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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18th CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 14 }

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  ( CHAPTER  5 )  -  { PT.  13 } - Acting upon his advice, they laid all their activity and plans before the bishop of Oxford and his chaplain, and his chaplain, and did nothing without full ecclesiastical approval. Cautious, and almost childish, however, as the proceedings of these young men might appear to us today, they were too far in advance of the times to escape notice, hatred, and opposition. A king of persecution and outcry was raised against Wesley and his companions as enthusiasts, fanatics, and troublers of Israel ( 1  KINGS  18:17 ). They were nicknamed the Methodists or Holy Club, and were assailed with a storm of ridicule and abuse. Through this, however, they bravely persevered and held on their way, being greatly encouraged by the letters of the old pastor of Epworth. The real amount of spiritual good that John Wesley did during these eight years of residence at Oxford is a point that cannot easily be determined. With all his devotedness, asceticism, and self-denial, i
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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18th CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 13 }

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( CHAPTER  5 )  -  { PT.  13 } - Gradually, however, he seems to have laid himself out more and more to try to do good to others, and later was entirely taken up with it. His method of action was in the highest degree simple and unpretentious. Assisted by his brother Charles, who was then a student of Christ Church, he gathered a small society of like-minded young men in order to spend some evenings together every week studying the Greek New Testament. This was in November 1729. The members of this society were at first four in number: John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Mr. Morgan of Christ Church, and Mr. Kirkman of Merton. Somewhat later, they were joined by Mr. Ingham of Queen's, Mr. Broughton of Exeter, Mr. Clayton of Brazenose, the famous George Whitefield of Pembroke, and the well-known James Hervey of Lincoln. This little group of witnesses, as might reasonably have been expected, soon began to think of doing good to others, as well as getting good themselves. In the summer of 173
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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18th CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 12 }

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( CHAPTER  5 )  -  { PT.  5 } - If we never can have any certainty of being in a state of salvation, that is a good reason that every moment should be spent not in joy, but in fear and trembling; and then, undoubtedly, in this life we are of all men most miserable. May God deliver us from such a fearful expectation as this! Correspondence of this kind could hardly fail to do good to a young man in John Wesley's frame of mind. It undoubtedly led him to a closer study of the Scriptures, deeper self-examination, and more fervent prayer. Whatever doubts he may have had were finally removed, and he was ordained a deacon on September 19, 1725, by Dr. Potter, then bishop of Oxford, and later became archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1726, John Wesley was elected Fellow of Lincoln College after a content of more then ordinary severity. His recently adopted serious manner and general religiousness were used against him by his adversaries, but his high character carried him triumphantly t
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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 11 }

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  ( CHAPTER  5 )  -  { PT.  9 } - Let us hear what John Wesley's mother say about Thomas a Kempis opinion that all mirth or pleasure is useless, if not sinful. She observes: I believe Kempis to have been an honest, weak man who had more zeal than knowledge by condemning all mirth or pleasure as sinful or useless, in opposition to so many direct and plain texts of Scripture. Would you judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, or of the innocence or enmity of actions? Here is a good rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away the desire for spiritual things--basically, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind--that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself. Let us hear what John Wesley himself says in a letter on the opinion of Jeremy Taylor: Whether God has forgiven us or not; therefore, let us be sorrowful for ever having sinned. Samuel Wesley res
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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 10 }

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( CHAPTER  5 )  -  { PT.  10 } - Reading these letters, one feels that this is just the spirit that God will bless. This is the single eye to which will be given more light. Let us hear what his father says about what is the best commentary on the Bible: I answer, the Bible: itself. For the several paraphrases and translations of it in the Polyglot, compared with the original and with one another, are in my opinion, to an honest, devout, industrious, and humble man, infinitely preferable to any commentary I ever saw. Let us hear what his mother says on the point of entering the ministry: The change in your state of mind has occasioned me much speculation. I, who am apt to be optimistic, hope it may proceed from the opperation of God's Holy Spirit, that by taking away your delight from earthly enjoyments He may prepare and dispose your mind for a more serious and close application of things for a more noble and spiritual nature. If you nourish those dispositions. And now in good sin
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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 9 }

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  { CHAPTER  5 }  -  ( PT.  9 ) - May God deliver us from such a fearful expectation at this! Correspondence of this kind could hardly fail to do good to a young man in John Wesley's frame of mind. It undoubtedly led him to a closer study of the Scriptures, deeper self-examination, and more fervent prayer. Whatever doubts he may have had were finally removed, and he was ordained a deacon on September 19, 1725, by Dr. Potter, then bishop of Oxford, and later became archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1726, John Wesley was elected Fellow of Lincoln College after a contest of more than ordinary severity. His recently adopted serious manner and general religiousness were used against him by his adversaries, but his high character carried him triumphantly through all opposition, to the great delight of his father. As tested as he apparently was at the time in his earthly circumstances, Samuel Wesley wrote, Whatever will be my own fate before the summer is over, God knows; but whatever
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CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY - ( CHAPTER 5 ) - { PT. 8 }

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  ( CHAPTER  5 )  -  { PT.  8 } - Let us hear what John Wesley's mother says about Thomas a Kempis opinion that all mirth or pleasure is useless, if not sinful. She observes: I believe Kempis to have been an honest, weak man who had more zeal than knowledge by condemning all mirth or pleasure as sinful or useless, in opposition to so many direct and plain texts of Scripture. Would you judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, or of the innocence or enmity of actions? Here is a good rule: what ever weakens your reason, impairs the  conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away the desire of spiritual things--basically, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind--that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself. Let us hear what John Wesley himself says in a letter on the opinion of Jeremy Taylor: Whether God has forgiven us or not, we know not; therefore, let us be sorrowful for ever having sinned. Samuel Wesley respond
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