Wesley Corpus

We must, yea, every travelling Preacher must, instruct them from house to house. Till this is done, and that in good earnest, the Methodists will be little better than other people. Our religion is not deep, universal, uniform; but superficial, partial, uneven. It will be so, till we spend half as much time in this visiting, as we now do in talking uselessly. Can we find a better method of doing this than Mr. Baxter's? If not, let us adopt it without delay. His whole tract, entitled Gildas Salvianus, is well worth a careful perusal. A short extract from it I will subjoin. Speaking of this visiting from house to house, he says: “We shall find many hinderances, both in ourselves, and in the people. “l. In ourselves there is much dulness and laziness; so that there will be much ado to get us to be faithful in the work. “2. We have a base, man-pleasing temper; so that we let men perish, rather than lose their love. We let them go quietly to hell, lest we should anger them. “3. Some of us have also a foolish bashfulness. We know not how to begin, and blush to contradict the devil. “4. But the greatest hinderance is, wea mess of faith. ‘Our whole motion is weak, because the spring of it is weak. “5. Lastly, we are unskilful in the work. How few know how to deal with men, so as to get within them, and suit all our discourse to their several conditions and tempers; to choose the fittest subjects, and follow them with a holy mixture of seriousness, and terror, and love, and meekness l’’ (P. 351.) And we have many difficulties to grapple with in our people. 1. Too many of them will be unwilling to be taught, till we conquer their perverseness by the force of reason and the power of love. 2. And many are so dull that they will shun being taught for fear of showing their dulness. And indeed you will find it extremely hard to make them understand the very plainest points. 3. And it is still harder to fix things on their hearts, without which all our labour is lost. If you have not, therefore, great seriousness and fervency, what good can you expect? And, after all, it is grace alone that must do the work. 4.