John Wesley's Classic Sermon
excerpts from "General Deliverance"

[John Wesley - 1703-1791]
"If the Creator and Father of every living thing is rich in mercy towards all; if he does not overlook or despise any of the works of his own hands; if he wills even the [lowliest] of them to be happy, according to their degree; how comes it to pass, that such a complication of evils oppresses, yea, overwhelms them? How is it that misery of all kinds overspreads the face of the earth? This is a question which has puzzled the wisest philosophers in all ages: And it cannot be answered without having recourse to the oracles of God. But, taking these for our guide we may inquire,
I. What was the original state of the brute creation?
II. In what state is it at present? And,
III. In what state will it be at the manifestation of the children of God?"

". . . . What then is the barrier between men and brutes? The line which they cannot pass . . . . was not reason.   . . . But it is this: Man is capable of [knowing] God; the inferior creatures are not."

". . . . Thus, 'as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; even so death passed upon all men;" and not on man only, but on . . . [animals] . . . .  And not death alone came upon them, but all of its train of preparatory evils; pain, and ten thousand sufferings. . . . During this season of vanity, not only the feebler creatures are continually destroyed by the stronger; not only the strong are frequently destroyed by those that are of equal strength; but both the one and the other are exposed to the violence and cruelty of him that is now their common enemy, -- man."

". . . . let the plain word of God take place. They "shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into glorious liberty," -- even a measure, according as they are capable, -- of "the liberty of the children of God . . . . The whole brute creation will then, undoubtedly be restored . . . . no rage will be found in any creature, no fierceness, no cruelty, or thirst for blood . . . . they will suffer no more."

"One more excellent end may undoubtedly be answered by the preceding considerations. They may encourage us to imitate Him [THE GOOD SHEPHERD] whose mercy is over all his works. They may soften our hearts towards the [lowly] creatures, knowing that the Lord care for them. It may enlarge our hearts towards those poor creatures, to reflect that, as vile as they appear in our eyes, not one of them is forgotten in the sight of our Father which is in heaven. Through all the vanity to which they are now subjected, let us look to what God hath prepared for them. Yea, let us habituate ourselves to look forward, beyond this present scene of bondage, to the happy time when they will be delivered there-from into the liberty of the children of God."