The Means of Grace

Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. MALACHI 3:7

A religion of grace can go wrong in two opposite directions. It can decay into formalism, in which people go through the motions of prayer, Scripture and sacrament as though the motions themselves could save. Or it can overreact into a contempt for all outward forms, as though the inward work of the Spirit made them unnecessary. Wesley met both errors, the first in the Church of England of his youth and the second among some of the very Moravians who had taught him the way of faith. His sermon The Means of Grace is his answer to both, and it shaped the daily life of Methodism for generations.

The quarrel over stillness

The occasion was a real controversy. In 1739 and 1740 some in the London society at Fetter Lane, under Moravian influence, began teaching that those who did not yet have true faith should be still: they should not pray, read the Scriptures or come to the Lord’s Supper, but simply wait for God, since using these means would only lead them to trust in their own works. Wesley saw where this led, and in 1740 he parted company with them.

In the sermon he treats the error with some sympathy. He acknowledges that the outward means had been terribly abused. Many had forgotten that the end of every commandment is love, and had made the means into the end. It was natural that sincere people, seeing this, should overreact. But the remedy for abuse is right use, not disuse.

What the means are

Wesley’s definition is clear and has been much quoted. “By ‘means of grace’ I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.”

Notice each part. They are ordained of God, not invented by us. They are ordinary channels, the usual ways God works, though He is not bound to them. And they convey every kind of grace: the grace that awakens, the grace that justifies and the grace that sanctifies. They are not only for mature believers. They are for seekers too.

The chief of these means, he goes on, are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation; searching the Scriptures, which implies reading, hearing and meditating on them; and receiving the Lord’s Supper.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ACTS 2:42

Wait for grace in the means

Wesley’s central argument is that all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means He has ordained, “in using, not in laying them aside.” And he proves it from Scripture, one means at a time.

Seekers are to wait for grace in prayer, because Christ says, Ask, and it shall be given you. They are to wait for it in searching the Scriptures, because Christ told even unbelievers to search them, since they testify of Him. And they are to wait for it at the Lord’s Supper, because Christ commanded, This do in remembrance of me.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. MATTHEW 7:7

Wesley answers the objection that using the means is trusting in works. Not if they are used rightly, he says. The one who uses them as the way God has appointed, looking through them to God, is not trusting in himself but in God’s promise.

There is no power in this

At the same time, Wesley was just as concerned about the opposite error. He grants frankly that all outward means whatever, separated from the Spirit of God, cannot profit at all. And his directions for using them are a model of spiritual wisdom.

First, always remember that God is above all means. He can give grace without them, and He can withhold it through them. Second, before you use any means, let it be deeply impressed on your soul that there is no power in this. “The opus operatum, the mere work done, profiteth nothing”. There is no power to save but in the Spirit of God, and no merit but in the blood of Christ. Third, “In using all means, seek God alone.” Look through every outward thing to the power of His Spirit and the merits of His Son. Do not stick in the work itself. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. ZECHARIAH 4:6

And lastly, after you have used any means, take care how you value yourself on it. To congratulate yourself on having done some great thing turns everything to poison. If God was not there, what did it avail? If He was, you will have forgotten, as it were, the outward work, because you will have seen that God is all in all.

Constant communion

Among the means, Wesley gave a special place to the Lord’s Supper, and here he was more of a high churchman than many of his evangelical contemporaries. In his sermon The Duty of Constant Communion, written first for his pupils at Oxford and published much later, he argues that it is the duty of every Christian to receive the Lord’s Supper as often as he can.

His reasons are two. First, it is a plain command of Christ. Second, its benefits are great: the forgiveness of our past sins and the present strengthening and refreshing of our souls. As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This, he says, is the food of our souls. He answers every excuse — unworthiness, lack of time, fear of making it common — and concludes that no one can claim to be a devout Christian who does not receive it as often as he can.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 1 CORINTHIANS 11:26

Wesley practised what he preached. His own diaries show him receiving Communion very frequently throughout his life, and he urged the Methodists to go to their parish churches for the sacrament.

Where to read with care

Wesley’s balance here is almost perfect, and the dangers are the ones he himself names. The reader from a sacramental tradition may be tempted to rest in the means; Wesley says there is no power in them apart from God. The reader from a free tradition may be tempted to despise them; Wesley says God has ordained them and we are to wait for Him there. Some may also question whether the Lord’s Supper should be offered to seekers who are not yet believers, as Wesley sometimes held; his practice on that point reflects his particular setting in a national church and has been debated since.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Which error are you more prone to: trusting in the forms, or neglecting them? Name it honestly.

2. Before your next time of prayer or Bible reading, pause and tell yourself: there is no power in this, but in God. Then seek Him alone.

3. After using a means of grace, notice whether you congratulate yourself. If so, give the praise to God.

4. Consider how often you receive the Lord’s Supper, and whether Wesley’s arguments ought to change your practice.

5. Read The Means of Grace in the Sermons on Several Occasions.

A PRAYER

Lord, You have given us prayer, Your Word and the Supper of Your Son as channels of Your grace. Forgive me when I have neglected them, and forgive me when I have trusted in them instead of You.

As I pray, speak with me. As I read, open my eyes. As I eat and drink, feed my soul with Christ.

Let me seek You alone in every means, and never rest in the work itself.

And when You meet me, let me forget myself and give You all the glory. Amen.