p. 4 | Wesley on the Revelation by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 11, 1908

Wesley on the Revelation

By W. A. S.

Over one hundred years ago, as the time of the end was drawing near, that man of God, John Wesley, realized that prophecy was about to be fulfilled in a special manner. In his “Notes on the New Testament” he makes the following comments on Rev. 1:3 (“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand”):—

Some have miserably handled this book. Hence others are afraid to touch it. . . . They inquire after anything rather than this; as if it were written, “Happy is he that doth not read this prophecy.” Nay, but happy is he that readeth, and they that hear, and keep the words thereof [italics his]—especially at this time, when so considerable a part of them is on the point of being fulfilled.

John Wesley warned against the no-law teaching, affirmed the office of the law of God in conversion to righteousness, and was watching for the fulfilment of prophecy with an open mind. Seventh-day Adventists are preaching just what John Wesley would be found preaching had he lived till our day, and followed on in the principles which he taught. Over a century has passed, the “time of the end” has come, and that considerable part of the prophecies of Revelation has been, or is being, fulfilled. Methodists to-day may hear Wesley’s voice summoning them to the study of the Revelation. Of the three messages of Revelation 14, Wesley wrote: “Happy are they who make the right use of these divine messages.”

W. A. S.