The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 07 (of 32)Wesley, John
Religion
The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 07 (of 32)
Wesley, John
Methodist Church; Theology -- Early works to 1800; Theology -- History -- 18th century
Now, nothing wills and works with God but the _spirit of love_; because
nothing else works in God himself. The Almighty brought forth all
nature for this only end, that boundless love might have its _infinity_
of height and depth to dwell and work in; and all the properties of
nature are only to give life and strength to the spirit of love, that
it may come forth into outward activity, and manifest its blessed
powers; that all creatures may communicate the spirit of love and
goodness, give and receive delight to and from one another. All below
this state of love, is a fall from the one life of God, the only life
in which the God of love can dwell.
Now who can restore this life? The unbelieving _Jews_ said of our Lord,
_How can this man forgive sins?_ Christ shewed them _how_, by appealing
to that power which they saw he had over the body: _whether_, says he,
_is it easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise,
take up thy bed, and walk_? But the delusion of the unbelieving Deist
is greater than that of the _Jew_. For the Deist sees, that his reason
has no power over his body; can remove no disease, blindness, deafness,
or lameness, from it; and yet will pretend to have power enough from
his reason, to help the soul out of all its evil; not knowing that he
only, who can say to the dead body of _Lazarus_, Come forth, can say
to the soul, _Be thou clean_. The _Deist_ therefore, if he pleases, may
stile himself a natural, or a moral philosopher, but with no more truth,
than he can call himself an _healer_ of all the maladies of the body.
And for a man to think himself a moral philosopher, because he has made
a choice collection of syllogisms, in order to quicken and revive a
divine goodness in the soul; or that no Redeemer need come from heaven,
because human reason, when truly left to itself, has great skill in
chopping of logic; may justly be deemed such an ignorance of the nature
of things, as is seldom found in the transactions of illiterate and
vulgar life. But this by the by.
To return to our chief subject: the sum is this: all evil, all misery
of every kind, is nothing else but nature left to _itself_; and
therefore, there is no _possibility_ for the natural, earthly man to
escape eternal wrath, but solely in the way the gospel teacheth, by
denying and dying to himself. On the other hand, all the goodness and
perfection, all the happiness, glory, and joy, that any intelligent
creature can be possessed of, is, and can be, from nothing else, but
the invisible uncreated light and Spirit of God manifesting itself in
the creatures, _filling_, _blessing_, and _uniting_ them all in _one
love_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account