16-Appendix 4: John Wesley

John Wesley, in his sermon on 2 Thessalonians 2:7, „The
Mystery Of Iniquity‟, declared:
How soon did „the mystery of iniquity‟ work... and obscure
the glorious prospect! It began to work (not openly indeed, but
covertly) in two of the Christians, Ananias and Sapphira.
„They sold their possession‟, like the rest, and probably for the
same motive; but afterwards, giving place to the devil, and
reasoning with flesh and blood, they „kept back part of the
price‟. See the first Christians that „made shipwreck of faith
and a good conscience‟... the first that „drew back to perdition‟
instead of continuing to „believe to the‟ final „salvation of the
soul!‟ Mark the first plague which infected the... church;
namely, the love of money! And will it not be the grand
plague in all generations, whenever God shall revive the same
work? O believers in Christ, take warning! Whether you are
yet but little children, or young men that are strong in the faith,
see the snare; your snare in particular – that which you will be
peculiarly exposed to after you have escaped from gross
pollutions. „Love not the world, neither the things of the
world! If any man love the world‟, whatever he was in times
past, „the love of the Father is not‟ now „in him!‟