“How few of our celebrated pulpits are there where more has not been said, _at times_, for sin than against it! With what an air of positiveness and assurance has that Barabbas, that murderer of Christ and souls, been pleaded for! ‘It will humble us, make us watchful, stir up our diligence, quicken our graces, endear Christ.’ That is, in plain English, pride will beget humility, sloth will spur us on to diligence, rust will brighten our armour, and unbelief, the very soul of every sinful temper, is to do the work of faith! Jesus, who cleansed the lepers with a word or a touch, cannot, with all the force of His Spirit, and virtue of His blood, expel the leprosy of sin; it is too inveterate. Death, that foul monster, the offspring of sin, shall have the important honour of killing his father. This is confidently asserted by those who cry, ‘Nothing but Christ!’ They allow Him to lop off the branches; but Death, the great Saviour Death, is to destroy the root of sin. In the meantime, _the temple of God_ shall _have agreement with idols_, and _Christ concord with Belial: the Lamb of God shall lie down with the roaring Lion in our heart_.” “To speak the melancholy truth, how few individuals are free from practical Antinomianism! Setting aside their attendance on the ministry of the Word, where is the material difference between several of our genteel believers and other people? Do not we see the sumptuous furniture in their apartments, and fashionable elegance in their dress? What sums of money do they frequently lay out in costly superfluities to adorn their persons, houses, and gardens! In our fashionable churches and chapels, you may find people professing to believe the Bible, who so conform to this present world as to wear gold, pearls, and precious stones, when no distinction of office or state obliges them to it, in direct opposition to the words of two Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. Multitudes of professors, far from being convinced of their sin in this respect, ridicule Mr. Wesley for bearing his testimony against it. The opposition he dares to make to that growing branch of vanity affords matter of pious mirth to a thousand Antinomians. Isaiah could openly reprove the _haughty daughters of Zion_, who _walked with stretched forth necks, wanton eyes, and tinkling feet_: he could expose _the bravery of their fashionable ornaments, their round tires like the moon, their chains, bracelets, head-bands, rings and ear-rings_; but some of our humble Christian ladies will not bear a reproof from Mr. Wesley on the head of dress. They even laugh at him as a _pitiful legalist_, and yet, oh, the inconsistency of the Antinomian spirit! they call Isaiah the _evangelical prophet_!