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opinions, modes of worship, and ordinances, by laying no more stress upon them; to the bigots against them, by laying so much; to men of form, by insisting so frequently and strongly on the inward power of religion; to moral men, (so called,) by declaring the absolute necessity of faith, in order to acceptance with God; to men of reason you will give offence, by talking of inspiration and receiving the Holy Ghost; to drunkards, sabbath-breakers, common swearers, and other open sinners, by refraining from their company, as well as by that disapprobation of their behaviour, which you will be often obliged to express. Either, therefore, you must consent to give up your principles, or your fond hope of pleasing What makes even your principles more offensive is, this uniting of yourselves together: Union renders you more conspicuous, placing you more in the eye of men; and more dreadful to those of a fearful temper; and more odious to men of zeal, if their zeal be any other than fervent love to God and man. And the offence will sink the deeper, because you are gathered out of so many other congregations; for the warm men in each will not easily be convinced, that you do not despise either them or their teachers; nay, will probably imagine, that you utterly condemn them, as though they could not be saved.

men.

"You cannot but expect, that the offence continually arising from such a variety of provocations, will gradually ripen into hatred, malice, and all other unkind tempers. And as they who are thus affected, will not fail to represent you to others in the same light as you appear to them, sometimes as madmen and fools, sometimes as wicked men, fellows not fit to live upon the earth; the consequence, humanly speaking, must be, that, together with your reputation, you will lose, (1.) The love of your friends, relations, and acquaintances, even those who once loved you the most tenderly; -(2.) your business; for many will employ you no longer, nor buy of such an one as you are;'-and, (3.) in due

time, (unless He who governs the world interpose,) your health, liberty, and life.

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"What further advice can be given to a person in such a situation? I cannot but advise you, THIRDLY, Consider deeply with yourself, Is the God whom I serve, able to 'deliver me? I am not able to deliver myself out of these 'difficulties; much less am I able to bear them. I know not

how to give up my reputation, my friends, my substance, 'my liberty, my life. Can God give me to rejoice in doing 'this? And may I depend upon him, that he will? Are the 'hairs of my head all numbered? And does he never fail 'them that trust in him?'-Weigh this thoroughly; and if you can trust God with your all, then go on, in the power of his might.

"I would earnestly advise you, FOURTHLY, Keep in the very path wherein you now tread. Let this be your manly, noble, generous religion, equally remote from the meanness of superstition, (which places religion in doing what God hath not enjoined, or abstaining from what he hath not forbidden,) and from the unkindness of bigotry, (which confines our affection to our own party, sect, or opinion.) Above all, stand fast in obedient faith, faith in the God of pardoning mercy, in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ' who hath loved you, and given himself for you.' Ascribe to Him all the good you find in yourself; all your peace, and joy, and love; all your power to do and suffer his will, through the Spirit of the living God. Yet, in the mean time, carefully avoid enthusiasm; impute not the dreams of men to the all-wise God; and expect neither light nor power from Him, but in the serious use of all the means he hath ordained.

"Condemn no man for not thinking as you think. Let every one enjoy the full and free liberty of thinking for himself. Let every man use his own judgment, since every

man must give an account of himself to God. Abhor every approach, in any kind or degree, to the spirit of persecution. If you cannot reason or persuade a man into the truth, never attempt to force him into it. If love will not compel him to come, leave him to God, the Judge of all. Yet, expect not that others will thus deal with you. No: Some will endeavour to fright you out of your principles; some, to shame you into a more popular religion, to laugh and rally you out of your singularity: But from none of these will you be in so great danger, as from those who assault you with quite different weapons, with softness, good-nature, and earnest professions of (perhaps real) good-will. Here you are equally concerned, to avoid the very appearance of anger, contempt, or unkindness, and to hold fast the whole truth of God, both in principle and in practice. This, indeed, will be interpreted as unkindness.. Your former acquaintance will look upon this, that you will not sin or trifle with them, as a plain proof of your coldness towards them; and this burden you must be content to bear: But labour to avoid all real unkindness, all disobliging words, or harshness of speech; all shyness, or strangeness of behaviour; speak to them with all the tenderness and love, and behave with all the sweetness and courtesy you can; taking care not to give any needless offence to neighbour or stranger, friend or enemy.

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Perhaps, on this very account, I might advise you FIFTHLY, Not to talk much of what you suffer; of the persecution you endured at such a time, and the wickedness of your persecutors.' Nothing more tends to exasperate them than this: and therefore, although there is a time when these things must be mentioned, yet, it might be a general rule, to do it as seldom as you can with a safe conscience. For, besides its tendency to inflame them, it has the appearance of evil, of ostentation, of magnifying yourselves.

It also

tends to puff you up with pride, and to make you think yourselves some great ones, as it certainly does to excite or increase in your heart ill-will and all unkind tempers. It is, at best, loss of time; for, instead of the wickedness of men, you might be talking of the goodness of God. Would it not be far more profitable for your souls, instead of speaking against them, to pray for them? To confirm your love towards those unhappy men, whom you believe to be fighting against God, by crying mightily to him in their behalf, that he may open their eyes, and change their hearts?

"I have now only to commend you to the care of Him who hath all power in heaven and in earth; beseeching Him, that, in every circumstance of life, you may stand firm as the beaten anvil to the stroke :' desiring nothing on earth, 'accounting all things but dung and dross, that you may win Christ ;' and always remembering, It is the part of a good champion, to be flead alive, and to conquer." "

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CHAPTER IV.

MR. WESLEY'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH SOME EMINENT MEN, IN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND-ROUGH SKETCH CONCERNING JUSTIFYING FAITH-OPENING OF KINGSWOOD SCHOOL.

MR. WESLEY and his brother were now much spoken of in Scotland; and a few of the most pious ministers there, though differing from the two brothers on some points of doctrine, yet rejoiced in the great revival of practical religion in England, by their means.

Mr. James Robe, Minister of Killsyth, having received from a friend some account of them, wrote as follows:"I was much pleased with what you wrote to me of the Messrs. Wesley. I rejoice that justification, the imputed righteousness of Jehovah our Righteousness, received by faith alone, and gospel holiness, are the subjects of their sermons; and the debated points, (various sentiments about which are not inconsistent with saving faith and our acceptance with God,) are laid aside. I embrace fellowship with them, and pray that the Lord of the vineyard may give them success in preaching the faith of Christ, so much needed in England. As many as be perfect, let them be thus minded; and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless whereunto we have attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things.' How good would it be for the Christian world, if this were believed, and regarded as the word of God! When the happy days upon the wing are come, so it will be: And in as far as any have really shared in the late revival, it is so with them in some good measure. I learned something new, as to the exhorters, from the account you gave of them. I

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