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Susannah Ansley Wesley

Exposition on Hebrews 11:13

 

SUSANNAH ANSLEY WESLEY

Text: "The Rod and Reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his Mother to shame." --Proverbs 29:15

WHAT IT WAS SHE DID: She reared a considerable family for God. Twelve of her 19 children died in their infancy or childhood, but of the remaining seven, John and his brother Charles have left their mark indelibly on the corridors of time.

HOW DID SHE DO IT? Listen to her --

"In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will and bring it to an obedient temper. To inform the understanding is a work of time...but the subjugating the will is a thing which must be done at once and the sooner the better.... I insist upon conquering the will of children early because this is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education. When this is thoroughly done, then a child is capeable of being governed by the reason and piety of his parents.... As self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after wretchedness and irreligion.

"The one grand impediment to our temporal and eternal happiness (is) this self-will; therefore no indulgence of it can be trivial, no denial unprofitable....The parent who studies to subdue it in his child works together with God....The parent who indulges it does the Devil’s work, makes religion impracticable, salvation unattainable and does all that in him lies to damn his child, soul and body, forever.

"By neglecting timely correction, children will contract stubbornness and obstinacy which are hardly ever after conquered, and never without using such severity as would be as painful to me as to the child....Whenever a child is corrected, he must be conquered, and this will be no hard matter to do if it be not grown headstrong by too much indulgence."

WHAT WAS HER METHOD? She started them reading by turning to Genesis 1:1. They were taught to spell the verse syllable by syllable, then word by word. They read it over and over before progressing to the next verse. Within three months time, her children were reputed to be better readers than most women in all their lifetime. She started a school for her family in her home. School was never interrupted even by visitors, business, or accidents in the family. Hymns opened and closed each teaching session. Perfect order was maintained. Rising and leaving the room was pardonable only for necessities.

She made manners a part o£ education. Running into the yard, the garden, or the street without permission was a capital offence. All her children were taught to be respectful even to the lowest of servants, and if a servant allowed bad manners, HE was reprimanded. Rudeness was always punished.

When the children were told to go to bed, neither a sigh nor a pout was tolerated. Promises were strictly kept, too. There was not even the invasion of property for as much as the value of a pin.

 THE EDUCATION SHE GAVE HER CHILDREN RESTED FIRMLY UPON THE WORD OF TRUTH.

"To open the mind to human science," wrote Richard Watson, "to awaken the pleasures of taste, and to decorate the external man with all the adornings of a civil and refined life might be sufficient to occupy the office of education were there no God, no Saviour, and no

future life. Were this life not a state of probation, had man no peace to make with his God, no law of His to obey, no pardon to solicit from His mercy --then this would be education. But most affectingly deficient will the knowledge of that youth be found, and negligent in the highest possible degree must they be considered who have charge of his early years, if his mind be left unoccupied by other subjects and unfamiliarized to higher considerations."

This was the wisdom of Susannah Wesley. She knew every child to have a soul and that this soul was fallen in Adam; thus it had to be instructed in all that relates to his responsibility to God and his necessary preparations for the life to come.

WHEN DID SHE TEACH THEM? Before they could kneel or speak she taught them to ask for a blessing upon their food by appropriate signs. In this way they would realize their dependence upon God.

As soon as they could speak they were taught prayers.

When rising each morning and retiring each night, they prayed the Lord’s Prayer; and when they were older, they added a short prayer for their parents, a short catechism on Bible doctrines, and portions of Scriptures as their memory could bear.

As soon as they were able to understand, the Lord’s Day was distinguished from other days. They were taught a reverence for the assembly of believers by constant attendance, as well as to be quiet and of a devout behavior during worship.

WHAT WAS IT SHE TAUGHT THEM? She taught her children Bible doctrines. She gave them a thorough theological training that they would be able to give a reason for their beliefs. To do this she prepared a doctrinal manual. She taught them the existence of God as seen from the creation of matter, as seen from the arrangement of the world, and also as seen from the stability in the order of nature. She taught the existence of God as seen from the constitution of the human being and at the same time ably refuted the theory of the eternity of matter, the theory of chance, and the theory that creation occurred by a "fortuitous concourse of atoms."

She taught the absolute perfection of the Divine attributes, while she discussed the defectiveness of the light of nature, the evil of sin, the necessity of the atonement, the value of the Scriptures, the creation and fall of the angels, and the formation of man. She discussed the probation of the first human pair, their temptation and fall, the effect of their fall upon their posterity, the provisions for redemption, the nature of faith in Christ --and in addition, she prepared a searching exposition of the Ten Commandments.

-To Be Continued-

AN EXPOSITION: HEBREWS 11:13

From the text it is clear --

I. That there is a distinction made between those who die "in the faith" and those who do not.

II. That this distinction is shown by the way they have lived.

III. That the faith in which these people died is the faith that maintains God will perform His promises.

IV. That though the people mentioned in the text had not yet "received" the promises, yet God caused them to see them "afar off."

V. That on account of His having given them to see "afar off", God then Caused them to be "persuaded" of them.

VI. That the proof we have they were "persuaded" of them is that they "embraced" them.

VII. That they did not quietly embrace them as a kind of "secret believer", but rather on account of their faith they "confessed" themselves to be "strangers and pilgrims" on the earth.

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