c
APPENDIX d
The following
is an excerpt from John Wesley's sermon entitled
'The Great Priviledge of Those that are Born
of
God'. I have
inserted it here to answer a common query from
God's people, "How can this be, when there are
so
many known children of God
who have fallen into sin?" "But here
a difficulty will immediately occur; and one
that to many has appeared insuperable, and
induced them to deny the plain assertion of the
Apostle, and give up the privilege of the
children of God.
It is
plain, in fact, those whom we cannot deny to
have been truly born of God, (the Spirit of God
having given us in His word this infallible
testimony concerning them,) nevertheless, not
only could, but also did, commit sin, even
gross, outward sin. They did transgress the
plain, known laws of God, speaking or acting
what they knew He had forbidden.
Thus David was unquestionably born of God
or ever he was anointed king over Israel. He knew
in whom he had believed; “he was strong in
faith, giving glory to God" "The
Lord,” saith he, "is my Shepherd; therefore I
can lack nothing. He shall
feed me in green pastures, and lead me forth
beside the waters of comfort. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with
me." (Psalm xxiii.1,&c.) He
was filled with love; such as often constrained
him to cry out, "I will love thee, O Lord, my
strength: the Lord is my stoney rock and my
defence; the horn also of my salvation, and my
refuge." (Psalm xviii.1.) He was a
man of prayer; pouring out his soul before God
in all circumstances of life; and abundant in
praises and thanksgiving. "Thy
praise,” saith he, "shall be ever in my mouth:"
(Psalm xxxiv.1:) "Thou
art my God, and I will thank thee; thou art my
God, and I will praise thee." (Psalm
cxviii.28.) And yet
such a child of God could and did commit sin;
yea, the horrid sins of adultery and
murder.
And even after the Holy
Ghost was more largely given, after "life and
immortality were brought to light by the
gospel,” we want not instances of the same
melancholy kind, which were also doubtless
written for our instruction. Thus he
who (probably from selling all he had, and
bringing the price for the relief of his poor
brethren) was by the Apostles themselves
surnamed Barnabas, that is, the son of
consolation; (Acts iv. 36,37;) who was
so honored at Antioch, as to be selected with
Saul out of all the disciples to carry their
relief unto the brethren in Judea; (Acts
xi.
29,30:) this Barnabas, who, at his return
from Judea, was, by the peculiar direction of
the Holy Ghost, solemnly "separated from the
other Prophets and Teachers, for the work
whereunto God had called him," (xiii. 1-4.) even to
accompany the great apostle among the Gentiles,
and to be his fellow-labourer in every place;
---nevertheless, was afterwards so sharrp,
(xv.35,39,) in his
contention with St. Paul, (because he "thought
it not good to take with them John", in his
visiting the brethren a second time, "who had
departed from them from Pamplylia, and went not
with them to the work,") that he himself also
departed from the work; that he "took
John, and sailed into Cyprus;" (xv.39;)
forsaking him to whom he had been in so
immediate a manner joined by the Holy
Ghost.
An instance more astonishing than both
these is given by St. Paul in his Epistle to the
Galatians.
When
Peter, the
aged, the zealous, and first of the Apostles,
one of the three most highly favoured by his
Lord, "was come to Antioch, I withstood him to
the face, because he was to be blamed. For
before that certain came from James, he did eat
with the Gentiles," -- the
Heathens converted to the Christian faith, as
having been peculiarly taught of God, that he
"should not call any man common or unclean."
(Acts x. 28.)
"But, when they were come, he separated
himself, fearing them which wereof the
circumsion.
And the other Jews dissembled (separated)
likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas was
also carried away with their disimulation.
But when I saw that they walked not
uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel,
I said unto Peter, before them all, If thou,
being a Jew, livest after the
manner of the Gentiles," -- not regarding the
ceremonial law of Moses, --"why compellest thou
the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" (Gal.ii.
11, &c)
Here is also plain, undeniable sin
committed by one who was undoubtedly born of
God.
But how can this be reconciled with the
assertation of St John, if taken in the obvious
literal
eaning, that
"whosoever is born of God, doth not commit
sin?"
I
answer, what has been long observed is this: So
long as "he that is born of God keepeth
himself," (which he is
able to do, by the grace of God,) "the wicked
one toucheth him not:" But if
he keepeth not himself, if he abideth not in
faith, he may commit sin even as another man.
It is
easy, therefore to understand, how any of these
children of God might be moved from his own
stead-fastness, and yet the great truth of
God,
declared by the Apostle, remains steadfast and
unshaken.
He did not "keep
himself," by that grace of God which was
sufficent for him.
He
fell, step by step. First,
into negative, inward sin, not "stirring up the
gift of God, which was in him," not
"watching unto prayer,"
not "pressing on to the mark of the prize of his
calling:"
Then, into positive inward sin,
in-clining to wickedness with his heart, giving
way to some evil desire
or temper:
Next, he lost his faith, his sight of a
pardoning God, and consequently his love of God;
and, being then weak and like another man, he
was capable of committing even outward
sin.
To
explain this by a particular instance: David was
born of God, and saw God by
faith.
He loved God in sincerity. He could truly
say, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there
is none upon earth," neither person or
thing,"that I desire in comparison to
thee."
But still there remained in his heart
that corruption of nature, which is the seed of
all evil.
"He
was walking upon the roof of his house," (2Sam.
xi. 2,)
probably praising the God whom his soul
loved,
when he looked down, and saw
Bathsheba. He
felt a temptation; a thought which tended to
evil. The Spirit of God did not
fail to convince him of this. He
doubtless heard and knew the warning voice; but
he yielded in some mea-sure to the thought, and
temptation began to prevail over him.
Hereby hisspirit was sullied; he saw God
still; but it was more
dimly than before. He loved
God still; but not in the same degree; not with
the same strength and ardour of affection. Yet
God
checked him again, though his Spirit was
grieved; and his voice, though fainter and
fainter, still whispered, "Sin lieth at the
door; look unto me, and be thou saved."
But he would not hear; He looked again,
not unto God, but unto the forbidden object,
till nature was superior to
grace, and kindled lust in his
soul.
The eye of the mind was
now closed again, and God vanished out of his
sight.
Faith, the divine, supe-rnatural
intercourse with God, and the love of God,
ceased together: He then rushed on as a horse
into the battle, and
knowingly committed outward sin.
You see the unquestionable
progress from grace to sin: Thus it goes on, from
step to step. (1.)The
'divine
seed' of loving, conquering faith,
remains in him that is born of God. "He
keepeth himself," by the grace of God, and "cannot
commit sin." (2.) A
temptation arises; whether from the world, the
flesh, or the devil, it matters not.
(3.) The Spirit of God gives him warning
that sin is near, and bids him more abundantly
watch unto prayer.
(4.) He gives
way, in some degree, to the temptation, which
now begins to grow pleasing to him.
(5.) The
Holy
Spirit is
grieved; his faith is weakened; and the love of
God grows cold. (6.) The
Spirit reproves Him more sharply, and saith,
"This is the way, walk thou in it."
(7.) He turns away from the painful voice
of God, and listens to the pleasing
voice of the tempter. (8.)
Evil desire begins and spreads in his soul, till
faith and love vanish away: He is then
capable of committing outward sin, the power of
the Lord being departed from
him.
To explain this by another instance: The
Apostle Peter was full of faith and the Holy
Ghost, and thereby keep-ing himself, he had a
conscience void of offencetoward God and
man.
Walking thus in simplicity and godly
sincerity, "before that certain came from James,
he did eat with the Gentiles, “knowing that what
God had cleansed was not common or
unclean”.
But, "when they were come, " a temptation
arose in his heart, "to fear those of the
circumcision," (the
Jewish converts, who were zealous for
circumcision and the other rites of the Mosaic
law,) and regard the favour and
praise of these men, more than the praise of
God.
He was warned by the Spirit that sin was
near: Nevertheless, he yielded to it in some
degree, even to sinful fear of
man, and his faith and love were
proportionablyweakened.
God reproved him again for giving place
to the devil. Yet he
would not harken to the voice of his
Shepherd;
but gave himself up to the slavish fear,
and therebyquenched the
Spirit.
Then God disappeared, and faith and love
being extinct, he committed the outward sin:
Walking not uprightly, not
"according to the truth of the gospel," he
"separated
himself" from his Christian brethren, and
by his evil example
"compelled even the Gentiles to live after the
manner of the Jews;" to entangle themselves
again with that "yoke of bondage," from which
"Christ had set them
free."
Thus it is unquestionably true, that he
that is born of God,
keeping himself, doth not, cannot commit sin;
and
yet, if he keepth not himself, he may
commit all manner of sin with greediness." [End Wesley
sermon]
From "The
Great Priviledge of those Who Are Born Of
God"
John
Wesley Sermon
XIX.
Outline II, #'s 3-10
The Works of John Wesley
Baker Books
Footnotes
mine.
As St.
Paul has said, "Therefore will I rejoice in
weakness, for when I am weak, then am I
strong."
(1 Corinthians 10:13); grace is for
strength not to
sin
