Wesley's Sermon 26: Upon Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, Discourse 6

[This is a post on one of John Wesley's Sermons as part of the Getting to Know John series. See the other posts here.] This is the sixth of John Wesley's thirteen sermons on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7). In this message, Wesley moves into chapter 6 of Matthew, which he says represents Jesus' shift from describing characteristics of true inward religion to now teaching us how we can make all of our outward actions holy: by having "pure and holy intentions."

This message covers Matthew 6:1-15, where Jesus warns not to give or pray like the hypocrites do, but that we should do all things to please God alone, rather than seeking to be seen by others. After describing how not to pray, Jesus gives a model of how we should pray, which we have come to call The Lord's Prayer.

Wesley's sermon is basically a verse-by-verse exploration of this passage. So, even if you're not a strange one like me who would normally read all of the way through one of his sermons, this would be a good one to print and have in your Bible as you do your own study and reflection on this passage (either the full text or the outline- both are linked below). Wesley's explanation of The Lord's Prayer will certainly add depth to your own practice of praying it, whether alone or together in worship.

To dig in further to this message: