“Preach faith till you have it and because you have it, you will preach it,” was the classic recommendation that Peter Bolher gave to John Wesley. Wesley was unsure that he should carry on preaching in his spiritual condition – that of lacking full assurance of personal faith in Jesus Christ alone for his Salvation. Even so the weight of advice in this matter was he should preach the full authoritative Word of God regarding Biblical faith, rather than his own spiritual attainment or condition.
The Bible must always carry more authority than the Bible preacher! So the direction was followed by John Wesley and the remarkable outcome was that Wesley in effect and reality preached to Wesley
Never before had Wesley preached salvation by faith alone, he called it ‘this new doctrine’ by which he meant that until this date it was new to him. He preached to a condemned prisoner under the sentence of death and for the very first time offered salvation through faith alone. He would never have done so beforehand for Wesley was sceptical about eleventh hour repentance. The prisoner responded to his Biblical preaching of salvation through faith alone. Wesley was startled and amazed; he had not thought it possible until that wonderful moment of salvation for the responsive condemned prisoner. John Wesley might now say truly, ‘The faith I want is – this.’ (Richard Green, John Wesley: Evangelist (1905), p182.)
Although Wesley was not a man who had sinned grossly as many others had, it was pointed out to him that not to believe in the Saviour was the greatest sin of all this he accepted and friends prayed for him in the blood covered name of the Saviour to have mercy on this sinner. What a moment in history! John Wesley having met and listened to others who possessed saving faith in Jesus then preached so effectively that many people were astonished and awakened to the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ alone.
John Wesley was able to verify for himself how reliable Christ’s promise is: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7. 7-8)
