Wesley Corpus

Yet it was not distrust of my cause, but tender ness to you, which occasioned my silence. I had something to advance on this head also; but I was afraid you could not bear it. I was conscious to myself that, some years since, to touch this point, was to touch the apple of my eye: And this makes me almost unwilling to speak now, lest I should shock the prejudices I cannot remove. Suffer me, however, just to intimate to you some things which I would leave to your farther consideration: The Scribes of old, who were the ordinary Preachers among the Jews, were not Priests; they were not better than laymen. Yea, many of them were incapable of the priesthood, being of the tribe of Simeon, not of Levi. Hence, probably, it was that the Jews themselves never urged it as an objection to our Lord’s preaching, (even those who did not acknowledge or believe that he was sent of God in an extraordinary character) that he was no Priest after the order of Aaron: Nor, indeed, could be; seeing he was of the tribe of Judah. Nor does it appear that any objected this to the Apostles: So far from it, that at Antioch, in Pisidia, we find the rulers of the synagogue sending unto Paul and Barnabas, strangers just come into the city, “saying, Men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.” (Acts xiii. 15.) If we consider these things, we shall be the less surprised at what occurs in the eighth chapter of the Acts: “At that time there was a great persccution against the Church; and they were all scattered abroad” (that is, all the Church, all the believers in Jesus) “throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.” (Verse 1.) “Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” (Verse 4.) Now, what shadow of reason have we to say, or think, that all these were ordained before they preached? 12. If we come to later times: Was Mr. Calvin ordained ? Was he either Priest or Deacon? And were not most of those whom it pleased God to employ in promoting the Reforma tion abroad, laymen also ? Could that great work have been promoted at all in many places, if laymen had not preached ?