- Home
- Speakers
- Octavius Winslow
- The Lord My Helper
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.
Download
Sermon Summary
Octavius Winslow emphasizes the believer's dependence on God as their helper, illustrating that true strength comes from recognizing our own helplessness and the sufficiency of Christ. He explains that life's trials teach us to rely on God's timely and effective assistance, reminding us that our down-casting often precedes His uplifting. Winslow encourages believers to cry out for help in both spiritual and temporal needs, assuring them that the Lord is always present and ready to support them. The sermon highlights the divine nature of our Helper, Jesus Christ, who meets all our needs with love and power. Ultimately, the message reassures us that with the Lord as our helper, we need not fear what others may do to us.
The Lord My Helper
"The Lord is my portion, says my soul" That is why we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" Hebrews 13:6 The believer is as helpless in himself as he is portionless in the world; and both lessons are only learned by experience--the one, in the school of the soul's nothingness; the other, in the school of earth's insufficiency. Hallowed teaching this which leads to such blessed results! But the lesson of our spiritual helplessness is not once learned, and learned for all time. Oh no! It is a daily, hourly lesson, learned in every event and incident of our life, yet never completed until we pass to the wider sphere, the sublimer studies, the higher, nobler attainments of glory. Oh, what divine studies await our enlarged faculties! what sublime revelations, our complete holiness! what an ocean of bliss, our hearts perfected in the love to God! But the present is the time of our spiritual education for heaven, and the great truth God is teaching us--by the deeper knowledge of ourselves, by all our mental infirmities and moral delinquencies, the discipline of trial, temptation, and sorrow--is, "Without Me you can do nothing." "I was brought low," says David, "and He helped me." See how God teaches us. There is first the soul's down-casting before the Lord's uplifting. Oh, how low may we be brought! Low in our spiritual life, low in the graces of the Spirit, low in Christian evidences, low in mind, body, and estate; nevertheless, we have experienced the truth of God's Word, "When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up." O my soul! is the Lord, by His hidden teaching, or by His afflictive dispensations, mowing you down, and bringing you low? It is but bringing you to testify, with the psalmist, "I was brought low, and HE helped me." But look at our Helper! Our Helper is DIVINE. "HE helped me." "The Lord is my helper." The Lord Jesus is all-sufficient as our Helper. "I have laid help," says the Father, speaking of the Son, "upon One that is mighty." The Father required help in the redemption of His chosen Church. He found it in His co-equal and co-eternal Son, in whom met all the divine and human requisites for the salvation of His elect. The help, too, the Father laid upon the Son, was help also for us. Therefore the Lord Jesus is our Helper--all-powerful, all-loving, all-pitying, yes, all-sufficient for all the needs we bring. Our help is OPPORTUNE. It comes just at the moment we need it, and not a moment sooner. Our down-casting is the time of His uplifting. His help, also, is in His own time. The Lord is never before His time, and never after it, in His gracious interventions in our behalf. Wait, then, His time, O my soul! His time is best. "Blessed are all those who wait for Him." His help, also, is EFFECTUAL. Human help fails to reach our case. The Lord's help is never baffled--it never falls short of our need, urgent, desperate though that need may be. Trust, then, the Lord, O my soul! for "He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man shall do unto me." But now, as to the nature of the help we need. Each believer walks, for the most part, in his own way, the Lord leading him by a path peculiar to Himself--a path in which he can observe no footprints but Christ's, and indeed a path so narrow as to admit as his companion Christ only. Is your need temporal? all the resources of heaven and earth are Christ's, and He who fed five thousand with a few loaves will not leave you, His beloved child, unnoticed and unsupplied. Cry importunately, "Lord, help me!" until He helps. Is your need spiritual? 'all fullness' dwells in Jesus. And whether your need be the pardon of sin, or the sense of acceptance in Christ, or grace to conquer some powerful, besetting infirmity, or support and comfort in present sorrow, or guidance in some trying perplexity, or deliverance in behalf of one you love--still cry, "Lord, help me!" and your prayer will not be in vain, so that you may boldly say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT FEAR."
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download
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.