John and Charles Wesley, who had been working so hard at Oxford to gain eternal life, were now to work in a different way, and in a very different place, but yet with the same object in view, for God was willing that they should be left for a while to try their own plans and ways, till at last they should be brought to own that they could do nothing, and they should be led to come as lost and worthless sinners to the feet of Jesus.
It was during the summer of 1735 that an offer was made to the two brothers which they thought they ought to accept. The English, who had already so many colonies in North America, had been forming a fresh settlement in what is now the southern part of the United States. This new colony was called Georgia; the chief town was Savannah. The object of this new settlement was to provide a home for English people who could get no employment in their own country, and especially for those who had ruined themselves by getting into debt. The person who was chiefly interested in this plan was a gentleman called General Oglethorpe. He hoped that Georgia would not only become a place of refuge for the poor and destitute, but that also Christian people would settle there, who would employ themselves in the conversion of the Indians. He believed that by the cultivation of silk, large numbers of people might get their livelihood there. He now proposed to the two brothers that they should go and live at Savannah, and do what good they could amongst the English settlers and the Indians.
John and Charles thought it would be right to go, but they wished to consult some of their friends about it; and they feared that their mother would never consent to their going to a distant land, now that she was left a widow. Their mother, however, when they asked her, said, “Had I twenty sons, I should rejoice that they were all so employed, though I should never see them more.”
John then went to ask the advice of an old friend who lived near London, of the name of William Law. John had often, whilst at Oxford, walked all the way to the place where Mr. Law lived, because he thought he could learn so much that was good from him. We see how very ignorant John Wesley was at this time of the truth of God, from his thinking so highly of William Law’s teaching. In the first place, Law said that God never punished, and never will punish sin; and therefore he mocked at the thought that the death of the Lord Jesus was needed to put away sin. He thought that the history of Adam and Eve was a fable, and that Christ only came to teach men about God. When John asked his advice about going to Georgia, he recommended him to go, and this decided John to hesitate no longer. He thought it would be an easy and delightful task to convert the Indians. Besides John and Charles, one of their friends, belonging to the Holy Club, offered to go. This was Mr. Benjamin Ingham. Another young man, Mr. Charles Delamotte, also joined them. They sailed from Gravesend in October, 1735. General Oglethorpe went with them, taking out about three hundred persons in two ships. In the same ship as the Wesleys, were twenty-six Germans. These Germans struck John Wesley as being most extraordinary people. They seemed to be, as far as he could tell, without knowing their language, people who loved and feared God. They never quarreled, or even looked cross, they were always cheerful and happy. He found they were coming from Herrnhuth, in Saxony, and going out to America as missionaries. Perhaps you have never heard of Herrnhuth. There is a great deal to be said about it, and it would be a long and most interesting story to tell you, but now I will only say a few words, to explain to you who and what these Germans were. Some years before, a German nobleman, Count Zinzendorf, a man who loved God, had built a little village near his castle which was to be a place of refuge for Christian people, who, for Christ’s sake, had been persecuted and driven from their homes. Such people were often to be found. In Moravia, especially, those who left off being Papists because they had learned the gospel of Christ, had for many years been suffering for their faith. A number of Moravians came to live at Herrnhuth, as the Count’s village was called. Herrnhuth means “the protection of God.”
It seems to have been a most happy little village. To pray and to sing hymns were the chief employments of these poor people when they were not at work. They studied the Word of God and lived together in great love and peace. The Count often told them about things which were going on in other parts of the world, and encouraged any of them who felt a desire to do so, to go to heathen countries and preach the gospel. As the Count lived very simply, and denied himself in every way, he had money to spare for these purposes.
Three Moravians went to live in Greenland, where their preaching was used for the conversion of many souls. One of them, Christian David, went from Herrnhuth to the West Indies, where he sold himself as a slave, in order to have opportunities for making the gospel known to the slaves in the sugar plantations. Several had gone to North America, and the twenty-six who sailed with John Wesley were now on their way to join the former party, who had been at Savannah for some time. John Wesley was made rather uncomfortable by the sight of these Germans. He could not help feeling that they had a joy and peace he had never known, and he could not understand why. Perhaps it was for this reason that he began to deny himself more strictly than before. He would eat nothing but a small quantity of rice and biscuit. One night his bed was deluged by a wave which rolled in at the cabin window, and he had to sleep on the floor. Having once done this, he began to think it was a useless luxury to have a bed, and he resolved to sleep on the floor from that time forward. He and his friends divided their time by rule between reading, prayer, and teaching any on board who were willing to be taught. They worked hard, they allowed themselves no idle time, no unprofitable conversation. They were, as people so often say, “Doing their best.” But, alas! our best is of small use, if that is all we have to make us pleasing to God. Like Adam’s fig-leaves, we feel that in God’s presence they, our best deeds, are no covering. Adam went to hide himself when God came, just as if he had never taken any trouble about the fig-leaves at all.
So it happened on board the ship, when one day a storm suddenly rose; the great waves dashed over the decks; the sailors rushed to and fro in alarm. It was well known that the ship was in terrible danger. The English passengers, the four young missionaries amongst them, were very much frightened, and John and Charles could only feel terror at the thought of being perhaps in a few moments in the presence of God. But the Germans, who had been singing hymns when the storm began, merely went on singing as though nothing had happened; and the Wesleys, who watched them, thinking that now at last their peace and happiness would come to an end, were astonished to see that they looked just as bright and cheerful as ever. “Were you not frightened?” John said to them, when the danger was over. “Oh no,” they said, “why should we be? we should only have gone to the Lord.” “But the women and the children? They seemed not to mind the storm at all.” “No,” said the Germans, “why should they? Our women and children are not afraid to die.” John was more perplexed than ever about the Germans, and yet when they tried to explain to him the cause of their joy and peace, he did not like to hear it, and thought they talked foolishly.