The Messenger to the Philadelphia Church Age
A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 74
The messenger for each of the seven church ages in Revelation carried the message that was key for that particular age. For the Sardis age, the message focused upon the transformation of the spirit through salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. For the Philadelphia age, the message focused on the transformation of the soul through Bible-based discipleship.
John Wesley may have been the predominant leader of this discipleship movement, but, in more ways than one, there would have been no John Wesley without his mother, Susannah Wesley.
Susannah Wesley is one of the great heroes of the Christian faith, and yet, she never pastored a church. She never had a great public ministry, and yet what she did changed the world and the Church forever.
Susannah Wesley gave her life to the work of discipling her children in the Christian faith. Susannah bore nineteen children, but only ten survived to adulthood. Susannah raised her children in a “regular method of living.” She was very organized, disciplined, and methodical. This provided the foundation upon which John Wesley built much of his ministry years later.
Susannah home-schooled her children regularly for six days each week, from 9:00am to 5:00pm each day. Her only textbook was the Bible. As part of her education program, she had her children memorize large sections of Scripture, sometimes even whole chapters and books of the Bible.
In doing this, Susannah was leading her children in the process of sanctification—the transformation of their souls through “the washing of the water of the Word of God,” as we read in Ephesians 5:26. Through her method of discipleship, she was leading her children to fulfill Romans 12:2:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.” (ISV)
Martin Luther led the Sardis Church Age to experience the first stage of salvation: the salvation of their spirits through faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Susannah Wesley led her children to experience the second stage of salvation: the salvation of their souls (their minds, their wills, and their emotions), as James exhorts us:
“in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.”—James 1:21 (AMPC)
Without the consistent Christian discipleship he received from his mother as a child, John Wesley would not have become the man who changed the Church and the world forever.
At Oxford, John’s brother Charles gathered some like-minded students and started a discipleship group that included George Whitefield. This group of students met regularly to read and discuss the Bible, but it was not just talk. These students focused on really living the Christian life. They fasted and took communion regularly. They cared for the needs of the poor and visited the sick and the prisoners. They focused on living Holy lives, seeking to please God, rather than men. They were mockingly called “The Holy Club” by other students.
God used the life of John Wesley also to show us that things don’t always have to happen in a certain order, according to our Christian traditions.
Just as the family of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 was baptized in the Holy Spirit before they made any confessions of faith in Christ, John Wesley experienced the sanctification of his soul before he experienced the salvation of his spirit.
He finally had the experience of being saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ through the influence of Moravian Christians from Germany long after he had already left Oxford and entered into the ministry.
Later, when he tried to preach the Gospel message in churches in England, Christian leaders would not allow him in their pulpits. So, at the invitation of George Whitefield, Wesley broke with tradition again and took the Gospel message to the people in open air meetings outside the walls of the churches.
At first, Wesley was appalled at the thought of preaching outside the walls of the church. He was out of his comfort zone, but that is where the fruit was! John was astonished at the results! The message that got him kicked out of the established churches was the very message that the common people embraced! Many of them could not attend church services or felt ashamed to attend because they did not have suitable clothing to wear in such formal meetings. Through the ministry of George Whitefield and John Wesley, the Gospel message finally was taken to the forgotten people who were desperately hungry for it!
But Wesley realized that the salvation experience was not enough. People needed to grow and mature in their faith. They need to be discipled. This is where the emphasis shifted from justification to sanctification. He organized people into small groups for support, accountability and discipleship.
Wesley taught that you couldn’t really say that you believed in Jesus if your soul was not being transformed. This was the sanctification message.
John Wesley traveled throughout England, preaching, leading many to salvation in Christ, and then helping to place these new believers in small discipleship groups in order to bring them to maturity in the faith. These discipleship groups flourished and multiplied across England, transforming the nation.
Eventually, John Wesley determined to go wherever the people were. He became a servant to the poor and the downcast, and he discipled others to do the same, telling them, “The lowest and the worst have a claim to our courtesy.”
Inspired by Wesley’s example, many other preachers began to travel throughout England, sharing the Gospel message.
It was also during this age that the first Great Awakening changed America forever through the ministries of George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, and others.
In his later years, Wesley began to publish his sermons in order to reach more people. Over the course of his lifetime, he published 5,000 pamphlets that carried the Gospel message to people that might never hear him in person.
By the end of his life, Wesley had ridden on horseback over 250,000 miles, carrying the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the poor and forgotten people of England. That would be the equivalent of riding around earth 10 times at the equator! He preached over 40,000 sermons. His brother Charles wrote 6,500 hymns, many of which are still sung today.
Wesley believed that true holiness would transform our communities and our societies for good.
The Wesleys didn’t just minister to people’s spiritual needs. They served the whole person. They set up schools to educate people, orphanages, and hospitals. Some of these institutions are still operating and touching lives today.
John Wesley died a poor man because he gave away everything that was above and beyond his basic needs. Over the course of his lifetime, he gave away more than 30,000 pounds. That would be an astronomical amount in today’s money.
John Wesley’s last recorded words were, “Best of all, God is with us.”
“There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.”—Proverbs 13:7 (NKJV)
Read the rest of the series at SpiritOfWisdomMedia.com.
References:
Fernandez, R. (Director). (2014). John Wesley: The faith that sparked the Methodist movement [Film]. Vision Video.
The Incredible Journey. (2019). John Wesley: The man who saved England [Film]. Vision Video.
WhiteDove Ministries. (2017, October 11). Webinar #72 | Keys of Consequence [Video]. YouTube.
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