"February 17, 1741.
"My soul is in a heavenly frame, swallowed up in God. It is almost too big to speak. I will give it vent by writing to you. Our Master has shewn me several tokens for good, which I desired of Him in secret prayer. Last night, I think I received as full satisfaction as I could desire, in respect to my marriage. I believe what I have done is of God; though I know not when my heart was more disengaged from earthly thoughts than now. I only desire that Jesus may be glorified in me, whether it be by life or by death."
To Mr. James Habersham, Whitefield's overseer at Bethesda, he wrote as follows:—
"February 18, 1741.
"Yesterday we humbled ourselves[416] before God, and, by prayer and fasting, sought for a blessing, and direction in all our affairs. I wish I had kept family fasts at Savannah. Suppose you had one monthly at Bethesda? I shall make all possible haste back, and remit money to you as often as I can. I am persuaded, God will not let you want. I would not have anything left undone, that is necessary for the family's comfortable subsistence. The Lord is our shepherd; therefore, we shall not want. My dear friend, let us study to be holy, even as Christ is holy. Let these be your daily questions, 'Am I more like Christ? Am I more meek and patient? Does my practice correspond with my knowledge? and am I a light to enlighten and inflame all that are around me?'"
The Rev. Ralph Erskine and his friends occupied a position in Scotland, similar to that occupied by the Wesleys and by Whitefield in England. Up to the present, Whitefield and Erskine had never met; but they had exchanged letters. Some of these have been already given. The following is another:—
"On board the 'Minerva,' February 16, 1741.
"Reverend and very dear Sir,—You and your brethren are dearer to me than ever. Your 'Sonnets and Sermons' have been blessed to me and many. The former are reprinted in America. I want all your own and your brother's works. Since I have been on board, I have been much helped by reading the 'Marrow of Modern Divinity.' I have just perused 'Boston on the Covenant;' and, this morning, have been solacing myself with your 'Paraphrase upon Solomon's Song.' Blessed be our Lord, for helping you in that composition!
"Thanks be to rich and sovereign grace! I have experienced much of the Spirit's influences in making nine sermons, which I intend to print by subscription towards carrying on a Negro School, I am going to settle in Pennsylvania. The price of them bound will be four shillings. If you or your friends would take a few, it might be for the glory of God. My Journal, which I bring over, will acquaint you how the work of God goes on abroad.[417] Indeed, it is wonderful. The Orphan House has succeeded far beyond expectation. I will send you the particulars as soon as I print my 'Account.'
"I am now going to England, expecting to suffer great things. I hear, there are sad divisions and errors sprung up among the brethren. In the spirit of meekness I have answered dear Mr. Wesley's sermon, entitled 'Free Grace;' and trust God will enable me to bear a full and explicit testimony to all His eternal truths.
"I believe it is my duty to marry. You will help me with your prayers in this, as in all other respects. You see, dear sir, how freely I open my heart to you, though I have never seen you face to face. If it be the will of God, I shall be glad to come into your parts before I leave England; but I fear my speedy return to America will not permit me. I purpose to embark again in the latter end of July or the beginning of August.
"I hope my love will find acceptance with your dear brother, and all the Associate Presbytery. My prayers always attend them. I should be glad to sit at their feet, and be taught the way of God more perfectly. Excuse this long letter. You are very dear to your unworthy friend, brother, and servant in the blessed Jesus,
"George Whitefield."[418]
Every chapter of Church history amply illustrates the Divine utterance, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Whitefield intended to re-embark for America in four months; but forty months elapsed before he again set sail. Great events occurred during this large section of his life; and, of these, not the least important was his visit to Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine. But more of this anon.
In the foregoing letter, Whitefield mentions his having written an answer to Wesley's sermon on "Free Grace." The two loving friends were now at variance. This painful episode in the lives of Whitefield and Wesley must be briefly noticed.
Soon after Whitefield embarked for America, in August, 1739, Wesley published the following:—"Free Grace: a Sermon preached at Bristol. By John Wesley, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. Bristol: printed by S. and F. Farley, 1739." (pp. 35.) "Wesley's sermon on 'Free Grace,'" says the late Rev. Thomas Jackson, "is the most powerful and impassioned of all his compositions." The Calvinistic doctrine of election, involving, as Wesley contends, the doctrine of reprobation, is condemned in the strongest terms. Wesley, with his accustomed conciseness, puts the matter thus: "Call it by whatever name you please, 'election, preterition, predestination, or reprobation,' it comes in the end to the same thing. The sense of all is plainly this,—by virtue of an eternal, unchangeable, irresistible decree of God, one part of mankind are infallibly saved, and the rest infallibly damned; it being impossible that any of the former should be damned, or that any of the latter should be saved." Wesley states his objections to such a doctrine; and, it is not too much to say, that his objections are unanswerable. His publication of this famous sermon was not an act of wantonness. In a brief address to the reader, he says, "Nothing but the strongest conviction, not only of what is here advanced as 'the truth as it is in Jesus,' but also that I am indispensably obliged to declare this truth to all the world, could have induced me openly to oppose the sentiments of those whom I esteem for their works' sake; at whose feet, may I be found in the day of the Lord Jesus!"
This was written and published in 1739. Dr. Whitehead says, Wesley sent a copy of his sermon "to Commissary Garden, at Charleston, where Mr. Whitefield met with it; and though the subject of predestination was treated in that sermon, in a general way, without naming or pointing at any individual, yet Mr. Whitefield found himself hurt, that Mr. Wesley should publicly oppose an opinion which he believed to be agreeable to the word of God."[419]