The Sermons of John Wesley (1872 Edition)

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the university, on July 25, 1741.

"Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Acts 26.28.

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the university, August 24, 1744.

[This Sermon was originally published in a separate pamphlet, accompanied by the following address "to the reader," to which was affixed the author's signature: "It was not my design, when I wrote, ever to print the latter part of the following Sermon: But the false and scurrilous accounts of it which have been published, almost in every corner of the nation, constrain me to publish the whole, just as it was preached; that men of reason may judge for themselves.--EDITOR]

"Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: That is, the word of faith, which we preach." Rom. 10:5-8.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. 8:16

"This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world." (2 Cor. 1:12.)

"Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15.

"Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them." Mal. 3:7.

"So is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8.

Preached at the Chapel in West-Street, Seven Dials, on Sunday, November 24, 1765

"This is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." Jer. 23:6.

"Blessed are the meek: For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: For they shall obtain mercy." Matt. 5:5-7

"Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. "Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light to all that are in the house. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matt. 5:13-16

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: And thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matt.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Matt. 7:15-20.

"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12

The Sermons of John Wesley 1872 Edition (Thomas Jackson, editor)

Do we then make void the law through faith God forbid! Yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31.

"And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name: and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not." Mark 9:38, 39.

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." Phil. 3:12.

"We are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Cor. 2:11
John Wesley Sermon 42

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5.

"Ye now have sorrow: But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:22.

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

"I say unto you, Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations." Luke 16:9.

Preached before the Society for Reformation of Manners on Sunday, January 30, 1763 at the Chapel in West-Street, Seven-Dials

"Who will rise up with me against the wicked" Ps. 94:16.

"From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." Psalm 90:2

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. 1:31.

"Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son: -- Whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Romans 8:29, 30.

"The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that subjected it: Yet in hope that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain together until now." Rom. 8:19-22.

"For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8.

Behold, I make all things new. Rev. 21:5.

"Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times" Matt. 16:3.

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Rom. 11:33.

"Brethren, be not children in understanding: Howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." 1 Cor. 14:20.

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in heavenly places." Eph. 6:12.

"I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Ephesians 4:1-6.

"Let us go on to perfection." Heb. 6:1.

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." 1 John 5:21.

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of this world is enmity with God Whosoever therefore desireth to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God." Jam. 4:4.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. 10:13.

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul" Matthew 16:26

"Will the Lord absent himself for ever And will he be no more entreated Is his mercy clean gone for ever And is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore" Ps. 77:7, 8.

"Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of -- wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." 1 Pet. 3:3, 4.

"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." John 1:47.

"It is good to be always zealously affected in a good thing." Gal. 4:18.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Josh. 24:15.

"Children, obey your parents in all things." Col. 3:20

"I was sick, and ye visited me." Matt. 25:36

"Let every man please his neighbour for his good to edification." Rom. 15:2.

"Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this." Eccles. 7:10.

"The sin of the young men was very great." 1 Sam. 2:17.

"Without faith it is impossible to please him." Heb. 11:6.

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24.

"Now faith is the evidence of things not seen." Heb. 11:1.

"If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Luke 16:31

"There is one God." Mark 12:32.

"Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered" Jer. 8:22.

"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matt. 6:22, 23.

"How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment Matt. 22:12.

"The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it" Jer. 17:9.

"Without God in the world." Eph. 2:12.

Preached at St. Mary's in Oxford, on Sunday, September 21, 1735. Published at the request of several of the hearers.

"There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest." Job 3:17.

"O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord; what destruction he hath brought upon the earth!" Ps. 46:8.

"The appearance was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel." Ezek. 1:16.

PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF THE REV. MR. JOHN FLETCHER VICAR OF MADELEY, SHROPSHIRE

PREACHED AT EPWORTH, JANUARY 11, 1726, AT THE FUNERAL OF JOHN GRIFFITH: A HOPEFUL YOUNG MAN.

"Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast Can I bring him back again I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." 2 Sam. 12:23.

BENJAMIN CALAMY ABRIDGED AND REVISED BY JOHN WESLEY
[This Sermon was originally written by Benjamin Calamy, D.D., Vicar of St. Lawrence, Jewry, London. It occurs, p. 275, in a volume of Sermons which bears his name, published in 1704; and is here abridged and revised by Mr. Wesley. -- EDIT.]

WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1732

"But some man will say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come" 1 Cor. 15:35.

PREACHED AT SAVANNAH, FEBRUARY 20, 1736

"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." 1 Cor. 13:3

PREACHED AT ST. MARY'S OXFORD, ON WHITSUNDAY, 1736

"Now the Lord is that Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:17