Wesley Corpus

Suppose, now, that this were real fact: perhaps you would scarce have patience to hear the account of it, but would cut it short in the midst with, ‘Do you tell this as something supernatural Then miracles are not ceased.’ But if you should venture to ask, ‘Where was this, and who was the person that prayed’ and it was answered, ‘At the Foundery near Moorfields; the person who prayed was Mr. Wesley,’ -- what a damp comes at once! What a weight falls on your mind at the very first setting out! It is well if you have any heart or desire to move one step farther. Or if you should, what a strong additional propensity do you now feel to deny the fact! And is there not a ready excuse for so doing -- ‘Oh, they who tell the story are doubtless his own people; most of whom, we may be sure, will say anything for him, and the rest will believe anything!’ But if you at length allowed the fact, might you not find means to account for it by natural causes ‘Great crowds, violent heats, with obstructions and irregularities of the blood and spirits’ will do wonders. If you could not but allow it was more than natural, might not some plausible reason be found for ranking it among the lying wonders, for ascribing it to the devil rather than God And if, after all, you was convinced it was the finger of God, must you not still bring every doctrine advanced to the law and to the testimony, the only sure and infallible test of all What, then, is the use of this continual demand, ‘Show us a sign, and we will believe’ What will you believe I hope no more than is written in the Book of God. And thus far you might venture to believe, even without a miracle.