Wesley Collected Works Vol 10
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | treatise |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-wesley-collected-works-vol-10-261 |
| Words | 377 |
You
know there are none. Nor is it possible to evade the force of
those above recited, but by supplying in number what is
wanting in weight; by heaping abundance of texts together,
whereby (though none of them speak home to the point) the
patrons of that opinion dazzle the eyes of the unwary, and
quite overlay the understanding both of themselves and those
that hear them. 40. To proceed: What an account does this doctrine give
of the sincerity of God in a thousand declarations, such as
these?--“O that there were such an heart in them, that they
would fear me, and keep my commandments always, that it
might be well with them, and with their children for ever!”
(Deut. v. 29.) “My people would not hear my voice, and
Israel would not obey me. So I gave them up unto their own
hearts' lusts, and let them follow their own imaginations. O
that my people would have hearkened unto me! For if Israel
had walked in my ways, I should soon have put down their
enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.”
(Psalm lxxxi. 11, &c.) And all this time, you suppose God
had unchangeably ordained, that there never should be “such
an heart in them !” that it never should be possible for the
people whom he thus seemed to lament over, to hearken unto
him, or to walk in his ways! How clear and strong is the reasoning of Dr. Watts on this
head “It is very hard indeed, to vindicate the sincerity of
the blessed God or his Son, in their universal offers of grace
and salvation to men, and their sending Ministers with such
messages and invitations to accept of mercy, if there be not
at least a conditional pardon and salvation provided for them. “His Ministers indeed, as they know not the event of things,
may be sincere in offering salvation to all persons, according
to their general commission, “Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature. But how can God or
Christ be sincere in sending them with this commission, to
offer his grace to all men, if God has not provided such grace
for all men, no, not so much as conditionally?