The duty of a Methodist preacher was not simply to sow good seed
broadcast, but to gather those who received the word into Societies,
where they could be taught, trained, watched over. A large part of
John Wesley’s itinerations were for the purpose of confirming and
sifting the Societies. In many cases they might be described as
Charles Wesley, who had an eye for the humorous side of people and
things, describes the Newcastle converts, ‘a wild, loving, staring
Society.’ But the converts who remained steadfast were soon led to an
intelligent faith and a life of devotion such as is possible only to
those who are taught by educated men or their pupils. The debt
Methodism owes to Oxford culture is inestimable. The Wesleys were
never discouraged by the ignorance of their hearers, but they were
never content with it. They had profound faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ as a teacher, and prayed, like St. Paul for his simple-minded
converts at Philippi, that love might abound in good sense and good
taste.[145]
Him Prophet, and King, And Priest we proclaim,
We triumph and sing Of Jesus’s name;
Poor idiots[146] He teaches To show forth His praise,
And tell of the riches Of Jesus’s grace.
No matter how dull The scholar whom He
Takes into His school, And gives him to see;
A wonderful fashion Of teaching He hath,
And wise to salvation He makes us through faith.
To a generation brought up to regard Sankey’s _Songs and Solos_ as the
best possible hymns for mission-halls and open-air services, a study
of Wesley’s hymns is a liberal education. For the most ignorant of the
converts the hymns were the one and only means of culture. They could
not read, much of the preaching must have been beyond their
comprehension, but the hymns, read slowly, a line at a time, soon
became familiar, and the favourite hymns sung over and over again in
the house, the class-room, and the family circle, became a part of
their very life. Methodist biography shows how the life and death of
the saints has been cheered and sanctified by these spiritual songs.
The most important, and by far the largest, part of Wesley’s
_Collection_ was devoted to hymns of the Christian life.
It is divided into sections: For Believers Rejoicing, Fighting,
Praying, Watching, Working, Suffering, Seeking for Full Redemption,
Saved, Interceding for the World. It begins with his own translation
of Johann Andreas Rothe’s great hymn
Now I have found the ground wherein
Sure my soul’s anchor may remain,
The wounds of Jesus, for my sin,
Before the world’s foundation slain;
Whose mercy shall unshaken stay,
When heaven and earth are fled away