Lord, as we have been considering Your unfailing love this morning, it has brought forth a spirit of worship and adoration unto You. Lord, each one of us, in a very personal way, is here because of Your unfailing love. We are kept by that unfailing love.
Even as we have reflected upon history, we see Your unfailing love truly coming in through situations that were impossible with man, but not with You.
Lord, today, as we continue on, we are looking unto You for Your blessing and Your anointing upon this time—for seeing beyond just the facts of history, to capture the spirit and essence of it; to be encouraged by those who have gone before us; to be exhorted by things we see that are not according to Your will; and to have that ear to hear what You are saying to us in these last days.
So we do present ourselves to You, looking to You to anoint this time and allow Your Spirit to lead us into all that You have for us. In Your precious name, amen.
Let us start this morning by looking at Ephesians 3. These are the same verses we had last time because we are continuing this morning in the nineteenth century.
In Ephesians 3:17-19, these verses capture the very essence of the nineteenth century, because we see so much of what God did through the width and length and height and depth of His love being manifested throughout believers and throughout this world.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
With that goal there—the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, so that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God—this is what He is after. This will be the final culmination of that, that we all are filled with that fullness when we behold Him face to face. We are thankful for that.
There is also a warning in the next chapter, Ephesians 4:14-16. After Paul has continued to share of this blessing into which we have been brought, he says:
That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, even Christ;
from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth,
according to the working in due measure of each several part,
maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
Paul is warning us here, particularly in verse 14, because he is very aware of things that can lead us astray—some in blatant ways and some in very subtle ways. Through the many winds of doctrine that blow here and there, the trickery of men, and the craftiness of deceitful scheming, we see many different ways, tragically, that believers have been led astray.
But he brings us back to being in fellowship, in truth and love, and growing up in all aspects. I appreciate the words all aspects, because most times people are led astray because they simply focus on one aspect of Christ. That one aspect suddenly becomes the thing.
We are thankful for the many unspeakable aspects of Christ that our brothers shared at the table. But if we focus on only one of those, we are going to live an unbalanced life. It will leave us open to going astray from what is originally upon God’s heart—His intent and purpose that together we go on into the fullness of what He is calling us to.
We will see that happening during this century also. One thing we see throughout church history is that whenever there is a great move of God, there is a counteraction of the enemy to try to lead people astray, whether blatantly or subtly.
Verse 16 speaks of the whole body. I love the comprehensiveness of this verse: the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies—not just some. He has that desire for every joint to be supplying, according to the proper working of each individual part.
Each of us has a part in this. There is a call; it is not just left to a few. There is a call upon each one of us. As we respond to His love, the fruit of that love is growing up together in Him.
As we continue in this nineteenth century, I want to use these verses as our foundation for considering things today. We started on the nineteenth century last time, and we looked at the first two issues.
We looked at the great increase of burden concerning worldwide missions, throughout the world, and also at many independent groups throughout the United States, Europe, and Britain, including the Brethren.
Today, we want to look at:
In a very wonderful way, we want to see God’s great faithfulness.
As I mentioned, whenever the Lord is doing a great work, the enemy comes in also with counterfeits and attacks. During the nineteenth century, we see some of the tools of the enemy.
From a worldly point of view, we have both evolution and communism coming about. Evolution did great damage to the minds and hearts of many concerning the question of who the Creator is and the whole matter of creation. We are still wrestling with that today.
Communism spread throughout the world, and at its very heart it denies the existence of God. We see that this permeates so many ways of thinking, philosophies, and works that are going on.
Within the so-called Christian category, it is interesting that many sources include Christian Science, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons. They will speak of these as Christian sects. I think most of us are aware that there are fundamental flaws in these movements, and that they are counterfeit movements leading people astray from the real heart of God.
Now, I do want to be careful here. We know that in every situation—and we have talked about the Roman Catholic Church, and we will talk about some of these others—there are believers in those churches. What we are speaking about is the system itself.
It is amazing how, within these various groups, we can find believers. How they stay there, I do not know. That is not my job. But they are there, so we have to be careful with carte blanche applications. We are looking at the systems.
Christian Science teaches, broadly speaking, that God never created material things, that sin is an illusion, and that disease exists only in the mind. Seventh-day Adventism changes various matters related to the humanity of Christ and makes salvation dependent upon keeping the law. These are very broad general statements.
Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the Trinity and the deity of Christ, along with various aspects of the atonement. Mormonism places the Book of Mormon on a level with Scripture, and it has error concerning the person and work of Christ, how one is saved, heaven, and related matters.
Thankfully, we do not live according to the Mormons, because heaven is not full yet. There are more than 144,000 who will be there. Thank God there is room for all of us there.
I do not want to focus on these things. This is the negative side. But I want us to be aware that whenever God is moving, there is a counter-movement that can lead people astray through every wind of doctrine, deceitfulness, and schemes.
There was another major movement during this time that was far more subtle than these. It was called the Oxford Movement. It got its name because those who started it had mainly attended Oxford.
It began about 1833. Keble, Pusey, and Newman were among its leading figures. They were all, in many ways, wonderful believers, and they were part of the Anglican Church.
One of the things happening in England was that a new law was passed by the House of Commons allowing non-Anglicans to serve in the House of Commons. Before that, if one was not a member of the Anglican Church, one could not serve there.
This opened the door for many to serve in the House of Commons who were not part of the Anglican system, and it began to affect the power of the Anglican Church. When anybody starts taking away somebody’s power, we know what the reaction will be. There will be a counterattack.
These men had good intentions. They saw that the Anglican Church was in a very low spiritual condition at that point in time. Through the movements of the Wesleys and some other independent groups, many had left the Anglican Church.
Those within it had somewhat withdrawn into what was called the low church. These were the enthusiasts, the people full of enthusiasm. If you loved the Lord and displayed anything, you were considered an enthusiast back then.
The more affluent and less spiritual remained within the Anglican Church, and this was called the high church. If you believed in the Lord, you were low church. If you did not believe in the Lord, you were high church. So we always want to take the low place. Actually, calling it low—that is good. Thank you; we will take that.
These leaders began printing tracts. Some were poets, and some were great writers, so they became known as the Tractarians.
In seeking to bring people back and restore them to the Lord, they made one tragic mistake. Well, they made many, actually, but their foundational mistake was encouraging people to return to the teachings of the fourth-century fathers.
What is the fallacy there? We are not bringing people back to those who came before us; we are bringing people back to Christ.
They wanted to bring people back to the fourth-century fathers, the so-called church fathers. In doing so, they revived the ritualism and mysticism of the fourth century. They made more elaborate vestments, liturgy, and building architecture.
Sadly, tradition and ritual were taking priority over Scripture. The subtle thing about this was that it looked very beautiful. To the naïve, or to those who did not really know the Lord well, it had great appeal.
Instead of some old black robe, there were beautiful vestments. They raised the Lord’s Table, the Eucharist, above everything. They put gold around it. The architecture and buildings took on a new form. It was a beautiful display. Everybody would want to go there.
But it was not leading them to Christ. Outwardly, it was far more subtle. One of the things it really did was devalue the Word of God. It caused the teachings of the fathers and the traditions of men to become more valuable than the Word of God.
We see the impact of that today through liberalism within Christianity. The Word of God does not have the value that it is supposed to have.
Many people were caught up by this and went into it. They thought that by doing more things, they were becoming more and more spiritual. If you are focusing on works, it is easy to create works for people to do.
A couple of key men in this movement were John Henry Newman and Frederick William Faber. I point these two out because we actually have their songs in Christ in Song. There were some great hymn writers there.
Newman went so far that he ended up leaving the Anglican Church. He went all the way back beyond that to the Roman Catholic Church and became a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. His brother was in the Brethren movement, while he was in the Roman Catholic Church.
In Christ in Song, Newman has the famous hymn “Lead, Kindly Light.” He wrote it after being caught in a storm in the Mediterranean, somewhat like Paul. He was praying that the Lord would lead him kindly through with the light, to safety.
Probably the most famous hymn writer among them was Frederick William Faber. We have six of his hymns in the hymnbook, and his hymns are very precious.
Christian Chen compared Faber to Solomon. He started off so well and had a great deal of wisdom. If you look at his hymns, there is great depth there. But, like Solomon, who ended up in idolatry, Faber ended up in idolatry. Some of his latter hymns worship Mary.
I grew up Presbyterian, so we sang “Faith of Our Fathers” all the time. But as I studied a little more, I found that “faith of our fathers” is related to the church fathers. It puts a little different light on that hymn when you know that.
It is still a great hymn. Do not worry—we can sing it with purity, even though he may have had a different intent.
To show Faber’s passion, one of the songs in the hymnbook is number 206, “O Jesus, Dearest Lord.” It is very precious. If you look at his heart, he says:
Thy love is a burning fire within my soul.
Burn, burn, O Love, within my heart;
Burn fiercely night and day,
Till all the dross of earthly loves
Is burned, and burned away.
What intensity and passion for the Lord! He continues:
What limit is there to this love?
Thy flight, where wilt thou stay?
On, on, O Lord, is sweeter far today.
Our Lord is sweeter far today than yesterday. It is a very precious hymn, and we have many of Faber’s earlier hymns in our book.
Thank the Lord: when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises up a standard. The man who took a stand against this was Charles Spurgeon.
This affected Spurgeon’s reputation in many ways. As he stood up and pointed out the fallacies of the Oxford Movement, many abandoned him. They did not want to be associated with him. They thought he was being divisive and not loving everybody.
But it helped many others take a stand because they knew something was not right. By taking that stand, Spurgeon has been compared to Luther taking a stand against the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation. Many feel Spurgeon was raised up for such a time as this.
I appreciate this quote from Spurgeon because it shows us the intensity of the warfare in which we continually live:
Every period, no matter when we are living, every period on some account or other is a crisis. The conflict between the powers of darkness and the Spirit of truth concerns such vital interests and is conducted with such unceasing energy that each moment is big with importance, and every instant is the hinge of destiny.
He was eloquent with words. Every moment—sometimes we do not think a moment counts—but he is saying every moment, every instant, is a hinge of destiny concerning where we are headed.
Spurgeon spoke many correcting messages, bringing people back to the foundation of truth:
We are thankful that Spurgeon was raised up in that time and had the courage to take a stand for God’s interests and God’s purpose in that hour. The enemy is always out there, and we can be encouraged in that.
That is enough of the negative. Let us move on to some positive things. I like to do the negative first, because then you get it behind you. You never want to end up on a negative.
What I would like to look at now is the testimony of Jesus in Russia.
For many centuries, the Orthodox Church was the official church of Russia. Remember that in 1054 there was the great split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church extended through Ukraine, Russia, and other regions, and it was very powerful there.
In the eighteenth century, many Mennonites migrated to southern Russia and Ukraine. It is interesting that Ukraine and Russia are in such a battle today, because Ukraine at that time was the breadbasket of Russia. That was where much of the wheat and produce was grown.
Throughout history, Ukraine has also been the Bible Belt of Russia. There have been many precious believers there. What we call the Bible Belt here was the Bible Belt there. There has been a great conflict between Ukraine and Russia for far more than just the little bit we see today.
The Mennonites moved into the Ukraine area and began spreading around. Finally, in 1812, Tsar Alexander I opened Russia to foreign Bible societies and allowed people to come in.
Of course, if you bring in Bibles, the official church is going to be against it. The Orthodox Church was very much against it. But praise God, the Bible had a tremendous impact upon the peasants.
Many were reading the Bible in their homes, and they were actually using the Bible to learn to read because they did not have other books. The Bible became a schoolbook, and in reading it they were finding truth. It was a precious way of teaching people.
Many were saved, and these people became known as the Stundists. The word Stundist comes from an old German word meaning “hour,” because they would gather for meetings of about an hour.
The Stundists would invite their neighbors to their homes for Bible readings and sharing. In Russia there was little hope of anything, and suddenly these people had hope. There was joy within them.
The movement was spreading rapidly among the peasants in particular. There is no official estimate, but some thought that a few hundred thousand peasants were saved throughout that area at that point in time.
The gospel also spread through the aristocracy by a man named Lord Radstock. There was not a great movement among the aristocracy, but there were many individual believers.
Then the persecution began. In 1861, Alexander II revoked the privileges of certain religious groups, and believers began coming under government oppression.
It did not end well for Alexander II. He was assassinated in 1881. Following that assassination, all groups outside the Orthodox Church were automatically outlawed and persecuted. If you were not an official member of the Orthodox Church, you were considered a criminal.
The Stundists continued to meet secretly from house to house. They would find places in forests, by rivers, or elsewhere, and continue to meet. When they were discovered, they would be imprisoned, beaten, or exiled to Siberia.
The authorities would identify the leaders and send them to Orthodox monasteries for reform and reeducation. But they soon discovered that the believers they sent to the monasteries knew more about the Lord and the Bible than the monks and priests there.
The reeducation was going the wrong way. The priests were coming to the Lord. So the authorities stopped that practice and simply sent the believers to Siberia.
The persecution continued. Children were taken from their parents and given to Orthodox families. Property was seized. Believers were forbidden to move, their passports were taken away so that they could not relocate, and they were barred from many jobs.
There was a great deal of suffering and persecution. If they recanted and said, “I do not believe anymore; I want to become part of the Orthodox Church,” many of these rights would be restored. During times of persecution, some do give in, but the vast majority really stood.
The testimony of Jesus continued to grow. We see this in many countries, whether in China or Russia: when persecution increases, the enemy thinks he will destroy the testimony of Jesus. But underground, it actually grows stronger through persecution and suffering.
Finally, in 1905, the Tsar granted liberty of faith and freedom. But it was short-lived. In 1914 came World War I, and in 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution came in seeking to destroy all religions.
But praise God, even today there is that hidden seed of faith in Russia. These precious people stood for the testimony of Jesus.
A local farmer began to realize that his life was that of a filthy brute. One day, overwhelmed by a crushing sense of guilt, he threw himself on the floor, fervently praying for forgiveness and light.
O God, enlighten me. Make me a changed man.
He said, “I besought Him with tears and sobs. When all at once it seemed as if someone tore the clothes off my back, whereupon a marvelous sense of freedom, a feeling of intense joy, came over me, and I knew God.” From that time forward, he went from village to village sharing the gospel.
Another testimony concerns a young girl. Within the Orthodox Church, after one finished praying, one always had to make the sign of the cross. When this teenage girl was asked by her persecutors why she did not make the sign of the cross, she replied that Christ’s love and suffering for her on the cross were graven in her heart, so that she did not need an outward sign to remind her of them.
They whipped her and let her go. Praise God that this young one was able to stand in the midst of persecution and testify that she had the reality of Christ in her heart.
Even under persecution, many of them went out every day and shared the gospel. Quite often, they would stand outside taverns, waiting for the habitual drunkard or the weak-willed farmer who came to squander the proceeds from selling his cattle or corn.
Many a poor sinner was reached in this way and brought to repentance and to God, though at the cost of prison or penal servitude for the one who had sought and won him. Knowing full well that they might be arrested and persecuted, they still went out to seek and save the lost. Very, very encouraging.
One of the leaders near Kiev was a young man of bright intelligence and ardent temperament. He was accused of spreading heresy and told to clear out. He had a wife and five children.
He left everything and went to Kherson. His seed was hardly in the ground as a farmer there when he was told to move on. The next morning, he, his family, and one old horse began a 150-mile journey to Bessarabia.
They arrived after a month’s journey, but two of the children had died on the way. This continued, village after village: “Move on, move on,” until they finally arrived in Siberia, having lost another child.
When they arrived, he had his sick wife and two remaining children. They were famished and emaciated, but his hope and passion for Christ remained strong. Praise God.
We are thankful that in that remote and horrible place of Siberia, there were those who remained, sharing the gospel and providing hope to the hopeless.
As we face more and more persecution in these days—it is not as intense as it was for them at that moment—we can be encouraged that the Lord is there. There is a God who keeps us and provides a way for us, whatever type or form persecution may take.
Now let us come back to the United States and see how the Lord was moving there. We want to talk about the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting and other prayer meetings throughout the country.
In general, the overall spiritual condition within the United States was weak or lukewarm at this point in time. The Second Great Awakening had occurred, but things had faded out. Many people were seeking prosperity, pleasure, gain, and profit.
It was a boom time. The West was opening up, railroads were expanding, everything was booming, and people were making a lot of money. There was a distraction from some of their previous commitments to the Lord.
In September 1857, there was a man named Jeremiah Lanphier. He was a businessman who left his business because he wanted to serve the Lord.
He found a little old church, the Old North Dutch Church on Fulton Street in New York City. When he spoke with the people there, they allowed him to be their so-called lay pastor.
For a while, he went around the community passing out tracts and inviting families to come to the church. Nobody was responding.
As he walked around, he noticed that every day from twelve to one, businessmen came out from that area for a break, refreshments, and a quick lunch. Fulton Street was only a block or two from Wall Street, in the business center of New York.
So he had an idea: “Let us have a prayer meeting once a week for businessmen who want to come.”
He put out a poster and began handing out leaflets. The invitation was for a daily prayer meeting from twelve to one. People could stop in for fifteen minutes, or however long they had. Prayer and exhortations would be offered, but exhortations were not to exceed five minutes so that all would have an opportunity. There were to be no more than two consecutive prayers or exhortations, and no controversial points were to be discussed.
On the first day, September 23, he sat there from twelve until twelve-thirty, and nobody came. At twelve-thirty, one man came. By one o’clock, there were six. He was very encouraged.
They continued for two or three weeks, and by the third meeting there were about forty people present. After three weeks, they decided to hold the meeting daily.
It was very interesting, the timing of this. As people started praying together, in October 1857 there was a huge financial crash. The banks crashed, and the stock market crashed.
There were two major factors. One was the Crimean War in Europe. Again, Russia was fighting people over Crimea. The region had provided Europe with much wheat, produce, and other supplies. During the war, it could not do so.
Farmers in the United States were making a great deal of money shipping food to Europe. Everything was prospering. But when the war ended, the price of wheat dropped sharply in the United States. Many farmers had overextended themselves and began to suffer.
At the same time, as the United States opened up, railroads were heading west. Many railroad companies had formed without owning property, while banks were lending them money. Then the railroads began going bankrupt as well.
Because of crashes like this, we have banking laws in our country today. But in the immediate crisis, many people suddenly became unemployed.
Shortly after the crash, there were 3,000 people praying every day in New York City. Other places began opening up as well.
By January 1858, only a few months after it began in September, more than 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in New York City at more than 150 different places.
New York City had a population of about 600,000 at that time. Yet 10,000 were gathering every day to pray.
The prayer meeting continued until Lanphier’s retirement in 1893. During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, it was not as well attended, and toward the end it began to decline. But he faithfully continued because he felt that was his calling.
Lanphier never left that little place. He had all sorts of offers to come and start a big ministry, to do this and that, but he said, “This is what God called me to. I am called to do this daily prayer meeting at this little place.”
He was faithful to what God had called him to do, not looking for his own career, name, or fame. Most people had not even heard of him before this.
The prayer meeting was attended by many clergy, but it was led by laymen. It was kept simple. They opened with a hymn and Scripture, followed by a brief exhortation.
Prayer requests could be submitted in writing or verbally. Someone could ask, “Pray that my husband may be saved,” or, “Pray that my son may be healed.” There were all sorts of prayers.
If one could not be present, a prayer request could be mailed in. Even if someone was shy, he or she could write the request on a piece of paper and pass it to the front. The request would be read, and they would say, “Let us pray for this.”
It was nonsectarian. People were never asked about their church. The question was simply whether they knew Jesus Christ. That was the main criterion.
They prayed for salvation, holiness, repentance, reconciliation, healing, and many other needs. It was done in a wonderful spirit.
The prayer meetings became so popular that New York newspapers reported on them daily. Newspapers never change: they sent reporters down with the intent of discrediting the meetings and finding something wrong.
But the reporters were utterly amazed by what they found. They reported that there was no unrestrained excitement, no exuberant or intemperate zeal, and nothing that required an effort to keep it going.
There was a common idea that excitement was essential to revival, part and parcel of it. People had seen some of the emotional reactions connected with earlier awakenings and thought you had to work up excitement to keep things going. But it was not there.
It was simply the Spirit of God at work in a peaceful and orderly way. People would pray, and there would be two or three prayers for different needs.
There was an aged pastor who prayed for the son of another clergyman, not knowing that his own son was sitting some distance behind him. The young man knew himself to be a sinner, and he was so impressed by hearing his father pray for another man’s son that he made himself known to the meeting and said he wanted to submit to God.
There was also a great prizefighter named Awful Gardner who was saved there. He visited his friends—most of whom were in Sing Sing—and gave his testimony.
Among those converted was a noted river thief, Jerry McAuley, who later founded the Water Street Mission. It was one of the first missions for the down-and-out in New York. You can see the impact this had.
Within a few months, people all over the nation were hearing about this. In Philadelphia, thousands gathered. In Boston, thousands gathered. Thousands gathered in cities throughout the United States. It was not limited to a few places.
I was reading a list of places that had these prayer meetings and noticed that Richmond, Virginia, was mentioned in two places. I was Googling and searching, trying to find something about the prayer meetings in Richmond during 1858, but I could not find anything. If any of you ever find something, let me know.
This was not an organized system. It was not some great organization doing this. It was the Holy Spirit touching the hearts and lives of people.
It was estimated that during this time, more than one million souls were saved during a period of only a few years. This is often called the Third Great Awakening.
Charles Finney was greatly blessed by this. He said, “Now we have had instruction enough until we are hardened.” Finney was a great preacher, so do not misunderstand him. He was not saying we do not need instruction. He was saying that we have had instruction until we have become hardened. It is time for us to pray.
People loved to go to meetings and listen, but this was engaging them in a new and wonderful way. During this time, there was much prayer concerning the unrest over slavery, the recent Dred Scott decision, and the possibility of civil war.
Little did they know that the horrific Civil War was so imminent. There was anticipation of a potential civil war because of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, and other things going on, but nobody imagined it would become what it did.
There was a great deal of prayer. Even during the war, there are wonderful stories of how many from both the North and the South were saved during that time because of the prayers of the saints.
It is wonderful how one brother stepped out in faith to start a prayer meeting. Through the timing of the Holy Spirit and the environment in which he lived, many, many hearts were stirred.
To me, the great difference between that time and today is that many so-called prayer movements today try to start from the top. They have an organization and try to get people to come.
This started from the bottom. It began with the hearts of ordinary brothers and sisters. In a living way, the Lord used it and raised it up, and it became very significant and had a great impact upon the country. May the Lord do that in a similar way today.
Now we are going to head back to England and talk about Keswick. It is not “Kes-wick”; it is “Kes-ick.” We have to learn to remember that.
The Lord was also doing a great work in the United Kingdom, creating a spiritual hunger. The Lord used D. L. Moody, who went there with Ira Sankey. They held gospel meetings throughout the United Kingdom, including Ireland.
It was estimated that they held 285 meetings in about a year-and-a-half period, with 2.5 million people attending the various meetings.
Moody preached to the down-and-out along Skid Row. He preached to more prominent people and the aristocracy in the Royal Opera House in London. He would have 20,000 people at one meeting, thirty at another. He did not care about the numbers; he was there preaching the gospel in a glorious way.
Many were being saved during this time.
In 1873, a couple from the United States, Pearsall and Hannah Smith, joined with another brother from England, Evan Hopkins. Along with a few others, they had a desire to seek the Lord concerning the Christian life.
They sensed that there was so much more to enter into concerning what the Lord had for them. There had been much focus on the gospel, which is good, but they sensed that there was more to living the Christian life than they were experiencing.
They saw that the principle for the so-called holy or victorious Christian life was not suppression or eradication, but counteraction.
By suppression, we mean the idea that the Christian life is lived by your own will: “I will not sin. I will not.” You are trying to suppress yourself and suppress sin. I think we have all tried it, and we have all failed. That is one thing we have in common.
It is not by eradication either. There was a teaching at that time that if you were saved and truly committed, your self-life would be eradicated and you would never sin again. You would have perfection on this earth. That is not right either. It does not happen.
Rather, it is by what they called counteraction. The counteraction is that the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is greater and has defeated the self-life and sin within us. That is the victory we have.
As they began to see this and enter into it, they were just beginning to take steps and see it in a living way. They began holding conferences throughout the United Kingdom for people desiring to enter more into the reality of this deeper life—a more dedicated life.
These conferences were attended by thousands and thousands.
As they continued, they planned to begin the Keswick Convention itself. Pearsall Smith became ill and had to return to the United States. But there were two brothers in Keswick: Robert Wilson, a Quaker and banker, and an Anglican curate named Battersby.
They invited people to Keswick and sent out invitations throughout England to come to the “Union Meetings for the Promotion of Practical Holiness.” That was the name of the conference.
In June 1875, the first Keswick Convention was held. They pitched a tent in town, and about 400 people came.
The banner and theme of the Keswick Convention was then, and has always been, “All One in Christ Jesus.”
Keswick is in the Lake District, a beautiful area about 300 miles north of London and across the sea from Belfast. People traveled there every year for this gathering.
Whole families gathered for these conferences. Before this, the main conferences had largely been gospel meetings. Moody’s meetings, and the great awakenings connected with Finney, were primarily great gospel gatherings.
But Keswick was really for believers—to be strengthened in the Lord and to grow in the Lord. It was not just for some; it was open to everybody. Families came and crowded the little city of Keswick.
They held large tent meetings, and the banner always declared, “All One in Christ Jesus.”
The convention was held annually. Before long, three to four thousand were attending. Tents were set up all over Keswick for various meetings.
They had main meetings, ladies’ meetings—I always want to call them sisters’ meetings, but they called them ladies’ meetings. I guess most of the sisters are ladies. They also had children’s meetings and many other gatherings.
There were different preachers at different times and a huge schedule. In many ways, this was one of the first family-type conferences. The Lord used it in a wonderful way.
After some years, Keswick meetings started appearing throughout the world. There were Keswick meetings in the United States, Australia, Europe, and various other places.
The first Keswick missionary was Amy Carmichael. They sent her to Japan, and then she went on to India. After her father passed away, Robert Wilson, one of the founders of the movement, adopted her when she was around seventeen years old.
She received her call to be a missionary while attending Keswick and hearing Hudson Taylor speak. We can see the impact that Keswick had upon her life.
What was the teaching of Keswick? As we have said, it was not about suppression or eradication. It had a real focus on practical holiness and what is called deeper-life teaching, or the victorious life.
Many people struggled between the theory and the reality of holy living, between the theory and reality of the victorious life. You may know the theory and know the teaching, but entering into the reality of it is another matter. There was a great struggle among believers at that point in time, and many felt defeated.
Keswick added to what Wesley taught concerning sanctification by faith. Keswick teachers said that to enter into this experience, the first step was consecration.
You have to be given to the Lord. A surrendered life to Him is the very first step.
To enter into victory is one thing; to walk in victory is quite another. This brings us to the contrast between objective truth and subjective truth.
There is a difference between the gateway and the pathway. The gateway, the entrance, may be for a moment. You enter in; you have it for that moment. But the pathway is a lifelong process of obedience.
They were trying to move people beyond merely a one-time experience, which some holiness preachers taught as a second blessing. They said, “No, you have the indwelling life of Christ within you, and He will lead you every day into the fullness of what He has for you.”
We walk moment by moment in the power of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
There is also a difference between the attained state of purity and the maintained state of purity. When we are saved, we are made saints. We have an attained position because of the blood of the Lamb: we are holy people; we are saints.
But to maintain that in daily life involves denying ourselves, saying no to ourselves, and allowing the life of Christ within us to overcome and have predominance over the self-life and sin that so easily entangle us.
This teaching is so helpful, because without understanding these differences, you can feel that you are living a defeated and depressed life. You may think, “I can never do it. I can never enter into this.”
But praise God, Keswick brought this out and introduced it in a wonderful way.
Brother Nee was greatly helped and influenced by this whole teaching, as you can see in his book The Normal Christian Life.
The various speakers at Keswick included Evan Hopkins, Handley Moule, F. B. Meyer, G. Campbell Morgan, and Andrew Murray. If you can get any of their books, that is good.
Evan Hopkins, we will probably talk more about next time in connection with some of the revivals. Handley Moule was a great biblical teacher.
Andrew Murray gave people a clearer understanding of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He was able to reveal that we have the life of Christ, by the Holy Spirit, living within us.
There had been such a focus on the Holy Spirit coming from without for a second blessing, coming upon us in a mighty way. But Murray was saying, “Wait a minute. You already have the indwelling Spirit within you. You have the power of Christ in you to do this transforming work.”
By allowing the cross to work within you, you can enter into that in a greater way. Mrs. Penn-Lewis, of course, gave a clearer understanding of the cross.
One book written by Evan Hopkins gives a wonderful summary of Keswick teaching: The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life. It is a tremendous book.
The Lord used all these different people in many wonderful ways to encourage us and bring us into the reality of what He is calling us to live.
He has given us a victorious life, but most of us feel as though we are living a defeated life. We are praying that, through the Spirit of God living within us and through the life of Christ within us, we may enter into a greater and fuller expression of His life.
This is what Keswick recovered for us. It was far more than just a teaching; it was a way of life. It was a way of entering into the fullness of what Christ has for us.
It is progressive, day by day. We will always be striving for Christ to have more and more ascendancy within us. We do not reach spiritual perfection, but by His grace we can enter into more and more of it. We are thankful for that.
As we wrap this up, let us look back at the things we have touched on today. May we stay alert and watchful, because the enemy is always attacking the testimony of Jesus, both directly and subtly.
There are direct attacks, and then there are subtle attacks—every wind of doctrine that goes around. In the day and time in which we are living, there are all kinds of winds of doctrine.
You can have prosperity gospels and healing gospels. These take one part and distract us away from the main thing, which is Christ.
We are thankful that in Christ we do live a prosperous life. It is a wonderful life we have. We are thankful that in Him we have healing. There is health within us; spiritually, we have been healed, and He can prevail over all things.
There are so many aspects, but if we focus on one to the detriment of the others, we lose balance. You can even focus on the house of God to the detriment of focusing upon Jesus Christ.
Take Christ out of the house of God, and you have a cult. Take Christ out of God’s eternal purpose, and you have a theory and a teaching. But we are here for life.
There is a fullness of all that Christ has that He wants us to enter into. That is what we are jealous for.
As I mentioned earlier, persecution in these days may come in various forms. May we be encouraged to press on and endure, as many before us have endured.
May the Lord revive among His people in this late hour an ever-increasing burden for both individual and corporate prayer. You cannot have corporate prayer unless people have an individual prayer life. It is not an either-or matter.
As we have more and more of a burden for an individual prayer life, the natural fruit of that will be a desire to pray with others. We begin to see the limitations of praying individually and say, “This is beyond me. I need to pray with brothers and sisters.”
This is one of the great needs in this hour among the people of God.
By His grace, may we daily enter more and more into the reality of the overcoming, victorious life that we have in Christ. We are thankful for the victory we have, and may we enter into it.
Above all things, by His love, may we maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is a battle over the testimony in this hour.
We see the various battles that believers have been through, and we are thankful that at various points in time God raised up certain people. He raised up one person, and all these prayer meetings came about. He raised up just a few people, and the influence of their lives spread.
May the Lord, in this hour, continue to raise up faithful servants—unknown to man, but well known to God—to be used of Him to strengthen His testimony and to encourage us all in the days in which we are living.
Lord, when we look at ourselves, we see failure, inability, and weakness. We look at You and see greatness.
But Lord, help us in a greater way to see ourselves in You. We are thankful that You are in us and we are in You.
We want the fullness of Your life to be expressed in a very living way in all of our hearts. Lord, we want to be the people of God You are calling us to be in this hour.
Lord, there is a testimony under severe attack in these last days. We pray that Christ in us would have such freedom to work in our hearts and lives.
Lord, where that testimony is only a flickering little flame, may the Christ in us come forth and cause it to shine brighter and brighter to both a lost world and a suffering church—a church that is rudderless and without aim in so many ways upon this earth.
Lord, You are calling people back to Yourself. We pray that we would be those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches in this hour and who can respond to Your call upon us.
We are thankful, Lord, for the blessing. We are thankful for Your life within us. Lord, we do not want to hinder that life within us, but we want it to be released in fullness and freedom.
May we truly enjoy the glorious liberty of the sons of God and be the testimony You desire. In Thy name, amen.