MORNING
PSALMS 75–77
Psalm 77:14 “You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among peoples.”
A More Excellent Way
Summary of sermon preached by John Wesley117
1 Corinthians 12:31 says “Covet earnestly the best gifts; And yet I show unto you
a more excellent way.” In the previous verses, St Paul has been speaking of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit: such as healing the sick; prophesying in the proper sense of the word, that is foretelling things to come; speaking with strange tongues, such
as the speaker had never learned; and the miraculous interpretation of tongues. These gifts the apostle allows to be desirable; yeah he exhorts the Corinthians, at least the teachers among them to covet them earnestly, that they might be qualified to be more useful either to Christians or Heathens. “And yet,” says he, “I show unto you a more excellent way;” far more desirable than all these put together.
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian; and from a vain imagination of promoting the Christian cause and heaped riches and power and honour upon the Christians in general but in particular upon the Christian clergy. From this time they almost totally ceased; very few instances of the kind were found. The real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church was because the Christians were turned Heathens again, and had only a dead form left.
Tuttle, a historian, comments regarding Wesley and spiritual gifts:118 “some argue that Wesley sounded somewhat ambivalent at times with regard to some of the more ‘extraordinary’ gifts as they surfaced within the 18th century Evangelical Revival (no doubt concerned about the charges
of ‘enthusiasm’ against the people called Methodist). However, on at least one occasion Wesley defended the gifts of the spirit. In a letter to Conyers Middleton,119 Wesley defined, described, and defended a whole host of spiritual gifts, including casting out demons, speaking with new tongues, healing the sick, prophecy, visions, divine dreams and discerning of spirits.”
Prayer
Lord, help us to make love our aim and to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, particularly the gift of prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:39). Help us to fan into a flame the gift of God within, we pray. If vain imagination riches and power side-lined the church in the past, rescue us today from the same fate. Breathe your breath on us again. Breathe on the dry bones and call forth your Church into that more excellent way, that it might accomplish your purposes in the power of your Holy Spirit.
117 Wesley, J. Sermons Volume 7, ‘The more excellent way’, 26,27.
118 Tuttle, R.G John Wesley and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
119 Wesley, J. Sermons Volume 10, 1–79.
DAY 15
EVENING
PSALM 78
Psalm 78:4 “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.”
Youth Awakening
As the awakening began to gather momentum in April 1739, many
more people responded to Wesley’s preaching with signs following. Wesley wrote in his journal entries how some young people were impacted:120
Tuesday 21 April 1739
... a young man was suddenly seized with a violent trembling all over and in a few minutes, the sorrows of his heart being enlarged, sunk down to the ground. But we ceased not calling upon God, till he raised him up full of “peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” On Easter-day it being a thorough rain, I could only preach at Newgate at eight in the morning and two in the afternoon; in a house near Hannah Mount at eleven, and in one near Rose-Green at five. At the society in the evening many were cut to the heart and many comforted.
Tuesday 23 April 1739
... In the evening at Baldwin Street, a young man, after a sharp (though short) agony but both of body and mind, found his soul filled with peace, knowing in whom he had believed.
April 25 1739
To above 2000 at Baptist Mills I explained that glorious scripture (describing the state of every
true believer in Christ — everyone who by faith is born of God) Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry “Abba, Father.”
April 26 1739
While I was preaching at Newgate on these words, “He that believeth hath everlasting life,” I was insensibly led, without any previous design, to declare strongly and explicitly, that God willeth “all men to be” thus “saved” and to pray that “if this were not the truth of God, he would not suffer the blind to go out of the way; but
if it were, he would bear witness to his word.” Immediately one and another, and another
sunk to the earth: They dropped on every side as thunderstruck. One of them cried aloud.
We besought God in her behalf, and he turned her heaviness into joy. A second being in same agony, we called upon God for her also, and he spoke peace into her soul. In the evening I was again pressed in spirit to declare that “Christ gave himself a ransom for all.” And almost before we called upon him to set his seal, he answered. One was so wounded by the word
of the Spirit, that you would have imagined she could not live a moment. But immediately his abundant kindness was showed, and she loudly sang of his righteousness.
Prayer
Lord, we pray for the youth and the students in our land—the next generation. Let them hear the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord. violently apprehend them with your deep and enduring love. Show them tangible evidence of your abundant kindness. Set them free from bondage, adopt them into your family, the family of God, that they might receive
a spirit of adoption, crying “Abba, Father.” You did it in the Methodist awakening. Do it again, we pray!
120 Wesley, J. Journal, April 21-26th 1739 , Vol 1, 187–189.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
DAY 14
DAY 14
MORNING
PSALMS 71–72
Psalm 72:12 “He will deliver the needy who cry out.”
Signs Following
Wesley continued to preach to the poor, and God continued to confirm his word with signs following, as Wesley relates in his Journal:115
Tuesday 17 April 1739
At five in the afternoon I was at a little society in the Back Lane. The room in which we were was propped beneath, but the weight of people made the floor give way; so that in the beginning of expounding, the post which propped it fell down with a great noise. But the floor sank no farther; so that, after a little surprise at first, they quietly attended to the things that were spoken. Thence I went to Baldwin Street and expounded, as it came in course, the fourth chapter of the Acts. We then called upon God to confirm his word. Immediately one that stood by (to our no small surprise) cried out loud with the utmost vehemence, even as in the agonies of death. But we continued in prayer till “a new song was put in her mouth, a thanksgiving unto our God.” Soon after, two other persons (well known in this place, as labouring to live in all good conscience towards all men) were seized with strong pain, and constrained to roar for the disquietness of their heart. But it was not long before they likewise burst forth into praise to God their Saviour. The last who called upon God as out of the belly of hell, was a stranger in Bristol. And in a short space he was overwhelmed with joy and love, knowing that God had healed his backslidings. So many living witnesses hath God that his hand is still “stretched out to heal,” and that “signs and wonders are even now wrought by his holy child Jesus.”
Wednesday 18 April 1739
In the evening ... A Quaker and a few others were admitted into the society. .. But (another) was scarcely able either to speak or look up ... The sorrows of death compassed her and the pains of hell got hold upon her. We poured out our complaints before God, and showed him of her trouble. And he soon showed he is a God “that heareth prayer”. She felt in herself that being justified freely, she had peace with God, through Jesus Christ. She rejoiced in hope of the glory of God, and “the love of God was shed abroad in her heart.”
Prayer
Thank you for your promise, Lord, that you will deliver the needy who cry out, and that you do hear our prayers. Lord, bring to birth another spiritual awakening in our land. Confirm your word with signs following as you have done before, as we see so clearly in the book of Acts and as you did in England in the Methodist revival of 1739. Deliver the needy who cry out. Let there be a bursting forth of praise to God on their lips. We pray for salvation and deliverance! Open up deep wells of salvation in our land ONCE AGAIN!
115 Wesley, J. Journal, April 8th 1739 , Vol 1, 187.
DAY 14 EVENING PSALMS 73–74
Psalm 73:20 “As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.”
Human Life: A Dream
Summary of Sermon preached by John Wesley (on Psalm 73:20)116
Anyone that considers these verses (in Psalm 73), will easily observe that the Psalmist is speaking directly of the wicked that prosper in their wickedness. It is very common for these utterly to forget that they are creatures of a day; to live as if they were never to die; as if their present state was to endure forever ... how miserable a mistake is this ... ... but I would at present carry this thought further. I would show how near a resemblance there is between human life and a dream. What is a dream? It is a series of persons and things presented to our mind which have no being but in our imagination. It seems to be an echo of what was said or done when we were awake... a fragment of life, broken off at both ends, having no connexion with the real things which either precede it or follow it.
Let us illustrate rather than prove the resemblance between transient dreams and the dream of life. Suppose we have before us someone who has just passed into the world of spirits. We talk to this person, before us and we say to them “You have been living on earth for 40, 50 or 60 years.” God has just spoken and said to you, “Awake you who have been sleeping.” Look around you. What is the difference? Where is your body. Where are your limbs, your hands, your feet, your head. They lie cold, insensible. How different now you are thoroughly awake, are the objects around you? Where are the houses and gardens and fields and cities which you lately saw?
Now suppose this to be the case with any of you and that you are now present before God. It may be so tomorrow; perhaps tonight. Perhaps this night your soul “may be required of you;” the dream of life may end and you may wake into broad eternity.
See there lies the poor inanimate carcass shortly to be sown in corruption and dishonour. But where is the immortal incorruptible spirit? There it stands, naked before the eyes of God! What profit have you reaped of all your labour and care? Does your money follow you? Do your clothes follow you? Where is the honour, the pomp, the applause that surrounded you? All are gone; all are vanished away, “like as a shadow they depart.”
See on the other hand, the mansions which were prepared for you before the foundations of the world! O what a difference between the dream that is past and the real scene that is now before you! Look up! See Jesus! Look down! What a prison is there, its inhabitants gnashing their teeth at Him! We might wish that we had a friend with us always whispering in our ear, “Wake up O sleeper rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” Soon you will awake into real life. You will stand a naked spirit, in the world of spirits, before the face of the great God! See that now you hold fast to that “eternal life which he has given you in his Son”.
Prayer
Lord, we know that this world of shadows will pass away. Open our eyes, Lord. Where so many in our celebrity-focused, consumerist nation today are lost in temporal fantasies and have no thought of the age to come, Lord Jesus, wake us up out of our slumber. We long for your appearing, Lord. Rend the heavens and come down.
116 Wesley, J. Sermons Volume 3, addresses, 325.
MORNING
PSALMS 71–72
Psalm 72:12 “He will deliver the needy who cry out.”
Signs Following
Wesley continued to preach to the poor, and God continued to confirm his word with signs following, as Wesley relates in his Journal:115
Tuesday 17 April 1739
At five in the afternoon I was at a little society in the Back Lane. The room in which we were was propped beneath, but the weight of people made the floor give way; so that in the beginning of expounding, the post which propped it fell down with a great noise. But the floor sank no farther; so that, after a little surprise at first, they quietly attended to the things that were spoken. Thence I went to Baldwin Street and expounded, as it came in course, the fourth chapter of the Acts. We then called upon God to confirm his word. Immediately one that stood by (to our no small surprise) cried out loud with the utmost vehemence, even as in the agonies of death. But we continued in prayer till “a new song was put in her mouth, a thanksgiving unto our God.” Soon after, two other persons (well known in this place, as labouring to live in all good conscience towards all men) were seized with strong pain, and constrained to roar for the disquietness of their heart. But it was not long before they likewise burst forth into praise to God their Saviour. The last who called upon God as out of the belly of hell, was a stranger in Bristol. And in a short space he was overwhelmed with joy and love, knowing that God had healed his backslidings. So many living witnesses hath God that his hand is still “stretched out to heal,” and that “signs and wonders are even now wrought by his holy child Jesus.”
Wednesday 18 April 1739
In the evening ... A Quaker and a few others were admitted into the society. .. But (another) was scarcely able either to speak or look up ... The sorrows of death compassed her and the pains of hell got hold upon her. We poured out our complaints before God, and showed him of her trouble. And he soon showed he is a God “that heareth prayer”. She felt in herself that being justified freely, she had peace with God, through Jesus Christ. She rejoiced in hope of the glory of God, and “the love of God was shed abroad in her heart.”
Prayer
Thank you for your promise, Lord, that you will deliver the needy who cry out, and that you do hear our prayers. Lord, bring to birth another spiritual awakening in our land. Confirm your word with signs following as you have done before, as we see so clearly in the book of Acts and as you did in England in the Methodist revival of 1739. Deliver the needy who cry out. Let there be a bursting forth of praise to God on their lips. We pray for salvation and deliverance! Open up deep wells of salvation in our land ONCE AGAIN!
115 Wesley, J. Journal, April 8th 1739 , Vol 1, 187.
DAY 14 EVENING PSALMS 73–74
Psalm 73:20 “As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.”
Human Life: A Dream
Summary of Sermon preached by John Wesley (on Psalm 73:20)116
Anyone that considers these verses (in Psalm 73), will easily observe that the Psalmist is speaking directly of the wicked that prosper in their wickedness. It is very common for these utterly to forget that they are creatures of a day; to live as if they were never to die; as if their present state was to endure forever ... how miserable a mistake is this ... ... but I would at present carry this thought further. I would show how near a resemblance there is between human life and a dream. What is a dream? It is a series of persons and things presented to our mind which have no being but in our imagination. It seems to be an echo of what was said or done when we were awake... a fragment of life, broken off at both ends, having no connexion with the real things which either precede it or follow it.
Let us illustrate rather than prove the resemblance between transient dreams and the dream of life. Suppose we have before us someone who has just passed into the world of spirits. We talk to this person, before us and we say to them “You have been living on earth for 40, 50 or 60 years.” God has just spoken and said to you, “Awake you who have been sleeping.” Look around you. What is the difference? Where is your body. Where are your limbs, your hands, your feet, your head. They lie cold, insensible. How different now you are thoroughly awake, are the objects around you? Where are the houses and gardens and fields and cities which you lately saw?
Now suppose this to be the case with any of you and that you are now present before God. It may be so tomorrow; perhaps tonight. Perhaps this night your soul “may be required of you;” the dream of life may end and you may wake into broad eternity.
See there lies the poor inanimate carcass shortly to be sown in corruption and dishonour. But where is the immortal incorruptible spirit? There it stands, naked before the eyes of God! What profit have you reaped of all your labour and care? Does your money follow you? Do your clothes follow you? Where is the honour, the pomp, the applause that surrounded you? All are gone; all are vanished away, “like as a shadow they depart.”
See on the other hand, the mansions which were prepared for you before the foundations of the world! O what a difference between the dream that is past and the real scene that is now before you! Look up! See Jesus! Look down! What a prison is there, its inhabitants gnashing their teeth at Him! We might wish that we had a friend with us always whispering in our ear, “Wake up O sleeper rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” Soon you will awake into real life. You will stand a naked spirit, in the world of spirits, before the face of the great God! See that now you hold fast to that “eternal life which he has given you in his Son”.
Prayer
Lord, we know that this world of shadows will pass away. Open our eyes, Lord. Where so many in our celebrity-focused, consumerist nation today are lost in temporal fantasies and have no thought of the age to come, Lord Jesus, wake us up out of our slumber. We long for your appearing, Lord. Rend the heavens and come down.
116 Wesley, J. Sermons Volume 3, addresses, 325.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
DAY 13
MORNING
PSALM 68
Psalm 68:7 “You went out before your people, O God.”
An Open-air Evangelist
Wesley’s biographer, Skevington- Wood, says, “It was an unpredictable providence which led John Wesley to become an open-air evangelist. Field preaching was not congenial to him. Some men might have felt themselves to be in their element as they stood beneath the canopy of heaven. Not so Wesley. To him this seemed a strange way indeed. It was certainly not his own choice. He endured it only because God called him to adopt such a means of approach to the people. There is something ironical that such a man as Wesley should expose himself to the four winds like this. Nor did he shrink from the uncouth mob, which always surrounded him with filth and foul odours and often with heckling and violence. Wesley was a dapper little don. He was finical about his personal appearance. In company he was always as neat as a tailor’s model. He was so very particular that he could not bear the slightest speck of dirt on his clerical attire. He hated noise and disturbance. He was accustomed to the academic calm of Oxford or a country rectory. That he should venture into the highways and byways and face the great unwashed is nothing short of a miracle. Only grace could have turned Wesley into a missioner to the common people.” 111
God went ahead of Wesley and chose him for this task and the next week, on the following Sunday after his first experience of open–air preaching he tried it another time. In his journal, John Wesley wrote:112
Sunday, 8 April
At seven in the morning I preached to about a thousand persons at Bristol, and afterward to about fifteen hundred on the top of Hannam Mount in Kingswood. I called to them, in the words of the evangelical prophet, “Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; ... come, and buy wine and milk without money and without price” [Isa. 55:1]. About five thousand were in the afternoon at Rose Green (on the other side of Kingswood); among whom I stood and cried in the name of the Lord, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” [John 7:38]
Prayer
We live in a desperate generation that still thirsts for life. By grace you led Wesley to preach in the highways and byways. You turned him into a missionary to the masses. Show us your strength, Lord, as you have done before. GO BEFORE US and choose men and women to be your vessels ONCE AGAIN in our day to preach your Gospel to the lost in our nation, that many in their thousands would come to the waters and come and buy wine and milk without money and without price.
111 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart, 94.
112 Wesley, J. Journal, April 8th 1739 , Vol 1, 186.
DAY 13
EVENING
PSALMS 69–70
Psalm 69:9 “Zeal for your house consumes me.”
An Enthusiast
Many of Wesley’s contemporaries saw him as a fanatic. He was frequently called in a mocking way, ‘an enthusiast’. Howard Snyder suggests that although Wesley never left the Church of England and he was strongly committed to the institutional church, his approach and values were in almost every respect those of what he calls a “Radical protestant”. These are some of the hallmarks of Radical protestants, as Snyder defines them:113
1 Voluntary adult membership based on a covenant-commitment to Jesus Christ, emphasising obedience to Jesus as a necessary evidence of faith in him.
2 A community or brotherhood of discipline, edification, correction and mutual aid, in conscious separation from the world, as the primary visible expression of the church.
3 A life of good works, service and witness as an expression of Christian love and obedience expected of all believers.
4 The spirit and the word as comprising the sole basis of authority implying a de-emphasis on or rejection of church tradition and creeds.
5 Primitivism and restitutionism.
6 A pragmatic functional approach to church order and structure.
7 A belief in the universal church as the body of Christ, of which the particular visible believing community is but a part.
The first hallmark, “Voluntary adult membership”, was very important to Wesley. Often adult baptism and a rejection of infant baptism has been considered the key feature that identifies a “Radical Protestant”. However ‘volunteerism’ is really the issue. Wesley knew that a conscious adult commitment and obedience to the Gospel was what mattered and in his preaching this was paramount. Wesley demonstrated how important it was to him, by building a committed community of discipline and edification. Although the Methodist classes and bands were effectively a sub-community within the Church of England, they never became a distinct or separate sect.114
Prayer
Set us on fire, Lord, with a burning passion for you and your house, we pray. We pray for another awakening in our nation with many flames going up and down our land, lighting such candles as by God’s grace would never be put out. Remove the ‘dread asbestos of other things’ that would distract us from the ‘one thing’ that is needful—lives laid down, devoted to you, Lord Jesus.
113 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 113–114.
114 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 116–117.
PSALM 68
Psalm 68:7 “You went out before your people, O God.”
An Open-air Evangelist
Wesley’s biographer, Skevington- Wood, says, “It was an unpredictable providence which led John Wesley to become an open-air evangelist. Field preaching was not congenial to him. Some men might have felt themselves to be in their element as they stood beneath the canopy of heaven. Not so Wesley. To him this seemed a strange way indeed. It was certainly not his own choice. He endured it only because God called him to adopt such a means of approach to the people. There is something ironical that such a man as Wesley should expose himself to the four winds like this. Nor did he shrink from the uncouth mob, which always surrounded him with filth and foul odours and often with heckling and violence. Wesley was a dapper little don. He was finical about his personal appearance. In company he was always as neat as a tailor’s model. He was so very particular that he could not bear the slightest speck of dirt on his clerical attire. He hated noise and disturbance. He was accustomed to the academic calm of Oxford or a country rectory. That he should venture into the highways and byways and face the great unwashed is nothing short of a miracle. Only grace could have turned Wesley into a missioner to the common people.” 111
God went ahead of Wesley and chose him for this task and the next week, on the following Sunday after his first experience of open–air preaching he tried it another time. In his journal, John Wesley wrote:112
Sunday, 8 April
At seven in the morning I preached to about a thousand persons at Bristol, and afterward to about fifteen hundred on the top of Hannam Mount in Kingswood. I called to them, in the words of the evangelical prophet, “Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; ... come, and buy wine and milk without money and without price” [Isa. 55:1]. About five thousand were in the afternoon at Rose Green (on the other side of Kingswood); among whom I stood and cried in the name of the Lord, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” [John 7:38]
Prayer
We live in a desperate generation that still thirsts for life. By grace you led Wesley to preach in the highways and byways. You turned him into a missionary to the masses. Show us your strength, Lord, as you have done before. GO BEFORE US and choose men and women to be your vessels ONCE AGAIN in our day to preach your Gospel to the lost in our nation, that many in their thousands would come to the waters and come and buy wine and milk without money and without price.
111 Skevington-Wood, A. The burning heart, 94.
112 Wesley, J. Journal, April 8th 1739 , Vol 1, 186.
DAY 13
EVENING
PSALMS 69–70
Psalm 69:9 “Zeal for your house consumes me.”
An Enthusiast
Many of Wesley’s contemporaries saw him as a fanatic. He was frequently called in a mocking way, ‘an enthusiast’. Howard Snyder suggests that although Wesley never left the Church of England and he was strongly committed to the institutional church, his approach and values were in almost every respect those of what he calls a “Radical protestant”. These are some of the hallmarks of Radical protestants, as Snyder defines them:113
1 Voluntary adult membership based on a covenant-commitment to Jesus Christ, emphasising obedience to Jesus as a necessary evidence of faith in him.
2 A community or brotherhood of discipline, edification, correction and mutual aid, in conscious separation from the world, as the primary visible expression of the church.
3 A life of good works, service and witness as an expression of Christian love and obedience expected of all believers.
4 The spirit and the word as comprising the sole basis of authority implying a de-emphasis on or rejection of church tradition and creeds.
5 Primitivism and restitutionism.
6 A pragmatic functional approach to church order and structure.
7 A belief in the universal church as the body of Christ, of which the particular visible believing community is but a part.
The first hallmark, “Voluntary adult membership”, was very important to Wesley. Often adult baptism and a rejection of infant baptism has been considered the key feature that identifies a “Radical Protestant”. However ‘volunteerism’ is really the issue. Wesley knew that a conscious adult commitment and obedience to the Gospel was what mattered and in his preaching this was paramount. Wesley demonstrated how important it was to him, by building a committed community of discipline and edification. Although the Methodist classes and bands were effectively a sub-community within the Church of England, they never became a distinct or separate sect.114
Prayer
Set us on fire, Lord, with a burning passion for you and your house, we pray. We pray for another awakening in our nation with many flames going up and down our land, lighting such candles as by God’s grace would never be put out. Remove the ‘dread asbestos of other things’ that would distract us from the ‘one thing’ that is needful—lives laid down, devoted to you, Lord Jesus.
113 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 113–114.
114 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 116–117.
DAY 12
MORNING
PSALMS 62–64
Psalm 63:2 “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.”
A Surprising Instance of His Power
The Lord continued to move powerfully through Wesley’s preaching, but also through direct answer to prayer. In March 1739 when he found strong resistance to his message he prayed and saw the Lord immediately soften the heart of one who was initially so resistant. Wesley wrote in his Journal:106
Friday 2 March
One of the most surprising instances of his power which I ever remember to have seen was on the Tuesday following; when I was visiting one who was above measure enraged at this new way, and zealous in opposing it. Finding arguments to be of no other effect, than to inflame her more and more, I broke off the dispute and desired we might join in prayer, which she so far consented to as to kneel down.
In a few minutes she fell into an extreme agony, both of body and soul; and soon after cried out with the utmost earnestness, “Now I know that I am forgiven for Christ’s sake.” Many other words she uttered to the same effect, witnessing a hope full of immortality. And from that hour God has set her face as a flint to declare the faith which before she persecuted.
Thursday 8 March
I entered directly into a controversy touching both the cause and the fruits of justification. In the midst of the dispute one who sat at a small distance felt as it were the piercing of a sword, and before she could be brought to another house, wither I was going, could not avoid crying out aloud even in the street. But no sooner had we made our request known to God, than he sent help from his holy place.107
Prayer
Lord, we earnestly seek you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Lord, we pray that you would move in power as you have done before. This land we live in has seen you move in power in the past. We pray for a restoration of the cutting edge of the Gospel in our nation, that it would go forth like a two-edged sword once again.
106 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 174–5.
107 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 175.
DAY 12
EVENING
PSALMS 65–67
Psalm 65:12 “You brought us to a place of abundance.”
“This Strange Way of Preaching in the Fields ...”
George Whitefeld had returned from America and was now hoping that the churches would be open for him to preach in Bristol, but he was not given permission. He would not allow the delay to stop him. He was aware that there were colliers in Bristol who needed to hear his message. One Saturday afternoon he walked to a village, climbed a hill, and preached to 200 colliers. In his Journal he wrote, “Blessed be God that I have now broken the ice!”108 A few weeks later he was preaching to 20,000. He wrote, “The fire is kindled in the land and I know all the devils in hell shall not be able to quench it.”109 Wesley wrote in his Journal how he was invited by Whitefield to join him in Bristol:110
Saturday 15 March
During my stay [in London] ... I had no thought of leaving London, when I received, after several others, a letter from Mr Whitefield and another from Mr Seward entreating me, in the most pressing manner, to come to Bristol without delay. This I was not at all forward to do ... we at length all agreed to decide it by lot. And by this it was determined I should go.
Thursday 29 March
In the evening I reached Bristol and met Mr Whitefield there. I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me an example on Sunday; I had been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.
Sunday 1 April
In the evening (Mr Whitefield being gone) I began expounding our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (one pretty remarkable precedent of field-preaching, though I suppose there were churches at that time also), to a little society that was accustomed to meet once or twice a week in Nicholas Street.
Monday 2 April
At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people. The Scripture on which I spoke was this (is it possible anyone should be ignorant that it is fulfilled in every true minister of Christ?): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” [see Isa. 61:1, 2; Luke 4:18, 19].
Prayer
Wesley stepped out of HIS comfort zone to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation and 3,000 gathered to hear him. Bring US to that place of abundance, Lord. Open up a spacious place for us to preach the Gospel here in England today. Help us to yield every bit of fear and reticence and to step out of our comfort zones to proclaim the Gospel in our day, however strange and embarrassing it may feel at first. Kindle the fire of your Gospel in us, and use us, even us, we pray.
108 George Whitefield’s Journals ed Iain Murray 216, 17 Feb 1739
109 George Whitefield’s Journals 216, March 1739.
110 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 176.
PSALMS 62–64
Psalm 63:2 “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.”
A Surprising Instance of His Power
The Lord continued to move powerfully through Wesley’s preaching, but also through direct answer to prayer. In March 1739 when he found strong resistance to his message he prayed and saw the Lord immediately soften the heart of one who was initially so resistant. Wesley wrote in his Journal:106
Friday 2 March
One of the most surprising instances of his power which I ever remember to have seen was on the Tuesday following; when I was visiting one who was above measure enraged at this new way, and zealous in opposing it. Finding arguments to be of no other effect, than to inflame her more and more, I broke off the dispute and desired we might join in prayer, which she so far consented to as to kneel down.
In a few minutes she fell into an extreme agony, both of body and soul; and soon after cried out with the utmost earnestness, “Now I know that I am forgiven for Christ’s sake.” Many other words she uttered to the same effect, witnessing a hope full of immortality. And from that hour God has set her face as a flint to declare the faith which before she persecuted.
Thursday 8 March
I entered directly into a controversy touching both the cause and the fruits of justification. In the midst of the dispute one who sat at a small distance felt as it were the piercing of a sword, and before she could be brought to another house, wither I was going, could not avoid crying out aloud even in the street. But no sooner had we made our request known to God, than he sent help from his holy place.107
Prayer
Lord, we earnestly seek you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Lord, we pray that you would move in power as you have done before. This land we live in has seen you move in power in the past. We pray for a restoration of the cutting edge of the Gospel in our nation, that it would go forth like a two-edged sword once again.
106 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 174–5.
107 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 175.
DAY 12
EVENING
PSALMS 65–67
Psalm 65:12 “You brought us to a place of abundance.”
“This Strange Way of Preaching in the Fields ...”
George Whitefeld had returned from America and was now hoping that the churches would be open for him to preach in Bristol, but he was not given permission. He would not allow the delay to stop him. He was aware that there were colliers in Bristol who needed to hear his message. One Saturday afternoon he walked to a village, climbed a hill, and preached to 200 colliers. In his Journal he wrote, “Blessed be God that I have now broken the ice!”108 A few weeks later he was preaching to 20,000. He wrote, “The fire is kindled in the land and I know all the devils in hell shall not be able to quench it.”109 Wesley wrote in his Journal how he was invited by Whitefield to join him in Bristol:110
Saturday 15 March
During my stay [in London] ... I had no thought of leaving London, when I received, after several others, a letter from Mr Whitefield and another from Mr Seward entreating me, in the most pressing manner, to come to Bristol without delay. This I was not at all forward to do ... we at length all agreed to decide it by lot. And by this it was determined I should go.
Thursday 29 March
In the evening I reached Bristol and met Mr Whitefield there. I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me an example on Sunday; I had been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.
Sunday 1 April
In the evening (Mr Whitefield being gone) I began expounding our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (one pretty remarkable precedent of field-preaching, though I suppose there were churches at that time also), to a little society that was accustomed to meet once or twice a week in Nicholas Street.
Monday 2 April
At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people. The Scripture on which I spoke was this (is it possible anyone should be ignorant that it is fulfilled in every true minister of Christ?): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” [see Isa. 61:1, 2; Luke 4:18, 19].
Prayer
Wesley stepped out of HIS comfort zone to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation and 3,000 gathered to hear him. Bring US to that place of abundance, Lord. Open up a spacious place for us to preach the Gospel here in England today. Help us to yield every bit of fear and reticence and to step out of our comfort zones to proclaim the Gospel in our day, however strange and embarrassing it may feel at first. Kindle the fire of your Gospel in us, and use us, even us, we pray.
108 George Whitefield’s Journals ed Iain Murray 216, 17 Feb 1739
109 George Whitefield’s Journals 216, March 1739.
110 Wesley, J. Journal , Vol 1, 176.
Friday, May 23, 2014
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.
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.
DAY 10
MORNING
PSALMS 50–52
Psalm 50:5 “Gather to me my consecrated ones.”
The Methodist Pentecost
In December 1738 the news that George Whitefield had returned from America reached Wesley. These friends who had both been part of the Holy Club in Oxford met together on 12 December. Whitefield had been the main instrument the Lord had begun to use in a spiritual revival in England. However, Whitefield was Wesley’s junior and he was still in awe of him.95 It was a wonderful reunion and they were overjoyed that in London there seemed (as Whitefield said) “to be a great pouring out of the spirit, and many who were awakened by my preaching a year ago are now grown strong men in Christ, by the ministrations of my dear friends and fellow-labourers John and Charles Wesley.”
In an upper room belonging to Mrs West they spent much time together praying and singing and discussing. On 31 December Wesley preached to a large congregation at Whitechapel and George Whitefield preached at Spitalfields. Wesley describes what happened when he and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield gathered together on Monday 1 January 1739. “Mr Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield Hutchins, and my brother Charles were present at our love-feast in Fetter-Lane with about 60 of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise thee; O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.’”96
If 24 May 1738 was the day at Aldersgate when Wesley was born again by the spirit of God, then 1 January 1739 certainly seemed to be something very similar to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This seems to have been a time of separation unto the Lord for those God was to use in the Methodist awakening that was about to break out across England and North America. John Wesley and George Whitefield had still not ventured to preach outdoors. The Lord was gathering his consecrated ones and he poured out his spirit on them in power. As the brethren dwelt in unity the Lord commanded a powerful blessing.
Prayer
Lord, gather together your consecrated ones, for another outpouring of your Spirit. We long to see this country turn back to you. Pour out your Spirit again as you did at Fetter Lane. We pray for the servants you are preparing. Send your fire down on those altars, Lord. Ignite them with a fresh baptism in your Holy Spirit. Fan the flames of your Gospel. By your grace let that candle never go out, let it burn brightly up and down our land ONCE AGAIN!
95 Pollock, J. The preacher, 108–109.
96 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1, 170.
DAY 10
EVENING
PSALMS 53–55
Psalm 53:2 “God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.”
A Desperate Place
In 1738 in the time of the evangelical awakening, immorality and indecency was everywhere. One historian said that Britain was one large casino. Gambling dominated and violence filled the streets. Every sixth house was a pub. In a contemporary satire,97 George Crabbe, a poet,98 described the effects of drunkenness on every class of society. He refers to the “staggering peer”, the “humble pensioner”, the “slow- tongued bishop”, the “easy chaplain” and the “convivial vicar”.
One historian says, “a religious languor fell over England”.99 Vibrant Christianity was hardly seen. “Some of the population continued to perform what the philosopher, Immanuel Kant called the court-duties of religion, but comparatively few had experienced the glowing reality of personal communion with Christ.”100 Rationalism was strong and revelation was given no place; the clergy were ineffective as a result.101 Vital Christianity had been side-lined.
This was the context that John Wesley found himself in 1739 as he travelled around churches engaging in itinerant evangelism. Another historian says “Wesley did not waste his time deploring the evils of his day, he attacked them; and he attacked them by preaching repentance and conversion. He knew that the only hope of the corrupt heart was a new birth.”102
Prayer
Lord, we pray that as you look down from heaven you would have mercy on us in England today. We are in a desperate place. We pray that salvation would come to our nation again in our day. Give us the courage to preach repentance and conversion in our day. Open the eyes of those who do not know, those who do not understand. Give us the perseverance and tenacity to call out to you, to seek your face until your salvation comes. Listen to our prayer, O God, do not ignore our plea, hear us and answer us. Lord, have mercy on us, today.
97 Skevington-Wood, The burning heart,10.
98 Crabbe, G. The poetical works of George Crabbe ed A.J. and R.M. Carlyle(1908) Inebriety 3,4.
99 Lecky, W.E.H. A history of England in the eighteenth Century, Vol 1.,479, 481. 100 Skevington-Wood,12.
101 Skevington-Wood,15.
102 Pyke, R. John Wesley Came This Way, 19
PSALMS 50–52
Psalm 50:5 “Gather to me my consecrated ones.”
The Methodist Pentecost
In December 1738 the news that George Whitefield had returned from America reached Wesley. These friends who had both been part of the Holy Club in Oxford met together on 12 December. Whitefield had been the main instrument the Lord had begun to use in a spiritual revival in England. However, Whitefield was Wesley’s junior and he was still in awe of him.95 It was a wonderful reunion and they were overjoyed that in London there seemed (as Whitefield said) “to be a great pouring out of the spirit, and many who were awakened by my preaching a year ago are now grown strong men in Christ, by the ministrations of my dear friends and fellow-labourers John and Charles Wesley.”
In an upper room belonging to Mrs West they spent much time together praying and singing and discussing. On 31 December Wesley preached to a large congregation at Whitechapel and George Whitefield preached at Spitalfields. Wesley describes what happened when he and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield gathered together on Monday 1 January 1739. “Mr Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield Hutchins, and my brother Charles were present at our love-feast in Fetter-Lane with about 60 of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise thee; O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.’”96
If 24 May 1738 was the day at Aldersgate when Wesley was born again by the spirit of God, then 1 January 1739 certainly seemed to be something very similar to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This seems to have been a time of separation unto the Lord for those God was to use in the Methodist awakening that was about to break out across England and North America. John Wesley and George Whitefield had still not ventured to preach outdoors. The Lord was gathering his consecrated ones and he poured out his spirit on them in power. As the brethren dwelt in unity the Lord commanded a powerful blessing.
Prayer
Lord, gather together your consecrated ones, for another outpouring of your Spirit. We long to see this country turn back to you. Pour out your Spirit again as you did at Fetter Lane. We pray for the servants you are preparing. Send your fire down on those altars, Lord. Ignite them with a fresh baptism in your Holy Spirit. Fan the flames of your Gospel. By your grace let that candle never go out, let it burn brightly up and down our land ONCE AGAIN!
95 Pollock, J. The preacher, 108–109.
96 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1, 170.
DAY 10
EVENING
PSALMS 53–55
Psalm 53:2 “God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.”
A Desperate Place
In 1738 in the time of the evangelical awakening, immorality and indecency was everywhere. One historian said that Britain was one large casino. Gambling dominated and violence filled the streets. Every sixth house was a pub. In a contemporary satire,97 George Crabbe, a poet,98 described the effects of drunkenness on every class of society. He refers to the “staggering peer”, the “humble pensioner”, the “slow- tongued bishop”, the “easy chaplain” and the “convivial vicar”.
One historian says, “a religious languor fell over England”.99 Vibrant Christianity was hardly seen. “Some of the population continued to perform what the philosopher, Immanuel Kant called the court-duties of religion, but comparatively few had experienced the glowing reality of personal communion with Christ.”100 Rationalism was strong and revelation was given no place; the clergy were ineffective as a result.101 Vital Christianity had been side-lined.
This was the context that John Wesley found himself in 1739 as he travelled around churches engaging in itinerant evangelism. Another historian says “Wesley did not waste his time deploring the evils of his day, he attacked them; and he attacked them by preaching repentance and conversion. He knew that the only hope of the corrupt heart was a new birth.”102
Prayer
Lord, we pray that as you look down from heaven you would have mercy on us in England today. We are in a desperate place. We pray that salvation would come to our nation again in our day. Give us the courage to preach repentance and conversion in our day. Open the eyes of those who do not know, those who do not understand. Give us the perseverance and tenacity to call out to you, to seek your face until your salvation comes. Listen to our prayer, O God, do not ignore our plea, hear us and answer us. Lord, have mercy on us, today.
97 Skevington-Wood, The burning heart,10.
98 Crabbe, G. The poetical works of George Crabbe ed A.J. and R.M. Carlyle(1908) Inebriety 3,4.
99 Lecky, W.E.H. A history of England in the eighteenth Century, Vol 1.,479, 481. 100 Skevington-Wood,12.
101 Skevington-Wood,15.
102 Pyke, R. John Wesley Came This Way, 19
Thursday, May 22, 2014
DAY 9
MORNING
PSALMS 44–46
Psalm 44:13 “You have made us a reproach to our neighbours.”
Excluded from the Churches
The following Sunday after his Aldersgate experience, John Wesley says that he was “roughly attacked in a large company as an enthusiast, a seducer and a setter-forth of new doctrines.”83 Mrs Hutton was very offended and she said, “If you were not a Christian ever since I knew you, you were a great hypocrite for you made us all believe you were one.”84 This attitude of his friends did not deter him at all. Dr Plumb says that following his conversion he had “a burning determination to bring to others what he himself had felt.”85 One biographer says, “It was the warmed heart that made Wesley an evangelist. The fire could only be spread as first of all it was kindled. The flame was lit in Aldersgate street. Then Dr Bett said ‘There came to him a spiritual energy, an evangelical zeal, an unction of the holy one that he had never before possessed.’”86
Earlier Wesley had been concerned for what he could do for God. Now at a stroke all the strain had gone. All was now grace through faith. In all his earlier disciplined life of holiness and the good works to which he set his hand writes Edwards, “his primary concern was on what he could do for God. But after that Aldersgate street heartwarming he asked only what God could do for him and through him. Thus at a stroke the old sense of strain and effort had gone. The ecclesiastical of Georgia could now become the evangelist of the open road.”87 However church after church now excluded Wesley because he preached evangelical doctrines. This exclusion had already begun even before Aldersgate. He had begun to preach justification earlier in the year and it was justification by faith that was the doctrine that caused such offence. On 5 February 1738, at St John the Evangelist, Westminster, he preached on those strong words “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” “I was afterwards informed, many of the best in the parish were so offended that I was not to preach there any more.”88 He didn’t preach there again. On 26 February he preached three times — at St Lawrence Jewry, St Catherine Cree, and St John Wapping. “I believe it pleased God to bless the first sermon most,” he wrote, “Because it gave most offence.”89 Then after Aldersgate yet more churches refused Wesley to preach in their pulpits. Again and again he was excluded.
Prayer
Lord, we pray for the raising up of another wave of evangelists with the spiritual energy and the evangelical zeal and the unction of the Holy Spirit that was on John Wesley. Although the preaching of the Gospel be a ‘sign spoken against’ and ‘a reproach to our neighbours’, give us the courage and fiery determination to keep going. Set a fire deep down in our soul. We want more of you, Lord, more passion to preach the Good News of grace to a lost and dying world.
83 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1,476, May 24, 1738.
84 Benham, D. The memoirs of James Hutton, 34.
85 Plumb, England in the Eighteenth Century, 92.
86 Bett, H. The Spirit of Methodism, 33 quoted in Skevington- Wood, A. The burning heart, 73–74.
87 Edwards, M. A history of the Methodist church in Great Britain, Vol 1, 51.
88 Wesley, J. Journal, Volume 1, 5th February, 1738.
89 Wesley, J. Journal, Volume 1, 126th February, 1738.
DAY 9 EVENING PSALMS 47–49
Psalm 48:12 “Walk about Zion, go round her ...”
Travel to Herrnhut
After Wesley’s Aldersgate experience he made a trip to Herrnhut. It was an ‘intentional study tour of pietist centres’ 90 in Germany. He did not want to learn about Moravianism 91 but he was concerned “to recapture the life of faith of the primitive Christian community ... it was the koinonia, the spirit, the message and the sense of mission of that community” 92 that Wesley sought, and he returned to England from Herrnhut with his vision renewed by what he had seen.
Some weeks after Wesley returned from Herrnhut he expressed his appreciation for the Moravians. He said, “We are endeavouring here also, by the grace which is given us, to be followers of you, as ye are of Christ. Fourteen were added to us since our return, so that we have now eight bands of men, consisting of fifty-six persons (at Fetter-Lane); all of whom seek for salvation, only in the blood of Christ ... Though my brother and I are not permitted to preach in most of the churches in London, yet (thanks be to God!) there are others left wherein we have the liberty to speak the truth as it is in Jesus.”93
Now that Wesley had seen Herrnhut he had certainly been impressed and appreciated Moravian faith and piety. However, he did not like what he called their ‘quietism’. There was a tendency toward spiritual contemplation, and he felt that there was something approaching a ‘personality cult’ around Count von Zinzendorf. Wesley now gave all his energies to be a travelling evangelist and caring for those that were converted in and around London.94
Prayer
Lord, open our eyes to see what you are doing in our day. We long for a fresh visitation today Lord. Thank you for the example of the Early Church. As you stirred Wesley to consecrate himself to you, as you gave him vision and faith for a restoration of early Christianity in his day, do it on ours, Lord. Do not pass us by. Come Lord Jesus.
90 Stoeffler, Tradition and renewal in the ecclesiology of John Wesley, 305
91 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 29,30.
92 Stoeffler, Tradition and renewal, 305.
93 John Wesley, Works X11, 55.
94 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 29, 30.
PSALMS 44–46
Psalm 44:13 “You have made us a reproach to our neighbours.”
Excluded from the Churches
The following Sunday after his Aldersgate experience, John Wesley says that he was “roughly attacked in a large company as an enthusiast, a seducer and a setter-forth of new doctrines.”83 Mrs Hutton was very offended and she said, “If you were not a Christian ever since I knew you, you were a great hypocrite for you made us all believe you were one.”84 This attitude of his friends did not deter him at all. Dr Plumb says that following his conversion he had “a burning determination to bring to others what he himself had felt.”85 One biographer says, “It was the warmed heart that made Wesley an evangelist. The fire could only be spread as first of all it was kindled. The flame was lit in Aldersgate street. Then Dr Bett said ‘There came to him a spiritual energy, an evangelical zeal, an unction of the holy one that he had never before possessed.’”86
Earlier Wesley had been concerned for what he could do for God. Now at a stroke all the strain had gone. All was now grace through faith. In all his earlier disciplined life of holiness and the good works to which he set his hand writes Edwards, “his primary concern was on what he could do for God. But after that Aldersgate street heartwarming he asked only what God could do for him and through him. Thus at a stroke the old sense of strain and effort had gone. The ecclesiastical of Georgia could now become the evangelist of the open road.”87 However church after church now excluded Wesley because he preached evangelical doctrines. This exclusion had already begun even before Aldersgate. He had begun to preach justification earlier in the year and it was justification by faith that was the doctrine that caused such offence. On 5 February 1738, at St John the Evangelist, Westminster, he preached on those strong words “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” “I was afterwards informed, many of the best in the parish were so offended that I was not to preach there any more.”88 He didn’t preach there again. On 26 February he preached three times — at St Lawrence Jewry, St Catherine Cree, and St John Wapping. “I believe it pleased God to bless the first sermon most,” he wrote, “Because it gave most offence.”89 Then after Aldersgate yet more churches refused Wesley to preach in their pulpits. Again and again he was excluded.
Prayer
Lord, we pray for the raising up of another wave of evangelists with the spiritual energy and the evangelical zeal and the unction of the Holy Spirit that was on John Wesley. Although the preaching of the Gospel be a ‘sign spoken against’ and ‘a reproach to our neighbours’, give us the courage and fiery determination to keep going. Set a fire deep down in our soul. We want more of you, Lord, more passion to preach the Good News of grace to a lost and dying world.
83 Wesley, J. Journal, Vol 1,476, May 24, 1738.
84 Benham, D. The memoirs of James Hutton, 34.
85 Plumb, England in the Eighteenth Century, 92.
86 Bett, H. The Spirit of Methodism, 33 quoted in Skevington- Wood, A. The burning heart, 73–74.
87 Edwards, M. A history of the Methodist church in Great Britain, Vol 1, 51.
88 Wesley, J. Journal, Volume 1, 5th February, 1738.
89 Wesley, J. Journal, Volume 1, 126th February, 1738.
DAY 9 EVENING PSALMS 47–49
Psalm 48:12 “Walk about Zion, go round her ...”
Travel to Herrnhut
After Wesley’s Aldersgate experience he made a trip to Herrnhut. It was an ‘intentional study tour of pietist centres’ 90 in Germany. He did not want to learn about Moravianism 91 but he was concerned “to recapture the life of faith of the primitive Christian community ... it was the koinonia, the spirit, the message and the sense of mission of that community” 92 that Wesley sought, and he returned to England from Herrnhut with his vision renewed by what he had seen.
Some weeks after Wesley returned from Herrnhut he expressed his appreciation for the Moravians. He said, “We are endeavouring here also, by the grace which is given us, to be followers of you, as ye are of Christ. Fourteen were added to us since our return, so that we have now eight bands of men, consisting of fifty-six persons (at Fetter-Lane); all of whom seek for salvation, only in the blood of Christ ... Though my brother and I are not permitted to preach in most of the churches in London, yet (thanks be to God!) there are others left wherein we have the liberty to speak the truth as it is in Jesus.”93
Now that Wesley had seen Herrnhut he had certainly been impressed and appreciated Moravian faith and piety. However, he did not like what he called their ‘quietism’. There was a tendency toward spiritual contemplation, and he felt that there was something approaching a ‘personality cult’ around Count von Zinzendorf. Wesley now gave all his energies to be a travelling evangelist and caring for those that were converted in and around London.94
Prayer
Lord, open our eyes to see what you are doing in our day. We long for a fresh visitation today Lord. Thank you for the example of the Early Church. As you stirred Wesley to consecrate himself to you, as you gave him vision and faith for a restoration of early Christianity in his day, do it on ours, Lord. Do not pass us by. Come Lord Jesus.
90 Stoeffler, Tradition and renewal in the ecclesiology of John Wesley, 305
91 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 29,30.
92 Stoeffler, Tradition and renewal, 305.
93 John Wesley, Works X11, 55.
94 Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, 29, 30.
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