John Wesley (d. 1791), founder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a circuit riding evangelist for most of his life. He was a Church of England man; and it was only because of the lukewarmness of the clergy that he felt compelled by the Holy Spirit, and the urging of his friend George Whitefield, to begin open air preaching. A brief look at his written sermons, most of which he memorized in substance, will show that this zealous Bible scholar was one of the most successful revivalist evangelists in church history. The Works of John Wesley laid the theological foundation for his evangelical Arminianism; and for the Methodist, Wesleyan-holiness, and Pentecostal churches. In 1840, a collection of his writings were gathered together into a systematic theology called Wesleyana. Modern scholars like Harald Lindstrom, Kenneth J. Collins, and Thomas C. Oden have contributed much to understanding his writings from an original, Bible believing, evangelical perspective. Click here for audio recordings of his sermons.
Charles Finney (d. 1875), the leader of the Second Great Awakening in the state of New York, and leader of the Wesleyan holiness movement. Although he rejected the existence of original sin at times: most of what he said agrees with Wesleyan theology. His sermons were usually around an hour long; and were thorough, logical, lawyerly, and always aimed at heart searching repentance from sin. They were collected into Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835), Sermons on Important Subjects (1836), Lectures to Professing Christians (1837), Skeletons of a Course of Theological Lectures (1840), Lectures on Systematic Theology (1846), Sermons on Gospel Themes (1876), and Sermons on the Way of Salvation (1891). After his death, most of his sermons were copyrighted by E. J. Goodrich and reprinted by Revell. He and his colleague Asa Mahan began to familiarize holiness people with The Baptism of the Holy Ghost and The Enduement of Power (1872) as a felt presence of God for entire sanctification. This teaching paved the way for the Azusa Street Revival. In a way, Finney was kind of like the second Wesley. Often you will see the names of Wesley and Finney cited together, because their theology was so similar, and their Arminian emphasis on personal obedience to the Bible, and practical godliness was at the center of their writing and preaching. Click here for audio recordings of his sermons.
Leonard Ravenhill (d. 1994), author of Why Revival Tarries, Revival Praying, Tried and Transfigured, Sodom Had No Bible, America is Too Young to Die, Revival God’s Way, A Treasury of Prayer, and Meat for Men. He was the last great Wesleyan-holiness evangelist in the 20th century. His legacy was to transmit the Puritan life of prayer to the evangelical community. He was also a big fan of Wesley, Finney, and the Puritan devotional books by the Banner of Truth Trust. But more than anything, he followed John Wesley’s example as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Easygoing in person but fierce in the pulpit, he was always pointing his audience to Hell and the Last Judgment. He deeply influenced many lordship preachers such as David Wilkerson, Steve Hill, and Paul Washer. Click here and here and here for audio recordings of his sermons.
David Wilkerson (d. 2011), the founder of Teen Challenge, World Challenge, and Times Square Church, was arguably the greatest Pentecostal evangelist, pastor, and prophetic voice in the past 50 years. He remained a licensed Assemblies of God preacher for most of his ministry, but functioned like an independent evangelist. In 1962, he published The Cross and the Switchblade, which told the story about his inner city ministry to gang members and drug addicts. Although he wrote books for most of his life, this one book was so influential that it opened up doors for ministry until almost the time of his death. Along with Ravenhill, he carried on the tradition of Wesleyan holiness preaching, and cried out against the sins of the world and the church. He also preached many Biblical messages on encouragement and prayer. In 1973, he published The Vision, which shared prophecies about very specific trials soon coming to the body of Christ in America, many of which have already been fulfilled. Click here and here and here for audio recordings of his sermons.
The founder of WesleyGospel has also done some amount of sermons on YouTube as well. Click the logo and it will take you to the YouTube channel. Most of the focus is on practical theology. The Rumble channel is really only for messages against the sin of homosexuality. YouTube has a great media reach, but unfortunately they’re always at the ready to pull down any channel that posts text or entitles videos against homosexuals, as “hate speech” to justify their pro-homosexual censorship policy.
WesleyGospel Ministries 