Biblioteca Digital Wesleyana - O mundo é a minha paróquia

Outpouring of love

^{An urgency for our days}

^{Volume 1}

Odilon Massolar Chaves

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Article 184 of the Penal Code and Law 96710 of February 19, 1998.

Books published in the Wesleyan Library: 174

Books published by the author: 334

Booklets: 3

Address: https://bibliotecawesleyana.blogspot.com

Translator: Google

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Odilon Massolar Chaves is a retired Methodist pastor, with a doctorate in Theology and History from the Methodist University of São Paulo.

His thesis dealt with the Methodist revival in England in the eighteenth century and its contribution as a paradigm for our days.

He was editor of the official Methodist newspaper and coordinator of the Theology Course.

He is a writer, poet and youtuber.

All glory be to the Lord

"O glorious hope of perfect love!
It elevates me to the above things;
It has eagle wings.
Give my enraptured soul a taste
And it makes me party for a few moments (...)".[1]

Charles Wesley
(1707-1788)

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

God's love in the hymns of Charles Wesley

The Outpouring of Love into Wesley's Heart

The Outpouring of Love According to Wesley

The key to understanding the outpouring of love

Luther's Emphasis on Agape Love

Love as charity according to Augustine

From feigned love to perfect love

God's Love in the Lives of Early Methodists

I followed love

The Purpose of the Outpouring of Love

Preface

Variations on the "Outpouring of Love, an urgency for our days", according to Rev. Odilon Massolar Chaves.

I feel privileged to have been invited by Rev. Odilon to preface his book on the "Outpouring of Love, an urgency for our days". First, because Rev. Odilon, more than a colleague in the ministry, has been a friend. We have walked together at various times in our ministry.

On the other hand, I am an admirer of the life and ministry of his father Rev. Adherico, of his mother Dona Roza, holy people and believers. People who inspired many.

This book continues Rev. Odilon's long vocation as a writer. With his heart turned to mission and shepherding, Odilon manages to capture in the Bible and in Church History elements that challenge the Church of our times. Inspiring, instructing and challenging is part of this long vocation as a writer.

This book, which begins with the Bible and goes through the most expressive figures in the history of the Church, such as Augustine, Luther, Wesley, brings a theme that, in addition to being current, is of decisive biblical relevance. For without love there would be no salvation: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

At the same time, the theme touches our moment, because it is visible in the face of the tragedies of violence and death that we contemplate, where it is evident that people are hating more than loving, and with sadness I see that even in a Christian environment the lack of acts of love grows.

When we talk about the consequence of the practice of love, which is the exercise of forgiveness, we perceive more fragility and neediness.

In such a picture we need an outpouring of God's love in hearts, and this is what this book is about. Starting with Paul and his reflections, we travel through history and learn that Luther dignified love gives, Charles Wesley was decisively inspired by a loving heart, Wesley in addition to poetry, taught and preached unconditional love.

The preachers of early Methodism were moved with love for the lost.

Immerse yourself also in this happy description of the feeling that comes from God that is LOVE, because: "GOD IS LOVE" (I Jn 4:8).

Bishop Paulo de Tardo de Oliveira Lockmann

Introduction

The book "Outpouring of Love, An Urgency for Our Day" has as its base text Romans 5:5 and Ephesians 3:16-19 where Paul speaks of the outpouring of God's love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and the strengthening of the inner man by the Holy Spirit. But, especially, we follow the teachings of John Wesley with his biblical commentaries.

The fact is, love is the beginning and ultimate purpose of the Christian life. You love because God loved you first, and the purpose of the Christian life is to attain perfect love. And it is only possible to attain perfect love with Christian perfection.

The outpouring of love, according to Romans 5:5, is fundamental to achieving perfect love.

For Wesley, the outpouring of love is the impulse, the necessary engine to achieve Christian perfection and perfect love.

Great leaders agree on one key point: the love poured out by the Spirit is essential to loving God and neighbor. It is the raison d'être and the starting and ending point of the Christian life.

Jesus and the apostles John and Paul stressed the importance of love. Love is the basis of holiness. The experience with the outpouring of love is fundamental for spiritual and emotional maturation, as well as for pastoral practice.

This book aims to rescue the emphasis on the practice of agape love, according to the Bible and Wesley's teachings.

Most members of the Church know the Way and the Truth, but not all have experienced the Life in abundance that Jesus promised to give. It is necessary to receive the outpouring of love that heals wounds, sanctifies and makes Jesus reign in hearts.

Wesley rescued the doctrine of holiness in his time and understood that this was the mission, the "great deposit", that God granted to the people called Methodist.

Today we also urgently need to restore the doctrine of holiness, the Christian perfection that generates perfect love in our lives. There is a great deficit of love in the Church, family, and world.

In addition to the "Outpouring of Love", Volume 1, two more books make up the series: "Outpouring of Love in the Teaching of Great Leaders", Volume 2, and "The Purpose of the Outpouring of Love", Volume 3.

Our thanks to Bishop Paulo Lockmann for his participation and his affectionate words in the preface to this book. We thank Eliede Castro Massolar and Pastor Dilcilene Couto for their corrections and suggestions.

May the Holy Spirit enlighten your mind in reading this book and fill your heart with love.

The Author

God's love in the hymns of

Carlos Wesley

"O Divine Love, rich,

Joy brings from heaven;
Make us simple dwellings,
With mercy that is faithful.
Christ, you are pure compassion;
Infinite, pure love"

(Carlos Wesley)

In the previous chapter, we saw about the essence of agape love. It is an undeserved and self-giving love. Agape love seeks the highest good of the other person, even if they are unworthy.

Agape love is a sacrificial love, which denies itself for the sake of one's neighbor. Agape is the term used to describe the God who is love.

Agape is also defined as goodwill toward all the people God has created. It is love as an action that promotes well-being. Agape love is "benevolence."

God is the source of love. He empowers us to love. And God's main attribute is love. God does not simply love. He is love in its essence. Everything God does flows from His love.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) in his hymns describes this love of God. Charles was the son of Susanna and Samuel Wesley. Brother of John Wesley. He created the Holy Club in 1729, and went as a missionary with Wesley to Georgia in 1735.

Charles experienced his own experience of a "strangely warmed heart" just a few days before Wesley, on May 21, 1738: "... in the midst of continual spiritual struggles while he was ill on Pentecost Sunday, he felt 'a strange throbbing of heart,' was able to say, 'I believe, I believe!' and found himself at peace with God."^{^[2]}

He came to recognize the love of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit who was dispelling the darkness of doubt from his heart.

"The hymns of Charles Wesley are full of references to love. At Easter, Christians around the world repeat the words of his most famous composition: "Christ the Lord is risen today" and declare: "The redemptive work of love is finished, Hallelujah!"^{^[3]}

In the titles and verses of Charles Wesley's hymns, we see the depth in which he understood God and His love. He wrote about the "Almighty God of love"; Come, sovereign love, Jesus"; "Almighty God of truth and love"; O glorious hope of perfect love!"; "Stupendous love of the Most High God! " etc.

At the beginning of this last hymn listed above, Charles Wesley wrote about the need to have this love:

"Stupendous love of the Most High God
He comes to meet us from heaven

In the greatest majesty;
Full of unspeakable grace."^{^[4]}

In Charles Wesley's view, God is "pure boundless love," as he wrote in one of his hymns.

Charles (Charles) emphasized the gradual process by which a Christian grows in a pilgrimage of faith to attain perfect love. "For Charles, the new birth began a journey. Charles Wesley sought the complete realization of perfect love at the end of a life lived from grace to grace through suffering."^{^[5]}

Charles Wesley has been called the most gifted hymn writer England has ever known." Frank Baker has calculated that Charles wrote, on average, ten verses a day for 50 years. He must have written about ten thousand hymns or religious poems.^{^[6]}

The first collection of the Wesley brothers was possibly also the first collection of English hymns: "Collection of Psalms and Hymns".

Another smaller collection of hymns was published in 1738 in London, and in 1739 the long series of original works in verse began. Of these, the most extensive were the "Hymns and Sacred Poems" in three volumes.^{^[7]} Also in 1740 and 1742 another volume of hymns was published.^{^[8]}

In 1762, Charles Wesley published a two-volume hymnal that was based on Bible verses.^{^[9]}

In many hymns, Charles Wesley describes love coming from God and being poured out:

O thou Lord, that from on high

you have brought fire to our land,

pour out your holy love on me,

call that the heart light me;

May it endure ardently,

with eternal, shimmering brilliance;

and in song and fervent prayer,

return to you to praise you forever.^{^[10]}

In the hymn "Great Love", in the first verse, Carlos describes about the love of God, which he calls "love without equal" and "blessed love", which is great:

O Lord, who excel all things,

Heavenly gift, Love without equal,

Come, crown your favors,

Come and dwell among us.

Great Love, Blessed Love" (...) .^{^[11]}

In the first two verses of the hymn "Thou hideth fountain of rest, divine...", Charles speaks of Jesus and describes the "divine love", which gives rest, helps, is refuge and eternal:

Thou hide fountain of rest,
Divine love, and sufficient
you are my help, you are my refuge;
I am safe, if You are mine,
and from sin and shame,
Jesus, in Your name I hide.

Thy great name is salvation
and lift up my happy soul,
give me comfort, strength and peace,
give me joy and everlasting love;
with Your name are given to me
Holiness, forgiveness and heaven.^{^[12]}

In the first two verses of "Divine Love", Carlos writes that he wants to worship the Lord for "his divine and holy love":

How to tell of God's love,
What did the beloved son give to the world?
Who can probe the pain
What did my Jesus, on the cross, suffer?

I want to worship my Lord
by his divine and holy love!
I want to worship my Lord
by his divine and holy love!^{^[13]}

Another hymn shows in the title the emphasis on love: "Come, sovereign love, Jesus".

In the first verse it says:

Come sovereign love, Jesus,
to win my heart!
So my feet of thy light
they will never depart.

In the last verse, Charles Wesley writes:

My soul comes to make you feel,
constant, your love,
that in everything I can see, enjoy,
Your divine favor.^{^[14]}

In the first verse of the hymn "O Divine Love, Rich," Charles Wesley speaks of the richness, purity, and infinity of God's love:

O Divine Love, rich,
Joy brings from heaven;
Make us simple dwellings,
With mercy that is faithful.
Christ, you are pure compassion;
Infinite, pure love;
Salvation you are, visit us,
In us it enters with brilliance.^{^[15]}

In the hymn "Jesus, Thy Victorious Love Filled My Heart," Charles Wesley speaks of a victorious love and states that "mine is thy love":

1 Jesus, Thy victorious love
Filled my heart,
Who, firm in You, will have no more
No hesitation,
No hesitation.

2 May the holy fire now in me
Start burning;
Passions, desires make you disappear,
Come heaps to remove,
Come heaps to remove.

3 Consummate my sins
The ember of the altar;
I cry out: O Spirit, come
My heart take,
My heart take.

4 Burning fire, burns in me
The old creation;
Expands life in my being,
It brings sanctification,
It brings sanctification.

5 Hold my heart here
Established in Thee, Lord;
For You are everything to me,
And Yours is my love,
And Yours is my love.^{^[16]}

This is certainly why theologian Mildred Olive Bangs Wynkoop^{^[17]} of the Church of the Nazarene stated that to be Wesleyan is to be committed to a theology of love.^{^[18]}

And in the hymn "O Come Walker", Carlos Wesley highlights the love of Jesus in one of the verses and calls it Love:

Love, is Love! It was for me that you died!

I listen, in a whisper in my heart.

The darkness is flooded with celestial radiance,

You are, of love, the infinite expression.

O come, from the bowels of grace and favor,

Divine essence, your name is Love!

Your name is Love!^{^[19]}

Only those who have had a great experience with the love of God can compose hymns so beautiful and profound. Charles Wesley witnessed and expressed through the verses this great, perfect, and pure love of the Lord for us, revealing also in the hymns the emphasis of the Methodist movement in the eighteenth century.

That is why Carlos Wesley can say that it was worth everything, in his hymn "Come all, come all!".

If the love of Jesus Christ moves and constrains us,

It was worth everything, even the death of those who gave their own blood![20]

The outpouring of love
in Wesley's heart

"The great question of all, then, still remains. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart?"

(John Wesley)

Some scholars interpret that Wesley did not consider himself a convert because of his statement in a moment of frustration before May 24, 1738: "I went to America to convert Indians; but, oh! who will convert me?"^{^[21]}

Because Wesley had set out to pursue holiness, he was very demanding of himself. Fifty years later, Wesley recognized the mistake of his claim.

Wesley understood that before May 24, 1738, he had the faith of a servant and not of a son. The servant sought faith, while the son had the assurance of faith.^{^[22]}

A person who leads the Holy Club, goes as a missionary to Georgia and preaches a sermon entitled "On Love" in 1736, based on 1 Corinthians 13, was, yes, converted. Wesley sought perfection and an inner security, an intimacy with God, that he did not yet have.

At this time, for Wesley, the hope of salvation was grounded in his sincerity of living a holy life. As early as 1725, he had begun the pursuit of perfection:

He said: "In 1725 I came across 'Rules of Holy Living and Dying' by Bishop Taylor. I was especially impressed with the Chapter on Intention; and I felt the fixed intention of giving myself to God. In this I was confirmed a few days later by the Christian Model, and desired to give myself to God with all my heart. This is exactly what I now mean by Perfection. I have sought it since that hour."^{^[23]}

Therefore, Wesley was converted in the sense that we now consider a conversion. He did have many doubts before 1738. Moreover, his disastrous pastoral work in America had increased this doubt, but he did not seek conversion, but sanctification.

Writing in 1733, Wesley said: "In the same year I published (the first time I attempted to publish anything), for the use of my students, a 'Collection of Forms of Prayer.' And in this work I spoke explicitly of giving 'my heart and life wholly to God.' This, then, as it is now, my idea of Perfection (...)."[24]

Faced with the failures he experienced in America, Wesley was very critical of himself and then noticed that his heart was corrupted. He needed a baptism or outpouring of love in his heart, according to Romans 5:5.

Faced with this picture, Wesley perceived more clearly the state of his heart. Therefore, he said that he learned in America that his heart was corrupted: "(...) that I have fallen short of the glory of God; that my heart is completely corrupted (...)."^{^[25]}

Wesley left Georgia, America, with bitterness and disappointment. As a positive, he became more cautious. He had learned to know from the Moravians the fatherly direction of God; he had overcome his fear of the sea. In addition, he had known many people who, like him, sought holiness and desired to serve God.^{^[26]}

Awareness of his situation led him to seek help and humble himself. He met a Moravian named Peter Bohler who taught him about the living faith. Wesley said:

"(...) surprised me more and more with the explanation he gave me of the fruits of living faith, the holiness and happiness which he claimed attended such faith^."^{^[27]}

The Moravians said that there are no degrees of faith ^{^[28]}. Either you have faith or you don't ^{^[29]}. Wesley didn't have the faith that the Moravians had, so he thought he was an unbeliever. Peter Bohler taught him about living faith.^{^[30]}

Wesley was sad that his friends had had experiences with God and he had not. George Whitefield ^{^[31]} had had a spiritual experience in 1735, and Benjamin Ingham^{^[32]} had also experienced a transformation. Charles Wesley ^{^[33]} had also felt a "throbbing of the heart" on May 21, 1738, ^{^[34]}but John Wesley had not yet had his experience^.

Wesley was aware of the state of his heart. He knew he needed an action from God in his life. He had learned that living faith could restore his life. Through the influence of the Moravians, Wesley thought he had no faith and was an unbeliever. He learned that he must have a living faith.

Faced with the crises, Wesley decided to seek out the Moravians, who had shown him a superior faith.

"A week after returning to England, Wesley met with Peter Bohler, a Lutheran minister (later ordained by Zinzendorf to the Moravian ministry) who had recently arrived from Germany and was on his way to America. Wesley's contact with Bohler during the next four months would provide models for both the spiritual renewal and organizational development of Methodism."^{^[35]}

Wesley, however, remained concerned about the lack of assurance of faith, which had become evident in his voyage during the two ocean crossings.^{^[36]} Wesley's life began to take a new turn when he unwillingly went to a society meeting on May 24, 1738. In the service, someone commented on the change that God works through faith in Jesus.^{^[37]}

Wesley described his experience this way, when he said he felt his heart warmed: "... I felt that I now trusted in Christ, in Christ alone, for salvation; and I was given the assurance that Christ had forgiven my sins, even mine, and that I was saved from the law of sin and death."^{^[38]}

Wesley commemorated the experience^{^[39]}with a testimony before those present. Later, he continued in Charles Wesley's room with a hymn. ^{^[40]}The teachings of his Moravian mentors became a public confession. ^{^[41]}

This experience changed John Wesley's spiritual life. He felt, especially, security: He felt that he now trusted in Christ. In Him alone for Salvation. He was given the assurance that Christ had forgiven his sins. He now had the assurance that he had been saved from the law of sin and death, etc.^{^[42]}

"This was the turning point. From then on, John Wesley was driven, not by orthodox faith and correct doctrine, but by love. And all his considerable powers—of learning, of preaching and teaching, and, above all, of organization—were guided and dominated by love; love of God and love of other human beings^."^{^[43]}

After his experience, Wesley went to Germany to get a closer look at the lifestyle of the Moravians. He met and interviewed several people. He understood the importance of the outpouring of love in our hearts in the process of sanctification:

"I found here what I sought, namely, living proofs of the power of faith: persons saved from inward sin as well as from outward sin, 'by the love of God shed abroad in their hearts'; and from all doubt and fear by the constant testimony 'of the Holy Ghost poured out upon them.' ^{^[44]}

Years later, however, Wesley would say that after May 24, 1738, he went from being a servant to being a son of God.^{^[45]}

"His experience of the warmed heart had occurred on a Wednesday. The following Sunday, Wesley preached twice on a theme new to him: 'This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith' (1 John 5:4) in the morning, and on the God 'who justifies the wicked' (Romans 4:5) in the evening."^{^[46]}

Wesley began to live his faith free from fear and doubt.

What Wesley experienced was a new ability to trust Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the assurance that he was a child of God, and a new birth in which he began to grow in the knowledge and love of God and love of neighbor. What changed for him was motivation. Before Aldersgate he had the "faith of a servant," seeking to obey God out of fear of judgment. After Aldersgate he had the "faith of a child of God," joyfully obeying God out of gratitude for God's love in Jesus Christ. He was now loving others not because he had to, but because he wanted to. The spiritual disciplines then allowed him to stay in relationship with God and grow in love.^{^[47]}

In his 1741 sermon, "The Almost Christian," Wesley reaffirms the importance of the outpouring of love for Christians:

"The great question of all, then, still remains. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart? Can you cry out, 'My God and my all'? Do you desire nothing but Him? Are you happy in God? Is He your glory, your delight, your crown of joy? And is this commandment written in your heart: 'He who loves God also loves his brother'? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Do you love every person, even your enemies, even the enemies of God, as your own soul? How did Christ love you? Yes, do you believe that Christ loved you and gave Himself for you? … And does the Spirit of Christ testify with your spirit that you are a child of God?"^{^[48]}

Wesley's great question still remains for the Church today and for all Christians: "Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart?"

It is the key to having a healthy and fruitful Christian life.

The Outpouring of Love According to Wesley

"Oh! Lets swim in my soul

Dwell if not your pure love.

Oh! May thy love possess me all"

(John Wesley)

The Bible states that God's love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Paul says in Romans 5:5, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."[49]

The Greek word for "poured out" in Romans 5:5 is EKCHO which means: to pour out or distribute in abundance.^{^[50]}

Everyone who believes in Jesus comes to have the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 4:6; John 7:38; Acts 2:38), who gives us love.

"It is clear from the Bible that every true believer has received the Holy Spirit (John 7:38; Titus 3:5-6). Here we see that with the outpouring of the Spirit it is also the outpouring of God's love into our hearts (v.5). This is the perfect passive indicative of ekcheō in the Greek. Thus, it is not something we are still waiting for, but something we can begin to enjoy in the present. We can claim it now! Denny translates that God's love "has been poured out and still floods our hearts." ^{^[51]}

John Wesley says, "As soon as we believe, we love God... "we love Him because He first loved us."[52]

This love is only the beginning, for there is a greater measure of God's love for us to receive.

In contact with the Moravians, John Wesley became acquainted with some songs of the German-born pastor Gerhardt. In this song, included by Wesley in "Hymns and Sacred Poems" (1739), there is the idea of unlimited love.[53]

"This hymn is a valuable addition to any hymnbook, as it speaks of living faith in Christ. It also has a rich history, beautiful imagery, and theology of sound. Gerhardt and Wesley encourage us to show Christ's love to our neighbors, knowing that Christ's love will fill our souls. May Christ's 'boundless love' transform and unite every believer, and may Christ's love expand from the church body to change and remake all creation. Cindo to stanza two, he says, "every act, word, thought, be love."[54]

Part of the hymn translated by Wesley reads:

"Jesus, your boundless love for me

No thought can reach."[55]

The love of God poured into our hearts, according to Romans 5:5, "is a transforming gift - it produces love for God and for others."[56]

On April 28, 1762, at a meeting of the Methodist people, the Holy Spirit poured out His love on those present: "God poured out His Spirit abundantly upon us. Many were filled with consolation ... God restored man to the light of His face, and gave the young girl a clear conviction of His love."[57]

At another meeting on October 13, 1747, the flame of love marked the lives of those present: "(...) a flame of love manifested itself in such a way as had never been seen before."^{^[58]}

This is Wesley's experience and theological vision. He is called the "Theologian of Love."

For him, love is the most sublime gift of God. He says that we must not forget "that all the gifts mentioned are equal to or infinitely inferior to this gift of love."[59]

For him, the "biblical mark of those who are born of God, and the greatest of all, is love."[60]

A hymn by Wesley speaks of this love:

"Oh! Lets swim in my soul

Dwell if not your pure love.

Oh! May thy love possess me all,

My joy, my treasure, my crown.

Strange passions from my heart remove.

May my acts, words and thoughts be of love. "[61]

"Wesley wrote to his friend Dr. Middleton, of Bristol: "A Christian is full of love for his neighbor, of universal love, not confined to a sectarian party, not restricted to those who agree with him in opinions, in outward forms of worship, or to those who are connected with him by blood or recommended by proximity of place. Nor does he love only those who love him or who are dear to him for intimate friendship. But his love resembles that of Jesus, whose mercy is above his works. He rises over narrow limits, reaching neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies."^{^[62]}

According to Henry H. Knight III:[63] "On his deathbed, John Wesley is said to have said, 'Where is my sermon on the love of God? Take it and spread it abroad, give it to all.' Ten thousand copies of "God's Love to Fallen Man" were printed and distributed."[64]

In his book "A Clear Account of Christian Perfection", Wesley states that perfection implies "loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and that nothing of bad temper, nothing contrary to love, remains in the soul; that all thoughts, words and actions, are governed by pure love".[65]

The outpouring of love does not necessarily mean achieving Christian perfection. Perfect love, on the other hand, is the result of Christian perfection.

The outpouring of love is necessary for us to attain perfection. "Christian perfection, for Wesley, is attainable in this present life because it has to do with the affections. When, by the grace of God, infused into the soul through the Holy Spirit, one's love for God and others is made pure and complete, one's lifestyle cannot help but increase in virtue, finding expression in loving and unselfish actions. Faith working outwardly through love was one of Wesley's favorite biblical themes (Galatians 5:6)."^{^[66]}

Charles Wesley had the same view of the need for the outpouring of God's love into our hearts. In one of his hymns, part of its first verse, he wrote:

O thou Lord, that from on high

you have brought fire to our land,

pour out your sacred love on me.^{^[67]}

We know that everyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior has the Holy Spirit: "In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; and having believed in him, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" – (Ephesians 1:13; cf. Galatians 4:6).

Those who have the Holy Spirit have the fruit of love (Galatians 5:22), but the outpouring of love by the Spirit is an experience after justification, conversion, and after having faith in Jesus. Faith is a precondition for having this love. So, it is not for unbelievers, but for those who already have faith and Jesus.

Wesley taught his leaders to be careful to preserve the faith of new converts, but to expect much more for their lives: "With all zeal and diligence confirm the brethren (1) to maintain that which they have already attained—namely, the remission of all their sins by faith in the crucified Lord, and (2) to expect a second change, by which they shall be delivered from all sin and perfected in love."[68]

God's grace is fundamental for us to grow much more spiritually, but the believer has to seek and be open to have more of God:

"Grace frees the believer to follow the will of the Spirit and grow in grace. Such maturation—going to perfection in love—requires the believer to open his soul to the outpouring of God's Spirit through the works of godliness and works of mercy that bring us into daily communion with the Spirit so that our spirit may be conformed to the spirit of Christ."^{^[69]}

In a letter of 1738, a few weeks before his experience at Aldersgate, "Wesley relates faith to the experience of Romans 5:5 as its precondition. He writes that 'living and justifying faith in the blood of Jesus' is that which 'giveth us to have . . . 'the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit' who dwells in us, and 'the Spirit himself testifying with our spirit that we are the children of God.' Like all the other gifts of God, we receive the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by faith.[70]

The faith which Wesley taught is, above all, "a sure confidence in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ. It is a confidence in a pardoning God. It is a divine evidence or conviction that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their "former" trespasses;" and, in particular, that the Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me; and that I, now, am now reconciled to God by the blood of the Cross."[71]

And then Wesley asks, "Do you believe now?"

His answer is, "Then 'the love of God is 'now' shed abroad in your heart.'" You love him because he first loved us. And because you love God, you also love your brother. And being filled with "love, peace, joy," you are also filled with "longsuffering, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, self-control," and all the other fruits of the same Spirit.[72]

It is important to note that Wesley understood that we can have different experiences with the Holy Spirit. Responding to Ephesians 1:13, which states that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, Wesley says: "This is a higher degree than the one we experienced when we are first renewed in love!"[73]

Of degrees of love, Wesley says, "The love of the pardoning God 'is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.' This love can indeed admit of thousands of degrees."[74]

Wesley himself had other experiences with the outpouring of God's love. It wasn't always smooth as a breeze. Sometimes it can be through a greater degree:

"The love of God was poured into my heart, and a flame was kindled there, with pains so violent, but so overwhelming, that my body was almost torn to pieces. I loved. The Spirit wept hard in my heart. I sweated. I trembled. I fainted. I sang (...)".^{^[75]}

The experience of Romans 5:5 is central to a genuine Christian experience. And it must be received in the same way as justification by faith.

Without the experience of Romans 5:5, according to Wesley, Christians are still imperfect and should pray to have the experience of Romans 5:5, that is, the outpouring of God's love by the Holy Spirit, who already dwells in us.

This outpouring of love by the Holy Spirit has the ultimate purpose of leading to holiness. Wesley says that we are inwardly renewed by the power of God. We feel "the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us" [cf. Rom. 5:5], producing love for all mankind, and more especially for the children of God, driving out the love of the world, the love of pleasure, of ease, of honor, of money, together with pride, anger, obstinacy, and all other evil tempers; in a word, changing the "earthly, sensual, demonic mind" to "the mind that was in Christ Jesus" [cf. Phil. 2:5]."[76]

This outpouring of God's love is different from the day we experience God's love at conversion. That's how Wesley thought. Weeks before the 1738 warming heart experience, Wesley writes that "living and justifying faith in the blood of Jesus" is that which 'giveth us to have . . . 'the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit' who dwells in us, and 'the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.'"[77]

Wesley writes a letter to his brother Samuel and wishes that he and everyone else feel the "... love spread in your heart by his Spirit who dwells in you." In his own life, therefore, Wesley distinguished the experience of Romans 5:5 (interpreted as an event) from conversion.[78]

"Specifically, this experience assures the Christian of his filial relationship with God as a revelation of God's love for the son of God," says Benjamin Nasmith.[79]

According to him, the experience of Romans 5:5 transmits to Christians the knowledge that they are sons and daughters loved by God.

"The experience of Romans 5:5 reveals God's favor to God's children, which they gratefully receive by faith. In his 1789 sermon "The Unity of the Divine Being," Wesley writes, "Gratitude toward our Creator cannot fail to produce benevolence to our fellow men."^{^[80]}

Gratitude, based on the experience of Romans 5:5, strengthens all sanctification toward God. "As Wesley writes in his 1788 sermon 'On the Vineyard of God,' 'He who finds the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit which is given to him; and whom that love sweetly limits to love his neighbor, every man, as himself."^{^[81]}

Those who go through the experience of Romans 5:5 are also subject to falling, so they need to persevere in this love. Satan encourages dissatisfaction to poison this experience. Wesley says that "neither love nor the anointing of the Holy Spirit makes us infallible."[82]

We must seek this greater measure of God's love. "While praying for a greater measure, the child of God must not bury his talent. The experience of God's love for himself as a child of God is too precious to waste."^{^[83]}

"God is not only the source of our love, God also enables or enables us to love. But to express that love, Wesley says, we must cooperate with God. We must be "workers together with him," he says, quoting the apostle Paul.[84]

For Wesley, this experience varies from person to person. Some people neglect this experience because they expected to receive a greater measure of this gift. He himself expected a decisive outpouring of God's love in the months following his warming heart experience.[85]

Wesley writes, "You love him, because he first loved us. And because you love God, you love your brother also." This logic explains the experience of Romans 5:5. It is our experience of God's love for us that produces in us love for God and for others."[86]

"In his 1746 sermon "Justification by Faith," Wesley links the experience of Romans 5:5 to the gospel image of the tree and its fruit. Of the sinner, he writes, "his heart is necessarily, essentially, evil, until the love of God is poured out there. And while the tree is corrupt, so are the fruits; 'for a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.' Before the experience of Romans 5:5, there can be no good fruit, for the tree is corrupt."[87]

Moreover, "if we are not renewed in the spirit of our mind, by the 'love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us,' 'we cannot enter into eternal life.'[88]

This experience of Romans 5:5 provokes love for God, who first loved us and leads us to obey him. Obedience is a sign of God's love in our lives.

"The children of God have "the love of God shed abroad in their hearts, overcoming the love of the world; and they have power over all sins, even those that have easily beset them."[89]

Wesley warns that when God's love is poured into our hearts, it is natural for us to think that we are no longer sinners. However, it does not reign, but remains. For him, there is still a degree of pride in the hearts where God's love has been poured out.

Therefore, we cannot say that the outpouring of God's love into our hearts makes us immediately perfect.

Wesley says that there is no room for repentance in the one who thinks he has no sin. If there is no repentance, there is also "no room for perfection in love."[90]

"The experience of Romans 5:5 reveals God's favor to God's children, which they receive by faith with gratitude."[91]

The experience of Romans 5:5 produces love to all, and more especially to God's children; "casting out the love of the world, the love of pleasure, of ease, of honor, of money, together with pride, anger, obstinacy, and all other evil tempers." Our experience of God's love for us, changes "the earthly mind, sensual and demonic, into the mind that was in Christ Jesus." God's love for us produces our love for others and drives out our old love for sin."[92]

The experience of the outpouring of love in Romans 5:5 is the engine of sanctification.

For Wesley, loving God is the root of all holiness: "We must love God before we can be holy; this is the root of all holiness. But we cannot love God until we know that He loves us."[93]

Holiness for Wesley is "love excluding sin; love filling the heart, taking over the soul's full capacity. It is love 'rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all things'.[94]

The "experience of Romans 5:5 is the "beginning" from which "real and disinterested benevolence springs up for all mankind; making him humble, meek, kind to all men, easy to be solicited."[95]

"Wesley describes the love of God poured into our hearts as a heavenly treasure in an earthen vessel. ' That treasure produces our lasting happiness."^{^[96]}

For Wesley, Romans 5:5 reveals God's love as a transformative gift: "It is the gift of experiencing God's love for oneself. This gift is received by faith as evidence of one's justified filial relationship with God. This gift is the source of our love for God and others, as we respond to God's love with gratitude. [97]

Writing of the abundant outpouring of love into our hearts, Wesley clarifies that this love "may admit of thousands of degrees, but still, as long as we believe, we can all truly declare before God, 'Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Thou knowest that my desire is for Thee, and the remembrance of Thy name.'"[98]

Romans 5:5 is among Wesley's favorite and most quoted biblical texts.[99] The epistle of 1 John was his favorite book.[100] The theme of love had always dominated Wesley's theology. He was certain that the theme of love was the central message of the Bible.[101]

The key to understanding the outpouring of love

"And as he now loves God with all his heart, so Jesus now reigns alone in his heart."

(John Wesley)

The key to understanding more deeply about the outpouring of love in the heart by the Holy Spirit is to understand biblically about the expression "inner man of heart".

Apostle Peter said:

"But let the inward man of heart be joined to the incorruptible apparel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great value in the sight of God" (1 Peter 3:4).

Paul also said, "... though our outward man be perished, yet our inward man is renewed day by day (...)" (2 Corinthians 4:16).

But what is the "inner man"?

Inner man is the spirit of the human being, the spiritual part prepared for the Holy Spirit to dwell. This happens when the human being accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior: "In whom also you trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; and having believed in him, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13).

For Dr. Bill Mounce's Biblical Training, "the inner man is the real, dominant self. Paul was a living example of the distinction of best form, and consequently prayed that God would grant the Ephesians "to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man" (Ephesians 3:16).[102]

The International Encyclopedia of the Bible teaches that the inner man "as the seat of spiritual influences, is the sphere in which the Holy Spirit accomplishes His renewing and saving work (Ephesians 3:16)." [103]

Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit in the inner man or spirit: "The Spirit himself testifies to our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).

So, the heart has a part called the "inner man" where the Holy Spirit must dwell to start a process of transformation of our life.

The inner man, then, is "man's superior nature, intellectual, moral, and spiritual."[104]

Paul further says, "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, who cries out, 'Abba, Father' (Galatians 4:6).

"The spirit of man receives life from God the moment he is born again. To be born again is to be born in the spirit. Your spirit becomes a partaker of God's divine nature when you surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ to govern your life."^{^[105]}

The Bible says, "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the depths of his heart" (Proverbs 20:27).

But what is the heart according to the New Testament?

The word heart is the translation of the Greek καρδια (kardia): "Kardia (kardia2 ), according to Coenen (2000, p.426) "occurs in 148 passages in the NT; in Paul, 52 times; in the Synoptics, 47; Acts, 17; General Epistles, 13; Hebrews, 10; John, 6 and Apocalypse, 3 times."[106]

It is the seat of the mind, feelings and will: "(...) the heart does not only mean the heart organ of the human body, but mainly the inner being of man and in this sense represents the source of emotions, reason and will".^{^[107]}

It is the seat of intellectual and spiritual life. Scholars agree that kardia "basically refers to the interior of the human being. Coenen (2000, p.426) comments: "it most often denotes the seat of intellectual and spiritual life, the interior life, in contrast to external appearances (II Cor 5.12; I Thess 2.17)."[108]

That is why the apostle Peter speaks of "an inward man of heart", that is, with a spiritual part and an intellectual part (1 Peter 3:4).

The heart needs to be transformed so that Christ can dwell in it.

Jesus said, "For out of the heart proceed evil detentes, murders, adulteries, immoralities, thefts, false witness, slander, blasphemies" (Matthew 15:19).

Another basic text to understand on this issue is Romans 5:5: "And hope does not bring confusion, because the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Love is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). When a person is truly born again, he has love, peace, and joy in his life, but it does not necessarily mean that he already has a heart full of love or that he already has entire sanctification.

There are people who harbor anger, guilt, or low self-esteem because of abuse, abandonment, and aggressiveness in childhood. They are people who have believed and experienced God's love, but not enough to be healed. They still live with chains inside them. It takes a very large dose of God's love to heal and sanctify us.

James reminds us well of what a heart can be when it is not completely filled with God's love. He says, "If, on the other hand, you have bitter envy and self-righteousness in your hearts, neither boast about it nor lie against the truth" (James 3:14).

For Wesley, pride, anger, some turbulent passion, etc., can still remain in the life of the one who has been converted, because he has not yet reached Christian perfection.

He says, "Until this universal change was wrought in his soul, all his holiness was mingled. He was humble, but not entirely; his humility was mingled with pride; he was meek, but his meekness was often interrupted by anger, or some restless or turbulent passion. His love to God was often deadened by the love of some creature; the love of his neighbor by evil suspicions, or some thought, if not temper, contrary to love."^{^[109]}

With the outpouring of love and the attainment of entire sanctification, his spiritual life is now continuous. Wesley says, "His whole soul is now consistent with itself; there is not a dissonant fragment. All his passions flow in a continuous stream with the same tenor of God. There is no mixture of contrary affections; all is peace and harmony (...)".[110]

Paul also says in Romans 5:5: "(...) by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us". The Holy Spirit is located in the inner man (or spirit). This happens when we believe in Jesus.

Paul further says that this love is poured into our hearts, which is the seat of the mind, will, and feelings.

Where does this love come from?

Of the Holy Spirit who dwells in the spirit (inner man). This love is poured into our hearts for healing, for sanctification, and for Christ to reign.

Yes, the Holy Spirit dwells in the inner man to pour out love in the heart to transform it.

What does it take for the Holy Spirit to pour out that love?

It is necessary to have faith and a firm purpose. Recognize that you need this love of God and seek with perseverance waiting in the grace of the Lord.

A warning: "A believer with little or no 'hunger and thirst for righteousness' – as Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 – is not a candidate for entire sanctification. The experience comes only after new birth and growth in grace. Total commitment – sometimes called total consecration – is the human preparation necessary for entire sanctification."^{^[111]}

Wesley said that when we look confidently to Christ, God's love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So we can pour out our hearts with love to God, friends, strangers, and even enemies.^{^[112]}

Paul prayed that the Philippians would obtain this love. He said, "And I also pray this prayer, that your love may increase more and more in full knowledge and all insight, that you may approve of excellent things, and be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness, which is through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11).

Here is the process Paul describes so that the hearts of the Ephesians could be filled with love:

First, he prays that they may be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man: "That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man";

Second, he said that by faith, Christ will dwell in hearts. It is important to understand that the heart is the center of feelings, will, and mind. Christ will dwell in a heart that is prepared.

Paul had this purpose: Until Christ was formed in you (Galatians 4:19).

Wesley clarified about this: "And as he now loves God with all his heart, so Jesus now reigns alone in his heart."^{^[113]}

"When we are strengthened with power in the inner man (Ephesians 3:17), the Christ who is in our spirit will be manifested in our heart—who is our acting agent. Our heart represents us, and Christ wants to spread from our spirit to our heart to be the Person who lives in us and expresses himself through us."^{^[114]}

Third, the Ephesians, being then rooted and grounded in love, will be able to "perfectly comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and know the love of Christ, which passeth all understanding."

Fourth, "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19).

After being strengthened by the Holy Spirit who dwells in the inner man, the love of God will be poured out in their hearts. And they will know all the love of God in all its depth, and all the fullness of God will be in their lives, for God is love.

From that moment on, they will attain Christian perfection and perfect love, that is, the "fullness of God."

Luther's Emphasis on Agape Love

"Your love is life, it is peace that fills my being

If I don't have you

I don't know what I would do

Love you, love you

With everything that is mine"

(Martin Luther)

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was the author of the Protestant Reformation in 1517 with his famous 95 theses giving rise to the Protestant Churches.

Luther preached insistently that we are justified through faith (Rom. But it is important to remember his teaching on the role of faith and love in salvation. He said, "Faith must be sincere. It must be a faith that does good works through love. If faith lacks love, it is not true faith."[115]

To him, love has no performance in our justification, but rather in sanctification. [116]"

Luther's "ethics are determined in their totality, in their starting point, and in all their principal features, by the heart and center of his theology, namely, by the justification of the sinner through the grace which is shown in Jesus Christ."[117]

Luther criticized the concept of some late medieval theologians and developed his own concept of love. He placed emphasis on the concept of agape love as the biblical expression as opposed to Augustine's love as charity.

Luther is considered by some to be the main representative of Christian agape.^{^[118]}

Addressing perfection in the Heidelberg Disputation,[119] which took place in 1518, Luther "argued that God expects perfection from human beings, and perfection consists in loving God with a total will and doing good out of complete and perfect love of God."[120]

Luther was aware that human beings were incapable of getting rid of self-love in order to love their neighbor. Luther's "solution was to postulate God as the giver of a pure, altruistic divine love that would be able (gradually) to free human beings from self-love and allow them to become channels of divine love for others."

For Luther, man did not have to become endearing in order to receive God's love. "Luther argues against the view that God's love operates on the same principle as man's love: "Instead of seeking one's own good, God's love flows forth and bestows good. Therefore, sinners are endearing because they are loved; they are not loved because they are captivating."[121]

Luther "argued that the way to enable fallen human beings like us to love God and neighbor is to assure ourselves of God's previous unconditional love for us in Christ, which frees us from our need and ability to become lovable to God through our own efforts. Luther argued that once we experience the influx of this radical love into our hearts and lives, this love itself moves us to love God with childlike confidence and to love our neighbor as we ourselves have been loved. At its best and in its heart, the Reformation was all about this reformation of love."[122]

It was while listening to Luther's "Preface to the Romans" that John Wesley had the experience of the warmed heart in 1738.

In the "Preface to the Epistle to the Romans" written by Luther, he quotes Romans 5 and states that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a grace of God, but it still does not make us perfect.

Luther says, "Between grace and gift there is a difference. Grace properly means God's favor or God's good will toward us, in which He is willing to give us Christ and pour out His Holy Spirit and His gifts upon us. This is clear in chapter 5 which speaks of 'grace and gift in Christ.' The gifts and the Spirit increase in us daily, though they are not yet perfect, and yet in us there remains the presence of evil and sin that war against the Spirit, as Paul mentions in Romans 7 and Galatians 5, and in the contest between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent as foretold in Genesis 3. But grace does much more to the point that we are found completely righteous before God."^{^[123]}

The Holy Spirit is at the center of Luther's theological framework. For him, no one can know Christ or accept Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit.

According to Martin Luther, "the Holy Spirit must be understood as the direct presence of God in the life of a human being."[124]

In the "Great Catechism", Luther understands that the Holy Spirit allows an individual to undergo a daily baptism. According to him, the first baptism is of water and of the Word (...)". And so he dies daily to sin and rises to Christ.^{^[125]}

For Martin Luther, the Holy Spirit acts in the whole life of the believer in Jesus: "... This is not a single action done by the Holy Spirit at a stagnant point in a timeline; rather, this is a continuous action that the Holy Spirit works throughout the believer's life. Luther writes, "The Holy Spirit works through the following: the community of saints or Christian church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life.' This sanctification is essential in the life of a believer because without this process one cannot know God." ^{^[126]}

Luther goes on to say, "I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy, and kept me in the true faith just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith."^{^[127]}

For Luther, "the Holy Spirit has two offices. First, He is a Spirit of grace, who makes God merciful to us and receives us as His acceptable children, for Christ's sake. Second, He is a Spirit of prayer, who prays for us and for the whole world, until the end that all evil may be turned away from us and that all good may come to us.[128]

But what about God's love poured into our hearts?

Some hymn lyrics composed by Luther reveal how he understood the importance of Jesus' love in his life. In the hymn "Thy Love," Luther reveals the illusion of living apart from Jesus and expresses his love for Jesus in a very personal way. He writes about the importance of transmitting love:

Your Love

I thought I could live

Without you by my side having

Illusion, sadness and pain

That's what I could get

You are the peace, you are the light

I can't live without you my jesus

Now I want to talk to you

Your love show

Your love is life is peace that fills my being

If I don't have you

I don't know what I would do

Love you, love you

With all that's mine

I rejoice because now I'm yours alone

I left behind what happened

Life without color and reason

Dreams that were of splendor

In the end, they were of illusion.[129]

In the lyrics "Perfect Joy", Luther speaks of his experience, of the great love of God and of the perfect love of God that he knew. He also reminds us of the importance of announcing this love to those who have never heard of it.

Perfect Joy

Oh how many people live in the world wandering

Waiting for someone, with your heart to offer

And in an instant of pure emotion

A new illusion is born

In the eagerness to love and to live

Don't know you're dying

Beware when it's your heart to surrender

Without affection it can break

Life is beautiful but there's always someone

Who never knew what it is to love

The reality yes, I'll tell you

It's the great love of God that can't speak

How many times have my heart given

And because I didn't think I always suffered and cried

Until I found perfect love

That eliminated all pain

Sadness I forgot, my way I found

Perfect joy I found^.[130]

The issue of love was crucial in Luther's theological life. As an Augustinian monk, he already adhered to various emphases and practices such as kindness, mercy and love of neighbor.

Luther often said that God is found in the sufferings, needy, and infirmities of neighbors where He is to be loved: "God is thus hidden within disadvantaged humans, so that Good goodness is seen only through them. But God can also be loved when one has experienced His love and mercy. Then one experiences how God loves someone who, in Himself, is 'nothing.' This experience arises from love as gratitude and joy in God's goodness." ^{^[131]}

The Augustinian emphasis on love as charity (caritas) was the predominant Christian idea for more than a thousand years.

Luther rejected this notion of love as caritas and returned to the pure idea of agape in the New Testament.^{^[132]}

"Luther's rediscovery of the primacy of agape was the linchpin of the Reformation and the rediscovery of genuine Christian ethics." ^{^[133]}

Love as charity according to Augustine

Love was the basis or nucleus of all Augustinian ethics. According to Augustine, love of neighbor (charity) is the driving force of all socialization among human beings.[134]

Around 421, Augustine wrote the Enchiridion de fide, spe et caritate (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity).[135]

Caritas translates to "charity" in Latin. [136] Augustine uses the terms love and charity synonymously.

In the fifth century, "Augustine tried to synthesize the 'eros' of the Greeks with the 'agape' of Christ and then called it 'caritas' – for Augustine believed that 'caritas' was best expressed in the doctrinal form of the outpouring of love that the Trinity has for us."[137]

For him, salvation depends on faith that works through charity (Gal 5:6). It is not enough to be a Christian, it is necessary to do good. Augustine in a certain way led all doctrine and all Christian life back to charity.[138]

For Augustine, "it is thanks to faith that we can love the God in whom we believe. It is through faith that our good works are wrought (Eph 2:8-9). Faith that acts through charity (Gal 5:6) and that cannot exist without hope (Enchantress 2:8). The three virtues are intimately united, but it is charity, according to the Apostle Paul, that exercises primacy (1 Cor 13)".[139]

Augustine's concept of love is related to love for one's neighbor or life in society (vita socialis).[140]

With this, Augustine to this day especially influences Catholics[141] and Kardecists[142] in the emphasis on charity. Even New Testament texts about love are replaced by the word charity. The King James Bible (King James Bible) published in 1611, which is used by the Anglican Church in England, translated the word love in 1 Corinthians 13 as charity. The King James Bible (King James Bible) uses the word love for 1 Corinthians 13.^{^[143]}

On the Protestant side, Martin Luther changed this emphasis from the Protestant Reformation by rescuing the pure agape love of the New Testament. John Wesley, in 1755, also published the New Testament making corrections in the King James Bible changing the word charity to love.

But Augustine also contributes to the Christian life and on love.

Augustine is credited with saying that "the cross was a pulpit from which Christ preached the love of God to the world."[144]

The theologian and philosopher Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was born in Numidia (Algeria), Africa.

"His writings influenced the development of Western andRiental Christianity. He was bishop of Hippo Regius, in North Africa."^{^[145]}

Romans 5:5 is the most quoted verse in Scripture through Augustine.

For him, love is fundamental to the Christian life: "Since Augustine identifies the Spirit with the love that united the Father and the Son, the gift of the Spirit's inner presence fills our soul with the love of God, so that our heart is conformed to the heart and will of God. Then the image of God is renewed in us and we are able to fulfill justice." ^{^[146]}

Augustine was especially fond of Romans 5:5: "The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." According to him, "this love in our heart unites us to the one who is love and allows us to experience the love of God by loving our neighbor as ourselves."[147]

For Augustine, "if the love of God is poured into our hearts by the reception of the Holy Spirit, so also is his delight, since there can be no love without delight," without pleasure.[148]

For some, this is "an Augustinian notion of love as desire itself."[149] In this case, love would be equal to desire.

But Augustine makes biblical quotes about love: "He who is both God and man can reconcile us to God by his blood. The Spirit then pours out God's love into our hearts, enabling us to love God and do good works for His glory."^{^[150]}

The phrase "doing good works" is related to his concept of love as charity.

"Despite major theological differences, Augustine is united with John Wesley over the primacy of love in the holy life. For Augustine, the Holy Spirit is the mutual love of the Father and the Son. When the Spirit comes to dwell in the believer, the Spirit pours out love in the heart for God and neighbor (Romans 5:5). For Augustine, love is the defining characteristic of holy living. It is the hallmark of the church. It is at the center of every Christian virtue. It is, in short, what it means to be like Christ."^{^[151]}

Evil, according to Augustine, "is love for oneself, and good is love for God. Men who live to love God form the City of God, and men who live to love themselves form the City of Men. In the city of God one lives according to the rules of the spirit, and in the city of men one lives according to the rules of the flesh."^{^[152]}

For Augustine, according to Romans 5:5, the "unity of the saints is established by charity which is the gift of the Holy Spirit".[153]

Here, once again, Augustine substitutes the word love for charity.

Augustine has influenced thoughts to this day. A teaching that has become known worldwide by Augustine says: "Love and do what you will. If you are silent, you will be silent with love; if you shout, you will shout with love; if you correct, you will correct with love; if you forgive, you will forgive with love. If you have love rooted in you, nothing but love will be your fruits."[154]

Yes, love and do what you want.

From feigned love to perfect love

"The child of God 'feels' the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit given to him'; and all his spiritual senses are then exercised to discern spiritual good and evil"

(John Wesley)

Do you know what a love "with wax" is?

Is philéo love enough for our Christian life?

In this chapter we approach "A love without wax"; "Peter' s philéo love for Jesus" and "Perfect love".

1. A love without wax

Is it possible to believe in Jesus and then start to have a feigned love?

Paul warns of this possibility.

In ancient Rome it was customary for the makers of vases or statues to disguise and sell those vases or statues that were damaged with a crack. What they did was camouflage by putting wax on the crack. They ended up, in fact, deceiving the buyers.

In Latin the expression is "sine cera", which means sincere.

"The word 'sincere' comes from the junction of two Latin words: sine cera. The most common version for the origin of this word is that, in Rome, dishonest sculptors, when sculpting a marble statue with small defects – cracks or small imperfections in the material or in the workmanship – used a special wax to hide and hide these imperfections in the statues and in a way that the buyer would not notice.[155]

Feigned love, "with wax", is that which is not loyal, is not authentic. It is that which burns with jealousy; which behaves inappropriately; which seeks its own interests and holds resentments.

Over time, people who bought these statues or vases discovered the imperfections, that is, they discovered that it was a "cum cera" sculpture. Honest sculptors made a point of saying that their statues were "sine cera", that is, perfect, without hidden defects".[156]

The apostle Paul uses this expression when speaking of love. He says, "Let love be without hypocrisy" (Romans 12:9). Another translation says "not feigned" and still another says "Be sincere."

Wesley says: "Christian love is in itself generous and disinterested; it is born not from any point of view of advantage to ourselves, nor of profit or praise, nor yet of the pleasure of love."[157]

In sentimental relationships, sincere love is fundamental. And sincere love has to have the essence of agape love, which is giving, self-sacrificing, sacrificial love. Paul speaks of "the self-denial of your love" when referring to and praising the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

When Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives" (Ephesians 5:25), the Greek word used for "love" is not "eros" but agapath. The verb agapáo provides a surrender, selflessness, and sacrifice for the person we love.[158]

Many want to live this love, but for it to exist in our lives it must come from the Holy Spirit. The same Paul says that the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22). He produces patience (1 Corinthians 13:4). Finally, the outpouring of love by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) will fill us with love.

This means that this love only comes from the Spirit. It does not come from human nature itself. And as much as one is aware of the importance of its usefulness, by itself, no one can express it authentically, without wax.

The essence of sincere love, of agape love, is to do good. He is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4).

The couple who has this love has a storm-proof relationship. It is a power and in the life of the couple it is essential. This love has the power to resist suffering. It endures everything (1 Corinthians 13:8).

Paul goes so far as to say that love is a breastplate (1 Thessalonians 5:8). The breastplate protects. We are protected by agape love.

For Wesley, with the outpouring of love, our spiritual senses are also exercised: "The child of God 'feels' the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit who is given to him'; and all his spiritual senses are then exercised to discern spiritual good and evil."^{^[159]}

According to Wesley, "this experience assures the Christian of his filial relationship with God as a revelation of God's love for the son of God."[160]

Yes, the experience of love poured out in hearts (Romans 5:5) conveys to Christians the knowledge that they are sons and daughters loved by God.

"The experience of Romans 5:5 reveals God's favor to God's children, which they gratefully receive by faith. In his 1789 sermon "The Oneness of the Divine Being," Wesley writes, "Gratitude toward our Creator cannot fail to produce benevolence to our fellow men."^{^[161]}

Today it is common for everyone to talk about love because it is essential in the life of the human being. But many are talking only about Eros love (erotic) and even filial love (between friends and siblings).

We can and should seek this full love, which was revealed in Jesus. Its essence is love. The Bible says that God is love. We need it to have a happy and peaceful life. We need this love to have strength and support in adversity.

2. Peter's philéo love for Jesus

We are sons and daughters of the Father of love and we can love as He loves. Jesus said to be perfect as the Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Paul speaks of this agape love in 1 Corinthians 13:1: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass or as a tinkling bell."

Jesus asked Peter about this agape love: "Simon, son of John, do you love me (agape) more than these others do?" (John 21:15), that is, do you love me with an unconditional, self-giving, sacrificial love?

But Peter used the expression philéo which means – love as a brother (John 21:15).

In the two initial questions to Peter: "Do you love me?" Jesus used the expression agape; but Peter replied that he loves using the expression philéo. In fact, he said: "I love you as a brother".

Phileo love is fraternal, but it is not enough for us to love the Lord and be willing to die for Him. The love that the Lord expects us to have for Him must be agape. By phileo love, Peter denied Jesus, so Jesus expected Peter to love Him with agape love.[162]

Jesus said of this, "Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:13-14).

The Greek word used here by Jesus for love is agape, love of giving, sacrifice.[163]

The Beginning of Peter's Healing

Peter was coming out of a tragedy: he had denied Jesus three times.

He was not yet able to have an agape love. Pentecost with the outpouring of the Spirit had not yet happened. He only had to give the filial love, of a brother. But Peter was sincere.

Why did Jesus ask Peter three times?

Jesus was beginning a process of healing. Jesus did not reproach him.

It is important to declare that we love. Because Peter denied it three times, the Lord asked Peter to declare three times that He loved him, even though he was still imperfect. It was to give Peter confidence.

Within this healing process, Jesus asks for the third time: "Do you love me?" using the word philéo, that is, "do you love me as a brother?" (John 21:17)

And Peter humbly replied: "Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you" (John 21:17), that is, as a brother (amor philéo).

Jesus knew that Peter could love him with an agape love.

Jesus was giving Peter time, and he knew that Peter would come to love him later with an agape, sacrificial love.

Jesus said, "When you were young, you got ready and went where you wanted. But I tell you that this is true: when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, someone will bind them and take you where you will not want to go" (John 21:18).

The evangelist John explains that "by saying this, Jesus was implying how Peter would die and thus cause God to be praised" (John 21:19).

History states that Peter was arrested and killed in the year 67 A.D.[164]

If you love the Lord with love similar to the love you have for your family, you can reach much further. You can have a love of excellence. God's agape love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5).

If we are sons and daughters of the Father of Love, then we can love as He loves.

3. Perfect love

Wesley defined holiness of heart or perfection in love as follows:

"To love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This implies that no wrong temper, no contrary to love, remains in the soul; and that all thoughts, words, and actions are governed by pure love.^{^[165]}

The sons and daughters of God when they believe have the fruit of the Spirit, who gives us love (Galatians 5:22), but all must walk to have perfect love.

The outpouring of love according to Romans 5:5 is fundamental to achieving perfect love.

"Wesley took seriously Jesus' invitation to 'be perfect therefore, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect' (Matt 5:48). By 'perfection,' Wesley did not mean moral or sinless perfection. He meant perfection in the sense of maturity.'

Perfect love must be both an experience in the heart and a way of life in the world. [166]

Wesley believed that we could become perfect in love in this life. If Jesus invites us to pursue perfection, perfect love is possible. He did not mean that we would be free from mistakes, temptations, or failures.

For Wesley, to grow as a Christian is to be full of love, which happens by the grace of God."[167]

And what is perfect love?

For Wesley, Christian perfection means perfect love.[168]

It comes from a heart that has learned to have the mind of Christ and walks as He walked. It has a clean heart and is sanctified by God: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and serve Him with all your strength. Love your neighbor (all men) as yourself; yes, as Christ loved us, especially those who despise and persecute Him because they do not know the Son or the Father. Your soul is truly all love, full of bowels of mercy, goodness, gentleness, magnanimity, and tolerance. Your life is in accordance with these qualities, full of the works of faith, patience, hope, and the work of love."[169]

More briefly, John Wesley says that by perfection he means perfect love, or loving God with all our heart, as well as rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything.[170]

The secret to having a fruitful and peaceful Christian life is to achieve perfect love.

It is possible to achieve perfect love because the Bible says so (Matthew 5:48).

The benefits of perfect love:

1. Perfect love casts out fear

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear. Now fear produces torment; therefore he who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

Wesley says, "In love there is no fear—There can be no enslaving fear where love reigns, but perfect, adult love casts out enslaving fear."[171]

God's love casts out the fear of being damned and of not inheriting eternal life. So, His love in our lives is like a guarantee that we are not condemned, because the Word tells us: "And we know, and believe in the love that God has for us. God is love; and he who is in love is in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).

Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

That is perfect love.

2. Perfect love enables us to love our enemies

Jesus taught that it is possible to love one's enemies, but for this it is necessary to have the perfection that provides a perfect love (Matthew 5:48).

Jesus said to his disciples, "You have heard that it was said, 'You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy!' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you!

Thus you will become children of your Father who is in heaven, for he makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and he makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love only those who love you, what reward will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same thing? And if you greet only your brethren, what do you do that is extraordinary? Do not the pagans do the same thing? Therefore be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:43-48).

Only a perfect love to love one's enemies.

Jesus said, "Listen, everyone. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Ask God's blessing on those who hurt you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other cheek to him. If anyone asks you for your coat, give him your shirt also. Give what you have to anyone who asks you; and when they take your things from you, do not worry about whether to give them back or not" (Luke 6:27-28).

Jesus' purpose for his disciples was for them to love their enemies. To love as Jesus loved. Only then would they be truly disciples of Jesus.

Commenting on 1 John 4:7, Wesley says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Let us love one another - From the doctrine he has just defended, he makes this exhortation. It is by the Spirit that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Everyone who truly loves God and neighbor is born of God^."^{^[172]}

3 Perfect love excludes sin

If our hearts are not full of love, we will have room to hate, fight back, persecute, revenge, retaliate, etc. If we love intensely, everything will be erased. Love erases the sinner's affection for sin.

Wesley said, "Entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is neither more nor less than pure love; love casts out sin, and governs both the heart and the life of a child of God."[173]

Wesley further said, "As wax dissipates before fire, so pride melts before love. All arrogance, whether of heart, speech, or behavior, disappears where love prevails."[174]

Wesley believed that love excludes sin.[175] He says, "It is love excluding sin; love filling the heart, taking over the whole capacity of the soul. It is love 'rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all things.'"[176]

But Wesley makes an important observation: "Perfection without sin is therefore a phrase I never use." [177]

He prefers to say that perfection is salvation from sin. Perfect is one "who does not commit sin."[178]

This verse from Charles Wesley below shows the vision of the possibility of God eliminating all the power of sin in our lives and filling us with the fullness of God:

Come, Savior, come and make me complete;
Fully all my sins are removed;
To perfect health, restore my soul
To perfect holiness and love.[179]

John Wesley explains what he means by sin:

"By sin I understand outward sin, according to the simple and common acceptance of the word; a real and voluntary transgression of the law; of the written and revealed law of God; of any commandment of God, acknowledged as such at the time it is transgressed. [180]

What to do to avoid sin?

Wesley says, "whosoever is born of God,' so long as he abides in faith and love, and in the spirit of prayer and thanksgiving, not only does not do so, but cannot commit sin. So long as he thus believes in God through Christ, and loves him, and is pouring out his heart before him, he cannot willingly transgress any command of God, either by speaking or acting what he knows God has forbidden; so long that the seed that abides in him, that loving, prayerful, thankful faith, compels him to abstain from all that he knows to be an abomination in the sight of God."^{^[181]}Dr. Joseph Dongell, ^{^[182]}a Methodist professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, states that for John Wesley love is the operational and functional center of all things. Dr. Joseph writes about five points of how Wesley understood love, which he took from the Bible. In one of his own, he says of Wesley's understanding of love excluding sin: "The love poured out by God through the Spirit is a powerful force that unleashes itself in the deepest chambers of the heart and community, manifesting a series of powerful internal and external effects. Among its many internal effects, Wesley often spoke of this infused love as expelling sin from the heart. Wesley's logic is easy to follow. For if love fills the heart (and, by its nature, fulfills all of God's law), then the heart so full of love "leaves no room" (metaphorically speaking) for evil intentions and designs. In other words, Wesley saw purity as the result of being infused (from above) by divine love."^{^[183]}

Like Wesley, Polycarp of Smyrna[184], bishop and martyr of the Church, said: "For if anyone inwardly possesses these graces, he has fulfilled the command of justice, since he who has love is far from all sin."[185]

And Wesley concludes: "Because he is 'pure in heart.' The love of God has cleansed his heart from all vengeful passion, from envy, malice, and wrath, from every unkind temper or evil affection. It has cleansed him from pride and haughtiness of spirit, from whom, alone, emanates strife. And he is now "full of mercy, gentleness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and longsuffering."[186]

4. How can we perfect ourselves in love?

It's as simple as that: by keeping His Word: "But he who keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been made perfect. By this we know that we are in him: he who says he abides in him, he must also walk just as he walked" (1 John 2:5-6).

And so we are called to walk in love: "Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, in a sweet savour" (Ephesians 5:1-2).

"Wesley argued that we can be vessels that carry God's love to the world and share the treasures of his grace only if the vessel of our soul is replenished daily, only if we feed on our daily bread which is the manna of grace. Wesley emphasizes the continuous, daily character of spiritual breathing as part of that process of maturation by which the Christian "grows ... to 'the full measure of the stature of Christ' (Ephesians 4:13)" (II.4).[187]

In the sermon "The Biblical Way of Salvation," he writes that works of holiness are necessary for this maturation in such a way that "... if a man voluntarily neglects them, he cannot reasonably expect him to be sanctified in the full sense, that is, 'perfected in love.' No, can he 'grow' in grace, in the 'loving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ'? (Sermon 43, III.4)."^{^[188]}Wesley said that "by perfection, I mean perfect love." ^{^[189]}Therefore, we must strive for Christian perfection.

It is also important to remember what he said: "But no one can attain perfection unless they believe it is attainable."[190]

The outpouring of love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit is fundamental to the perfection of the Christian (Rom. 5:5).

Commenting on Romans 5:5, Wesley says, "Hope does not shake us—that is, it gives us the greatest glory. We glory in this hope of ours, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts—the divine conviction of God's love to us, and that love of God which is both sincere and the beginning of heaven. By the Holy Ghost — The efficient cause of all these present blessings, and the fervor of those who shall come."[191]

For Wesley, without the experience of Romans 5:5, Christians are still imperfect and must pray to have the experience of the outpouring of love.

Love is the beginning and the end of the Christian faith. Perfect love should be the goal of every Christian.

God's Love in the Lives of Early Methodists

"The mighty power of God came upon me; my heart was emptied of all evil, and Jesus took the whole room. I could no longer refrain from telling what God had done for my soul. My heart was filled with love and joy, and my lips praised him."

(Richard Rodda)

The first preachers and leaders of Methodist cells in England in the eighteenth century were fearless, self-sacrificing and sanctified. With John Wesley, these laymen impacted England and made all the difference.

The emphasis was to seek perfect love, holiness, Christian perfection understood as a life freed from the dominion of sin and full of love for God and neighbor.

The expression "baptism of love" was not used, but the emphasis on perfect love was!

Wesley said, "A Methodist is one who has the love of God in his heart, by the Holy Spirit which has been given him; he is one who loves the Lord his God, 'with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind and strength.'" ^{^[192]}. His definition is broader, but this statement is the main one.

Wesley said that he knew a great number of persons of all ages and sexes who were fully sanctified, that is, "washed from all uncleanness of flesh and spirit," so that they "loved the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and strength," that continually "they presented their souls and bodies in a living, holy, acceptable sacrifice to God," and in consequence of this they "rejoiced always, and prayed without ceasing, and gave thanks in all things."^{^[193]}

Here we see life freed from sin; full of love; dedicating themselves to their Lord, constantly joyful, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in everything.

In his Diary, Wesley cites several people who intensely experienced and practiced this love.

Of Miss Berresford there was a saying, "If Miss Berresford does not go to heaven, no one will." She was a model of piety and activity. She possessed ardent love. At the end of her life, she said, "Oh! I am filled with the love of God."^{^[194]}

Once, on a visit to Rotherham, he met five men and six women who believed they were saved from sin. They rejoiced always, prayed without ceasing, and gave praise in all things. Wesley said, "I believe they feel nothing but love^."^{^[195]}

About Elizabeth Longmore, Wesley recorded what she said and felt during a service: "The moment Mr. Fugill began to speak, I felt that my soul was all love (...) I search the heart constantly, and find nothing there but love."^{^[196]}

In 1765, he visited Redruth to hear the story of Grace Paddy, a serene and well-educated young woman. She described the change in her life and said: "(...) I felt an inexplicable change in the depths of my being, and since that hour I have felt no anger, no vanity, no bad temper: nothing that is contrary to the pure love of God, which I constantly feel. I desire nothing else but Christ; and I have Christ always reigning in my heart."[197]

But let's get to know three more experiences about the life of love in depth:

"Let love alone dwell in my chest!"

Elizabeth Ritchie (1754-1835) was born in Otley, Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of John Ritchie. She served many years as a surgeon in the navy. He was a sensible, amiable, well-informed man. He had a great taste for the beauties of nature. He feared God and received Methodist preachers by hosting them in his home. In his retirement, he went to the Wharfdale valley, a lovely village, where he married Beatrice Robinson, of Bram Hope. Then they went to Otley in 1754.

From an early age, Elizabeth was sensitive and in great pain when a relative or friend cried. Her parents were Methodists, and John Wesley often stayed at home. She was also known as Eliza Ritchie.

As a young woman she struggled with temptations. Prayer was neglected and everything went wrong. Wesley helped her with advice. One day, Wesley asked her what books she read and promised to give her a list of things he thought might be helpful to her. This seems to have been the beginning of a relationship that later turned into a close friendship.

At the age of 18, she gave her life to Jesus. She once accompanied Wesley to Birstal. Wesley asked Elizabeth how she had met the Lord. She spoke to him with an open heart and then wrote, "Indeed, this opportunity was a privilege I did not expect. I trust that I shall reap lasting benefit from it. The following Sabbath, as I pleaded with the Lord in prayer to sanctify me, He blessed me greatly, with a powerful application of that promise; I am thy God. I felt unspeakable peace; and the cry of my soul was, 'Let your love dwell in my bosom!' I was conscious that a blessed change had wrought within me. The Lord was very near, and made me truly happy in myself." [198]

"My heart was filled with love and joy,

and my lips praised him"

Richard Rodda (1743-1815) was born in Sancreed, Cornwall, England. From an early age, he developed a great consciousness of God and his sin and desired to flee from the wrath to come. His parents rejected Methodism, for they had heard that Methodists were enemies of church and state. But his sister heard a Methodist preacher and was converted.

The change in his life was so great that his mother went to listen to him and was also converted. In 1756, at the age of 13, Rodda had a strong conviction of sin.

Rodda once wrote, "The mighty power of God has come upon me; my heart was emptied of all evil, and Jesus took the whole room. I could no longer refrain from telling what God had done for my soul. My heart was filled with love and joy, and my lips praised him."

He preached, for the most part, in Cornwall, a historic site of persecution of the Methodists. He, however, overcame all and never became discouraged or doubted his calling as an itinerant preacher. He once wrote to Wesley: "I believe that in order to attain to final salvation, our faith must be productive of good works; that without complete and personal holiness, no one will see the Lord. This is so fully stated in the Word of God that I am persuaded that all the office of men and all the anger of devils cannot overthrow it."^{^[199]}

"Above all, I had an uninterrupted communion with God"

Alexander Mather (1733-1800) was born in Brechin, Scotland. He was educated rigorously and severely by his father, who was an Anglican. This led him to leave home at the age of 12 in 1745 to support the rebels against the king in the "Jacobite Revolt."

He was saved from dying in battle, and when he was saved from drowning, he felt that God had saved him for a purpose. The rebels were persecuted, and his father did not take him back. After the rebels were pardoned, his father let him return home, but did not support him in school. Mather worked with his father in the bakery. At the age of 19, he went to London, where he became a baker and was converted by Wesley's preaching.

He convinced his boss and the other London bakers to refuse to make bread on Sundays. In time, his boss became wealthy. This was seen as being for honoring Sunday.

In 1756, when he felt called to preach, Wesley told him, "To be a Methodist preacher is not the way to ease, honor, pleasure, or profit. It is a life of hard work and reproach."

To put it bluntly, Wesley said that preachers often live with scarcity and "are prone to being stoned, beaten, and abused in various ways. Consider that before engaging in such an uncomfortable way of life." He was a warrior and he accepted. Mather organized churches and his preaching about Christian perfection was powerful.

Wesley asked and Mather gave an account of his experience, which took place in 1857 in Rotherham, England:

"What I experienced in my own soul was an instantaneous deliverance from all those wrong tempers and affections which I had ... a complete detachment from every creature, with an entire devotion to God; and from that moment I found an unspeakable pleasure in doing the will of God in all things. I had also a power to do so, and the constant approval of my own conscience and of God.

I had simplicity of heart, and a single look to God, at all times and in all places, with such zeal for the glory of God and the good of souls (...). Above all, I had an uninterrupted communion with God (...)".^{^[200]}

"I find the love of God in Christ Jesus."

John Jane is considered one of the Methodist martyrs. One of the records about him is from March 1750, when Wesley, on his way to Ireland, caught up with him at Holyhead with three shillings in his pocket.

In 1776, John Jane visited Colne, the first who preached in that place. He was innocently walking through the city, when the crowd pulled him off his horse. He seized the opportunity and strongly exhorted everyone to "flee from the wrath to come." He passed away with a smile on his face. His last words were, "I find the love of God in Christ Jesus."^{^[201]}

These and other Methodist preachers were fearless, self-sacrificing, and sanctified.

Wesley's purpose was to bring the members to perfection in love

How did these Methodist preachers come to be so consecrated?

All three of these words "fearless, selfless, and sanctified" are related to perfect love:

- Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18);

- One of the marks of agape love is self-denial (1 Thessalonians 1:3);

- We must love our enemies in order to be perfect (Matthew 5:48).

The Methodists were enabled and encouraged to attain perfect love for Wesley.

During John Wesley's lifetime, the class meeting was the heart of Methodism.[202] Classes were small support discipleship groups where members were accountable to one another. They confessed their sins to one another, prayed for one another, and motivated one another to love and good works.

The only condition for entering the classes was the desire to flee from the wrath to come, to be saved from their sins.^{^[203]}

Societies organized in Methodism divided members into classes, which were grouped geographically and contained all the people in the Society. By 1742, the Society of London had over a thousand members.

Wesley guided how people should be grouped: "In order that it may be more easily discerned whether they are really working out their salvation, each society is divided into smaller groups called classes, according to their residences. There are about 12 people in each class, one of whom is appointed to be the leader."^{^[204]}

Each Methodist belonged to a class. The meeting was a sharing of the personal experience of the past week. They learned from this to have self-confidence and the ability to speak in public.

The class was a place for all people from different social backgrounds to be accepted.^{^[205]} All people confessed their faults and sought salvation and sanctification.

Wesley wrote how a person was admitted to the class and the Society: Anyone determined to save his soul could be united with the Methodists (this is the only necessary condition). But this desire was to be proved by three marks: to avoid all known sin, to do good, and to attend to all the ordinances of God.

The person was then placed in a class that was convenient for him where he spent about an hour a week. And in the next quarter, not objecting to it, he would be admitted to the Society.^{^[206]}

Classes differed from bands: they were grouped geographically rather than divided by age, sex, or marital status; they contained all the people in society, not just those who voluntarily grouped together.^{^[207]}

"The classes served as an evangelistic tool (most conversions occurred in this context) and as an agent of discipleship."^{^[208]}

Bands were small groups created to lead Methodists to perfect love. Bands were important in the process of forming the Methodist organization.^{^[209]}

The main activities of the bands "were confession and prayer; their goal was spiritual growth. The bands were homogeneous, according to the Moravian model; there were bands of women, men and even boys (...)."^{^[210]}

Bands were groups of five or six people of the same sex committed to each other and to the holy life. They met to help each other on the path to Christian perfection. These were 'deeper' groups and only about one-third of the typical Methodist society joined, or were invited to join the bands from which they shared their spiritual journeys 'unreservedly and undisguised.' John Wesley called this 'intimate conversation'. He felt that Methodism was closer to the New Testament ideal in the band meetings.^{^[211]}

Today we have lost that vision. But we can still place the emphasis on holiness, which generates perfect love and the reign of Christ in our hearts.

We can be, yes, again a Church with fearless, self-sacrificing, sanctified disciples as there was in early Methodism.

I followed love

The word "follow" in the Greek also has the sense of setting oneself in rapid motion; pursuit; following, follow the direction of (Luke 17:23); follow eagerly, earnestly strive to acquire (Rom 9:30, 31; 12:13); to advance (Phil. 3:12, 14).

(William D. Mounce)[212]

Paul directs us to follow love: "Follow love, and seek earnestly the best gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1).

The Greek word dioko (διωκω) means to follow and is used in several verses such as Mark 1:36; Hebrews 12:14, etc.

The word "follow" translated in 1 Corinthians 14:1 from the Greek dioko means to follow, to pursue, or even to hunt.^{^[213]}

It's the same word for Hebrews 12:14: "Pursue peace with all" indicating that peace is not always easy to find.

It means a hard and persistent search. Mark 1:36 describes this following in the statement: "Simon and those who were with him followed him":

"And when he arose very early in the morning, it was still dark, he went out, and went to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him. And when they found him, they said to him, 'Everyone is looking for you'" (Mark 1:35-37).

Pastor Luciano Sub in[214] his book Maturity: Access to the Full Inheritance reminds us that the apostle Paul encourages us to seek love more than the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

He says that "there is a resource available from God for this. Writing to the Romans, Paul said, 'For the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.'"^{^[215]}

After quoting Romans 5:5, Lucian Subirá says, "On the other hand, it does not depend on God alone. If that were the case, everyone would already be fully mature and grown in love. Paul signaled to the Corinthians that, just as gifts must be desired and sought, love must also be sought. Follow love, and seek earnestly for the best gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1). The word to follow is dioko (διωκω), and, according to Strong, its meaning includes: "to run quickly in order to capture a person or thing, to chase, to pursue, to follow after. By this, Paul was saying, in other words, "run after love," pursue love, run hard until you reach it.

Therefore, it is our responsibility to seek in God the resources that He makes available in order to grow in love."[216]

That was my experience with God's love. First, I received by grace a portion of that love by meditating on the Gospel of the Apostle John chapter 14. Then, each day, I sought that love in meditation on the Word in the Gospel of the beloved disciple in John chapters 14, 15, and 16. Each day that love grew by revealing my sin, healing my wounds, treating my character, bringing peace and security, etc.

It was like this for a year. The search did not stop. I went to the Source daily! Years later, a man of God said that I was baptized by love.

Lift Hetland speaks of the importance of being recipients of this love. Jesus came to show us the Father and to make us return to the Father, and to have an encounter with the Father's love, the very love that he had with experience, according to John 17:26."[217]

It is necessary to encourage the practice of love.

Jesus encouraged the disciples to love: "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another" (John 13:34).

Paul encouraged them to practice love: "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love like Christ, who also loved us and gave himself for us to God as an offering and a sacrifice with a sweet aroma" (Ephesians 5:1-2).

It is necessary to follow love, to seek love, to stimulate true love.

Paul advises: "Communicate with the saints in their needs, follow hospitality" (Romans 12:13).

The Argentine Pentecostal pastor Juan Carlos Ortiz, author of the book "The Disciple", has always encouraged communion, community life and the practice of love.

He spoke of the "mashed potato love," a mash. To explain this necessity of the practice of love, he gave the following illustration: "You go out to the potato patch and dig up all the potatoes and put them in a big bag. Now all the potatoes are the same size," but they are still individual potatoes.

Then they go to the packing shed, where they are cleaned and placed in smaller bags, and shipped to grocery stores. But despite being in smaller bags, they are still individual potatoes.

So a customer buys 5 pounds of potatoes, takes them home, peels them, and puts them in the pot. Now they're closer together. Their skin no longer separates them. But they're still individual potatoes.

It's not until they're boiled and crushed and mixed that they really become one. And that's what God wants for us. No superstar standing up and saying, 'Look how big a potato I am.' But we all mix and mix, one in Jesus Christ."[219]

Israel Belo de Azevedo[220] states: "Only the Christian can love, because only the Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Love is only possible when it is an action of the Holy Spirit in us. Outside the Spirit, we have the simulacrum (imitation) of love.

Love feeds on words, but depends on concrete actions to survive (...).

We can achieve the maximum in terms of spirituality, but if our spirituality is not motivated by love, it will not bring us closer to God. Religion will cease to be routine when it is permeated by love. Religion will cease to be a spectacle when it is motivated by love (...).

Loving people is more important than knowing the Bible and having the ability to expound it. Knowledge without love has no value

Love is the essential condition for spiritual gifts to be exercised. The gifts we are to seek cease, but love remains.

If you want to love, love God. He will enable you to love.

We need to pray to the Holy Spirit to teach us to love; without his pedagogy, we cannot be approved."^{^[221]}

We are to follow that love as Paul directs.

The church in Ephesus was already sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30), but Paul prayed that the church might go much further and fully understand and know God's love (Ephesians 3:16-19)

This outpouring of God's love by the Holy Spirit is for Christians. God has a great purpose for our lives by pouring out His love in our hearts.

Check it out in the next chapter.

The Purpose of the Outpouring of Love

"The child of God 'feels' the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit given to him'; and all his spiritual senses are then exercised to discern spiritual good and evil."

(John Wesley)

After all, why the outpouring of love?

The outpouring of love is fundamental to our lives and to the identity and mission of the Church. It is necessary to be faithful to the Word of God. Among the various benefits are:

1. The outpouring of love brings emotional healing

Paul begins by clarifying when he says, "And hope does not bring confusion, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5).

A depressed, fearful, or needy heart usually doesn't have that much hope. That person will certainly be confused by their dreams and desires.

But the Word says that "in love there is no fear, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). That is, a heart full of love has great conviction and enthusiasm.

Paul says this: "We continually remember before our God and Father what you have shown: the work that comes from faith, the effort motivated by love, and the perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

All of this as a result of the love in our hearts. Agape love in large doses brings emotional healing. We come to have a firm hope.

As we have already seen, "the Greek word for poured out is EKCHO which means: to pour out or distribute in abundance."^{^[222]}

John Wesley reminds us, "We love Him because He first loved us."[223] As love has been poured into our hearts, there is intimacy, communion with God, and we come to have a firm conviction and hope.

It is important to remember one of the experiences that Wesley and the early Methodists had with the love of God and the consequences of this outpoured love: On April 28, 1762, at a meeting of the Methodist people, the Holy Spirit poured out His love on the people present: "God poured out His Spirit abundantly upon us. Many were filled with consolation (...). God restored man to the light of His face, and gave the young girl a clear conviction of His love."[224]

Consolation and clear conviction of God's love. These are some fruits of the outpouring of love by the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

Dr. David McEwan, Dean and Professor at the Nazarene Theological College of Australia, in his article "Love, Holiness, and Happiness: The Wesleyan Recipe for Effective Mission," stated that as we allow God's love to fill the heart, our selfish, self-centered, and willful inclinations are healed and restored to their right orientation, first toward God, then toward others, and the rest of creation.^{^[225]}

The experience of Leif Hetland, founder and president of Global Mission Awareness, with the baptism of love is very relevant. This experience radically changed his life.

He reminds us that love is the essential nutrient for the spiritual growth of the Christian. According to Leif, despite being raised in a Christian family, he had an emptiness in his soul because of addictions and abuse he suffered as a teenager. The outpouring of love healed him.

He affirms that this love is available to us today.

Wesley is very clear when he reminds us that there is a way out for those who live without hope and without joy: "The storm cannot be quenched, or peace has never returned to his soul, unless meekness, gentleness, patience, or, in a word, love, take hold of it. If any man finds in himself ill-will, malice, envy, or any other temper opposed to goodness, then misery is present. The stronger the temper, the more miserable he is. The soul of the malicious or envious person is the very kind of hell—full of torment and wickedness. He already has the worm that never dies, and he is hastening to the fire that can never be quenched. The great gulf is not yet fixed between him and heaven. There is a Spirit still waiting to renew your heart in the love of God and thus lead you to eternal happiness."[226]

Repeating this last statement of Wesley, which reveals that there is hope for those who live afflicted and depressed: There is a Spirit still waiting to renew your heart in the love of God and thus lead you to eternal happiness.

2. Outpouring of love is the path to holiness

The outpouring of love is necessary for us to attain perfection and perfect love. The outpouring of love leads us to holiness, and holiness leads us to have perfect love.

Wesley said, "Entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is neither more nor less than pure love; love casts out sin, and governs both the heart and the life of a child of God." —Works, vol. vii.p.82." [227]

In his hymn "The Glorious Hope of Perfect Love," Charles Wesley makes this request to the Lord:

And with all those sanctified
Give me lots of love,
Give me lots of love.[228]

It is also important to highlight that "specifically, this experience assures the Christian of his filial relationship with God as a revelation of God's love for the son of God."[230]

For Wesley, the experience of Romans 5:5 conveys to Christians the knowledge that they are beloved sons and daughters of God.

This experience of Romans 5:5 provokes love for God, who first loved us and leads us to obey Him. Obedience is a sign of God's love in our lives.

"The children of God have "the love of God shed abroad in their hearts, overcoming the love of the world; and they have power over all sins, even those that have easily beset them."[231]

For Charles Finney, perfect love is necessary because "all actions, words, and thoughts must be continually under the entire and perfect control of love," etc.[232]

3. The outpouring of love and salvation

We know that by faith we are justified, but the practice of love gives us the assurance of salvation, for we know that we are born of God. Paul placed love above faith and hope (1 Corinthians 13:13).

It is important to remember what the apostle John wrote about the relationship between love and salvation: "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. He who does not love remains in death" (1 John 3:14).

Amy Wagner[233], in her article "Wesley on Faith, Love, and Salvation," says, "Salvation begins with love—God's love for us and our response of love to God and neighbor."[234]

It is also important to remember the Bible's warning: "Strive to live at peace with all and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is a life with a clean heart, full of love for God and neighbor.

Commenting on 1 Corinthians 13:3: "though I give all my goods to feed the poor, yes, though I give my body to be burned, and have no love, it profits me nothing," Wesley says, "The principal sense of the words is, no doubt, this: That whatever we do, and whatever we suffer, if we are not renewed in the spirit of our mind, by the 'love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us,' we cannot enter into eternal life.'[235]

How do we know if we are from God?

Wesley says, "... we love God and keep his commandments, and 'by this we know also that we are of God.'"[236]

Commenting on 1 John 4:7, Wesley says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

"Let us love one another"—Of the doctrine he has just defended, he makes this exhortation. It is by the Spirit that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Everyone who truly loves God and neighbor is born of God^."^{^[237]}

Salvation begins with love—God's love for us and our response of love to God and neighbor.[238]

4. The outpouring of love impels us to love God and perform good works

For Augustine of Hippo, God's love is poured into our hearts so that we can love God and do good works for His glory: "He who is both God and man can reconcile us to God by His blood. The Spirit then pours out God's love in our hearts, enabling us to love God and do good works for His glory."^{^[239]}

And Luther said that God must be loved "in his sufferings, needy and sick neighbors. God is thus hidden within disadvantaged humans (...)".^{^[240]}

It is important to emphasize that the works of mercy among the poor, the sick and the imprisoned practiced and taught by Wesley arose from a relational spirituality based on passionate love for God.^{^[241]}

Wesley said, "Our ability to love our neighbor and to offer loving-kindness of any kind is also not possible without our abundant faith and love in God. This is repeated several times in the Apostle's teachings. Paul writes, 'Beloved, if God has loved us, we ought to love one another.'"[242]

In his article "God's Love for Us," Presbyterian pastor Hernandes Dias Lopes describes God's love as undeserved, tested, and abundant. About Romans 5:5, he says:

"The love of God is abundant. Scripture says that the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is a kind of blessed shower of love that descends from heaven upon us, watering our lives and making us bear fruit for God."[243]

5. The outpouring of love spurs us on to save sinners

Charles Finney said that "one effect of perfect love to God and man will undoubtedly be that I will delight in self-denial for the sake of furthering the interests of the kingdom of God and the salvation of sinners."[244]

A person who has perfect love is dead to the world, says Charles Finney. And he concludes by stating the importance of seeking to be full of love: "Beloved, let our hearts be established in perfect love, and let us not rest to God until our hearts are full of love, and until our thoughts and our lives are filled with love to God and men."[245]

It is important to remember the Moravians who experienced the outpouring of the Spirit in 1727 and the love of God in their hearts. Love began to motivate them. On May 3, 1728, a slogan for the Moravians was:

It was love that instigated him from above;
It was love that forced him to leave his throne.
So let me give you love for love,
And once again, surrender to yourself.^{^[246]}

They started a worldwide missionary movement beginning in 1732. Motivated by love, Count Zinzendorf wrote:

"Urged by love to all nations
Of the fallen human race
Let's Publish Christ's Salvation
And declare his blood-bought grace;
To display and portray it,
In its form and agonizing beauty
Be our goal and pleasurable duty”.[247]

John Stott was a British Anglican pastor, known as one of the world's great names in the evangelical milieu. Author of some books, among them: "The Radical Disciple"; "How to be a Christian" and "The Truth of the Gospel".

He stated, "If we truly love our neighbor, we should surely share with him the good news of Jesus. How can we claim to love him if we know the gospel but keep it from him? Equally, however, if we truly love our neighbor, we will not stop evangelism.[248]

For him, Jesus' two instructions – "love your neighbor" – and the great commission – "Go and make disciples" – are related. If we truly love our neighbor, let's bring the Good News to our neighbor.

6. The outpouring of love enables us to love our brothers and sisters effectively

The outpouring of love drives the perfection of love. David Wilkerson teaches that love must be perfected and every believer must come to have perfect love: "... the Scriptures clearly describe a way for every believer to be able to live and serve Him without fear.

God shows us how we can live without fear in 1 John. The apostle John sums it up in one verse, "Perfect love casts out fear" (4:18). Furthermore, the apostle says, "There is no fear in love... He who fears is not made perfect in love" (same verse). In short, if we are living in fear, we can know that we are ignorant of perfect love.

Certainly, we love God, a fact that is beyond doubt. But consider what John says about perfect love at the beginning of the chapter: "If we love, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us" (4:12, italics mine). According to John, the first consideration of perfect love is unconditional love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.[249]

Charles Finney adds, "He who is both God and man can reconcile us to God by his blood. The Spirit then pours out God's love in our hearts, enabling us to love God and do good works for His glory."^{^[250]}

John Stott once wrote, "Every claim to love God is an illusion if it is not accompanied by self-sacrificing, practical love for our brothers and sisters."[251]

He went on to say, "Our love for God cannot be separated from our love for other people, because the way we show our love for Jesus is by the way we love others. The way we express our love for the Lord is especially demonstrated by the way we treat his bride, the church. It is absurd to think that a person can love Jesus, whom he has never seen, if he cannot love the people of the church—the bride of Christ—whom he can see."[252]

7. The outpouring of love perfects the relationship of sons and daughters with God the Father

According to Wesley, "this experience assures the Christian of his filial relationship with God as a revelation of God's love for the son of God."[254]

Yes, the experience of Romans 5:5 imparts to Christians the knowledge that they are beloved sons and daughters of God.

Writing about Romans 8:16, which states that the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, Wesley says, "When the Spirit of God bears witness to our spirit, we are assured that the Son of God has loved us, redeemed us, set us free, made us one again with the Lord, and our response is to love God and for the Lord's sake, to love our neighbor. After the union of our spirit with the Spirit of God, the two unite in a testimony confirming that we are children of God. For there is only one response to the confirmation of God's great love for us, we respond by offering love."[256]

According to Wesley, in order to know if a person is a child of God, the Holy Spirit must lead him to all holy temperaments and actions.

He cites the importance of the practice of love as one of the essential marks for knowing if a person is a child of God: "God has called us to be holy in heart and holy in external conversation. It is the Word of God that has instilled in us a loving heart toward God and all [of humanity], inviting us to embrace each child with sincere and tender affection, in order that we may be ready to lay down our lives for our brother [or sister, only] as Christ laid down his life for us."[257]

For these testimonies of people who marked an era with their ministry and life of love, we need to return to this theme and practice.

We live in a time when a life of financial victory is very emphasized, but we do not always have a life of testimony and life in abundance.

The Church has many challenges today and religious leaders go through great struggles to keep their sheep firm in the Church and doing God's will. But we cannot neglect God's Word and fail to follow in the footsteps of so many people who have been used tremendously by God because of the experience of the outpouring of love in their hearts.

Paul's words to the Church in Ephesus are still very current and necessary for our days: "Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, a gift offering and a sacrifice acceptable to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2).

As Bishop Paulo Lockmann said, "(...) a theme that, in addition to being current, is of decisive biblical relevance, because without love there would be no salvation: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16)."[258]

[1] Parts of stanzas from the hymn of Charles Wesley. https://finestofthewheat.org/o-glorious-hope-of-perfect-love/

[2] HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Wesley and the People Called Methodist, Editeo-Pastoral Bennett, 1996,

p.79.

[3]https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2019/february/charles-wesley-romance-love-sally-wesley.html.

[4] https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hymn-xxv-stupendous-love-of-god-most-high-2/

[5]https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2019/february/charles-wesley-romance-love-sally-wesley.html.

[6]http://historiadamusicasacra.blogspot.com/2014/11/charles-wesley-john-wesley-compositores.html

[7] http://www.juvemetodista.com.br/2012/01/hinologia-crista-um-movimento-charles.html

[8] WESLEY, John. Clear explanation of Christian perfection. São Paulo, Methodist Press, 1984, p. 34.

[9] Charles WESLEY. Short Hymns in Selected Passages of Holy Scripture. 2 volumes, 1762 in the John WESLEY newspaper (ed.). Arminian Magazine, 1779-1783. [=AJW]. http://portal.metodista.br/cew/acervo/charles-wesley-short-hymns

[10]https://portal.metodista.br/fateo/materiais-de-apoio/liturgias/arquivos-anteriores/Culto-FaTeo-2007---300-anos-de-Charles-Wesley.pdf.

[11]https://portal.metodista.br/fateo/materiais-de-apoio/liturgias/arquivos-anteriores/Culto-FaTeo-2007---300-anos-de-Charles-Wesley.pdf

[12] https://www.pensador.com/frase/MTM1ODA5OA/

[13] https://www.verdade-viva.net/divino-amor

[14] https://charleswesley.com.br/ch/index.php/category/partitura/

[15] http://hinario.org/detail.php?id=428

[16]http://hinario.org/detail.php?id=329

[17]Mildred Olive Bangs Wynkoop (born September 9, 1905 in Seattle, Washington, died May 21, 1997 in Lenexa, Kansas) was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, who served as an educator, missionary, and theologian, and the author of several books. Donald Dayton indicates that "Probably the most influential for a new generation of holiness scholars has been the work of Nazarene theologian Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, especially his book The Theology of Love: The Dynamics of Wesleyanism." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Bangs_Wynkoop

[18] https://www.catalystresources.org/a-theology-of-love/

[19] https://portal.metodista.br/fateo/noticias/AMOSTRA_DO_HMB.pdf. Version by Simei Monteiro.

[20] Op.cit., Version by Simei Monteiro.

[21] WESLEY, John. Excerpts from the Diary of John Wesley, Ibidem, p. 20.

[22] HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Wesley and the People Called Methodist, Editeo-Pastoral Bennett, 1996, p.303.

[23] WESLEY, João. Excerpts from the diary of João Wesley. Ibidem, p.215.

[24] Ditto.

[25] Ibid., p. 21.

[26] Ibid., p. 72.

[27] WESLEY, João. Excerpts from the diary of João Wesley. Ibidem, p. 22.

[28] For James Fowler, faith has stages: "When we speak of God's involvement in initiating the relationship we call faith, we usually do so—at least in the biblical tradition—in terms of the categories of revelation and grace. Perhaps the most important thing that can be said at the conclusion of this book is that our study of the development of faith so far underlines the fact that we human beings seem to have a generic vocation—a universal call—to relate to the Ground of Being in a relationship of trust and loyalty." (Stages of Faith, Ibid., p.247-8)

[29] James Fowler states that "faith is interactive and social, it requires community, language, ritual and nourishment. Faith is also shaped by initiatives that come from beyond us and from other people, initiatives of spirit or grace" (Ibid., p.10).

[30] LELIÈVRE, Mateo, Ibidem, p.64.

[31]Whitefield was born in Gloucester, England, on 12/16/1714. His parents were caretakers of the Bell Inn. The Holy Club helped him in the purpose of having a holy life. His spiritual experience was in 1735, before the Wesley brothers. He was a greater preacher than Wesley with whom he differed regarding predestination. In the Annex, we will address Whitefield's life.

[32] Benjamin Ingham belonged to the Holy Club and went to Georgia along with the Wesleys and Carlos Delamontte, another member of the Holy Club (LELIÈVRE, Mateo, Ibidem, p. 52-3).

[33] Charles Wesley was born on December 18, 1708 and wrote more than six thousand hymns, which were sung with enthusiasm by the people. In the Annex, we will talk about his life.

[34] HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Ibidem, p. 79-0.

[35]HEITZENHATER, Richard P. Ibidem, p.76. Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf was born in Dresden on May 26, 1700. His father was a high official of the Electoral Court of Saxony. His father died early and his mother remarried. He was raised by his grandmother, the pietist baroness Henrietta Catherine von Gersdorf. In the Annex, we will talk about the life of Count Zinzendorf.

[36] Ibidem.

[37] Ibid., p. 24.

[38] WESLEY, João. Excerpts from the diary of John Wesley, Ibidem, p.24.

[39] Wesley's "Mystical Experience", according to Casiano Floristán and Juan José Tamayo, is equally similar to the experiences of his companions reported above (Conceptos fundamentales del cristo, Ibidem, p.487).

[40] HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Ibid., p. 80.

[41] Ibidem.

[42] LELIÈVRE, Mateo, Ibidem, p.66.

[43] http://www.dunedinmethodist.org.nz/articles/view/my-heart-strangely-warmed/

[44] WESLEY, João. Excerpts from the diary of João Wesley. Ibidem, p.25.

[45] HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Wesley and the People Called Methodist, Editeo-Pastoral Bennett, 1996, p.303.

[46] REILY, Duncan Alexander. Brazilian and Wesleyan Methodism, Ibidem, p. 91.

[47]https://www.moumethodist.org/newsdetail/the-meaning-of-the-aldersgate-experience-11412869.

[48] WESLEY, João. Excerpts from the diary of João Wesley. Ibidem, p.25.

[49] According to Bible Study Tools, Romans 5:5 "is a PERFECT PASSIVE INDICATIVE; literally, 'the love of God has been and continues to be poured out.' This VERB was often used to refer to the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:17, 18, 33, 10:45 and Titus 3:6), which may reflect the passage in Joel 2:28-29". https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/utley/romanos/romanos5.html.

[50] http://verbodavida.org.br/lista-blogs/sa-doutrina/andando-em-amor-2/

[51] http://www.wordofgodtoday.com/romans-chapter-5/

[52] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 207.

[53] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-jesu-thy-boundless-love-to-me

[54] Ditto.

[55] Ditto.

[56]NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3 - The Works of John Wesley [vol. 2; ed. A. C. Outler; Abingdon, 1985], 433.

[57] WESLEY, John. Excerpts from the diary of John Wesley, ibidem, p. 105.

[58] Ibidem, p.97.

[59] WESLEY, John. Clear explanation of Christian perfection. Methodist Press, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, 1984, p.111.

[60]http://metodistabacacheri.com.br/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/As-marcas-do-novo-nascimento-John-Wesley.pdf

[61] ENSLEY, Francis Gerald. John Wesley, the Evangelist. São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Methodist Press. 1960. http://www.nazarenopaulista.com.br/estudos/Joao_Wesley_O_Evangelista.pdf

[62] Ditto.

[63] Henry H. Knigt III is Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Saint Paul's School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri and the author of several books, including: "From Aldersgate to Azusa Street:"; " The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace".

[64] https://www.catalystresources.org/a-theology-of-love/

[65] WESLEY, John. Clear explanation of Christian perfection. Methodist Press, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, 1984, p.53.

[66] https://www.asbury.edu/about/spiritual-vitality/faith/wesleyan-holiness-theology/

[67] https://portal.metodista.br/fateo/materiais-de-apoio/liturgias/arquivos-anteriores/Culto-FaTeo-2007---300-anos-de-Charles-Wesley.pdf

[68] http://www.chamadoaoevangelho.com.br/2015/06/john-wesley.html

[69] SMITH, J.Warren. "Being Open to the Spirit of God: Wesley's Theology on the Means of Grace" - https://wesleyancovenant.org/2018/05/17/being-open-to-the-spirit-of-god-wesleys-theology-of-the-means-of-grace/

[70] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[71] https://www.biblesnet.com/john-wesley-way-of-the-kingdom.pdf.

[72] Idem.pdf

[73] WESLEY, John. Clear explanation of Christian perfection. Methodist Press, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, 1984, p.101.

[74] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 207.

[75] https://newfangled.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/john-wesley-and-the-power-of-the-spirit/

[76] https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6401/the-wesleys-holiness-and-life-in-the-spirit.

[77]NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[78] Ditto.

[79]Professor of Physics and amateur theologian. Interested in experience as foundational to theology. Master of Arts in Theological Studies (2017) – Briercrest Seminary, Caronport SK. Thesis: Cognitive Idolatry and the Trinity in Philosophy by Paul K. Moser. MA in Physics (2008) – Royal Military College, Kingston ON. Thesis: Extending the London Theory to Include Stable Electric Fields in Superconductivity. Bachelor of Science with Combined Honours in Mathematics and Physics (2007) – Royal Military College, Kingston ON. - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3. https://hcommons.org/members/bnasmith/.

[80] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[81] Ditto.

[82] WESLEY, John. Clear explanation of Christian perfection. Methodist Press, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, 1984, p.90.

[83] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[84] http:// thomasjayoord.com/index.php /blog/arghives/john

[85] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[86] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[87] Ditto.

[88] Ditto.

[89] Ditto.

[90] WESLEY, John. "The Biblical Means of Salvation" in Wesley's Sermons. Second volume, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Methodist Press, 1981, p.354.

[91] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[92] Idem.,

[93] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 208.

[94] https://blog.umcdiscipleship.org/holiness-of-heart-and-life-part-3-of-6/

[95] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[96] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3em.

[97] Ditto.

[98] BURTNER, Robert W.; CHILES, Robert E. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. JGEC. São Paulo: Methodist Press, 1960, p.207.

[99] https://quizlet.com/24221860/wesleys-favorite-scriptures-flash-cards/

[100]https://deadheroesdontsave.com/2014/01/15/john-wesley-1-john-favorite-book-impact-theology/

[101] https://wesleyanarminian.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/the-bible-and-john-wesley/

[102] https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/inner-man-inward-man

[103] https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/inward-man/

[104] Ditto.

[105] https://faithcometh.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/the-hidden-man-of-the-heart/

[106] www.teologica.net/revista/index.php/teologicaonline/article/view/89/94

[107] https://novavidaemamor.com/o-significado-bblico-teolgico-do-corao-nas-escrituras/

[108] www.teologica.net/revista/index.php/teologicaonline/article/view/89/94

[109]ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, "Vision of John Wesley," by Rev. D. A. Whedon - http://media.sabda.org/alkitab-6/wh2-hdm/hdm0212.pdf After being filled with love, there is no more interruption of it than of the beating of his

[110] Ditto.

[111] http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/entire.htm

[112] https://www.soulshepherding.org/warming-cold-hearts-gods-love-john-wesley/

[113] Ditto.

[114] https://www.agodman.com/blog/our-regenerated-spirit-inner-man-indwelling-christ-person/

[115] http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2018/11/luther-law-and-love.php

[116] Idem.,

[117]Christian Love: The Key to Wesley's Ethics by Leon O. Hynson. archives.gcah.org/.../Methodist-History-1975-10-Hynson.pdf?

[118]http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-333

[119]The Heidelberg Disputation took place in the reading hall of the Augustinian order of Heidelberg on 25 April 1518. It was here that Martin Luther, as a delegate of his order, had the first opportunity to articulate his reformist views. In defense of his theses, which culminated in a contrast between divine love and profane (human) love,[2] Luther defended the doctrine of human depravity and the imprisonment of will (as opposed to free will). https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputa_de_Heidelberg

[120] https://world.regent-college.edu/leading-ideas/the-reformation-of-love

[121] Ditto.

[122] Ditto.

[123] https://estudos.gospelmais.com.br/prefacio-da-epistola-aos-romanos-por-lutero.html

[124] http://thinkingtheologian1.blogspot.com/2014/01/luther-and-holy-spirit-in-catechisms.html

[125] Ditto.

[126] Ditto.

[127] Ditto.

[128] http://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/martin-luther-on-the-holy-spirit/

[129] https://www.letras.mus.br/martin-lutero/744947/

[130] https://www.letras.com.br/martin-lutero/perfeita-alegria

[131]http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-333

[132] http://www.augsburgfortress.org/media/downloads/9781451487725_Chapter1.pdf

[133] The Oxford Handbook of Ethological Ethics, G. Meilaender, W. Werpehowski, 2007, p. 456. www.maranathamedia.com/.../for-the-love-of-god-eros-agape-and-carit...

[134] faje.edu.br/periodicos/index.php/pensar/article/viewFile/2775/2952

[135] https://www.revistamirabilia.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2010_02_05.pdf

[136] https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1ritas

[137] http://maranathamedia.com/article/view/for-the-love-of-god-eros-agape-and-caritas-

[138] https://www.revistamirabilia.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2010_02_05.pdf

[139] https://www.revistamirabilia.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2010_02_05.pdf

[140] LOVE IN POLITICS: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN HANNAH ARENDT AND SAINT AUGUSTINE, by Renato Augusto Carneiro Jr. https://revistas.ufpr.br/historia/article/view/11324.

[141] The Jerusalem Bible - https://www.bibliacatolica.com.br/la-biblia-de-jerusalen-vs-biblia-ave-maria/i-corintios/13/ - and the Catholic Bible Online - https://www.bibliacatolica.com.br/biblia-ave-maria/i-corintios/13/ - translate love as charity.

[142] https://www.ceismael.com.br/filosofia/santo-agostinho-e-espiritismo.htm

[143] The King James Bible, also known as the Authorized King James Version, is an English translation of the Bible made for the benefit of the Anglican Church under King James I in the early 17th century being considered one of the most important books for the development of English culture and language. https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%ADblia_do_Rei_Jaime

[144] http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/spiritual-life-studies/the-essence-of-loving-god; https://banneroftruth.org/media/flippingbook/CrossPulpitofGodsLove/5/.

[145] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo

[146]https://wesleyancovenant.org/2018/05/17/being-open-to-the-spirit-of-god-wesleys-theology-of-the-means-of-grace/

[147] https://books.google.com.br/books?isbn=852750796X

[148] http://www.readingaugustine.com/?p=310

[149] http://thomasjayoord.com/index.php/blog/archives/beyond_wynkoops_love_language

[150] http://cprf.co.uk/articles/covenant3.htm

[151] http://www.thefoundrycommunity.com/holiness-and-tragic-necessity/

[152] http://www.filosofia.com.br/historia_show.php?id=42

[153] https://books.google.com.br/books?isbn=0889202036

[154]https://www.contioutra.com/15-licoes-de-vida-importantes-que-santo-agostinho-nos-deixou/

[155] https://www.epochtimes.com.br/conheca-origem-palavra-sincero/

[156] https://www.epochtimes.com.br/conheca-origem-palavra-sincero/

[157] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 208.

[158] http://pensarteologico.blogspot.com/2009/12/exegese-de-efesios-522-33.html

[159] NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[160] Ditto.

[161] Ditto.

[162] It is true that in some biblical texts we see that the word phileo was used to speak of the Father's love for Jesus (John 5:20; 16:27), but most biblical texts show that God's love for Jesus, for those who believe, and for humanity was agape (Matthew 3:17; John 3:16; John 17:26; John 14:21). http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/love.htm.

[163] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15&version=MOUNCE

[164]https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro,_o_Ap%C3%B3stolo; https://www.abiblia.org/ver.php?id=3120

[165] Steven W. Manskar, A Perfect Love: Understanding John Wesley, "A Simple Account of Christian Perfection," (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2004), 41.

[166] http://www.ccmc.org.sg/4-great-emphases-of-methodist-christianity

[167]http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/what-did-john-wesley-mean-by-moving-on-to-perfection

[168] https://www.catalystresources.org/a-theology-of-love/4

[169] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 210.

[170] http://www.craigladams.com/Books/Wesley/page6/

[171] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 205.

[172] https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=wes&b=62&c=4

[173] https://www.craigladams.com/Books/Wesley/page6/ - Works, vol. vii.p.82

[174]http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-139-on-love/

[175] http://thomasjayoord.com/index.php/blog/archives/john.

[176] Wesley, Sermon 43, "The Biblical Way of Salvation," § 9, in Sermons II, 2:160.

[177] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley, op. cit, p. 213.

[178] Op,cit, p.210.

[179] https://www.craigladams.com/Books/page335/page343/

[180] Idem. Wesley's Sermons, Vol. VI.

[181] Ditto.

[182] Dr. Joseph Dongell is a professor of biblical studies and director of Greek studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, where he served for more than 25 years. He is an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church. https://secure.wesleyan.org/3095/three-waves-from-wesley-3rd-of-4-installments.

[183] https://secure.wesleyan.org/3095/three-waves-from-wesley-3rd-of-4-installments

[184] Polycarp was a bishop of the church of Smyrna in the II.De according to the work "Martyrdom of Polycarp", he was stabbed when he was tied to a stake to be burned alive and the flames miraculously did not touch him. Polycarp had been a disciple of the apostle John, a fact attested by Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons,[ who heard him speak as a young man, and by Tertullian - https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policarpo_de_Esmirna

[185] Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0136.htm

[186] http://imelmirandopolis.com.br/o-carater-de-um-metodista/

[187]https://wesleyancovenant.org/2018/05/17/being-open-to-the-spirit-of-god-wesleys-theology-of-the-means-of-grace/

[188] Ditto.

[189] https://www.craigladams.com/Books/Wesley/page6/

[190] Ditto.

[191] http:// bible.christiansunite.com/wes.cgi?b=Ro&c=5

[192] WESLEY, João. The Marks of a Methodist. Published by the Publishing Department, São Paulo, [n.d.], p.3.

[193] BUYERS, Paul Eugene. Diário de João Wesley. São Paulo, Imprensa Metodista, 1965, p.192.

[194] WESLEY, João. Excerpts from the diary of John Wesley. Translated by Paul Eugene Buyers. São Paulo: Imprensa Metodista, 1965, p.124.

[195] Idem, p; 126.

[196] Idem, p. 128.

[197] Idem, p.87.

[198] http://www.mymethodisthistory.org.uk/page_id__731.aspx

http://archives.gcah.org/bitstream/handle/10516/9966/Methodist-History-2017-10-Maddox.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18759267

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofmrseliz00bulm

[199] http://weeklywesley.blogspot.com.br/2011/03/richard-rodda-methodist-preacher.html

http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/cetf2007/wesleybro39.html

http://holinesslibrary.com/index/htec/r/richard-rodda/

http://archival-classic.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemdetailpaged.aspx?itemid=411760

http://www.mymethodisthistory.org.uk/page_id__731.aspx

http://archives.gcah.org/bitstream/handle/10516/9966/Methodist-History-2017-10-Maddox.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18759267

[200] *The Jacobite uprisings, a series of insurrections, rebellions, and battles in the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland that took place between 1688 and 1746. The insurrections were intended to restore James II of England, and later the descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by Parliament during the Glorious Revolution. The origin of the name of the series of conflicts is in Jacobus, the Latin form of the English name James. Although each Jacobite uprising had unique characteristics, they were part of a larger series of Jacobite military campaigns, even called the Jacobite War, in an attempt to restore the Stuart kings to the thrones of Scotland and England

Source: (https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantes_jacobitas).

http://holinesslibrary.com/index/htec/m/alexander-mather/

https://www.francisasburytriptych.com/alexander-mather/

http://weeklywesley.blogspot.com.br/2010/11/alexander-mather-methodist-preacher.html

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw64790/Alexander-Mather

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/search-resources/guide-to-special-collections/methodist/using-the-collections/biographicalindex/mcallum-mylne/header-title-max-32-words-365421-en.htm.

[201] Rev. J. Wesley's. The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. , Volume II, Journal, May, 1776 and april, 1776. New York, 1837. Numerous Translations and Notes by John Emory.

[202] http://www.goforthall.org/articles/jw_dscplshp.html

[203] Ditto.

[204] BURTNER, Robert; CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley, ibidem, p.264.

[205] http://www.nph.com/nphweb//html/ht/article.jsp?id=10008759

[206] http://www.andrewthompson.com/

[207] HEITZENHATER, Richard P. Wesley and the people called Methodist. Editeo- Pastoral Bennett, 1996, p.104.

[208] http://www.disciplewalk.com/files/Joel_Comiskey_Methodist.pdf.

[209] LELIÈVRE, Mateo. João Wesley, Sua vida e obra. Editora Vida, 1997, p.118.

[210] There were several societies in England. Wesley and other leaders of the Holy Club led some, but they were not necessarily considered Methodist (HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Ibidem, p.103).

[211] http://blogs.nazarene.org/rev4/2011/04/02/the-bands.

[212] William D. Mounce is the son of noted scholar Robert H. Mounce. He lives as a writer in Washougal, Washington. He is the President of BiblicalTraining, a nonprofit organization that provides educational resources for discipleship in the local church. He also runs Teknia, a website committed to helping people learn biblical Greek. On his personal website, he writes three blogs.

[213] https://books.google.com.br/books?isbn=8566217675.

[214] Married to Kelly, father of 2 children: Israel and Lissa. Pastor of the Alcance Community in Curitiba/PR, Brazil, and responsible for Orvalho. Com - a ministry of biblical teaching to the Body of Christ. Pastor Luciano Subirá has ministered in meetings of the Methodist Church. https://www.facebook.com/pg/LucianoSubira/about/?ref=page_internal

[215] https://books.google.com.br/books?isbn=8576896443

[216] Idem.,

[217]http://www.yousubtitles.com/Supernatural-Baptism-of-Love-Leif-Hetland-Sid-Roths-Its-Supernatural-id-720459

[218] William D. Mounce - https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/dioko

[219] https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/9043/juan-carlos-ortiz-calls-that-mashed-potato-by-melvin-newland.

[220] Israel Belo de Azevedo, graduated in communication, postgraduate in history and theology and doctor in philosophy, has several books released in the areas of philosophy, history, culture and theology, including Christian Apologetics and The Fruit of the Spirit, published by Edições Vida Nova. A journalist since 1970, he is pastor of the Itacuruçá Baptist Church, in Tijuca, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. He was a professor and director of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Brazil and vice-rector of the Gama Filho University. https://vidanova.com.br/54_israel-belo-de-azevedo

[221]http://www.prazerdapalavra.com.br/mensagens/por-livros-da-biblia/novo-testamento/350-galatas/galatas-5/4281-galatas-522-o-amor-no-espirito-santo-o-fruto-do-espirito-2

[222] http://verbodavida.org.br/lista-blogs/sa-doutrina/andando-em-amor-2/

[223] BURTNER, Robert - CHILES, Robert. Collection of the Theology of John Wesley. General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Press, 1960, p. 207.

[224] WESLEY, John. Excerpts from the diary of John Wesley, ibidem, p. 105.

[225] David McEwan, Ph.D.Academic Dean and Director of Research, Associate Professor of Theology and Pastoral Theology, Nazarene Theological College (Brisbane, Australia); Director of the Australasian Wesleyan Research Centre. Dr. McEwan has pastored Nazarene churches in Scotland, England, and Australia before becoming Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at Nazarene Theological College, Brisbane, in 1997. http://www.mwrc.ac.uk/david-mcewan; https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:373739/UQ373739_OA.pdf.[226] https://eurekaimpact.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/the-timely-ominous-message-of-john-wesley-is-more-relevant-today-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-that-only-love-can-heal-our-human-woundedness-and-our-broken-world/

[227] http://www.craigladams.com/Books/Wesley/page6/

[228] https://finestofthewheat.org/o-glorious-hope-of-perfect-love/

[229]NASMITH, Ben - https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[230] Ditto.

[231] Ditto.

[232] Ditto.

[233] Director of Congregational Development and Revitalization at WPAUMC, United Methodist, USA - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-wagner-02b31725.

[234] https://www.catalystresources.org/wesley-on-faith-love-and-salvation/

[235] http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-139-on-love/

[236] BURTNER, Robert – CHILES, Robert – The Collection of the Theology of John Wesley, op.ct, p.205.

[237] https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=wes&b=62&c=4

[238] https://www.catalystresources.org/wesley-on-faith-love-and-salvation/

[239] http://cprf.co.uk/articles/covenant3.htm

[240]http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-333

[241] https://www.catalystresources.org/wesley-on-faith-love-and-salvation/

[242] http://wsumc.com/multimedia-archive/gods-love-fallen-man/

[243] http://ipb.org.br/cada-dia/o-amor-de-deus-por-nos-3783

[244] http://www.avivamientos.net/pt/livros/finney/finney11.html

[245] Ditto.

[246] http://countzinzendorf.ccws.org/moravians/index.html

[247] http://womenofchristianity.com/the-moravian-revival-1727-by-oswald-j-smith/

[248] https://studyandliturgy.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/john-stott-on-being-missional/

[249] https://worldchallenge.org/content/living-without-fear

[250] http://cprf.co.uk/articles/covenant3.htm

[251] http://vitalchurch.online/2017/03/05/john-stott-love/

[252] Ditto.

[253]NASMITH, Ben -https://medium.com/@BNasmith/john-wesley-on-the-love-of-god-shed-abroad-in-our-hearts-9b9c45cf66b3

[254] Ditto.

[255] Ditto.

[256] http://wsumc.com/multimedia-archive/witness-of-the-spirit/[257] Ditto.

[258] Preface to this book "Outpouring of Love, Its Urgency for Our Days".

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Biblioteca Digital Wesleyana - O mundo é a minha paróquia

In the titles and verses of Charles Wesley's hymns, we see the depth in which he understood God and His love. He wrote about the "Almighty God of love"; Come, sovereign love, Jesus"; "Almighty God of truth and love"; O glorious hope of perfect love!"; "Stupendous love of the Most High God! " etc.

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