A Matter Of Heart

'I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but why have already passed from death into life.' John 5:24 (NLT)

Every year on 24 May, Methodist Churches all over the world commemorate Aldersgate Day. On that day in 1738, John Wesley had a sublime but life-changing spiritual experience in which he described his heart as 'strangely warmed.' At a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street and listening to a reading from Martin Luther about the new birth he described this experience as "I felt I did trust Christ, Christ alone, for salvation and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Many had tried to interpret what exactly happened to John Wesley that night. Some say that it was a true conversion experience. Others saw this as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Whatever it was, it was a watershed of his life and ministry.

I believe that Wesley had a deep assurance of his salvation, once and for all, never to look back, a 'Forever Christian' assurance. 

I had a similar experience, when about a year after I became a Christian and after listening to a Overseas Missions Fellowship missionary, Mr. Martin Goldsmith speak at a Youth for Christ camp. Martin Goldsmith was speaking on Christian Discipleship and he urged the campers to go back to our rooms, make a list of our then known sins, confess everyone of them then commit our lives to Jesus Christ. It was an emotional experience for me to confess my sins. However from that time on, I knew I will be a 'Forever Christian.'

Hal Knight (ref 1) concurred and wrote, 'What Wesley experienced there was a new capacity to trust in Christ, forgiveness of sins and assurance that he was a child of God, and a new birth in which he began to grow in the knowledge and love of God and in love of neighbour. This was not simply an external obedience but a matter of the heart.' 

The assurance of being forever a Christian is the anchor of the Methodist Church and by which it withstood the test of time since 1738. Methodist Churches all over the world have gone through periods of troughs and highs, backslidings and revivals. Nevertheless the Aldersgate experience lives and characterises the Methodist Churches today (Ref 2)

• The experience and assurance of Salvation. Methodists believe that everyone needs to be saved, that we have a Saviour in Jesus. From there we will 'grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.' 2 Peter 2:18   

• The rigorous preaching of the Gospel. John Wesley preached tirelessly. He broke out of the religious molds of his day and went straight to the people, not in the churches but at the street corners. He preached any day in the week, not just on a Sunday and often several times a day as opportunity presented. 

• A lifestyle of Witnessing. Communities were formed in which Christian love and sharing were witnessed. Methodists gathered in their homes for prayer and praise, witnessing to their neighbours and sharing of experience. These became the parish meetings of the early Methodist churches.

• The Love for neighbour. The Methodist Church ushered a social consciousness and action that saw many social reforms in post-industrial Britain including the abolition pf slavery. This social consciousness remained to this day where many Methodists became involved in many charitable and humanitarian missions. 

• A chorus of joyous Singing. Together with his brother Charles Wesley's prolific song writing, the Methodist revival was borne on a wave of songs. John and Charles gathered a congregation about them by singing and after prayer began to preach. Hymn singing brought the Methodists together into a powerful emotional unity.

'Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.' Proverbs 4:23

In 1961, the Methodist Message lamenting the state of the Methodist churches in Singapore wrote, "What is needed is a new experience, the transforming power of Christ in the heart of the believer." 

Having lived through the 1960s to the present day, we can testify that the Methodist Church in Singapore did revive from the 1970s by God's help. The Holy Spirit poured out into the hearts of Methodists in our churches, the transforming power of Christ in the heart of the believer.

The Aldersgate experience echoes in the words of this song, 'Amazing Love' (And Can It Be) which has become a beloved Methodist Anthem. Written by Charles Wesley, in 1738, when both brothers felt their heart strangely warmed, Charles gave this account of his experience, "At midnight I gave myself up to Christ: assured I was safe, sleeping or waking. I had continued experience of his power to overcome all temptation; and confessed, with joy and surprise, that he was able to do exceedingly abundantly for me, above what I can ask or think."  

And can it be that I should gain

1. An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
   Died He for me, who caused His pain—
   For me, who Him to death pursued?
   Amazing love! How can it be,
   That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
   • Refrain:
     Amazing love! How can it be,
     That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
2. ’Tis myst’ry all: th’ Immortal dies:
   Who can explore His strange design?
   In vain the firstborn seraph tries
   To sound the depths of love divine.
   ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
   Let angel minds inquire no more.
3. He left His Father’s throne above—
   So free, so infinite His grace—
   Emptied Himself of all but love,
   And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
   ’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
   For, O my God, it found out me!
4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
   Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
   Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray—
   I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
   My chains fell off, my heart was free,
   I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
5. No condemnation now I dread;
   Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
   Alive in Him, my living Head,
   And clothed in righteousness divine,
   Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
   And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
6. The Aldersgate accounts of both brothers, now written in the beloved hymn clearly testify to the assurances of their salvation. Forever Jesus!

Lionel

Ref 1: Hal Knight, 'The Meaning of the Aldersgate Experience' The Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church. 21 May 2015

Ref 2: Reclaiming Aldersgate. The Methodist Message, Singapore, May 1961.