Jack a minister.--A letter from father.--Jack's
first sermon.--"Mr. John."--Back at
college.--Temptations and persecutions.--"For
Jesus' sake."--Mr. John's long hair.--Clever, but
not proud.--Young soldiers for Christ.
WE all love to get letters, do we not? though some of us are not so fond
of writing them. It was in the year 1725, when Jack was twenty-two years
old, that he became a minister; and just about this time he had a
beautiful letter from his father. In it Mr. Wesley said:--
"God fit you for your great work. Watch and pray;
believe, love, endure, and be happy, towards which
you shall never want the most ardent prayers of
"Your affectionate father,
"SAMUEL WESLEY."
Jack's first sermon was preached at a small town near Oxford, and his
second at his dear home-village, Epworth. Mr. Wesley was getting old,
and as he had now two churches to look after, the one at Epworth and
another at a place called Wroote, where he and Mrs. Wesley had gone to
live, he was very glad when his son offered to go and help him. And now
that Jack has grown up and got to be a proper minister, I think we must
begin to call him Mr. John. Well, Mr. John stayed some time helping his
father at Wroote and Epworth, and then went back again to Oxford, to
study for a place in a college there--Lincoln College.
There were several others trying to get this same place, and they didn't
like Mr. John because he would not do the wicked things they did, so
they made great fun of him, and laughed at him for being good. Nobody
likes being laughed at; and Mr. John didn't, but he bore it bravely; and
his father comforted him when he wrote: "Never mind them, Jack; he is a
coward that cannot bear being laughed at. Jesus endured a great deal
more for us, before He entered glory; and unless we follow His steps we
can never hope to share that glory with Him. Bear it patiently, my boy,
and be sure you never return evil for evil." His mother, too, sent
loving letters to cheer and comfort him.
So Mr. John worked hard, and bore his persecutions patiently--_for
Jesus' sake_; and in spite of all his enemies he won the coveted place,
and became Fellow of Lincoln College. Oh, how glad and thankful he was!
And his father and mother were so proud and happy.
It was just about this time that Mr. Wesley was afraid he would have to
leave Wroote, and it was a great trouble to him. "But," he said,
proudly, "wherever I am, my Jacky is Fellow of Lincoln." As for Jack, he
felt it was worth everything to give his father and mother such
pleasure.
Though he was properly grown up, twenty-three years old, Mr. and Mrs.
Wesley always thought of him as their "boy." Fathers and mothers always
do this. It doesn't matter how old their children grow to be, they love
to think of them, and speak of them as their "boys" and "girls." Dear
readers, remember there is no one on earth that loves you, or ever will
love you with such a big love as father and mother. No matter how tall,
or how strong, or how clever you may grow, they will always love you
with the same big love they did when you were little boys and girls.
And, oh! whatever you do, never, never grieve these dearest of all dear
friends.
Mrs. Wesley had been longing to see her "boy" again, especially now that
he had become Fellow of Lincoln College. At last her wish was granted.
There were a great many things that puzzled Jack which he wanted to ask
his father and mother about. So he went and spent a long summer at home,
getting his hard questions answered, and helping his father with the
work that was now almost too much for him. He had such a happy time
that he was almost sorry when the autumn came and he had to return to
Oxford.
Being at school and college costs a great deal of money, and Jack knew
that his father was not a rich man, and that he had hard work often to
pay his college expenses. Jack had been very sorry to be such a burden
to his parents, and tried to be as careful as he could. Have you ever
seen a picture of Mr. John Wesley? If you have, you will have noticed
his long hair. Every one at Oxford wore their hair short; but having it
cut cost money, and John used to say: "I've no money to spend on
hair-dressers." So, though his fellow-students made great fun of him, he
saved his money and wore his hair long, and in time got so accustomed to
it, that he wore it long all his life. Now that he was Fellow of Lincoln
College he received enough money to pay his own expenses, and it made
him very happy to think he need no longer be an expense to his dear
father. But he resolved still to be as careful as he could, and never
again to go into debt.
When he went back to his new College, after spending the summer at home,
he said to himself: "I will give up all the old friends who have so
often tempted me to do things that a Christian ought not to do, and I
will make new friends of those who will help me on my way to heaven."
So, though he was always polite to the many worldly young men who
wanted to make his acquaintance, he would not have them for his friends.
This made some of them say very unkind things about him; but Mr. John
bore it all quietly, and never said unkind things back again. He felt he
was only treading the path Jesus had trod before him, the path which all
His disciples must follow.
Mr. John got to be so clever that soon he was made professor, or teacher
of Greek. Some boys and girls--yes, and grown-up people, too--become
proud when they get to be clever, but Mr. John did not. He determined,
more than ever, to be a faithful and humble follower of the Lord Jesus.
He was very patient with his scholars, and tried not only to make them
learned, but to make them Christians. "I want these young soldiers of
Christ to be burning and shining lights wherever they may go," he said.
"If they are not all intended to be clergymen, they are all intended to
be Christians."
In the beginning of the next year (1727), Mr. John went home again to
help his father, who was getting very old, and was often ill. He stayed
at Wroote about two years, and then went back again to Oxford.
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