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A.B. Simpson

Albert Benjamin "A.B." Simpson (1843 - 1919). Canadian-American preacher, author, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), born in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Raised Presbyterian, he experienced conversion at 14 and studied at Knox College, Toronto, graduating in 1865. Ordained, he pastored in Ontario, then Louisville, Kentucky, where his church grew to 1,000 members. In 1881, after a healing experience, he moved to New York, founding the independent Gospel Tabernacle to reach the marginalized. In 1882, he launched The Word, Work, and World magazine, and in 1887, merged two ministries to form the C&MA, emphasizing the "Fourfold Gospel": Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Simpson authored 101 books, including The Fourfold Gospel, and composed hymns like "Jesus Only." In 1883, he started Nyack College, training 6,000 missionaries. Married to Margaret Henry in 1866, they had six children. His global vision sent 1,500 missionaries to 40 countries by 1919. Simpson’s teachings on holiness and divine healing shaped modern Pentecostalism.
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A.B. Simpson emphasizes the urgency of reaching out to those who have become indifferent to the gospel, as illustrated in the parable of the great supper in Luke 14. He notes that many in Christian countries are increasingly offering excuses to avoid the invitation to Christ, prompting the Lord to seek those in the highways and hedges. Simpson highlights the dual movement of taking the gospel to both the neglected classes at home and abroad, urging believers to actively compel others to come to the feast of salvation. The sermon calls for a renewed commitment to evangelism and outreach in a world that is growing indifferent to the message of Christ.
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Go Out Into the Highways and Hedges, and Compel Them to Come In
In the parable in Luke 14 of the great supper an ancient lord prepared for his friends and neighbors, there is a significant picture and object lesson of the program of Christianity in this age. In the first place, it is obvious to every thoughtful mind that the Master is hearing an increasing number of excuses from the gospel-hardened people of Christian countries. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to interest the unsaved of our own land, especially those who have been accustomed to hearing the gospel, in the things of Christ. They have asked to be excused from the feast, and the Lord is turning from them. At the same time two remarkable alternatives indicated in the parable are becoming more and more manifest. One is the movement to take the gospel to the slums and the neglected classes at home; the other is the movement to take the gospel to the neglected classes abroad.
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Albert Benjamin "A.B." Simpson (1843 - 1919). Canadian-American preacher, author, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), born in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Raised Presbyterian, he experienced conversion at 14 and studied at Knox College, Toronto, graduating in 1865. Ordained, he pastored in Ontario, then Louisville, Kentucky, where his church grew to 1,000 members. In 1881, after a healing experience, he moved to New York, founding the independent Gospel Tabernacle to reach the marginalized. In 1882, he launched The Word, Work, and World magazine, and in 1887, merged two ministries to form the C&MA, emphasizing the "Fourfold Gospel": Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Simpson authored 101 books, including The Fourfold Gospel, and composed hymns like "Jesus Only." In 1883, he started Nyack College, training 6,000 missionaries. Married to Margaret Henry in 1866, they had six children. His global vision sent 1,500 missionaries to 40 countries by 1919. Simpson’s teachings on holiness and divine healing shaped modern Pentecostalism.