Page:The works of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., late fellow of Lincoln-College, Oxford (IA worksofrevjohnwe3wesl).pdf/75

 ''serveth him, in the day when he maketh up his jewels, and that there remaineth for us a crown of glory which fadeth not away''.

IV. 1. It remains only, to shew, in the fourth and last place, the uses of the law. And the first use of it without question is, to convince the world of sin. This is indeed the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost: who can work it without any means at all, or by whatever means it pleaseth him, however insufficient in themselves, or even improper to produce such an effect. And accordingly some there are whose hearts have been broken in pieces in a moment, either in sickness or in health, without any visible cause, or any outward means whatever. And others (one in an age) have been awakened to a sense of the ''wrath of God abiding on them, by hearing, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself''. But it is the ordinary method of the Spirit of God, to convict sinners by the law. It is this, which being set home on the conscience, generally breaketh the rocks in pieces. It is more especially this part of the word of God, which is [Greek: zôn kai henergês], ''quick and powerful, full of life and energy, and sharper than any two-edged sword''. This in the hand of God and of those whom he hath sent, pierces through all the folds of a deceitful heart, and ''divides asunder even the soul and spirit, yea, as it were, the very joints and marrow''. By this is