle, and green herb for the use of man.' They see the
Creator of all, wisely governing all, and ' upholding all things
by the word of His power.' ' O Lord our Governor, how
excellent is Thy name in all the world ! '

7. In all His providences relating to themselves, to their
souls or bodies, the pure in heart do more particularly see
God. They see His hand ever over them for good ; giving
them all things in weight and measure, numbering the
hairs of their head, making a hedge round about them
and all that they have, and disposing all the circumstances
of their life according to the depth both of His wisdom and
mercy.

8. But in a more especial manner they see God in His
ordinances. Whether they appear in the great congregation,
to ' pay Him the honour due unto His name,' ' and worship
Him in the beauty of holiness ' ; or ' enter into their closets,'
and there pour out their souls before their ' Father which is
in secret ' ; whether they search the oracles of God, or hear
the ambassadors of Christ proclaiming glad tidings of salva-
tion ; or, by eating of that bread, and drinking of that cup,
' show forth His death till He come ' in the clouds of heaven, —
in all these His appointed ways, they find such a near approach
as cannot be expressed. They see Him, as it were, face to face,

362 Sermon XVIII

and ' talk with Him, as a man talketh with his friend ' — a fit
preparation for those mansions above, wherein they shall see
Him as He is.

9. But how far were they from seeing God, who, having
heard ' that it had been said by them of old times, Thou shalt
not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine
oaths ' (verse 33), interpreted it thus, Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, when thou swearest by the Lord Jehovah : thou ' shalt
perform unto the Lord ' these ' thine oaths ' ; but as to other
oaths, He regardeth them not.

So the Pharisees taught. They not only allowed all
manner of swearing in common conversation ; but accounted
even forswearing a little thing, so they had not sworn by the
peculiar name of God.

But our Lord here absolutely forbids all common swearing
as well as all false swearing ; and shows the heinousness of
both, by the same awful consideration, that every creature is
God's, and He is everywhere present, in all, and over all. ' I
say unto you, Swear not at all ; neither by heaven, for it is
God's throne ' (verse 34) ; and, therefore, this is the same
as to swear by Him who sitteth upon the circle of the heavens :
' Nor by the earth ; for it is His footstool ' (verse 35) ; and
He is as intimately present in earth as heaven : ' Neither
by Jerusalem ; for it is the city of the great King ' ; and
God is well known in her palaces. ' Neither shalt thou swear
by thy head ; because thou canst not make one hair white
or black ' (verse 36) ; because even this, it is plain, is not
thine, but God's, the sole disposer of all in heaven and earth.

9. It is rather a tour de force to and ideally no oath, either public or

bring in our Lord's teaching on oaths private, is to be taken. The need

under this Beatitude ; it is really a for it is ' of the evil one,' who is still

part of the broad question of the the Prince of this world. Hence

relation of the law of the Kingdom under present conditions the argu-

to the old law of Moses. But that ments of paragraph 10 on the legi-

may pass. As in the previous case, timacy of taking an oath before a

the ideal is set up, which can only be magistrate are sound ; and both our

fully realized when the Kingdom is Lord and St. Paul complied with

universally established. An oath is the usage of their time. But wher-

essentially wrong, as implying a ever the law permits it, the Christian

double standard of truthfulness ; man should prefer to make an affirma-

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 363

' But let your communication ' (verse 37), your conversa-
tion, your discourse with each other, ' be, Yea, yea ; Nay,
nay I ; a bare, serious affirming or denying ; ' for whatsoever
is more than these cometh of evil ' : eV rov irov^pov ia-riv,
is of the evil one ; proceedeth from the devil, and is a mark of
his children.

10. That our Lord does not here forbid the ' swearing in
judgement and truth,' when we are required so to do by a
magistrate, may appear (1), From the occasion of this part of
His discourse — the abuse He was here reproving — which was
false swearing, and common swearing ; the swearing before
a magistrate being quite out of the question. (2) From the
very words wherein He forms the general conclusion : ' Let
your communication,' or discourse, ' be, Yea, yea ; Nay, nay.'
(3) From His own example : for He answered Himself upon
oath, when required by a magistrate. When the high-priest
said unto him, ' I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell
us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God,' Jesus imme-
diately answered in the affirmative, ' Thou hast said ' (that is,
the truth) ; ' nevertheless ' (or, rather, -moreover), ' I say unto
you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven ' (Matt.
xxvi. 63, 64). (4) From the example of God, even the Father,
who, ' willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of
promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an
oath ' (Heb. vi. 17). (5) From the example of St. Paul, who
we think had the Spirit of God, and well understood the mind
of his Master. ' God is my witness,' saith he, to the Romans,
' that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my

tion, if only as a witness to the world oaths as a confirmation of truth ;

of the eternal validity of his Master's common swearing, i.e. the use of

teaching. foul and blasphemous language in

' The peculiar name of God ' ; i.e. conversation, is quite another matter

Jehovah, or jahveh, as it is the pre- and is not in our Lord's mind here,
sent fashion to write it ; though it ' One hair, white or black.' It

is a piece of pedantry to discard the would save much popular misunder-

form that has embodied itself in all standing if the order of the words

our English literature for one which were changed : ' thou canst not

is after all not certainly right. make a single hair, whether white

Our Lord is only dealing with or black.'

364 Sermon XVIII

prayers ' (Rom. i. 9) : to the Corinthians, ' I call God for a
record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto
Corinth ' (2 Cor. i. 23) : and to the Philippians, ' God is my
record, how greatly I long after you in the bowels of Jesus
Christ ' (Phil. i. 8). Hence it undeniably appears, that if the
Apostle knew the meaning of his Lord's words, they do not
forbid swearing on weighty occasions even to one another :
how much less before a magistrate ! And, lastly, from that
assertion of the great Apostle, concerning solemn swearing in
general (which it is impossible he could have mentioned
without any touch of blame, if his Lord had totally forbidden
it) : ' Men verily swear by the greater ' ; by one greater than
themselves ; ' and an oath for confirmation is to them an end
of all strife ' (Heb. vi. 16).

11. But the great lesson which our blessed Lord inculcates
here, and which He illustrates by this example, is, that God is
in all things, and that we are to see the Creator in the glass of
every creature ; that we should use and look upon nothing as
separate from God, which indeed is a kind of practical Atheism ;
but, with a true magnificence of thought, survey heaven and
earth, and all that is therein, as contained by God in the hollow
of His hand, who by His intimate presence holds them all in
being, who pervades and actuates the whole created frame,
and is, in a true sense, the soul of the universe.

II. 1. Thus far our Lord has been more directly employed
in teaching the religion of the heart. He has shown what
Christians are to be. He proceeds to show what they are to
do also, — how inward holiness is to exert itself in our outward
conversation. ' Blessed, ' saith He, ' are the peace-makers ;
for they shall be called the children of God.'

2. ' The peace-makers ' : the word in the original is
ol elprjvoiroioi. It is well known that elpijvr), in the sacred

11. No ; this is not the great an oath to confirm the truth of a

lesson here, though it is inciden- man's statement,

tally taught. The great lesson is ' Glass ' means mirror,

the temporary and imperfect con- II. I. This widening of the sense

dition of morality which requires of ' peace-makers ' to cover ' those

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 365

writings, implies all manner of good ; every blessing that
relates either to the soul or the body, to time or eternity.
Accordingly, when St. Paul, in the titles of his epistles, wishes
grace and peace to the Romans or the Corinthians, it is as if
he had said, ' As a fruit of the free, undeserved love and favour
of God, may you enjoy all blessings, spiritual and temporal ;
all the good things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him.'

3. Hence we may easily learn, in how wide a sense the
term ' peace-makers ' is to be understood. In its literal mean-
ing it implies those lovers of God and man who utterly detest
and abhor all strife and debate, all variance and contention ;
and accordingly labour with all their might, either to prevent
this fire of hell from being kindled, or, when it is kindled, from
breaking out, or, when it is broke out, from spreading any
farther. They endeavour to calm the stormy spirits of men,
to quiet their turbulent passions, to soften the minds of con-
tending parties, and, if possible, reconcile them to each other.
They use all innocent arts, and employ all their strength, all
the talents which God has given them, as well to preserve
peace where it is, as to restore it where it is not. It is the
joy of their heart to promote, to confirm, to increase, mutual
good-will among men, but more especially among the children
of God, however distinguished by things of smaller importance ;
that as they have all ' one Lord, one faith,' as they are all
' called in one hope of their calling,' so they may all ' walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called ; with all
lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love ; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.'

4. But, in the full extent of the word, a peace-maker is one
that, as he hath opportunity, ' doeth good unto all men ' ; one
that, being filled with the love of God and of all mankind,

who do good to all men ' sacrifices and his fellows. The Christian ideal

the particular point of the passage is the life of perfect harmony with

to a general application. The men the environment ; and in some sense

who are meant are those who seek perhaps it may be argued that this

to bring about peace (i) between includes all good things.
God and man ; (2) between man

366 Sermon XVIII

cannot confine the expressions of it to his own family, or
friends, or acquaintance, or party, or to those of his own
opinions, — no, nor those who are partakers of like precious
faith ; but steps over all these narrow bounds, that he may do
good to every man, that he may, some way or other, manifest
his love to neighbours and strangers, friends and enemies.
He doeth good to them all, as he hath opportunity, that is, on
every possible occasion ; ' redeeming the time,' in order there-
to ; buying up every opportunity, improving every hour,
losing no moment wherein he may profit another. He does
good, not of one particular kind, but good in general, in every
possible way ; employing herein all his talents of every kind,
all his powers and faculties of body and soul, all his fortune,
his interest, his reputation ; desiring only, that when his Lord
cometh He may say, ' Well done, good and faithful servant.'

5. He doeth good to the uttermost of his power, even to the
bodies of all men. He rejoices to ' deal his bread to the
hungry,' and to ' cover the naked with a garment.' Is any a
stranger ? He takes him in, and relieves him according to
his necessities. Are any sick or in prison ? He visits them,
and administers such help as they stand most in need of. And
all this he does, not as unto man ; but remembering Him that
hath said, ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.'

6. How much more does he rejoice, if he can do any good
to the soul of any man ! This power, indeed, belongeth unto
God. It is He only that changes the heart, without which
every other change is lighter than vanity. Nevertheless, it
pleases Him who worketh all in all, to help man chiefly by
man ; to convey his own power, and blessing, and love,
through one man to another. Therefore, although it be certain
that, ' the help which is done upon earth, God doeth it Him-
self ' ; yet has no man need, on this account, to stand idle in
his vineyard. The peace-maker cannot : he is ever labouring
therein, and, as an instrument in God's hand, preparing the
ground for his Master's use, or sowing the seed of the king-
dom, or watering what is already sown, if haply God may
give the increase. According to the measure of grace which

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 367

he has received, he uses all diligence, either to reprove the
gross sinner, to reclaim those who run on headlong in the broad
way of destruction ; or ' to give light to them that sit in dark-
ness,' and are ready to ' perish for lack of knowledge ' ; or to
' support the weak, to lift up the hands that hang down, and
the feeble knees ' ; or to bring back and heal that which was
lame and turned out of the way. Nor is he less zealous to
confirm those who are already striving to enter in at the strait
gate ; to strengthen those that stand, that they may ' run with
patience the race which is set before them ' ; to build up in their
most holy faith those that know in whom they have believed ;
to exhort them to stir up the gift of God which is in them,
that, daily growing in grace, ' an entrance may be ministered
unto them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'

7. ' Blessed are they who are thus continually employed in
the work of faith and the labour of love ; ' for they shall be
called,' that is, shall be (a common Hebraism), ' the children of
God.' God shall continue unto them the Spirit of adoption,
yea, shall pour it more abundantly into their hearts. He shall
bless them with all the blessings of His children. He shall
acknowledge them as sons before angels and men ; ' and if sons,
then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.'

III. 1. One would imagine such a person as has been above
described, so full of genuine humility, so unaffectedly serious,
so mild and gentle, so free from all selfish design, so devoted
to God, and such an active lover of men, should be the
darling of mankind. But our Lord was better acquainted with
human nature in its present state. He therefore closes the
character of this man of God with showing him the treatment
he is to expect in the world. ' Blessed,' saith He, ' are they
which are persecuted for righteousness' sake ; for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.'

7. The use of 'to be called' in III. i. ' The darling of mankind.'

the sense of ' to be ' is not a Hebraism A reminiscence of the title given to

specially ; it is common in Greek the Emperor Titus by Suetonius — -

from Homer downwards. ' deliciae humani generis.'

368 Sermon XVIII

2. In order to understand this thoroughly, let us, first, in-
quire, Who are they that are persecuted ? And this we may
easily learn from St. Paul : ' As of old, he that was born after
the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even
so it is now ' (Gal. iv. 29). ' Yea,' saith the Apostle, ' and all
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution '
(2 Tim. hi. 12). The same we are taught by St. John:
' Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We
know that we have passed from death unto life, because
we love the brethren ' (1 John iii. 13, 14). As if he had
said, The brethren, the Christians, cannot be loved, but by
them who have passed from death unto life. And most ex-
pressly by our Lord : ' If the world hate you, ye know that
it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own ; but because ye are not of the
world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word
that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.
If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you '
(John xv. 18, &c).

By all these scriptures it manifestly appears who they are
that are persecuted ; namely, the righteous : he ' that is born
of the Spirit ' ; 'all that will live godly in Christ Jesus ' ; they
that are ' passed from death unto life ' ; those who are ' not of
the world ' ; all those who are meek and lowly in heart, that
mourn for God, that hunger after His likeness ; all that love
God and their neighbour, and therefore, as they have oppor-
tunity, do good unto all men.

3. If it be, secondly, inquired, why they are persecuted,
the answer is equally plain and obvious. It is ' for righteous-
ness' sake ' ; because they are righteous ; because they are
born after the Spirit ; because they will ' live godly in Christ
Jesus ' ; because they ' are not of the world.' Whatever
may be pretended, this is the real cause : be their infirmities
more or less, still, if it were not for this, they would be borne
with, and the world would love its own. They are persecuted
because they are poor in spirit ; that is, say the world, ' poor-
spirited, mean, dastardly souls, good for nothing, not fit to
live in the world ' ; — because they mourn : ' They are such

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 369

dull, heavy, lumpish creatures, enough to sink any one's
spirits that sees them ! They are mere death-heads ; they kill
innocent mirth, and spoil company wherever they come ' ; —
because they are meek : ' Tame, passive fools, just fit to be
trampled upon ' ; — because they hunger and thirst after right-
eousness : ' A parcel of hot-brained enthusiasts, gaping after
they know not what, not content with rational religion, but
running mad after raptures and inward feelings ' ; — because
they are merciful, lovers of all, lovers of the evil and unthank-
ful : ' Encouraging all manner of wickedness ; nay, tempting
people to do mischief by impunity : and men who, it is to be
feared, have their own religion still to seek ; very loose in
their principles ' ; — because they are pure in heart : ' Un-
charitable creatures, that damn all the world, but those that
are of their own sort ! Blasphemous wretches, that pretend
to make God a liar, to live without sin ! ' — Above all, because
they are peace-makers ; because they take all opportunities of
doing good to all men. This is the grand reason why they
have been persecuted in all ages, and will be till the resti-
tution of all things : ' If they would but keep their religion
to themselves, it would be tolerable : but it is this spreading
their errors, this infecting so many others, which is not to be
endured. They do so much mischief in the world, that they
ought to be tolerated no longer. It is true, the men do
some things well enough ; they relieve some of the poor : but
this, too, is only done to gain the more to their party ; and so,
in effect, to do the more mischief ! ' Thus the men of the
world sincerely think and speak. And the more the kingdom
of God prevails, the more the peace-makers are enabled to
propagate lowliness, meekness, and all other divine tempers,
the more mischief is done, in their account : consequently, the
more are they enraged against the authors of this, and the
more vehemently will they persecute them.

4. Let us, thirdly, inquire, Who are they that persecute
them ? St. Paul answers, ' He that is born after the flesh ' :
every one who is not ' born of the Spirit,' or, at least, desirous
so to be ; all that do not at least labour to ' live godly in
Christ Jesus ' ; all that are not ' passed from death unto life,'

W.S.S. I — 24

370 Sermon XV III

and, consequently, cannot ' love the brethren ' ; ' the world,'
that is, according to our Saviour's account, they who ' know
not Him that sent Me ' ; they who know not God, even the
loving, pardoning God, by the teaching of His own Spirit.

The reason is plain : the spirit which is in the world is
directly opposite to the Spirit which is of God. It must
therefore needs be that those who are of the world will be
opposite to those who are of God. There is the utmost
contrariety between them, in all their opinions, their desires,
designs, and tempers. And hitherto the leopard and the kid
cannot lie down in peace together. The proud, because he is
proud, cannot but persecute the lowly ; the light and airy,
those that mourn : and so in every other kind ; the unlikeness
of disposition (were there no other) being a perpetual ground
of enmity. Therefore, were it only on this account, all the
servants of the devil will persecute the children of God.

5. Should it be inquired, fourthly, how they will perse-
cute them, it may be answered in general, Just in that manner
and measure which the wise Disposer of all sees will be most
for His glory, — will tend most to His children's growth in
grace, and the enlargement of His own kingdom. There is
no one branch of God's government of the world which is
more to be admired than this. His ear is never heavy to the
threatenings of the persecutor, or the cry of the persecuted.
His eye is ever open, and His hand stretched out to direct
every the minutest circumstance. When the storm shall
begin, how high it shall rise, which way it shall point its
course, when and how it shall end, are all determined by His
unerring wisdom. The ungodly are only a sword of His ; an
instrument which He uses as it pleaseth Him, and which itself,
when the gracious ends of His providence are answered, is
cast into the fire.

At some rare times, as when Christianity was planted first,
and while it was taking root in the earth ; as also when the
pure doctrine of Christ began to be planted again in our

5. ' When the pure doctrine of tion. The ' King wise and good
Christ began to be planted,' &c. ; i.e. beyond his years ' is of course Ed-
the time of the Protestant Reforma- ward VI. ' Those who even then

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 371

nation ; God permitted the storm to rise high, and His chil-
dren were called to resist unto blood. There was a peculiar
reason why He suffered this with regard to the Apostles, that
their evidence might be the more unexceptionable. But from
the annals of the Church we learn another, and a far different
reason, why He suffered the heavy persecutions which arose in
the second and third centuries ; namely, because ' the mystery
of iniquity ' did so strongly ' work ' ; because of the monstrous
corruptions which even then reigned in the Church : these God
chastised, and at the same time strove to heal, by those severe
but necessary visitations.

Perhaps the same observation may be made, with regard
to the grand persecution in our own land. God had dealt
very graciously with our nation : He had poured out various
blessings upon us : He had given us peace abroad and at home ;
and a king, wise and good beyond his 3'ears : and, above all,
He had caused the pure light of His gospel to arise and shine
amongst us. But what return did He find ? ' He looked for
righteousness ; but behold a cry ' — a cry of oppression and
wrong, of ambition and injustice, of malice, and fraud, and
covetousness. Yea, the cry of those who even then expired in
the flames entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. It
was then God arose to maintain His own cause against those
that held the truth in unrighteousness. Then He sold them
into the hands of their persecutors, by a judgement mixed with
mercy ; an affliction to punish, and yet a medicine to heal, the
grievous backslidings of His people.

6. But it is seldom God suffers the storm to rise so high as
torture or death, or bonds, or imprisonment. Whereas His
children are frequently called to endure the lighter kinds of
persecution ; they frequently suffer the estrangement of kins-
folks, the loss of the friends that were as their own soul.

expired in the flames ' are the squandered in the enriching of those

victims of Protestant persecution in whose lives brought disgrace on their

Edward VI's reign, like Joan Bocher Protestant profession. The unset -

and Van Parre. Beckett says of the tling of religious beliefs had its effect

latter part of Edward's reign, ' The upon the social life. Some persons

Government was corrupt. The cur- it drove to fanaticism, some to pro-

rency was ruined. Wealth was fligacy.'

372 Sermon XVIII

They find the truth of their Lord's word (concerning the
event, though not the design, of His coming), ' Suppose ye
that I am come to give peace upon earth ? I tell you, Nay ;
but rather division ' (Luke xii. 51). And hence will natu-
rally follow loss of business or employment, and consequently
of substance. But all these circumstances likewise are under
the wise direction of God, who allots to every one what is
most expedient for him.

7. But the persecution which attends all the children of
God is that our Lord describes in the following words :
* Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you '
— shall persecute by reviling you — ' and say all manner of evil
against you falsely, for My sake.' This cannot fail ; it is the
very badge of our discipleship ; it is one of the seals of our
calling ; it is a sure portion entailed on all the children of God :
if we have it not, we are bastards, and not sons ; straight
through evil report, as well as good report, lies the only way
to the kingdom. The meek, serious, humble, zealous lovers of
God and man are of good report among their brethren ; but
of evil report with the world, who count and treat them ' as
the filth and offscouring of all things.'

8. Indeed, some have supposed that before the fullness of
the Gentiles shall come in, the scandal of the cross will cease ;
that God will cause Christians to be esteemed and loved even
by those who are as yet in their sins. Yea, and sure it is,
that even now He at some times suspends the contempt as well
as the fierceness of men ; ' He makes a man's enemies to be
at peace with him ' for a season, and gives him favour with his
bitterest persecutors. But setting aside this exempt case, the
scandal of the cross is not yet ceased ; but a man may say
still, ' If I please men, I am not the servant of Christ.' Let
no man therefore regard that pleasing suggestion (pleasing
doubtless to flesh and blood), ' that bad men only pretend to
hate and despise them that are good, but do indeed love and
esteem them in their hearts.' Not so : they may employ

7. ' Falsely ' is omitted by many undue generalization, but most of
of the Western authorities ; it was the editors accept it.
possibly added later to avoid an

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 373

them sometimes ; but it is for their own profit. They may
put confidence in them ; for they know their ways are not like
other men's. But still they love them not ; unless so far as
the Spirit of God may be striving with them. Our Saviour's
words are express : ' If ye were of the world, the world would
love its own ; but because ye are not of the world, therefore
the world hateth you.' Yea (setting aside what exceptions
may be made by the preventing grace, or the peculiar provi-
dence, of God), it hateth them as cordially and sincerely as
ever it did their Master.

9. It remains only to inquire, How are the children of
God to behave with regard to persecution ? And, first, they
ought not knowingly or designedly to bring it upon them-
selves. This is contrary both to the example and advice of
our Lord and all His Apostles ; who teach us not only not to
seek, but to avoid it, as far as we can, without injuring our
conscience ; without giving up any part of that righteousness
which we are to prefer before life itself. So our Lord ex-
pressly saith : ' When they persecute you in this city, flee ye
into another ' ; which is indeed, when it can be taken, the
most unexceptionable way of avoiding persecution.

10. Yet think not that you can always avoid it, either by
this or any other means. If ever that idle imagination steals
into your heart, put it to flight by that earnest caution,
' Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you.' ' Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless
as doves.' But will this screen you from persecution ? Not
unless you have more wisdom than your Master, or more
innocence than the Lamb of God.

Neither desire to avoid it, to escape it wholly ; for if you
do, you are none of His. If you escape the persecution, you
escape the blessing ; the blessing of those who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake. If you are not persecuted for right-
eousness' sake, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
' If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him. But if
we deny Him, He will also deny us.'

11. Nay, rather, ' rejoice and be exceeding glad,' when

374 Sermon XV III

men persecute you for His sake ; when they persecute you by
reviling you, and by ' saying all manner of evil against you
falsely ' ; which they will not fail to mix with every kind of
persecution : they must blacken you to excuse themselves :
' For so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you,' — those who were most eminently holy in heart and
life ; yea, and all the righteous which ever have been from the
beginning of the world. Rejoice, because by this mark also
ye know unto whom ye belong ; and ' because great is your
reward in heaven ' — the reward purchased by the blood of
the covenant, and freely bestowed in proportion to your suffer-
ings, as well as to your holiness of heart and life. ' Be
exceeding glad ' ; knowing that these ' light afflictions, which
are but for a moment, work out for you a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory.'

12. Meantime, let no persecution turn you out of the way
of lowliness and meekness, of love and beneficence. ' Ye
have heard ' indeed ' that it hath been said, An eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth ' (Matt. v. 38) : and your miser-
able teachers have hence allowed you to avenge yourselves,
to return evil for evil : ' but I say unto you, That ye resist
not evil,' — not thus ; not by returning it in kind. ' But,'
rather than do this, ' whosoever smiteth thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue
thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak

12. The bringing in here of verses tempt any explanation of the follow-

38-48 is ingenious, but, like the pre- ing three examples of the new spirit,

vious attempts to make the various though it is clear that to carry them

portions of the criticism of the old out literally would make human

law illustrations of the Beatitudes, society under present conditions im-

it is rather forced. The old law possible. They are to be regarded

sanctioned the lex talionis ; in the as illustrations, not as precepts.

Kingdom of God there is no room They are specific instances of the

for this spirit. When Wesley calls general law, ' Thou shalt love thy

those who said ' An eye for an eye, neighbour as thyself,' and their

and a tooth for a tooth ' ' your miser- application must be governed by

able teachers,' he forgot that it was that law. We are to deal with our

a part of the Mosaic law. See fellow men, not in the spirit of selfish

Exod. xxi. 23-5 ; Lev. xxiv. 20 ; insistence on our rights, but with a

Deut. xix. 21. Nor does he at- sincere willingness to surrender our

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 375

also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with
him twain.'

So invincible let thy meekness be. And be thy love suit-
able thereto. ' Give to him that asketh thee, and from him
that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.' Only, give
not away that which is another man's, that which is not thine
own. Therefore, (1) Take care to owe no man anything :
for what thou owest is not thine own, but another man's.
(2) Provide for those of thine own household. This also God
hath required of thee ; and what is necessary to sustain them
in life and godliness is also not thine own. Then, (3) Give
or lend all that remains, from day to day, or from year to
year : only, first, seeing thou canst not give or lend to all,
remember the household of faith.

13. The meekness and love we are to feel, the kindness
we are to show to them which persecute us for righteousness'
sake, our blessed Lord describes farther in the following verses :

0 that they were engraven upon our hearts ! ' Ye have heard
that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thy enemy ' (Matt. v. 43, &c.) : God indeed had said only the
former part, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour ' ; the children
of the devil had added the latter, ' and hate thy enemy ' ;

1 But I say unto you,' (1) ' Love your enemies ' : see that
you bear a tender good- will to those who are most bitter of
spirit against you ; who wish you all manner of evil. (2)

rights rather than seek revenge.
Christ is not substituting a new set
of precepts for the old ones, but is
trying to inspire a new spirit which
will make all precepts unnecessary.
Nowhere is it truer than in regard
to these sayings, ' The letter killeth,
but the spirit giveth life.' Wesley
proceeds to qualify the fourth ex-
ample in a way which shows that he
recognized the absurdity of any
attempt to observe it literally. His
sermon on the Use of Money (No.
XLIV) should be read ; the divisions
being (i) Get all you can ; (2) Save
all you can ; (3) Give all you can,

the last being qualified as in the
present paragraph.

13. It is not correct to say that
the children of the devil added,
' Thou shalt hate thine enemy.' The
actual words are not found in the
O.T. ; but evidently our Lord
meant to suggest that it was a
part of the old law ; and the way
in which the Jews were instructed
to treat their enemies, and the
terms in which the prophets and
psalmists spoke of them, show that
hatred of one's enemies was felt to
be as much a duty as love to one's
neighbours.

376 Sermon XV III

' Bless them that curse you.' Are there any whose bitterness
of spirit breaks forth in bitter words ? who are continually
cursing and reproaching you when you are present, and
' saying all evil against you ' when absent ? So much the
rather do you bless : in conversing with them, use all mildness
and softness of language. Reprove them, by repeating a
better lesson before them ; by showing them how they ought
to have spoken. And, in speaking of them, say all the good
you can, without violating the rules of truth and justice.
(3) ' Do good to them that hate you ' : let your actions show
that you are as real in love, as they in hatred. Return good
for evil. ' Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with
good.' (4) If you can do nothing more, at least ' pray for
them that despitefully use you and persecute you.' You can
never be disabled from doing this ; nor can all their malice or
violence hinder you. Pour out your souls to God, not only
for those who did this once, but now repent ; this is a little
thing : ' If thy brother, seven times a day, turn and say unto
thee, I repent ' (Luke xvii. 4) ; that is, if, after ever so many
relapses, he give thee reason to believe that he is really and
thoroughly changed; then thou shalt forgive him, so as to
trust him, to put him in thy bosom, as if he had never sinned
against thee at all ; but pray for, wrestle with God for,
those that do not repent, that now despitefully use thee
and persecute thee. Thus far forgive them, ' not until seven
times only, but, until seventy times seven ' (Matt, xviii. 22).
Whether they repent or no, yea, though they appear farther
and farther from it, yet show them this instance of kindness ;
' that ye may be the children,' that ye may approve your-
selves the genuine children, ' of your Father which is in
heaven ' ; who shows His goodness by giving such blessings
as they are capable of, even to His stubbornest enemies ;
' who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.' ' For if ye love
them which love you, what reward have ye ? do not even
the publicans the same ? ' (Matt. v. 46) — who pretend to no
religion ; whom ye yourselves acknowledge to be without God
in the world. ' And if ye salute,' show kindness in word or

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : III 377

deed to, ' your brethren,' your friends or kinsfolk, ' only ;
what do ye more than others ? ' — than those who have no
religion at all ? ' do not even the publicans so ? ' (Matt. v.
47). Nay, but follow ye a better pattern than them. In
patience, in long-suffering, in mercy, in beneficence of every
kind, to all, even to your bitterest persecutors ; ' be ye,'
Christians, ' perfect,' in kind, though not in degree, ' even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect ' (Matt. v. 48).

IV. Behold Christianity in its native form, as delivered
by its great Author ! This is the genuine religion of Jesus
Christ ! Such He presents it to him whose eyes are opened.
See a picture of God so far as He is imitable by man ! a picture
drawn by God's own hand. ' Behold, ye despisers, and won-
der, and perish ! ' Or, rather, wonder and adore ! Rather
cry out, ' Is this the religion of Jesus of Nazareth ? the religion
which I persecuted ? Let me no more be found even to
fight against God. Lord, what wouldest Thou have me to
do ? ' What beauty appears in the whole ! How just a
symmetry ! What exact proportion in every part ! How
desirable is the happiness here described ! How venerable,
how lovely the holiness ! This is the spirit of religion ; the
quintessence of it. These are indeed the fundamentals of
Christianity. O that we may not be hearers of it only ! —
' like a man beholding his own face in a glass, who goeth his
way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.'
Nay, but let us steadily ' look into this perfect law of liberty,
and continue therein.' Let us not rest, until every line
thereof is transcribed into our own hearts. Let us watch,
and pray, and believe, and love, and ' strive for the mastery,'
till every part of it shall appear in our soul, graven there
by the finger of God ; till we are ' holy as He which hath
called us is holy, perfect as our Father which is in heaven is
perfect.'

SERMON XIX
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE IV

This sermon was preached at West Street on February 3, 1747 ; and
the substance of it no doubt was frequently given to the societies in
London and Bristol in the course of the expositions already referred
to. It is Wesley's criticism of the Mystic doctrine in relation to good
works, as Sermon XII is in regard to the means of grace. It should
be compared with the Preface to the Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739),
where he says that some of the hymns ' were wrote upon the scheme
of the Mystic Divines. And these, it is owned, we had once in great
veneration, as the best explainers of the gospel of Christ. But we are
now convinced that we therein greatly erred, not knowing the Scrip-
tures, neither the power of God.' He proceeds to criticize their teach-
ing as to justification, their commendation of entire seclusion from
men (' Holy solitaries,' he exclaims, ' is a phrase no more consistent
with the gospel than holy adulterers '), and their substitution of con-
templation for good works. The question became a very practical one
with him when the Moravian quietism or ' stillness ' began to infect
the Fetter Lane society in the autumn of 1739, and ultimately led
to his separation from it in July 1740. But Richard Bell and John Bray
kept on tintinnabulating and hee-hawing, and it was many years before
the Methodist societies quite got rid of this pernicious leaven. He
was deeply grieved, too, at the later mystical developments in William
Law's teaching, which began to manifest themselves about 1733. He
was amazed and disgusted at the absurd crudities of his physical
speculations ; and he had no patience when he thought of the little
divine in the pleasant retirement of his cottage at Putney, whilst he
himself was running from Bristol to Newcastle, preaching every day,
and on full stretch to arouse and save the souls of men. And when
in 1 741 Charles caught the disease, it was no wonder that he denounced
the whole Mystical doctrine as ' this masterpiece of the wisdom from
beneath, the fairest of all the devices wherewith Satan hath ever
perverted the right ways of the Lord I '

But in his cooler moments he was quite ready to appreciate the

378

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 379

better elements of Mysticism, and to admit that its earlier exponents
were ' men of love, experimentally acquainted with true, inward
religion ; burning and shining lights, and such as had well deserved
of the Church of Christ' (Sermon XII, i. 4). And when the passing
years had mellowed him, he declares in his preface to her Life, written
in 1776, that Madam Guyon, with all her mistakes, was ' good in an
eminent degree.' ' So that, upon the whole,' he concludes, ' I know
not whether we may not search many centuries to find another woman
who was such a pattern of true holiness.' The student should read
Prof. William James's chapter on ' Mysticism ' in Varieties of Religious
Experience, where its weakness and its strength are both lucidly set
forth. Both types of character, the active and the contemplative,
are necessary for the completeness of the Church ; and Methodism
has room, and a sphere of service, for both a Hugh Price Hughes and
a William Burt Pope ; and neither hand nor eye can say to eye or
hand, ' I have no need of thee.'

Ye are the salt of the earth : but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith
shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,
and to be trodden under foot of men.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candle-
stick ; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. — Matt. v. 13-16.

I. The beauty of holiness, of that inward man of the heart
which is renewed after the image of God, cannot but strike
every eye which God hath opened— every enlightened under-
standing. The ornament of a meek, humble, loving spirit,
will at least excite the approbation of all those who are
capable, in any degree, of discerning spiritual good and evil.
From the hour men begin to emerge out of the darkness
which covers the giddy, unthinking world, they cannot but
perceive how desirable a thing it is to be thus transformed
into the likeness of Him that created us. This inward reli-
gion bears the shape of God so visibly impressed upon it, that
a soul must be wholly immersed in flesh and blood when
he can doubt of its divine original. We may say of this, in

Par. 1. The Son of God is to the the sun, or the impression of the
Father as the rays of light are to seal on the clay to the seal itself ;

380 Sermon XIX

a secondary sense, even as of the Son of God Himself, that
it is ' the brightness of His glory, the express image of His
person ' — airavyaa-fia t?}<? 86^ avrov — ' the beaming forth of
His ' eternal ' glory ' ; and yet so tempered and softened, that
even the children of men may herein see God and live ;
Xapa/eTTjp T?}? v7rocTTd<T€o}<i avrov — ' the character, the stamp,
the living impression of His person,' who is the fountain of
beauty and love, the original source of all excellency and
perfection.

2. If religion, therefore, were carried no farther than this,
they could have no doubt concerning it ; they should have no
objection against pursuing it with the whole ardour of their
souls. ' But why,' say they, ' is it clogged with other things ?
What need of loading it with doing and suffering ? These are
what damps the vigour of the soul, and sinks it down to earth
again. Is it not enough to " follow after charity " ; to soar
upon the wings of love ? Will it not suffice to worship God,
who is a Spirit, with the spirit of our minds, without encum-
bering ourselves with outward things, or even thinking of
them at all ? Is it not better, that the whole extent of
our thought should be taken up with high and heavenly
contemplation ; and that instead of busying ourselves at ail
about externals, we should only commune with God in our
hearts ? '

3. Many eminent men have spoken thus ; have advised us
' to cease from all outward action ' ; wholly to withdraw from
the world ; to leave the body behind us ; to abstract ourselves
from all sensible things ; to have no concern at all about out-
ward religion, but to work all virtues in the will ; as the far

the sun cannot be seen without the on in thy own will, but be retired

rays of light that flow from it ; the silent, passive, and humbly atten-

seal can be best interpreted from its tive to this new-risen light within

impression. And it is also our func- thee.' Part II, p. 163 : * Retire

tion to show forth the praises of from the world, and all conversation,

Him who hath called us from dark- only for one month, neither write nor

ness into His marvellous light. read, nor debate any thing in pri-

3. So Law, in Spirit of Prayer, vate with yourself ; stop all the

Part I, p. 77 : ' Stop therefore all former workings of your heart and

self-activity ; listen not to the sug- mind ; and with all the strength of

gestions of thy own reason, run not your heart, stand all this month as

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : IV 381

more excellent way, more perfective of the soul as well as more
acceptable to God.

4. It needed not that any should tell our Lord of this
master-piece of the wisdom from beneath, this fairest of all
the devices wherewith Satan hath ever perverted the right ways
of the Lord ! And 0 ! what instruments hath he found, from
time to time, to employ in this his service, to wield this grand
engine of hell against some of the most important truths of
God ! — men that would ' deceive, if it were possible, the very
elect,' the men of faith and love ; yea, that have for a season
deceived and led away no inconsiderable number of them, who
have fallen in all ages into the gilded snare, and hardly escaped
with the skin of their teeth.

5. But has our Lord been wanting on His part ? Has
He not sufficiently guarded us against this pleasing delusion ?
Has He not armed us here with armour of proof against Satan
' transformed into an angel of light ' ? Yea, verily : He here
defends, in the clearest and strongest manner, the active,
patient religion He had just described. What can be fuller and
plainer than the words He immediately subjoins to what He
had said of doing and suffering ? ' Ye are the salt of the
earth : but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it
be salted ? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast
out, and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the
world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither
do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick ; and it giveth light to all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.'

In order fully to explain and enforce these important words,
I shall endeavour to show, first, that Christianity is essentially
a social religion * and that to turn it into a solitary one is to

continually as you can, in this fol- love till you have this will to all

lowing form of prayer to God.' In goodness at all times and on all

Spirit of Love, Part I, p. 3, he says : occasions.'

' This is the ground and original of 5. In the original it is ' the

the spirit of love in the creature ; bushel,' ' the candlestick,' or rather

it is and must be a will to all good- ' lamp-stand.'

ness, and you have not the spirit of

382 Sermon XIX

destroy it. Secondly, that to conceal this religion is impossible,
as well as utterly contrary to the design of its Author. I shall,
thirdly, answer some objections ; and conclude the whole with
a practical application.

I. 1. First. I shall endeavour to show, that Christianity is
essentially a social religion ; and that to turn it into a solitary
religion, is indeed to destroy it.

By Christianity, I mean that method of worshipping God
which is here revealed to man by Jesus Christ. When I say,
This is essentially a social religion, I mean not only that it
cannot subsist so well, but that it cannot subsist at all, without
society, — without living and conversing with other men. And
in showing this, I shall confine myself to those considerations
which will arise from the very discourse before us. But if
this be shown, then, doubtless, to turn this religion into a
solitary one is to destroy it.

Not that we can in any wise condemn the intermixing
solitude or retirement with society. This is not only allow-
able, but expedient ; nay, it is necessary, as daily experience
shows, for every one that either already is, or desires to be a
real Christian. It can hardly be, that we should spend one
entire day in a continued intercourse with men, without
suffering loss in our soul, and in some measure grieving the
Holy Spirit of God. We have need daily to retire from the
world, at least morning and evening, to converse with God,
to commune more freely with our Father which is in secret.
Nor indeed can a man of experience condemn even longer
seasons of religious retirement, so they do not imply any
neglect of the worldly employ wherein the providence of God
has placed us.

2. Yet such retirement must not swallow up all our time :
this would be to destroy, not advance, true religion. For,
that the religion described by our Lord in the foregoing words
cannot subsist without society, without our living and con-
versing with other men, is manifest from hence, that several
of the most essential branches thereof can have no place if
we have no intercourse with the world.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : I V 383

3. There is no disposition, for instance, which is more
essential to Christianity than meekness. Now although this,
as it implies resignation to God, or patience in pain and sick-
ness, may subsist in a desert, in a hermit's cell, in total solitude ;
yet as it implies (which it no less necessarily does) mildness,
gentleness, and long-suffering, it cannot possibly have a being,
it has no place under heaven, without an intercourse with
other men : so that to attempt turning this into a solitary
virtue is to destroy it from the face of the earth.

4. Another necessary branch of true Christianity is peace-
making, or doing of good. That this is equally essential
with any of the other parts of the religion of Jesus Christ,
there can be no stronger argument to evince (and therefore
it would be absurd to allege any other), than that it is here
inserted in the original plan He has laid down of the funda-
mentals of His religion. Therefore, to set aside this is the
same daring insult on the authority of our Great Master as to
set aside mercifulness, purity of heart, or any other branch
of His institution. But this is apparently set aside by all
who call us to the wilderness ; who recommend entire solitude
either to the babes, or the young men, or the fathers in Christ.
For will any man affirm that a solitary Christian (so called,
though it is little less than a contradiction in terms) can be a
merciful man, — that is, one that takes every opportunity of
doing all good to all men ? What can be more plain than
that this fundamental branch of the religion of Jesus Christ
cannot possibly subsist without society, without our living
and conversing with other men ?

5. ' But is it not expedient, however,' one might naturally
ask, ' to converse only with good men, — only with those whom
we know to be meek and merciful, holy of heart, and holy of
life ? Is it not expedient to refrain from any conversation or
intercourse with men of the opposite character, — men who do
not obey, perhaps do not believe, the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ ? ' The advice of St. Paul to the Christians at Corinth

I. 4. 'Evince': 'to prove' — a 'Apparently'; i.e. obviously, as

common use in the eighteenth cen- clearly appears,
turv.

384 Sermon XIX

may seem to favour this : ' I wrote unto you in an epistle not
to company with fornicators ' (1 Cor. v. 9). And it is certainly
not advisable so .to company with them, or with any of the
workers of iniquity, as to have any particular familiarity or
any strictness of friendship with them. To contract or con-
tinue an intimacy with any such is no way expedient for a
Christian. It must necessarily expose him to abundance of
dangers and snares, out of which he can have no reasonable
hope of deliverance.

But the Apostle does not forbid us to have any intercourse
at all even with the men that know not God : : For then,'
says he, ' ye must needs go out of the world ' ; which he
could never advise them to do. But he subjoins, ' If any
man that is called a brother,' that professes himself a Chris-
tian, ' be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer,
or a drunkard, or an extortioner ' (1 Cor. v. n) ; ' now I
have written unto you not to keep company ' with him ; ' with
such an one no not to eat.' This must necessarily imply,
that we break off all familiarity, all intimacy of acquaintance,
with him. ' Yet count him not,' saith the Apostle elsewhere,
' as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother ' (2 Thess.
iii. 15) ; plainly showing that even in such a case as this, we
are not to renounce all fellowship with him. So that here is
no advice to separate wholly even from wicked men. Yea,
these very words teach us quite the contrary.

6. Much more the words of our Lord ; who is so far from
directing us to break off all commerce with the world, that
without it, according to His account of Christianity, we can-
not be Christians at all. It would be easy to show, that some
intercourse even with ungodly and unholy men is absolutely
needful, in order to the full exertion of every temper which
He has described as the way to the kingdom ; that it is indis-
pensably necessary, in order to the complete exercise of
poverty of spirit, of mourning, and of every other disposition
which has a place here, in the genuine religion of Jesus Christ.
Yea, it is necessary to the very being of several of them :
of that meekness, for example, which, instead of demanding
' an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth,' doth ' not resist

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 385

evil,' but cause us rather, when smitten ' on the right cheek,
to turn the other also ' ; of that mercifulness, whereby we
' love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them
that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us and
persecute us ' ; and of that complication of love and all holy
tempers which is exercised in suffering for righteousness' sake.
Now all these, it is clear, could have no being, were we to have
no commerce with any but real Christians.

7. Indeed, were we wholly to separate ourselves from sinners,
how could we possibly answer that character which our Lord
gives us in these very words ? ' Ye ' (Christians, ye that are
lowly, serious, and meek ; ye that hunger after righteousness,
that love God and man, that do good to all, and therefore
suffer evil ; ye) ' are the salt of the earth ' : it is your very
nature to season whatever is round about you. It is the
nature of the divine savour which is in you, to spread to what-
soever you touch ; to diffuse itself, on every side, to all those
among whom you are. This is the great reason why the provi-
dence of God has so mingled you together with other men, that
whatever grace you have received of God may through you be
communicated to others ; that every holy temper and word and
work of yours may have an influence on them also. By this
means a check will, in some measure, be given to the corruption
which is in the world ; and a small part, at least, saved from
the general infection, and rendered holy and pure before God.

8. That we may the more diligently labour to season all
we can with every holy and heavenly temper, our Lord pro-

7. The function of salt is to pre- number of selfish individuals, each

serve fish or flesh from putrefaction ; seeking his own advantage. It is

that is, from resolution into simpler the presence in society of men who

molecules. Flesh is made up of are actuated by unselfish and social

highly complex molecules ; these motives that retards and tends to

under the influence of ferments are prevent this dissolution. The effect

split up into simpler and more primi- of saline solutions in preventing

tive ones. Salt, by inhibiting the wounds from becoming septic has

action of the ferments, prevents this been very notable in the late war ;

breaking down. So the tendency and they would appear to do so by

of the leaven of sin is to break down stimulating the vital resistances,

the complex groupings of the social The parallel is suggestive.
organism, and to reduce it to a
w.s.s. 1—25

386 Sermon XIX

ceeds to show the desperate state of those who do not impart
the religion they have received; which indeed they cannot
possibly fail to do, so long as it remains in their own hearts.
' If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted ?
It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and
trodden under foot of men * : if ye who were holy and heavenly-
minded, and consequently zealous of good works, have no
longer that savour in yourselves, and do therefore no longer
season others ; if you are grown flat, insipid, dead, both
careless of your own souls, and useless to the souls of other
men ; wherewith shall ye be salted ? How shall ye be re-
covered ? What help ? What hope ? Can tasteless salt
be restored to its savour ? No ;' it is thenceforth good for
nothing but to be cast out,' even as the mire in the streets,
' and to be trodden under foot of men,' to be overwhelmed
with everlasting contempt. If ye had never known the Lord,
there might have been hope, — if ye had never been ' found
in Him ' : but what can you now say to that, His solemn
declaration, just parallel to what He hath here spoken ?
' Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He,' the Father,
' taketh away. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, bringeth
forth much fruit.' ' If a man abide not in Me,' or do not
bring forth fruit, ' he is cast out as a branch, and withered ;
and men gather them,' not to plant them again, but ' to cast
them into the fire ' (John xv. 2, 5, 6).

9. Toward those who have never tasted of the good word,
God is indeed pitiful and of tender mercy. But justice takes
place with regard to those who have tasted that the Lord is
gracious, and have afterwards turned back ' from the holy
commandment ' then ' delivered to them.' ' For it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened ' " (Heb. vi. 4, &c.),
in whose hearts God had once shined, to enlighten them with

9. The reference in Heb. vi. 4 is to human agency. Humanly speak-
to the sin of open apostasy on the ing, in such a case there is no hope
part of the Jewish converts ; the of repentance ; * with men it is im-
deliberate public disavowal of Christ. possible ; but not with God ; for
As Westcott points out, the use of with God all things are possible.'
the active voice * to renew ' limits It will be remembered that this word
the strict application of the words was spoken with reference to a

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : IV 387

the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ;
' who have tasted of the heavenly gift,' of redemption in His
blood, the forgiveness of sins ; ' and were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost,' of lowliness, of meekness, and of the love
of God and man shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost
which was given unto them ; and ' have fallen away ' — teal
Trapaireo-ovTas (here is not a supposition, but a flat declaration
of matter of fact), ' to renew them again unto repentance ;
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and
put Him to an open shame.

But that none may misunderstand these awful words, it
should be carefully observed, (1) Who they are that are here
spoken of ; namely, they, and they only, who were once thus
' enlightened ' ; they only, ' who did taste of ' that ' heavenly
gift, and were ' thus ' made partakers of the Holy Ghost.'
So that all who have not experienced these things are wholly
unconcerned in this scripture. (2) What that falling away
is, which is here spoken of : it is an absolute, total apostasy.
A believer may fall, and not fall away. He may fall and rise
again. And if he should fall, even into sin, yet this case,
dreadful as it is, is not desperate. For ' we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ; and He is the
propitiation for our sins.' But let him above all things beware,
lest his ' heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin ' ; lest
he should sink lower and lower, till he wholly fall away, till he
become as salt that hath lost its savour : for if we thus sin
wilfully, after we have received the experimental ' knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins ; but a
certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries.'

II. 1. ' But although we may not wholly separate ourselves
from mankind, although it be granted we ought to season
them with the religion which God has wrought in our hearts,

somewhat similar case, the conver- this passage in Westcott's Hebrews.
sion of a rich man, which our Lord In i John ii. 2 the ' our ' is in

had just declared to be harder than obvious contrast to ' of the whole

for a camel to go through a needle's world ' ; and the sins therefore are

eye. See the additional note on those committed by the believer.

388 Sermon XIX

yet may not this be done insensibly ? May we not convey
this into others in a secret and almost imperceptible manner,
so that scarce any one shall be able to observe how or when
it is done ? — even as salt conveys its own savour into that which
is seasoned thereby, without any noise, and without being
liable to any outward observation. And if so, although we do
not go out of the world, yet we may lie hid in it. We may thus
far keep our religion to ourselves ; and not offend those whom
we cannot help.'

2. Of this plausible reasoning of flesh and blood our Lord
was well aware also : and He has given a full answer to it in
those words which come now to be considered ; in explaining
which I shall endeavour to show, as I proposed to do in the
second place, that so long as true religion abides in our hearts,
it is impossible to conceal it, as well as absolutely contrary to
the design of its great Author.

And, first, it is impossible for any that have it, to conceal
the religion of Jesus Christ. This our Lord makes plain
beyond all contradiction, by a two-fold comparison : ' Ye are
the light of the world : a city set upon a hill cannot be hid.'
Ye Christians are ' the light of the world,' with regard both
to your tempers and actions. Your holiness makes you as
conspicuous as the sun in the midst of heaven. As ye cannot
go out of the world, so neither can ye stay in it without appear-
ing to all mankind. Ye may not flee from men ; and while
ye are among them, it is impossible to hide your lowliness and
meekness, and those other dispositions whereby ye aspire to
be perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Love
cannot be hid any more than light ; and least of all, when it
shines forth in action, when ye exercise yourselves in the labour
of love, in beneficence of every kind. As well may men think
to hide a city, as to hide a Christian ; yea, as well may they

II. 2. As all the light in the world the burning and shining lamp,

can be ultimately traced back to the Christ has shone upon him, and all

energy of the sun, so all the light in that has thus been made manifest

the Christian is the reflection of the is itself light by reflecting the light

light that has shone upon him from that has given it its manifest colour

the face of Jesus Christ. He is but and furm.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 389

conceal a city set upon a hill, as a holy, zealous, active lover
of God and man.

3. It is true, men who love darkness rather than light,
because their deeds are evil, will take all possible pains to
prove, that the light which is in you is darkness. They will
say evil, all manner of evil, falsely, of the good which is in
you ; they will lay to your charge that which is farthest from
your thoughts, which is the very reverse of all you are, and all
you do. And your patient continuance in well-doing, your
meek suffering all things for the Lord's sake, your calm,
humble joy in the midst of persecution, your unwearied labour
to overcome evil with good, will make you still more visible
and conspicuous than ye were before.

4. So impossible it is, to keep our religion from being seen,
unless we cast it away ; so vain is the thought of hiding the
light, unless by putting it out ! Sure it is, that a secret,
unobserved religion cannot be the religion of Jesus Christ.
Whatever religion can be concealed, is not Christianity. If a
Christian could be hid, he could not be compared to a city set
upon a hill ; to the light of the world, the sun shining from
heaven, and seen by all the world below. Never, therefore,
let it enter into the heart of him whom God hath renewed in
the spirit of his mind, to hide that light, to keep his religion to
himself ; especially considering it is not only impossible to
conceal true Christianity, but likewise absolutely contrary
to the design of the great Author of it.

5. This plainly appears from the following words : ' Neither
do men light a candle to put it under a bushel.' As if he had
said, As men do not light a candle, only to cover and conceal it,
so neither does God enlighten any soul with His glorious
knowledge and love, to have it covered or concealed, either by
prudence, falsely so called, or shame, or voluntary humility ;
to have it hid either in a desert, or in the world ; either by
avoiding men, or in conversing with them. ' But they put it on
a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house ' : in
like manner, it is the design of God that every Christian should
be in an open point of view ; that he may give light to all
around, that he may visibly express the religion of Jesus Christ.

39° Sermon XIX

6. Thus hath God in all ages spoken to the world, not only
by precept, but by example also. He hath ' not left Himself
without witness,' in any nation where the sound of the gospel
hath gone forth, without a few who have testified His truth
by their lives as well as their words. These have been ' as
lights shining in a dark place.' And from time to time they
have been the means of enlightening some, of preserving a
remnant, a little seed which was ' counted unto the Lord for
a generation.' They have led a few poor sheep out of the
darkness of the world, and guided their feet into the way of
peace.

7. One might imagine that, where both Scripture and the
reason of things speak so clearly and expressly, there could
not be much advanced on the other side, at least not with any
appearance of truth. But they who imagine thus know little
of the depths of Satan. After all that Scripture and reason
have said, so exceeding plausible are the pretences for solitary
religion, for a Christian's going out of the world, or at least
hiding himself in it, that we need all the wisdom of God to see
through the snare, and all the power of God to escape it ; so
many and strong are the objections which have been brought
against being social, open, active Christians.

III. 1. To answer these, was the third thing which I pro-
posed. And, first, it has been often objected, that religion
does not lie in outward things, but in the heart, the inmost
soul ; that it is the union of the soul with God, the life of God
in the soul of man ; that outside religion is nothing worth ;
seeing God ' delighteth not in burnt-offerings,' in outward
services, but a pure and holy heart is the ' sacrifice He will not
despise.'

I answer, It is most true, that the root of religion lies in
the heart, in the inmost soul ; that this is the union of the soul
with God, the life of God in the soul of man. But if this root
be really in the heart, it cannot but put forth branches. And
these are the several instances of outward obedience, which
partake of the same nature with the root ; and, consequently,
are not only marks or signs, but substantial parts, of religion.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 391

It is also true, that bare outside religion, which has no root
in the heart, is nothing worth ; that God delighteth not in such
outward services, no more than in Jewish burnt-offerings ;
and that a pure and holy heart is a sacrifice with which He is
always well pleased. But He is also well pleased with all
that outward service which arises from the heart ; with the
sacrifice of our prayers (whether public or private), of our
praises and thanksgivings ; with the sacrifice of our goods,
humbly devoted to Him, and employed wholly to His glory ;
and with that of our bodies, which He peculiarly claims,
which the Apostle beseeches us, ' by the mercies of God,
to present unto Him, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
unto God.'

2. A second objection, nearly related to this, is, that love
is all in all ; that it is ' the fulfilling of the law,' ' the end of
the commandment,' of every commandment of God ; that all
we do, and all we suffer, if we have not charity or love, profiteth
us nothing ; and therefore the Apostle directs us to ' follow
after charity,' and terms this ' the more excellent way.'

I answer, It is granted, that the love of God and man,
arising from faith unfeigned, is all in all, the fulfilling of the
law, the end of every commandment of God. It is true, that
without this, whatever we do, whatever we suffer, profits us
nothing. But it does not follow, that love is all in such a
sense as to supersede either faith or good works. It is ' the
fulfilling of the law,' not by releasing us from but by constrain-
ing us to obey it. It is ' the end of the commandment,' as
every commandment leads to and centres in it. It is allowed,
that whatever we do or suffer without love profits us nothing :
but withal, whatever we do or suffer in love, though it were only
the suffering reproach for Christ, or the giving a cup of cold
water in His name, it shall in no wise lose its reward.

3. ' But does not the Apostle direct us to " follow after
charity " ? And does he not term it " a more excellent way " ? '
— He does direct us to ' follow after charity ' ; but not after
that alone. His words are, ' Follow after charity, and desire
spiritual gifts ' (1 Cor. xiv. 1). Yea, ' follow after charity ' ;
and desire to spend and be spent for your brethren. ' Follow

392

Sermon XIX

after charity ' ; and, as you have opportunity, do good to
all men.

In the same verse wherein he terms this, the way of love,
' a more excellent way,' he directs the Corinthians to desire
other gifts beside it ; yea, to desire them earnestly. ' Covet
earnestly,' saith he, ' the best gifts ; and yet I show unto you
a more excellent way ' (i Cor. xii. 31). More excellent than
what ? Than the gifts of healing, of speaking with tongues,
and of interpreting, mentioned in the preceding verses ; but
not more excellent than the way of obedience. Of this the
Apostle is not speaking ; neither is he speaking of outward
religion at all : so that this text is quite wide of the present
question.

But suppose the Apostle had been speaking of outward as
well as inward religion, and comparing them together ; sup-
pose, in the comparison, he had given the preference ever so
much to the latter ; suppose he had preferred (as he justly
might) a loving heart, before all outward works whatever ;
yet it would not follow that we were to reject either one or the
other. No ; God hath joined them together from the beginning
of the world ; and let not man put them asunder.

4. ' But " God is a Spirit ; and they that worship Him,
must worship Him in spirit and in truth." And is not this
enough ? Nay, ought we not to employ the whole strength
of our mind herein ? Does not attending to outward things
clog the soul, that it cannot soar aloft in holy contemplation ?
Does it not damp the vigour of our thought ? Has it not a
natural tendency to encumber and distract the mind ? Where-
as St. Paul would have us to be " without carefulness," and to
" wait upon the Lord without distraction." '

I answer, ' God is a Spirit ; and they that worship Him,
must worship Him in spirit and in truth.' Yea, and this is
enough : we ought to employ the whole strength of our mind
therein. But then I would ask, What is it to worship God, a
Spirit, in spirit and in truth ? Why, it is to worship Him
with our spirit ; to worship Him in that manner which none
but spirits are capable of. It is to believe in Him, as a wise,
just, holy Being, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ; and

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 393

yet merciful, gracious, and longsuffering ; forgiving iniquity,
and transgression, and sin ; casting all our sins behind His
back, and accepting us in the Beloved. It is, to love Him, to
delight in Him, to desire Him, with all our heart, and mind,
and soul, and strength ; to imitate Him we love, by purifying
ourselves even as He is pure ; and to obey Him whom we love,
and in whom we believe, both in thought, and word, and work.
Consequently, one branch of the worshipping God in spirit
and in truth is, the keeping His outward commandments. To
glorify Him, therefore, with our bodies as well as with our
spirits ; to go through outward work with hearts lifted up to
Him ; to make our daily employment a sacrifice to God ; to buy
and sell, to eat and drink, to His glory, — this is worshipping
God in spirit and in truth, as much as the praying to Him in
a wilderness.

5. But if so, then contemplation is only one way of worship-
ping God in spirit and in truth. Therefore to give ourselves
up entirely to this, would be to destroy many branches of
spiritual worship, all equally acceptable to God, and equally
profitable, not hurtful, to the soul. For it is a great mistake,
to suppose that an attention to those outward things, whereto
the providence of God hath called us, is any clog to a Christian,
or any hindrance at all to his always seeing Him that is invisible.
It does not at all damp the ardour of his thought ; it does not
encumber or distract his mind ; it gives him no uneasy or
hurtful care, who does it all as unto the Lord ; who hath
learned, whatsoever he doeth in word or deed, to do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus ; having only one eye of the soul,
which moves round on outward things, and one immovably
fixed on God. Learn what this meaneth, ye poor recluses,

III. 5. Wesley was a little lacking Believer in Worldly Business,' No. 6

in humour, though he had wit enough in Hymns for those that Seek and

and to spare ; otherwise he could those that have Redemption (1747).

not have perpetrated the extra- It is, with one verse omitted, Hymn

ordinary figure of a man ' having 587 in the Methodist Hymn-Book.

only one eye of the soul which moves ' Lift ' is clearly the infinitive governed

round on outward things, and one by ' dost ' ; not the imperative,

immovably fixed on God ' ! There should be a comma, as in the

The quotation is the third verse original, after ' multitudes.'
of Charles Wesley's hymn ' For a

394 Sermon XIX

that you may clearly discern your own littleness of faith :
yea, that you may no longer judge others by yourselves, go
and learn what that meaneth, —

Thou, O Lord, in tender love,

Dost all my burdens bear ;
Lift my heart to things above,

And fix it ever there.
Calm on tumult's wheel I sit ;

'Midst busy multitudes alone j
Sweetly waiting at Thy feet,

Till all Thy will be done.

6. But the grand objection is still behind. ' We appeal,'
say they, ' to experience. Our light did shine ; we used out-
ward things many years ; and yet they profited nothing. We
attended on all the ordinances ; but we were no better for it ;
nor indeed any one else : nay, we were the worse ; for we
fancied ourselves Christians for so doing, when we knew not
what Christianity meant.'

I allow the fact : I allow that you and ten thousand more
have thus abused the ordinances of God ; mistaking the
means for the end ; supposing that the doing these, or some
other outward works, either was the religion of Jesus Christ,
or would be accepted in the place of it. But let the abuse be
taken away, and the use remain. Now use all outward things,
but use them with a constant eye to the renewal of your soul
in righteousness and true holiness.

7. But this is not all : they affirm, ' Experience likewise
shows, that the trying to do good is but lost labour. What
does it avail to feed or clothe men's bodies, if they are just
dropping into everlasting fire ? And what good can any man
do to their souls ? If these are changed, God doeth it Himself.
Besides, all men are either good, at least desirous so to be,
or obstinately evil. Now the former have no need of us ;
let them ask help of God, and it shall be given them : and the
latter will receive no help of us. Nay, and our Lord forbids
to " cast our pearls before swine." '

I answer, (1) Whether they will finally be lost or saved,
you are expressly commanded to feed the hungry, and clothe

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 395

the naked. If you can, and do not, whatever becomes of
them, you shall go away into everlasting fire. (2) Though it
is God only changes hearts, yet He generally doeth it by man.
It is our part to do all that in us lies, as diligently as if we could
change them ourselves, and then to leave the event to Him.
(3) God, in answer to their prayers, builds up His children
by each other in every good gift ; nourishing and strengthening
the whole ' body by that which every joint supplieth.' So
that ' the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee ' ;
no, nor even ' the head to the feet, I have no need of you.'
Lastly. How are you assured, that the persons before you
are dogs or swine ? Judge them not, until you have tried.
' How knowest thou, O man, but thou mayest gain thy brother '
— but thou mayest, under God, save his soul from death ?
When he spurns thy love, and blasphemes the good word,
then it is time to give him up to God.

8. ' We have tried ; we have laboured to reform sinners ;
and what did it avail ? On many we could make no impres-
sion at all : and if some were changed for a while, yet their
goodness was but as the morning dew, and they were soon as
bad, nay, worse than ever : so that we only hurt them, and
ourselves too ; for our minds were hurried and discomposed,
— perhaps filled with anger instead of love : therefore, we had
better have kept our religion to ourselves.'

It is very possible this fact also may be true ; that you
have tried to do good, and have not succeeded ; yea, that
those who seemed reformed, relapsed into sin, and their last
state was worse than the first. And what marvel ? Is the
servant above his Master ? But how often did He strive to
save sinners, and they would not hear ; or, when they had
followed Him awhile, they turned back as a dog to his vomit !
But He did not therefore desist from striving to do good : no
more should you, whatever your success be. It is your part
to do as you are commanded : the event is in the hand of God.
You are not accountable for this : leave it to Him, who orders
all things well. ' In the morning sow thy seed, and in the
evening withhold not thy hand : for thou knowest not whether
shall prosper ' (Eccles. xi 6).

396 Sermon XIX

But the trial hurries and frets your own soul. Perhaps it
did so for this very reason, because you thought you was
accountable for the event, which no man is, nor indeed can
be ; or perhaps, because you was off your guard — you was
not watchful over your own spirit. But this is no reason for
disobeying God. Try again : but try more warily than before.
Do good (as you forgive) ' not seven times only, but until
seventy times seven.' Only be wiser by experience : attempt
it every time more cautiously than before. Be more humbled
before God, more deeply convinced that of yourself you can do
nothing. Be more jealous over your own spirit ; more gentle,
and watchful unto prayer. Thus ' cast your bread upon the
waters, and you shall find it again after many days.'

IV. 1. Notwithstanding all these plausible pretences for
hiding it, ' let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.' This is the practical application which our Lord
Himself makes of the foregoing considerations.

' Let your light so shine,' — your lowliness of heart ; your
gentleness, and meekness of wisdom ; your serious, weighty
concern for the things of eternity, and sorrow for the sins
and miseries of men ; your earnest desire of universal holiness,
and full happiness in God ; your tender goodwill to all man-
kind, and fervent love to your supreme Benefactor. Endeav-
our not to conceal this light, wherewith God hath enlightened
your soul ; but let it shine before men, before all with whom
you are, in the whole tenor of your conversation. Let it
shine still more eminently in your actions, in your doing all
possible good to all men ; and in your suffering for righteous-
ness' sake, while you ' rejoice and are exceeding glad,' knowing
that ' great is your reward in heaven.'

2. ' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works,' — so far let a Christian be from ever designing
or desiring to conceal his religion ! On the contrary, let it be
your desire, not to conceal it ; not to put the light under a
bushel. Let it be your care to place it ' on a candlestick,
that it may give light to all that are in the house.' Only take

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IV 397

heed, not to seek your own praise herein, not to desire any
honour to yourselves. But let it be your sole aim, that all
who see your good works may ' glorify your Father which
is in heaven.'

3. Be this your one ultimate end in all things. With this
view, be plain, open, undisguised. Let your love be without
dissimulation : why should you hide fair, disinterested love ?
Let there be no guile found in your mouth : let your words be
the genuine picture of your heart. Let there be no darkness
or reservedness in your conversation, no disguise in your
behaviour. Leave this to those who have other designs in
view ; designs which will not bear the light. Be ye artless
and simple to all mankind ; that all may see the grace of God
which is in you. And although some will harden their hearts,
yet others will take knowledge that ye have been with Jesus,
and, by returning themselves to the great Bishop of their
souls, ' glorify your Father which is in heaven.'

4. With this one design, that men may glorify God in you,
go on in His name, and in the power of His might. Be not
ashamed even to stand alone, so it be in the ways of God.
Let the light which is in your heart shine in all good works,
both works of piety and works of mercy. And in order to
enlarge your ability of doing good, renounce all superfluities.
Cut off all unnecessary expense in food, in furniture, in apparel.
Be a good steward of every gift of God, even of these His
lowest gifts. Cut off all unnecessary expense of time, all
needless or useless employments ; and ' whatsoever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.' In a word, be thou
full of faith and love ; do good ; suffer evil. And herein be
thou ' steadfast, unmovable ' ; yea, ' always abounding in
the work of the Lord ; forasmuch as thou knowest that thy
labour is not in vain in the Lord.'

IV. 3. In his letter to the Mor- many cases ? Are you not of a close,

avian Church, September 1738, Wes- dark, reserved temper and be-

ley asks them, ' Do you not use haviour ? '
cunning, guile, or dissimulation in

SERMON XX
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE V

On May 15, 1739, the Journal records: ' As I was expounding in the
Back Lane on the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, many
who had before been righteous in their own eyes abhorred themselves
as in dust and ashes. But two, who seemed to be more deeply con-
vinced than the rest, did not long sorrow as men without hope, but
found in that hour that they had " an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous." ' Back Lane lies in the eastern part of Bristol,
between Jacob Street and Old Market Street. Wesley had preached
there for the first time on Tuesday, April 17, 1739. The service was
held in an upper room ; and on that occasion the weight of the con-
gregation made the floor give way ; but it did not sink far, and the
sermon was duly concluded. This sermon is also recorded as preached
at Redriff (or Rotherhithe) on July 11, 1740 ; and the text, Matt. v. 20,
is set down half a dozen times in the sermon list between 1747 and
J759- The favourite sermon on the Pharisee and the Publican was
no doubt much on the same lines as the latter part of this discourse.

Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets : I am not

come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle

shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall

teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven :

but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great

in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the

righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter

into the kingdom of heaven. — Matt. v. 17-20.

i. Among the multitude of reproaches which fell upon Him
who ' was despised and rejected of men,' it could not fail

398

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 399

to be one, that He was a teacher of novelties, an introducer
of a new religion. This might be affirmed with the more colour,
because many of the expressions He had used were not common
among the Jews : either they did not use them at all, or not
in the same sense, not in so full and strong a meaning. Add to
this, that the worshipping God ' in spirit and in truth ' must
always appear a new religion to those who have hitherto
known nothing but outside worship, nothing but the ' form of
godliness.'

2. And it is not improbable, some might hope it was so ;
that He was abolishing the old religion, and bringing in another
— one which, they might flatter themselves, would be an
easier way to heaven. But our Lord refutes, in these words,
both the vain hopes of the one, and the groundless calumnies
of the other.

I shall consider them in the same order as they lie, taking
each verse for a distinct head of discourse.

I. 1. And first, ' Think not that I am come to destroy the
Law, or the Prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil.'

The ritual or ceremonial law, delivered by Moses to the
children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances
which related to the old sacrifices and service of the temple,
our Lord indeed did come to destroy, to dissolve, and utterly
abolish. To this bear all the Apostles witness; not only

I. par. 1. The view taken in this Passover a shadow of the Lord's

and the following paragraph needs Supper, Circumcision a shadow of

some correction. The ceremonial Baptism, and so on. These laws are

law was not only ' designed for a a part of the Scripture which bore

temporary restraint,' but was typical witness to Christ ; and He came, not

and prophetic. These regulations to ' destroy, dissolve, and utterly

were, as St. Paul says (Col. ii. 17), abolish,' but to fulfil them. They

' a shadow of the things to come.' were only destroyed by Him as the

Now, every shadow is cast by a sub- bud is destroyed by the flower or

stance, or body, with which it the child by the man. The shadow

corresponds, and that body was is superseded by the substance, but

' of Christ.' The altar of sacrifice it has a relation to it which is often

was a shadow of the Cross, the most helpful and illuminating.
Temple a shadow of the Church, the

400 Sermon XX

Barnabas and Paul, who vehemently withstood those who
taught that Christians ought ' to keep the law of Moses '
(Acts xv. 5) ; not only St. Peter, who termed the insisting
on this, on the observance of the ritual law, a ' tempting God,'
and ' putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which
neither our fathers,' saith he, ' nor we, were able to bear ' ;
but all the Apostles, elders, and brethren, being assembled
with one accord (verse 22), declared, that to command them
to keep this law, was to ' subvert their souls ' ; and that ' it
seemed good to the Holy Ghost ' and to them, to lay no such
burden upon them (verse 28). This ' hand- writing of ordin-
ances our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His
cross.'

2. But the moral law, contained in the Ten Commandments,
and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away. It
was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this.
This is a law which never can be broken, which ' stands fast
as the faithful witness in heaven.' The moral stands on an
entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual
law, which was only designed for a temporary restraint upon
a disobedient and stiffnecked people ; whereas this was from
the beginning of the world, being ' written not on tables of
stone,' but on the hearts of all the children of men, when they
came out of the hands of the Creator. And, however the letters
once wrote by the finger of God are now in a great measure
defaced by sin, yet can they not wholly be blotted out, while
we have any consciousness of good and evil. Every part of
this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all
ages ; as not depending either on time or place, or any other
circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God, and
the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each
other.

3. ' I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.' Some have

2. ' The moral law He did not Jewish dispensation, and that the

take away.' A more exact state- moral law itself, though it could

ment of the relation of Christianity never pass away, yet henceforward

to the moral law will be found in stood on a different foundation.

Sermon XXIX, 3, where it is shown See note on iii. 7 below,
that Christianity set aside the

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 401

conceived our Lord to mean, I am come to fulfil this, by My
entire and perfect obedience to it. And it cannot be doubted
but He did, in this sense, fulfil every part of it. But this does
not appear to be what He intends here, being foreign to the
scope of His present discourse. Without question, His meaning
in this place is (consistently with all that goes before and
follows after), I am come to establish it in its fullness, in spite
of all the glosses of men : I am come to place in a full and
clear view whatsoever was dark or obscure therein : I am
come to declare the true and full import of every part of it ;
to show the length and breadth, the entire extent, of every
commandment contained therein, and the height and depth,
the inconceivable purity and spirituality of it in all its branches.
4. And this our Lord has abundantly performed in the
preceding and subsequent parts of the discourse before us ; in
which He has not introduced a new religion into the world,
but the same which was from the beginning, — a religion, the
substance of which is, without question, as old as the creation,
being coeval with man, and having proceeded from God at the
very time when ' man became a living soul ' (the substance, I
say ; for some circumstances of it now relate to man as a fallen
creature) ; a religion witnessed to both by the law and by
the prophets, in all succeeding generations. Yet was it never
so fully explained, nor so thoroughly understood, till the
great Author of it Himself condescended to give mankind this
authentic comment on all the essential branches of it ; at the
same time declaring it should never be changed, but remain in
force to the end of the world.

4. In one sense it may be truly the eighteenth century, that the
said that Christianity is as old as state of man before the Fall was one
the creation ; for the general prin- of complete spiritual knowledge and
ciples of right and wrong, the re- full religious development, cannot
cognition of which, however it may now be maintained ; still less that
have been reached, constituted our he was a conscious party to the so-
first parent a man in the full sense called Covenant of Works. Matthew
of the word, are of eternal validity, Tindal, the Deist, had recently pub-
and were in the mind of the Creator lished a work Christianity as old as
when He made man in His own the Creation ; possibly there is here
image. But the view, common in an oblique reference to this.
v/.s.s. 1 — 26

402 Sermon XX

II. i. ' For verily I say unto you ' (a solemn preface,
which denotes both the importance and certainty of what is
spoken), ' Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.'

' One jot ' : it is literally, not one iota, not the most incon-
siderable vowel. ' Or one tittle,' jxla Kepala — one corner or
point of a consonant. It is a proverbial expression, which
signifies that no one commandment contained in the moral law,
nor the least part of any one, however inconsiderable it might
seem, should ever be disannulled.

' Shall in no wise pass from the law ' : ov /xr) irapiXdrj cnrb
tov vo/jlov. The double negative, here used, strengthens the
sense, so as to admit of no contradiction : and the word
TrapiXdr), it may be observed, is not barely future, declaring
what will be ; but has likewise the force of an imperative,
ordering what shall be. It is a word of authority, expressing
the sovereign will and power of Him that spake ; of Him
whose word is the law of heaven and earth, and stands fast
for ever and ever.

' One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass, till heaven and
earth pass ' ; or, as it is expressed immediately after, eW av
TravTa yevrjrai, — till all (or rather all things) be fulfilled, till the
consummation of all things. Here is therefore no room for
that poor evasion (with which some have delighted themselves
greatly), that ' no part of the law was to pass away, till all
the law was fulfilled : but it has been fulfilled by Christ ; and
therefore now must pass, for the gospel to be established.'
Not so : the word all does not mean all the law, but all things
in the universe ; as neither has the term fulfilled any reference
to the law, but to all things in heaven and earth.

II. i. It is not correct to say that meaning ' The thing certainly will

waptXdri has the force of an impera- not happen.'

tive ; the whole phrase is the Some interpreters take the words
strongest "form of negation, and ' till all be fulfilled ' to mean ' till all
should perhaps be explained as the law has been fulfilled ' ; but
shortened from ov deos iarl yur; irapiXdrj, Wesley's interpretation ' till the con-
there is no fear lest it should summation of all things ' is borne
pass away. (Cf. the slang Aus- out by the context, and is supported
tralian denial, ' No fear I ') In any by most of the commentators,
case there is no doubt as to the

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 403

2. From all this we may learn, that there is no contrariety
at all between the law and the gospel ; that there is no need
for the law to pass away, in order to the establishing the
gospel. Indeed neither of them supersedes the other, but they
agree perfectly well together. Yea, the very same words,
considered in different respects, are parts both of the law and
of the gospel : if they are considered as commandments, they
are parts of the law ; if as promises, of the gospel. Thus,
' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,' when
considered as a commandment, is a branch of the law ; when
regarded as a promise, is an essential part of the gospel —
the gospel being no other than the commands of the law, pro-
posed by way of promise. Accordingly, poverty of spirit,
purity of heart, and whatever else is enjoined in the holy law
of God, are no other, when viewed in a gospel light, than so
many great and precious promises.

3. There is, therefore, the closest connexion that can be
conceived between the law and the gospel. On the one hand,
the law continually makes way for, and points us to, the gospel ;
on the other, the gospel continually leads us to a more exact
fulfilling of the law. The law, for instance, requires us to love
God, to love our neighbour, to be meek, humble, or holy : we
feel that we are not sufficient for these things ; yea, that ' with
man this is impossible.' But we see a promise of God, to give
us that love, and to make us humble, meek, and holy : we lay
hold of this gospel, of these glad tidings : it is done unto us
according to our faith ; and ' the righteousness of the law is
fulfilled in us,' through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

We may yet farther observe, that every command in holy
writ is only a covered promise. For by that solemn declara-
tion, ' This is the covenant I will make after those days, saith
the Lord : I will put My laws in your minds, and write them in
your hearts,' God hath engaged to give whatsoever He com-
mands. Does He command us then to ' pray without ceasing,'
to ' rejoice evermore,' to be ' holy as He is holy ' ? It is
enough : He will work in us this very thing : it shall be unto
us according to His word

4. But if these things are so, we cannot be at a loss what

404

Sermon XX

to think of those who, in all ages of the Church, have under-
taken to change or supersede some commands of God, as they
professed, by the peculiar direction of His Spirit. Christ has
here given us an infallible rule, whereby to judge of all such
pretensions. Christianity, as it includes the whole moral law
of God, both by way of injunction and of promise, if we will
hear Him, is designed of God to be the last of all His dispensa-
tions. There is no other to come after this. This is to endure
till the consummation of all things. Of consequence, all
such new revelations are of Satan, and not of God ; and all
pretences to another more perfect dispensation fall to the ground
of course. ' Heaven and earth shall pass away ' ; but this
word ' shall not pass away.'

III. i. ' Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be

4. The reference is to those who
claimed for themselves a special
plenary inspiration and illumination
of the Holy Spirit, by which they
were set quite above the law. Such
were the Catharists or Perfecti of
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ;
the Fraticelli, or Brethren of the
Free Spirit, in the Middle Ages ; and
the Antinomian Mystics in Wesley's
own societies.

III. 1. Better ' one of these com-
mandments, even the least ones.'
These verses (18 and 19) present con-
siderable difficulty. Our Lord is
stating the relation of His teaching
to the Old Testament (the law and
the prophets). The people might
naturally expect that He would
abrogate it altogether, and substitute
a new code of His own. He there-
fore puts at the very beginning of
His discourse on this point an
emphatic declaration of the eternal
significance and absolute inviolability
of the law, even of its least precepts ;
and He adopts the language of the
Rabbis, who had said over and over

again that the law was immortal ;
that ' not a letter shall be abolished
from the law for ever ' ; ' that the
law perisheth not but abideth in its
honour.' It is impossible to sup-
pose, as apparently Wesley does,
that He was only referring to the
moral law ; for no such distinction
between the moral and ceremonial
law existed in His time. If He did
say these words, the people can only
have understood Him to mean, ' The
minute observance and inculcation
of this Old Testament law, in every
statute and every detail, is literally
and strictly required of every mem-
ber of the kingdom of heaven.' And
yet He Himself, both in practice and
teaching, failed to observe some of
the commandments and taught men
so ; as, for example, in relation to
divorce, to clean and unclean meats,
to Sabbath observance, to the regular
fasts. How are we to explain this
apparent contradiction ? Some com-
mentators would cut the knot by
omitting these two verses altogether
as an insertion of the evangelist,

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 405

called the least in the kingdom of heaven : but whosoever
shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.'

Who, what are they, that make the preaching of the law
a character of reproach ? Do they not see on whom the
reproach must fall — on whose head it must light at last ?
Whosoever on this ground despiseth us despiseth Him that
sent us. For did ever any man preach the law like Him,
even when He came not to condemn but to save the world ;
when He came purposely to ' bring life and immortality to
light through the gospel ' ? Can any preach the law more
expressly, more rigorously, than Christ does in these words ?
And who is he that shall amend them ? Who is he that shall
instruct the Son of God how to preach ? Who will teach

intended to conciliate the Jews, for
whom especially this Gospel was in-
tended. Others hold that all that
our Lord meant was that even the
smallest command in the law had a
spiritual significance, and that this
would never pass away, though the
command itself might cease to be
observed. But this is not what He
says, nor could His hearers have so
understood Him at the time. My
own conviction is that Jesus both
said these words and meant them
literally ; He had no desire at the
outset of His ministry to break with
the Jewish Church, or to encourage
those who had been brought up in
it to neglect any of its precepts, cere-
monial or moral. He stood, not as
the destroyer, but as the fulfiller of
the law. It is true that the issue
of His teaching was the abrogation
of the Mosaic law to make room for
the law of the Spirit of Life ; but the
time for that was not yet. The
only law that He does abrogate in
the course of this sermon is that on
divorce ; and I believe that verses 31
and 32 have been added to the ser-
mon by the evangelist from a later

saying of our Lord's. All the other
laws He reaffirms with an added
strictness of spiritual interpretation.
There is no real inconsistency in this
gradual change of attitude. Every
wise reformer does his best to avoid
making a breach with the old before
he has established the new. That
our Lord began His public ministry
by attacking Judaism I do not
believe ; He rather claimed for Him-
self and His followers that they
should be stricter than the Pharisees
themselves. But gradually, and as
they could bear it, He unfolded to
His disciples the implications of His
teaching, and so prepared them for
the freedom of the gospel, which
was not realized by the Jewish
Christians for many years after the
foundation of the Church, and was
only grudgingly granted to the
Gentile converts. One may instruc-
tively compare Wesley's own gradu-
ally changing attitude with regard
to the Church of England ; or on
a wider scale, the history of the
attitude of the Church towards
slavery, war, and the emancipation
of woman.

406 Sermon XX

Him a better way of delivering the message which He hath
received of the Father ?

2. ' Whosoever shall break one of these least command-
ments,' or one of the least of these commandments. ' These
commandments,' we may observe, is a term used by our Lord
as an equivalent with the law, or the law and the prophets, —
which is the same thing, seeing the prophets added nothing
to the law, but only declared, explained, or enforced it, as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost.

' Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments,'
especially if it be done wilfully or presumptuously ; — one —
for ' he that keepeth the whole law, and ' thus ' offends in
one point, is guilty of all ' ; the wrath of God abideth on him,
as surely as if he had broken every one. So that no allowance
is made for one darling lust ; no reserve for one idol ; no
excuse for refraining from all besides, and only giving way to
one bosom sin. What God demands is, an entire obedience ;
we are to have an eye to all His commandments ; otherwise we
lose all the labour we take in keeping some, and our poor souls
for ever and ever.

' One of these least,' or one of the least of these command-
ments : here is another excuse cut off, whereby many, who
cannot deceive God, miserably deceive their own souls. ' This
sin,' saith the sinner, ' is it not a little one ? Will not the Lord
spare me in this thing ? Surely He will not be extreme to
mark this, since I do not offend in the greater matters of
the law.' Vain hope ! Speaking after the manner of men,
we may term these great, and those little, commandments ;
but, in reality they are not so. If we use propriety of speech,
there is no such thing as a little sin ; every sin being a trans-
gression of the holy and perfect law, and an affront on the
great Majesty of heaven.

3. ' And shall teach men so.' In some sense it may be
said, that whosoever openly breaks any commandment teaches
others to do the same ; for example speaks, and many times
louder than precept. In this sense, it is apparent, every open
drunkard is a teacher of drunkenness ; every Sabbath-breaker
is constantly teaching his neighbour to profane the day of the

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 407

Lord. But this is not all : an habitual breaker of the law is
seldom content to stop here ; he generally teaches other men
to do so too, by word as well as example ; especially when he
hardens his neck, and hateth to be reproved. Such a sinner
soon commences an advocate for sin ; he defends what he is
resolved not to forsake ; he excuses the sin which he will not
leave, and thus directly teaches every sin which he commits.

' He shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven ' — that
is, shall have no part therein. He is a stranger to the kingdom
of heaven which is on earth : he hath no portion in that in-
heritance ; no share of that ' righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost.' Nor, by consequence, can he have
any part in the glory which shall be revealed.

4. But if those who even thus break, and teach others to
break, ' one of the least of these commandments, shall be
called least in the kingdom of heaven,' shall have no part in
the kingdom of Christ and of God ; if even these shall be
cast into ' outer darkness, where is wailing and gnashing of
teeth ' ; then where will they appear, whom our Lord chiefly
and primarily intends in these words — they who, bearing the
character of teachers sent from God, do nevertheless them-
selves break His commandments ; yea, and openly teach others
so to do ; bemg corrupt both in life and doctrine ?

5. These are of several sorts. Of the first sort are they
who live in some wilful, habitual sin. Now, if an ordinary
sinner teaches by his example, how much more a sinful minister
— even if he does not attempt to defend, excuse, or extenuate
his sin ! If he does, he is a murderer indeed ; yea, the mur-
derer-general of his congregation. He peoples the regions of
death. He is the choicest instrument of the prince of dark-
ness. When he goes hence, ' hell from beneath is moved to
meet him at his coming.' Nor can he sink into the bottomless
pit, without dragging a multitude after him.

3. * Commences.' Wesley uses the our Lord says ; He means, ' So far

word in its University sense, to from the breaker of old tradition

graduate ; the sinner soon takes his and observance being a leader and

full degree as an advocate for sin. chief in the coming kingdom of

' Shall have no part therein.' heaven, he will be of low rank and

There is no need to exaggerate what importance'

408 Sermon XX

6. Next to these are the good-natured, good sort of men ;
who live an easy, harmless life, neither troubling themselves
with outward sin, nor with inward holiness ; men who are
remarkable neither one way nor the other, neither for religion
nor irreligion ; who are very regular both in public and private,
but do not pretend to be any stricter than their neighbours.
A minister of this kind breaks, not one, or a few only, of the
least commandments of God : but all the great and weighty
branches of His law which relate to the power of godliness,
and all that require us to ' pass the time of our sojourning
in fear,' to ' work out our salvation with fear and trembling,'
to have our ' loins always girt, and our lights burning,' to
' strive ' or agonize ' to enter in at the strait gate.' And he
teaches men so, by the whole form of his life, and the general
tenor of his preaching, which uniformly tends to soothe those
in their pleasing dream who imagine themselves Christians
and are not ; to persuade all who attend upon his ministry to
sleep on and take their rest. No marvel, therefore, if both
he, and they that follow him, wake together in everlasting
burnings !

7. But above all these, in the highest rank of the enemies
of the gospel of Christ are they who openly and explicitly
4 judge the law ' itself, and ' speak evil of the law ' ; who
teach men to break (Xvaac, to dissolve, to loose, to untie, the
obligation of) not one only, whether of the least or of the
greatest, but all the commandments at a stroke ; who teach,
without any cover, in so many words, ' What did our Lord
do with the law ? He abolished it. There is but one duty,
which is that of believing. All commands are unfit for our

7. So in Minutes, 1744, Wesley subject. He says: 'Now we are

states the first main pillar of Anti- delivered from the law ; from that

nomianism to be ' that Christ whole moral as well as ceremonial

abolished the moral law ' ; and later economy ; that entire institution

on he asks, ' What law has Christ being now as it were dead, and hav-

abolished ? ' and answers, ' The ing no more authority over us than

ritual law of Moses.' But in Ser- the husband, when dead, hath over

mon XXIX, on The Original of the his wife.' And again, iv. 4: 'Every

Law, the first three sections show a believer has done with the law, as

great advance in his view on this it means the Jewish ceremonial law.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 409

times. From any demand of the law, no man is obliged now
to go one step, or give away one farthing, to eat or omit one
morsel.' This is, indeed, carrying matters with a high hand ;
this is withstanding our Lord to the face, and telling Him that
He understood not how to deliver the message on which He
was sent. O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge ! Father,
forgive them ; for they know not what they do !

8. The most surprising of all the circumstances that attend
this strong delusion is, that they who are given up to it
really believe that they honour Christ by overthrowing His
law, and that they are magnifying His office, while they are
destroying His doctrine. Yea, they honour Him just as Judas
did, when he said, ' Hail, Master ! ' and kissed Him. And He
may as justly say to every one of them, ' Betray est thou the
Son of Man with a kiss ? ' It is no other than betraying Him
with a kiss, to talk of His blood, and take away His crown;
to set light by any part of His law, under pretence of advancing
His gospel. Nor, indeed, can any one escape this charge,
who preaches faith in any such a manner as either directly
or indirectly tends to set aside any branch of obedience ; who
preaches Christ so as to disannul, or weaken in any wise, the
least of the commandments of God.

9. It is impossible, indeed, to have too high an esteem for
' the faith of God's elect.' And we must all declare, ' By
grace ye are saved through faith ; not of works, lest any man
should boast.' We must cry aloud to every penitent sinner,
' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'
But, at the same time, we must take care to let all men know,
we esteem no faith but that which worketh by love ; and that
we are not saved by faith, unless so far as we are delivered

or the entire Mosaic dispensation ; became, ' to the utter reproach of

for these Christ hath taken out of the Methodist congregations,' a most

the way.' St. Paul himself recog- popular preacher — David Trathen,

nized how narrow a line separated Thomas Webb, Robert Swindells,

this profound doctrine from vulgar John Maddern, and others, who

Antinomianism ; and it was the called themselves ' gospel preachers,'

Antinomian preaching of James that provoked this vigorous outburst

Wheatley — who, with his ' uncon- from Wesley,
nected rhapsody of unmeaning words,'

4io Sermon XX

from the power as well as the guilt of sin. And when we
say, ' Believe, and thou shalt be saved,' we do not mean,
' Believe, and thou shalt step from sin to heaven, without any
holiness coming between ; faith supplying the place of holi-
ness ' ; but, ' Believe, and thou shalt be holy ; believe in the
Lord Jesus, and thou shalt have peace and power together :
thou shalt have power from Him in whom thou believest, to
trample sin under thy feet ; power to love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and to serve Him with all thy strength ;
thou shalt have power, " by patient continuance in well-doing,
to seek for glory, and honour, and immortality " ; thou shalt
both do and teach all the commandments of God, from the
least even to the greatest : thou shalt teach them by thy life
as well as thy words, and so "be called great in the kingdom
of heaven." '

IV. i. Whatever other way we teach to the kingdom of
heaven, to glory, honour, and immortality, be it called ' the
way of faith,' or by any other name, it is, in truth, the way
to destruction. It will not bring a man peace at the last.
For thus saith the Lord, ' I say unto you, That except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.'

The Scribes, mentioned so often in the New Testament,
as some of the most constant and vehement opposers of our
Lord, were not secretaries, or men employed in writing only,
as that term might incline us to believe. Neither were they
lawyers, in our common sense of the word ; although the word
vofwcoi is so rendered in our translation. Their employment
had no affinity at all to that of a lawyer among us. They
were conversant with the laws of God, and not with the laws
of man. These were their study : it was their proper and

IV. i. The Scribes were the official associated with the Pharisees, and

students, teachers, and adminis- are usually mentioned in conjunc-

trators of the law. They became an tion with them in the Gospels ;

organized body during the Persian though there were also Scribes of

period (circ. 400-300 B.C.). From the Sadducees. They were addressed

the time of the Maccabees onward as Rabbi, and were held in the

they became more and more closely greatest honour by their pupils.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 411

peculiar business to read and expound the law and the prophets ;
particularly in the synagogues. They were the ordinary, stated
preachers among the Jews. So that if the sense of the original
word was attended to, we might render it, ' the divines.' For
these were the men who made divinity their profession : and
they were generally (as their name literally imports) men of
letters ; men of the greatest account for learning that were
then in the Jewish nation.

2. The Pharisees were a very ancient sect, or body of men,
among the Jews ; originally so called from the Hebrew word
^1?, which signifies to separate or divide. Not that they
made any formal separation from, or division in, the national
Church : they were only distinguished from others by greater
strictness of life, by more exactness of conversation. For they
were zealous of the law in the minutest points ; paying tithes
of mint, anise, and cummin : and hence they were had in
honour of all the people, and generally esteemed the holiest
of men.

Many of the Scribes were of the sect of the Pharisees.

2. The Pharisees were not ' a
very ancient sect among the Jews ' ;
they first appear as an influential
party in the reign of John Hyrcanus
(135-105 B.C.). They were, in con-
tradistinction to the Sadducees,
the upholders of the oral tradition
as against the written law of the
Pentateuch ; they were the cham-
pions of the people against the
aristocratic pretensions of their
rivals ; they strove to bring religious
observance into the life of the whole
community ; and they were care-
fully attentive to ritual, not so
much for its own sake as for its
educational and symbolic value.
Their most characteristic watch-
word was ' Penitence, prayer, and
charity [i.e. almsgiving] avert the
evil doom.' Their aims were noble,
but the legalistic form of their re-
ligion inevitably led to formalism, ex-
ternalism, and, ultimately, unreality

and hypocrisy. In this passage
our Lord speaks of them as the
recognized exemplars of the highest
religious life ; He does not blame
them, but on the contrary declares
that, high as their ideal is, the ideal
for members of the kingdom of
heaven must be higher still. During
the later part of His life He came
into conflict with the Pharisees,
probably with those who followed
the stricter school of Shammai, and
denounced their practices with ner-
vous vigour ; but at this early stage
He speaks of them only with respect
for their piety, and as examples,
which must, however, be not only
followed but bettered by His own
disciples.

The origin of the name is uncer-
tain ; most authorities derive it as
Wesley does, but think it meant at
first ' the seceders,' i.e. from the
party of the Sadducees. It was

412 Sermon XX

Thus St. Paul himself, who was educated for a Scribe, first
at the university of Tarsus, and after that in Jerusalem,
at the feet of Gamaliel (one of the most learned Scribes or
Doctors of the Law that were then in the nation), declares of
himself before the council, ' I am a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee ' (Acts xxiii. 6) ; and before King Agrippa, ' After
the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee ' (xxvi. 5).
And the whole body of the Scribes generally esteemed and
acted in concert with the Pharisees. Hence we find our
Saviour so frequently coupling them together, as coming in
many respects under the same consideration. In this place
they seem to be mentioned together as the most eminent pro-
fessors of religion ; the former of whom were accounted the
wisest, the latter the holiest of men.

3. What ' the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees '
really was, it is not difficult to determine. Our Lord has
preserved an authentic account which one of them gave of
himself : and he is clear and full in describing his own right-
eousness ; and cannot be supposed to have omitted any part of
it. He went up indeed ' into the temple to pray ' ; but was
so intent upon his own virtues, that he forgot the design upon
which he came. For it is remarkable, he does not properly
pray at all : he only tells God how wise and good he was.
' God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extor-
tioners, unjust, adulterers ; or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week ; I give tithes of all that I possess.' His
righteousness therefore consisted of three parts : first, saith
he, ' I am not as other men are ' ; I am not an extortioner,
not unjust, not an adulterer ; not ' even as this publican ' :
secondly, ' I fast twice in the week ' : and, thirdly, ' I give
tithes of all that I possess.'

' I am not as other men are.' This is not a small point.
It is not every man that can say this. It is as if he had said,

very likely, like ' Christian ' and 3. The introduction of this parable

' Methodist,' a nickname to begin is very pertinent. Wesley often re-

with. cords the preaching of a sermon oo

On Paul's education, see note on the Pharisee and the Publican.
Sermon XI, i ;.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 413

' I do not suffer myself to be carried away by that great
torrent, custom. I live not by custom, but by reason ; not
by the examples of men, but by the Word of God. I am not
an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer ; however common
these sins are, even among those who are called the people of
God (extortion, in particular — a kind of legal injustice, not
punishable by any human law, the making gain of another's
ignorance or necessity — having filled every corner of the land) ;
nor even as this publican ; not guilty of any open or pre-
sumptuous sin ; not an outward sinner ; but a fair, honest man,
of blameless life and conversation.'

4. ' I fast twice in the week.' There is more implied in
this than we may at first be sensible of. All the stricter
Pharisees observed the weekly fasts ; namely, every Monday
and Thursday. On the former day, they fasted in memory
of Moses receiving on that day (as their tradition taught) the
two tables of stone written by the finger of God ; on the latter,
in memory of his casting them out of his hand, when he saw
the people dancing round the golden calf. On these days, they
took no sustenance at all, till three in the afternoon ; the hour
at which they began to offer up the evening sacrifice in the
temple. Till that hour, it was their custom to remain in the
temple, in some of the corners, apartments, or courts thereof ;
that they might be ready to assist at all the sacrifices, and to
join in all the public prayers. The time between they were
accustomed to employ, partly in private addresses to God,
partly in searching the Scriptures, in reading the law and the
prophets, and in meditating thereon. Thus much is implied
in, ' I fast twice in the week ' ; the second branch of the
righteousness of a Pharisee.

5. ' I give tithes of all that I possess.' This the Pharisees
did with the utmost exactness. They would not except the

4. See Sermon XXII, i. 6. The voluntarily to keep the Monday and

only fast prescribed in the law was Thursday fasts during the whole

that on the Day of Atonement. The year.

bi-weekly fasts were not obligatory, 5. The Pentateuchal system or-

and were not observed by all the dained (1) a tithe of all edible

Pharisees ; but the stricter members vegetable products every year for

of the party bound themselves the priests and Levites — this in our

414 Sermon XX

most inconsiderable thing ; no, not mint, anise, and cummin.
They would not keep back the least part of what they believed
properly to belong to God ; but gave a full tenth of their
whole substance yearly, and of all their increase, whatsoever
it was.

Yea, the stricter Pharisees (as has been often observed by
those who are versed in the ancient Jewish writings), not
content with giving one tenth of their substance to God in His
priests and Levites, gave another tenth to God in the poor,
and that continually. They gave the same proportion of all
they had in alms, as they were accustomed to give in tithes.
And this likewise they adjusted with the utmost exactness ;
that they might not keep back any part, but might fully render
unto God the things which were God's, as they accounted this to
be. So that, upon the whole, they gave away, from year to
year, an entire fifth of all that they possessed.

6. This was ' the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ' ;
a righteousness which, in many respects, went far beyond the
conception which many have been accustomed to entertain
concerning it. But perhaps it will be said, ' It was all false
and feigned ; for they were all a company of hypocrites.'
Some of them doubtless were ; men who had really no religion
at all, no fear of God, or desire to please Him ; who had no
concern for the honour that cometh of God, but only for the
praise of men. And these are they whom our Lord so severely
condemns, so sharply reproves, on many occasions. But we
must not suppose, because many Pharisees were hypocrites,

Lord's time was entirely appro- it in section 9, ' both of the prin-
priated by the priests ; (2) a second cipal and of the increase.' The
tithe of vegetable products and Greek of the passage has been trans-
cattle which furnished a feast for lated incorrectly, from the Vulgate
the owner and his guests at Jeru- onwards until the R.V., ' I give
salem (Deut. xiv. 22) ; (3) the first tithes of all that I possess ' ; Vg.
tithe was given every third year to ' quae habeo,' Luther ' das ich habe.'
the poor, but in our Lord's time this The R.V. has it rightly ' of all that
was a third tithe in addition to the I get.'

first, and was paid twice in every 6. These remarks are very just,

seven years. Wesley is wrong in The idea that the Pharisees were all

saying that the tithe was paid on hypocrites, or consciously acting a

the ' whole substance,' or, as he puts part, is quite incorrect. Some of

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 415

therefore all were so. Nor indeed is hypocrisy by any means
essential to the character of a Pharisee. This is not the
distinguishing mark of their sect. It is rather this, accord-
ing to our Lord's account, ' They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous, and despised others.' This is their
genuine badge. But the Pharisee of this kind cannot be an
hypocrite. He must be, in the common sense, sincere ; other-
wise he could not ' trust in himself that he is righteous.' The
man who was here commending himself to God, unquestionably
thought himself righteous. Consequently he was no hypocrite ;
he was not conscious to himself of any insincerity. He now
spoke to God just what he thought, that he was abundantly
better than other men.

But the example of St. Paul, were there no other, is suffi-
cient to put this out of all question. He could not only say
when he was a Christian, ' Herein do I exercise myself, to
have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and
toward men ' (Acts xxiv. 16) ; but even concerning the time
when he was a Pharisee, ' Men and brethren, I have lived in
all good conscience before God until this day ' (xxiii. 1).
He was therefore sincere when he was a Pharisee, as well
as when he was a Christian. He was no more a hypocrite
when he persecuted the church, than when he preached the
faith which once he persecuted. Let this then be added to
' the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ' — a sincere
belief that they are righteous, and in all things ' doing God
service.'

7. And yet, ' except your righteousness,' saith our Lord,
' shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.' A
solemn and weighty declaration, and one which it behoves all
who are called by the name of Christ seriously and deeply to
consider. But before we inquire how our righteousness may

them doubtless were so, and the they thought that God could be

tendency of a legal and formal re- satisfied by a series of outward

ligion is in that direction ; but in observances, and that by strict-

any case, that is not the point here. ness in these they could acquire

Their fundamental error was that merit.

4i 6 Sermon XX

exceed theirs, let us examine whether at present we come
up to it.

First. A Pharisee was ' not as other men are.' In ex-
ternals he was singularly good. Are we so ? Do we dare
to be singular at all ? Do we not rather swim with the
stream ? Do we not many times dispense with religion and
reason together, because we would not look particular ? Are
we not often more afraid of being out of the fashion, than
being out of the way of salvation ? Have we courage to
stem the tide, to run counter to the world, ' to obey God rather
than man ' ? Otherwise, the Pharisee leaves us behind at
the very first step. It is well if we overtake him any more.

But to come closer. Can we use his first plea with God ?
— which is, in substance, ' I do no harm : I live in no outward
sin : I do nothing for which my own heart condemns me.'
Do you not ? Are you sure of that ? Do you live in no
practice for which your own heart condemns you ? If you
are not an adulterer, if you are not unchaste, either in word or
deed, are you not unjust ? The grand measure of justice, as
well as of mercy, is, ' Do unto others as thou wouldest they
should do unto thee.' Do you walk by this rule ? Do you
never do unto any what you would not they should do unto
you ? Nay, are you not grossly unjust ? Are you not an
extortioner ? Do you not make a gain of any one's ignorance
or necessity ; neither in buying nor selling ? Suppose you
were engaged in trade : do you demand, do you receive, no
more than the real value of what you sell ? Do you demand,
do you receive, no more of the ignorant than of the know-
ing— of a little child, than of an experienced trader ? If you

7. ' Particular ' ; i.e. strange, odd, neyraen, labourers, carpenters,

singular. bricklayers, do as they would be

In the Rules for the United Socie- done by ? Which of them does as

ties members are forbidden ' the much work as he can ? Set him

using many words in buying and down for a knave that does not.

selling ' (1743) ; and the members of Who does as he would be done by,

the Bands are directed ' to be at a in buying and selling, particularly

word both in buying and selling.' in selling horses ? Write him knave

In the Large Minutes (1770), Q. 17, that does not. And the Methodist

Wesley asks, ' What servants, jour- knave is the worst of all knaves.'

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 417

do, why does not your heart condemn you ? You are a bare-
faced extortioner. Do you demand no more than the usual
price of goods of any who is in pressing want — who must
have, and that without delay, the things which you only
can furnish him with ? If you do, this also is flat extor-
tion. Indeed you do not come up to the righteousness of a
Pharisee.

8. A Pharisee, secondly (to express his sense in our
common way), used all the means of grace. As he fasted
often and much, twice in every week, so he attended all the
sacrifices. He was constant in public and private prayer, and
in reading and hearing the Scriptures. Do you go as far as
this ? Do you fast much and often ? — twice in the week ? I
fear not. Once at least — ' on all Fridays in the year ' ? (So
our Church clearly and peremptorily enjoins all her members
to do ; to observe all these, as well as the vigils and the forty
days of Lent, as days of fasting or abstinence.) Do you fast
twice in the year ? I am afraid some among us cannot plead
even this ! Do you neglect no opportunity of attending and
partaking of the Christian sacrifice ? How many are they who
call themselves Christians, and yet are utterly regardless of it
— yet do not eat of that bread, or drink of that cup, for months,
perhaps years together ! Do you, every day, either hear the
Scriptures, or read them, and meditate thereon ? Do you join
in prayer with the great congregation, daily, if you have
opportunity ; if not, whenever you can ; particularly on that

8. The fast-days of the Church body and blood of our Lord as a

of England are set out in the Table sacrifice for sins. Dr. Gore (Body of

of Fasts in the Prayer-Book. See Christ, p. 171) expresses the present

intro. to Sermon XXII. faith of the Church of England on

' The Christian sacrifice ' ; the this subject. The Eucharist is, he

Lord's Supper. So in Sermon CI, says, a sacrificial offering of praise

i. 4, Wesley says that amongst the and thanksgiving, of prayer in the

first Christians ' the Christian sacri- name of Christ, of alms for the poor,

fice was a constant part of the and of the Church herself, ' as a glad

Lord's-day service.' The phrase is instrument of the purpose and

justified by long usage in the Church, kingdom of God.' But, he adds,

but it must not be taken as implying ' It does not effect any renewal of

any belief that in the Lord's Supper the sacrifice of the cross.' In the

the communion-table is an altar Communion Service it is called ' this

upon which the priest offers up the our sacrifice of praise and thanks-

w.s.s. 1 — 27

4i 8 Sermon XX

day which you ' remember to keep it holy ' ? Do you strive
to make opportunities ? Are you glad when they say unto
you, ' We will go into the house of the Lord ' ? Are you
zealous of, and diligent in, private prayer ? Do you suffer no
day to pass without it ? Rather, are not some of you so far
from spending therein (with the Pharisee) several hours in one
day, that you think one hour full enough, if not too much ?
Do you spend an hour in a day, or in a week, in praying to
your Father which is in secret ? yea, an hour in a month ?
Have you spent one hour together in private prayer ever since
you was born ? Ah, poor Christian ! Shall not the Pharisee
rise up in the judgement against thee and condemn thee ? His
righteousness is as far above thine as the heaven is above the
earth !

9. The Pharisee, thirdly, paid tithes and gave alms of all
that he possessed. And in how ample a manner ! So that
he was (as we phrase it) ' a man that did much good.' Do
we come up to him here ? Which of us is so abundant as
he was in good works ? Which of us gives a fifth of all his
substance to God, both of the principal and of the increase ?
Who of us, out of (suppose) an hundred pounds a year, gives
twenty to God and the poor ; out of fifty, ten ; and so in a
larger or a smaller proportion ? When shall our righteous-
ness, in using all the means of grace, in attending all the
ordinances of God, in avoiding evil and doing good, equal at
least the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ?

giving ' ; and following on this, the tions of transubstantiation, and
communicants say, ' Here we offer the actual offering up of the body
and present unto Thee, O Lord, our- and blood of Christ in this sacra-
selves, our souls and bodies, to be ment, it is well to avoid any terms
a reasonable, holy, and lively sacri- that may seem to look in that
fice unto Thee.' Indeed, it has been direction, such as priest, altar, and
judicially decided that the word sacrifice. Wesley, in his Roman
' altar ' cannot be legally used of the Catechism (1756), Q. 68, altogether
communion-table in the Church of repudiates the doctrine that ' in the
England. In view of the determined sacrifice of the Mass, the same Christ
efforts that arc being made by is contained, and unbloodily offered,
some of the High-Church party to who bloodily offered Himself upon
romanize the Lord's Supper into a the altar of the cross.'
Mass, with all the Romish implica- 9. See note on section 5 above.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 419

10. Although if it only equalled theirs, what would that
profit ? ' For verily I say unto you, Except your righteous-
ness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari-
sees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.'
But how can it exceed theirs ? Wherein does the righteous-
ness of a Christian exceed that of a Scribe or Pharisee ?
Christian righteousness exceeds theirs, first, in the extent of
it. Most of the Pharisees, though they were rigorously exact
in many things, yet were emboldened, by the traditions of the
elders, to dispense with others of equal importance. Thus,
they were extremely punctual in keeping the fourth com-
mandment—they would not even rub an ear of corn on the
Sabbath day ; but not at all in keeping the third — making
little account of light, or even false, swearing. So that their
righteousness was partial ; whereas the righteousness of a real
Christian is universal. He does not observe one, or some parts
of the law of God, and neglect the rest ; but keeps all His
commandments, loves them all, values them above gold or
precious stones.

11. It may be, indeed, that some of the Scribes and
Pharisees endeavoured to keep all the commandments, and
consequently were, as touching the righteousness of the law,
that is, according to the letter of it, blameless. But still the
righteousness of a Christian exceeds all this righteousness of a
Scribe or Pharisee, by fulfilling the spirit as well as the letter
of the law ; by inward as well as outward obedience. In this,
in the spirituality of it, it admits of no comparison. This is
the point which our Lord has so largely proved, in the whole
tenor of this discourse. Their righteousness was external
only ; Christian righteousness is in the inner man. The
Pharisee ' cleansed the outside of the cup and the platter ' ;
the Christian is clean within. The Pharisee laboured to present
God with a good life ; the Christian with a holy heart. The
one shook off the leaves, perhaps the fruits, of sin ; the other
' lays the axe to the root ' ; as not being content with the
outward form of godliness, how exact soever it be, unless
the life, the Spirit, the power of God unto salvation be felt in
the inmost soul.

420 Sermon XX

Thus, to do no harm, to do good, to attend the ordinances
of God (the righteousness of a Pharisee), are all external ;
whereas, on the contrary, poverty of spirit, mourning, meek-
ness, hunger and thirst after righteousness, the love of our
neighbour, and purity of heart (the righteousness of a Chris-
tian), are all internal. And even peace-making (or doing good) ,
and suffering for righteousness' sake, stand entitled to the
blessings annexed to them, only as they imply these inward
dispositions, as they spring from, exercise, and confirm them.
So that whereas the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees
was external only, it may be said, in some sense, that the
righteousness of a Christian is internal only : all his actions
and sufferings being as nothing in themselves, being estimated
before God only by the tempers from which they spring.

12. Whosoever therefore thou art, who bearest the holy
and venerable name of a Christian, see, first, that thy righteous-
ness fall not short of the righteousness of the Scribes and
Pharisees. Be not thou ' as other men are ' ! ' Dare to
stand alone ' ; to be, ' against example, singularly good.' If
thou ' follow a multitude ' at all, it must be ' to do evil.' Let
not custom or fashion be thy guide, but reason and religion.
The practice of others is nothing to thee : ' Every man must
give an account of himself to God.' Indeed, if thou canst
save the soul of another, do ; but at least save one,— thy own.
Walk not in the path of death because it is broad, and many
walk therein. Nay, by this very token thou mayest know it.
Is the way wherein thou now walkest, a broad, well-frequented,
fashionable way ? Then it infallibly leads to destruction. O
be not thou ' damned for company ' ! Cease from evil : fly

12. 'Against example singularly Shakespeare's Henry IV, Pt. I, i. 2.

good.' Milton, Paradise Regained, 108, Falstaff declares, ' I must give

iii. 57, says that to be dispraised by over this life. . . . I'll be damned for

the vulgar is ' his lot who dares be never a king's son in Christendom.'

singularly good.' Cf. the character of 'The mammon of unrighteous-

Abdiel in Paradise Lost, v. 896, &c. ness ' ; i.e. worldly wealth. The

, ... . . „.„„„,,♦ word is of Syriac origin. The mean-

Nor number nor example with him wrought ' . , T

To swerve from truth, or change his constant ing of the passage is In your own

mind interest make friends by means of

Though single. y0ur wealth,' i.e. by giving to the

' Damned for company.' So in poor.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : V 421

from sin as from the face of a serpent ! At least, do no harm.
' He that committeth sin is of the devil.' Be not thou found
in that number. Touching outward sins, surely the grace of
God is even now sufficient for thee. ' Herein,' at least, ' exercise
thyself to have a conscience void of offence toward God, and
toward men.'

Secondly. Let not thy righteousness fall short of theirs
with regard to the ordinances of God. If thy labour or
bodily strength will not allow of thy fasting twice in the
week, however, deal faithfully with thy own soul, and fast as
often as thy strength will permit. Omit no public, no private
opportunity of pouring out thy soul in prayer. Neglect no
occasion of eating that bread and drinking that cup which is
the communion of the body and blood of Christ. Be diligent
in searching the Scriptures ; read as thou mayest, and medi-
tate therein day and night. Rejoice to embrace every* oppor-
tunity of hearing ' the word of reconciliation ' declared by the
' ambassadors of Christ,' the ' stewards of the mysteries of God.'
In using all the means of grace, in a constant and careful
attendance on every ordinance of God, live up to (at least till
thou canst go beyond) ' the righteousness of the Scribes and
Pharisees.'

Thirdly. Fall not short of a Pharisee in doing good.
Give alms of all thou dost possess. Is any hungry ? Feed
him. Is he athirst ? Give him drink. Naked ? Cover him
with a garment. If thou hast this world's goods, do not limit
thy beneficence to a scanty proportion. Be merciful to the
uttermost of thy power. Why not even as this Pharisee ?
Now ' make thyself friends,' while the time is, ' of the mammon
of unrighteousness, that when thou failest,' when this earthly
tabernacle is dissolved, they ' may receive thee into everlasting
habitations.'

13. But rest not here. Let thy righteousness ' exceed
the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.' Be not thou
content to ' keep the whole law, and offend in one point.'
Hold thou fast all His commandments, and all ' false ways do
thou utterly abhor.' Do all the things whatsoever He hath
commanded, and that with all thy might. Thou canst do all

422 Sermon XX

things through Christ strengthening thee ; though without
Him thou canst do nothing.

Above all, let thy righteousness exceed theirs in the purity
and spirituality of it. What is the exactest form of religion
to thee ? the most perfect outside righteousness ? Go thou
higher and deeper than all this ! Let thy religion be the
religion of the heart. Be thou poor in spirit ; little, and base,
and mean, and vile in thy own eyes ; amazed and humbled to
the dust at the love of God which is in Christ Jesus thy Lord !
Be serious : let the whole stream of thy thoughts, words, and
works be such as flows from the deepest conviction that thou
standest on the edge of the great gulf, thou and all the
children of men, just ready to drop in, either into everlasting
glory or everlasting burnings ! Be meek : let thy soul be
filled with mildness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering toward
all men ; at the same time that all which is in thee is athirst
for God, the living God, longing to awake up after His like-
ness, and to be satisfied with it. Be thou a lover of God,
and of all mankind. In this spirit, do and suffer all things.
Thus ' exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,'
and thou shalt be ' called great in the kingdom of heaven.'

SERMON XXI
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE VI

The substance of this sermon was no doubt part of the s)'stematic
expositions of the Sermon on the Mount to the Societies. The only
reference to it as a distinct discourse is in the sermon-register for
Monday, December 24, 1750, when it was preached in the morning
at the Foundery, the text being Matt. vi. 13, &c.

The three chief duties of the Jewish religion were almsgiving, prayer,
and fasting. These our Lord assumes are practised by His hearers,
and He does not prescribe them, but gives directions for their accept-
able performance.

The practice of almsgiving, whilst encouraged in the Old Testament,
became specially prominent in the third and second centuries b.c.
Tobit gives advice to Tobias (Tob. xii. 8), ' Prayer is good with fasting
and alms and righteousness. ... It is better to give alms than to
lay up gold. For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away
all sin.' So the Son of Sirach (Ecclus. iii. 30) says, ' Alms maketh an
atonement for sin.' In process of time the alms were given through
the synagogue, by the officers of which the relief of the poor was
organized. One of the Mishpotim in the Midrash Tanchumah runs,
' God, whose creditor you have become when you helped the helpless,
will rescue you and yours from danger when it is near.' The modern
Jews have maintained their nation's character in this respect, and it
used to be, and probably still is, a rare thing to find a Jew in a work-
house in England.

Prayer is not a matter for legislation, and no directions for this
exercise are given in the law. The essence of prayer is its spontaneity ;
it is the cry of a soul at the point of destruction — ' Lord, save, or I
perish ! ' — or the exchange of intimate confidences between the child
and his Father in heaven. To order prayer to be offered is to make
it impossible. So the law left it alone ; but the whole of the Old
Testament smokes with the incense of the prayers of the saints, and
the Book of Psalms is the model of all devotion. By the end of the
first century b.c. prayers had been regularized by the Rabbis, and

423

424 Sermon XXI

three hours of prayer were prescribed — the third, the sixth, and the
ninth hours ; or, as Schiirer thinks, the hours of the morning and
evening sacrifice, and sunset. The synagogues were always open for
the offering of prayer, and it was usual to go thither at each hour of
prayer for that purpose ; but if the hour of prayer overtook a man
in his home or in the street, he would offer his prayer there. This
led in many cases to ostentatious praying in the most public places
possible, in order to gain credit with the crowd. Hence our Lord's
criticism.

It should be noted that in verse 1 the better reading is, ' Take heed
that ye do not your righteousness before men.' Righteousness includes
the three branches cited as illustrations of the general proposition —
almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. In each case the sin denounced is
ostentation ; the verses 7 to 15 interrupt the continuity of the sermon,
and are an editorial insertion of the evangelist. The warning against
' vain repetitions ' is directed not against Pharisaic but heathen prayers,
and does not properly belong here. St. Luke (xi. 1-4) gives us the
Lord's Prayer in its chronological place, and states the occasion on
which it was dictated to the disciples ; but St. Matthew's version
seems to be the original one, Luke having omitted certain clauses
which would not be understood by the Gentile readers for whom he
was writing. Thus ' which art in heaven ' is a well-known Jewish
qualification of God ; the reference to the angels in the third petition
would have no meaning to the Gentiles ; ' sins ' is a more familiar
word than the Jewish ' debts ' ; and the second part of the sixth
petition may imply the Jewish belief in a personal Devil, ' Deliver us
from the Evil One.' The Doxology is an early liturgical addition to
the prayer, and not a part of it as delivered by our Lord. The two
verses which follow occur in another connexion in Mark xi. 25, and
practically in Matt, xviii. 35.

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : other-
wise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may
have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right
hand doeth :

That thine alms may be in secret : and thy Father which seeth in secret
Himself shall reward thee openly.

And when thou pray est, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are : for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VI 425

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the Heathen do : for they
think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them : for your Father knoweth what things
ye have need of, before ye ask Him.

After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil : For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you :

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses. — Matt. vi. 1-15.

i. In the preceding chapter our Lord has described inward
religion in its various branches. He has laid before us those
dispositions of soul which constitute real Christianity ; the
inward tempers contained in that ' holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord ' ; the affections which, when flowing
from their proper fountain, from a living faith in God through
Christ Jesus, are intrinsically and essentially good, and accept-
able to God. He proceeds to show, in this chapter, how all
our actions likewise, even those that are indifferent in their
own nature, may be made holy, and good, and acceptable to
God, by a pure and holy intention. Whatever is done without
this, He largely declares, is of no value before God. Whereas,
whatever outward works are thus consecrated to God, they
are, in His sight, of great price.

2. The necessity of this purity of intention, He shows,
first, with regard to those which are usually accounted religious
actions, and indeed are such when performed with a right
intention. Some of these are commonly termed ' works of
piety ' ; the rest, ' works of charity ' or mercy. Of the latter
sort, He particularly names almsgiving ; of the former, prayer
and fasting. But the directions given for these are equally
to be applied to every work, whether of charity or mercy.

Sermon XXI

1. i. And, first, with regard to works of mercy. ' Take
heed,' saith He, ' that ye do not your alms before men, to be
seen of them : otherwise ye have no reward of your Father
which is in heaven.' ' That ye do not your alms ' : although
this only is named, yet is every work of charity included,
everything which we give, or speak, or do, whereby our neigh-
bour may be profited ; whereby another man may receive
any advantage, either in his body or soul. The feeding the
hungry, the clothing the naked, the entertaining or assisting
the stranger, the visiting those that are sick or in prison, the
comforting the afflicted, the instructing the ignorant, the
reproving the wicked, the exhorting and encouraging the well-
doer ; and if there be any other work of mercy, it is equally
included in this direction.

2. ' Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be
seen of them.' The thing which is here forbidden is not
barely the doing good in the sight of men ; this circumstance
alone, that others see what we do, makes the action neither
worse nor better ; but the doing it before men, ' to be seen of
them,' with this view, from this intention only. I say, from
this intention only ; for this may, in some cases, be a part
of our intention ; we may design that some of our actions
should be seen, and yet they may be acceptable to God. We
may intend that our light should shine before men, when our
conscience bears us witness in the Holy Ghost, that our ultimate
end in designing they should see our good works is, ' that they
may glorify our Father which is in heaven.' But take heed
that ye do not the least thing with a view to your own glory :
take heed that a regard to the praise of men have no place at
all in your works of mercy. If ye seek your own glory, if you
have any design to gain the honour that cometh of men,
whatever is done with this view is nothing worth ; it is not
done unto the Lord : He accepteth it not ; ' ye have no reward '
for this ' of your Father which is in heaven.'

3. ' Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a
trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues

I. par. 3. The word ' synagogue ' New Testament and other contem-
never means anything else in the porary literature than the place of

Upon our Lord's Sermon mi the Mount : VI 427

and in the streets, that they may have praise of men.' The
word synagogue does not here mean a place of worship, but
any place of public resort, such as the market-place, or ex-
change. It was a common thing among the Jews who were
men of large fortunes, particularly among the Pharisees, to
cause a trumpet to be sounded before them in the most public
parts of the city, when they were about to give any considerable
alms. The pretended reason for this was to call the poor
together to receive it ; but the real design, that they might
have praise of men. But be not thou like unto them. Do
not thou cause a trumpet to be sounded before thee. Use no \
ostentation in doing good. Aim at the honour which cometh
of God only. They who seek the praise of men have their
reward : they shall have no praise of God. v*.-^

4. ' But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know
what thy right hand doeth.' This is a proverbial expression,
the meaning of which is, Do it in as secret a manner as is
possible ; as secret as is consistent with the doing it at all ^
(for it must not be left undone ; omit no opportunity of doing

worship. There was a synagogue and this may be the meaning of this

in every village in Palestine, which passage. Otherwise to blow the

was used both for worship and for trumpet before oneself may be used

teaching. It was entered from the metaphorically for doing a thing in

east end, and at the opposite end the most ostentatious way possible,

there was a chest or cupboard in There is no evidence for the state-

which the scrolls of the Scriptures ment, which appears first in Cyril

were preserved, and a bema or of Alexandria, that the Pharisees

rostrum from which the prayers and had trumpets blown to collect the

addresses were delivered. The alms poor together to receive their alms,

of the faithful were organized and ' They have their reward.' The

distributed by the officials of the Greek word used here is common in

synagogue. the papyri for the reception of the

The shofar, or ram's horn, was a full amount of a debt ; and the

part of the furniture of every syna- corresponding noun means a receipt

gogue ; and it was blown at the in full.

new moon celebration every month, 4. Wesley is doubtless right in

and especially at the New Year fes- supposing that this is a proverbial

tival on the first day of Tisri, which expression for secrecy. There is

was known as ' The Day of Shofar- something like it in the Midrash,

blowing.' It seems very likely that Prov. 11, ' Man has two hands ; but

the Pharisees would choose this day he is not to rob with the one, and

for the public giving of their alms ; give alms with the other.'

428 Sermon XXI

good, whether secretly or openly), and with the doing it in
the most effectual manner. For here is also an exception to
be made : when you are fully persuaded in your own mind,
that by your not concealing the good which is done, either you
will yourself be enabled, or others excited, to do the more
good, then you may not conceal it ; then let your light appear,
and, ' shine to all that are in the house.' But, unless where
the glory of God and the good of mankind oblige you to the
contrary, act in as private and unobserved a manner as the
nature of the thing will admit ; ' that thy alms may be in
secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret, He shall reward
thee openly ' ; perhaps in the present world — many instances
of this stand recorded in all ages ; but infallibly in the world
to come, before the general assembly of men and angels.

II. i. From works of charity or mercy our Lord proceeds
to those which are termed ' works of piety.' ' And when
thou prayest,' saith He, ' thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are ; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.'
' Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are.' Hypocrisy, then,
or insincerity, is the first thing we are to guard against in
prayer. Beware not to speak what thou dost not mean.
Prayer is the lifting up of the heart to God : all words of
prayer, without this, are mere hypocrisy. Whenever there-
fore thou attemptest to pray, see that it be thy one design
to commune with God, to lift up thy heart to Him, to pour out
thy soul before Him ; not as the hypocrites, who love, or are
wont, ' to pray standing in the synagogues,' the exchange, or
market-places, ' and in the corners of the streets,' wherever

II. i. The synagogues were al- (Acts iii. i). But if they could not
ways open for prayer, and it was get to the synagogue, they offered
usual for the stricter professors of their prayers wherever they might
religion to go up to the Temple in be at the appointed hour. Con-
Jerusalem or to the synagogue in spicuous with their large phylacteries
their own village to present their and their broad-fringed Tallith, the
devotions at the three daily hours Pharisees thus made their prayers
of prayer. So did the Pharisee in to be seen of men.
the parable, and Peter and John

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VI 429

the most people are, ' that they may be seen of men ' : this
was the sole design, the motive, and end, of the prayers which
they there repeated. ' Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward.' They are to expect none from your Father which is
in heaven.

2. But it is not only the having an eye to the praise of men,
which cuts us off from any reward in heaven ; which leaves us
no room to expect the blessing of God upon our works, whether
of piety or mercy. Purity of intention is equally destroyed
by a view to any temporal reward whatever. If we repeat our
prayers, if we attend the public worship of God, if we relieve
the poor, with a view to gain or interest, it is not a whit more
acceptable to God, than if it were done with a view to praise/
Any temporal view, any motive whatever on this side eternity,
any design but that of promoting the glory of God, and the
happiness of men for God's sake, makes every action, however
fair it may appear to men, an abomination unto the Lord.

3. ' But when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.
There is a time when thou art openly to glorify God, to pray,
and praise Him in the great congregation. But when thou
desirest more largely and more particularly to make thy
requests known unto God, whether it be in the evening, or in
the morning, or at noonday, ' enter into thy closet, and shut
thy door.' Use all the privacy thou canst. (Only leave it
not undone, whether thou hast any closet, any privacy, or
no. Pray to God, if it be possible, when none seeth but He ;
but if otherwise, pray to God.) Thus ' pray to thy Father
which is in secret ' ; pour out all thy heart before Him ; ' and
thy Father which seeth in secret, He shall reward thee openly.'

4. ' But when ye pray,' even in secret, ' use not vain repeti-
tions, as the Heathen do ' ; /*?) fiaTTo\oy>]<n]Te. Do not use

2. ' Any motive whatever on this to help our fellow men ; in prayer

side eternity.' Surely this is too we are seeking primarily for present

strong ; indeed, if the only motive communion with God.
for prayer and almsgiving is to gain 3. ' Closet ' is used in the older

a reward in heaven, they are but a sense of a private chamber,
refined form of self-seeking. In alms- 4. These two verses have refer-

giving we are moved by the desire ence to the prayers of the heathen,

430 Sermon XXI

abundance of words without any meaning. Say not the same
thing over and over again ; think not the fruit of your prayers
depends on the length of them, like the Heathens ; for ' they
think they shall be heard for their much speaking.'

The thing here reproved is not simply the length, any more
than the shortness, of our prayers ; — but, first, length without
meaning ; speaking much, and meaning little or nothing ;
the using (not all repetitions ; for our Lord Himself prayed
thrice, repeating the same words ; but) vain repetitions, as
the Heathens did, reciting the names of their gods over and
over ; as they do among Christians (vulgarly so called), and
not among the Papists only, who say over and over the same
string of prayers, without ever feeling what they speak :
secondly, the thinking to be heard for our much speaking, the
fancying God measures prayers by their length, and is best
pleased with those which contain the most words, which sound
the longest in His ears. These are such instances of supersti-
tion and folly as all who are named by the name of Christ should
leave to the Heathens, to them on whom the glorious light of
the gospel hath never shined.

5. ' Be not ye therefore like unto them.' Ye who have
tasted of the grace of God in Christ Jesus are thoroughly con-
vinced, ' your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,
before ye ask Him.' So that the end of your praying is not
to inform God, as though He knew not your wants already ;

not to those of the Pharisees ; and of its own answer. It is a putting

are probably an editorial insertion forth of spiritual energy on our part

from some other saying of our which is a necessary factor in the

Lord. Many heathen prayers con- production of the desired result. In

sisted of endless repetitions of some prayer we become ' fellow workers

formula of worship ; cf. Acts xix. 34. with God ' ; witness Jacob wrestling

Modern parallels are the prayer -wheel with the angel, or Elijah on the top

of the Buddhists and the rosaries of Carmel. Unless we ' perceive

of the Romish Church. that energy has gone out of us ' our

5. It is curious to find Wesley prayers will have no effect. Prayer

placing the sole reason of prayer in is not a sort of spiritual penny-in-

its subjective influence on the the-slot device, but a divinely ap-

offerer. It is true that God needs pointed method of applying spiritual

no information from us as to our force in fellowship with God, the

needs ; but He does require our co- source of all power,
operation. Prayer is a vera causa

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VI 431

but rather to inform yourselves ; to fix the sense of those
wants more deeply in your hearts, and the sense of your con-
tinual dependence on Him who only is able to supply all your
wants. It is not so much to move God, who is always more
ready to give than you to ask, as to move yourselves, that
you may be willing and ready to receive the good things He
has prepared for you.

III. 1. After having taught the true nature and ends of
prayer, our Lord subjoins an example of it ; even that divine
form of prayer which seems in this place to be proposed by
way of pattern chiefly, as the model and standard of all our

III. 1. The Rabbis were accus-
tomed to furnish their disciples with
forms of prayer ; and it would
appear that John the Baptist had
followed their example. The Lord's
Prayer was our Lord's response to
a request from His disciples that
He should do the same thing for
them. As is clear from St. Luke's
account, the prayer was in the first
instance intended to be repeated
verbatim — ' when ye pray, say,' &c. ;
and from the earliest times it has
formed part of the liturgy of all
Christian churches. It occurs twice
in the Morning Prayer and Evening
Prayer of the Church of England,
and again in the Litany, the Dox-
ology, however, being omitted on
the second occurrence in the daily
prayers and the Litany. In 1552
the practice was introduced of the
whole congregation joining in the
Lord's Prayer, except at the com-
mencement of the service ; and in
1662 the people are directed to
repeat it with the minister wherever
it is used. This was also the prac-
tice in the Greek Church. The West-
minster Assembly, whilst rejecting
the use of the Book of Common
Prayer, recommends the Lord's
Prayer ' to be used in the prayers

of the Church ' ; but the strong
opposition in Scotland to everything
that savoured of liturgical prescrip-
tion led to its disuse. Hence when
Wesley began to preach in Scotland,
he found it necessary in 1766 to
declare his own practice in the con-
duct of public service : ' I always
use a short private prayer when I
attend the public service of God. I
stand whenever I sing the praise of
God in public. I always kneel . . .
when I pray in public. I generally
in public use the Lord's Prayer. I
advise every preacher connected
with me, whether in England or
Scotland, herein to tread in my
steps' (Journal, June 5, 1766).
But, except where the Liturgy was
used, the Methodists objected to the
repeating of the Lord's Prayer after
the minister, as a sort of concession
to Anglicanism ; and it is only
within the last fifty years that the
practice has become general. Now
that it is so, it is most desirable that
the minister should use the form
prescribed in our Book of Offices,
which is identical with that in the
Church of England Liturgy, and
that without any, even the slightest,
alteration. The substitution of ' who
art in heaven ' for ' which art in

432 Sermon XXI

prayers : ' After this manner therefore pray ye.' Whereas,
elsewhere He enjoins the use of these very words : ' He said
unto them, When ye pray, say . . . ' (Luke xi. 2).

2. We may observe, in general, concerning this divine
prayer, first, that it contains all we can reasonably or innocently
pray for. There is nothing which we have need to ask of God,
nothing which we can ask without offending Him, which
is not included, either directly or indirectly, in this compre-
hensive form. Secondly, that it contains all we can reasonably
or innocently desire : whatever is for the glory of God, what-
ever is needful or profitable, not only for ourselves, but for
every creature in heaven and earth. And, indeed, our prayers
are the proper test of our desires ; nothing being fit to have
a place in our desires which is not fit to have a place in our
prayers : what we may not pray for, neither should we desire.
Thirdly, that it contains all our duty to God and man ; what-
soever things are pure and holy, whatsoever God requires of
the children of men, whatsoever is acceptable in His sight,
whatsoever it is whereby we may profit our neighbour, being
expressed or implied therein.

3. It consists of three parts, — the preface, the petitions,
and the doxology, or conclusion. The preface, ' Our Father
which art in heaven,' lays a general foundation for prayer ;
comprising what we must first know of God, before we can pray
in confidence of being heard. It likewise points out to us all
those tempers with which we are to approach to God, which
are most essentially requisite, if we desire either our prayers
or our lives should find acceptance with Him.

4. ' Our Father ' : if He is a Father, then He is good,

heaven,' and of 'those' for 'them ' taste will so obtrude his miserable

in the fifth petition, is venial, though self in this great universal prayer,

undesirable ; but it is unpardonable The form in the Scottish Shorter

to say ' as in heaven, so on earth,' Catechism follows the Matthew ver-

' give us each day ' or ' day by day ' sion exactly, reading ' Forgive us

our daily bread, and ' deliver us our debts as we forgive our debtors '

from all evil.' I have even heard and ' for ever ' instead of ' for ever

' an affectioned ass ' pray, ' leave and ever ' ; but this is not our

us not in temptation.' No one with Methodist form,
the least tincture of modesty or good

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VI 433

then He is loving, to His children. And here is the first and
great reason for prayer. God is willing to bless ; let us ask
for a blessing. ' Our Father,' — our Creator : the Author of
our being ; He who raised us from the dust of the earth ; who
breathed into us the breath of life, and we became living
souls. But if He made us, let us ask, and He will not withhold
any good thing from the work of His own hands. ' Our
Father,' — our Preserver ; who, day by day, sustains the life
He has given ; of whose continuing love we now and every
moment receive life, and breath, and all things. So much the
more boldly let us come to Him, and we shall ' obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need.' Above all, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of all that believe in Him ; who
justifies us ' freely by His grace, through the redemption that
is in Jesus ' ; who hath ' blotted out all our sins, and healed
all our infirmities ' ; who hath received us for His own children,
by adoption and grace ; and, ' because ' we ' are sons, hath
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into ' our ' hearts, crying,
Abba, Father ' ; who ' hath begotten us again of incorruptible
seed,' and ' created us anew in Christ Jesus.' Therefore we
know that He heareth us always ; therefore we pray to Him
without ceasing. We pray, because we love ; and ' we love
Him, because He first loved us."

5. ' Our Father ' : not mine only who now cry unto Him,
but ours in the most extensive sense. The God and ' Father
of the spirits of all flesh ' ; the Father of angels and men : so
the very Heathens acknowledge Him to be, IIaT>)p avhpuv re
decov re. The Father of the universe, of all the families both
in heaven and earth. Therefore with Him there is no respect
of persons. He loveth all that He hath made. ' He is loving
unto every man, and His mercy is over all His works.' And
the Lord's delight is in them that fear Him, and put their
trust in His mercy ; in them that trust in Him through the
Son of His love, knowing they are ' accepted in the Beloved.'
But ' if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another ' ;
yea, all mankind ; seeing ' God so loved the world, that He

5. The Greek phrase quoted occurs Hesiod, as a title of Zeus. Sec
frequently both in Homer and Hesiod, i. 59 ; Horn., Iliad, i. 544.
w.s.s. 1 — 28

434 Sermon XXI

gave His only-begotten Son,' even to die the death, that they
' might not perish, but have everlasting life.'

6. ' Which art in heaven ' : high and lifted up, God over
all, blessed for ever ; who, sitting on the circle of the heavens,
beholdeth all things both in heaven and earth ; whose eye
pervades the whole sphere of created being, yea, and of un-
created night ; unto whom ' are known all His works,' and all
the works of every creature, not only ' from the beginning of
the world ' (a poor, low, weak translation) but air alwvos,
from all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting ; who con-
strains the host of heaven, as well as the children of men, to
cry out with wonder and amazement, O the depth ! ' the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and of the knowledge
of God ' ! ' Which art in heaven ' : the Lord and Ruler of
all, superintending and disposing all things ; who art the King
of kings, and Lord of lords, the blessed and only Potentate ;
who art strong and girded about with power, doing what-
soever pleaseth Thee ; the Almighty ; for whensoever Thou
wiliest, to do is present with Thee. ' In heaven ' : eminently
there. Heaven is Thy throne, ' the place where Thine honour '
particularly ' dwelleth.' But not there alone ; for Thou fillest
heaven and earth, the whole expanse of space. ' Heaven and
earth are full of Thy glory. Glory be to Thee, O Lord most
high ! '

Therefore should we ' serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice
unto Him with reverence.' Therefore should we think, speak,
and act, as continually under the eye, in the immediate
presence, of the Lord, the King.

6. ' Uncreated night ' : a reminis- 'of the present age.' This is what the

cence of Milton, Par. Lost, ii. 150, A.V. translators meant by ' from the

' The wide womb of uncreated beginning of the world ' ; Wesley's

night.' Milton means by it the condemnation of their rendering is

region between heaven and hell, undeserved.

which was still given up to darkness ' Heaven and earth,' &c. : the last

and chaos : clause of the Trisagion ascription in

a , pk c , WhfGM fdest,N:f ' the Communion Service.

And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold ,

Eternal anarchy, (ii. 894.) Rejoice unto Him with rever-

, , , . , ence ' : the Prayer-Book version of

an aiwvos means from the begin- p ••

ning of the heavens and the earth,'

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VI 435

7. ' Hallowed be Thy name.' This is the first of the six
petitions whereof the prayer itself is composed. The name of
God is God Himself; the nature of God, so far as it can be
discovered to man. It means therefore, together with His
existence, all His attributes or perfections : — His Eternity,
particularly signified by His great and incommunicable name,
Jehovah, as the Apostle John translates it, To A koI to 12,
"■PXV Kai T^o?, 0 wv /cal 6 rjv ical 6 ip^6/jb€vo<; — ' The Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end ; He which is, and which
was, and which is to come ' ; — His fullness of Being, denoted
by His other great name, I AM THAT I AM !— His omni-
presence : — His omnipotence ; who is indeed the only Agent
in the material world ; all matter being essentially dull and
inactive, and moving only as it is moved by the finger of God ;
and He is the spring of action in every creature, visible and
invisible, which could neither act nor exist, without the con-

7. ' Six petitions.' Some of the
commentators reckon seven peti-
tions, dividing the sixth into two ;
but Wesley's arrangement is the
better. There are thus three general
petitions, and three individual.

' Jehovah ' : the proper name of
God as the God of Israel. Accord-
ing to E (Exod. hi. 10), this name
was revealed to Moses at the Burning
Bush ; but / uses it from the begin-
ning of his history. E derives it
from the Hebrew verb 'to be,' and
gives it first in the form ehyeh, I
am, and then in the third person
YHVH, he will be. These are not, as
Wesley suggests, two names, but
variants of the same. The second
form became the normal one, and
occurs 6,823 times in the O.T.
About the beginning of the third
century B.C. the Jews began to
avoid pronouncing it, and substi-
tuted for it wherever it occurred in
the Scriptures Adonai (my Lord).
In the LXX and the N.T. it is always
rendered 6 /ctfptos, the Lord. The

Masoretes consequently wrote it
with the vowels of Adonai, to indi-
cate to the reader that he was to
read it in that way. Hence it came
to be transliterated in modern lan-
guages as Jehovah ; the e, o, and a
being the vowels of Adonai. But
this was certainly not its original
pronunciation ; most probably it
should be read yahveh. Modern
scholars have usually adopted this
spelling ; but as it is not at all cer-
tain that it is correct, and as Jehovah
has established itself firmly in our
literature, it is a piece of pedantry
to attempt to change it. The A.V.
translators always print it in capi-
tals, the Lord ; and the R.V. has
timidly followed their lead. The
American Revisers have with great
advantage printed it Jehovah
throughout. Whether the deriva-
tion of E is right or not, it is the
one which has been generally
adopted, and it suggests the Eter-
nity of God. He is the great I AM.
' The Apostle John.' Wesley

436 Sermon XXI

tinual influx and agency of His almighty power ; — His wisdom,
clearly deduced from the things that are seen, from the goodly
order of the universe ; — His Trinity in Unity, and Unity in
Trinity, discovered to us in the very first line of His written
Word ; D\r6§? ion, — literally, the Gods created, a plural noun
joined with a verb of the singular number ; as well as in
every part of His subsequent revelations, given by the mouth of
all His holy Prophets and Apostles ; — His essential purity and
holiness ; — and, above all, His love, which is the very brightness
of His glory.

In praying that God, or His name, may be hallowed or
glorified, we pray that He may be known, such as He is, by all
that are capable thereof, by all intelligent beings, and with
affections suitable to that knowledge ; that He may be duly
honoured, and feared, and loved, by all in heaven above and
in the earth beneath ; by all angels and men, whom for
that end He has made capable of knowing and loving Him
to eternity.

8. ' Thy kingdom come.' This has a close connexion
with the preceding petition. In order that the name of God
may be hallowed, we pray that His kingdom, the kingdom
of Christ, may come. This kingdom then comes to a particular
person, when he ' repents and believes the gospel ' ; when he is
taught of God, not only to know himself, but to know Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. As ' this is life eternal, to know the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent ' ; so it is
the kingdom of God begun below, set up in the believer's heart ;
' the Lord God Omnipotent ' then ' reigneth,' when He is known
through Christ Jesus. He taketh unto Himself His mighty
power, that He may subdue all things unto Himself. He
goeth on in the soul conquering and to conquer, till He hath

naturally assumes the Johannine monarchs in their proclamations, and

authorship of the Apocalypse, has not any plural significance, as

which is by no means impossible. the singular verb which follows it

The generic name Elohim, which shows. The idea that it is an

can be applied to the gods of the adumbration of the doctrine of the

various nations, as well as to Je- Trinity is often found in the older

hovah, the God of Israel, is a plural commentators, but can hardly be

of Majesty, like the we used by maintained.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VI 437

put all things under His feet, till ' every thought is brought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ.'

When therefore God shall ' give His Son the heathen for
His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His
possession ' ; when ' all kingdoms shall bow before Him, and
all nations shall do Him service ' ; when ' the mountain of the
Lord's house,' the church of Christ, ' shall be established in
the top of the mountains ' ; when ' the fullness of the Gentiles
shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved ' ; then shall it
be seen, that ' the Lord is King, and hath put on glorious
apparel,' appearing to every soul of man as King of kings
and Lord of lords. And it is meet for all those who love His
appearing, to pray that He would hasten the time ; that this
His kingdom, the kingdom of grace, may come quickly, and
swallow up all the kingdoms of the earth ; that all mankind,
receiving Him for their King, truly believing in His name,
may be filled with righteousness, and peace, and joy, with
holiness and happiness ; till they are removed hence into His
heavenly kingdom, there to reign with Him for ever and ever.

For this also we pray in those words, ' Thy kingdom
come ' : we pray for the coming of His everlasting kingdom,
the kingdom of glory in heaven, which is the continuation
and perfection of the kingdom of grace on earth. Conse- \
quently this, as well as the preceding petition, is offered up
for the whole intelligent creation, who are all interested in
this grand event, the final renovation of all things, by God' 6
putting an end to misery and sin, to infirmity and death,
taking all things into His own hands, and setting up the
kingdom which endureth throughout all ages.

Exactly answerable to all this are those awful words in
the prayer at the burial of the dead : ' Beseeching Thee, that
it may please Thee of Thy gracious goodness, shortly to accom-
plish the number of Thine elect, and to hasten Thy kingdom :
that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of

8. ' Hath put on glorious apparel ' : on Rom. viii. 19-22, in which Wesley

the Prayer-Book version of Ps.xciii. 1. declares his belief in the immor-

' The whole intelligent creation.' tality and future blessedness of the

See the interesting sermon (No. LX) lower animals.

438

Sermon XXI

Thy holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss,
both in body and soul, in Thy everlasting glory.'

9. ' Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' This
is the necessary and immediate consequence wherever the
kingdom of God is come ; wherever God dwells in the soul by
faith, and Christ reigns in the heart by love.

It is probable, many, perhaps the generality of men, at the
first view of these words, are apt to imagine they are only an
expression of, or petition for, resignation ; for a readiness to
suffer the will of God, whatsoever it be, concerning us. And
this is unquestionably a divine and excellent temper, a most
precious gift of God. But this is not what we pray for in this
petition ; at least, not in the chief and primary sense of it. We
pray, not so much for a passive, as for an active conformity to
the will of God, in saying, ' Thy will be done in earth, as it is
in heaven.'

How is it done by the angels of God in heaven — those who
now circle His throne rejoicing ? They do it willingly ; they
love His commandments, and gladly hearken to His words.
It is their meat and drink to do His will ; it is their highest
glory and joy. They do it continually ; there is no interrup-
tion in their willing service. They rest not day nor night,
but employ every hour (speaking after the manner of men ;
otherwise our measures of duration, days, and nights, and
hours, have no place in eternity) in fulfilling His commands,
in executing His designs, in performing the counsel of His
will. And they do it perfectly. No sin, no defect belongs to

9. Probably the words ' as in
heaven, so on earth ' apply to each
of the first three petitions.

The remark as to the inapplica-
bility of our measures of time to
eternity is most just, and should
not be overlooked in the discussion
of the meaning of eternal punish-
ment.

Our Lord adopts the current
Jewish angelology, which conceived
of God as surrounded by a host of
attendants, holy in character, and

always obeying the voice of His
word. Whilst He uses the language
of His own time in regard to angels,
He does not necessarily commit us
to any theory about their origin or
their personal existence. And it
must be remembered that there are
suggestions that the angels are rather
personifications of the forces of
nature : He maketh winds His angels,
and flaming fire His ministers. The
question is too difficult and compli-
cated to be discussed in a note.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VI 439

angelic minds. It is true, ' the stars are not pure in His sight,'
even the morning-stars that sing together before Him. ' In
His sight,' that is, in comparison of Him, the very angels are
not pure. But this does not imply, that they are not pure in
themselves. Doubtless they are ; they are without spot and
blameless. They are altogether devoted to His will, and
perfectly obedient in all things.

If we view them in another light, we may observe, the
angels of God in heaven do all the will of God. And they do
nothing else, nothing but what they are absolutely assured is
His will. Again : they do all the will of God as He willeth ;
in the manner which pleases Him, and no other. Yea, and
they do this, only because it is His will ; for this end, and no
other reason.

10. When therefore we pray, that the will of God may ' be
done in earth as it is in heaven,' the meaning is, that all the
inhabitants of the earth, even the whole race of mankind, may
do the will of their Father which is in heaven, as willingly as
the holy angels ; that these may do it continually, even as they,
without any interruption of their willing service ; yea, and that
they may do it perfectly — that ' the God of peace, through the
blood of the everlasting covenant, may make them perfect in
every good work to do His will, and work in them ' all ' which
is well pleasing in His sight.'

In other words, we pray that we and all mankind may do
the whole will of God in all things ; and nothing else, not the
least thing but what is the holy and acceptable will of God : we
pray that we may do the whole will of God as He willeth, in the
manner that pleases Him : and, lastly, that we may do it because
it is His will ; that this may be the sole reason and ground, the
whole and only motive, of whatsoever we think, or whatsoever
we speak or do.

11. ' Give us this day our daily bread.' In the three
former petitions we have been praying for all mankind. We
come now more particularly to desire a supply for our own

11. It is hardly necessary to point Tertullian, Cyprian, Cyril of Jeru-

out that ' meat ' in the A.V. means salem, Athanasius, Ambrose, Jerome,
food of any kind, not flesh-meat. and Augustine take the bread to

440

Sermon XXI

wants. Not that we are directed, even here, to confine our
prayer altogether to ourselves ; but this, and each of the follow-
ing petitions, may be used for the whole Church of Christ upon
earth.

By ' bread ' we may understand all things needful, whether
for our souls or bodies ; ret 7rpo? farjv teal evaefieiav — the things
pertaining to life and godliness : we understand not barely
the outward bread, what our Lord terms ' the meat which
perisheth ' ; but much more the spiritual bread, the grace of
God, the food ' which endureth unto everlasting life.' It was
the judgement of many of the ancient Fathers, that we are
here to understand the sacramental bread also ; daily received
in the beginning by the whole Church of Christ, and highly
esteemed, till the love of many waxed cold, as the grand
channel whereby the grace of His Spirit was conveyed to the
souls of all the children of God.

' Our daily bread.' The word we render daily has been
differently explained by different commentators. But the most
plain and natural sense of it seems to be this, which is retained
in almost all translations, as well ancient as modern, — what is
sufficient for this day ; and so for each day as it succeeds.

12. ' Give us ' : for we claim nothing of right, but only of
free mercy. We deserve not the air we breathe, the earth that
bears, or the sun that shines upon us. All our desert, we own,
is hell : but God loves us freely ; therefore, we ask Him to
give, what we can no more procure for ourselves, than we can
merit it at His hands.

mean the bread of the Sacrament ;
though they do not exclude the
literal meaning.

The word i-movaios occurs no-
where else, and its meaning is un-
certain. Various interpretations
are: (i) what is needed for to-day ;
(2) for subsistence ; (3) for the
coming day ; (4) super-essential
(referring to the sacramental bread).
On the whole, no better rendering
has been suggested than ' our daily
bread.'

12. ' All our desert is hell.' In
so far as we have wilfully sinned, this
may be true. But as creatures of
God, we have a claim on the provi-
dential care of Him who is a faithful
Creator ; and as the children of God,
we have a right to look to our
Father for support and help. Even an
earthly father cannot repudiate his
obligation to feed, clothe, and edu-
cate his children ; still less could our
heavenly Father be thought capable
of such indifference to our needs.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VI 441

Not that either the goodness or the power of God is a reason
for us to stand idle. It is His will that we should use all
diligence in all things, that we should employ our utmost
endeavours, as much as if our success were the natural effect of
our own wisdom and strength ; and then, as though we had
done nothing, we are to depend on Him, the Giver of every
good and perfect gift.

' This day ' : for we are to take no thought for the morrow.
For this very end has our wise Creator divided life into these
little portions of time, so clearly separated from each other, that
we might look on every day as a fresh gift of God, another life,
which we may devote to His glory ; and that every evening
may be as the close of life, beyond which we are to see nothing
but eternity.

13. ' And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that
trespass against us.' As nothing but sin can hinder the bounty
of God from flowing forth upon every creature, so this petition
naturally follows the former ; that, all hindrances being re-
moved, we may the more clearly trust in the God of love for
every manner of thing which is good.

' Our trespasses ' : the word properly signifies our debts.
Thus our sins are frequently represented in Scripture ; every
sin laying us under a fresh debt to God, to whom we already
owe, as it were, ten thousand talents. What, then, can we
answer when He shall say, ' Pay me that thou owest ' ? We
are utterly insolvent ; we have nothing to pay ; we have
wasted all our substance. Therefore, if He deal with us accor-
ding to the rigour of His law, if He exact what He justly
may, He must command us to be ' bound hand and foot, and
delivered over to the tormentors.'

Indeed we are already bound hand and foot by the chains

13. The idea of sin as a debt is have misunderstood it, as they only

characteristically Jewish. St. Luke used the word in the sense of mone-

substitutes the more general 'sins,' tary obligations. The Prayer-Book

though the second clause in his ver- version has ' trespasses,' following

sion, ' for we ourselves also forgive Tyndale's version ; it is not an

every one that is indebted to us,' adequate translation, as it only in-

show that the word in his original was eludes sins of commission. But it

'debts'; his Gentile readers would is better to retain it for liturgical

. */^1

442 Sermon XXI

of our own sins. These, considered with regard to ourselves,
are chains of iron and fetters of brass. They are wounds where-
with the world, the flesh, and the devil have gashed and
mangled us all over. They are diseases that drink up our blood
and spirits, that bring us down to the chambers of the grave.
But, considered as they are here, with regard to God, they are
debts immense and numberless. Well, therefore, seeing we
have nothing to pay, may we cry unto Him, that He would
frankly forgive us all !

The word translated forgive, implies either to forgive a debt,
or to unloose a chain. And if we attain the former, the latter
follows of course : if our debts are forgiven, the chains fall off
our hands. As soon as ever, through the free grace of God in
Christ, we ' receive forgiveness of sins,' we receive likewise ' a
lot among those which are sanctified, by faith which is in Him.'
Sin has lost its power : it has no dominion over those who are
under grace, that is, in favour with God. As ' there is now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,' so they are
freed from sin as well as from guilt. ' The righteousness of
the law is fulfilled in ' them, and they ' walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.'

14. 'As we forgive them that trespass against us.' In these
words our Lord clearly declares both on what condition, and
in what degree or manner, we may look to be forgiven of God.
All our trespasses and sins are forgiven us if we forgive, and as
we forgive, others. This is a point of the utmost importance.
And our blessed Lord is so jealous lest at any time we should
let it slip out of our thoughts, that He not only inserts it in
the body of His prayer, but presently after repeats it twice
over. ' If,' saith He, ' ye forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you : but if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses' (verses 14, 15). Secondly, God forgives us as we

purposes, as the ordinary Christian the loosing of a bond. But this is

man interprets it of all sins. quite secondary, and Wesley's ampli-

The idea of forgiveness as mean- fication of it to mean deliverance

ing the unloosing of a chain is not from the power of sin is brought to

in the text ; though of course the the passage,
forgiveness of a debt is in a sense

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VI 443

forgive others. So that if any malice or bitterness, if any taint
of unkindness or anger remains, if we do not clearly, fully, and
from the heart, forgive all men their trespasses, we so far cut
short the forgiveness of our own : God cannot clearly and fully
forgive us : He may show us some degree of mercy ; but we
will not suffer Him to blot out all our sins, and forgive all our
iniquities.

In the meantime, while we do not from our hearts forgive
our neighbour his trespasses, what manner of prayer are we
offering to God whenever we utter these words ? We are
indeed setting God at open defiance ; we are daring Him to
do His worst. ' Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them
that trespass against us ! ' That is, in plain terms, ' Do not
Thou forgive us at all ; we desire no favour at Thy hands. We
pray that Thou wilt keep our sins in remembrance, and that
Thy wrath may abide upon us.' But can you seriously offer
such a prayer to God ? And hath He not yet cast you quick
into hell ? O tempt Him no longer ! Now, even now, by His
grace, forgive as you would be forgiven ! Now have compas-
sion on thy fellow servant, as God hath had, and will have, pity
on thee !

15. ' And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil ' — ' And lead us not into temptation.' The word trans-
lated temptation means trial of any kind. And so the English
word temptation, was formerly taken in an indifferent sense ;
although now it is usually understood of solicitation to sin.
St. James uses the word in both these senses ; first, in its
general, then in its restrained, acceptation. He takes it in the
former sense when he saith, ' Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation : for when he is tried,' or approved of God, ' he
shall receive the crown of life ' (Jas. i. 12). He immediately
adds, taking the word in the latter sense, ' Let no man say
when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man : but every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust,' or

14. ' Quick,' in the old sense 15. It is doubtful whether we

' alive ' ; as in the phrase ' the quick should translate ' from evil ' or
and the dead.' * from the evil one.' St. Luke's

444

Sermon XXI

desire, e^eX/eo/iei/o? — drawn out of God, in whom alone he is
safe — ' and enticed ' ; caught as a fish with a bait. Then it
is, when he is thus drawn away and enticed, that he properly
enters into temptation. Then temptation covers him as a
cloud ; it overspreads his whole soul. Then how hardly shall
he escape out of the snare ! Therefore we beseech God ' not
to lead us into temptation, that is (seeing God tempteth no
man), not to suffer us to be led into it. ' But deliver us from
evil.' Rather, ' from the evil one,' airo rovirovripov. 'O irovripos
is unquestionably the wicked one, emphatically so called, the
prince and god of this world, who works with mighty power
in the children of disobedience. But all those who are the
children of God by faith are delivered out of his hands. He
may fight against them ; and so he will. But he cannot con-
quer, unless they betray their own souls. He may torment for
a time, but he cannot destroy ; for God is on their side, who
will not fail, in the end, to ' avenge His own elect, that cry
unto Him day and night.' Lord, when we are tempted, suffer
us not to enter into temptation ! Do Thou make a way for us
to escape, that the wicked one touch us not !

16. The conclusion of this divine prayer, commonly called
' the doxology,' is a solemn thanksgiving, a compendious
acknowledgement of the attributes and works of God. ' For
Thine is the kingdom,' — the sovereign right of all things that
are, or ever were created ; yea, Thy kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all ages.
' The power,' — the executive power whereby Thou governest
all things in Thy everlasting kingdom, whereby Thou doest
whatsoever pleaseth Thee, in all places of Thy dominion. ' And
the glory,' — the praise due from every creature, for Thy power,

omission of the whole clause favours
the latter interpretation ; for the
idea of the devil would be strange
to his Gentile readers. But the
sense rather demands ' from evil.'
The full meaning will thus be : ' Do
not suffer us to be brought into cir-
cumstances of trial ; but should we
be so brought, deliver us from the

evil into which trial (or temptation)
tends to betray us.' Or with a
slightly different turn, ' Do not bring
us into trial, but in any case deliver
us from falling into sin.' It is
obvious that we have here one peti-
tion, not two.

1 6. The doxology is not part of
the original text, but was very

A Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer

445

and the mightiness of Thy kingdom, and for all Thy wondrous
works which Thou workest from everlasting, and shalt do,
world without end, ' for ever and ever. Amen ! ' So be it !

I believe it will not be unacceptable to the serious reader to
subjoin

A PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER

i Father of all ! whose powerful voice

Called forth this universal frame ;
Whose mercies over all rejoice,

Through endless ages still the same.
Thou, by Thy word, upholdest all ;

Thy bounteous love to all is showed :
Thou hear'st Thy every creature's call,

And fillest every mouth with good.

2 In heaven Thou reign'st, enthroned in light,

Nature's expanse beneath Thee spread ;
Earth, air, and sea, before Thy sight,

And hell's deep gloom, are open laid.
Wisdom, and might, and love, are Thine ;

Prostrate before Thy face we fall,
Confess Thine attributes divine,

And hail Thee Sovereign Lord of all I

3 Thee, Sovereign Lord, let all confess,

That moves in earth, or air, or sky,
Revere Thy power, Thy goodness bless,

Tremble before Thy piercing eye.
All ye who owe to Him your birth,

In praise your every hour employ :
Jehovah reigns ! Be glad, O earth !

And shout, ye morning stars, for joy !

early introduced into the prayer for
liturgical purposes.

The subjoined hymn first appeared
in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742).
From its style it has been generally
attributed to John rather than
Charles Wesley, though there is no
definite evidence on the point. (See
Telford's Methodist Hymn-Book Illus-

trated, p. 74.) The version in the
1 77 1 edition of the Sermons agrees
with that in Dr. Osborn's reprint
(ii. 335), except that in verse 5, line 7,
Osborn has ' hosts ' for ' host,' and
in verse 9, line 3, ' and ' for ' in.'
It was divided into three parts in the
Hymn-Book of 1780; and has ap-
peared in this form in all the subse-

446 A Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer

4 Son of Thy Sire's eternal love,

Take to Thyself Thy mighty power ;
Let all earth's sons Thy mercy prove,

Let all Thy bleeding grace adore.
The triumphs of Thy love display :

In every heart reign Thou alone ;
Till all Thy foes confess Thy sway,

And glory ends what grace begun.

Spirit of grace, and health, and power,

Fountain of light and love below ;
Abroad Thine healing influence shower,

O'er all the nations let it flow.
Inflame our hearts with perfect love ;

In us the work of faith fulfil ;
So not heaven's host shall swifter move.

Than we on earth to do Thy will.

Father, 'tis Thine each day to yield

Thy children's wants a fresh supply :
Thou cloth' st the lilies of the field,

And hearest the young ravens cry.
On Thee we cast our care ; we live

Through Thee, who know'st our every need.
O feed us with Thy grace, and give

Our souls this day the living bread 1

Eternal, spotless Lamb of God,

Before the world's foundation slain,
Sprinkle us ever with Thy blood ;

O cleanse, and keep us ever clean 1
To every soul (all praise to Thee !)

Our bowels of compassion move ;
And all mankind by this may see

God is in us ; for God is love.

quent editions. It is Hymns 42, 43, verse 7, line 6, ' Our bowels of com-

and 44 in the present Hymn-Book ; passion move ' is changed to ' Our

but the first line of verse 4 is altered tenderest compassions move, ' in pur-

to ' Eternal Son, eternal Love,' suance of the wise decision to banish

presumably through the possibility all the ' bowels ' and ' worms ' from

of an Arian interpretation of ' Son the new book. The last verse is a

of thy Sire's eternal love ' ; and in favourite doxology in America.

A Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer 447

8 Giver and Lord of life, whose power

And guardian care for all are free,
To Thee, in fierce temptation's hour,

From sin and Satan let us flee.
Thine, Lord, we are, and ours Thou art ;

In us be all Thy goodness showed ;
Renew, enlarge, and fill our heart

With peace, and joy, and heaven, and God.

9 Blessing and honour, praise and love,

Co-equal, co-eternal Three,
In earth below, in heaven above,

By all Thy works be paid to Thee.
Thrice Holy ! Thine the kingdom is,

The power omnipotent is Thine ;
And when created nature dies,

Thy never-ceasing glories shine.

SERMON XXII
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE VII

The only fast prescribed in the law is that on the Great Day of Atone-
ment, on the tenth day of the seventh month. After the return from
the Captivity other fasts were instituted in commemoration of events
connected with the siege and taking of Jerusalem on the seventeenth
day of the fourth month (Tammuz), the ninth of the fifth month (Ab),
the third of the seventh month (Tisri), and the tenth of the tenth month
(Tebet). Special fasts were frequently proclaimed ; and the practice
of private fasting became more and more common. The Pharisees
fasted every week on Mondays and Thursdays, and doubtless many
of the more pious amongst the people followed their example. Hence
our Lord, assuming that His hearers would fast as a part of their
normal religious life, gives the directions here set out, as a warning
against ostentation in fasting, and the practice of it with a view of
securing a reputation for piety. Though He and His disciples would
certainly keep the fast of the Day of Atonement, it is plain from
Matt. ix. 14 that they did not observe the weekly fasts ; and our Lord
left no injunctions to His Church as to this means of grace. The Jewish
Christians naturally took over into their new faith their old habit
of fasting, and used it both privately and on certain special occasions.
In the Didache we find bi-weekly fasts prescribed on Wednesdays and
Fridays, instead of the days on which ' the hypocrites ' fast, i.e. Mon-
days and Thursdays ; but this would apply only to Jewish Christians.
In the fourth century we find the forty days' fast of Lent generally
established. During the fifth century the Rogation fast on the three
days before Ascension Day was instituted in the Western Church;
and also the Ember Days or fasts of the four seasons, on the Wednes-
days, Fridays, and Saturdays after the First Sunday in Lent, Pente-
cost, Holy Cross Day (September 14), and St. Lucy's Day (Decem-
ber 13). Peculiar to the Western Church were also the single-day
fasts on the vigil before sixteen festivals and saints' days (set out at
the beginning of the Book of Common Prayer). The Oxford Metho-
dists made a point of observing all the fasts of the Church, including
the Wednesdays as well as the Fridays of every week ; and this Wesley

448

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VII 449

kept up rigidly during his residence in Georgia. After his return
many of his society resolved on August 17, 1739, to observe all Fridays
as fast-days ; and in the Rules of the Society (1743), which still stand
good, members are required to evidence their desire of salvation by
' fasting or abstinence.' In the Large Minutes (1763) Mr. Wesley says
under the head of fasting, ' God led us to this at Oxford. And He
led all of you to it, when you first set out. How often do you fast
now ? Every Friday ? In what degree ? ' In the Fortn of Discip-
line of 1797 this is enlarged upon : ' Do you fast every Friday ? The
neglect of this is sufficient to account for our feebleness and faintness
of spirit. We are continually grieving the Holy Spirit by the habitual
neglect of a plain duty ! Let us amend from this hour. . . . Begin
next Friday, and avow this duty wherever you go.' It is also directed
that ' A general fast shall be held in all our Societies, the first Friday
after New Year's Day, after Lady Day, after Midsummer Day, and
after Michaelmas Day.' This rule was reaffirmed by the Conference of
1900 (see also Minutes, 1920, p. 28) . How far it is effectively observed
in England I cannot say ; it is certainly not observed in Australia.

I think it may be safely said that the tendency in Methodism has
been to leave the time and measure of fasting to the conscience of the
individual. Neither our Lord nor His Apostles left any explicit
directions on this head ; and we are not bound by the traditional
practice of the early and mediaeval Churches, nor indeed by Wesley's
own views, which were largely the result of his early High-Church
training. On the other hand, the revival of fasting would make for
a more robust and less self-indulgent type of character amongst us ;
and it is to be hoped that the study of this very sane and wise sermon
may influence some of us to make experiment of this means of grace.

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance :
for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face ;

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in
secret : and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

— Matt. vi. 16-18.

I. It has been the endeavour of Satan, from the beginning of
the world, to put asunder what God hath joined together ;
to separate inward from outward religion ; to set one of these
at variance with the other. And herein he has met with no
small success among those who were ' ignorant of his devices.'

Many, in all ages, having a zeal for God, but not according
w.s.s. 1 — 29

450 Sermon XXII

to knowledge, have been strictly attached to the ' righteous-
ness of the law,' the performance of outward duties, but in
the meantime wholly regardless of inward righteousness, ' the
righteousness which is of God by faith.' And many have run
into the opposite extreme, disregarding all outward duties,
perhaps even ' speaking evil of the law, and judging the law/
so far as it enjoins the performance of them.

2. It is by this very device of Satan, that faith and works
have been so often set at variance with each other. And many
who had a real zeal for God have, for a time, fallen into the
snare on either hand. Some have magnified faith to the utter
exclusion of good works, not only from being the cause of
our justification (for we know that a man is justified freely
by the redemption which is in Jesus), but from being the
necessary fruit of it, yea, from having any place in the religion
of Jesus Christ. Others, eager to avoid this dangerous mistake,
have run as much too far the contrary way ; and either main-
tained that good works were the cause, at least the previous
condition, of justification — or spoken of them as if they were
all in all, the whole religion of Jesus Christ.

3. In the same manner have the end and the means of
religion been set at variance with each other. Some well-
meaning men have seemed to place all religion in attending
the prayers of the Church, in receiving the Lord's supper, in
hearing sermons, and reading books of piety ; neglecting,
meantime, the end of all these, the love of God and their

Par. 2. But in Minutes, 1770, these thirty years ? I am afraid,
Q. 28, 6, 3, Wesley says : ' We have about words.' So Fletcher in Checks,
received it as a maxim that a man ii. 6 (1770), says: 'Salvation is not
is to do nothing in order to justifica- by the merit of works, but by works
tion. Nothing can be more false. as a condition.' In one sense every
Whoever desires to find favour with necessary condition is a part of the
God should cease from evil and cause of an event ; but what we
learn to do well. Whoever repents generally mean by the cause is the
should do works meet for repentance. condition which gives rise to the
And if this is not in order to find energy by which the result is brought
favour, what does he do them for ? about. It is a condition of the ex-
Is not this salvation by works ? plosion of a charge that the gun-
Not by the merit of works, but by powder should be dry ; but we
works as a condition. What have should not usually speak of the dry-
we then been disputing about for ness as the cause of the explosion.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VII 451

neighbour. And this very thing has confirmed others in the
neglect, if not contempt, of the ordinances of God — so
wretchedly abused, to undermine and overthrow the very
end they were designed to establish.

4. But of all the means of grace there is scarce any con-
cerning which men have run into greater extremes, than that
of which our Lord speaks in the above-mentioned words ; I
mean religious fasting. How have some exalted this beyond
all Scripture and reason ; and others utterly disregarded it —
as it were, revenging themselves by undervaluing as much as
the former had overvalued it ! Those have spoken of it as if
it were all in all ; if not the end itself, yet infallibly connected
with it : these, as if it were just nothing ; as if it were a fruit-
less labour, which had no relation at all thereto. Whereas it
is certain the truth lies between them both. It is not all, nor
yet is it nothing. It is not the end, but it is a precious means
thereto ; a means which God Himself has ordained, and in
which therefore, when it is duly used, He will surely give us
His blessing.

In order to set this in the clearest light, I shall endeavour
to show, first, what is the nature of fasting, and what the
several sorts and degrees thereof ; secondly, what are the
reasons, grounds, and ends of it : thirdly, how we may answer
the most plausible objections against it : and, fourthly, in what
manner it should be performed.

1. 1. I shall endeavour to show, first, what is the nature
of fasting, and what the several sorts and degrees thereof. As
to the nature of it, all the inspired writers, both in the Old
Testament and the New, take the word, to fast, in one single
sense, for not to eat, to abstain from food. This is so clear,
that it would be labour lost to quote the words of David,
Nehemiah, Isaiah, and the prophets which followed, or of our
Lord and His apostles ; all agreeing in this, that to fast is, not
to eat for a time prescribed.

2. To this, other circumstances were usually joined by
them of old, which had no necessary connexion with it. Such
were, the neglect of their apparel ; the laying aside those

452 Sermon XXII

ornaments which they were accustomed to wear ; the putting
on mourning ; the strewing ashes upon their head ; or wear-
ing sackcloth next their skin. But we find little mention
made in the New Testament of any of these indifferent cir-
cumstances. Nor does it appear that any stress was laid upon
them by the Christians of the purer ages ; however some
penitents might voluntarily use them, as outward signs of
inward humiliation. Much less did the Apostles, or the
Christians contemporary with them, beat or tear their own
flesh : such discipline as this was not unbecoming the priests
or worshippers of Baal. The gods of the Heathens were but
devils ; and it was doubtless acceptable to their devil-god,
when his priests (i Kings xviii. 28) ' cried aloud, and cut
themselves after their manner, till the blood gushed out upon
them ' ; but it cannot be pleasing to Him, nor become His
followers, who ' came not to destroy men's lives, but to save
them.'

3. As to the degrees or measures of fasting, we have in-
stances of some who have fasted several days together. So
Moses, Elijah, and our blessed Lord, being endued with super-
natural strength for that purpose, are recorded to have fasted,
without intermission, ' forty days and forty nights.' But
the time of fasting, more frequently mentioned in Scripture,
is one day, from morning till evening. And this was the fast
commonly observed among the ancient Christians. But besides
these, they had also their half-fasts {semi-jejunia, as Tertullian

I. 2. The idea that the gods of correct to recognize in the objects

the heathen were devils finds its of heathen worship sincere attempts

justification in the A.V. rendering to represent God, however imperfect

of 1 Cor. x. 20, ' The Gentiles . . . and even degraded the results may

sacrifice to devils and not to God ' ; have been.

but the more correct translation is 3. Forty is the Hebrew round

' demons,' which means spiritual number, and must not be taken

beings inferior to God, but not arithmetically. These prolonged

necessarily devils in our sense of the fasts are in any case quite excep-

word. Milton has given wide cur- tional and extraordinary, and have

rency to this view in Paradise Lost, no relation to Christian fasting.
Bk. I, where he identifies the various Tertullian wrote his De Jejuniis

fallen angels with the gods of Syria, about a.d. 210, after he had become

Greece, and Egypt. But it is more a Montanist ; it is a bitter attack

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VII 453

styles them) on the fourth and sixth days of the week (Wednes-
day and Friday), throughout the year ; on which they took no
sustenance till three in the afternoon, the time when they
returned from the public service.

4. Nearly related to this, is what our Church seems pecu-
liarly to mean by the term abstinence ; which may be used
when we cannot fast entirely, by reason of sickness or bodily
weakness. This is the eating little ; the abstaining in part ;
the taking a smaller quantity of food than usual. I do not
remember any scriptural instance of this. But neither can I
condemn it ; for the Scripture does not. It may have its use,
and receive a blessing from God.

5. The lowest kind of fasting, if it can be called by that
name, is the abstaining from pleasant food. Of this, we have
several instances in Scripture, besides that of Daniel and his
brethren, who, from a peculiar consideration, namely, that
they might ' not defile themselves with the portion of the
king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank ' (a daily
provision of which the king had appointed for them), requested
and obtained, of the prince of the eunuchs, pulse to eat, and
water to drink (Dan. i. 8, &c). Perhaps from a mistaken
imitation of this might spring the very ancient custom of
abstaining from flesh and wine during such times as were set
apart for fasting and abstinence,— if it did not rather arise
from a supposition that these were the most pleasant food,
and a belief that it was proper to use what was least pleasing
at those times of solemn approach to God.

6. In the Jewish Church there were some stated fasts.

on the orthodox Christians, whom {De Jejuniis, I) ' we keep our food

he calls Psychics. He calls fasts unmoistened by any flesh, and by

which terminated at the ninth hour any juiciness, and by any kind of

(3 p.m.) semi-jejunia, half-fasts. succulent fruit ; not eating or drink-

4. The Roman Church distin- ing anything with the flavour of
guishes between fasting and abstin- wine ; also with abstinence from
ence ; but in the usage of the the bath, congruent with our dry
Anglican Church the two words are diet.' In the Roman Church flesh
synonymous. is prohibited during Lent and on

5. The Montanists observed what fast days ; but the Church of Eng-
they called xerophagies (days of land makes no such distinction
dry diet) ; in which, says Tertullian between different kinds of food.

454 Sermon XXII

Such was the fast of the seventh month, appointed by God
Himself to be observed by all Israel under the severest penalty.
' The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the tenth day of this
seventh month there shall be a day of atonement : and ye shall
afflict your souls, ... to make an atonement for you before
the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not
be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among
his people ' (Lev. xxiii. 26, &c). In after-ages, several other
stated fasts were added to these. So mention is made, by the
Prophet Zechariah, of the fast, not only ' of the seventh, but
also of the fourth, of the fifth, and of the tenth month '
(viii. 19).

In the ancient Christian Church there were likewise stated
fasts, and those both annual and weekly. Of the former sort
was that before Easter ; observed by some for eight-and- forty
hours ; by others, for an entire week ; by many, for two
weeks ; taking no sustenance till the evening of each day : of
the latter, those of the fourth and sixth days of the week,
observed (as Epiphanius writes, remarking it as an undeniable
fact) iv okrj rfi ol/cov/xevr) — in the whole habitable earth ; at least
in every place where any Christians made their abode. The
annual fasts in our Church are, ' the forty days of Lent, the
Ember days at the four seasons, the Rogation days, and
the Vigils or Eves of several solemn festivals ; the weekly,
all Fridays in the year, except Christmas-day.'

But beside those which were fixed, in every nation fearing
God there have always been occasional fasts, appointed from
time to time, as the particular circumstances and occasions
of each required. So when ' the children of Moab, and the
children of Ammon, came against Jehoshaphat to battle, Jeho-
shaphat set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast
throughout all Judah ' (2 Chron. xx. 1, 3). And so, ' in the
fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, in the ninth month,'
when they were afraid of the king of Babylon, the princes of
' Judah proclaimed a fast before the Lord, to all the people in
Jerusalem ' (Jer. xxxvi. 9).

6. See introduction. fourth century. The reference is to

Epiphanius was a father of the Haer. lxv. 6 ; Expos. Fidei, 22.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VII 455

And, in like manner, particular persons, who take heed
unto their ways, and desire to walk humbly and closely with
God, will find frequent occasion for private seasons of thus
afflicting their souls before their Father which is in secret.
And it is to this kind of fasting that the directions here
given do chiefly and primarily refer.

II. 1. I proceed to show, in the second place, what are the
grounds, the reasons, and ends of fasting.

And, first, men who are under strong emotions of mind,
who are affected with any vehement passion, such as sorrow
or fear, are often swallowed up therein, and even forget to eat
their bread. At such seasons they have little regard for food,
not even what is needful to sustain nature, much less for
any delicacy or variety ; being taken up with quite different
thoughts. Thus when Saul said, ' I am sore distressed ; for
the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed
from me ' ; it is recorded, ' He had eaten no bread all the day,
nor all the night ' (1 Sam. xxviii. 15, 20). Thus those who
were in the ship with St. Paul, ' when no small tempest lay
upon them, and all hope that they should be saved was taken
away,' ' continued fasting, having taken nothing,' no regular
meal, for fourteen days together ' (Acts xxvii. 33). And thus
David, and all the men that were with him, when they heard
that the people were fled from the battle, and that many of
the people were fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his
son were dead also, ' mourned, and wept, and fasted until
even, for Saul and Jonathan, and for the house of Israel '
(2 Sam. i. 12).

Nay, many times they whose minds are deeply engaged are
impatient of any interruption, and even loathe their needful
food, as diverting their thoughts from what they desire should
engross their whole attention : even as Saul, when, on the
occasion mentioned before, he had ' fallen all along upon the
earth, and there was no strength in him,' yet said, ' I will not
eat,' till ' his servants together with the woman, compelled him.'

2. Here, then, is the natural ground of fasting. One who
is under deep affliction, overwhelmed with sorrow for sin, and

456 Sermon XXII

a strong apprehension of the wrath of God, would, without
any rule, without knowing or considering whether it were a
command of God or not, ' forget to eat his bread,' abstain not
only from pleasant but even from needful food ; like St. Paul,
who, after he was led into Damascus, ' was three days without
sight, and did neither eat nor drink ' (Acts ix. 9).

Yea, when the storm rose high, ' when an horrible dread
overwhelmed ' one who had [long] been without God in the
world, his soul would ' loathe all manner of meat ' ; it would
be unpleasing and irksome to him ; he would be impatient of
anything that should interrupt his ceaseless cry, ' Lord, save !
or I perish.'

How strongly is this expressed by our Church in the first
part of the Homily on Fasting ! — ' When men feel in them-
selves the heavy burden of sin, see damnation to be the
reward of it, and behold, with the eye of their mind, the
horror of hell, they tremble, they quake, and are inwardly
touched with sorrowfulness of heart, and cannot but accuse
themselves, and open their grief unto Almighty God, and call
unto Him for mercy. This being done seriously, their mind
is so occupied (taken up), partly with sorrow and heaviness,
partly with an earnest desire to be delivered from this danger
of hell and damnation, that all desire of meat and drink is
laid apart, and loathsomeness (or loathing) of all worldly
things and pleasure cometh in place. So that nothing then
liketh them more than to weep, to lament, to mourn, and both
with words and behaviour of body to show themselves weary
of life.'

3. Another reason or ground of fasting is this : many of
those who now fear God are deeply sensible how often they
have sinned against Him, by the abuse of these lawful things.
They know how much they have sinned by excess of food ;
how long they have transgressed the holy law of God, with
regard to temperance, if not sobriety too ; how they have
indulged their sensual appetites, perhaps to the impairing
even their bodily health, certainly to the no small hurt of

II. 2. ' When an horrible dread overwhelmed ' (Ps. liv. 4, Prayer-Book

version) .

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VII 457

their soul. For hereby they continually fed and increased
that sprightly folly, that airiness of mind, that levity of
temper, that gay inattention to things of the deepest concern,
that giddiness and carelessness of spirit, which were no other
than drunkenness of soul, which stupefied all their noblest
faculties, no less than excess of wine or strong drink. To
remove, therefore, the effect, they remove the cause : they keep
at a distance from all excess. They abstain, as far as is possible,
from what had wellnigh plunged them in everlasting perdition.
They often wholly refrain ; always take care to be sparing and
temperate in all things.

4. They likewise well remember how fullness of bread
increased not only carelessness and levity of spirit, but also
foolish and unholy desires, yea, unclean and vile affections.
And this experience puts beyond all doubt. Even a genteel,
regular sensuality is continually sensualizing the soul, and
sinking it into a level with the beasts that perish. It cannot
be expressed what an effect a variety and delicacy of food have wa
on the mind as well as the body ; making it just ripe for every
pleasure of sense, as soon as opportunity shall invite. There-
fore, on this ground also, every wise man will refrain his soul,
and keep it low ; will wean it more and more from all those
indulgences of the inferior appetites, which naturally tend

to chain it down to earth, and to pollute as well as debase it.
Here is another perpetual reason for fasting ; to remove the
food of lust and sensuality, to withdraw the incentives of
foolish and hurtful desires, of vile and vain affections.

5. Perhaps we need not altogether omit (although I know
not if we should do well to lay any great stress upon it) another
reason for fasting, which some good men have largely insisted
on ; namely, the punishing themselves for having abused
the good gifts of God, by sometimes wholly refraining from
them ; thus exercising a kind of holy revenge upon them-
selves, for their past folly and ingratitude, in turning the
things which should have been for their health into an occasion

5. The revenge mentioned in Church on the wrong-doer who has
2 Cor. vii. 11 seems rather to refer done so much mischief by his
to the punishment inflicted by the abominable sin.

458 Sermon XXII

of falling. They suppose David to have had an eye to this,
when he said, ' I wept and chastened,' or punished, ' my soul
with fasting ' ; and St. Paul, when he mentions ' what revenge '
godly sorrow occasioned in the Corinthians.

6. A fifth and more weighty reason for fasting is, that it
is an help to prayer ; particularly when we set apart larger
portions of time for private prayer. Then especially it is that
God is often pleased to lift up the souls of His servants above
all the things of earth, and sometimes to rap them up, as it
were, into the third heavens. And it is chiefly, as it is an help
to prayer, that it has so frequently been found a means, in the

vtl^ hand of God, of confirming and increasing, not one virtue,

not chastity only (as some have idly imagined, without any
ground either from Scripture, reason, or experience), but also
seriousness of spirit, earnestness, sensibility and tenderness of
conscience, deadness to the world, and consequently the love
of God, and every holy and heavenly affection.

7. Not that there is any natural or necessary connexion
between fasting, and the blessings God conveys thereby. But
He will have mercy as He will have mercy ; He will convey
whatsoever seemeth Him good by whatsoever means He is
pleased to appoint. And He hath, in all ages, appointed this
to be a means of averting His wrath, and obtaining whatever
blessings we, from time to time, stand in need of.

How powerful a means this is to avert the wrath of God,
we may learn from the remarkable instance of Ahab. ' There
was none like him who did sell himself ' — wholly give himself
up, like a slave bought with money — ' to work wickedness.'
Yet, when he ' rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his
flesh, and fasted, and went softly, the word of the Lord came
to Elijah, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself
before Me ? Because he humbleth himself before Me, I will
not bring the evil in his days.'

It was for this end, to avert the wrath of God, that Daniel

6. ' Rap ' means to snatch up Mystics made great use of fasting

and carry away. See 2 Cor. xii. 2, as a preparation for the absorption

where the third heaven means the for the time in God, which was their

heaven where God dwells. The supreme aim.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VII 459

sought God ' with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.' This
appears from the whole tenor of his prayer, particularly from
the solemn conclusion of it : ' O Lord, according to all Thy
righteousness,' or mercies, ' let Thy anger be turned away
from Thy holy mountain. . . . Hear the prayer of Thy ser-
vant, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is
desolate. . . . O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; O Lord,
hearken and do, for Thine own sake ' (Dan. ix. 3, 16, &c).

8. But it is not only from the people of God that we learn,
when His anger is moved, to seek Him by fasting and prayer ;
but even from the Heathens. When Jonah had declared,
' Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,' the
people of Nineveh ' proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them unto the least. For the king of
Nineveh arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him,
and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he
caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything : let
them not feed, nor drink water ' (not that the beasts had
sinned, or could repent ; but that, by their example, man
might be admonished, considering that, for his sin, the anger
of God was hanging over all creatures) : ' who can tell if God
will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger,
that we perish not ? ' And their labour was not in vain.
The fierce anger of God was turned away from them. ' God
saw their works ' (the fruits of that repentance and faith
which He had wrought in them by His prophet) ; ' and God
repented of the evil, that He had said He would do unto them ;
and He did it not ' (Jonah hi. 4, &c).

9. And it is a means not only of turning away the wrath
of God, but also of obtaining whatever blessings we stand in
need of. So, when the other tribes were smitten before the
Benjamites, ' all the children of Israel went up unto the house
of God, and wept, and fasted that day until even ' ; and then

7. There is no justification for the and just to forgive us our sins.'

alternative rendering ' or mercies.' 8. Both in Egypt and Assyria

The appeal of Daniel is to the right- fasting as an expiation for sin was

eousness of God, ' He is faithful recognized and practised.

460 Sermon XXII

the Lord said, ' Go up ' again ; ' for to-morrow I will deliver
them into thine hand ' (Judges xx. 26, &c). So Samuel
gathered all Israel together, when they were in bondage to the
Philistines, ' and they fasted on that day ' before the Lord :
and when ' the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel,
the Lord thundered ' upon them ' with a great thunder,
and discomfited them ; and they were smitten before Israel '
(1 Sam. vii. 6). So Ezra : ' I proclaimed a fast at the river
Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to
seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones ; and
He was entreated of us ' (viii. 21). So Nehemiah : ' I fasted
and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, Prosper, I
pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in
the sight of this man ' : and God granted him mercy in the
sight of the king (i. 4-11).

10. In like manner, the Apostles always joined fasting
with prayer when they desired the blessing of God on any
important undertaking. Thus we read (Acts xiii.), ' There
were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and
teachers : as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,' doubt-
less for direction in this very affair, ' the Holy Ghost said,
Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them. And when they had ' a second time
' fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent
them away ' (verses 1-3).

Thus also Paul and Barnabas themselves, as we read in
the following chapter, when they ' returned again to Lystra,
Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples,
and when they had ordained them elders in every church, and
had prayed with fasting, commended them to the Lord '
(Acts xiv. 23).

10. ' Always ' : this is a rash is manifestly interpolated from

generalization from the two cases Mark ix. 29, where the words ' and

quoted, the only two on record. fasting ' are a Western interpola-

There is no reason to doubt, how- tion, and are no part of the original

ever, that fasting and prayer were text. Fasting has been similarly

used in conjunction on such solemn interpolated in i Cor. vii. 5. No

and important occasions. argument can therefore be based on

In Matt. xvii. 21 the whole verse these texts.

is without any good authority, and

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount ; VII 461

Yea, that blessings are to be obtained in the use of this
means, which are not otherwise attainable, our Lord expressly
declares in His answer to His disciples, asking, ' Why could
not we cast him out ? Jesus said unto them, Because of your
unbelief : for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain
of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove
hence to yonder place ; and it shall remove ; and nothing shall
be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind ' of devils ' goeth
not out but by prayer and fasting' (Matt. xvii. 19, &c), —
these being the appointed means of attaining that faith where-
by the very devils are subject unto you.

II. These were the appointed means : for it was not merely
by the light of reason, or of natural conscience, as it is called,
that the people of God have been, in all ages, directed to use
fasting as a means to these ends ; but they have been, from
time to time, taught it of God Himself, by clear and open
revelations of His will. Such is that remarkable one by the
Prophet Joel : ' Therefore saith the Lord, Turn ye to Me
with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and
with mourning ; . . . who knoweth if He will return and
repent, and leave a blessing behind Him ? Blow the trumpet
in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly ; . . . then
will the Lord be jealous for His land, and pity His people.
Yea, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil ; ... I will no
more make you a reproach among the heathen ' (Joel ii. 12,
&c).

Nor are they only temporal blessings which God directs
His people to expect in the use of these means. For, at the
same time that He promised to those who should seek Him
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, ' I will restore to
you the years which the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm,
and the caterpillar, and the palmer- worm, My great army,'
He subjoins, ' So shall ye eat and be satisfied, and praise the
name of the Lord your God. ... Ye shall also know that I am
in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God.'
And then immediately follows the great gospel promise : ' I
will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream

462 Sermon XXII

dreams, and your young men shall see visions : and also upon
the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I
pour out My Spirit.'

12. Now whatsoever reasons there were to quicken those
of old, in the zealous and constant discharge of this duty, they
are of equal force still to quicken us. But above all these,
we have a peculiar reason for being ' in fastings often ' ;
namely, the command of Him by whose name we are called.
He does not, indeed, in this place expressly enjoin either
fasting, giving of alms, or prayer ; but His directions how to
fast, to give alms, and to pray, are of the same force with such
injunctions. For the commanding us to do anything thus, is
an unquestionable command to do that thing ; seeing it is
impossible to perform it thus, if it be not performed at all.
Consequently, the saying, ' Give alms, pray, fast,' in such a
manner, is a clear command to perform all those duties ; as
well as to perform them in that manner which shall in no wise
lose its reward.

And this is a still farther motive and encouragement to
the performance of this duty ; even the promise which our

12. It is hardly correct to say that the bridegroom was taken away
our Lord's directions about fasting from them ; but He is thinking of
are a clear command to fast. He their fasting for sorrow because of
knew that His hearers were in the His departure, not of fasting as a
habit of fasting ; and, assuming means of grace. His own fast of
that they did so, He shows them how forty days is quite exceptional, and
to perform this duty to profit. It was the natural result of His retire-
was no part of His design to inter- ment to the wilderness, and His
fere unnecessarily with their methods absorption in the problem of His
of devotion, although they might not mission. The two examples of fast-
be destined to be permanent in the ing and prayer by the Apostles were
kingdom of God. ' If you do fast,' natural to men trained as they were
He means, ' avoid all ostentation and in Judaism. St. Paul's 'often fast-
display ' ; but this is not the same ings ' were due to circumstances,
thing as a command to fast ; it is like his shipwreck, in which food
rather permissive than jussive. was not procurable. In the three

It is plain that there is little remaining passages (Mark ix. 29,

authority for fasting in the New 1 Cor. vii. 5, and Acts x. 30) the

Testament. It is nowhere definitely word 'fasting ' is interpolated, and is

prescribed. Our Lord and His dis- not in the original text. These, and

ciples did not fast, though He the passage now under consideration,

predicted that they would fast when are the only ones in the N.T. in

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VII 463

Lord has graciously annexed to the due discharge of it : ' Thy
Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.' Such
are the plain grounds, reasons, and ends of fasting ; such our
encouragement to persevere therein, notwithstanding abund-
ance of objections which men, wiser than their Lord, have been
continually raising against it.

III. 1. The most plausible of these I come now to consider.
And, first, it has been frequently said, ' Let a Christian fast
from sin, and not from food : this is what God requires at his
hands.' So He does ; but He requires the other also. There-
fore this ought to be done, and that not left undone.

View your argument in its full dimensions ; and you will
easily judge of the strength of it : —

If a Christian ought to abstain from sin, then he ought not
to abstain from food :

But a Christian ought to abstain from sin :

Therefore he ought not to abstain from food.

That a Christian ought to abstain from sin, is most true;
but how does it follow from hence that he ought not to abstain
from food ? Yea, let him do both the one and the other.
Let him, by the grace of God, always abstain from sin ; and
let him often abstain from food, for such reasons and ends as
experience and Scripture plainly show to be answered thereby.

2. ' But is it not better ' (as it has, secondly, been objected)
' to abstain from pride and vanity, from foolish and hurtful
desires, from peevishness, and anger, and discontent, than
from food ? ' Without question, it is. But here again we
have need to remind you of our Lord's words : ' These things
ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.'
And, indeed, the latter is only in order to the former ; it is a
means to that great end. We abstain from food with this
view, — that, by the grace of God conveyed into our souls

which fasting is as much as men- prompted to do so, and finds the

tioned. So that every Christian practice profitable. And if he does,

man is fully entitled to use his own he will find the counsels of the fourth

judgement in the matter. He is section of this sermon an admirable

free to fast, if he feels himself guide.

464 Sermon XXII

through this outward means, in conjunction with all the other
channels of His grace which He hath appointed, we may be
enabled to abstain from every passion and temper which is not
pleasing in His sight. We refrain from the one, that, being
endued with power from on high, we may be able to refrain
from the other. So that your argument proves just the
contrary to what you designed. It proves that we ought to
fast. For if we ought to abstain from evil tempers and desires,
then we ought thus to abstain from food ; since these little
instances of self-denial are the ways God hath chose, wherein to
bestow that great salvation.

3. ' But we do not find it so in fact ' (this is a third objec-
tion) : ' we have fasted much and often ; but what did it
avail ? We were not a whit better ; we found no blessing
therein. Nay, we have found it an hindrance rather than an
help. Instead of preventing anger, for instance, or fretfulness,
it has been a means of increasing them to such a height, that
we could neither bear others nor ourselves.' This may very
possibly be the case. It is possible either to fast or pray in
such a manner as to make you much worse than before ; more
unhappy, and more unholy. Yet the fault does not lie in the
means itself, but in the manner of using it. Use it still, but
use it in a different manner. Do what God commands as He
commands it ; and then, doubtless, His promise shall not
fail : His blessing shall be withheld no longer ; but, when
thou fastest in secret, ' He that seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly.'

4. ' But is it not mere superstition ' (so it has been,
fourthly, objected), ' to imagine that God regards such little
things as these ? ' If you say it is, you condemn all the
generations of God's children. But will you say, These were
all weak, superstitious men ? Can you be so hardy as to
affirm this, both of Moses and Joshua, of Samuel and David,
of Jehoshaphat, Ezra, Nehemiah, and all the prophets ? yea,
of a greater than all, — the Son of God Himself ? It is certain,
both our Master, and all these His servants, did imagine that
fasting is not a little thing, and that He who is higher than
the highest doth regard it. Of the same judgement, it is plain,

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VII 465

were all His Apostles, ' after they were rilled with the Holy
Ghost, and with wisdom.' When they had the ' unction of
the Holy One, teaching them all things,' they still approved
themselves the ministers of God, ' by fastings,' as well as ' by
the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the
left.' After ' the bridegroom was taken from them, then did
they fast in those days.' Nor would they attempt anything
(as we have seen above) wherein the glory of God was nearly
concerned, such as the sending forth labourers into the harvest,
without solemn fasting as well as prayer.

5. ' But if fasting be indeed of so great importance, and
attended with such a blessing, is it not best,' say some, fifthly,
' to fast always ? not to do it now and then, but to keep a
continual fast ? to use as much abstinence, at all times, as our
bodily strength will bear ? ' Let none be discouraged from
doing this. By all means use as little and plain food, exercise
as much self-denial herein, at all times, as your bodily strength
will bear. And this may conduce, by the blessing of God,
to several of the great ends above mentioned. It may be a
considerable help, not only to chastity, but also to heavenly-
mindedness ; to the weaning your affections from things below,
and setting them on things above. But this is not fasting,
scriptural fasting ; it is never termed so in all the Bible. It,
in some measure, answers some of the ends thereof ; but still
it is another thing. Practise it by all means ; but not so as
thereby to set aside a command of God, and an instituted means
of averting His judgements, and obtaining the blessings of His
children.

6. Use continually then as much abstinence as you please ;
which, taken thus, is no other than Christian temperance ;
but this need not at all interfere with your observing solemn
times of fasting and prayer. For instance : your habitual
abstinence or temperance would not prevent your fasting in
secret, if you were suddenly overwhelmed with huge sorrow
and remorse, and with horrible fear and dismay. Such a
situation of mind would almost constrain you to fast : you
would loathe your daily food ; you would scarce endure even
to take such supplies as were needful for the body, till God

w.s.s. 1 — 30

466 Sermon XXII

' lifted you up out of the horrible pit, and set your feet upon
a rock, and ordered your goings.' The same would be the
case, if you were in agony of desire, vehemently wrestling
with God for His blessing. You would need none to instruct
you not to eat bread till you had obtained the request of
your lips.

7. Again : had you been at Nineveh when it was pro-
claimed throughout the city, ' Let neither man nor beast,
herd nor flock, taste anything ; let them not feed or drink
water, but let them cry mightily unto God ' ; would your
continual fast have been any reason for not bearing part in
that general humiliation ? Doubtless it would not. You
would have been as much concerned as any other not to taste
food on that day.

No more would abstinence, or the observing a continual
fast, have excused any of the children of Israel from fasting
on the tenth day of the seventh month, the great annual day
of atonement. There was no exception for these in that
solemn decree, ' Whatsoever soul it be, that shall not be
afflicted,' shall not fast, ' in that day, he shall be cut off from
among his people.'

Lastly, had you been with the brethren in Antioch, at the
time when they fasted and prayed, before the sending forth
of Barnabas and Saul, can you possibly imagine that your
temperance or abstinence would have been a sufficient cause
for not joining therein ? Without doubt, if you had not, you
would soon have been cut off from the Christian community.
You would have deservedly been cast out from among them, as
bringing confusion into the church of God.

IV. 1. I am, in the last place, to show, in what manner we
are to fast, that it may be an acceptable service unto the Lord.
And, first, let it be done unto the Lord, with our eye singly
fixed on Him. Let our intention herein be this, and this alone,
to glorify our Father which is in heaven ; to express our
sorrow and shame for our manifold transgressions of His holy
law ; to wait for an increase of purifying grace, drawing our
affections to things above ; to add seriousness and earnestness

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VII 467

to our prayers ; to avert the wrath of God ; and to obtain all
the great and precious promises which He hath made to us
in Jesus Christ.

Let us beware of mocking God, of turning our fast, as
well as our prayers, into an abomination unto the Lord, by
the mixture of any temporal view, particularly by seeking the
praise of men. Against this our blessed Lord more peculiarly
guards us in the words of the text. ' Moreover, when ye
fast, be ye not as the hypocrites ' — such were too many who
were called the people of God ; ' of a sad countenance ' ; sour,
affectedly sad, putting their looks into a peculiar form. ' For
they disfigure their faces,' not only by unnatural distortions,
but also by covering them with dust and ashes ; ' that they
may appear unto men to fast ' ; this is their chief, if not only,
design. ' Verily I say unto you, they have their reward ' ;
even the admiration and praise of men. ' But thou, when
thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face ' : do as thou
art accustomed to do at other times ; ' that thou appear not
unto men to fast ' : let this be no part of thy intention ; if
they know it without any design of thine, it matters not, thou
art neither the better nor the worse ; ' but unto thy Father
which is in secret : and thy Father, which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly.'

2. But, if we desire this reward, let us beware, secondly,
of fancying we merit anything of God by our fasting. We
cannot be too often warned of this ; inasmuch as a desire to
' establish our own righteousness,' to procure salvation of debt
and not of grace, is so deeply rooted in all our hearts. Fasting
is only a way which God hath ordained, wherein we wait
for His unmerited mercy ; and wherein, without any desert
of ours, He hath promised freely to give us His blessing.

3. Not that we are to imagine, the performing the bare
outward act will receive any blessing from God. ' Is it such
a fast that I have chosen, saith the Lord ; a day for a man to
afflict his soul ? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and
to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? ' Are these out-
ward acts, however strictly performed, all that is meant by a
man's ' afflicting his soul ' ? ' Wilt thou call this a fast.

468 Sermon XXII

and an acceptable day to the Lord ? ' No, surely : if it be a
mere external service, it is all but lost labour. Such a per-
formance may possibly afflict the body ; but, as to the soul, it
profiteth nothing.

4. Yea, the body may sometimes be afflicted too much, so
as to be unfit for the works of our calling. This also we are
diligently to guard against ; for we ought to preserve our
health, as a good gift of God. Therefore care is to be taken,
whenever we fast, to proportion the fast to our strength.
For we may not offer God murder for sacrifice, or destroy our
bodies to help our souls.

But at these solemn seasons, we may, even in great weakness
of body, avoid that other extreme, for which God condemns
those who of old expostulated with Him for not accepting
their fasts. ' Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou
seest not ? . . . Behold, in the day of your fast you find
pleasure, saith the Lord.' If we cannot wholly abstain from
food, we may, at least, abstain from pleasant food ; and then
we shall not seek His face in vain.

5. But let us take care to afflict our souls as well as our
bodies. Let every season, either of public or private fasting,
be a season of exercising all those holy affections which are
implied in a broken and contrite heart. Let it be a season
of devout mourning, of godly sorrow for sin ; such a sorrow
as that of the Corinthians, concerning which the Apostle
saith, ' I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after a
godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
For godly sorrow,' 97 Kara ©eov Xvirrj — the sorrow which is
according to God, which is a precious gift of His Spirit, lifting
the soul to God from whom it flows — ' worketh repentance to
salvation, not to be repented of.' Yea, and let our sorrowing
after a godly sort work in us the same inward and outward
repentance ; the same entire change of heart, renewed after

IV. 5. The passage quoted should ance of evil ' — an advice which
be rendered, ' Abstain from every would often hinder the Christian
kind of evil,' not ' from all appear- from many forms of good work.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VII 469

the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness ; and
the same change of life, till we are holy as He is holy, in all
manner of conversation. Let it work in us the same carefulness
to be found in Him, without spot and blameless ; the same
clearing of ourselves, by our lives rather than words, by our
abstaining from all appearance of evil ; the same indignation,
vehement abhorrence of every sin ; the same fear of our own
deceitful hearts ; the same desire to be in all things conformed
to the holy and acceptable will of God ; the same zeal for
whatever may be a means of His glory, and of our growth in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and the same revenge
against Satan and all his works, against all filthiness both of
flesh and spirit (2 Cor. vii. 9, &c).

6. And with fasting let us always join fervent prayer,
pouring out our whole souls before God, confessing our sins
with all their aggravations, humbling ourselves under His
mighty hand, laying open before Him all our wants, all our
guiltiness and helplessness. This is a season for enlarging
our prayers, both in behalf of ourselves and of our brethren.
Let us now bewail the sins of our people ; and cry aloud for
the city of our God, that the Lord may build up Zion, and
cause His face to shine on her desolations. Thus, we may
observe, the men of God, in ancient times, always joined
prayer and fasting together ; thus the Apostles, in all the
instances cited above ; and thus our Lord joins them in the
discourse before us.

7. It remains only, in order to our observing such a fast
as is acceptable to the Lord, that we add alms thereto ; works
of mercy, after our power, both to the bodies and souls of
men : ' With such sacrifices ' also ' God is well pleased.' Thus
the angel declares to Cornelius, fasting and praying in his
house, ' Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God' (Acts x. 4, &c). And thus God Him-
self expressly and largely declares : ' Is not this the fast that
I have chosen ? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye
break every yoke ? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house ?

470 Sermon XXII

when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that
thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh ? Then shall thy
light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring
forth speedily : and thy righteousness shall go before thee ;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou
call, and the Lord shall answer : thou shalt cry, and He shall
say, Here I am. . . .If,' when thou fastest, ' thou draw out thy
soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shall
thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon- day.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul
in drought, and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be like
a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail
not ' (Isa. lviii. 6, &c).

SERMON XXIII
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE VIII

This sermon was begun on Thursday, January 29, 1736, whilst Wesley
was on his voyage to Georgia, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm,
and was finished in the course of the next few days {Journal, Standard
Edition, i. 144). It is based on chaps, iv and vi of Law's Serious Call,
from which it has some long quotations. I find in the sermon-register
that Wesley preached from verse 20 at the Foundery on November 9,
1760 ; and from verse 22 at Epworth on August 2, and at the Foundery
on November 11 of the next year. He returned to the same subject
towards the close of his life in the sermons on The Single Eye (No.
CXVIII) written at Bristol on September 25, 1789, and on Worldly
Folly (No. CXIX), written at Balham on February 19, 1790. In the
first of these he refers both to Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and to
Law's Serious Call, which he characterizes as ' a treatise which will
hardly be excelled, if it be equalled, in the English tongue, either for
beauty of expression or for justness and depth of thought.' It is
good to find that his quarrel with Law had not blotted from his memory
the blessing he had received from his works in the earlier stages of his
religious development. Sermons XLIV (The Use of Money) and LI
(The Good Steward) should be read along with this discourse, as
representing Wesley's more mature thoughts on the right attitude of
the Christian towards worldly wealth.

Neither Wesley nor Law quite realized the direct bearing of the
saying about the single eye on the earlier verses of the passage. They
both take the phrase to indicate purity of intention, the fixing of the
eye of the soul entirely upon God. But in Jewish usage an evil eye
means specifically niggardliness, and a good or sound eye liberality.
Thus Deut. xv. 9 : ' Beware lest . . . thine eye be evil against thy poor
brother and thou give him nought ; Prov. xxiii. 6 : ' Eat not thou
the bread of him that hath an evil eye . . . for, Eat and drink, saith
he to thee ; but his heart is not with thee ' ; Prov. xxviii. 22 : 'He
that hath an evil eye hasteth after riches ' ; Prov. xxii. 9 : 'He that
hath a good eye shall be blessed ; for he giveth of his bread to the
poor'; Ecclus. xiv. 10 : ' An evil eye is grudging of bread, and he is

47i

472 Sermon XXIII

miserly at his table.' A good or sound eye is therefore an eye that
looks generously upon the poor ; and the phrase ' Let thine eye be
single ' is in direct antithesis to the hoarding-up of treasures upon
earth. The eye is thought of as the channel through which light
comes into the body ; if it is ottXoOs, i.e. healthy, the light comes in
freely ; but if it is diseased, the light is obstructed. So if a man is
generous, the light of God comes into his soul ; he knows God through
sympathy with God's own goodness ; but if he is mean and miserly,
he shuts God out of his heart, and he becomes ever darker and darker
in his spiritual conceptions. One feels sorry to interfere with an
interpretation which has been so common, and which has given to the
phrase ' a single eye ' such a well-understood meaning in devotional
literature ; but truth must prevail.

In regard to verses 19 and 20, two things must be observed : First,
that we have here an example of the common Hebrew idiom of exag-
gerated antithesis. When two things are to be compared, instead of
saying 'This is preferable to that,' Hebrew rhetoric says, 'That is
bad and this is good ' ; or if two courses of action are in question,
instead of saying, ' Do this rather than that,' it says, ' Do not do that,
but do this.' Thus Jeremiah (vii. 22) says, ' I spake not unto your
fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out
of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices; but
this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I
will be your God,' i.e. obedience is better than sacrifice (cf. Isa. i. 10-
17). In Luke xiv. 26 our Lord says, ' If any man cometh unto Me,
and hateth not his own father and mother ... he cannot be My dis-
ciple ' ; in Matt. x. 37 the saying is given without the rhetorical figure,
' He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me.' So in Rom. ix. 13: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' In
Luke xiv. 12 our Lord says, ' When thou makest a dinner or a supper,
call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, . . . but bid the poor, the maimed,
the lame, the blind.' This is not a prohibition of friendly mutual
entertainments, but means that it is better to entertain the poor than
to make feasts for one's friends. Matt. x. 20 : ' It is not ye who
speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.' So here
we have not an absolute prohibition of saving money ; the meaning
is that it is better to lay up treasure in heaven by giving to the poor
than to hoard money for oneself.

Second, the profound difference between the economic conditions
of our Lord's time and those under which we live must not be forgotten.
In those days practically the only way in which the peasants in our
Lord's congregation could save money or jewellery was by burying it
in the ground, like the unprofitable servant in the parable, where it
would be liable to be corroded and spoilt ; or by concealing it in their
houses, where it might easily be stolen. There was no method by

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VIII 473

which money could be at once saved for the owner's future use, and
meantime employed in productive service. Nowadays, through
savings banks and building societies and insurance companies, a poor
man can invest his savings, so that they will be available for himself
and his family in time of sickness or old age, and in the meantime will
become part of the working capital of the community and be used
in productive activities. And his money will do far more good in
that way than if he gave the few shillings of his monthly savings to
the poor directly. Similarly, the man who is making large profits in
his business benefits the poor far more by increasing his business, and
so finding employment for them, than by indiscriminate charity.
There will always be plenty of opportunity for generous giving to the
sick and the aged and the unfortunate as well ; but the best use of
wealth is to employ it in finding remunerative work for those who want
it. The motive is everything. What our Lord does positively forbid
is the engaging in business solely for the sake of making money for
oneself ; and the spending of our profits in selfish and extravagant
indulgences, or hoarding them for the sake of ultimately possessing a
great fortune.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth

corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal :
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust

doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal :
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye be single thy whole

body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If

therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is thai

darkness I — Matt. vi. 19-23.

I. From those which are commonly termed religious actions,
and which are real branches of true religion, where they
spring from a pure and holy intention, and are performed in a
manner suitable thereto, our Lord proceeds to the actions of
common life ; and shows that the same purity of intention is
as indispensably required in our ordinary business, as in giving
alms, or fasting, or prayer.

And without question, the same purity of intention, ' which
makes our alms and devotions acceptable, must also make our

Par. 1. The quotation is from a few verbal alterations. Wesley
Law's Serious Call, ch. iv, p. 51, with was not as conscientiously exact in

474 Sermon XXIII

labour or employment a proper offering to God. If a man
pursues his business, that he may raise himself to a state of
figure and riches in the world, he is no longer serving God in
his employment, and has no more title to a reward from God,
than he who gives alms that he may be seen, or prays that
he may be heard, of men. For vain and earthly designs are
no more allowable in our employments, than in our alms and
devotions. They are not only evil when they mix with our
good works,' with our religious actions, ' but they have the
same evil nature when they enter into the common business of
our employments. If it were allowable to pursue them in our
worldly employments, it would be allowable to pursue them in
our devotions. But as our alms and devotions are not an
acceptable service but when they proceed from a pure in-
tention, so our common employment cannot be reckoned a
service to Him but when it is performed with the same piety
of heart.'

2. This our blessed Lord declares in the liveliest manner,
in those strong and comprehensive words, which He explains,
enforces, and enlarges upon, throughout this whole chapter :
' The light of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye
be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.' The eye is
the intention : what the eye is to the body, the intention is to
the soul. As the one guides all the motions of the body, so
does the other those of the soul. This eye of the soul is then
said to be single, when it looks at one thing only ; when we
have no other design, but to ' know God, and Jesus Christ
whom He hath sent ' — to know Him with suitable affections,
loving Him as He hath loved us ; to please God in all things ;
to serve God (as we love Him) with all our heart, and mind,
and soul, and strength ; and to enjoy God in all, and above all
things, in time and in eternity.

his quotations as he demanded that tation of ' the single eye ' cannot be

others should be in quoting his maintained. The word translated

hymns. In this short passage there ' single ' means ' sound,' ' uncompli-

are seven words altered to others, cated by disease ' ; and then ' boun-

and over thirty omitted. tiful.' It does not mean ' looking

2. As we have seen, this interpre- at one thing only.'

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : VIII 475

3. ' If thine eye be ' thus ' single,' thus fixed on God,
' thy whole body shall be full of light.' ' Thy whole body ' :
— all that is guided by the intention, as the body is by the eye :
all thou art ; all thou doest ; thy desires, tempers, affections ;
thy thoughts, and words, and actions. The whole of these
' shall be full of light ' ; full of true, divine knowledge. This
is the first thing we may here understand by light. ' In His
light thou shalt see light.' ' He which of old commanded
light to shine out of darkness, shall shine in thy heart ' :
He shall enlighten the eyes of thy understanding with the
knowledge of the glory of God. His Spirit shall reveal unto
thee the deep things of God. The inspiration of the Holy
One shall give thee understanding, and cause thee to know
wisdom secretly. Yea, the anointing which thou receivest
of Him ' shall abide in thee, and teach thee of all things.'

How does experience confirm this ! Even after God hath
opened the eyes of our understanding, if we seek or desire
anything else than God, how soon is our foolish heart darkened !
Then clouds again rest upon our souls. Doubts and fears again
overwhelm us. We are tossed to and fro, and know not what
to do, or which is the path wherein we should go. But when
we desire and seek nothing but God, clouds and doubts vanish
away. We who ' were sometimes darkness are now light in
the Lord.' The night now shineth as the day ; and we find ' the
path of the upright is light.' God showeth us the path wherein
we should go, and maketh plain the way before our face.

4. The second thing which we may here understand by
light, is holiness. While thou seekest God in all things, thou
shalt find Him in all — the fountain of all holiness continually
filling thee with His own likeness, with justice, mercy, and
truth. While thou lookest unto Jesus, and Him alone, thou
shalt be filled with the mind that was in Him. Thy soul shall
be renewed day by day, after the image of Him that created
it. If the eye of thy mind be not removed from Him, if thou
endurest ' seeing Him that is invisible,' and seeking nothing
else in heaven or earth, then as thou beholdest the glory of
the Lord, thou shalt be transformed ' into the same image, from
glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.'

476 Sermon XXIII

And it is also matter of daily experience, that ' by grace
we are ' thus ' saved through faith.' It is by faith that the
eye of the mind is opened, to see the light of the glorious
love of God : and as long as it is steadily fixed thereon, on
God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, we are
more and more filled with the love of God and man ; with
meekness, gentleness, long-suffering ; with all the fruits of
holiness which are through Christ Jesus, to the glory of God
the Father.

5. This light which fills him who has a single eye implies,
thirdly, happiness, as well as holiness. Surely ' light is sweet,
and a pleasant thing it is to see the sun.' But how much
more, to see the Sun of Righteousness continually shining
upon the soul ! And if there be any consolation in Christ, if
any comfort of love, if any peace that passeth all understand-
ing, if any rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, they all
belong to him whose eye is single. Thus is his ' whole body
full of light.' He walketh in the light as God is in the light,
rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, and in everything
giving thanks ; enjoying whatever is the will of God concern-
ing him in Christ Jesus.

6. ' But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full
of darkness.' ' If thine eye be evil ' : we see there is no medium
between a single and an evil eye. If the eye be not single, then
it is evil. If the intention, in whatever we do, be not singly to
God, if we seek anything else, then our mind and conscience are
defiled.

Our eye therefore is evil, if, in anything we do, we aim at
any other end than God ; if we have any view, but to know
and to love God, to please and serve Him in all things ; if we
have any other design than to enjoy God, to be happy in Him
both now and for ever.

7. If thine eye be not singly fixed on God, ' thy whole
body shall be full of darkness.' The veil shall still remain
on thy heart. Thy mind shall be more and more blinded by
' the god of this world,' ' lest the light of the glorious gospel

6. ' Evil ' means primarily ' diseased,' and then, according to Hebrew

usage, ' niggardly.'

- i

... ._ «• * A/A

f^'

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 477

of Christ should shine upon thee.' Thou wilt be full of
ignorance and error touching the things of God, not being able
to receive or discern them. And even when thou hast some
desire to serve God, thou wilt be full of uncertainty as to the
manner of serving Him ; finding doubts and difficulties on
every side, and not seeing any way to escape.

Yea, if thine eye be not single, if thou seek any of the
things of earth, thou shalt be full of ungodliness and un-
righteousness ; thy desires, tempers, affections, being all out
of course ; being all dark, and vile, and vain. And thy con-
versation will be evil, as well as thy heart ; not ' seasoned
with salt,' or ' meet to minister grace unto the hearers ' ;
but idle, unprofitable, corrupt, grievous to the Holy Spirit of
God.

8. Both destruction and unhappiness are in thy ways ;
' for the way of peace hast thou not known.' There is no
peace, no settled, solid peace, for them that know not God.
There is no true nor lasting content for any who do not seek
Him with their whole heart. While thou aimest at any of the
things that perish, ' all that cometh is vanity ' ; yea, not only
vanity, but ' vexation of spirit ' ; and that both in the pursuit
and the enjoyment also. Thou walkest indeed in a vain shadow,
and disquietest thyself in vain. Thou walkest in darkness
that may be felt. Sleep on ; but thou canst not take thy rest.
The dreams of life can give pain ; and that thou knowest : but
ease they cannot give. There is no rest in this world or the
world to come, but only in God, the centre of spirits.

' If the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is
that darkness ! ' If the intention, which ought to enlighten
the whole soul, to fill it with knowledge, and love, and peace,
and which in fact does, so long as it is single, as long as it
aims at God alone,- — if this be darkness ; if it aim at anything
beside God, and consequently cover the soul with darkness
instead of light, with ignorance and error, with sin and misery ;

8. The correct rendering is ' how Milton's ' Chaos and eternal night '

great is the [not that] darkness ! ' described in the second book of

' Essential night ' : absolute night. Paradise Lost.
Probably Wesley was thinking of

478 Sermon XXIII

O how great is that darkness ! It is the very smoke which
ascends out of the bottomless pit ! It is the essential night
which reigns in the lowest deep, in the land of the shadow of
death !

9. Therefore, ' lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal.' If you do, it is plain your eye is
evil ; it is not singly fixed on God.

With regard to most of the commandments of God,
whether relating to the heart or life, the Heathens of Africa
or America stand much on a level with those that are called
Christians. The Christians observe them (a few only being
excepted) very near as much as the Heathens. For instance :
the generality of the natives of England, commonly called
Christians, are as sober and as temperate as the generality of
the Heathens near the Cape of Good Hope. And so the
Dutch or French Christians are as humble and as chaste as
the Choctaw or Cherokee Indians. It is not easy to say, when
we compare the bulk of the nations in Europe with those in
America, whether the superiority lies on the one side or the
other. At least, the American has not much the advantage.
But we cannot affirm this with regard to the command now
before us. Here the Heathen has far the pre-eminence. He
desires and seeks nothing more than plain food to eat, and
plain raiment to put on ; and he seeks this only from day to
day : he reserves, he lays up nothing ; unless it be as much

9. Note the bitter irony of this least polished, that is, the least cor-

whole section. By the Africans rupted, of all the Indian nations.'

Wesley means the Hottentots and They lived at this time in Alabama

Kaffirs in Cape Colony. ' Dutch or and Mississippi, eight or nine hundred

French Christians are the German miles west of Savannah. They were

and French settlers in Georgia and allied with the French of Louisiana

Louisiana.' The Americans are for some time, but ultimately came

the aboriginal Indians of North into friendly relations with the

America, to whom Wesley was on English. There are still some 20,000

his way as a missionary. He tried of them, but they are settled to the

to get to the Choctaws in June 1736, west of their old home. The Chero-

but Oglethorpe refused to give him kees were settled in Georgia and

leave. He describes them as 'the Alabama, three or four hundred miles

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 479

corn at one season of the year as he will need before that
season returns. This command, therefore, the Heathens,
though they know it not, do constantly and punctually observe.
They ' lay up for themselves no treasures upon earth ' ; no
stores of purple or fine linen, of gold or silver, which either
' moth or rust may corrupt, or thieves break through and
steal.' But how do the Christians observe what they profess
to receive as a command of the most high God ? Not at all ;
not in any degree ; no more than if no such command had
ever been given to man. Even the good Christians, as they
are accounted by others as well as themselves, pay no manner
of regard thereto. It might as well be still hid in its original
Greek, for any notice they take of it. In what Christian city
do you find one man of five hundred, who makes the least
scruple of laying up just as much treasure as he can — of
increasing his goods just as far as he is able ? There are,
indeed, those who would not do this unjustly : there are many
who will neither rob nor steal ; and some who will not defraud
their neighbour ; nay, who will not gain either by his igno-
rance or necessity. But this is quite another point. Even
these do not scruple the thing, but the manner of it. They
do not scruple the ' laying up treasures upon earth ' ; but the
laying them up by dishonesty. They do not start at disobey-
ing Christ, but at a breach of heathen morality. So that
even these honest men do no more obey this command than a
highwayman or a house-breaker. Nay, they never designed
to obey it. From their youth up, it never entered into their

west of Savannah. Wesley describes was idealized into something very
them as temperate but covetous — different from the fact. But Wesley
' a vice,' he says, ' scarcely to be soon found him out ; and his account
found in any Indian but a Cherokee.' of him may be read in the Standard
There are still some 20,000 of them Edition of the Journal, i. p. 406-9.
in the Indian territory of the U.S.A. ' They are all,' he says, ' except per-
Evidently Wesley, like many of his haps the Choctaws, gluttons, drunk-
contemporaries, was still suffering ards, thieves, dissemblers, liars,'
from the illusion that the Indians with much more to the same effect,
were living the simple life of nature, ' Start at,' i.e. shrink from,
free from all the vices of European Highwaymen were common ob-
civilization. ' The noble Red Man ' jects of the road in Wesley's time.

480 Sermon XXIII

thoughts. They were bred up by their Christian parents,
masters, and friends, without any instruction at all concerning
it ; unless it were this, — to break it as soon and as much as
they could, and to continue breaking it to their lives' end.

10. There is no one instance of spiritual infatuation in the
world which is more amazing than this. Most of these very
men read, or hear the Bible read — many of them every Lord's
day. They have read or heard these words an hundred times,
and yet never suspect that they are themselves condemned
thereby, any more than by those which forbid parents to offer
up their sons or daughters unto Moloch. 0 that God would
speak to these miserable self-deceivers with His own voice, His
mighty voice ; that they may at last awake out of the snare of
the devil, and the scales may fall from their eyes !

11. Do you ask what it is to ' lay up treasures on earth ' ?
It will be needful to examine this thoroughly. And let us,
first, observe what is not forbidden in this command, that we
may then clearly discern what is.

We are not forbidden in this command, first, to ' provide
things honest in the sight of all men,' to provide wherewith
we may render unto all their due, whatsoever they can justly
demand of us. So far from it, that we are taught of God to
' owe no man anything.' We ought, therefore, to use all
diligence in our calling, in order to owe no man anything ; this
being no other than a plain law of common justice, which our
Lord came ' not to destroy, but to fulfil.'

Neither, secondly, does He here forbid the providing for
ourselves such things as are needful for the body ; a sufficiency
of plain, wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on.
Yea, it is our duty, so far as God puts it into our power, to
provide these things also ; to the end we may eat our own
bread, and be burdensome to no man.

Nor yet are we forbidden, thirdly, to provide for our children,
and for those of our own household. This also it is our duty

11. This passage is unfortunately 'honourable'; it did not mean

translated, because the word 'honest* 'paying twenty shillings in the

has changed its meaning since the pound.' What St. Paul says is, ' We

A.V. was made. The old meaning is take thought beforehand for things

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 481

to do, even upon principles of heathen morality. Every man
ought to provide the plain necessaries of life, both for his own
wife and children ; and to put them into a capacity of providing
these for themselves, when he is gone hence and is no more seen.
I say, of providing these ; the plain necessaries of life ; not
delicacies ; not superfluities ; — and that by their diligent
labour ; for it is no man's duty to furnish them, any more than
himself, with the means either of luxury or idleness. But if
any man provide not thus far for his own children (as well
as for the widows of his own house, of whom primarily St.
Paul is speaking in those well-known words to Timothy), he
hath practically ' denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel,'
or Heathen.

Lastly. We are not forbidden, in these words, to lay up,
from time to time, what is needful for the carrying on our
worldly business, in such a measure and degree as is sufficient
to answer the foregoing purposes, — in such a measure as, first,
to owe no man anything ; secondly, to procure for ourselves
the necessaries of life ; and, thirdly, to furnish those of our
own house with them while we live, and with the means of pro-
curing them when we are gone to God.

12. We may now clearly discern (unless we are unwilling
to discern it) what that is which is forbidden here. It is, the
designedly procuring more of this world's goods than will
answer the foregoing purposes. The labouring after a larger
measure of worldly substance, a larger increase of gold and
silver — the laying up any more than these ends require — is
what is here expressly and absolutely forbidden. If the
words have any meaning at all, it must be this ; for they are
capable of no other. Consequently, whoever he is that, owing
no man anything, and having food and raiment for himself
and his household, together with a sufficiency to carry on his
worldly business, so far as answers these reasonable purposes ;

1
1

honourable,' i.e. in the matter of the
handling of the collection for the
saints at Jerusalem.

The passage in i Tim. v. 16 runs,
' If any believer, man or woman,
have widows,' i.e. members of his
w.s.s. 1 — 31

family who are widows, ' let him
relieve them.'

12. In Sermon XLIV, section I,
Wesley allows a good deal more
than this. He says, ' Gain all you
can by honest industry ' ; and urges

482 Sermon XXIII

whosoever, I say, being already in these circumstances, seeks a
still larger portion on earth ; he lives in an open, habitual
denial of the Lord that bought him. ' He hath ' practically
' denied the faith, and is worse than ' an African or American
' infidel.'

13. Hear ye this, all ye that dwell in the world, and love
the world wherein ye dwell ! Ye may be ' highly esteemed
of men ' ; but ye are ' an abomination in the sight of God ' !
How long shall your souls cleave to the dust ? How long
will ye load yourselves with thick clay ? When will ye awake
and see, that the open, speculative Heathens are nearer the
kingdom of heaven than you ? When will ye be persuaded to
choose the better part ; that which cannot be taken away from
you ? When will ye seek only to ' lay up treasures in heaven ' ;
renouncing, dreading, abhorring all other ? If you aim at
' laying up treasures on earth,' you are not barely losing your
time, and spending your strength for that which is not bread ;
for what is the fruit if you succeed ? You have murdered
your own soul ! You have extinguished the last spark of
spiritual life therein ! Now indeed, in the midst of life, you
are in death ! You are a living man, but a dead Christian !
' For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'
Your heart is sunk into the dust j your soul cleaveth to the
ground. Your affections are set, not on things above, but on
things of the earth ; on poor husks, that may poison, but can-
not satisfy, an everlasting spirit, made for God. Your love,
your joy, your desire, are all placed on the things which perish
in the using. You have thrown away the treasure in heaven.
God and Christ are lost ! You have gained riches and hell-fire !

14. O ' how hardly shall they that have riches enter into
the kingdom of God ! ' When our Lord's disciples were
astonished at His speaking thus, He was so far from retracting

his hearers to be diligent in business, they can, after making provision for

to learn all they can from experience, themselves and their families, as is

and to make the best of all that is here specified.

in their hands ; and then to save all 13. 'The open, speculative hea-

they can by retrenching needless thens.' I suppose he means the

and foolish expenses. But all this Greek and Roman philosophers, who

is in order that they may give all are avowedly not Christians.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 483

it, that He repeated the same important truth in stronger
terms than before. ' It is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God.' How hard is it for them, whose every word
is applauded, not to be wise in their own eyes ! How hard for
them not to think themselves better than the poor, base,
uneducated herd of men ! How hard not to seek happiness in
their riches, or in things dependent upon them ; in gratifying
the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life !
O ye rich, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ? Only
with God all things are possible !

15. And even if you do not succeed, what is the fruit of
your endeavouring to lay up treasures on earth ? ' They
that will be rich,' 01 /3ov\6/j,evoi nrXovrelv, they that desire,
that endeavour after it, whether they succeed or no, ' fall
into temptation and a snare ' — a gin, a trap of the devil ; ' and
into many foolish and hurtful lusts ' — eTrtdv/j,ia<; avojjrovs,
desires, with which reason hath nothing to do ; such as properly
belong not to rational and immortal beings, but only to the
brute beasts, which have no understanding ; ' which drown
men in destruction and perdition,' in present and eternal
misery. Let us but open our eyes, and we may daily see the
melancholy proofs of this — men who, desiring, resolving to be
rich, coveting after money, the root of all evil, have already
pierced themselves through with many sorrows, and anticipated
the hell to which they are going !

The cautiousness with which the Apostle here speaks is
highly observable. He does not affirm this absolutely of the
rich : for a man may possibly be rich, without any fault of
his, by an overruling Providence, preventing his own choice ;
but he affirms it of ol ftovXo/xevoi irXovretv, those who desire
or seek to be rich. Riches, dangerous as they are, do not always
' drown men in destruction and perdition ' ; but the desire
of riches does. Those who calmly desire, and deliberately
seek to attain them, whether they do, in fact, gain the world or
no, do infallibly lose their own souls. These are they that sell

rU<

15. ' The root of all evil ' should be ' a root of all kinds of evil,'

484 Sermon XXIII

Him who bought them with His blood, for a few pieces of gold
or silver. These enter into a covenant with death and hell ;
and their covenant shall stand : for they are daily making
themselves meet to partake of their inheritance with the devil
and his angels.

16. O who shall warn this generation of vipers to flee from
the wrath to come ! Not those who lie at their gate, or cringe
at their feet, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from
their tables. Not those who court their favour, or fear their
frown ; none of those who mind earthly things. But if there
be a Christian upon earth, if there be a man who hath overcome
the world, who desires nothing but God, and fears none but
Him that is able to destroy both body and soul in hell ; ' thou,
O man of God, speak, and spare not ; lift up thy voice like
a trumpet.' Cry aloud, and show these honourable sinners
the desperate condition wherein they stand ! It may be,
one in a thousand may have ears to hear ; may arise and
shake himself from the dust ; may break loose from these
chains that bind him to the earth, and at length lay up treasures
in heaven.

17. And if it should be, that one of these by the mighty
power of God awoke and asked, ' What must I do to be saved ? '
the answer, according to the oracles of God, is clear, full, and
express. God doth not say to thee, ' Sell all that thou hast.'
Indeed, He who seeth the hearts of men saw it needful to
enjoin this in one peculiar case, that of the young rich ruler.
But He never laid it down for a general rule to all rich men,
in all succeeding generations. His general direction is, first,
' Be not high-minded.' God seeth not as man seeth. He
esteems thee not for thy riches, for thy grandeur or equipage,
for any qualification or accomplishment which is directly or
indirectly owing to thy wealth, which can be bought or pro-
cured thereby. All these are with Him as dung and dross :
let them be so with thee also. Beware thou think not thyself
to be one jot wiser or better for all these things. Weigh thy-
self in another balance : estimate thyself only by the measure
of faith and love which God hath given thee. If thou hast
more of the knowledge and love of God than he, thou art on

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 485

this account, and no other, wiser and better, more valuable
and honourable, than him who is with the dogs of thy flock.
But if thou hast not this treasure, thou art more foolish, more
vile, more truly contemptible, I will not say than the lowest
servant under thy roof, but than the beggar laid at thy gate
full of sores.

18. Secondly. ' Trust not in uncertain riches.' Trust not
in them for help : and trust not in them for happiness.

First. Trust not in them for help. Thou art miserably
mistaken, if thou lookest for this in gold or silver. These are
no more able to set thee above the world, than to set thee above
the devil. Know that both the world, and the prince of this
world, laugh at all such preparations against them. These
will little avail in the day of trouble ; even if they remain in
the trying hour. But it is not certain that they will ; for how
oft do they ' make themselves wings and fly away ' ! But
if not, what support will they afford, even in the ordinary
troubles of life ? The desire of thy eyes, the wife of thy youth,
thy son, thine only son, or the friend which was as thy own
soul, is taken away at a stroke. Will thy riches reanimate
the breathless clay, or call back its late inhabitant ? Will
they secure thee from sickness, diseases, pain ? Do these
visit the poor only ? Nay, he that feeds thy flocks, or tills
thy ground, has less sickness and pain than thou. He is more
rarely visited by these unwelcome guests ; and if they come
there at all, they are more easily driven away from the little
cot, than from ' the cloud-topt palaces.' And during the
time that thy body is chastened with pain, or consumes away
with pining sickness, how do thy treasures help thee ? Let
the poor Heathen answer, —

Ut lippum pictae tabulae, /omenta podagrum,
Auriculas citharae collectd sorde dolentes.

18. ' The cloud-topt palaces.' A 1732 and had certainly been read

reminiscence of Shakespeare, Tern- by Wesley.

pest, iv. i. 152 : ' The cloud-capt ' The poor heathen ' is Horace,

towers, the gorgeous palaces ' ; per- for whom Wesley seems to have had

haps affected by the ' cloud-topt a great contempt. The quotation is

hill ' of Pope's Essay on Man, i. 100, from his Epistles, i. 2. 52. The pre-

which had just been published in vious line is needed to complete the

486 Sermon XXIII

19. But there is at hand a greater trouble than all these.
Thou art to die ! Thou art to sink into dust ; to return to the
ground from which thou wast taken; to mix with common
clay. Thy body is to go to the earth as it was, while thy
spirit returns to God that gave it. And the time draws on :
the years slide away with a swift though silent pace. Perhaps
your day is far spent : the noon of life is past, and the evening
shadows begin to rest upon you. You feel in yourself sure
approaching decay. The springs of life wear away apace.
Now what help is there in your riches ? Do they sweeten
death ? Do they endear that solemn hour ? Quite the re-
verse. ' O death, how bitter art thou to a man that liveth at
rest in his possessions ! ' How unacceptable to him is that
awful sentence, ' This night shall thy soul be required of thee ' !
Or will they prevent the unwelcome stroke, or protract the
dreadful hour ? Can they deliver your soul, that it should
not see death ? Can they restore the years that are past ?
Can they add to your appointed time a month, a day, an hour,
a moment ? Or will the good things you have chosen for
your portion here follow you over the great gulf ? Not so : naked
came you into this world ; naked must you return.

Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens
Uxor ; neque harum, quas colis, arborum,
Te, praeter invisam cupressum,
Ulla brevem dominum sequetur !

Surely, were not these truths too plain to be observed, because
they are too plain to be denied, no man that is to die could
possibly trust for help in uncertain riches.

sense: ' Qui cupit aut metuit, juvat 19. ' O Death, how bitter art
ilium sic domus et res,' &c. — i.e. thou,' &c. From Ecclus. xli. 1. It
' When a man is under the bondage runs exactly, ' O Death, how bitter
of desire or fear, his house and his is the remembrance of thee,' &c.
property give him just as much ' Linquenda tellus,' &c. (Horace,
pleasure as pictures to one with sore Odes, ii. 14. 21). Gladstone trans-
eyes, or poultices to the martyr to lates it :
gout, or the music of the lyre to a

sufferer from ear-ache ' ; his desire Earth- home- and ™sotae wiie> thv fctc

. . . , , , ... , Will have thee leave ; and not one tree

being for more wealth, and his fear a ^ save cypress that we hate>

lest he Should lose what he has. O, transient lord, shall follow thee.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 487

20. And trust not in them for happiness : for here also
they will be found ' deceitful upon the weights.' Indeed this
every reasonable man may infer from what has been observed
already. For if neither thousands of gold and silver, nor any
of the advantages or pleasures purchased thereby, can prevent
our being miserable, it evidently follows, they cannot make us
happy. What happiness can they afford to him who in the
midst of all, is constrained to cry out,

To my new courts sad thought does still repair,
And round my gilded roofs hangs hovering care ?

Indeed experience is here so full, strong, and undeniable, that

it makes all other arguments needless. Appeal we therefore

to fact. Are the rich and great the only happy men ? And

is each of them more or less happy in proportion to his

measure of riches ? Are they happy at all ? I had wellnigh

said, they are of all men most miserable ! Rich man, for once

speak the truth from thy heart ! Speak, both for thyself and

for thy brethren !

■
Amidst our plenty something still, —

To me, to thee, to him is wanting !
That cruel something, unpossessed,
Corrodes and leavens all the rest.

Yea, and so it will, till thy wearisome days of vanity are shut
up in the night of death.

Surely, then, to trust in riches for happiness is the greatest
folly of all that are under the sun ! Are you not convinced
of this ? Is it possible you should still expect to find happiness

20. ' To my new courts.' From been wrote either by Pope or Dryden

Prior's Solomon, ii. 53, published in or any English poet, except Milton."

1 71 8. Wesley greatly admired his See Bett's Hymns of Methodism, pp.

poetry, and quotes him several times 96-102. In the original ' does ' is

in his Journal. He wrote an article ' did ' and ' hangs ' is ' hung.'

on him, which is reprinted in his ' Amidst our plenty,' &c. This is

Works, vol. xiii. p. 418. He thinks from the Moral to Prior's Ladle, 162.

that ' his poetical abilities were at A line is omitted ; it should be :

least equal to those either of Pope . „_♦«..., c.m

^ r Amidst our plenty something still

or Dryden.' And his best poems For horseS) houses, pictures, planting,

' do not yield to anything that has To thee, to me, to him is wanting.

488 Sermon XXIII

in money, or all it can procure ? What ! can silver and
gold, and eating and drinking, and horses and servants, and
glittering apparel, and diversions and pleasures (as they are
called) make thee happy ? They can as soon make thee
immortal !

21. These are all dead show. Regard them not. Trust
thou in the living God ; so shalt thou be safe under the
shadow of the Almighty ; His faithfulness and truth shall be
thy shield and buckler. He is a very present help in time of
trouble ; such an help as can never fail. Then shalt thou say,
if all thy other friends die, ' The Lord liveth, and blessed be
my strong Helper ! ' He shall remember thee when thou
liest sick upon thy bed ; when vain is the help of man. When
all the things of the earth can give no support, He will
' make all thy bed in thy sickness,' He will sweeten thy pain :
the consolations of God shall cause thee to clap thy hands in
the flames. And even when this house of earth is wellnigh
shaken down, when it is just ready to drop into the dust, He
will teach thee to say, ' O death ! where is thy sting ? O
grave ! where is thy victory ? Thanks be unto God which
giveth ' me ' the victory, through ' my ' Lord Jesus Christ.'

O trust in Him for happiness as well as for help. All the
springs of happiness are in Him. Trust ' in Him who giveth
us all things richly to enjoy,' irapkyovrt, ^fxlv irkovaLois travra
eU airoXavaiv — who, of His own rich and free mercy, holds them
out to us, as in His own hand, that, receiving them as His gifts,
and as pledges of His love, we may enjoy all that we possess.
It is His love gives a relish to all we taste — puts life and
sweetness into all ; while every creature leads us up to the great
Creator, and all earth is a scale to heaven. He transfuses the
joys that are at His own right hand into all He bestows on His
thankful children ; who, having fellowship with the Father
and His Son Jesus Christ, enjoys Him in all, and above all.

22. Thirdly. Seek not to increase in goods. ' Lay not

2i. ' The Lord liveth ' (Ps. xviii. probably with a reference to Jacob's
46, Prayer-Book version). dream.

' Scale to heaven/ i.e. a ladder, 22. But this is corrected in Ser-

mon XLIV, section 1.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 489

up for ' thyself ' treasures upon earth.' This is a flat,
positive command ; full as clear as, ' Thou shalt not commit
adultery.' How then is it possible for a rich man to grow
richer, without denying the Lord that bought him ? Yea,
how can any man who has already the necessaries of life, gain
or aim at more, and be guiltless ? ' Lay not up,' saith our
Lord, ' treasures upon earth.' If, in spite of this, you do and
will lay up money or goods which ' moth or rust may corrupt,
or thieves break through and steal ' ; if you will add house to
house, or field to field, — why do you call yourself a Christian ?
You do not obey Jesus Christ. You do not design it. Why do
you name yourself by His name ? ' Why call ye Me, Lord,
Lord,' saith He Himself, ' and do not the things which I say ? '

23. If you ask, ' But what must we do with our goods,
seeing we have more than we have occasion to use, if we must
not lay them up ? Must we throw them away ? ' I answer,
If you threw them into the sea, if you were to cast them into
the fire and consume them, they would be better bestowed
than they are now. You cannot find so mischievous a manner
of throwing them away, as either the laying them up for your
posterity, or the laying them out upon yourselves in folly and
superfluity. Of all possible methods of throwing them away,
these two are the very worst ; the most opposite to the gospel
of Christ, and the most pernicious to your own soul.

How pernicious to your own soul the latter of these is, has
been excellently shown by a late writer : —

' If we waste our money, we are not only guilty of wasting
a talent which God has given us, but we do ourselves this
farther harm, we turn this useful talent into a powerful means
of corrupting ourselves ; because so far as it is spent wrong,
so far it is spent in the support of some wrong temper, in

23. See Sermon XLIV, i. 2. ' One uses. ... In the present state of

celebrated writer gravely exhorts his mankind, it is an excellent gift of

countrymen ... to throw all their God, answering the noblest ends.'

money into the sea. But is not all And in ii. i : ' Do not throw the

this mere empty rant ? The fault precious talent into the sea ; leave

does not lie in the money, but in that folly to heathen philosophers.'

them that use it. It is full as This long extract is from Law's

applicable to the best as to the worst Serious Call, cli. vi. pp. 82-4.

490 Sermon XXIII

gratifying some vain and unreasonable desires, which, as
Christians, we are obliged to renounce.

' As wit and fine parts cannot be only trifled away, but
will expose those that have them to greater follies ; so money
cannot be only trifled away, but, if it is not used according
to reason and religion, will make people live a more silly and
extravagant life, than they would have done without it : if,
therefore, you do not spend your money in doing good to
others, you must spend it to the hurt of yourself. You act
like one that refuses the cordial to his sick friend, which he
cannot drink himself without inflaming his blood. For this
is the case of superfluous money : if you give it to those
that want it, it is a cordial ; if you spend it upon yourself,
in something that you do not want, it only inflames and dis-
orders your mind.

' In using riches where they have no real use, nor we any
real want, we only use them to our great hurt, in creating
unreasonable desires, in nourishing ill tempers, in indulging
foolish passions, and supporting a vain turn of mind. For
high eating and drinking, fine clothes and fine houses, state
and equipage, gay pleasures and diversions, do all of them
naturally hurt and disorder our heart. They are the food and
nourishment of all the folly and weakness of our nature.
They are all of them the support of something that ought not
to be supported. They are contrary to that sobriety and piety
of heart which relishes divine things. They are so many
weights upon our mind, that make us less able and less inclined
to raise our thoughts and affections to things above.

' So that money thus spent is not merely wasted or lost,
but it is spent to bad purposes and miserable effects ; to the
corruption and disorder of our hearts ; to the making us
unable to follow the sublime doctrines of the gospel. It is
but like keeping money from the poor, to buy poison for
ourselves.'

24. Equally inexcusable are those who lay up what they
do not need for any reasonable purposes : —

' If a man had hands, and eyes, and feet, that he could
give to those that wanted them ; if he should lock them up

Uf>on our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 491

in a chest, instead of giving them to his brethren that were
blind and lame, should we not justly reckon him an inhuman
wretch ? If he should rather choose to amuse himself with
hoarding them up, than entitle himself to an eternal reward,
by giving them to those that wanted eyes and hands, might
we not justly reckon him mad ?

' Now, money has very much the nature of eyes and feet.
If therefore we lock it up in chests, while the poor and dis-
tressed want it for their necessary uses, we are not far from
the cruelty of him that chooses rather to hoard up the hands
and eyes, than to give them to those that want them. If we
choose to lay it up, rather than to entitle ourselves to an
eternal reward by disposing of our money well, we are guilty
of his madness that rather chooses to lock up eyes and hands,
than to make himself for ever blessed by giving them to those
that want them.'

25. May not this be another reason why rich men shall so
hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven ? A vast majority
of them are under a curse, under the peculiar curse of God ;
inasmuch as, in the general tenor of their lives, they are not
only robbing God, continually embezzling and wasting their
Lord's goods, and, by that very means, corrupting their own
souls, but also robbing the poor, the hungry, the naked ;
wronging the widow and the fatherless ; and making them-
selves accountable for all the want, affliction, and distress
which they may but do not remove. Yea, doth not the blood
of all those who perish for want of what they either lay up,
or lay out needlessly, cry against them from the earth ? O
what account will they give to Him who is ready to judge
both the quick and the dead !

26. The true way of employing what you do not want
yourselves, you may, fourthly, learn from those words of our
Lord, which are the counterpart of what went before : ' Lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven ; where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
and steal.' Put out whatever thou canst spare, upon better

24. From Law's Sevious Call, cli. vi. p. 81.

49* Sermon XXIII

security than this world can afford. Lay up thy treasures in
the bank of heaven ; and God shall restore them in that day.
' He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord :
and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again.'
'Place that,' saith He, 'unto My account. Howbeit, thou
owest Me thine own self besides ! '

Give to the poor with a single eye, with an upright heart,
and write, ' So much given to God.' For ' inasmuch as ye
did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me.'

This is the part of a ' faithful and wise steward ' ; not to
sell either his houses or lands, or principal stock, be it more or
less, unless some peculiar circumstance should require it ; and
not to desire or endeavour to increase it, any more than to
squander it away in vanity ; but to employ it wholly to those
wise and reasonable purposes for which his Lord has lodged it
in his hands. The wise steward, after having provided his
own household with what is needful for life and godliness,
makes himself friends with all that remains, from time to time,
of the ' mammon of unrighteousness ; that when he fails, they
may receive him into everlasting habitations ' — that when-
soever his earthly tabernacle is dissolved, they who were
before carried into Abraham's bosom, after having eaten his
bread, and worn the fleece of his flock, and praised God for
the consolation, may welcome him into paradise, and into
' the house of God, eternal in the heavens.'

27. We ' charge ' you, therefore, ' who are rich in this
world,' as having authority from our great Lord and Master,
ayadoepyeiv — to be habitually doing good, to live in a course
of good works. ' Be ye merciful, as your Father which is in
heaven is merciful ' ; who doeth good, and ceaseth not. ' Be
ye merciful ' — how far ? After your power ; with all the
ability which God giveth. Make this your only measure of
doing good ; not any beggarly maxims or customs of the
world. We ' charge you to be rich in good works ' ; as you
have much, to give plenteously. ' Freely ye have received,
freely give ' ; so as to lay up no treasure but in heaven. Be
ye ' ready to distribute ' to every one, according to his neces-

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: VIII 493

sity. Disperse abroad ; give to the poor ; deal your bread to
the hungry. Cover the naked with a garment ; entertain the
stranger ; carry or send relief to them that are in prison.
Heal the sick ; not by miracle, but through the blessing of
God upon your seasonable support. Let the blessing of him
that was ready to perish, through pining want, come upon thee.
Defend the oppressed, plead the cause of the fatherless, and
make the widow's heart sing for joy.

28. We exhort you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to be ' willing to communicate ' ; kolvwvikov<; dvat ; to be of the
same spirit (though not in the same outward state) with
those believers of ancient times, who remained steadfast,
eV rj] Koivwvia, in that blessed and holy fellowship, wherein
' none said that anything was his own, but they had all things
common.' Be a steward, a faithful and wise steward, of God
and of the poor ; differing from them in these two circum-
stances only, — that your wants are first supplied, out of the
portion of your Lord's goods which remains in your hands ;
and, that you have the blessedness of giving. Thus ' lay up
for yourselves a good foundation,' not in the world which now
is, but rather ' for the time to come, that ye may lay hold on
eternal life.' The great foundation indeed of all the blessings
of God, whether temporal or eternal, is the Lord Jesus Christ,
His righteousness and blood, what He hath done, and what He
hath suffered for us. And ' other foundation,' in this sense,
' can no man lay ' ; no, not an apostle ; no, not an angel
from heaven. But through His merits, whatever we do in His
name is a foundation for a good reward, in the day when ' every
man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour.'
Therefore ' labour ' thou, ' not for the meat that perisheth,
but for that which endureth unto everlasting life.' Therefore

28. ' To communicate,' i.e. to were reduced to such poverty that

share their goods with others. The St. Paul had to make a collection for

communistic experiment by the early them throughout the Gentile churches.

Church in Jerusalem was an eco- Above, in section 26, Wesley wisely

nomic failure, in spite of its fine forbids his people to sell their houses

motive. As the result of thus dissi- or lands or principal stock. It would

pating all their capital, the members have been well if the church at Jeru-

494 Sermon XXIII

* whatsoever thy hand ' now ' findeth to do, do it with thy
might.' Therefore let

No fair occasion pass unheeded by ;
Snatching the golden moments as they fly,
Thou by few fleeting years ensure eternity !

' By patient continuance in well-doing, seek ' thou ' for
glory, and honour, and immortality.' In a constant, zealous
performance of all good works, wait thou for that happy
hour when the King shall say, ' I was an hungered, and
ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink :
I was a stranger, and ye took Me in : naked, and ye clothed
Me : I was sick, and ye visited Me : I was in prison, and ye
came unto Me. . . . Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world ! '

salem had had such a wise counsellor. Methodists, lines 19-21. The ori-

' No fair occasion,' &c. From a ginal runs :

poem by Samuel Wesley, John's

u i_ .-i j_. j A%_ m •»» No fair occasion glides unheeded by:

elder brother, on the death of Mr. c^,f k< ~ »u £ . L *

' Snatching the golden moments as they fly,

William Morgan, one of the Oxford He by few fleeting hours ensures eternity.

SERMON XXIV
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE IX

The first sermon preached by Wesley after his ordination was from
a part of this text (verse 33). The service was held on September 26,
1725, at the church at South Leigh (see above, p. 263). The present
discourse follows much the same lines as this first sermon ; and some
of the sentences therein are repeated here. But it is much more fully
elaborated, especially in the sections on the meaning of God's
righteousness. The MS. of this sermon has been preserved, and is in
the Colman Collection ; a facsimile was issued by the Wesleyan
Methodist Book-Room in 1903. Matt. vi. 24 occurs as the text of a
sermon on September 12, 1756, at Bishop Bonner's Chapel, an old
palace of the Bishops of London not far from the Children's Home in
Bonner Road, London ; at the Foundery during September of the
same year ; at Bandon in Ireland on July 12, 1758 ; at Manchester on
April 23, 1759 ; at Bath on November 3, 1760 ; and first at Bristol and
then at Kingswood on September 21, 1761. This was no doubt based
on sections 1 to 13 of this discourse.

No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love
the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put
on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment ?

Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye
not much better than they ?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin :

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-
morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you,
0 ye of little faith ?

495

496 Sermon XXIV

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat ? or, What shall we

drink ? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek :) for your heavenly Father

knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness ; and all these

things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow shall take

thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil

thereof. — Matt. vi. 24-34.

i. It is recorded of the nations whom the King of Assyria,
after he had carried Israel away into captivity, placed in
the cities of Samaria, that ' they feared the Lord, and served
their own gods.' ' These nations,' saith the inspired writer,
' feared the Lord ' ; performed an outward service to Him (a
plain proof that they had a fear of God, though not according
to knowledge) ; ' and served their graven images, both their
children, and their children's children : as did their fathers, so
do they unto this day ' (2 Kings xvii. 33, &c).

How nearly does the practice of most modern Christians
resemble this of the ancient Heathens ! ' They fear the
Lord ' ; they also perform an outward service to Him, and
hereby show they have some fear of God ; but they likewise
' serve their own gods.' There are those who ' teach them,'
as there were who taught the Assyrians, ' the manner of the
God of the land ' ; the God whose name the country bears to
this day, and who was once worshipped there with an holy
worship : ' Howbeit,' they do not serve Him alone ; they do
not fear Him enough for this : but ' every nation maketh gods
of their own : every nation in the cities wherein they dwell.'
' These nations fear the Lord ' ; they have not laid aside the
outward form of worshipping Him ; but ' they serve their
graven images,' silver and gold, the work of men's hands :
money, pleasure, and praise, the gods of this world, more than
divide their service with the God of Israel. This is the manner
both of ' their children and their children's children : as did
their fathers, so do they unto this day.'

2. But although, speaking in a loose way, after the com-
mon manner of men, those poor Heathens were said to ' fear
the Lord,' yet we may observe the Holy Ghost immediately

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IX 497

adds, speaking according to the truth and real nature of
things, ' They fear not the Lord, neither do after the law and
the commandment which the Lord commanded the children of
Jacob ; with whom the Lord made a covenant, and charged
them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor serve them ; but
the Lord your God ye shall fear ; and He shall deliver you out
of the hand of your enemies.'

The same judgement is passed by the unerring Spirit of
God, and indeed by all, the eyes of whose understanding He
hath opened to discern the things of God, upon these poor
Christians, commonly so called. If we speak according to the
truth and real nature of things, ' they fear not the Lord, neither
do they serve Him.' For they do not ' after the covenant the
Lord hath made with them, neither after the law and command-
ment which He hath commanded them, saying, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve,'
' They serve other gods unto this day.' And ' no man can serve
two masters.'

3. How vain is it for any man to aim at this, — to attempt
the serving of two masters ! Is it not easy to foresee what
must be the unavoidable consequence of such an attempt ?
' Either he will hate the one and love the other ; or else he
will hold to the one, and despise the other.' The two parts of
this sentence, although separately proposed, are to be under-
stood in connexion with each other ; for the latter part is a
consequence of the former. He will naturally hold to him
whom he loves. He will so cleave to him, as to perform to
him a willing, faithful, and diligent service. And, in the mean-
time, he will so far at least despise the master he hates as to
have little regard to his commands, and to obey them, if at all,
in a slight and careless manner. Therefore, whatsoever the
wise men of the world may suppose, ' ye cannot serve God and
mammon.'

4. Mammon was the name of one of the heathen gods,

Par. 3. The second part of the love B ; or else he will hold to A

verse is not so much ' a conse- and despise B.'

quence ' of the first, as a reversal of 4. Mammon, or rather Mamon,

it: 'Either he will hate A and occurs first in Ecclus. xxxi. 8, 'Blessed
w.s.s. 1 — 32

498 Sermon XXIV

who was supposed to preside over riches. It is here under-
stood of riches themselves ; gold and silver ; or in general,
money ; and, by a common figure of speech, of all that may be
purchased thereby ; such as ease, honour, and sensual pleasure.

But what are we here to understand by serving God, and
what by serving mammon ?

We cannot serve God, unless we believe in Him. This is
the only true foundation of serving Him. Therefore, the
believing in God, as ' reconciling the world to Himself through
Christ Jesus,' the believing in Him, as a loving, pardoning God,
' is the first great branch of His service.

And thus to believe in God implies, to trust in Him as our
strength, without whom we can do nothing, who every moment
endues us with power from on high, without which it is impos-
sible to please Him ; as our help, our only help in time of
trouble, who compasseth us about with songs of deliverance ; as
our shield, our defender, and the lifter up of our head above all
our enemies that are round about us.

It implies, to trust in God as our happiness ; as the centre
of spirits ; the only rest of our souls ; the only good who is
adequate to all our capacities, and sufficient to satisfy all the
desires He hath given us.

It implies (what is nearly allied to the other), to trust
in God as our end ; to have an eye to Him in all things ; to
use all things only as means of enjoying Him : wheresoever we
are, or whatsoever we do, to see Him that is invisible, looking
on us well pleased, and to refer all things to Him in Christ
Jesus.

is the rich man who is found blame- land from Milton, who in Paradise

less, and who has not gone after Lost, i. 678, describes him as,
mamon,' i.e. money. It is found

frequently in later Jewish writings ; „ . The least erected spirit that fell

• -tv 1 a 1 1 •• r , -r 1 rrom heaven; for even in heaven his looks and

e.g. m Pirke Aboth, 11. 16, Let the thoughts

mamon of thy neighbour be dear to Were always downward bent, admiring more

thee as thine own.' It came to be The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold,

personified; just as we personify Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed

„- , , , , , In vision beatific.

Wealth ; but there was no god

called Mamon. The idea that Mamon He takes part in the great debate

was a god originated in mediaeval in Book II. 229.
times, and received currency in Eng-

Upon oar Lord's Sermon on the Mount : IX 499

5. Thus to believe, is the first thing we are to understand
by serving God. The second is, to love Him.

Now to love God, in the manner the Scripture describes,
in the manner God Himself requires of us, and by requiring
engages to work in us, is to love Him as the one God ; that
is, ' with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our
mind, and with all our strength,'— it is to desire God alone for
His own sake ; and nothing else, but with reference to Him, —
to rejoice in God, — to delight in the Lord ; not only to seek,
but find, happiness in Him ; to enjoy God as the chief est among
ten thousand ; to rest in Him, as our God and our all : in a
word, to have such a possession of God as makes us always
happy.

6. A third thing we are to understand by serving God is, to
resemble or imitate Him.

So the ancient Father : Optimus Dei cultus, imitari quern
colis : ' It is the best worship or service of God, to imitate
Him you worship.'

We here speak of imitating or resembling Him in the spirit
of our minds : for here the true Christian imitation of God
begins. ' God is a Spirit ' ; and they that imitate or resemble
Him must do it ' in spirit and in truth.'

Now God is love : therefore, they who resemble Him in the
spirit of their minds are transformed into the same image.
They are merciful even as He is merciful. Their soul is all
love. They are kind, benevolent, compassionate, tender-
hearted ; and that not only to the good and gentle, but also to
the froward. Yea, they are, like Him, loving unto every man,
and their mercy extends to all His works.

7. One thing more we are to understand by serving God,
and that is, the obeying Him ; the glorifying Him with our
bodies, as well as with our spirits ; the keeping His outward
commandments ; the zealously doing whatever He hath en-
joined ; the carefully avoiding whatever He hath forbidden ;
the performing all the ordinary actions of life with a single

6. ' The ancient Father.' I have not yet identified this quotation ; I
suspect Augustine.

500 Sermon XXIV

eye and a pure heart, offering them all in holy, fervent love,
as sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

8. Let us consider now, what we are to understand, on the
other hand, by serving mammon. And, first, it implies, the
trusting in riches, in money, or the things purchasable thereby,
as our strength, the means whereby we shall perform whatever
cause we have in hand ; the trusting in them as our help,
by which we look to be comforted in, or delivered out of
trouble.

It implies, the trusting in the world for happiness ; the
supposing that ' a man's life,' the comfort of his life, ' con-
sisteth in the abundance of the things which he possesseth ' ;
the looking for rest in the things that are seen ; for content in
outward plenty ; the expecting that satisfaction in the things
of the world, which can never be found out of God.

And if we do this, we cannot but make the world our end ;
the ultimate end, if not of all, at least of many, of our under-
takings, many of our actions and designs ; in which we shall
aim only at an increase of wealth, at the obtaining pleasure or
praise, at the gaining a larger measure of temporal things,
without any reference to things eternal.

9. The serving mammon implies, secondly, loving the world ;
desiring it for its own sake ; the placing our joy in the things
thereof, and setting our hearts upon them ; the seeking
(what indeed it is impossible we should find) our happiness
therein ; the resting, with the whole weight of our souls,
upon the staff of this broken reed ; although daily experience
shows it cannot support, but will only ' enter into our hand and
pierce it.'

10. To resemble, to be conformed to, the world, is a third
thing we are to understand by serving mammon ; to have not
only designs, but desires, tempers, affections, suitable to those
of the world ; to be of an earthly, sensual mind, chained down
to the things of earth ; to be self-willed, inordinate lovers of
ourselves, to think highly of our own attainments ; to desire
and delight in the praise of men ; to fear, shun, and abhor
reproach ; to be impatient of reproof, easy to be provoked, and
swift to return evil for evil.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : IX 501

11. To serve mammon is lastly, to obey the world, by out-
wardly conforming to its maxims and customs ; to walk as
other men walk, in the common road, in the broad, smooth,
beaten path : to be in the fashion ; to follow a multitude ; to
do like the rest of our neighbours : that is, to do the will of the
flesh and the mind, to gratify our appetites and inclinations ;
to sacrifice to ourselves ; aim at our own ease and pleasure, in
the general course both of our words and actions.

Now what can be more undeniably clear than that we
cannot thus serve God and mammon ?

12. Does not every man see, that he cannot comfortably
serve both ? that to trim between God and the world is the
sure way to be disappointed in both, and to have no rest either
in one or the other ? How uncomfortable a condition must
he be in, who, having the fear but not the love of God — who,
serving Him, but not with all his heart — has only the toils and
not the joys of religion ! He has religion enough to make him
miserable, but not enough to make him happy : his religion
will not let him enjoy the world ; and the world will not let
him enjoy God. So that, by halting between both, he loses
both, and has no peace either in God or the world.

13. Does not every man see, that he cannot serve both
consistently with himself ? What more glaring inconsistency
can be conceived, than must continually appear in his whole
behaviour, who is endeavouring to obey both these masters,
— striving to ' serve God and mammon ' ? He is indeed ' a
sinner that goeth two ways ' ; one step forward and another
backward. He is continually building up with one hand, and
pulling down with the other. He loves sin, and he hates it :
he is always seeking, and yet always fleeing from, God. He
would, and he would not. He is not the same man for one
day ; no, not for an hour together. He is a motley mixture of
all sorts of contrarieties ; a heap of contradictions jumbled in
one. O be consistent with thyself one way or the other !
Turn to the right hand or to the left. If mammon be God,
serve thou him ; if the Lord, then serve Him. But never
think of serving either at all, unless it be with thy whole heart.

14. Does not every reasonable, every thinking man see,

502 Sermon XXIV

that he cannot possibly serve God and mammon ? because
there is the most absolute contrariety, the most irreconcilable
enmity, between them. The contrariety between the most
opposite things on earth, between fire and water, darkness
and light, vanishes into nothing, when compared to the con-
trariety between God and mammon. So that, in whatsoever
respect you serve the one, you necessarily renounce the other.
Do you believe in God through Christ ? Do you trust in
Him as your strength, your help, your shield, and your exceed-
ing great reward ? — as your happiness, your end in all, above
all things ? Then you cannot trust in riches. It is absolutely
impossible you should, so long as you have this faith in God.
Do you thus trust in riches ? Then you have denied the faith.
You do not trust in the living God. Do you love God ? Do
you seek and find happiness in Him ? Then you cannot love
the world, neither the things of the world. You are crucified
to the world, and the world crucified to you. Do you love
the world ? Are your affections set on things beneath ? Do
you seek happiness in earthly things ? Then it is impossible
you should love God. Then the love of the Father is not in
you. Do you resemble God ? Are you merciful, as your
Father is merciful ? Are you transformed, by the renewal of
your mind, into the image of Him that created you ? Then
you cannot be conformed to the present world. You have
renounced all its affections and lusts. Are you conformed to
the world ? Does your soul still bear the image of the earthly ?
Then you are not renewed in the spirit of your mind. You
do not bear the image of the heavenly. Do you obey God ?
Are you zealous to do His will on earth as the angels do in
heaven ? Then it is impossible you should obey mammon.
Then you set the world at open defiance. You trample its
customs and maxims under foot, and will neither follow nor
be led by them. Do you follow the world ? Do you live
like other men ? Do you please men ? Do you please yourself ?
Then you cannot be a servant of God. You are of your
master and father, the devil.

15. Therefore, ' thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
Him only shalt thou serve.' Thou shalt lay aside all thoughts

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IX 503

of obeying two masters, of serving God and mammon. Thou
shalt propose to thyself no end, no help, no happiness, but
God. Thou shalt seek nothing in earth or heaven but Him :
thou shalt aim at nothing, but to know, to love, and enjoy
Him. And because this is all your business below, the only
view you can reasonably have, the one design you are to pursue
in all things, — ' Therefore I say unto you ' (as our Lord con-
tinues His discourse), ' Take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body,
what ye shall put on ' : a deep and weighty direction, which it
imports us well to consider, and thoroughly to understand.

16. Our Lord does not here require, that we should be
utterly without thought, even touching the concerns of this
life. A giddy, careless temper is at the farthest remove from
the whole religion of Jesus Christ. Neither does He require
us to be ' slothful in business,' to be slack and dilatory therein.
This, likewise, is contrary to the whole spirit and genius of
His religion. A Christian abhors sloth as much as drunken-
ness ; and flees from idleness as he does from adultery. He
well knows, that there is one kind of thought and care with
which God is well pleased ; which is absolutely needful for
the due performance of those outward works unto which the
providence of God has called him.

It is the will of God, that every man should labour to eat
his own bread ; yea, and that every man should provide for
his own, for them of his own household. It is likewise His
will, that we should ' owe no man anything, but provide
things honest in the sight of all men.' But this cannot be
done without "taking some thought, without having some care

16. The Greek word translated in
the A. V. ' Take no thought ' means
' Do not worry,' ' Do not let your
mind be distracted,' R.V. ' Be not
anxious.' The A.V. is not so bad a
translation as it seems ; it follows
Tyndale, and in the sixteenth cen-
tury and previously ' thought ' was
often used in the sense of ' anxiety.'
Thus in 1556 Bishop Ponet says

that ' Wriothesley either poisoned
himself, or pined away for thought ' ;
and in 161 3 Purchas relates that
' Soto died of thought in Florida.'
See Oxford Diet. s.v. 5.

' Honest ' should be ' honourable.'
When Shakespeare is called ' honest
Will Shakespeare,' it does not mean
that he paid his debts, but that he
was a gentleman.

504 Sermon XXIV

upon our minds ; yea, often, not without long and serious
thought, not without much and earnest care. Consequently
this care, to provide for ourselves and our household, this
thought how to render to all their dues, our blessed Lord does
not condemn. Yea, it is good and acceptable in the sight of
God our Saviour.

It is good and acceptable to God, that we should so take
thought concerning whatever we have in hand, as to have a
clear comprehension of what we are about to do, and to plan
our business before we enter upon it. And it is right that we
should carefully consider, from time to time, what steps we are
to take therein ; as well as that we should prepare all things
beforehand, for the carrying it on in the most effectual manner.
This care, termed by some, ' the care of the head,' it was by no
means our Lord's design to condemn.

17. What He here condemns is, the care of the heart ; the
anxious, uneasy care ; the care that hath torment : all such
care as does hurt, either to the soul or body. What He forbids
is, that care which, sad experience shows, wastes the blood
and drinks up the spirits ; which anticipates all the misery it
fears, and comes to torment us before the time. He forbids
only that care which poisons the blessings of to-day, by fear
of what may be to-morrow ; which cannot enjoy the present
plenty, through apprehensions of future want. This care is
not only a sore disease, a grievous sickness of soul, but also a
heinous offence against God, a sin of the deepest dye. It is an
high affront to the gracious Governor and wise Disposer of all
things ; necessarily implying, that the great Judge does not
do right ; that He does not order all things well. It plainly
implies, that He is wanting, either in wisdom, if He does not
know what things we stand in need of ; or in goodness, if He
does not provide those things for all who put their trust in
Him. Beware, therefore, that you take not thought in this

17. ' Drinks up the spirits.' The spirits originating in the liver, the

old idea, which has affected the animal spirits in the brain, and the

literary use of the word up to the vital in the heart. These circulated

present time, was that there were through the body along with the

three subtle and highly refined fluids blood, and were necessary to life

in the body of man, the natural and activity.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IX 505

sense : be ye anxiously careful for nothing. Take no uneasy
thought : this is a plain, sure rule. Uneasy care is unlawful
care. With a single eye to God, do all that in you lies to pro-
vide things honest in the sight of all men : and then give up
all into better hands ; leave the whole event to God.

18. ' Take no thought ' of this kind, no uneasy thought,
even ' for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life
more than meat, and the body than raiment ? ' If then God
gave you life, the greater gift, will He not give you food to
sustain it ? If He hath given you the body, how can ye doubt
but He will give you raiment to cover it ? more especially, if
you give yourselves up to Him, and serve Him with your whole
heart. ' Behold,' see before your eyes, ' the fowls of the air :
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ' ;
and yet they lack nothing ; ' yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they ? ' Ye that are
creatures capable of God, are ye not of more account in the
eyes of God ? of a higher rank in the scale of beings ? ' And
which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his
stature ? ' What profit have you then from this anxious
thought ? It is every way fruitless and unavailing.

' And why take ye thought for raiment ? ' Have ye not
a daily reproof wherever you turn your eyes ? ' Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do
they spin ; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if
God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and
to-morrow is cast into the oven ' (is cut down, burned up,
and seen no more), ' shall He not much more clothe you, O ye
of little faith ? ' you, whom He made to endure for ever and
ever, to be pictures of His own eternity ! Ye are indeed of

18. 'One cubit.' This is the literal which the Jews often speak of in

meaning of the word. The difficulty terms of lineal measures, like span

is that no one would ever dream of and hand-breadth. The meaning

increasing his height by eighteen will therefore be, ' Who by worrying

inches through worrying about it. can lengthen his life even a single

Hence it is better to take ' stature ' foot's-space ? '
in the sense of ' age,' ' length of life,'

506 Sermon XXIV

little faith ; otherwise ye could not doubt of His love and care ;
no, not for a moment.

19. ' Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat,' if we lay up no treasure upon earth ? ' What shall we
drink,' if we serve God with all our strength, if our eye be
singly fixed on Him ? ' Wherewithal shall we be clothed,'
if we are not conformed to the world, if we disoblige those by
whom we might be profited ? ' For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek ' — the Heathens who know not God. But
ye are sensible ' your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.' And He hath pointed out to you
an infallible way of being constantly supplied therewith : ' Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness ; and all
these things shall be added unto you.*

20. ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God ' : before ye give
place to any other thought or care, let it be your concern that
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who ' gave His
only-begotten Son,' to the end that, believing in Him, ' ye
might not perish, but have everlasting life ') may reign in your
heart, may manifest Himself in your soul, and dwell and
rule there ; that He may ' cast down every high thing which
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and biing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' Let God
have the sole dominion over you : let Him reign without a
rival : let Him possess all your heart, and rule alone. Let Him
be your one desire, your joy, your love ; so that all that is
within you may continually cry out, ' The Lord God omnipotent
reigneth.'

' Seek the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.' Right-
eousness is the fruit of God's reigning in the heart. And what
is righteousness, but love ? — the love of God and of all man-
kind, flowing from faith in Jesus Christ, and producing humble-
ness of mind, meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, patience,

20. The better reading is : ' But qualification for membership in the

seek ye first His kingdom and right- Kingdom.

eousness,' i.e. the righteousness ' What is righteousness but love ? *

about which the whole sermon has See Sermon VII, 7 note (above, p.

been concerned as the necessary 151).

Upon our Lords Sermon on the Mount: IX 507

deadness to the world ; and every right disposition of heart,
toward God and toward man. And by these it produces all
holy actions, whatsoever are lovely or of good report ; whatso-
ever works of faith and labour of love are acceptable to God,
and profitable to man.

' His righteousness ' : this is all His righteousness still :
it is His own free gift to us, for the sake of Jesus Christ the
righteous, through whom alone it is purchased for us : and
it is His work: it is He alone that worketh it in us, by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

21. Perhaps the well observing this may give light to some
other scriptures, which we have not always so clearly under-
stood. St. Paul, speaking in his Epistle to the Romans con-
cerning the unbelieving Jews, saith, ' They, being ignorant of
God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the right-
eousness of God.' I believe this may be one sense of the
words : they were ' ignorant of God's righteousness,' not
only of the righteousness of Christ, imputed to every believer,
whereby all his sins are blotted out, and he is reconciled to
the favour of God ; but (which seems here to be more imme-
diately understood) they were ignorant of that inward right-
eousness, of that holiness of heart, which is with the utmost
propriety termed ' God's righteousness,' as being both His own
free gift through Christ, and His own work by His almighty
Spirit. And because they were ' ignorant ' of this, they
' went about to establish their own righteousness.' They
laboured to establish that outside righteousness which might
very properly be termed their own. For neither was it

21. The passage is Rom. x. 3. now ' Christ is the termination of

Wesley's interpretation is not what the law to every one that believeth ' ;

St. Paul meant. He is contrasting, not of the ceremonial law only, but

not inward and outward righteous- of the whole law as a means of

ness, but the righteousness which is attaining righteousness. As Liddon

the result of faith in Christ and that puts it, ' Although the moral law is

which is aimed at through observing eternal, yet under the gospel it loses

the law. The Jews were ignorant its form of external law, and becomes

of the way of faith, for it had not an internal principle of life.' So

yet been revealed, and so sought Wesley says in Sermon XXIX, iv. 4 :

righteousness through the law. But ' We have done with the moral law

wlO.l/V ) .

508 Sermon XXIV

wrought by the Spirit of God, nor was it owned or accepted
of Him. They might work this themselves, by their own
natural strength ; and when they had done, it was a stink in
His nostrils. And yet, trusting in this, they would ' not
submit themselves unto the righteousness of God.' Yea, they
hardened themselves against that faith whereby alone it was
possible to attain it. ' For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth.' Christ, when He
said, ' It is finished ! ' put an end to the law, — to the law of
external rites and ceremonies, that He might bring a better
righteousness through His blood, by that one oblation of Him-
self once offered, even the image of God, into the inmost soul
of every one that believeth.

22. Nearly related to these are those words of the Apostle,
in his Epistle to the Philippians : • I count all things but dung,
that I may win Christ ' ; an entrance into His everlasting
kingdom ; ' and be found in Him,' believing in Him, ' not
having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith.' ' Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law ' ; a barely external righteousness, the
outside religion I formerly had, when I hoped to be accepted
of God because I was, ' touching the righteousness which is
of the law, blameless ' ; ' but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith;
that holiness of heart, that renewal of the soul in all its
desires, tempers, and affections, ' which is of God ' (it is the
work of God, — and not of man), ' by faith ' ; through the
faith of Christ, through the revelation of Jesus Christ in us,

as a means of procuring our justifica- had been endured. The " end " of

tion.' all had been gained. Nothing was

' It is finished.' These profound left undone or unborne.'

words include this, and much more. 22. It is hardly necessary to point

As Westcott says in his note on out that to the first hearers of the

John xbc. 30 : ' The earthly life had sermon, righteousness could not have

been carried to its issue. Every had the evangelical meaning which

essential point in the prophetic por- Wesley attaches to it ; but for us

traiture of the Messiah had been who have now received the atone-

realized. The last suffering for sin ment it does carry this signification.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : IX 509

and by faith in His blood ; whereby alone we obtain the
remission of our sins, and an inheritance among those that
are sanctified.

23. ' Seek ye first ' this ' kingdom of God ' in your
hearts ; this righteousness, which is the gift and work of
God, the image of God renewed in your souls ; ' and all these
things shall be added unto you ' ; all things needful for the
body; such a measure of all as God sees most for the ad-
vancement of His kingdom. These shall be added — they
shall be thrown in, over and above. In seeking the peace
and the love of God, you shall not only find what you more
immediately seek, even the kingdom that cannot be moved ;
but also what you seek not — not at all for its own sake, but
only in reference to the other. You shall find, in your way
to the kingdom, all outward things, so far as they are expedient
for you. This care God hath taken upon Himself : cast you all
your care upon Him. He knoweth your wants ; and whatsoever
is lacking He will not fail to supply.

24. ' Therefore take no thought for the morrow.' Not
only, take ye no thought how to lay up treasures on earth,
how to increase in worldly substance ; take no thought how
to procure more food than you can eat, or more raiment than
you can put on, or more money than is required from day
to day, for the plain, reasonable purposes of life ; — but take
no uneasy thought, even concerning those things which are
absolutely needful for the body. Do not trouble yourself now, \
with thinking what you shall do at a season which is yet afar j
off. Perhaps that season will never come ; or it will be no
concern of yours ; before then you will have passed through
all the waves, and be landed in eternity. All those distant
views do not belong to you, who are but a creature of a day.
Nay, what have you to do with the morrow, more strictly
speaking ? Why should you perplex yourself without need ?
God provides for you to-day what is needful to sustain the life
which He hath given you. It is enough : give yourself up
into His hands. If you live another day, He will provide for
that also.

23. Above all, do not make the care of future things a

;

510 Sermon XXIV

pretence for neglecting present duty. This is the most fatal
way of ' taking thought for the morrow.' And how common
is it among men ! Many, if we exhort them to keep a con-
science void of offence, to abstain from what they are convinced
is evil, do not scruple to reply, ' How then must we live ?
Must we not take care of ourselves and of our families ? ' And
this they imagine to be a sufficient reason for continuing in
known, wilful sin. They say, and perhaps think, they would
serve God now, were it not that they should, by-and-by, lose
their bread. They would prepare for eternity ; but they are
afraid of wanting the necessaries of life. So they serve the
devil for a morsel of bread ; they rush into hell for fear of
want ; they throw away their poor souls, lest they should,
some time or other, fall short of what is needful for their
bodies !

It is not strange that they who thus take the matter out
of God's hand should be so often disappointed of the very
things they seek ; that, while they throw away heaven to
secure the things of earth, they lose the one, but do not gain
the other. The jealous God, in the wise course of His pro-
vidence, frequently suffers this. So that they who will not
cast their care on God, who, taking thought for temporal
things, have little concern for things eternal, lose the very
portion which they have chosen. There is a visible blast
on all their undertakings ; whatsoever they do, it doth not
prosper ; insomuch, that after they have forsaken God for
the world, they lose what they sought, as well as what
they sought not : they fall short of the kingdom of God,
and His righteousness ; nor yet are other things added unto
them.

26. There is another way of ' taking thought for the
morrow,' which is equally forbidden in these words. It is
possible to take thought in a wrong manner, even with regard
to spiritual things ; to be so careful about what may be by-
and-by as to neglect what is now required at our hands.
How insensibly do we slide into this, if we are not continually
watching unto prayer ! How easily we are carried away, in a
kind of waking dream, projecting distant schemes, and draw-

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount: IX 511

ing fine scenes in our own imagination ! We think, what
good we will do when we are in such a place, or when such a
time is come ! How useful we will be, how plenteous in good
works, when we are easier in our circumstances ! How
earnestly we will serve God, when once such an hindrance is
out of the way !

Or perhaps you are now in heaviness of soul : God, as it
were, hides His face from you. You see little of the light of
His countenance : you cannot taste His redeeming love. In
such a temper of mind, how natural is it to say, ' O how I
will praise God, when the light of His countenance shall be
again lifted up upon my soul ! How will I exhort others to
praise Him, when His love is again shed abroad in my heart !
Then I will do thus and thus : I will speak for God in all
places : I will not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Then
I will redeem the time : I will use to the uttermost every
talent I have received.' Do not believe thyself. Thou wilt
not do it then, unless thou doest it now. ' He that is faithful
in that which is little,' of whatsoever kind it be, whether it
be worldly substance or the fear or love of God, ' will be
faithful in that which is much.' But if thou now hidest one
talent in the earth, thou wilt then hide five : that is, if ever
they are given ; but there is small reason to expect they ever
will. Indeed, ' unto him that hath,' that is, uses what he
hath, ' shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly.
But from him that hath not,' that is, uses not the grace which
he hath already received, whether in a larger or smaller degree,
' shall be taken away even that which he hath.'

27. And take no thought for the temptations of to-morrow.
This also is a dangerous snare. Think not, ' When such a
temptation comes, what shall I do ? how shall I stand ? I
feel I have not power to resist : I am not able to conquer that
enemy.' Most true : you have not now the power which you
do not now stand in need of. You are not able at this time
to conquer that enemy ; and at this time he does not assault
you. With the grace you have now, you could not withstand
the temptations which you have not. But when the tempta-
tion comes, the grace will come. In greater trials you will

512 Sermon XXIV

have greater strength. When sufferings abound, the consola-
tions of God will, in the same proportion, abound also. So
that, in every situation, the grace of God will be sufficient for
you. He doth not suffer you ' to be tempted ' to-day ' above
that ye are able to bear ' ; and ' in every temptation He
will make a way to escape.' f As thy days, so thy strength
shall be.'

28. ' Let the morrow,' therefore, ' take thought for the
things of itself ' ; that is, when the morrow comes, then think
of it. Live thou to-day. Be it thy earnest care to improve
the present hour. This is your own ; and it is your all. The
past is as nothing, as though it had never been. The future
is nothing to you : it is not yours ; perhaps it never will be.
There is no depending on what is yet to come ; for you
' know not what a day may bring forth.' Therefore live
to-day : lose not an hour : use this moment : for it is your
portion. ' Who knoweth the things which have been before
him, or which shall be after him under the sun ? ' The gene-
rations that were from the beginning of the world, where are
they now ? Fled away : forgotten. They were ; they lived
their day ; they were shook off the earth, as leaves off their
trees : they mouldered away into common dust ! Another and
another race succeeded ; then they ' followed the generation
of their fathers, and shall never more see the light.' Now is
thy turn upon the earth. ' Rejoice, O young man, in the days
of thy youth ! ' Enjoy the very, very now, by enjoying Him
' whose years fail not.' Now let thine eye be singly fixed on
Him in ' whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning ' !
Now give Him thy heart ; now stay thyself on Him ; now be
thou holy, as He is holy ! Now lay hold on the blessed
opportunity of doing His acceptable and perfect will ! Now
rejoice to ' suffer the loss of all things,' so thou may est ' win
Christ.'

29. Gladly suffer to-day, for His name's sake, whatsoever

28. ' Rejoice, O young man,' &c. life and vigour. The words are not

Wesley is right in interpreting these ironical, as some expositors have

words as an exhortation to the young thought,
to make the best us« of their fresh

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : IX 513

He permits this day to come upon thee. But look not at the
sufferings of to-morrow. ' Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof.' Evil it is, speaking after the manner of men ;
whether it be reproach or want, pain or sickness ; but in the
language of God, all is blessing ; it is a precious balm prepared
by the wisdom of God, and variously dispensed among His
children, according to the various sicknesses of their souls.
And He gives in one day sufficient for that day ; proportioned <k
to the want and strength of the patient. If, therefore, thou
snatchest to-day what belongs to the morrow ; if thou addest
this to what is given thee already, it will be more than thou
canst bear : this is the way, not to heal, but to destroy thy
own soul. Take, therefore, just as much as He gives thee to-
day : to-day, do and suffer His will ! To-day, give up thyself,
thy body, soul, and spirit to God, through Christ Jesus ;
desiring nothing, but that God may be glorified in all thou art,
all thou doest, all thou sufferest ; seeking nothing, but to know
God, and His Son Jesus Christ, through the eternal Spirit ;
pursuing nothing, but to love Him, to serve Him, and to enjoy
Him at this hour and to all eternity !

Now unto ' God the Father, who hath made me and all the
world ' ; unto ' God the Son, who hath redeemed me and all
mankind ' ; unto ' God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me and
all the elect people of God ' ; be honour and praise, majesty
and dominion, for ever and ever ! Amen.

29. It became customary, very or an exhortation ; sometimes with

early in the history of the Church, a verse of a hymn. It is not usual

to conclude the sermon with a to print the ascription in published

doxology to the Holy Trinity. This sermons ; so that it is possible

is the custom in the Homilies of the Wesley used one in more cases than

Church of England, which uniformly the printed sermons specify. The

end with a short ascription of praise modern Anglican practice has tended

to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to the uniform use of the familiar

Wesley uses some sort of doxology form, ' Now to God the Father,' &c. ;

in Sermons I, III, IX, XI, and XXI ; Methodist preachers have not as

the one in this sermon is the most a rule adopted this formula, but

formal one that is employed. More have followed Wesley in the freer

commonly he ends with a prayer style of their conclusions.

[Here ends the second volume of the Sermons]
w.s.s. 1—33

SERMONS

0 N

Several Occafions :

1 N

THREE VOLUMES.

- - i .._. ■

B Y

JOHN WESLEY, M. A.

Fellow of Lincoln-College, Oxford.

VOL. III.

— ■ — - - - i 1 1 m in 1 1 mmmm^mrr 1 t

LONDON:

Printed by W. Strahan : And Sold by
T T r y e, near Gray's-Inn Gate, Holbourn ;
J.Robinson, Ludgate-Street ; at the Foundery,
near Upper Moorfields ; and at the School Room
in the Horfe-Fair, Bristol.

Mdccl.

f'tusimi'e of Titlepagt to First Edition

The first edition of this volume contains twelve sermons
{Nos. XXV to XXXVI). There is no Contents, no Index,
and no list of the Wesley publications. 260 pp.

In the second edition (' Bristol : Printed by William
Pine, and sold at the New Room in the Horsefair, and at
the Foundery, near Upper Moor fields, London,' pp. 278,
no date), after Charles Wesley's hymn on ' The Promise
of Sanctificalion ' (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, &c, twenty-eight verses
of four lines, filling seven pages), an additional sermon is
inserted on ' Wandering Thoughts ' (see introduction to
No. XXXVI, below, vol. ii. p. 178).

An edition, Dublin, 1750 ; Fourth edition, Paramore,
1787 ,• Fifth edition, 1797.

Several of the sermons from this and the two preceding
volumes were frequently reprinted separately.

SERMON XXV
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE X

I find record of this sermon, or rather a sermon on verse 7 (' Ask, and
it shall be given you ') being preached on June 2, 1742, at Mrs. Holmes's,
Smith House, Lightcliffe, near Halifax, the first home of Methodism
in that district (see photograph in Standard Edition of Journal, iii. 297) ;
in the church at Wroot on June 13 of the same year ; and at Morvah
on April 12, 1744. From the text Matt. vii. 7 Wesley preached at
Taddington in May 1747 ; at Lewisham on September 29, 1747 ; at
Garth on February 19, 1748 ; and at Snowsfields in September 1761.

The original connexion of this passage is not easy to determine. The
first section on judging follows in St. Luke's version immediately on
Matt. v. 48, and is an example of the mercifulness which is there com-
mended. The section on prayer occurs in a different context in
Luke xi. 9-13. The Golden Rule in St. Luke's version follows Matt. v.
42, where it seems more natural. Probably St. Matthew placed it here
as the conclusion of the sermon, what follows being of the nature of
an epilogue. Wesley's suggestion that our Lord now ' proceeds to
point out the main hindrances of this religion ' is not at all convincing.
Votaw's idea is better, that the first section deals with the conduct of
members of the kingdom towards their fellow men ; and that the
second is really extraneous to the present discourse.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged : and with what

measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider est

not the beam that is in thine own eye ?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ;

and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye ?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; and then shalt

thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls

before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again

and rend you.

517

518 Sermon XXV

J^-

Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it

shall be opened unto you :
For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to

him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him

a stone ?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how

much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things

to them that ask Him ?
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do

ye even so to them : for this is the law and the prophets. — Matt.

vii. 1-12.

i. Our blessed Lord, having now finished His main design,
having first delivered the sum of true religion, carefully
guarded against those glosses of men whereby they would
make the Word of God of none effect ; and having next laid
down rules touching that right intention which we are to
preserve in all outward actions ; now proceeds to point out
the main hindrances of this religion, and concludes all with a
suitable application.

2. In the fifth chapter, our great Teacher has fully de-
scribed inward religion in its various branches. He has there
laid before us those dispositions of soul which constitute real
Christianity ; the tempers contained in that ' holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord ' ; the affections which,
when flowing from their proper fountain, from a living faith in
God through Christ Jesus, are intrinsically and essentially good
and acceptable to God. In the sixth He hath shown how all
our actions, likewise, even those that are indifferent in their
own nature, may be made holy, and good, and acceptable to
God, by a pure and holy intention. Whatever is done with-
out this, He declares, is of no value with God : whereas, what-
ever outward works are thus consecrated to God are, in His
sight, of great price.

3. In the former part of this chapter, He points out the
most common and most fatal hindrances of this holiness : in
the latter, He exhorts us, by various motives, to break through
all, and secure that prize of our high calling.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 519

4. The first hindrance He cautions us against is judging.
' Judge not, that ye be not judged.' Judge not others, that
ye be not judged of the Lord ; that ye bring not vengeance
on your own heads. ' For with what judgement ye judge, ye
shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again ' : a plain and equitable rule, whereby
God permits you to determine for yourselves, in what manner
He shall deal with you in the judgement of the great day.

5. There is no station of life, nor any period of time, from

the hour of our first repenting and believing the gospel, till Lv^
we are made perfect in love, wherein this caution is not
needful for every child of God. For occasions of judging
can never be wanting ; and the temptations to it are in-
numerable ; many whereof are so artfully disguised, that we fall
into the sin before we suspect any danger. And unspeakable
are the mischiefs produced hereby, — always to him that judges
another, thus wounding his own soul, and exposing himself
to the righteous judgement of God ; and frequently to those
who are judged, whose hands hang down, who are weakened
and hindered in their course, if not wholly turned out of the way,
and caused to [draw] back even to perdition. Yea, how often,
when this ' root of bitterness springs up, are many defiled
thereby' ; by reason whereof the way of truth itself is evil spoken
of, and that worthy name blasphemed whereby we are called !

6. Yet it does not appear that our Lord designed this
caution only, or chiefly, for the children of God ; but rather j^
for the children of the world, for the men who know not

God. These cannot but hear of those who are not of the
world ; who follow after the religion above described ; who
endeavour to be humble, serious, gentle, merciful, and pure
in heart ; who earnestly desire such measures of these holy

Par. 4. The usual view is that 6. Surely this precept, like all

the second clause refers to the judge- the others in the Sermon, was in-

ment of the Lord, as Wesley takes tended for the members of the

it ; but Augustine and some others Kingdom, not for ' the children of

interpret it as referring to the judge- the world.' But one can quite under -

ment of our fellow men : he who stand Wesley's purpose and motive

judges others generously will receive in applying it as he does. He and

corresponding treatment from them. his Methodists were being judged

520 Sermon XXV

tempers as they have not yet attained, and wait for them
in doing all good to all men, and patiently suffering evil.
Whoever go but thus far, cannot be hid, no more than a ' city
set upon a hill.' And why do not those who ' see their good
works, glorify their Father which is in heaven ? ' What excuse
have they for not treading in their steps — for not imitating
their example, and being followers of them, as they are also of
Christ ? Why, in order to provide an excuse for themselves,
they condemn those whom they ought to imitate. They spend
their time in finding out their neighbours' faults, instead of
amending their own. They are so busied about others going
out of the way, that themselves never come into it at all ; at
least, never get forward ; never go beyond a poor dead form of
godliness, without the power.

7. It is to these more especially that our Lord says, ' Why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye ' — the
infirmities, the mistakes, the imprudence, the weakness of the
children of God — ' but considerest not the beam that is in
thine own eye ? ' Thou considerest not the damnable impeni-
tence, the satanic pride, the accursed self-will, the idolatrous
love of the world, which are in thyself, and which make thy
whole life an abomination to the Lord. Above all, with what
supine carelessness and indifference art thou dancing over
the mouth of hell ! And ' how then,' with what grace, with
what decency or modesty, ' wilt thou say to thy brother, Let
me pull out the mote out of thine eye ' : the excess of zeal
for God, the extreme of self-denial, the too great disengage-
ment from worldly cares and employments, the desire to be
day and night in prayer, or hearing the words of eternal life ?
' And, behold, a beam is in thine own eye ! ' Not a mote,
like one of these. — ' Thou hypocrite ! ' who pretendest to

most unfairly and unkindly on all quaint cut by Sturt representing a

hands at this time ; and he could not man, with a beam about a yard long

resist the impulse to apply this text projecting from his eye, trying to

to those who were abusing and pull out a splinter of the size of a

vilifying him and his work. lucifer match from the eye of an-

7. In Samuel Wesley senior's other man.

History of the New Testament at- ' Thou hypocrite ! ' — because his

tempted in Verse (1717) there is a censorious criticism masquerades

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 521

care for others, and hast no care for thy own soul ; who
makest a show of zeal for the cause of God, when in truth
thou neither lovest nor fearest Him ! ' First cast out the
beam out of thine own eye ' : cast out the beam of impeni-
tence ! Know thyself ! See and feel thyself a sinner ! Feel
that thy inward parts are very wickedness, that thou art alto-
gether corrupt and abominable, and that the wrath of God
abideth on thee ! Cast out the beam of pride ; abhor thyself ;
sink down as in dust and ashes ; be more and more little, and
mean, and base, and vile in thine own eyes ! Cast out the
beam of self-will ! Learn what that meaneth, ' If any man will
come after Me, let him renounce himself.' Deny thyself,
and take up thy cross daily. Let thy whole soul cry out,
' I came down from heaven ' — for so thou didst, thou never-
dying spirit, whether thou knowest it or no — ' not to do my
own will, but the will of Him that sent me.' Cast out the
beam of love of the world. Love not the world, neither
the things of the world. Be thou crucified unto the world,
and the world crucified unto thee. Only use the world, but
enjoy God. Seek all thy happiness in Him ! Above all, cast
out the grand beam, that supine carelessness and indifference !
Deeply consider that ' one thing is needful ' ; the one thing
which thou hast scarce ever thought of. Know and feel, that
thou art a poor, vile, guilty worm, quivering over the great
gulf ! What art thou ? A sinner born to die ; a leaf driven
before the wind ; a vapour ready to vanish away ; just appear-

under the pretence of a friendly act.
Do we not all know these candid
friends ?

' Let him renounce himself ' ;
much better than ' deny,' which has
come to have a conventional and
quite misleading meaning. A man
who gives up smoking, or sugar in
his tea, talks about this as ' self-
denial.' Self-denial is the renounc-
ing of self, not of some small indul-
gence. Compare Sermon XLII on
Self-denial.

' One thing is needful.' The better

reading in Luke x. 41 is, ' There is
need of few things, or indeed of one
only.' The reference is to Martha's
elaborate provision for our Lord's
entertainment ; less would have
been sufficient, indeed one dish
would have served ; and then Martha
would have had leisure for listening
to our Lord's teaching. But the
application of the phrase to religion
has become so common that it can
hardly now be altered, at any rate
in popular usage.

522 Sermon XXV

ing, and then scattered into air, to be no more seen! See
this ! ' And then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote
out of thy brother's eye.' Then, if thou hast leisure from
the concerns of thy own soul, thou shalt know how to correct
thy brother also.

8. But what is properly the meaning of this word, ' Judge
not ' ? What is the judging which is here forbidden ? It
is not the same as evil-speaking, although it is frequently
joined therewith. Evil-speaking is the relating anything that
is evil concerning an absent person ; whereas judging may in-
differently refer either to the absent or the present. Neither
does it necessarily imply the speaking at all, but only the
thinking evil of another. Not that all kind of thinking evil
of others is that judging which our Lord condemns. If I see
one commit robbery or murder, or hear him blaspheme the
name of God, I cannot refrain from thinking ill of the robber
or murderer. Yet this is not evil judging : there is no sin in
this, nor anything contrary to tender affection.

9. The thinking of another in a manner that is contrary
to love, is that judging which is here condemned ; and this
may be of various kinds. For, first we may think another
to blame when he is not. We may lay to his charge (at least
in our own mind) the things of which he is not guilty ; the
words which he has never spoke, or the actions which he has
never done. Or we may think his manner of acting was
wrong, although in reality it was not. And even where
nothing can justly be blamed, either in the thing itself, or in
the manner of doing it, we may suppose his intention was not
good, and so condemn him on that ground ; at the same time
that He who searches the heart sees his simplicity and godly
sincerity.

10. But we may not only fall into the sin of judging, by
condemning the innocent ; but also, secondly, by condemning
the guilty in a higher degree than he deserves. This species
of judging is likewise an offence against justice, as well as
mercy ; and yet such an offence as nothing can secure us from

8. Compare Sermon XLIII on The Cure of Evil-speaking.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 523

but the strongest and tenderest affection. Without this, we
readily suppose one who is acknowledged to be in fault, to
be more in fault than he really is. We undervalue whatever
good is found in him. Nay, we are not easily induced to
believe that anything good can remain in him in whom we
have found anything that is evil.

11. All this shows a manifest want of that love which
ov Xoyl^erai, kclkov — thinketh no evil ; which never draws an
unjust or unkind conclusion from any premisses whatsoever.
Love will not infer from a person's falling once into an act of
open sin, that he is accustomed so to do ; that he is habitually
guilty of it : and if he was habitually guilty once, love does
not conclude he is so still ; much less, that if he is now guilty
of this, therefore he is guilty of other sins also. These evil
reasonings all pertain to that sinful judging which our Lord
here guards us against ; and which we are in the highest degree
concerned to avoid, if we love either God or our own souls.

12. But supposing we do not condemn the innocent,
neither the guilty any farther than they deserve ; still we
may not be altogether clear of the snare : for there is a third
sort of sinful judging, which is the condemning any person
at all where there is not sufficient evidence. And be the
facts we suppose ever so true, yet that does not acquit us.
For they ought not to have been supposed, but proved ; and
till they were, we ought to have formed no judgement. I
say, ' till they were ' ; for neither are we excused, although
the facts admit of ever so strong a proof, unless that proof
be produced before we pass sentence, and compared with the
evidence on the other side. Nor can we be excused, if ever
we pass a full sentence before the accused has spoken for him-
self. Even a Jew might teach us this, as a mere lesson of
justice, abstracted from mercy and brotherly love : ' Doth our
law,' says Nicodemus, ' judge any man, before it hear him, and
know what he doeth ? ' (John vii. 51). Yea, a Heathen could
reply, when the chief of the Jewish nation desired to have
judgement against his prisoner, ' It is not the manner of the

I. See Sermon XVII, iii. n and note.

524 Sermon XXV

Romans ' to judge ' any man, before he that is accused have
the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself
concerning the crime laid against him.'

13. Indeed we could not easily fall into sinful judging,
were we only to observe that rule which another of those
heathen Romans affirms to have been the measure of his own
practice. ' I am so far,' says he, ' from lightly believing
every man's or any man's evidence against another, that I do
not easily or immediately believe a man's evidence against
himself. I always allow him second thoughts, and many times
counsel too.' Go, thou who art called a Christian, and do
likewise : lest the Heathen rise and condemn thee in that
day!

14. But how rarely should we condemn or judge one another,
at least how soon would that evil be remedied, were we to
walk by that clear and express rule which our Lord Himself
has taught us! — ' If thy brother shall trespass against thee,'
or if thou hear or believe that he hath, ' go and tell him of his
fault between thee and him alone.' This is the first step thou
art to take. ' But if he will not hear, take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be established.' This is the second step. ' If
he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church ' ; either to
the overseers thereof, or to the whole congregation. Thou
hast then done thy part. Then think of it no more, but
commend the whole to God.

15. But supposing thou hast by the grace of God ' cast the
beam out of thine own eye,' and dost now clearly see ' the
mote ' or the beam ' which is in thy brother's eye,' yet beware
thou dost not receive hurt thyself by endeavouring to help
him. Still ' give not that which is holy unto dogs.' Do

13. A note in the 1771 edition placed here by St. Matthew as indi-

attributes this saying to Seneca. It eating another aspect of the duty

is quoted again in Sermon XVII, of members of the Kingdom to the

iii. 6. outsiders. Some have found in it

15. Wesley's attempt to link this an indication of the objection on the

verse on to the preceding ones is not part of the Jewish Christians to the

convincing. It seems to be an iso- indiscriminate preaching of the gospel

lated, possibly a proverbial, saying ; to the Gentiles. It was interpreted

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 525

not lightly account any to be of this number ; but if it evi-
dently appear that they deserve the title, then ' cast ye not
your pearls before swine.' Beware of that zeal which is not
according to knowledge. For this is another great hindrance
in their way who would be ' perfect as their heavenly Father
is perfect.' They who desire this cannot but desire that all
mankind should partake of the common blessing. And when
we ourselves first partake of the heavenly gift, the divine
' evidence of things not seen,' we wonder that all mankind do
not see the things which we see so plainly ; and make no doubt
at all but we shall open the eyes of all we have any inter-
course with. Hence we are for attacking all we meet without
delay, and constraining them to see, whether they will or no ;
and by the ill success of this intemperate zeal we often suffer
in our own souls. To prevent this spending our strength in
vain, our Lord adds this needful caution (needful to all, but
more especially to those who are now warm in their first love),
' Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye
your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their
feet, and turn again and rend you.'

16. ' Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.' Beware
of thinking that any deserve this appellation, till there is full
and incontestable proof, such as you can no longer resist.
But when it is clearly and indisputably proved, that they are
unholy and wicked men, not only strangers to but enemies to
God, to all righteousness and true holiness ; ' give not that
which is holy,' to aycov — ' the holy thing,' emphatically so
called, unto these. The holy, the peculiar doctrines of the
gospel — such as were hid from the ages and generations of
old, and are now made known to us, only by the revelation of

in the Didache and by some of the
Fathers as forbidding the adminis-
tration of the Eucharist to the un-
baptized.

16. Wesleyisfar too complimentary
to Felix. He was neither rational
nor honourable ; and he had no
such tincture of philosophy as would
entitle him to be called an Epicurean.

But this last word had come to be
used quite loosely for a man of selfish,
pleasure-loving disposition, and
more particularly for a bon vivant ;
though this was very unjust to
Epicurus, who was a Hedonist, but
found his highest pleasure in the
simple life of a student of philosophy.

526 Sermon XXV

Jesus Christ, and by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit — are not
to be prostituted unto these men, who know not if there be
any Holy Ghost. Not indeed that the ambassadors of Christ
can refrain from declaring them in the great congregation,
wherein some of these may probably be : we must speak,
whether men will hear or whether they will forbear ; but this
is not the case with private Christians. They do not bear
that awful character ; nor are they under any manner of
obligation to force these great and glorious truths on them
who contradict and blaspheme, who have a rooted enmity
against them. Nay, they ought not so to do, but rather to
lead them as they are able to bear. Do not begin a discourse
with these upon remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost ; but talk with them in their own manner, and upon
their own principles. With the rational, honourable, and
unjust Epicure, reason of ' righteousness, temperance, and
judgement to come.' This is the most probable way to make
Felix tremble. Reserve higher subjects for men of higher
attainments.

17. Neither ' cast your pearls before swine.' Be very
unwilling to pass this judgement on any man ; but if the fact
be plain and undeniable, if it is clear beyond all dispute, if
the swine do not endeavour to disguise themselves, but rather
glory in their shame, making no pretence to purity, either of
heart or life, but working all uncleanness with greediness;
then cast not ye your pearls before them. Talk not to them
of the mysteries of the kingdom ; of the things which eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard ; which, of consequence, as they
have no other inlets of knowledge, no spiritual senses, it can-
not enter into their hearts to conceive. Tell not them of the
exceeding great and precious promises which God hath given
us in the Son of His love. What conception can they have of
being made partakers of the divine nature, who do not even
desire to escape the corruption that is in the world through
lust ? Just as much knowledge as swine have of pearls, and
as much relish as they have for them, so much relish have

17. ' Inconvenience ' is a word that meaning. It now means some little
has suffered much weakening in trifling trouble ; but in the older

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 527

they for the deep things of God, so much knowledge of the
mysteries of the gospel, who are immersed in the mire of
this world, in worldly pleasures, desires, and cares. O cast
not those pearls before these, ' lest they trample them under
their feet ! ' — lest they utterly despise what they cannot
understand, and speak evil of the things which they know
not. Nay, it is probable, this would not be the only incon-
venience which would follow : it would not be strange, if they
were, according to their nature, to ' turn again and rend
you ' ; if they were to return you evil for good, cursing for
blessing, and hatred for your good will. Such is the enmity
of the carnal mind against God, and all the things of God.
Such is the treatment you are to expect from these, if you
offer them the unpardonable affront of endeavouring to save
their souls from death, to pluck them as brands out of the
burning.

18. And yet you need not utterly despair even of these,
who, for the present, ' turn again and rend you.' For if all
your arguments and persuasives fail, there is yet another
remedy left, and one that is frequently found effectual, when
no other method avails ; this is prayer. Therefore, whatever
you desire or want, either for others or for your own soul,
' ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' The neglect of this
is a third grand hindrance of holiness. Still we ' have not,
because we ask not.' O how meek and gentle, how lowly in
heart, how full of love both to God and men, might ye have
been at this day, if you had only asked ; if you had continued
instant in prayer ! Therefore, now, at least, ' ask, and it

English, as here, it is used of the Wesley misses the reversed paral-

most serious misfortunes. Thus lelism in this passage :

Powell (1584) calls a massacre ' a

great inconvenience ' ; Armin (1608) Give not that which is holy to the dogs;

speaks of ' rapine, ruin, and a thou- feitheur «st your pearls before the swine;

r . Lest they [the swine] trample them under their

sand inconveniences. It would be {eet.

quite good English of the eighteenth And they [the dogs] turn round and tear you.

century to say that it was a great

inconvenience to Charles I to lose 18. Another rather forced attempt

his head. to find a connexion between this

528 Sermon XXV

shall be given unto you.' ' Ask,' that ye may thoroughly
experience, and perfectly practise, the whole of that religion
which our Lord has here so beautifully described. It shall
then be given you to be holy as He is holy, both in heart and
in all manner of conversation. ' Seek,' in the way He hath
ordained, in searching the Scriptures, in hearing His word, in
meditating thereon, in fasting, in partaking of the Supper of
the Lord ; and surely ye shall find : ye shall find that pearl of
great price, that faith which overcometh the world, that peace
which the world cannot give, that love which is the earnest
of your inheritance. ' Knock ' ; continue in prayer, and in
every other way of the Lord : be not weary or faint in your
mind : press on to the mark : take no denial ; let Him not go
until He bless you. ' And the door ' of mercy, of holiness, of
heaven, ' shall be opened unto you.'

19. It is in compassion to the hardness of our heart, so
unready to believe the goodness of God, that our Lord is
pleased to enlarge upon this head, and to repeat and confirm
what He hath spoken. ' For every one,' saith He, ' that
asketh, receiveth ' ; so that none need come short of the
blessing ; ' and he that seeketh,' even every one that seeketh,
' findeth ' the love and the image of God ; ' and to him that
knocketh,' to every one that knocketh, the gate of righteous-
ness shall be opened. So that here is no room for any to be
discouraged, as though they might ask, or seek, or knock in
vain. Only remember always to pray, to seek, to knock,
and not to faint. And then the promise standeth sure. It
is firm as the pillars of heaven, — yea, more firm; for heaven
and earth shall pass away ; but His word shall not pass away.

20. To cut off every pretence for unbelief, our blessed
Lord, in the following verses, illustrates yet farther what He
had said, by an appeal to what passes in our own breasts :
' What man,' saith He, ' is there of you, whom if his son ask
bread, will give him a stone ? ' Will even natural affection

verse and the preceding. St. Luke like the previous verse, to be an

has it in chap. xi. in connexion with isolated saying, not part of the

the giving of the form of the Lord's original sermon, but incorporated

Prayer to the disciples. It seems, into it by St. Matthew.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 529

permit you to refuse the reasonable request of one you love ?
' Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ? ' Will he
give him hurtful instead of profitable things ? So that even
from what you feel and do yourselves, you may receive the
fullest assurance, as, on the one hand, that no ill effect can
possibly attend your asking, so, on the other, that it will be
attended with that good effect, a full supply of all your wants.
For ' if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven,'
who is pure, unmixed, essential goodness, ' give good things to
them that ask Him ? ' or (as He expresses it on another occa-
sion), ' give the Holy Ghost to them that ask Him ? ' In
Him are included all good things : all wisdom, peace, joy, love ;
the whole treasures of holiness and happiness ; all that God
hath prepared for them that love Him.

21. But that your prayer may have its full weight with
God, see that ye be in charity with all men. For, otherwise,
it is more likely to bring a curse than a blessing on your own
head ; nor can you expect to receive any blessing from God
while you have not charity towards your neighbour. There-
fore, let this hindrance be removed without delay. Confirm
your love towards one another, and towards all men. And
love them not in word only, but in deed and in truth. ' There-
fore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and the prophets.'

22. This is that royal law, that golden rule of mercy, as
well as justice, which even the heathen Emperor caused to be
written over the gate of his palace ; a rule which many believe
to be naturally engraved on the mind of every one that comes
into the world. And thus much is certain, that it commends

22. The Golden Rule is a sum- Hobbes says that the moral regn-

mary of the whole sermon. It is lations, which he calls ' immutable

found in the negative form in Hillel : and eternal laws of nature,' are all

' What is hateful to thee, thou shalt summarized in this rule, which,

not do to thy neighbour ; this word however, he gives in the negative

is the whole law, and all else is com- form. John Stuart Mill says, ' To

mentary' (Shabbath, 31 a). The posi- do as you would be done by, and to

tive form appears to be our Lord's love your neighbour as yourself,

own coinage. The heathen Emperor constitute the ideal perfection of

is Alexander Severus (a.d. 222-35). utilitarian morality' (Utilit. p. 323)
w.s.s. 1 — 34

530 Sermon XXV

itself, as soon as heard, to every man's conscience and under-
standing ; insomuch that no man can knowingly offend against
it, without carrying his condemnation in his own breast.

23. ' This is the law and the prophets.' Whatsoever is
written in that law which God of old revealed to mankind,
and whatsoever precepts God has given by His holy prophets
which have been since the world began, they are all summed
up in these few words, they are all contained in this short
direction. And this, rightly understood, comprises the whole
of that religion which our Lord came to establish upon earth.

24. It may be understood either in a positive or negative
sense. If understood in a negative sense, the meaning is,
' Whatever ye would not that men should do to you, do not ye
unto them.' Here is a plain rule, always ready at hand, always
easy to be applied. In all cases relating to your neighbour,
make his case your own. Suppose the circumstances to be
changed, and yourself to be just as he is now ; and then beware
that you indulge no temper or thought, that no word pass
out of your lips, that you take no step, which you should have
condemned in him, upon such a change of circumstances. If
understood in a direct and positive sense, the plain meaning
of it is, ' Whatsoever you could reasonably desire of him,
supposing yourself to be in his circumstances, that do, to the
uttermost of your power, to every child of man.'

25. To apply this in one or two obvious instances : it is
clear to every man's own conscience, we would not that
others should judge us, should causelessly or lightly think evil
of us ; much less would we that any should speak evil of us
— should publish our real faults or infirmities. Apply this to
yourself. Do not unto another what you would not he should
do unto you ; and you will never more judge your neighbour,
never causelessly or lightly think evil of any one ; much less
will you speak evil ; you will never mention even the real fault

23. The Law and the Prophets 24. ' Reasonably desire ' : an im-
means the Old Testament Scriptures ; portant qualification. The rule can-
more fully specified sometimes as not be worked mechanically, but
' The Law, the Prophets, and the must be treated as a principle of
Psalms.' conduct, to be rationally applied.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : X 531

of an absent person, unless so far as you are convinced it is
absolutely needful for the good of other souls.

26. Again : we would that all men should love and esteem
us, and behave towards us according to justice, mercy, and
truth. And we may reasonably desire, that they should do
us all the good they can do, without injuring themselves ;
yea, that in outward things (according to the known rule),
their superfluities should give way to our conveniences ; their
conveniences, to our necessities ; and their necessities, to our
extremities. Now, then, let us walk by the same rule : let us
do unto all as we would they should do to us. Let us love
and honour all men. Let justice, mercy, and truth govern
all our minds and actions. Let our superfluities give way to
our neighbour's conveniences (and who then will have any
superfluities left ?) ; our conveniences, to our neighbour's
necessities ; our necessities, to his extremities.

27. This is pure and genuine morality. This do, and thou
shalt live. ' As many as walk by this rule, peace be to them
and mercy ' ; for they are ' the Israel of God.' But then, be
it observed, none can walk by this rule (nor ever did from
the beginning of the world), none can love his neighbour as
himself, unless he first love God. And none can love God,
unless he believe in Christ ; unless he have redemption through
His blood, and the Spirit of God bearing witness with his
spirit that he is a child of God. Faith, therefore, is still the
root of all, of present as well as future salvation. Still we
must say to every sinner, ' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved ' : thou shalt be saved now, that thou
mayest be saved for ever ; saved on earth, that thou mayest be
saved in heaven. Believe in Him, and thy faith will work by
love. Thou wilt love the Lord thy God, because He hath
loved thee : thou wilt love thy neighbour as thyself : and then
it will be thy glory and joy, to exert and increase this love ;
not barely by abstaining from what is contrary thereto, from
every unkind thought, word, and action, but by showing all
that kindness to every man which thou wouldest he should
show unto thee.

SERMON XXVI
UPON OUR LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

DISCOURSE XI

Here begins the epilogue to the Sermon. The better reading is,
' Enter ye in by the narrow gate ; for wide and broad is the way that
leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby.
How narrow is the gate and contracted the way that leadeth unto life,
and how few are they that find it ! ' It is advisable to replace ' strait '
by ' narrow,' for the former word is very liable to be confused with
* straight ' ; as indeed it is by John Bunyan in the Pilgrim's Progress,
where he describes the narrow way as being ' as straight as a rule
can make it.' The thought of the two ways is found in Jer. xxi. 8 :
' Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.' In-
deed, the figure is common both in Hebrew and early Christian litera-
ture. Here our Lord is thinking of the narrow gate of an Eastern
city ; which the people pass through from within to a narrow path
which ' leads away ' from the city to the place whither they are going.
The gate is thus the entrance to the way of life, like the wicket-gate
in the Pilgrim's Progress ; and the city is the ' City of Destruction.'
A similar saying is found in a different context in Luke xiii. 24 ; but
there the gate, or rather door, is the door of heaven, and the reference
is eschatological. Many will try to get into heaven in vain at the
last day — quite a different idea.

Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the way,
that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat :

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it. — Matt. vii. 13, 14.

i. Our Lord, having warned us of the dangers which easily
beset us at our first entrance upon real religion, the hind-
rances which naturally arise from within, from the wicked-
ness of our own hearts ; now proceeds to apprise us of the
hindrances from without, particularly ill example and ill

532

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : XI 533

advice. By one or the other of these, thousands, who once
ran well, have drawn back unto perdition — yea, many of those
who were not novices in religion, who had made some pro-
gress in righteousness. His caution, therefore, against these
He presses upon us with all possible earnestness, and repeats
again and again, in variety of expressions, lest by any means
we should let it slip. Thus, effectually to guard us against
the former, ' Enter ye in,' saith He, ' at the strait gate : for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to de-
struction, and many there be which go in thereat : because
strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it ' : to secure us from the
latter, ' Beware,' saith He, ' of false prophets.' We shall, at
present, consider the former only.

2. ' Enter ye in,' saith our blessed Lord, ' at the strait
gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat :
because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it.'

3. In these words we may observe, first, the inseparable
properties of the way to hell : ' Wide is the gate, broad the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go
in thereat ' : secondly, the inseparable properties of the way
to heaven : ' Strait is that gate, and few there be that find
it ' : thirdly, a serious exhortation grounded thereon, ' Enter
ye in at the strait gate.'

1. 1. We may observe, first, the inseparable properties of
the way to hell : ' wide is the gate, and broad is the way,
that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat.'

2. Wide indeed is the gate, and broad the way, that
leadeth to destruction ! For sin is the gate of hell, and
wickedness the way to destruction. And how wide a gate
is that of sin ! How broad is the way of wickedness ! The
' commandment ' of God ' is exceeding broad ' ; as extending
not only to all our actions, but to every word which goeth
out of our lips, yea, every thought that rises in our heart,

534 Sermon XXVI

And sin is equally broad with the commandment, seeing any
breach of the commandment is sin. Yea, rather, it is a thou-
sand times broader ; since there is only one way of keeping
the commandment ; for we do not properly keep it, unless
both the thing done, the manner of doing it, and all the other
circumstances, are right : but there are a thousand ways of
breaking every commandment ; so that this gate is wide
indeed.

3. To consider this a little more particularly : how wide
do those parent-sins extend, from which all the rest derive
their being ; that carnal mind which is enmity against God,
pride of heart, self-will, and love of the world ! Can we
fix any bounds to them ? Do they not diffuse themselves
through all our thoughts, and mingle with all our tempers ?
Are they not the leaven which leavens, more or less, the
whole mass of our affections ? May we not, on a close and
faithful examination of ourselves, perceive these roots of
bitterness continually springing up, infecting all our words,
and tainting all our actions ? And how innumerable an
offspring do they bring forth, in every age and nation ! Even
enough to cover the whole earth with darkness and cruel
habitations.

4. O who is able to reckon up their accursed fruits ; to
count all the sins, whether against God or our neighbour,
not which imagination might paint, but which may be matter
of daily melancholy experience ! Nor need we range over all
the earth to find them. Survey any one kingdom, any single
country, or city, or town ; and how plenteous is this harvest !
And let it not be one of those which are still overspread with
Mahometan or Pagan darkness ; but of those which name the
name of Christ, which profess to see the light of His glorious
gospel. Go no farther than the kingdom to which we belong,
the city wherein we are now. We call ourselves Christians ;
yea, and that of the purest sort : we are Protestants ;
Reformed Christians ! But, alas ! who shall carry on the
reformation of our opinions into our hearts and lives ? Is

I. par. 4. ' The city wherein we are now ' : apparently London is meant.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : XI 535

there not a cause ? For how innumerable are our sins ; and
those of the deepest dye ! Do not the grossest abominations,
of every kind, abound among us from day to day ? Do not
sins of every sort cover the land, as the waters cover the sea ?
Who can count them ? Rather go and count the drops of
rain, or the sands on the sea-shore. So ' wide is the gate,'
so ' broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction ' !

5. ' And many there be who go in at ' that gate ; many
who walk in that way ; almost as many as go in at the gate
of death, as sink into the chambers of the grave. For it
cannot be denied (though neither can we acknowledge it but
with shame and sorrow of heart), that even in this, which is
called a Christian country, the generality of every age and
sex, of every profession and employment, of every rank and
degree, high and low, rich and poor, are walking in the way
of destruction. The far greater part of the inhabitants of this
city, to this day, live in sin ; in some palpable, habitual, known
transgression of the law they profess to observe ; yea, in some
outward transgression, some gross, visible kind of ungodliness
or unrighteousness, some open violation of their duty, either
to God or man. These then, none can deny, are all in the
way that leadeth to destruction. Add to these, those who
have a name indeed that they live, but were never yet alive
to God ; those that outwardly appear fair to men, but are in-
wardly full of all uncleanness ; full of pride or vanity, of anger
or revenge, of ambition or covetousness ; lovers of themselves,
lovers of the world, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of
God. These, indeed, may be highly esteemed of men ; but
they are an abomination to the Lord. And how greatly will
these saints of the world swell the number of the children
of hell ! Yea, add all, whatever they be in other respects,
whether they have more or less of the form of godliness, who,

5. This severe indictment of the the time that produced such men

religious condition of England in the as Gibson of London, Hoadley of

first half of the eighteenth century Winchester, Sherlock, Waterland,

is amply supported by contemporary Calamy, Watts, Lardner, Doddridge,

evidence. See Tyerman's Life of Edward Young, Addison, and

Wesley, I. chap. iii. ; New Hist, of Samuel Johnson was not altogether

Methodism. Bk. I, chap. i. Still, bad,

536 Sermon XXVI

' being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to estab-
lish their own righteousness ' as the ground of their reconcilia-
tion to God and acceptance with Him, of consequence have
not ' submitted themselves unto the righteousness which is of
God ' by faith. Now, all these things joined together in one,
how terribly true is our Lord's assertion, ' Wide is the gate,
and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat ! '

6. Nor does this only concern the vulgar herd — the poor,
base, stupid part of mankind. Men of eminence in the world,
men who have many fields and yoke of oxen, do not desire
to be excused from this. On the contrary, ' many wise men
after the flesh,' according to the human methods of judging,
' many mighty,' in power, in courage, in riches, many 'noble,
are called ' ; called into the broad way, by the world, the flesh,
and the devil ; and they are not disobedient to that calling.
Yea, the higher they are raised in fortune and power, the
deeper do they sink into wickedness. The more blessings
they have received from God, the more sins do they commit ;
using their honour or riches, their learning or wisdom, not as
means of working out their salvation, but rather of excelling
in vice, and so ensuring their own destruction.

II. 1. And the very reason why many of these go on so
securely in the broad way, is, because it is broad ; not con-
sidering that this is the inseparable property of the way to
destruction. ' Many there be,' saith our Lord, ' which go in
thereat ' ; for the very reason why they should flee from it ;
even ' because strait is the gate, and narrow the way, that
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'

2. This is an inseparable property of the way to heaven.
So narrow is the way that leadeth unto life — unto life ever-

6. ' The vulgar herd.' Cf. Horace broke, Walpole, Granville, Chester -

Od. iii. 1.1,' Odi profanum vulgus.' field, the Deists Toland and Tindal,

These contemptuous expressions and many others,

about the mass of mankind — ' poor, II. 1. ' Securely,' i.e. without fear,

base, stupid ' — come unpleasantly without anxiety ; not, as in modern

from the lips of the great evangelist. use, safely.

' Men of eminence ' ; like Boling-

■A

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : XI 537

lasting — so strait the gate, that nothing unclean, nothing
unholy, can enter. No sinner can pass through that gate,
until he is saved from all his sins. Not only from his out-
ward sins, from his evil ' conversation received by tradition
from his fathers.' It will not suffice, that he hath ' ceased
to do evil,' and ' learned to do well ' ; he must not only be
saved from all sinful actions, and from all evil and useless
discourse ; but inwardly changed, thoroughly renewed in the
spirit of his mind : otherwise he cannot pass through the gate
of life, he cannot enter into glory.

3. For, ' narrow is the way that leadeth unto life ' ; the
way of universal holiness. Narrow indeed is the way of
poverty of spirit ; the way of holy mourning ; the way of
meekness ; and that of hungering and thirsting after right-
eousness. Narrow is the way of mercifulness ; of love un-
feigned ; the way of purity of heart ; of doing good unto
all men ; and of gladly suffering evil, all manner of evil, for
righteousness' sake.

4. ' And few there be that find it.' Alas ! how few find
even the way of heathen honesty ! How few are there that do
nothing to another which they would not another should do
unto them ! How few that are clear before God, from acts
either of injustice or unkindness ! How few that do not
' offend with their tongue ' ! that speak nothing unkind,
nothing untrue ! What a small proportion of mankind are
innocent even of outward transgressions ! And how much
smaller a proportion have their hearts right before God, —
clean and holy in His sight ! Where are they, whom His all-
searching eye discerns to be truly humble ; to abhor themselves
in dust and ashes in the presence of God their Saviour ; to be
deeply and steadily serious, feeling their wants, and ' passing
the time of their sojourning with fear ' ; truly meek and gentle,
never ' overcome of evil, but overcoming evil with good ' ;
thoroughly athirst for God, and continually panting after a
renewal in His likeness ? How thinly are they scattered over
the earth whose souls are enlarged in love to all mankind ;
and who love God with all their strength, who have given
Him their hearts, and desire nothing else in earth or heaven !

538 Sermon XXVI

How few are those lovers of God and man, that spend their
whole strength in doing good unto all men ; and are ready to
suffer all things, yea, death itself, to save one soul from eternal
death !

5. But while so few are found in the way of life, and so
many in the way of destruction, there is great danger lest the
torrent of example should bear us away with them. Even a
single example, if it be always in our sight, is apt to make
much impression upon us ; especially when it has nature on
its side, when it falls in with our own inclinations. How
great then must be the force of so numerous examples, con-
tinually before our eyes ; and all conspiring, together with
our own hearts, to carry us down the stream of nature ! How
difficult must it be to stem the tide, and to keep ' ourselves
unspotted in the world ' !

6. What heightens the difficulty still more is, that they
are not the rude and senseless part of mankind, at least not
these alone, who set us the example, who throng the down-
ward way ; but the polite, the well-bred, the genteel, the
wise, the men who understand the world, the men of know-
ledge, of deep and various learning, the rational, the eloquent !
These are all, or nearly all, against us. And how shall we
stand against these ? Do not their tongues drop manna, and
have they not learned all the arts of soft persuasion ? — and of
reasoning too ? for these are versed in all controversies, and
strife of words. It is therefore a small thing with them to
prove, that the way is right, because it is broad ; that he who
follows a multitude cannot do evil, but only he who will not
follow them ; that your way must be wrong, because it is
narrow, and because there are so few that find it. These will
make it clear to a demonstration, that evil is good, and good
is evil ; that the way of holiness is the way of destruction, and
the way of the world the only way to heaven.

7. O how can unlearned and ignorant men maintain their
cause against such opponents ! And yet these are not all
with whom they must contend, however unequal to the task :

6. ' Rude,' i.e. rough, uncultured.

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : XI 539

for there are many mighty, and noble, and powerful men, as
well as wise, in the road that leadeth to destruction ; and
these have a shorter way of confuting, than that of reason
and argument. They usually apply, not to the understanding,
but to the fears, of any that oppose them, — a method that
seldom fails of success, even where argument profits nothing,
as lying level to the capacities of all men ; for all can fear,
whether they can reason or no. And all who have not a firm
trust in God, a sure reliance both on His power and love,
cannot but fear to give any disgust to those who have the
power of the world in their hands. What wonder, therefore,
if the example of these is a law to all who know not God ?

8. Many rich are likewise in the broad way. And these
apply to the hopes of men, and to all their foolish desires, as
strongly and effectually as the mighty and noble to their fears.
So that hardly can you hold on in the way of the kingdom,
unless you are dead to all below, unless you are crucified to
the world, and the world crucified to you, unless you desire
nothing more but God.

9. For how dark, how uncomfortable, how forbidding, is
the prospect on the opposite side ! A strait gate ; a narrow
way ! and few finding that gate ; few walking in the way !
Besides, even those few are not wise men, not men of learning
or eloquence. They are not able to reason either strongly or
clearly : they cannot propose an argument to any advantage.
They know not how to prove what they profess to believe ; or
to explain even what they say they experience. Surely such
advocates as these will never recommend, but rather discredit,
the cause they have espoused.

10. Add to this, that they are not noble, not honourable
men : if they were, you might bear with their folly. They are
men of no interest, no authority, of no account in the world.
They are mean and base ; low in life ; and such as have no
power, if they had the will, to hurt you. Therefore there is
nothing at all to be feared from them ; and there is nothing
at all to hope : for the greater part of them may say, ' Silver
and gold have I none ' ; at least a very moderate share. Nay,
some of them have scarce food to eat, or raiment to put on.

540

Sermon XXVI

For this reason, as well as because their ways are not like
those of other men, they are everywhere spoken against, are
despised, have their names cast out as evil, are variously
persecuted, and treated as the filth and offscouring of the
world. So that both your fears, your hopes, and all your
desires (except those which you have immediately from God),
yea, all your natural passions, continually incline you to return
into the broad way.

III. i. Therefore it is, that our Lord so earnestly exhorts,
' Enter ye in at the strait gate.' Or (as the same exhortation
is elsewhere expressed), ' Strive to enter in ' : 'A<yQ)v%ear0e
elaekdelv — ' strive as in an agony ' : ' For many,' saith our
Lord, ' shall seek to enter in,' indolently strive, ' and shall not
be able.'

2. It is true, He intimates what may seem another reason
for this, for their not being able to enter in, in the words
which immediately follow these. For after He had said,
' Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not
be able,' He subjoins, ' When once the master of the house
is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand
without,' dp^tjade e£a> eardvai — rather, ye stand without ; for
dp%r)<xdt seems to be only an elegant expletive — ' and to
knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us ; He
shall answer and say unto you, I know you not : depart from
Me, all ye workers of iniquity ' (Luke xiii. 24, &c).

3. It may appear, upon a transient view of these words,
that their delaying to seek at all, rather than their manner of
seeking, was the reason why they were not able to enter in.

III. 1. The saying in Luke xiii. 24 rate in the modern sense) ' strive as

was spoken in answer to a question, in an agony ' ; rather ' strive as an

' Are there few that are in the way athlete strives in a contest.'
of salvation ? ' Our Lord says, 2. The word ' begin ' is not a mere

' Agonize, strain every nerve, to expletive, elegant or otherwise ; it

enter ; for many (at the last day) implies the inception of a plan that

will seek to enter and will not be is never consummated ; the plea

able to force their way in.' Probably and effort of these people is cut

a contrast is intended between short by the answer they receive

' agonizing ' and merely ' seeking ' ; from the lord of the house,
but ' agonize ' does not mean fat any

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : XI 541

But it comes, in effect, to the same thing. They were, there-
fore, commanded to depart, because they had been ' workers
of iniquity ' ; because they had walked in the broad road ; in
other words, because they had not agonized to ' enter in at
the strait gate.' Probably they did seek, before the door was
shut ; but that did not suffice : and they did strive, after the
door was shut ; but then it was too late.

4. Therefore strive ye now, in this your day, to ' enter in
at the strait gate.' And in order thereto, settle it in your
heart, and let it be ever uppermost in your thoughts, that if
you are in a broad way, you are in the way that leadeth to
destruction. If many go with you, as sure as God is true,
both they and you are going to hell ! If you are walking as
the generality of men walk, you are walking to the bottom-
less pit ! Are many wise, many rich, many mighty, or noble,
travelling with you in the same way ? By this token, without
going any farther, you know it does not lead to life. Here is
a short, a plain, an infallible rule, before you enter into par-
ticulars. In whatever profession you are engaged, you must
be singular, or be damned ! The way to hell has nothing
singular in it ; but the way to heaven is singularity all over.
If you move but one step towards God, you are not as other
men are. But regard not this. It is far better to stand alone,
than to fall into the pit. Run, then, with patience the race
which is set before thee, though thy companions therein are but
few. They will not always be so. Yet a little while, and
thou wilt ' come to an innumerable company of angels, to the
general assembly and church of the first-born, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect.'

5. Now, then, ' strive to enter in at the strait gate,' being
penetrated with the deepest sense of the inexpressible danger
your soul is in, so long as you are in a broad way, — so long
as you are void of poverty of spirit, and all that inward
religion, which the many, the rich, the wise, account madness.
' Strive to enter in ' ; being pierced with sorrow and shame

4. ' You must be singular or be ists ; one of those epigrammatic
damned 1 ' A phrase that has become flashes in which John Wesley
almost proverbial amongst Method- excelled.

542 Sermon XXVI

for having so long run on with the unthinking crowd, utterly
neglecting, if not despising, that ' holiness without which no
man can see the Lord.' Strive, as in an agony of holy fear,
lest ' a promise being made you of entering into His rest,'
even that ' rest which remaineth for the people of God,'
you should nevertheless ' come short of it.' Strive, in all
the fervour of desire, with ' groanings which cannot be
uttered.' Strive by prayer without ceasing ; at all times,
in all places, lifting up your heart to God, and giving Him
no rest, till you ' awake up after His likeness,' and are
' satisfied ' with it.

6. To conclude. ' Strive to enter in at the strait gate,'
not only by this agony of soul, of conviction, of sorrow, of
shame, of desire, of fear, of unceasing prayer ; but likewise
by ordering thy conversation aright, by walking with all thy
strength in all the ways of God, the way of innocence, of
piety, and of mercy. Abstain from all appearance of evil ;
do all possible good to all men ; deny thyself, thy own will,
in all things, and take up thy cross daily. Be ready to
cut off thy right hand, to pluck out thy right eye, and cast it
from thee ; to suffer the loss of goods, friends, health, all
things on earth, so thou mayest enter into the kingdom of
heaven.

6. Rather ' abstain from every ' species,' ' kind ' ; not ' appearance.'
kind of evil.' The Greek word trans- This is a much-abused passage. See
lated ' appearance ' means literally above, p. 468.

END OF VOL. I

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Full text of "Standard sermons, consisting of forty-four discourses, published in four volumes, in 1746, 1748, 1750, and 1760 (4th ed., 1787); to which are added nine additional sermons, published in vols. I to IV of Wesley's Collected works, 1771;"

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