From 608ce5af45d0639f2d76cbd836e30cc0c27436c8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jenna G <98617115+jennaG2@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2025 19:09:10 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Create Sermon059 --- data/sermons/tei/Sermon059 | 648 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 648 insertions(+) create mode 100644 data/sermons/tei/Sermon059 diff --git a/data/sermons/tei/Sermon059 b/data/sermons/tei/Sermon059 new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ddab260de --- /dev/null +++ b/data/sermons/tei/Sermon059 @@ -0,0 +1,648 @@ + + + + + + + Sermon 59: God’s Love to Fallen Man + Wesley, John + Van Buskirk, Gregory P. + Taylor, Michelle M. + + + The Wesley Works Digitzation Project + Tampa, FL + 2024-02-25 + + + + + + Sermon 59: God’s Love to Fallen Man + + + The Works of John Wesley, Volume I: Sermons I, + 1-33 + Outler, Albert + + Abingdon Press + Nashville, TN + 1984-05-01 + + + + + + The Works of John Wesley + Baker, Frank + + + + + + +

Greg Van Buskirk created Word docs for all of Wesley's sermons using a combination of + OCR software and manual proofing. Michelle Taylor converted these docx into XML + using Oxygen's DITA automatic transformation scenario, then touched them up + manually.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + An Introductory Comment + +

This sermon was written in Birmingham and first appeared in the Arminian Magazine, V.453-59, 509-15, for September and October 1782, + numbered ‘XI’. Its theme, though not its text, is a constant in Wesley’s + soteriology (see below, I.1 and n.): that without creating man to sin, God’s omnipotent grace has wrought an even more wonderful + glory for creation than if man had continued in his original innocence and + obedience (‘if Adam had not fallen, Christ had not died’). As an obvious source, + he had already extracted a sizeable fraction of Samuel Hoard’s God’s Love to Mankind (1633) and printed it in five instalments in the + first year of the Magazine (1778, Vol. I). There is, + however, only one reference to his oral preaching from ‘Romans 5:14, etc.’ + (January 23, 1741), with no certain indication of his topic.

+

In its first form the sermon had no title. In SOSO, V.85, + Wesley had entitled it ‘God’s Love to Fallen Man:’ A Sermon on Romans v. 15. It + was twice reprinted in separate pamphlets in 1791; for further details and also + variant readings see Appendix, Vol. 4; and Bibliog, No. + 375.ii. That its message lay close to Wesley’s heart is confirmed by Elizabeth + Ritchie’s memoir of his last days (Curnock, VIII.139): ‘The next pleasing, awful + scene was the great exertion he made in order to make Mr. Broadbent understand + that he fervently desired a sermon he had written on the Love of God should be + scattered abroad and given away to everybody.’ We also have James Rogers’s note + to this: ‘He said, “Where is my sermon on The Love of God? Take it and spread it + abroad; give it to everyone.”’ Ten thousand were printed and given away.

+ + + God’s Love to Fallen Man + + +

Romans 5:15

+

+ Not as the transgression, so is the free gift. + +

‘Transgression’ is Wesley’s own translation here of + παράπτωμα. Wycliffe had translated it + ‘gilte’, Tyndale and Cranmer as ‘synne’, Geneva, Rheims, and AV as + ‘offence’. Even Wesley, in his Notes, had + followed the AV. But notice that modern lexicographers (see Arndt and + Gingrich, Schmoller) tend to favour ‘transgression’, as do some modern + translations (e.g., Conybeare, Montgomery). NEB translates it + ‘wrongdoing’.

+ +

+ +
+

1. How exceeding common, and how bitter, is the outcry against our first + parent for the mischief which he not only brought upon himself, but entailed + upon his latest posterity! It was by his wilful rebellion against God that ‘sin + entered into die world’.

Rom. 5:12.

‘By one man’s disobedience’, + as the Apostle observes, ‘the many’, οἱ πολλοί, as many as were then in the + loins of their forefather, ‘were made’, or constituted, ‘sinners:’

Rom. + 5:19.

 not only deprived of the favour of God, but also of his + image; of all virtue, righteousness, and true holiness; and sunk partly into the + image of the devil, in pride, malice, and all other diabolical tempers; partly + into the image of the brute, being fallen under the dominion of brutal passions + and grovelling appetites. Hence also death entered into the world, with all his + forerunners and attendants, pain, sickness, and a whole train of uneasy as well + as unholy passions and tempers.

+

2. ‘For all this we may thank Adam,’ has echoed down from generation to + generation. The selfsame charge has been repeated in every age, and in every + nation where the oracles of God are known, in which alone this grand and + important event has been discovered to the children of men. Has not your heart, and probably your lips too, joined in the + general charge? How few are there of those who believe the scriptural relation + of the fall of man that have not entertained the same thought concerning our + first parent! Severely condemning him that through wilful disobedience to the + sole command of his Creator

+ + Brought death into the world, and all our woe. + + +

Milton, Paradise Lost, i.3.

+ +

3. Nay, it were well if the charge rested here: but it is + certain it does not. It cannot be denied that it frequently glances from Adam to + his Creator. Have not thousands, even of those that are called Christians, taken + the liberty to call his mercy, if not his justice also, into question on this + very account? Some indeed have done this a little more modestly, in an oblique + and indirect manner. But others have thrown aside the mask and asked, ‘Did not + God foresee that Adam would abuse his liberty? And did he not know the baneful + consequences which this must naturally have on all his posterity? And why then + did he permit that disobedience? Was it not easy for the Almighty to have + prevented it?’ He certainly did foresee the whole. This cannot be denied. For + ‘known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.’

Acts + 15:18.

(Rather, from all eternity, as the words ἀπ᾽αἰῶνος + properly signify.) And it was undoubtedly in his power to prevent it: for he + hath all power both in heaven and earth. But it was known to him at the same + time that it was best, upon the whole, not to prevent it. He knew that ‘not as + the transgression, so the free gift’; that the evil resulting from the former + was not as the good resulting from the latter, not worthy to be compared with + it. He saw that to permit the fall of the first man was far best for mankind in + general; that abundantly more good than evil would accrue to the posterity of + Adam by his fall; that if ‘sin abounded’ thereby over all the earth, yet ‘grace + would much more abound’;

Cf. Rom. 5:20.

 yea, and that to every + individual of the human race, unless it was his own choice.

+

4. It is exceeding strange that hardly anything has been written, or at + least published, on this subject; nay, that it has been so little weighed or + understood by the generality of Christians; especially considering that it is + not a matter of mere curiosity, but a truth of the deepest importance; it being + impossible on any other principle

+ + To assert a gracious providence, + And justify the ways of God with men; + + +

Cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, + i.25-26. See No. 56, ‘God’s Approbation of His Works’, II.3 and n.

+ +

and considering withal how plain this important truth is to all sensible and + candid inquirers. May the Lover of men open the eyes of our + understanding to perceive clearly that by the fall of Adam mankind in general + have gained a capacity,

+

First, of being more holy and happy on earth; and

+

Secondly, of being more happy in heaven, than otherwise they could have + been.

Wesley’s + own conclusion to the controversy which, despite his typical complaint + against the literature on the subject, had actually been the issue in a + long and earnest debate, running back into patristic + theology.

+
+
+

[I.] 1. And, first, mankind in general have gained by the fall of Adam a + capacity of attaining more holiness and happiness on earth than it would have + been possible for them to attain if Adam had not fallen. For if Adam had not + fallen Christ had not died.

This tradition (O felix + culpa!) was familiar to Augustine; it was a favourite theme of + Rupert of Deutz and Hugh of St. Victor; Wesley was summing up and + simplifying a complex controversy. See the excellent synopsis in B. F. + Westcott, The Epistles of John, International Critical + Commentary (1909), addendum, ‘The Gospel + of Creation’, pp. 286-328. John Donne in a sermon preached at Whitehall, + Apr. 19, 1618, on 1 Tim. 1:15, had laid out the options between the + Incarnation as a natural outworking of creation (which would have + happened even if the first Adam had not sinned) and the view that Christ + came because of man’s sin and fallen state. Donne had come down on the + same side that Wesley would later take. Cf. Donne’s Sermons, ed. by George R. Potter and Evelyn M. Simpson + (Berkeley and Los Angeles, Univ. of California Press, 1962), I.303-6. + See also Milton, Paradise Lost, xii.469-72:

+ O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense! + That all this good of evil shall produce, + And evil turn to good; more wonderful + Than that which by creation first brought forth. +

For Wesley’s other comments on this theme, cf. Nos. + 57, ‘On the Fall of Man’, II.10; and 64, ‘The New Creation’, + §16.

Nothing can be more clear than this; nothing more + undeniable. The more thoroughly we consider the point, the more deeply shall we + be convinced of it. Unless all the partakers of human nature had received that + deadly wound in Adam it would not have been needful for the Son of God to take + our nature upon him. Do you not see that this was the very ground of his coming + into the world? ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And + thus death passed upon all’, through him ‘in whom all men sinned.’

Rom. + 5:12.

 Was it not to remedy this very thing that ‘the + Word was made flesh’?

John 1:14.

 That ‘as in Adam all died, so + in Christ all might be made alive’?

Cf. 1 Cor. 15:22.

 Unless then many had been made sinners by the disobedience of one, by the obedience of one many would not have been ‘made + righteous’.

Ver. 18[-19].

 So there would + have been no room for that amazing display of the Son of God’s love to mankind. + There would have been no occasion for his ‘being obedient unto death, even the + death of the cross’.

Cf. Phil. 2:8.

 It could not then have + been said, to the astonishment of all the hosts of heaven, ‘God so loved the + world,’ yea, the ungodly world which had no thought or desire of returning to + him, ‘that he gave his Son’ out of his bosom, his only-begotten Son, ‘to the end + that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting + life.’

Cf. + John 3:16.

 Neither could we then have said, ‘God was in + Christ reconciling the world unto himself;’

2 Cor. 5:19.

 or that he ‘made him + to be sin’ (that is, a sin-offering) ‘for us who knew no sin, that we might be + made the righteousness of God through him’.

Cf. 2 Cor. 5:21.

 There would have + been no such occasion for such ‘an advocate with the Father’ as ‘Jesus Christ + the righteous’;

1 John 2:1.

 neither for his appearing ‘at the right hand of + God to make intercession for us’.

Cf. Rom. 8:34.

+

2. What is the necessary consequence of this? It is this—there could then + have been no such thing as faith in God, ‘thus loving the world’, giving his + only Son for us men and for our salvation. There could have been no such thing + as faith in the Son of God, ‘as loving us and giving himself for us’.

Cf. Gal. + 2:20.

There could have been no faith in the Spirit of God, as + renewing the image of God in our hearts,

See Col. 3:10.

 as raising us from + the death of sin unto the life of righteousness.

See Rom. 6:4.

 + Indeed the whole privilege of justification by faith could have had no + existence; there could have been no redemption in the blood of Christ;

See Eph. 1:7; + Col. 1:14.

 neither could Christ have been ‘made of God unto + us either wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, or redemption’.

1 Cor. + 1:30.

+

3. And the same grand blank which was in our faith must likewise have been + in our love. We might have loved the Author of our being, the Father of angels + and men, as our Creator and Preserver; we might have said, ‘O Lord, our + Governor, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.’

Cf. Ps. 8:1, 9. + Note the conflation here of words from the BCP Psalter and from the AV: + e.g., ‘earth’ for ‘world’.

But we could not have loved him + under the nearest and dearest relation, as ‘delivering up his Son for us + all’.

Cf. + Rom. 8:32.

 We might have loved the Son of God as being ‘the + brightness of his Father’s glory, the express image of his person’

Cf. Heb. + 1:3.

 (although this ground seems to belong rather to the + inhabitants of heaven than of earth). But we could not have loved him as + ‘bearing our sins in his own body on the tree’,

Cf. 1 Pet. 2:24.

 and ‘by that one + oblation of himself once offered making a full oblation, sacrifice, and + satisfaction for the sins of the whole world’.

Cf. BCP, Communion, Consecration.

 + We could not have been ‘made conformable to his death’, nor have ‘known the + power of his resurrection’.

Cf. Phil. 3:10.

 We could not have loved + the Holy Ghost as revealing to us the Father and the Son, as opening the eyes of + our understanding,

See Luke 24:45; Eph. 1:18.

 bringing us + out of darkness into his marvellous light,

1 Pet. 2:9.

 renewing the image of + God in our soul,

See Col. 3:10.

 and sealing us unto the day of + redemption.

See Eph. 4:30.

 So that in truth what is now ‘in the sight of + God, even the Father’, not of fallible men, ‘pure religion and undefiled’,

Cf. Jas. + 1:27.

 would then have had no being; inasmuch as it wholly + depends on those grand principles ‘By grace ye are saved through faith;’

Eph. + 2:8.

 and ‘Jesus Christ is of God made unto us wisdom and + righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.’

Cf. 1 Cor. + 1:30.

+

4. We see then what unspeakable advantage we derive from the fall of our + first parent, with regard to faith—faith both in God the Father, who spared not + his own Son,

Rom. 8:32.

his only Son, but ‘wounded him for our + transgressions, and bruised him for our iniquities’;

Cf. Isa. 53:5.

 and + in God the Son, who poured out his soul for us transgressors, and washed us in + his own blood.

See Rev. 1:5.

 We see what advantage we derive therefrom with + regard to the love of God, both of God the Father and God the Son. The chief + ground of this love, as long as we remain in the body, is plainly declared by + the Apostle: ‘We love him, because he first loved us.’

1 John 4:19.

 But + the greatest instance of his love had never been given if Adam had not + fallen.

+

5. And as our faith both in God the Father and the Son + receives an unspeakable increase, if not its very being, from this grand event, + as does also our love both of the Father and the Son; so does the love of our + neighbour also, our benevolence to all mankind, which cannot but increase in the + same proportion with our faith and love of God. For who does not apprehend the + force of that inference drawn by the loving Apostle, ‘Beloved, if God so loved + us, we ought also to love one another.’

1 John 4:11.

‘If God so loved us’—observe, the stress of the argument lies on + this very point—‘so loved us’ as to deliver up his only Son to die a cursed + death for our salvation! ‘Beloved, what manner of love is this’, wherewith God + hath loved us! So as to give his only Son! In glory equal + with the Father; in majesty coeternal! What manner of love is this wherewith the + only-begotten Son of God hath loved us! So as to ‘empty himself’, as far as + possible, of his eternal Godhead! As to divest himself of that glory which he + had with the Father before the world began! As to ‘take upon him the form of a + servant, being found in fashion as a man’! And then to humble himself still + farther, ‘being obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross’!

Cf. Phil. 2:7-8. + A conflation of the AV and Wesley’s translation in his Notes.

 If God so loved us, + how ought we to love one another! But this motive to brotherly love had been + totally wanting if Adam had not fallen. Consequently we could not then have + loved one another in so high a degree as we may now. Nor could there have been + that height and depth in the command of our blessed Lord, ‘As I have loved you, + so love one another.’

Cf. John 13:34; 15:12.

+

6. Such gainers may we be by Adam’s fall with regard both to the love of + God and of our neighbour. But there is another grand point which, though little + adverted to, deserves our deepest consideration. By that one act of our first + parent not only ‘sin entered into the world’,

Rom. 5:12.

but pain also, and was + alike entailed on his whole posterity. And herein appeared not only the justice + but the unspeakable goodness of God! For how much good does he continually bring + out of this evil! How much holiness and happiness out of pain!

+

7. How innumerable are the benefits which God conveys to the children of + men through the channel of sufferings! So that it might well be said, ‘What are + termed afflictions in the language of men are in the language of + God styled blessings.’ Indeed had there been no suffering in the world a + considerable part of religion, yea, and in some respects the most excellent + part, could have had no place therein; since the very existence of it depends on + our suffering; so that had there been no pain it could have had no being. Upon + this foundation, even our suffering, it is evident all our passive graces

A technical + phrase to match the phrase, ‘passive virtues’, in II.11, below. Cf. St + Thomas, Summa Theologia, IIa-IIae, Qq. 136-40. For other comments on the virtue of + suffering, cf. No. 83, ‘On Patience’, §3 and n.

are + built—yea, the noblest of all Christian graces, love ‘enduring all things’.

Cf. 1 Cor. + 13:7.

 Here is the ground for resignation to God, enabling us + to say from the heart, in every trying hour, ‘It is the Lord: let him do what + seemeth him good.’

1 Sam. 3:18.

 ‘Shall we receive good at + the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?’

Cf. Job 2:10.

 And + what a glorious spectacle is this! Did it not constrain even a heathen to cry + out, Ecce spectaculum Deo dignum!: ‘See a sight worthy of + God—a good man struggling with adversity and superior to it.’

Cf. Seneca, + Moral Essays: ‘De Procidentia’ (‘On + Providence’), where Seneca is moved to ‘wonder if God who most dearly + loves the good…allots to them a fortune that forces them into a + struggle’ (ii.7). His comment, cited by Wesley, is in ii.9: ‘Ecce spectaculum dignum ad quod respiciat intentus + operi suo deus, ecce par deo dignum, vir si et provocabit. + Behold a spectacle worthy of God in contemplating his works; behold a + contest worthy of God: a brave man ranged against ill-fortune; and all + the more if he is also the challenger.’ Cf. also Martial, Epigrams, I. civ. 11; ‘quis + spectacula non putet deorum’. And see No. 149, ‘On Love’, + III.8.

 Here is the ground for confidence in God, both with + regard to what we feel, and with regard to what we should fear, were it not that + our soul is calmly stayed on him. What room could there be for trust in God if + there was no such thing as pain or danger? Who might not say then, ‘The cup + which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?’

John 18:11.

 It is + by sufferings that our faith is tried, and therefore made more acceptable to + God. It is in the day of trouble that we have occasion to say, ‘Though he slay + me, yet will I trust in him.’

Job 13:15.

 And this is well-pleasing to + God, that we should own him in the face of danger, in defiance of sorrow, + sickness, pain, or death.

+

8. Again: had there been neither natural nor moral evil in the world, what + must have become of patience, meekness, gentleness, long-suffering? It is + manifest they could have had no being, seeing all these have evil for their + object. If therefore evil had never entered into the world, + neither could these have had any place in it. For who could have ‘returned good + for evil’ had there been no evil-doer in the universe? How had it been possible + on that supposition to ‘overcome evil with good’?

Rom. 12:21.

Will + you say, ‘But all these graces might have been divinely infused into the hearts + of men.’ Undoubtedly they might: but if they had, there would have been no use + or exercise for them. Whereas in the present state of things we can never long + want occasion to exercise them. And the more they are exercised, the more all + our graces are strengthened and increased. And in the same proportion as our + resignation, our confidence in God, our patience and fortitude, our meekness, + gentleness, and long-suffering, together with our faith and love of God and man + increase, must our happiness increase, even in the present world.

+

9. Yet again: as God’s permission of Adam’s fall gave all his posterity a + thousand opportunities of suffering, and thereby of + exercising all those passive graces which increase both their holiness and + happiness; so it gives them opportunities of doing good + in numberless instances, of exercising themselves in various good works which + otherwise could have had no being. And what exertions of benevolence, of + compassion, of godlike mercy, had then been totally prevented! Who could then + have said to the Lover of men,

+ + Thy mind throughout my life be shown, + While listening to the wretch’s cry, + The widow’s or the orphan’s groan, + On mercy’s wings I swiftly fly, + The poor and needy to relieve; + Myself, my all, for them to give? + + + +

Cf. Charles Wesley, Scripture + Hymns (1762), II.380 (Poet. Wks., XIII.167), + on Jas. 1:27, beginning ‘Father, on me the grace bestow,’ st. 2. A more + exact quotation of this stanza appears in No. 99, The + Reward of Righteousness, III.2.

+ +

It is the just observation of a benevolent man,

+ + All worldly joys go less, + Than that one joy of doing kindnesses. + + +

George Herbert. Cf. The Temple, + ‘The Church Porch’, st. 55, ll.5-6: ‘All worldly joys go lesse/To the one + joy of doing kindnesses.’ See also, No. 84, The Important + Question, III.5.

+ +

Surely ‘in keeping’ this commandment, if no other, ‘there is great reward’.

Cf. Ps. 19:11.

‘As we have time, let us do good unto all + men;’

Cf. + Gal. 6:10.

 good of every kind, and in every degree. + Accordingly the more good we do (other circumstances being equal) the happier we + shall be. The more we deal our bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with + garments, the more we relieve the stranger, and visit them that are sick or in + prison;

See + Matt. 25:35-36.

 the more kind offices we do to those that + groan under the various evils of human life; the more comfort we receive even in + the present world; the greater recompense we have in our own bosom.

+

10. To sum up what has been said under his head. As the more holy we are + upon earth the more happy we must be (seeing there is an inseparable connection + between holiness and happiness); as the more good we do to others the more of + present reward redounds into our own bosom; even as our sufferings for God lead + us to ‘rejoice’ in him ‘with joy unspeakable and full of glory’.

1 Pet. + 1:8.

Therefore the fall of Adam, first, by giving us an + opportunity of being far more holy; secondly, by giving us the occasions of + doing innumerable good works which otherwise could not have been done; and + thirdly, by putting it into our power to suffer for God, whereby ‘the spirit of + glory and of God rests upon us;’

Cf. 1 Pet. 4:14.

 may be of such + advantage to the children of men, even in the present life, as they will not + thoroughly comprehend till they attain life everlasting.

+
+
+

[II.] 11. It is then we shall be enabled fully to comprehend, not only the + advantages which accrue at the present time to the sons of men by the fall of + their first parent, but the infinitely greater advantages which they may reap + from it in eternity. In order to form some conception of this we may remember + the observation of the Apostle: ‘As one star differeth from another star in + glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.’

Cf. 1 Cor. + 15:41-42.

The most glorious stars will undoubtedly be those who + are the most holy; who bear most of that image of God wherein they were created. + The next in glory to these will be those who have been most abundant in good + works; and next to them those that have suffered most according to the will of + God. But what advantages in every one of these respects will the children of God + receive in heaven by God’s permitting the introduction of pain + upon earth, in consequence of sin! By occasion of this they attained many holy + tempers which otherwise could have had no being: resignation to God, confidence + in him in times of trouble and danger, patience, meekness, gentleness, + long-suffering, and the whole train of passive virtues.

See above, I.7.

 And + on account of this superior holiness they will then enjoy superior happiness. + Again: everyone will then ‘receive his own reward according to his own + labour’.

1 + Cor. 3:8.

 Every individual will be ‘rewarded according to his + works’.

Cf. + Matt. 16:27.

 But the fall gave rise to innumerable good works + which could otherwise never have existed, such as ministering to the necessities + of saints, yea, relieving the distressed in every kind. And hereby innumerable + stars will be added to their eternal crown.

Cf. No. 57, ‘On the Fall of Man’, II.8 and + n.

 Yet again. There will be an abundant reward in heaven for + suffering as well as for doing + the will of God: ‘These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work + out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’

Cf. 2 Cor. 4:17.

 + Therefore that event which occasioned the entrance of suffering into the world + has thereby occasioned to all the children of God an increase of glory to all + eternity. For although the sufferings themselves will be at an end; although

+ + The pain of life shall then be o’er, + The anguish and distracting care; + There sighing grief shall weep no more; + And sin shall never enter there; + + +

Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred + Poems (1749), I.21, published earlier in John and Charles Wesley, + Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), p. 223. In both + the first line reads, ‘The pain of life shall there be o’er.’

+ +

yet the joys occasioned thereby shall never end, but flow at God’s right hand for + evermore.

+

12. There is one advantage more that we reap from Adam’s fall which is not + unworthy our attention. Unless in Adam all had died,

1 Cor. 15:22.

being + in the loins of their first parent, every descendant of Adam, every child of + man, must have personally answered for himself to God. It seems to be a + necessary consequence of this that if he had once fallen, once violated any + command of God, there would have been no possibility of his + rising again; there was no help, but he must have perished without remedy. For + that covenant knew not to show mercy: the word was, ‘The soul that sinneth, it + shall die.’

Ezek. 18:4, 20.

 Now who would not rather be on the footing + he is now? Under a covenant of mercy? Who would wish to hazard a whole eternity + upon one stake? Is it not infinitely more desirable to be in a state wherein, + though encompassed with infirmities, yet we do not run such a desperate risk, + but if we fall we may rise again? Wherein we may say,

+ + My trespass is grown up to heaven! + But far above the skies, + In Christ abundantly forgiven, + I see thy mercies rise! + + +

Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred + Poems (1749), I.164 (Poet. Wks., + IV.446).

+ +

13. In Christ! Let me entreat every serious person once more to fix his + attention here. All that has been said, all that can be said on these subjects, + centres in this point. The fall of Adam produced the death of Christ! Hear, O + heavens, and give ear, O earth!

Isa. 1:2.

Yea,

+ + Let earth and heaven agree, + Angels and men be joined, + To celebrate with me + The Saviour of mankind; + T’ adore the all-atoning Lamb, + And bless the sound of Jesu’s name! + + +

Charles Wesley, Hymns on God’s + Everlasting Love (1741), p. 31 (Poet. Wks., + III.71). The poem had been reprinted in AM (1778), + I.191-92, with the title, ‘The Universal Love of Christ’.

+ +

If God had prevented the fall of man, ‘the Word’ had never been ‘made flesh’; nor + had we ever ‘seen his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the + Father’.

Cf. + John 1:14.

Those mysteries never had been displayed ‘which + the very angels desire to look into’.

Cf. 1 Pet. 1:12.

 Methinks this + consideration swallows up all the rest, and should never be out of our thoughts. + Unless ‘by one man judgment had come upon all men to condemnation’

Cf. Rom. 5:17, + 18.

 neither angels nor men could ever have known ‘the + unsearchable riches of Christ’.

Eph. 3:8.

+

14. See then, upon the whole, how little reason we have to + repine at the fall of our first parent, since herefrom we may derive such + unspeakable advantages both in time and eternity. See how small pretence there + is for questioning the mercy of God in permitting that event to take place! + Since therein mercy, by infinite degrees, rejoices over judgment! Where then is + the man that presumes to blame God for not preventing Adam’s sin? Should we not + rather bless him from the ground of the heart for therein laying the grand + scheme of man’s redemption, and making way for that glorious manifestation of + his wisdom, holiness, justice, and mercy? If indeed God had decreed before the + foundation of the world

John 17:24; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:20.

that + millions of men should dwell in everlasting burnings

See Isa. 33:14.

 + because Adam sinned hundreds or thousands of years before they had a being, I + know not who could thank him for this, unless the devil and his angels;

Matt. + 25:41.

 seeing on this supposition all those millions of unhappy + spirits would be plunged into hell by Adam’s sin, without any possible advantage + from it. But, blessed be God, this is not the case. Such a decree never existed. + On the contrary, every one born of a woman may be an unspeakable gainer thereby; + and none ever was or can be a loser but by his own choice.

+

15. We see here a full answer to that plausible account ‘of the origin of + evil’ published to the world some years since, and supposed to be + unanswerable—‘that it necessarily resulted from the nature of matter, which God + was not able to alter’.

Cf. Jenyns, Free Inquiry. + Cf. above, No. 56, ‘God’s Approbation of His Works’, II.2 and + n.

It is very kind in this sweet-tongued orator to make an excuse + for God! But there is really no occasion for it: God hath answered for himself. + He made man in his own image, a spirit endued with understanding and liberty. + Man abusing that liberty produced evil, brought sin and pain into the world. + This God permitted in order to a fuller manifestation of his wisdom, justice, + and mercy, by bestowing on all who would receive it an infinitely greater + happiness than they could possibly have attained if Adam had not fallen.

+

16. ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of + God!’

Rom. + 11:33.

Although a thousand particulars of ‘his judgments, and of his ways, are unsearchable’ to us, and ‘past’ our ‘finding + out’,

Ibid.

 yet may we discern the general + scheme running through time into eternity. ‘According to the counsel of his own + will’,

Cf. + Eph. 1:11.

 the plan he had laid before the foundation of the + world, he created the parent of all mankind in his own image. And he permitted + ‘all men’ to be ‘made sinners by the disobedience of’ this one man, that ‘by the obedience of one’ all who receive ‘the free + gift’

Rom. + 5:15, 16.

 may be infinitely holier and happier to all + eternity!

+

Birmingham, July 9, 1782

This place and date as in AM.

+
+ + +