Kenneth J. Collins - The Sermons of John Wesley

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THE SERMONS OF JOHN WESLEY

A COLLECTION FOR THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY

Copyright 2013 by Abingdon Press

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801 or permissions@umpublishing.org .

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The sermons of John Wesley : a collection for the Christian journey / edited by Kenneth J. Collins and Jason Vickers.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-4267-4231-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Wesley, John, 1703-1791Sermons. 2. Practical theologySermons. 3. Methodist ChurchDoctrinesSermons. 4. Wesleyan ChurchDoctrinesSermons. I. Collins, Kenneth J., editor of compilation.

BX8217.W54S47 2013

252.07dc23

2013012910

Scripture quotations are fr om the King J a m e s or Autho r i ze d V er sion of the B ibl e .

The Board of Directors of the Wesley Works Editorial Project has granted its approval for the editors of this collection to use the critically established texts of John Wesleys sermons as published in the Bicentennial Edition. The organization of the sermons and the introductions to them are the work of the editors of this collection; any views or interpretations expressed by the editors are their own.

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2210 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedication

To the memory of Albert C. Outler

C ontents

'

Abbreviations

B = Burwash, Nathanael. Wesleys Fifty Two Standard Sermons . Salem, Ohio: Schmul Publishing Co., 1967.

C = Cragg, Gerald R. The Works of John Wesley . Vol. 11, The Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion and Certain Related Open Letters . Bicentennial ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1975.

D = Davies, Rupert E. The Works of John Wesley . Vol. 9, The Methodist Societies, I : History, Nature, and Design . Bicentennial ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989.

FB = Baker, Frank. The Works of John Wesley . Vols. 2526, Letters I & II . Bicentennial ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 198082.

H = Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henrys Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2008.

HAR = Harrison, W. P., ed. The Wesleyan Standards: Sermons by the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Nashville: Publishing House of The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1921.

HTZ = Heitzenrater, Richard P. At Full Liberty: Doctrinal Standards in Early American Methodism. In Mirror and Memory: Reflections on Early Methodism , edited by Richard P. Heitzenrater, 189-204. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1989.

J = Jackson, Thomas, ed. The Works of Rev. John Wesley . 14 vols. London: Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, 182931.

JAB = Bengel, John Albert. New Testament Word Studies . 2 vols. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 1971.

NT = Wesley, John. Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament . London: William Bowyer, 1755.

O = Outler, Albert C. The Works of John Wesley . Vols. 14, Sermons . Bicentennial ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 198487.

OD = Oden, Thomas C. Doctrinal Standards in the Wesleyan Tradition . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Francis Asbury Press of Zondervan Publishing House, 1988.

ODNB = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

OH = Outler, Albert C., and Richard P. Heitzenrater. John Wesleys Sermons: An Anthology . Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991.

OT = Wesley, John. Notes Upon the Old Testament . 3 vols. Edited by William M. Arnett. Salem, Ohio: Schmul Publishing Co., 1975.

R = Rack, Henry. The Methodist Societies: The Minutes of Conference . Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011.

S = Sugden, Edward H., ed. Wesleys Standard Sermons . 2 vols. London: Epworth Press, 1921.

SOSO = Wesley, John. Sermons on Several Occasions, 174660, 1771, 178788.

SS = Wesley, John. John Wesleys Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America . Nashville: Quarterly Review, 1984.

T = Telford, John. The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley . 8 vols. London: Epworth Press, 1931.

WH = Ward, W. Reginald, and Richard P. Heitzenrater. The Works of John Wesley . Vols. 1824, Journals and Diaries IVII . Bicentennial ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 19882003.

WWS = Smith, Wanda Willard. Register of John Wesleys Preaching. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Divinity School, 2011. http://divinity.duke.edu/sites/default/files/documents/cswt/Register-04_Register_of_John_Wesleys_Preaching_Texts.pdf.

Note: If readers notice numerous uses of the O abbreviation in the introductions to the sermons, that is only because, in most instances, it represents the voice of Wesley himself.

General
Introduction

The provision of resources for the theological and spiritual formation of believers has been a matter of deep and abiding concern in the life of the church across space and time. In the Western church, for example, this concern is on display in resources such as Augustines Confessions and Ignatiuss Spiritual Exercises. In the ancient Eastern church, this concern is perhaps best reflected in Chrysostoms Baptismal Instructions .

Like their Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox forebears, Protestants have developed significant resources for the theological and spiritual formation of believers. For example, Luther published numerous postils or homilies, an instructive series of sermons whose form was taken up by subsequent Lutheran leaders (Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Chemnitz, Andreas Osiander, and Johann Arndt) to communicate the genius of the faith. This rich history of employing sermons or homilies for theological and spiritual formation, so evident in the Lutheran tradition and present among Puritans as well (Richard Baxter readily comes to mind), was continued in the Anglican communion. Indeed, from the beginning, Anglicans have privileged the so-called Edwardian homilies of Thomas Cranmer in faith formation. However, they have also made ample use of sermons from other divines, including John Jewel, Richard Hooker, and Edward Stillingfleet.

While John Wesley was familiar with many resources used for formation in the ancient, medieval, and magisterial Protestant churches, he was most familiar with the formational materials and practices of his native Church of England. Thus when Wesley grew increasingly concerned about the theological and spiritual formation of the people called Methodists, he began assembling a collection of sermons for their edification. In these sermons, Wesley addressed a wide range of perennial concerns related to Christian living. For example, he dealt at length with the image of God; the origins, nature, and scope of sin; the need for repentance; the nature of faith; justification, regeneration, and sanctification; the place of works; temptations; Christian perfection; and the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the midst of it all. In addressing these and many other concerns, Wesley provided Methodists with a ready resource for their theological and spiritual formation.

John Wesleys Sermon Collections

John Wesley drafted early sermons from the period 1725 to 1737, many of which he chose not to publish. In other words, these compositions (On Mourning for the Dead and On Guardian Angels, for example) remained manuscript sermons and were omitted from the first collection of sermons that he produced in 1746. In his preface to the Sermons on Several Occasions (SOSO) that year Wesley gives his readers a hint of some of the memorable changes that had taken place in his life during the years 173738 and that led to the creation of several vehicles for his practical theology: The following sermons contain the substance of what I have been preaching for between eight and nine years last past (O, 1:103). Not surprisingly, the pivotal sermon Salvation by Faith, which Albert Outler referred to as Wesleys evangelical manifesto (O, 1:110) and which was preached before Oxford University shortly after Wesleys Aldersgate experience, marks the head of this early published collection.