I will never forget the first time I sang Hark! the Herald Angels Sing as a genuine believer in Jesus Christ. It was Christmas 1984. I had been saved about seven months. Though I had sung the carol my whole life, for the first time I understood the words I was singing and could feel tears begin to well up. The message that had escaped me for nineteen years was now crystal clear as if a floodlight had been turned on.
This famous carol was written by Charles Wesley. Charles and his brother John were major instruments of the Lord’s work during the third great awakening in England. On Sunday, May 21, 1738, after reading Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians, Charles was converted. He testified, “I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ…I saw that by faith I stood; by the continual support of faith.” John was converted three days later.
After their conversion to Christ, the Wesley brothers were filled with an unquenchable zeal for preaching the Good News. However, the established Church of England considered their preaching “old-fashioned” and became closed to their ministry. As a result, they mounted horses and
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