We admit that God saw sin as a certainty, but that perception did not make sin a certainty. The freedom of the agent does not destroy the knowledge of God, nor does the knowledge of God destroy the freedom of the agent. God's knowledge of the certainty does not cause the certainty. His knowledge of what an agent will choose to do depends on the certainty that he will do it, and until the certainty exists God cannot know it, as neither God nor man can know anything where there is nothing to know. The knowledge may follow after, go before, or accompany an event, but gives no existence or character to the event, any more than a light shining around a rock gives character or existence to the rock.
IV. THE NEW BIRTH.
The new birth, according to Wesley, includes pardon, justification, regeneration, and adoption. These are coetaneous--received at one and the same time. But they are always preceded by conviction of sin, repentance, and submission to God by faith.
Mr. Wesley says that whosoever is justified is born again, and whosoever is born again is justified, that "both these gifts of God are given to every believer at one and the same moment. In one point of time his sins are blotted out, and he is born again of God."
Mr. Wesley taught that the new birth put an end to the voluntary commission of sin. This change is really a "new creation;" it removes the "love of sin," so that "he that is born of God does not commit sin."
Sin, though it may and does _exist_, does not reign in him who is born of God. It has no longer dominion, though it may have a being, in his heart, requiring a still further work of grace. This wonderful change is effected by faith in the atoning sacrifice. It must be by faith alone.
And such a doctrine is very full of comfort.
V. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT.
This doctrine, as well as justification by faith, was strongly contested in Wesley's time, and the contest has not fully subsided. Many argue that there is no _direct_ witness of the Spirit except what comes through the _Word_, and hence is an inference which we draw by a process of reasoning. The Word of God, it is claimed, gives us certain marks of the new birth. We recognize such internal evidence, hence we infer that we are justified, or born again. This is Wesley's _indirect_ witness, or the witness of our own spirit. But he claimed that God, by his own Spirit, gives us a _direct_ witness; that the "Spirit of God witnesses with _our_ spirit that we are the children of God." And here is his incomparable definition of this soul-cheering truth: "By the witness of the Spirit I mean an inward impression of the soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me and given himself for me; that all my sins have been blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God."
Twenty years later, speaking of this definition, he said: "I see no cause to retract any of these suggestions. Neither do I conceive how any of those expressions may be altered so as to make them more intelligible."
This constitutes the _direct_ witness of the Spirit.
The _indirect_ witness, or the witness of our own spirit, including the fruit of the Spirit, is subsequent to this direct witness. The one is the tree, and the other its fruit.
VI. FINAL PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.
While Calvinism has modified its faith in regard to many things, it still adheres to its original belief in this dogma. It is stated in these words in their Confession of Faith: "They whom God has accepted in his beloved, effectually called, sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end, and be eternally saved." It is further declared that "this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election," etc.
They say, also, that "the perseverance of the saints is one of the Articles by which the creed of the followers of Calvin is distinguished from that of Arminius."
Mr. Wesley as well as Mr. Fletcher opposed this doctrine. They declared with all the force of scriptural authority that "if the righteous turn away from his righteousness and commit iniquity, his righteousness shall no longer be remembered, but for his iniquity that he hath committed he shall die for it." They insisted that if "every branch in Christ that did not bear fruit was to be cut off and cast into the fire and burned,"
the apostasy of a believer may be final. They insisted that "if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation," etc.; that we might so far backslide as that another "might take our crown." They went everywhere declaring that the only safeguard against final apostasy was to be "faithful unto death."
VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OR CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.
Mr. Wesley declared that this was "the grand depositum which God had lodged with the people called Methodists, and for the sake of propagating this chiefly he appears to have raised them up." His opponents charged him with preaching perfection. They said, derisively, "This is Mr. Wesley's doctrine! He preaches perfection!" "He does,"
responds Wesley, "yet this is not _his_ doctrine any more than it is yours, or anyone's else that is a minister of Christ. For it is his doctrine, peculiarly, emphatically his; it is the doctrine of Jesus Christ. These are his words, not mine: 'Ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.' And who says ye shall not; or, at least, not till your soul is separated from your body?"
It is true Wesley used the term "perfection," but it was not the only word he used to set forth this truth, but such terms as "perfect love,"
"full salvation," "full sanctification," "the whole image of God,"
"second change," "clean heart," "pure heart," "loving God with all the heart," etc. He says: "I have no particular fondness for the term perfection. It seldom occurs in my preaching or writing. It is my opponents who thrust it upon me continually, and ask what I mean by it.
I do not build any doctrine thereupon, nor undertake critically to explain it." "What is the meaning of perfection? is another question.
That it is a scriptural term is undeniable; therefore none ought to object to the term, whatever they may as to this or that explication of it." "But I still think that perfection is only another term for holiness, or the image of God in man. 'God made man perfect,' I think, is just the same as 'He made him holy,' or 'in his own image.'"
It does not come within our plan or purpose to give a detailed exposition of Christian perfection, but simply to call the reader's attention to the truth as the central doctrine in Mr. Wesley's system of religious faith. With him it was deliverance from _inbred_, as well as _actual_, sin. It was not sin _repressed_, but sin exterminated, deliverance from sin. His standing definition was the following: "Sanctification, in a proper sense, is an instantaneous deliverance from all sin, and includes an instantaneous power, then given, always to cleave to God. Yet this sanctification does not include a power never to think a useless thought, nor ever speak a useless word. I myself believe that such a perfection is inconsistent with living in a corruptible body; for this makes it impossible always to think aright. While we breathe we shall more or less mistake. If, therefore, Christian perfection includes this, we must not expect it until after death." He says again that "the perfection he believes in is 'love dwelling alone in the heart.'" It is "deliverance from evil desires and evil tempers"
as well as from "evil words and works." "I want you to be all love. This is the perfection I believe and teach. And this perfection is consistent with a thousand nervous disorders, which that high-strained perfection is not. Indeed, my judgment is (in this case particularly) to overdo is to undo; and that to set perfection too high (so high as no man that we ever heard or read of attained) is the most effectual (because unsuspected) way of driving it out of the world."[F] "Nor did I ever say or mean any more by perfection than the loving God with all our heart, and serving him with all our strength; for it might be attended with worse consequences than you seem to be aware of. If there be a mistake, it is far more dangerous on the one side than on the other. If I set the mark too high, I drive men into needless fears; if you set it too low, you drive them into hell fire."[G]
It is not for us to defend these views, but simply to record them, as the theological faith of the founder of Methodism, and that which the Methodist Church in all the world has professed to believe and teach.
VIII. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
Mr. Wesley taught the doctrine of the general resurrection of the human body. "The plain notion of a resurrection," he says, "requires that the selfsame body that died should rise again. Nothing can be said to be raised again but that body that died. If God gives to our souls a new body, this cannot be called a resurrection of the body, because the word plainly implies the fresh production of what was before."[H]
While he holds that the same body is to be raised, it is not a _natural_, but a _spiritual_, body. "It is sown in this world a merely _animal body_--maintained by food, sleep, and air, like the body of brutes. But it is raised of a more refined contexture, needing none of these animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual nature like the angels of God." "We must be entirely changed, for such flesh and blood as we are clothed with now cannot enter into that kingdom which is wholly _spiritual_."[I] He speaks of the _place_ from which the dead rise as evidence of its being the same body that died (John v, 28). "The hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth." "Now, if the same body do not rise again, what need is there of opening the graves at the end of the world?" The graves can give up no bodies but those which were laid in them. If we were not to rise with the very same bodies that died, then they might rest forever.
Mr. Wesley taught, in harmony with the Scriptures, the doctrine of
IX. GENERAL JUDGMENT.
This, Mr. Wesley claimed, would take place at the _second coming of Christ_, at the end of the world, "when the Son of man shall come in his glory." "The dead of all nations will be gathered before him." This he calls "the day of the Lord, the space from the creation of men upon the earth to the end of all things;" "the days of the sons of men, the time that is now passing over us. When this is ended the day of the Lord begins." "The time when we are to give this account" is at the second advent, "when the great white throne comes down from heaven, and he who sitteth thereon, from whose face the heavens and earth shall flee away."
It is "then the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books will be opened." "Before all these the whole human race shall appear,"
etc.[J]
X. ETERNAL REWARD AND PUNISHMENT.
Mr. Wesley taught that men would be both punished and rewarded at the judgment, and that both reward and punishment would be eternal. "Either the punishment is strictly eternal, or the reward is not, the very same expression being applied to the former as to the latter. It is not only particularly observable here (1) that the punishment lasts as long as the reward, but (2) that this punishment is so far from ceasing at the end of the world that it does not begin till then."[K] "The rewards will never come to an end unless God comes to an end and his truth fail. The wicked, meantime, shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
These are the doctrines of universal Methodism, as expressed in its creed. Methodism accepts the doctrines inculcated by John Wesley.
Our space does not allow us to do more than to state these doctrines in the briefest form. Wherever they are faithfully preached they become effectual to the saving of men. It is hoped that Methodism will abide by its doctrinal _creed_, for by it all its victories have been achieved.
CHAPTER XII.
WESLEY AS A MAN.
WE are always more or less curious about the personal appearance of a distinguished character--the eye, the voice, the gesture, etc.
We are told that Mr. Wesley's figure was, in all respects, remarkable.
He was low of stature, with habit of body almost the reverse of corpulent, indicative of strict temperance and continual exercise. His step was firm, and his appearance vigorous and masculine; his face, even in old age, is described as remarkably fine--clear, smooth, with an aquiline nose, the brightest and most piercing eye that could be conceived, and a freshness of complexion rarely found in a man of his years, giving to him a venerable and interesting appearance. In him cheerfulness was mingled with gravity, sprightliness with serene tranquillity. His countenance at times, especially while preaching, produced a lasting impression upon the hearers. They were not able to dispossess themselves of his striking expression.
While preaching at Langhamrow a young man who was full of hilarity and mirth had, on his way to church, kept saying to his companions, with an air of carelessness, "This fine Mr. Wesley I shall hear, and get converted." He did hear him, but he had never gazed upon such a countenance before. It put him in a more serious frame of mind, and for a long time, day and night, whether at home or abroad, that wonderful countenance was before him so full of solemnity and benignity. It was the means of his conversion, and he became a worthy church member and useful class leader.
In dress Mr. Wesley was the pattern of neatness and simplicity, wearing a narrow plaited stock, and coat with small upright collar, with no silk or velvet on any part of his apparel. This, added to a head as white as snow, gave to the beholder an idea of something primitive and apostolic.
The following description of him is given by one who, though not a Methodist, could properly appreciate true greatness: "Very lately I had an opportunity for some days together to observe Mr. Wesley with attention. I endeavored to consider him not so much with the eye of a friend as with the impartiality of a philosopher. I must declare every hour I spent in his company afforded me fresh reasons for esteem and veneration. So fine an old man I never saw. The happiness of his mind beamed forth in his countenance. Every look showed how fully he enjoyed the remembrance of a life well spent. Wherever he was he diffused a portion of his own felicity. Easy and affable in his demeanor, he accommodated himself to every sort of company, and showed how happily the most finished courtesy may be blended with the most perfect piety."
In social life Mr. Wesley was a finished Christian gentleman, and this was seen in the perfect ease with which he accommodated himself to both high and low, rich and poor. He was placid, benevolent, full of rich anecdotes, wit, and wisdom. In all these his conversation was not often equaled. He was never trifling, but always cheerful. Such interviews were always concluded by a verse or two of some hymn, adapted to what had been said, and prayer.
There was no evidence of _fret_. He used to say, "I dare no more fret than curse or swear." "His sprightliness among his friends never left him, and was as conspicuous at eighty-seven as at seventeen." He was at home everywhere, in the mansion or in the cottage, and was equally courteous to all. The young drew to him and he to them. "I reverence the young," he said, "because they may be useful after I am dead." Bradburn, one of his most intimate friends, said: "His modesty prevented him saying much concerning his own religious feelings. In public he hardly ever spoke of the state of his own soul; but in 1781 he told me that his experience might, almost at any time, be expressed in the following lines:
"'O Thou who camest from above, The pure celestial fire to impart, Kindle a flame of sacred love On the mean altar of my heart.