The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 01 (of 32)Wesley, John
Religion
The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 01 (of 32)
Wesley, John
Methodist Church; Theology -- Early works to 1800; Theology -- History -- 18th century
The other passage wherein this expression occurs, stands 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 arose
early in the morning and went forth. And when they began to sing and
to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of |Moab|,
|Ammon|, and |Mount Sier|――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 immediately following,
_Touch not, taste not, handle not_――all evidently referring to the
antient ordinances of the _Jewish_ law.
So that this objection is the weakest of all. And in spight of all,
that great truth must stand unshaken, that all who 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 enquired
how those means should be used, both as to the _order_, and the
_manner_ of using them?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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