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14 - Later English Reformers - The Great Controversy · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter fourteen later English reformers. While Luther was opening a closed Bible to the
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people of Germany, Tyndale was impelled by the spirit of God to do the
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same for England. Wickliffe's Bible had been translated from the Latin text, which
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contained many errors. It had never been printed, and the cost of manuscript
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copies was so great that few but wealthy men or nobles could procure it,
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and, furthermore, being strictly prescribed by the Church, it had had a
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comparatively narrow circulation. In fifteen sixteen, a year before the appearance of Luther's
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Thesies, Erasmus had published his Greek and Latin version of the New Testament.
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Now, for the first time, the word of God was printed in the
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original tongue. In this work, many errors of former versions were corrected and
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the sense was more clearly rendered. It led many among the educated classes to
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a better knowledge of the truth and gave a new impetus to the work of
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reform, but the common people were still to a great extent debarred from God's
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word. Tyndale was to complete the work of Wickliffe in giving the Bible to
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his countrymen. A diligent student and an earnest seeker for truth. He had
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received the Gospel from the Greek Testament of Erasmus. He fearlessly preached his convictions,
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urging that all doctrines be tested by the scriptures. To the papist claim
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that the Church had given the Bible and the Church alone could explain it,
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Tyndale responded, do you know who taught the eagles to find their prey?
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Well, that same God teaches his hungry children to find their father in his
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word. Far from having given us the scriptures, it is you who have
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hidden them from us. It is you who burn those who teach them,
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And if you could, you would burn the scriptures themselves. Tyndale's preaching excited
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great interest. Many accepted the truth, but the priests were only alert,
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and no sooner had he left the field, then they, by their threats
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and misrepresentations, endeavored to destroy his work. Too often they succeeded. What
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is to be done, he exclaimed, While I am sowing in one place,
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the enemy ravages the field I have just left, I cannot be everywhere.
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Oh, if Christians possess the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue, they
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could of themselves withstand these sophists. Without the Bible, it is impossible to
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establish the laity in the truth. A new purpose now took possession of his
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mind. It was in the language of Israel, said he, that the
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psalms were sung in the temple of Jehovah. And shall not the Gospel speak
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the language of England. Among us ought the church to have less light at
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noonday than at the dawn. Christians must read the New Testament in their mother
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tongue. The doctors and teachers of the church disagreed among themselves. Only by
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the Bible could men arrive at the truth. One holdeth this doctor another that
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now each of these authors contradicts the other. How then can we distinguish him
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who says right from him who says wrong? How verily by God's word.
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It was not long after that a learned Catholic doctor, engaging in controversy with
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him, exclaimed, we were better to be without God's laws than the popes.
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Tyndale replied, I defy the pope and all his laws, and if
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God spare my life ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth
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the plow to know more of the Scripture than you. Do the purpose which
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he had begun to cherish, of giving to the people the New Testament scriptures
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in their own language, was now confirmed, and he immediately applied himself to
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the work. Driven from his home by persecution, he went to London,
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and therefore a time pursued his labors undisturbed. But again the violence of the
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papists forced him to flee. All England seemed closed against him, and he
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resolved to seek shelter in Germany. Here he began the printing of the English
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New Testament. Twice the work was stopped, but one forbidden to print in
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one city, he went to another. At last he made his way to
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Wurms, where a few years before Luther had defended the Gospel before the diet.
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In that ancient city were many friends of the Reformation, and Tyndale there
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prosecuted his work without further hindrance. Three thousand copies of the New Testament were
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soon finished, and another edition followed in the same year. With great earnestness
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and perseverance, he continued his labors, notwithstanding the English authorities had guarded their
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ports with the strictest vigilance. The Word of God was in various ways secretly
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conveyed to London and thence circulated throughout the country. The papists attempted to suppress
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the truth, but in vain. The Bishop of Durham at one time thought
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of a bookseller who was a friend of Tyndale, his whole stock of Bibles
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for the purpose of destroying them, supposing that this would greatly hinder the work.
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But on the contrary, the money thus furnished purchased material for a new
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and better edition, which but for this could not have been published. When
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Tyndale was afterward made a prisoner, his liberty was offered him on condition that
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he would reveal the names of those who had helped him meet the expense of
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printing his bibles. He replied that the Bishop of Durham had done more than
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any other person, for by paying a large price for the books left on
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hand, he had enabled him to go on with good courage. Tyndale was
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betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and at one time suffered imprisonment for
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many months. He finally witnessed for his faith by a martyr's death. But
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the weapons which he prepared have enabled other soldiers to do battle through all the
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centuries even to our time. Latimer maintained from the pulpit that the Bible ought
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to be read in the language of the people. The author of holy Scripture
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said, he is God himself, and this scripture partakes of the might and
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eternity of its author. There is no king, emperor, magistrate and ruler,
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but are bound to obey his holy word. Let us not take any
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by walks, but let God's word direct us. Let us not walk after
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our forefathers, nor seek not what they did, but what they should have
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done. Barnes and Frith, the faithful friends of Tyndale, arose to defend
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the truth. The Ridleys and Cranmer followed. These leaders in the English Reformation
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were men of learning, and most of them had been highly esteemed for zeal
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or piety in the Romish Communion. Their opposition to the papacy was the result
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of their knowledge of the errors of the Holy See. Their acquaintance with the
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mysteries of Babylon gave greater power to their testimonies against her. Now I would
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ask a strange question, said Latimer, who is the most diligent bishop and
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prelate in all England. I see you listening and hearkening that I should name
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him. I will tell you it is the devil. He is never out
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of his diocese. Call for him when you will. He is ever at
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home, he is ever at his plow. Ye shall never find him idle.
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I warrant you where the devil is resident there, Away with books and
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up with candles, Away with bibles, and up with beads, Away with
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the light of the Gospel, and up with the light of candles, yea
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at noonday's, Down with Christ's Cross, up with purgatory, pick purse,
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Away with clothing the naked, the poor and impotent, Up with decking of
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images and gay garnishing of stocks and stones, Up with Man's traditions and his
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laws, Down with God's traditions and his most holy word. Oh, that
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our prelates would be as diligent to sow the corn of good doctrine as Satan
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is to sow cockle and darnel. The grand principle maintained by these reformers,
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the same that had been held by the Woldenseys, by Wickliffe, by John
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hass, by Luther Spingley, and those who united with them, was the
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infallible authority of the Holy Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice. They
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denied the right of popes, counsels, fathers, and kings to control the
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conscience in matters of religion. The Bible was their authority, and by its
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teaching they tested all doctrines and all claims. Faith in God and his words
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sustained these holy men as they yielded up their lives at the stake. Be
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of good comfort, exclaimed Latimer to his fellow martyr, as the flames were
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about to silence their voices. We shall this day light such a candle,
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by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.
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In Scotland, the seeds of truths scattered by Columba and his co laborers had
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never been wholly destroyed. For hundreds of years. After the churches of England
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submitted to Rome, those of Scotland maintained their freedom. In the twelfth century,
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however, paupery became established here, and in no country did it exercise
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a more absolute sway. Nowhere was the darkness deeper. Still there came rays
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of light to pierce the gloom and give promise of the coming day. The
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Lallards coming from England with the Bible and the teachings of Wickliffe did much to
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preserve the knowledge of the Gospel, and every century had its witnesses and martyrs.
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With the opening of the Great Reformation came the writings of Luther, and
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then Tyndale's English New Testament. Unnoticed by the hierarchy, these messengers silently traversed
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the mountains and valleys, kindling into new life the torch of truth, so
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nearly extinguished in Scotland, and undoing the work which Rome, for four centuries
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of oppression, had done. Then the blood of martyrs gave fresh impetus to
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the movement. The papist leaders, suddenly, awakening to the danger that threatened
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their cause, brought to the stake some of the noblest and most honoured of
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the sons of Scotland. They did but erect a pulpit from which the words
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of these dying witnesses were heard throughout the land, thrilling the souls of the
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people, with an undying purpose to cast off the shackles of Rome. Hamilton
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and Wishart, princely in character as in birth, with a long line of
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humbler disciples, yielded up their lives at the stake. But from the burning
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pile of Wishart there came one whom the flames were not to silence, one
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who, under God was to strike the death knell of popery in Scotland.
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John Knox had turned away from the traditions and mysticisms of the church to feed
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upon the truths of God's word, and the teaching of Wishard had confirmed his
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determination to forsake the Communion of Rome and join himself to the persecuted reformers.
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Urged by his companions to take the office of preacher, he shrunk with trembling
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from its responsibility, and it was only after days of seclusion and painful conflict
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with himself that he consented. But having once accepted the position, he pressed
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forward with inflexible determination and undaunted courage. As long as life continued, this
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true hearted reformer feared not the face of man. The fires of martyrdom blazing
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around him served only to quicken his zeal to greater intensity. With the tyrant's
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axe held menacingly over his head, he stood his ground, striking sturdy blows
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on the right hand and on the left, to demolish idolatry. When brought
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face to face with the Queen of Scotland, in whose presence the zeal of
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Many, a leader of the Protestants, had abated. John Knox bore unswerving
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witness for the truth. He was not to be won by caresses. He
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quailed not before threats. The Queen charged him with heresy. He had taught
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the people to receive a religion prohibited by the state, she declared, and
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had thus transgressed God's command in joining subjects to obey their princes. Knox answered
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firmly, as right, religion took neither original strength nor authority from worldly princes,
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but from the eternal God alone. So are not subjects bound to frame
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their religion according to the appetites of their princes. For often it is that
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princes are the most ignorant of all others in God's true religion. If all
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the seat of Abraham had been of the religion of Pharaoh, whose subjects they
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long were, I pray you, madam, what religion would there have been
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in the world. Or if all men in the days of the Apostles had
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been of the religion of the Roman emperors, what religion would there have been
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upon the face of the earth? And so Madam, ye may perceive that
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subjects are not bound to the religion of their princes, albeit they are commanded
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to give them obedience, said Mary, Ye interpret the scriptures in one manner,
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and they the Roman Catholic teachers interpret in another. Whom shall I believe
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and who shall be judge? Ye shall believe God that plainly speaketh in his
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word, answered the Reformer, And farther than the word teaches you, ye
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shall neither believe the one nor the other. The word of God is plain
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in itself. And if there appear any obscurity in one place, the Holy
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Ghost, which is never contrary to himself, explains the same more clearly in
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other places, so that there can remain no doubt. But unto such obstinately
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remain ignorant. Such were the truths that the fearless Reformer, at the peril
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of his life, spoke in the ear of royalty with the same undaunted courage.
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He kept to his purpose, praying and fighting the battles of the Lord,
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until Scotland was free from popery. In England, the establishment of Protestantism
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as the national religion diminished but did not wholly stop persecution. While many of
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the doctrines of Rome had been renounced, not a few of its forms were
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retained. The supremacy of the pope was rejected, but in his place the
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monarch was enthroned as the head of the church. In the service of the
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church, there was still a wide departure from the purity and simplicity of the
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Gospel. The great principle of religious liberty was not as yet understood, though
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the horrible cruelties which Rome employed against heresy were resorted to but rarely by Protestant
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rulers. Yet the right of every man to worship God according to the dictates
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of his own conscience was not acknowledged. All were required to accept the doctrines
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and observe the forms of worship prescribed by the established church. Dissenters suffered persecution
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to a greater or less extent for hundreds of years. In the seventeenth century,
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thousands of pastors were expelled from their positions. The people were forbidden,
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on pain of heavy fines, imprisonment, and banishment, to attend any religious
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meetings, except such as were sanctioned by the church. Those faithful souls who
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could not refrain from gathering to worship God were compelled to meet in dark alleys,
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in obscure garrets, and at some seasons in the woods. At midnight,
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in the sheltering depths of the forest, a temple of God's own building,
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those scattered and persecuted children of the Lord assembled to pour out their souls
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in prayer and praise. But despite all their precautions, many suffered for their
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faith. The jails were crowded, families were broken up, many were banished
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to foreign lands. Yet God was with his people, and persecution could not
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prevail to silence their testimony. Many were driven across the ocean to America,
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and here laid the foundations of civil and religious liberty, which have been the
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bulwark and glory of this country. Again, as an Apostolic day's persecution turned
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out to the furtherance of the Gospel. In a loathsome dungeon, crowded with
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profligates and felons, John Bunyan breathed the very atmosphere of heaven, and there
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he wrote his wonderful allegory of the Pilgrim's journey from the land of Destruction to
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the celestial City. For over two hundred years, that voice from Bedford Jail
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has spoken with thrilling power to the hearts of men. Bunyan's Pilgrim's progress and
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grace abounding to the chief of sinners have guided many feet into the path of
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life. Baxter, Flavelle, Alen, and other men of talent, education
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and deep Christian experience stood up in valiant defense of the faith which was once
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delivered to the Saints. The work accomplished by these men, proscribed an outlawed
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by the rulers of this world, can never perish. Flavelle's Fountain of Life
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and method of Grace have taught thousands how to commit the keeping of their souls
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to Christ. Baxter's reformed pastor has proved a blessing to many who desire a
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revival of the work of God and his saints. Everlasting Rest has done its
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work in leading souls to the rest that remaineth for the people of God.
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A hundred years later, in a day of great spiritual darkness, Whitefield and
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the Wesleys appeared as light bearers for God. Under the rule of the established
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Church. The people of England had lapsed into a state of religious declension,
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hardly to be distinguished from heathenism. Natural religion was the favorite study of the
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clergy and included most of their theology. The higher classes sneered at piety and
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prided themselves on being above what they called its fanaticism. The lower classes were
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grossly ignorant and abandoned to vice, while the Church had no courage or faith
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any longer to support the downfall and cause of truth. The great doctrine of
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justification by faith, so clearly taught by Luther had been almost wholly lost sight
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of, and the Romish principle of trusting to good works for salvation had taken
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its place. Whitefield and the Wesleys, who were members of the established Church
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were sincere seekers for the favor of God, and this they had been taught
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was to be secured by a virtuous life and an observance of the ordinances of
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religion. When Charles Wesley at one time fell ill and anticipated that death was
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approaching, he was asked upon what he rested his hope of eternal life.
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His answer was, I have used my best endeavors to serve God. As
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the friend who had put the question seemed not to be fully satisfied with his
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answer, Wesley thought, what are not my endeavors a sufficient ground of hope,
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would he rob me of my endeavors? I have nothing else to trust
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to. Such was the death and darkness that had settled down on the church,
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hiding the atonement, robbing Christ of his glory, and turning the minds
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of men from their only hope of salvation, the blood of the crucified Redeemer.
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Wesley and his associates were led to see that true religion is seated in
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the heart, and that God's law extends to the thoughts as well as to
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the words and actions. Convinced of the necessity of holiness of heart as well
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as correctness of outward deportment, they set out in earnest upon a new life.
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By the most diligent and prayerful efforts they endeavored to subdue the evils of
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the natural heart. They lived a life of self denial, charity, and
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humiliation, observing with great rigor and exactness every measure which they thought could be
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helpful to them in obtaining what they most desired, that holiness which could secure
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the favor of God. But they did not obtain the object which they sought.
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In vain were their endeavors to free themselves from the condemnation of sin,
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or to break its power. It was the same struggle which Luther had experienced
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in his sal at Airfort. It was the same question which had tortured his
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soul. How should man be just before God? The fires of divine truth,
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well nigh extinguished upon the altars of Protestantism, were to be rekindled from
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the ancient torch handed down the ages by the Bohemian Christians. After the Reformation,
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Protestantism in Bohemia had been trampled out by the hordes of Rome. All
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who refused to renounce the truth were forced to flee. Some of these,
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finding refuge in Saxony, there maintained the ancient faith. It was from the
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descendants of these Christians at light came to Wesley and his associates, John and
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Charles Wesley, after being ordained to the ministry, were sent on a mission
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to America. On board the ship was a company of Moravians. Violent storms
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were encountered on the passage, and John Wesley, brought face to face with
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death, felt that he had not the assurance of peace with God. The
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Germans, on the contrary, manifested a calmness and trust to which he was
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a stranger. I had long before, he says, observed the great seriousness
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of their behavior, of their humility. They had given a continual proof by
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performing those servile offices for the other passengers, which none of the English would
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undertake, for which they desired and would receive no pay, saying it was
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good for their proud hearts, and their loving Savior had done more for them,
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and every day had given them occasion of showing the meekness which no injury
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could move. If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they
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rose again and went away, but no complaint was found in their mouth.
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There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of
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fear as well as from that of pride, anger and revenge. In the
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midst of the Psalm, wherewith their service began, the sea broke over,
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split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the
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decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible
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screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one
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of them afterward, were you not afraid? He answered, I, Thank
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God, No, I asked, but were not your women and children afraid?
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He replied mildly, no, our women and children are not afraid to
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die. Upon arriving in Savannah, Wesley for a short time abode with the
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Moravians and was deeply impressed with their Christian deportment of one of their religious services,
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in striking contrast to the lifeless formalism of the Church of England. He
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wrote, the great simplicity, as well as solemnity of the whole almost made
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me forget the seventeen hundred years between, and imagine myself in one of those
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assemblies. Where forem and state were not but Paul the tent maker or Peter
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the fisherman presided. Yet, with the demonstration of the spirit and of power.
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On his return to England, Wesley, under the instruction of a Moravian
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preacher, arrived at a clearer understanding of Bible faith. He was convinced that
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he must renounce all dependence upon his own works for salvation and mistrust wholly to
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the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. At a
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meeting of the Moravian Society in London, a statement was read from Luther describing
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the change which the spirit of God works in the heart of the believer.
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As Wesley listened, faith was kindled in his soul. I felt my heart
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strangely warned, he says. I felt, I did trust in Christ,
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Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that He had taken
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away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin
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and death. Through long years of wearisome and comfortless, striving years of rigorous
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self denial, of reproach and humiliation, Wesley had steadfastly adhered to his one
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purpose of seeking God. Now he had found him, and he found that
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the grace which he had toiled to win by prayers and fasts, by alms
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deeds and self abnegation, was a gift without money and without price. Once
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established in the faith of Christ, his whole soul burned with the desire to
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spread everywhere a knowledge of the glorious gospel of God's free grace. I look
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upon all the world as my parish, he said, In whatever part of
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it I am, I judge it, meet write, and my bound and
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duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear the glad tidings of salvation.
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He continued his strict and self denying life, not now as the ground,
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but the result of faith, not the root, but the fruit of
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holiness. The grace of God in Christ is the foundation of the Christian's hope,
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and that grace will be manifested in obedience. Wesley's life was devoted to
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the preaching of the great truths which he had received, justification through faith in
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the atoning Blood of Christ and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit upon the
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heart, bringing forth fruit in a life conformed to the example of Christ.
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Whitefield and the Wesleys had been prepared for their work by long and sharp personal
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convictions of their own lost condition, and that they might might be able to
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endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ. They had been subjected to the fiery
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ordeal of scorn, derision, and persecution both in the university and as they
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were entering the ministry. They and a few others who sympathized with them were
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contemptuously called Methodists by their ungodly fellow students, a name which is at the
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present time regarded as honorable by one of the largest denominations in England and America.
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As members of the Church of England. They were strongly attached to her
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forms of worship, but the Lord had presented before them in his word a
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higher standard. The Holy Spirit urged them to preach Christ, and him crucified
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the power of the Highest attended their labors. Thousands were convicted and truly converted.
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It was necessary that these sheep be protected from ravening wolves. Wesley had
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no thought of forming a new denomination, but he organized them under what was
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called the Methodist Connection. Mysterious and trying was the opposition which these were preachers
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encountered from the established church. Yet God, in his wisdom, had overruled
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events to cause the reform to begin within the church itself. Had it come
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wholly from without, it would not have penetrated where it was so much needed.
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But as the revival preachers were churchmen and labored within the pale of the
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church wherever they could find opportunity, the truth had an entrance where the doors
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would otherwise have remained closed. Some of the clergy were roused from their moral
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stupor and became zealous preachers in their own parishes. Churches that had been petrified
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by formalism were quickened into life in Wesley's time, as in all ages of
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the Church's history, men of different gifts performed their appointed work. They did
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not harmonize upon every point of doctrine, but all were moved by the spirit
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of God and united in the absorbing aim to win souls to Christ. The
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differences between Whitefield and the Wesleys threatened at one time to create alienation, but
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as they learned meekness in the School of Christ, mutual forbearance and charity reconciled
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them. They had no time to dispute. While error and iniquity were teeming
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everywhere, and sinners were going down to ruin, the servants of God trod
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a rugged path. Men of influence and learning employed their powers against them.
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After a time, many of the clergy manifested determined hostility, and the doors
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of the churches were closed against a pure faith, and those who proclaimed it.
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The course of the clergy, in denouncing them from the pulpit, aroused
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the elements of darkness, ignorance, and iniquity. Again and again did John
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Wesley escape death by a miracle of God's mercy, when the rage of the
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mob was excited against him and there seemed no way of escape. An angel
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in human form came to his side. The mob fell back, and the
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servant of Christ passed in safety from the place of danger of his deliverance from
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the enraged mob. On one of these occasions, Wesley said, many endeavored
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to throw me down while we were going down hill on a slippery path to
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the town, as well, judging that if I was once on the ground,
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I should hardly rise any more. But I made no stumble at all,
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nor the least slip, till I was entirely out of their hands.
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Although many strove to lay hold on my collar or clothes to pull me down,
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they could not fasten at all. Only one got fast hold of the
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flap of my waistcoat, which was soon left in his hand. The other
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flap, in the pocket of which was a bank note, was torn but
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half off. A lusty man just behind struck at me several times with a
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large oak and stick, with which if he had struck me once on the
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back part of my head, it would have saved him all further trouble.
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But every time the blow was turned aside. I know not how, for
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I could not move to the right hand or left. Another came rushing through
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the press, and raising his arm to strike on a sudden let it drop,
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and only stroked my head, saying what soft hair he has. The
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very first men whose hearts were turned were the heroes of the town, the
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captains of the rabble on all occasions, one of them having been a prize
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fighter at the bear gardens. By how gentle degrees does God prepare us for
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his will? Two years ago a piece of brick grazed my shoulders. It
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was a year after that the stones struck me between the eyes. Last month
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I received one blow, and this evening too, one before we came into
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the town, and one after we were gone out. But both were as
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nothing, For though one man struck me on the breast with all his might,
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and the other on the mouth with such a force that the blood gushed
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out immediately, I felt no more pain from either of the blows than if
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they had touched me with a straw. The Methodists of those early days,
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people as well as preachers, endured ridicule and persecution alike from church members and
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from the openly irreligious, who were inflamed by their misrepresentations. They were arraigned
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before courts of justice. Such only a name for justice was rare in the
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courts of that time. Often they suffered violence from their persons. Mobs went
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from house to house, destroying furniture and goods, plundering whatever they chose,
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and brutally abusing men, women and children. In some instances, public notices
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were posted calling upon those who desired to assist in breaking the windows and robbing
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the houses of the Methodists to assemble at a given time and place. These
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open violations of both human and divine law were allowed to pass without a reprimand
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a systematic persecution was carried on against a people whose only fault was that of
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seeking to turn the feet of sinners from the path of destruction to the path
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of holiness, said John Wesley, referring to the charges against himself and his
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associates. Some allege that the doctrines of these men are false, erroneous,
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and enthusiastic, that they are new and unheard of till of late, that
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they are Quakerism, fanaticism, popery. This whole pretense has been already cut
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up by the roots, it having been shown at large that every branch of
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this doctrine is the doctrine of scripture interpreted by our own church. Therefore it
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cannot be either false or erroneous, provided the scripture be true. Others allege
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their doctrine is too strict. They make the way to Heaven too narrow.
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And this is in truth the original objection, as it was almost the only
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one for some time, and is secretly at the bottom of a thousand more
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which appear in various forms. But do they make the way to Heaven any
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narrower than our Lord and his apostles made. It? Is their doctrine stricter
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than that of the Bible? Consider only a few plain texts. Thou shalt
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love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy
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mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. For
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every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give an account in the
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day of judgment, whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do,
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do all to the glory of God. If their doctrine is stricter than this,
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they are to blame. But you know in your conscience it is not.
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And who can be one jot less strict without corrupting the word of God?
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Can any steward of the mysteries of God be found faithful? If he
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change any part of that sacred depositum. No he can abate nothing, he
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can soften nothing. He is constrained to declare to all men, I may
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not bring down the Scripture to your taste. You must come up to it
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or perish forever. This is the real ground of that other popular cry concerning
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the uncharitableness of these men. Uncharitable? Are they? In what respect?
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Do they not feed the hungry and clothe the naked? No, that is
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not the thing they are not wanting in this. But they are so uncharitable
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in judging they think none can be saved but those of their own way.
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The spiritual declension, which had been manifest in England just before the time of
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Wesley, was in great degree the result of Antinomian teaching. Many affirmed that
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Christ had abolished the moral law, and that Christians are therefore under no obligation
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to observe it, that a believer is freed from the bondage of good works.
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Others, though admitting the perpetuity of the law, declared that it was
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unnecessary for ministers to exhort the people to obedience of its precepts, since those
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whom God had elected to salvation would, by the irresistible impulse of divine grace,
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be led to the practice of piety and virtue, while those who were
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doomed to eternal reprobation did not have power to obey the divine law. Others,
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also holding that the elect cannot fall from grace nor forfeit the divine favor,
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arrived at the still more hideous conclusion that the wicked actions they commit are
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not really sinful, nor to be considered as instances of their violation of the
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divine law, and that consequently they have no occasion either to confess their sins
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or to break them off by repentance. Therefore, they declared that even one
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of the vilest of sins, considered universally an enormous violation of the divine law,
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is not a sin in the side of God if committed by one of
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the elect, because it is one of the essential and distinctive characteristics of the
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elect that they cannot do anything that is either displeasing to God or prohibited by
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the law. These monstrous doctrines are essentially the same as the later teaching of
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popular educators and theologians that there is no unchangeable divine law, as the standard
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of right, but that the standard of morality is indicated by society itself and
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has constantly been subject to change. All these ideas are inspired by the same
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master Spirit, by him who, even among the sinless inhabitants of Heaven,
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began his work of seeking to break down the righteous restraints of the Law of
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God. The doctrine of the Divine Decrees unalterably fixing the character of men,
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had led many to a virtual rejection of the law of God. Wesley steadfastly
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opposed the errors of the Antinomian teachers and showed that this doctrine which led to
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Antinomianism, was contrary to the scriptures. The grace of God that bringeth salvation
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hath appeared to all men. This is good and acceptable in the sight of
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God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to
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come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one
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mediator between God and men, the man Christ, Jesus, who gave himself
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a ransom for all The Spirit of God is freely bestowed to enable every man
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to lay hold upon the means of salvation. Thus, Christ, the true
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light lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Men fail of salvation through
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their own wilful refusal of the gift of life. In answer to the claim
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that at the death of Christ the precepts of the Decalogue had been abolished with
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the ceremonial law, Wesley said, the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments,
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and enforced by the prophets, he did not take away. It was
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not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is
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a law which never can be broken, which stands fast as the faithful witness
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in heaven. This was from the beginning of the world, being written not
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on tables of stone, but on the hearts of all the children of men,
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when they came out of the hands of the Creator. And however,
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the letters once wrote by the finger of God are now in a great measure
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defaced by sin. Yet can they not wholly be blotted out? While we
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have any consciousness of good and evil? Every part of this law must remain
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in force upon all mankind and in all ages, as not depending either on
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time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the
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nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each
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other. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Without question.
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His meaning in this place is consistently with all that goes before and follows
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after. I am come to establish it in its fullness, in spite of
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all the glosses of men, I am come to place in a full and
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clear view, whatsoever was dark or obscure therein. I am come to declare
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the true and full import of every part of it, to show the length
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and breadth, the entire extent of every commandment contained therein, and the height
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and depth the inconceivable purity and spirituality of it in all its branches. Wesley
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declared the perfect harmony of the Law and the Gospel. There is therefore the
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closest connection that can be conceived between the Law and the Gospel. On the
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one hand, the Law continually makes way for and points us to the Gospel.
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On the other, the Gospel continually leads us to a more exact fulfilling
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of the law. The Law, for instance, requires us to love God,
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to love our neighbor, to be meek, humble, or holy.
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We feel that we are not sufficient for these things. Yea that with man
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this is impossible, But we see a promise of God to give us that
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love and to make us humble, meek and holy. We lay hold of
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this Gospel, of these glad tidings. It is done unto us according to
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our faith, and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us through faith
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which is in Christ Jesus. In the highest rank of the enemies of the
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Gospel of Christ, said Wesley, are they who openly and explicitly judge the
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law itself and speak evil of the law, who teach men to break,
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to dissolve, to loose, to untie the obligation of not one only,
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whether of the least or of the greatest, but all the commandments at a
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stroke. The most surprising of all the circumstances that attend this strong delusion is
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that they who are given up to it really believe that they honor Christ by
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overthrowing his law, and that they are magnifying his office while they are destroying
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his doctrine. Yea, they honor him just as Judas did when he said,
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hail Master and kissed him. And he may as justly say to every
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one of them, betrayest thou the son of Man with a kiss. It
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is no other than betraying him with a kiss, to talk of his blood
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and take away his crown, to set light by any part of his law
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under pretense of advancing his gospel. Nor, indeed, can any one escape
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this charge who preaches faith in any such a manner as, either directly or
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indirectly, tends to set aside any branch of obedience, who preaches Christ so
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as to disannull or weaken in any wise the least of the commandments of God.
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To those who urge that the preaching of the Gospel answers all the ends
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of the law, whilst they replied this, we utterly deny it does not
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answer the very first end of the law, namely the convincing men of sin,
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the awakening those who are still asleep on the brink of hell. The
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apostle Paul declares that by the law is the knowledge of sin, and not
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until man is convicted of sin will he truly feel his need of the atoning
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blood of Christ. They that be whole, as our Lord himself observes,
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need not a physician, but they that are sick. It is absurd,
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therefore, to offer a physician to them that are whole, or that at
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least imagine themselves, so to be, you are first to convince them that
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they are sick, otherwise they will not thank you for your labor. It
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is equally absurd to offer Christ to them whose heart a is having never yet
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been broken. Thus, while preaching the gospel of the grace of God,
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lest they, like his master, sought to magnify the law and make it
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honorable. Faithfully did he accomplish the work given him of God. And glorious
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were the results which he was permitted to behold. At the close of his
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long life of more than fourscore years, above half a century spent in itinerant
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ministry, his avowed adherents numbered more than half a million souls. But the
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multitude that through his labors had been lifted from the ruin and degradation of sin
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to a higher and purer life, and the number who by his teaching had
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attained to a deeper and richer experience, will never be known till the whole
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family of the Redeemed shall be gathered into the Kingdom of God. His life
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presents a lesson of priceless worth to every Christian. Would that the faith and
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humility, the untiring zeal, self sacrifice, and devotion of this servant of
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Christ might be reflected in the churches of to day. End of Chapter fourteen