The great horse-riding founder of the Methodist movement also had a providential encounter with a highway man.

John Wesley seemed to be a protected man. He rode 250,000 miles on horseback to preach the Gospel. It was a dangerous time on the highways. He should have encountered highway men far more frequently. But he seemed to be protected.

However, there was one time this protection seemed to fail.

With a gun at his head, John Wesley could do little except pass over the contents of his wallet.

As the highway man was about to disappear, Wesley said, “Young man! The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin.”

And with that the young man was gone.

Do you remember?

Years later John Wesley met a clergyman. “Do you remember a highway man at so-and-so?” The clergyman asked.

“I certainly do,” the Methodist preacher replied.

“I was that highway man,” the clergyman confessed. “The words you said to me that night burned into my soul. It lead to my conversion and I became a minister.”

What an amazing consequence from just one sentence! Wesley may have willing faced armed robbery every day if each time it produced such a dramatic result.

Phil Ward. Thanks to adventist.fm