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THE KING’S BUSINESS
this is one mighty secret o f power, and is a characteristic o f most men who leave their mark on the world. To be a steam- engine and a penknife, a telescope and a microscope, at the same time, is probably one o f the highest j attainments o f the human mind. I should think my sketch o f Wesley incomplete if I did not notice the objection continually made against him—that he was Arminian in ' doctrine. I fully admit the seriousness o f the bbjection. I do not pre tend either to explain the charge away, or to defend his objectionable opinions. Per sonally, I feel unable to accqunt for any well-instructed Christian holding such doctrines as perfection and the detecta bility o f grace, or denying such as election and thp imputed righteousness of Christ. But after all, we must beware that we do not condemn men too strongly for not seeing all things in our point o f view, or excommunicate and anathematize them because they do not pronounce our shib boleth. It is written in God’s Word, “Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou-set at nought thy brother?” W e must think and let think.. W e must learn to dis tinguish between things that are of the essence o f the gospel and things which are o f the perfection o f gospel. W e may think that a man preaches an imperfect gospel who denies election, considers justi fication to be nothing more than forgive ness, and tells believers in one sermon that they may attain perfection in this life, and in another sermon that they may entirely fall away from grace. .THE GREAT ESSENTIAL But if the same man strongly and boldly exposes and denounces sin, clearly and fully lifts up Christ, distinctly and openly invites men to- believe and repent, shall we dare to say that he will do no good? I, for one, cannot say so, at any rate. If I am asked whether I prefer Whitefield’s gospel or Wesley’s, I answer at ortce that I prefer Whitefield’s; I am a Calvinist, and not an Arminian. But if I am asked to go further, and to say that Wesley preached no gospel at all, and did no real
good, I answer at once that I cannot do so. That Wesley would have done better if he could have thrown off his Arminianism, I have not the least doubt; but that he preached the -gospel, honored Christ, and did extensive good, I no more doubt than I doubt my own existence. Let those who depreciate Wesley as an Arminian, read his own words in the fun eral. sermon which he preached on the occa sion o f Whitefield’s death. He says o f his great fellow-laborer and brother: “ His fundamental point was to give God all the glory o f whatever is goad in man. In the business o f salvation he set Christ as high and man as low as possible. With this point he and his friends at Oxford— the original Methodists so-called—set out. Their grand principle was, th'ere is no power by nature, and no merit in man. They insisted, ‘all grace to speak, think, or act right, is in and from the Spirit of Christ; and all merit is not in man, how high soever in grace, but merely in the blood o f Christ.’ So he and they -taught. There is no power in man, till it is given him from above, to do one good work, to speak one good word, or to form one good desire. For it is not enough to say all men are sick o f sin: no, we are all dead in trespasses and sins. “And we are all helpless, both with regard to the power and the guilt o f sin. For who can bring a clean thing out o f an unclean? None less than the Almighty.. Who can raise those that are dead, spirit ually dead, in sin? None but he who raised us from the dust o f the earth. But on what consideration will he do this? Not for works o f righteousness which we have done. The dead cannot praise thee, O Lord, nor can they do anything for which they should be raised to life. Whatever, therefore, God does, he does it merely for the sake of'h is well-beloved Son. ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. He himself bore all our sins in his own body on the tree. He was delivered for our offences, and rose again for our justification.’ Here, then, is the sole meritorious cause o f every
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