Experience Meetings

During the Evangelical Revival in 18th Century Wales, converts to the Calvinistic Methodist cause were gathered into small groups to share their spiritual experiences. I think that it is a good thing for Christians to testify to their experience of the Lord and his ways. We had such a meeting on Wednesday evening and it was wonderful to hear the saints speaking of God's goodness to them during the last year. Some had known times of trial, but each was able to speak of the Lord's help and grace.

William Williams is better known these days for his hymns, but he was also preacher of the gospel and a discerning spiritual leader in the Calvinistic Methodist movement. He wrote a book, The Experience Meeting, to commend such meetings to believers and to give guidance on how they were to be conducted. This book was translated from the original Welsh by Bethan Lloyd-Jones, wife of the famous preacher Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. My copy was jointly published by Evangelical Press and The Evangelical Movement of Wales back in 1973. The work has since been reprinted by Regent College Publishing (here).

I would commend experience meetings to pastors and church leaders. Believers may at first feel a little reticent about sharing their experiences, but it is worth persevering. It is moving to hear of the Lord's dealings with our people. We can pray more meaningfully for one another as we open up and speak of those things that are closest to our hearts. These meetings can be a real stimulus to experiential godliness and life in the Spirit.

Williams' book takes the form of an imaginary dialogue between Theophilus, a wise spiritual counsellor and Eusebius, a new convert. Theophilus explains to his young friend why experience meetings can be profitable for believers. Here is one of his reasons,

"This kind of meeting is profitable because it gives us the opportunity to declare the work of God on our souls, and to praise His name for it. David calls upon the saints (Psalm 66:16) saying: 'Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul'. And everyone, who is of the same spirit as David, again longs to declare the great things that God has done to him, wanting all the Lord's people to give thanks on his behalf. Oh! how difficult it is for a man who has received great treasures, and those unexpectedly, either from a loved one or in any other way, not to reveal this to all those who would rejoice with him! The woman who found the silver piece that she had lost could not conceal the matter, but called her friends together, saying: 'Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost'. How much greater the desire of the godly man, who has been long in darkness and has now come into the light, to tell of the Lord's mercies to him! Oh! the joy of contemplating forgiveness of sins! Of viewing the eternal love of the Lord and the treasures of grace in the promises of the New Covenant! - it is such that a believer cannot refrain from telling it forth with the greatest joy." (p. 16).

William Williams & Experimental Calvinism

William Williams (1717-91) is best known for his hymn "Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah". He was a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist. This movement was forged in the fires of the 18th Century Evangelical Revival. The Calvinistic Methodists were characterized by a blend of deep Reformed Theology and profound experience of God.

Here is one of Williams' wonderfully experimantal, Christ exalting hymns:
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Dear Jesus, come, my soul doth groan

For nought but for Thyself alone,

Thou art the pearl of price;

For Thee I'd part with all below,

And every hardship undergo,

Beneath the vaulted skies.

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Thy presence can without delay,

Drive all my numerous cares away,

As chaff before the wind;

Compose my thoughts to adore and love

Thee, as an object far above,

To Thee alone inclined.

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Release me from the heavy chain,

Guilt, sin and shame, which still remain

To bind me hand and foot;

O, glorious Conqueror, enter in,

Cast out my foes, destroy my sin,

Both branch and spreading root.

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Give me that knowledge pure, divine,

To know and feel that Thou art mine,

And Thee my portion call;

That doubts and fears may flee away,

And faith unfeigned win the day,

And triumph over all.

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Williams' hymns help us to practice the supremacy of Christ in singing.

William Williams on Assurance

The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists of the 18th Century Evangelical Revival taught that Christians should know that they are saved. The leaders of this movement, Daniel Rowland, Howell Harris and William Williams drew on the rich, Bible-based Puritan theology of assurance. They taught that believers should dilligently seek the "witness of the Spirit" or full assurance of faith. Converts were gathered into Societies or Experience Meetings where they could share their experiences of the trials and joys of the Christian life. William Williams wrote a book on how these meeting were to be led and encouraged.

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This question was to be put to those who wished to join an Experience Meeting:

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Though you have not received the witness of the Spirit, yet are you seeking God with all your heart, and that with a constant disposition of the soul (not in fits of conviction), longing to lay hold on God, wanting nothing but Him alone, and counting all things loss that you may gain Him, not resting till you posess Him?

(The Experience Meeting by William Williams p. 35 Evangelical Press 1973.)

This hymn expresses an intense longing for full assurance of faith.

Speak, I pray Thee, gentle Jesus!
O, how passing sweet Thy words,
Breathing o’er my troubled spirit
Peace which never earth affords.
All the world’s distracting voices,
All the enticing tones of ill,
At Thy accents mild, melodious,
Are subdued, and all is still.

Tell my Thou art mine, O Saviour,
Grant me an assurance clear;
Banish all my dark misgivings,
Still my doubting, calm my fear.
O, my soul within me yearneth
Now to hear Thy voice divine;
So shall grief be gone for ever,
And despair no more be mine.

William Williams (1717-1791)