DAY 24

MORNING

PSALMS 116–118

Psalm 116:6 “The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need he saved me.”

His Mission to the Poor

John Wesley was primarily concerned for the poor. The working classes of
 the 18th century lived barely above subsistence level. An expert on the 18th century writes, “It is difficult today to imagine how low the standard of life of the average worker was ... how brutish, ignorant and violent the poor, especially the urban poor, were ... Conditions made it difficult for
 the mass of the people to live by any strict moral code. overcrowding made every kind
 of sexual laxity almost normal. Extreme poverty made thieving and bullying the only alternatives to starvation ... it was a hard, harsh world for the mass of the English people and one singularly devoid of pity.”164

Wesley believed that his main mission was to the poor, and he clearly had the ear of the working man. He said, “I bear the rich and love the poor ... therefore I spend almost all of my time with them. I love the poor ... in many I find pure, genuine grace, unmixed with paint, folly and affectation.”165 At the time, there was no welfare state or social services, there was nobody to care for this whole segment of society in England. The Church seemed unconcerned for them.

Skevington–Wood says, “They were as sheep without a shepherd. Wesley pressed them to his heart. There, more than anywhere, lies the key to his evangelistic success. That is why he has been called the St Francis of the 18th century. His first concern was for the coal miners of Kingswood. This was his introduction to the plight of the poor. Those grimy faces haunted him. He longed to tell them of one whose hands were hardened with toil before they were pinned to a cross. Conditions in the pits were unbelievably crude and dangerous. Coal was still hewn manually, and the Davy lamp had not be yet been invented to bring a measure of safety. The men themselves were coarse in the extreme, and even the rest of the poor were afraid of them because they were so black and rough. When Wesley was led to offer Christ to the colliers, he was touching the most unlikely group in the kingdom. But they listened, and many of them turned to the Lord. If the Gospel could move them it could move anyone. This initial encounter in April 1739 convinced Wesley that the good news was meant for the outcasts of men.”166

Prayer

Lord, you came to bring Good News to the poor and the outcasts, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Give us your heart for the poor and outcasts of our day, just as you did for Wesley in his day, so that in their great need they might be saved.

164 Marshall, H. The Eighteenth Century, 243.


165 Wesley,J. Letters to Anne Foard, 29 September 1764, Vol IV, 266.

166 Skevington-Wood, The burning heart 141,142

DAY 24

EVENING

PSALM 119:1–32

Psalm 119:32 “... for you have set my heart free.”

Freedom and Liberty for Many

Both John Wesley and George Whitefield saw outward signs following the preaching of the Gospel that brought freedom and liberty to many people.

Monday 6 July 1739

In the afternoon I was with Mr Whitefield, just come from London, with whom I went to Baptist-Mills, where he preached concerning “the Holy Ghost, which all who believe are to receive”.167

Tuesday 7 July 1739

I had an opportunity to talk with him of those outward signs, which had so often accompanied the inward work of God. I found his objections were chiefly grounded on gross misrepresentations of matter of fact. But the next day he had an opportunity of informing himself better. For no sooner had he begun (in the application of his sermon) to invite
 all sinners to believe in Christ, than four persons sunk down close to him, almost in the same moment. One of them lay without either of sense or motion. A second trembled exceedingly. The third had strong convulsions all over his body but made no noise unless by groans. The fourth, equally convulsed called upon God with strong cries and tears. From this time, I trust, we shall all suffer God to carry on his own work in the way that pleaseth Him.168

Monday 30 July 1739

Two more were in strong pain, both their souls and bodies being well nigh torn asunder. But though we cried unto God, there was no answer; neither did He as yet deliver them all. One of these had been remarkably zealous against those that cried out and made a noise; being sure that any of them might help if they would. And the same opinion she was still in, till the moment she was struck through, as with a sword, and fell trembling to the ground. She then cried aloud though not articulately, her words being swallowed up. In this pain she continued twelve or fourteen hours, and then her soul was set at liberty. But her master (for she was a servant till that time at a gentleman’s in town) forbade her returning to him, saying, he would have none in his house who had received the Holy Ghost.169

Prayer

As we follow the path of your commands, set us free, Lord. Thank you that you give
 rest to the weary and heavy–laden. We desperately cry out to you, Lord, for another outpouring of your Holy Spirit, that sets the captives free, that heals the oppressed, that revives the lowly and feeds the spiritually hungry. Set our hearts alight again, on fire for you, Lord Jesus.

167 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1, 210.

168 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1, 213.

169 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1, 226.