Wesley Corpus

1. As plainly as God hath pointed out the way wherein He will be inquired after, innumerable objections men, "wise in their own eyes," have raised against it. Though they lack weight in themselves, they've been used to "turn the lame out of the way; yea, to trouble and subvert those who did run well, till Satan appeared as an angel of light." The first and chief objection is: "You cannot use these means without trusting in them." I pray, where is this written? Show me plain Scripture for your assertion. Otherwise I dare not receive it; for I'm not convinced you're wiser than God. If this were true, Christ must have known it. If He'd known it, He would surely have warned us long ago. Therefore, because He hasn't, because there's no tittle of this in Jesus Christ's whole revelation, I'm as fully assured your assertion is false as that this revelation is of God. "However, leave them off for a short time, to see whether you trusted in them or no." So I'm to disobey God, to know whether I trust in obeying Him! Do you avow this advice? Do you deliberately teach to "do evil, that good may come"? O tremble at God's sentence against such teachers! Their "damnation is just." "Nay, if you're troubled when you leave them off, it is plain you trusted in them." By no means. If I'm troubled when I willfully disobey God, His Spirit is still striving with me; but if I'm not troubled at willful sin, I'm given up to a reprobate mind. But what do you mean by "trusting in them"--looking for God's blessing therein; believing that if I wait this way, I shall attain what otherwise I should not? So I do. And so I will, God being my helper, even my life's end. By God's grace I will thus trust in them, till my death's day; that is, I will believe that whatever God hath promised, He is faithful also to perform. And seeing He hath promised to bless me this way, I trust it shall be according to His word.