THE EARLY METHODIST CONFERENCES.*

It is a common observation, confirmed by the events of ordinary life, that important results often arise from small and unpromising beginnings. The history of Methodism abounds with examples of this kind. When the two Wesleys were resident in the University of Oxford, they became deeply impressed with the supreme importance of true religion; which they believed to consist not in any outward thing, but in holy tempers, expressing themselves in a course of unreserved devotedness to God; so that the entire person, including the body, soul, and spirit, should be habitually presented to God as "a holy living sacrifice," the eye of the mind being singly fixed on Him.

How they might attain to this state was, with them, a matter of anxious inquiry. Their philosophy taught them that habits are formed by a series of acts, often repeated. They, therefore, set themselves to mortify every corrupt inclination of which they were conscious, by a rigorous course of self-denial; hoping, by this means, to obtain in time a complete victory over every evil principle, and thus become pure in heart. They also collected the finest hymns, prayers, and other forms of devotion. These hymns they sang, and these prayers they repeated upon their knees daily; they received the Lord's Supper every Sabbath, and were regular attendants upon the public worship of Almighty God; believing that in this manner they should acquire all the graces of the Christian character, and secure the great end of their existence and redemption.

It was also suggested to them, that the keeping of a daily journal would greatly aid them in securing the object they had in view. John was the first to adopt this means of spiritual improvement; and the results to which it led are worthy of special observation. When he began the practice, he intended nothing more than his own advancement in personal godliness. He thought that by placing upon record, from day to day, the state of his own heart, and the manner in which he spent his time, he should in the review find matter of thankfulness and of humiliation, and should thus be drawn nearer and nearer to God, whom he desired to love with all his heart, and whose favour he desired above all things to enjoy. Other important ends, however, were answered by the habit which was thus formed; ends which, in the first instance, he had never contemplated. To this habit the world is indebted for that wonderful record, his published "Journal;" which traces, with inimitable clearness and simplicity, the rise and progress of one of the most remarkable revivals of religion that have taken place since the time of the apostles; and is, therefore, an

Minutes of the Methodist Conferences, from the First, held in London, by the late Rev. John Wesley, A.M., in the year 1744. Volume I. 8vo., pp. 727. (John Mason.)

invaluable contribution to church-history. Nor is it less important as presenting an eminent example of ministerial zeal and fidelity, of steadiness of purpose, of meekness under injuries and opposition, of indefatigable diligence, and of successful labour in the cause of Christ; while it interests the general reader, as an embodiment of shrewd and pertinent observations upon passing occurrences, upon men and manners, and upon the literature of the times. To the same habit, unintentionally formed, we must also ascribe the records we possess of the Methodist Conferences from the time of their origin, which are scarcely less valuable than the "Journal" of the venerable man whose name it bears.

It was not by following the dictates of philosophy, that the Wesleys attained to tranquillity of conscience and purity of heart; nor by surrendering themselves to the erring guidance of Bishop Taylor and William Law, to whom they had hitherto yielded an implicit deference, but neither of whom had any just apprehension of the nature and method of a sinner's justification before God. It was by faith in the sacrifice of Christ that these teachable and anxious men found the salvation of God. They were providentially taught what their friend John Gambold happily called "the sinner's short way to God,"-full and free justification through faith in the blood of the cross. Having thus obtained rest unto their souls,and believing that God is no respecter of persons, so that this way to God is open to all,-they immediately began to recommend to others the salvation which they had themselves received, and with gratifying success. Witnesses of God's mercy were raised up in very considerable numbers; and fellow-labourers, both clerical and lay, offered their services, in order to the extension of the work, which was felt to be the work of God, and, therefore, worthy of all possible encouragement and support.

The practical mind of John Wesley could not be permanently connected with such a work as this, without some clearly-ascertained mode of action. In his estimation, it was necessary that the men who were concerned in promoting this work should understand one another's minds, so that they might teach the same doctrines, aim at the same object, and walk by the same rule; and hence the Conferences that were held under his direction, the "Minutes" of which are now before us, drawn up by his own hand, and bearing the impress of his acute and logical mind.

The first of these Conferences was begun on Monday, June 25th, 1744, at the Foundery, London, and continued till the Friday following. It consisted of six clergymen, who agreed to invite four laymen to meet with them. After some time spent in prayer, it was proposed that they should consider three questions: what to teach; how to teach; and what to do: -that is, how they should regulate their doctrine, discipline, and practice. It is an interesting fact, that the first subject to which they directed their attention was the doctrine of justification by faith;-a doctrine which is prominent in the Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans and the Galatians; which was one of the leading tenets of all the Protestant Reformers;

which is embodied in every Protestant Confession of Faith, and, therefore, in the formularies of the Church of England; but which in that Church had fallen into all but universal neglect at the time of which we are now speaking, her greatest divines holding it only in a very modified form, and the clergy in general confining themselves, in their public teaching, mostly to ethical subjects. Bishop Jeremy Taylor's theory was, that men are justified before God as they gain the mastery over their evil habits of temper and practice, and no farther; so that justification is a progressive work, and can never be considered as complete, except in cases of perfect sanctification. This is, in other words, the theory of the Popish Council of Trent, which was held at the time of the Reformation, and was intended to supply an antidote to that great evangelical movement. The Council pronounces the men "accursed" who hold that sinners are justified by faith only; and boldly asserts that they can only be justified by conformity to the moral code. Mr. William Law, to whose writings the Wesleys had formerly surrendered themselves with a confidence scarcely less than that which they yielded to the sacred writers, appears to have had no apprehension at all of a sinner's justification before God, in the forensic sense of that term; or of the death of Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice for sin, intended to reconcile the claims of justice and of law with the exercise of mercy to guilty men. He calls mankind to a life of practical holiness, with a power of argument, and a beauty of expression, which no English writer ever surpassed; but never even attempts to show them how they may obtain the forgiveness of their past sins, so as to go from a state of guilt and condemnation to a state of acceptance and peace. Such divines as Dr. Hammond, Bishop Bull, and Dr. Waterland,-men of great scholarship, and mighty in their advocacy of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and of other important elements of revealed truth,—all departed from the Articles of their own Church on the vital question of a sinner's justification before God. They regarded faith as a simple belief of the Gospel, and the principle of evangelical obedience; and, as such, they made it the condition of justification. They did not regard justifying faith as the trust of a penitent sinner in Christ for present acceptance with God, but as that belief of the Gospel which expresses itself in a course of evangelical obedience : so that, until that obedience is actually produced, there is no justification; and justification is incomplete when the obedience is defective. Upon these principles, no man can be considered as "fully absolved" from the guilt of his past sins, until his day of probation is ended; and for the Christian life in this world to be a life of uninterrupted peace and joy, according to the teaching of the apostles, is simply impossible. Yet it is undeniable that these inspired men speak of justification as a blessing which is already bestowed upon believers in Christ, and in the possession of which they "joy in God," having their "hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience;" so that they serve God without tormenting fear, and even desire the coming of their Lord to judgment.

In their first sitting, the members of this first Methodist Conference

declared their belief that the term justification, as applied to a penitent believer in the New Testament, does not denote a change in his character, but in his relation to God. He has ceased to be an object of the Divine wrath, and an heir of hell; and has become an object of God's favour, and an heir of everlasting life. "To be justified," say they, is "to be pardoned, and received into God's favour; into such a state, that, if we continue therein, we shall be finally saved."

Of this great blessing, which to fallen men is the foundation of all happiness and of all hope, "faith is the condition ;" "for everyone who believeth not is condemned; and everyone that believeth is justified." This faith, upon which the mighty benefit is suspended, they describe as an appropriating trust in Christ crucified. "Justifying faith," they say, "is a Divine assurance that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me." Such a faith is always preceded by repentance, and, where there is opportunity, by works meet for repentance: by repentance being meant "conviction of sin;" and by works meet for repentance," obeying God as far as we can, forgiving our brother, leaving off from evil, doing good, and using His ordinances according to the power we have received." Yet these works cannot be called good works, in the strict theological sense of that term. They are nothing more than works which become a man who has the sentence of death in his own conscience, who sees the wrath of God suspended over his guilty head, who is convinced of the entire sinfulness of his own nature; who strives against sin, yet is held in bondage by it; and who desires, above all things, to be forgiven, and created a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Directly consequent upon justification, "the fruits of justifying faith" are "peace, joy, love, power over all outward sin, and power to keep down inward sin." It is added, that "a believer need never again come into condemnation. It seems he need not come into a state of doubt, or fear, or darkness; and that (ordinarily at least) he will not, unless by ignorance or unfaithfulness. Yet it is true, that the first joy does seldom last long; that it is commonly followed by doubts and fears; and that God frequently permits great heaviness, before any large manifestation of Himself."

Several other questions connected with this great subject the members of the Conference discussed, with a view to record their judgment upon them: from which we learn, that, in their apprehension, the justification of a sinner is the full and free forgiveness of all past sin ;-that it is a gift of God, gratuitously bestowed, without any proper merit on the part of those who receive it ;-that it is obtained by faith only; so that, however deep may be a man's penitential sorrow, and with whatever earnestness he may strive against sin, he is not actually justified till he believes ;-that, up to the time of their justification, men are not only guilty, but "ungodly," having a deep conviction of the entire corruption of their nature;—that when the guilt of sin is taken away, so that they are no longer under the curse of the law, the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of adoption, fills them with peace and joy, subdues the evils of their nature, and inspires them with

Divine love, which is the principle of all holiness; so that they enter upon a course of evangelical obedience, and joyfully anticipate the happiness of heaven.

These views, so simple and encouraging, and so obviously in accordance with the general tenor of the apostolic Epistles, were comparatively new at the time they were agreed upon by Mr. Wesley and his friends. We look in vain for any such doctrine in the popular theology of that age. It is not found in the sermons of Tillotson and Sharp, or in the polished discourses of Atterbury and Seed; nor do we find it in the volumes of the Arian Dissenters, or of the rigid Predestinarians of that period. A few moderate men among the Nonconformists, of whom Watts or Doddridge may be considered as the type, seemed to come near to these views; but they did not embrace them entirely. Watts sacrificed his usefulness, to a great extent, by rash speculations on the subject of the Holy Trinity, which led him into essential Arianism; and neither he nor any of his brethren had access to the masses of ignorant and profligate people, whom the Methodists were preparing to instruct and reclaim. Even the moderate Calvinism of Watts and Doddridge was less evangelical and encouraging than the doctrine agreed upon at this first Methodist Conference, and far less adapted to the popular mind. Neither in the Sermons of Dr. Watts, nor in Doddridge's "Rise and Progress of Religion," do we find such lucid and encouraging views of the nature and method of a sinner's justification, as in the writings of Mr. Wesley; with whom, on these points, his friend Whitefield was in substantial agreement.

On the second day of their sitting these devout men directed their attention to the Scripture doctrine of sanctification; a subject which stands in intimate connexion with that which they had already discussed. "To be sanctified," they say, is "to be renewed in the image of God in righteousness and true holiness." With respect to this great blessing, they add, that "faith is both the condition and the instrument of it. When we begin to believe, then sanctification begins. And, as faith increases, holiness increases, till we are created anew." To be "a perfect Christian," they say, is "the loving the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our mind, and soul, and strength;" and implies "that all inward sin is taken away."

Sanctification is directly consequent upon justification; for then the Holy Spirit takes possession of the heart, and implants in it every Christian grace. From that time, supposing the believer to follow on to know the Lord, there is a gradual mortification of sin, and a gradual strengthening of all Christian virtues, till the last spark of evil is extinct, and every grace is brought to maturity. And, if this state is attainable by faith, it is attainable in this life. As to such persons as believe that they have attained to this state, it is agreed to " exhort them to forget the things that are behind, and to watch and pray always, that God may search the ground of their hearts." It is therefore assumed, that the parties might fall from this state of grace; that they should especially beware of self