“From our mutual concessions, it is evident we agree, 1. That the will is always free; 2. That the will of man, considered as fallen in Adam, and unassisted by the grace of God, is only free to evil; and, 3. That when he is free to good, free to choose life, he has this from redeeming grace.
“But, although we agree in those material points, the difference between us is still very considerable; for, we assert, that through the Mediator promised to all mankind in Adam, God, by His free grace, restores to ALL mankind a talent of free will to good, by which they are put in a capacity of choosing life or death, that is, of acquitting themselves well or ill, at their option, in their present state of trial.
“This you utterly deny, maintaining that man is not in a state of probation; and that as Christ died for none but the elect, none but they can ever have any degree of saving grace, that is, any free will to good. Hence, you conclude that all the elect are in a state of finished salvation; and necessarily, infallibly, and irresistibly choose life; while all the reprobates are shut up in a state of finished damnation; and necessarily, infallibly, and irresistibly choose death.
“We are obliged to oppose this doctrine, because it appears to us a doctrine of wrath, rather than a doctrine of grace. If we are not mistaken, it is opposite to the general tenor of the Scriptures, injurious to all the Divine perfections, and subversive of this fundamental truth of natural and revealed religion, God shall judge the world in righteousness. It is calculated to strengthen the carnal security of Laodicean professors, raise horrid anxieties in the minds of doubting Christians, and give damned spirits just ground to blaspheme to all eternity. Again, it withdraws from thinking sinners and judicious saints the helps which God has given them, by multitudes of conditional promises and threatenings, designed to work upon their hopes and fears. And, while it unnecessarily stumbles men of sense and hardens infidels, it affords wicked men rational excuses to continue in their sins, and gives desperate offenders full room to charge not only Adam, but God Himself, with all their enormities.”
In this piteous way did the evangelical revivalists of the last century become divided. It was a mournful scene; but, in the long run, it was over-ruled for good. Error was crushed, and truth rose triumphant. Meanwhile, on one side at least, great bitterness was engendered, and lamentable epithets were used. In the hottest of the fray, however, Fletcher, the chief combatant, never lost his temper. Hence, in concluding his “Fourth Check to Antinomianism,” he wrote:—
“Although we severely expose the mistakes of godly Calvinists, we sincerely love their persons, truly reverence their piety, and cordially rejoice in the success which attends their evangelical labours. And, although we cannot admit their logic, while they defend a bad cause with bad arguments, we should do them great injustice if we did not acknowledge that there have been, and are still among them, men eminent for good sense and good learning—men as remarkable for their skill in the art of logic, as for their deep acquaintance with the oracles of God. We thank them for their pious labours; we ask the continuance, or the renewal, of their valuable love. We invite them to our pulpits; and assure them that, if they admit us into theirs, we shall do by them as we would be done by,—avoiding to touch there, or among their own people occasionally committed to our charge, upon the points of doctrine debated between us; and reserving to ourselves the liberty of bearing our full testimony in our own pulpits, and from the press, against Antinomianism and Pharisaism in all their shapes.”
There were other combatants in the field whose power over themselves was not so great and so praiseworthy. Walter Sellon was one of them, to whom Richard Hill addressed the following, hitherto unpublished, letter, just about the time when the Fourth Check of Fletcher first appeared:—
“Dear Sir,—It will answer no end for you and me to continue our disputes, except that of stirring up the old man in us both. I believe you have the grace of God, and I am sure you are blest with a good understanding, which is well cultivated by acquired knowledge. With these endowments and qualifications, I trust it will please God to make you abundantly useful in the cause of Christ. I heartily forgive whatever has savoured more of Walter Sellon than of Jesus Christ in your two letters to me; and I beg the same on behalf of poor Richard Hill. Come, my dear Sir, let us pray for each other. If ever I have the pleasure of seeing you in the flesh, be assured that I shall embrace you in the bonds of brotherly love; if not, I trust we shall one day meet in a better place, where there will be no other contention between us than who shall sing loudest, ‘Grace, grace unto it!’ Without undervaluing myself in any respect, this will certainly be the privilege of that amazing monument of mercy who desires always to subscribe himself,
“Very dear Sir, your sincere and affectionate friend, in the best of bonds,
This polemical chapter cannot be more fitly concluded than with these breathings of Christian love, to which may be added an extract from a letter which Fletcher wrote to Mr. Charles Perronet, who was suffering great affliction of body and mind:—
“1772, September 7.—My Very Dear Friend,—No cross, no crown; the heavier the cross, the brighter the crown.
“Faith, I mean the evidence of things not seen, is a powerful cordial to support and exhilarate us under the heaviest pressures of pain and temptation. By faith, we live upon the invisible, eternal God; we believe that in Him we live, move, and have our being; insensibly we slide from self into God, from the visible into the invisible, from the carnal into the spiritual, from time into eternity. Here our spirits are ever young; they live in and upon the very fountain of strength, sprightliness, and joy. Oh! my dear friend, let us rest more upon the truth as it is in Jesus. Of late, I have been brought to feed more upon Jesus as the truth. I see more in Him in that character than I ever did. I see Christ the truth of my life, friends, relations, sense, food, raiment, light, fire, resting-place. All out of Him are but shadows. All in Him are blessed sacraments; I mean visible signs of the fountain, or vehicles to convey the streams of inward grace.”[278]
265. The reader who wishes to know what is meant by this is strongly recommended to read Wesley’s invaluable treatise, entitled, “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection;” his equally important and scriptural sermon on “Christian Perfection,” and his other irrefutable sermons on the same subject.
266. Sidney’s “Life of Rowland Hill,” p. 56.
267. Ibid, p. 70.
268. The “Vindication” of Wesley’s Minutes.
269. “Second Check to Antinomianism, in Three Letters,” to Mr. Shirley.
270. The semi-infidel Monthly Review, which could hardly exist without sneering at evangelical religion, remarked concerning this Fourth Check to Antinomianism:—
“Mr. Fletcher continues to push the Calvinists with unremitting vigour. He here encounters two formidable adversaries at once. The veteran Wesley, who now, perhaps, thinks it time to retire from the well-fought field, is fortunate in having so zealous an auxiliary.” (Monthly Review, 1773, p. 240.)
271. Whitefield had a Tabernacle at Kingswood; and Lady Huntingdon, in 1753, built one in Bristol, which Whitefield opened.
272. Thomas Janes, who from 1767 to 1770 was one of Wesley’s itinerants. His health not being equal to the rough work of a Methodist preacher he settled as the pastor of a dissenting congregation in Bristol. He died in 1773. He was a man of considerable abilities, and compiled and published a volume which he entitled “The Beauties of the Poets.”
273. One of the first masters of Wesley’s Kingswood School, but now an ordained clergyman of the Church of England, and curate of St. Werburgh in Bristol. He was an intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon.
274. The Band-meetings of the Methodists, consisting of persons selected from the Methodist classes.
275. The Lock Hospital, where Martin Madan was Chaplain.
276. A frock, painted with flames and devils, in which heretics were burnt by the Inquisition.
277. Richard Hill, the author of Pietas Oxoniensis.
278. Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”