Audio Book: John Wesley Quotes

Everyone, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees. Vice does not lose its character by becoming fashionable. Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart.

Certainly this is a duty, not a sin. Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men.

I sit down alone, only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book, for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? Does anything appear dark or intricate? I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights, Lord, is it not thy word, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.

Thou, givest liberally and upbraidest not. Thou hast said, if any be willing to do thy will, he shall know. I am willing to do, let me know thy will.

I then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remains, I consult those who are experienced in the things of God, and then the writings whereby, being dead, they yet speak.

And what I thus learn, that I teach. God himself has condescended to teach the way, for this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book.

O give me that book! At any price give me the book of God. Nay, if there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book, it did not come from the God of Trut.

Nay, will not the allowing there is any error in Scripture, shake the authority of the whole? The faith of the Protestants, in general, embraces only those truths, as necessary to salvation, which are clearly revealed in the Oracles of God. Whatever is plainly declared in the Old and New Testaments is the object of their faith. They believe neither more nor less than what is manifestly contained in, and provable by, the Holy Scriptures.

The written word is the whole and sole rule of their faith, as well as practice. They believe whatsoever God has declared, and profess to do whatsoever he hath commanded. This is the proper faith of Protestants, by this they will abide, and no other.

The general rule of interpreting Scripture is this, the literal sense of every text is to be taken, if it be not contrary to some other texts. But in that case, the obscure text is to be interpreted by those which speak more plainly. I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America.

But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out. Once in seven years I burn all my sermons, for it is a shame if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago.

Beware you be not swallowed up in books. An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge. My ground is the Bible.

Yeah, I am a Bible bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small. The best of it is, God is with us.

The church recruited people who had been starched and ironed before they were washed. When I was young I was sure of everything, in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before, at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me. You may be as orthodox as the devil and as wicked.