MORNING
PSALMS 19–21
Psalm 19:7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”
A Serious Call
At Oxford John Wesley was introduced to the writings of the early Church Fathers and William Law’s new book 'A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life' which powerfully influenced him. Wesley was particularly inspired at the thought of reaching Christian perfection. Law’s book, 'A Serious Call', together with Law’s earlier book 'Christian Perfection', made a big impact on Wesley. He says that these books, “convinced me more than ever the exceeding height and breadth and depth of the law of God. The light floated in so mightily upon my soul that everything appeared in a new view. I cried to God for help, and resolved not to prolong the time of obeying him as I had never done before ... and by
my continued endeavour to keep his whole law, inward and outward to the utmost of
my power, I was persuaded that I should be accepted of him, and that I was even then in a state of salvation.”42
John Wesley himself acknowledged that 'A Serious Call' sowed the seed of Methodism,43 and contributed much to the spread of evangelicalism. It made the deepest impression on Wesley himself; he preached 44
after its model; he used it as a text-book for the highest class at Kingswood school (which Wesley founded); and, a few months before his death, he spoke of it as “a treatise which will hardly be excelled, if it be equalled, in the English tongue, either for beauty of expression or for justice and depth of thought.”45
John Wesley was also inspired by the patristic fathers and one church father in particular interested him, Macarius the Egyptian. Macarius‘ description of ‘perfection’ as the goal of the Christian in this life fascinated John Wesley. Macarius’ homilies are written with a warmth of feeling, an affection and enthusiasm that are instantly attractive. In his 18th homily, Macarius says “everyone should push himself to beg the Lord to make him worthy to receive and find the heavenly treasure of the spirit in order to be able to easily and to promptly fulfil all the commandments of the Lord without blame and with perfection.”46
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. I thank you for your Word and I thank you for the length and depth and breadth of your love. Open my eyes to see the treasures that are found in you, Lord Jesus, and your precious Holy Spirit. Revive me with a fresh call to live a holy and devoted life for you Lord Jesus.
42 Wesley, J. Volume 1, 24th May 1738, 99
43 Wesley, J. Note 31. Sermon CVII, , 11th ed., 1856, vol. VII.
44 Letter to Law of 1738, quoted by Overton, 33.
45 Bartleby online William Law and the mystics http://www.bartleby.com/219/1206.html
46 Pseudo-Macarius, Homily 18,142.
DAY 4
EVENING
PSALMS 22–23
Psalm 23:4 “I will fear no evil.”
Travelling With the Moravians
After training as an Anglican clergyman and obtaining a Fellowship at Oxford, John Wesley set out on
a mission, crossing the Atlantic ocean to Georgia in North America, to convert the native American Indians. It was Saturday, January 17, 1736, and John and Charles Wesley and Colonel Oglethorpe were sitting with others in the state cabin of 'The Simonds', a ship in the middle of the Atlantic. The weather was bad and had been getting worse throughout the day. Then a wave suddenly burst in the state cabin “with a noise and shock almost like that of a cannon.” Although Wesley had been sheltered by a bureau he was alarmed to discover that he had been and still was “afraid to die”. Later, as the clock turned midnight, Wesley noted in his diary: “stormy still, and afraid!” John Wesley, as chaplain on board the ship, had met a group of 26 German Moravian travellers on board and their response during the storm was very different from his own, and this made a deep impression on him.47
These German Moravians always had a positive disposition and were keen to undertake
mundane tasks with a servant heart and
a cheerful attitude. They were willing to serve, accomplishing tasks that the English passengers were either too lazy or proud to consider.48 If other crewmen or passengers mistreated them, they turned the other cheek. The Moravian hymns that they sung were beautiful, a huge contrast to the laboured Church of England metrical psalms. John and Charles Wesley had continued their commitment to continue the strict disciplines of the Holy Club, a system of prayers, readings, fasts and good works. This did not impress the Moravians who realised that the intent of this discipline was to acquire merit before God. The Moravians were motivated
by “a more excellent way”, “justification by faith”, the doctrine of the Reformation. Wesley admitted that he did not understand it, and he continued to trust in his own righteousness. When another storm hit 'The Simonds' a few days later, although he was unhurt, he was shocked again by his own fear. He said to himself, “how is it that thou hast no faith? being still unwilling to die.”49 50
Prayer
Thank you that through the cross and your resurrection from the dead we can be born again by the Spirit. You did NOT give us a spirit that makes us a SLAVE AGAIN TO FEAR but a spirit of SONSHIP. Thank you, Lord, that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we need fear no evil.
47 Pollock, J. Wesley, The Preacher, 67 quoted in Wesley, Journal Vol 1, 17, 17th October 1735.
48 Wesley, Vol 1 Journal, 25th January 1736.
49 Pollock, J. Wesley: The Preacher, 68.
50 Wesley, Journal, 23rd January 1736.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014
DAY 3
MORNING
PSALMS 15–17
Psalm 15:1 “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?”
The Holy Club
After being raised by his highly disciplined mother, John Wesley went to school at Charterhouse. He attended chapel and continued to say his prayers morning and evening and to read his bible, but in this season he was no longer subject to his mother’s strict discipline.30
He went to university to read Classics and later became a clergyman and an Oxford don. while preparing for holy orders, his mother urged him to “enter now upon serious examination of yourself that you may know whether you have a serious hope of salvation by Jesus Christ.”31 John Wesley started writing in an old red notebook, which had been his grandfather’s, keeping a record of his temptations using shorthand.32
in August 1730, John Wesley, Charles Wesley and William Morgan started “a little society” daily visiting prisoners (of whom there were some debtors) and twice a week reading prayers. This was the beginnings of what came to be known as the “Holy Club”. “During John Wesley’s teaching days at Oxford University the Holy Club observed a strict discipline which John devised himself but which followed closely the pattern of other similar societies.” Charitable work, including the visiting of prisoners and helping the poor, was a key part of the pattern of his life. “The members of the club spent an hour, morning and evening, in private prayer. At nine, twelve and three o’clock they recited a collect and at all times they examined themselves closely, watching for signs of grace and trying to preserve a high degree of religious fervour. They noted in cipher [that is, coded] diaries all the particulars of their daily employment. one hour each day was set apart for meditation. They fasted twice a week, observed all the feasts of the Church and received the sacraments every sunday. before going into company they prepared their conversation, so that words might not be spoken without purpose. The primitive Church, insofar as they had knowledge of it, was to be taken as their pattern.”33
There were a number of nicknames that Wesley and his friends received. They were derisively called “Methodists”, “Sacramentarians”, “Enthusiasts”, “Bible Moths”, the “Reforming club” and “Supererogation men’. Of all these, the name “Holy Club” was the most popular one among Oxford students. Although they were called Methodists, this was still ten years before the Methodist revival began.34
Prayer
Lord, I pray for a revival of holiness in me today. Create in me a pure heart, O God. Show me where there is an offensive way in me, where there is slander on my tongue and where I do not keep my word. I turn away from these things Lord and I turn to you and receive your cleansing, Lord. How wonderful is your dwelling place, O Lord God Almighty. I long to live on your holy hill.
30 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 25.
31 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 33.
32 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 33.
33 Vulliamy,C.E. John Wesley, Epworth Press, 55 quoted in Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley and patterns for Church Renewal, 18.
34 Snyder, The Radical Wesley, 18, 19.
DAY 3
EVENING
PSALM 18
Psalm 18:28 “You, O Lord. keep my lamp burning.”
A Candle That Shall Not Be Put Out
In 1730, John Wesley preached once a month in Oxford at the Castle and at Bocardo, the prison where most debtors were. over 150 years earlier, Archbishop Cranmer and bishops Ridley and Latimer had lain there at that very same prison, before they were burned at the stake for their faith in 1555.35 Some of Wesley’s biographers link his life to the prayers of Latimer and Ridley.
Latimer prayed in the Tower of London while he waited for his execution, “‘that God of his mercy would restore his Gospel to England ONCE AGAIN’; and these words ‘once again’ he did so beat into the ears of the Lord God, as though he had seen God before him, and spoken to him face to face.”36 Just under two centuries later, the Lord moved powerfully, bringing revival to England through John Wesley and the Methodist awakening. one biographer saw John Wesley’s life as a direct answer to that prayer of Hugh Latimer in the Tower of London. Once again the Gospel was restored to our land.
Ridley’s words to Latimer as they were being burnt at the stake, on 16 october 1555, had been “be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”37 One historian suggests that John Wesley’s life in the eighteenth century was like a blazing fire, as he travelled around the country on horseback proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.38
As a boy, John Wesley had nearly died in a fire at his father’s rectory in Epworth. He referred to himself in the words of scripture as “a brand plucked out of the fire”(Zechariah 3:2). Many years later John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed”39 at a quarter to nine at Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, when he heard Luther’s preface to Romans being read aloud. wesley’s evangelistic zeal then led him to travel on horseback a quarter of a million miles, and the Gospel was preached in England once again. Skevington-wood says, “The symbolism of fire links the upper room in Aldersgate street with the blazing parsonage at Epworth. The brand plucked from the burning had now found his destiny. Henceforth the flame within would carry him throughout the land to ignite the tinder of revival.”40
“Guarding the holy fire; that was what he was doing,” writes Prof Bonamy Dobree. “He was himself a flame going up and down the land, lighting such candles as by God’s grace would never be put out; and as one reads [Wesley’s] colossal journal one gets the impression of this flame, never waning, never smoky, darting from point to point, lighting up the whole kingdom, till in due course it burnt out the body it inhabited.”41
Prayer
Lord, you reached down from on high and took hold of John Wesley and set him apart to be your vessel to see a national awakening unto revival in the 18th century. Do it again, Lord! Do not let the legacy of Wesley burn out ... do not let the candle of your Gospel burn out. Let it go up and down the land again, Lord. Let it burn brightly across this land ONCE AGAIN.
35 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 49
36 Foxe, J. Book of Martyrs, Whitaker, 278.
37 Foxe, Martyrs, 309.
38 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
39 Wesley, J The Complete Works of John Wesley, Volume 1, 24th May 1738, 103.
40 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart. John Wesley: Evangelist, 67.
41 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
PSALMS 15–17
Psalm 15:1 “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?”
The Holy Club
After being raised by his highly disciplined mother, John Wesley went to school at Charterhouse. He attended chapel and continued to say his prayers morning and evening and to read his bible, but in this season he was no longer subject to his mother’s strict discipline.30
He went to university to read Classics and later became a clergyman and an Oxford don. while preparing for holy orders, his mother urged him to “enter now upon serious examination of yourself that you may know whether you have a serious hope of salvation by Jesus Christ.”31 John Wesley started writing in an old red notebook, which had been his grandfather’s, keeping a record of his temptations using shorthand.32
in August 1730, John Wesley, Charles Wesley and William Morgan started “a little society” daily visiting prisoners (of whom there were some debtors) and twice a week reading prayers. This was the beginnings of what came to be known as the “Holy Club”. “During John Wesley’s teaching days at Oxford University the Holy Club observed a strict discipline which John devised himself but which followed closely the pattern of other similar societies.” Charitable work, including the visiting of prisoners and helping the poor, was a key part of the pattern of his life. “The members of the club spent an hour, morning and evening, in private prayer. At nine, twelve and three o’clock they recited a collect and at all times they examined themselves closely, watching for signs of grace and trying to preserve a high degree of religious fervour. They noted in cipher [that is, coded] diaries all the particulars of their daily employment. one hour each day was set apart for meditation. They fasted twice a week, observed all the feasts of the Church and received the sacraments every sunday. before going into company they prepared their conversation, so that words might not be spoken without purpose. The primitive Church, insofar as they had knowledge of it, was to be taken as their pattern.”33
There were a number of nicknames that Wesley and his friends received. They were derisively called “Methodists”, “Sacramentarians”, “Enthusiasts”, “Bible Moths”, the “Reforming club” and “Supererogation men’. Of all these, the name “Holy Club” was the most popular one among Oxford students. Although they were called Methodists, this was still ten years before the Methodist revival began.34
Prayer
Lord, I pray for a revival of holiness in me today. Create in me a pure heart, O God. Show me where there is an offensive way in me, where there is slander on my tongue and where I do not keep my word. I turn away from these things Lord and I turn to you and receive your cleansing, Lord. How wonderful is your dwelling place, O Lord God Almighty. I long to live on your holy hill.
30 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 25.
31 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 33.
32 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 33.
33 Vulliamy,C.E. John Wesley, Epworth Press, 55 quoted in Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley and patterns for Church Renewal, 18.
34 Snyder, The Radical Wesley, 18, 19.
DAY 3
EVENING
PSALM 18
Psalm 18:28 “You, O Lord. keep my lamp burning.”
A Candle That Shall Not Be Put Out
In 1730, John Wesley preached once a month in Oxford at the Castle and at Bocardo, the prison where most debtors were. over 150 years earlier, Archbishop Cranmer and bishops Ridley and Latimer had lain there at that very same prison, before they were burned at the stake for their faith in 1555.35 Some of Wesley’s biographers link his life to the prayers of Latimer and Ridley.
Latimer prayed in the Tower of London while he waited for his execution, “‘that God of his mercy would restore his Gospel to England ONCE AGAIN’; and these words ‘once again’ he did so beat into the ears of the Lord God, as though he had seen God before him, and spoken to him face to face.”36 Just under two centuries later, the Lord moved powerfully, bringing revival to England through John Wesley and the Methodist awakening. one biographer saw John Wesley’s life as a direct answer to that prayer of Hugh Latimer in the Tower of London. Once again the Gospel was restored to our land.
Ridley’s words to Latimer as they were being burnt at the stake, on 16 october 1555, had been “be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”37 One historian suggests that John Wesley’s life in the eighteenth century was like a blazing fire, as he travelled around the country on horseback proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.38
As a boy, John Wesley had nearly died in a fire at his father’s rectory in Epworth. He referred to himself in the words of scripture as “a brand plucked out of the fire”(Zechariah 3:2). Many years later John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed”39 at a quarter to nine at Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, when he heard Luther’s preface to Romans being read aloud. wesley’s evangelistic zeal then led him to travel on horseback a quarter of a million miles, and the Gospel was preached in England once again. Skevington-wood says, “The symbolism of fire links the upper room in Aldersgate street with the blazing parsonage at Epworth. The brand plucked from the burning had now found his destiny. Henceforth the flame within would carry him throughout the land to ignite the tinder of revival.”40
“Guarding the holy fire; that was what he was doing,” writes Prof Bonamy Dobree. “He was himself a flame going up and down the land, lighting such candles as by God’s grace would never be put out; and as one reads [Wesley’s] colossal journal one gets the impression of this flame, never waning, never smoky, darting from point to point, lighting up the whole kingdom, till in due course it burnt out the body it inhabited.”41
Prayer
Lord, you reached down from on high and took hold of John Wesley and set him apart to be your vessel to see a national awakening unto revival in the 18th century. Do it again, Lord! Do not let the legacy of Wesley burn out ... do not let the candle of your Gospel burn out. Let it go up and down the land again, Lord. Let it burn brightly across this land ONCE AGAIN.
35 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 49
36 Foxe, J. Book of Martyrs, Whitaker, 278.
37 Foxe, Martyrs, 309.
38 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
39 Wesley, J The Complete Works of John Wesley, Volume 1, 24th May 1738, 103.
40 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart. John Wesley: Evangelist, 67.
41 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
DAY 2
MORNING
PSALMS 9–11
Psalm 9:13 “Lift me up from the gates of death.”
A Brand Plucked Out of the Fire
It was on the night of 9th February 1709 that the Epworth Rectory was destroyed by fire. Henry Perlee Parker painted a picture of the dramatic scene of John Wesley’s rescue. The old buildings were alight and young John Wesley was trapped inside, looking through the curtains, and a brave villager, balanced on another villager’s shoulders, pulled him out of the building seconds before the roof caved in.18 Samuel Wesley invited all who were present to pray: “Come, neighbours. Let us give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go, I am rich enough.”19 Although Wesley was very young (he had not yet reached six years of age), this event left a big impression on his memory. He believed that God had spared him for a purpose. He said of himself that he was “a brand plucked out of the fire”. (Zechariah 3:2)
John Wesley would regularly observe the anniversary of that night. On one occasion he said it was “the strongest impression I had till I was 23 or 24 years old”. It is significant, too, that after Wesley was converted, he saw that he was spiritually “a brand plucked from the fire”. His rescue at Epworth was preparation for the very specific mission that the Lord had for his life. Later in his life when he was sitting for a portrait, he chose to be painted with a house in flames in the background, with the words beneath, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”20
The overriding emphasis throughout Wesley’s life became ‘personal salvation’. He saw that personal salvation was what Britain needed, and many historians believe that Wesley saved the whole English nation from revolution. Many European nations underwent terrible suffering during revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries, but England did not. Not only did a third of the nation become Methodist some years after Wesley’s death, and did thousands respond to the message of personal salvation, but the national attitude and character of the nation was also changed fundamentally. Towards the end of his life he summarised his vision with these words: “The church has nothing to do but save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work.”21
Prayer
Lord, you lifted up John Wesley from the gates of death, as a brand plucked from the fire. You had mercy on him, and you had mercy on our nation. Lord, have mercy on us today. You are our God — you came to seek and save the lost. Come and seek and save us today, Jesus. Without you sovereignly intervening we are destined for destruction. Lord, have mercy on us and our nation, and lift us up from the gates of death today.
18 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 29.
19 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 29.
20 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 29, 30.
21 Minutes of Conference, 29 June 1744, revised 1745.
DAY 2 EVENING PSALMS 12–14
Psalm 12:1 “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.”
A Period of Moral Disorder
The moral standards in England before the Methodist revival began in 1738 were very low. Sir Robert Walpole, the prime Minister from 1722–1742, lived in an adulterous relationship with Maria Skellett, “who lived in his house the old Lodge at Richmond park.”22
Alcohol and gambling were the popular pastimes of this time. Gin-drinking had reached almost epidemic proportions and violent crime had become so bad and hangings so frequent that “Dr. Johnson ironically expressed his fear that the navy might run short of ropes.”23 Harold Nicolson describes England in the first part of the 18th century as being “in a period of moral disorder.”24 The low moral standards had resulted from a prevalent indifference to the Christian faith. Thomas Secker, the Bishop of Oxford, said, “an open and professed disregard of religion is become, through a variety of unhappy causes, the distinguishing character of the age.”25 Goldsmith said that sermons from the pulpit were “generally dry, methodical and unaffecting; delivered with the most insipid calmness, so that should the peaceful preacher lift his head over the cushion, he might discover his audience, instead of being awakened to remorse, actually sleeping over his mechanical and laboured composition.”26
Today we, too, are in a period of moral disorder. Every day in Britain at least 507 babies are aborted, 190 women are raped, there are 322 divorces and 85 teenage pregnancies.27 Drug addiction and alcoholism are rampant and pornography is a multibillion-pound industry which some have described as a plague among our young people. As a nation we have drifted a very long way from our strong Christian heritage. In a recent newspaper article28 it was reported that the texts that once every school pupil knew by heart such as the Lord’s prayer and Ten Commandments are so unfamiliar that the Church of England is introducing a course to teach the basic tenets of Christianity, ‘The pilgrim Course’29. Britain needs waking up again.
Lord, as a nation we have abandoned our Christian heritage. Wake us up! You moved powerfully in the 18th century through Wesley attacking those same evils of licence and moral decay, through the preaching of repentance and conversion. Help us today, Lord, for the godly are no more and the faithful have vanished from among men. Rebuke the evils of our day, Lord. Awake the church out of its lethargy. Send another revival to our nation, Lord. Breathe on us again, we pray!
22 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 9.
23 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart,11.
24 Nicolson,H. The Age of Reason, 1700–1789, 369, Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 9.
25 B. Porteus and G. Stinton, The works of Thomas Secker, Vol 5. 292. Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart,12.
26 Friedman, A The collected works of Oliver Goldsmith. Vol 3, 151, Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart,12.
27 www.gov.uk/ government Department of Health abortion statistics, 2012. 28 Daily Telegraph, 2nd October 2013.
29 www.pilgrimcourse.org/the-course
PSALMS 9–11
Psalm 9:13 “Lift me up from the gates of death.”
A Brand Plucked Out of the Fire
It was on the night of 9th February 1709 that the Epworth Rectory was destroyed by fire. Henry Perlee Parker painted a picture of the dramatic scene of John Wesley’s rescue. The old buildings were alight and young John Wesley was trapped inside, looking through the curtains, and a brave villager, balanced on another villager’s shoulders, pulled him out of the building seconds before the roof caved in.18 Samuel Wesley invited all who were present to pray: “Come, neighbours. Let us give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go, I am rich enough.”19 Although Wesley was very young (he had not yet reached six years of age), this event left a big impression on his memory. He believed that God had spared him for a purpose. He said of himself that he was “a brand plucked out of the fire”. (Zechariah 3:2)
John Wesley would regularly observe the anniversary of that night. On one occasion he said it was “the strongest impression I had till I was 23 or 24 years old”. It is significant, too, that after Wesley was converted, he saw that he was spiritually “a brand plucked from the fire”. His rescue at Epworth was preparation for the very specific mission that the Lord had for his life. Later in his life when he was sitting for a portrait, he chose to be painted with a house in flames in the background, with the words beneath, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”20
The overriding emphasis throughout Wesley’s life became ‘personal salvation’. He saw that personal salvation was what Britain needed, and many historians believe that Wesley saved the whole English nation from revolution. Many European nations underwent terrible suffering during revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries, but England did not. Not only did a third of the nation become Methodist some years after Wesley’s death, and did thousands respond to the message of personal salvation, but the national attitude and character of the nation was also changed fundamentally. Towards the end of his life he summarised his vision with these words: “The church has nothing to do but save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work.”21
Prayer
Lord, you lifted up John Wesley from the gates of death, as a brand plucked from the fire. You had mercy on him, and you had mercy on our nation. Lord, have mercy on us today. You are our God — you came to seek and save the lost. Come and seek and save us today, Jesus. Without you sovereignly intervening we are destined for destruction. Lord, have mercy on us and our nation, and lift us up from the gates of death today.
18 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 29.
19 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 29.
20 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 29, 30.
21 Minutes of Conference, 29 June 1744, revised 1745.
DAY 2 EVENING PSALMS 12–14
Psalm 12:1 “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.”
A Period of Moral Disorder
The moral standards in England before the Methodist revival began in 1738 were very low. Sir Robert Walpole, the prime Minister from 1722–1742, lived in an adulterous relationship with Maria Skellett, “who lived in his house the old Lodge at Richmond park.”22
Alcohol and gambling were the popular pastimes of this time. Gin-drinking had reached almost epidemic proportions and violent crime had become so bad and hangings so frequent that “Dr. Johnson ironically expressed his fear that the navy might run short of ropes.”23 Harold Nicolson describes England in the first part of the 18th century as being “in a period of moral disorder.”24 The low moral standards had resulted from a prevalent indifference to the Christian faith. Thomas Secker, the Bishop of Oxford, said, “an open and professed disregard of religion is become, through a variety of unhappy causes, the distinguishing character of the age.”25 Goldsmith said that sermons from the pulpit were “generally dry, methodical and unaffecting; delivered with the most insipid calmness, so that should the peaceful preacher lift his head over the cushion, he might discover his audience, instead of being awakened to remorse, actually sleeping over his mechanical and laboured composition.”26
Today we, too, are in a period of moral disorder. Every day in Britain at least 507 babies are aborted, 190 women are raped, there are 322 divorces and 85 teenage pregnancies.27 Drug addiction and alcoholism are rampant and pornography is a multibillion-pound industry which some have described as a plague among our young people. As a nation we have drifted a very long way from our strong Christian heritage. In a recent newspaper article28 it was reported that the texts that once every school pupil knew by heart such as the Lord’s prayer and Ten Commandments are so unfamiliar that the Church of England is introducing a course to teach the basic tenets of Christianity, ‘The pilgrim Course’29. Britain needs waking up again.
Lord, as a nation we have abandoned our Christian heritage. Wake us up! You moved powerfully in the 18th century through Wesley attacking those same evils of licence and moral decay, through the preaching of repentance and conversion. Help us today, Lord, for the godly are no more and the faithful have vanished from among men. Rebuke the evils of our day, Lord. Awake the church out of its lethargy. Send another revival to our nation, Lord. Breathe on us again, we pray!
22 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 9.
23 Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart,11.
24 Nicolson,H. The Age of Reason, 1700–1789, 369, Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart, 9.
25 B. Porteus and G. Stinton, The works of Thomas Secker, Vol 5. 292. Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart,12.
26 Friedman, A The collected works of Oliver Goldsmith. Vol 3, 151, Skevington-Wood, The Burning Heart,12.
27 www.gov.uk/ government Department of Health abortion statistics, 2012. 28 Daily Telegraph, 2nd October 2013.
29 www.pilgrimcourse.org/the-course
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
DAY 1
MORNING PSALMS 1–5
Psalm 4:3 “Set apart”
Prepared Before He Was born
John Wesley once said, “If I were to write my own life I should begin it beforeI was born.”8 This was the way he paid tribute to his past. Wesley’s family tree had a huge effect on his personality and prepared him for the work of evangelism long before he came into the world. He had a strong sense of God’s purpose for his life, as did the prophet Jeremiah. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)Wesley’s ceaseless travel ministering up and down the land, it could be said, “was in his blood”9. Samuel Wesley, John Wesley’s father, was an Anglican, and John was brought up at Epworth in the family rectory. John Wesley’s mother Susanna was the daughter of Doctor Annesley, a well-known puritan, and she herself had been raised in a very disciplined home with very strong moral, devotional and educational standards.10 Susanna Wesley ordered her timetable very strictly. She examined herself before God, she meditated and set herself apart through daily times of devotion, and she kept a spiritual journal, which helped her observe the strict puritan sabbath. This was all part of her daily ‘method’ (a Puritan word, that described the way she ordered her life, many years before John Wesley started his ministry). Wesley drank in his mixed Anglican and puritan inheritance “with his mother’s milk”11, and it influenced him powerfully. He stayed a Church of England man to the end of his life, but his prime concern was for the good of souls. He had a strong sense of discipline and he had a keen desire for reform within the Church of England. if existing church order stood in his way, he would cast it aside without hesitation. “The rebel under the skin would keep bursting through.”12
Prayer
In the foreword to John Mulinde’s ‘Set Apart For God’, Charlie Cleverly, vicar of St Aldate’s, Oxford, writes, “I believe we need to see in the West every Christian an intercessor, in every home a prayer altar, every church become a house of prayer and in every town a city-wide prayer centre, but before all these we need people SET APART.”13 Today we pray with the psalmist Psalm 4:3 “The Lord has set apart the godly for himself”. Lord, you set John Wesley apart to be your vessel, to see a national awakening unto revival in the 18th century. Do it again Lord—set your people apart for a national awakening today. Prepare me Lord—SET ME APART, LORD, I am here to do your will.
8 Clarke, A. Memoirs of the Wesley Family, Vol 1, 94.
9 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart John Wesley: Evangelist, 19.
10 Monk, R.C. John Wesley: His Puritan heritage, 21.
11 Newton, J.A Methodism and the Puritans, 5
12 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart, 19.
13 Mulinde, J. Set Apart for God, Foreword, 10.
DAY 1 EVENING PSALMS 6–8
Psalm 6:4 “Save me because of your unfailing love.”
Saved From Drowning
There is an incident that John Pollock relates at the beginning of his biography of John Wesley concerning how Wesley was saved from drowning. This took place in Cornwall in the late 1770s. Wesley himself was over 70 years of age. Peter Martin, the proprietor of a hostel in Redruth, Cornwall, was preparing John Wesley’s horses, while Wesley was eating his meal with some other travellers. He could tell that John Wesley was telling one of his innumerable anecdotes because of the periodic roars of laughter. Every so often, there was a silence. It was then that Mr Wesley must have been speaking of the things of God.14
Although Wesley had made a commitment to preach at St Ives that evening, Peter Martin was concerned about the danger of crossing the estuary by the ford. The man responsible for the vessel tried to persuade him not to cross because it was so dangerous. Although Wesley listened very politely, he said that he had made a promise that he intended to keep. John Wesley looked out of the window of the carriage and cried loudly to Peter Martin, “Take the sea! Take the sea!” Peter Martin responded quickly and after spurring the horses, there was a splash and the carriage entered the ford. Peter Martin says, “I struggled hard to maintain my seat in the saddle, while the poor affrighted animals were snorting and rearing in the most terrific manner and furiously plunging through the opposing waves. I expected every moment to be swept into eternity and the only hope of escape I then cherished was on account of my driving so holy a man.”15 Wesley called quite loudly to him, “What is thy name, driver?” “Peter.” “Peter, fear not; thou shalt not sink!” Wesley put back his head and peter urged on the horses. They got safely over, but as Peter recalled, “It was a miracle, as I shall always say.” They arrived at St Ives, both wet. “Mr Wesley’s first care was to see me comfortably lodged at the tavern. He procured me warm clothes, a good fire, and excellent refreshments. Nor were the horses forgotten by him,” said Peter Martin. Totally unmindful of himself, Wesley proceeded according to his appointment.16Pollock says at the start of his biography that “A biographer may well feel like Peter in danger of being drowned in a sea of material: the millions of words that Wesley wrote!”17 But the story of John Wesley being saved from drowning at St Ives also reminds us that he was a man who was very confident that the Lord was his personal saviour. It was this truth of personal salvation that he preached across the length and breadth of our land.
Prayer
Lord, we pray that you would raise up more John Wesleys in our day to bring a message of hope and deliverance and freedom from sin. Yours, Lord, is a message of unfailing love. Save us, save our nation because of your unfailing love, we pray. We are in perilous times, you are our only hope of escape, Lord. Save us, Lord, from the huge tide of opposition we face today. You, Lord, are our only hope. Save us and deliver us, Lord Jesus, we pray!
14 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 7.
15 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 8.
16 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 9.
17 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 9.
Psalm 4:3 “Set apart”
Prepared Before He Was born
John Wesley once said, “If I were to write my own life I should begin it beforeI was born.”8 This was the way he paid tribute to his past. Wesley’s family tree had a huge effect on his personality and prepared him for the work of evangelism long before he came into the world. He had a strong sense of God’s purpose for his life, as did the prophet Jeremiah. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)Wesley’s ceaseless travel ministering up and down the land, it could be said, “was in his blood”9. Samuel Wesley, John Wesley’s father, was an Anglican, and John was brought up at Epworth in the family rectory. John Wesley’s mother Susanna was the daughter of Doctor Annesley, a well-known puritan, and she herself had been raised in a very disciplined home with very strong moral, devotional and educational standards.10 Susanna Wesley ordered her timetable very strictly. She examined herself before God, she meditated and set herself apart through daily times of devotion, and she kept a spiritual journal, which helped her observe the strict puritan sabbath. This was all part of her daily ‘method’ (a Puritan word, that described the way she ordered her life, many years before John Wesley started his ministry). Wesley drank in his mixed Anglican and puritan inheritance “with his mother’s milk”11, and it influenced him powerfully. He stayed a Church of England man to the end of his life, but his prime concern was for the good of souls. He had a strong sense of discipline and he had a keen desire for reform within the Church of England. if existing church order stood in his way, he would cast it aside without hesitation. “The rebel under the skin would keep bursting through.”12
Prayer
In the foreword to John Mulinde’s ‘Set Apart For God’, Charlie Cleverly, vicar of St Aldate’s, Oxford, writes, “I believe we need to see in the West every Christian an intercessor, in every home a prayer altar, every church become a house of prayer and in every town a city-wide prayer centre, but before all these we need people SET APART.”13 Today we pray with the psalmist Psalm 4:3 “The Lord has set apart the godly for himself”. Lord, you set John Wesley apart to be your vessel, to see a national awakening unto revival in the 18th century. Do it again Lord—set your people apart for a national awakening today. Prepare me Lord—SET ME APART, LORD, I am here to do your will.
8 Clarke, A. Memoirs of the Wesley Family, Vol 1, 94.
9 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart John Wesley: Evangelist, 19.
10 Monk, R.C. John Wesley: His Puritan heritage, 21.
11 Newton, J.A Methodism and the Puritans, 5
12 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart, 19.
13 Mulinde, J. Set Apart for God, Foreword, 10.
DAY 1 EVENING PSALMS 6–8
Psalm 6:4 “Save me because of your unfailing love.”
Saved From Drowning
There is an incident that John Pollock relates at the beginning of his biography of John Wesley concerning how Wesley was saved from drowning. This took place in Cornwall in the late 1770s. Wesley himself was over 70 years of age. Peter Martin, the proprietor of a hostel in Redruth, Cornwall, was preparing John Wesley’s horses, while Wesley was eating his meal with some other travellers. He could tell that John Wesley was telling one of his innumerable anecdotes because of the periodic roars of laughter. Every so often, there was a silence. It was then that Mr Wesley must have been speaking of the things of God.14
Although Wesley had made a commitment to preach at St Ives that evening, Peter Martin was concerned about the danger of crossing the estuary by the ford. The man responsible for the vessel tried to persuade him not to cross because it was so dangerous. Although Wesley listened very politely, he said that he had made a promise that he intended to keep. John Wesley looked out of the window of the carriage and cried loudly to Peter Martin, “Take the sea! Take the sea!” Peter Martin responded quickly and after spurring the horses, there was a splash and the carriage entered the ford. Peter Martin says, “I struggled hard to maintain my seat in the saddle, while the poor affrighted animals were snorting and rearing in the most terrific manner and furiously plunging through the opposing waves. I expected every moment to be swept into eternity and the only hope of escape I then cherished was on account of my driving so holy a man.”15 Wesley called quite loudly to him, “What is thy name, driver?” “Peter.” “Peter, fear not; thou shalt not sink!” Wesley put back his head and peter urged on the horses. They got safely over, but as Peter recalled, “It was a miracle, as I shall always say.” They arrived at St Ives, both wet. “Mr Wesley’s first care was to see me comfortably lodged at the tavern. He procured me warm clothes, a good fire, and excellent refreshments. Nor were the horses forgotten by him,” said Peter Martin. Totally unmindful of himself, Wesley proceeded according to his appointment.16Pollock says at the start of his biography that “A biographer may well feel like Peter in danger of being drowned in a sea of material: the millions of words that Wesley wrote!”17 But the story of John Wesley being saved from drowning at St Ives also reminds us that he was a man who was very confident that the Lord was his personal saviour. It was this truth of personal salvation that he preached across the length and breadth of our land.
Prayer
Lord, we pray that you would raise up more John Wesleys in our day to bring a message of hope and deliverance and freedom from sin. Yours, Lord, is a message of unfailing love. Save us, save our nation because of your unfailing love, we pray. We are in perilous times, you are our only hope of escape, Lord. Save us, Lord, from the huge tide of opposition we face today. You, Lord, are our only hope. Save us and deliver us, Lord Jesus, we pray!
14 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 7.
15 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 8.
16 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 9.
17 Pollock, Wesley: The Preacher, 9.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Introduction
Two bishops in the Church of England, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, were burnt at the stake as martyrs for their faith in 1555. John Foxe records Latimer’s prayers in the Tower of London while he waited for his execution. He prayed, “‘that God of his mercy would restore his Gospel
to England ONCE AGAIN”; and these words ‘once again’ he did so beat into the ears of the Lord God, as though he had seen God before him, and spoken to him face to face.”1 Just under two centuries later, the Lord moved powerfully, bringing revival to England through John Wesley and the Methodist awakening. One biographer saw John Wesley’s life as a direct answer to that prayer of Hugh Latimer in the Tower of London. Once again the Gospel was restored to our land.
Ridley’s words to Latimer as they were being burnt at the stake, on 16th October 1555, had been “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”2 One historian suggests that John Wesley’s life in the 18th century was like a blazing fire, as he travelled around the country on horseback proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.3
As a boy, John Wesley had nearly died in a fire at his father’s rectory in Epworth. He referred to himself in the words of scripture as “a brand plucked out of the fire”(Zechariah 3:2). Many years later John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed”4 at a quarter to nine at Aldersgate on 24th May 1738, when he heard Luther’s preface to Romans being read aloud. Wesley’s evangelistic zeal then led him to travel on horseback a quarter of a million miles, and the Gospel was preached in England once again. Skevington-wood says, “The symbolism of fire links the upper room in Aldersgate street with the blazing parsonage at Epworth. The brand plucked from the burning had now found his destiny. Henceforth the flame within would carry him throughout the land to ignite the tinder of revival.”5
“Guarding the holy fire; that was what he was doing,” writes Prof Bonamy Dobree. “He was himself a flame going up and down the land, lighting such candles as by God’s grace would never be put out; and as one reads [Wesley’s] colossal journal one gets the impression of this flame, never waning, never smoky, darting from point to point, lighting up the whole kingdom, till in due course it burnt out the body it inhabited.”6
Over the next 30 days, let us remind the Lord, of the prayer of Latimer when he was in the Tower of London.
•In your mercy, Lord, restore your Gospel to England once again. Latimer and Ridley followed you to a martyr’s death. Stir yourself to act, Lord! Remember Latimer and Ridley! Let the candle of your Gospel burn brightly across this land ONCE AGAIN!
1 Foxe, J. Book of Martyrs, Whitaker, 278.
2 Foxe, Martyrs, 309.
3 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
4 Wesley, J. The Complete Works of John Wesley, Journal, Volume 1, 24th May 1738, 103.
5 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart. John Wesley: Evangelist, 67.
6 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
7 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html
Ridley’s words to Latimer as they were being burnt at the stake, on 16th October 1555, had been “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”2 One historian suggests that John Wesley’s life in the 18th century was like a blazing fire, as he travelled around the country on horseback proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.3
As a boy, John Wesley had nearly died in a fire at his father’s rectory in Epworth. He referred to himself in the words of scripture as “a brand plucked out of the fire”(Zechariah 3:2). Many years later John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed”4 at a quarter to nine at Aldersgate on 24th May 1738, when he heard Luther’s preface to Romans being read aloud. Wesley’s evangelistic zeal then led him to travel on horseback a quarter of a million miles, and the Gospel was preached in England once again. Skevington-wood says, “The symbolism of fire links the upper room in Aldersgate street with the blazing parsonage at Epworth. The brand plucked from the burning had now found his destiny. Henceforth the flame within would carry him throughout the land to ignite the tinder of revival.”5
“Guarding the holy fire; that was what he was doing,” writes Prof Bonamy Dobree. “He was himself a flame going up and down the land, lighting such candles as by God’s grace would never be put out; and as one reads [Wesley’s] colossal journal one gets the impression of this flame, never waning, never smoky, darting from point to point, lighting up the whole kingdom, till in due course it burnt out the body it inhabited.”6
Over the next 30 days, let us remind the Lord, of the prayer of Latimer when he was in the Tower of London.
•In your mercy, Lord, restore your Gospel to England once again. Latimer and Ridley followed you to a martyr’s death. Stir yourself to act, Lord! Remember Latimer and Ridley! Let the candle of your Gospel burn brightly across this land ONCE AGAIN!
1 Foxe, J. Book of Martyrs, Whitaker, 278.
2 Foxe, Martyrs, 309.
3 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
4 Wesley, J. The Complete Works of John Wesley, Journal, Volume 1, 24th May 1738, 103.
5 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart. John Wesley: Evangelist, 67.
6 Dobree, J. Wesley. 96–97, quoted in Skevington-Wood, The burning heart, 68.
7 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html
Monday, May 12, 2014
LIGHT THE FIRE AGAIN ( May 15- June 14)
In two days time a 30 day season of prayer will begin on Thursday May 15th culminating with the Global Day of outreach on June 14th.
The corporate reading and praying of the psalms will be encouraged through these daily devotionals, covering all 150 psalms over 30 days. Matthew Henry has said concerning the psalms: “There is no one book of scripture that is more helpful to the devotions of the saints than this, and it has been so in all ages of the church.” Each day there will also be two inspirational devotionals, one for the morning and one for the evening following the key events in the life of John Wesley, particularly focusing on 1739, the year that the Methodist Awakening began.
The recommended pattern of daily corporate prayer: 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, with a small group of two or more people, everyone with the same version of the Bible:
• For 5 minutes:
Start by giving thanks, going round in a circle, each person giving thanks for something, one by one, using at least one or two sentences. The purpose of this exercise is to get everyone to pray out loud briefly, to open their mouths and to ‘break the sound barrier’. Go round in a circle one or two times, depending on the size of the group.
• For 12 minutes:
Divide the group into half. Everyone should have a bible. one half of the room to read out one verse, then the other half the second verse, alternating until the psalms for that session have all been read.
•For 3 minutes:
One person to read the daily devotional inspired by the life of John Wesley.
•For the last 10 minutes:
Different members of the group to take a verse or phrase that has been read out, read it out again and then turn that verse or phrase into a brief prayer.
A hard copy of this 30 day devotional will be available and can be purchased from 15 May and a free electronic version of the whole devotional is already available now. Please contact Andrew Taylor at the following address andrew.taylor7@cantab.net for more information.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
30 days of prayer for a national awakening: May 15th - June 14th
In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow to show his disciples that they should pray and not give up, encouraging them to 'cry out day and night.' He concludes by saying.. 'however when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth.'
From May 15th - June 14th, on this website there will be 30 days of devotionals encouraging both day and night prayer for a national awakening, inspired by the life of John Wesley, and including the devotional reading of all 150 psalms in one month. This will culminate on June 14th -the Global Outreach day. If you would like to subscribe and receive these daily devotionals sent to your email address, please enter your email address opposite. You can unsubscribe at any time.
From May 15th - June 14th, on this website there will be 30 days of devotionals encouraging both day and night prayer for a national awakening, inspired by the life of John Wesley, and including the devotional reading of all 150 psalms in one month. This will culminate on June 14th -the Global Outreach day. If you would like to subscribe and receive these daily devotionals sent to your email address, please enter your email address opposite. You can unsubscribe at any time.
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