Altogether a Christian: Selections from the Works of Reverend John Wesley (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

Today, it is an honor to present selections from the book “The Works of the Reverend John Wesley: Volume 1.”

Sermon 2 The Almost Christian

“Almost thou persuade me to be a Christian. And many there are who go thus far: ever since the Christian religion was in the world, there have been many in every age and nation, who were almost persuaded to be Christians. But seeing it avails nothing before God, to go only thus far, it highly imports us to consider, First, what is implied in being almost, Secondly, what, in being altogether a Christian.”

I. What is implied in being almost a Christian

“[…] Sincerity […] is necessarily implied in the being almost a Christian: a real design to serve God, a hearty desire to do His will: it is necessarily implied, that a man have a sincere view of pleasing God in all things: in all his conversation: in all his actions: in all he does, or leaves undone. This design, if any man be almost a Christian, runs through the whole tenor of his life. This is the moving principle, both in his doing good, his abstaining from evil, and his using the ordinances of God. […]”

II. What, in being altogether a Christian

“If it be enquired, what more than this is implied in the being altogether a Christian? I answer:

First, the love of God. For thus said His word, ‘Thou shall love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.’ Such a love is this, as engrosses the whole heart, as takes up all the affections, as fills the entire capacity of the soul, and employs the utmost extent of all its faculties. He that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit continually rejoices in God his Savior. His delight is in the Lord, his Lord and his all, to whom in everything he gives thanks. […]

The second thing implied in the being altogether a Christian is, the love of our neighbor. For thus said our Lord in the following words, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.’ If any man ask who is my neighbor, we reply, every man in the world; every child of His, who is the Father of the spirits of all flesh. Nor may we in any wise except our enemies, or the enemies of God and their own souls. But every Christian loves these also as himself, yea, as Christ loved us. […]”