Wesley Corpus

5. Yet in their fervent zeal against the horrid profanation of God's ordinances, some spoke as if outward religion were absolutely nothing, having no place in Christ's religion. They may not have expressed themselves with sufficient caution, leading unwary hearers to believe they condemned all outward means as unprofitable. Some holy men, cut off from ordinances--"wandering up and down, having no certain abiding-place, or dwelling in dens and caves of the earth"--experienced God's grace without outward means and inferred that grace would be given to those deliberately abstaining from them. 6. This notion spreads easily, especially among those awakened from spiritual death and burdened by sin's weight. These people are impatient and ready to catch at anything promising ease. Having tried outward means without finding relief--perhaps finding only "remorse, and fear, and sorrow, and condemnation"--they're easily persuaded to abstain. They're weary of striving seemingly in vain and glad of any excuse to "cast aside that wherein their soul has no pleasure, to give over the painful strife, and sink down into an indolent inactivity." II. Definition and Allowances Regarding Means of Grace 1. By "means of grace," I understand "outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace." This expression has been used in the Christian church for ages, particularly by our own Church, which directs us to bless God for "the means of grace, and hope of glory" and teaches that a sacrament is "an outward sign of inward grace, and a means whereby we receive the same." The chief means are prayer, whether secret or public; searching the Scriptures (reading, hearing, meditating); and receiving the Lord's Supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Christ. These we believe God ordained as "the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men."