The Reverend Romley opened the prayer service with the text, “Quench not the Spirit.” And then, looking straight at John, he launched into a scathing attack on ungodly people with “enthusiasms.” There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the speech was a warning against associating with the old rector’s radical son.
The congregation milled around the churchyard following the prayer service, unwilling to go home until they had heard from John Wesley. John Taylor seized the moment by announcing, “Mr. Wesley, not being permitted to preach in the church, will preach here in the churchyard at six o’clock.”
A ripple of excitement went through the crowd, and John knew that he would have a large audience at that hour. Sure enough, at six o’clock he stood on his father’s tombstone and began to preach to the large crowd that had gathered to hear him. “The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,” he began.
When John had finished preaching, many people lingered to hear from him about how to be saved and forgiven of their sins.
John was so pleased by the outcome of the meeting that he decided to stay on in Epworth for another week. The following Saturday he recorded in his journal the events of the day’s open-air meeting.
I preached on the righteousness of the Law and the righteousness of faith. While I was speaking, several dropped down as dead; and among the rest, such a cry was heard, of sinners groaning for the righteousness of faith, as almost drowned my voice. But many of these soon lifted up their heads with joy, and broke out into thanksgiving; being assured they now had the desire of their soul—the forgiveness of their sins.
I observed a gentleman there, who was remarkable for not pretending to be of any religion at all. I was informed that he had not been at pubic worship of any kind for upwards of thirty years. Seeing him stand as motionless as a statue, I asked him abruptly, “Sir, are you a sinner?” He replied, with a deep and broken voice, “Sinner enough,” and continued staring upwards till his wife and a servant or two, who were all in tears, put him into his chaise [a horse-drawn carriage] and carried him home.
On Sunday, June 13, 1742, John preached for the last time at the Epworth churchyard. He was deeply moved to see that so many people had accepted his message.
At six…I preached to a vast multitude gathered together from all parts, on the beginning of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. I continued among them for near three hours; and yet we scarce knew how to part. O let none think his labour of love is lost because the fruit does not immediately appear! Near forty years did my father labour here; but he saw little fruit for all his labour. I took some pains among this people too; and my strength also seemed spent in vain. But now the fruit appeared. There were scarce any in town on whom either my father or I had taken any pains formerly, but the seed, sown so long since, now sprung up, bringing forth repentance and remission of sins.
As John Wesley and John Taylor rode on to London via Bristol, they were in high spirits. Their itinerating trip had been more successful than they could have hoped. John was particularly excited about giving his mother an account of his time in Epworth. He knew she had given so much of her life to the work there, and he felt sure that she would be deeply moved to know that the Wesley family’s efforts had borne spiritual fruit.
What John did not know was that he would have to ride swiftly if he wanted to see his mother alive again.
Chapter 12
Refining the Rules
Friday, July 23, 1742, was a day John Wesley would never forget. He struggled with the words to describe it as he wrote in his journal:
About three in the afternoon I went to see my mother, and found her change was near. I sat down on the bedside. She was in her last conflict; unable to speak, but I believe quite conscious. Her look was calm and serene, and her eyes fixed upward, while we commended her soul to God. From three to four, the silver cord was loosing, and the wheel breaking at the cistern; and then, without any struggle, or sigh, or groan, the soul was set at liberty. We stood round the bed and fulfilled her last request, uttered a little before she lost her speech: “Children, as soon as I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God.”
Two days later, John led the funeral service for his mother, and then Susanna Wesley was buried beside her parents in the Dissenters’ cemetery at Bunhill Fields, adjacent to the foundry. In his journal John recorded the day as follows:
Sunday, August 1. Almost an innumerable company of people being gathered together, about five in the afternoon, I committed to the earth the body of my mother, to sleep with her fathers. The portion of Scripture from which I afterward spoke was, “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” It was one of the most solemn assemblies I ever saw, or expect to see on this side of eternity.
For his mother Charles Wesley composed the poem that was engraved on her tombstone:
Here lies the body
of
Mrs. Susanna Wesley,
The youngest and the last surviving
daughter ofDr. Samuel Annesley
In sure and steadfast hope to rise,
And claim her mansion in the skies,
A Christian here her flesh laid down,
The cross exchanging for a crown…
John mourned the death of his mother. Susanna had been his confidante and spiritual adviser his whole life, and he valued her opinions above all others. But now she was gone, and John had to go on alone. In his grief he threw himself into his work with even more vigor. Some days he would ride up to fifty miles on horseback and preach five sermons. His plan was to strengthen the Methodist societies within the triangular area marked by Newcastle in the north, Bristol in the southwest, and London in the southeast.
It was not an easy task. John faced opposition from many Church of England clergymen and the congregations they stirred up against him. Persecution became a way of life to John. He was stoned twice, pelted with manure, and hounded when he conducted outdoor meetings. Sometimes the church bells in a town or village were rung nonstop in an attempt to drown out John’s voice as he preached.
In January of 1743, as John was riding to Newcastle, he felt that God wanted him to purge out any Methodist society members who were not living out the truth of the gospel. When he arrived in Newcastle, he called together the Methodist leaders there and asked them to give an account of those under them. As a result, sixty-four members of the society were expelled, including seventeen for drunkenness, four for “evil speaking,” two for cursing and swearing, and one for violence.
When it was over, John decided that it was time to write a formal constitution for the Methodist societies so that the members of each society would have a clear idea of what was and was not acceptable behavior. The document he wrote was called The Nature, Design and General Rules of the United Societies. In the document he explained how men and women were to act if they wanted to continue to call themselves Methodists:
There are about twelve persons in every class; one of whom is styled the Leader. It is his business, (1) To see each person in his class once a week at least, in order to inquire how their souls prosper; to advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, as occasion may require; to receive what they are willing to give toward the relief of the poor. (2) To meet the Minister and the Stewards of the society once a week; in order to inform the Minister of any that are sick, or of any that walk disorderly, and will not be reproved; to pay to the Stewards what they have received of their several classes in the week preceding; and to show their account of what each person has contributed.…
It is therefore expected of all who continue therein, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation,
First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil in every kind; especially that which is most generally practiced: Such as, the taking the name of God in vain; the profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work thereon, or by buying or selling; drunkenness, buying or selling spirituous liquors, or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme necessity; fighting, quarreling, brawling; brother going to law with brother; returning evil for evil, or railing for railing; the using of many words in buying or selling; the buying or selling unaccustomed goods; the giving or taking things on usury, that is, unlawful interest; uncharitable or unprofitable conversation, particularly speaking evil of Magistrates or of Ministers; doing to others as we would not they should do unto us; doing what we know is not for the glory of God, as the “putting on of gold or costly apparel”; the taking such diversions as cannot be used in the name of the Lord Jesus; the singing those songs, or reading those books, which do not tend to the knowledge or love of God; softness, and needless self-indulgence; laying up treasures upon earth; borrowing without a probability of paying; or taking up goods without a probability of paying for them.
It is expected of all who continue in these societies, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation;
Secondly: By doing good, by being, in every kind, merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and as far as is possible, to all men;—to their bodies, of the ability which God giveth, by giving food to the hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting or helping them that are sick, or in prison…;
Thirdly: By attending upon all the ordinances of God. Such are, the public worship of God; the ministry of the word, either read or expounded; the supper of the Lord; family and private prayer; searching the Scriptures; and fasting, or abstinence.
JOHN WESLEY, CHARLES WESLEY.
May 1, 1743.
With the establishing of this constitution, the number of people wanting to belong to the Methodist societies continued to grow, as did the opposition to the societies. In the summer of 1743, the situation was particularly dangerous for the groups in central England. In Swindon the volunteer fire brigade turned their hoses on those attending an outdoor meeting, and in other places, Methodists meeting together were pelted with everything from hogwash to rotten vegetables and eggs. And by fall anti-Methodist riots were breaking out in Staffordshire.
John decided he needed to travel around and support the beleaguered societies. He arrived in the town of Wednesbury near Manchester on Thursday, October 20, 1743, to find that rioters had damaged more than eighty houses belonging to members of the local Methodist society. News that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was in the area spread like wildfire.
John preached to a group of Methodists in Wednesbury and then retired to the house of Francis Ward, one of the local Methodists. At about five in the afternoon a mob of three hundred people descended on the place and surrounded it, demanding that John come out of the house. When John did come out, he spoke to the mob for several minutes, and the mob’s anger seemed to subside. Finally John and the leaders of the mob agreed to go together to visit the local magistrate and talk the situation over with him.
The magistrate, Mr. Lane, lived at Bentley-Hall, two miles from Wednesbury. John led the way, with the mob falling in behind. When they arrived at Mr. Lane’s house, it was well after dark, and Mr. Lane had retired for the night. His refusal to be roused from his bed when the group arrived at his front door revived the mob’s anger, and the angry mob decided to march John on to the town of Walsal to see another judge. When they reached Walsal, a mob from that town joined those from Wednesbury, and an ugly situation quickly developed. A number of people began to call for John’s life, and as people became more and more physical, John began to fear that they would follow through on the call.
