George Muller of Bristol Part 20

Mr. E. T. Davies then offered prayer, and the body was left to its undisturbed repose, until the Lord shall come.

Other memorial services were held at the Y.M.C.A. Hall, and very naturally at Bethesda Chapel, which brought to a fitting close this series of loving tributes to the departed. On the Lord's day preceding the burial, in nearly all the city pulpits, more or less extended reference had been made to the life, the character, and the career of the beloved saint who had for so many years lived his irreproachable life in Bristol. Also the daily and weekly press teemed with obituary notices, and tributes to his piety, worth, and work.

It was touchingly remarked at his funeral that he first confessed to feeling weak and weary in his work that last night of his earthly sojourn; and it seemed specially tender of the Lord not to allow that sense of exhaustion to come upon him until just as He was about to send His chariot to bear him to His presence. Mr. Muller's last sermon at Bethesda Chapel, after a ministry of sixty-six years, had been from 2 Cor. v. 1:

"For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of G.o.d, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

It was as though he had some foretokens of his being about shortly to put off this his tabernacle. Evidently he was not taken by surprise. He had foreseen that his days were fast completing their number. Seven months before his departure, he had remarked to his medical attendant, in connection with the irregularity of his pulse: "It means _death."_

Many of the dear orphans--as when the first Mrs. Muller died--wrote, asking that they might contribute toward the erection of a monument to the memory of their beloved benefactor. Already one dear young servant had gathered, for the purpose, over twenty pounds. In conformity with the known wishes of his father-in-law that only the simplest headstone be placed over his remains, Mr. Wright thought necessary to check the inflow of such gifts, the sum in hand being quite sufficient.

Further urgent appeals were made both from British and American friends, for the erection of some statue or other large visible monument or memorial, and in these appeals the local newspapers united. At length private letters led Mr. Wright to communicate with the public press, as the best way at once to silence these appeals and express the ground of rejecting such proposals. He wrote as follows:

"You ask me, as one long and closely a.s.sociated with the late Mr. George Muller, to say what I think would be most in accordance with his own wishes as a fitting memorial of himself.

"Will not the best way of replying to this question be to let him speak for himself?

"1st. When he erected Orphan House No. 1, and the question came what is the building to be called, he deliberately avoided a.s.sociating his own name with it, and named it 'The New Orphan House, Ashley Down.' N.B.--To the end of his life he _disliked_ hearing or reading the words 'Muller's Orphanage.' In keeping with this, for years, in _every Annual Report,_ when referring to the Orphanage he reiterated the statement, 'The New Orphan Houses on Ashley Down, Bristol, are not _my_ Orphan Houses,...

they are G.o.d's Orphan Houses.' (See, for example, the Report for 1897, p. 69.)

"2nd. For years, in fact until he was nearly eighty years old, he steadily refused to allow any _portrait_ of himself to be published; and only most reluctantly (for reasons which he gives with characteristic minuteness in the preface to 'Preaching Tours') did he at length give way on this point.

"3rd. In the last published Report, at page 66, he states: 'The primary object I had in view in carrying on this work,' viz., 'that it might be seen that now, in the nineteenth century, _G.o.d is still the Living G.o.d, and that now, as well as thousands of years ago, He listens to the prayers of His children and helps those who trust in Him.'_ From these words and ways of acting, is it not evident, that the only 'memorial'

that George Muller cared about was that which consists in the effect of his example, G.o.dward, upon his fellow men? Every soul converted to G.o.d (instrumentally) through his words or example const.i.tutes a permanent memorial to him as the father in Christ of such an one. Every believer strengthened in faith (instrumentally) through his words or example const.i.tutes a similar memorial to his spiritual teacher.

"He knew that G.o.d had, already, in the riches of His grace, given him many such memorials; and he departed this life, as I well know, cheris.h.i.+ng the most lively hope that he should greet _above_ thousands more to whom it had pleased G.o.d to make him a channel of rich spiritual blessing.

"He used often to say to me, when he opened a letter in which the writer poured out a tale of sore pecuniary need, and besought his help to an extent twice or three or ten times exceeding the sum total of his (Mr.

Muller's) earthly possessions at the moment, 'Ah! these dear people entirely miss the lesson I am _trying_ to teach them, for they come to _me,_ instead of going to _G.o.d.'_ And if he could come back to us for an hour, and listen to an account of what his sincerely admiring, but mistaken, friends are proposing to do to _perpetuate_ his memory, I can hear him, with a sigh, exclaiming, 'Ah! these _dear_ friends are entirely missing the lesson that I tried for seventy years to teach them,' viz., 'That a _man_ can receive nothing except it be _given_ him _from above,'_ and that, therefore, it is the Blessed _Giver,_ and not the poor receiver, that is to be glorified.

"Yours faithfully, "JAMES WRIGHT."

CHAPTER XX

THE SUMMARY OF THE LIFE-WORK

DEATH shuts the door upon earthly service, whatever door it may open to other forms and spheres of activity. There are many intimations that service beyond the grave is both unceasing and untiring: the blessed dead "rest indeed from their _labours"_--toilsome and painful tasks--"but their works"--activities for G.o.d--"do follow them," where exertion is without exhaustion.

This is therefore a fit point for summing up the results of the work over which, from its beginning, one man had specially had charge. One sentence from Mr. Muller's pen marks the purpose which was the very pivot of his whole being: "I have joyfully dedicated my whole life to the object of exemplifying how much may be accomplished by prayer and faith." This prepared both for the development of the character of him who had such singleness of aim, and for the development of the work in which that aim found action. Mr. Muller's oldest friend, Robert C.

Chapman of Barnstaple, beautifully says that "when a man's chief business is to serve and please the Lord, all his circ.u.mstances become his servants"; and we shall find this maxim true in Mr. Muller's life-work.

The Fifty-ninth Report, issued May 26, 1898, was the last up to the date of the publication of this volume, and the first after Mr. Muller's death. In this, Mr. Wright gives the brief but valuable summary not only of the whole work of the year preceding, but of the whole work from its beginning, and thus helps us to a comprehensive survey.

This report is doubly precious as it contains also the last contribution of Mr. Muller's own pen to the record of the Lord's dealings. It is probable that on the afternoon of March 9th he laid down his pen, for the last time, all unconscious that he was never again to take it up. He had made, in a twofold sense, his closing entry in life's solemn journal! In the evening of that day he took his customary part in the prayer service in the orphan house--then went to sleep for the last time on earth; there came a waking hour, when he was alone with G.o.d, and suddenly departed, leaving his body to its long sleep that knows no waking until the day of the Lord's coming, while his spirit returned unto G.o.d who gave it.

The afternoon of that day of death, and of 'birth' into the heavenly life--as the catacomb saints called it--found the helpers again a.s.sembled in the same prayer room to commit the work to him "who only hath immortality," and who, amid all changes of human administration, ever remains the divine Master Workman, never at a loss for His own chosen instruments.

Mr. Wright, in this report, shows himself G.o.d's chosen successor in the work, evidently like-minded with the departed director. The first paragraph, after the brief and touching reference to his father-in-law, serves to convey to all friends of this work the a.s.surance that he to whom Mr. Muller left its conduct has also learned the one secret of all success in coworking with G.o.d. It sounds, as the significant _keynote_ for the future, the same old keynote of the past, carrying on the melody and harmony, without change, into the new measures. It is the same oratorio, without alteration of theme, time, or even key: the leading performer is indeed no more, but another hand takes up his instrument and, trembling with emotion, continues the unfinished strain so that there is no interruption. Mr. Wright says:

"It is written (Job xxvi. 7): 'He hangeth the earth upon _nothing'_--that is, no _visible_ support. And so we exult in the fact that 'the Scriptural Knowledge Inst.i.tution for Home and Abroad' hangs, as it has ever hung, since its commencement, now more than sixty-four years ago, 'upon nothing,' that is, upon no VISIBLE support. It hangs upon no human patron, upon no endowment or funded property, but solely upon the good pleasure of the blessed G.o.d."

Blessed lesson to learn! that to hang upon the invisible G.o.d is not to hang "upon nothing," though it be upon nothing _visible._ The power and permanence of the invisible forces that hold up the earth after sixty centuries of human history are sufficiently shown by the fact that this great globe still swings securely in s.p.a.ce and is whirled through its vast orbit, and that, without variation of a second, it still moves with divine exactness in its appointed path. We can therefore trust the same invisible G.o.d to sustain with His unseen power all the work which faith suspends upon His truth and love and unfailing word of promise, though to the natural eye all these may seem as nothing.

Mr. Wright records also a very striking answer to long-continued prayer, and a most impressive instance of the tender care of the Lord, in the _providing of an a.s.sociate,_ every way like-minded, and well fitted to share the responsibility falling upon his shoulders at the decease of his father-in-law.

Feeling the burden too great for him, his one resource was to cast his burden on the Lord. He and Mr. Muller had asked of G.o.d such a companion in labour for three years before his departure, and Mr.

Wright and his dear wife had, for twenty-five years before that--from the time when Mr. Muller's long missionary tours began to withdraw him from Bristol--besought of the Lord the same favour. But to none of them had any _name_ been suggested, or, if so, it had never been mentioned.

After that day of death, Mr. Wright felt that a gracious Father would not long leave him to sustain this great burden alone, and about a fortnight later he felt a.s.sured that it was the will of G.o.d that he should ask Mr. George Frederic Bergin to join him in the work, who seemed to him a _"true yoke-fellow."_ He had known him well for a quarter-century; he had worked by his side in the church; and though they were diverse in temperament, there had never been a break in unity or sympathy. Mr. Bergin was seventeen years his junior, and so likely to survive and succeed him; he was very fond of children, and had been much blessed in training his own in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and hence was fitted to take charge of this larger family of orphans.

Confident of being led of G.o.d, he put the matter before Mr. Bergin, delighted but not surprised to find that the same G.o.d had moved on his mind also, and in the same direction; for not only was he ready to respond to Mr. Wright's appeal, but he had been led of G.o.d to feel that he should, after a certain time, _go to Mr. Wright and offer himself._ The Spirit who guided Philip to the Eunuch and at the same time had made the Eunuch to inquire after guidance; who sent men from Cornelius and, while they were knocking at Simon's house, was bidding Peter go with them, still moves in a mysterious way, and simultaneously, on those whom He would bring together for cooperation in loving service. And thus Mr.

Wright found the Living G.o.d the same Helper and Supplier of every need, after his beloved father-in-law had gone up higher; and felt constrained to feel that the G.o.d of Elijah was still at the crossing of the Jordan and could work the same wonders as before, supplying the need of the hour when the need came.

Mr. Muller's own gifts to the service of the Lord find in this posthumous report their first full record and recognition. Readers of the Annual Reports must have noticed an entry, recurring with strange frequency during all these thirty or forty years, and therefore suggesting a giver that must have reached a very ripe age: "from a servant of the Lord Jesus, who, constrained by the love of Christ, seeks to lay up treasure in heaven." If that entry be carefully followed throughout and there be added the personal gifts made by Mr. Muller to various benevolent objects, it will be found that the aggregate sum from this "servant" reaches, up to March 1, 1898, a total of _eighty-one thousand four hundred and ninety pounds eighteen s.h.i.+llings and eightpence._ Mr. Wright, now that this "servant of the Lord Jesus" is with his Master, who promised, "Where I am there shall also My servant be," feels free to make known that this donor was no other than _George Muller himself_ who thus gave out of his own money--money given to him for his own use or left to him by legacies--the total sum of about sixty-four thousand five hundred pounds to the Scriptural Knowledge Inst.i.tution, and, in other directions, seventeen thousand more.

This is a record of personal gifts to which we know no parallel. It reminds us of the career of John Wesley, whose simplicity and frugality of habits enabled him not only to limit his own expenditure to a very small sum, but whose Christian liberality and unselfishness prompted him to give all that he could thus save to purely benevolent objects. While he had but thirty pounds a year, he lived on twenty-eight and gave away forty s.h.i.+llings. Receiving twice as much the next year, he still kept his living expenses down to the twenty-eight pounds and had thirty-two to bestow on the needy; and when the third year his income rose to ninety pounds, he spent no more than before and gave away sixty-two. The fourth year brought one hundred and twenty, and he disbursed still but the same sum for his own needs, having ninety-two to spare. It is calculated that in the course of his life he thus gave away at least thirty thousand pounds, and four silver spoons comprised all the silver plate that he possessed when the collectors of taxes called upon him. Such economy on the one hand and such generosity on the other have seldom been known in human history. But George Muller's record will compare favourably with this or any other of modern days. His frugality, simplicity, and economy were equal to Wesley's, and his gifts aggregated eighty-one thousand pounds. Mr. Muller had received increasingly large sums from the Lord which he _invested_ well and most profitably, so that for over sixty years he never lost a penny through a bad speculation!

But his investments were not in lands or banks or railways, but in the _work of G.o.d._ He made friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness that when he failed received him into everlasting habitations. He continued, year after year, to make provision for himself, his beloved wife and daughter, by laying up treasure--in heaven. Such a man had certainly a right to exhort others to systematic beneficence. He gave--as not one in a million gives--not a t.i.the, not any fixed proportion of annual income, but _all that was left_ after the simplest and most necessary supply of actual wants. While most Christians regard themselves as doing their duty if, after they have given a portion to the Lord, they spend all the rest on themselves, G.o.d led George Muller to reverse this rule and reserve only the most frugal sum for personal needs, that the entire remainder might be given to him that needeth. The utter _revolution_ implied in our habits of giving which would be necessary were such a rule adopted is but too obvious. Mr. Muller's own words are:

"My aim never was, how much I could _obtain,_ but rather how much I could give."

He kept continually before him _his stewards.h.i.+p_ of G.o.d's property; and sought to make the most of the one brief life on earth, and to use for the best and largest good the property held by him in trust. The things of G.o.d were deep realities, and, projecting every action and decision and motive into the light of the judgment-seat of Christ, he asked himself how it would appear to him in the light of that tribunal. Thus he sought prayerfully and conscientiously so to live and labour, so to deny himself, and, by love, serve G.o.d and man, as that he should not be ashamed before Him at His coming. But not in a spirit of _fear_ was this done; for if any man of his generation knew the perfect love that casts out fear, it was George Muller. He felt that G.o.d is love, and love is of G.o.d. He saw that love manifested in the greatest of gifts--His only-begotten Son at Calvary--he knew and believed the Love that G.o.d hath to us; he received it into his own heart; it became an abiding presence, manifested in obedience and benevolence, and, subduing him more and more, it became perfected so as to expel tormenting fear and impart a holy confidence and delight in G.o.d.

Among the texts which strongly impressed and moulded Mr. Muller's habits of giving was Luke vi. 38:

"Give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom."

He believed this promise and he verified it. His testimony is: "I had GIVEN, and G.o.d had caused to be GIVEN TO ME AGAIN, and bountifully."

Again he read: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

He says that he BELIEVED what he found in the word of G.o.d, and by His grace sought to ACT ACCORDINGLY, and thus again records that he was blessed abundantly and his peace and joy in the Holy Ghost increased more and more.

It will not be a surprise, therefore, that, as has been already noted, Mr. Muller's _entire personal estate_ at his death, as sworn to, when the will was admitted to probate, was only 169 pounds 9s. 4d., of which books, household furniture, etc., were reckoned at over one hundred pounds, the only _money_ in his possession being a trifle over sixty pounds, and even this only awaiting disburs.e.m.e.nt as G.o.d's steward.

The will of Mr. Muller contains a pregnant clause which should not be forgotten in this memorial. It closes with a paragraph which is deeply significant as meant to be his posthumous word of testimony--"a last testament":

"I cannot help admiring G.o.d's wondrous grace in bringing me to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus when I was an entirely careless and thoughtless young man, and that He has kept me in His fear and truth, allowing me the great honour, for so long a time, of serving Him."

In the comprehensive summary contained in this Fifty-ninth Report, remarkable growth is apparent during the sixty-four years since the outset of the work in 1834. During the year ending May 26, 1898, the number of day-schools was 7, and of pupils, 354; the number of children in attendance from the beginning, 81,501. The number of home Sunday-schools, 12, and of children in them, 1341; but from the beginning, 32,944. The number of Sunday-schools _aided_ in England and Wales, 25. The amount expended in connection with home schools, 736 pounds 13s. 10d.; from the outset, 109,992 pounds 19s. 10d. The Bibles and parts thereof circulated, 15,411; from the beginning, 1,989,266.

Money expended for this purpose the past year, 439 pounds; from the first, 41,090 pounds 13s. 3d. Missionary labourers aided, 115. Money expended, 2082 pounds 9s. 6d; from the outset, 261,859 pounds 7s. 4d.

Circulation of books and tracts, 3,101,338. Money spent, 1001 pounds 3s.; and from the first, 47,188 pounds 11s. 10d. The number of orphans on Ashley Down, 1620; and from the first, 10,024. Money spent in orphan houses, last year, 22,523 pounds 13s. 1d.; and from the beginning, 988,829 pounds.

To carry out conviction into action is sometimes a costly sacrifice; but whatever Mr. Muller's fidelity to conviction cost in one way, he had stupendous results of his life-work to contemplate, even while he lived.

Let any one look at the above figures and facts, and remember that here was one poor man who, dependent on the help of G.o.d only in answer to prayer, could look back over threescore years and see how he had built five large orphan houses and taken into his family over ten thousand orphans, expending, for their good, within twelve thousand pounds of a round million. He had given aid to day-schools and Sunday-schools, in this and other lands, where nearly one hundred and fifty thousand children have been taught, at a cost of over one hundred and ten thousand pounds more. He had circulated nearly two million Bibles and parts thereof at the cost of over forty thousand pounds; and over three million books and tracts, at a cost of nearly fifty thousand pounds more. And besides all this he had spent over two hundred and sixty thousand pounds to aid missionary labourers in various lands. The sum total of the money thus spent during sixty years has thus reached very nearly the astonis.h.i.+ng aggregate of one and a half million of pounds sterling ($7,500,000).

To summarize Mr. Muller's service we must understand his great secret.

Such a life and such a work are the result of one habit more than all else,--daily and frequent communion with G.o.d. Unwearied in supplications and intercessions, we have seen how, in every new need and crisis, prayer was the one resort, the prayer of faith. He first satisfied himself that he was in the way of duty; then he fixed his mind upon the unchanging word of promise; then, in the boldness of a suppliant who comes to a throne of grace in the name of Jesus Christ and pleads the a.s.surance of the immutable Promiser, he presented every pet.i.tion. He was an unwearied intercessor. No delay discouraged him. This is seen particularly in the case of individuals for whose conversion or special guidance into the paths of full obedience he prayed. On his prayer list were the names of some for whom he had besought G.o.d, daily, by name, for one, two, three, four, six, ten years before the answer was given. The year just before his death, he told the writer of two parties for whose reconciliation to G.o.d he had prayed, day by day, _for over sixty years,_ and who had not as yet to his knowledge turned unto G.o.d: and he significantly added, "I have not a doubt that I shall meet them both in heaven; for my Heavenly Father would not lay upon my heart a burden of prayer for them for over threescore years, if He had not concerning them purposes of mercy."

This is a sufficient example of his almost unparalleled perseverance and importunity in intercession. However long the delay, he held on, as with both hands clasping the very horns of the altar; and his childlike spirit reasoned simply but confidently, that the very fact of his own spirit being so long drawn out in prayer for one object, and of the Lord's enabling him so to continue patiently and believingly to wait on Him for the blessing, was a promise and prophecy of the answer; and so he waited on, so a.s.sured of the ultimate result that he praised G.o.d in advance, believing that he had practically received that for which he asked.