God’s Battle Axe Series – John Wesley

 John Wesley was one of God’s battle axes in the 18^th Century. He is associated with the Methodist movement, a term coined by people who were offended by the group’s emphasis on methodological study and devotion. Wesley was born on June 17, 1703 to Samuel and Susanna Wesley in Epworth, England. His mother had a profound influence on his life. She and her husband had 19 children, and John was the 15^th.

          After six years of education at Charterhouse, London, young Wesley entered Christ Church, Oxford University in 1720. Upon his graduation in 1724, he resolved to become an ordained priest. In furtherance of this ambition, he was made a deacon by the Bishop of Oxford in 1725 and was elected a fellow of Lincoln College the following year. He was ordained a priest on September 22, 1728 after he assisted his father who was then a rector at Epworth.

         In October 1729, Wesley was recalled to Oxford to fulfil the residential requirements of his fellowship. There, he joined forces with his brother Charles, and two others, Robert Kirkham and William Morgan to promote activities of the Methodist movement, also known as the ‘Holy Club’. He later assumed leadership of the group and helped it to attract more members.

Initially, the Methodists were known for their frequent communion services and for fasting two days in a week. From 1730 on, they added social services to their activities, visiting Oxford prisoners, teaching them to read, paying their debts, and attempting to find employment for them. The Methodists  extended their activities to workhouses and poor people, distributing food, clothes, medicine, and books and also running a school. When the two Wesley brothers left the Holy Club in 1735, the group disintegrated.

          Following his father’s death in April 1735, John was persuaded by an Oxford friend, John Burton, and Col. James Oglethorpe, Governor of the Colony of Georgia in North America, to oversee the spiritual lives of the colonists. He was also asked to preach the good news to Native Americans as an agent for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Accompanied by Charles who was ordained for the mission, John was introduced to some Moravian emigrants who appeared to him to possess the spiritual peace for which he had been searching.

         The mission to the indigenous peoples proved abortive, nor did John succeed with most of his flock. He served them faithfully, but his unbending attitude towards sin antagonized some of them. Also, his naïve attachment to Sophia Hopkey, niece of the chief magistrate of Savannah set tongues wagging against him. He was particularly criticised for denying her Holy Communion after she got married to another man. In December 1737, he fled Georgia and returned to England.

            While in London, he met a Moravian, Peter Bohler, who convinced him that what he needed was simply faith. Within that time, John also discovered Martin Luther’s commentary on the Letter of Paul to the Galatians, which emphasized the scriptural doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone.

On May 24, 1738, John’s intellectual conviction was transformed into a personal experience at a meeting hosted by the Moravians in Aldersgate Street, London under the auspices of the Church of England. He committed his life to Christ while Luther’s preface to the commentary to the Letter of Paul to the Romans was being read.

           From this point onward, at the age of 35, Wesley viewed his mission in life as one of proclaiming the good news of salvation by faith, which he did whenever a pulpit was offered him, The congregations of the Church of England, however, soon closed their doors to him because of his enthusiasm.

He then went to religious societies, trying to inject new spiritual vigour into them, particularly by introducing “bands” similar to those of the Moravians, that is, small groups within each society that were confined to members of the same sex and marital status who were prepared to share intimate details of their lives with each other and to receive mutual rebukes. For such groups, Wesley drew up Rules of the Band Societies in December 1738.

For a year he worked through existing church societies, but resistance to his methods increased. In 1739, George Whitefield, who later became an important preacher of the Great Awakening in Great Britain and North America, persuaded him to focus on the unchurched masses. Subsequently, Wesley gathered converts into societies for continuing fellowship and spiritual growth.

Later, he was asked by members of a London Christian group to become their leader. Soon, other such groups were formed in other parts of London, Bristol and elsewhere.

          To avoid any scandal by unworthy members, Wesley published Rules for the Methodist societies in 1743. He also became an itinerant preacher to promote new societies. Because most ordained clergymen did not favour his approach, Wesley was compelled to seek the services of dedicated laymen, who also became itinerant preachers, and helped administer the Methodist societies.

Many of Wesley’s preachers had gone to the American colonies, but after the American Revolution most returned to England. When the Bishop of London refused to ordain some of his preachers to serve in the United States, Wesley took it upon himself to do so in 1784, courting a controversy over the matter. In the same year, he declared that his societies were operating independently of any control by the Church of England.

 Wesley preached throughout the British Isles. Never one to waste time, he discovered that he could read while walking, on horseback, or in a carriage. Nothing stopped him. He pushed on through rainstorms and blizzards, and if his coach got stuck, he continued on horse or on foot.

The strict discipline and relentless work ethic instilled early in his life served Wesley well as a preacher, evangelist, and church organiser. He was still preaching at age 88, just a few days before he died in 1791. John met death singing hymns, quoting Scriptures, and saying farewell to his family and friends. Some of his last words were, “The best of all is, God is with us”.

Acts 14:17 states that God has never left Himself without a witness. In every generation, He raises men and women as ensigns to the nations (Isaiah 5; 26). John Wesley was not only an ensign for his world, his impact is still felt in Christendom today. What was special about him? What can we learn from this servant of the Most High God? Wesley did not allow himself to be distracted by the antics of the organised church.

He saw beyond their religious posturing to the fate of unsaved souls. He was motived by his love for Christ to pursue the thing that mattered- salvation of souls. He had the same ambition with his Lord and Master Jesus Christ- the good of God’s Kingdom and His glory. We do well to emulate him in our walk with God.

Materials from John Wesley, https://www.britannica.com; Biography of John Wesley, Methodist Co-Founder, https://www.learnreligions.com.