DAY 11

MORNING

PSALMS 56–58

Psalm 56:13 “You have delivered me from death.”

“We Were Surprised ...”

Just a few weeks after the power of God had come mightily upon Wesley and his friends as they were continuing instant
 in prayer at three o’clock in the morning, Wesley was surprised at the response of a well-dressed woman during his exposition, on a Sunday in February 1739. He told the story in his Journal:

Sunday 21 February

We were surprised in the evening, while I was expounding in the Minories. A well-dressed, middle-aged woman suddenly cried out as 
in the agonies of death. She continued so to 
do for some time, with all the signs of the sharpest anguish of spirit. When she was a little recovered, I desired her to call upon me the next day. She then told me that about three years before, she was under strong convictions of sin, and in such terror of mind, that she had no comfort in any thing nor any rest, day or night: that she sent for the Minister of her parish, and told him the distress she was in: Upon which 
he told her husband, she was stark mad, and advised him to send for a Physician immediately. A Physician was sent for accordingly, who ordered her to be blooded, blistered, and so on. But this did not heal her wounded spirit. So that she continued much as she was before: Till the last night, He whose word she at first found to be ‘sharper than any two-edged sword,’ gave her a faint hope, that He would undertake her cause and healed the soul which had sinned against him.’103 Wesley does not give undue importance
 to these manifestations, but he does relate throughout his Journal (particularly in the early years when the conviction of sin was very strong following his preaching), the anguish that listeners felt when individuals were ‘cut to the heart’ through his preaching.

Prayer

Lord, we pray that you would raise up anointed evangelists across our land who would preach the Gospel with power and signs following. We pray that you would begin by convicting us of our sin. Begin with us, Lord. Deliver me from my sin. Show me where I have neglected to share my faith, show me where I need to repent, show me where I have neglected the discipline of prayer. Come and have your way in me.

103 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 172.

DAY 11

EVENING

PSALMS 59–61

Psalm 61:2 ‘Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.’

Wesley’s View of the Church

Jesus said, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18). Psalm 61 reminds us that Christ alone is our rock and refuge. While focusing on John Wesley and his mission to re- evangelise England, it is helpful to investigate the understanding of ‘church’ that was at stake in his reforming ‘mission’.

Frank Baker, an expert on Wesleyan Methodism, says, “Throughout his adult life Wesley responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm to 2 fundamentally different views of the church. One was that of an historical institution, organically linked to the apostolic church by a succession of bishops and inherited customs, served by a priestly caste who duly expounded the bible and administered the sacraments in such a way as to preserve the ancient traditions on behalf of all who were made members by baptism. According to the other view, the church
 was a fellowship of believers who shared 
both the apostolic experience of God’s living presence and also a desire to bring others into this same personal experience by whatever methods of worship and evangelism seemed most promising to those among whom the Holy Spirit had endowed with special gifts of prophecy and leadership. The first view saw the church in essence as an ancient institution to be preserved, the second as a faithful few with a mission to the world: the first was a traditional rule, the second a living relationship.”104

Wesley’s perspective of the Church of England was that although the structures and liturgy were still indicative that it was
 in a formal sense a true church, the spirit
 of the true church was essentially the small groups within the Anglican church of faithful believers. He seems to have viewed the Methodist societies as being the true visible church within Anglicanism. Later he realised that even many Methodists were not true believers.105

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, that you are building your church, that your kingdom is coming more fully. Breathe upon us your life-giving Holy Spirit. We pray that you would lead us by your Spirit and show us the part you would have us play. You are our rock and fortress. Lord Jesus, when our challenges and difficulties seem insurmountable, lead us back to yourself — lead us to “the rock that is higher than I”.

104 Baker, F. John Wesley and the Church of England, Nashville Abingdon, 1970, 137 quoted in Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 71.

105 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 76.