WesleyGospel Ministries

Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.
–Habakkuk 2:2–

Sometimes I’ve met Christians who don’t understand writing at all. I mean, they don’t understand why writing is valuable. These same Christians read the Bible though, which was produced through writing. Why should Christians make YouTube videos? I heard one guy say, “I don’t want to have a YouTube ministry,” and he said it in a down-putting tone. He might as well have said, “I don’t want to have a theological writing ministry,” like the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament apostles, and every theologian and leader in church history. To me, YouTube is just a high-tech form of writing. The Bible refers to writing being useful for historical memorials. Exodus 17:14: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it.'” This is the first time writing is mentioned in the Bible. The book of Psalms, which is a Biblical hymnal, shows that writing is useful for songs and poems, which are forms of emotional expression. Writing can be used for communication and correspondence–as a substitute in your physical absence. 2 John 12: “I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face.”

But most often, in the Bible, and for theologians (whether academic or folk), writing is used for theology, spiritual teachings, or actual prophecy. Exodus 24:4: “Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.” Exodus 24:12: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.’” God was so committed to writing down spiritual laws, that He made a second draft of the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34:1: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.'” Joshua 24:26: “Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God.” Isaiah 8:16: “Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.” Isaiah 30:8: “Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.” Jeremiah 30:2: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.'” Again, the Lord was so serious about writing down prophecy, that he had a prophet make a second draft. Jeremiah 36:28: “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.” Habakkuk 2:2: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” The Gospel of Luke was written as a historical memorial. Acts 1:1: “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” While the apostle Paul, as an evangelist, traveled around preaching in the streets and in churches, his ministry largely consisted of writing theological letters to pastors. 2 Timothy 4:13: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.” Along with Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament, the apostolic fathers, the church fathers, and all of the theologians down through church history have decided to turn to writing as the primary way of communicating. While there are special times and places for actual physical speaking, it has always been understood that so much more can be communicated through the written word. So with Luther, and the Puritans, and Wesley; with Finney, and Seymour, and Wigglesworth; with Gee, and Wimber, and Ravenhill, and Wilkerson, so I continue this tradition of theological writing through WordPress and YouTube. The question now is, “If the Lord has laid things on your heart, do you got somethin’ to say?”

This is taken from his book Objections to Calvinism As It Is, ch. 6: “Perseverance.” Originally from here.

In this chapter we shall treat of the perseverance of the saints–a subject of scarcely inferior importance to those already considered. It falls in at this point naturally, and forms an indispensable part of this most wonderful system; for, certainly, whatever else may be said of Calvinism, it must be admitted that it is a complete system. Starting out with the radical principle, that all events are fixed by eternal decree, it infers that those who will be finally saved must be so decreed to salvation–then the means must be fixed–then they must operate infallibly–then they must accomplish the end; the elect must be kept to the end.

What the Calvinists Teach About “Once Saved, Always Saved”

They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth, also, the certainty and infallibility thereof.

Nevertheless, they may, through the temptation of Satan and the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit, and come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. (Westminster Confession, ch. 17)

The perseverance of the saints is one of the articles by which the creed of the followers of Calvin is distinguished from that of the followers of Arminius. The latter hold, that true believers may fall into sins inconsistent with a state of grace, and may continue in apostasy to the end of life; and consequently, may finally fall into perdition. In opposition to this tenet, our Confession affirms, that true believers can neither totally nor finally fall away from a state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. We affirm, that the total apostasy of believers is impossible, not in the nature of things, but by the divine constitution; and, consequently that no man, who has been once received into the divine favor, can be ultimately deprived of salvation. (Robert Shaw’s An Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith).

As the grace of God, which is conceived to derive its efficacy from his power of fulfilling his purpose in those for whom it is destined overcomes all the opposition with which it is at first received, so it continues to be exerted amidst all the frailty and corruption which adhere to human nature in a present state. It is not exerted to such a degree as to preserve any man from every kind of sin; for God is pleased to teach Christians humility, by keeping up the remembrance of that state out of which they were delivered, and to quicken their aspirations after higher degrees of goodness, by leaving them to struggle with temptation, and to feel manifold infirmities. But, although no man is enabled, in this life, to attain to perfection, the grace of God preserves those to whom it is given from drawing back to perdition. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints flows necessarily from that decree by which they were, from eternity, chosen to salvation, and from the manner in which, according to the Calvinistic system, the decree was executed; and all the principles of the system must be renounced, before we can believe that any of those for whom Christ died, and who, consequently, became partakers of his grace, can fall from that grace, either finally–by which is meant, they shall not, in the end, be saved–or totally–by which is meant, that they shall, at any period of their lives commit sins so heinous and presumptuous, and persist in them so obstinately, as, at that period, to forfeit entirely the divine favor. (George Hill’s Lectures in Divinity, pages 215-216).

Upon this subject professed Christians are divided in sentiment, as, indeed, they are upon every article of faith. The doctrine of our Church, in which I believe all the reformed Churches concurred, is expressed in the following words: “They whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. (John Dick’s Lectures on Theology, vol 2, p. 283).

We assert, then, that true believers cannot fall totally or finally; but they are intended to oppose the doctrines of Arminians, who affirm, that although a saint may fall totally from grace, he may be restored by repentance: but, since this is uncertain, and not always take place, he may, also, fall finally, and die in his sins. Now we affirm, that the total apostasy of believers is impossible, not in the nature of things, but by the divine constitution: and, consequently. that no man, who has been received into the divine favor, can be ultimately deprived of salvation. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those who are justified; and, although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance restored unto them until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. (John Dick’s Lectures on Theology, vol 2, p. 284).

As justification is an act completed at once, so those who are justified cannot come into condemnation. The sins which they afterward commit, cannot revoke the pardon which God has graciously given them; but they may subject them to his fatherly displeasure and temporary chastisement. Here we must revert to the well-known distinction between judicial and fatherly forgiveness. Though God, in the capacity of a judge, pardons all the sins of believers in the most free and unconditional manner, in the day of their justification, yet that forgiveness, which, as a father, he bestows upon his justified and adopted children, is not in general vouchsafed, without suitable preparation on their part for receiving and improving the privilege. (Robert Shaw’s Exposition).

May not true believers, by reason of their imperfections, and the many temptations and sins they are overtaken with, fall away from the state of grace? (Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 79).

True believers, by reason of the unchangeable love of God, and his decree and covenant to give them perseverance, their inseparable union with Christ, his continual intercession for them, and the Spirit and seed of God abiding in them, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

If it should be objected to this statement, that, although Calvinists believe in the necessity of the salvation of those for whom Christ died, yet they believe it is conditional, or is made to depend upon the faith of the believer, I reply, it is admitted that Calvinists teach that faith is a condition of salvation; but now observe, they teach that it is irresistibly communicated–if it is a condition, it is not a condition dependent, in any sense, upon the believer himself, but is an effect wrought in him without his consent.

The covenant of redemption secures the continuance and growth of the principle of grace, until the believer shall be perfected in Heaven. In this life he never utterly falls for one moment from grace. The holiness of the Christian continues to the end.

Upon this proposition Dr. Dwight delivers one of his most labored sermons to prove the necessary final perseverance of the saints.

Upon this point it will scarcely be necessary for me to adduce a larger number of quotations. Those already given are full and authoritative. This, indeed, is a point where less reference to authority is required than almost any other of the Calvinian creed; here they all harmonize. The final perseverance of the saints, with them is a frankly avowed and cherished sentiment. To rob them of this, would be to rob them of one of their gods. If their view of election is true, this is consequentially true; if their doctrine of effectual grace is true, this must follow. So that they are, at least consistent with themselves in believing and teaching it; they could not do otherwise. It is an integral part of the same great system of fatalism and irresponsibility, which has been examined in this book. The doctrine, as taught in the above quotations, may thus be stated:

1. Persons once regenerated may fall into grievous sins, and continue therein for a time indefinite.

2. They cannot totally fall away, but, however sinful they may become, will continue to be children of God.

3. They cannot finally perish, but must necessarily come to eternal life. Such is the doctrine of the Presbyterian Church, as taught by their Confession of Faith and standard authors. To it we find many and, to us insuperable objections. Read and judge for yourselves.

1. And first, we object, the doctrine is without warrant from the Word of God. It is admitted that passages are found in the Scriptures, which, disconnected from their relations, might allow, of a construction partly favorable, a doctrine resembling the above. But no passage clearly teaches it; none necessarily infers it; no principle of revelation sanctions it; if it could be true, its truth never can be derived from the Bible. This, then, is our first ground of objection, and to a Christian it is sufficient; he need go no further; here he will be content to put an end to his inquiries. It is not of the Bible, it cannot, therefore, be received, will be his reasoning.

2. But second, I object further, and as growing out of the foregoing, not only is this doctrine not taught in the Bible, but, what is more fatal to it, the Bible teaches that it is false, by teaching that precisely what it denies is the truth. It is to be discarded not alone because the Bible does not teach it, but because the Bible asserts its falsehood. Revelation is not silent upon the point, but it is expressly, fully, unmistakably against the assumption. The doctrine itself is false, or the Bible. I cannot better express this objection than in the following language of Mr. Wesley, in his tract on Perseverance. He thus presents the Scripture argument:

For thus saith the Lord: “When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” (Ezekiel 18:24) That this is to be understood of eternal death appears from the twenty- sixth verse: “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them [here is temporal death], for his iniquity that he hath done he shall die [here is death eternal].”

It appears, farther, from the whole scope of the chapter, which is to prove, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (verse 4)

If you say, “The soul here means the body,” I answer, “That will die whether you sin or no.”

Again, thus saith the Lord: “When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live, if he trust to his own righteousness [yea, or to that promise as absolute and unconditional] and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for the iniquity that he hath committed shall he die.” (33:13)

Again: “When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.” (verse 18)

Therefore, one who is holy and righteous in the judgment of God himself may yet fall as to perish everlastingly.

But how is this consistent with what God declared elsewhere? “If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, I will visit their offenses with the rod and their sin with scourges. Nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my truth to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. I have sworn once by my holiness, that I will not fail David.” (Psalm 89:30-35)

I answer, “There is no manner of inconsistency between one declaration and the other.” The prophet declares the just judgment of God against every righteous man who falls from his righteousness. The Psalmist declares the old loving kindnesses which God sware unto David in his truth. “I have found,” saith he, “David, my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him. My hand shall hold him fast, and my arm shall strengthen him. His seed, also, will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of Heaven.” (verses 20, 21, 29.) It follows: “‘But if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my truth to fail. My covenant will I not break. I will not fail David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me.” (verse 30, &c)

May not every man see, that the covenant here spoken of relates wholly to David and his seed or children? Where, then, is the inconsistency, between the most absolute promise made to a particular family, and that solemn account, which God has here given, of his way of dealing with all mankind.

Beside, the very covenant mentioned in these words is not absolute, but conditional. The condition of repentance, in case of forsaking God’s law, was implied, though not expressed; and so strongly implied, that, this condition failing–not being performed, God did also fail David. He did “alter the thing that had gone out of his lips,” and yet without any impeachment of his truth. He “abhorred and forsook his anointed,” (verse 38) the seed of David, whose throne, if they had repented, should have been “as the days of Heaven.” He did “break the covenant of his servant, and cast his crown to the ground.” (verse 39) So vainly are these words of the Psalmist brought to contradict the plain, full testimony of the prophet!

Nor is there any contradiction between this testimony of God by Ezekiel, and those words which he spake by Jeremiah: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” For do these words assert, that no righteous man ever turns from his righteousness? No such thing. They do not touch the question, but simply declare God’s love to the Jewish Church. To see this in the clearest light, you need only read over the whole sentence: “‘At the same time,’ saith the Lord, ‘I will be the God to all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.’ Thus saith the Lord, ‘The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I caused him to rest.'” “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me,” saith the prophet, speaking in the person of Israel, “saying, ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel.'” (31:1-4).

Suffer me here to observe, once for all, a fallacy which is constantly used by almost all writers on this point. They perpetually beg the question, by applying to particular persons assertions or prophecies which relate only to the Church in general, and some of them only to the Jewish Church and nation, as distinguished from all other people.

If you say, “But it was particularly revealed to me, that God had loved me with an everlasting love.” I answer, “Suppose it was–which might bear a dispute. It proves no more at the most than that you in particular shall persevere; but does not affect the general question, whether others shall or shall not.”

Secondly, one who is endued with the faith that purifies the heart–that produces a good conscience, may, nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

For thus saith the inspired apostle: “War a good warfare; holding faith and a good conscience; which some having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck.” (I Timothy 1:18, 19)

Observe first: these men [such as Hymenaeus and Alexander] had once the faith that purifies the heart–that produces a good conscience; which they once had, or they could not have “put it away.”

Observe second: they “made shipwreck” of the faith, which necessarily implies the total and final loss of it; for a vessel once wrecked can never be recovered; it is totally and finally lost.

And the Apostle himself in his second Epistle to Timothy mentions one of these two as irrecoverably lost. “Alexander,” says he, “did me much evil: the Lord shall reward him according to his works.” (II Timothy 4:14) Therefore, one who is endued with the faith that purifies the heart–that produces a good conscience, may, nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

“But how can this be reconciled with the words of our Lord, “He that believeth shall be saved?”

Do you think these words mean, “He that believes” at this moment “shall” certainly and inevitably “be saved?”

If this interpretation be good, then by all the rules of speech, the other part of the sentence must mean, “He” that does “not believe” at this moment “shall” certainly and inevitably “be damned.”

Therefore, that interpretation cannot be good. The plain meaning, then, of the whole sentence is, “He that believeth,” if he continue in faith, “shall be saved; he that believeth not,” if he continue in unbelief, “shall be damned.”

“But does not Christ say elsewhere, “He that believeth hath everlasting life?” (John 3:36) and, “”He that believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life?”‘ (John 5:24)

I answer, 1. The love of God is everlasting life. It is in substance the life of Heaven. Now, everyone that believes, loves God and, therefore, “hath everlasting life.”

2. Everyone that believes, “is,” therefore, “passed from death”–spiritual death–“unto life,” and

3. “Shall not come into condemnation,” if he endureth in the faith unto the end. According to our Lord’s own words, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved;” and, “Verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” (John 8:51)

Thirdly, those who are grafted into the good olive tree, the spiritual, invisible Church, may, nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

For thus saith the apostle: “Some of the branches are broken off, and thou art grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree. Be not high-minded, but fear: if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee. Behold the goodness and severity of God! On them which fell severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou shalt be cut off.” (Romans 11:17, 20-22)

We may observe here, 1. The persons spoken to were actually grafted into the olive tree.

2. This olive tree is not barely the outward, visible Church, but the invisible, consisting of holy believers. So the text: “If the first fruit be holy, the lump is holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches.” (verse 16) And, “Because of unbelief, they were broken off, and thou by faith.”

3. These holy believers were still liable to be cut off from the invisible Church, into which they were then grafted.

4. Here is not the least intimation of those who were so cut off being ever grafted in again.

Therefore, those who are grafted into the good olive tree, the spiritual, invisible Church, may, nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

But how does this agree with the twenty-ninth verse, “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance?”

The preceding verse shows: “As touching the election [the unconditional election of the Jewish nation], they are beloved for the fathers’ sake:” for the sake of their forefathers. It follows [in proof of this, that “they are beloved for their fathers’ sake,” that God has still blessing in store for the Jewish nation]: “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance;” for God doth not repent of any blessings he hath give them, or any privileges he hath called them to. The words here referred to were originally spoken with a peculiar regard to these national blessings. “God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent.” (Numbers 23:19)

“But do you not hereby make God changeable.” Whereas, “with him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) By no means. God is unchangeably holy; therefore, he always “loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity.” He is unchangeably good; therefore, he pardoneth all that “repent and believe the Gospel.” And he is unchangeably just; therefore, he “rewardeth every man according to his works.” But all this hinders not his resisting, when they are proud, those to whom he gave grace when they were humble. Nay, his unchangeableness itself requires, that, if they grow high-minded, God should cut them off that there should be a proportionable change in all the divine dispensations toward them.

“But how then is God faithful?” I answer, “In fulfilling every promise which he hath made, to all to whom it is made–all who fulfill the condition of that promise.” More particularly, 1. “God is faithful” in that “he will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear.” (I Corinthians 10:13) 2. “The Lord is faithful, to establish and keep you from evil”–if you put your trust in him–from all the evil which you might otherwise suffer, through “unreasonable and wicked men.” (II Thessalonians 3:2, 3) 3. “Quench not the Spirit; hold fast that which is good; abstain from all appearance of evil; and your whole spirit, soul, and body, shall be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (I Thessalonians 5:19, &c. ) 4. Be not disobedient unto the heavenly calling; and “God is faithful, by whom ye were called, to confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 1:8, 9) Yet, notwithstanding all this, unless you fulfill the condition, you cannot attain the promise.

“Nay, but are not ‘all the promises, yea and amen?'” They are firm as the pillars of Heaven. Perform the condition, and the promise is sure. Believe, and thou shalt be saved.

“But many promises are absolute and unconditional.” In many, the condition is not expressed. But this does not prove there is none implied. No promises can be expressed in a more absolute form, than those above cited from the eighty-ninth Psalm. And yet we have seen a condition was implied even there, though none was expressed.

“‘But there is no condition, either expressed or implied, in those words of St. Paul: “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”‘ (Romans 8:38, 39)

Suppose there is not–which will bear a dispute–yet what will this prove? Just thus must: that the apostle was, at that time, fully persuaded of his own perseverance. And I doubt not but many believers, at this day, have the very same persuasion, termed in Scripture, ‘the full assurance of hope.’ But this does not prove that every believer shalt persevere, any more than that every believer is thus fully persuaded of his own perseverance.

Those who are branches of the true vine, of whom Christ says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches,” may nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

For thus saith our blessed Lord himself, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away. I am the vine; ye are the branches. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:1-6.)

Here we may observe, 1. The persons spoken of were, in Christ, branches of the true vine. 2. Some of these branches abide not in Christ, but the Father takes them away. 3. The branches which abide not are cast forth–cast out from Christ and his Church. 4. They are not only cast forth, but withered; consequently, never grafted in again. Nay, 5. They are not only cast forth and withered, but also cast into the fire. And, 6. They are burned. It is not possible for words more strongly to declare, that even those who are now branches in the true vine, may yet so fall as to perish everlastingly.

By this clear, indisputable declaration of our Lord, we may interpret those which might be otherwise liable to dispute; wherein it is certain, whatever he meant beside, he did not mean to contradict himself. For example: “This is the Father’s will, that of all which he hath given him,” or, as it is expressed in the next verse, “everyone which believeth on him,” namely, to the end, “he ‘will raise up at the last day,'” to reign with him forever.

Again: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27, 28)

In the preceding text the condition is only implied; in this, it is plainly expressed. They are my sheep that HEAR MY VOICE, that FOLLOW ME in all holiness. And “if ye do those things, ye shall never fall.” None shall “pluck you out of my hands.”

Again: “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” (John 13:1) “Having loved his own,” namely, the apostles–as the very next words, “which were in the world,” evidently show–“he loved them unto the end” of his life, and manifested that love to the last.

Once more: “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one.” (John 17:11)

Great stress has been laid upon this text, and it has been hence inferred, that all those whom the Father had given him–a phrase frequently occurring in this chapter–must infallibly persevere to the end.

And yet, in the very next verse, our Lord himself declares, that one of those whom the Father had given him, did not persevere unto the end, but perished everlastingly. 

His own words are, “Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.” (John 17:12) [Judas Iscariot]

So one even of these was finally lost!–a demonstration that the phrase, “those whom thou hast given me,” signifies here, if not in most other places, too, the twelve apostles, and them only.

On this occasion, I cannot but observe another common instance of begging the question–of taking for granted what ought to be proved. It is usually laid down as an indisputable truth, that whatever our Lord speaks to or of his apostles, is to be applied to all believers. But this cannot be allowed by any who impartially search the Scriptures. They cannot allow, without clear and particular proof, that any one of those texts which related primarily to the apostles, as all men grant, belong to any but them.

Those who so effectually know Christ, as by that knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of the world, may yet fall back into those pollutions and perish everlastingly.

For thus saith the apostle Peter, “If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, [the only possible way of escaping them,] they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” (2 Peter 2:20, 21)

That the knowledge of the way of righteousness, which they had attained, was an inward, experimental knowledge, is evident from that other expression–they had “escaped the pollutions of the world;” an expression parallel to that in the preceding chapter, verse four, “Having escaped the corruption which is in the world.” And in both chapters, this effect is ascribed to the same cause; termed in the first, “the knowledge of Him who hath called us to glory and virtue;” in the second, more explicitly, “the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

And yet they lost that experimental knowledge of Christ and the way of righteousness; they fell back into the same pollutions they had escaped, and were “again entangled therein and overcome.” They “turned from the holy commandment delivered to them,” so that their “latter end was worse than their beginning.”

Therefore, those who so effectually know Christ, as by that knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of the world, may yet fall back into those pollutions, and perish everlastingly.

And this is perfectly consistent with St. Peter’s words, in the first chapter of his former epistle: “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” Undoubtedly, so are all they who ever attain eternal salvation. It is the power of God only, and not our own, by which we are kept one day or one hour.

Those who see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and who have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, of the witness, and the fruits of the Spirit, may, nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

For thus saith the inspired writer to the Hebrews: “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” (Hebrews 6:4, 6)

Must not every unprejudiced person see, the expressions here used are so strong and clear, that they cannot, without gross and palpable wresting, be understood of any but true believers?

They “were once enlightened;” an expression familiar with the apostle, and never by him applied to any but believers. So: “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power, to us-ward that believe.” (Ephesians 1:17-19) So again: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (II Corinthians 4:6) This is the light which no unbelievers have. They are utter strangers to such enlightening. “The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them.” (verse 4)

“They had tasted of the heavenly gift, [emphatically so called,] and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.” So St. Peter likewise couples them together: “Be baptized for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,” (Acts 2:38) whereby the love of God was shed abroad in their hearts, with all the other fruits of the Spirit. Yea, it is remarkable that our Lord himself, in his grand commission to St. Paul, to which the apostle probably alludes in these words, comprises all these three particulars. “I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God [here contracted into that one expression, ‘they were enlightened‘] that they may receive forgiveness of sins [‘the heavenly gift’] and an inheritance among them which are sanctified,” (Acts 26:18) which are made “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” of all the sanctifying influences of the Spirit.

The expression, “They tasted of the heavenly gift,” is taken from the Psalmist, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) As if he had said, “Be ye as assured of his love, as of anything you see with your eyes. And let the assurance thereof be sweet to your soul, as honey is to your tongue.”

And yet those who had been thus “enlightened,” had “tasted” this “gift,” and been thus “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” so “fell away” that it was “impossible to renew them again to repentance.”

“But the apostle makes only a supposition: “If they should fall away.”

I answer, “The apostle makes no supposition at all.” There is no if in the original. The words are, in plain English, “It is impossible to renew again unto repentance those who were once enlightened and have fallen away.” Therefore, they must perish everlastingly.

“But if so, then farewell all my comfort.” Then your comfort depends on a poor foundation. My comfort stands not on any opinion, either that a believer can or cannot fall away;–not on the remembrance of anything wrought in me yesterday, but on what is to-day–on my present knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling me to himself–on my now beholding the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, walking in the light as he is in the light, and having fellowship with the Father and with the Son. My comfort is, that through grace I now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that his Spirit doth bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. I take comfort in this, and this only, that I see Jesus at the right hand of God–that I personally for myself, and not for another, have a hope full of immortality–that I feel the love of God shed abroad in my heart, being crucified to the world, and the world crucified to me. My rejoicing is this, the testimony of my conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God I have my conversation in the world.

Go and find, if you can, a more solid joy, a more blissful comfort, on this side of Heaven. But this comfort is not shaken, be that opinion true or false, whether the saints in general can or cannot fall.

If you take up with any comfort short of this, you lean on the staff of a broken reed, which not only will not bear your weight, but will enter into your hand and pierce you.

Those who live by faith, may yet fall from God and perish everlastingly. For thus saith the same inspired writer, “The just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38) “The just [the justified person] shall live by faith:” even now shall he live the life which is hid with Christ in God; and if he endure unto the end, he shall live forever. “But if any man draw back,” saith the Lord, “my soul shall have no pleasure in him;” that is, I will utterly cast him off; and, accordingly, the drawing back here spoken of is termed, in the verse immediately following, “drawing back to perdition.”

“But the person supposed to draw back is not the same with him that is said to live by faith.”

I answer, “1. Who is it then? Can any man draw back from faith who never came to it?” But,

2. Had the text been fairly translated, there had been no pretense for this objection. For the original runs thus: “If the just man that lives by faith [so the expression necessarily implies, there being no other nominative of the verb] draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

“But the apostle adds: ‘We are not of them who draw back unto perdition.'” And what will you infer from thence? This is so far from contradicting what has been observed before, that it manifestly confirms it. It is a farther proof that there are those ‘who draw back unto perdition’ although the apostle was not of that number. Therefore, those who live by faith, may yet fall from God and perish everlastingly.

“But does not God say to every one that lives by faith, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee?'”

The whole sentence runs thus: “Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have; for He hath said, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.'” True, provided “your conversation be without covetousness.” and ye “be content with such things as ye have.” Then you may “boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

Do you not see, 1. That this promise, as here recited, relates wholly to temporal things? 2. That, even thus taken, it is not absolute, but conditional? And, 3. That the condition is expressly mentioned in the very same sentence?

Those who are sanctified by the blood of the covenant, may so fall from God as to perish everlastingly. For thus again saith the apostle: “If we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing!” (Hebrews 10:26-29)

It is undeniably plain, 1. That the person mentioned here, was once sanctified by the blood of the covenant. 2. That he afterward, by known, willful sin, trod under foot the Son of God. And, 3. That he hereby incurred a sorer punishment than death, namely, death everlasting.

Therefore, those who are sanctified by the blood of the covenant, may yet so fall as to perish everlastingly.

“What! Can the blood of Christ burn in Hell? Or can the purchase of the blood of Christ go thither?”

I answer, “1. The blood of Christ cannot burn in Hell, no more than it can be spilled on the earth. The Heavens must contain both his flesh and blood until the restitution of all things.” But,

2. If the oracles of God are true, one who was purchased by the blood of Christ, may go thither. For he that was sanctified by the blood of Christ, was purchased by the blood of Christ. But one who was sanctified by the blood of Christ, may, nevertheless, go to Hell; may fall under that fiery indignation which shall forever devour the adversaries.

“Can a child of God, then, go to Hell? Can a man be a child of God to day and a child of the devil tomorrow? If God is our Father once, is he not our Father always?: (“Once Saved, Always Saved”)

I answer, “1. A child of God, that is, a true believer–for he that believeth is born of God–while he continues a true believer, cannot go to Hell. But, 2. If a believer made shipwreck of the faith, he is no longer a child of God; and then he may go to Hell, yea, and certainly will, if he continues in unbelief.” 3. If a believer may make shipwreck of the faith, then a man that believes now, may be an unbeliever sometime hence; yea, very possibly, tomorrow; but, if so, he who is a child of God to-day, may be a child of the devil to-morrow. For, 4. God is the Father of them that believe, so long as they believe. But the devil is the father of them that believe not, whether they did once believe or no.

The sum of all this is: if the Scriptures are true, those who are holy or righteous in the judgment of God himself–those who are endued with the faith that purifies the heart, that produces a good conscience–those who are grafted into the good olive tree, the spiritual, invisible Church–those who are branches of the true vine, of whom Christ says, ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches’–those who so effectually know Christ, as by that knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of the world–those who see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and who have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, of the witness, and of the fruits of the Spirit–those who live by faith in the Son of God–those who are sanctified by the blood of the covenant, may, nevertheless, so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

Therefore, let him that standeth take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12)

I have thus at length presented the argument of Mr. Wesley on this point, because of its Scriptural weight and importance. It is sufficient. No candid, unprejudiced reader, it seems to me, can arise from its study without conviction of its truth. But though sufficient, I must ask attention to one or two additional considerations, bearing against the doctrine under examination. Logical consequences are fatal to it; among many instances we select the following:

1. If the doctrine be true, after conversion a man is no longer a free agent. In this, as in all respects with the fate and absurdity of the system, he is brought under a necessity which he has no power to avoid. He cannot fall away from salvation. It will not do for Calvinists to modify the doctrine by saying he will not; its distinct assumption is, he cannot; he has no sufficient power. Let us look closely at this. Either a man, after conversion, can fall into vicious practices and sins, or he cannot. If he cannot, he is not a free agent in a state of trial. If he can, then he may be lost–finally perish; or if he does not finally perish, he must either be saved in his sins, or he must be saved from his sins. The former alternative no one embraces; but if he must be saved from his sins–and this depends upon repentance and faith–the man is not a free agent in these exercises, because he is under an absolute necessity, his salvation being unavoidable; whatever is necessary thereto is, also, unavoidable; and being so, the man is no longer free, unless a man may, at the same time, be free not to do, and yet under an unavoidable necessity to do, a given thing. Thus it appears that the doctrine of fate or absolute necessity legitimately results.

2. I object, it renders the condition of saints in this life more secure than that of the angels in Heaven, and of our first parents in paradise. [Adam and Eve] They, notwithstanding their purity and the favor of an approving Creator, had power to fall and perish. Can it be presumed that frail mortals in this state of trial may not? or, if so, why not? Is the faithfulness and immutability of God plead? In what sense do these secure believers more infallibly than the angels of Heaven–than Adam in a state of innocence.

3. If this doctrine is true, it is no difference what a man does after conversion; he cannot peril his soul–cannot even render his salvation doubtful. Thus it inculcates recklessness and licenses crime. Taken in connection with the doctrine of irresistible regeneration, it must unsettle all ideas of responsibility, and do away with every motive to a holy life. For, first, the man cannot avoid being regenerated; it is operated upon him, or in him, by irresistible power, and then, being regenerated, he may become during life a devil in sin, but he cannot miss of Heaven. Now, what sheer licentiousness is here! what more is requisite to induce unlimited and incurable recklessness? The man is in no danger–it is all one; let him indulge to the utmost excess; he is safe, and cannot be less so. Is this Christianity? Is this iniquitous teaching to be palmed upon the world as God’s truth?

4. I object, further, if the doctrine of final perseverance be true, then sin is not so abhorrent in a Christian as it is in a sinner–is not attended with the same consequences. The sins into which a believer may fall are accounted sufficient to damn a sinner, but are not sufficient to make a whit uncertain the salvation of the believer, if committed by him. What strange theology! Is it not a principle, and a true one, that where much is given much will be required? the greater the obligation, the greater the guilt of delinquency? But in this case the principle is reversed. A man, because he has been made the subject of distinguishing grace, may now sin most aggravatedly, but he will only be loved the more; the greater his crimes, the greater the love manifested in his continual pardon. Is not this teaching that we may sin that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1)

5. The doctrine is not analogous to, or resultant from, or in harmony with, the doctrine of Christianity.[1] This has been shown abundantly in the refutation of related errors. The grounds upon which it is based are false, and the superstructure stands upon emptiness. As conclusions drawn from false premises are worthless and void so this doctrine vanishes with its foundations, which have been demonstrated to be false. The idea of perseverance, is dependent upon the doctrines of election, commercial atonement, sovereign, and irresistible grace. No one can think of it separate and apart from these. These being destroyed, therefore, to dream of this is equivalent with supposing a cause without an effect, or a sequence without a premise.

6. It is contrary to the known conviction and consciousness of, I venture to say, all Christians. There may be a sense of security in the minds of believers, greater in some than in others; but it is believed that honest and careful scrutiny into the subject, will show that believers universally feel, whatever may be their attainments in grace, that there is a possibility of their coming short of salvation–that they yet have the fearful power to keep themselves out of eternal life. Is not this so? I appeal to the consciousness of everyone who may chance to read these pages. Do you feel the certainty of such a power and possibility: Nay, is there not an undefined uneasiness lest you may come short; and if not this, a sense of the necessity of much diligence, that you may at last enter into life? Does not God, in his own Word, appeal to such a possibility, to stimulate his children to constant and needful exertion! Is this consciousness false? Is our heavenly Father trifling with us, in his admonitions, exhortations, and expostulations, addressed to us in view of such imminent liability!

7. I object, that it is contrary to probability, if not certainty, with respect to individuals whose history is given in the Scriptures, who at one time where recognized as children of God, and whose final damnation is unquestionable. It is, also, contrary to probability with respect to many persons known in every age of the Church; some of whom, I doubt not, will be readily called up to the recollection of my readers–persons who, at one time, gave most indubitable evidence of genuine repentance and conversion, and who for many years brought forth all the fruits of a real Christian life, such as it is admitted could not exist without the influence of grace, yet, after all, fell into the most dreadful sins, and died in the very midst of their iniquities, gloating in their shame, and who must have finally perished or entered into life with their sins, or have been made holy after death!

Such are some of the objections we urge against the doctrine under examination. It is without warrant from the Bible. It is contrary to the explicit statements of the Bible. It is opposed to its facts, principles, and implications. It is inharmonious and discordant with its doctrines. Its logical consequences are antagonistic to the reason and nature of man, to the genius of religion, and to the consciousness of our species. It is a dangerous doctrine, productive of recklessness, licentiousness, and crime, as its legitimate offspring. All this is objectionable to it, without a single redeeming or apologetic circumstance. To embrace it, is to act in advance of, if not to abandon, common sense; and to be influenced by it, is to endanger all the interests of sound virtue and true religion, theoretical and practical, so far as these are under the guardianship of Christianity.

Endnotes

[1] Edit: The Westminster Confession (1647) was the true originator of the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” (ch. 17). It became the creed of the Presbyterian Church. It was also the originator of cessationism (ch. 1). Both doctrines have been vehemently rejected by Methodists and Pentecostals as anti-Biblical, wicked, and false. With that being said, I’ll admit that the Confession still has many Gospel truths in it; and I especially like its doctrine of sanctification (ch. 13). Theologians are imperfect human beings. They are teachers, guides, and helpers for Christians on their way to Heaven, for people reading the Scriptures; and trying to make sense of them, so they can know how better they can live for the Lord. But the theological confessions of men and their churches need to always be tested by the Word of God, just as any dream or vision. Consider that at the same time the Westminster Confession was being written in England, way up in the Scottish north, God was doing miracles and giving visions to Presbyterian Covenanters like Alexander Peden. He came from a hundred year line of Presbyterian prophetic ministers (words of knowledge, visions of the future) going back to John Knox and George Wishart. To say that the Westminster Confession represented true, authentic Presbyterianism might even be a bit of a stretch, seeing that as this anti-charismatic creed was being written, there were still charismatic Presbyterians alive, who were linked with the original Presbyterian movement (and they adhered to the Scots Confession of 1560, which had no “once saved, always saved” doctrine). It is the tendency of rich, educated, political, and worldly-minded men to suppress the testimonies of miraculous gifts as superstitious myths; as it is their nature to suppress godliness with false doctrines. The Westminster Confession, then, as a product of such (with the exception of Jeremiah Burroughs, William Gouge, and a few other godly divines), is ultimately a creed of theological confusion, compromise, rationalism, and carnality; because while it teaches holiness in chapter 13, it allows for the worst kind of impenitent unholiness in chapter 17. Paul would say, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived” (1 Corinthians 6:9).

I had a dream about John Crowder that spawned this video. Subjects include: the love and justice of God, humor, present walk with God vs futurist mentality, easy-believism, eternal security (“once saved, always saved”), antinomianism, and lordship salvation. Strangely, after I made this video, I was curious to check out John Crowder’s latest Jesus Trip video “Creation and Incarnation.” It’s weird how many parallels of thought there are here. I promise you I truly dreamed this without having seen Crowder’s video yet; then I made this video; and then I watched his video, which confirmed my dream. Whoa.

A missionary who believes in eternal security asked me if I could give an Arminian response to his tract “Once Saved, Always Saved.” I said sure. I will italicize statements that he makes in his tract and then give my response below.

…the matter of being absolutely sure of salvation without any works. Kay explained what she believed and her new friend corrected her and said the Bible taught that no one could have the assurance of salvation without a life of continual good works.

Martin Luther said the epistle to the Romans “is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel.” It is my view, along with Luther and John Wesley, that Romans 3-8 contains the heart of the Gospel message: justification by faith alone and progressive sanctification by gradual moral improvement, imperfect obedience to the moral law of God, and resisting temptations, empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:4: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” In the tract’s statement above, only the word salvation has been used so far, not the words justification or sanctification; and this is something we should be careful about, since each of these words convey different meanings in Scripture. Wesley contended, as I do, in my book The Gospel of Jesus Christ, that the word “salvation” encompassed both justification and sanctification. And within those experiences, there is also repentance, faith in the atonement of Jesus on the cross, the forgiveness of sins, and regeneration. Let’s unpack those concepts a bit.

1. Repentance – Turning away from sin. This occurs at the same time that justification occurs, but also becomes a continual repentance over the course of the Christian life. As Christians grow in their knowledge of the Bible and try to obey it more and more, the extent of their repentance will grow over time, and so will their faith. 

2. Justification – Being made right with God. The first, initial stage in the salvation process. Going from being a non-Christian to becoming a Christian for the first time. It is accomplished without good works; and comes by faith alone that Jesus died on the cross, to receive the punishment for our sins upon Himself, so that we would not have to be eternally punished in Hell fire. The wrath of God is turned away from us when we put our faith in the cross like this; and we are forgiven for our sins. 

3. Regeneration – New birth in the Holy Spirit or the born again experience. This is the beginning of sanctification; and happens at the same time as initial justification. It is described as a “seed” of the Holy Spirit within the heart and puts a love for God and people in there as well (1 John 3:9; Romans 5:5). It is a small level of the Holy Spirit; and always contains the bare minimum amount to save men, who have evil natures (Romans 7), to give them just enough good will to repent and believe in Christ. The witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts is where our assurance of salvation comes from (Romans 8:16); by that, we know that we are children of God. 

4. Sanctification – Holiness or separation from the world. This involves a number of things: heartfelt obedience to the moral law of God in the New Testament (not Jewish ceremonial laws), holding in balance with the view that loving God and people are the summary of that law (Matt. 22:37-40), and doing good works. Ephesians 2:8-10: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” This Scripture is often misquoted. Those who adhere to easy-believism, tend to only focus on 2:9 when it says “not of works,” but they overlook 2:10: “unto good works.” What’s going on here? This is speaking of two different stages in the Christian life: “not of works” is about justification, but “unto good works” is about sanctification. No Christian can have the good works of sanctification without first laying the foundation of justification. But what are the good works that sanctify us? Good works are always defined by God’s commandments in Scripture, but Wesley broke these down into the works of piety (public prayer, family prayer, private prayer, the Lord’s Supper, Bible study, fasting) and the works of mercy (feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, entertaining strangers, visiting prisoners, visiting the sick, and preaching the Gospel). As “means of grace,” doing these good works can strengthen our faith and invite more of God’s presence into our lives (Romans 8). But with the Church of England, he and I would agree that while good works are the necessary fruits of justifying faith, on their own they can’t put away our sins, nor endure the severity of God’s judgment. 

5. Salvation – The saving of a soul from Hell. The Wesleyan-Arminian view of this word, as I previously mentioned, encompasses both justification and sanctification. Since sanctification is a lifelong process that ends with death and then results in glorification through a heavenly body, Wesleyans contend that there is an “initial salvation” and “final salvation” found in Scripture. The previous one assumes the Christian is still alive on earth and in the state of salvation, but that state is conditional and “probationary,” and depends on continuing in repentance, faith in the cross, and an intention to obey the Word of God. The last one, “final salvation” occurs at death and judgment, when God decides if the state of the Christian at death was one of repentant faith in the cross. If not, then it would be called apostasy; and would mean that person had lost his opportunity of salvation from Hell. He once was saved, but later on became lost again. 2 Peter 2:20: “If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” Repentance from sin and faith in the cross are always the conditions for salvation; and especially at death. Unlike the Baptistic view of “once saved, always saved,” which often implies that only justification needs to happen, and at that, only once in the person’s life. They usually don’t call it justification though, they call it salvation without works, which confuses the subject, I think. The Arminian view that a continuation in justifying faith, repentance, and sanctifying obedience is needed for salvation from Hell, is usually rejected by that camp. Some will even say that a “once Christian, now atheist” will go to Heaven if he dies an atheist! But that idea is totally wrong: the “unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). Justification is by faith alone. Without faith, there is no justification; and so, there is no salvation for dying unbelievers.

She asked the lady how she had learned to love people the way Jesus said. Her new friend stammered and said she just tried very hard.

The tract continues to point out how hard it is to keep God’s commandments perfectly. In Reformed theology, this is called the first use of the law. Romans 3:20: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” But this is only one use of God’s law. The second and third uses for it are to show us what is sin and what is Christian duty. Perfectionism is constantly contradicted by everyday human experience. Romans 7 bears this out clearly: that there is a natural sinfulness in the members of our bodies (v. 23). And it is God’s law, for example, Jesus’ teaching to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39), that shows us how incredibly hard and nearly impossible it is to obey God’s commandments. But that’s no excuse for not trying. Romans 8 gives us hope for help through the presence of the Holy Spirit!

Was our guest saved? I think not. Why? Because she was trusting in her good works instead of trusting in Jesus Christ for her salvation. 

I don’t know enough information about this woman to make a judgment call like that, but I with Wesley would be likely to put her in the saved category (conditional, probationary), at least based on what the tract says. It says that she “tried very hard” to love her annoying neighbors. Intention of heart to obey God’s Word, is what we Arminians would consider one of the key elements of sanctification. This is repeatedly taught in John Wesley’s A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. However, the execution of that intention is always an imperfect fight against sin, as the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith says on sanctification. That’s where I agree with the Puritans and disagree with Wesley. Sinless perfection is not possible in this life: all good works, all forms of Biblical obedience are imperfect, tempted, tested, and strained at best, because Christians still live encased in sinful human flesh.

If you’re relying on holy living, it’s not about being mostly faithful or trying your best or working harder or getting better–it’s about complete obedience all the time.

This idea assumes that lordship salvationists like myself believe that perfect obedience to God’s law is necessary for salvation, for your whole Christian life, until your dying day. This sort of sets you up for the first use of the law to be used against the second and third uses of it. The tract then has a list of difficult moral laws and shows that you can’t keep them perfectly. It gives off the view that God’s law is really only useful for one thing: to show us that we can’t perfectly obey it. Minus the perfectionist assumption, the anti-obedience theme goes against the logic of the Gospel. The message of forgiveness of sins, followed up by a life of godliness and holiness and personal moral transformation: the substance of Romans 5-8.

God has eyes that can see faith. You and I can only see works. 

I agree. Good works can be outward signs of justification by faith (James 2:17-24), just as speaking in tongues, if you will allow it, can be an outward sign for the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4: 10:46; 19:6). But many people will admit that good works and speaking in tongues can be counterfeited.

Please read Romans 3:20 through chapter 4:16. Ten of these verses (out of 32) clearly say we are saved without works.

Assuming that you are using a King James Bible, I see no use of the words saved or salvation in this portion of Scripture. Instead, we have expressions like justified (3:20, 24, 26, 28, 30; 4:2, 5), righteousness of God (3:21, 22), His righteousness (3:25, 26), the remission of sins (3:25), the law of faith (3:27), counted for righteousness (4:3, 5, 9), God imputed righteousness without works (4:6, 8, 11), they whose iniquities are forgiven (4:7), the righteousness of faith (4:13), and it is of faith, that it might be by grace (4:16). This is because Romans 3 and 4 are only the first half of the Gospel. The message of justification by faith alone. Romans 5-8 deal with the rest of the Gospel: the message of sanctification. I think the NIV Study Bible rightly divides these sections in its outline. Wesley, along with Luther, considered the entire book of Romans to be Paul’s Gospel presentation. Not just Romans 3-4. In short, all by itself the doctrine of justification by faith alone is NOT the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It’s only half the story of salvation. But when you combine justification by faith alone with progressive sanctification, you get salvation from eternal punishment in Hell; you have the full Gospel message.

If you have ever felt you could lose your salvation, you’re probably relying on all those good works. Be assured that only trusting completely in Jesus can give assurance of eternal life.

Of course, He wants us to be good! But He doesn’t want us to trust in our works. He wants us to depend that God Himself died to pay the entire punishment for all our sin. 

Stop relying on how good you have been, and just enjoy being good because He loves you! And let Him smile on your life.

…and, yes, my wife still does believe “Once Saved, Always Saved.”

Now we’re taking quite a leap from where we were before. Before we were referring to what the Bible teaches as justification by faith alone (Romans 3-4). But now we’ve changed gears and we’re talking about the possibility of losing salvation, also called apostasy. Now, if someone is relying on good works to save them from Hell, without faith in Jesus, it is not going to work. There is no such thing as justification by works alone or salvation by works alone in the New Testament. The closest thing to that would be the Sadducees, who were like liberal Christians who rejected the supernatural, but humanistically tried to do good works for God and possibly gain favor with Him that way. Catholicism has been a lot like that too, especially in Luther’s day: the idea of earning God’s salvation by doing good works. But Romans has no earning concepts in it; and neither should we. Sure, Christians will be rewarded for doing good works. 2 Corinthians 5:10: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” But anyone who truly trusts in the atonement completely will be motivated by the Holy Spirit to do good works, or try to obey the commands of the New Testament. The tract says, “Of course, He wants us to be good! But He doesn’t want us to trust in our works. He wants us to depend that God Himself died to pay the entire punishment for all our sin.” I agree! Totally agree, provided that future sins are not thought to be automatically forgiven. Baptists often like to say that their past, present, and even future sins have already been forgiven. Automatic forgiveness! But Romans 3:23 says, “For the remission of sins that are past,” implying that the atoning blood of Jesus has to be continually reached out for, and reapplied, again and again by repentance and faith. The entire book of Romans–all of it taken together–does not teach an easy-believism requiring no ongoing effort in the areas of repentance, faith, and obedience. Also, there are no Biblical grounds to think that faith can’t be lost! So many times the New Testament warns Christians against losing their faith, and by extension, losing their salvation! Wesley was apt to cite Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-31 as proof for this; but there is much more Scripture about this (1 Timothy 1:18-19; Romans 11:16-22; John 15:6; 2 Peter 2:20). A look at the Wikipedia article on the “conditional preservation of the saints” will give you a full list.

Here are 4 clear verses which explain why we know salvation doesn’t require any good works, but certainly a believer should do lots of good works.

The tract goes to quote from Titus 3:5, Romans 4:5, 1 John 5:13, and Ephesians 2:8-9. Again, these verses are referring to justification by faith alone, not to the full salvation package. Perhaps the apostle Paul is partly to blame for his lack of clarity, but we can know that he tried his best. If he was more clear, then maybe Christianity wouldn’t have so many divisions; and there would be no debates between Calvinists and Arminians. But it is clear to me that Jesus and the apostles were Arminian and expected holiness out of everybody (Hebrews 12:14). God wants to have real relationships with all of us. Giving everyone a free ticket to Heaven (imputed righteousness) without any ongoing spirituality (the Christian life of sanctification) would be a pretty fake relationship. Those who wish to bank on justification alone, and purposely excuse themselves from Bible study and holiness, will one day be surprised to hear Jesus tell them, “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).

She found herself and other Christians in Hell for harboring unforgiveness and hate against people for petty issues; and others who believed in “once saved, always saved,” and refused to walk in obedience to the Bible.

The following is going to be a summary and interpretation of two writings: 1. Robert Kingdon’s “Laissez-Faire or Government Control: A Problem for John Wesley,” and 2. John Wesley’s A Serious Address to the People of England, with Regard to the State of the Nation (1778). While there are other sermons by Wesley that could be taken into account, such as “The Use of Money” (1760), “The Danger of Riches” (1780), “On Riches” (1788), and “On the Danger of Increasing Riches” (1790), that would call for another article or two. But Kingdon did touch on some thoughts in “The Use of Money.” To dig deeper, take a look at Kathleen MacArthur’s The Economic Ethics of John Wesley (1936).

Unlike Jonathan Edwards, Wesley Saw Hard Work and Frugality As Virtues,
But Only When the Proper Economic Morals Are Followed

Like Edwards, John Wesley held to the Puritan tradition of preaching against financial sins. This was his primary consideration when it came to economics, mainly because, as a Christian leader, he was preoccupied with saving souls from Hell. But the love of God also led him to care about people’s earthly needs. From time to time, this led him to read about economic ideas, much further, I’d say, than Edwards did. Wesley had a slightly broader view of economic concepts than Edwards. Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations came out in 1776: incidentally the same year as the Declaration of Independence; and although there is no sign that Wesley read this book, it could have had an indirect philosophical influence on him through Rev. Josiah Tucker’s The State of the Nation (1777). British economic philosophy was starting to become less Puritan and more secular and scientific, as a result of Smith and others like him; and this may explain why Wesley was a little bit more developed in his economic views than Jonathan Edwards, who wrote about financial issues from 1730 to 1750. But Wesley didn’t just preach against financial sins; he also said things like, “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can,” and he saw hard work as a virtue, and saw careful–not wasteful–financial management as a virtue, at one point favorably quoting from Tucker: “the hands of the diligent and frugal are the only hands which make a nation rich.” Edwards warned that lukewarm, materialistic Christians leaned on the principles of hard work and frugal financial management as cover-ups for materialism (prioritizing physical things over spiritual things). Wesley also preached that materialism and greed are damnable sins, and often preached against buying luxury items, but he didn’t preach against hard work and thrift, simply saying that they were always cover-ups for greed. When controlled by Biblical financial virtues, hard work and financial carefulness were also considered Biblical virtues: in fact, they were seen as the only virtues that contribute to personal and national economic growth. Again: hard work + financial carefulness = economic growth.

Financial Virtues to Prevent Economic Growth From Turning Into Greed

Personal financial growth is a monster, if not Biblically controlled; it can be like working on power lines. You need to use rubber gloves when handling live electrical objects, otherwise you will die. So, the analogy to economics: money is power, but if you have no respect for that power, then you will lose your soul. You will die and go to Hell (Luke 16). The protective rubber gloves in the case of personal economics, would be Biblical financial ethics. Taking to heart all of those Biblical commandments and warnings about jobs and money; and so bring your economic philosophy under the lordship of Christ. Otherwise, if you do not hold to a Biblical Christian view of economics, the only other alternative is to think like Adam Smith and other capitalistic philosophers who only have benign secular considerations like the origin of money, fair market value, wages, properties, loans, hard work, saving, investing in stocks, population, industry categories, business taxes, national debts, and business organization models. A fully Christian economics says, “Yes, these benign subjects need to be seriously considered, but that’s still not good enough. We need to also apply Biblical financial ethics to the worker’s personal life in order to keep the providential blessings of God on his side.” The Puritan belief in providence is what is lacking in today’s modern view of economics. It exists in a warped way in the prosperity gospel televangelists and Word of Faith Pentecostals, because they twist it around to mean that when God financially blesses Christians for their hard work, then it is okay to buy luxury items, and consecrate them as blessings from God. Wesley and Edwards would have never allowed for that.

1. Faith in God’s Providence and Obedience to His Moral Laws. This was the view that God provides supernatural financial help for those who obey and fear God. This providence may not always turn out the way Christians want it to though, especially if some business venture fails (see Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Christian Theology, p. 359). God’s primary concern is for the salvation of souls; and in so doing, He may direct His universe-managing providence to bring the Christian through trials, tribulations, poverty, sickness, wealth, and health, and back again, in order to solidify the Christian’s faith in His all-seeing, micromanaging government and care for our lives (Php. 4:11-13). This is not to say that we don’t do our part. But to say that, in financial matters, God does respond to our economic activity; and it especially shows itself when we are financially desperate.

Deuteronomy 8 has quite a bit to say about this: “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase (v. 1)…Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands (v. 2)…He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (v. 3)…Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you (v. 5)…Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to Him and revering Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills (vv. 6-9)…When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God (vv. 10-14)…You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth (vv. 17-18)…If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God” (vv. 19-20).

In the articles I examined, Wesley did not refer to Deuteronomy 8. I actually took this from Gary North’s view in Wealth and Poverty: Four Christian Views of Economics.  Several important financial views here should be taken under serious consideration by any Christian economist: 1. Obedience to God’s law is tied to the providential blessing of economic growth. 2. Financial hardship in the Christian’s life means that God is humbling and testing the Christian’s heart, to see if he truly is going to obey God’s law no matter what: this is meant to be viewed as God the Father disciplining His children. 3. Strange, supernatural provisions of money and food are basically the modern equivalents of manna in the wilderness. This is meant to teach the Christian man that God is his financial source, not himself. 4. Beautiful private property, even land with fruit trees and creeks, is in the mind of God when blessing His people with economic growth (the promised land). This assumes living in the country most likely; and not in the city. 5. When we eat good food, we should thank and praise God for His blessings, and acknowledge these financial benefits as gifts from God, and as rewards for obedience to His law. 6. After experiencing economic growth, the Christian is warned against becoming worldly-minded and secular, as the natural human tendency is to forget God, to be materialistic, to disregard mysticism and spirituality, and to turn either to atheism, practical atheism (living your life as if there is no God), agnosticism, deism, liberal Christianity, or even the New Age movement. All of these views would allow the man the liberty to feel proud, forget God, and abandon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, taking comfort in his wealth and worldly pleasures. 7. The pride of wealth stems from the naturalistic view that “my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” This financial pride stems from forgetting all of those manna experiences that happened years ago; and comes from forgetting that it is God “who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” 8. If this self-centered, prideful view of economic growth is maintained, and left unrepented of, then God promises that “you will surely be destroyed.” How so? Killed, it looks like: actual physical death. Moses said, “Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.” Destroyed in the sense of killed. The wrath of God will see to it that you die an untimely death. But it may also mean living with financial ruin, since we do live under the age of New Testament grace. Either outcome would be very negative.

So, back to the power lines and the rubber gloves. The power lines are the power to get wealth: this comes from God. The rubber gloves are obedience to God’s law, that is, the moral law in the New Testament, under the faith of the Gospel. Christians are not bound by Jewish ceremonial laws in the Old Testament. If we bring our economic views under the rule of New Testament; and we acknowledge that our money comes from God, when these rules are obeyed, and that the economic activity that we are engaging in, is in conformity with these rules, and we have confidence that we are not pursuing dishonest or ill-gotten gain, then we can know that God will look out for us economically.

Fear of job loss and worrying too much about paying our bills can make us compromise our Christian ethics on the job. So often, once a Christian enters the workplace in Corporate America, he is socially pressured to build rapport with his worldly coworkers, who, as Wesley said, “daily curse and swear, and blaspheme the Most High, merely by way of diversion.” Wesley believed that God would exact revenge on that kind of behavior. Remember what Isaiah said, when in the throne room of God: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then a seraphim flew to him “with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar,” and with it he touched Isaiah’s mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isa. 6:5-7). Isaiah was a cusser; and God couldn’t use him as a prophet until those cuss words were removed from his mind, his heart, and his mouth. Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27). That God wants us not to worry about our finances, and have faith in His providential care, is no small thing! Modern capitalism (classical liberalism) totally ignores this; and this is why there are so many non-Christians, atheists, agnostics, and deists in this school of thought. Regarding them, Wesley referred to Psalm 10:4: “God is not in all their thoughts.” Wesley would have us to be Biblically balanced: to mix theology with economics, especially Puritan moral theology, and as a result, come out with a well-rounded view of Christian economics or Biblical capitalism.

2. Hard work is a virtue that generates money. Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Proverbs: 13:4: “A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” Proverbs 14:23: “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

3. Frugality is a virtue: careful, penny-pinching financial management. John 6:12: “When they had all had enough to eat, He said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’” Proverbs 13:11: “Whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” Proverbs 21:20: “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”

4. Avoidance of luxury items: they are signs of greed and bankruptcy. Matthew 6:19: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” James 5:1, 2, 3, 5: “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days…You have lived on earth in luxuryand self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.” Revelation 18:7: “Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself.”

5. Philanthropy is a virtue: giving to the poor and needy. James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distressand to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.” Luke 16:19-25, KJV: “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. It came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented.’”

Wesley on Honesty, Loyalty, Business Investments, 
Inheritance, Price Reduction, Pensions, Taxes, and Democracy

In addition to the five major financial ethics mentioned above, from reading Kingdon’s article and Wesley’s Serious Address, it also came out that the normal Christian virtues of honesty and loyalty came to be an advantage for early Methodist employees, and led to their promotions as managers in factories. Apparently Wesley was okay with the idea of temporarily opting out of philanthropy, so that the Christian’s extra money could be used on investing in his own Christian business. This falls in line with the “charity begins at home” idea. An inheritance was only meant to be given to godly and frugal children, who would not squander their parents’ money wastefully and selfishly. National economic depressions, like the Great Depression, Wesley believed could be alleviated by several things: widespread hard work, widespread frugal financial management, and government controls on businesses that could lead to widespread price reduction. For example, he believed that the only reason why rental prices get jacked up, is because the landlords want to live in luxury, and so they raise the prices for their tenants. Wesley believed the government should control the lifestyles of landlords and thus control rental prices. Wesley also believed that a lot of former government worker’s pensions were useless, and that these pensions should be abolished, at least in a time of depression, particularly because they made men idle.

Wesley became laissez-faire to some extent (government being hands-off with companies), at least in the 1770s, because he felt that the salt tax had harmed the fishing industry. He felt that some taxes were helpful to the economy, but that others were harmful. But when it came to the issue of actually paying taxes himself, he could not sympathize with the American Revolution, and their cries against “taxation without representation.” Wesley remained loyal to King George III, mainly because under his rule, British police protection had usually been helpful to the Methodists when riots erupted against them. Wesley’s primary concern as a British church leader and evangelist, was the salvation of souls. He was pretty much non-political, and would’ve said something like this to the Americans: “Stop your complaining! Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s!” (Matt. 22:21). Since Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), Wesley probably felt it was a tragedy that so many Christians took it upon themselves to shed blood over something as petty as taxes. Of course, to the Americans, it was about more than just paying taxes. Thomas Jefferson, like those in the British political party called the Whigs, wanted to have a more democratic form of government, one where the voice of the people could be heard. So far as I can tell, Wesley did not consider the issue of democracy versus monarchy an important enough issue to go to war over.

What a great journal article! Its available on JSTOR and was featured in the academic journal Church History in March of 1991. It’s an honest summary of the theology of Jonathan Edwards on a number of economic issues. You couldn’t ask for a more evangelical source on a proper Biblical view of business and money. Although it skips over some important subjects: namely, how to work, save, and invest–evangelicals can make those ideas become more concrete by drawing inferences from Edwards’ observations. I’d also recommend looking at Richard Steele’s The Religious Tradesman (1684). The article is based on Edwards’ study of the Bible and his application to his social surroundings in Northampton, Massachusetts. The time period in question: 1730 to 1750. What people don’t know is that this Hellfire and brimstone preacher was also quite a theologian about other subjects: he preached several sermons against financial sins; and it is these unpublished sermons that Valeri analyzes in this article. When it came to economic matters, Edwards preoccupied himself with preaching against financial sins: he didn’t really venture out into the more concrete theories of economic growth. His primary concern was the salvation of souls; and by extension, that meant avoiding damnable sins related to money. I am going to highlight what I felt were the 12 most important subjects that Valeri brings up in this article:

1. Being Frugal Isn’t a Virtue If You Are Materialistic. Frugality (or being a penny-pinching, conservative miser with shrewd financial management skills) is not a virtue if you are still consumed with materialism (putting a higher priority on physical things than spiritual things). In fact, Edwards felt that when Christians defended their pursuit of wealth with the virtues of hard work and frugality, that it was just a cover-up for their selfish, materialistic attitudes. These same people had a tendency to exalt themselves over their neighbors through political ambition and strife; and by purchasing luxury items, creating a competition mentality (keeping up with the Joneses). This is destructive to Christian fellowship, said Edwards, because it generates jealousy, and puts people into the categories of winners and losers, instead of leveling out everyone as Christian brothers and sisters.

2. Greed Causes Fighting. Wealth, or at least the ostentatious display of it, causes social division and distraction from the Gospel: “a greedy man stirs up strife” (Prov. 28:25). Greedy people tend to have enemies; their attitudes are anti-friendship and not conducive to the very happiness they hope to attain. Happiness eludes them, because they misplace it in money rather than in the Gospel and in people.

3. Credit Scores and Trustworthy Lenders. Easy credit is a bad thing, because it can lead to being taken advantage of by loan sharks, repo men, or usurers (people who offer high interest loans). By inference, you might say that the modern practice of requiring credit scores for mortgages and car loans are good things, because it helps people to filter out more trustworthy, merciful lenders. Credit scores can also help to prevent spendthrifts from buying unnecessary luxury items with credit cards: they help people to exercise self-control: both moneylenders and borrowers.

4. Honesty Is Better Than Swindling. Honesty is the best policy for any business: whether it applies to research and development, sales, payroll, or customer service. Conversely: lying, cheating, and swindling for profit is a sin.

5. The Deceitfulness of Riches. When Edwards was a highly paid pastor, he held the view that godly rich people have the capacity to use their money and influence properly: but in 1750, when many of these men backslid, and fired him, he took a much more pessimistic view of capital accumulation.

6. Giving to the Poor Is More Important Than Having Private Property. Giving to the poor is a Biblical law; and is more important than private property. Edwards had moments when he preached against having private property as over against the care of the poor, but I will quote that it is a Biblical blessing: “everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid” (Micah 4:4). Sounds like private property to me. I think though, to his point, that if people have acres to spare, then they could give some property to care for orphans and widows (James 1:27). This is what George Whitefield did; he built an orphanage in Georgia.

7. Charity Funds and Banks at Church. While Edwards felt it was good to give directly to the poor (Luke 16), he felt that financial aid was most effectively carried out by churches. He argued that churches should have charity funds, or banks, specifically for deacons to withdraw money to give to the poor. But he encountered at least four excuses for why church people did not give to charity funds or directly to the poor: 1. The belief that a worker is entitled to enjoy the fruits of his labor. 2. The old “get a job ya bum” view: its the poor person’s responsibility to take care of himself. 3. Charity begins at home: taking care of my children is more important than giving to a homeless street beggar. 4. They have government aid programs and places like the Salvation Army they can go to. These four excuses were well entrenched in Jonathan Edwards’ church in 1733. Whenever Christians saw a beggar, and decided not to give him any extra money, they usually relied on these excuses. But will any of these excuses stand up to Luke 16? No, they won’t. From my point of view, these types of excuses are only pat answers, and widen the gap that already exists between the rich and the poor. It does not help poor people to learn good economic habits through dialogue, nor does it help the rich to understand the reasons or causes of poverty, through dialogue. When the Gospel and Christian love are absent, all that is left are competition, and the destruction of the weak. The problem of poverty never gets fixed, not even on an individual basis. The information necessary to lift up the poor isn’t given, nor is the compassion necessary to save the rich ever acquired. When all that is thought to give is a little coin, and no loving guidance; all that can remain is a widening chasm that perpetuates economic inequality, and lack of understanding between people who have been forced into the different “social classes” of the rich and the poor.

8. The Pastor’s Salary: A Weakness for Any Preacher. In 1748, Edwards ran into financial problems during a time of inflation. He began to beg his church for a higher salary, which they gave him; but he continued to beg for more. This angered the people in his church: people to whom he had preached against financial sins for years; and now that he was financially desperate, they found cause to criticize his spending habits. Things soured to the point that they fired him in 1750. It makes me think of Frank Viola’s criticism of pastor’s salaries in Pagan Christianity; and makes me think that a pastor is more financially stable when he is self-employed.

9. Extortion Is a Sin. Inflation is caused by greedy business owners who jack up prices in order to extort their customers. This keeps everyone in distress, especially the poor. In modern times, rising gas prices are an example of this. Edwards, especially in the 1740s, when he was personally affected by this, had much to say against these unjust price fluctuations of the “free market.”

10. Fair Market Value: It Should Be Enforced by the Government. Although there is a degree of sense in the idea of “buy low, sell high,” which helps the seller to turn a profit, Edwards believed that without fixed prices, this leads to a kind of lawlessness where anything goes with prices. People were then encouraged, that after they bought something they wanted to sell, they should research the fair market value before they put a price tag on it. Boston newspapers, for example, carried exchange rates (from English pounds, etc), but Edwards had hoped that fixed prices might be made universal, and also monitored by a Christian government. Edwards, at least in the mid 1740s, would not have been what Gary North has called a “free market” capitalist. He was by then a “guided market” capitalist, more akin to the view of William Diehl in Wealth and Poverty: Four Christian Views of Economics. He believed business needed to be held accountable to the government, at least in the area of fixing absolutely concrete prices, so that fair and just prices would be regulated by the law. The only loophole to this view, he said, is that it could be sabotaged by godless rich businessmen, who end up bribing government officials, to fix prices according to their preferences. But Edwards’ idea of government involvement in business never even came close to promoting communism. He said, “‘Tis not agreeable to the design of the world that all men should be on a level.” Whether he just preferred more economic equality in pricing, or was just making the observation that New England would never accept a Christian communism like the Pilgrims had tried (Acts 2:44), it’s clear he felt that certain highly priced goods, when so priced, made it harder on everyone except for the rich to live comfortably. Edwards was all about fair market value; and he believed it should fall to the government to enforce it.

11. Rationalists and the “Greed Is Good” Idea. According to Valeri’s study, rationalistic Enlightenment philosophies like  those in Bernard Mandeville’s The Fable of the Bees (1729), argued that the desire for luxury items motivated people to work hard and stimulate the economy. This idea was later reflected in a godless 1987 movie called Wall Street, where a main character said, “Greed is good.” Edwards saw these people as rebelling against Scripture. They were rationalists, deists, atheists, and liberal Christians, and were to blame for the rejection of the former Puritan economic views that existed in 17th century New England; these men, godless false Christians and freethinkers, were anti-evangelical, anti-revival, and anti-Jonathan Edwards. They were the fathers of modern day capitalism. They were the society that the Founding Fathers largely took part in: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, etc. Not really God-fearing men: freemasons, freethinkers, deistic, agnostic, and rationalistic liberals who rejected the preaching and phenomena of the Great Awakening, and opened the door to a post-Puritan, watered-down Christian, secular Corporate America. “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5). Rationalism and secularism were the philosophical underpinnings of modern capitalism…not the Bible. Now we call it social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest as it applies to business. That is the reason for the dog-eat-dog business culture that we live in today. Thanks a lot rationalists! Thanks a whole freakin’ lot for ruining our once Puritan settlement! But that’s the way its always been. Revivals come and go; and when they are over with, people go back to business as usual: chasing the dollar bill, keeping up with the Joneses, setting apart the haves and the have-nots, the winners and the losers, competition between companies and employees within companies, political debates, and gratifying the sinful nature but calling it by some harmless name, like a strong work ethic.

12. Oftentimes, Ungodly Companies Are the Majority Rule. After being fired from his pastorate in 1750, Edwards held the view that, “God oftentimes gives those men that He hates great outward prosperity.” This so that they may be blinded from the saving truths and experiences that come from the Gospel; and later on, go to Hell to meet their just desserts. But after critiquing the 18th century economic system left and right throughout the article, I didn’t find a glint of economic hope coming from Edwards; and this is where his economic thought, if completely represented by Valeri, falls short. There needs to be an answer given to the Christian man who would ask, “Well, what should I do for a job? For saving? For investing? How can I, while siding with Edwards against economic vices, still find a way to care for my family?” My view of that would be as follows: 90% of the economic system that we have here in America is acquired through ill-gotten gain. Most employment situations at companies, in one way or another, are sinning in their business practices. Whether its deceptive sales tactics, job sabotaging competition between employees, a culture of profanity and sexual harassment, or pride being labeled as “confidence,” and then considered a virtue to imitate. Proverbs 1:17-19: “How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it! These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.” Whether we’re talking about some lowlife joining a gang to steal and rob only to be turned on by his fellow gang members and killed; or if we’re talking about a person that works for any old company and finds himself working with a bunch of dirt bags–sooner or later, if they find out that he doesn’t cuss, doesn’t harass women, and fears God, they will gang up on him and end his career in that company.

The Christian’s Pursuit of Well-Gotten Gain. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers” (Psalm 1:1). Fitting how the word “company” is used that verse. The devout Christian breadwinner should seek well-gotten gain, where the vices that Scripture warns against will not be thrust upon him every day. Then he will be truly blessed; and not led into temptation. This is a way of escape. So far as I can see, a truly godly Christian capitalism is possible under three possible conditions: 1. Self-employment (e.g., work-at-home/WAH jobs for customer service or sales on FlexJobs.com or ZipRecruiter.com, telemarketing for products like life, health, or P&C insurance, etc). 2. Working for those 10% of American businesses that consider themselves to be Christian companies (e.g., Chick-fil-A, Interstate Batteries, Christian business associations like FCCI and CBN, etc). 3. Being upfront with interviewers at secular companies that you are a Christian and you don’t cuss: although this is strained, I have heard it is possible; and may help to filter out very bad companies during a job search. But the Christian can’t really fit into the “real world,” because he’s not supposed to. John 15:19: “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” Consider it a sign that you are genuinely saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit, if people in secular companies do not receive you as one of their own!

Self-Employment Is Ideal for the Christian. Self-employment is absolutely necessary for the devout Christian; or at least strongly recommended in my view. To seek employment at most companies on Indeed.com or through temp agencies, is “oftentimes” the domain of godless rationalists and ill-gotten gain that ignite the wrath of God. Ephesians 5:11: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” But you can’t reprove them if you are one with them. Hateful attitudes, authoritarian ideas, and really bad tempers are all over secular companies. They ruin the economic and emotional health of the Christian. Only widespread faith in the Gospel (lordship salvation) can heal the faltering economy. That only comes through evangelists and revivals. These things come and go. The last revival like that was the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida, from 1995 to 2000. In their absence, all that most companies have to offer is an environment of competition, one-upmanship, backbiting, social Darwinism, arrogance, deceptive sales tactics, verbal abuse, insults, cussing, sexual harassment, and a nearly atheistic, godless capitalism that leaves millions of people running to psychiatrists for antidepressants. It’s not healthy! Since these companies are such cesspools of sin, I with the late Jonathan Edwards, will always remain skeptical of “successful” Christians who hold staid positions and decades of longevity at secular, non-Christian companies. What kind of testimony is that? One that implies crypto-Christianity at the least; and a liberal, antinomian Christianity at the worst. Either is way too much tolerance of sin!

Originally from here.

“If riches increase, set not thine heart upon them.” Ps. 62:10.

1. From that express declaration of our Lord, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven,” we may easily learn, that none can have riches without being greatly endangered by them. But if the danger of barely having them is so great, how much greater is the danger of increasing them! This danger is great even to those who receive what is transmitted to them by their forefathers; but it is abundantly greater to those who acquire them by their skill and industry. Therefore, nothing can be more prudent than this caution: “If riches increase, set not thine heart upon them.”

2. It is true, riches, and the increase of them, are the gift of God. Yet great care is to be taken, that what is intended for a blessing, do not turn into a curse. To prevent which, it is highly expedient to consider seriously,

I. What is meant by riches; and when they may be said to increase.

II. What is implied in setting our hearts upon them; and how we may avoid it.

I. Consider, First, what is here meant by riches. Indeed some may imagine that it is hardly possible to mistake the meaning of this common word. Yet, in truth, there are thousands in this mistake; and many of them quite innocently. A person of note, hearing a sermon preached upon this subject several years since, between surprise and indignation broke out aloud, “Why does he talk about riches here There is no rich man at Whitehaven, but Sir James L____r.” And it is true there was none but he that had forty thousand pounds a year, and some millions in ready money. But a man may be rich that has not a hundred a year, nor even one thousand pounds in cash. Whosoever has food to eat, and raiment to put on, with something over, is rich. Whoever has the necessaries and conveniences of life for himself and his family, and a little to spare for them that have not, is properly a rich man; unless he is a miser, a lover of money, one that hoards up what he can and ought to give to the poor. For it so, he is a poor man still, though he has millions in the bank; yea, he is the poorest of men; for

The beggars but a common lot deplore; The rich poor man’s emphatically poor.

2. But here an exception may be made. A person may have more than necessaries and conveniences for his family, and yet not be rich. For he may be in debt; and his debts may amount to more than he is worth. But if this be the case, he is not a rich man, how much money soever he has in his hands. Yea, a man of business may be afraid that this is the real condition of his affairs, whether it be or no; and then he cannot be so charitable as he would, for fear of being unjust. How many that are engaged in trade, are in this very condition! those especially that trade to a very large amount; for their affairs are frequently so entangled, that it is not possible to determine, with any exactness, how much they are worth, or, indeed, whether they are worth anything or nothing. Should we not make a fair allowance for them

3. And beware of forming a hasty judgment concerning the fortune of others. There may be secrets in the situation of a person, which few but God are acquainted with. Some years since, I told a gentleman, “Sir, I am afraid you are covetous.” He asked me, “What is the reason of your fear” I answered, “A year ago, when I made a collection for the expense of repairing the Foundery, you subscribed five guineas. At the subscription made this year you subscribed only half a guinea.” He made no reply; but after a time asked, “Pray, Sir, answer me a question: Why do you live upon potatoes” (I did so between three and four years.) I replied, “It has much conduced to my health.” He answered, “I believe it has. But did you not do it likewise to save money” I said, “I did; for what I save from my own meat, will feed another that else would have none.” “But, Sir”, said he, “if this be your motive you may save much more. I know a man that goes to the market at the beginning of every week: There he buys a pennyworth of parsnips, which he boils in a large quantity of water. The parsnips serve him for food, and the water for drink, the ensuing week So his meat and drink together cost him only a penny a week.” This he constantly did, though he had then two hundred pounds a year, to pay the debts which he had contracted before he knew God! And this was he, whom I had set down for a covetous man!

4. But there are those who are conscious before God that they are rich. And, doubtless, some among you are of the number. You have more of the goods of this world than is needful either for yourself or your family. Let each consider for himself. Do your riches increase Do not you understand that plain expression Have you not more money, or more of money’s worth, than you had ten or twenty years ago, or at this time last year If you keep any account, you can easily know this. Indeed you ought to know; otherwise, you are not a good steward, even in this respect, of the mammon of unrighteousness. And every man, whether engaged in trade or not, ought to know whether his substance lessens or increases.

5. But many have found out a way never to be rich, though their substance increase ever so much. It is this: As fast as ever money comes in, they lay it out, either in land, or enlarging their business. By this means, each of these, keeping himself bare of money, can still say, “I am not rich;” yea, though he has ten, twenty, a hundred times more substance than he had some years ago. This may be explained by a recent case: A gentleman came to a merchant in London, a few years since, and told him, “Sir, I beg you will give me a guinea for a worthy family that is in great distress.” He replied, “Really, Mr. M., I cannot well afford to give you it just now; but if you will call upon me when I am worth ten thousand pounds, upon such an occasion I will give you ten guineas.” Mr. M., after some time, called upon him again, and said, “Sir, I claim your promise; now you are worth ten thousand pounds.” He replied, “That is very true: But I assure you, I cannot spare one guinea so well as I could then.”

6. It is possible for a man to cheat himself by this ingenious device. And he may cheat other men; for as long “as thou doest good unto thyself, men will speak well of thee.” “A right good man,” says the Londoner, “he is worth a plum” (a hundred thousand pounds). But, alas! he cannot deceive God; and he cannot deceive the devil. Ah, no! The curse of God is upon thee already, and on all that thou hast. And to-morrow, when the devil seizes thy soul, will he not say, “What do all thy riches profit thee” Will they purchase a pillow for thy head, in the lake of fire burning with brimstone Or will they procure thee a cup of “water to cool thy tongue,” while thou art tormented in that flame” O follow the wise direction here given! that God may not say unto thee, “Thou fool!”

7. This shift, therefore, will not avail. It will not be any protection, either against the wrath of God, or the malice and power of the devil. Thou art convicted already of “setting thy heart” upon thy riches, if thou layest all thou hast above the conveniences of life, on adding money to money, house to house, or field to field, without giving at least a tenth of thine income (the Jewish proportion) to the poor. By whatsoever means thy riches increase, whether with or without labor; whether by trade, legacies, or any other way; unless thy charities increase in the same proportion; unless thou give a full tenth of thy substance, of thy fixed and occasional income; thou dost undoubtedly set thy heart upon thy gold, and it will “eat thy flesh as fire!”

8. But O! who can convince a rich man that he sets his heart upon riches For considerably above half a century I have spoken on this head, with all the plainness that was in my power. But with how little effect! I doubt whether I have, in all that time, convinced fifty misers of covetousness. When the lover of money was described ever so clearly, and painted in the strongest colors, who applied it to himself To whom did God, and all that knew him, say, “Thou art the man!” If he speaks to any of you that are present, O do not stop your ears! Rather say, with Zacchaeus, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have done any wrong to any man, I restore fourfold.” He did not mean that he had done this in time past; but that he determined to do so for the time to come. I charge thee before God, thou lover of money, to “go and do likewise!”

9. I have a message from God unto thee, O rich man! whether thou wilt hear, or whether thou wilt forbear. Riches have increased with thee; at the peril of thy soul, “set not thine heart upon them!” Be thankful to Him that gave thee such a talent, so much power of doing good. Yet dare not to rejoice over them, but with fear and trembling. Cave ne inhaereas, says pious Kempis, ne capiaris et pereas: “Beware thou cleave not unto them, lest thou be entangled and perish.” Do not make them thy end, thy chief delight, thy happiness, thy God! See that thou expect not happiness in money, nor anything that is purchasable thereby; in gratifying either the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, or the pride of life.

10. But let us descend to particulars; and see that each of you deal faithfully with his own soul. If any of you have now twice, thrice, or four times as much substance as when you first saw my face, faithfully examine yourselves, and see if you do not set your hearts, if not directly on money or riches themselves, yet on some of the things that are purchasable thereby; which comes to the same thing. All those the Apostle John includes under that general name, the world; and the desire of them, or to seek happiness in them, under that form, “the love of the world.” This he divides into three branches, “the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Fairly examine yourselves with regard to these. And, First, as to “the desire of the flesh.” I believe this means the seeking of happiness in the things that gratify the senses. To instance in one: Do not you seek your happiness in enlarging the pleasure of tasting. To be more particular: Do you not eat more plentifully, or more delicately, than you did ten or twenty years ago Do not you use more drink, or drink of a more costly kind, than you did then Do you sleep on as hard a bed as you did once, suppose your health will bear it To touch on one point more: do you fast as often, now you are rich, as you did when you was poor Ought you not, in all reason, to do this rather more often than more seldom I am afraid your own heart condemns you. You are not clear in this matter.

11. The Second branch of the love of the world, “the desire of the eyes,” is of a wider extent. We may understand thereby, the seeking our happiness in gratifying the imagination, (which is chiefly done by means of the eyes,) by grand, or new, or beautiful objects; — If they may not all be reduced to one head; since neither grand nor beautiful objects are pleasing when the novelty of them is gone. But are not the veriest trifles pleasing as long as they are new Do not some of you, on the score of novelty, seek no small part of your happiness in that trifle of trifles — dress Do not you bestow more money, or (which is the same) more time or pains, upon it than you did once I doubt this is not done to please God. Then it pleases the devil. If you laid aside your need less ornaments some years since, — ruffles, necklaces, spider-caps, ugly, unbecoming bonnets, costly linen, expensive laces, — have you not, in defiance of religion and reason, taken to them again

12. Perhaps you say you can now afford the expense. This is the quintessence of nonsense. Who gave you this addition to your fortune; or (to speak properly) lent it to you To speak more properly still, who lodged it for a time in your hands as his stewards; informing you at the same time for what purposes he entrusted you with it And can you afford to waste your Lord’s goods, for every part of which you are to give an account; or to expend them in any other way than that which he hath expressly appointed Away with this vile, diabolical cant! Let it never more come out of your lips. This affording to rob God is the very cant of hell. Do not you know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessaries for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind How can you, how dare you, defraud your Lord, by applying it to any other purpose When he entrusted you with a little, did he not entrust you with it that you might lay out all that little in doing good And when he entrusted you with more, did he not entrust you with that additional money that you might do so much the more good, as you had more ability Had you any more right to waste a pound, a shilling, or a penny, than you had before You have, therefore, no more right to gratify the desire of the flesh, or the desire of the eyes, now than when you was a beggar. O no! do not make so poor a return to your beneficent Lord! Rather, the more he entrusts you with, be so much the more careful to employ every mite as he hath appointed.

13. Ye angels of God, ye servants of his, that continually do his pleasure! our common Lord hath entrusted you also with talents far more precious than gold and silver, that you may minister in your various offices to the heirs of salvation. Do not you employ every mite of what you have received, to the end for which it was given you And hath he not directed us to do his will on earth, as it is done by you in heaven Brethren, what are we doing! Let us awake! Let us arise! Let us imitate those flaming ministers! Let us employ our whole soul, body and substance, according to the will of our Lord! Let us render unto God the things that are God’s; even all we are, and all we have!

14. Most of those who when riches increase set their hearts upon them, do it indirectly in some of the preceding instances. But there are others who do this more directly; being, properly, “lovers of money;” who love it for its own sake; not only for the sake of what it procures. But this vice is very rarely found in children or young persons; but only, or chiefly, in the old, — in those that have the least need of money, and the least time to enjoy it. Might not this induce one to think, that in many cases it is a penal evil; that it is a sin-punishing evil; that when a man has, for many years, hid his precious talent in the earth, God delivers him up to Satan, to punish by the inordinate love of it Then it is that he is more and more tormented by that auri sacra fames, “that execrable hunger after gold” which can never be satisfied. No: It is most true, as the very Heathen observes, Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit, — “As money, so the love of money, grows; it increases in the same proportion.” As in a dropsy, the more you drink, the more you thirst; till that unquenchable thirst plunge you into the fire which ever shall be quenched!

15. “But is there no way,” you may ask, “either to prevent or to cure this dire disease” There is one preventative of it, which is also a remedy for it; and I believe there is no other under heaven. It is this. After you have gained (with the cautions above given) all you can, and saved all you can, wanting for nothing; spend not one pound, one shilling, or one penny, to gratify either the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, or the pride of life; or indeed, for any other end than to please and glorify God. Having avoided this rock on the right hand, beware of that on the left. Secondly. Hoard nothing. Lay up no treasure on earth, but give all you can; that is, all you have. I defy all the men upon earth, yea, all the angels in heaven, to find any other way of extracting the poison from riches.

16. Let me add one word more. After having served you between sixty and seventy years; with dim eyes, shaking hands, and tottering feet, I give you one more advice before I sink into the dust. Mark those words of St. Paul: “Those that desire” or endeavor “to be rich,” that moment “fall into temptation.” Yea, a deep gulf of temptation, out of which nothing less than almighty power can deliver them. “They fall into a snare” — the word properly means a steel trap, which instantly crushes the animal, taken therein, to pieces; — “and into divers foolish and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and perdition.” You, above all men, who now prosper in the world, never forget these awful words! How unspeakably slippery is your path! How dangerous every step! The Lord God enable you to see your danger, and make you deeply sensible of it! O may you “awake up after his likeness, and be satisfied with it!”

17. Permit me to come a little closer still. Perhaps I may not trouble you any more on this head. I am pained for you that are “rich in this world.” Do you give all you can You who receive five hundred pounds a year, and spend only two hundred, do you give three hundred back to God If not, you certainly rob God of that three hundred. You that receive two hundred, and spend but one, do you give God the other hundred If not, you rob him of just so much. “Nay, may I not do what I will with my own” Here lies the ground of your mistake. It is not your own. It cannot be, unless you are Lord of heaven and earth. “However, I must provide for my children.” Certainly. But how By making them rich Then you will probably make them Heathens, as some of you have done already. “What shall I do, then” Lord, speak to their hearts! else the Preacher speaks in vain. Leave them enough to live on, not in idleness and luxury, but by honest industry. And if you have not children, upon what scriptural or rational principle can you leave a groat behind you more than will bury you I pray consider, what are you the better for what you leave behind you What does it signify, whether you leave behind you ten thousand pounds, or ten thousand shoes and boots O leave nothing behind you! Send all you have before you into a better world! Lend it, lend it all unto the Lord, and it shall be paid you again! Is there any danger that his truth should fail It is fixed as the pillars of heaven. Haste, haste, my brethren, haste! lest you be called away before you settled what you have on this security! When this is done, you may boldly say, “Now I have nothing to do but to die! Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit! Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!”

Originally from here.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24.

1. In the preceding verses we have an account of a young man who came running to our Lord, and kneeling down, not in hypocrisy, but in deep earnestness of soul, and said unto him, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life” “All the commandments,” saith he, “I have kept from my youth: What lack I yet” Probably he had kept them in the literal sense; yet he still loved the world. And He who knew what was in man knew that, in this particular case, (for this is by no means a general rule,) he could not be healed of that desperate disease, but by a desperate remedy. Therefore he answered, “Go and sell all that thou hast, and give it to the poor; and come and follow me. But when he heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. So all the fair blossoms withered away! For he would not lay up treasure in heaven at so high a price! Jesus, observing this, “looked round about, and said unto his disciples,” (Mark 10:23, &c.,) “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God! And they were astonished out of measure, and said among themselves, Who then can be saved”–if it be so difficult for rich men to be saved, who have so many and so great advantages, who are frees from the cares of this world, and a thousand difficulties to which the poor are continually exposed

2. It has indeed been supposed, he partly retracts what he had said concerning the difficulty of rich men’s being saved, by what is added in the tenth chapter of St. Mark. For after he had said, (verse 23,) “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” when “the disciples were astonished at his words, Jesus answered again,” and said unto them, “How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Verse 24.) But observe, (1.) Our Lord did not mean hereby to retract what he had said before. So far from it, that he immediately confirms it by that awful declaration, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Observe, (2.) Both one of these sentences and the other assert the very same thing. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for those that have riches not to trust in them.

3. Perceiving their astonishment at this hard saying, “Jesus, looking upon them,” (undoubtedly with an air of inexpressible tenderness, to prevent their thinking the case of the rich desperate,) “saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: For with God all things are possible.”

4. I apprehend, by a rich man here is meant, not only a man that has immense treasures, one that has heaped up gold as dust, and silver as the sand of the sea; but anyone that possesses more than the necessaries and conveniences of life. One that has food and raiment sufficient for himself and his family, and something over, is rich. By the kingdom of God, or of heaven, (exactly equivalent terms,) I believe is meant, not the kingdom of glory, (although that will, without question, follow,) but the kingdom of heaven, that is, true religion, upon earth. The meaning then of our Lord’s assertion is this,–that it is absolutely impossible, unless by that power to which all things are possible, that a rich man should be a Christian; to have the mind that was in Christ, and to walk as Christ walked: Such are the hindrances to holiness, as well as the temptations to sin, which surround him on every side.

I. First. Such are the hindrances to holiness which surround him on every side. To enumerate all these would require a large volume: I would only touch upon a few of them.

1. The root of all religion is faith, without which it is impossible to please God. Now, whether you take this in its general acceptation, for an “evidence of things not seen,” of the invisible and the eternal world, of God and the things of God, how natural a tendency have riches to darken this evidence, to prevent your attention to God and the things of God, and to things invisible and eternal! And if you take it in another sense, for a confidence; what a tendency have riches to destroy this; to make you trust, either for happiness or defense, in them, not “in the living God!” Or if you take faith, in the proper Christian sense, as a divine confidence in a pardoning God; what a deadly, what an almost insuperable, hindrance to this faith are riches! What! Can a wealthy, and consequently an honorable, man come to God as having nothing to pay Can he lay all his greatness by, and come as a sinner, a mere sinner, the vilest of sinners; as on a level with those that feed the dogs of his flock; with that “beggar who lies at his gate full of sores” Impossible; unless by the same power that made the heavens and the earth. Yet without doing this, he cannot, in any sense, “enter into the kingdom of God.”

2. What a hindrance are riches to the very first fruit of faith,–namely, the love of God! “If any man love the world,” says the Apostle, “the love of the Father is not in him.” But how is it possible for a man not to love the world who is surrounded with all its allurements How can it be that he should then hear the still small voice which says, “My son, give me thy heart” What power, less than almighty, can send the rich man an answer to that prayer,–

Keep me dead to all below, Only Christ resolved to know; Firm, and disengaged, and free, Seeking all my bliss in Thee!

3. Riches are equally a hindrance to the loving our neighbor as ourselves; that is, to the loving all mankind as Christ loved us. A rich man may indeed love them that are of his own party, or his own opinion. He may love them that love him: “Do not even Heathens,” baptized or unbaptized, “the same” But he cannot have pure, disinterested good-will to every child of man. This can only spring from the love of God, which his great possessions expelled from his soul.

4. From the love of God, and from no other fountain, true humility likewise flows. Therefore, so far as they hinder the love of God, riches must hinder humility likewise. They hinder this also in the rich, by cutting them off from that freedom of conversation whereby they might be made sensible of their defects, and come to a true knowledge of themselves. But how seldom do they meet with a faithful friend; with one that can and will deal plainly with them! And without this we are likely to grow grey in our faults; yea, to die “with all our imperfections on our head.”

5. Neither can meekness subsist without humility; for “of pride” naturally “cometh contention.” Our Lord accordingly directs us to learn of Him at the same time “to be meek and lowly in heart” Riches therefore are as great a hindrance to meekness as they are to humility. In preventing lowliness of mind, they of consequence prevent meekness; which increases in the same proportion as we sink in our own esteem; and, on the contrary, necessarily decreases as we think more highly of ourselves.

6. There is another Christian temper which is nearly allied to meekness and humility; but it has hardly a name. St. Paul terms it epieikeia. Perhaps, till we find a better name, we may call it yieldingness; a readiness to submit to others, to give up our own will. This seems to be the quality which St. James ascribes to “the wisdom from above,” when he styles it ,– which we render, easy to be entreated; easy to be convinced of what is true; easy to be persuaded. But how rarely is this amiable temper to be found in a wealthy man! I do not know that I have found such a prodigy ten times in above threescore and ten years!

7. And how uncommon a thing is it to find patience in those that have large possessions! unless when there is a counterbalance of long and severe affliction, with which God is frequently pleased to visit those he loves, as an antidote to their riches. This is not uncommon: He often sends pain, and sickness, and great crosses, to them that have great possessions. By these means, “patience has its perfect work,” till they are “perfect and entire, lacking nothing,”

II. Such are some of the hindrances to holiness which surround the rich on every side. We may now observe, on the other side, what a temptation riches are to all unholy tempers.

1. And, First, how great is the temptation to Atheism which naturally flows from riches; even to an entire forgetfulness of God, as if there was no such Being in the universe. This is at present usually termed dissipation,–a pretty name, affixed by the great vulgar to an utter disregard for God, and indeed for the whole invisible world. And how is the rich man surrounded with all manner of temptations to continual dissipation! Yes, how is the art of dissipation studied among the rich and great! As Prior keenly says,–

Cards are dealt, and dice are brought, Happy effects of human wit,  That Alma may herself forget.

Say rather, that mortals may their God forget; that they may keep Him utterly out of their thoughts, who, though he sits on the circle of the heavens, yet is “about their bed, and about their path, and spies out all their ways.” Call this wit, if you please; but is it wisdom O no! It is far, very far from it. Thou fool! Dost thou imagine, because thou dost not see God, that God doth not see thee Laugh on; play on; sing on; dance on: But “for all these things God will bring thee to judgment!”

2. From Atheism there is an easy transition to idolatry; from the worship of no God to the worship of false gods: And, in fact, he that does not love God (which is his proper, and his only proper worship) will surely love some of the works of his hands; will love the creature, if not the Creator. But to how many species of idolatry is every rich man exposed! What continual and almost insuperable temptations is he under to “love the world!” and that in all its branches,–“the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life.” What innumerable temptations will he find to gratify the “desire of the flesh!” Understand this right. It does not refer to one only, but all the outward senses. It is equal idolatry to seek our happiness in gratifying any or all of these. But there is the greatest danger lest men should seek it in gratifying their taste; in a moderate sensuality; in a regular kind of Epicurism; not in gluttony or drunkenness: Far be that from them! They do not disorder the body; they only keep the soul dead,–dead to God and all true religion.

3. The rich are equally surrounded with temptations from the “desire of the eyes;” that is, the seeking happiness in gratifying the imagination, the pleasures of which the eyes chiefly minister. The objects that give pleasure to the imagination are grand, or beautiful, or new. Indeed, all rich men have not a taste for grand objects; but they have for new and beautiful things, especially for new; the desire of novelty being as natural to men as the desire of meat and drink. Now, how numerous are the temptations to this kind of idolatry, which naturally springs from riches! How strongly and continually are they solicited to seek happiness (if not in grand, yet) in beautiful houses, in elegant furniture, in curious pictures, in delightful gardens! perhaps in that trifle of all trifles,–rich or gay apparel! Yea, in every new thing, little or great, which fashion, the mistress of fools, recommends. How are rich men, of a more elevated turn of mind, tempted to seek happiness, as their various tastes lead, in poetry, history, music, philosophy, or curious arts and sciences! Now, although it is certain all these have their use, and therefore may be innocently pursued, yet the seeking happiness in any of them, instead of God, is manifest idolatry; and therefore, were it only on this account, that riches furnish him with the means of indulging all these desires, it might well be asked, “Is not the life of a rich man, above all others, a temptation upon earth”

4. What temptation, likewise, must every rich man have to seek happiness in “the pride of life!” I do not conceive the Apostle to mean thereby pomp, or state, or equipage; so much as “the honour that cometh of men,” whether it be deserved or not. A rich man is sure to meet with this: It is a snare he cannot escape. The whole city of London uses the words rich and good as equivalent terms. “Yes,” say they, “he is a good man; he is worth a hundred thousand pounds.” And indeed everywhere, “if thou doest well unto thyself,” if thou increasest in goods, “men will speak well of thee.” All the world is agreed,

            A thousand pound supplies The want of twenty thousand qualities.

And who can bear general applause without being puffed up,– without being insensibly induced to think of himself “more highly than he ought to think”

5. How is it possible that a rich man should escape pride, were it only on this account,–that his situation necessarily occasions praise to flow in upon him from every quarter For praise is generally poison to the soul; and the more pleasing, the more fatal; particularly when it is undeserved. So that well might our Poet say,–

Parent of evil, bane of honest deeds, Pernicious flattery! thy destructive seeds, In an ill hour, and by a fatal hand, Sadly diffused o’er virtue’s gleby land, With rising pride amid the corn appear, And check the hope and promise of the year!

And not only praise, whether deserved or undeserved, but every thing about him tends to inspire and increase pride. His noble house, his elegant furniture, his well-chosen pictures, his fine horses, his equipage, his very dress, yea, even “the embroidery plastered on his tail,”–all these will be matter of commendation to some or other of his guests, and so have an almost irresistible tendency to make him think himself a better man than those who have not these advantages.

6. How naturally, likewise, do riches feed and increase the self-will which is born in every child of man! as not only his domestic servants and immediate dependents are governed implicitly by his will, finding their account therein; but also most of his neighbors and acquaintance study to oblige him in all things: So his will being continually indulged, will of course be continually strengthened; till at length he will be ill able to submit to the will either of God or men.

7. Such a tendency have riches to beget and nourish every temper that is contrary to the love of God. And they have equal tendency to feed every passion and temper that is contrary to the love of our neighbor: Contempt, for instance, particularly of inferiors, than which nothing is more contrary to love:– Resentment of any real or supposed offence; perhaps even revenge, although God claims this as his own peculiar prerogative:–At least anger; for it immediately rises in the mind of a rich man, “What! to use me thus! Nay, but he shall soon know better: I am now able to do myself justice!”

8. Nearly related to anger, if not rather a species of it, are fretfulness and peevishness. But are the rich more assaulted by these than the poor All experience shows that they are. One remarkable instance I was a witness of many years ago:–A gentleman of large fortune, while we were seriously conversing, ordered a servant to throw some coals on the fire: A puff of smoke came out: He threw himself back in his chair, and cried out, “O Mr. Wesley, these are the crosses which I meet with every day!” I could not help asking, “Pray, Sir John, are these the heaviest crosses you meet with” Surely these crosses would not have fretted him so much, if he had had fifty, instead of five thousand, pounds a year!

9. But it would not be strange, if rich men were in general void of all good dispositions, and an easy prey to all evil ones; since so few of them pay any regard to that solemn declaration of our Lord, without observing which we cannot be his disciples: “And he said unto them all,”–the whole multitude, not unto his Apostles only,–“If any man will come after me,”–will be a real Christian,–“let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23.) O how hard a saying is this to those that are “at ease in the midst of their possessions!” Yet the Scripture cannot be broken. Therefore, unless a man do “deny himself” every pleasure which does not prepare him for taking pleasure in God, “and take up his cross daily,”–obey every command of God, however grievous to flesh and blood,–he cannot be a disciple of Christ; he cannot “enter into the kingdom of God.”

10. Touching this important point, of denying ourselves, and taking up our cross daily, let us appeal to matter of fact; let us appeal to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. How many rich men are there among the Methodists (observe, there was not one, when they were first joined together) who actually do “deny themselves and take up their cross daily” who resolutely abstain from every pleasure, either of sense or imagination, unless they know by experience that it prepares them for taking pleasure in God Who declines no cross, no labor or pain, which lies in the way of his duty Who of you that are now rich, deny yourselves just as you did when you were poor Who as willingly endure labor or pain now, as you did when you were not worth five pounds Come to particulars. Do you fast now as often as you did then Do you rise as early in the morning Do you endure cold or heat, wind or rain, as cheerfully as ever See one reason among many, why so few increase in goods, without decreasing in grace! Because they no longer deny themselves and take up their daily cross. They no longer, alas! endure hardship, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ!

11. “Go to now, ye rich men! Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you;” that must come upon you in a few days, unless prevented by a deep and entire change! “The canker of your gold and silver” will be “a testimony against you,” and will “eat your flesh as fire!” O how pitiable is your condition! And who is able to help you You need more plain dealing than any men in the world, and you meet with less. For how few dare speak as plain to you, as they would do to one of your servants! No man living, that either hopes to gain anything by your favor, or fears to lose anything by your displeasure. O that God would give me acceptable words, and cause them to sink deep into your hearts! Many of you have known me long, well nigh from your infancy: You have frequently helped me, when I stood in need. May I not say, you loved me But now the time of our parting is at hand: My feet are just stumbling upon the dark mountains. I would leave one word with you before I go hence; and you may remember it when I am no more seen.

12. O let your heart be whole with God! Seek your happiness in him and him alone. Beware that you cleave not to the dust! “This earth is not your place.” See that you use this world as not abusing it; use the world, and enjoy God. Sit as loose to all things here below, as if you were a poor beggar. Be a good steward of the manifold gifts of God; that when you are called to give an account of your stewardship, he may say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!”

Originally from here.

“They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Tim. 6:9.

1. How innumerable are the ill consequences which have followed from men’s not knowing, or not considering, this great truth! And how few are there even in the Christian world, that either know or duly consider it! Yea, how small is the number of those, even among real Christians, who understand and lay it to heart! Most of these too pass it very lightly over, scarce remembering there is such a text in the Bible. And many put such a construction upon it, as makes it of no manner of effect. “They that will be rich,” say they, “that is, will be rich at all events, who Will be rich right or wrong; that are resolved to carry their point, to compass this end, whatever means they use to attain it; they ‘fall into temptation,” and into all the evils enumerated by the Apostle.” But truly if this were all the meaning of the text, it might as well have been out of the Bible.

2. This is so far from being the whole meaning of the text, that it is no part of its meaning. The Apostle does not here speak of gaining riches unjustly, but of quite another thing: His words are to be taken in their plain obvious sense, without any restriction or qualification whatsoever. St. Paul does not say, “They that will be rich by evil means, by theft, robbery, oppression, or extortion; they that will be rich by fraud or dishonest art; but simply, “they that will be rich:” These, allowing, supposing the means they use to be ever so innocent, “fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”

3. But who believes that Who receives it as the truth of God Who is deeply convinced of it Who preaches this Great is the company of preachers at this day, regular and irregular; but who of them all openly and explicitly, preaches this strange doctrine It is the keen observation of a great man, “The pulpit is a fearful preacher’s strong-hold.” But who even in his strong-hold, has the courage to declare so unfashionable a truth I do not remember that in threescore years I have heard one sermon preached upon this subject. And what author, within the same term, has declared it from the press at least, in the English tongue I do not know one. I have neither seen nor heard of any such author. I have seen two or three who just touch upon it; but none that treats of it professedly. I have myself frequently touched upon it in preaching, and twice in what I have published to the world: Once in explaining our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, and once in the discourse on the “Mammon of unrighteousness;” but I have never yet either published or preached any sermon expressly upon the subject. It is high time I should;–that I should at length speak as strongly and explicitly as I can, in order to leave a full and clear testimony behind me, whenever it pleases God to call me hence.

4. O that God would give me to speak right and forcible words; and you to receive them in honest and humble hearts! Let it not be said, “They sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words; but they will not do them. Thou art unto them as one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not!” O that ye may “not be forgetful hearers, but doers of the word,” that ye may be “blessed in your deed!” In this hope I shall endeavor,

I. To explain the Apostle’s words. And,

II. To apply them.

But O! “who is sufficient for these things” Who is able to stem the general torrent to combat all the prejudices, not only of the vulgar, but of the learned and the religious world Yet nothing is too hard for God! Still his grace is sufficient for us. In his name, then, and by his strength I will endeavor.

I. To explain the words of the Apostle.

1. And, First, let us consider, what it is to be rich. What does the Apostle mean by this expression

The preceding verse fixes the meaning of that: “Having food and raiment,” (literally coverings; for the word includes lodging as well as clothes) “let us be therewith content.” “But they that will be rich;” that is, who will have more than these; more than food and coverings. It plainly follows, whatever is more than these is, in the sense of the Apostle, riches; whatever is above the plain necessaries, or at most conveniences, of life. Whoever has sufficient food to eat, and raiment to put on, with a place where to lay his head, and something over, is rich.

2. Let us consider, Secondly, What is implied in that expression, “They that will be rich” And does not this imply, First, they that desire to be rich, to have more than food and coverings; they that seriously and deliberately desire more than food to eat, and raiment to put on, and a place where to lay their head, more than the plain necessaries and conveniences of life All, at least, who allow themselves in this desire, who see no harm in it, desire to be rich.

3. And so do, Secondly, all those that calmly, deliberately, and of set purpose endeavor after more than food and coverings; that aim at and endeavor after, not only so much worldly substance as will procure them the necessaries and conveniences of life, but more than this, whether to lay it up, or lay it out in superfluities. All these undeniably prove their “desire to be rich” by their endeavors after it.

4. Must we not, Thirdly, rank among those that desire to be rich, all that, in fact “lay up treasures on earth” a thing as expressly and clearly forbidden by our Lord as either adultery or murder. It is allowed, (1.) That we are to provide necessaries and conveniences for those of our own household: (2.) That men in business are to lay up as much as is necessary for the carrying on of that business: (3.) That we are to leave our children what will supply them with necessaries and conveniences after we have left the world: and (4.) That we are to provide things honest in the sight of all men, so as to “owe no man anything.” But to lay up any more, when this is done, is what our Lord has flatly forbidden. When it is calmly and deliberately done, it is a clear proof of our desiring to be rich. And thus to lay up money is no more consistent with good conscience, than to throw it into the sea.

5. We must rank among them, Fourthly, all who possess more of this world’s goods than they use according to the will of the Donor: I should rather say, of the Proprietor; for He only lends them to us as Stewards; reserving the property of them to himself. And, indeed, he cannot possibly do otherwise, seeing they are the work of his hands; he is, and must be, the possessor of heaven and earth. This is his unalienable right; a right he cannot divest himself of. And together with that portion of his goods which he hath lodged in our hands he has delivered to us a writing, specifying the purposes for which he has entrusted us with them. If therefore we keep more of them in our hands than is necessary for the preceding purposes, we certainly fall under the charge of “desiring to be rich.” Over and above, we are guilty of burying our Lord’s talent in the earth, and on that account are liable to be pronounced wicked, because unprofitable, servants.

6. Under this imputation of “desiring to be rich,” fall, Fifthly, all “lovers of money.” The word properly means, those that delight in money; those that take pleasure in it; those that seek their happiness therein; that brood over their gold and silver, bills or bonds. Such was the man described by the fine Roman painter, who broke out into that natural Soliloquy:–

. . . Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplor in arca.

[The following is Francis’s translation of these lines from Horace:

“Let them his on, While, in my own opinion fully blest, I count my money, and enjoy my chest.” — Edit.]

If there are any vices which are not natural to man, I should imagine this is one; as money of itself does not seem to gratify any natural desire or appetite of the human mind; and as, during an observation of sixty years, I do not remember one instance of a man given up to the love of money, till he had neglected to employ this precious talent according to the will of his Master. After this, sin was punished by sin; and this evil spirit was permitted to enter into him.

7. But beside this gross sort of covetousness, the love of money, there is a more refined species of covetousness, mentioned by the great Apostle, pleonexia, — which literally means a desire of having more; more than we have already. And those also come under the denomination of “they that will be rich.” It is true that this desire, under proper restrictions, is innocent; nay, commendable. But when it exceeds the bounds, (and how difficult is it not to exceed them!) then it comes under the present censure.

8. But who is able to receive these hard sayings Who can believe that they are the great truths of God Not many wise not many noble, not many famed for learning; none, indeed, who are not taught of God. And who are they whom God teaches Let our Lord answer: “If any man be willing to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.” Those who are otherwise minded will be so far from receiving it, that they will not be able to understand it. Two as sensible men as most in England sat down together, some time since, to read over and consider that plain discourse on, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.” After much deep consideration, one of them broke out, “Positively, I cannot understand it. Pray, do you understand it, Mr. L.” Mr. L. honestly replied, “Indeed, not I. I cannot conceive what Mr. W. means. I can make nothing at all of it.” So utterly blind is our natural understanding touching the truth of God!

9. Having explained the former part of the text, “They that will be rich,” and pointed out in the clearest manner I could, the persons spoken of; I will now endeavor, God being my helper, to explain what is spoken of them: “They fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”

“They fall into temptation.” This seems to mean much more than simply, “they are tempted.” They enter into the temptation: They fall plump down into it. The waves of it compass them about, and cover them all over. Of those who thus enter into temptation, very few escape out of it. And the few that do are sorely scorched by it, though not utterly consumed. If they escape at all, it is with the skin of their teeth, and with deep wounds that are not easily healed.

10. They fall, Secondly, “into a snare,” the snare of the devil, which he hath purposely set in their way. I believe the Greek word properly means a gin, a steel trap, which shows no appearance of danger. But as soon as any creature touches the spring it suddenly closes; and either crushes its bones in pieces, or consigns it to inevitable ruin.

11. They fall, Thirdly, “into many foolish and hurtful desires;” anohtous, — silly, senseless, fantastic; as contrary to reason, to sound understanding, as they are to religion; Hurtful, both to body and soul, tending to weaken, yea, destroy every gracious and heavenly temper: Destructive of that faith which is of the operation of God; of that hope which is full of immortality; of love to God and to our neighbor, and of every good word and work.

12. But what desires are these This is a most important question, and deserves the deepest consideration.

In general they may all be summed up in one, the desiring happiness out of God. This includes, directly, or remotely, every foolish and hurtful desire. St. Paul expresses it by “loving the creature more than the Creator;” and by being “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” In particular they are (to use the exact and beautiful enumeration of St. John,) “the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life;” all of which the desire of riches naturally tends both to beget and to increase.

13. “The desire of the flesh” is generally understood in far too narrow a meaning. It does not, as is commonly supposed, refer to one of the senses only, but takes in all the pleasures of sense, the gratification of any of the outward senses. It has reference to the taste in particular. How many thousands do we find at this day, in whom the ruling principle is, the desire to enlarge the pleasure of tasting! Perhaps they do not gratify this desire in a gross manner, so as to incur the imputation of intemperance; much less so as to violate health or impair their understanding by gluttony or drunkenness. But they live in a genteel, regular sensuality; in an elegant Epicurism, which does not hurt the body, but only destroys the soul, keeping it at a distance from all true religion.

14. Experience shows that the imagination is gratified chiefly by means of the eye: Therefore, “the desire of the eyes,” in its natural sense, is the desiring and seeking happiness in gratifying the imagination. Now, the imagination is gratified either by grandeur, by beauty, or by novelty: Chiefly by the last; for neither grand nor beautiful objects please any longer than they are new.

15. Seeking happiness in learning, of whatever kind, falls under “the desire of the eyes;” whether it be in history, languages, poetry, or any branch of natural or experimental philosophy: Yea, we must include the several kinds of learning, such as Geometry, Algebra, and Metaphysics. For if our supreme delight be in any of these, we are herein gratifying “the desire of the eyes.”

16. “The pride of life” (whatever else that very uncommon expression h alazoneia tou biou, may mean) seems to imply chiefly, the desire of honor, of the esteem, admiration, and applause of men; as nothing more directly tends both to beget and cherish pride than the honor that comes of men. And as riches attract much admiration, and occasion much applause, they proportionately minister food for pride, and so may also be referred to this head.

17. Desire of ease is another of these foolish and hurtful desires; desire of avoiding every cross, every degree of trouble, danger, difficulty; a desire of slumbering out life, and going to heaven (as the vulgar say) upon a feather-bed. Everyone may observe how riches first beget, and then confirm and increase, this desire, making men more and more soft and delicate; more unwilling, and indeed more unable, to “take up their cross daily;” to “endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” and to “take the kingdom of heaven by violence.”

18. Riches, either desired or possessed, naturally lead to some or other of these foolish and hurtful desires; and by affording the means of gratifying them all, naturally tend to increase them. And there is a near connection between unholy desires, and every other unholy passion and temper. We easily pass from these to pride, anger, bitterness, envy, malice, revenge; to an head-strong, unadvisable, unreprovable spirit: Indeed to every temper that is earthly, sensual, or devilish. All these the desire or possession of riches naturally tends to create, strengthen, and increase.

19. And by so doing, in the same proportion as they prevail, they “pierce men through with many sorrows;” sorrows from remorse, from a guilty conscience; sorrows flowing from all the evil tempers which they inspire or increase; sorrows inseparable from those desires themselves, as every unholy desire is an uneasy desire; and sorrows from the contrariety of those desires to each other, whence it is impossible to gratify them all. And, in the end, “they drown” the body in pain, disease, “destruction,” and the soul in everlasting “perdition.”

II. 1. I am, in the Second place, to apply what has been said. And this is the principal point. For what avails the clearest knowledge, even of the most excellent things, even of the things of God, if it go no farther than speculation, if it be not reduced to practice He that hath ears to hear, let him hear! And what he hears, let him instantly put in practice. O that God would give me the thing which I long for! that, before I go hence and am no more seen, I may see a people wholly devoted to God, crucified to the world, and the world crucified to them; a people truly given up to God, in body, soul, and substance! How cheerfully should I then say, “Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!”

2. I ask, then, in the name of God, Who of you “desire to be rich” Which of you (ask your own hearts in the sight of God) seriously and deliberately desire (and perhaps applaud yourselves for so doing, as no small instance of your prudence) to have more than food to eat, and raiment to put on, and a house to cover you Who of you desires to have more than the plain necessaries and conveniences of life Stop! Consider! What are you doing Evil is before you! Will you rush upon the point of a sword By the grace of God, turn and live!

3. By the same authority I ask, Who of you are endeavoring to be rich to procure for yourselves more than the plain necessaries and conveniences of life Lay, each of you, your hand to your heart, and seriously inquire, “Am I of that number Am I laboring, not only for what I want, but for more than I want” May the Spirit of God say to everyone whom it concerns, “Thou art the man!”

4. I ask, “Thirdly, Who of you are in fact “laying up for yourselves treasures upon earth” increasing in goods adding, as fast as you can, house to house, and field to field! As long as thou thus “dost well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.” They will call thee a wise, a prudent man! a man that minds the main chance. Such is, and always has been, the wisdom of the world. But God saith unto thee, “‘Thou fool!’ art thou not ‘treasuring up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God'”

5. Perhaps you will ask, “But do not you yourself advise, to gain all we can, and to save all we can And is it possible to do this without both desiring and endeavoring to be rich nay, suppose our endeavors are successful, without actually laying up treasures upon earth” I answer, It is possible. You may gain all you can without hurting either your soul or body; you may save all you can, by carefully avoiding every needless expense; and yet never lay up treasures on earth, nor either desire or endeavor so to do.

6. Permit me to speak as freely of myself as I would of another man I gain all I can (namely, by writing) without hurting either my soul or body. I save all I can, not willingly wasting anything, not a sheet of paper, not a cup of water. I do not lay out anything, not a shilling, unless as a sacrifice to God. Yet by giving all I can, I am effectually secured from “laying up treasures upon earth.” Yea, and I am secured from either desiring or endeavoring, it as long as I give all I can. And that I do this, I call all that know me, both friends and foes, to testify.

7. But some may say, “Whether you endeavor it or no, you are undeniably rich. You have more than the necessaries of life.” I have. But the Apostle does not fix the charge, barely on possessing any quantity of goods, but on possessing more than we employ according to the will of the Donor.

Two-and-forty years ago, having a desire to furnish poor people with cheaper, shorter, and plainer books than any I had seen, I wrote many small tracts, generally a penny a-piece; and afterwards several larger. Some of these had such a sale as I never thought of; and, by this means, I unawares became rich. But I never desired or endeavored after it. And now that it is come upon me unawares, I lay up no treasures upon earth: I lay up nothing at all. My desire and endeavor, in this respect is to “wind my bottom round the year.” I cannot help leaving my books behind me whenever God calls me hence; but, in every other respect, my own hands will be my executors.

8. Herein, my brethren, let you that are rich, be even as I am. Do you that possess more than food and raiment ask: “What shall we do Shall we throw into the sea what God hath given us” God forbid that you should! It is an excellent talent: It may be employed much to the glory of God. Your way lies plain before your face; if you have courage, walk in it. Having gained, in a right sense, all you can, and saved all you can; in spite of nature, and custom, and worldly prudence, give all you can. I do not say, “Be a good Jew, giving a tenth of all you possess.” I do not say, “Be a good Pharisee, giving a fifth of all your substance.” I dare not advise you to give half of what you have; no, nor three quarters; but all! Lift up your hearts, and you will see clearly, in what sense this is to be done. If you desire to be a “faithful and a wise steward,” out of that portion of your Lord’s goods which he has for the present lodged in your hands, but with the right of resumption whenever it pleases him, (1.) Provide things needful for yourself; food to eat, raiment to put on; whatever nature moderately requires, for preserving you both in health and strength; (2.) Provide these for your wife, your children, your servants, or any others who pertain to your household. If, when this is done, there be an overplus left, then do good to “them that are of the household of faith.” If there be an overplus still, “as you have opportunity, do good unto all men.” In so doing, you give all you can; nay, in a sound sense, all you have. For all that is laid out in this manner, is really given to God. You render unto God the things that are God’s, not only by what you give to the poor, but also by that which you expend in providing things needful for yourself and your household.

9. O ye Methodists, hear the word of the Lord! I have a message from God to all men; but to you above all. For above forty years I have been a servant to you and to your fathers. And I have not been as a reed shaken with the wind: I have not varied in my testimony. I have testified to you the very same thing from the first day even until now. But “who hath believed our report” I fear, not many rich: I fear there is need to apply to some of you those terrible words of the Apostle: “Go to now, ye rich men! weep and howl for the miseries which shall come upon you. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall witness against you and shall eat your flesh, as it were fire.” Certainly it will, unless ye both save all you can and give all you can. But who of you hath considered this since you first heard the will of the Lord concerning it Who is now determined to consider and practice it By the grace of God begin today!

10. O ye lovers of money, hear the word of the Lord! Suppose ye that money, though multiplied as the sand of the sea, can give happiness Then you are “given up to a strong delusion, to believe a lie;” — a palpable lie, confuted daily by a thousand experiments. Open your eyes! Look all around you! Are the richest men the happiest Have those the largest share of content who have the largest possessions Is not the very reverse true Is it not a common observation, that the richest of men are, in general, the most discontented, the most miserable Had not the far greater part of them more content when they had less money Look into your breasts. If you are increased in goods, are you proportionately increased in happiness You have more substance; but have you more content You know that in seeking happiness from riches, you are only striving to drink out of empty cups. And let them be painted and gilded ever so finely, they are empty still.

11. O ye that desire or endeavor to be rich, hear ye the word of the Lord! Why should ye be stricken any more Will not even experience teach you wisdom Will ye leap into a pit with your eyes open Why should you any more “fall into temptation” It cannot be but temptation, will beset you, as long as you are in the body. But though it should beset you on every side, why will you enter into it There is no necessity for this: it is your own voluntary act and deed. Why should you any more plunge yourselves into a snare, into the trap Satan has laid for you, that is ready to break your bones in pieces to crush your soul to death After fair warning, why should you sink any more into “foolish and hurtful desires” desires as inconsistent with reason as they are with religion itself; desires that have done you more hurt already than all the treasures upon earth can countervail.

12. Have they not hurt you already, have they not wounded you in the tenderest part, by slackening, if not utterly destroying, your “hunger and thirst after righteousness” Have you now the same longing that you had once, for the whole image of God Have you the same vehement desire as you formerly had, of “going on unto perfection” Have they not hurt you by weakening your faith Have you now faith’s “abiding impression, realizing things to come” Do you endure, in all temptations, from pleasure or pain, “seeing Him that is invisible” Have you every day, and every hour, an uninterrupted sense of his presence Have they not hurt you with regard to your hope Have you now a hope full of immortality Are you still big with earnest expectation of all the great and precious promises Do you now “taste the powers of the world to come” Do you “sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus”

13. Have they not so hurt you, as to stab your religion to the heart Have they not cooled (if not quenched) your love to God This is easily determined. Have you the same delight in God which you once had Can you now say,

I nothing want beneath, above; Happy, happy in thy love!

I fear not. And if your love of God is in any wise decayed, so is also your love of your neighbor. You are then hurt in the very life and spirit of your religion! If you lose love, you lose all.

14. Are not you hurt with regard to your humility If you are increased in goods, it cannot well be otherwise. Many will think you a better, because you are a richer, man; And how can you help thinking so yourself especially considering the commendations which some will give you in simplicity, and many with a design to serve themselves of you.

If you are hurt in your humility it will appear by this token: You are not so easy to be teachable as you were, not so advisable; you are not so easy to be convinced, not so easy to be persuaded; you have a much better opinion of your own judgment and are more attached to your own will. Formerly one might guide you with a thread; now one cannot turn you with a cart-rope. You were glad to be admonished or reproved; but that time is past. And you now account a man your enemy because he tells you the truth. O let each of you calmly consider this, and see if it be not your own picture!

15. Are you not equally hurt with regard to your meekness You had once learned an excellent lesson of him that was meek as well as lowly in heart. When you were reviled, you reviled not again. You did not return railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing. Your love was not provoked, but enabled you on all occasions to overcome evil with good. Is this your case now I am afraid not. I fear you cannot “bear all things.” Alas, it may rather be said, you can bear nothing; no injury, nor even affront! How quickly are you ruffled! How readily does that occur, “What! to use me so! What insolence is this! How did he dare to do it! I am not now what I was once. Let him know, I am now able to defend myself.” You mean, to revenge yourself. And it is much if you are not willing, as well as able; if you do not take your fellow servant by the throat.

16. And are you not hurt in your patience too Does your love now “endure all things” Do you still “in patience possess your soul,” as when you first believed O what a change is here! You have again learnt to be frequently out of humor. You are often fretful; you feel, nay, and give way to peevishness. You find abundance of things go so cross that you cannot tell how to bear them.

Many years ago I was sitting with a gentleman in London, who feared God greatly, and generally gave away, year by year, nine tenths of his yearly income. A servant came in and threw some coals on the fire. A puff of smoke came out. The baronet threw himself back in his chair and cried out, “O Mr. Wesley, these are the crosses I meet with daily!” Would he not have been less impatient, if he had had fifty, instead of five thousand, pounds a year

17. But to return. Are not you who have been successful in your endeavors to increase in substance, insensibly sunk into softness of mind, if not of body too You no longer rejoice to “endure hardship, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” You no longer “rush into the kingdom of heaven, and take it as by storm.” You do not cheerfully and gladly “deny yourselves, and take up your cross daily.” You cannot deny yourself the poor pleasure of a little sleep, or of a soft bed, in order to hear the word that is able to save your souls! Indeed, you “cannot go out so early in the morning: besides it is dark, nay, cold, perhaps rainy too. Cold, darkness, rain, all these together, — I can never think of it.” You did not say so when you were a poor man. You then regarded none of these things. It is the change of circumstances which has occasioned this melancholy change in your body and mind; You are but the shadow of what you were! What have riches done for you

“But it cannot be expected I should do as I have done. For I am now grown old.” Am not I grown old as well as you Am not I in my seventy-eighth year Yet by the grace of God, I do not slack my pace yet. Neither would you, if you were a poor man still.

18. You are so deeply hurt that you have well nigh lost your zeal for works of mercy, as well as of piety. You once pushed on through cold or rain, or whatever cross lay in your way, to see the poor, the sick, the distressed. You went about doing good, and found out those who were not able to find you. You cheerfully crept down into their cellars, and climbed up into their garrets,

To supply all their wants, And spend and be spent in assisting his saints.

You found out every scene of human misery, and assisted according to your power:

Each form of woe your generous pity moved; Your Savior’s face you saw, and, seeing, loved.

Do you now tread in the same steps What hinders Do you fear spoiling your silken coat Or is there another lion in the way Are you afraid of catching vermin And are you not afraid lest the roaring lion should catch you Are you not afraid of Him that hath said, “Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto the least of these, ye have not done it unto me” What will follow “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels!”

19. In time past how mindful were you of that word: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: Thou shalt in any wise reprove thy brother, and not suffer sin upon him!” You did reprove directly or indirectly, all those that sinned in your sight. And happy consequences quickly followed. How good was a word spoken in season! It was often as an arrow from the hand of a giant. Many a heart was pierced. Many of the stout-hearted, who scorned to hear a sermon,

Fell down before his cross subdued, And felt his arrows dipped in blood.

But which of you now has that compassion for the ignorant, and for them that are out of the way They may wander on for you, and plunge into the lake of fire, without let or hindrance. Gold hath steeled your hearts. You have something else to do.

Unhelp’d, unpitied let the wretches fall.

20. Thus have I given you, O ye gainers, lovers, possessors of riches, one more (it may be the last) warning. O that it may not be in vain! May God write it upon all your hearts! Though “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven,” yet the things impossible with men are possible with God.” Lord, speak! and even the rich men that hear these words shall enter thy kingdom, shall “take the kingdom of heaven by violence,” shall “sell all for the pearl of great price:” shall be “crucified to the world, and count all things dung, that they may win Christ!”