preachers were appointed for one or two years, a part of the work of
every conference was to arrange these appointments and changes. In the
early conferences various points of doctrine were discussed with
reference to the agreement of all in a common standard; and when this
was settled, and the doctrinal discussions discontinued, new regulations
continued to be adopted, as the state of the societies, and the
enlarging opportunities of doing good, required. The character of all
those who were engaged in the ministry was also annually examined; and
those who had passed the appointed term of probation, were solemnly
received into the ministry. All the preachers were itinerants, and,
animated by the example of Mr. Wesley, went through great labours, and
endured many privations and persecutions, but with such success that
societies and congregations were in a few years raised up in almost
every part of England, and in a very considerable number of places in
Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. The doctrines held by the Methodists, Mr.
Wesley declared repeatedly in his writings to be those contained in the
Articles of the church of England; for he understood the article on
predestination, as many others have done, in a sense not contrary to the
doctrine of the redemption and the possible salvation of the whole human
race. It will, therefore, be merely necessary to state those views of
certain doctrines which it has been thought the Wesleyan Methodists hold
in a somewhat peculiar way, or on which they have been most liable to
misrepresentation.
They maintain the total fall of man in Adam, and his utter inability to
recover himself, or take one step toward his recovery, without the grace
of God preventing him, that he may have a good will, and working with
him when he has that good will.” They assert that Christ, by the grace
of God, tasted death for every man.” This grace they call free, as
extending itself freely to all. They say that Christ is the Saviour of
all men, especially of them that believe;” and that, consequently, they
are authorized to offer salvation to all, and to preach the Gospel to
every creature.” They hold justification by faith. Justification,” says
Mr. Wesley, “sometimes means our acquittal at the last day, Matt. xii,
37: but this is altogether out of the present question; for that
justification whereof our Articles and Homilies speak, signifies present
forgiveness, pardon of sins, and consequently acceptance with God, who
therein declares his righteousness, or justice, and mercy, by or for the
remission of sins that are past, Romans iii, 25, saying, ‘I will be
merciful to thy unrighteousness, and thine iniquities I will remember no
more.’ I believe the condition of this is faith, Rom. iv, 5, &c; I mean,
not only that without faith we cannot be justified, but also that as
soon as any one has true faith, in that moment he is justified. Faith,
in general, is a divine supernatural evidence, or conviction, of things
not seen, not discoverable by our bodily senses, as being either past,
future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies, not only a divine
evidence, or conviction, that ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself,’ but a full reliance on the merits of his death, a sure
confidence that Christ died for my sins; that he loved me, and gave
himself for me: and the moment a penitent sinner believes this, God
pardons and absolves him.” This faith, Mr. Wesley affirms, “is the gift
of God. No man is able to work it in himself. It is a work of
Omnipotence. It requires no less power thus to quicken a dead soul, than
to raise a body that lies in the grave. It is a new creation; and none
can create a soul anew but He who at first created the heavens and the
earth. It is the free gift of God, which he bestows not on those who are
_worthy_ of his favour, not on such as are _previously holy_, and so
_fit_ to be crowned with all the blessings of his goodness; but on the
ungodly and unholy, on those who till that hour were fit only for
everlasting destruction; those in whom is no good thing, and whose only
plea was, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’ No merit, no goodness, in
man, precedes the forgiving love of God. His pardoning mercy supposes
nothing in us but a sense of mere sin and misery; and to all who see and
feel and own their wants, and their utter inability to remove them, God
freely gives faith, for the sake of Him in whom he is always well
pleased. Good works follow this faith, Luke vi, 43, but cannot go before
it; much less can sanctification, which implies a continued course of
good works springing from holiness of heart.” As to repentance he
insisted that it is conviction of sin, and that repentance, and works
meet for repentance, go before justifying faith; but he held, with the
church of England, that all works, before justification, had the nature
of sin;” and that, as they had no root in the love of God, which can
only arise from a persuasion of his being reconciled to us, they could
not constitute a moral worthiness preparatory to pardon. That true
repentance springs from the grace of God, is most certain; but, whatever
fruits it may bring forth, it changes not man’s _relation_ to God. He is
a sinner, and is justified _as such_; for it is not a saint, but a
sinner, that is forgiven, and under the notion of a sinner.” God
justifieth the ungodly, not the godly. Repentance, according to his
statement, is necessary to true faith; but faith alone is the direct and
immediate instrument of pardon. They hold also the direct internal
testimony of the Holy Spirit to the believer’s adoption; for an
exposition of which see HOLY SPIRIT.
They maintain also that, by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ, and the
operations of the Holy Spirit, it is their privilege to arrive at that
maturity in grace, and participation of the divine nature, which
excludes sin from the heart, and fills it with perfect love to God and
man. This they denominate Christian perfection. On this doctrine Mr.
Wesley observes, “Christian perfection does not imply an exemption from
ignorance or mistake, infirmities or temptations; but it implies the
being so crucified with Christ, as to be able to testify, ‘I live not,
but Christ liveth in me,’ Gal. ii, 23, and ‘hath purified their hearts
by faith,’ Acts xv, 9.” Again: To explain myself a little farther on
this head: 1. Not only sin, properly so called, that is, a voluntary
transgression of a known law; but sin, improperly so called, that is, an
involuntary transgression of a divine law known or unknown, needs the
atoning blood. 2. I believe there is no such perfection in this life as
excludes these involuntary transgressions, which I apprehend to be
naturally consequent on the ignorance and mistakes inseparable from
mortality. 3. Therefore, sinless perfection is a phrase I never use,
lest I should seem to contradict myself. 4. I believe a person filled
with the love of God is still liable to these involuntary
transgressions. 5. Such transgressions you may call sins, if you please;
I do not, for the reasons above mentioned.”
The rules of the Methodist societies have been already given; but, in
order to have a general view of their ecclesiastical economy, it must be
remarked, that a number of these societies united together form what is
called a circuit. A circuit generally includes a large market town, and
the circumjacent villages to the extent of ten or fifteen miles. To one
circuit two or three, and sometimes four, preachers are appointed, one
of whom is styled the superintendent; and this is the sphere of their
labour for at least one year, or not more than three years. Once a
quarter the preachers meet all the classes, and speak personally to each
member. Those who have walked orderly the preceding quarter then receive
a ticket. These tickets are in some respects analogous to the _tesseræ_
of the ancients, and answer all the purposes of the commendatory letters
spoken of by the Apostle. Their chief use is to prevent imposture. After
the visitation of the classes a meeting is held, consisting of all the
preachers, leaders, and stewards in the circuit. At this meeting the
stewards deliver their collections to a circuit steward, and every thing
relating to temporal matters is publicly settled. At this meeting the
candidates for the ministry are proposed, and the stewards, after
officiating a definite period, are changed. A number of circuits, from
five to ten, more or fewer, according to their extent, form a district,
the preachers of which meet annually. Every district has a chairman, who
fixes the time of meeting. These assemblies have authority, 1. To
examine candidates for the ministry, and probationers, and to try and
suspend preachers who are found immoral, erroneous in doctrine, or
deficient in abilities. 2. To decide concerning the building of chapels.
3. To examine the demands from the poorer circuits respecting the
support of the preachers and of their families, from the public funds.
4. To elect a representative to attend and form a committee to sit
previously to the meeting of the conference, in order to prepare a
draught of the stations of all the preachers for the ensuing year. The
judgment of this meeting is conclusive until conference, to which an
appeal is allowed in all cases.
The conference, strictly speaking, consists only of a hundred of the
senior preachers, according to the arrangements prescribed in a deed of
declaration, executed by Mr. Wesley, and enrolled in chancery. But the
preachers elected at the preceding district meetings as representatives,
the superintendents of the circuits, and such preachers as the districts
allow to attend, sit and vote usually as one body. At the conference,
every preacher’s character undergoes the strictest scrutiny; and if any
charge be proved against him, he is dealt with accordingly. The
preachers are also stationed, the proceedings of the subordinate
meetings reviewed, and the state of the connection at large is
considered. The conference is commonly held in London, Leeds, Bristol,
Manchester, Liverpool, and Sheffield, in rotation, at the latter end of
July.
By the minutes of the last conference, 1831, it appears that this
religious body had three hundred and sixty-three circuits in England,
Wales, and Scotland; forty-five in Ireland; and a hundred and fifty-six
mission stations, most of them being also circuits, in Sweden, France,
the Mediterranean, Continental India, Ceylon, the South Seas, Africa,
the West Indies, and British America. The number of members in the
societies were, in Great Britain, two hundred and forty-nine thousand
one hundred and nineteen; in Ireland, twenty-two thousand four hundred
and seventy; in the foreign stations, forty-two thousand seven hundred
and forty-three. Their regular preachers were eight hundred and
forty-six in Great Britain; in Ireland, a hundred and forty-six; in
foreign stations, exclusive of catechists, a hundred and eighty-seven.
[The preceding account, so far as it respects the original history, the
doctrines, and the moral discipline of Wesleyan Methodists, is equally
applicable to those in America and in Europe. The Methodist Episcopal
Church in the United States, however, which became a distinct and
independent church in the year 1784, differs considerably in its
organization, and in the details of its ecclesiastical economy, from the
British Wesleyan connection. The circuits, into which the whole field of
labour occupied by the itinerant ministry is divided, are in general
much larger, nor is any preacher allowed to remain on them more than two
years successively. Of these circuits, from five or six to fifteen or
more, according to circumstances, constitute a district. Of the
districts, from four or five to six or eight, usually, comprise the
tract of country embraced within the boundaries of an annual conference;
and of annual conferences, the whole of the United States and
Territories, agreeably to the minutes of the last year, (1831,) were
divided into nineteen. From all these annual conferences, delegates, in
a certain prescribed ratio, are sent once in four years to constitute a
general conference, the highest ecclesiastical assemblage among American
Wesleyan Methodists. The minister or preacher first named of those
appointed to each circuit or station, is thereby invested with the
pastoral charge thereof, and is usually denominated the preacher in
charge. Each district is committed to the care of an elder, denominated
the presiding elder, who is appointed annually, and may remain four
years successively on a district, but not longer; and all the districts
comprising the whole extent of the church, are under the general
superintendence of the bishops. These at present, (April, 1832,) are
four in number, and like all others of our stated ministry, are required
to be itinerant. If they cease to travel at large, without the consent
of the general conference, they forfeit the exercise of their episcopal
functions. Their visitations are annual and alternate, on a preconcerted
plan, through the bounds of the entire work. They preside in the annual
and general conferences, station the preachers, with (by established
usage) the counsel of the presiding elders, and are jointly and
severally responsible to the general conference for their administration
and conduct. (See also the articles EPISCOPALIANS,” and IMPOSITION OF
HANDS.”)
For a more minute detail of the ecclesiastical economy, spiritual and
temporal, of American Wesleyan Methodists, (which would lead us too far
for a work of this sort,) reference may be had to the small volume
published at the Conference Office, entitled ‘_The Doctrines and
Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church_.’
By the minutes of the annual conferences for the last year, (1831,)
there were in the communion of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the
United States, five hundred and thirteen thousand one hundred and
twenty-four members; of whom four hundred and thirty-seven thousand and
twenty-four were whites, seventy-one thousand five hundred and
eighty-nine coloured, and four thousand five hundred and one Indians.
The number of itinerant ministers was two thousand and ten, of whom one
hundred and thirty four were superannuated, or worn out. In addition to
these, there are also several thousand local ministers and preachers,
many of whom were once itinerant; and who, though not statedly devoted
to the work of the ministerial office, as the itinerant ministers are,
yet, by their valuable services on the Sabbath, or at other times
occasionally in their respective vicinities, constitute an important
auxiliary branch of the system, and contribute much to its compactness
and efficiency.
Beside the above, there are in the United States several smaller
associations of persons bearing the name of Methodists, who hold and
teach, in general, the doctrines of Wesleyan Methodists, but are not in
connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and differ from it in
various points of ecclesiastical economy and discipline.
The Wesleyan Methodists in Upper Canada, who were formerly in connection
with the church in the United States, have recently, with the consent of
the general conference of the latter body, been constituted a distinct
church, under an episcopal form. Its organization, however, has not yet
been completed by the consecration of a bishop, though we understand
that a reverend individual has been selected, who will probably shortly
be set apart for that holy office. This branch of the American Wesleyan
Methodists, agreeably to their minutes for the year 1831, consisted of
sixty-five itinerant ministers, and twelve thousand five hundred and
sixty-three members; of whom one thousand two hundred and thirty-three
were Indians.]
METHUSELAH, the son of Enoch, and father of Lamech, Gen. v, 21. He was
born A. M. 687, and died A. M. 1656, being the very year of the deluge,
at the age of nine hundred and sixty-nine, the greatest age to which any
mortal man ever attained.
MICAH, the seventh in order of the twelve lesser prophets, is supposed
to have prophesied about B. C. 750. He was commissioned to denounce the
judgments of God against both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, for
their idolatry and wickedness. The principal predictions contained in
this book are, the invasions of Shalmanezer and Sennecharib; the
destruction of Samaria and of Jerusalem, mixed with consolatory promises
of the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and of the
downfall of the power of their Assyrian and Babylonian oppressors; the
cessation of prophecy in consequence of their continued deceitfulness
and hypocrisy; and a desolation in a then distant period, still greater
than that which was declared to be impending. The birth of the Messiah
at Bethlehem is also expressly foretold; and the Jews are directed to
look to the establishment and extent of his kingdom, as an unfailing
source of comfort amidst general distress. The style of Micah is
nervous, concise, and elegant, often elevated, and poetical, but
sometimes obscure from sudden transitions of subject; and the contrast
of the neglected duties of justice, mercy, humility, and piety, with the
punctilious observance of the ceremonial sacrifices, affords a beautiful
example of the harmony which subsists between the Mosaic and Christian
dispensations, and shows that the law partook of that spiritual nature
which more immediately characterizes the religion of Jesus.
The prophecy of Micah, contained in the fifth chapter, is, perhaps the
most important single prophecy in all the Old Testament, and the most
comprehensive respecting the personal character of the Messiah, and his
successive manifestations to the world. It crowns the whole chain of
predictions respecting the several limitations of the promised seed: to
the line of Shem; to the family of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; to
the tribe of Judah; and to the royal house of David, terminating in his
birth at Bethlehem, the city of David.” It carefully distinguishes his
human nativity from his divine nature and eternal existence; foretels
the casting off of the Israelites and Jews for a season; their ultimate
restoration; and the universal peace which should prevail in the kingdom
and under the government of the Messiah. This prophecy, therefore, forms
the basis of the New Testament revelation which commences with the birth
of the Messiah at Bethlehem, the miraculous circumstances of which are
recorded by St. Matthew and St. Luke in the introduction to their
respective histories; the eternal subsistence of Christ as the Word,” in
the sublime introduction to St. John’s Gospel; his prophetic character
and second coming, illustrated in the four Gospels and in the apostolic
epistles.
MICHAEL. See ARCHANGEL.
MIDIAN, LAND OF, a country of the Midianites, derived its name and its
inhabitants from Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah. This country
extended from the east of the land of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea,
southward, along the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea, stretching some way
into Arabia. It farther passed to the south of the land of Edom, into
the peninsula of Mount Sinai, where Moses met with the daughter of
Jethro, the priest of Midian, whom he married. The Midianites, together
with their neighbours, the Ishmaelites, were early engaged in the trade
between the east and the west, as we find the party to whom Joseph was
sold, carrying spices, the produce of the east, into Egypt; and, taking
Gilead in their way, to add the celebrated and highly prized balm of
that country to their merchandise. It appears that, at the time of the
passage of the Israelites through the country of the Amorites, the
Midianites had been subdued by that people, as the chiefs or kings of
their five principal tribes are called dukes of Sihon, and dwelt in his
country, Joshua xiii, 21. It was at this time that the Midianites,
alarmed at the numbers and the progress of the Israelites, united with
the Moabites in sending into Syria for Balaam, the soothsayer; thinking
to do that by incantation which they despaired of effecting by force.
The result of this measure, the constraint imposed on Balaam to bless
instead of to curse, and the subsequent defeat and slaughter of the
Midianites, forms one of the most interesting narratives in the early
history of the Jews, Num. xxii-xxv, xxxi. About two hundred years after
this, the Midianites, having recovered their numbers and their strength,
were permitted by God to distress the Israelites for the space of seven
years, as a punishment for their relapse into idolatry. But at length
their armies, like grasshoppers for multitude, with camels out of number
as sand by the sea side for multitude,” which had encamped in the valley
of Jezreel, were miraculously defeated by Gideon, Judges vi-viii. The
Midianites appear not to have survived this second discomfiture as a
nation; but their remains became gradually incorporated with the
Moabites and Arabians.
MIGDOL. Moses writes, that when the Israelites came out of Egypt, the
Lord commanded them to encamp over against Pihahiroth, between Migdol
and the sea, over against Baal-Zephon, Exod. xiv, 2. It is not known
whether this Migdol was a city, or only a fortress: probably the latter,
in which a garrison was stationed.
MILE, a measure of length, containing a thousand paces. Eight _stadia_
or furlongs make a mile. The Romans commonly measured by miles, and the
Greeks by furlongs. The furlong was a hundred and twenty-five paces; the
pace was five feet. The ancient Hebrews had neither miles, furlongs, nor
feet, but only the cubit, the reed, and the line. The rabbins make a
mile to consist of two thousand cubits, and four miles make a parasang.
MILETUS, a city on the continent of Asia Minor, and in the province of
Caria, memorable for being the birthplace of Thales, one of the seven
wise men of Greece, of Anaximander and Anaximines, the philosophers, and
of Timotheus, the musician. It was about thirty-six miles south of
Ephesus, and the capital of both Caria and Ionia. The Milesians were
subdued by the Persians, and the country passed successively into the
power of the Greeks and Romans. At present the Turks call it Molas, and
it is not far distant from the true Meander, which encircles all the
plain with many mazes, and innumerable windings. It was to this place
that St. Paul called the elders of the church of Ephesus, to deliver his
last charge to them, Acts xx, 15, &c. There was another Miletus in
Crete, mentioned 2 Tim. iv, 20.