George Muller of Bristol Part 29

b. Sunday-schools, in which all the teachers are believers, and in which the Holy Scriptures alone are the foundation of instruction, are such only as the Inst.i.tution a.s.sists with the supply of Bibles, Testaments, etc.; for we consider it unscriptural that any persons who do not profess to know the Lord themselves should be allowed to give religious instruction.

c. The Inst.i.tution does not a.s.sist any adult-schools with the supply of Bibles, Testaments, spelling-books, etc., except the teachers are believers.

2. To circulate the Holy Scriptures.

We sell Bibles and Testaments to poor persons at a reduced price. But while we, in general, think it better that the Scriptures should be _sold,_ and not given altogether gratis, still, in cases of extreme poverty, we think it right to give, without payment, a cheap edition.

3. The third object of this Inst.i.tution is to aid missionary efforts.

We desire to a.s.sist those missionaries whose proceedings appear to be most according to the Scriptures.

It is proposed to give such a portion of the amount of the donations to each of the fore-mentioned objects as the Lord may direct; but if none of the objects should claim a more particular a.s.sistance, to lay out an equal portion upon each; yet so that if any donor desires to give for one of the objects exclusively the money shall be appropriated accordingly.

APPENDIX E

REASONS WHICH LED MR. MULLER TO ESTABLISH AN ORPHAN HOUSE

I HAD constantly cases brought before me which proved that one of the especial things which the children of G.o.d needed in our day was _to have their faith strengthened._ For instance: I might visit a brother who worked fourteen or even sixteen hours a day at his trade, the necessary result of which was that not only his body suffered, but his soul was lean, and he had no enjoyment in the things of G.o.d. Under such circ.u.mstances I might point out to him that he ought to work less, in order that his bodily health might not suffer, and that he might gather strength for his inner man by reading the word of G.o.d, by meditation over it, and by prayer. The reply, however, I generally found to be something like this: "But if I work less, I do not earn enough for the support of my family. Even now, whilst I work so much, I have scarcely enough. The wages are so low, that I must work hard in order to obtain what I need." There was no trust in G.o.d. No real belief in the truth of that word: "Seek ye first the kingdom of G.o.d, and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you." I might reply something like this: "My dear brother, it is not your work which supports your family, but the Lord; and He who has fed you and your family when you could not work at all, on account of illness, would surely provide for you and yours if, for the sake of obtaining food for your inner man, you were to work only for so many hours a day as would allow you proper time for retirement. And is it not the case now, that you begin the work of the day after having had only a few hurried moments for prayer; and when you leave off your work in the evening, and mean then to read a little of the word of G.o.d, are you not too much worn out in body and mind to enjoy it, and do you not often fall asleep whilst reading the Scriptures, or whilst on your knees in prayer?" The brother would allow it was so; he would allow that my advice was good; but still I read in his countenance, even if he should not have actually said so, "How should I get on if I were to _carry out_ your advice?" I longed, therefore, to have something to point the brother to, as a visible proof that our G.o.d and Father is the same faithful G.o.d as ever He was; as willing as ever to PROVE Himself to be the LIVING G.o.d, in our day as formerly, _to all who put their trust in Him._--Again, sometimes I found children of G.o.d tried in mind by the prospect of old age, when they might be unable to work any longer, and therefore were hara.s.sed by the fear of having to go into the poor-house. If in such a case I pointed out to them how their Heavenly Father has always helped those who put their trust in Him, they might not, perhaps, always say that times have changed; but yet it was evident enough that G.o.d was not looked upon by them as the LIVING G.o.d.

My spirit was ofttimes bowed down by this, and I longed to set something before the children of G.o.d whereby they might see that He does not forsake, even in our day, those who rely upon Him.--Another cla.s.s of persons were brethren in business, who suffered in their souls, and brought guilt on their consciences, by carrying on their business almost in the same way as unconverted persons do. The compet.i.tion in trade, the bad times, the over-peopled country, were given as reasons why, if the business were carried on simply according to the word of G.o.d it could not be expected to do well. Such a brother, perhaps, would express the wish that he might be differently situated; but very rarely did I see _that there was a stand made for G.o.d, that there was the holy determination to trust in the living G.o.d, and to depend on Him, in order that a good conscience might be maintained._ To this cla.s.s likewise I desired to show, by a visible proof, that G.o.d is unchangeably the same.--Then there was another cla.s.s of persons, individuals who were in professions in which they could not continue with a good conscience, or persons who were in an unscriptural position with reference to spiritual things; but both cla.s.ses feared, on account of the consequences, to give up the profession in which they could not abide with G.o.d, or to leave their position, lest they should be thrown out of employment. My spirit longed to be instrumental in strengthening their faith by giving them not only instances from the word of G.o.d of His willingness and ability to help all those who rely upon Him, but _to show them by proofs_ that He is the same in our day. I well knew _that the word of G.o.d ought to be enough,_ and it was, by grace, enough to me; but still, I considered that I ought to lend a helping hand to my brethren, if by any means, by this visible proof to the unchangeable faithfulness of the Lord I might strengthen their hands in G.o.d; for I remembered what a great blessing my own soul had received through the Lord's dealings with His servant, A.

H. Francke, who, in dependence upon the living G.o.d alone, established an immense orphan house, which I had seen many times with my own eyes. I, therefore, judged myself bound to be the servant of the Church of G.o.d, in the particular point on which I had obtained mercy: namely, _in being able to take G.o.d by His word and to rely upon it._ All these exercises of my soul, which resulted from the fact that so many believers, with whom I became acquainted, were hara.s.sed and distressed in mind, or brought guilt on their consciences, on account of not trusting in the Lord, were used by G.o.d to awaken in my heart the desire of setting before the church at large, and before the world, a proof that He has not in the least changed; and this seemed to me best done by the establis.h.i.+ng of an orphan house. It needed to be something which could be seen, even by the natural eye. Now if I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained, _without asking any individual,_ the means for establis.h.i.+ng and carrying on an orphan house, there would be something which, with the Lord's blessing, might be instrumental in strengthening the faith of the children of G.o.d, besides being a testimony to the consciences of the unconverted of the reality of the things of G.o.d.

This, then, was the primary reason for establis.h.i.+ng the orphan house. I certainly did from my heart desire to be used by G.o.d to benefit the bodies of poor children bereaved of both parents, and seek, in other respects, with the help of G.o.d, to do them good for this life;--I also particularly longed to be used by G.o.d in getting the dear orphans trained up in the fear of G.o.d;--but still, the first and primary object of the work was (and still is) that G.o.d might be magnified by the fact that the orphans under my care are provided with all they need only _by prayer and faith,_ without any one being asked by me or my fellow labourers, whereby it may be seen that G.o.d is FAITHFUL STILL, and HEARS PRAYER STILL.

The three chief reasons for establis.h.i.+ng an orphan house are: 1. That G.o.d may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare.

That to which my mind has been particularly directed is to establish an orphan house in which dest.i.tute fatherless and motherless children may be provided with food and raiment, and scriptural education. Concerning this intended orphan house I would say:

1. It is intended to be in connection with the Scriptural Knowledge Inst.i.tution for Home and Abroad, in so far as it respects the reports, accounts, superintendence, and the principles on which it is conducted, so that, in one sense, it may be considered as a new object of the Inst.i.tution, yet with this difference, _that only those funds shall be applied to the orphan house which are expressly given for it._ If, therefore, any believer should prefer to support either those objects which have been hitherto a.s.sisted by the funds of this Inst.i.tution, or the intended orphan house, it need only be mentioned, in order that the money may be applied accordingly.

2. It will only be established if the Lord should provide both the means for it and suitable persons to conduct it.

As to the means, I would make the following remarks: The reason for proposing to enlarge the field is not because we have of late particularly abounded in means; for we have been rather straitened. The many gracious answers, however, which the Lord had given us concerning this Inst.i.tution led brother C----r and me to give ourselves to prayer, asking Him to supply us with the means to carry on the work, as we consider it unscriptural to contract debts. During five days, we prayed several times, both unitedly and separately. After that time, the Lord began to answer our prayers, so that, within a few days, about 501. was given to us. I would further say that the very gracious and tender dealings of G.o.d with me, in having supplied, in answer to prayer, for the last five years, my own temporal wants without any certain income, so that money, provisions, and clothes have been sent to me at times when I was greatly straitened, and that not only in small but large quant.i.ties; and not merely from individuals living in the same place with me, but at a considerable distance; and that not merely from intimate friends, but from individuals whom I have never seen: all this, I say, has often led me to think, even as long as four years ago, that the Lord had not given me this simple reliance on Him merely for myself, but also for others. Often, when I saw poor neglected children running about the streets at Teignmouth, I said to myself: "May it not be the will of G.o.d that I should establish schools for these children, asking Him to give me the means?" However, it remained only a thought in my mind for two or three years. About two years and six months since I was particularly stirred up afresh to do something for dest.i.tute children, by seeing so many of them begging in the streets of Bristol, and coming to our door. It was not, then, left undone on account of want of trust in the Lord, but through an abundance of other things calling for all the time and strength of my brother Craik and myself; for the Lord had both given faith, and had also shown by the following instance, in addition to very many others, both what He can and what He will do. One morning, whilst sitting in my room, I thought about the distress of certain brethren, and said thus to myself: "Oh, that it might please the Lord to give me the means to help these poor brethren!" About an hour afterwards I had 60 pounds sent as a present for myself from a brother whom up to this day I have never seen, and who was then, and is still, residing several thousand miles from this. Should not such an experience, together with promises like that one in John xiv. 13, 14, encourage us to ask with all boldness, for ourselves and others, both temporal and spiritual blessings? The Lord, for I cannot but think it was He, again and again brought the thought about these poor children to my mind, till at last it ended in the establishment of "The Scriptural Knowledge Inst.i.tution, for Home and Abroad"; since the establishment of which, I have had it in a similar way brought to my mind, first about fourteen months ago, and repeatedly since, but especially during these last weeks, to establish an orphan house. My frequent prayer of late has been, that if it be of G.o.d, He would let it come to pa.s.s; if not, that He would take from me all thoughts about it. The latter has not been the case, but I have been led more and more to think that the matter may be of Him. Now, if so, He can influence His people _in any part of the world_ (for I do not look to Bristol, nor even to England, but to the living G.o.d, whose is the gold and the silver), to intrust me and brother C----r, whom the Lord has made willing to help me in this work with the means. Till we have _them,_ we can do nothing in the way of renting a house, furnis.h.i.+ng it, etc. Yet, when once as much as is needed for this has been sent us, as also proper persons to engage in the work, we do not think it needful to wait till we have the orphan house endowed, or a number of yearly subscribers for it; but we trust to be enabled by the Lord, who has taught us to ask for our _daily_ bread, to look to Him for the supply of the _daily_ wants of those children whom He may be pleased to put under our care. Any donations will be received at my house.

Should any believers have tables, chairs, bedsteads, bedding, earthenware, or any kind of household furniture to spare, for the furnis.h.i.+ng of the house; or remnants, or pieces of calico, linen, flannel, cloth, or any materials useful for wearing apparel; or clothes already worn, they will be thankfully received.

Respecting the persons who are needed for carrying on the work, a matter of no less importance than the procuring of funds, I would observe that we look for them to G.o.d Himself, as well as for the funds; and that all who may be engaged as masters, matrons, and a.s.sistants, according to the smallness or largeness of the Inst.i.tution, must be known to us as true believers; and moreover, as far as we may be able to judge, must likewise be qualified for the work.

3. At present nothing can be said as to the time when the operations are likely to commence; nor whether the Inst.i.tution will embrace children of both s.e.xes, or be restricted either to boys or girls exclusively; nor of what age they will be received, and how long they may continue in it; for though we have thought about these things, yet we would rather be guided in these particulars by the amount of the means which the Lord may put into our hands, and by the number of the individuals whom He may provide for conducting the Inst.i.tution. Should the Lord condescend to use us as instruments, a short printed statement will be issued as soon as something more definite can be said.

4. It has appeared well to us to receive only such dest.i.tute children as have been bereaved of both parents.

5. The children are intended, if girls, to be brought up for service; if boys, for a trade; and therefore they will be employed, according to their ability and bodily strength, in useful occupations, and thus help to maintain themselves; besides this, they are intended to receive a plain education; but the chief and the special end of the Inst.i.tution will be to seek, with G.o.d's blessing, to bring them to the knowledge of Jesus Christ by instructing them in the Scriptures.

FURTHER ACCOUNT RESPECTING THE ORPHAN HOUSE, ETC.

When, of late, the thoughts of establis.h.i.+ng an orphan house, in dependence upon the Lord, revived in my mind, during the first two weeks I only prayed that if it were of the Lord He would bring it about; but if not, that He graciously would be pleased to take all thoughts about it out of my mind. My uncertainty about knowing the Lord's mind did not arise from questioning whether it would be pleasing in His sight that there should be an abode and scriptural education provided for dest.i.tute fatherless and motherless children; but whether it were His will that _I_ should be the instrument of setting such an object on foot, as my hands were already more than filled. My comfort, however, was, that, if it were His will, He would provide not merely the means, but also suitable individuals to take care of the children, so that my part of the work would take only such a portion of my time as, considering the importance of the matter, I might give, notwithstanding my many other engagements. The whole of those two weeks I never asked the Lord for money or for persons to engage in the work. On December 5th, however, the subject of my prayer all at once became different. I was reading Psalm lx.x.xi., and was particularly struck, more than at any time before, with verse 10: _"Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it."_ I thought a few moments about these words, and then was led to apply them to the case of the orphan house. It struck me that I had never asked the Lord for anything concerning it, except to know His will respecting its being established or not; and I then fell on my knees, and opened my mouth wide, asking him for much. I asked in submission to His will, and without fixing a time when He should answer my pet.i.tion. I prayed that He would give me a house, i.e., either as a loan, or that some one might be led to pay the rent for one, or that one might be given permanently for this object; further, I asked Him for 1000 pounds; and likewise for suitable individuals to take care of the children. Besides this, I have been since led to ask the Lord to put into the hearts of His people to send me articles of furniture for the house, and some clothes for the children. When I was asking the pet.i.tion I was fully aware what I was doing, i.e., that I was asking for something which I had no natural prospect of obtaining from the brethren whom I know, but which was not too much for the Lord to grant.

APPENDIX F

ARGUMENTS IN PRAYER FOR THE ORPHAN WORK

THE arguments which I plead with G.o.d are:

1. That I set about the work for the glory of G.o.d, i.e., that there might be a visible proof, by G.o.d supplying, _in answer to prayer only,_ the necessities of the orphans, that He is the _living_ G.o.d, and most willing, even in _our_ day, to answer prayer: and that, therefore, He would be pleased to send supplies.

2. That G.o.d is the "Father of the fatherless," and that He, therefore, as their Father, would be pleased to provide. (Psalm lxviii. 5.)

3. That I have received the children in the name of Jesus, and that, therefore, He, in these children, has been received, and is fed, and is clothed; and that, therefore, He would be pleased to consider this.

(Mark ix. 36, 37.)

4. That the faith of many of the children of G.o.d has been strengthened by this work hitherto, and that, if G.o.d were to withhold the means for the future, those who are weak in faith would be staggered; whilst, by a continuance of means, their faith might still further be strengthened.

5. That many enemies would laugh, were the Lord to withhold supplies, and say, did we not foretell that this enthusiasm would come to nothing?

6. That many of the children of G.o.d, who are uninstructed, or in a carnal state, would feel themselves justified to continue their alliance with the world in the work of G.o.d, and to go on as heretofore, in their unscriptural proceedings respecting similar inst.i.tutions, so far as the obtaining of means is concerned, if He were not to help me.

7. That the Lord would remember that I am His child, and that He would graciously pity me, and remember that _I_ cannot provide for these children, and that therefore He would not allow this burden to lie upon me long without sending help.

8. That He would remember likewise my fellow labourers in the work, who trust in Him, but who would be tried were He to withhold supplies.

9. That He would remember that I should have to dismiss the children from under our scriptural instruction to their former companions.

10. That He would show that those were mistaken who said that, _at the first,_ supplies might be expected, while the thing was new, but not afterwards.

11. That I should not know were He to withhold means, what construction I should put upon all the many most remarkable answers to prayer which He has given me heretofore in connection with this work, and which most fully have shown to me that it is of G.o.d.

APPENDIX G

THE PURCHASE OF A SITE, ETC.

MR. BENJAMIN PERRY gives an account of the circ.u.mstances under which the land was purchased, prior to the erection of the orphan houses on Ashley Down, as he heard it from Mr. Muller's own mouth, showing how directly the Lord worked on the mind of the owner. Mr. Muller had been making inquiries respecting the purchase of land much nearer Bristol, the prices asked being not less than 1000 pounds per acre, when he heard that the land upon which the Orphan Houses Nos. 1 and 2 stand was for sale, the price being 200 pounds per acre. He therefore called at the house of the owner, and was informed that he was not at home, but that he could be seen at his place of business in the city. Mr. Muller went there, and was informed that he had left a few minutes before, and that he would find him at home. Most men would have gone off to the owner's house at once; but Mr. Muller stopped and reflected, "Peradventure the Lord, having allowed me to miss the owner twice in so short a time, has a purpose that I should not see him to-day; and lest I should be going before the Lord in the matter, I will wait till the morning." And accordingly he waited and went the next morning, when he found the owner at home; and on being ushered into his sitting-room, he said: "Ah, Mr.

Muller, I know what you have come to see me about. You want to buy my land on Ashley Down. I had a dream last night, and I saw you come in to purchase the land, for which I have been asking 200 pounds per acre; but the Lord told me not to charge you more than 120 pounds per acre, and therefore if you are willing to buy at that price the matter is settled." And within ten minutes the contract was signed. "Thus," Mr.

Muller pointed out, "by being careful to _follow_ the Lord, instead of _going before_ His leading, I was permitted to purchase the land for 80 pounds per acre less than I should have paid if I had gone to the owner the evening before."

APPENDIX H

G.o.d'S FAITHFULNESS IN PROVIDING

MR. PERRY writes: At one meeting at Huntly, by special request Mr.

Muller gave ill.u.s.trations of G.o.d's faithfulness in answer to prayer, connected with the orphan work, of which the following are examples:

a. He stated that at various times, not only at the beginning of the work, but also in later years, G.o.d had seen fit to try his faith to the utmost, but only to prove to him the more definitely that He would never be other than his faithful covenant-keeping G.o.d. In ill.u.s.tration he referred to a time when, the children having had their last meal for the day, there was nothing left in money or kind for their breakfast the following morning. Mr. Muller went home, but nothing came in, and he retired for the night, committing the need to G.o.d to provide. Early the next morning he went for a walk, and while praying for the needed help he took a turn into a road which he was quite unconscious of, and after walking a short distance a friend met him, and said how glad he was to meet him, and asked him to accept 5 pounds for the orphans. He thanked him, and without saying a word to the donor about the time of need, he went at once to the orphan houses, praising G.o.d for this direct answer to prayer.

b. On another occasion, when there were no funds in hand to provide breakfast for the orphans, a gentleman called before the time for breakfast and left a donation that supplied all their present needs.

When that year's report was issued, this proof of G.o.d's faithfulness in sending help just when needed was recorded, and a short time after the donor called and made himself known, saying that as his donation had been given at such a special time of need he felt he must state the circ.u.mstances under which he had given the money, which were as follows: He had occasion to go to his office in Bristol early that morning before breakfast, and on the way the thought occurred to him: "I will go to Mr.

Muller's orphan house and give them a donation," and accordingly turned and walked about a quarter of a mile toward the orphanage, when he stopped, saying to himself, "How foolish of me to be neglecting the business I came out to attend to! I can give money to the orphans another time," and he turned round and walked back towards his office, but soon felt that he _must_ return. He said to himself: "The orphans may be needing the money _now._ I may be leaving them in want when G.o.d had sent me to help them;" and so strong was this impression that he again turned round and walked back till he reached the orphanages, and thus handed in the money which provided them with breakfast. Mr. Mullets comment on this was: "Just like my gracious heavenly Father!" and then he urged his hearers to trust and prove what a faithful covenant-keeping G.o.d He is to those who put their trust in Him.