Wesley Corpus

I hope no inward or outward reasonings are able to move you from walking exactly according to the gospel. O beware of voluntary humility; of thinking, 'Such an one is better than me, and why should I pretend to be more strict than her' 'What is that to thee follow thou Me!' You have but one pattern: follow Him inwardly and outwardly. If other believers will go step for step with you, well; but if not, follow Him! Peace be with your spirit. To Miss March BRISTOL, August 31, 1765. You may be assured it is not a small degree of satisfaction to me to hear that your soul prospers. I cannot be indifferent to anything which concerns either your present or future welfare. As you covet, so I want you to enjoy, the most excellent gifts. To your outward walking I have no objection. But I want you to walk inwardly in the fullness of love, and in the broad light of God's countenance. What is requisite to this but to believe always now to believe with your whole heart, and to hold fast the beginning of this confidence steadfast unto the end And yet a self-complaisant thought, yea, or a blasphemous one, may steal across your spirit; but I will not say that is your own thought. Perhaps an enemy hath done this. Neither will I blame you for 'feeling deeply the perverseness of others,' or for 'feeling your spirit tried with it.' I do not wish that you should not feel it (while it remains), or that you should feel it otherwise than as a trial. But this does not prove that there is sin in your heart or that you are not a sacrifice to love. O my friend, do justice to the grace of God! Hold fast whereunto you have attained; and if you have not yet uninterrupted communion with Him, why not this moment, and from this moment If you have not, I incline to think it is occasioned by reasoning or by some inward or outward omission. To Richard Walsh [13] REDRUTH, September 9, 1765. MY DEAR BROTHER,--I doubt very much whether either Jeremy Coombs or Sister Weyworth spoke any such thing.