Treatise Letter To Dr Conyers Middleton
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | treatise |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-treatise-letter-to-dr-conyers-middleton-079 |
| Words | 389 |
And what is the surest and most
accessible evidence (if I may so speak) whereby I may know
that it is of God? May the God of the Christians enable me
to speak on these heads, in a manner suitable to the importance
of them
Section I. 1. I would consider, First, Who is a Christian
indeed? What does that term properly imply? It has been
so long abused, I fear, not only to mean nothing at all, but,
what was far worse than nothing, to be a cloak for the vilest
hypocrisy, for the grossest abominations and immoralities of
every kind, that it is high time to rescue it out of the hands of
wretches that are a reproach to human nature; to show deter
minately what manner of man he is, to whom this name of
right belongs. 2. A Christian cannot think of the Author of his being,
without abasing himself before Him; without a deep sense
of the distance between a worm of earth, and Him that
sitteth on the circle of the heavens. In His presence he
sinks into the dust, knowing himself to be less than nothing
in His eye; and being conscious, in a manner words cannot
express, of his own littleness, ignorance, foolishness. So that
he can only cry out, from the fulness of his heart, “O God! what is man? what am I ?”
3. He has a continual sense of his dependence on the Parent
of good for his being, and all the blessings that attend it. To
Him he refers every natural and every moral endowment; with
all that is commonly ascribed either to fortune, or to the wisdom,
courage, or merit of the possessor. And hence he acquiesces in
whatsoever appears to be His will, not only with patience, but
with thankfulness. He willingly resigns all he is, all he has, to
His wise and gracious disposal. The ruling temper of his heart
is the most absolute submission, and the tenderest gratitude, to
his sovereign Benefactor. And this grateful love creates filial
fear; an awful reverence toward Him, and an earnest care not
to give place to any disposition, not to admit an action, word,
or thought, which might in any degree displease that indulgent
Power to whom he owes his life, breath, and all things. 4.