Wesley Corpus

Can any man be saved if he be not holy, like the Apostles; a follower of them, as they were of Christ? And ought not every Preacher of the gospel to be in a peculiar manner like the Apostles, both in holy tempers, in examplariness of life, and in his indefatigable labours for the good of souls? Wo unto every ambassador of Christ, who is not like the Apostles in this! in holiness, in making full proof of his ministry, in spending and being spent for Christ! We cannot, and therefore we need not, be like them in working outward miracles; but we may, and ought, in working together with God for the salvation of men. And the same God who was always ready to help their infirmi ties, is ready to help ours also. He who made them “workmen that needed not to be ashamed,” will teach us also “rightly to divide the word of truth.” In this respect likewise, in respect of his “having help from God,” for the work where unto he is called, every Preacher of the gospel is like the Apostles: Otherwise, he is of all men most miserable. 10. And I am bold to affirm, that these unlettered men have help from God for that great work,-the saving souls from death; seeing he hath enabled, and doth enable them still, to “turn many to righteousness.” Thus hath he “destroyed the wisdom of the wise, and brought to nought the understanding of the prudent.” When they imagined they had effectually shut the door, and locked up every passage whereby any help could come to two or three Preachers, weak in body as well as soul, who they might reasonably believe would, humanly speaking, wear themselves out in a short time;--when they had gained their point by securing, as they supposed, all the men of learn ing in the nation, “He that sitteth in heaven laughed them to scorn,” and came upon them by a way they thought not of.