Conscript Christians

Let me illustrate the difference between law-service and love-service by the conscript and the volunteer soldier.

The impulse which thrusts the former into the field is fear of the law reinforcing his feeble patriotism. When the news comes that his name has been drawn out from the wheel of fortune, and that the strong arm of the law has seized him to push him into the front of the battle, his cheeks turn pale and his heart sinks within him. Nevertheless, he puts on the military uniform, and shoulders his knapsack, though it seems to weigh a ton. Reluctantly he leaves the old homestead, and wearily journeys to the conscript camp, strongly tempted to slip away from the officer and escape from the country; but the fear of the law, and his weak love for his native land, overcome this temptation. He murmurs at the hardness of his rations, discomforts of the camp, the severity of the discipline. Yet he bravely does his duty. The law, like a bayonet behind him, drives him into the battle, where he fights like a hero. Yet he does not enjoy the privations and perils of the service. He cannot overcome its irksomeness. Every hour he wishes that he could avoid the disagreeable duties of a soldier's life.

Wrestling Jacob

Having chosen the higher path, do not be discouraged by the obstacles in the way of your entering and walking therein. You are not to remove them by your own strength. You have an almighty and complete Saviour, "able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by him." With a submissive will and believing soul, "pray that you may know the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe." Pray, and faint not. 

Take into your closet Charles Wesley's great dramatic lyric of a struggling and victorious soul, "Wrestling Jacob," and pray its words till the intensity of the expressions kindle your soul with earnestness and unconquerable persistence.

A Theme That Satan Hates

Satan, who seeks to plunder the Gospel of that element which gives it the highest efficiency in its warfare with his kingdom, blinds the eyes of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ shine unto them.

He succeeds so well with unbelievers that he applies the same method to believers, blinding their eyes to their highest Gospel privilege, the fullness of the Spirit, lest the light of this blessing should gladden their eyes, strengthen their hearts, and intensify their zeal against his kingdom. Says John Wesley, in a letter to a Christian woman respecting her preacher, in 1771:

Washed, Sanctified, Justified

QUESTION: Explain 1 Cor. 6:11: "But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God."

ANSWER: The only difficulty is in putting washing and sanctification before justification. This inversion of the order of clauses, called Chiasmus, from the letter χ, was by the Greeks considered a rhetorical elegance. An English writer would have said justified in the name of Jesus Christ and washed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

— from Steele's Answers, pp. 68, 69.

Hireling ministry

QUESTION: What do you understand by a hireling ministry?

ANSWER: Those who are in the ministry "for the money there is in it." The Quakers used to call those who had a fixed salary hirelings. I think they are more charitable in these days.

— from Steele's Answers, p. 68.

Is a Distinct Call Necessary?

QUESTION: Is it necessary for one longing to enter the foreign field to have a distinct call from God to that field?

ANSWER: A desire to enter a particular field and a fitness for the climate and the work required are God's sufficient call.

— from Steele's Answers p. 68.

No One Is Above Criticism

The Holy Spirit, [even] in his most intense illumination, does not insure infallible moral judgments.

John Newton, while master of a slave-ship, blinded by the darkness of his times, said that while enjoying intimate communion with God, "he never had the least scruple as to the lawfulness of the slave-trade;" and the seraphic piety of George Whitefield did not deter him from pleading before the trustees of Georgia for the introduction of slaves, on the ground of "the advantage of the Africans." Hence a man whose heart is full of love, and whose intellect is darkened by ignorance, may appear unconscientious to one favored with high moral culture.

Wesley on Divine Healing

QUESTION: Did John Wesley say or write anything about divine healing?

ANSWER: He wrote a book on "Physic," recommending various medicines for different diseases, took medicines himself, and submitted to surgical operation. When seventy-two years of age, being nigh unto death, he was marvelously healed "while a few select friends were praying that, as in the case of Hezekiah, God would add to his days fifteen years." He lived fifteen years and a few months afterwards.

— Steele's Answers p. 68.

Living Without Sin

QUESTION: Are we to understand that the regenerated can live without sin?

ANSWER: They can live much better without it than with it. The eccentric Billy Hubbard was once asked this question. His reply was: "Yes, I can get along without sin first-rate." According to 1 John 3:9, 10, this is the boundary line between the children of God and the children of the devil. There is grace enough to keep every child of God from ever stepping over the fiery boundary between the known right and the known wrong.

— Steele's Answers p. 67.

Pit

QUESTION: Will you express your opinion of the popular game of pit?

ANSWER: I have not become acquainted with the pit, and am traveling in the other direction.

— Steele's Answers, p. 67.