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The idea of people being suddenly changed
by God's power also seemed very disruptive. Consequently, Wesley
increasingly found himself turned away from the churches where he
came to preach.
But he also started getting greater crowds than churches could hold.
It was his fellow Methodist George Whitefield who first saw the
solution: preaching in the fields. Wesley was very reluctant to
follow his lead, as this was more disreputable than ever. But one
day in Bristol in 1739, taking his inspiration from Jesus' sermon
on the mount, he did.
"At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile, and
proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation."
He and fellow Methodists drew crowds of thousands, and preached
constantly. Wesley in particular gradually increased his preaching
circuit from the south of England throughout Wales, the midlands
and the north, and eventually into Ireland and Scotland.
Wesley was driven by an extremely urgent longing to save souls.
To deliver them from sin and hell, on the one hand, and to help
them experience the joy and fulfilment of being followers of Jesus
and children of God.
He faced constant violence. He was attacked by rioters, stoned,
beaten up or fire-bombed almost everywhere he went for years. Many
ordinary people found his attempts to change people's way of life
a serious threat, and mobs were often rounded up by clergy or local
officials. In Wesley's own eyes he was facing the same opposition
that Jesus and the apostles and prophets always did in the Bible,
so it only confirmed that he was doing God's work.
Next: Long-distance horse
riding
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