246
The Voice in Speech and Song
persecution, both in the university and as they were entering the min-
istry....
As members of the Church of England, they were strongly attached
to her forms of worship, but the Lord had presented before them in His
Word a higher standard. The Holy Spirit urged them to preach Christ
and Him crucified. The power of the Highest attended their labors.
Thousands were convicted and truly converted. It was necessary that
these sheep be protected from ravening wolves. Wesley had no thought
of forming a new denomination, but he organized them under what
was called the Methodist Connection.—
The Great Controversy, 256,
257
.
Gospel of the Grace of God—Thus while preaching the gospel of
the grace of God, [John] Wesley, like his Master, sought to “magnify
the law, and make it honorable.” Faithfully did he accomplish the
work given him of God, and glorious were the results which he was
permitted to behold. At the close of his long life of more than fourscore
years—above half a century spent in itinerant ministry— his avowed
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adherents numbered more than half a million souls. But the multitude
that through his labors had been lifted from the ruin and degradation
of sin to a higher and a purer life, and the number who by his teaching
had attained to a deeper and richer experience, will never be known till
the whole family of the redeemed shall be gathered into the kingdom
of God. His life presents a lesson of priceless worth to every Christian.
Would that the faith and humility, the untiring zeal, self-sacrifice, and
devotion of this servant of Christ, might be reflected in the churches
of today!—
The Great Controversy, 264
.
Humble Men of Reformation Times
Simple, Straightforward Reasoning—By argument, sophistry,
the traditions of the Fathers, and the authority of the church, many
endeavored to overthrow the truth. Its advocates were driven to their
Bibles to defend the validity of the fourth commandment. Humble
men, armed with the Word of truth alone, withstood the attacks of
men of learning, who, with surprise and anger, found their eloquent
sophistry powerless against the simple, straightforward reasoning of
men who were versed in the Scriptures rather than in the subtleties of
the schools.—
The Great Controversy, 455
.
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