Special Pastor’s message for May 21
“A heart strangely warmed”
(Rom. 8: 15-17)
How do you know you are Saved?
On May 24, 1738, the Anglican Priest John Wesley attended a Moravian group meeting in Aldersgate, London. According to John Wesley, at that meeting, in the midst of prayer and worship, he experienced his heart to be “strangely warmed.” He recounted that it was at that time that he knew he was truly saved. This is not to state that this was his initial “salvation moment.” Rather, he writes, it was at this meeting that he came to understand and be assured of his salvation. According to him, before this moment, he was merely a slave to God, saved by Christ. But after this moment, he became a child of God, assured of his salvation. In other words, before this moment, he was a saved Christian merely serving God. But after this moment, he became a Christian who started to enjoy intimacy with God.
That one event changed the course of his life, as well as the course of the life of England. Over the course of many decades, John Wesley would be used by God to bring about redemption to England. He would preach and teach. He enacted and supported reforms that improved education, medical facilities, and mining conditions. He helped support and advocate for the abolition of slavery and promoted the temperance movement. He acted in kindness, love, and mercy. He gave to the poor. He also helped to create the Methodist movement. And it all started at Aldersgate, where his heart was strangely warmed. Where he was assured of his salvation.
This is an important message for us. At the heart of our Christian life is not our service to God. Rather, it is our intimacy and relationship with God. And it is out of that relationship, fellowship, and intimacy with God that our service to God flows. We sometimes forget that as Christians. We get so focused on doing things for God. We get focused on praying. We get focused on reading the Bible. We get focused on going to Church. We get focused on evangelizing. We get focused on giving to the poor. We get focused on so forth and forth. To be fair, all of these endeavors and practices are good things. But they are intended to enhance and spread the Love of God. They are intended to enhance our intimacy and relationship with God. They are intended to spread to others this intimacy and relationship, that they too can experience it! It is all about reconciliation and relationship with God. At its heart, this was the message of John Wesley. This is the message of Methodism. This is the message of the Bible. Therefore, whatever you do in your Christian life, let your heart be strangely warmed. Be a child of God, not a slave. Engage in intimacy and relationship with God.
Dear God, may my heart, like John Wesley, be strangely warmed. Assure me of my salvation and may I enjoy intimacy with You.
Amen.
