O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

The great hymn writer Charles Wesley was born three hundred years ago in 1707. Wesley has sometimes been referred to as the forgotten Wesley, because of brother John Wesley’s profound organizational skills that launched the American Methodist movement.

Wesley is of course known for being a writer poser of some of the most beautiful hymns, O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing, And Can It Be That I Should Gain, Christ The Lord Is Risen Today and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, among others. In fact, Wesley penned thousands of hymns used by numerous Christian denominations today. The Wesley brothers in fact were dry and legalistic Anglican Ministers before their conversion to an Evangelical Christianity, which emphasized salvation by faith and a deep assurance of salvation. The Wesley’s were influenced heavily by the Moravians and following their influence Charles wrote in his journal upon his conversion,

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… I went to bed still sensible of my own weakness … yet confident of Christ’s protection.

Charles and his brother followed George Whitefield’s lead in preaching outdoors to reach the masses and shepherded England’s 18th century spiritual revival.

This September, Liverpool Hope University will hold a conference titled “An Eighteenth-century Evangelical for Today: A Tercentenary Celebration of the life and ministry of Charles Wesley.” There will be plenty of discussion concerning Wesley’s historical impact as well as his relevance to the Church today.

One of Wesley’s influences is the rich theological teaching in his timeless music. Wesley, like Martin Luther, believed hymns were a method for teaching theology. This aspect of his ministry is greatly contrasted with some of the contemporary praise music which lacks theological depth and truth. But the haunting beauty of his works is maybe his greatest contribution as a Christian leader who writes about an experiential faith. His well known hymn And Can It Be That I Should Gain followed shortly after his Evangelical conversion:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused the quickening ray –

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee