Wesley Corpus

I did receive that “account of the young woman of Manchester from her own mouth.” But I pass no judgment on it, good or bad; nor, 5. On “the trance,” (page 126) as her mother called it, of S.T., neither denying nor affirming the truth of it. 6. “You deny that God does work these effects; at least, that he works them in this manner: I affirm both. I have seen very many persons changed in a moment, from the spirit of fear, horror, despair, to the spirit of love, joy, and praise. In several of them this change was wrought in a dream, or during a strong representation to their mind of Christ, either on the cross, or in glory.” (Page 127.) “But here the symptoms of grace and of perdition are inter woven and confounded with one another.” (Page 128.) No. Though light followed darkness, yet they were not interwoven, much less confounded with each other. 7. “But some imputed the work to the force of imagination, or even to the delusion of the devil.” (Ibid.) They did so; which made me say, 8. “I fear we have grieved the Spirit of the jealous God, by question ing his work.” (Ibid.) 9. “Yet he says himself, ‘These symp toms I can no more impute to any natural cause, than to the Spirit of God. I make no doubt, it was Satan tearing them, as they were coming to Christ.’” (Page 129.) But these symp toms, and the work mentioned before, are wholly different things. The work spoken of is the conversion of sinners to God; these symptoms are cries and bodily pain. The very next instance makes this plain. 10. “I visited a poor old woman. Her trials had been uncommon; inexpressible agonies of mind, joined with all sorts of bodily pain; not, it seemed, from any natural cause, but the direct operation of Satan.” (Page 130.) Neither do any of those quotations prove that I lay claim to any miraculous gift. “Such was the evangelic state of things when Mr. Wesley first entered on this ministry; who, seeing himself surrounded with subjects so harmoniously disposed, thus triumphantly exults.” To illustrate this, let us add the date: “Such was the evangelic state of things, August 9, 1750; ” (on that day, I preached that sermon;) “when Mr.