Baptismal Regeneration or Evangelical New Birth?

The following passage is taken From the introductory comment of "17. The Marks of the New Birth" in "The Sermons of John Wesley: A Collection for the Christian Journey," edited by Kenneth J. Collins and Jason E. Vickers. In this passage, it is affirmed that Wesley clearly taught baptismal regeneration for those infants who are faithfully baptized. However, he also deals with those who have "sinned away the grace given to them in their baptism." It is the balance of a sacramental theology of baptismal regeneration and an evangelical theology of the new birth. - One does not preclude the other!

"Though Wesley clearly taught that 'our Church supposes all who are baptized in their infancy are at the same time born again ' (S, 1:281), his emphasis in this sermon is elsewhere - not on what they once were, but on what they now are. 'How many are the baptized gluttons and drunkards, the baptized liars and common swearers, the baptized railers and evil-speakers, the baptized whoremongers, thieves, extortioners!' he asked. And even more pointedly Wesley concluded: if 'there is no new birth but in baptism [then this], is to seal you all under damnation, to consign you to hell, without any help, without hope' (O, 1:429)."

All Saints' Day

Today, November 1, is All Saints' Day!  Many Protestant churches transfer All Saints' Day to the following Sunday and observe All Saints' on Sunday.  We will be doing that in our congregation, as well.  However, I wanted to make sure that I published a post, today.  

As The United Methodist Book of Worship reminds us, "All Saints (November 1 or the first Sunday in November) is a day of remembrance for the saints, with the New Testament meaning of all Christian people of every time and place.  We celebrate the communion of saints as we remember the dead, both of the Church universal and of our local congregations.  For this reason, the names of persons in the congregation who have died during the past year may be solemnly read as a Response to the Word."

Since, All Saints' is not only a recognition of death, but also a celebration of life through the Resurrection, all of the paraments, banners & stoles are white, which is the joyful and festive color used at Christmas and Easter.

All Saints' was a favorite of John Wesley's.  He mentioned it four times in his journal.  On All Saints' in 1748, Wesley said, "Being All-Saints' day, we had a solemn assembly at the chapel; as I cannot but observe, we have had on this very day, for several years.  Surely, 'right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints!'"  In 1756 Wesley says, "November 1, was a day of triumphant joy, as All-Saints' Day generally is.  How superstitious are they who scruple giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints!"  In 1767, he included in his journal the following comments: "Being All-Saints' Day, (a festival I dearly love,) I could not but observe the admirable propriety with which the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the day are suited to each other." 

The Collect for the day from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (which would be the Prayer Book Wesley used) reads as follows (and I would encourage all to pray):

O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

 

The Epistle was Revelation 7:2-12.  The Gospel was Matthew 5:1-12.  -  I would encourage you to read these Scripture lessons.

 

The year prior to this entry, Wesley wrote, "'God, who hath knit together his elect in one communion and fellowship,' gave us a solemn season at West-Street (as usual) in praising him for all his Saints.  On this day in particular, I commonly find the truth of these words:

 

The Church triumphant in his love,

Their mighty joys we know;

They praise the Lamb in hymns above,

And we in hymns below."

 

 

That is the second verse of Charles Wesley's "Happy the Souls to Jesus Joined."  Unfortunately, that hymn is not found in either The United Methodist Hymnal, nor the Nazarene's Sing to the Lord hymnal.  Three verses of it did appear in the older The Methodist Hymnal.  (I still need to check the two most recent hymnals that include Wesley hymns!)  The four verses, below, were taken from the Wesley Hymns book, compiled by Ken Bible and published by Lillenas Publishing Company (Nazarene):

 

 

1.) Happy the souls to Jesus joined

And saved by grace alone.

Walking in all Thy ways they find

Their heaven on earth begun.

 

2.) The Church triumphant in Thy love,

Their mighty joys we know;

They sing the Lamb in hymns above,

And we in hymns below.

 

3.) Thee in Thy glorious realm they praise,

And bow before Thy throne;

We in the kingdom of Thy grace;

The kingdoms are but one.

 

4.) The holy to the holiest leads;

From thence our spirits rise.

He that in all Thy statutes treads

Shall meet Thee in the skies.

 

 

Since the hymn is in common meter, it can be sung to a number of familiar tunes, not the least of which is Wesley's "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" (Azmon).  We will be singing it this Sunday to Land of Rest (which is the tune that the Nazarene hymnal uses for Wesley's "All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord").

 

It is unfortunate that more of our churches do not have an All Saints' Day service on November 1, no matter the day on which it falls.  However, with the transference that most Protestant churches do, to the following Sunday, All Saints' becomes a major focus during the primary service of worship. 

 

May God be praised for all of His saints who have finished their course and have become for us such a great cloud of witnesses!

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

The Journal entries were taken from the Jackson edition of Wesley's Works.

John Wesley and the Reformation

 

***This is a re-post from last year for Reformation Day.***

Today is Reformation Day.  It is the day when Protestant Christians, and most especially Lutherans, celebrate the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.  -  Why did I say, "and most especially Lutherans"?  Because the Protestant reformation begins with a man named Martin Luther!

Now, Martin Luther did not set out to start the Protestant Reformation, or even to start a new church.  He loved the church.  He had every desire to remain faithful to her. Nevertheless, he encountered some very troubling issues within the church.  Again, it was not his desire to leave the church over these issues.  Rather, it was his desire to try to address these issues so that the church might make some corrections; that it might be . . . "reformed."

And so, on All Hallows' Eve (i.e., the eve of All Saints' Day; what we call "Halloween"), in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his "95 Thesis" on the door of the Wittenberg church.  It was an act seeking an academic debate over certain issues in the Church, not a declaration of a split with Rome.  Nevertheless, this act became the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

That was in 1517, but where does the Wesleyan tradition fit?  How are we connected to Luther and the Protestant Reformation? 


Well, there is one direct connection between Wesley and Luther, and it happened on Aldersgate Street, in London, in 1738.  There, while attending a Society meeting, someone was reading aloud from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans.  It was while hearing this read that John Wesley felt his "heart strangely warmed," and an assurance was given him that God had taken away his sins and had saved him from the law of sin and death.  This has been called Wesley's "evangelical conversion."  It is the touchstone for the Wesleyan doctrine of assurance.  -  Certainly, in that regard, we Wesleyans owe quite a debt to Martin Luther.  -  But, how do we relate to Luther's Protestant Reformation?

To answer that question, I have included the following video from Seedbed, by Dr. Larry Wood.  In it, he  explains the place of John Wesley in the Protestant Reformation.

So, as Dr. Wood explains, we Wesleyans do have our place within the Reformation of the Western Church.

Still, in the midst of observing Reformation day, I think it important to hear another perspective.  A perspective that is articulated in one of my favorite quotes from the late Rev'd. Dr. William Greathouse, general superintendent emeritus in the Church of the Nazarene.  He says:

"It is time the Church of Jesus Christ overcame the disjunctions created by the 16th-century Reformation.  What is called for is the 'evangelical catholicism' of John Wesley's 'middle way' in which the two historic Christian traditions were synthesized.  In this synthesis the English Reformer not only recovered for the Church a viable doctrine of holiness but also pointed the way to a scriptural view and practice of the sacraments that is both apostolic and catholic."

It must be admitted that the Reformation did result in many disjunctions.  Some of them are painfully present, to this day.  Even among the children of Wesley, when one seeks to recover his commitment to liturgical and sacramental worship, one is often said to be "too Catholic" (i,e., bad!), rather than recognizing that the desire is simply to be thoroughly Wesleyan and thoroughly Christian.  -  Beyond that, in addition to doctrinal differences, there is still much prejudice between Protestant Christians and Roman Catholic Christians. 

Perhaps, as we observe Reformation Day, it would be a good time for those of us who are Wesleyans to re-read Wesley's Letter to a Roman Catholic.  Perhaps it is also time for us to recognize that, while there are certainly still very significant doctrinal disagreements between Protestants and Roman Catholics, nevertheless, the Protestant Reformation did influence changes that came about in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation.  

Beyond that, it is worth celebrating that the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church developed The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, signed by representatives of both traditions on October 31, 1999 (the anniversary of Luther's 95 Theses!).  The World Methodist Council was represented at that historic event and brought a letter of congratulations.  On July 23, 2006, another document was signed by the Lutherans, Roman Catholics and Methodists, adding the Official Common Affirmation of the Methodist Statement of Association with the JDDJ to the original document.  That statement was approved unanimously by the World Methodist Council members, including those representing all seven U.S. based denominations.

Perhaps this, too, is a part of the ongoing re-formation that God is working within His Church. 

Are Nazarenes Protestant? The Wesleyan Position of Catholic and Reformed

***The following is a re-post for Reformation Day from 2017*** 

In [another re-post for today], you will find a video from Seedbed by Dr. Larry Wood where he explains the place of John Wesley in the Protestant Reformation.  -  In a post on Facebook, my friend and colleague, the Rev'd. Tom Miles, made a post about how he explains to his students (at Nazarene Theological Seminary) that we really are NOT Protestant.

Below, I will post his comment in its entirety.  I will follow that up by a few additional comments.  (I would note, here, that I love that he ends his comments by using one of my favorite quotes from the late +Rev'd. Dr. William Greathouse.)  -  Here is Tom's post:

***
Protestant?

Is the Church of the Nazarene a Protestant denomination? Well, for starters, there is little doubt that the vast majority of pastors and laypersons in our churches would readily affirm that we are indeed Protestants. To the extent that self-identification counts for something, it would seem that we are Protestants.

I would suggest that the answer depends upon one's definition of "Protestant." There is a fairly popular and widespread understanding that "Protestants" are those branches of western Christianity that broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth century. If one's definition of "Protestant" is "any western Christian church that is not Roman Catholic," then churches in the Wesleyan theological tradition are certainly "Protestant" denominations.

But I would argue that we ought to consider a more carefully nuanced definition of "Protestant." For one thing, the sixteenth-century Protestants split with the Roman Catholic Church because they were "protesting" something. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the other leading Protestant reformers were protesting what they understood to be theological errors regarding salvation and Christian epistemology within the Roman Catholic Church. The Church of England, on the other hand, broke with Rome because Henry VIII was upset over the pope's refusal to grant him an annulment--hardly the same kind of "protest" that the Protestant reformers were making.

Unlike the continental Protestant traditions, which embarked on a thorough theological revisioning from the outset, articulating careful theological delineations between themselves and the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England vacillated between Roman Catholic and Protestant sympathies for a few years before eventually settling on a middle course that rejected "extreme" positions of both the Protestants and the Roman Catholics in favor of a via media that is often summarized as "neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant, but both catholic and reformed."

Historically, our heritage lies in the Wesleyan Evangelical Revival that took place in England during the eighteenth century. Both John and Charles Wesley insisted that the Methodist movement was a revival within the Church of England and was to remain in the Church of England. They urged the Methodists to continue to attend worship at their local Church of England parish, where they would also be able to receive the Lord's Supper; in fact, the Wesleys were careful to use "lay preachers" who were not ordained (and therefore could not offer the sacraments) for Methodist society meetings and evangelical preaching--which meant that, by the Wesleys' intentional design, the Methodists had to rely on the Church of England for the sacraments. Furthermore, Methodist society meetings were not to be scheduled at times that would conflict with services in the local Church of England parish. Thus, during the Wesleys' lifetimes, the Methodists were not a "church" because they had no ordained ministers of their own. Unlike the Dissenters and Independent churches that flourished in England as protesters against the established Church of England, both John and Charles Wesley were committed to the Church of England and understood their movement to be thoroughly Anglican--even if their intentions of keeping the Methodist movement within the ecclesiastical boundaries of the Church of England were eventually ignored after their deaths. The Wesleys' emphasis on the interior spiritual life--especially the doctrine of Christian perfection--was influenced by previous Anglican writers, including William Law and Jeremy Taylor.

Theologically, the Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene are based very closely on the Methodists' Articles of Religion, which are in turn an abridgement (by John Wesley himself) of the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. Many of the key theological terms and turns of phrases in our Articles of Faith can be traced back to the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles. Some congregations in the Church of the Nazarene base their worship services on the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer, and a few congregations actually use the Book of Common Prayer in worship. Many of the rites contained in The Church Rituals Handbook (put together in 1997 by Jesse Middendorf, published by Nazarene Publishing House) are adapted from the Book of Common Prayer. Although our Article of Faith on entire sanctification has no parallel in the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Wesleys' understanding of Christian perfection (as noted previously) was deeply influenced by Anglican writers William Law (particularly his books A Practical Treatise Upon Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life) and Jeremy Taylor (whose books The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living and The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying were especially influential). The deep catholicity expressed in the opening paragraph of the Manual's "Historical Statement" likewise reflects the Church of the Nazarene's deep Anglican roots.

Given both our historical roots and our theological roots, the Wesleyan tradition is unquestionably Anglican.

From where Anglicans stand in the "middle way" between Roman Catholics and Protestants, there are "extremes" on both sides that Anglicans wish to avoid. On the Roman Catholic side, for example, we reject the insistence that the Bishop of Rome--the pope--has primacy as the spiritual leader of all of God's Church, and we reject the doctrine that papal teachings ex cathedra are infallible. On the Protestant side, we are best off avoiding the overemphasis on sola scriptura, which dismisses the role of the "tradition of the Church" and, when taken to its ultimate conclusion, seems inevitably to lead to fundamentalistic approaches to Scripture. This, it seems to me, is the fatal flaw of Protestantism.

On the positive side, we have been enriched by both Roman Catholics and Protestants. From the Roman Catholics we get our deep respect for the tradition of the Church (as enunciated in the opening paragraph of the Manual's "Historical Statement"), a high view of the role of sacraments, and an appreciation for our general superintendents as "bishops" in the Church--and not merely political leaders who campaign for election (as is the case in many Protestant denominations). From the Protestants we gain our strong emphasis on the importance of the "new birth" as well as the vital spirituality that the Pietists encouraged.

"It is time the Church of Jesus Christ overcame the disjunctions created by the 16th-century Reformation. What is called for is the 'evangelical catholicism' of John Wesley's 'middle way' in which the two historic Christian traditions were synthesized. In this synthesis the English Reformer not only recovered for the Church a viable doctrine of holiness but also pointed the way to a scriptural view and practice of the sacraments that is both apostolic and catholic." --William M. Greathouse, former General Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene, in "Foreword" to Rob L. Staples, Outward Sign and Inward Grace: The Place of Sacraments in Wesleyan Spirituality.

***

I think that Tom did a great job expressing this position!

 A couple of additional considerations came up in our subsequent conversation.  -  First, Tom pointed out that the Manual for the Church of the Nazarene nowhere identifies us as Protestants.  In fact, that term was replaced by the term Christian in 2005 (where it was situated in a section in the Appendix).  -  Nevertheless, it seems that those who handle the denominational website (and perhaps, too, I think in the "Nazarene Essentials" and "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism" editions of Holiness Today) do identify us as Protestant.  Of course, it must be pointed out that the two HT volumes are expected to make changes over time.  Perhaps, especially as the latter volume changes when the new Manual comes out, it could make this change in wording (if, indeed, it is actually referenced in that volume!).  It should also be pointed out that neither the website, nor HT carry the authority of the Manual.

Second, Tom points out that the "Historical Statement" in the Manual starts with the early church and catholicity, and then immediately moves in the second paragraph to the Wesleys and Methodism--without even giving a tip of the hat to the Protestant reformers.

Third, I would like to see the fact that Wesley, himself, in his context, identifies himself (and Anglicanism) as Protestant over against the Church of Rome.  I believe that this could be addressed, but I have not seen it specifically taken up.

Fourth, I pointed out that the World Methodist Council, of which the Church of the Nazarene is a member denomination, uses the terminology of "evangelical, catholic and reformed," which points to the Anglican via media.
Finally, I want to express my thanks to Rev'd. Miles for graciously agreeing to allow me to post his comments on my blog!

Aldersgate Day!

 

Today, we in the Wesleyan tradition celebrate Aldersgate Day.  If you don't know what Aldersgate Day is, I invite you to take a look at my video, below.  (For a more in-depth look at the meaning of John Wesley's Aldersgate experience, take a look at this video with Mark Olson)

Pentecost Sunday

 Tomorrow, the Church around the world will celebrate the culmination of the Great Fifty Days, the conclusion of the Easter season, the outpouring of the promise of the Father, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the Church. - John the Baptizer had declared concerning Jesus, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16, NRSV).  Jesus assured the disciples that it would be to their advantage that He would ascend to the Father, because, in doing so, He would send the Holy Spirit (the Advocate/Comforter/Counselor/Helper - parakletos ) to them (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit would teach them everything and remind them of all that Jesus had said to them (14:26), and the Holy Spirit would "prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement (16:8).

 

Further, Jesus told the apostles, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NRSV).

 

On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples saw the fulfillment of the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit as told by John the Baptizer and the Lord Jesus, as well as the prophet Joel.  It is that same outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we enter into by faith and through our baptism, for St. Paul declares, "For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body . . ." (1 Cor. 12:13, NRSV).* 

This holds special meanings for our family, because my daughter, Sarah, was baptized on Pentecost Sunday 29 years ago (which is interesting, because she is currently only 28 years old!), and my son, Matthew, was baptized on Pentecost Sunday 25 years ago, when our district superintendent, the Rev'd. Dr. M. V. Scutt, came to our church in Greencastle (IN) on both occasions to baptize our newborn children.

 

Pentecost is one of the major feast days of the Church, and it should be a great day of celebration for those of us in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. - I recall a conversation several years ago with a pastor from a Presbyterian (USA) congregation. He confessed, he really didn't know what to do with Pentecost. Now, I do not mean to imply that such is the case for all, or even a majority of Presbyterians. I don't know. However, whatever the case for my Presbyterian brother, Nazarenes, whether espousing a 19th century or a classical Wesleyan view (cf. footnote, below) ought to know how to celebrate Pentecost Sunday.

 

You see, one of the main benefits of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the possibility of having our hearts cleansed of sin. - As the prophet Ezekiel foretold, there was coming a day when God would ". . . sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statures and be careful to observe my ordinances" (Ezek. 36:25-27, NRSV). And St. Peter, referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the gentiles, argued, "And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us" (Acts 15:8-9).

 

It is this heart cleansing that has been at the heart of the Wesleyan & Methodist movement, and especially so for the Holiness branches of Methodism. It has been referred to by Wesley in connection with the Biblical doctrines of Entire Sanctification and Christian Perfection. In fact, the spread of scriptural holiness throughout the land was the stated purpose of Methodism, first by John Wesley in London in 1733, and then in America, at the famous Christmas Conference in Baltimore in 1784 at the founding of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was the commitment to this purpose that gave rise to the 19th century Holiness Movement within Methodism. And Phineas Bresee said of the Church of the Nazarene, that it is ". . . a part of that body of believers raised up to spread sanctified holiness over these lands, and thus that we are a part of that company who are the real successors of John Wesley and the early Methodists" (Nazarene Messenger, July 15, 1909).

And so, we Wesleyan Christians enthusiastically join our sisters and brothers in Christ from around the world to rejoice and give thanks to God on Pentecost Sunday for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as we seek to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

_____________________________

*At this point, those within the Holiness movement will recognize that I take my stand with John Wesley, the Church of history, and those in the classical Wesleyan theological tradition, rather than those who are more consistent with 19th century interpretations. Those debates within the Holiness Movement can be seen in The Wesleyan Theological Journal between 1973 and 1982. Mark Quanstrom discusses it in A Century of Holiness Theology: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene, 1905-2004 (though his bias toward the 19th century view is apparent in his portrayal of members of "The Trevecca Connection").

Wesley Wednesday: John Wesley on Worship

 This is the final week for the course on Worship that I am teaching for Wesley Seminary (at Indiana Wesleyan University).  -  There are two quotes from John Wesley that I shared with my students, this week.  They are important quotes for the topic of worship.  The worship of God, or course, is serious business.  It cannot be done casually or according to our whims.  And this is what Wesley is getting at in the following quotes.

I do not mean, "Embrace my modes of worship," or, "I will embrace yours." This also is a thing which does not depend either on your choice or mine. We must both act as each is fully persuaded in his own mind. Hold you fast that which you believe is most acceptable to God, and I will do the same. (Works Bicentennial 2:89-90)

But the man of a truly catholic spirit, having weighed all things in the balance of the sanctuary, has no doubt, no scruple at all concerning that particular mode of worship wherein he joins. He is clearly convinced that this manner of worshipping God is both scriptural and rational. He knows none in the world which is more scriptural, none which is more rational. Therefore without rambling hither and thither he cleaves close thereto, and praises God for the opportunity of so doing. (Works Bicentennial 2:93)

Of course, John Wesley was convinced that the Book of Common Prayer provided the best form of worship.  In his preface to his conservative revision of the BCP for the Methodists in North America, Wesley wrote the following:

I believe there is no liturgy in the world, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational Piety, than the Common Prayer of the Church of England.

Wesley Wednesday: Charles Wesley on Baptismal Regeneration

 Yesterday, for Morning Prayer, I sang the last of the hymns in Ken Bible's Wesley Hymns.  The very last hymn is a short, two verse hymn that presents a prayer for the sacrament of Holy Baptism.  In it, Charles Wesley presents a very different understanding of Baptism than is so often presented in modern Evangelical circles.  In such circles (often times, including many within my own denomination), Baptism is seen as simply a testimony given by the one being baptized about their decision to accept Jesus.  Perhaps it is also a testimony of what such faith in Jesus has previously done for them.  However, Charles Wesley understands Baptism as a true sacrament.  He understands it as a means of God's grace, and he makes that clear in this prayerful hymn.

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

1. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
In solemn pow'r come down!

Present with Thy heav'nly host,

Thine ordinance to crown,

See a sinful soul of earth!

Bless to him the cleansing flood!

Plunge him, by a second birth,

Into the depths of God.

2. Let the promised inward grace

Accompany the sing;

On this new-born soul impress

The character divine!

Father, all Thy name reveal;

Jesus, all Thy name impart;

Holy Ghost, renew and dwell

Forever in his heart!

Wesley Wednesday: A Charles & John Combination

 As I was singing my way through "Wesley Hymns" (Lillenas Publishing), I came upon the following hymn from Charles Wesley, as well as the quote by John.  They provide an important reminded that we keep our priorities in their proper order.

O MY ALL-SUFFICIENT GOD

O my all-sufficient God,

Thou know'st my heart's desire;

Be this only thing bestowed;

I nothing else require,

Nothing else in earth or skies,

Not through all eternity;

Heav'n itself could not suffice:

I seek not Thine, but Thee.

One design you are to pursue to the end of time, the enjoyment of God in time and in eternity. Desire other things so far as they tend to this; love the creature, as it leads to the Creator. But in every step you take, be this the glorious point that terminates your view. Let every affection, and thought, and word, and action, be subordinate to this. Whatever you desire or fear, whatever you seek or shun, whatever you think, speak, or do, be it in order to your happiness in God, the sole end, as well as source, of your being (from John Wesley's A PLAIN ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION).

The 2024 Annual Report of the Board of General Superintendents

 The 100th session of the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene recently concluded their annual meeting in Overland Park, Kansas.  During the meeting the Rev'd. Dr. Fili Chambo, General Superintendent, delivered the annual report on behalf of the Board of General Superintendents.  Bishop Chambo's report can be viewed, here.

Wesley Wednesday: A Timely Word

Once again Facebook reminded me of a great Wesley quote.  This time from two years ago.  How timely this quote seems to be for the Church.  It comes from Sermon 90: "An Israelite Indeed."

This then is real, genuine, solid virtue.  Not truth alone, nor conformity to truth.  This is a property of real virtue, not the essence of it.  Not love alone, though this comes nearer the mark; for 'love' in one sense 'is the fulfilling of the law'.  No: truth and love united together are the essence of virtue or holiness.

Wesley Wednesday: From Sermon 9

 Today, my Facebook feed drew my attention back to two posts I made one year ago.  Both of the posts came from John Wesley's Sermon 9: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption."  These two quotes will
serve as today's Wesley Wednesday quotes:

How lively a portraiture is this [Romans 7] of one "under the law"!  One who feels the burden he cannot shake off; who pants after liberty, power, and love, but is in fear and bondage still!  Until the time that God answers the wretched man crying out, "Who shall deliver me" from this bondage of sin, from this body of death?  -  "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ thy Lord."

And, of the "natural man" who is in a state of spiritual sleep, John Wesley says:
Why is it that he is in no dread of God?  Because he is totally ignorant of him: . . . saying, "God is merciful;" confounding and swallowing up at once in that unwieldy idea of mercy all his holiness and essential hatred of sin, all his justice, wisdom, and truth. . . . Or he fancies . . . that Christ came to . . . save his people IN, not FROM their sins, to bring them to heaven without holiness . . .

Wesley Wednesday: A False Dichotomy, December 20, 2023

 John Wesley relayed the following account in his Journal on January 1, 1739:

Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane, with about sixty of our brethren.  About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground.  As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty, we broke out with one voice, "We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord!"

It is unfortunate that some people present a false dichotomy between the freedom and spontaneity expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit and the formal liturgy of the Church.  They pit "revivalism" over against "sacramentalism" and "formalism."  It is even more unfortunate when those within the Wesleyan camp do this.

John Wesley, on the other hand, held all of this together.  He was committed to extemporaneous prayer and to the written prayers of the Church.  He gathered for extemporaneous prayer meetings and for the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer.  He was committed to God at work through the revival and through the sacraments.  For him, the Methodist Society Meetings were essential, and so was the corporate worship of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.  

Further, the above excerpt of Wesley's Journal is an example of these complimentary commitments.  In the quote, one finds a love feast and apparent spontaneous prayer, along with the manifest power of God in their midst.  What is interesting is the response of those Anglicans.  With one voice they declared, "We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord!"  -  This is a quote of the Te Deum Laudamus, a prayer from the 4th Century.  It was known to those faithful Anglicans, because it was a regular response to the Old Testament lesson during the Daily Office of Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer.

Wesleyan Christians, particularly those from the Holiness and free church branches of Wesleyanism would do well to embrace those forms of worship that helped to shaped John Wesley's faith, as well as the development of his understanding of holiness of heart and life.  They are not opposed to life in the Spirit.  They are vital conduits of such spiritual life.

Wesley Wednesday: Wesley on Omnipotence and Timelessness of God

 In recent years, the omnipotence of God, as well as God's standing outside of (over and above) time, have been called into question by certain theologians from within the Wesleyan tradition.  In particular, Thomas Jay Oord has denied God's omnipotence and has positioned God within time like all of creation.  -  With that in mind, as I was thumbing my way through Dave Armstrong's The Quotable
Wesley, those two topics quickly caught my eye.  So, what did John Wesley think about God's omnipotence, and how did Wesley understand God's relationship to time?  -  Let's take a look at a couple of Wesley quotes!

On the subject of God's omnipotence, from Sermon 19, "The Unity of the Divine Being," Wesley says:

And he [God] is omnipotent as well as omnipresent: there can be no more bounds to his power than to his presence.  He "hath a mighty arm: strong is his hand, and high is his right hand."  He doeth whatsoever pleaseth him in the heavens, the earth, the sea, and in all deep places.  With men, we know, many things are impossible; "but not with God: with him all things are possible."  Whensoever he willeth, to do is present with him.

Armstrong cites Wesleyana: A Selection of the Most Important Passages in the Writings of the Late Rev. John Wesley, A.M. for the following Wesley quote on God and time:

The almighty, all-wise God sees and knows, from everlasting to everlasting, all that is, that was, and that is to come, through one eternal now.  With him nothing is either past or future, but all things equally present.  He has, therefore, if we speak according to the truth of things, no foreknowledge, no after-knowledge.  This would be ill-consistent with the apostle's words, "With him is no variableness or shadow of turning," and with the account he gives of himself by the prophet, "I the Lord change not."  Yet when he speaks to us, knowing whereof we are made, knowing the scantiness of our understanding, he lets himself down to our capacity and speaks of himself after the manner of men.  Thus, in condescension to our weakness, he speaks of his own purpose, counsel, plan, foreknowledge.  Not that God has any need of counsel, of purpose, or of planning his work beforehand.  Far be it from us to impute these to the Most High, to measure him by ourselves!  It is merely in compassion to us that he speaks thus of himself as foreknowing the things in heaven or earth and as predestinating or foreordaining them.

Wesley Wednesday: Is Sanctification a Process or Instantaneous?

 It is sometimes debated in Wesleyan circles as to whether sanctification is a process or an instantaneous crisis.  John Wesley takes up this very issue in his A Plain Account of Christian Perfection.  Here is
what he says about the subject:

17: Questions and Answers on the Doctrine of Sanctification

    "When does inward sanctification begin?
    "In the moment a man is justified.  (Yet sin remains in him, yea, the seed of all sin, till he is sanctified throughout).  From that time a believer gradually dies to sin, and grows in grace."

19: Thoughts on Christian Perfection

    "Is this death to sin, and renewal in love, gradual or instantaneous?
    "A man may be dying for some time; yet he does not, properly speaking, die, till the soul is separated from the body; and in that instant, he lives the life of eternity.  In like manner, he may be dying to sin for some time; yet he is not dead to sin, till sin is separated from his soul; and in that instant, he lives the full life of love.  And as the change undergone, when the body dies, is of a different kind, and infinitely greater than any we had known before, yea, such as till then, it is impossible to conceive; so the change wrought, when the soul dies to sin, is of a different kind, and infinitely greater than any before, and than any can conceive, till he experiences it.  Yet he still grows in grace, in the knowledge of Christ, in the love and image of God; and will do so, not only till death, but to all eternity."

25: "Farther Thoughts on Christian Perfection"

    "25. But is not this the case of all that are justified?  Do they not gradually die to sin and grow in grace, till at, or perhaps a little before, death, God perfects them in love?
    "I believe this is the case of most, but not all. God usually gives a considerable time for men to receive light, to grow in grace, to do and suffer His will, before they are either justified or sanctified; but He does not invariably adhere to this; sometimes He 'cuts short His work'; He does the work of many years in a few weeks; perhaps in a week, a day, an hour.  He justifies or sanctifies both those who have done or suffered nothing, and who have not had time for a gradual growth either in light or grace.  And 'may He not do what He will with His own?  Is thine eye evil, because He is good?'
    "It need not, therefore, be affirmed over and over, and proved by forty texts of Scripture, either that most men are perfected in love at last, that there is a gradual work of God in the soul, or that, generally speaking, it is a long time, even many ears, before sin is destroyed.  All this we know; but we know likewise, that God may, with man's good leave, 'cut short His work,' in whatever degree He pleases, and do the usual work of many years in a moment.  He does so in many instances; and yet there is a gradual work, both before and after that moment; so that one may affirm the work is gradual; another, it is instantaneous, without any manner of contradiction."

26: Brief Summation of Wesley's Views

    "(10) It [Christian Perfection] is constantly both preceded and followed by a gradual work.
    "(11) But is it in itself instantaneous or not?  In examining this, let us go on step by step.
    "An instantaneous change has been wrought in some believers.  None can deny this.
    "Since that change, they enjoy perfect love; they feel this, and this alone; they 'rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.'  Now this is all that I mean by perfection; therefore, these are witnesses of the perfection which I preach.
    "But in some, this change was not instantaneous.'  They did not perceive the instant when it was wrought.  It is often difficult to perceive the instant when a man dies; yet there is an instant in which life ceases.  And if ever sin ceases, there must be a last moment of its existence, and a first moment of our deliverance from it.

____________

In addition to the quotes, above, Wesley takes up this same issue in his sermon, (54) The Scripture Way of Salvation.  In that sermon he says:

    "18.  'But does God work this great work [of Entire Sanctification / Christian Perfection] in the soul gradually or instantaneously?'  Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some.  I mean in this sense - they do not advert to the particular moment wherein sin ceases to be.  But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of God, that it should be done instantaneously; that the Lord should destroy sin 'by the breath of his mouth' in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.  And so he generally does, a plain fact of which there is evidence enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person.  Thou therefore look for it every moment.  Look for it in the way above described; in all those 'good works' whereunto thou art 'created anew in Christ Jesus'.  . . . Look for it then every day, every hour, every moment.  Why not this hour, this moment?  Certainly you may look for it now, if you believe it is by faith.  And by this token may you surely know whether you seek it by faith or by works.  If by works, you want something to be done first, before you are sanctified.  You think, 'I must first be or do thus or thus.'  Then you are seeking it by works unto this day.  If you seek it by faith, you may expect it as you are: and if as you are, then expect it now.  It is of importance to observe that there is an inseparable connection between these three points - expect it by faith, expect it as you are, and expect it now!  . . .

__________

From the above quotes, it should be clear that, for Wesley, sanctification includes both, a process and an instantaneous crisis moment.  It seems that the issue that many stumble over is a lack of clear distinction between the larger process of sanctification and the more specific moment (instantaneous crisis) of entire sanctification, which takes place within that larger process.  It has been the case that many within the Holiness tradition, the larger Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, and John Wesley, himself, have fallen into the trap of failing to be precise in their language.  Very often "sanctification" (without any qualification) is used when specifically meaning "entire sanctification."  Nevertheless, for Wesley, sanctification is a process in which the crisis moment of entire sanctification takes place.  And, indeed, God may "cut short" the process that leads up to entire sanctification when we seek it by faith.  Further, even after the experience of entire sanctification, we continue to grow in grace.  -  Thanks be to God for His sanctifying grace!