In a Christian believer love sits
upon the throne which is erected in the inmost soul; namely, love of God and man, which fills
the whole heart, and reigns without a rival. ... In a circle near the throne are all holy
tempers;-longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, fidelity, temperance; and if any other were
comprised in "the mind which was in Christ Jesus." In an exterior circle are all the
works of mercy, whether to the souls or bodies of men. By these we exercise all holy
tempers; by these we continually improve them, so that all these are real means of grace, although
this is not commonly adverted to. Next to these are those that are usually termed works of
piety;-reading and hearing the word, public, family, private prayer, receiving the Lord's
Supper, fasting or abstinence. Lastly, that his followers may the more effectually provoke
one another to love, holy tempers, and good works, our blessed Lord has united them
together in one body, the Church, dispersed all over the
earth; a little emblem of which,
of the Church universal, we have in every particular Christian congregation.
from John Wesley's Sermon "On Zeal"
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