http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2024:14&version=NIV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%202:18&version=NIV
Since Don Dillavou did his A. B. Simpson characterization this morning in our Worship Service I thought that I would post some biographical information about this great man of God:Albert Benjamin Simpson was born December 15, 1843 in Bayview, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Very early in life Simpson felt the call of God on his life and later experienced a dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus Christ. By ‘dramatic’ I mean complete. Simpson gave his whole life over to Jesus - lock, stock and barrel.
Simpson later attended Knox College in Toronto, Canada. After graduating in 1865 he accepted a pastorate at Knox Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ontario. That same weekend Simpson married Margaret Henry. Two huge events in a single weekend. It was a portent of the kinds of things that Simpson would later accomplish.
In 1873 Simpson became the pastor of the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. After that he accepted an invitation to pastor the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church in New York City. As it is today, New York City was then teeming with immigrants from many countries. Simpson ministered to these down-and-out foreigners bringing them into his fashionable church. Unfortunately they weren’t welcome. As a result of this Simpson resigned and struck out on his own. No church. No money. Only a strong conviction from God that he should start his own church. A church where all people - the poor, homeless, sick, and displaced - would be welcome.
Gradually this led Simpson to being concerned about the unreached masses of the world. People in faraway lands who had never heard the name of Jesus. People who were doomed to a Christ-less eternity. Unless someone did something. That ‘someone’ was Simpson. That ‘something’ would later become a denomination that would send missionaries to the four corners of the earth.
At first, Simpson gathered like-minded people from many denominations around him who had a heart for missions. They met on Sunday afternoons for teaching, fellowship and prayer. That led to the formation of two ‘Alliances’ - one for the furtherance of holy living here in the United States - and another one for the sending and support of missionaries around the world. Eventually these two Alliances combined to form the Christian & Missionary Alliance.
In the beginning the Christian & Missionary Alliance consisted of people who had a passion for holiness and missions. Over the years, as many denominations began drifting away from the Gospel message, these people only attended C&MA meetings. Soon C&MA churches were formed. Eventually, though not Simpson’s intention, it became a denomination as it is today.
Simpson, after experiencing divine healing earlier in his life, was an indefatigable worker. In addition to overseeing the C&MA, he founded and edited a magazine dedicated to missions. He also started a Missionary Training Institute so that the C&MA would have a ready supply of committed and trained missionaries to send out. In addition, Simpson also founded a home for unwed mothers, an orphanage and a dispensary for the poor. The stamina, drive and vision of the man was simply amazing. He lived in the Spirit and the Spirit worked though him to accomplish nothing short of the miraculous.
I admire Simpson. One man, sold out to God. With God's help he realized a vision that reached thousands of people around the world for Christ. That vision is still going strong. And is currently reaching tens of millions of people. That same opportunity to serve God is ours as well. No we may never found a denomination. Or a magazine. Or an orphanage. But we can do great things for Christ, may I say, through Christ, as well. The reality is that there are still millions of people in the world today who don’t know about Jesus. Some of them live right where we live. There is still a great need to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. To minister to widows & orphans. The poor. The persecuted. The uneducated. Single moms and dads. One could very well make a case that the current needs of our world are greater than they ever have been.
What is it that God is calling you to do? In what ways does He want you to make a difference? God’s power is just as available to us today as it was to Simpson. The question is, Will we choose to take advantage of it? Will we sell ourselves completely out to God? Will we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to transform our world?
Pray. Ask God what He would have you to do. Then do it with all your might. Depending upon Him for direction, strength and results.
Lord, I thank you for A. B. Simpson and the incredible impact that he has had upon our world. I thank you that I am a part of a denomination that cares about holy living. And reaching the lost. Help me to be completely sold out to You. To be used by You to make a difference in the world.
Simpson, after experiencing divine healing earlier in his life, was an indefatigable worker. In addition to overseeing the C&MA, he founded and edited a magazine dedicated to missions. He also started a Missionary Training Institute so that the C&MA would have a ready supply of committed and trained missionaries to send out. In addition, Simpson also founded a home for unwed mothers, an orphanage and a dispensary for the poor. The stamina, drive and vision of the man was simply amazing. He lived in the Spirit and the Spirit worked though him to accomplish nothing short of the miraculous.
I admire Simpson. One man, sold out to God. With God's help he realized a vision that reached thousands of people around the world for Christ. That vision is still going strong. And is currently reaching tens of millions of people. That same opportunity to serve God is ours as well. No we may never found a denomination. Or a magazine. Or an orphanage. But we can do great things for Christ, may I say, through Christ, as well. The reality is that there are still millions of people in the world today who don’t know about Jesus. Some of them live right where we live. There is still a great need to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. To minister to widows & orphans. The poor. The persecuted. The uneducated. Single moms and dads. One could very well make a case that the current needs of our world are greater than they ever have been.
What is it that God is calling you to do? In what ways does He want you to make a difference? God’s power is just as available to us today as it was to Simpson. The question is, Will we choose to take advantage of it? Will we sell ourselves completely out to God? Will we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to transform our world?
Pray. Ask God what He would have you to do. Then do it with all your might. Depending upon Him for direction, strength and results.
Lord, I thank you for A. B. Simpson and the incredible impact that he has had upon our world. I thank you that I am a part of a denomination that cares about holy living. And reaching the lost. Help me to be completely sold out to You. To be used by You to make a difference in the world.
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