Canon 75. No ecclesiastical persons shall spend their time idly, by day or by night, playing at dice, cards, or tables.
Now let the clergyman who has observed only these five canons for one year last past, and who has read over all the canons in his congregation; (as the king’s ratification straitly enjoins him to do once every year) let him, I say, cast the first stone at us, for not observing the canons (so called) of the church of England.
83. “However we cannot be (it is said) friends to the church, because we do not obey the governors of it, and submit ourselves (as at our ordination we promised to do) to all their godly admonitions and injunctions.”[¹] I answer, in every individual point of an indifferent nature, We do and will (by the grace of God) obey the governors of the church. But the testifying the gospel of the grace of God, is not a point of an indifferent nature. The ministry which we have received of the Lord Jesus, we are at all hazards to fulfil. It is the burthen of the Lord which is laid upon us here; and we are to obey God rather than man. Nor yet do we in any ways violate the promise which each of us made, when it was said unto him, “Take thou authority to preach the word of God, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” We then promised to submit (mark the words) to the godly admonitions and injunctions of our ordinary. But we did not, could not promise to obey such injunctions, as we know are contrary to the word of God.
[¹] The author of a tract just published at Newcastle, (entitled, The notions of the Methodists fully disproved, in a letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley) much insists upon this objection. I have read, and believe it quite needless to take any further notice of this performance: the writer being so utterly unacquainted with the merits of the cause; and shewing himself so perfectly a stranger, both to my life, preaching, and writing; and to the word of God, and to the articles and homilies of the church of England.
84. “But why then (say some) do you leave the church?” Leave the church! What can you mean? Do we leave so much as the church walls? Your own eyes tell you, we do not. Do we leave the ordinances of the church? You daily see and know the contrary. Do we leave the fundamental doctrine of the church, namely, Salvation by faith? It is our constant theme, in public, in private, in writing, in conversation. Do we leave the practice of the church, the standard whereof are the ten commandments? Which are so essentially in-wrought in her constitution, (as little as you may apprehend it) that whosoever breaks one of the least of these, is no member of the church of England. I believe you do not care to put the cause on this issue. Neither do you mean this, by leaving the church. In truth, I cannot conceive what you mean. I doubt you cannot conceive yourself. You have retailed a sentence from somebody else, which you no more understand than he. And no marvel; for it is a true observation,
“Nonsense is never to be understood.”
85. Nearly related to this is that other objection, that we divide the church. Remember the church is, The faithful people, or true believers. Now how do we divide these? “Why, by our societies.” Very good. Now the case is plain. “We divide them (you say) by uniting them together.” Truly, a very uncommon way of dividing. “O, but we divide those who are thus united with each other, from the rest of the church.” By no means. Many of them were before joined to all their brethren of the church of England (and many were not, until they knew us) by assembling themselves together, to hear the word of God, and to eat of one bread, and drink of one cup. And do they now forsake that assembling themselves together? You cannot, you dare not say it. You know they are more diligent therein than ever; it being one of the fixed rules of our societies, “That every member attend the ordinances of God.” i. e. do not divide from the church. And if any member of the church does thus divide from or leave it, he hath no more place among us.
86. I have considered this objection the more at large, because it is of most weight with sincere minds. And to all these, if they have fairly and impartially weighed the answer as well as the objection, I believe it clearly appears, that we are neither undermining nor destroying, neither dividing nor leaving the church. So far from it, that we have great heaviness, on her account, yea, continual sorrow in our hearts. And our prayer to God is, that he would repair the breaches of Sion, and build the walls of Jerusalem, that this our desolate church may flourish again, and be the praise of the whole earth.
87. But perhaps you have heard, that “we in truth regard no church at all: that gain is the true spring of all our actions: that I, in particular, am well paid for my work, having thirteen hundred pounds a year (as a reverend author accurately computes it) at the Foundery alone, over and above what I receive from Bristol, Kingswood, Newcastle, and other places: and that whoever survives me, will see I have made good use of my time; for I shall not die a beggar.”
88. I freely own, this is one of the best devised objections, which has ever yet been made; because it not only puts us upon proving a negative, (which is seldom an easy task) but also one of such a kind as scarce admits of any demonstrative proof at all. But for such proof as the nature of the thing allows, I appeal to my manner of life which hath been from the beginning. Ye who have seen it (and not with a friendly eye) for these twelve or fourteen years last past, or for any part of that time, Have ye ever seen any thing like the love of gain therein? Did I not continually remember the words of the Lord Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive?” Ye of Oxford, Do ye not know these things are so? What gain did I seek among you? Of whom did I take any thing? From whom did I covet silver, or gold, or apparel? To whom did I deny any thing which I had, even to the hour that I departed from you?—Ye of Epworth and Wroote, among whom I ministered for (nearly) the space of three years, what gain did I seek among you? Or of whom did I take or covet any thing?—Ye of Savannah and Frederica, among whom God afterwards proved me, and shewed me what was in my heart, what gain did I seek among you? Of whom did I take any thing? Or whose food or apparel did I covet (for silver or gold had ye none, no more than I myself for many months) even when I was in hunger and nakedness? Ye yourselves, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, know that I lie not.