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Octavius Winslow
Octavius Winslow (1808–1878) was an English preacher and evangelical writer whose Christ-centered ministry left a lasting mark on 19th-century Christianity. Born on August 1, 1808, in Pentonville, London, he was the eighth of thirteen children of Thomas Winslow, an army captain, and Mary Forbes, who hailed from Bermuda with Scottish roots. A descendant of Mayflower Pilgrims John Winslow and Mary Chilton, he moved with his family to New York City at age seven after his father’s death, where his widowed mother raised her children in poverty yet deep faith. Converted in 1827 under the ministry of Samuel Eastman at Stanton Street Baptist Church, Winslow was baptized in the Hudson River and soon felt called to preach. In 1834, he married Hannah Ann Ring, with whom he had ten children, though several died young, and she predeceased him in 1866. Winslow’s preaching career began with his ordination in 1833 in New York, followed by pastorates at churches like Union Baptist in Brooklyn. Moving to England in 1839, he served at Warwick Road Baptist Church in Leamington Spa until 1858, then founded Kensington Chapel in Bath, transitioning it to a Union Church by 1865. In 1870, he seceded to the Anglican Church, ordained as a deacon and priest, and ministered at Emmanuel Church in Brighton until his death. A contemporary of Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle, he preached at the opening of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1861. Author of over 40 books, including The Precious Things of God and Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, Winslow’s devotional writings earned him the title "The Pilgrim’s Companion." He died on March 5, 1878, in Brighton, leaving a legacy of fervent preaching and rich spiritual literature.
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Sermon Summary
Octavius Winslow emphasizes the necessity of diligently adding virtues to our faith, urging Christians to move beyond the basic elements of truth and to grow in the knowledge of God and Christ. He highlights the importance of individual responsibility in spiritual growth, encouraging believers to actively pursue their faith and not remain stagnant. Winslow reassures that as we cultivate these virtues, we will be fruitful in our knowledge of Jesus Christ, ultimately leading to a more profound understanding of His glory and grace. He calls on Christians to persevere in their spiritual journey, reminding them that their efforts are not in vain and that divine power supports their endeavors.
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Giving All Diligence, Add to Your Faith Virtue
Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8 HOW many Christian professors limit their spiritual knowledge to the first elements of truth! They seem never to pass beyond the alphabet of the gospel. But if we desire the advancement of the Divine life within us, we must know more of Jesus—we must discern more beauty in our Beloved—we must see more of the glory of our Incarnate God—we must know more of the love and grace of the Father in the gift of His dear Son—we must, in a word, grow in the knowledge of God and of Christ. Thus the soul will be established. Every step within the great sanctuary of truth will confirm the believing heart in the divinity and the vastness, the riches and the glory, of its treasures. That no such affluence of wisdom and knowledge, and truth and holiness, could flow from any other source than Deity, would be a reflection disarming every assault upon the faith of the Christian of its virulence and power. There can be no real establishment apart from growth in spiritual knowledge. Oh seek to be rooted and grounded in the faith! Do not be always a babe in knowledge, a mere dwarf in understanding, but go forward in the use of all God's ordained means of faith, until you "come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And overlook not your individual responsibility in this matter of establishment. The Christian is here cast upon his own endeavor. He is to rouse himself to the great task; to labor as though the achievement of that task were of a power solely his own. "Work out your oven salvation"—"It is God that works in you"—are words which at once link human accountability and individual responsibility with Divine power and accomplishment. Let every Christian professor feel that God has given him this work to do—that he is responsible for its being done and that all grace is laid up in Jesus for its performance, and the church of God would go forth in the great work of her Head, "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." Christian reader, persevere! Angels whisper—persevere! Saints, bending from their thrones in glory, whisper—persevere! God bids you—persevere! The Holy Spirit earnestly speaks—"Be you steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
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Octavius Winslow (1808–1878) was an English preacher and evangelical writer whose Christ-centered ministry left a lasting mark on 19th-century Christianity. Born on August 1, 1808, in Pentonville, London, he was the eighth of thirteen children of Thomas Winslow, an army captain, and Mary Forbes, who hailed from Bermuda with Scottish roots. A descendant of Mayflower Pilgrims John Winslow and Mary Chilton, he moved with his family to New York City at age seven after his father’s death, where his widowed mother raised her children in poverty yet deep faith. Converted in 1827 under the ministry of Samuel Eastman at Stanton Street Baptist Church, Winslow was baptized in the Hudson River and soon felt called to preach. In 1834, he married Hannah Ann Ring, with whom he had ten children, though several died young, and she predeceased him in 1866. Winslow’s preaching career began with his ordination in 1833 in New York, followed by pastorates at churches like Union Baptist in Brooklyn. Moving to England in 1839, he served at Warwick Road Baptist Church in Leamington Spa until 1858, then founded Kensington Chapel in Bath, transitioning it to a Union Church by 1865. In 1870, he seceded to the Anglican Church, ordained as a deacon and priest, and ministered at Emmanuel Church in Brighton until his death. A contemporary of Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle, he preached at the opening of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1861. Author of over 40 books, including The Precious Things of God and Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, Winslow’s devotional writings earned him the title "The Pilgrim’s Companion." He died on March 5, 1878, in Brighton, leaving a legacy of fervent preaching and rich spiritual literature.