Wesley Corpus

When 'gainst his head her sacred arms she bent Strict watch, and fast severe, and prayer omnipotent. [The Battle of the Sexes, xxxvi., by Samuel Wesley, jun.] Still he pursues her prayer; still he wounds her doubts and scruples of various sorts, so as to make the very ways of pleasantness uneasy and the path of life like that which leads to destruction. And is there no help Yes. If Selima can believe, all things are possible to her that believeth. The shield of faith will yet repel all darts, if she can be taught to use it skillfully; if the eyes of her understanding can be enlightened to see what is the hope of her calling: to know that our hope is sincerity, not perfection; not to do well, but to do our best. If God were to mark all that is done amiss, who could abide it Not the great Apostle himself, who, even when he had finished his course on earth and was ripe for paradise, yet mentions himself as not having already attained that height, not being already perfect. Perfect, indeed, he was from sin, strictly speaking, which is a voluntary breach of a known law; at least from habits of such sin: as to single acts, he knew whom he had believed. He knew who had promised to forgive these, not seven times but seventy times seven. Nay, a thousand times a thousand, if they sincerely desire it, shall all sins be forgiven unto the sons of men. We need except none; no, not the sin against the Holy Ghost, for in truth this phrase is nowhere in the whole sacred book. 'The sin against the Holy Ghost' is a term invented by the devil to perplex those whom he cannot destroy. The term used by God is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, a phrase that instantly shuts out all thoughts and accusations, for blasphemy must be a speech; and what speech it is Christ has expressly told us in Mark iii. 22, 29, 30: ' He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out devils.'