At a YMCA conference in 1870, Major Daniel Whittle, a former officer in the Civil War, preached a stirring sermon from Revelation 2:25;3:11. "Only hold on to what you have until I come."
Major Whittle then used an illustration from his war experience to close the message -
A small force of Northern soldiers in charge of guarding a great quantity of supplies at the Allatoona Pass was besieged and hard pressed by greatly superior Confederate forces. Finally General French, the Confederate leader, commanded the Federal troops to surrender. At that moment on a hill some distance away the Northern leader, General Sherman, flashed a signal to his troops -
"Hold the fort, I am coming. Sherman."
In the audience that night when Major Whittle told this story was Philip P. Bliss, a well-known writer of early gospel music.
The account so captivated Bliss that he could not sleep that evening until he had completed both the text and the music for a new song, "Hold the Fort." At the next day's YMCA service, Bliss introduced his rousing new gospel hymn to the delegates. The response was immediate and enthusiastic.
"Hold the Fort" later became a great favorite in the Moody-Sankey campaigns in the U.S. and in Great Britain. During a Moody-Sankey campaign in the British Isles in 1874, Lord Shaftesbury, an esteemed Christian statesman, announced to the audience at the closing service, "If Mr. Sankey has done no more than teach our people to sing 'Hold the Fort', he has conferred inestimable blessing on the British Empire, and it would have been worth all the expense of these meetings."
Before his tragic death at the early age of 38, Philip Bliss contributed other fine gospel hymns that are still much enjoyed. Even though Bliss never considered "Hold the Fort" to be one of his better songs, his monument at Rome, Pennsylvania, bears this inscription -
"P. P. Bliss, author of 'Hold the Fort.'" - '52 Hymn Stories Dramatized' by Kenneth W. Osbeck
Hallelujah! Christ is Victor, therefore do and dare! Lord You're on the throne no matter where we are or what we're going through. Therefore we dare - even to pray things we deem impossible, to pray for places far away from us, to pray for Your move...Lord, send us in prayer wherever You desire!
After singing, we should pray one after another. Sometimes, when the allotted time for a prayer meeting is long, we need to use a hymn to fill the time, stir up the saints, and maintain the spirit. We can sing Hymns, #890, "Hallelujah! Christ is Victor." However, it is better not to sing the whole hymn; rather, it is sufficient to sing only one stanza and the chorus. We can also sing Hymns, #880; this hymn strengthens the brothers and sisters in their inner feeling to oppose Satan. After the prayer, when the spirit has been released to the point that our utterance has been exhausted, we may express this feeling through a hymn. When everyone is released in the singing, a brother needs to add a prayer. At this time it may seem that the meeting is over. But if the meeting has a lingering taste, and there is a need to send people off, we can sing the chorus of Hymns, #890 again. This can be compared to wrapping a gift perfectly and then adding a beautiful bow. If the saints attend this kind of meeting, they will surely like to continue meeting.
Second, we need to choose the hymns according to the feeling in our spirit. We should not choose hymns rigidly according to the subject of the meeting but choose them based on the feeling in our spirit. For example, choosing "Teach us to pray that we may cause" (Hymns, #767) in the prayer meeting certainly fits the subject of a prayer meeting, but if we sing it rigidly, the spirit of the meeting may not rise up. If the saints sense the Lord's victory in the prayer meeting, someone may select "Hallelujah! Christ is Victor" (Hymns, #890). If others have a response in their spirit, the meeting will be enlivened.
According to our experience, there are a few benefits to calling or crying loudly. First, when a person is depressed, shouting and calling loudly can help him come out of his depression. Formerly, my only way out of feeling depressed and unable to pray in a meeting was to call a hymn. Often I sang loudly, "Hallelujah! Christ is Victor, / Tell with every breath" (Hymns, #890), and eight out of ten times the depression I felt within was removed through singing. Now I have found the secret: if I feel depressed in any kind of meeting, I can say loudly with my spirit, "O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!" In this way death vanishes, and Satan flees away.
Christ as the seed of the woman has dealt with Satan, sin, death, and the old man. The first stanza and chorus of Hymns, #890 express the fact that Christ is the Victor over Satan, sin, and death:
...
Sin and death are the product of Satan. Sin came from Satan and issues in death (Rom. 5:12). However, Satan was destroyed by Christ, sin was taken away through Christ's death, and death was nullified by Christ's appearing in the flesh. Moreover, our old man, which was corrupted by Satan, sin, and death, was terminated by being crucified with Christ. All these items are included in the bruising of the serpent's head by the seed of the woman. These are the achievements of Christ as the seed of the woman.
We should not let anything dim our vision or make our vision weak. Too often we let something dim our vision and make our vision so vague. This is our sinfulness. If we would confess our sins thoroughly, this thorough confession would clear the sky. Then our vision could never be dim. Go wherever He would send you. Do not let anything dim your vision. Go by rising up and being filled with the consummated Spirit essentially and economically.