The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-25
WESLEY'S RELIGION
DISCUSSED IN TRINITY CHURCH By
REV. DIR. A. NJ. WILLIAMS.
SOUGHT ONLY HOLINESS.
CHURCH AND CREED. THOUGH NOT
PLANNED, GREW OUT OF THIS.

| While in Savannah Was still n High
Churchmnn and RituaIist - De-
cIared Later He Had Not Himself
at This Time Been Converted to
God-Was Brought to Change
Views Through Teachings of Mo-
ravians-This Was His CONVEX
siOn-Every Christian Whose Re-
IigiOn Has Told on the World Has
Experienced Such a Heart Change,
Says DIR. williams.
Wesley's religion was the subject of
an interesting sermon delivered in
Trinity Church by Rev. A. M. Will
liams last night. His text he took
from Romans, iv:16, Therefore it is
of faith, that it might be by grace"
THE celebration of the 200th birth
! day of John Wesley" said Mr.. Will
| liams, causes a full study of the man.
! What was the guiding principle of
this mans life? 1t was his religion.
! The revival he led, the great denomina
| ton he founded, the influence he ex-
tended on human society was the out
come of his personal religious expert
ence.
Granted his gifts as an organizer,
as an agitator and his learning, nothing
would be known of him to-day were it
not for his religion. He never desired
to found a church, though he did, one
of the largest in modern days. He
never undertook to form a creed,
though Wesleyan theology gives dis
tinct setting to certain Bible truths.
Both of these came out of his yearning
after holiness before God and his eff
! fort to spread it among men.
IAN account of Wesley's religion
| clusters around his conversion and can
be considered under three heads, first,
the struggle for inward holiness; sec
ond, the attainment of inward holi-
ness; third, the propagation of inward
holiness.
Religious as Child.
''Wesley's religious life began as
| child in the thorough training given
him by his mother. Through his school
days and early college education he
| lived the life of the average Christian,
formal, moral, respectable. The life
he lived those days would mark him
| in no respects as diverging from his
| fellows He seemed to enter the min
istry under the desire of his father
and as a matter of profession.
1T was while considering the ques-
ton of entering the ministry he read
the work of the great Catholic Thomas
a Kempis on The Imitation of Christ
| This work and others like it awakened
| his conscience, and he began to seek
inward holiness. He made the great
mistake of looking for 1t IN outward
processes and human efforts.
| He devoted himself to studies,
prayers, HASTINGS, penances, works of
piety and deeds of benevolence.
His High Churchism.
This was the period of his high
churchism and ritualistic devotion. 1t
included his stay in Savannah. The
harder he struggled the more dissatis-
fed he was. Returning from Savannah
ne writes of himself: I who went to
Savannah to convert others, was never
myself converted to God
at was during his voyage to Sa-
vannah and his stay there that he met
the Moravians who preached them
selves and taught conscious saliva
ton through simple faith in God. BY
them he was convinced that he must
| be saved as he says, First, by abso-
lutely renouncing all dependency in
whole or in part, upon my own works
or righteousness; on which l had
| really grounded my hope of salvation,
though 1 knew it not, from my youth
up; second, by adding to the constant
use of all the other means of grace,
| continual prayer for this very thing,
| justifying, saving faith, full reliance
on the blood of Christ shed for me; a
trust in Him, as my Christ, as my sole
justification, sanctification, and re-
| demption.
| of he oft
ed meeting where one was reading
Luther's preface to the epistle to the
| Romans, about a quarter before nine,
while he was describing the change
which God works in the heart through
| faith in Christ. l felt my heart
strongly warmed. l felt did trust in
Christ, Christ alone for salvation an
assurance was given me, that He had
taken away my sins, even mine, and
saved me from the law of sin and
DEATH This was Wesley's conversion
Conversion Needed.
Some people sheer at conversion.
! Every Christian whose religion has told
| on the world for good has experienced
this heart change in some way. The
Acts of the Apostles is full of cases.
| These modern days afford additional
evidence. Thomas Chalmers preached
a cold intellectualism to small audi
ministry. Horace BushnelPs gospel
took new power when he entered on the
higher. fuller life of faith. Charles
Surgeons wonderful work for God
came from the anointment of a grace
filled life Moody the wonderful Law
preacher, spoke with power of a con-
verified soul rather than a learned head.
Luther's struggle through works to the
rest OF faith is historic. Power from
God will only come to men trusting in
child-like faith the Christ
Freed from doubt fear, hesitancy.
ritualism by this simple experience of
faith, Wesleys ministry increased in
power and for over fifty years he
preached to tremendous crowds, saw
marvellous conversions, organized these
converts into bands, classes, societies.
and finally the Methodist Church. He
declared that God had raised the
Methodists up to spread scriptural holi-
ness throughout these lands
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