Frank Rowley discuses this statement and seeks to define John Wesley’s attitude to the Bible, and the influence it had on his Ministry.
Wesley was as evangelist who was sure of his message; he displayed no haziness or hesitation in the preaching of the gospel because the gospel had laid hold of him. No man could have been more certain what he had to say for it burned in his heart and mind in dramatic personal experience.
Wesley was a biblical preacher par excellence. What John Wesley had to say to the masses of people was not a human theory, but a divine revelation. His message was not from below but from above. It did not echo the latest theological innovation, but the everlasting and unalterable truth of God. Of course its language and application was suited to the age in which he lived, but central core and foundation was the timeless offer of redemption in Jesus Christ.
Wesley’s message was taken straight from the authoritative record of salvation –history to be found in the pages of Holy Scripture. He was not ashamed to be known as a Bible preacher, this, indeed, was the secret of his power and effectiveness.
Wesley went out of his way to make it clear that the basis of his ministry of preaching was the Word of God. It was by accepting this Scriptural standard that he himself had entered into the knowledge of Salvation and it was from this fountain that he derived all his refreshing, soul-converting, life giving messages. The sermons which changed the life of a nation came straight from the Book of Books.
Wesley rejoiced to present himself as “a man of one book”. He used the phrase everywhere, but its most significant occurrence was the Preface to his ‘Sermons’. Here he puts himself in the place of a seeker after truth. “I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God: Just hovering over the great gulf; till, a few moments hence, I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing-the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri.” – A man of one book.
He received the Bible as from God Himself. Beside it all other literature faded into insignificance. “In the language of the sacred writings we may observe the utmost depth, together with the utmost ease; all the elegancies of human composure sink into nothing before it; God speaks not as man, but as God. His thoughts are very deep, and thence His words are of inexhaustible virtue.”
The words of God must not be treated as if they are the words of man. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Consequently all Scripture is infallibly true, nothing which is written there can be censured or rejected for the Scriptures are the oracles of God.