# Summary John here uses the same phraseology that Charles uses in the last sermon, terming a sinner who is unaware in their sin a "natural man" or a sleeper, one who's senses are not yet awake. The man has a certain kind of peace, because he has no idea that he is at the edge of a cliff. Wesley says that the spirit of fear is a gift from god, because it rouses a man from this sleeping. In this way, Wesley would agree with Augustine, who said more or less "To say 'I am a sinner' is a theological achievement." The danger that Wesley envisions is the terrible justice of a just and holy God. This is consistent with my understanding of colonial-era Patrology, this sort of "sinners in the hands of an angry god" type frame. In this frame, the father sends the spirit of fear and judgement as a scold, a thing He doesn't have to do but chooses to do, so that makes it grace. Here I will cleave to the Barthian stream still, and insist that the call to discipleship is a call to recover true humanity, and that the Father calls us back to ourselves, not back away from the death He will give us if we don't shape up. I wonder if he's describing the pattern of discipleship that was plain in front of him at his moment in time and space. This being seized with the fear of the Lord and of damnable hellfire is not quite consistent with my experiences with young people. In II.6 he describes people that have symptoms similar to a panic attack, of being gripped by terror and despair. I have a very hard time accepting that this is normative or even desirable for a new believer. It doesn't comport with the character of God, by my reckoning. I just don't see any room in this sermon's frame that the believer might be led, drawn to the Lord, rather than driven from the fear of death. I hope to see more of it in other pieces.