Sermon Tone Analysis

The Methodist Movement

Hello everyone, and welcome to week four of the History of the Church!

This week is going to be a little bit different than most others, because while we normally have been going through in a chronological order, attempting not to lose the forest in the trees, this week we’re going to be focusing one particular corner of the story of the Church, and that is the Methodist Movement.

In doing so, I want to remind everyone of why we are here in the first place, and that reason is because we want to identify, throughout the history of the Church, a piece of who we are and what we believe based on those that go before us.

Therefore, I think that, as a Methodist Church, we ought to know out of what circumstances our movement was born in, and how that plays into what we do today.

The Remonstrance

Alright, so last week we talked about the various reformations that took place beginning in the fifteenth century.

Several weeks ago, we saw the first church split between the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox church, which happened in 1054.

But last week, we witnessed the birth of the Protestant Reformation, which began when Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses to the front door of the church he led in Wittenberg.

From his legacy we see the development of the Lutheran Church, and inspired by the movement led by Luther we see the birth of the Reformed or Presbyterian church by the work of Zwingli and Calvin.

We also talked about the Anabaptists, who sprung from the Reformed church in opposition to several of it’s teachings.

But we ended by talking about the Pietist movement, whose most notable members came from the Lutheran tradition, and the English Reformation which had protestant theology with Catholic practice and structure.

The Remonstrance

In 1610, a debate known as the Remonstrance shook Christianity to it’s core and made all parties begin to choose sides.

This debate came as the result of disagreements between John Calvin and Jacob Arminius , who disputed Calvin on several accounts.

In 1610, a group of Arminius’ followers penned what is now known as the Five Articles of the Remonstrants:

Conditional Election

Unlimited Atonement

Deprivation

Resistible Grace

Falling from Grace

In 1619, the Synod of Dort developed the Five Points of Calvinism:

Total Depravity

Unconditional Election

Limited Atonement

Irresistible Grace

Perseverance of the Saints

This is important when thinking about the Church of England, because while it remained Catholic in practice, early on it aligned theologically with the Reformed movement, or in other words, they had become Calvinistic in many ways.

As the debate was heating up, a new centrist postion arose in the Church of England known as The Caroline Divines .

Two Major Concerns

Christian Primitivism

In other words, they emphasized the study and practices of the fathers and mothers of the Early Church.

Calvinism

They addressed 2 major problems with Calvinism: Double Predestination and Antinomianism (Anti-Law).

The Wesley Family

The grandparents on both sides of John Wesley’s family tree were members of the Caroline Divines.

John Westley and Samuel Annesley were both clergy in the Church of England, and both members of this group known as the Caroline Divines.

Eventually, their children Samuel Wesley and Susanna Annesley marry each other, and Samuel becomes the parish priest at St. Andrews Church in Epworth, Lincolnshire.

John Benjamin Wesley was born on June 28, 1703, and his brother Charles Wesley was born on December 18, 1707.

In 1709, the childhood home of the Wesley brothers at Epworth was burned to the ground, and while Samuel, Susanna, and Charles made it out quickly and safely, John was nowhere to be found.

Samuel began praying fervently, and eventually Susanna sees John appear in the upstairs window.

All of a sudden, as the fire is roaring, it is said that little John Wesley, six years old at the time, jumps out of the second story window into the arms of a passerby seconds before the entire building collapses.

His parents claimed that from that day forward he had been “a brand plucked from the burning.”

In 1709, John becomes “a brand plucked from the burning .”

From that day forward, Susanna took to teaching her two sons fervently about the gospel, believing that God had big plans in store for them.

Both John and Charles went on to do great things, and . . .

In 1726, Charles begins study at Oxford, and John is elected as a fellow and lecturer of Lincoln College at Oxford.

John also became curate at St. Andrews Church at Epworth in 1726.

The First Rise of Methodism: Oxford (1729-1735)

The first rise of Methodism began at Oxford in 1729, when John, Charles, and their close friend William Morgan were all located there for a variety of reasons.

These three were very serious about their faith, and agreed to meet each other four nights throughout the week to study the Church Fathers.

In their spare time, they focused on ministering to prisoners, teaching orphans, providing food, clothes, and more to the poor, widows, and children.

Eventually, others began to notice what this group was doing.

Some mocked them, calling them a “Holy Club,” “Bible Moths,” and of course, “Methodists.”

Eventually, the group took the name of the “ Oxford Holy Club .”

While some mocked and teased them, others joined them, growing the group to over 20 students before John and Charles were eventually called to be missionaries to Georgia.

The Second Rise of Methodism: Georgia (1735-1737)

Both John Wesley and Charles Wesley, as well as their good friend, Benjamin Ingham, were sent as missionaries to the colony of Georgia.

On their way to Georgia, John Wesley had a crisis of faith.

Their ship was caught in a storm.

John feared for his life.

The Moravians , a pietist Lutheran group, were singing songs of joy.

Perplexed by their singing, John asked them why.

What they said in response was so significant to John that he wrote it down in his journal from that day:

“They claimed that they had no fear, for God was with them.”

In his continued journal entry, John Wesley began to wonder if he had truly had faith at all.

As a man who studied the Church Fathers who literally died for what they believed in, and who believed in the Holy Spirit’s ability to influence a holy life, he could not understand why he could not trust God in the same way that the Moravians did.

This crisis of faith continued as John made it to America, where . . .

John Wesley chose to be mentored by the leader of the Moravians, Peter Bohler .

Bohler was an evangelical .

Convinced Wesley that all believers must have an experience of saving faith.

Evidenced by:

1) Freedom from Sin

2)Absence of Doubts

3) Love, Peace, and Joy

John Wesley wrote in his journals that they hadn’t experienced a single one of those three pieces of evidence, and therefore wondered if he should stop preaching.

Bohler to Wesley: “Preach faith until you have it.”

And preach faith he did, but Wesley wasn’t very popular with the colonists.

Mostly because he tried to push the very methodical practices of the Oxford Holy Club upon them, and they weren’t having it.

The Wesley’s time in Georgia came to end with the Sophy Hopkey Controversy.

John fell in love with Sophy, but was too busy with his ministry and refused to engage her in marriage.

After waiting some time, she decided to become engaged to another man.

John refused her communion, and was run out of the country.

However, this did not end the Methodist Movement in America, not by a long shot.

Because . . .

Meanwhile in London, a young man named George Whitefield became the leader of the Holy Club at Oxford.

Whitefield was a very popular preacher, and he did what no others would be willing to do (preached outside), and thousands gathered to watch him preach.

Wesley said regarding him: “Light yourself on fire with passion, and people will come from all over the world to watch you burn.”

When Wesley returned, he discovered that Whitefield was on his way to Georgia.

Wesley sent him a letter to dissuade him, but Whitefield ignored it.

It turns out that Whitefield was just as popular in America as he was in London.

Ben Franklin, a noted agnostic, came to hear him preach regularly.

He even wrote telling people to empty their pockets before hearing him, because he could convince the greediest of men to give all that they had to the cause.

He was there for only a few months, and in that time he was able to start 3 schools, including a school for girls.

The Third Rise of Methodism: London (1738-1744)

Meanwhile, back in London, Wesley had his evangelical experience.

I should start by mentioning that Wesley is having a bad time at this point.

First, there is this charismatic new leader in the Methodist Movement who is several years younger than Wesley, and while he failed to bring Methodist thought and practice to Georgia, Whitefield was able to.

To rub it in a little further, John Wesley had been preaching faith in hopes of having his evangelical experience, but . . .

Charles Wesley has his evangelical experience first (May 21, 1738, Pentecost Sunday).