THE BEST REJOICING

A SERMON

Preached on Sunday Morning, March 13th, 1864

Volume 6 Number 273

Preached on Sunday Morning, March 13th, 1864

By Mister JAMES WELLS

AT THE SURREY TABERNACLE, Borough Road

Volume 6 Number 273

“What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” Philippians 1:18

IT is one of the privileges of true faith always to have something upon which it can depend. Let circumstances be what they may, let afflictions or privations be what they may, it is nevertheless the privilege of true faith always to have something upon which to rest as a source of support and as a source of consolation. Hence, when Job was deprived of everything, still there was the Lord left; he could still say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” And another, when looking at the supposed universal desolation of nature, said, “Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” And another said, “Though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” And so the apostle here, amidst the many perplexities and trials of which he was the subject, both personally and relatively, nevertheless, felt there was something to support him, something to comfort him; and so, amidst the conflicting doctrines that were advanced, and amidst the different spirits that then appeared in the professing world, he fastens upon this delightful truth, that notwithstanding every way, let the enemy, make what movements ever he may, Christ, according to God's appointment, is preached. There is a Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ must reign; there is a God, and that God is the Lord God omnipotent, and must reign, and his counsel must stand, and he will do all his pleasure. And these things are put upon record, “that we, through patience” for we have need of patience, not being in too much hurry about things, but to wait, and look, and watch, “that we, through patience, and comfort of the Scriptures” the comfort we get from the Scriptures is holy comfort, it is assuring comfort, it is that kind of comfort that stands associated with the love, and salvation, and friendship of the blessed God, “that we, through patience, and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope.” I notice, then, this morning, first, the foundation of the apostle's comfort, Christ Jesus; secondly, his twofold rejoicing, “And I therein do rejoice, yes, and will rejoice;” thirdly and lastly, the opposite spirits in which Jesus Christ was then, and, of course, still is, preached.

First, then, Ibis notice the foundation of the apostle's comfort, Christ Jesus; “Christ is preached.” Now, I think by Christ Jesus here being preached, we may understand two things: first, the Savior in his essential characters; secondly, the assurances of the gospel; ‘First,' the Savior in his saving characters. First, as the promised seed. “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head;” the head, of course, is the serpent's vital part, and, therefore, meaning that the serpent shall be entirely conquered. And this conquest over Satan was wrought by the Savior in his atoning for sin. It was by the fall of man that Satan the mastery over us, and it is by the Savior having put an end to sin, thereby he treads Satan down under our feet, and gives us the victory. Hence, what can be more beautiful, the Lord enabling us to look at it, and to understand it, and to rest upon it, than that sweet testimony that “the warfare is accomplished” And this, that was wrought at Calvary's cross, is to be the comfort of the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem. “Comfort you, comfort you my people; speak you comfortably unto Jerusalem; cry unto her, her warfare is accomplished.” Now, this is to be our comfort. Is it any wonder, then, if the Lord should suffer your consolations in other respects to dry up? and many of your hopes in other respects to be blasted? For we are all prone to place our hope upon some earthly or creature ground or another; and when the Lord is pleased to smite or blast this, what is it for? Why, it is to make us cleave more to him, and prize more the victory the Savior has wrought. What do we want in order to this comfort? Why, we want two things; we want faith in what Christ has done, and we need the power of the Holy Spirit, so to bring that faith into exercise as to enable us to rest upon what the Savior has done. And you observe how very careful the Holy Spirit is to explain some of the things, at least, there, that are included in this accomplished warfare. See the next clause, “that her iniquity is pardoned.” What a sweet way is that of terminating sin! Nothing but love could pardon. When love lays hold of the object, it holds the object, and delights to pardon it; it delights to forgive, it delights to forget, it delights to bury, it delights to blot from remembrance everything that stands against or is in any way detrimental to this object of love. “Her iniquity is pardoned.” “And she has received of the Lord's hands double for,” instead of, “her sins.” That term “double” I have looked at for a long time as meaning grace here and glory hereafter. And so, when the Savior was in this world, grace was poured into his lips, and he dwelt among us full of grace. And so, instead of receiving our sins, we receive Jesus Christ as full of grace; and so, in receiving Jesus Christ by faith while we are here as full of grace, that is one part of the double; and then receiving Jesus Christ here, while we are here, as full of grace and truth, this will lead to the other part of the double, viz., to their receiving Jesus Christ in eternal glory. So, instead of being degraded by our sins, instead of being punished for our sins, instead of being damned for our sins, instead of being banished from the presence of God and from the glory of his power for our sins, instead of this, by what the Savior has done, here is victory, here is pardon, here is the double; grace here, and glory hereafter. This was to be the comfort. Now, the apostle might well say, “I do rejoice that Christ is preached.” He did not rejoice in the spirit in which the opposite party preached Christ, as we shall show when we come to that part, but he rejoiced simply in the fact that the true Christ of God could not be hidden from the people of God. The Pharisees may prevail to hide the Savior's real character, though they themselves did not know it; they may prevail to take away the key of knowledge from the multitude, but not from the Lord's own disciples. “Whom say you that I am?” “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And how came Peter by that acquaintance with Christ? The Lord tells us how Peter came by that here “Christ is preached.” As though the apostle should say here what he had already said in his Epistle to the Romans, that “there is a remnant according to the election of grace, and the election,” in God's settlements and counsels, “has obtained; the rest were blinded.” And so, I rejoice that Christ is preached, and that he cannot be hidden from his brethren. “I will declare your name unto my brethren.” This, I think, is one thing meant. And this is to be our comfort; we may safely live upon it, and plead before the Lord every day what Christ has done, and the pardon we have by him, und the double we are to have by him, grace here, and glory hereafter.

Second, it means the Savior, not only in the victory he has wrought, but also as the way of reconciliation to God. Can we, is the thing possible, for us too much to appreciate, too highly to extol, or too earnestly estimate, or too constantly cleave unto, that reconciliation that Christ has made? How tremendous was the breach between us and the Judge of all! how tremendous the wrath that sin has lighted up between us and the Judge of all! how fearful the gulf that sin had wrought between our Maker and us! how lasting the hell! for the law is the strength of sin, and the law has eternal strength; therefore, sin has eternal strength, and consequently hell has eternal duration; how tremendous the breach! Ah! then, what a great work was it for Christ to throw himself into this breach, and to bring about a reconciliation, holy, righteous, just, merciful, gracious, complete, and blessed! Truly, truly, he is the more excellent offering, by which we obtain life, and that we are righteous, righteous in him, approved in him, accepted in him. We may afford to have a breach between ourselves and every one of our fellow-creatures upon the face of the earth, and every one may forsake us and despise us, and we may be left to die on a dunghill. That would be very calamitous, but there would be an end to it; it would not last long. And Lazarus was not far off from such a position as this. He laid at the rich man's gate, full of sores, does not seem to have had a human friend upon the face of the earth; the very dogs that wandered for food, even while they were starving, and more likely to tear Lazarus to pieces than to sympathize with him, did, nevertheless, deny their own hunger, as it were, and, contrary to their natural instincts, sympathized with him, and licked his sores. But still, that is nothing when compared with spiritual things; what would such a breach be in comparison of the breach between us and our Maker? The one a mere temporary matter, passes off, and in a few years comes to an end; but the awful language, “He that would come from you to us cannot, and he that would pass from us to you cannot; there is a great gulf fixed,” This is the great matter, after all, that most concerns man. I am not speaking lightly of human friendship, and much less ought I to speak lightly of Christian friendship, and much less still ought I to speak lightly of Christian friendship as a minister; for of all men under the canopy of heaven there is none so pitiable an object as a minister. He is the most helpless; his very life depends upon the breath of creature approbation. He is the subject of the criticisms of friends and of foes. His name may by a few be spoken kindly of, by others torn to pieces. There he is, as helpless as helplessness itself. And, therefore, the minister is the last man in the world that can afford to make light of Christian friendship. Now, while his position is helpless, and to the pride of the heart contemptible, and trying to the last degree in many respects, yet, on the other hand, when he looks at the sincere friendship manifested from time to time, he, of course, highly appreciates the same, and looks to the Lord, and hopes to continue in the enjoyment of the same. There is a reason, perhaps, why the Lord has so placed his servants, and this may be one of the reasons, that while he needs, as the apostle says, “You are our rejoicing in the Lord,” that while he needs forbearance, and forgiveness, and sympathy, perhaps he is so placed in order to teach him the more deeply to sympathize with others; and it does do so. When we are brought deeply to feel our need of the sympathy and kindness of others, it makes such a one labor to be himself a comfort to others. So that, I say in the remarks I have thus made, I do not make light of Christian friendship. I very much prize it; I cannot do without it. Withdraw your kindness from me, withdraw your sympathy from me, and treat me distantly, and in an off-hand way, down I go; you shall see me in this pulpit no more. But while I continue to enjoy what I have ever had, Christian friendship from you, I go on with pleasure and delight. I make these remarks in order to show, on the one hand, the greatness of the Savior's work in making up the breach between us and God; and that, on the other hand, calamitous as the loss of Christian friendship would be, and all creature attention, yet that could be surmounted; but the want of reconciliation to God can never be surmounted. The apostle gives us counsel in connection with this reconciliation to God; “As much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.” I have made up my mind to fall out with no one, except it be in contending for the truth; there, of course, we must take no creature consideration into the account. Now then, the apostle rejoiced that Christ was preached as the way of reconciliation to God, as the way of bringing us up into that acceptance with God wherein stands the challenge written, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?” Then I think that he rejoiced in Christ being preached, not only in the victory he wrought, not only in the reconciliation he has established, thereby establishing friendship of course among the people of God, the love of the brethren, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,” but he also rejoiced that Christ was preached as the Mediator of the new covenant. “The mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving-kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall the covenant of my peace be removed.” Now, there are two things to assure us that this covenant of peace, wherein all wrath is ended, where the Lord has in solemn oath sworn, he will not be angry nor rebuke us, that is, not rebuke us penalty. There will never be any reason why the Lord should take his kindness from us; there will never be any reason why his covenant should depart, for this reason, and I am sure you will see it as clear as possible; you will admit that there never will be any reason why the Lord's kindness should depart from Christ; you will admit that; and that there never can be any reason why the covenant of peace should be removed from Christ. Can the covenant be in better hands? Did not the Savior, take that covenant into his hands? Has he not: carried out that covenant in all its provisions, its items, and its purposes? And, therefore, until a reason can be assigned for the removal of the kindness of the Lord and his covenant from Christ, no reason can be assigned why his kindness should depart from his people, or his covenant be removed from them; because he has constituted Christ and his people one. Oh! what a sweet theme is that, the oneness! Holy, reckoned holy as he is holy; reckoned righteous as he is righteous; reckoned good as he is good; yes, loved as he is loved. “You have loved them as you have loved me.” Thus then, the apostle rejoices that Jesus Christ, was preached. And here I may, as far as the gospel is concerned, end my discourse, for that matter. First, here is the warfare accomplished; second, here is the reconciliation; third, here is God in an everlasting covenant; here is what Christ has done, and God's immutability; these are the two assurances that his kindness will never depart from us, and that the covenant of his peace shall not be removed.

Now I think the preaching of Christ means not only the setting forth of the Savior in what he has done in accomplishing the warfare, in bringing about peace with God, and in establishing this immutable covenant; but I think, also, that the preaching of Christ means the assurances of the gospel. And if we are brought to understand the truths, I have advanced this morning, and to receive them as the very foundation of our hope and our comfort, we must expect what follows. You observe in the 54th of Isaiah, no sooner had the Lord made these declarations of the stability of this covenant, no sooner were the people brought to receive these truths, than Satan's opposition begins; then begin their troubles, then begin their exercises. “Oh, you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted.” What, believe in the victory of Christ, and yet not comforted? Yes. Believe, and receive too, the reconciliation that Christ has made, and yet not comforted? What, receive this immutable covenant, and yet not comforted? Yes; receive all this, and yet be the most miserable man upon the face of the earth. “The world shall rejoice, and you shall weep and lament.” But it is better to be in this Christian house of mourning than to be in Satan's house of laughter. The Lord then promises the church a glorious city, “I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of agates, and your pates of carbuncles, and all your borders of precious stones.” Now I think you ought to take the truths of the gospel as the key of all this. If I am asked what the sapphire foundations are, my answer is, The truths of the gospel, the testimonies of Christ; these are the precious foundations, these are the sure foundations. “Your testimonies, O Lord, are very sure.” And if I were asked what the gates are, I would answer just the same way, that the truths of the gospel are the gates, that the testimonies of the gospel are the gates that bring us into the city of God. And if I were asked what the windows are, I would say the same thing, The truths of the gospel; for every testimony of Christ lets light in upon us. “The entrance of your word giveth light.” And if I were asked what the borders are, “All your borders of precious stones,” what these adornments are, I should answer just the same way, The testimonies of Christ. Take this fourfold view; there are foundations, as you see in the 21st of the Revelation, foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones, and there are the gates, and there are the windows, and pleasant stones. And hence what is said in the Proverbs of the one precious stone may apply to all these pleasant testimonies, that “A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that has it; whithersoever it turns, it prospers.” And so “your borders of pleasant stones.” Now this is the promise; so that when thus tossed about, what does the Lord do then? Directs you to that city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Said one, I had forgotten the testimony, and I have been acting just the reverse of that testimony, that “here we have no continuing city.” Why, you get things into order today, all pretty comfortable now; just as you begin to comfort yourself, in, comes the devil in some shape, or form, or another, for I still hold that Satan has a vast deal to do with the tribulations of the saints, as is demonstrated by his bringing us into trouble by the Fall, and as is demonstrated by his stirring up David to number the people, calculating upon human strength, and in the way in which he dealt with Job, and in his standing at Joshua's right hand, and in his tempting the Savior, and his hindering the apostles, “Satan hindered us.” So that it is no use, depend upon it; the Savior has said, “In the world you shall have tribulation.” “Oh, you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,” look to the city of God, look to these eternal foundations, look to that city wherein there is a river, a gospel river, the streams whereof shall make you glad when everything else shall make you sorry. There is an apparent paradox in the following words, but the Christian can sometimes understand them: “They received the word in much affliction, yet with joy of-the Holy Ghost.” “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” So, then, here is the assurance of the gospel, that if we are tempest-tossed and not comforted, our comfort must be in looking to these assurances of the gospel, that there is a city that has eternal foundations. And well the Lord goes on to assure us, on the one hand of tribulations, on the other hand of his mercy. “And all your children,” that is a promise to the church, “shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of your children.” And we see everywhere that all that are taught of God are made acquainted with the new covenant. “I will put my laws into their minds, write them in their hearts.” And Christ being the Mediator of that new covenant, this divine teaching is sure to bring them to Christ, and make them acquainted with the covenant to which he belongs, make them acquainted with the nature and design of his work, and that they shall see what he came into the world for. “And great shall be the peace of your children.” In Christ there is peace, though I have known some of the people of God find more peace in their latter hours, when they were dying, than they have found all their lifetime put together before; just showing that the Lord knows when to step in. Perhaps a little comfort there, and a little comfort there, and a little comfort there, and the Lord says, Well, I will stop till you have eaten all that, I will stop till you have drank all that, I will stop till that pasture is withered, I will stop till that gourd is blasted, I will stop till that cup is empty. You are not miserable enough yet, you are not tried enough yet, you are not cut up enough yet, you are not cut down enough yet; sin has not gained mastery enough over you to make you sympathize with the Savior in bearing it; you have not felt the hardness of your heart enough yet, nor the infidelities of your nature enough yet; the devil has not torn you to pieces enough yet. And so, the Lord leaves his children alone, and lets Satan in upon them. “Hitherto shall you come,” he has admission, you see, and you shall reach that far. It is true he is limited, but those limits are very mysterious sometimes; he goes in a great many respects much farther than we ever intended he should go; but so it is, when the enemy shall come in like a flood, shall come in the overwhelming of many things we wished to save, and God determined to destroy. But when he has done this, and there seems no hope anywhere, then it is our hope is in the Lord, then our peace is in the Lord. Hence he goes on to assure us that while as we stand in Christ we shall be established in righteousness, and be far from oppression, that is, in Christ, by faith in Christ, for mercy's sake don't look for it anywhere else; if you do, as the Lord lives, you will be disappointed, depend upon it you will: on the other hand, if you look for this freedom in Christ, and there you are not to fear, but to be far from terror, if you look for it there, you are sure to find it, for “they looked unto him, and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.” I know I am now preaching very hard things to flesh and blood. Spiritual things, while they are infinitely superior both in nature, extent, and duration, require a spiritual mind to appreciate the same. Yes; unless the Lord gives us spiritual eyes, spiritual thirst, spiritual hunger, spiritual feeling; unless the Lord gives all this, these eternal blessings lie unnoticed, unsought, uncared for. Well might the psalmist pray, and I am sure every Christian will pray the same prayer, “Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.” So, then, Christ is preached in his essential characters, and in the assurance of the gospel. And the Lord says of those who are thus brought to him, “They shall surely gather together, but not by me;” they shall not have my approbation. “Whosoever shall gather together against you,” you who are brought to receive Christ in the testimony of the victory that he has wrought, in the reconciliation he has made, in his immutable covenant, “whosoever shall gather together against you shall fall for your sake.” What a mercy for us that God himself has created the smith that blows the coals in the fire! Yes, they may be lighting their fire, forging their instruments, contriving their plans. We will carry out our purposes, we will do so and so, we will have our revenge. Ah, but the Lord says, “I have created the waster to destroy.” What a mercy! All this, you see, to encourage us to look to the Lord.

However, crooked some things may be, by that which that is made straight in the essentials, the circumstantial also shall, in the Lord's own time, come straight. Then look at the assurance, would that we could believe it more firmly! “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.” Well but, say you, many people of God have been put to death. Well, that sent them home the sooner, that is all. Unless a weapon formed against them could sever them from Christ it does not prosper; unless some weapon can disinherit them, then that weapon does not prosper; unless some weapon can rob them of the promises, or kill them, as it were, spiritually, deprive them of what they have in Christ, that weapon fails to achieve Satan's object. And there are many other minor senses, also, in which the weapon shall not prosper. Keep close to the three points I have noticed this morning, the Savior's accomplished warfare, the complete reconciliation, the immutable covenant, and then all these assurances belong to you. “And every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, whether true or false, “you shall” by your oneness with the Savior, “condemn;” because Christ, as we have said, has made reconciliation. “Their righteousness.” Ah, says Satan, suppose they should be found deficient in righteousness, how can their part then be taken? how can true accusations and charges then be silenced? how can the enemy then be cast down? Ah, the Lord will take care they shall not be deficient in righteousness. “Their righteousness is of me, says the Lord.” And therefore, not being deficient in righteousness, they standing complete in his righteousness, here it is their enemies must be found liars unto them. Now, if I am speaking to any this morning that are not Christians, is not this almost enough to make you wish you were a Christian? What a blessed thing to know your need of the victory that Christ has wrought, and to receive it! What a blessed thing to be brought by faith into that reconciliation that Christ has made! What a blessed thing to understand the covenant ordered in all things and sure, and to be brought to receive it, and stand out for it! If so, then all these assurances of the Lord's mercy to you, whatever may be your tribulations, all these assurances of his favor belong to you, and then you may, indeed, well say with the apostle, “Christ is preached; and I do therein rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

Now I must say but very little upon this part, “I therein do rejoice.” I hope I can say it is my most solemn of all prayers; I know not a petition that I can pour out before the Lord with more earnestness than I do this, that I may go on rejoicing in Christ. For you may depend upon it, unless we delight in Christ we shall not seek very earnestly after him; unless we delight in him, we shall not much prize his way. We do need delight of some kind; we cannot be content to be always mourning, nor to be always in bondage, nor to be always cast down, nor to be always sorry; it wears out the mind, and it leads us to desperation, and we are ready to turn round and run away somewhere or another, after something that will support us better. But if we see such excellency in him, and can see that he is the chief of ten thousand, and altogether lovely, then, delighting in him, glorying in him, and saying with the apostle, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ,” oh! how this does make us love the habitation of God's house, the place where his honor dwells! how this will make us run in his way! how this will enable us to lose sight of other things, and run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus! “And I therein do rejoice;” and then the prospect, “and will rejoice.” Will the period ever come when I shall not rejoice in Christ? Never, never. There I have before me a life of joy. And when I come to a dying hour, I hope I shall not be disappointed in that. I have a strong impression upon my mind I shall die exceedingly happy, because my soul does, with an indescribable intensity of love to God and of love to Christ, love to the truth, at times so glory therein that I feel as though I wanted to be out of the body, to give full expansion to the powers of my soul, and drink in more largely of God's everlasting love. It is a good sign, you may depend upon it, to be kept close to him. So, then, the apostle thus rejoiced that Christ was preached. “I rejoice now; yes, and I will rejoice.” Let sin say what it may, let the world sav what it may, let Satan say what he may, let circumstances say what they may, let creatures say what they may, let afflictions say what they may, let death say what it may, let error say what it may, here it is, I will rejoice, for here is everlasting joy, sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

I suppose I must occupy a few minutes in just glancing at the two opposite spirits in which Christ was preached. “Some preach him of envy.” What did they envy? I think the Epistle to the Galatians will explain this “out of envy,” these false teachers. This Paul goes too far; he preaches grace without works: he preaches justification by faith without works; he declares Jesus Christ has done everything, and we are saved only by him. He goes too far. And so, Satan envied the people of God, and envied the apostle Paul, and so Satan's ministers preached Christ in envy to the liberty wherewith Christ has made his people free. Are there not plenty of that stamp in our day? I must leave you to judge; you are better judges than I am. You say, How is that? Some of you are better judges than I am. How is that? Why, because you go to hear them sometimes, and I do not. “And of strife.” Yes, determined to down, with these high-doctrine men. They are determined to rid that village of that little bit of an Antinomian fellow. We are determined to bring them down; we will find a flaw in their lease, or we will coax the poor parson, or else one of the deacons, or something; we will put them down. And so, if there is any hope, they never rest until they have achieved their end. “And of contention that is, a spirit of contentious enmity against the truth. “Not sincerely,” no; but my text says, “in pretense.” A Roman Catholic Christ is a pretended Christ; that is, they are mere pretenders, pretentious Christians. A free-will Christ, you Wesleyans, why, your Christ is only a pretended Christ, tries to save, and cannot. You are only pretended Christians; you have not a particle of sincerity in you toward the true Christ of God, for that you hate. And duty-faith is the worst of all. I believe, of all the systems ever formed in the lower world, there was never one formed that deceived more souls than duty-faith does, setting down persons for Christians that are not Christians. And one end these men had in view was to add affliction to the apostle's bonds, “Supposing to add affliction to my bonds.” That is it. If we can once lower the man, if we can weaken his testimony, if we can once weaken the man, we shall circumscribe his usefulness; if we can once persuade people, he is a dangerous man they will keep away from him, and we shall succeed. But nevertheless, the ends these men have in view shall be overruled to the furtherance of the gospel, “The things,” said the apostle in this chapter, “which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.” And so, all these erroneous systems shall turn out to the furtherance of the gospel. Let me just give you an instance of how that sometimes occurs. There is a Catholic priest, he is to preach a sermon, and he will, for a few minutes, by hit not by wit, say a good bit of truth. There is a man. sitting there; it opens that man's eyes, and he sees more in the words of the priest than the priest himself sees. He goes to the priest afterwards, and he says, Why, dear me, according to what you said in one part of your discourse, there is not a syllable of truth in Catholicism. Why, you have swept away all your ceremonies, and the Pope, you have sent him I do not know where; you swept away, the whole in one part. Did I? Did I? Yes, you did, and you have swept me away too, and you will not catch me here again. And so now off he goes to find the truth. And so, the Wesleyan; sometimes he will say it is all of grace, and stick to it for five minutes pretty well. The Lord opens the eyes of one of his hearers, Why, bless me! our minister has turned Calvinist; our minister is high doctrine all at once. And this hearer sees in those remarks what the Wesleyan minister never meant him to see, and so off the man goes to his own people. So, duty-faith also; they preach the doctrines, and in one part they say some truth. The Lord opens the eyes of some, and they see that is truth. And then, to help these people on further, in the other part of the sermon comes a flat contradiction. Well, says the hearer, I cannot lay these two together; there is something wrong somewhere.