John Wesley

Family Background

What occured on Wednesday the 24th, I think best to relate at large, after premising what may make it the better understood. Let him that cannot receive it ask of the Father of lights that He would give more light to him and me. I believe, till I was about ten years old I had not sinned away that “washing of the Holy Spirit” which was given me in baptism; having been strictly educated and carefully taught that I could only be saved “by universal obedience, by keeping all the commandments of God,” in the meaning of which I was diligently instructed. And those instructions, so far as they respected outward duties and sins, I gladly received and often thought of.

But all that was said to me of inward obedience or holiness I neither understood nor remembered. So that I was indeed as ignorant of the true meaning of the law as I was of the gospel of Christ. The next six or seven years were spent at school; where, outward restraints being removed, I was much more negligent than before, even of outward duties, and almost continually guilty of outward sins, which I knew to be such, though they were not scandalous in the eye of the world. However, I still read the Scriptures, and said my prayers morning and evening. And what I now hoped to be saved by was (1) not being so bad as other people; (2) having still a kindness for religion; and (3) reading the Bible, going to church, and saying my prayers.

Being removed to the University for five years, I still said my prayers both in public and in private, and read, with the Scriptures, several other books of religion, especially comments on the New Testament. Yet I had not all this while so much as a notion of inward holiness; nay, went on habitually, and for the most part very contentedly, in some or other known sin: indeed, with some intermission and short struggles, especially before and after the Holy Communion, which I was obliged to receive three times a year. I cannot well tell what I hoped to be saved by now, when I was continually sinning against that little light I had; unless by those transient fits of what many divines taught me to call repentance.

When I was about twenty-two, my father pressed me to enter into holy orders. At the same time, the providence of God directing me to Kempis’s Christian Pattern, I began to see that true religion was seated in the heart, and that God’s law extended to all our thoughts as well as words and actions. I was, however, very angry at Kempis for being too strict; though I read him only in Dean Stanhope’s translation. Yet I had frequently much sensible comfort in reading him, such as I was an utter stranger to before; and meeting likewise with a religious friend, which I never had till now, I began to alter the whole form of my conversation, and to set in earnest upon a new life. I set apart an hour or two a day for religious retirement. I took holy communion every week.

I watched against all sin, whether in word or deed. I began to aim at, and pray for, inward holiness. So that now, “doing so much, and living so good a life,” I doubted not but I was a good Christian.… In 1730 I began visiting the prisons; assisting the poor and sick in town; and doing what other good I could, by my presence or my little fortune, to the bodies and souls of all men. To this end I abridged myself of all superfluities, and many that are called necessaries of life.…Yet when, after continuing some years in this course, I apprehended myself to be near death, I could not find that all this gave me any comfort or any assurance of acceptance with God. At this I was then not a little surprised; not imagining I had been all this time building on the sand, nor considering that “other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid” by God, “even Christ Jesus.”

Salvation by faith

John Wesley's house on City Road, LondonSoon after, a contemplative man convinced me still more than I was convinced before, that outward works are nothing, being alone; and in several conversations instructed me how to pursue inward holiness, or a union of the soul with God. But even of his instructions (though I then received them as the words of God) I cannot but now observe (1) that he spoke so incautiously against trusting in outward works, that he discouraged me from doing them at all; (2) that he recommended (as it were, to supply what was wanting in them) mental prayer, and the like exercises, as the most effectual means of purifying the soul and uniting it with God. Now these were, in truth, as much my own works as visiting the sick or clothing the naked; and the union with God thus pursued was as really my own righteousness as any I had before pursued under another name.

In this refined way of trusting to my own works and my own righteousness (so zealously inculcated by the Mystic writers), I dragged on heavily, finding no comfort or help therein till the time of my leaving England. On shipboard, however, I was again active in outward works; where it pleased God of His free mercy to give me twenty-six of the Moravian brethren for companions, who endeavored to show me “a more excellent way.” But I understood it not at first. I was too learned and too wise. So that it seemed foolishness unto me. And I continued preaching, and following after, and trusting in, that righteousness whereby no flesh can be justified.

All the time I was at Savannah [Georgia], I was thus beating the air. Being ignorant of the righteousness of Christ, which, by a living faith in Him, brings salvation “to every one that believes,” I sought to establish my own righteousness; and so labored in the fire all my days. I was now properly “under the law.” I knew that the law of God was spiritual; I consented to it that it was good. Yea, I delighted in it, after the inner man. Yet was I carnal, sold under sin. Every day was I constrained to cry out, “What I do, I allow not: for what I would, I do not; but what I hate, that I do. To will is indeed present with me: but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good which I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me: even the law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and still bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.”

Life-size statue at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KYIn this vile, abject state of bondage to sin, I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering. Before, I had willingly served sin; now it was unwillingly, but still I served it. I fell, and rose, and fell again. Sometimes I was overcome, and in heaviness; sometimes I overcame, and was in joy. For as in the former state I had some foretastes of the terrors of the law; so had I in this, of the comforts of the gospel. During this whole struggle between nature and grace, which had now continued more than ten years, I had many remarkable returns to prayer, especially when I was in trouble; I had many sensible comforts, which are indeed no other than short anticipations of the life of faith. But I was still “under the law,” not “under grace” (the state most who are called Christians are content to live and die in); for I was only striving with, not freed from, sin. Neither had I the witness of the Spirit with my spirit, and indeed could not; for I “sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” In my return to England, January 1738, being in imminent danger of death, and very uneasy on that account, I was strongly convinced that the cause of that uneasiness was unbelief; and that the gaining of a true, living faith was the “one thing needful” for me. But still I fixed not this faith on its right object: I meant only faith in God, not faith in or through Christ. Again, I knew not that I was wholly void of this faith; but only thought I had not enough of it. So that when Peter Böhler, whom God prepared for me as soon as I came to London, affirmed of true faith in Christ (which is but one) that it had those two fruits inseparably attending it, “dominion over sin and constant peace from a sense of forgiveness,” I was quite amazed, and looked upon it as a new gospel. If this was so, it was clear I had not faith. But I was not willing to be convinced of this. Therefore I disputed with all my might, and labored to prove that faith might be where these were not: for all the Scriptures relating to this I had been long since taught to construe away; and to call all “Presbyterians” who spoke otherwise. Besides, I well saw no one could, in the nature of things, have such a sense of forgiveness, and not feel it. But I felt it not. If, then, there was no faith without this, all my pretensions to faith dropped at once.

When I met Peter Böhler again, he consented to put the dispute upon the issue which I desired, namely, Scripture and experience. I first consulted the Scripture. But when I set aside the glosses of men, and simply considered the words of God, comparing them together, endeavoring to illustrate the obscure by the plainer passages, I found they all made against me, and was forced to retreat to my last hold, “that experience would never agree with the literal interpretation of those Scriptures.

Nor could I therefore allow it to be true, till I found some living witnesses of it.” He replied, he could show me such at any time; if I desired it, the next day. And accordingly the next day he came again with three others, all of whom testified of their own personal experience, that a true living faith in Christ is inseparable from a sense of pardon for all past and freedom from all present sins. They added with one mouth that this faith was the gift, the free gift of God; and that He would surely bestow it upon every soul who earnestly and perseveringly sought it. I was now thoroughly convinced; and, by the grace of God, I resolved to seek it unto the end (1) by absolutely renouncing all dependence, in whole or in part, upon my own works or righteousness; on which I had really grounded my hope of salvation, though I knew it not, from my youth up; (2) by adding to the constant use of all the other means of grace, continual prayer for this very thing, justifying, saving faith, a full reliance on the blood of Christ shed for me; a trust in Him, as my Christ, as my sole justification, sanctification, and redemption. I continued thus to seek it (though with strange indifference, dullness, and coldness, and unusually frequent relapses into sin) till Wednesday, May 24. I think it was about five this morning that I opened my Testament on those words,

Just as I went out, I opened it again on those words, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul’s. The anthem was, “Out of the deep have I called unto You, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. O let Your ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If You, Lord, will be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? For there is mercy with You; therefore shall You be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.”

The Conversion

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

The year of his return to Oxford (1729) marks the beginning of the rise of Methodism. The famous "holy club" was formed by John's younger brother, Charles Wesley, and some fellow students, derisively called "Methodists" because of their methodical habits.I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the enemy suggested, “This cannot be faith; for where is your joy?” Then was I taught that peace and victory over sin are essential to faith in the Captain of our salvation; but that, as to the transports of joy that usually attend the beginning of it, especially in those who have mourned deeply, God sometimes gives, sometimes withholds them, according to the counsels of His own will. After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations; but cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from His holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror. 1 Perhaps you have a personal history similar to John Wesley’s— outwardly you have lived a religious life, but inwardly you have discovered that you don’t have the ability to overcome sin. You are a defeated person in light of what you know you should be.

What you need to hear is what Wesley heard the night he found Christ. He was listening to Luther’s words that describe the change that God works in the heart through faith in Christ. The following is the part of Luther’s preface referred to by Wesley:

Your defeated life can turn into victory now by trusting in Christ alone for your salvation.

Turn from your own works and striving. Give up your self-effort and turn this hour to Christ alone for the assurance of your salvation. Wesley could recall that it was “about a quarter before nine.” As you are opening to Christ now, mark the time of your “new birth.”

Early Life

The life and teachings of John Wesley, the famous founder of Methodism, have probably had a greater influence than those of any other man since the days of the apostles in deepening the spiritual life of the present time.

The Canterbury Cathedral houses the throne of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is the mother church of the Diocese of Canterbury and the Church of England.The Introduction to the Methodist book of Discipline states that Methodism was raised up under God "for the spread of Scriptural holiness." Like a mighty conflagration swept over the world until in less than two centuries it numbered more adherents than almost any other Protestant church. The secret of its success was partly owing to the fact that its theology presented a less fatalistic view of salvation than did that of the Old School Calvinism so common among other Protestant denominations; but it probably owed its success still more to the deep spiritual experiences of the Wesleys and the other early Methodist preachers, many of whom were so anointed with the Holy Spirit's power that multitudes were brought under conviction of sin while listening to their earnest sermons and exhortations. People often trembled and shook, and many were even stricken down in the meetings, under the overwhelming sense of their sins received under the preaching of these men of God. Wesley's great-grandfather his grand-father, and his father were all clergymen in the Church of England, which Wesley was himself an ordained minister and remained such until his death, the Methodist Societies in Britain not having become an independent church until 1791, or two years after he died. Susannah Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley, was the daughter of the great Dr. Annesley, the "St. Paul of Non-Conformity."

Her grandfather, as well as her father, were ministers of the gospel, and she was herself famous for her piety and prudence. John Wesley was born at Epworth, in Lincolnshire, England, on June 17, 1703, and was the fifteenth in a family of nineteen children, of whom only ten survived the period of infancy. At the age of six John himself was barely rescued from the flames when his father's rectory burned down.

Wesley's mother was very careful in the training of the children, and they were all brought up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." They also received a good secular education. John was educated at the Charter House School, in London, until he was seventeen years of age, at which time he was sent to Christ Church College, Oxford University. He was a diligent student and made great progress in his studies. At the age of twenty-three his accomplishments in the classics were so great that he was elected Fellow of Lincoln College, and was also chosen as moderator of classes, and the following year he was made a Master of Arts. Before leaving Oxford University, he seems to have become proficient in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and logic, and he afterwards obtained a knowledge of German.

Wesley followed the pious advice of his father and mother until after he was ten years of age, without consciously disobeying them in any way. "The next six or seven years were spent at school," says he.

He relied for salvation on these outward acts, and on church-going, and also on the fact that he was not as bad as others. After going to Oxford, for about five years, he constantly did things that he knew were sinful in the sight of God; but he still continued to pray, read his Bible, and go to church. At about twenty-two years of age his eyes were opened to some extent by reading the works of Thomas a Kempis, and he began to see that true religion had to do with the heart, and not with outward actions only. " I was, however, angry at Kempis for being too strict," says he. But he also says: "Yet I frequently had much sensible comfort in reading him, such as I was an utter stranger to before ; and meeting likewise with a religious friend, which I never had till now, I began to alter the whole form of my conversation, and to set in earnest upon a new life." Dr. Taylor's book, "Holy Living and Dying," made a still deeper impression upon him, and his life became a very sincere one.

Ordination

Wesley's friends now urged him to be ordained, and in 1725, in his twenty-second year, after much prayer and consideration, he was ordained by Bishop Potter. In 1727, he read Mr. Law's "Christian Perfection" and "Serious Call," and these books made him resolve more than ever to be wholly the Lord's. The writings of Mr. Law seem to have influenced his life more than any other writings outside the Scriptures, just as the works of Aquinas influenced the life of Savonarola. It was probably Mr. Law's books, more than any other human cause, which led Wesley to start the Methodist Societies. In a letter to Mr. Morgan, written in later years, he thus describes the founding of the first Methodist Society :

In this humble manner the first Methodist society was formed, and the great founder of Methodism was thus led to engage in active Christian service. The society thus formed increased in numbers, and when Whitefield joined them there were fifteen members. They soon earned the nickname of the "Holy Club," and finally of "Methodists." It is remarkable that God brought together in this little group two of the world's greatest preachers and one of the greatest hymn-writers — John Wesley, George Whitefield, and Charles Wesley. The society continued its good work until 1735, when Wesley left the University.

Missions Work

In 1735, John and Charles Wesley sailed for America, intending to become missionaries to the American Indians. On the vessel were a number of Moravian missionaries, and their pious conduct so deeply impressed Wesley that he began to study German so that he would be able to converse with them. A great storm arose, and while the English were screaming and in great distress, and Wesley's heart failed him, the Moravians calmly and joyfully united in prayer and praise. Conversations with these godly people during the voyage, and in Georgia, led the Wesleys to doubt their own conversion to Christ.

The Wesleys seem to have accomplished very little in Georgia. They tried to bring the people to their 'own high standard of living, and preached against the popular sins with such directness and personality as to provoke much opposition, and they finally deemed it wise to return to England. Charles returned first and John soon followed. He says : "I shook off the dust of my feet, and left Georgia, after having preached the gospel there (not as I ought, but as I was able) one year and nearly nine months." During the voyage home, he wrote, "I went to America to convert the Indians ; but oh ! who shall convert me!" He reached England the day after Whitefield sailed for America.

Charles Wesley, John Wesley's younger brother is chiefly remembered for the many hymns he wrote.He preached in England in many places, but the results, as a rule, were not remarkable or encouraging. Much opposition was provoked and but little blessing seemed to attend his preaching. He conversed much with Peter Bohler and other Moravians, and was surprised when they proved to him that almost all the conversions to Christ mentioned in the Bible were instantaneous. He now began to see that people do not grow into salvation, but that they are justified by faith the moment they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was from the Moravians that the Methodists learned the doctrine of instantaneous conversion, regeneration, or justification by faith. At first Charles Wesley opposed what he called "the new doctrine," but he was soon convinced of his error, and in May, 1738, through simple faith in Christ, he found a joy he had never known before. The news that Charles had obtained joy and peace in believing greatly deepened John Wesley's desire for a real assurance of salvation. After a ten years' struggle to find peace and rest in Christ, the light began to dawn upon him on May 24, 1738. In the morning of that day his eyes fell upon 2 Peter 1 14, and then on the words, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." During the day he was on the verge of receiving rest and joy through faith in Christ. "In the evening," says he, "I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Encouragement and Conviction

The same year that he obtained this blessing through faith in Christ, he visited the Moravian settlement of Hernhuth, on Count Zinzendorf's estate, in Germany. This visit greatly strengthened his faith, and he returned to England to preach with a new zeal, the doctrine of instantaneous conversion and justification through faith in Christ. Many were now converted to Christ in his meetings almost everywhere that he went.

We learn from his Journal of October 15, 1738, and again from the entry made on October 3 of the same year, that Wesley had a great longing for a still deeper experience. "I was asking," he says in the latter entry, "that God would fulfill all His promises in my own soul," etc. His longings seem to have been satisfied, in a measure at least, in a memorable love feast in London, when he and Whitefield and other prominent Methodist ministers were present at a union meeting of the Methodist societies. Describing this meeting in his Journal, Wesley says: "Monday, January I, 1739. Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles were present at our lovefeast in Fetterslane, with about sixty 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 recovered a little from the 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.'"

Wesley must have received a powerful anointing of the Spirit at the time mentioned above, as after the experience described he seems to have preached with greater unction and power. The Methodist societies now began to multiply rapidly, many souls being converted to God.

George Whitefield was a close friend of the Wesleys.The State Churches were closing rapidly against the Methodists, when Whitefield began to preach to gigantic audiences in the open air at Bristol. He had returned from America in 1739, and was now working in harmony with the Wesleys. After continuing in Bristol for some time, he desired John Wesley to come and take the work there off his hands so that he could go elsewhere. After seeking to know the Lord's will in the matter, Wesley complied with his request. Staid Churchman that he was, he had many misgivings about the propriety of preaching in the open air; but when he saw Whiteneld preaching to the great multitudes in the open air at Bristol, his prejudices gradually melted away. He says, "I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he (Whitefield) set me an example on Sunday; having 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." It was only after witnessing the marvellous results attending Whitefield's preaching in the open air that Wesley began to speak in open-air meetings, but he soon became famous as an open-air preacher. Until the day of his death he exercised the greatest care to have everything "done decently and in order," and to avoid all fleshly excitements, hallucinations, and delusions; but on the other hand he was careful to encourage every genuine work of the Holy Spirit. "Quench not the Spirit" was to him a solemn warning which he scrupulously and conscientiously tried to follow. Wesley preached for some time in Bristol, to immense audiences sometimes numbering many thousands of people. His open-air meetings were as large, if not larger, than those of Whitefield. Powerful conviction of sin rested upon the people, and multitudes turned to Christ. Three weeks after the remarkable love-feast experience in London, while Wesley was preaching in Bristol, "a well- dressed, middle-aged woman suddenly cried out, as in the agonies of death. She continued to do so for some time," says Wesley, "with all the signs of the sharpest anguish of spirit." She was finally able to " rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of her salvation." On April 17, 1739, there was another remarable case of coviction of sin, in Bristol. Wesley had just expounded Acts 4, on the power of the Holy Spirit. "We then called upon God to confirm His Word," says he. " Immediately one that stood by (to our no small surprise) cried out aloud, with the utmost vehemence, even as 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 laboring to live in all good conscience towards all men) were seized with strong pain, and constrained to roar for the disquietness of their heart." These also found peace.

Many other wonderful cases of conviction of sin attended Wesley's preaching. It was a frequent occurrence for people to cry aloud or fall down as if dead in the meetings, so great was their anguish of heart, caused, no doubt, by the Holy Spirit convicting them of sin. It is a well known fact that great and sudden emotion of any kind will often cause people to faint away. This fact doubtless accounts for people dropping down as if dead in revival and other meetings.

The sudden realization of the enormity of their sins and of the doom of the impenitent, when the Spirit of God convicts them of sin, is so great that it absorbs all their mental faculties and they lose control of themselves and faint away. Instances of this kind were frequently recorded by Wesley. On April 21, 1739, at Weavers Hall, Bristol, "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." He also found peace. On the 25th day of the same month, while Wesley was preaching, "Immediately one, and another, and another sunk to the earth ; they dropped on every side as if thunderstruck."

Day after day Wesley preached to immense audiences in Bristol and Bath and suburbs of those cities. He then went to other places, preaching with the same unction and power, and many Methodist societies sprang up as a result of his and Whitefield's preaching. Many found fault with the outcries of those brought under conviction of sin.

Describing one meeting, Wesley says : "My voice could scarce be heard amidst the groanings of some, and the cries of others, calling aloud to 'Him that is mighty to save.'" He says, "A Quaker who stood by, was not a little displeased at the dissimulation of these creatures, and was biting his lips and knitting his brows, when he dropped down as thunder-struck." Next day, in a little prayer-meeting, "Just as we rose from giving thanks," says Wesley, "another person reeled four or five steps, and then dropped down." A certain J H , a zealous Episcopalian, opposed the Methodists in every way possible, and went to his acquaintances persuading them that people falling in the meetings and crying out in agony was "a delusion of the Devil." While sitting at the table one day, "he changed color, fell off his chair, and began screaming terribly, and beating himself against the ground."

Almost everywhere that Wesley went people were stricken down in his meetings in the manner already described, but these cases were the exception, and they usually found peace in Christ when prayed for. Most of the people had never heard such pointed and powerful preaching as Wesley's and the suddenness with which they were brought face to face with their sinful and lost condition probably had much to do with the fact that many of them swooned away or cried out in agony. People who had en-tertained false hopes of salvation had the masks torn away by the plain preaching of Wesley, and were stricken with great agony until they found peace with God. In one place where he was preaching, the Lord began to make bare His arm, and, "One and another, and another was struck to the earth; exceedingly trembling at the presence of His power. Others cried with a loud and bitter cry, 'What must we do to be saved ?'" The same evening, while Wesley was preaching, a man cried out in agony of soul. Soon after, "Another person dropped down close to one who was a strong asserter of the contrary doctrine. While he stood astonished at the sight, a little boy near him was seized in the same manner. A young man, who stood up behind, fixed his eyes on him, and sunk down himself as one dead."

The plain and fearless preaching of Wesley caused much opposition, and he was often mobbed and came near losing his life. But in the meetings, "The power of God came with His word; so that none scoffed, or interrupted, or opened his mouth." The scoffing and persecution came from those who had never been in the meetings or heard Wesley preach.

Return to London

On his return to London, Wesley preached at Wapping, and twenty-six people were stricken down under conviction of sin. "Some sunk down and there remained no strength in them," says he, "others exceedingly trembled and quaked ; some were torn with a kind of convulsive motion in every part of their bodies." Wesley had seen many hysterical and many epileptic fits, " but none of them were like these in many respects," says he. "I immediately prayed, ' That God would not suffer those who were weak to be offended.' But one woman was offended greatly; being sure, ' they might help it if they would ; no one should persuade her to the contrary;' and was got three or four yards, when she also dropped down, in as violent an agony as the rest."

In London Wesley preached in the open air to vast audiences of many thousands of people, as Whitefield and he had done in Bristol; and he afterwards held similar great out-door meetings all over Britain. Even when rain was falling or biting frost was on the ground, he sometimes preached to many thousands in the open air, and sometimes the sermons were two or three hours long. When the doors of his home church at Epworth were closed against him, he preached standing on his father's tombstone in the church-yard with an immense crowd around him. He often spoke with great liberty and power when preaching in these open-air meetings. On December 23, 1744, while preaching at Snow-Fields, "I found," says he, "Such light and strength as I never remember to have had before. I had often wondered at myself (and sometimes mentioned it to others), that ten thousand cares of various kinds were no more weight to my mind than ten thousand hairs were to my head." When worn out with overwork he often found new strength in answer to prayer. Writing concerning one of these occasions he says, "I then thought, 'Cannot God heal either man or beast by any means, or without any.' Immediately my weariness and head-ache ceased, and my horses' lameness in the same instant" (Journal, March 17, 1740).

Wesley was a great organizer and a strict disciplinarian. He expelled from the Methodist Societies everyone who was frivolous or trifling. He expelled them by the scores. He insisted upon modesty in dress, in abstinence from worldly amusements, and on daily holy living.

Christian Perfection

In his Journal, May 14, 1765, Wesley explains how he came to believe in the doctrine of "Christian Perfection," and what he believed the experience to be. He says : "But how came this opinion into my mind? I will tell you with all simplicity. In 1725 I met with Bishop Taylor's ' Rules of Holy Living and Dying.' I was struck particularly with the chapter on intention, and felt a fixed intention to give myself up to God. In this I was much confirmed soon after by the Christian Pattern, and longed to give God all my heart. This is just what I mean by Perfection now. I sought after it from that hour." In 1727 I read Mr. Law's 'Christian Perfection' and 'Serious Call,' and more explicitly resolved to be all devoted to God, in body, soul, and spirit. In 1730, I began to be homo unius libri; to study (comparatively) no book but the Bible. I then saw in a stronger light than ever before, that only one thing is needful, even faith that worketh by the love of God and man, all inward and outward holiness, and I groaned to love God with all my heart, and to serve Him with all my strength.

January I, 1733, I preached the sermon on the circumcision of the heart; which contains all that I now teach concerning salvation from all sin, and loving God with an undivided heart. In the same year I printed, (the first time I ventured to print anything), for the use of my pupils, 'A Collection of Forms of Prayer;' and in this I spoke explicitly of giving 'the whole heart and the whole life to God.' This was then as it is now, my idea of Perfection, though I should have started at the word. In 1735, I preached my Farewell Sermon, at Epworth, in Lincolnshire. In this likewise I spoke with the utmost clearness of having one design, one desire, one love, and of pursuing the one end of our life in all our words and actions. In January, 1738, I expressed my desires in these words:

A statue of John Wesley at Wesley's Chapel in City Road, London where he is said to be buried.I am still persuaded that this is what the Lord Jesus hath bought me with His blood. Wesley was almost constantly traveling and preaching. "The world is my parish" was his famous motto. In 1774 he wrote that he never travelled less than 4,500 miles a year. For many a year his annual record was 8,000 miles, and during this period he seldom preached less than 5,000 times a year. He traveled as an itinerant preacher, after he was 36 years of age, 225,000 miles, and preached more than 40,000 sermons, some of them to congregations of above 20,000 people. He rose at four o'clock in the morning and preached at five nearly every day.

In 1789 Wesley's sight and strength were pretty well exhausted and he felt that he was "an old man;" but he continued to preach and write until within a few days of his death. With the power of God manifestly present, he expired triumphantly on March 2, 1791, his dying testimony being: "Best of all, God is with us."