(Excerpt from teaching and training classes, used also in pastoral counseling and prison ministry. I used this first at Windsor Village Methodist Campus, then at other places. It is adapted and expanded from Wesley’s Preface to Standard Sermons.)
Christ said: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)
John Wesley
Wesley (1703-1791) was an English pastor and evangelist who, with his brother Charles and pastor George Whitefield, founded the Methodist movement in England. They aimed to revitalize the Church with a Bible-based focus on personal holiness, heartfelt faith, and practical service, including social action. “Methodists” was a nickname critics gave them, but they were simply seeking to hallow Christ’s name, advance Christ’s kingdom, and obey Christ’s revealed will on Earth. Wesley and the others believed that with the Holy Spirit’s blessing, the Bible is a light to guide us, a counselor to advise us, a comforter to encourage us, a staff to support us, a sword to defend us, and a physician to cure us. They believed that the Bible is a goldmine to enrich us, a robe to clothe us, and a crown to us. The early Methodists treasured the Scriptures, and we should too.
John Wesley’s love for the Lord and the Spirit-breathed Scriptures is contagious. His zeal for evangelism and for vital Christianity continues to challenge us. Wesley was a thankful man, cheerful even when he was preparing to die. Much of his godliness and impact for Christ can be traced to his love for Christ’s Bible, which he learned from his godly mother, Susanna.
Give Me That Book
Wesley wrote: I am a short-lived creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through the air. I have come from God and am returning to God, hovering over the great gulf. Soon, I will be seen no more. I will go into an unchangeable eternity with Jesus!
I want to know one thing—the way to Heaven and how to land safely on that happy shore. And I want to live for Christ now until I reach my heavenly home. The Lord Jesus Himself came from Heaven to Earth to teach us the way. For this very purpose, Christ wrote down His gospel in a book. Oh, give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be a man of one book. I sit down alone, far from the busy ways of others. Only the Lord is here. In His presence, I read His book to find the way to Heaven and the way to live for Christ on Earth.
Holy Spirit Helps us Understand
Wesley continued: Is the meaning of what I read unclear? Does anything appear puzzling? I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights: Lord, You say–If I lack wisdom, I should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to me.1 Then I study parallel passages of Scripture, letting the Bible interpret itself. I meditate on God’s word with all the attention and earnestness my mind is capable of. If doubt remains, I consult faithful, trustworthy people who are experienced in following Jesus, not just talkers. And what I learn, I teach to others.
Holy Spirit directed the first patriarchs to record the history in Genesis. In Moses’ time, the first five books were committed to writing. To this were added, in later generations, the Spirit-breathed writings of the other prophets. Afterward, the Son of God preached and Holy Spirit spoke by the apostles and prophets who wrote it down. This is what we now call the Holy Scriptures (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments).
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever… Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter or the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Bible until everything is accomplished. (Isaiah 40:8; Matt 5:18)
True Truth from the Lord
Wesley continued: The Scriptures are a most solid and precious system of divine truth. Every part is from the Lord and all together it is one entire body, with no defect or excess. The Bible is the fountain of heavenly wisdom, which people who are able to taste prefer to all human writings, however wise, learned, or holy.
Thank God! The Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.2
The Bible is Christ-Centered
Jesus taught us that the whole Bible points to Him. In Luke 24, He said that He came to fulfill the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible. Christians now call this the Old Testament. Jesus gave them understanding and the disciples said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” That’s what I want for myself and you, dear reader: Passion for Jesus as the Holy Spirit helps us understand His Holy Bible.
Christ said: Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day. He saw it and was glad… If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for Moses wrote about Me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say… Isaiah saw my glory and spoke about Me.3
Alistair Begg rightly asserts: “We find Jesus Christ in all the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, He is predicted. In the Gospels, He is revealed. In Acts, He is preached. In the Epistles, He is explained. And in Revelation, He is expected.”
Feed on the Scriptures
Nancy Leigh DeMoss wrote: As you read the Bible, pause frequently to meditate on its meaning. Absorb God’s word into your system by dwelling on it, pondering it, going over it again and again in your mind, and considering it from many different angles until it becomes part of you.4
Go in peace, beloved. Walk with King Jesus today and be a blessing to others!
Notes (various Bible translations): 1 James 1:5. 2 2 Tim 3:15-17. 3 John 8:56; 5:46-47; 12:41. 4 A Place of Quiet Rest, Moody, 2000, p. 165. 5 See Matt 4:4.