Wesley Corpus

miraculous gift of prayer l--So, according to your Lordship's judgment, “to pray in such a manner, as in the event to leave the continuance of our sufferings, or our deliverance from them, with a due submission, to the good pleasure of God,” is one of those extraordinary operations of the Spirit, which none now pretend to but modern enthusiasts I beseech your Lordship to consider. Can you coolly maintain, that the praying with a due submission to the will of God, even in heavy affliction, is a miraculous gift, an extraordinary operation of the Holy Ghost? Is this peculiar to the primitive times? Is it what none but enthusiasts now pretend to? If not, then your Lordship’s own account of pray ing by the Spirit indisputably proves, that this is one of the ordinary privileges of all Christians to the end of the world. 13. “I go on,” your Lordship adds, “to another passage of Scripture, that has been entirely misapplied by modern enthu siasts: “And my speech and mypreaching were notwith enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. ii. 4, 5.) “It is only necessary to evince, that by “the demonstration of the Spirit and of power’ is meant the demonstration of the truth of Christianity, that arises from the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the miracles of Christ and his Apostles.” (Pp. 27, 29.) Yes, it is necessary farther to evince, that these words bave no other meaning. But, First, how will you evince that they bear this? In order thereto, your Lordship argues thus: “The former seems to be the demonstration of the Spirit, with regard to the prophetical testimonies of Him.--And the demonstration of power must signify the power of God, exerted in miracles.” (P. 30.) “Must!” Why so? That 8vvauls often signifies miraculous power, is allowed,--but what follows? that it must mean so in this place? That still remains to be proved. Indeed your Lordship says, this “appears from the following verse, in which is assigned the reason for using this method of proving Christianity to be true, namely, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.