The early 19th century produced
a great wealth of Bible teachers and evangelists that are credited with
initiating a new turn in the Lord’s recovery of his testimony on the earth.
Brothers such as John Nelson Darby, William Kelly, George Muller, D.L. Moody,
Hudson Taylor, Andrew Murray, and A.B. Simpson pioneered a fresh move of the
Lord that we benefit from until today. However, we should not forget the many
great teachers that have carried this move of the Lord into the 20th century
by building on what the Lord had done in the 19th century. Teachers such as
D.M. Panton, Jessie Penn Lewis, G.H. Lang, Evan Roberts, A.W. Tozer, Cyrus
Scofield, Billy Sunday, T. Austin Sparks, and M.E. Barber stood on the
shoulders of those in the early part of the century and brought the Lord’s
work to a higher level. It is in this context that G. Campbell Morgan takes
his place in church history. Although he is not credited with the opening up
of great Biblical truths as the early Brethren were, he nevertheless expounded
the Bible with fresh light and with an utterance in a class of its own. One
can only imagine how inspiring it must have been to sit and listen to
Morgan’s expounding of the crises of Christ: how God designed the temptation
of Jesus to "drag" Satan into the light to expose his personality
and methods once for all; or how Jesus became the only man in human history to
be "forsaken" by God. He drew thousands to love the Bible through
his speaking at Westminster Chapel and his Biblical insights recorded in his
books are popular among the Lord’s seekers even today. His most popular
works are "The Crises of the Christ," and the several volumes of
"The Westminster Pulpit."
Spiritual men of the later 18th
century have been described as being detached from social issues as well as
society at large. A. W. Tozer retreated to his study immediately after his
sermons because he did not care to have people with "diseased
personalities" coming up to him to shake his hand. T Austin Sparks was a
private person who usually kept to himself. Panton, Penn Lewis, Lang, etc.,
although articulate Bible teachers, did not leave behind a significant group
of followers affected by their ministry as did earlier church leaders such as
Darby, Taylor, and Simpson. G. Campbell Morgan invigorated the dying
Westminster Chapel with his eloquent exposition of the Bible. However, soon
after both of his resignations, the congregation quickly dwindled again. Could
this have to do with his approach to his pastorship? His Biblical expositions
gave profound insight into the revelation of the divine economy, but did not
often allude to the subjective experience of the believer. One has to wonder
if the liberal social gospel of the 20th century that was geared only to reach
out to meet human needs was a reaction to the spiritual men at the turn of the
century who appeared detached from the common man. However, this should not
take away from the powerful influence he has had on Bible students of every
persuasion.
G. Campbell Morgan’s writings
have profound insight, are unique in utterance and are unparalleled in
expression. He rarely quoted other Bible teachers, neither did he rely on
light others received. Yet his Biblical expositions are so thought-provoking
and inspiring that one cannot help but be left in awe of what this brother
received from the Word. The Lord Jesus gave Morgan a special revelation to
bring God’s people into fellowship with Himself by being nourished and
enlightened through the enjoyment of the Bible. We must appreciate and learn
from our brother, G. Campbell Morgan, how he brought into the Lord’s
recovery the way to dig out the unsearchable riches of Christ found in His
Holy Word.
Early Years
G. Campbell Morgan was the son
of a Baptist minister. His home was one of such genuine piety that in later
years he wrote: "While my father could not compel me to be a Christian, I
had no choice because of what he did for me and what I saw in him." He
received an excellent education at Gratton house, "The Douglas School for
Young Gentlemen," but never earned any academic degree. When Campbell was
10 years old, D.L. Moody came to England for the first time, and the effect of
his ministry, combined with the dedication of his parents, made such an
impression on the life of young Morgan, that at the age of 13, he preached his
first sermon. Two years later, he was preaching regularly in country chapels
during his Sundays and holidays. Although he had no formal training for the
ministry, his tireless devotion to the study of the Bible helped him to become
a prominent Bible teacher of his day. In 1886, at the age of 23, he left the
teaching profession, for which he had been trained, and began devoting his
full time to the ministry of the Word of God. He was ordained to the
Congregational ministry in 1890, having been rejected by the Wesleyan
Methodists two years before.
Association with D.L. Moody
Morgan worked with Moody and
Sankey in their evangelistic tour of Great Britain in 1883. His reputation as
preacher and Bible expositor soon encompassed England and spread to the United
States. In 1896, D.L. Moody invited him to give a lecture to the students at
the Moody Bible Institute. This was the first of his 54 crossings of the
Atlantic to minister the Word. After the death of Moody in 1899, Morgan
assumed the position of director of the Northfield Bible Conference. The many
thousands of converts from the ministry of Moody needed a teacher of the Bible
to strengthen and deepen their faith. G. Campbell Morgan became that teacher.
Pastorate at Westminster
Chapel, London
In 1840 the area where
Westminster Chapel now stands was relatively undeveloped. It was an unhealthy
poverty stricken slum - perhaps the worst in England. Since that time the area
has improved considerably and historic attractions such as Buckingham Palace
and Westminster Abbey bring millions of tourists to the area each year. Prior
to the arrival of Dr R T Kendall in 1976, Westminster Chapel had three
particularly famous pastors: the Rev’d Samuel Martin (142-1878), G Campbell
Morgan (1904-1917 & 1933-1943) and Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1939-1968).
The Congregationalists wanted a
stronger Christian witness in the area. The impetus came from the Regent
Street Chapel and the means from the Metropolis Chapel Building Association
who built a Chapel in Buckingham Gate on the site of the third Westminster
Hospital. The building, seating 1,500 and with 22 members opened on 6 May
1841.
Such was the diligence and
success of the first pastor, Samuel Martin, that by 1860 the church building
could not accommodate the expanding membership. On July 6, 1865 the present
building, seating 2,500, was opened (on the same site).
During the early years of this
century Westminster Chapel became known as the white elephant of
Congregationalism. Many gifted men were approached about the pulpit vacancy
but none appeared interested. Serious consideration was given to selling the
site and using the proceeds to build smaller churches away from the center of
London.
Under God’s providence, when
the situation was most critical, George Campbell Morgan accepted the challenge
and the call to Westminster Chapel. He began his ministry on the last Sunday
of October 1904. Morgan was a gifted preacher and teacher; he was a
schoolmaster before ordination, with a tall imposing presence and perfect
speaking voice. He was a Congregationalist by persuasion and was well-known in
England. He brought his friend , Albert Swift, as a co-pastor.
Morgan had well-planned
organization, Bible-centered preaching and teaching, meaningful weekday and
Sunday activities and services, and excellent cooperation of people. He was in
charge of the preaching and teaching while Swift supervised the Sunday School
and youth work. A sisterhood visited the poor and sick. Mr. Alfred Hewitt was
a full-time evangelist. A Friday night Bible school was instituted (Friday was
chosen because few other churches had Friday evening meetings) and it became
the forerunner of the present-day Westminster Chapel School of Theology.
The first edition of the
Westminster Record appeared in January 1905, founded by Morgan and edited by
him and Swift. Tithing for missionary work began then and has continued ever
since. His preaching and his weekly Friday night Bible classes attracted
thousands. Morgan proved himself to be an administrator of rare
ability—reorganizing, renovating, and skillfully raising funds. The
deteriorating structure of the Westminster Chapel was repaired and soon
Westminster became a spiritual dynamo in the teeming metropolis.
Soon after arrival at
Westminster Morgan established the Mundesley Bible Conference, a "British
Northfield" which drew to its annual conferences eminent ministers and
Christian workers from the various denominations and from several
countries. Mundesley became a vital part of Westminster Chapel.
Albert Swift left the Chapel in
1907. Dr Morgan continued bravely without his beloved friend. The First World
War (1914-18) increased Morgan’s considerable work load and after a
debilitating illness at the beginning of 1916, to the dismay of the
membership, Morgan announced his resignation from the Chapel. When his health
revived, he moved to America - but he was destined to return.
In 1928 Dr Hubert Simpson
assumed the pastorate but he was a sick man, still suffering from the effects
of the First World War. Dr Simpson’s writings reveal a sensitive man who had
been under great stress as a chaplain to a Guards Brigade in France and later
as chaplain to a war hospital.
Finding the Westminster Chapel
so difficult, he approached Campbell Morgan who happened to be attending a
conference in England, with a view to his sharing the Westminster pastorate.
In 1933 the new partnership began but Dr. Simpson was soon forced to retire
completely. With the retirement of the pastor so ended Morgan’s formal
association with the Chapel but he continued to minister and a few years later
was formally inducted as the minister once again.
Morgan was well aware of the
hazards of a second pastorate with the same fellowship and acknowledged this
at the church meeting. The character of his second term differed from his
first. There was less emphasis on social activities. This reflected, in part,
the improving conditions in the area but undoubtedly the main influence was
the changing attitudes within Evangelical circles. Howard H. Rowden of the
London Bible College opens his essay on Morgan’s old friend, Albert Swift,
with this telling observation: "It is one of the minor curiosities of
recent church history that evangelical Protestants, who provided some of the
leading activists of the 19th Century, had, by the middle of the 20th Century,
gained the reputation of being socially aloof and even opposed to Christian
involvement in almost any kind of social or political action" (Albert
Swift: A Social Gospeller at Westminster Chapel?)
The church buildings were
renovated and enlarging congregations returned. The wonderful voice, the
logical exposition, sustained the large congregation, but the physical strain
became more noticeable as the years went by. It was spiritual inspiration when
he asked Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a young minister from South Wales, to come
to help him.
Ministry in the United States
During his first pastorate at
Westminster, Morgan made many, almost annual trips to America. In 1916 he
resigned from Westminster Chapel to do itinerant preaching. Between 1919 and
1932 traveled widely in evangelistic and preaching tours in the United States.
Many thousands of people heard him preach in nearly every state and Canada.
For a year (1927-1928) he served on the faculty of the Bible Institute of Los
Angeles, and for a year (1930-1931) he was a Bible lecturer at Gordon College
of Theology and Missions in Boston. Between 1929 and 1932 he was pastor of the
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His appeal was
phenomenal. Often when he spoke, the crowds were so large that police control
was necessary.
Life Work
His paramount contribution to
the Christian faith lay in teaching the Bible and showing people how to study
it for themselves. Superbly gifted, he dedicated his insight and eloquence to
a single objective: communicating God’s truth with scholarly integrity,
rhetorical lucidity, and arresting relevance. Morgan published over 60 books
and booklets, many of which are still available today.