Wesley Corpus

11. “Under these pretended impressions, their next advance is to a call to preach the word themselves; and forth they issue, as under the immediate inspiration of God's Spirit, with the language of Apostles, and zeal of Martyrs, to publish the gos pel, as if they were among our remotest ancestors, strangers to the name of Christ.” (Pages 20, 21.) The plain truth is this: One in five hundred of those whom God so enlightens and comforts, sooner or later, believes it to be his duty to call other sinners to repentance. Such an one commonly stifles this conviction till he is so uneasy he can stifle it no longer. He then consults one or more of those whom he believes to be competent judges; and, under the direction of these, goes on, step by step, from a narrower to a larger sphere ThE REV. M.R. POTTER. 93 of action. Meantime he endeavours to use only “the language of the Apostles,” to speak the things of the Spirit in the words of the Spirit. And he longs and prays for the “zeal of Mar tyrs,” continually finding the need thereof; seeing our present countrymen are as great strangers to the mind that was in Christ, as our ancestors were to his name. 12. “But the Holy Spirit no longer comes from heaven like a rushing mighty wind. It no longer appears in cloven tongues, as of fire.” I wonder who imagines it does. “We now dis cern not between his suggestions and the motions of our own rational nature.” Many times we do not; but at other times, God may give such peace or joy, and such love to himself and all mankind, as we are sure are not “the motions of our own nature.” “To say, then, that the Holy Spirit began his work at such a time, and continued it so long in such a manner, is as vain as to account for the blowing of the wind.” Hold ! accounting for is not the thing. To make a parallel, it must be, “is as vain as to say, that the wind began to blow at such a time, and continued so long in such a manner.” And where is the vanity of this?