Page:The works of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., late fellow of Lincoln-College, Oxford (IA worksofrevjohnwe3wesl).pdf/336

 the darkness arising from it. We must shew the true meaning of those texts, which have been misunderstood. My design does not permit me to consider all the passages of scripture which have been prest into this service. I shall just mention two or three, which are frequently brought to prove, that all believers must, sooner or later, walk in darkness.

8. One of these is Isaiah l. 10. ''Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the'' Lord, and stay upon his God. But how does it appear either from the text or context, that the person here spoke of ever had light? One who is ''convinced of sin, feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant''. And him we should advise, tho' he was still dark of soul, and had never seen the light of God's countenance, yet to trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. This text therefore proves nothing less, than that a believer in Christ "must sometimes walk in darkness."

9. Another text which has been supposed to speak the same doctrine, is Hosea ii. 14. ''I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.'' Hence it has been inferred, that God will bring every believer ''into the wilderness'', into a state of deadness and darkness. But it is certain, the text speaks no such thing. For 1. It does not appear, that it speaks