Collection of quotes by George Muller to inspire you, encourage you, deepen your walk, and to strengthen your faith in the God of George Muller and the God of the impossible and of answered prayer!
(As it appears in the document below)
FAITH, PRAYER, AND THE WORD OF GOD
The Wise Sayings Of George Mueller
FEW who have not carefully read the Narrative of Mr. Mueller and the subsequent Reports issued year by year, have any idea of the large amount of wisdom which there finds expression. We give here a few examples of the sagacious and spiritual counsels and utterances with which these pages abound.
THE BODY
I find it a difficult thing, whilst caring for the body, not to neglect the
soul. It seems to me much easier to go on altogether regardless of the body, in
the service of the Lord, than to take care of the body, in the time of sickness,
and not to neglect the soul, especially in an affliction like my present one,
when the head allows but little reading or thinking.-- What a blessed prospect
to be delivered from this wretched evil!
My own experience has been, almost invariably, that if I have not the needful
sleep, my spiritual enjoyment and strength is greatly affected by it. I judge it
of great moment that the believer, in travelling, should seek as much as
possible to refrain from travelling by night, or from travelling in such a way
as that he is deprived of the needful night's rest; for if he does not, he will
be unable with renewed bodily and mental strength to give himself to prayer and
meditation, and the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and he will surely feel the
pernicious effects of this all the day long. There may occur cases when
travelling by night cannot be avoided; but, if it can, though we should seem
to lose time by it, and though it should cost more money, I would most
affectionately and solemnly recommend refraining from night-travelling; for, in
addition to drawing beyond measure upon our bodily strength, must be losers
spiritually. The next thing I would advise with reference to travelling is, with
all one's might seek morning by morning, before setting out, to take time for
meditation and prayer, and reading the word of God; for although we are always
exposed to temptation, yet are so especially in travelling. Travelling is one of
devil's especial opportunities for tempting us. Think of that, dear fellow
believers. Seek always to ascertain carefully the mind of God, before you begin
anything; but so in particular before you go on a journey, so that you may be
quite sure that it is the will of God that you should undertake that journey,
lest you should needlessly expose yourself to one of the special opportunities
of the devil ensnare you. So far from envying those who have a carriage and
horses at their command, or an abundance of means, so that they are not hindered
from travelling for want of means, let us who are not thus situated rather thank
God that in this particular we are not exposed to the temptation of
needing to be less careful in ascertaining the will of God before we set out on
a journey.
CHILDREN
As far as my experience goes, it appears to me that believers generally have
expected far too little of present fruit upon their labours among
children. There has been a hoping that the Lord some day or other would own the
instruction which they give to children, and would answer at some time or other,
though after many years only, the prayers which they offer up on their behalf.
Now, while such passages as Proverbs xxii.6, Ecclesiastes xi.1, Galatians vi.9,
1 Cor. xv.58, give unto us assurance not merely respecting everything which we
do for the Lord, in general, but also respecting bringing up children in the
fear of the Lord, in particular, that our labour is not in vain in the Lord; yet
we have to guard against abusing such passages, by thinking it a matter of
little moment whether we see present fruit or not; but, on the contrary,
we should give the Lord no rest till we see present fruit, and therefore, in
persevering, yet submissive, prayer, we should make known our requests unto God.
I add, as an encouragement to believers who labour among children, that during
the last two years seventeen other young persons or children, have been received
into fellowship, among us, and that I am looking out now for many more to be
converted, and that not merely of the orphans, but of the Sunday and day-school
children.
The power for good or evil that resides in a little child is great beyond all
human calculation. A child rightly trained may be a world-wide blessing, with an
influence reaching onward to eternal years. But a neglected or misdirected child
may live to blight and blast mankind, and leave influences of evil which shall
roll on in increasing volume till they plunge into the gulf of eternal
perdition.
"A remarkable instance was related by Dr. Harris, of New York, at a recent meeting of the State Charities Aid Association. In a small village in a county on the upper Hudson, some seventy years ago, a young girl named 'Margaret' was sent adrift on the casual charity of the inhabitants. She became the mother of a long race of criminals and paupers, and her progeny has cursed the county ever since. The county records show two hundred of her descendants who have been criminals. In one single generation of her unhappy line there were twenty children; of these, three died in infancy, and seventeen survived maturity. Of the seventeen, nine served in the State prison for high crimes an aggregate term of fifty years, while others were frequent inmates of jails and penitentiaries and almshouses. Of the nine hundred descendants, through six generations, from this unhappy girl who was left on the village streets and abandoned in her childhood, a great number have been idiots, imbeciles, drunk lunatics, paupers, and prostitutes: but two hundred of the more vigorous are on record as criminals. This neglected little child has thus cost the county authorities, in the effects she has transmitted, hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the expense and care of criminals and paupers, besides the untold damage she has inflicted on property and public morals."
Seek to cherish in your children early the habit of being interested about the
work of God, and about cases of need and distress, and use them too at
suitable times, and under suitable circumstances, as your almoners,
and you will reap fruit from doing so.
CHRISTIAN LIFE
God alone can give spiritual life at the first, and keep it up in the soul
afterwards.
The Christian, like the bee, might suck honey out of every flower. I saw upon a
snuffer-stand in bas-relief,
"A heart, a cross under it, and roses under both."
The meaning obviously is this, that the heart which bears the cross for a time meets with roses afterwards.
It has been often mentioned to me, in various places, that brethren in business
do not sufficiently attend to the keeping of promises, and I cannot therefore
but entreat all who love our Lord Jesus, and who are engaged in a trade or
business, to seek for His sake not to make any promises, except they have every
reason to believe they shall be able to fulfil them, and therefore carefully to
weigh all the circumstances, before making any engagement, lest they should fail
in its accomplishment. It is even in these little ordinary affairs of life that
may either bring much honour or dishonour to the Lord; and these are the things
which every unbeliever can take notice of. Why should it be so often said, and
sometimes with a measure of ground, or even much ground:
"Believers are bad servants, bad tradesmen, bad masters."
Surely it ought not to be true that we, who have power with God to obtain by prayer and faith all needful grace, wisdom, and skill, should be bad servants, bad tradesmen. bad masters.
It is altogether wrong that I, a child of God, should have anything to do with
so worldly a system as that of the lottery. But it was also unscriptural to go
to the lot at all for the sake of ascertaining the Lord's mind, and this I
ground on the following reasons. We have neither a commandment of God for it,
nor the example of Lord, nor that of the apostles, after the Holy Spirit had
been given on the day of Pentecost.
1. We have many
exhortations in the word of God to seek to know His mind by prayer and searching
the Holy Scriptures, but no passage which exhorts us to use the lot.
2. The example of the apostles (Acts i.)
in using the lot, in the choice of an apostle in the room of Judas Iscariot, is
the only passage which can be brought in favour of the lot from the New
Testament (and to the Old we have not to go, under dispensation, for the sake of
ascertaining how we ought to live as disciples of Christ). Now concerning this
circumstance we have to remember that the Spirit was not yet given (John vii.39;
ch. xiv.16,17; ch. xvi.7,13) by whose teaching especially it is that we may know
the mind of the Lord; and hence we find that, after the day of Pentecost, the
lot was no more used, but the apostles gave themselves to prayer and fasting to
ascertain how they ought to act.
What a difference grace makes! There were few people perhaps, more passionately
fond of travelling, and seeing fresh places, and new scenes, than myself; but
now, since, by the grace of God, I have seen beauty in the Lord Jesus, I have
lost my taste for these things... What a different thing, also, to travel in the
service of the Lord Jesus, from what it is to travel in the service of the
flesh!
OBEDIENCE
Every instance of obedience, from right motives, strengthens us spiritually,
whilst every act of disobedience weakens us.
May the Lord grant that the eyes of many of His children may be opened, so that
they may seek, in all spiritual things, to be separated from unbelievers (2 Cor.
vi.14-18), and to do God's work according to God's mind!
My business is, with all my might to serve my own generation; in doing so I
shall best serve the next generation, should the Lord Jesus tarry... The longer
I live, the more I am enabled to realize that I have but one life to live on
earth, and that this one life is but a brief life, for sowing, in
comparison with eternity, for reaping.
How precious it is, even for this life, to act according to the word of God!
This perfect revelation of His mind gives us directions for everything, even the
most minute affairs of this life. It commands us,
"Be thou not one of them that strike hands, or of them
that are sureties for debts."
(Prov. xxii.26.)
The way in which Satan ensnares persons, to bring them into the net, and to bring trouble upon them by becoming sureties, is, that he seeks to represent the matter as if there were no danger connected with that particular case, and that one might be sure one should never be called upon to pay the money; but the Lord, the faithful Friend, tells us in His own word that the only way in such a matter "to be sure" is "to hate suretyship." (Prov. xi.15.) The following points seem to me of solemn moment for consideration, if I were called upon to become surety for another:
1. What obliges
the person, who wishes me to become surety for him, to need a surety? Is it
really a good cause in which I am called upon to become surety? I do not
remember ever to have net with a case in which in a plain, and godly, and in all
respects scriptural matter such a thing occurred. There was generally some sin
or other connected with it.
2. If I become surety, notwithstanding
what the Lord has said to me in His word, am I in such a position that no one
will be injured by my being called upon to fulfil the engagements of the person
for whom I am going to be surety? In most instances this alone ought to keep one
from it.
3. If still I become surety, the amount of
money for which I become responsible must be so in my power that I am able to
produce it whenever it is called for in order that the name of the Lord may not
be dishonoured.
4. But if there be the possibility of
having to fulfil the engagements of the person in whose stead I have to stand,
is it the will of the Lord that I should spend my means in that way? Is it not
rather His will that my means should be spent in another way?
5. How can I get over the plain word of
the Lord, which is to the contrary, if the first four points could be
satisfactorily settled?
CHURCH LIFE
It has been my own happy lot, during the last thirty-seven years, to become
acquainted with hundreds of individuals, who were not inferior to apostolic
Christians.
That the disciples of Jesus should meet together on the first day of the week
for the breaking of bread, and that that should be their principal meeting, and
that those, whether one or several, who are truly gifted by the Holy Spirit for
service, be it for exhortation, or teaching, or rule, etc., are responsible to
the Lord for the exercise of their gifts-- these are to me no matters of
uncertainty, but points on which my soul, by grace, is established, through the
revealed will of God.
I have often remarked the injurious effects of doing things because others did
them, or because it was the custom, or because they were persuaded into acts of
outward self-denial, or giving up things whilst the heart did not go along with
it, and whilst the outward act was NOT the result of the inward powerful
working of the Holy Ghost, and the happy entering into our fellowship with the
Father and with the Son.
Everything that is a mere form, a mere habit and custom in divine things, is to
be dreaded exceedingly: life, power, reality, this is what we have to aim
after. Things should not result from without, but from within. The sort of
clothes I wear, the kind of house I live in, the quality of the furniture I use,
all such like things should not result from other persons doing so and so, or
because it is customary among those brethren with whom I associate to live in
such and such a simple, inexpensive self-denying way; but whatever be done in
these things, in the way of giving up, or self-denial, or deadness to the world,
should result from the joy we have in God, from the knowledge of our being the
children of God, from the entering into the preciousness of our future
inheritance, etc. Far better that for the time being we stand still, and do not
take the steps which we see others take, than that it is merely the force of
example that leads us to do a thing, and afterwards it be regretted. Not that I
mean in the least this to imply we should continue to live in luxury,
self-indulgence, and the like, whilst others are in great need; but we should
begin the thing in a right way, i.e., aim after the right state of heart; begin
inwardly instead of outwardly. If otherwise, it will not last. We
shall look back, or even get into a worse state than we were before. But oh, how
different if joy in God leads us to any little act of self-denial. How gladly do
we do it then! How great an honour then do we esteem it to be! How much does the
heart then long to be able to do more for Him who has done so much for us! We
are far then from looking down in proud self-complacency upon those who do not
go as far as we do, but rather pray to the Lord that He would be pleased to help
our dear brethren and sisters forward who may seem to us weak in any particular
point; and we also are conscious to ourselves that if we have a little more
light or strength with reference to one point, other brethren may have more
light or grace in other respects.
As to the importance of the children of God opening their hearts to each other,
especially when they are getting in a cold state, or are under the power of a
certain sin, or are in especial difficulty; I know from my own experience how
often the snare of the devil has been broken when under the power of sin; how
often the heart has been comforted when nigh to be overwhelmed; how often
advice, and great perplexity, has been obtained,-- by opening my heart to a
brother in whom I had confidence. We are children of the same family, and ought
therefore to be helpers one of another.
1. Many persons,
on account of timidity, would prefer coming at an appointed time to the vestry
to converse with us, to calling on us in our own house.
2. The very fact of appointing a time for
seeing people, to converse with them in private concerning the things of
eternity, has brought some who, humanly speaking, never would have called on us
under other circumstances; yea, it has brought even those who, though they
thought they were concerned about the things of God, yet were completely
ignorant; and thus we have had an opportunity of speaking to them.
3. These meetings have also been a great
encouragement to ourselves in the work; for often, when we thought that such and
such expositions of the Word had done no good at all, it was, through these
meetings, found to be the reverse; and likewise, when our hands were hanging
down, we have been afresh encouraged to go forward in the work of the Lord, and
to continue sowing the seed in hope, by seeing at these meetings fresh cases in
which the Lord had condescended to use us as instruments, particularly as in
this way instances have sometimes occurred in which individuals have spoken to
us about the benefit which they derived from our ministry, not only a few months
before, but even as long as two, three, and four years before.
For the above reasons I would particularly recommend to other servants of Christ, especially to those who live in large towns, if they have not already introduced a similar plan, to consider whether it may not be well for them also to set apart such times for seeing inquirers. Those meetings, however, require much prayer, to be enabled to speak aright, to all those who come, according to their different need; and one is led continually to feel that one is not sufficient of one's self for these things, but that our sufficiency can be alone of God. These meetings also have been by far the most wearing-out part of all our work, though at the same time the most refreshing.
An unvisited church will sooner or later become an unhealthy church.
1. Pew-rents
are, according to James ii.1-6, against the mind of the Lord, as, in general,
the poor brother cannot have so good a seat as the rich.
2. A brother may gladly do
something towards my support if left to his own time; but when the quarter is
up, he has perhaps other expenses, and I do not know whether he pays his money
grudgingly, and of necessity, or cheerfully; but God loveth a cheerful giver.
Nay, I knew it to be a fact that sometimes it had not been convenient to
individuals to pay the money, when it had been asked for by the brethren who
collected it.
3. Though the Lord had been pleased to
give me grace to be faithful, so that I had been enabled not to keep back the
truth, when He had shown it to me; still I felt that the pew-rents were a snare
to the servant of Christ. It was a temptation to me, at least for a few minutes,
at the time when the Lord had stirred me up to pray and search the Word
respecting the ordinance of baptism, because £30 of my salary was at stake if I
should be baptized.
All establishments, even because they are establishments, i.e., the world and
the church mixed up together, not only contain in them the principles which
necessarily must lead to departure from the word of God; but also, as long as
they remain establishments, entirely preclude the acting throughout according to
the Holy Scriptures.
Why should we limit either the goodness or the power of God by our own knowledge of what we call the laws of nature?
To learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.
If the Lord fails me at this time, it will be the first time.
The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail.
If I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained without asking any individual the means for establishing and carrying on an Orphan-House then this would provide visible proof that God is FAITHFUL STILL and HEARS PRAYER STILL.
I hope in God, I pray on, and look yet for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.
Where Faith begins, anxiety ends;
Where anxiety begins, Faith ends.
Ponder these words of the Lord Jesus,
"Only believe."
As long as we are able to trust in God, holding fast in heart, that he is able and willing to help those who rest on the Lord Jesus for salvation, in all matters which are for His glory and their good, the heart remains calm and peaceful. It is only when we practically let go faith in His power or His love, that we lose our peace and become troubled. This very day I am in great trial in connection with the work in which I am engaged; yet my soul was calmed and quieted by the remembrance of God's power and love; and I said to myself this morning:
"As David encouraged himself in Jehovah his God, when he returned to Ziklag, so will I encourage myself in God;"
and the result was peace of soul... It is the very time for faith to work, when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith. As long as there remain certain natural prospects, faith does not get on even as easily (if I may say so), as when all natural prospects fail.
Observe two things! We acted for God in delaying the public meetings and
the publishing of the Report; but God's way leads always into trial, so far
as sight and sense are concerned. Nature always will be tried in
God's ways. The Lord was saying by this poverty,
"I will now see whether you truly lean upon me, and whether you truly look to me."
Of all the seasons that I had ever passed through
since I had been living in this way, up to that time, I never knew any
period in which my faith was tried so sharply, as during the four months from
Dec. 12, 1841, to April 1, 1842. But observe further:
We might even now have altered our minds with respect to the public meetings and
publishing the Report; for no one knew our determination, at this time,
concerning the point. Nay, on the contrary, we knew with what delight very many
children of God were looking forward to receive further accounts. But the Lord
kept us steadfast to the conclusion, at which we had arrived under His guidance.
It pleased the Lord, I think, to give me in some cases something like the gift
(not grace) of faith, so that unconditionally I could ask and look for an
answer. The difference between the gift and the grace of faith
seems to me this. According to the gift of faith I am able to do a thing,
or believe that a thing will come to pass, the not doing of which, or the not
believing of which would not be sin; according to the grace of faith
I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, respecting
which I have the word of God as the ground to rest upon, and, therefore, the not
doing it, or the not believing it would be sin. For instance, the gift
of faith would be needed, to believe that a sick person should be restored
again, though there is no human probability: for there is no promise to that
effect; the grace of faith is needed to believe that the Lord will give me
the necessaries of life, if I first seek the kingdom of God and His
righteousness: for there is a promise to that effect. (Matt. vi.33.)
The natural mind is ever prone to reason, when we ought to believe;
to be at work, when we ought to be quiet; to go our own way, when
we ought steadily to walk on in God's ways, however trying to nature.
The Lord gives faith, for the very purpose of trying it for the glory of His own
name, and for the good of him who has it; and, by the very trial of our faith,
we not only obtain blessing to our own souls, by becoming the better acquainted
with God, if we hold fast our confidence in Him, but our faith is also, by the
exercise, strengthened: and so it comes, that, if we walk with God in any
measure of uprightness of heart, the trials of faith will be greater and
greater.
It is for the church's benefit that we are put in these straits; and if,
therefore, in the hour of need, we were to take goods on credit, the first and
primary object of the work would be completely frustrated, and no heart would be
further strengthened to trust in God, nor would there be any longer that
manifestation of the special and particular providence of God, which has
hitherto been so abundantly shown through this work, even in the eyes of
unbelievers, whereby they have been led to see that there is, after all,
reality in the things of God, and many, through these printed accounts, have
been truly converted.
For these reasons, then, we consider it our precious privilege, as heretofore,
to continue to wait upon the Lord only, instead of taking goods on credit, or
borrowing money from some kind friends, when we are in need. Nay, we purpose, as
God shall give grace, to look to Him only, though morning after morning we
should have nothing in hand for the work-- yea, though from meal to meal we
should have to look to Him; being fully assured that He who is now (1845) in the
tenth year feeding these many orphans, and who has never suffered them to want,
and that He who is now (1845) in the twelfth year carrying on the other parts of
the work, without any branch of it having had to be stopped for want of means,
will do so for the future also.
And here I do desire in the deep consciousness of my natural helplessness and
dependence upon the Lord to confess that through the grace of God my soul has
been in peace, though day after day we have had to wait for our daily provisions
upon the Lord; yea, though even from meal to meal we have been required to do
this.
In the greatest difficulties, in the heaviest trials, in the deepest poverty and necessities, He has never failed me; but because I was enabled by His grace to trust Him He has always appeared for my help. I delight in speaking well of His name.
To learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.
GIVING
It is not enough to obtain means for the work of God, but that these means
should be obtained in God's way. To ask unbelievers for means is not God's way;
to press even believers to give, is not God's way; but the duty
and the privilege of being allowed to contribute to the work of God
should be pointed out, and this should be followed up with earnest prayer,
believing prayer, and will result in the desired end.
It is true, the Gospel demands our All; but I fear that, in the general
claim on All, we have shortened the claim on everything. We are
not under law. True; but that is not to make our obedience less complete, or our
giving less bountiful: rather, is it not, that after all claims of law are
settled, the new nature finds its joy in doing more than the law requires? Let
us abound in the work of the Lord more and more.
At the end of the last century a very godly and liberal merchant in London was
one day called on by a gentleman, to ask him for some money for a charitable
object. The gentleman expected very little, having just heard that the merchant
had sustained heavy loss from the wreck of some of his ships. Contrary, however,
to expectation, he received about ten times as much as he had expected for his
object. He was unable to refrain from expressing his surprise to the merchant,
told him what he had heard, how he feared he should scarcely have received
anything, and asked whether after all there was not a mistake about the
shipwreck of the vessels. The merchant replied,
"It is quite true, I have sustained heavy loss, by these vessels being wrecked, but that is the very reason, why I give you so much; for I must make better use than ever of my stewardship, lest it should be entirely taken from me."
How have we to act if prosperity in our business, our trade, our profession, etc., should suddenly cease, notwithstanding our having given a considerable proportion of our means for the Lord's work? My reply is this:
"In the day of adversity consider."
It is the will of God that we should ponder our ways; that we should see whether there is any particular reason, why God has allowed this to befall us. In doing so, we may find, that we have too much looked on our prosperity as a matter of course, and have not sufficiently owned and recognized practically the hand of God in our success. Or it may be, while the Lord has been pleased to prosper us, we have spent too much on ourselves, and may have thus, though unintentionally, abused the blessing of God. I do not mean by this remark to bring any children of God into bondage, so that, with a scrupulous conscience, they should look at every penny, which they spend on themselves; this is not the will of God concerning us; and yet, on the other hand, there is verily such a thing as propriety or impropriety in our dress, our furniture, our table, our house, our establishment, and in the yearly amount we spend on ourselves and family.
I have every reason to believe, that, had I begun to lay up, the Lord would have
stopped the supplies, and thus, the ability of doing so was only apparent.
Let no one profess to trust in God, and yet lay up for future wants, otherwise
the Lord will first send him to the hoard he has amassed, before He can answer
the prayer for more.
"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth;
and there is that withholdeth more than is meet,
but it tendeth to poverty."
(Prov. xi.24.)
Notice here the word "more than is meet;" it is not said, withholdeth all; but "more than is meet," viz.., while he gives, it is so little, in comparison with what it might be, and ought to be, that it tendeth to poverty.
Believers should seek more and more to enter into the grace and love of God, in
giving His only-begotten Son, and into the grace and love of the Lord Jesus, in
giving Himself in our room, in order that, constrained by love and gratitude,
they may be increasingly led, to surrender their bodily and mental strength,
their time, gifts, talents, property, position in life, rank, and all they have
and are to the Lord.
By this I do not mean, that they should give up their business, trade, or
profession, and become preachers to the Lord; nor do I mean that they should
take all their money and give it to the first beggar who asks for it; but that
they should hold all they have and are, for the Lord, not as owners, but as
stewards, and be willing, at His bidding, to use for Him, part or all,
they have. However short the believer may fall, nothing less than this should be
his aim.
It is the Lord's order, that, in whatever way He is pleased to make us His
stewards, whether as to temporal or spiritual things, if we are indeed acting as
stewards and not as owners, He will make us stewards over more.
Even in this life, and as to temporal things, the Lord is pleased to repay
those, who act for Him as stewards, and who contribute to His work or to the
poor, as He may be pleased to prosper them. But how much greater is the
spiritual blessing we receive, both in this life and in the world to come,
if constrained by the love of Christ, we act as God's stewards, respecting that,
with which He is pleased to intrust us!
Only fix even the smallest amount you purpose to give of your income, and
give this regularly; and as God is pleased to increase your light and grace, and
is pleased to prosper you more, so give more. If you neglect an habitual
giving, a regular giving, a giving from principle and upon scriptural ground,
and leave it only to feeling and impulse, or particular arousing circumstances,
you will certainly be a loser.
"A merchant in the United States said in answer to inquiries relative to his mode of giving,
'In consecrating my life anew to God, aware of the
ensnaring influence of riches and the necessity of deciding on a plan of
charity, before wealth should bias my judgment, I adopted the following system:
I decided to balance my accounts as nearly as I could every month, reserving
such portion of profits as might appear adequate to cover probable losses, and
to lay aside, by entry on a benevolent account, one tenth of the remaining
profits, great or small, as a fund for benevolent expenditure, supporting myself
and family on the remaining nine tenths. I further determined, that, if at any
time my net profits, that is profits from which clerk-hire and store expenses
had been deducted, should exceed five hundred dollars in a month, I would give
12 1/2 per cent.; if over seven hundred dollars, 15 per cent.; if over nine
hundred dollars, 17 1/2 per cent.; if over thirteen hundred dollars, 22 1/2 per
cent,-- thus increasing the proportion of the whole as God should prosper me,
until at fifteen hundred dollars I should give 25 per cent, or 375 dollars a
month. As capital was of the utmost importance to my success in business, I
decided not to increase the foregoing scale until I had acquired a certain
capital, after which I would give one quarter of all net profits, great or
small, and, on the acquisition of another certain amount of capital, I decided
to give half, and, on acquiring what I determined would be a full sufficiency of
capital, then to give the whole of my net profits.
It is now several years since I adopted this plan, and under it I have acquired
a handsome capital, and have been prospered beyond my most sanguine
expectations. Although constantly giving, I have never yet touched the bottom of
my fund, and have repeatedly been surprised to find what large drafts it would
bear. True, during some months, I have encountered a salutary trial of faith,
when this rule has led me to lay by the tenth while the remainder proved
inadequate to my support; but the tide has soon turned, and with gratitude I
have recognized a heavenly hand more than making good all past deficiencies.'"
The following deeply interesting particulars are recorded in the memoir of Mr. Cobb, a Boston merchant. At the age of twenty-three, Mr. Cobb drew up and subscribed the following remarkable document:
"By the grace of God I will never be worth more than
50,000 dollars. By the grace of God I will give one fourth of the net profits of
my business to charitable and religious uses. If I am ever worth 20,000 dollars
I will give one half of my net profits; and if ever I am worth 30,000 dollars, I
will give three fourths; and the whole after 50,000 dollars. So help me God, or
give to a more faithful steward, and set me aside."
"To this covenant," says his memoir, "he adhered with conscientious fidelity."
He distributed the profits of his business with an increasing ratio, from year to year, till he reached the point which he had fixed as a limit to his property, and then gave to the cause of God all the money which he earned. At one time, finding that his property had increased beyond 50,000 dollars, he at once devoted the surplus 7,500 dollars.
"On his death-bed he said,
'by the grace of God-- nothing else-- by the grace of God I have been enabled, under the influence of these resolutions to give away more than 40,000 dollars. How good the Lord has been to me!'"
Mr. Cobb was also an active, humble, and devoted
Christian, seeking the prosperity of feeble churches; labouring to promote the
benevolent institutions of the day; punctual in his attendance at prayer
meetings, and anxious to aid the inquiring sinner; watchful for the eternal
interests of those under his charge; mild and amiable in his deportment; and, in
the general tenor of his life and character an example of consistent piety.
His last sickness and death were peaceful, yea triumphant.
"It is a glorious thing," said he, "to die. I have been active and busy in the world-- I have enjoyed life as much as anyone-- God has prospered me-- I have everything to bind me here-- I am happy in my family-- I have property enough-- but how small and mean does this world appear on a sick-bed! Nothing can equal my enjoyment in the near view of heaven. My hope in Christ is worth infinitely more than all other things. The blood of Christ-- the blood of Christ-- none but Christ! Oh! how thankful I feel that God has provided a way that I may look forward with joy to another world, through His dear Son."
GOD
In the whole work we desire to stand with God, and not to depend upon the
favourable or unfavourable judgment of the multitude.
Our Heavenly Father never takes any earthly thing from His children except He
means to give them something better instead.
The Lord, in His very love and faithfulness, will not, and cannot, let us go on
in backsliding but He will visit us with stripes, to bring us back to Himself!
The Lord never lays more on us, in the way of chastisement, than our state of
heart makes needful; so that whilst He smites with the one hand, He supports
with the other.
If, as believers in the Lord. Jesus, we see that our Heavenly Father, on account
of wrong steps, or a wrong state of heart, is dealing with us in the way of
discipline or correction, we have to be grateful for it; for He is acting thus
towards us according to that selfsame love, which led Him not to spare His only
begotten Son, but to deliver Him up for us; and our gratitude to Him is to be
expressed in words, and even by deeds. We have to guard against practically
despising the chastening of the Lord, though we may not do so in word, and
against fainting under chastisement: since all is intended for blessing
to us.
Perhaps you have said in your heart:
"How would it be; suppose the funds of the orphans were reduced to nothing, and those who are engaged in the work had nothing of their own to give, and a meal-time were to come, and you had no food for the children."
Thus indeed it may be, for our hearts are desperately
wicked. If ever we should be so left to ourselves, as that either we depend no
more upon the living God, or that "we regard iniquity in our hearts,"
then such a state of things, we have reason to believe, would occur. But so long
as we shall be enabled to trust in the Living God, and so long as, though
falling short in every way of what we might be, and ought to be, we are at least
kept from living in sin, such a state of things cannot occur.
The Lord, to show His continued care over us, raises up new helpers. They that
trust in the Lord shall never be confounded! Some who helped for a while may
fall asleep in Jesus; others may grow cold in the service of the Lord; others
may be as desirous as ever to help, but have no longer the means; others may
have both a willing heart to help, and have also the means, but may see it the
Lord's will to lay them out in another way;-- and thus, from one cause or
another, were we to lean upon man, we should surely be confounded; but, in
leaning upon the living God alone, we are BEYOND disappointment, and
BEYOND being forsaken because of death, or want of means, or
want of love, or because of the claims of other work. How precious to
have learned in any measure to stand with God alone in the world, and yet to be
happy, and to know that surely no good thing shall be withheld from us whilst we
walk uprightly!
If I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained without asking any individual the means for establishing and carrying on an Orphan-House then this would provide visible proof that God is FAITHFUL STILL and HEARS PRAYER STILL.
A brother, who is in about the same state in which he was eight years ago, has
very little enjoyment, and makes no progress in the things of God. The reason
is, that, against his conscience, he remains in a calling, which is opposed to
the profession of a believer. We are exhorted in Scripture to abide in our
calling; but only if we can abide in it "with God." (1 Cor. vii.24.)
There is a worldly proverb, dear Christian reader, with which we are all
familiar, it is this,
"Where there is a will there is a way."
If this is the proverb of those who know not God, how much more should believers in the Lord Jesus, who have power with God, say:
"Where there is a will there is a way."
Only let it be trust in God, not in man, not in circumstances,
not in any of your own exertions, but real trust in God, and you will be
helped in your various necessities... Not in circumstances, not in natural
prospects, not in former donors, but solely in God. This is just that
which brings the blessing. If we say we trust in Him, but in reality do
not, then God, taking us at our word, lets us see that we do not really confide
in Him; and hence failure arises. On the other hand, if our trust in the Lord is
real, help will surely come.
"According unto thy faith be it unto thee."
It is a source of deep sorrow to me, that, notwithstanding my having so many times before referred to this point, thereby to encourage believers in the Lord Jesus, to roll all their cares upon God, and to trust in Him at all times, it is yet, by so many, put down to mere natural causes, that I am helped; as if the Living God were no more the Living God, and as if in former ages answers to prayer might have been expected, but that in the nineteenth century they must not be looked for.
How important it is to ascertain the will of God, before we undertake anything,
because we are then not only blessed in our own souls, but also the work of our
hands will prosper.
Just in as many points as we are acting according to the mind of God, in so many
are we blessed and made a blessing. Our manner of living is according to the
mind of the Lord, for He delights in seeing His children thus come to Him (Matt.
vi); and therefore, though I am weak and erring in many points, yet He blesses
me in this particular.
First of all, to see well to it, that the work in
which he desires to be engaged is God's work;
secondly, that he is the person to be engaged in this work;
thirdly, that God's time is come, when he should do this work;
and then to be assured, that, if he seeks God's help in His own appointed way,
He will not fail him.
We have ever found it thus, and expect to find it thus, on the ground of the promises of God, to the end of our course.
1. Be slow to
take new steps in the Lord's service, or in your business, or in your families.
Weigh everything well; weigh all in the light of the Holy Scriptures, and in the
fear of God.
2. Seek to have no will of your own, in
order to ascertain the mind of God, regarding any steps you propose to take, so
that you can honestly say, you are willing to do the will of God, if He will
only please to instruct you.
3. But when you have found out what the
will of God is, seek for His help, and seek it earnestly, perseveringly,
patiently, believingly, and expectingly: and you will surely, in His own time
and way, obtain it.
We have not to rush forward in self-will and say, I will do the work, and I will trust the Lord for means, this cannot be real trust, it is the counterfeit of faith, it is presumption; and though God, in great pity and mercy, may even help us finally out of debt; yet does this, on no account, prove that we were right in going forward before His time was come. We ought, rather, under such circumstances to say to ourselves:
"Am I indeed doing the work of God?"
And if so, I may not be the person to do it; or
if I am the person, His time may not yet be come for me to go forward; it
may be His good pleasure to exercise my faith and patience. I ought, therefore,
quietly to wait His time; for when it is come, God will help. Acting on this
principle brings blessing.
To ascertain the Lord's will we ought to use scriptural means. Prayer, the word
of God, and His Spirit should be united together. We should go to the Lord
repeatedly in prayer, and ask Him to teach us by His Spirit through His word. I
say by His Spirit through His word. For if we should think that His Spirit led
us to do so and so, because certain facts are so and so, and yet His word is
opposed to the step which we are going to take, we should be deceiving
ourselves. No situation, no business will be given to me by God, in which I have
not time enough to care about my soul. Therefore, however outward circumstances
may appear, it can only be considered as permitted of God, to prove the
genuineness of my love, faith, and obedience, but by no means as the leading of
His providence to induce me to act contrary to His revealed will.
If honest of heart and uprightness before God were lacking or if I did not patiently wait on God for instruction, or if I preferred the counsel of my fellow-men to the declarations of the Word of God, I made great mistakes.
To enter upon the marriage union is one of the most deeply important events of
life. It cannot be too prayerfully treated. Our happiness, our usefulness, our
living for God or for ourselves afterwards, are often most intimately connected
with our choice. Therefore, in the most prayerful manner, this choice should be
made. Neither beauty, nor age, nor money, nor mental powers, should be that
which prompts the decision; but
1st, Much waiting upon God for guidance should be
used;
2nd, A hearty purpose to be willing to be guided by Him should be aimed after;
3rd, True godliness without a shadow of doubt, should be the first and
absolutely needful qualification, to a Christian, with regard to a companion for
life.
In addition to this, however, it ought to be, at the same time, calmly and patiently weighed, whether, in other respects, there is a suitableness. For instance, for an educated man to choose an entirely uneducated woman, is unwise; for however much on his part love might be willing to cover the defect, it will work very unhappily with regard to the children.
I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming. Thousands and tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes. George Mueller never gives up!
If I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained without asking any individual the means for establishing and carrying on an Orphan-House then this would provide visible proof that God is FAITHFUL STILL and HEARS PRAYER STILL.
When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it. The great point is never to give up till the answer comes. The great fault of the children of God is, They do not continue in prayer; They do not persevere. If they desire anything for God's glory, They should pray until they get it.
The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.
It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer.
I hope in God, I pray on, and look yet for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.
I myself have for twenty-nine years been waiting for an answer to prayer
concerning a certain spiritual blessing. Day by day have I been enabled to
continue in prayer for this blessing. At home and abroad, in this country and in
foreign lands, in health and in sickness, however much occupied, I have been
enabled, day by day, by God's help, to bring this matter before Him; and still I
have not the full answer yet. Nevertheless, I look for it. I expect it
confidently. The very fact that day after day, and year after year, for
twenty-nine years, the Lord has enabled me to continue, patiently, believingly,
to wait on Him for the blessing, still further encourages me to wait on; and so
fully am I assured that God hears me about this matter, that I have often been
enabled to praise Him beforehand for the full answer, which I shall ultimately
receive to my prayers on this subject. Thus, you see, dear reader, that while I
have hundreds, yes, thousands of answers, year by year, I have also, like
yourself and other believers, the trial of faith concerning certain matters.
Though all believers in the Lord Jesus are not called upon to establish orphan
houses, schools for poor children, etc., and trust in God for means; yet all
believers, according to the will of God concerning them in Christ Jesus, may
cast, and ought to cast, all their care upon Him who careth for them, and need
not be anxiously concerned about anything, as is plainly to be seen from 1 Peter
v.7; Philippians iv.6; Matthew vi.25-34.
My Lord is not limited; He can again supply; He knows that this present case has
been sent to me; and thus, this way of living, so far from leading to
anxiety, as it regards possible future want, is rather the means of keeping
from it... This way of living has often been the means of reviving the work of
grace in my heart, when I have been getting cold; and it also has been the means
of bringing me back again to the Lord, after I have been backsliding. For it
will not do,-- it is not possible, to live in sin, and at the same time, by
communion with God, to draw down from heaven everything one needs for the life
that now is... Answer to prayer, obtained in this way, has been the means of
quickening my soul, and filling me with much joy.
I met at a brother's house with several believers, when a sister said that she
had often thought about the care and burden I must have on my mind, as it
regards obtaining the necessary supplies for so many persons. As this may not be
a solitary instance, I would state that, by the grace of God, this is no cause
of anxiety to me. The children I have years ago cast upon the Lord. The whole
work is His, and it becomes me to be without carefulness. In whatever
points I am lacking, in this point I am able by the grace of God, to roll the
burden upon my heavenly Father. Though now (July 1845) for about seven years our
funds have been so exhausted, that it has been comparatively a rare case that
there have been means in hand to meet the necessities of the orphans for three
days together; yet have I been only once tried in spirit, and that was on Sept.
18, 1838, when for the first time the Lord seemed not to regard our prayer. But
when He did send help at that time, and I saw that it was only for the trial of
our faith, and not because He had forsaken the work that we were brought so low,
my soul was so strengthened and encouraged, that I have not only not been
allowed to distrust the Lord since that time, but I have not even been cast down
when in the deepest poverty. Nevertheless, in this respect also am I now, as
much as ever, dependent on the Lord; and I earnestly beseech for myself and my
fellow-labourers the prayers of all those, to whom the glory of God is dear. How
great would be the dishonour to the name of God, if we, who have so publicly
made our boast in Him, should so fall as to act in these very points as the
world does! Help us, then, brethren, with your prayers, that we may trust in God
to the end. We can expect nothing but that our faith will yet be tried, and it
may be more than ever; and we shall fall, if the Lord does not uphold us.
As regards borrowing money, I have considered that there is no ground to go away
from the door of the Lord to that of a believer, so long as He is willing to
supply our need.
How truly precious it is that every one who rests alone upon the Lord Jesus for
salvation, has in the living God a father, to whom he may fully unbosom himself
concerning the most minute affairs of his life, and concerning everything that
lies upon his heart! Dear reader, do you know the living God? Is He, in Jesus,
your Father? Be assured that Christianity is something more than forms and
creeds and ceremonies: there is life, and power, and reality, in our holy faith.
If you never yet have known this, then come and taste for yourself. I beseech
you affectionately to meditate and pray over the following verses: John iii.16;
Rom. x.9,10; acts x.43; 1 John v.1.
Go for yourself, with all your temporal and spiritual wants, to the Lord. Bring
also the necessities of your friends and relatives to the Lord. Only make the
trial, and you will perceive how able and willing He is to help you. Should you,
however, not at once obtain answers to your prayers, be not discouraged; but
continue patiently, believingly, perseveringly to wait upon God: and as
assuredly as that which you ask would be for your real good, and therefore for
the honour of the Lord; and as assuredly as you ask it solely on the ground of
the worthiness of our Lord Jesus, so assuredly you will at last obtain the
blessing. I myself have had to wait upon God concerning certain matters for
years, before I obtained answers to my prayers; but at last they came. At this
very time, I have still to renew my requests daily before God, respecting a
certain blessing for which I have besought Him for eleven years and a half, and
which I have as yet obtained only in part, but concerning which I have no doubt
that the full blessing will be granted in the end...
The great point is, that we ask only for that which it
would be for the glory of God to give to us; for that, and that alone, can be
for our real good. But it is not enough that the thing for which we ask God be
for His honour and glory, but we must
secondly ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus, viz., expect it only on the
ground of His merits and worthiness.
Thirdly, we should believe that God is able and willing to give us what we ask
Him for.
Fourthly, we should continue in prayer till the blessing is granted; without
fixing to God a time when, or the circumstances under which, He should give the
answer. Patience should be in exercise, in connection with our prayer.
Fifthly, we should, at the same time, look out for and expect an answer till it
comes. If we pray in this way, we shall not only have answers, thousands of
answers to our prayers; but our own souls will be greatly refreshed and
invigorated in connection with these answers.
If the obtaining of your requests were not for your
real good, or were not tending to the honour of God, you might pray for a long
time, without obtaining what you desire. The glory of God should be always
before the children of God, in what they desire at His hands; and their own
spiritual profit, being so intimately connected with the honour of God, should
never be lost sight of, in their petitions.
But now, suppose we are believers in the Lord Jesus, and make our requests unto
God, depending alone on the Lord Jesus as the ground of having them granted;
suppose, also, that, so far as we are able honestly and uprightly to judge, the
obtaining of our requests would be for our real spiritual good and for the
honour of God; we yet need, lastly, to continue in prayer, until the
blessing is granted unto us. It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray
aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must
patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and
further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have
also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most
frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is
obtained and in not expecting the blessing.
FAITH, PRAYER, AND THE WORD OF GOD
Prayer and faith, the universal remedies against every want and every
difficulty; and the nourishment of prayer and faith, God's holy word, helped
me over all the difficulties.--
I never remember, in all my Christian course, a period now (in March 1895) of
sixty-nine years and four months, that I ever SINCERELY and PATIENTLY sought to
know the will of God by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, through the
instrumentality of the word of God, but I have been ALWAYS directed rightly.
But if honesty of heart and uprightness before God were lacking,
or if I did not patiently wait upon God for instruction, or if I
preferred the counsel of my fellow men to the declarations of the word
of the living God, I made great mistakes.
Let none expect to have the mastery over his inward corruption in any degree,
without going in his weakness again and again to the Lord for strength. Nor will
prayer with others, or conversing with the brethren, make up for secret prayer.
It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word
and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the
Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were of no use to pray when
we have no spirit of prayer; whilst the truth is, in order to enjoy the Word, we
ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to
continue praying; for the less we read the word of God, the less we desire to
read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.
Often the work of the Lord itself may be a temptation to keep us from that
communion with Him which is so essential to the benefit of our own souls... Let
none think that public prayer will make up for close communion.
Here is the great secret of success. Work with all your might; but trust not in
the least in your work. Pray with all your might for the blessing of God; but
work, at the same time, with all diligence, with all patience, with all
perseverance. Pray then, and work. Work and pray. And still again pray, and then
work. And so on all the days of your life. The result will surely be, abundant
blessing. Whether you see much fruit or little fruit, such kind of
service will be blessed... Speak also for the Lord, as if everything depended on
your exertions; yet trust not the least in your exertions, but in the Lord, who
alone can cause your efforts to be made effectual, to the benefit of your fellow
men or fellow believers. Remember, also, that God delights to bestow blessing,
but, generally, as the result of earnest, believing prayer.
It came immediately to my mind that such sort of preaching might do for
illiterate country people, but that it would never do before a well-educated
assembly in town. I thought, the truth ought to be preached at all hazards, but
it ought to be given in a different form, suited to the hearers. Thus I remained
unsettled in my mind as it regards the mode of preaching; and it is not
surprising that I did not then see the truth concerning this matter, for I did
not understand the work of the Spirit, and therefore saw not the powerlessness
of human eloquence. Further, I did not keep in mind that if the most illiterate
persons in the congregation can comprehend the discourse, the most educated will
understand it too; but that the reverse does not hold true.
Restitution is the revealed will of God. If it is omitted, while we have it in
our power to make it, guilt remains the conscience, and spiritual progress is
hinderer. Even though it should be connected with difficulty, self-denial, and
great loss, it is to be attended to. Should the persons who have been defrauded
be dead, their heirs are to be found out, if this can be done, and restitution
is to be made to them. But there may be cases when this cannot be done, and then
only the money should be given to the Lord for His work or His poor. One word
more. About fifty years ago, I knew a man under concern about his soul, who had
defrauded his master of two sacks of flour, and who was urged by me to confess
this sin to his late employer, and to make restitution. He would not do it,
however, and the result was that for twenty years he never obtained real peace
of soul till the thing was done.
Christians do not practically remember that while we are saved by grace,
altogether by grace, so that in the matter of salvation works are altogether
excluded; yet that so far as the rewards of grace are concerned, in the world to
come, there is an intimate connection between the life of the Christian here and
the enjoyment and the glory in the day of Christ's appearing.
Humblings last our whole life. Jesus came not to save painted but real
sinners; but He has saved us, and will surely make it manifest.
At Stuttgart, the dear brethren had been entirely uninstructed about the truths
relating to the power and presence of the Holy Ghost in the church of God, and
to our ministering one to another as fellow members in the body of Christ; and I
had known enough of painful consequences when brethren began to meet professedly
in dependence upon the Holy Spirit without knowing what was meant by it, and
thus meetings had become opportunities for unprofitable talking rather than
for godly edifying... All these matters ought to be left to the ordering of
the Holy Ghost, and that if it had been truly good for them, the Lord would have
not only led me to speak at that time, but also on the very subject
on which they desired that I should speak to them.
Whatever parts of truth are made too much of, though they were even the most
precious truths connected with our being risen in Christ, or our heavenly
calling, or prophecy, sooner or later those who lay an undue stress upon
these parts of truth, and thus make them too prominent, will be losers in
their own souls, and, if they be teachers, they will injure those whom they
teach.
In reference to universal salvation, I found that they had been led into this
error because
(1) They did not
see the difference between the earthly calling of the Jews and the heavenly
calling of the believers in the Lord Jesus in the present dispensation, and
therefore they said that, because the words "everlasting," etc., are applied to
"the the possession of the land of Canaan" and the "priesthood of Aaron,"
therefore, the punishment of the wicked cannot be without end, seeing that the
possession of Canaan and the priesthood of Aaron are not without end. My
endeavour, therefore, was to show the brethren the difference between the
earthly calling of Israel and our heavenly one, and to prove from
Scripture that, whenever the word "everlasting" is used with reference to things
purely not of the earth, but beyond time, it denotes a period without end.
(2) They had laid exceeding great stress
upon a few passages where, in Luther's translation of the German Bible, the word
hell occurs, and where it ought to have been translated either "hades" in some
passages, or "grave" in others, and where they saw a deliverance out of hell,
and a being brought up out of hell, instead of "out of the grave."
Verily we do not wait upon God in vain!
The word of God is our only standard, and the Holy Spirit our only teacher.
Besides the Holy Scriptures, which should be always THE book, THE CHIEF book to
us, not merely in theory, but also in practice, such like books seem to me the
most useful for the growth of the inner man. Yet one has to be cautious in the
choice, and to guard against reading too much.
The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.
It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer.
When He orders something to be done for the glory of His name, He is both able
and willing to find the needed individuals for the work and the means required.
Thus, when the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was to be erected, He not only
fitted men for the work, but He also touched the hearts of the Israelites to
bring the necessary materials and gold, silver, and precious stones; and all
these things were not only brought, but in such abundance that a proclamation
had to be made in the camp, that no more articles should be brought, because
there were more than enough. And again, when God for the praise of His name
would have the Temple to be built by Solomon, He provided such an amount of
gold, silver, precious stones, brass, iron, etc., for it, that all the palaces
or temples which have been built since, have been most insignificant in
comparison.
A servant of God has but one Master. It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich, and great, and honored in the world where his Lord was poor, and mean, and despise.
As David encouraged himself in Jehovah his God, when he returned to Ziklag, so will I encourage myself in God.
If the Lord fails me at this time, it will be the first time.
The joy which answers to prayer give, cannot be described; and the impetus which they afford to the spiritual life is exceedingly great. The experience of this happiness I desire for all my Christian readers. If you believe indeed in the Lord Jesus for the salvation of your soul, if you walk uprightly and do not regard iniquity in your heart, if you continue to wait patiently, and believingly upon God; then answers will surely be given to your prayers. You may not be called upon to serve the Lord in the way the writer does, and therefore may never have answers to prayer respecting such things as are recorded here; but, in your various circumstances, your family, your business, your profession, your church position, your labour for the Lord, etc., you may have answers as distinct as any here recorded.
