Wesley Corpus

3. ‘Whether it be lawful to attend the ministrations of one whom God has not sent me to minister, seeing he expressly disclaims the call of God, which is at least as necessary as the call of man,’ is really a question which (as I said before) I cannot answer to my own satisfaction. Neither can I tell - 4. How far that command of our Lord, ‘Beware of false prophet,’ obliges me to refrain from hearing such who put darkness for light and light for darkness. I am still in doubt whether quietly attending them while they do this be not in effect the bidding them God-speed, the strengthening their hands in evil, and encouraging others to hear them till they fall into hell together. I am still desirous of knowing in what particular manner you think the present work of God could be carried on without the assistance of lay preachers. [See letter of Sept. 24.] This I will fairly weigh, and give you my thoughts upon it. Some little things occurred to me in reading your Sermons [The volume of sermons published two years befog, entitled The Christian] which I had a desire to communicate to you. In the great points I cannot observe any difference between us. We both contend for the inward kingdom, the mind that was in Christ Jesus, the image of God to be new stamped upon the heart. I am sometimes much discouraged at finding so little of this in myself. Assist, both with your advice and prayers, dear sir, Your very affectionate brother and servant. All but the last passage of this I had wrote three weeks ago. But the dangerous illness of my wife prevented my finishing it sooner.