Week 6 – A Story Worth Sharing…

From John Wesley’s Journal, March 1738:

“Saturday, March 4 – I found my brother at Oxford, recovering from his pleurisy; and with him Peter Bohler; by whom, in the hand of the great God, I was, on Sunday, the fifth, clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.

“Immediately it struck into my mind, ‘Leave off preaching.  How can you preach to others, who have not faith yourself?’  I asked Bohler whether he thought I should leave it off or not.  He answered, ‘By no means’.  I asked, ‘But what can I preach?’  He said, ‘Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith’.

“Accordingly, Monday, 6, I began preaching this new doctrine, though my soul started back from the work.  The first person to whom I offered salvation by faith alone was a prisoner under sentence of death.  His name was Clifford.  Peter Bohler had many times desired me to speak to him before.  But I could not prevail on myself so to do; being still, as I had been many years, a zealous asserter of the impossibility of a deathbed repentance”.

Why a story from John Wesley in the midst of these contemporary experiences?

It’s reassuring to know that John Wesley, whom many hold in high esteem in Methodism, had such times of self-doubt and uncertainty in his faith.  We are not all preachers, but we can all try to uphold the instruction to ‘Share faith until you have it, and then, because you have faith, you will share faith’.  No excuses then!

by John Wesley
Founder of the Methodist Church