'fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man.' ecclesiastes 12.13-4
'go forth therefore and make all nations My disciples..' matthew 28.18
taken from glimpses of christian history #273...john wesley
-when 7 snatched from a fire in his home by a neighbor..his mother, sussanah wesley, called him 'a brand plucked from the burning'...felt that he had been spared for a God ordained purpose
-while at oxford he became the leader of a group called the Holy Club, which included a young george whitefield. this small group of students sought to reinforce faith through
scriptural study and
by measuring the quality of holiness of each member's life.
their regimen required
periodic fasts,
regular study meetings and
self-examination.
only much later did wesley realize that they followed more the letter than the spirit of christianity.
-providentially, he had made contact (on his way to be a missionary in georgia) a a small band of moravian christians on a voyage over to the colony. these men and women peacefully sang hymns during dreadful storms at sea while he was gripped by fear. after returning to england, john and charles (his brother) sought the counsel of peter boehler, a moravian, who told them that a proper faith will result in a clear sense of assurance of salvation. one cannot have one without the other. and such a faith will be accompanied by love, peace, and joy in the Holly Spirit. such a heart-centered experience was necessary for one to become a true christian...may 24, 1738 john had a deep experience of faith and assurance.
-he decided to live on a stipend of 28 pounds annually, which was well below the poverty level..any additional earnings wer used to fund his various ministries.
-began itinerant preaching in the 1740s in england
-rode over 250,00 miles on horseback and preached over 40,000 sermons
-his rule for living:
Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can!
-last letter, february 24, 1791, at age 87, six days before his death..was addressed to william wilberforece. .
'unless the dive power has raise you up to be as 'athanasius against the world', i see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of england, and of human nature. unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. but if God be for you, who can be against you are all of the stronger than God? o be not weary of well doing! go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even american slavery(the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.
reading this morning a tract wrote by a poor african, i was particularly struck by the circumstance, that a man who has black skin, being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have no redress: it being a LAW in all our colonies that the OATH of a black man against a white goes for nothing. what villainy is this!
that he who has guided you from youth up may continue to strengthen you in this and all things is the prayer of, dear sir,
your affectionate servant,
john wesley
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