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GEORGE MUELLER OF BRISTOL
AND HIS WITNESS TO A PRAYER-HEARING GOD

The originally "authorized memoir".

BY
ARTHUR T. PIERSON

Author of "The Crisis of Missions,"
"The New Acts of the Apostles,"
"Many Infallible Proofs," etc.;
editor of "The Missionary Review of the World," etc.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
JAMES WRIGHT
Son-in-law in the work of George Mueller

Fleming H. Revell Company
Old Tappan, New Jersey

1899

This book is in the public domain.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and reformatting by Katie Stewart

WStS Note: All italics in this volume are by Dr. Pierson, himself.
We have chosen to spell Mr. Mueller's name without the umlaut.


Introduction by Mr. James Wright

VERY soon after the decease of my beloved father-in-law, I began to receive letters pressing upon me the desirableness of issuing as soon as possible a memoir of him and his work.

The well-known autobiography, entitled "Narrative of the Lord's Dealings with George Mueller," had been, and was still being, so greatly used by God in the edification of believers and the conversion of unbelievers that I hesitated to countenance any attempt to supersede or even supplement it. But as, with prayer, I reflected upon the subject, several considerations impressed me:

Ist. The last volume of the Narrative ends with the year 1885, so that there is no record of the last thirteen years of Mr. Mueller's life excepting what is contained in the yearly reports of "The Scriptural Knowledge Institution."

2d. The last three volumes of the Narrative, being mainly a condensation of the yearly reports during the period embraced in them, contain much unavoidable repetition.

3d. A book of, say, four hundred and fifty pages, containing the substance of the four volumes of the Narrative, and carrying on the history to the date of the decease of the founder of the institution, would meet the desire of a large class of readers.

4th. Several brief sketches of Mr. Mueller's career had issued from the press within a few days after the funeral; and one (written by Mr. F. Warne and published by W. P. Mack & Co., Bristol), a very accurate and truly appreciative sketch, had had a large circulation; but I was convinced by the letters that reached me that a more comprehensive memoir was called for, and would be produced, so I was led especially to pray for guidance that such a book might be entrusted to the author fitted by God to undertake it.

While waiting for the answer to this definite petition, though greatly urged by publishers to proceed, I steadily declined to take any step until I had clearer light. Moreover, I was, personally, occupied during May and June in preparing the Annual Report of "The Scriptural Knowledge Institution," and could not give proper attention to the other matter.

Just then I learned from Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, of Brooklyn, N. Y., that he had been led to undertake the production of a memoir of Mr. Mueller for American readers, and requesting my aid by furnishing him with some materials needed for the work.

Having complied with this request I was favoured by Dr. Pierson with a syllabus of the method and contents of his intended work.

The more I thought upon the subject the more satisfied I became that no one could be found more fitted to undertake the work which had been called for on this side of the Atlantic also than this my well-known and beloved friend.

He had had exceptional opportunities twenty years ago in the United States, and in later years when visiting great Britain, for becoming intimately acquainted with Mr. Mueller, with the principles on which the Orphanage and other branches of "The Scriptural Knowledge Institution" were carried on, and with many details of their working. I knew that Dr. Pierson most thoroughly sympathized with these principles as being according to the mind of God revealed in His word; and that he could, therefore, present not merely the history of the external facts and results of Mr. Mueller's life and labours, but could and would, by God's help, unfold, with the ardour and force of conviction, the secret springs of that life and of those labours.

I therefore intimated to my dear friend that, provided he would allow me to read the manuscript and have thus the opportunity of making any suggestions that I felt necessary, I would, as my beloved father-in-law's executor and representative, gladly endorse his work as the authorized memoir for British as well as American readers.

To this Dr. Pierson readily assented; and now, after carefully going through the whole, I confidently recommend the book to esteemed readers on both sides of the Atlantic, with the earnest prayer that the result, in relation to the subject of this memoir, may be identical with that produced by the account of the Apostle Paul's "manner of life" upon the churches of Judea which were in Christ (Gal. i. 24), viz.,

"They glorified God" in him.

James Wright.
18 Charlotte Street, Park Street,
Bristol, Eng., March. 1899.

A Prefatory Word

DR. OLIVER W. HOLMES wittily said that an autobiography is what every biography ought to be. The four volumes of "The Narrative of the Lord's Dealings with George Mueller," already issued from the press and written by his own hand, with a fifth volume covering his missionary tours, and prepared by his wife, supplemented by the Annual Reports since published, constitute essentially an autobiography-- Mr. Mueller's own life-story, stamped with his own peculiar individuality, and singularly and minutely complete. To those who wish the simple journal of his life with the details of his history, these printed documents make any other sketch of him from other hands so far unnecessary.

There are, however, two considerations which have mainly prompted the preparation of this brief memoir: first, that the facts of this remarkable life might be set forth not so much with reference to the chronological order of their occurrence, as events, as for the sake of the lessons in living which they furnish, illustrating and enforcing grand spiritual principles and precepts: and secondly, because no man so humble as he would ever write of himself what, after his departure, another might properly write of him that others might glorify God in him.

No one could have undertaken this work of writing Mr. Mueller's life-story without being deeply impressed with the opportunity thus afforded for impressing the most vital truths that concern holy living and holy serving; nor could any one have completed such a work without feeling overawed by the argument which this narrative furnishes for a present, living, prayer-hearing God, and for a possible and practical daily walk with Him and work with Him. It has been a great help in the preparation of this book that the writer has had such frequent converse with Mr. James Wright, who was so long Mr. Mueller's associate and knew him so intimately.

So prominent was the word of God as a power in Mr. Mueller's life that, in an appendix, we have given peculiar emphasis to the great leading texts of Scripture which inspired and guided his faith and conduct, and, so far as possible, in the order in which such texts became practically influential in his life; and so many wise and invaluable counsels are to be found scattered throughout his journal that some of the most striking and helpful have been selected, which may also be found in the appendix. This volume has, like the life it sketches, but one aim. It is simply and solely meant to extend, emphasize, and perpetuate George Mueller's witness to a prayer-hearing God; to present, as plainly, forcibly, and briefly as is practicable, the outlines of a human history, and an experience of the Lord's leadings and dealings, which furnish a sufficient answer to the question:

WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?

Table of Contents
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Introduction by Mr. James Wright (this page)

A Prefatory Word (this page)

Chapter I. From His Birth To His New Birth

Chapter II. The New Birth And The New Life

Chapter III. Making Ready The Chosen Vessel

Chapter IV. New Steps And Stages Of Preparation

Chapter V. The Pulpit And The Pastorate

Chapter VI. "The Narrative Of The Lord's Dealings"

Chapter VII. Led Of God Into A New Sphere

Chapter VIII. A Tree Of God's Own Planting

Chapter IX. The Growth Of God's Own Plant

Chapter X. The Word Of God And Prayer

Chapter XI. Trials Of Faith And Helpers To Faith

Chapter XII. New Lessons In God's School Of Prayer

Chapter XIII. Following The Pillar Of Cloud And Fire

Chapter XIV. God's Building: The New Orphan Houses

Chapter XV. The Manifold Grace Of God

Chapter XVI. The Shadow Of A Great Sorrow

Chapter XVII. The Period Of World-Wide Witness

Chapter XVIII. Faith And Patience In Serving

Chapter XIX. At Evening-Time-- Light

Chapter XX The Summary Of The Life-Work

Chapter XXI. The Church Life And Growth

Chapter XXII. A Glance At The Gifts And The Givers

Chapter XXIII. God's Witness To The Work

Chapter XXIV. Last Looks, Backward And Forward


Appendix.

A. Scripture Texts That Moulded George Mueller

B. Apprehension Of Truth

C. Separation From The London Society, Etc.

D. The Scriptural Knowledge Institution For Home And Abroad

E. Reasons Which Led Mr. Mueller To Establish An Orphan House

F. Arguments In Prayer For The Orphan Work

G. The Purchase Of A Site, Etc.

H. God's Faithfulness In Providing

[WStS: I. or J. none listed]

K. Further Recollections Of Mr. Mueller

L. Soul Nourishment First

M. Church Conduct

N. The Wise Sayings Of George Mueller
.





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In Christ Jesus ---New Window
The Sphere of the Believer's Life
by A. T. Pierson
(1837-1911)
Published in 1898
"THOSE three short words, in Christ Jesus, are, without doubt, the most important ever written, even by an inspired pen, to express the mutual relation of the believer and Christ. They occur, with their equivalents, over one hundred and thirty times. Sometimes we meet the expression, in Christ or in Christ Jesus, and again in Him, or in whom, etc. And sometimes this sacred name, or its equivalent pronoun, is found associated with other prepositions -- through, with, by; but the thought is essentially the same. Such repetition and variety must have some intense meaning. When, in the Word of God, a phrase like this occurs so often, and with such manifold applications, it can not be a matter of accident; there is a deep design. God's Spirit is bringing a truth of the highest importance before us, repeating for the sake of emphasis, compelling even the careless reader to give heed as to some vital teaching... We shall see a further evidence of the vital importance of the phrase, in Christ, in the fact that these two words unlock and interpret every separate book in the New Testament. Here is God's own key, whereby we may open all the various doors and enter all the glorious rooms in this Palace Beautiful, and explore all the apartments in the house of the heavenly Interpreter, from Matthew to the Apocalypse, where the door is opened into heaven. Each of the four gospel narratives, the book of the Acts, all of the epistles of Paul and Peter, James and John, and Jude, with the mysterious Revelation of Jesus Christ, show us some new relation sustained by Christ Jesus to the believer, some new aspect of Christ as his sphere of being, some new benefit or blessing enjoyed by him who is thus in Christ Jesus... To demonstrate and illustrate this is the aim of this study of the New Testament. And, for brevity's sake, it may be well to confine our examination to the epistles of Paul, from Romans to Thessalonians, which will be seen to bear to each other, and to the phrase we are studying, a unique and complete relation... The more we study the phrase and the various instances and peculiar varieties of such recurrence, the more shall we be convinced of its vital importance to all practical holy living." --A. T. Pierson

A. T. Pierson's classic study in the Pauline epistles of the phrase "in Christ Jesus" is both a guide to understanding the Scriptures as well as instruction for Practical Holy Living. "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption" (1Corinthians 1:30). Personally applying the Truths uncovered by Pierson's research is more important than reading "In Christ Jesus: The Sphere of the Believer's Life". "But whoso looketh into the Perfect Law of Liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:25). As with all Bible study aids, reading Paul's epistles themselves is requisite for the Believer to be benefitted as he ought. "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). --WStS



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The Relations of Christ to the Believer ---New Window
by C. G. Finney
(1792-1875)
with
Scripture Additions by Tom Stewart
FROM THE 1851 EDITION OF LECTURES ON SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.
SPECIAL ANNOTATED VERSION OF LECTURES 62-67:
"SANCTIFICATION" & "THE RELATIONS OF CHRIST TO THE BELIEVER"
including
"Understanding Charles G. Finney's Entire Sanctification"
Or, "An Introduction to Finney's 'The Relations of Christ to the Believer'"
by Tom Stewart

"No one can too fully understand, or too deeply feel, the necessity of taking home the Bible with all it contains, as a message sent from Heaven to him; nor can too earnestly desire or seek the promised Spirit to teach him the true spiritual import of all its contents. He must have the Bible made a personal revelation of God to his own soul. It must become his own book. He must know Christ for himself. He must know him in his different relations. He must know him in his blessed and infinite fulness, or he cannot abide in him, and unless he abide in Christ, he can bring forth none of the fruits of holiness. 'Except a man abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered.' [John 15:6]. ['Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth' (John 17:17)]... The foregoing are some of the relations which Christ sustains to us as to our salvation. I could have enlarged greatly, as you perceive, upon each of these, and easily have swelled this part of our course of study to a large volume. I have only touched upon these sixty-one relations, as specimens of the manner in which he is presented for our acceptance in the Bible, and by the Holy Spirit. ['And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen' (John 21:25).]" -CHARLES G. FINNEY.



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