The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 255

that had settled down on the church, hiding the atonement, robbing
Christ of His glory, and turning the minds of men from their only hope
of salvation—the blood of the crucified Redeemer.
Wesley and his associates were led to see that true religion is seated
in the heart, and that God’s law extends to the thoughts as well as to the
words and actions. Convinced of the necessity of holiness of heart, as
well as correctness of outward deportment, they set out in earnest upon
a new life. By the most diligent and prayerful efforts they endeavored
to subdue the evils of the natural heart. They lived a life of self-denial,
charity, and humiliation, observing with great rigor and exactness every
measure which they thought could be helpful to them in obtaining what
they most desired—that holiness which could secure the favor of God.
But they did not obtain the object which they sought. In vain were their
endeavors to free themselves from the condemnation of sin or to break its
power. It was the same struggle which Luther had experienced in his cell
at Erfurt. It was the same question which had tortured his soul—“How
should man be just before God?” Job 9:2.
The fires of divine truth, well-nigh extinguished upon the altars
of Protestantism, were to be rekindled from the ancient torch handed
down the ages by the Bohemian Christians. After the Reformation,
Protestantism in Bohemia had been trampled out by the hordes of Rome.
All who refused to renounce the truth were forced to flee. Some of these,
finding refuge in Saxony, there maintained the ancient faith. It was from
the descendants of these Christians that light came to Wesley and his
associates.
John and Charles Wesley, after being ordained to the ministry, were
sent on a mission to America. On board the ship was a company of
Moravians. Violent storms were encountered on the passage, and John
Wesley, brought face to face with death, felt that he had not the assurance
of peace with God. The Germans, on the contrary, manifested a calmness
and trust to which he was a stranger.

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