At the End of the Day. James W. Moore
about his visit to the place where John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, had his famous heart-warming experience at Aldersgate. Unfortunately, the little Aldersgate chapel does not exist anymore. It's long since been torn down. Now, there is just a plaque on the side of a building that marks the spot. But at the time of Leslie Weatherhead's visit, there was still a chapel.
Weatherhead described that experience like this. He said that on the side of one of the pews in the dimly lit chapel was a small plaque with a tiny light over it. The plaque read: "On this spot on May 24, 1738, John Wesley's heart was strangely warmed."
Being there in that special place was a moving moment for Weatherhead, and he wanted to bask in the glow of it for a while, so he sat down on the last pew to think and pray and reflect. Suddenly the door of the chapel opened, and in came an older man with a cane, wearing a heavy and tattered overcoat. The older man, not seeing Leslie Weatherhead in the darkness of the chapel, walked slowly down the center aisle. When he got alongside the John Wesley pew, he noticed the plaque. Curious, he walked over, bent down, and read the words out loud: "On this spot on May 24, 1738, John Wesley's heart was strangely warmed." Immediately, the older man dropped down on his knees, looked upward, and said, "Do it again, Lord! Do it again for me!"
Isn't that a wonderful story? And isn't that a great prayer? "Do it again, Lord. Do it again for me!" Warm my heart! We are not exactly sure what happened to John Wesley at Aldersgate some two hundred and sixty years ago. We certainly could not begin to put it into words. That kind of experience defies description. Words are not adequate to express or capture a spiritual moment like that. But we do know this: That heart-warming experience gave John Wesley a new start, a new life, a new warmth, a new energy, a new purpose, and a new power, and it produced a new church. Somehow, the fire of the Holy Spirit brushed across his heart and set John Wesley aflame!
Did you know that during his ministry, John Wesley rode over 250,000 miles on horseback to preach the Word? That's a quarter of a million miles—a distance roughly equal to ten complete trips around the globe! On a horse!
Did you know that John Wesley preached over forty thousand sermons, and that he and his brother, Charles, wrote close to seven thousand hymns?
Did you know that John Wesley invented many cures for diseases, wrote a book on medicine, and started clinics for the poor?
Did you know that at John Wesley's death in 1791, his followers numbered seventy-nine thousand in England and forty thousand in America, but by 1957 there were forty million Methodists worldwide?
Did you know that for all the power of his eyes, his voice, his witness for Christ, John Wesley was only fivefeet-three-inches tall and weighed only 128 pounds? This man, small of physical stature, became a spiritual giant. Why? Because his heart was strangely warmed, because he received the gift of the Holy Spirit! That is precisely what happened to the disciples of Jesus at Pentecost. Remember that they were powerless before the Holy Spirit came. But when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, it warmed their hearts, set them aflame, and they turned the world upside down! Justin Wroe Nixon put it like this: "The basic difference between physical [power] and spiritual power is that [we] use physical power but spiritual power uses [us]!" (Wilson Weldon, Mark the Road [Nashville: Upper Room, 1973], 85).
We see the Holy Spirit dramatically in the experience of Peter. Relying on his own strength, he failed miserably. Over and over, he said the wrong things at the wrong times. In a panic, he tried the way of the sword. And then in the crunch moment, he denied his Lord three times. But when the Holy Spirit exploded into his life, he got fired up, and he did the best he could and trusted God to bring it out right. And when he preached that day at Pentecost, three thousand souls were saved!
We also see the Holy Spirit graphically in John Wesley. Relying on his own strength, he went to Georgia as a missionary and failed miserably. But then at Aldersgate, his heart was strangely warmed. He realized that God was with him, trusted God, did the best he could, and incredible, miraculous things happened. The writer of Acts was on target when he referred to the Holy Spirit as a "gift" (Acts 2:38). It is indeed a gift from God, a gift that can turn our lives around, that can take our feeble efforts and use them in amazing ways, that can turn our weakness into strength and our defeats into victories. Let me show you what I mean.
First, the Holy Spirit Redeems Situations
The Holy Spirit can take a bad scene and convert it and use it for good. This truth is powerfully portrayed in the experience of Zan Holmes of Dallas. Dr. Holmes is one of the most distinguished preachers of America, and he tells of something that happened to him when he was a firstyear seminary student. His church was so proud of him and his call to the ministry. He had been asked by his pastor, Dr. I. B. Loud, to read the Scripture lesson one Sunday morning. Zan read the Scripture and then settled back to listen to the sermon.
But Dr. Loud did something most unusual that morning. He stepped into the pulpit and said how proud everybody was of Zan Holmes and his efforts to become a minister. And he announced that it would be a good idea if "Brother Zan came to the pulpit and delivered the sermon of the morning!" Young Zan Holmes said he nearly died right on the spot! He was terrified as he walked from his chair to the pulpit. He says there are still fingernail marks gouged into the wood of the pulpit where he clutched it for dear life, as he tried frantically to think of something— anything—to say.
Finally, he remembered a sermon that he had been working on for preaching class. His mind raced, and he began to preach that sermon. He says it was pretty good, all three-and-a-half minutes of it. But then he ran out of steam. He felt so alone, so empty, so vulnerable, so defeated as he stood before that anticipating congregation. It was an awful moment because he could not think of anything to say. And Zan Holmes began to cry.
Then he heard the voice of an older woman in the congregation, saying, "Help him, Lord Jesus." Then came the familiar voice of a man from the bass section of the choir. It boomed out, "Come, Holy Spirit." Zan Holmes said he then looked down on the front pew and saw two precious little girls who suddenly began to clap their hands in rhythm and sing the spiritual "Amen." Before long, the entire congregation was clapping and singing, and Zan Holmes said, "I just stood there and watched God work!" Zan learned a valuable lesson that morning: "It is the Holy Spirit who finishes the sermon!"
If we do the best we can, God will do the rest. That's what happened at Pentecost. Peter did his best and let God finish it. He did his best and then stood back and watched God work. God does not ask us to be successful; God only asks us to be faithful. If we give our all, if we do our best, if we genuinely try to do God's will, then God will bring it out right. The Spirit of God can take a weak voice and make it a trumpet. The Spirit can take a defeat and turn it into a victory.
The Holy Spirit can redeem situations! That's a very important thing to know. Now here is a second thought.
Second, the Holy Spirit Reminds Us of the Truth
That's what happened at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit blew on that place and brought God's truth. Throughout the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is the "Truth giver." The Holy Spirit comes to reveal God's truth.
Dr. Fred Craddock is one of the great teachers of preaching in our country. He tells a moving story about something that happened to him in the early days of his ministry. He was helping with vacation Bible school. He said, "It used to last for two weeks, but there were so many casualties among the teachers that we reduced it to one week!" Fred Craddock said that he had a group of juniors who were "driving him up the wall," especially after ten or eleven days with them, and especially one boy in the class. Dr. Craddock described that difficult boy like this:
There was this one boy in the class who . . . well, let me put it like this. . . . Have you ever had somebody in class that was so bad that you were glad when they were absent? . . . He was that type! . . . And quite honestly, I had written him off. He's not paying attention, I thought. He doesn't care. He doesn't want to be here. He is not interested in the lessons. He is only interested in seeing how crazy he can drive me and in disrupting the class. He is hopeless!
Dr.