Pastor Jim submitted the following thoughts about John Wesley and the persecutions Wesley endured in order to spread the Gospel.
PLEASE READ: Matthew 5:11-12
(Jesus said) “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
(see other cross references below which may have been an encouragement to Wesley and can be an encouragement to us)
John Wesley is the “founder” of Methodism. As he was preaching Scriptural holiness throughout the streets of England, he came under a great deal of opposition. Wesley received a great deal of verbal abuse but was also attacked physically on many occasions. Through it all, Wesley remained faithful to God and God was faithful to Wesley in return as he carried the Gospel throughout England.
Wesley kept a daily journey which I’m sure many of you have read or at least have heard that he kept. On January 12, 1748, it was a Friday. Wesley records for us in his journal one such violent attack of opposition to the Gospel. Below is what Wesley recorded about that day. Note Wesley’s perseverance, his commitment to his calling, his spiritual drive, and God’s faithfulness.
John Wesley’s Journal: writing about January 12, 1748:
“After preaching at Oakhill about noon, I rode on to Shepton, and found them all under a strange consternation. A mob, they said, was hired, prepared, and made sufficiently drunk, in order to do all manner of mischief…. After we were gone into the house, they began throwing great stones, in order to break the door; but perceiving this would require some time, they dropped that design for the present. They first broke all the tiles on the pent-house over the door, and then poured in a shower of stones at the windows. One of their Captains in his great zeal, had followed us into the house, and was now shut in with us. He did not like this, and would fain have got out; but it was not possible. So he kept as close to me as he could, thinking himself safe when he was near me. But staying a little behind, when I went up two pair of stairs, and stood close on one side, where we were a little sheltered, a large stone struck him on the forehead, and the blood spouted out like a stream. He cried out, ‘O Sir, are we to die to-night ? What must I do? What must I do?’ “I said, ‘Pray to God. He is able to deliver you from all danger.’
He took my advice, and began praying in such a manner, as he had scarce done ever since he was born. “Mr. Swindels and I then went to prayer: after which I told him, ‘We must not stay here; We must go down immediately.’ “He said, ‘Sir, we cannot stir, you see how the stones fly about.’ I walked straight through the room, and down the stairs; and not a stone came in, till we were at the bottom. The mob had just broke open the door, when we came into the lower room; and exactly while they burst in at one door, we walked out at the other. Nor did one man take any notice of us, though we were within five yards of each other.
“They filled the house at once, and proposed setting it on fire; but one of them happening to remember that his own house was next, with much ado persuaded them not to do it. Hearing one of them cry out, “They are gone over the grounds,” I thought the advice was good. So we went over the grounds to the farther end of the town, where Abraham Jenkins waited, and undertook to guide us to Oak-hill. “I was riding on in Shepton-lane, it being now quite dark, when he cried out, ‘Come down: come down from the bank.’ I did as I was bid; but the bank being high, and the side very near perpendicular, I came down all at once, my horse and I tumbling one over another. But we both rose unhurt. In less than an hour we came to Oak-hill, and the next morning to Bristol.”
John Wesley
Thanks be to God that many of us, at least here in US America, do not have to face that kind of challenge. Yet I am reminded that there are sisters and brothers in Christ around the world who face persecution for the faith. Following this account from John Wesley’s life, perhaps we can be motivated to give thanks to God for the blessings which are ours to share the Gospel and intercede in prayer for our sisters and brothers around the world persecuted for sharing the Gospel.
Shalom,
Pastor Jim
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2 Chronicles 36:16 –“But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.”
Romans 5:3 –
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;”
Philippians 1:29 –
“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,”
James 5:10 –
“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”
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