Wesley Corpus

“7, These are some of those inward fruits of the Spirit, which must be felt wheresoever they are ; and without these, I cannot learn from Holy Writ that any man is ‘ born of the Spirit.’ I beseech you, sir, by the mercies of God, that if as yet you know nothing of such inward feelings, if you do not ‘feel in yourself these mighty workings of the Snirit of Christ,’ at least you would not contradict and blaspheme. When the Holy Ghost hath fervently kindled your love toward God, you will know these to be very sensible operations: .As you hear the wind and feel it too, while it strikes upon your bodily organs, you will know you are under the guidance of God’s Spirit the same way, namely, by feeling it .n your soul: by the present peace, and joy, and love, which you feel within as well as by its outward and more distant effects. I am,” &c. 148 REV. J. WESLEY’S JOURNAL. [Aug. 1739. I have often wished, that all calm and impartial men would consider what is advanced by another writer, in a little discourse concerning enthusiasm, or religious delusion, published about this time. His words are,-- y ** A minister of our Church, who may look upon it as his duty to warn his parishioners, or an author who may think it necessary to caution his readers, against such preachers or their doctrine, (enthusiastic preachers, I suppose; such as he takes it for granted the Methodist preachers are,) ought to be very careful to act with a Christian spirit, and to advance nothing but with temper, charity, and truth. Perhaps the following rules may be proper to be observed by them :-- “1, Not to blame persons for doing that now which Scripture records holy men of old to have practised ; lest, had they lived in those times, they should have condemned them also. «° 2. Not to censure persons in holy orders, for teaching the same doctrines which are taught in the Scriptures and by our Church; lest they should ignorantly censure what they profess to defend.