Celebrate
With Me: 150 Years of the Salvation Army!
By
Capt. Kelly Durant 6-29-15 for July
2, 2015
Matthew
4:19 And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
2. One
time William Booth, the founder, said, “Some of our best men are women!” (Be
careful how you interpret that as his intentions were simply to honor those who
serve well) Can you believe this July, 2015, we are celebrating 150 years of
our existence? In 130 countries our fellow Soldiers, Officers, and volunteers
have saved, served, and influenced thousands of millions! What a privilege to
belong to this movement that created a revolution by its good practices,
outreach, and holiness gospel preaching. Here is a brief history taken from the
website: http://salvationarmyusa.org/usn/history-of-the-salvation-army
‘William
Booth embarked upon his ministerial career in 1852, desiring to win the lost
multitudes of England to Christ. He walked the streets of London to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the
destitute.
Booth
abandoned the conventional concept of a church and a pulpit, instead taking his
message to the people. His fervor led to disagreement with church leaders in
London, who preferred traditional methods. As a result, he withdrew from the
church and traveled throughout England, conducting evangelistic meetings. His
wife, Catherine, could accurately be called a cofounder of The Salvation Army.
In
1865, William Booth was invited to hold a series of evangelistic meetings in
the East End of London. He set up a tent in a Quaker graveyard, and his
services became an instant success. This proved to be the end of his wanderings
as an independent traveling evangelist. (The SA officially began) His renown as
a religious leader spread throughout London, and he attracted followers who
were dedicated to fight for the souls of men and women.
Thieves,
prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among Booth's first converts to
Christianity. To congregations who were desperately poor, he preached hope and
salvation. His aim was to lead people to Christ and link them to a church for
further spiritual guidance.’ (read full version at website)
3.
As most of you know William Booth’s wife, Catherine Booth, was considered an
even a better preacher than him! What many do not know is she died fairly young
of breast cancer on Oct 4, 1890. She never got to see how worldwide the
movement expanded to! Imagine, William Booth
lived 22 years longer being promoted to glory in London 1912. His funeral was
honored by all of London! In those days they, and all the newly ordained
Officers, would preach several sermons on the street corners daily. This open
air outreach is what brought multitudes by the hundreds daily to join the ranks!
It must have been exciting to see people coming leaving everything behind for
Jesus!
There
were serious homelessness problems back then that The Salvation Army decided to
do something about and this is what prompted the opening of homeless shelters
worldwide. In the beginnings in London there was a group of volunteers called
the ‘Slum Sisters’ who would go into the extremely poverty stricken neighborhoods
to minister to the people taking the risk of getting diseases such as
tuberculosis. The Salvation Army from the beginning has always helped the poor,
reformed the alcoholic, helped people creating work, and restart new lives with
faith.
Many
social programs were started by the Salvation Army and this example of a
serving faith in action shamed the other prominent churches and incited their
criticism at that time. Today however, most churches have recognized our fruits
and many as well adopted a ‘social gospel’ which models what Jesus commanded in
Matthew 25:35 “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed
me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”
4. The
early Salvation Army practices even included the relocation of people to farm
communities. William Booth’s social gospel was spelled out at length in his
best-selling book that he wrote 1890, ‘In Darkest England and The Way Out’ I
have read most of it and he was quite a visionary! I recommend you read it but take
into account the book is a bit complicated due to the change of English word
meanings overtime. How amazing it was because it impacted multitudes with a new
vision of how to bring more heaven on the earth when then times were (as today)
dark, depressing, oppressive, contaminated from industry soot, and drunks and
prostitutes were a dime a dozen.
So
many hundreds of people joined the Salvation Army daily in those days that many
decided to travel to other countries to begin new outposts abroad. The
Salvation Army in the U.S.A. began on
March 10, 1880, with Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers,
who had their first ‘open air’ meeting kneeling on the dockside at Battery Park
in New York City. Imagine, today the Salvation Army is capable of serving people
in every single county in this huge country! The Salvation Army has more than
500,000 members between officers, employees, and volunteers in the United
States alone. The organization serves more than 30 million people in the U.S.
yearly. Some people may shun the work because it is Christian, but no one
denies it is rated as “the most effective non-profit” in the U.S.
How
is it possible to have so many volunteers and members? It is all because of
Jesus Christ! The Salvation Army’s mission statement is as follows: ‘The
Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the
universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is
motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus
Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.’ I love this
to the point mission statement, how about you?
5.
All of what I just shared is the amazing fruit for being obedient to God. For
the spiritual message of today I chose an old quote from William Booth that he
shared about the mission in a special meeting in its beginnings. He said, "The
Salvation Army is so simple. It is just
‘Follow Jesus’. Follow close, that you
do not lose sight of Him. Follow till
you have formed a habit, and the Christ-like life is as natural as the
self-life. Following means having the
spirit of Christ. Men possessed of
devils were men who dealt with themselves and each other in a devilish
way. A man possessed with the spirit of
Christ deals with himself and others in a Christ-like way - he is a
Christ-man." General Booth had a way of getting to the point while
exalting Jesus, didn’t he?
This
message coincides perfectly with the verse I choose today, Matthew 4:19 “And he
said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. Hasn’t this
movement caught many souls for Jesus and helped them become useful followers with
a new purpose in life? Doesn’t this Army invite everyone to follow Jesus? There
are dozens and dozens of ways to follow and serve.
The
problem with Christianity is that many churches throughout the centuries have had
members that come and go to church but not many have stepped out into the
community to become socially active “Doing something” to alleviate the pain and
suffering. Booth asked one time, “What good is all this apparatus of church
buildings if we are not winning souls for Christ?”
6. Let’s
look at Booth’s quote of today in pieces to absorb its depth a bit better. “The
Salvation Army is so simple. It is just ‘Follow Jesus’.” Why does he start with Jesus? Jesus works!
Because
Jesus is strong to deliver any suffering soul, only He is omnipotent. He can free you and everyone from demonic
bondage and enslavement to any sin.
Jesus is, as a popular praise song states, ‘mighty to save!’
Here
is a quote from a blog by the Salvation Army which has reference to our
history, ‘Armybarmy’. I recommend you
read up on all there is out there on our church. http://armybarmyblog.blogspot.com/2015_06_01_archive.html#3752157869167654529
“Follow
close, that you do not lose sight of Him.”
So,
we’re not following a set of teachings, a philosophy, an ideal. We’re following closely a Person –
Jesus. And we’re exhorted to keep Him in
close view. And in light of how we read
of His exploits, we’ve got to keep mobile, prepared to leave the comfortable
and the familiar to stay close to Jesus. (Below is from Commissioner Ingrid
Lindberg – ‘stay close to Jesus’).
“The Kingdom Of God Is At Hand. It is at hand. Reach out your hand. There it is.
Let’s be living In the Kingdom of God – replete with its priorities and
passion and power.”
The
quote of Booth continues, “Follow ‘til you have formed a habit, and the
Christ-like life is as natural as the self-life.”
Haven’t
we read that you can nail a habit in a month of daily practice? It seems it may take longer in spiritual
matters. But we have to be conscientious
and diligent about our own development.
We have to form the good habit – so the Christ-life is as natural as our
self-life.
7.
“Following means having the spirit of Christ.” Following Jesus means that you
have to have the spirit of Christ. (Next, a quote from a sermon of William
Booth) ‘The Holy Ghost Is With Me’, “Is the Holy Spirit with you? This is absolutely essential for any meaningful
eternal impact on the world from your actions.
Why waste your efforts? Why exert
energy where Holy Spirit is not evidently working? Having the spirit of Christ
means initially being saved. Are you
saved? Have you repented of your sins
and placed your faith in Jesus Christ, submitting to His lordship?”
“HAVE
the Spirit of Christ – get filled with Holy Spirit”. That’s entire sanctification. Without getting sanctified, it is pretty hard
to stay close to Jesus, to make a habit of keeping in sight of Him. So, get entirely sanctified – repent of
whatever you have on the side.
Consecrate every single aspect of your life. Believe that God is omnipotent and good –
that what He commands, He enables. He
commands our holiness; He enables it.”
8.
“Men possessed of devils were men who dealt with themselves and each other in a
devilish way.” (This echos from the song, ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God’, “And
though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us. We will not
fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us”)
You
and I might wonder why certain people act certain ways. A lot of times they act devilishly because
they have a demonic influence! This explains why there is so much evil in the
world.
But
we thank God for the cure, “A man possessed with the spirit of Christ deals
with himself and others in a Christ-like way.” (That is wisdom from a man of
God!)
So
let us be possessed of the Spirit of Christ! Then we will be as Booth describes
at the end of the quote we are studying today, “He is a Christ-man.” Of
course, ‘man’ implies every person, women and children as well! The Love Of
Jesus In You and I Does Not Fail!
9.
And finally millions like you and I can testify of what Jesus has done in our
lives by ‘following Him’. Jesus first takes us in as followers but then he
empowers us to be leaders to win others!
One
of the greatest Salvation Army writers who expressed what following Jesus
looked like, or what living in holiness felt like, was Samuel Logan Brengle.
In
his sanctification testimony at Boston Common he stated this: ‘I walked out
over Boston Common before breakfast, weeping for joy and praising God. Oh, how
I loved! In that hour I knew Jesus, and I loved Him till it seemed my heart
would break with love. I was filled with love for all His creatures. I heard
the little sparrows chattering; I loved them. I saw a little worm wriggling
across my path; I stepped over it; I didn’t want to hurt any living thing. I
loved the dogs, I loved the horses, I loved the little urchins on the street, I
loved the strangers who hurried past me, I loved the heathen, I loved the whole
world.’
