A Call to Change

Comprehensive transformation takes a five to seven-year process, sometimes longer. Example of comprehensive transformations would be a shift to ministries that target unchurched persons, a major transitions in the racial or ethnic composition of the membership, movement to significantly different size, or the journey from a “chaplaincy” stance to a missional posture.

Change is needed or even whether good models of faithful and effective churches exist at the dawn of the millennium.  The biggest problem has been how to transform our people with all of its tradition, attitudes, programs, and patterns. How can they discern God’s vision and make progress toward its implementation? What are the pitfalls and risks to be avoided?

If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll keep getting what we’ve been getting. Can we live with that? We offer what we’ve learned with a spirit of hopefulness and confidence that the source of transformation is ever ready to guide and to empower those who are willing and able to follow. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Cor. 2:9).

Before his ascension Jesus Christ made a promise to all of us who are his disciples; “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matt 28:20). Christ is with us always in good times and bad, in sickness and in sorrow, at the moment of our birth and at the gates of death, and he will never leave us or forsake us. That is the one assurance given to us as we follow him to Golgotha. That is the one certainty we have when we marry and raise our kids, when we pursue our callings and earn our bread. That is the sure promise that is with us still when our hair turns grey and our limbs feeble. But through all the joys and agonies of life, and the days of eternity to come, God’s word, Christ’ word is enough: “I am with you!”

Visionary Past

Some men and women of GOD met in Dallas some 40 years ago. Desiring to know more about Jesus and make HIS witness visible to the next generation, they incorporated a biblical church believing then that the best hope for Dallas was a bible- believing, gospel-preaching church grounded in the great truths of the Protestant Reformation and commitment to the spreading of the gospel through the lenses of Historic Holiness Movement

Though these visionaries were flawed people they all held evangelical interpretation of Scripture, commitment to live for GOD and turn the city upside down for Jesus.

Early 1970, those visionaries purchased about three acres in Pleasant Grove area of East Dallas and began to build a Sanctuary so that they could build strong marriages and  families, and raise their children in the way of the Lord.

By 1990s community dynamics had changed and a need to expand their ministry to Hispanic community led the General Conference under the forward vision of Rev. Bedford Landers and Rev. Ira Schilling to incorporate Victory Fellowship as a successor with a vision to reach to all people and expand the evangelical and congregational church that;

1. Provides a SCRIPTURAL MINISTRY that depends upon the power of GOD to enable all people to develop spiritually, morally, intellectually, physically and socially all through the power of the Holy Spirit and Prayer.
2. Provides FAMILY- FRIENDLY GATHERING PLACES and infrastructure that reflects the excellence of God’s people in suitable location, and
3. Is a CENTER OF MINISTRY EXCELLENCE for the worship of God and the raising of godly families within the context of Christian truth and commitment, spiritual sensitivity, and submission to Christ’ Lordship.

Means of Grace

1. Works of Piety

The chief of these means of the works of peity are;

Prayer / Worship

• Prayer is an essential part of Christian living. Christians are to pray constantly, without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pray for your salvation. Pray for the lost to come to salvation. Pray for those who have come to salvation to find a place to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible Study

• Read the Bible every day. Study it with a group who desire nothing but God.

Fasting

• People in Old Testament times fasted (Ezra 8:23). So did Jesus and his followers (Matthew 4:2; Acts 13:3)
•  Great giants of faith who have gone before us like John Wesley fasted two days a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, in his younger days. Later he fasted on Fridays.
• Fasting advances holiness.

Lord’s Supper

• God’s grace is conveyed through the Lord’s Supper and that it is a major way God nourishes us.

2. The Works of Mercy

Most simply defined, “works of mercy” are “doing good.”  “Means of grace,” include both “works of piety”(instituted means of grace) and “works of mercy” (prudential means of grace). Wesley described the works of mercy in his sermons on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as follows:

• And, First, with regard to works of mercy. “Take heed,” saith he,”that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” “That ye do not your alms:” — Although this only is named, yet is every work of charity included, every thing which we give, or speak, or do, whereby our neighbour may be profited; whereby another man may receive any advantage, either in his body or soul.
• The feeding the hungry, the clothing the naked, the entertaining or assisting the stranger, the visiting those that are sick or in prison, the comforting the afflicted, the instructing the ignorant, the reproving the wicked, the exhorting and encouraging the well-doer; and if there be any other work of mercy, it is equally included in this direction.

People must be Christians in both word and deed, which is to express the love of God. Christians must grow in God’s grace, which first prepares us for belief, then accepts us when we respond to God in faith, and sustains us as we do good works and participate in God’s mission. John Wesley not only preached about works of mercy, he “practiced” what he preached. For example, he:

• lived modestly and gave all he could to help people who were poor
• visited people in prison and provided spiritual guidance, food, and clothing to them
• spoke out against slavery and forbade it in Methodism
• founded schools at the Foundery in London, Bristol, and Newcastle
• published books, pamphlets, and magazines for the education and spiritual edification of people
• taught and wrote about good health practices and even dispensed medicine from his chapels

Christians must do both works of piety and works of mercy in order to move on toward;

3. Christian Perfection {Holy Living}

{JW)

(1.) Perhaps the general prejudice against Christian perfection may chiefly arise from a misapprehension of the nature of it.

• We willingly allow, and continually declare, there is no such perfection in this life, as implies either a dispensation from doing good, and attending all the ordinances of God, or a freedom from ignorance, mistake, temptation, and a thousand infirmities necessarily connected with flesh and blood.

(2.) First. We not only allow, but earnestly contend, that there is no perfection in this life, which implies any dispensation from attending all the ordinances of God, or from doing good unto all men while we have time, though ‘especially unto the household of faith.’

• We believe, that not only the babes in Christ, who have newly found redemption in his blood, but those also who are ‘grown up into perfect men,’ are indispensably obliged, as often as they have opportunity, ‘to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of Him,’ and to ‘search the Scriptures;’ by fasting, as well as temperance, to ‘keep their bodies under, and bring them into subjection;’ and, above all, to pour out their souls in prayer, both secretly, and in the great congregation.

“(3.) We Secondly believe, that there is no such perfection in this life, as implies an entire deliverance, either from ignorance, or mistake, in things not essential to salvation, or from manifold temptations, or from numberless infirmities, wherewith the corruptible body more or less presses down the soul.

• We cannot find any ground in Scripture to suppose, that any inhabitant of a house of clay is wholly exempt either from bodily infirmities, or from ignorance of many things;or to imagine any is incapable of mistake, or falling into divers temptations.

“(4.) But whom then do you mean by ‘one that is perfect?’ We mean one in whom is ‘the mind which was in Christ,’ and who so ‘walketh as Christ also walked;’ a man ‘that hath clean hands and a pure heart,’ or that is ‘cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit;’ one in whom is ‘no occasion of stumbling,’ and who, accordingly, ‘does not commit sin.’ To declare this a little more particularly:

• We understand by that scriptural expression, ‘a perfect man,’ one in whom God hath fulfilled his faithful word, ‘From all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you: I will also save you from all your uncleannesses.’ We understand hereby, one whom God lath ‘sanctified throughout in body, soul, and spirit;’ one who ‘walketh in the light as He is in the light, in whom is no darkness at all; the blood of Jesus Christ his Son having cleansed him from all sin.’

“(5.) This man can now testify to all mankind,

• ‘I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’
• He is ‘holy as God who called’ him ‘is holy,’ both in heart and ‘in all manner of conversation.’
• He ‘loveth the Lord his God with all his heart,’ and serveth him ‘with all his strength.’
• He ‘loveth his neighbour,’ every man, ‘as himself;’ yea, ‘as Christ loveth us;’ them, in particular, that ‘despitefully use him and persecute him, because they know not the Son, neither the Father.’
• Indeed his soul is all love, filled with ‘bowels of mercies, kindness, meekness, gentleness, longsuffering.’ And his life agreeth thereto, full of ‘the work of faith, the patience of hope, the labour of love.’ ‘
• And whatsoever’ he ‘doeth either in word or deed,’ he ‘doeth it all in the name,’ in the love and power, ‘of the Lord Jesus.’ In a word, he doeth ‘the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven.’

“(6.) This it is to be a perfect man, to be ‘sanctified throughout;’ even ‘to have a heart so all-flaming with the love of God,’ (to use Archbishop Usher’s words,) ‘as continually to offer up every thought, word, and work, as a spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God through Christ.’

• In every thought of our hearts, in every word of our tongues, in every work of our hands, to ‘show forth his praise, who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ O that both we, and all who seek the Lord Jesus in sincerity, may thus ‘be made perfect in one!'”

This is the doctrine which we preached from the beginning, and which we preach at this day. Indeed, by viewing it in every point of light, and comparing it again and again with the word of God on the one hand, and the experience of the children of God on the other, we saw farther into the nature and properties of Christian perfection. But still there is no contrariety at all between our first and our last sentiments. Our first conception of it was,

• It is to have “the mind which was in Christ,” and to “walk as He walked;” to have all the mind that was in Him, and always to walk as he walked:
• In other words, to be inwardly and outwardly devoted to God; all devoted in heart and life. And we have the same conception of it now, without either addition or diminution.

FSMC – Dallas, Texas

The formation of First Southern Methodist Church of Dallas in 1969 was announced by the Rev. Philiph Bashaw, Chairman of the Board of Church Extension of the denomination’s Mid-South Conference. President of the Church, the

Rev. Glenn S. Comfort of Orangeburg, South Carolina was present to receive the first members into the church, and to recognize the new congregation as a Southern Methodist Church as members united together in a formal organization on Thursday Evening February 27, 1969.

Also present and participating in the service were the Rev. Frank M. Beauchamp, Pastor of First Southern Methodist Church of Shreveport, LA., the Rev. W. L. Porterfield, Pastor of First Southern Methodist Church of Port Arthur, Texas (both were members of the Mid-South Conference Board of Church Extension) and Mr. Guy Hebert, member of First Southern Methodist Church of Baton Rouge, La, of which Rev. Bashaw was the pastor.

Chairman of the local organizational committee was Mr. James S. Wilkins, and temporary officers were elected by the new congregation February 27. They are as follows; Mr. W. W. Hughes, Chairman of the Church Conference, Mr. James Wilkins, Vice – Chairman; Mrs J. S. Wilkins Secretary; Mrs. R. U. Beard, Treasurer; Mr. R. U. Beard Sunday School Superitendant.

The new church met for worship services temporarily  in the Y.M.C.A. on Prichard Lane in the Pleasant Grove addition of East Dallas and began to deveop a vision for providing a family-friendly church-facility. Early 1970 they purchased a piece of property on the outskirts of East Dallas ands began to develop a church campus where people could be equipped in a lifestyle that is Bible-based, God-centered, Christ-exalting, gospel-focused, grace-filled, and grounded in the theological heritage of the Wesleyan movement made relevant to a changing world. They could hardly imagine that forty years later this church would be strategically located in one of the fastest growing cities in America.

Facing the Future

As the church moved into the 21st Century, the leadership began to see staggering changes taking place in the community. The most eye-opening was the explosive growth in young families from all nations and corners of the world. God began to deal with the leadership from the local, Annual and General Conference leading to a decision to share the gospel for a witness to ALL people with the gospel.

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A Short History of Methodism

In November 1729 four young gentelmen of Oxford –

• Mr. John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln College;
• Mr. Charles Wesley, Student of Christ Church;
• Mr. Morgan, Commoner of Christ Church; and
• Mr. Kirkham, of Merton College, —

… began to spend some evenings in a week together, in reading, chiefly, the Greek Testament. The next year two or three of Mr. John Wesley’s pupils desired the liberty of meeting with them; and afterwards

• Mr. Charles Wesley’s pupils.
• Mr. Ingham, of Queen’s College (1732), and
• Mr. Broughton, of Exeter, were added to their number.

To these, in April, was joined;

• Mr. Clayton, of Brazen-nose, with two or three of his pupils. About the same time
• Mr. James Hervey was permitted to meet with them; and in 1735,
• Mr. Whitfield.

5. The exact regularity of their lives, as well as studies, occasioned a young gentleman of Christ Church to say,

“Here is a new set of Methodists sprung up;” alluding to some ancient Physicians who were so called.

The name was new and quaint; so it took immediately, and the Methodists were known all over the University.

6. They were all zealous members of the Church of England; not only tenacious of all her doctrines, so far as they knew them, but of all her discipline, to the minutest circumstance.

• They were likewise zealous observers of all the University Statutes, and that for conscience’ sake.
• But they observed neither these nor anything else any further than they conceived it was bound upon them by their one book, the Bible; it being their one desire and design to be downright Bible-Christians; taking the Bible, as interpreted by the primitive Church and our own, for their whole and sole rule.

7. The one charge then advanced against them was, that they were “righteous overmuch;” that they were abundantly too scrupulous, and too strict, carrying things to great extremes: In particular, that they laid too much stress upon the Rubrics and Canons of the Church; that they insisted too much on observing the Statutes of the University; and that they took the Scriptures in too strict and literal a sense; so that if they were right, few indeed would be saved.

8. In October, 1735, Mr. John and Charles Wesley, and Mr. Ingham, left England, with a design to go and preach to the Indians in Georgia: But the rest of the gentlemen continued to meet, till one and another was ordained and left the University. By which means, in about two years’ time, scarce any of them were left.

9. In February, 1738, Mr. Whitefield went over to Georgia with a design to assist Mr. John Wesley; but Mr. Wesley just then returned to England. Soon after he had a meeting with

• Messrs. Ingham,
• Stonehouse,
• Hall, Hutchings,
• Kinchin, and a few other Clergymen,

..who all appeared to be of one heart, as well as of one judgment, resolved

• Tto be Bible-Christians at all events; and, wherever they were,
• To preach with all their might plain, old, Bible Christianity.

10. They were hitherto perfectly regular in all things, and zealously attached to the Church of England. Meantime, they began to be convinced, that “by grace we are saved through faith;” that justification by faith was the doctrine of the Church, as well as of the Bible. As soon as they believed, they spake; salvation by faith being now their standing topic. Indeed this implied three things:

• (1.) That men are all, by nature, “dead in sin,” and, consequently, “children of wrath.”
• (2.) That they are “justified by faith alone.”
• (3.) That faith produces inward and outward holiness:

And these points they insisted on day and night. In a short time they became popular Preachers. The congregations were large wherever they preached. The former name was then revived; and all these gentlemen, with their followers, were entitled Methodists.

11. In March, 1741, Mr. Whitefield, being returned to England, entirely separated from Mr. Wesley and his friends, because he did not hold the decrees. Here was the first breach, which warm men persuaded Mr. Whitefield to make merely for a difference of opinion. Those, indeed, who believed universal redemption had no desire at all to separate; but those who held particular redemption would not hear of any accommodation, being determined to have no fellowship with men that “were in so dangerous errors.” So there were now two sorts of Methodists, so called; those for particular, and those for general, redemption.

12. Not many years passed, before William Cudworth and James Relly separated from Mr. Whitefield. These were properly Antinomians; absolute, avowed enemies to the law of God, which they never preached or professed to preach, but termed all legalists who did. With them, “preaching the law” was an abomination. They had “nothing to do” with the law. They would “preach Christ,” as they called it, but without one word either of holiness or good works. Yet these were still denominated Methodists, although differing from Mr. Whitefield, both in judgment and practice, abundantly more than Mr. Whitefield did from Mr. Wesley.

13. In the mean time, Mr. Venn and Mr. Romaine began to be spoken of; and not long after Mr. Madan and Mr. Berridge, with a few other Clergymen, who, although they had no Bridge with each other,

• yet preaching salvation by faith, and
• endeavoring to live accordingly, to be Bible-Christians, were soon included in the general name of Methodists.

And so indeed were all others who preached salvation by faith, and appeared more serious than their neighbors. Some of these were quite regular in their manner of preaching; some were quite irregular; (though not by choice; but necessity was laid upon them; they must preach irregularly, or not at all;) and others were between both, regular in most, though not in all, particulars.

14. In 1762, George Bell, and a few other persons, began to speak great words. In the latter end of the year, they foretold that the world would be at an end on the 28th of February. Mr. Wesley, with whom they were then connected, withstood them both in public and private. This they would not endure; so, in January and February, 1763, they separated from him. Soon after, Mr. Maxfield, one of Mr. Wesley’s Preachers, and several of the people, left Mr. Wesley; but still Mr. Maxfield and his adherents go under the general name of Methodists.

15. At present, those who remain with Mr. Wesley are mostly Church-of-England men, though they do not love their opinions. Yea, they love the Antinomians themselves; but it is with a love of compassion only: For they hate their doctrines with a perfect hatred; they abhor them as they do hell-fire; being convinced nothing can so effectually destroy all faith, all holiness, and all good works.

16. With regard to these, Mr. Relly and his adherents, it would not he strange if they should grow into reputation. For they will never shock the world, either by the harshness of their doctrine, or the singularity of their behavior.

• But let those who determine both to preach and to live the Gospel expect that men will say “all manner of evil of them.”
• “The servant is not above his Master, nor the disciple above his Lord. If, then, they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household?”
• It is their duty, indeed, “as much as lieth in them, to live peaceably with all men.” But when they labor after peace, the world will “make themselves ready for battle.”
•  It is their constant endeavor to “please all men, for their good, to edification.” But yet they know it cannot be done:
• They remember the word of the Apostle, “If I yet please men, I am not the servant of Christ.”
• They go on, therefore, “through honor and dishonor, through evil report and good report;” desiring only, that their Master may say in that day, “Servants of God, well done!”

 

The Character of a Methodist

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1. THE distinguishing marks of a Methodist are not his opinions of any sort. His assenting to this or that scheme of religion, his embracing any particular set of notions, his espousing the judgment of one man or of another, are all quite wide of the point. Whosoever, therefore, imagines that a Methodist is a man of such or such an opinion, is grossly ignorant of the whole affair; he mistakes the truth totally.

• We believe, indeed, that “all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God;” and herein we are distinguished from Jews, Turks, and Infidels.
• We believe the written word of God to be the only and sufficient rule both of Christian faith and practice; and herein we are fundamentally distinguished from those of the Romish Church.
• We believe Christ to be the eternal, supreme God; and herein we are distinguished from the Socinians and Arians.

But as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think. So that whatsoever they are, whether right or wrong, they are no distinguishing marks of a Methodist.

2. Neither are words or phrases of any sort. We do not place our religion, or any part of it, in being attached to any peculiar mode of speaking, any quaint or uncommon set of expressions. The most obvious, easy, common words, wherein our meaning can be conveyed,

• we prefer before others, both on ordinary occasions, and when we speak of the things of God.
• We never, therefore, willingly or designedly, deviate from the most usual way of speaking; unless when we express scripture truths in scripture words, which, we presume, no Christian will condemn.
• Neither do we affect to use any particular expressions of Scripture more frequently than others, unless they are such as are more frequently used by the inspired writers themselves. So that it is as gross an error, to place the marks of a Methodist in his words, as in opinions of any sort.

3. Nor do we desire to be distinguished by actions, customs, or usages, of an indifferent nature.

• Our religion does not lie in doing what God has not enjoined, or abstaining from what he hath not forbidden.
• It does not lie in the form of our apparel, in the posture of our body,
• Or the covering of our heads; nor yet in abstaining from marriage, or from meats and drinks, which are all good if received with thanksgiving.

Therefore, neither will any man, who knows whereof he affirms, fix the mark of a Methodist here, — in any actions or customs purely indifferent, undetermined by the word of God.

4. Nor, lastly, is he distinguished by laying the whole stress of religion on any single part of it. If you say, “Yes, he is; for he thinks ‘we are saved by faith alone:'” I answer, You do not understand the terms. By salvation he means holiness of heart and life. And this he affirms to spring from true faith alone. Can even a nominal Christian deny it? Is this placing a part of religion for the whole? “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid! Yea, we establish the law.” We do not place the whole of religion (as too many do, God knoweth) either in doing no harm, or in doing good, or in using the ordinances of God. No, not in all of them together; wherein we know by experience a man may labour many years, and at the end have no religion at all, no more than he had at the beginning. Much less in any one of these; or, it may be, in a scrap of one of them: Like her who fancies herself a virtuous woman, only because she is not a prostitute; or him who dreams he is an honest man, merely because he does not rob or steal. May the Lord God of my fathers preserve me from such a poor, starved religion as this! Were this the mark of a Methodist, I would sooner choose to be a sincere Jew, Turk, or Pagan.

5. “What then is the mark? Who is a Methodist, according to your own account?” I answer:

• A Methodist is one who has “the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him;”
• One who “loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul; which is constantly crying out, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee! My God and my all! Thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever!”

6. He is therefore happy in God, yea, always happy, as having in him “a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” and overflowing his soul with peace and joy. “Perfect love” having now “cast out fear,” he “rejoices evermore.”

• He “rejoices in the Lord always,” even “in God his Saviour;” and in the Father, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom he hath now received the atonement.”
• “Having” found “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of his sins,” he cannot but rejoice, whenever he looks back on the horrible pit out of which he is delivered; when he sees “all his transgressions blotted out as a cloud, and his iniquities as a thick cloud.”
• He cannot but rejoice, whenever he looks on the state wherein he now is; “being justified freely, and having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” For “he that believeth, hath the witness” of this “in himself;” being now the son of God by faith.
• “Because he is a son, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father!” And “the Spirit itself beareth witness with his spirit, that he is a child of God.”
• He rejoiceth also, whenever he looks forward, “in hope of the glory that shall be revealed;” yea, this his joy is full, and all his bones cry out, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten me again to a living hope — of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for me!”

7. And he who hath this hope, thus “full of immortality, in everything giveth thanks;” as knowing that this (whatsoever it is) “is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning him.” From him, therefore, he cheerfully receives all, saying, “Good is the will of the Lord;” and whether the Lord giveth or taketh away, equally “blessing the name of the Lord.”

• For he hath “learned, in whatsoever state he is, therewith to be content.”
• He knoweth “both how to be abased and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things he is instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need.”
• Whether in ease or pain, whether in sickness or health, whether in life or death, he giveth thanks from the ground of his heart to Him who orders it for good; knowing that as “every good gift cometh from above,” so none but good can come from the Father of Lights, into whose hand he has wholly committed his body and soul, as into the hands of a faithful Creator.
• He is therefore “careful” (anxiously or uneasily) “for nothing;” as having “cast all his care on Him that careth for him,” and “in all things” resting on him, after “making his request known to him with thanksgiving.”

8. For indeed he “prays without ceasing.” It is given him “always to pray, and not to faint.” Not that he is always in the house of prayer; though he neglects no opportunity of being there. Neither is he always on his knees, although he often is, or on his face, before the Lord his God. Nor yet is he always crying aloud to God, or calling upon him in words: For many times “the Spirit maketh intercession for him with groans that cannot be uttered.” But at all times the language of his heart is this: “Thou brightness of the eternal glory, unto thee is my heart, though without a voice, and my silence speaketh unto thee.” And this is true prayer, and this alone. But his heart is ever lifted up to God, at all times and in all places. In this he is never hindered, much less interrupted, by any person or thing. In retirement or company, in leisure, business, or conversation, his heart is ever with the Lord. Whether he lie down or rise up, God is in all his thoughts; he walks with God continually, having the loving eye of his mind still fixed upon him, and everywhere “seeing Him that is invisible.”

9. And while he thus always exercises his love to God, by praying without ceasing, rejoicing evermore, and in everything giving thanks, this commandment is written in his heart, “That he who loveth God, love his brother also.” And

• he accordingly loves his neighbour as himself; he loves every man as his own soul.
• His heart is full of love to all mankind, to every child of “the Father of the spirits of all flesh.” That a man is not personally known to him, is no bar to his love; no, nor that he is known to be such as he approves not, that he repays hatred for his good-will. For
• he “loves his enemies;” yea, and the enemies of God, “the evil and the unthankful.” And if it be not in his power to “do good to them that hate him,” yet he ceases not to pray for them, though they continue to spurn his love, and still “despitefully use him and persecute him.”

10. For he is “pure in heart.” The love of God has purified his heart from all revengeful passions, from envy, malice, and wrath, from every unkind temper or malign affection. It hath

• cleansed him from pride and haughtiness of spirit, whereof alone cometh contention.
• And he hath now “put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering:” So that he “forbears and forgives, if he had a quarrel against any; even as God in Christ hath forgiven him.” And indeed all possible ground for contention, on his part, is utterly cut off. For none can take from him what he desires; seeing
• he “loves not the world, nor” any of “the things of the world;” being now “crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him;” being dead to all that is in the world, both to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” For “all his desire is unto God, and to the remembrance of his name.”

11. Agreeable to this his one desire, is the one design of his life, namely, “not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him.”

• His one intention at all times and in all things is, not to please himself, but Him whom his soul loveth.
• He has a single eye. And because “his eye is single, his whole body is full of light.” Indeed, where the loving eye of the soul is continually fixed upon God, there can be no darkness at all, “but the whole is light; as when the bright shining of a candle doth enlighten the house.” God then reigns alone.
• All that is in the soul is holiness to the Lord. There is not a motion in his heart, but is according to his will. Every thought that arises points to Him, and is in obedience to the law of Christ.

12. And the tree is known by its fruits. For as he loves God, so he keeps his commandments; not only some, or most of them, but all, from the least to the greatest.

• He is not content to “keep the whole law, and offend in one point;” but has, in all points, “a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man.”
• Whatever God has forbidden, he avoids; whatever God hath enjoined, he doeth; and that whether it be little or great, hard or easy, joyous or grievous to the flesh.
• He “runs the way of God’s commandments,” now he hath set his heart at liberty.
• It is his glory so to do; it is his daily crown of rejoicing, “to do the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven;” knowing it is the highest privilege of “the angels of God, of those that excel in strength, to fulfil his commandments, and hearken to the voice of his word.”

13. All the commandments of God he accordingly keeps, and that with all his might. For his obedience is in proportion to his love, the source from whence it flows. And therefore, loving God with all his heart,

• he serves him with all his strength.
• He continually presents his soul and body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God; entirely and without reserve devoting himself, all he has, and all he is, to his glory.
• All the talents he has received, he constantly employs according to his Master’s will; every power and faculty of his soul, every member of his body.
• Once he “yielded” them “unto sin” and the devil, “as instruments of unrighteousness;” but now, “being alive from the dead, he yields” them all “as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

14. By consequence, whatsoever he doeth, it is all to the glory of God. In all his employments of every kind, he not only aims at this, (which is implied in having a single eye,) but actually attains it. His business and refreshments, as well as his prayers, all serve this great end.

• Whether he sit in his house or walk by the way, whether he lie down or rise up, he is promoting, in all he speaks or does, the one business of his life;
• whether he put on his apparel, or labour, or eat and drink, or divert himself from too wasting labour, it all tends to advance the glory of God, by peace and good-will among men.
• His one invariable rule is this, “Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

15. Nor do the customs of the world at all hinder his “running the race that is set before him.”

• He knows that vice does not lose its nature, though it becomes ever so fashionable; and remembers, that “every man is to give an account of himself to God.”
• He cannot, therefore, “follow” even “a multitude to do evil.” He cannot “fare sumptuously every day,” or “make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
• He cannot “lay up treasures upon earth,” any more than he can take fire into his bosom.
• He cannot “adorn himself,” on any pretence, “with gold or costly apparel.”
•  He cannot join in or countenance any diversion which has the least tendency to vice of any kind.
• He cannot “speak evil” of his neighbour, any more than he can lie either for God or man. \
• He cannot utter an unkind word of any one; for love keeps the door of his lips.
• He cannot speak “idle words;” “no corrupt communication” ever “comes out of his mouth,” as is all that “which is” not “good to the use of edifying,” not “fit to minister grace to the hearers.”
•  But “whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are” justly “of good report,” he thinks, and speaks, and acts, “adorning the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in all things.”

16. Lastly. As he has time, he “does good unto all men;” unto neighbours and strangers, friends and enemies:

• And that in every possible kind; not only to their bodies, by “feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting those that are sick or in prison;” but much more does he labour to do good to their souls, as of the ability which God giveth; to awaken those that sleep in death; to bring those who are awakened to the atoning blood, that, “being justified by faith, they may have peace with God;” and to provoke those who have peace with God to abound more in love and in good works.
• And he is willing to “spend and be spent herein,” even “to be offered up on the sacrifice and service of their faith,” so they may “all come unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

17. These are the principles and practices of our sect; these are the marks of a true Methodist.

• By these alone do those who are in derision so called, desire to be distinguished from other men. If any man say, “Why, these are only the common fundamental principles of Christianity!” thou hast said; so I mean; this is the very truth; I know they are no other; and I would to God both thou and all men knew, that I, and all who follow my judgment, do vehemently refuse to be distinguished from other men, by any but the common principles of Christianity, — the plain, old Christianity that I teach, renouncing and detesting all other marks of distinction.
• And whosoever is what I preach, (let him be called what he will, for names change not the nature of things,) he is a Christian, not in name only, but in heart and in life. He is inwardly and outwardly conformed to the will of God, as revealed in the written word. He thinks, speaks, and lives, according to the method laid down in the revelation of Jesus Christ. His soul is renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and in all true holiness. And having the mind that was in Christ, he so walks as Christ also walked.

18. By these marks, by these fruits of a living faith, do we labour to distinguish ourselves from the unbelieving world from all those whose minds or lives are not according to the Gospel of Christ.

• But from real Christians, of whatsoever denomination they be, we earnestly desire not to be distinguished at all, not from any who sincerely follow after what they know they have not yet attained. No: “Whosoever doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
• And I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that we be in no wise divided among ourselves. Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thine? I ask no farther question. If it be, give me thy hand. For opinions, or terms, let us not destroy the work of God. Dost thou love and serve God? It is enough. I give thee the right hand of fellowship.
• If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies; let us strive together for the faith of the Gospel; walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called; with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; remembering, there is one body, and one Spirit, even as we are called with one hope of our calling; “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

From the Thomas Jackson edition of The Works of John Wesley, 1872.