Notes:
Sermon 89: The More Excellent Way
This is a practical essay in Christian ethics that also illustrates how far the later Wesley had moved away from his earlier exclusivist standards of true faith and salvation. It should be read alongside The Almost Christian; the startling contrast between the two reflects a half-century’s experience as leader of a revival movement and also a significant change in his mind and heart. Here, more explicitly than anywhere else in his writing, we see Wesley’s acceptance of an older notion of ‘two orders of Christians’, each with its legitimate hope of salvation.
His particular concern in this essay is to encourage ‘the lower order of Christians’ (i.e., ‘the generality of Christians’) to a more earnest striving for the shared goal of both ‘orders’: ‘the more excellent way’, a pure love of God and an humble ‘love of all men for God’s sake’. This is the presupposition of his pastoral counsel on such mundane problems as the Christian’s regulation of sleep, his daily round of prayer, his diligence in ‘business ’, grace before and cheerfulness at meals, allowable ‘diversions’ and, as always, the proper ‘use of money’. None of Wesley’s lifelong aspirations to holiness is compromised here, nor is there any betrayal of his soteriological premise of justification by ‘faith alone’. But there is a different spirit; there is an implied admission that he has changed his mind on this and other important points in his understanding of the Christian ordo salutis.
The sermon itself provides no definite clues as to date and provenance. It first appeared in the Arminian Magazine (July and August 1787, X.341-46, 398-406), without a title (numbered ‘Sermon XL’), and then reappeared the year following in SOSO, VII.191-214, with its present title. It was not reprinted in Wesley’s lifetime.
03:263The More Excellent Way
1 Corinthians 12:31
Covet earnestly the best gifts;
and yet I show unto you a more excellent way.
11. In the preceding verses St. Paul has been speaking of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost,
Cf. No. 4, Scriptural Christianity, §4 and n.
22. It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine
Cf. No. 61, ‘The Mystery of Iniquity’, §§27-28 and n.
An echo from Richard Graves, The Spiritual Quixote? Cf. I.55: ‘They [our modern itinerant reformers] are planting the gospel in a Christian country; they are combating the shadow of popery where the protestant religion is established; and declaiming against good works in an age which they usually represent as abounding in every evil work.’
Cf. No. 15, The Great Assize, II.4 and n.
Cf. Matt. 24:12.
Luke 18:8 (Notes).
An interesting note here that the possibility of ‘the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost’ stands open, in principle, in any age of the church.
33. However, I would not at present speak of these, of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, but of the ordinary; and these likewise we may ‘covet earnestly’, in order to be more useful in our generation. With this view we may covet ‘the gift of convincing speech’, in order to ‘sound the unbelieving heart’;
Cf. John Wesley, ‘On the Descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost’, Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), p. 186 (Poet. Wks., I.166). This was altered from Henry More’s poem in Divine Dialogues (1668) which Wesley had read in 1733. Later, Wesley prepared two hymns from this poem for his Collection of 1780 (Nos. 444-45; see 7:623-25 in this edn.). The quotation is from st. 8:
Cf. Directions for Pronunciation and Gesture (Bibliog, No. 161, Vol. 15 of this edn.).
44. The way of love, of loving all men for God’s sake, of humble, gentle, patient love, is that which the Apostle so admirably describes in the ensuing chapter. And without this, he assures us, all eloquence, all knowledge, all faith, all works, and all 03:265sufferings, are of no more value in the sight of God than sounding brass or a rumbling cymbal;
See 1 Cor. 13:1; but see Notes, loc. cit., where Wesley had followed the consensus of Wycliffe, Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva, Rheims, and the AV in translating ἁλαλάζον as ‘tinkling’. In No. 36, ‘The Law Established through Faith, II’, III.1, we find ‘tinkling’, but in No. 91, ‘On Charity’, III.1, Wesley uses ‘rumbling’ again. Wesley had no precedent for this in Poole’s Annotations, or Henry’s Exposition—and has had no imitators in later translations. See also Arndt and Gingrich, and Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicons.
55. But at present I would take a different view of the text, and point out a more excellent way in another sense. It is the observation of an ancient writer that there have been from the beginning two orders of Christians.
This distinction is at least as old as The Shepherd of Hermas, but was developed more explicitly by Clement of Alexandria; cf. The Instructor, I.i-vii, and Stromateis, II.xix-xx, IV.xxi-xxii, V.i-iv. It was then summed up by Eusebius in his Demonstratio Evangelica, I.viii.
Acts 24:16.
Still another deprecating reference to the General Rules. Cf. No. 22, ‘Sermon on the Mount, II’, II.4 and n.
Titus 2:14.
See 1 Cor. 2:16, and Phil. 2:5.
See Luke 9:23.
Luke 13:24; cf. No. 17, ‘The Circumcision of the Heart’, II.7 and n.
See Phil. 3:13.
Cf. Heb. 6:1.
Cf. Eph. 3:19.
66. From long experience and observation I am inclined to think that whoever finds redemption in the blood of Jesus, whoever is justified, has then the choice of walking in the higher or the lower path. I believe the Holy Spirit at that time sets before him the more excellent way, and incites him to walk therein, to choose the narrowest path in the narrow way, to aspire after the heights and depths of holiness, after the entire image of God. But if he does not accept this offer, he insensibly declines into the lower order of Christians. He still goes on in what may be called a good way, serving God in his degree, and finds mercy in the close of life, through the blood of the covenant.
See Heb. 13:20.
77. I would be far from quenching the smoking flax,
See Isa. 42:3.
See Luke 14:10.
For another example of this striking change in the doctrine of assurance, cf. No. 106, ‘On Faith, Heb. 11:6’, I.11.
88. Let it be well remembered, I do not affirm that all who do not walk in this way are in the high road to hell. But thus much I must affirm: they will not have so high a place in heaven as they would have had if they had chosen the better part.
See Luke 10:42.
Cf. No. 57, ‘On the Fall of Man’, II.8 and n.
See Rev. 7:17; 21:4.
I. To begin at the beginning of the day. It is the manner of the generality of Christians, if they are not obliged to work for their living, to rise, particularly in winter, at eight or nine in the morning, after having lain in bed eight or nine, if not more hours. I do not say now (as I should have been very apt to do fifty years ago) that all who indulge themselves in this manner are in the way to hell. But neither can I say they are in the way to heaven, denying themselves, and taking up their cross daily.
See Luke 9:23.
Cf. ‘Thoughts on Nervous Disorders’, §7, AM (1786), IX.94-95, where Wesley discusses intemperance in sleep being one cause of ‘lowness of spirits’; see also No. 93, ‘On Redeeming the Time’, passim.
See Matt. 19:26.
II. The generality of Christians, as soon as they rise, are accustomed to use some kind of prayer; and probably to use the same form still which they learned when they were eight or ten years old. Now I do not condemn those who proceed thus (though many do) as mocking God, though they have used the same form, without any variation, for twenty or thirty years together. But 03:268surely there is a more excellent way of ordering our private devotions. What if you were to follow the advice given by that great and good man, Mr. Law,
The reference here is to A Serious Call, ch. xiv, and Wesley’s own published Extract of it (see Bibliog, No. 86). But Law had also published The Spirit of Prayer, and for Wesley’s comment on it see JWJ, July 20, 1749. Wesley’s estimates of Law varied according to circumstances and contexts; e.g., his attitude here represents a mellowing of the late Wesley. For his earlier criticisms of Law, cf. Wesley’s letter to him, May 14, 1738, as well as a later one, Jan. 6, 1756; and see the letter to Dorothy Furly, May 18, 1757: ‘Mr. Law…betrays deep ignorance both of Scripture and the inward work of God. You are more liable to receive hurt from his late writings than from any other which I know.’ Cf. also No. 20, The Lord Our Righteousness, II.16.
See Ps. 66:10 (BCP).
1 Pet. 1:6.
See Job 15:11.
Ps. 118:28 (BCP).
1III. 1. The generality of Christians, after using some prayer, usually apply themselves to the business of their calling. Every man that has any pretence to be a Christian will not fail to do this; 03:269seeing it is impossible that an idle man can be a good man, sloth being inconsistent with religion.
Cf. No. 111, National Sins and Miseries, II.6 and n.
See John 6:38.
See Matt. 6:10.
Cf. John 6:27.
22. Again: in what manner do you transact your worldly business? I trust, with diligence, whatever your hand findeth to do, doing it with your might;
See Eccles. 9:10.
See Rom. 13:7.
See Matt 7:12.
33. Yet again: in what spirit do you go through your business? In the spirit of the world, or the Spirit of Christ? I am afraid thousands of those who are called good Christians do not understand the question. If you act in the Spirit of Christ you carry the end you at first proposed through all your work from first to last. You do everything in the spirit of sacrifice, giving up your will to the will of God, and continually aiming, not at ease, pleasure, or riches; not at anything this short enduring world can give; but merely at the glory of God. Now can anyone deny that this is the most excellent way of pursuing worldly business?
41IV. 1. But these tenements of clay
Cf. No. 28, ‘Sermon on the Mount, VIII’, §21 and n.
‘To pour out a libation bowl to Jove’; cf. Virgil, Aeneid, vii.133: ‘…nunc pateras libate Jovi’.
See 1 Cor. 10:20.
A vague recollection of an anecdote from Law, Serious Call (Works, IV.41); cf. another anecdote in this same vein in The Spectator, No. 380, May 16, 1712.
22. As to the quantity of their food, good sort of men do not usually eat to excess. At least not so far as to make themselves sick with meat, or to intoxicate themselves with drink. And as to the manner of taking it, it is usually innocent, mixed with a little mirth, which is said to help digestion. So far, so good. And provided they take only that measure of plain, cheap, wholesome food, which most promotes health both of body and mind, there will be no cause of blame. Neither can I require you to take that advice of Mr. Herbert, though he was a good man:
Cf. George Herbert, The Temple, ‘The Church Porch’, ll. 131-32.
This is too melancholy: it does not suit with that cheerfulness
In Wesley’s ‘holiness-happiness’ equation cheerfulness is emphatically included; cf. the younger Wesley’s letter to Mrs. Chapman, Mar. 29, 1737 (‘…holiness cannot be without cheerfulness…’), and the older Wesley’s letter to his niece, Sarah, Aug. 18, 1790 (‘Perpetual cheerfulness is the temper of a Christian, …which is in one sense to rejoice evermore’).
π; source unidentified.
Quoted by Cervantes in Don Quixote, II.5; and earlier in Cicero, De Finibus [bonorum et malorum] (On the Purpose of Good and Evil), II.xxviii.90, where it is credited to Socrates.
Cf. 1 Cor. 15:54.
33. The time of taking our food is usually a time of conversation also, as it is natural to refresh our minds while we refresh our bodies. Let us consider a little in what manner the generality of Christians usually converse together. What are the ordinary subjects of their conversation? If it is harmless (as one would hope it is), if there be nothing in it profane, nothing immodest, nothing untrue, or unkind; if there be no talebearing, backbiting, or evil-speaking, they have reason to praise God for his restraining grace. But there is more than this implied in ‘ordering our conversation aright’.
Cf. Ps. 50:23.
Cf. Matt. 5:37; Eph. 4:29.
Prior, ‘The Ladle’, l. 96.
unless when some remarkable event calls for the acknowledgement of the justice or mercy of God. We must indeed sometimes talk of worldly things; otherwise we may as well go out of the 03:272world.
See 1 Cor. 5:10.
Eph. 4:29.
Ibid.
1V. 1. We have seen what is the more excellent way of ordering our conversation, as well as our business. But we cannot be always intent upon business; both our bodies and minds require some relaxation. We need intervals of diversion from business. It will be necessary to be very explicit upon this head, as it is a point which has been much misunderstood.
22. Diversions are of various kinds. Some are almost peculiar to men, as the sports of the field—hunting, shooting, fishing— wherein not many women (I should say, ladies) are concerned. Others are indifferently used by persons of both sexes; some of which are of a more public nature, as races, masquerades, plays, assemblies, balls. Others are chiefly used in private houses, as cards, dancing, and music; to which we may add the reading of plays, novels, romances, newspapers, and fashionable poetry.
33. Some diversions indeed which were formerly in great request are now fallen into disrepute. The nobility and gentry (in England at least) seem totally to disregard the once fashionable diversion of hawking; and the vulgar themselves are no longer diverted by men hacking and hewing each other in pieces at broadsword. The noble game of quarterstaff likewise is now exercised by very few. Yea, cudgelling has lost its honour, even in Wales itself. Bear-baiting also is now very seldom seen, and bull-baiting not very often. And it seems cock-fighting would totally cease in England, were it not for two or three right honourable patrons.
44. It is not needful to say anything more of these foul ‘remains of Gothic barbarity’
Pope, in The Guardian, No. 61 (May 21, 1713), had used this phrase as from the Abbé Claude Fleury’s Les Moeurs des Israélites in the context of Fleury’s comparison of the ancient Israelites with those of ‘les Francs’. The pejorative use of the adjective ‘Gothic’ had, however, already become a commonplace (cf. OED).
This had appeared in quotation marks in No. 79, ‘On Dissipation’, §12; cf. n. there.
Cf. No. 143, ‘Public Diversions Denounced’, III.2.
In his Oxford days Wesley ‘had a passionate interest in plays and in the theatre…. There was a histrionic streak in his character’ (Green, Wesley, pp. 72, 114). And his delight in plays continued even after he had come round to the views of Jeremy Collier (A Defence of the Short View of the Profaneness and Immorality of the English Stage [1699]) and William Law (The Absolute Unlawfulness of the Stage-Entertainment Fully Demonstrated [1726]); cf., e.g., his comment on John Home’s recent tragedy, Douglas (JWJ, June 9, 1757). Notice the extraordinary range of his quotations from various dramas; his reading in them was extensive (clearly, he distinguished ‘seeing’ plays in a theatre from reading them). Cf. George Farquhar’s description of a typical ‘first night’ in his The Inconstant: Or, the Way to Win Him (1702), Act IV, sc. 3; see also No. 94, ‘On Family Religion’, III.14.
A doubtful inference from Lucian, ‘The Dance’; Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, I.14-22; and Plato, The Laws, VII.814E-816D; cf. Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, loc. cit.
The young Wesley had also played cards; cf. diary, Dec. 30, 1736 (‘played at ombre’); Jan. 7, 1727 (‘played loo’); Jan. 10, 1727 (‘played cards and lost’); on June 20, 1729, he played cards and lost twelve shillings.
More evidence of the mellowing late Wesley; cf. No. 39, ‘Catholic Spirit’.
55. But supposing these, as well as the reading of plays, novels, newspapers, and the like, to be quite ‘innocent diversions’, yet are there not ‘more excellent ways’ of diverting themselves for those that love or fear God? Would men of fortune divert themselves in the open air? They may do it by cultivating and improving their 03:274lands, by planting their grounds, by laying out, carrying on, and perfecting their gardens and orchards. At other times they may visit and converse with the most serious and sensible of their neighbours; or they may visit the sick, the poor, the widows, and fatherless in their affliction.
See Jas. 1:27.
Cf. Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, ‘Experimental’: ‘Experiments are of the last [i.e., highest] importance in philosophy…. In effect, experiments within these past fifty or sixty years, are come into such vogue that nothing will pass in philosophy [i.e., natural science] but what is founded on experiment or confirmed by experiment…. The new philosophy is almost altogether experimental.’ The chief sponsor of this new philosophy was The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, which was founded in 1660; cf. Thomas Sprat, History of the Royal Society (1667).
Cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, vii.88-90; No. 55, On the Trinity, §9 and n.
so will this, till through every space of life it be interfused with all your employments, and wherever you are, whatever you do, embrace you on every side. Then you will be able to say boldly:
Cf. Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749), II.136 (Poet. Wks., V.279), which was reprinted separately in Hymns for the Watch-night:
VI. One point only remains to be considered; that is, the use of money.
See No. 87, ‘The Danger of Riches’, II.8 and n.
11. The generality of Christians usually set apart something yearly, perhaps a tenth or even one-eighth part of their income, whether it arise from yearly revenue, or from trade, for charitable uses. A few I have known who said like Zaccheus, ‘Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.’
Luke 19:8.
22. Besides those who have a stated rule, there are thousands who give large sums to the poor; especially when any striking instance of distress is represented to them in lively colours.
33. I praise God for all of you who act in this manner. May you never be weary of well-doing! May God restore what you give sevenfold into your own bosom! But yet I show unto you a more excellent way.
44. You may consider yourself as one in whose hands the Proprietor of heaven and earth and all things therein has lodged a part of his goods, to be disposed of according to his direction. And his direction is, that you should look upon yourself as one of a certain number of indigent persons who are to be provided for out of that portion of his goods wherewith you are entrusted. You have two advantages over the rest: the one, that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive;’
Acts 20:35.
Cf. Prior, ‘An Epitaph’, ll. 47-48:
Orig., ‘your accounts’, altered by Wesley’s errata; see also No. 87, ‘The Danger of Riches’, II.7 and n.
This was the practice of all the young men at Oxford who were called ‘Methodists’.
Cf. No. 53, On the Death of George Whitefield, III.2 and n.
Tyerman regarded this as Wesley’s reference to himself; cf. JW, I.71-72. But see Green’s comments on Wesley’s income at Oxford in Wesley, pp. 100-1, 320-21. Thus, this is either a romanticized memory of those early days or, just possibly, a reference to some other member of the Holy Club (John Clayton?).
Another flat prohibition of surplus accumulation; see No. 50, ‘The Use of Money’, intro., I.1, and n.
Matt. 6:19.
Cf. Rom. 2:5.
55. But suppose it were not forbidden, how can you on principles of reason spend your money in a way which God may possibly forgive, instead of spending it in a manner which he will certainly reward? You will have no reward in heaven for what you lay up; you will for what you lay out. Every pound you put into the earthly bank is sunk: it brings no interest above.
A notable contradiction of the famous ‘Weber-Tawney’ thesis that it was the Protestant work ethic that served as the prime sponsor of capitalism and its presuppositions as to the legitimacy of capital accumulation by means of interest. By contrast, Wesley here reaffirms his agreement with the classical and medieval condemnation of ‘interest’; cf. the summation of that tradition in Thomas, Summa Theologica, II-II, Q. 78, Arts. 1-4. Clearly, there is a need for a more careful and complete study of Wesley’s economic notions and for a more careful critique of the ‘Weber-Tawney’ thesis itself; cf. Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (London, G. Allen and Unwin, 1930), and R. H. Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (London, J. Murray, 1926).
66. Who then is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you?
Jas. 3:13.
See Matt. 6:19-20.
Matt. 22:21.
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Entry Title: Sermon 89: The More Excellent Way