WesleyGospel Ministries

¹ Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
–Matthew 7:1-6 (NIV)–

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
–Galatians 5:19-26 (NIV)–

THE SPIRIT ITSELF BEARETH WITNESS with our spirit,
that WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
–Romans 8:16–

Did not our HEART BURN WITHIN us while He talked with us on the road,
and while He opened THE SCRIPTURES to us?
–Luke 24:32 (NKJV)–

I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.
MY HEART WAS HOT WITHIN ME;
While I was musing, THE FIRE BURNED.
Then I spoke with my tongue.
–Psalm 39:2-3 (NKJV)–

I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
BUT HIS WORD WAS IN MY HEART LIKE A BURNING FIRE
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.
–Jeremiah 20:9 (NKJV)–

HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE.
–Matthew 3:11 (NKJV)–

There appeared to them divided tongues,
AS OF FIRE, and one sat upon each of them.
–Acts 2:3 (NKJV)–

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I COULD WISH YOU WERE cold or HOT. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor HOT, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
–Revelation 3:15-16 (NKJV)–

With the spirit of every true believer, by A TESTIMONY DISTINCT FROM that of his own spirit, or the testimony of a good conscience. Happy they who enjoy this CLEAR AND CONSTANT.
—Wesley’s Explanatory Notes, Romans 8:16–

That same Spirit, the Spirit of adoption; that is, the Spirit who witnesses this adoption; which can be no other than the Holy Ghost himself, and certainly cannot mean any disposition or affection of mind which the adopted person may feel; for such a disposition must arise from a knowledge of this adoption, and the knowledge of this adoption cannot be given by any human or earthly means; it must come from God himself: therefore the αυτοτοπνευμα must have reference to that Spirit, by whom alone the knowledge of the adoption is witnessed to the soul of the believer…In our understanding, the place or recipient of light and information; and the place or faculty to which such information can properly be brought. This is done that we may have the highest possible evidence of the work which God has wrought. As the window is the proper medium to let the light of the sun into our apartments, so the understanding is the proper medium of conveying the Spirit’s influence to the soul. We, therefore, have the utmost evidence of the fact of our adoption which we can possibly have; we have the Word and Spirit of God; and the Word sealed on our spirit by the Spirit of God. And this is not a momentary influx: if we take care to walk with God, and not grieve the Holy Spirit, we shall have an abiding testimony; and while we continue faithful to our adopting Father, the Spirit that witnesses that adoption will continue to witness it; and hereby we shall know that we are of God by the Spirit which he giveth us.
—The Adam Clarke Commentary, Romans 8:16–

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in 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.
–John Wesley–

The inward witness, son, the inward witness,
that is the proof, the strongest proof, of Christianity.
–Samuel Wesley–

—

1. The sum of all this is: The testimony of the Spirit is an inward impression on the souls of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to their spirit, that they are children of God. And it is not questioned, whether there is a testimony of the Spirit; but whether there is an direct testimony; whether there is any other than that which arises from a consciousness of the fruit of the Spirit. We believe there is; because this is the plain natural meaning of the text, illustrated both by the preceding words, and by the parallel passage in the Epistle to the Galatians; because, in the nature of the thing, the testimony must precede the fruit which springs from it and because this plain meaning of the word of God is confirmed by the experience of innumerable children of God; yea, and by the experience of all who are convinced of sin, who can never rest till they have a direct witness; and even of the children of the world, who, not having the witness in themselves, one and all declare, none can know his sins forgiven.

2. And whereas it is objected, that experience is not sufficient to prove a doctrine unsupported by Scripture; — that madmen and enthusiasts of every kind have imagined such a witness that the design of that witness is to prove our profession genuine, which design it does not answer; — that the Scripture says, “The tree is known by its fruit;” “examine yourselves; prove your ownselves;” and, meantime, the direct witness is never referred to in all the Book of God; — that it does not secure us from the greatest delusions; and, Lastly, that the change wrought in us is a sufficient testimony, unless in such trials as Christ alone suffered: — We answer, 1. Experience is sufficient to confirm a doctrine which is grounded on Scripture. 2. Though many fancy they experience what they do not, this is no prejudice to real experience. 3. The design of that witness is, to assure us we are children of God; and this design it does answer. 4. The true witness of the Spirit is known by its fruit, “love, peace, joy;” not indeed preceding, but following it. 5. It cannot be proved, that the direct as well as the indirect witness is not referred to in that very text, “Know ye not your ownselves, that Jesus Christ is in you.” 6. The Spirit of God, witnessing with our spirit, does secure us from all delusion: And, Lastly, we are all liable to trials, wherein the testimony of our own spirit is not sufficient; wherein nothing less than the direct testimony of God’s Spirit can assure us that we are his children.

3. Two inferences may be drawn from the whole: The First, let none ever presume to rest in any supposed testimony of the Spirit which is separate from the fruit of it. If the Spirit of God does really testify that we are the children of God, the immediate consequence will be the fruit of the Spirit, even “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, temperance.” And however this fruit may be clouded for a while, during the time of strong temptation, so that it does not appear to the tempted person, while Satan is sifting him as wheat; yet the substantial part of it remains, even under the thickest cloud. It is true, joy in the Holy Ghost may be withdrawn, during the hour of trial; yea, the soul may be “exceeding sorrowful,” while “the hour and power of darkness” continue; but even this is generally restored with increase, till we rejoice “with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

4. The Second inference, is, let none rest in any supposed fruit of the Spirit without the witness. There may be foretastes of the Spirit without the witness. There may be foretastes of joy, of peace, of love, and those not delusive, but really from God, long before we have the witness in ourselves; before the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirits that we have “redemption in the blood of Jesus, even the forgiveness of sins.” Yea, there may be a degree of long-suffering, of gentleness, of fidelity, meekness, temperance, (not a shadow thereof, but a real degree, by the preventing grace of God,) before we “are accepted in the Beloved,” and, consequently, before we have a testimony of our acceptance: But it is by no means advisable to rest here; it is at the peril of our souls if we do. If we are wise, we shall be continually crying to God, until his Spirit cry in our heart, “Abba, Father!” This is the privilege of all the children of God, and without this we can never be assured that we are his children. Without this we cannot retain a steady peace, nor avoid perplexing doubts and fears. But when we have once received this Spirit of adoption, this “peace which passeth all understanding,” and which expels all painful doubt and fear, will “keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” And when this has brought forth its genuine fruit, all inward and outward holiness, it is undoubtedly the will of Him that calleth us, to give us always what he has once given; so that there is no need that we should ever more be deprived of either the testimony of God’s Spirit, or the testimony of our own, the consciousness of our walking in all righteousness and true holiness.

—

John Wesley (1954 film), 38:11.

John Wesley, “The Witness of the Spirit,” Part II, 5.1-4.

—. The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley (Kershaw, 1827), vol. 1, pp. 97-98.

Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (HarperCollins, 1992), p. 133.

Jim Goll, Wasted on Jesus (Destiny Image, 2000), p. 164.

Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love (Penguin, 1995).

If you wanted to fill the seats with new church members,
you called Billy Graham.
If you wanted people to genuinely repent and develop prayer lives,
you called Leonard Ravenhill.
–J.B.–

Evangelists raise funds.
Revivalists raise Hell.
–Leonard Ravenhill, 51:00–

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter (Tyndale House, 2024).

—. The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict (Thomas Nelson, 1999).

Dr. Norman Geisler, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties (Baker Books, 1992)

—. When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook of Christian Evidences (Baker Books, 1990).

James Goll and Julia Loren, Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Experiences (Destiny Image, 2007).

Dr. Jack Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit.

—. Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God.

Dr. Kenneth Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2006). This is considered the top evangelical, Bible believing, “maximalist” book on defending the historical truthfulness, accuracy, and reliability of the Old Testament narratives.

Dr. Shelton Smith, Why I Still Believe the Bible (Sword of the Lord, 2000).

Dr. Raymond Barber, The Bible Is Right (Sword of the Lord, 2007).

Randall Price, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology (Zondervan, 2017). In the world of Bible scholars the “maximalists” are the people who generally take the Bible on faith value as a reliable source for the history of Israel–and assume that it’s telling the truth in good faith. This is generally the position taken by Bible scholars in the fundamentalist, Reformed, and conservative evangelical tradition. This archaeology handbook is by Zondervan and is probably evangelical and maximalist, like myself. Its the “minimalists” who are the agnostic Bible scholars: they generally doubt the historical truth of the Bible; and will only skeptically believe some aspect about it if they can find some archaeology evidence for it. This is to put more faith in archaeology than Scripture; and is essentially the position of liberal Christians on the subject of creation: they adopt theistic evolution because their priorities are flipped: they exalt the opinions of the scientific community, which is anti-Christian and atheistic in bias, above the authority of Scripture. This leads minimalists to entertain the most outrageous unbeliever speculations, such as saying none of the major figures of the Bible even existed, that every supernatural occurrence in the Bible is a myth or legend, that Christianity used to be a cult just like the Jim Jones cult, and that Christian theology is no different than a human philosophy, some man-made ideology, like Socrates would have made up.

John Blanchard, Does God Believe In Atheists? (Evangelical Press, 2011).

—. Evolution: Fact or Fiction? (Evangelical Press, 2016).

—. Dealing with Dawkins (Evangelical Press, 2015).

Ray Comfort, God Doesn’t Believe In Atheists (Bridge-Logos, 2004).

—. Nothing Created Everything (WND Books, 2009).

Such a life is that of the Atheist, the man “without God in the world.” What a thick veil is between him and the invisible world, which, with regard to him, is as though it had no being! He has not the least perception of it; not the most distant idea. He has not the least sight of God, the intellectual Sun; nor any the least attraction toward him, or desire to have any knowledge of his ways…He tastes nothing of the goodness of God or the powers of the world to come. He does not feel (as our Church speaks) the working of the Holy Spirit in his heart. –John Wesley, “On Living Without God,” 1.8

Wikipedia, “The Teleological Argument” (or the Argument from Intelligent Design).

—. “The Argument from Religious Experience.” From what I know, the Bible only advances two arguments for the existence of God: 1. The Teleological Argument (Romans 1:19-20). 2. The Religious Experience Argument (implied by every encounter with God, prophetic dream, or vision of God in Scripture, and also implied in 1 Corinthians 2:14, where it says that a “natural man,” or an atheist, is a person who knowingly and willingly “receiveth not” the gifts, and experiences, and feelings of the Spirit of God. Its not that all atheists are people who have never had any spiritual experiences, its more an issue of them resisting them (Acts 7:51), and explaining them away as hallucinations, that seems to be the problem in this case. And since this is often the case with cessationists, I have to think that such people are close to a kind of Christian atheism.)

Dr. John R. Rice, Evolution or the Bible–Which? (audio).

Kent Hovind, Lies in the Textbooks. (video presentation).

Jonathan Wells, Icons of Evolution. (video presentation).

Ron Rhodes, Answering the Objections of Atheists, Agnostics, and Skeptics (Harvest House, 2006). I like how Rhodes refers to atheistic views as “objections” to Christianity. Unlike McDowell and Geisler, Rhodes’ book title seems to imply that such perspectives are deliberate, on purpose suppressions of Biblical truth, motivated by unrighteousness and selfishness, as Paul says in Romans 1:18. Whereas the other titles seem to imply that atheists are just intellectually honest skeptics who have innocent questions about Christianity that have been left unanswered. And that if their questions would just simply be answered, then they would become Christians immediately. I think about atheism the same as the apostle Paul and John Wesley did: that atheism is primarily a motivational problem, and secondly an intellectual one. The so-called endless “questions” that atheists raise against Christianity and the Bible are not innocent; or based in some type of information gap. Their “questions” are more like an intellectual smokescreen for their personal rebellion against God. The atheist smokescreen gives off the appearance that they have plenty of legitimate reasons to question the truthfulness of Christianity. But because of the morals and self-denial required by the Christian life, the state of unbelief that atheists willingly put themselves into, is mainly created by an impenitent heart that wants to run its own life, and set its own standards. It has nothing to do with faith seeking understanding; or true spiritual curiosity seeking to know if there is such a thing as genuine Christian faith validated by the supernatural. Piles of apologetics books and videos by people like Rhodes, McDowell, and Geisler could be dropped on their desks, and most of the time the atheist will probably just throw it all away in the trashcan; and come up with some reason not to spend his time on any of it, preferring his old habits of watching porn, Fox News, ESPN, and Nat Geo. Most atheists are probably atheists by choice, because they are living in rebellion against God, and atheism has become their favorite idol to justify their rebellion: especially since they can appeal to “science” as support for their rebellion. 1 Timothy 6:20-21: “Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith.”

—. The 10 Things You Should Know About the Creation vs. Evolution Debate (Harvest House Publishers, 2004).

Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask (Living Books, 1986).

Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask (Baker Books, 1990).

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer (Kegan Paul, 1910).

Harold Horton, The Gifts of the Spirit (Gospel Publishing House, 1975).

Norman Geisler, The Big Book of Christian Apologetics.

Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God, chs. 17-18.

—. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit.

John Sherrill, They Speak With Other Tongues.

John R. Rice, Evolution or the Bible–Which?

Sweetened possessive farce
Our saints become sparse
And its an option to be transparent
So in your soul that it’s inherent
Now that you’ve found your wings (you want to fly)
Now that I’ve done those things (you’ve said goodbye)
It would be ample if only you’d trample
What you could not choke in life
Choke, choke, choke, choke
Now that you’ve sold your soul
What was the human toll
And oh your sacrifice (your sacrifice)
And oh what my vice (you were)
And it would be ample if you’d only trample
What you could not choke in life
Choke, choke, choke, choke
I could be anyone
I could be anything except for you
Except for you
Anything except for you
No, it had to be a lie it didn’t rain twice
The clouds over my head but I’m not dead yet
I could be anyone
I could be anything except for you
Except for except for except for
–Coal Chamber, “Anything But You”–

—

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
–Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)–

Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
–Mark 11:25 (ESV)–

If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
–Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV)–

Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
–Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV)–

Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
–Luke 6:37 (ESV)–

Do good to those who hate you.
–Luke 6:27 (ESV)–

The Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”…I once had a dream…
–Genesis 31:3, 10 (NIV)–

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
–Genesis 37:19-20 (NIV)–

—

June Hunt, How to Handle Your Emotions (Harvest House Publishers, 2008), ch. 5.

Beverly Flanigan, Forgiving the Unforgivable (Collier Books, 1992), ch. 3.

It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
–Acts 2:17 (KJV)–

—

It came to the place where I really wondered if I had just dreamed this.
–David Wilkerson, 1:01–