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? Can we find them in _Europe_? Or, to go no farther, in _Great Britain_ or _Ireland_? I fear not: I fear we may search these kingdoms throughout, and yet search in vain. Alas for the Christian world! Alas for Protestants, for reformed Christians! _O who will rise up with me against the wicked? Who will take_ God’s _part_ against the evil-speakers? Art _thou the man_? By the grace of God wilt thou be one, who art not carried away by the torrent? Art thou fully determined, God being thy helper, from this very hour, to set a watch, a continual _watch before thy mouth, and keep the door of thy lips_? From this hour wilt thou walk by this rule, _speaking evil of no man_? If thou seest thy brother do evil, wilt thou _tell him of his fault between thee and him alone_? Afterwards _take one or two_ witnesses, and then only _tell it to the church_? If this be the full purpose of thy heart, then learn one lesson well. _Hear evil of no man_: if there were no hearers, there would be no speakers of evil. And is not (according to the vulgar proverb) the receiver as bad as the thief? If then any begin to speak evil in thy hearing, check him immediately. Refuse to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so sweetly: let him use ever so soft a manner, so mild an accent, ever so many professions of good-will, for him whom he is stabbing in the dark, whom he smiteth under the fifth rib. Resolutely refuse to hear, tho’ the whisperer complain of being _burdened_ till he speak. Burdened! Thou fool, dost thou _travail with_ thy cursed _secret, as a woman travaileth with child_? Go then and be delivered of thy burden, in the way the Lord hath ordained. First, _Go and tell thy brother of his fault, between thee and him alone_. Next, _Take with thee one or two_ common friends, and tell him in their presence. If neither of these steps take effect, then _tell it to the church_. But at the peril of thy soul, tell it to no one else, either before or after. Unless in that one exempt case, when it is absolutely needful, to preserve the innocent. Why shouldst thou burden another as well as thyself, by making him partaker of thy sin?
5. *O that all you who bear the reproach of Christ, who are in derision called _Methodists_, would set an example to the Christian world, so called, at least in this one instance! Put ye away evil-speaking, tale-bearing, whispering: let none of them proceed out of your mouth. See that you _speak evil of no man_; of the absent nothing but good. If ye must be distinguished, whether ye will or no, let this be the distinguishing mark of a _Methodist_, “He censures no man behind his back: by this fruit ye may know him.” What a blessed effect of this self-denial should we quickly feel in our hearts? How would our _peace flow as a river_, when we thus _followed peace with all men_? How would the love of God abound in our own souls, while we thus confirmed our love to our brethren? And what an effect would it have on all that were united together in the name of the Lord Jesus? How would brotherly love continually increase, when this grand hindrance of it was removed? All the members of Christ’s mystical body would then _naturally care for_ each other? _If one member suffered, all_ would _suffer with it; if one was honoured, all_ would _rejoice with it_: and every one would love his brother _with a pure heart fervently_. Nor is this all: but what an effect might this have, even on the wild, unthinking world? How soon would they descry in us, what they could not find among all the thousands of their brethren, and cry (as _Julian_ the apostate to his Heathen courtiers) “See how these Christians love one another!” By this chiefly would God convince the world, and prepare them also for his kingdom: as we may easily learn from those remarkable words in our Lord’s last, solemn prayer. _I pray for them who will believe in me, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee――That the world may believe that thou hast sent me!_ The Lord hasten the time! The Lord enable _us_, thus to love one another, not only _in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth_, even as Christ hath loved us.