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John Wesley
John Wesley (1703 - 1791). English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and co-founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, to a rector’s family. Educated at Oxford, where he earned an M.A. in 1727, he was ordained in 1728 and led the Holy Club with brother Charles, emphasizing disciplined faith. After a failed mission to Georgia (1735-1737), he experienced a transformative conversion in 1738 at Aldersgate, London, feeling his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons, often outdoors, sparking the 18th-century Evangelical Revival, and traveled 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain and Ireland. He authored 400 works, including A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777), and edited The Christian’s Pattern. Founding Methodist societies, he trained 650 preachers and ordained ministers for America, influencing millions. Married to Mary Vazeille in 1751, their childless union strained, but his brother’s hymns enriched worship. A tireless advocate for the poor, he opened dispensaries and schools, and his 1787 sermon against slavery stirred abolitionism. Despite tensions with the Church of England, he never left it, shaping global Protestantism. His maxim, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” inspired generations to active faith. Wesley’s journals and letters, still widely read, reveal a legacy of practical holiness and social reform
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John Wesley emphasizes that true refuge and strength come from God, not from material possessions or security measures we put in place. He challenges the congregation to examine their trust and reliance on worldly things versus their faith in God, who is always present and provides peace. Wesley reminds us that God is our refuge in the present, not just a future promise, and encourages believers to recognize Him as their personal source of strength. He warns against the danger of allowing earthly securities to become idols that distract from the true source of peace. Ultimately, Wesley calls for a deep, personal trust in God as our unwavering protector and strength.
Is He?
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 We live in an age that encourages us not only to prepare for every eventuality, but to insure against every eventuality as well. We build a house and insure it against burning down. We invest in possessions and insure them against being stolen. We pursue a healthy lifestyle and insure ourselves for when we fall ill. We earn a living and invest in policies to insure an income for when we stop working. If we can, we surround ourselves with high walls, burglar bars, alarms and armed response personnel. None of these is necessarily bad and might even be good stewardship of our resources, except that……… ……..our trust can end up being primarily in these things and not in our God. Who or what do you trust in for your present and future protection? Where do you look for strength? Who or what determines whether you sleep peacefully? Many of us need to learn what the Psalmist discovered, but we can only accept the following truths from a place of spiritual poverty. Firstly, real peace giving refuge is not to be found in fortresses, but in God. The only safe place to be is in God. Secondly, notice the verb is….He is our refuge, not He will be or might be, but He is, here and now and always. He is never distant or withdrawn, He is with us. Thirdly, the God who is a refuge is our refuge. You and I can say: “God is my refuge.” “God is our refuge and strength.” Is He your refuge and strength? Beware of imitations, the things mentioned in the first paragraph, becoming idols that give you a misplaced sense of peace and strength. If you lose all those things tomorrow (and how does that possibility make you feel?), God will still be God and your refuge and strength would remain unchanged. Thou seest my feebleness; Jesu, be thou my power, My help, and refuge in distress, My fortress and my tower. Give me to trust in thee, Be thou my sure abode; My horn, and rock, and buckler be, My Saviour and my God. (296)
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John Wesley (1703 - 1791). English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and co-founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, to a rector’s family. Educated at Oxford, where he earned an M.A. in 1727, he was ordained in 1728 and led the Holy Club with brother Charles, emphasizing disciplined faith. After a failed mission to Georgia (1735-1737), he experienced a transformative conversion in 1738 at Aldersgate, London, feeling his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons, often outdoors, sparking the 18th-century Evangelical Revival, and traveled 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain and Ireland. He authored 400 works, including A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777), and edited The Christian’s Pattern. Founding Methodist societies, he trained 650 preachers and ordained ministers for America, influencing millions. Married to Mary Vazeille in 1751, their childless union strained, but his brother’s hymns enriched worship. A tireless advocate for the poor, he opened dispensaries and schools, and his 1787 sermon against slavery stirred abolitionism. Despite tensions with the Church of England, he never left it, shaping global Protestantism. His maxim, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” inspired generations to active faith. Wesley’s journals and letters, still widely read, reveal a legacy of practical holiness and social reform