One more story from Lives of Early Methodist Preachers. Today’s is the remarkable story of Thomas Walsh, born in 1730 to devout Catholic parents. Wesley himself said of him, "I do not remember ever to have known a man who, in so few years as he remained upon earth, was the instrument of converting so many sinners." That's quite the commendation, and Walsh's short life shows exactly why he earned it.
A conscience that wouldn't settle
From the age of sixteen, Walsh felt what he called a strong conviction of sin. He confessed to his priest, added fasting to his prayers, and bound himself with oaths to renounce his sins, but none of it brought him any peace. It was walking alone in a field one day that clarity finally came to him. He wrote, "It occurred to my mind that on God alone I could safely venture my salvation; and that, without doubt, He would lead me by His counsel, if I asked wisdom of Him." From that day, he prayed to God alone, rather than using priests as his intermediaries.
Leaving everything he'd been taught
This cost him dearly. He publicly renounced his Catholicism, to his father's fury, and began attending the Church of England instead. Soon after, he heard a Methodist preaching in the open air, a sight he'd never witnessed before, and something in the message spoke to him. He tested what he heard against Scripture and found it true. Four months he joined the Methodists, and described it as a moment of overwhelming assurance: "My heart melted like wax. I was constrained to cry out, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul... for He hath forgiven all mine iniquity, and healed all my diseases.'"
A short life, fully spent
From there Walsh gave himself entirely to preaching, often in Irish, walking thirty miles at a stretch to reach people in their own tongue. He was imprisoned, mocked by priests who claimed he'd stolen his learning, and opposed at every turn, yet multitudes kept coming to hear him. He later taught himself Hebrew and Greek so he could understand Scripture more fully, and it was said that a book was rarely out of his hand. But his learning was never for its own sake. It was fuel for a fire that was already burning.
Sadly, that fire didn't burn for long. Walsh died at just twenty-eight, having spent the last two years of his life preaching almost exclusively on sanctification – or Christian perfection. His final words, spoken with what the book describes as the joy of angels, were, "He is come! My beloved is mine, and I am His! His for ever!"
Walsh didn’t have a long ministry. What he had was total surrender in the years he was given. Now let me ask you some questions, friends. Is it time to leave behind a religious system that’s doing nothing for your soul? Will you build your life on what God's Word says when you test it for yourself?
Walsh's commitment cost him his family's approval and, in the end, his life. It also made him, in Wesley's own words, one of the most fruitful preachers of his generation.
May our commitment be complete, like that of Thomas Walsh.
The moving true story of Thomas Walsh, a young Irishman who left the Church of Rome to follow Christ and became one of the most fruitful Methodist preachers of his generation before dying young. A powerful word on surrender and truth.