Charles Wesley is famous for his hymns. Less so for his preaching. But Charles Wesley didn’t live to write he hymns. He lived by the gospel. He was a key figure in The Great Awakening.
So, what did Charles Wesley have to say about the gospel? Here are twenty-one quotes from Charles Wesley about the gospel. They show the power, centrality, and effect of the gospel in Charles’s life and ministry. Charles didn’t just believe the gospel. He didn’t just preach it. He lived by the gospel.
I think you’ll enjoy these quotes as well as be challenged by them. My favorite it #5.
1. The Key of Knowledge
I marveled that we were so soon, and so entirely, removed from him that called us into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Who would believe our Church had been founded on this important article of justification by faith alone! I am astonished I should ever think this a new doctrine, especially while our Articles and Homilies stand unrepealed, and the key of knowledge is not yet taken away.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Wednesday, May 17, 1738, bold added.
This entry was recorded four days before his evangelical conversion. (You can read more about that process in this post.) Charles was marveling that he had missed the key of knowledge.
He was trusting in his own religious works and efforts. But this was not the gospel. The true and founding doctrine was not salvation by works. It was justification by faith alone.
This was the doctrine the Church of England had in their Articles and Homilies. It was the key. Charles had missed it.
But once he discovered it, he would preach it to everyone he could.
2. Preaching Faith
Before his conversion, Charles had built a reputation urging people to wake up and take their religious endeavors seriously. After his conversion, his emphasis changed. Now he preached faith.
I preached faith, as the only instrument of justification.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Monday, August 21, 1738.
Charles had been robbed of his confidence in his own works. He wanted to rob others of their confidence as well. To replace it with a confidence in Christ alone by faith.
This faith would surely manifest itself in the life of a believer. It would bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. But the fruit wasn’t what would justify them before a holy and righteous God.
It was faith in Christ and faith alone.
3. Unity In The Gospel
Charles was adamant about the gospel truth of justification by faith only. As long as the key of knowledge remained in the Articles and Homilies, Charles vowed to remain unified with the established Church.
We told him we expected persecution, would abide by the Church till her Articles and Homilies were repealed. He assured us he knew of no design in the governors of the Church to innovate, and neither should there be any innovation while he lived. Avowed justification by faith only, and his joy to see us often as we pleased.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Wednesday, February 21, 1739, bold added.
This is a record of Charles and John Wesley meeting with the Archbishop. Controversy was brewing over several of the Methodists and their bold preaching of the gospel.
The Archbishop wasn’t too pleased with George Whitefield. He seemed more pleasant toward the Wesley brothers.
He also promised that the Church of England had no plans to change their stance on the gospel. Charles responded by vowing to abide in the Church as long as the gospel abided.
4. Schemes of Satan
Satan by all this would frighten me from preaching the gospel to publicans and harlots, but I am not ignorant of his device.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Saturday, March 17, 1739.
Some people are dissuaded from preaching the gospel because of the effect on their own reputation. Not Charles.
He knew the enemy would attempt to discourage his gospel ministry. One of these schemes was to attack Charles’s own character because of the people he preached to.
The same accusations were made of Jesus by the Pharisees.
Charles saw through it. He continued to preach the gospel to those who needed to hear it.
5. Forsaking All For The Gospel
Retired, and prayed for particular direction, offering up my friends, my liberty, my life, for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s. Somewhat less burdened, yet could not be quite easy till I gave up all.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Saturday, June 23, 1739.
Charles was willing to give up everything for the sake of Christ. For the sake of the gospel.
He was willing to lose friends. Liberty. Even his life.
On the flipside of this, Charles saw great hinderance for anyone who was unwilling to give up everything for Christ’s sake and the gospel. It was a genuine stumbling block over which many fall.
6. Stumbling Over Sanctification
Charles Wesley emphasized holiness. But he also recognized the danger in putting sanctification before justification.
I told him he was my schoolmaster to bring me to Christ, but the reason why I did not come sooner to him was my seeking to be sanctified before I was justified.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Friday, August 10, 1739.
This was a record of a conversation Charles had with Mr William Law, the author of a book titled A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. This book was influential in Charles’s life. He had heartily encouraged it to others.
This book, by Charles’s own description, was his schoolmaster to bring him to Christ. But at the same time, it was a hindrance to his salvation by faith by its emphasis on sanctification.
Charles had attempted to sanctify himself in his own strength and be justified before God as a result. That was a path which leads to death.
Justification by faith must come first. Sanctification must follow. Getting the order correct is the difference between life and death.
7. Gladly Received
O how gladly do the poor receive the gospel!
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Tuesday, September 4, 1739.
As a minister of the gospel and preacher to multitudes, Charles knew that not everyone received the gospel in the same way.
Some were hard. Others were soft. Some stubbornly opposed. Others received it gladly.
8. Favorite Subject
Spake with boldness at night on my favourite subject, Justification by Faith only, and triumphed in the irresistible force of that everlasting truth.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Thursday, September 6, 1739.
Charles was prone to making superlative statements. He remarked later in life that his favorite subject was something else.
However, at this period his favorite subject was the essential doctrine of the gospel. He viewed this truth as a doctrine which contained irresistible force.
That’s why he spoke it boldly. He believed it was powerful enough to overcome any and all opposition.
9. Weeping Like Children
The wind and rain almost confounded us. We got to Bradford by noon. Many were gone away, despairing of my coming. However, I found upward of a thousand, whom I called upon to repent, and believe the gospel. I was much forced to exert my voice to the utmost. They appeared much affected, especially a young woman and a very old man, who wept all the time like children.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Tuesday, September 11, 1739.
Apathy is not what any gospel preacher wants to see. You want some affect. Some sign that the gospel is being heard. That it is doing its work in the hearts and minds of people.
Despite the difficult circumstances, Charles saw affect. The most affected were two individuals who wept the entire time he preached.
Charles was greatly encouraged by this.
10. All Other Doctrines Accursed
In the Bowling Green showed the nature and life of faith from Gal. 2:20; and then Justification by Faith alone, in the Hall. Two clergymen were present. I proved from Scripture and our own Church, that all were Papists, Pharisees, antichrists, and accursed, who brought any other doctrine. Some of my hearers were forced to turn their backs.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Sunday, September 23, 1739, bold added.
Justification by faith in Christ alone is the key doctrine of the gospel. Any other doctrine is false. Accursed. Damnable.
Preaching this doctrine from Scripture and from the Articles and Homilies was divisive. Many clergymen in the Church of England in Charles’s day were still walking in the dead, external religious formalism that Charles himself was converted from.
11. Foundation First
The chapter in course was Rom. 12, but I could not press particular duties till they had the foundation, and therefore exhorted them to get forgiveness before they could perform the best part of the law.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Tuesday, September 25, 1739, emphasis original.
First things first. Receive forgiveness for your sins by faith in Christ.
Only then can you walk with Him in the life of grace.
You don’t walk a path to God by religion. Christ did the work so we can be accepted by faith and then walk the path with Him.
12. Stripped and Sent
Charles was combating the religious, pharisaical spirit. It was a result of the prominent preaching of moralism.
I prayed by a dying woman, and cut off her confidence in the flesh. As sure as I ask the question, “Why do you hope to be saved?” I receive that woeful answer, “Because I have done no harm,” or “Because I have used my endeavours.” This comes of our telling the people, “God, upon your sincere endeavours, will accept you.” There were several present, whom I stripped of their filthy rags and sent naked to Christ.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Saturday, September 29, 1739, bold added.
Many were deceived in Charles’s day by the false moralistic preaching from pulpits across the land. The same is true in our day.
No one will be saved by their works.
Charles sought to strip people of their filthy rags of moral living and send them to Christ to be clothed in His perfect righteousness by faith.
13. Publicans or Pharisees
Charles lumped people into two categories: publicans or pharisees. Publicans are those who see their sins. Pharisees are deceived by their own self-righteousness.
I summed up all I had said, either to publicans or pharisees, to the comfort or discomfort of everyone present.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Monday, November 5, 1739.
Comfort or discomfort. No apathy.
14. Life From The Dead
I said it would rather restore him, for our gospel was life from the dead.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Sunday, March 16, 1740.
Life from the dead. That’s the power of the gospel Charles preached.
15. The Gospel Divides
Charles records a conversation where he was being accused of making a division in a particular family. The man making the claim was a fellow clergyman. Charles’s response was pointed:
I asked, “Are you a preacher of the gospel, and do not know the effect it has among men?”
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Sunday, March 16, 1740.
The gospel divides. Any preacher of the gospel should know this fact.
16. Peace In The Storm
In the midst [of] tumult, reproach, and blasphemy, I enjoyed a sweet calm within, even while I preached the gospel with most contention.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Monday, March 17, 1740.
The context of this quote paints the scene. An agitator has been seeking to stir up trouble for Charles. The result has been an increase in the size of the crowds.
As Charles was preaching, a group came from a nearby alehouse and had their own preacher stand up on a bench to attempt to drown out Charles’s preaching.
Charles’s voice prevailed.
17. Out of Reach
A poor harlot spoke out, after her manner, but the devil durst not let her stay. He soon hurried her out of the reach of the gospel, as he did two or three more who, as soon as they had spoken a word for him, made off.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Wednesday, March 26, 1740.
Charles understood the truth that he labored not against flesh and blood. His true struggle was against spiritual forces.
He also understood the power of the gospel.
If these hecklers remained and heard the gospel they may have been set free. Instead, they hurried to throw their insults then flee out of the reach of the gospel.
18. Two Great Truths
The power and seal of God is never wanting while I declare the two great truths of the everlasting gospel: universal redemption and Christian perfection.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Sunday, July 12, 1741, emphasis original.
Universal redemption is the language Charles used to describe the modern doctrine of Unlimited Atonement. He did not believed that all people are saved, or that all people will be saved. Charles was not a universalist.
But he did believe that all could be saved. This was in contrast to the Calvinist teaching that Christ died only for the elect and no one else. A doctrine called Limited Atonement. (For a more detailed look at Charles’s being neither Calvinist nor Arminian, check out the linked posts.)
The other great truth for Charles was Christian perfection. This doctrine has a lot of controversy. It’s defined differently by different people.
Charles defined what he meant in his own journal about a month before this entry. Bonus quote:
She replied, “All is alike to me, let Christ choose. I have no will of my own.”
This is that holiness, or absolute resignation, or Christian perfection!
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Wednesday, May 6, 1741.
Charles viewed Christian perfection as the absolute resignation of the individual to the will of God. No longer seeking their own, but following God wherever and however He leads.
The doctrine of Christian perfection may mean different things to other people. In the above quote about the two great truths of the everlasting gospel, Charles meant that all could believe and all believers could submit themselves fully to their God and Savior.
19. I Live By The Gospel
But I live by the gospel. [That] which would kill another, shall not hurt a minister.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Tuesday, September 8, 1741, emphasis original.
As Charles sought to remain in the will of God and follow His lead, he trusted in God’s sovereign protection and care.
Charles lived by the gospel. He knew he was safer in the will of God than he would be anywhere else.
20. Paid My Debt
But whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, I have spoken the truth. I have paid my debt, and delivered my own soul.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Monday, October 15, 1744.
Charles had an obligation to speak the truth. He didn’t have an obligation to force belief.
When he spoke the truth, he paid his debt. He couldn’t be silent. He must speak the gospel in obedience to his Master. On Judgment Day, he would be free from the blood of those who heard and refused to believe.
21. Owned and Assisted
Never since I preached the gospel have I been more owned and assisted of God than now. He is always with me in the work of the ministry. Therefore I live by the gospel.
-Charles Wesley, MS Journal entry Monday, May 1, 1749.
As Charles continued in the ministry, he was more and more sure of God’s faithfulness.
Through highs and lows. Good times and bad. Charles could say that God was always with him in the work of the ministry.
He belonged to God. He was empowered by God. He was accompanied by His Lord and Savior every step of the way.
Charles lived by the grace of God. He lived by the gospel.
Related Questions
Who were the key figures during The Great Awakening? Charles Wesley was a key participant in the historical movement known as “The Great Awakening.” However, he is not as well-known as other leaders. Some of the prominent figures in the Great Awakening include George Whitefield, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Davies, and Gilbert Tennent. You may be interested in my post about Charles Wesley’s examples of revival during the Great Awakening period.
What are the dates of The Great Awakening? The events and revival associated with The Great Awakening have different start and end dates, depending on the historian. However, it is generally accepted that the movement began in the 1730’s and ended in the 1740’s.
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