I'm currently enjoying the Journal of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist churches with his brother Charles. Pure pleasure. I was wrong to neglect them in favor of his sermons. Reading his journal is like sitting at the feet of this great man and listening to him tell me about his life.
And what a life! First of all, I am impressed by the effort he took to discover truths that many today take for granted. How moving to see how this man strove to find the path to God in a time when many were content with their lifeless, Godless Sunday ritual.
On the way to the state of Georgia As a missionary to the indigenous peoples, he had met Moravians who had a true and living faith. Upon his return to England, he was still unsure of his salvation, and it was through many discussions with Peter Bohler, a Moravian, that he began to grasp the nature of the new birth.
What seemed most difficult to him was the idea of instant conversion. 'I did not understand how this faith could be given in an instant: how a man could instantly pass from darkness to light, from sin and misery to righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit.' He eventually became convinced of this by reading examples of conversion in the Scriptures and meeting people who had experienced it.
And when at last his day came, he described his conversion experience in these terms:
'In the evening I went, quite reluctantly, to a meeting in Aldersgate Street, where someone was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter to nine, as he was describing the change God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt that indeed I had put my trust in Christ, in Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even my own, and had saved me from the law of sin and death.'
Thus came to the knowledge of Christ a man who marked his generation. On that day, he certainly had no idea of all that God would do with him, but at the end of his life, it is estimated that during his more than fifty years of ministry, hundreds of thousands heard him preach, he rode more than 360,000 km on horseback, and founded Methodist churches. Some would even say that thanks to his ministry, England avoided a revolution.
He searched for the truth, found it, and devoted his life to it. We'll talk about it again.
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