John Wesley

June 17, 1703 – March 2, 1791

Founder of Methodism. Rode 250,000 horseback miles. Preached an estimated 40,000 open-air sermons in fields, mines, and graveyards across Britain.

Biography

John Wesley was an Anglican priest, Oxford fellow, and missionary failure who in 1738 — at age thirty-five — felt his heart 'strangely warmed' at a Moravian meeting on Aldersgate Street, London. From that moment until his death fifty-three years later, Wesley rode an average of 4,500 miles a year on horseback, preaching wherever crowds would gather: hillsides, market squares, coal pit entrances, and ship docks. His brother Charles wrote the hymns; John organized the converts into 'classes' and 'societies' that became the Methodist movement. Wesley refused to leave the Church of England but his open-air ministry, lay preachers, and women preachers permanently changed Protestant Christianity. By his death in 1791 there were 72,000 Methodists in Britain and 60,000 in America. Wesley's 'Standard Sermons' — fifty-three (or 150 depending on the edition) systematic sermons — remain the doctrinal standard of every Methodist and Wesleyan denomination today.

Legacy

Wesley's sermons are the doctrinal foundation of Methodism, the United Methodist Church, the Free Methodist Church, the Wesleyan Church, the Nazarene Church, and the global Methodist Church. They are also the source documents for the modern small-group movement (his 'class meetings'), lay ministry, and the holiness tradition. Wesley's 'Free Grace' sermon launched the lifelong friendly-but-firm Arminian–Calvinist debate with George Whitefield.

Notable Sermons

Public Domain Note

All Wesley sermons are in the public domain. The General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church hosts the standard digital edition (Wesley's own 1872 Jackson edition), and Christian Classics Ethereal Library hosts a free downloadable archive.

Where to Read More

• UM Mission — John Wesley Sermons (Standard)
• Wesley Center Online

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