PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 04 (of 32)
Wesley, John, 1703-1791 · 87,043 words · 135 reading sections
Part 1
THE WORKS OF THE Rev. JOHN WESLEY ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Transcriber’s Notes │ │ │ │ …
162 wordsSECTION 2BRISTOL:
Printed by WILLIAM PINE, in _Wine-Street_ MDCCLXXI. THE CONTENTS Of the FOURTH VOLUME. SERMONS on several Occasions.…
17 wordsSECTION 3SERMON XLVIII.
On Self-denial. Luke ix. 23. _And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me._…
32 wordsSECTION 4SERMON XLIX.
The Cure of Evil-speaking. Matt. xviii. 15, 16, 17. _If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he will hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother._ _But if he will not hear, take with thee one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may b…
99 wordsSECTION 5SERMON L.
The Use of Money. Luke xvi. 9. _I say unto you, make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of righteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations._…
33 wordsSECTION 6SERMON LI.
The Good Steward. Luke xvi. 2. _Give an account of thy stewardship: for thou canst be no longer steward._…
20 wordsSECTION 7SERMON LII.
Preached before the Reformation Society. Psalm xciv. 16. _Who will rise up with me against the wicked?_…
18 wordsSECTION 8SERMON LIII.
On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. Numb. xxiii. 10. _Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!_ Advice to the People called _Methodists_, With regard to _dress_. The Duties of Husbands and Wives.…
45 wordsSECTION 9CHAP. I.
_The first duties of the married, Chastity._…
8 wordsSECTION 10CHAP. II.
_Of the Love of married persons._…
7 wordsSECTION 11CHAP. III.
_Of the effects of love._…
6 wordsSECTION 12CHAP. IV.
_Of the duties of the married to their family._…
10 wordsSECTION 13CHAP. V.
_Of a man’s keeping his authority._…
7 wordsSECTION 14CHAP. VI.
_Of the wife’s peculiar duties._…
6 wordsSECTION 15CHAP. VII.
_Some application of the whole._ Directions to children. Directions to servants. An extract from Mr. LAW’s treatise on _Christian Perfection_.…
21 wordsSECTION 16CHAP. I.
_Several important considerations and directions._…
6 wordsSECTION 17CHAP. II.
_Christianity requires a renouncing of the world, and all worldly tempers._…
12 wordsSECTION 18CHAP. III.
_Christianity calleth all men to a state of self-denial and mortification._…
12 wordsSECTION 19CHAP. IV.
_The necessity of divine grace, another general ground of self-denial._…
11 wordsSECTION 20CHAP. V.
_The necessity of divine grace, obligeth all Christians to a constant purity and holiness of conversation; wherein is shewn the great danger and impiety of reading vain and impertinent books._…
31 wordsSECTION 21SELF-DENIAL.
LUKE ix. 23. _And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me._ 1. IT has been frequently imagined, that the direction here given, related chiefly, if not wholly to the apostles: at least to the Christians of the first ages, or those in a state …
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4. But may not this very consideration make it reasonable to enquire, If so much has been said and wrote on the subject already, what need is there to say or write any more? I answer, there are no inconsiderable numbers, even of people fearing God, who have not had the opportunity either of hearing what has been spoke,…
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I. 1. I shall, first, endeavour to shew, What it is for a man, to _deny himself and take up his cross daily_. This is a point which is of all others most necessary to be considered, and throughly understood, even on this account, that it is of all others most opposed, by numerous and powerful enemies. All our nature mu…
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4. To illustrate this a little further. The will of God is a path leading straight to God. The will of man which once ran parallel with it, is now another path, not only different from it, but in our present state directly contrary to it. It leads from God; if therefore we walk in the one, we must necessarily quit the …
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12. And thus it behoves every disciple of Christ, to _take up_, as well as to _bear_ his _cross_. Indeed in one sense, it is not _his_ alone; it is common to him and many others: seeing _there is no temptation befals any man_ εἰ μή ἀνθρώπινος· _but such as is common to men_, such as is incident and adapted to their com…
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5. “But this man did receive _the heavenly gift_. He did _taste of the powers of the world to come_. He saw _the light of the glory of_ God, _in the face of_ Jesus Christ. The _peace which passeth all understanding_, did _rule his heart and mind_; and the love of God was shed abroad therein, by the Holy Ghost which was…
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2. We may learn from hence, secondly, the real cause why not only many particular persons, but even bodies of men, who were once burning and shining lights, have now lost both their light and heat. If they did not hate and oppose, they at least lightly esteemed this precious gospel-doctrine. If they did not boldly say,…
373 wordsSECTION 28THE CURE OF EVIL-SPEAKING.
MATT. xviii. 15, 16, 17. _If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he will hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother._ _But if he will not hear, take with thee one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established._ _And if he…
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5. But is there no way to avoid the snare? Unquestionably there is. Our blessed Lord has marked out a plain way for his followers, in the words above recited. None who warily and steadily walks in this path, will ever fall into evil-speaking. This rule is either an infallible preventive, or a certain cure of it. In the…
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3. If you have not an opportunity of speaking to him in person, or cannot have access, you may do it by a messenger; by a common friend, in whose prudence, as well as uprightness, you can throughly confide. Such a person, speaking in your name, and in the spirit and manner above described, may answer the same end, and …
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II. 1. But what _if he will not hear_? If he repay evil for good? If he be enraged rather than convinced? What if he hear to no purpose, and go on still in the evil of his way? We must expect this will frequently be the case; the mildest and tenderest reproof, will have no effect, but the blessing we wished for another…
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III. 1. That we may be throughly instructed in this weighty affair, our Lord has given us a still farther direction. _If he will not hear them_, then and not till then, _tell it to the church_. This is the third step. All the question is, How this word, _the church_, is here to be understood? But the very nature of the…
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4. But if this be the rule by which Christians walk, which is the land where the Christians live? A few you may possibly find scattered up and down, who make a conscience of observing it. But how very few? How thinly scattered upon the face of the earth? And where is there any body of men, that universally walk thereby…
835 wordsSECTION 34THE USE OF MONEY.
LUKE xvi. 9. _I say unto you, make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations._ 1. OUR Lord having finished the beautiful parable of the prodigal son, which he had particularly addressed to those who murmured at his _receiving_ Pu…
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But is not all this mere, empty rant? Is there any solid reason therein? By no means. For let the world be as corrupt as it will, is gold or silver to blame? _The love of money_, we know, _is the root of all evil_: but not the thing itself. The fault does not lie in the money, but in them that use it. It may be used il…
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2. We are secondly, to _gain all we can_, without hurting our mind any more than our body. For neither may we hurt this: we must preserve, at all events, the spirit of an healthful mind. Therefore we may not engage or continue in any sinful trade, any that is contrary to the law of God, or of our country. Such are all …
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5. And are not they partakers of the same guilt, tho’ in a lower degree, whether surgeons, apothecaries or physicians, who play with the lives or health of men, to enlarge their own gain? Who purposely lengthen the pain or disease, which they are able to remove speedily? Who protract the cure of their patient’s body, i…
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3. Do not waste any part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying the desire of the eye, by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless ornaments. Waste no part of it in curiously adorning your houses, in superfluous or expensive furniture: in costly pictures, painting, gilding, books: in elegant (rather than…
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III. 1. But let not any man imagine, that he has done any thing, barely by going thus far, by _gaining_ and _ saving all he can_, if he were to stop here. All this is nothing, if a man go not forward, if he does not point all this at a farther end. Nor indeed can a man properly be said, to _save_ any thing, if he only …
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6. You see then what it is, to _make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness_, and by what means you may procure, _that when ye fail they may receive you into the everlasting habitations_. You see the nature and extent of truly Christian prudence, so far as it relates to the use of that great talent, money.…
534 wordsSECTION 41THE GOOD STEWARD.
LUKE xvi. 2. _Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou canst be no longer steward._ 1. THE relation which man bears to God, the creature to his Creator, is exhibited to us in the oracles of God under various representations. Considered as a sinner, a fallen creature, he is there represented as a _debtor_ to his C…
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3. Now of all these, it is certain, we are only stewards. God has intrusted us with these powers and faculties, not that we may employ them according to our own will, but according to the express orders which he has given us: (although it is true, that in doing his will, we most effectually secure our own happiness, se…
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2. *Part of what we were intrusted with before, is at an end, at least with regard to us. What have we to do, after this life, with food, and raiment, and houses, and earthly possessions? The food of the dead is the dust of the earth: they are cloathed only with worms and rottenness. They dwell in _the house prepared f…
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So much however we may learn from _Solomon’s_ words, that _that there is no_ such _knowledge_ or _wisdom in the grave_, as will be of any use to an unhappy spirit; there _is no device_ there, whereby he can now improve those talents, with which he was once intrusted. For _time_ is no more: the time of our trial for eve…
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III. 2. It now remains, that being _no longer stewards_, we _give an account_ of our _stewardship_. Some have imagined, this is to be done immediately after death, as soon as we enter into the world of spirits. Nay, the church of _Rome_ does absolutely assert this; yea, makes it an article of faith. And thus much we ma…
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4. The Lord will then inquire, “How didst thou employ the _body_ wherewith I intrusted thee? I gave thee a _tongue_, to praise me therewith: didst thou use it to the end for which it was given? Didst thou employ it, not in evil-speaking or idle-speaking, not in uncharitable or unprofitable conversation: but in such as …
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6. Thy Lord will ♦farther enquire, “Hast thou been a wise and faithful steward, with regard to the talents of a mixt nature which I lent thee? Didst thou employ thy _health_ and _strength_, not in folly or sin, not in the pleasures which perished in the using, _not in making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the desir…
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4. Brethren, _Who is an understanding man and endued with knowledge among you_? Let him shew the wisdom from above; by walking suitably to his character. If he so account of himself, as a steward of the manifold gifts of God, let him see that all his thoughts, and words, and works be agreeable to the post God has assig…
172 wordsSECTION 49SERMON LII.¹
¹ Preached before the Society for Reformation of Manners, on Sunday, January 30, 1763, at the Chappel in West-street, Seven Dials. PSALM xciv. 16. _Who will rise up with me against the wicked?_ 1. IN all ages, men who neither feared God nor regarded man, have combined together and formed confederacies, to carry on t…
810 wordsSECTION 50Part 50
It was on a Lord’s day in _August_ 1757, that in a small company, who were met for prayer and religious conversation, mention was made of the gross and open profanation of that sacred day, by persons buying and selling, keeping open shop, tippling in ale-houses, and standing or sitting in the streets, roads or fields, …
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8. Increasing in number and strength, they extended their views, and began not only to repress _profane swearing_, but to remove out of our streets, another public nuisance and scandal of the Christian name, _common prostitutes_. Many of these were stopped in their mid career of audacious wickedness. And in order to go…
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3. And as this design thus evidently tends, to bring _glory to God in the highest_, so it no less manifestly conduces, to the establishing _peace upon earth_. For as all sin directly tends, both to destroy our peace with God, by setting him at open defiance, to banish peace from our own breasts, and to set every man’s …
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It is true the word of God is the chief, ordinary means, whereby he changes both the hearts and lives of sinners: and he does this chiefly by the ministers of the gospel. But it is likewise true, that the magistrate is _the minister of God_: and that he is designed of God _to be a terror to evil doers_, by executing hu…
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2. The _number_ therefore of the members is no more to be attended to, than the riches or eminence. This is a work of God. It is undertaken in the name of God, and for his sake. It follows, that men who neither love nor fear God, have no part or lot in this matter, _Why takest thou my covenant in thy mouth_, may God sa…
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8. What adds a still greater sweetness even to labour and pain, is the Christian _love of our neighbour_. When they _love their neighbour_, that is, every soul of man, _as themselves_, as their own souls; when _the love of Christ constrains_ them to love one another, _even as he loved us_; when, as he _tasted death for…
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2. But the Spirit with which every thing is to be done, regards the _temper_, as well as the motive. And this is no other than that, which has been described above. For the same courage, patience, steddiness, which qualify a man for the work, are to be exercised therein. _Above all_, let him _take the shield of faith_:…
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3. I would, thirdly, advise you, narrowly to observe from what _motive_, you at any time act or speak. Beware that your intention be not stained, with any regard either to profit or praise. Whatever you do, _do it to the Lord_, as the servants of Christ. Do not aim at pleasing yourself in any point, but pleasing him wh…
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7. I have an higher demand upon _you_ who love, as well as fear God. He whom you fear, whom you love, has qualified _you_, for promoting his work in a more excellent way. Because you love God, you love your brother also: you love not only your friends, but your enemies; not only the friends, but even the enemies of God…
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N. B. After this Society had subscribed several years, and done unspeakable good, it was wholly destroyed, by a verdict given against it in the King’s Bench, with three hundred pounds damages. I doubt a severe account remains for the witnesses, the jury, and all who were concerned in that dreadful affair.…
52 wordsSECTION 60SERMON LIII.¹
¹ On the death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. Preached at the Chappel in Tottenham-Court-Road, and at the Tabernacle near Moorfields, on Sunday, November 18, 1770. NUMB. xxiii. 10. _Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!_ 1. _LET my last end be like his!_ How many of you join in …
847 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.