PERFECTION IN WESLEY AND FLETCHER:
Inaugural or Teleological?
David L. Cubie
The original title proposed for this paper was "Teleology or Crisis." Further reflection and research indicated its inadequacy. There is no question that Wesley and Fletcher, as well as the modern holiness movement, have taught growth subsequent to regeneration and a crisis moment within this life when the heart is made perfect in love. The open question is whether the crisis experience of Christian perfection as taught by Wesley and Fletcher is inaugural or teleological. That is, whether in their views it is a preparatory experience giving cleansing and power for Christian living and service, or an experience which characteristically occurs near the end of life in preparation for heaven.
The findings represented by this paper indicate: (1) that the crisis experience of Christian perfection as taught by Wesley and Fletcher is primarily a teleological experience in preparation for heaven; (2) that their language portrays a psychological perfection not expected in our contemporary holiness teachings; (3) that the terminology which they usually associate with crisis occurs in a teleological context; and (4) that perfection is usually realized as the culmination of a series of growth-crisis stages.
That the crisis experience was primarily viewed as preparation for heaven is evident in the time that perfection was expected. The "Plain Account" includes various entries affirming that "the generality of believers, whom we have hitherto known were not so sanctified till near death.''l For Fletcher "it is a long time, even many years before sin is destroyed." It is attained "gradually," "at last," and after "a long time."2 Though perfection crisis may occur "ten, twenty, or forty years before," "this instant generally is the instant of death";3 a moment later may be too late.4
Perfection's attainment was prophetic that death was near. Mrs. Fletcher, recording Fletcher's own last days, states that he "was ripening fast for glory."6 Though death itself could not sanctify, both physical suffering and the anticipation of death were seen as welcome agents of sanctification. Death is "that faithful minister and servant of Christ" to drive us out of a "crafty and indolent nature."6 The approach of death creates Judgment Day seriousness both in the ripening saint and the careless sinner.7 Both Wesley and Fletcher accepted the value of suffering. Fletcher tended to seek out suffering with Christ "in his faint, bloody sweat, or in his wracking tortures on the cross." He admonished Miss Ireland, "Draw not back; . . . and let not the grave frighten you." Wesley, while recognizing that "the Lord loveth whom he chasteneth," advised one of his correspondents: "If you can recover your health, you ought; for health is a great blessing." Fletcher in the letter quoted said to Miss Ireland, "Blessed be God for the recovery you mention."
The teleological nature of perfection is seen in the language regarding perfection. The language is either superlative or expresses completion in every aspect of the inner personality, including feelings, and as such portrays a psychological perfection not expected in contemporary holiness teachings. Perfection was not just in the realm of the will or reason. It applied equally to the affections and feelings. As Fletcher wrote to Miss Hatton, "O my friend, we may believe rationally, . . . And shall we not believe affectionately also?'' Some of the psychological expectations were "uninterrupted poverty of spirit," "assiduous keeping of our senses,''ll "constant bridling of our bodily appetites,''ll an "exalted way of exulting faith,''l2 a "full and earnest desire to do and suffer the will of God,''l3 "meekness ruling 'over all my tempers,"'14 "perfect humility,'' l "patience in pain,''ll "perfect resignation under losses,''ll "a resolute 'following of Christ without the camp,' ''1l a longing "to feel the utmost power of the Spirit's dispensation,''l6 and perfect control over dreams.l7 It is in this language of completeness that such concepts as "entire sanctification," "perfect love," and "fullness of the Spirit" find their commonality.l8 The teleological nature of this language is captured by two other phrases of Fletcher: "God bringing forth the top stone''l9 and "your sun goes down no more."20
Wesley's proof texts contain the same superlative language.2l Instead of choosing texts that might imply a second work of grace, Wesley chose those texts which, to use Fletcher's words, express "the privileges of the Christian dispensation at its fulness."22 Probably the most frequently quoted is the following from Ezekiel 36: 25 which, containing Fletcher's capitalization, promises that God will cleanse you "from ALL your filthiness, and from ALL your idols." The conviction of both Fletcher and Wesley was that God would fulfill all His promises in this life. Charles Wesley's hymn, "The Promise of Sanctification," which is so frequently quoted by both Fletcher and John Wesley that it is almost a theme chorus, has the same scripture reference as well as the superlative and
the teleological ideas:
Now let me gain perfection's height
Now let me into nothing fall!
Be less than nothing in my sight
And feel that Christ is all in all.23
Not only the language of perfection, but also the concepts usually associated with crises such as sanctification by faith, baptism with the Holy Spirit, eradication, and growth crisis symbols such as birth, death, and healing are teleological in their usage.
Faith for Wesley is a supernatural sight,24 "supernatural" in that it is created by God and "sight" in that it is joined with the witness of the Spirit and such objective evidences as the Scripture and observation to give infallible proof that God's promised grace had been fulfilled. Though this faith is the "only root of whatever is good and holy"25 and the only condition which is immediately and proximately necessary for justification and sanctification,26 it is not a simple catalyst uniting God and man. Instead, faith is complex and exists in degrees. Unlike the Reformers, Wesley and Fletcher do not hold to "faith alone." Instead, faith interrelates with all spiritual graces and works. It grows with these, both helping them to increase and being increased through them. One of Wesley's favorite scriptures is Gal. 5:6: ". . . faith which worketh by love."27 According to Fletcher, "The perfection which he [God] kindly calls us to, [is] nothing but a faithful improvement of our talents, according to the proportion of grace given us.... Faith unfeigned ... will lead you unavoidably up to perfect obedience."23 Christian perfection for Fletcher is the full constellation of all the graces.29 It is "that particular height of sanctification, that full, 'circumcision of the heart,' which centrally purifies the soul, springs from a peculiar degree of saving faith, and a particular operation of the 'Spirit of burning.' "30
Wesley argued against the Moravian, Philip Molther, that "there are degrees in faith; and that a man may have some degree of it, before all things in him are become new; before he has the full assurance of faith, the abiding witness of the Spirit, or the clear perception that Christ dwelleth in him.''3l Such an individual must use all the means of grace until God grants him fullness of faith and the accompanying graces. Wesley's description of weak faith is that it "is commonly mixed with doubt or fear; that is, in the latter sense, with unbelief."32 He also states:
There are in every person, even after he is justified, two contrary principles, nature and grace, termed by St. Paul, the flesh and the Spirit. Hence, although even babes in Christ are sanctified, yet it is only in part. In a degree, according to the measure of their faith, they are spiritual; yet, in a degree they are carnal....33
Each state and dispensation34 has its own degree of faith. What Fletcher wanted was "a perfect faith productive of perfect love."36 What Charles Wesley desired was "mighty faith"36 and the "end of faith"37 so that "I, e'en I, shall cease from sin" and be "set at liberty."
For John and Charles Wesley, as for Calvin, the baptism with the Holy Spirit was regeneration or the new birth. Charles refers to his Aldersgate-related experience as his Pentecost.38 Fletcher developed a doctrine regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which was repeatable and, in its fullness, subsequent to the new birth. To Wesley the looking for a subsequent baptism was "not scriptural and not quite proper; for they all received the Holy Ghost when they were justified."39
Despite the disagreement the function of their ideas is similar. Though for Wesley Pentecost is the new birth, the Holy Spirit witnesses to each successive stage in the Christian life. Similarly Fletcher teaches that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is repeated in a succession of events beginning with the new birth and concluding with glory.40 Though crisis is present in "a Baptism with the Holy Spirit," what is occurring in most lives is a series of crises, i.e., of baptisms until perfection is attained. Thus Fletcher would ask not whether a believer had received his baptism, but whether he or she had "received the Comforter in his fulness.''4l Christian perfection is not defined by or identical with an experience. One cannot say, I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit; therefore, my heart is perfect in love. Instead, for Fletcher, each baptism is a divine effusion cleansing the heart as far as faith is able to receive, usually necessitating further baptism until the believer is perfected in love.
Cleansing from sin in Fletcher and Wesley likewise tends to be teleological rather than inaugural. Though both can refer to the "inward root of sin"49 and use eradication in a non-technical sense, both terms are rarely used. Original or indwelling sin is not a single-nondivisible entity, which is wholly present in one moment and then removed in a single, radical faith-grace event. Instead, it is removed gradually, the Comforter "expelling according to the degree of our faith."43 Fletcher can also talk about "so much of indwelling sin as we carry about so much of indwelling hell."44 Inward sin may be removed gradually by a process of "feeble faith and feeble love" which are "so frequently repeated as to become strong, habitual, and evangelically natural to us."46 The gradualness implies a teleological idea and the time in which to attain. Though gradual perfection is normative, all sin may be removed in an instant by a single full baptism of the Holy Spirit in response to a single act of full faith. "Both ways are good."
There is no distinction between SIN and sins. Though singular terminology such as "root" and "indwelling sin" may be used, the plural "indwelling sins" is more common. Fletcher can refer to "these cages of unclean birds."47 The contrast between sins, plural, and the sin principle, singular, is not made by either Fletcher or Wesley. Instead, Wesley can refer to perfection as "deliverance from all inward and outward sin," both singular, and then describe both in the plural: "from evil words and works."48 As a result, indwelling sin and the carnal mind are removable by a process involving the daily walk and faith of the Christian. The Christian is exhorted to "forsake the carnal mind."49
It is within this context that their language of self-mortification, self-abnegation, and self-denial takes on meaning. All indwelling sin may be removed instantaneously, but "God does not usually remove the plague of indwelling sin till it has been discovered and lamented."50 "Vile self must be reduced to order.''5l In fact, according to John Wesley, "the more you feel of your own vileness, the more you rejoice in confident hope, that all this shall be done away."52 Charles Wesley sang, "I would be by myself abhorr'd."53 Despite the time involved and the gradual means by which sin is usually removed, we must not lose sight of the fact that the one perfection that must exist before one enters Heaven is that of freedom from all sin. There is a crisis of deliverance toward which the Christian is striving and for which he is believing.
For Fletcher and Wesley, Christian perfection, with all of its aspects, was "realized eschatology," that is, without removing the teleological and eschatological tensions in the ideas, they yet affirmed that, because it was God's work, it could and would be fulfilled in the believer provided he met the condition of faith. Though perfection usually occurred many years after the new birth, God can "cut short his work."54 As Charles Wesley wrote: "The child fulfills a hundred years, / And ripe before his God appears."55 Nevertheless, that which occurs is eschatological. Like the coming of the Son of Man, the day and hour is completely in the hands of God. The content of the experience was high, not easily claimed, and was the result of an unusual degree of grace. Both Wesley and Fletcher were fearful of presumptuous profession and wrote warning the Methodists against it.56 Contrary to the tendencies of some since Phoebe Palmer57 to "take it by faith," Wesley and Fletcher taught that there should be no profession without the clear witness of the Spirit. It is attainable by faith, but God may delay giving entire sanctification. Why God should delay is a mystery to Wesley, though "God undoubtedly has reasons."58 God is sovereign. He has a goal, but He "cuts short his own work" and "justifies and sanctifies" whom He will. " 'May he not do what he will with his own?"'59 This eschaton is evangelical. It is composed of answers to promises intended for this life. The Christian is to trust God to perfect him now.60 Nevertheless, if God delays, he is to trust the One who has promised. God will not permit any who are faithfully following after holiness to leave this world without it, for "without holiness no man shall see the Lord.''61
The crisis symbols are also teleological. Though death to sin may take place 40 years sooner, it generally occurs a little before physical death. It is a teleological crisis. However long it takes sin to die, "there must be a last moment of its existence, and a first moment of our deliverance from it."62 Fletcher, like Wesley, chose death as his most frequent analogy. He used it in dialogue with his opponents who taught that physical death itself was the perfecting crisis: Death came "to the assistance of the atoning blood."63 Both Fletcher and Wesley denied that death, man's last enemy, could perfect. Perfection had to be a present work of grace. Furthermore, because it is an act of God in response to faith, it need not be "a long, gradual process."64
Wesley moved naturally in a concept that the Christian's life or state, instead of two experiences, was composed of three stages preceded by two nonevangelical states, that of the natural man and that of the servant.65 Within the tradition of the church the language of stages was common, though the number varied.66 Three had become standard. Wesley's preferred terms-(1) little children, (2) young men, and (3) fathers make up the outline for the following description of the Christian life:
It should be premised, that there are several stages in Christian life, as in natural;-some of the children of God being but newborn babes; others having attained to more maturity.... (1) "I write unto you, little children," . . . Because thus far you have attained,-being "justified freely," you "have peace with God through Jesus Christ." (2) "I write unto you, young men, "because . . . "ye have quenched the fiery darts of the wicked one," the doubts and fears wherewith he disturbed your first peace; and the witness of God, that your sins are forgiven, now abideth in your heart. (3) "I write unto you, fathers, because. . . ye have known both the Father, and the Son," and the Spirit of Christ, in your inmost soul. Ye are "perfect men," being grown up to "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."67
Note that this outline of the stages terminates in a clear description of a
teleological goal.
Within the stages there is an evident pattern of change by way of an interweaving of growth and crisis68 toward the eradication of all sin and the realization of all the graces. Regarding sin, (1) a babe does not commit sin; (2) a young man is more than conqueror (i.e., able to place evil thoughts under the Blood as soon as they arise); (3) a father is freed from all evil thoughts and tempers.69 Faith and its accompanying assurance move from (1) weak faith which contains an immediate witness to Christ but with many doubts and fears; (2) to a full assurance of faith excluding doubt; (3) to finally a full assurance of hope "having no more doubt of reigning with him in glory" and an experiential knowledge of the Trinity.70
The doctrine of dispensation7l is Fletcher's organizational model for his analysis of the Christian life,79 though he does contain references to the states73 and to the stages of life.74 This doctrine, though providing an explanation of God's redemptive activity both in dispensations past and among contemporary men in their varied world religions and branches of the Christian church,75 was also a means for analyzing the progress of the seeking pilgrim from the first glimmer of religious truth
to the full Pentecostal possession of the Spirit's presence.76 As applied to the spiritual quest of the individual, the dispensations are similar though not clearly equivalent to Wesley's doctrine of states and stages. Each dispensation describes a group of men in a faith relationship with God, a relationship which includes both repentance and a potential perfection. Thus the lowest equivalent expressed is the state of being a servant of God.77 Wesley's stage of "the babe" is described by Fletcher's dispensation of the Son. These have faith in Jesus, but do not have the Holy Spirit. They participate in "infant Christianity"78 and "are shut up in this state of weakness and doubt,"79 but they do possess "a degree of humble confidence."80 The dispensation of the Spirit can also include those who are babes,81 but this description is not usual. Those qualities of the abiding witness, victory over sin, and confident faith which Wesley ascribes to the "young man" are the very qualities which distinguish the new experience of the dispensation of the Spirit from the dispensation of the Son.
Though Wesley identifies a crisis at each stage, Fletcher has a distinct crisis only at the beginning of the dispensation of the Spirit and at its perfection, though even these are identified more by the quality of life and relationship attained than by crises. There are two goals for which the Christian living in the dispensation of Spirit strives: freedom from all sin and a perfection of "shame and glory,"82 but these are achieved not by one or two distinct crises or stages, but as has already been described, by repeated baptisms of the Spirit.83
The distinction between fathers in Christ, i.e., perfect Christians, and the lesser stages of babes and young men is a matter of degree.84 Though the experiential distinctions are not precise, the goals are clearly defined.
The teleological nature of the dispensations is evident in that each successive dispensation is the fulfillment of the preceding. This is true not only historically, but also in the individual. "The enlightened pastor" is one who can recognize the dispensation within which each member of his flock resides, and then leads that one along "from faith to faith,"85 his goal being to lead his sheep into the life in the Spirit. The dispensation of the Spirit has a teleological aspect. The goal in it is "Perfection's Height,"86 and though the millennium may not come immediately in history, it may be realized experientially.87 In a letter to Mr. Henry Brooke in February of 1785, he had resigned himself to the possibility that the Lord would not return during his lifetime to possess Jerusalem, "But my Jerusalem!" he wonders. "Why it is not swallowed up of that which comes down from heaven is a question which I wait to be solved."88 Those who know the fullness of the Spirit's dispensation have their own eschatological moment, a foretaste of the dispensations of the millennium and of the glory, which is to come.
While the evidence presented indicates that the expected time for Christian perfection to occur was near the end of life, the intention is not to minimize that interpretation of Wesley's teaching which has been standard within the holiness movement that Christian perfection is an act of God's grace, received by faith, and which may be received now as we are.89 That teaching, along with Fletcher's doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, belongs to those "discoveries of faith"90 which strongly influenced the fathers of the modern holiness movement and brought them and us into that experience whereby our hearts have been cleansed by faith. What we need to be aware of is the teleological connotation of the language used, lest we apply ideas from them which are inapplicable to an inaugural experience. To apply these ideas would, contrary to both men's sane advice, set the experience too high and go beyond the scriptural description of a Spirit-filled man. At the same time we need to encourage, even as they did, an awareness of the opportunities within the Spirit-filled life which includes the scriptural promises. God desires to fulfill all of these so that we may grow in inward holiness, in manifestations of love for our fellowmen, and in a trusting love for "our three-one God.''9l
APPENDIXES
Appendix 1
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit
1. Beyond evangelical freedom from sin and perfect love, Fletcher looked for an eschatological fullness, a special baptism by the Holy Spirit. Fletcher in 1777 was looking for "that ineffable fullness" (Fletcher, To Miss Thornton, 1777, Works, 4: 353) . In the following Fletcher anticipates such a baptism. Of interest is that he expects it not only for himself, but also for the church. Its eschatological nature is also evident in that it may not be fulfilled until the resurrection: "I still look for an outpouring of the Spirit, inwardly and outwardly. Should I die before that great day, I shall have the consolation to see it from afar. Thank God! I enjoy uninterrupted peace in the midst of my trials, which are, sometimes, not a few. Joy also I possess; but I look for joy of a superior nature. I feel myself, in a good degree, dead to praise and dispraise: I hope, at least, that it is so; because I do not feel that the one lifts me up, or that the other dejects me. I want to see a Pentecostal Christian Church; and, if it is not to be seen at this time upon earth, I am willing to go and see that glorious wonder in heaven" (Tyerman, WDS, pp. 359-60).
2. Conversion is a baptism of the Holy Ghost. So is Christian perfection and so also is glorification. Progress is achieved by "another glorious baptism'~ which carries the believer as it did "the disciples of Christ farther into the kingdom of grace which perfects the believers in one." "How many baptisms, or effusions of the sanctifying Spirit are necessary to cleanse a believer from all sin, and to kindle his soul into perfect love?" Fletcher asks, and replies, "If one powerful baptism of the Spirit 'seal you unto the day of redemption, and cleanse you from all [moral] filthiness, so much the better. If two or more be necessary, the Lord can repeat them" (Fletcher, "Last Check," xix, pp. 631-33). Christian perfection is not defined by or identical with an experience. One cannot say, I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit; therefore, my heart is perfect in love. Instead, for Fletcher, each baptism is a divine effusion, cleansing the heart as far as faith is able to
receive, usually necessitating further baptisms until the believer is perfected in love. .
3. Fletcher applied his message regarding the baptism to all men: "1. Unconverted.-Rest in no baptism, but that of the Holy Ghost and fire. Water baptism will condemn you alone. 2. John's disciples.- Promised, the thing promised, the time, O continue praying with one accord! 3. Believers.-You want fresh baptism, till the Holy Ghost, which is grace, fill your soul (Fletcher, "Outlines of Sermons," v, Works, 4:196). His analysis of the Day of Pentecost is interesting in this regard. On that day each believer received the degree of grace for which he was ready. This readiness was not based on a prior conversion experience but upon the individual degree of faith. That some were not made perfect in love he evidences by the "guile of Ananias and his wife, and of the partiality of selfish mu1muring of some believers." On the other hand, "Those chiefly, who before were strong in the grace of their dispensation arose then into sinless fathers." Others became "babes in Christ" and others "young men" (Fletcher, "Last Check," xix, pp. 631-32).
Appendix 2
Description of the Stages
The actuality of these stages can be illustrated best by giving a passage from the "Plain Account" at length without omissions or rearrangement except that the stages will be outlined.
[Introduction: ] Indeed, how God may work, we cannot tell; but the general manner wherein he does work is this:
[1. The stage of a babe: (a) conviction and repentance of sin: ] Those who once trusted in themselves that they were righteous, that they were rich, and increased in goods, and had need of nothing, are, by the Spirit of God applying his word, convinced that they are poor and naked. All the things that they have done are brought to their remembrance and set in array before them, so that they see the wrath of God hanging over their heads, and feel that they deserve the damnation of hell. In their trouble they cry unto the Lord, [ (b) the gift of peace: ] and he shows them that he hath taken away their sins, and opens the kingdom of heaven in their hearts, "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Sorrow and pain are fled away, and "sin has no more dominion over" them. Knowing they are justified freely through faith in his blood, they "have peace with God through Jesus Christ;" they "rejoice in hope of the glory of God," and "the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts."
[2. The stage of a young man: (a) Strong temptation and fear of falling: ] In this peace they remain for days, or weeks, or months, and commonly suppose they shall not know war any more; till some of their old enemies, their bosom sins, or the sin which did most easily beset them, (perhaps anger or desire,) assault them again, and thrust sore at them, that they fall. Then, arises fear, that they shall not endure to the end; and often doubt, whether God has not forgotten them, or whether they did not deceive themselves in thinking their sins were forgiven. Under these clouds, especially if they reason with the devil, they go mourning all the day long [ (b) The Comforter witnesses continually to them: ] But it is seldom long before their Lord answers for himself, sending them the Holy Ghost to comfort them, to bear witness continually with their spirits that they are the children of God. Then they are indeed meek and gentle and teachable, even as a little child. [3. The stage of a father: (a) conviction of the fleshly nature: ] And now first do they see the ground of their heart; which God before would not disclose unto them, lest the soul should fail before him, and the spirit which he had made. Now they see all the hidden abominations there, the depths of pride, self-will, and hell- yet having the witness in themselves, "Thou art an heir of God, a joint heir with Christ, even in the midst of this fiery trial;" which continually heightens both the strong sense they then have of their inability to help themselves, and the inexpressible hunger they feel after a full renewal in his image, in "righteousness and true holiness." [ (b) They are made entire and complete: ] Then God is mindful of the desire of them that fear him, and gives them a single eye, and a pure heart; He stamps upon them his own image and superscription; He createth them anew in Christ Jesus; He cometh unto them with his Son and bringeth them into the "rest which remaineth for the people of God" (Wesley, "A Plain Account," 13, pp. 380-81).
That this passage indicates Wesley's basic description of the way of salvation or perfection is indicated by his footnote: "Is it not astonishing, that while this book is extant, which was published four-and-twenty years ago, any one should face me down, that this is a new doctrine, and what I never taught before? [This note was first published in the year 1765.-Ed.]" (Ibid., p. 381.) Furthermore, Wesley concludes this section of "A Plain Account" by saying: "So that whether our present doctrine be right or wrong, it is however the same which we taught from the beginning" ("Discoveries of Faith," 14, p.236).
REFERENCE NOTES
1. "Plain Account," 17 (1745), The Works of John Wesley, 5th ed. (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1872), 11.387. Rpt. of The Works of John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson (London: Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, 1829-31). Hereafter referred to as Wesley, Works. A letter to him describes the growth until just prior to death as "God's usual method" (1762, ibid., 407). He himself affirms, "I believe this is the case of most, but not all" (1761, ibid., 423).
2. "Last Check to Antinomianism," The Works of the Reverend John Fletcher, no ed., n.d. (rpt. Salem, Ohio: Schmul Publishers, 1974), 2:633. Hereafter referred to as Fletcher, Works. See also Wesley, Works.
3. Wesley, "Brief Thoughts on Christian Perfection," 1767, Works,
11 :446.
4. Wesley, "Minutes of Several Conversations," Works, 8 :328. "No soul goes to heaven without perfection" (Fletcher, Works, 2:564).
5. Luke Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor: The Life, Letters And Literary Labours of the Reverend John William Fletcher (New York Phillips and Hunt, 1883), p. 559. Hereafter referred to as Tyerman, WDS.
6. Fletcher, To Miss Ireland, Dec. 5, 1768, Works, 4:370.
7. To Miss Hatton Fletcher wrote, "A touch of pain or sickness I always find profitable to me as it rivets on my soul the thoughts of my nothingness, helplessness and mortality" (Works, 4:331). He also referred to a young man who, though "long under the rod of God" apparently in illness, "had not been whipped out of his careless unbelief to the bosom of Christ." Fletcher visited him while he was dying and reproved him for his sin. As a result, "he fell under conviction . . . and began to call on the Lord with all the earnestness his dying frame would allow" (Ibid., 370-71).
8. Fletcher, To Miss Ireland, Dec. 5, 1768, Works, 4:371. But, see also Joseph Benson, The Life of the Reverend John W. de la Flechere (New York: B. Waugh & T. Mason, 1833), p. 67, for an emphasis on spiritual health including praise and joy. Hereafter referred to as Benson, LJF.
9. Wesley, To Mrs. Jane (Bisson) Cock, June 6, 1790, The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, ed. John Telford (London: The Epworth Press, 1931), 8:221. Hereafter referred to as Wesley, Letters.
10. Fletcher, To Miss Hatton, July 17, 1766, Works, 4:335.
11. Fletcher, "Last Check," xvii, 2:569.
12. Fletcher, To Miss Bryan, February, 1767, Works, 4:340.
13. Ibid., To Miss Cartwright, 1775, p. 347.
14. Ibid., "The Test of a New Creature," xi, p. 269.
15. Fletcher, "Last Check," p. 611. All implying perfect control over the psychological state.
16. Benson, LJF, p. 181.
17. Fletcher, "The Test of a New Creature," xx, p. 270.
18. There are many superlative and teleological expressions.
19. Fletcher, To Miss Hatton, Aug. 8, 1765, Works, 4:328.
20. Ibid., "Spiritual Manifestations of the Son of God." Letter iv, p.294.
21. See the sermon "Repentance in Believers," Wesley, Works, 5:156-70, where several texts are listed, including Ezek. 36:25 and another favorite, Deut. 30:6, "The Lord thy God will circumcise . . . with all thy soul"
22. Fletcher, "Equal Check: Essay on Truth," Works, 1:589.
23. Wesley, Works, 6:22.
24. See Fletcher, "Last Check," xix (9), p. 647; Wesley, "The Scripture Way of Salvation," ii, Works, 6:51-52.
25. Wesley, "The Righteousness of Faith," iii, Works, 5:76.
26. Wesley, "The Scripture Way of Salvation," iii, p. 48; Fletcher, "Last Check," xix (9), p. 646.
27. John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (London: Epworth Press, n.d.; rpt. Naperville, Ill.; Alec R. Allenson, Inc., 1958) p. 695. Anders Nygren identifies this use of this text with the Caritas motif. See Nygren, Agape and Eros (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1953), p. 128.
28. Fletcher, "Fifth Check," iii, Works, 1:382.
29. Fletcher, "Last Check," i, p. 492.
30. Ibid., xii (viii), p. 566.
31. Wesley, "Journal," Dec. 31, 1739, Works, 1:257.
32. Wesley, "Sin in Believers," iv (12), Works, 5:155.
33. Wesley, "Sin in Believers," v (1), p. 155.
34. See later discussion.
35. Fletcher, "Last Check," xix, p. 627.
36. Ibid., xix (12), p. 655.
37. Charles Wesley, "Love Divine."
38. Charles Wesley, "Journal," May 21, 1738, The Journal of Reverend Charles Wesley . . . [and] Selections from His Correspondence and Poetry, 2 vols., ed. Thomas Jackson (London: Wesleyan Methodist Book-Room, ]849), 1:90. Hereafter referred to as Ch. Wesley, Journal.
39. Wesley, "Letter to Jos. Benson," Dec. 28, 1770, Letters, 5:214. Cf. letters dated Mar. 9 and 16, 1771, pp. 228-29.
40. See Appendix 1 for a further discussion on the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
41. See Appendix 1.
42. Wesley, "In the Deceitfulness of Man's Heart," i (4), Work, 7:339. Cf. Fletcher, "Last Check," xix, p. 636.
43 Fletcher. "Last Check," xiii (viii), p. 575. Cf. 654.
~?~
44. Ibid., xviii (9), pp. 623-24.
45. Ibid., xix (4), p. 636.
46. Ibid., xix ( 2), p. 636.
47. Ibid., (12), p. 655.
48. Wesley, "On The Discoveries of Faith," 16, Works, 7:237.
49. Fletcher, "Last Check," vii (7), p. 532.
50. Flecher, "Last Check," xix (l), p. 631.
51. Fletcher, To Lady Fitzgerald, Aug. 28, 1782, 4:362. Fletcher enforces "the practice of a judicious, universal self-denial" by quoting: "If thou wilt be perfect . . . deny thyself, take up thy cross daily and follow me" (italics mine), Fletcher, "Last Check," xix (8), p. 644.
52. Wesley, "Satan's Devices," ii (1), Works, 6:39.
53. Ibid., "The Promise of Sanctification, p. 22. Fletcher, with Thomas Walsh, was one of the few "Old Methodists" whom Wesley recommended and whose life conformed to the practice of those examples of Roman Catholic piety, Gregory Lopez and Monsieur de Renty (Wesley, "Life of Mr. Fletcher," 17, Works 11 :364) .
54. Wesley, "Plain Account," 25 (Q. 25), Works, 11:423. Cf. Benson, LJF, p. 278, which quotes the following from a letter of Mrs. Fletcher's: "O pray for me that the Lord would shorten his work."
55. Charles Wesley, "On the Death of Westley Hall," Ch. Wesley, Journal, 2:305.
56. Fletcher, "Last Check," xvii, pp. 611-16; Wesley, "Plain Account," 25 (Q. 32), Works, 11:427ff.
57. See Ivan Howard, "Wesley Versus Phoebe Palmer: An Enter (led Controversy," Wesleyan Theological Journal, 6, No. 1, 1971, 31-40.
58. Wesley, "The Imperfection of Human Knowledge," iii (4), Works, 6:349. Both Wesley and Fletcher see some possible value for the believer: "First, ... [as] a lesson of humility.... Second, [as] a lesson of faith; of confidence in God . . . of our own ignorance . . . [and] a full trust in his wisdom.... Thirdly, a lesson of resignation" (Wesley, "Imperfection," iv, pp. 349-50. CF. 348-49; and "Plain Account" 25 [Q. 25], 423). Fletcher suggests that "in all probability he designs them such a bright manifestation as they are not yet able to bear" (Fletcher, "Spiritual Manifestations," p. 292. Cf. 293-94; and "Last Check," xix [3], p. 637). The possibility also exists that God may give a lesser degree of grace than we desire so that we may learn to value all of God's gifts (Fletcher, "Last Check," xix [4], pp. 636-37, 654. Cf. xiv [6], p. 585), and thus be prepared to receive His perfect love.
59. Wesley, "Plain Account," 25 (Q. 25), p. 423.
60. " . . . It is of importance to observe that there is an inseparable connection between three points,-expect it by faith, expect it as you are, and expect it now! To deny one of them is to deny them all; to allow one, is to allow them all. Do you believe we are sanctified by faith? Be true then to your principle: and look for this blessing just as you are, neither better nor worse: as a poor sinner, that has still nothing to plead but Christ died. And if you look for it as you are, then expect it now. Stay for nothing: why should you? Christ is ready; and he is all you want. He is waiting for you: he is at the door! Let your inmost soul cry out, Come in, come in, thou heavenly Guest! Nor hence again remove: But sup with me and let the feast.
(Fletcher, "Last Check," xix [10], p. 648).
61. Fletcher, "Last Check," v and xii, pp. 519, 564; Benson, LJF, p. 96.
62. Wesley, Works, 11:442. Cf. 402, 423. Wesley also uses the analogy of birth to express gradualness prior to crisis (Wesley, "The New Birth, [iv t3], Works, 6:74-75). Fletcher has a number of crisis symbols which he uses teleologically. These are: (1) "besieged towns" that capitulate after long resistance, or suddenly; (2) mothers who either deliver after much labor or as soon as labor comes upon them; (3) vegetation which in warm moist climates may spring up quickly or slowly as in the northern climate (Fletcher, "Last Check," xviii, p. 626; To Miss Hatton, Aug. 8, 1766- 4.327), (4) illness which may be cured suddenly or by repeated purgatives
(i.e., by the Holy Spirit) until the disease is cured (Fletcher, "Last Check," Y, YiX, pp. 556, 632, 636-37).
63. Fletcher, "Last Check," xvi (9), p. 608- Cf. 610. Some other crisis symbols not implying growth are: (1) " . . . the light of a candle brought into a dark room." "May not the Sanctifier descend upon your waiting soul as quickly"; (2) Burning by the sun, a glass, or flame-how much more may God "with the celestial fire of his love . . . in an instant destroy the man of sin, burn up the chaff of corruption, melt the heart of stone into a heart of flesh, and kindle the believing soul into pure, seraphic love!" (Ibid., xix, p. 636).
64. Fletcher, "Last Check," xvi, p. 610.
65. Wesley, "Spirit of Bondage and Adoption, iii (8), Works, 5:108. We must take them seriously in the claim that they taught nothing new but that which was in harmony with the articles and homilies of the Church of England and find their type of Spirituality within their own church's teaching (see Wesley's Christian Library). Though there are some references to a second crisis, the precise delineation of two works of grace did not occur until the nineteenth century around the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see the articles in the Wesleyan Theological Journal by Ivan Howard, 6, No. 1, 1971- Herbert McGonigle, 8, 1973- and Donald Dayton, 9, 1974). See also my dissertation, pp. 230-70, and Appendix 2 for an analysis of the stages.
66. Macarius the Egyptian, included in Wesley's A Christian Library, states: "There are twelve steps . . . which a man has to pass before he reaches perfection" (Fifty Spiritual Hoinilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian Series 1 of Translation of Christian Greek Texts, trans. A. J. Mason [New York: The Macmillan Co., 1929] ) .
67. Wesley, "The Discoveries of Faith," ii (1), 1788, Works, 6 (numbering mine).
68. Wesley, Works, 11:380 (numbering mine). "Neither do we affirm, as some have done, that all this salvation is done at once. There is indeed
an instantaneous, as well as a gradual, work of God in his children; and there wants not, we know, a cloud of witnesses, who have received in one either a clear sense of the forgiveness of their sins, 2l or the abiding witness of the Holy Spirit. But we do not know a single instance, in any place, of a person's receiving, in one and the same moment,
[1] remission of sins,
[2] the abiding witness of the Spirit,
[3] and a new clean heart."
69. Wesley, "Plain Account," 13, pp. 380-81. Cf. "Christian Perfection," ii (1-6), 6: 6-7.
70. Wesley, "The Discoveries of Faith," (1788), 14-17, Works, 7:236-38. Cf. 6:6.
71. See John A. Knight, "John William Fletcher and the Early Methodist Tradition," dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1967, pp. 176-90, for a discussion of dispensations.
72. This doctrine was Fletcher's constructive form for theological re-
flection. Fletcher was Methodism's first systematizer or constructive theologian. Wesley was deeply impressed by Fletcher's doctrine and proposed that God had raised him up for this very purpose. He observed, "I believe that difficult subject was never placed in so clear a light before" (Wesley, "Letter to E. Ritchie," 1775; Letters, 6:137).
73. Fletcher, "Last Check," viii, p. 640.
74. Ibid., vi, ix, xix, pp. 523, 550, 631-32. Note that the dispensations
are also three. Fletcher, "An Equal Check: Essay on Truth: Second Appendix," Works, 1:59~91.
75. Ibid., xiii, pp. 573-95; "The Portrait of St. Paul," ii, 3:177, 193.
76. The dispensations are (1) of the Father, (2) of the Son, (3) of the Holy Spirit, with subsidiary dispensations of (1) (a) Gentiles-Adam,
Noah, Job, Melchisedec, Socrates, Plato (Fletcher, "Equal Check: Essay on Truth," Works, 2:622-23; 3:175-77); (b) Jewish- (2) (a) John the Baptist (b) Jesus in the flesh; (3) (a) the beginnings of the Spirit's dispensation, (b) the fullness of the age of the dispensation of the Spirit. This fullness is eschatological in its historical realization, and identified at least in imagery with the Second Coming. Fletcher for many years expected an eschatological age of the Spirit to break through in the church of his day (Fletcher, "Portrait of Paul," ii, p. 197- Fletcher's "Letter to Henry Brooke," 1785, in Tyerman, WDS, p. 553). Each dispensation has its own gospel, its own law, its own perfection and salvation ( Fletcher, "Fifth Check," iii, Works, 1:381-82; "Last Check," xiv, xv, xviii, pp. 523-25, 561- 63, 597, 620-21). See also his interpretation of the parable of the talents Fletcher, "Third Check"; "Fifth Check, Second Part," iii- "Equal Check Essay on Truth," pp. 144, 382, 587-88.
77. Fletcher's doctrine is very valuable in interpreting Wesley's footnotes to his description of his pre-Aldersgate state of grace. Curnock indicates that these are Wesley's (John Wesley, "Journal," Jan., 1738, The Journal of the Reverend John Wesley, ed. Nehemiah Curnock [London: Robert Culley, 1909], 1 :422). These footnotes are in harmony with Wesley's and Fletcher's teachings regarding the man who does righteousness and seeks to do God's perfect will, but who has not yet gained knowledge regarding the witness and life in the Spirit.
78. Fletcher, "Last Check," vi, p. 526; "Portrait of Paul," ii, p. 174.
79. Fletcher, "Portrait of Paul," ii, pp. 170~71.
80. Ibid., p. 195.
81. Fletcher, "Last Check," ix, xix, p. 550 (fn.), 631-32.
82. Ibid., vi, p. 528.
83. The Day of Pentecost had varied results in the life of the believer.
See Appendix 1 :3. Cf. "Portrait of Paul," ii, p. 197.
84. " . . . at so great a distance . . . " Fletcher, "Last Check," ix, p.550 (fn.). The successive nature of these is evident also in that like the Galatians, the believer may backslide into the lesser faith of a lower dispensation (Fletcher, "Equal Check: An Essay on Truth: An Appendix," p. 580). Similarly, Wesley taught that both progress and regress are possible in the same Christian life. Perfection may be attained and then lost. It may be gained for a short while, which (attainment), though lost, is a promise of a perfection which once attained never need be lost again. Fletcher, in statements which appear contradictory in the context of the modern holiness movement, can declare in 1781, as Hester Ann Rogers reports he did, "To the praise of his love,-I am freed from sin," and then pray in the same conversation for "that pure baptismal flame! O, for the fullness of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost" (Tyerman, WDS, pp. 468- 69). Similarly, he wrote to Charles Wesley in 177fi, "Thank God, I enjoy uninterrupted peace in the midst of trials.... Joy, also, I possess," and in the same letter state, "I still look for an outpouring of the Spirit inwardly and outwardly. I look for a joy of superior nature" (Arminian Magazine, 1795; 18:614). John Wesley also records Fletcher's testimony of having such "faith as to feel no departure from him," yet that he often said, ". . . 'I want to be filled with the fullness of his Spirit'" (Wesley, "On the Death of Mr. Fletcher," iii [12], Works, 7:441).
85. Fletcher, "Portrait of Paul," ii, pp. 177, 193-94.
86. Charles Wesley, "The Promise of Sanctification," Wesley, Works, 6:20-22; frequently quoted both by Fletcher and Wesley; Fletcher, "Last Check," xi, vii, p. 563; "Letter to Mr. Samuel Hatton," April 22, 1763, 4:319, et al.
87. Fletcher, "Portrait of Paul," ii, p. 197; Tyerman, WDS, p. 553.
88. Fletcher, Works, 4:366-67. Cf. "Portrait of Paul," p. 197.
89. Wesley, "Plain Account," 18, p. 393. Cf. Fletcher, "Last Check," xix (10), p. 648.
90. Wesley, "Discoveries of Faith," p. 231.
91. Wesley, To Mrs. Jane (Bisson) Cock, Nov. 3, 1789, Letters, 8:183.
