Wesley Corpus

10. “But, if I could get what has paid duty, I am not able to pay the price of it; and I cannot live without it.” I answer, (1.) You can live without it, as well as your grandmother did. But, (2.) If you could not live without it, you ought to die rather than steal; for death is a less evil than sin. 11. “But my husband will buy it, whether I do or no; and I must use what he provides, or have none.” Undoubtedly, to have none is a less evil than to be partaker with a thief. IV. Upon the whole, then, I exhort all of you that fear God, and desire to save your souls, without regarding what others do, resolve at all hazards to keep yourselves pure. Let your eye be fixed on the word of God, not the examples of men. Our Lord says to every one of you, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me!” Let no convenience, no gain, no pleasure, no friend, draw you from following him. In spite of all the persuasions, all the reasonings, of men, keep to the word of God. If all on the right hand and the left will be knaves, be you an honest man. Probably God will repay you, (he certainly will, if this be best for you,) even with temporal blessings; there have not been wanting remarkable instances of this. But, if not, he will repay you with what is far better,-with “the testimony of a good conscience towards God;” with “joy in the Holy Ghost; ” with an “hope full of immortality;” with “the love of God shed abroad in your hearts:” And “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus !” LoNDoN, January 30, 1767.