John Wesley

“ Thou must take from God’s hand. Christ is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. Pardon a free gift. Ah, how nature storms, frets, rageth at this, that all is of gift, and it can purchase nothing with tears and duties; that all its workings are excluded, and of no value in heaven!
Consider, didst thou ever yet see the merits of Christ, and the infinite satisfaction made by his death? Didst thou see this when the burthen of sin and the wrath of God lay heavy on thy conscience? That is grace. The greatness of Christ’s merit is not known but to a poor soul at the greatest loss. ”

“ An awakened conscience is hell. Pride, envy, wrath, hatred, malice, revenge; what are these but hell upon earth? And how often art thou tormented in these flames? Flames of lust, envy, or proud wrath? Are not these to thy soul, when blown up to the height, as it were a lake of fire, burning with brimstone? Flee away before the great gulph is fixt: escape, escape for thy life! If thou hast not strength, cry to God, and thou shalt receive power from on high: and he whose name is rightly called Jesus, shall save thee from thy sins. ”

“ Is not thy soul fallen short of the glory (the glorious image) of God? Look into thy breast. Art thou not a fallen spirit? Dost thou not know and feel, how very far thou art gone from original righteousness? Desperately full thou art of all evil, and naked of all good? Is there not in thee, an earthly, sensual, devilish mind? A mind that is enmity against God? ’Tis plain there is. For thou dost not love God. Thou dost not delight in him. He is not the desire of thy eyes, or the joy of thy heart. Thou lovest the creature more than the Creator. ”

“ Why will you die? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you. Sinner, art thou not yet melted? Oh come in at his loving calls. Come out from thy sins: touch the scepter of grace and live: Why shouldst thou be dashed in pieces by his iron rod? Kiss the Son: Why shouldst thou perish in the way? Set up Jesus as thy king, lest he count thee for his enemy, because thou would not that he should reign over thee, and so thou be called forth and slain before him. Oh how dreadful will this case be, to die by the hand of a Saviour! ”

“ The beauty of holiness is his very image; sin is the disease of which holiness is the cure. O what peace and tranquility doth holiness work in the mind! Great peace have they that love thy commandments, and nothing shall offend them. In a word, holiness is the perfection of man’s nature, the communication of the divine nature, the earnest of glory, and the very entrance of heaven.
Let me say now to every one of you, as our Saviour to Martha; Believest thou this? If you do, live like believers, and do you follow after holiness as others follow their trades or studies. ”

“ O FATHER of Spirits, that hast set me over thy flock to watch for their souls as one that must give account: I have long studied thy will, and taught in thy name, and do unfeignedly bless thee, that any have believed my report. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them. I have manifested thy name unto them, and they have kept thy word. And now I am no more with them, but I come unto thee! Holy Father, keep them through thine own name; for they are thine. As they have kept the word of thy patience, so keep thou them in the hour of temptation. ”

“ Sin will hinder from glorying in the cross of Christ. And omitting little things against light may breed hell in the conscience, as well as committing the greatest sins. If thou hast been taken out of the belly of hell into Christ’s bosom, and made sit among princes in the houshold of God, Oh, how shouldest thou live as a pattern of mercy!—Redeemed, restored soul, what infinite sums dost thou owe Christ! With what zeal shouldst thou walk, and do every duty! Sabbaths, what praising days should they be to thee!—Church fellowship! What a heaven, a being with Christ, and angels, and saints! ”

“ Hast thou the peace of God? Hast thou joy in the Holy Ghost? Is the love of God shed abroad in thy heart? Doth his Spirit witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God? Hast thou redemption in Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of thy sins? Art thou dead unto sin, and alive unto God? Hast thou crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts? Hath the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, made thee free from the law of sin and death? ”

“ What miss of life, when it is to be had for the taking! God forbid. O my brethren, my soul yearns for you, and my bowels towards you. Ah, that I did but know what arguments to use with you: who shall chuse my words that I may prevail with sinners not to reject their own mercy? How shall I get within them? How shall I reach them? O that I could get but between their sins and them. Beloved brethren, the Lord Jesus hath made me, most unworthy, his spokesman, to bespeak your hearts for him: and oh, that I knew but how to woo for him, that I might prevail! ”

“ Think every little much, because unworthy of the least. Think every one better than thyself; loathing thyself as one fit to be trampled on by all saints. See the vanity of the world and love nothing but Christ. Mourn to see so little of Christ in the world. To a secure soul Christ is but a fable, the scripture but a story. Mourn to think how many are under church order that are not under grace. Prepare for the cross; welcome it; bear it triumphantly like Christ’s cross, whether, scoffs, mockings, contempt, imprisonments.—But see it be Christ’s cross, not thine own. ”

“ What seekest thou? What is my chief care? Is it for this world, or the world to come? Do I first seek the kingdom of heaven, and the righteousness thereof? Do I think heaven will drop into my mouth? That glory and immortality will be got with a wet finger, with cold prayers, and heartless wishes, while the world has my heart? Do I think to be crowned, and yet never fight? To gain the race and never run? To enter at the strait gate, and never strive? ”

“ All is well as long as it is well at home; I pray you brethren, daily consider your condition: Do you not remember that you are at an inn? And what though you be but meanly accommodated? Though you fare hard, and lie hard! Is this a strange thing? What should travellers look for else? Indeed if you were of the world, the world would love his own. But now God hath called you out of the world; therefore the world hateth you. But remember, it is your duty to love them, even while they hate you; and to pray for mercy for them, that will shew no mercy, or justice. ”

“ Christ is the mystery of the scripture. Grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of thine own to it, and thou spoilest it; Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When thou comest to Christ, thou must leave behind thee thy own righteousness, and bring nothing but thy sin. (Oh that is hard!) Leave behind all thy holiness, and bring nothing but thy wants and miseries, else Christ is not fit for thee, nor thou for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer, and thou must be an undone sinner, or Christ and thou will never agree. ”

“ Woe to them that though they have been warned by others, and have heard the world’s greatest darlings in death cry out of its vanity, yet would take no warning; but must serve themselves too, for warnings to others. Ah! my beloved, beware there be none among you, that will rather part with their consciences than with their estates; that have secret reserves to save themselves whole, when it comes to the pinch; and not to be of the religion that will undo them in the world. Beware that none of you have your hearts where your feet should be, and love your mammon before your Maker. ”

“ Have you been brought to such a sense of sin, that there is no sin, but you heartily abhor it? Are you brought to such a sense of the beauty of holiness, and of the laws and ways of God, that you desire to know the whole mind of God? Would you not excuse yourselves by ignorance from any duty, and do not you allow yourselves in the neglect of any thing conscience charges upon you as a duty? ”

“ Rejoice then, O Christians, and bless yourselves, in being under Christ’s care. Fear not little flock; stronger is he that is with you, than he that is against you: what though Satan should raise all his militia against you? Adhere to Christ, doing and suffering his pleasure, and he shall secure you: the Lord will not forsake you, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people: many will be plucking at you, but fear not, he hath all power. Can omnipotence secure you? He is all treasure. Can unsearchable riches suffice you? In a word, he is all fullness. Can fullness fill you? ”

“ Brethren, I beseech you that none of you live to yourselves, for this were directly to cross the end of Christ’s death; for therefore he died that you should not live to yourselves. O live to him that died for you! Live to him that is the God of your life! Live to him that bought your lives with his own! To him that bought you from destruction, and not only so, but bought you the eternal inheritance. Will a man be easily persuaded to lose his life? How infinitely tender are men here! And yet the most of men do lose their lives, yea, lose them for nothing. ”

“ Oh that every one of your families might be a church of God! Beloved, look to it, that every one that nameth the name of Christ among you depart from iniquity, secret as well as open, of the heart as well as of the life. Let no man think that to make an out-cry upon the wickedness of the times, will serve his turn; many go to hell in the company of the wise virgins. That no man may be a self-deceiver, let every man be a self-searcher. He that keeps no day-book in his shop, and no account in his conscience, his estate and his soul will thrive both alike. ”

“ To the most beloved people, the flock of Christ in Taunton, salvation.
Most dear brethren,
BRETHREN how stands it with you? Doth the main work go on? do your souls prosper? This is my care; beware that you flag not, that you faint not now in the evil day. I understand that your dangers grow upon you. May your faith and courage grow much more abundantly!
Some of your enemies, I hear, are in great hopes to satisfy their desires upon you. Well, be not discouraged my dear brethren, but bless the Lord, who of his abundant mercy, hath so remarkably preserved you so long beyond all expectation. ”

“ Beloved, We lose unutterably for want of considering our own privileges, and blessedness. O man, is Christ thine, and yet dost thou live at a low rate? Is thy name written in heaven, and yet dost thou not rejoice? Shall the children of the kingdom, the chosen generation, be like other men? O Christians, remember who and whence you are, consider your obligations, bestir yourselves, run and wrestle, and be strong for the Lord of Hosts, (and earnestly, yet peaceably) contend for the faith once delivered to his saints. What, shall we make nothing of all that God hath said and done for us? ”

“ Never did my soul know the heaven of a believer’s life, till I learnt to live a life of praise, and to set home the unspeakable riches of the divine promises, to which, through grace, I am made an heir. I verily perceive that all our work were done, if we could but prevail with ourselves and others to live like believers; to tell all the world by our carriage, that there is such pleasantness in Christ’s ways, such beauty in holiness, such reward to obedience, as we profess to believe! ”

“ Go, and talk with dying men, and see what apprehensions they have of the world? If any should come to these, and tell them here is such and such preferments for you; you shall have such titles of honour and delights, if you will now disown religion, do you think such a motion would be embraced? Brethren, why should we not be wise in time! Why should we not now be of the mind, of which we know we shall be all shortly? Woe to them that will not be wise, till it be to no purpose! Woe to them whose eyes nothing but death and judgment will open! ”

“ Are you more strict and severe than ever in the duty of daily self-examination, and holy meditation? Do you hold the reins harder upon the flesh than ever? Do you keep a stricter watch upon your appetites? Do you set a stronger guard upon your tongues? Have you a more jealous eye upon your hearts?
Sixthly, If you grow more vile in your own eyes. Do you grow more out of love with men’s esteem, set less by it? Are you not marvellous tender of being slighted? Can you rejoice to see others preferred before you? Can you heartily value and love them that think meanly of you? ”

“ I AM your’s, and love to be so, being ambitious not to have dominion over your faith, but to be a helper of your joy. Christ’s officers are so your rulers in the Lord, as yet to preach not themselves, but the Lord Jesus Christ, and themselves your servants for Jesus’s sake. I have no greater felicity under God, than to serve the good of souls. ”

“ I can say through grace, with my soul have I desired thee in the night, and with my spirit within me have I sought thee early; my heart is early and late with God, ’tis the business and delight of my life to seek him. But alas, how long shall I spend my days in wishing, when my glorified brethren spend theirs in enjoying? As the poor imprisoned captive sighs under his irons, and can only look through the grate, and long for the liberty which others enjoy: such is my condition. I can only look through the grate of this prison, my flesh ”

“ Own, your merit is everlasting damnation; that you deserve the damnation of hell. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Lie in the dust. Let your mouth be stopt. And let all your confidence be in the blood of sprinkling; all your hope in Jesus Christ the righteous; all your faith in him that justifieth the ungodly, thro’ the redemption that is in Jesus.
O put away your idols out of your heart. Love not the world, neither the things of the world. Having food to eat and raiment to put on, be content: desire nothing more but God. ”

“ Do you thirst for holiness? Do you follow after holiness? Do you prize it above all prosperity and worldly greatness? Do you hate every sin, and long to be rid of it as your most irksome burden, and use all God’s means against it as far as you know them? If it be thus with you, Christ hath set his stamp upon your hearts, and hath set you as a seal upon his heart. ”