Listening to the Giants

***The article was taken and adapted from  David Brainerd: A Constant Stream  by David B. Calhoun, Ph.D. Brainerd’s influence grew remarkably within the transatlantic evangelical community through The Life of David Brainerd , Edwards’s most frequently reprinted and widely read book. It was the first American biography to reach a large European audience. It became the best-selling religious book in nineteenth-century America (with more than thirty different editions) and remains in print to the present day. John Wesley prepared an abridged version of Edwards’s book and recommended it with the words:  “Let every preacher read carefully over The Life of David Brainerd. Let us be followers of him, as he was of Christ, in absolute self-devotion, in total deadness to the world, and in fervent love to God and man.” In 1769 John Newton wrote:  “Next to the Word of God, I like those books best which give an account of the lives and experiences of H...

John Wycliffe’s last work was called Gospel Work . His latest biographer assessment of it is interesting. She states, “The drift of this last book on Scripture seems clear. There are no automatic, special, divine preferences for any particular class of Christian, priest or monk or friar; it is personal virtue which counts. The Bible is not reserved for the educated or the ordained. The Bible is for all the people of God.” History states that the heart of Wycliffe was for the laity, so that they could own and read the scriptures for themselves. Because of his passion for God’s word, millions of Christians have multiple bibles in their homes. And yet many Christians often lament that they themselves, though they own a bible, are unable to understand the Bible. Here are 6 main reasons Christians struggle to understand the Bible. ***Please understand when I write “you”, I mean you, me…any Christian who struggles with this. Reason #1—You do not ask for Divine...

Sarah Edwards, like most wives of the “giants”, were basically unknown. The reasons for this are many. They rarely wrote. They were “helpers” to their husbands first, which seemed incongruent to self-promotion. The secular and sacred culture of the previous centuries was typically “patriarchal”, which saw little worth in hearing from a “woman” and to publish anything from a woman would have been almost comical. Finally, families were normally large and women (with the help of servants) did all the domestic duties. Yet, because of the contemporary interest of Edwards during his lifetime, Sarah was integrated through the pages of her husband’s biographies. Here are some observations from Samuel Hopkins (one of Edwards’ first biographer): “She made it her rule to speak well of all, so far as she could with truth and justice to herself and others. Thus she was tender of everyone’s character, even of those who injured or spoke evil of her.” He continues: “In the midst of these comp...

Out of all of McCheyne’s entries, these impacted me the most. Nov. 12—“Reading H. Martyn’s Memoirs. Would I imitate him, giving up father, mother, country, house, health, life, all—for Christ. And yet, what hinders/ Lord, purify me and give me strength to dedicate myself, my all to Thee!” It seems a common trend among the “giants” to drink of the springs of those “who have walked before them”. The reason is obvious: Encouragement to finish the race . Encouragement to finish the right way. Dec. 18—“My heart must break off from all these things. What right have I to steal and abuse my Master’s time? Redeem it. He is crying to me.” Nothing grieves my heart more than “wasted time”. Conversely, nothing strengthens the Christian more than the joy of a clear conscience (Acts 23:1). Aug. 18—“Heard of the death of James Somerville by fever, induced by cholera. O God, Thy ways and thoughts are not as ours! I saw him last on Friday, 27 th of July, at the College gate; shook h...

This is one of my favorite stories about Robert Murray McCheyne.  He left to go to Israel to evangelize the Jews and renew his own heart; walking where Jesus walked, taught, bled and rose again. While he was there, God accomplished a mighty work in his home church.  Here is the account:  “Mr. Burns returned to Mr. McCheyne’s flock on August 8th (McCheyne was deathly sick in Israel, praying for his people under all his own suffering). Two days later, the Spirit began to work in St. Peter’s (McCheyne’s church), at the time of the prayer-meeting in the Church. Day after day the people met for prayer and hearing the word; and the times of the apostles seemed returned, when “the Lord added to the Church daily of such as should be saved.” One night Mr. Burns spoke a few words about what had for some days detained him from them, and invited those to remain who felt the need of an outpouring of the Spirit to convert them. About a hundred remained; and at the concl...

Here are #13--#24: #13—“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 entrust us!” #14—“Our Heavenly Father never takes any earthly thing from His children except He means to give them something better instead ”. Early in my Christian walk I would have read this quote and believed that God would bless me like Job (Job 42:12-17). Now in my 23 rd or 29 th year as a Christian, I understand that the blessing may or may not be material , but it is always spiritual. #15—“We have to guard against practically despising the discipline of the Lord, though we may not do so in word, and against fainting under discipline; since all is intended for blessing to us”. The reader must not have a one-dimensional understanding of “fainting”. “Fainting” can mean wilting under the heat of God’s discipline, which ...

“The passion of George Müller’s soul was to know fully the secrets of prevailing with God and with man. George Whitefield’s life drove home the truth that God alone could create in him a holy earnestness to win souls and qualify him for such divine work by imparting a compassion for the lost that should become an absorbing passion for their salvation. And—let this be carefully marked as another secret of this life of service—he now began himself to read the word of God upon his knees , and often found for hours great blessing in such meditation and prayer over a single psalm or chapter .” (p. 138-139) Here is the disclaimer: It is not the posture of prayer that ultimately matters to God. But it is wrong to say that posture doesn’t matter, because our posture often reflects what is happening in our hearts. After reading this you may be thinking, “Good for George Müller. He has his way and I have mine. God only wants my heart.” Fair enough. But before you shut the “door of se...

The death of Mrs. Müller was no surprise to Müller or anyone else, but his response did catch a few people off guard. His biographer reveals the details below:   “The death of this beloved wife afforded an illustration of this. Within a few hours after this withdrawal of her who had shared with him the planning and working of these long years of service, Mr. Müller went to the Monday-evening prayer meeting, then held in Salem Chapel, to mingle his prayers and praises as usual with those of his brethren. With a literally shining countenance, he rose and said: “Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, I ask you to join with me in hearty praise and thanksgiving to my precious Lord for His loving kindness in having taken my darling, beloved wife out of the pain and suffering which she had endured, into His own presence; and as I rejoice in everything that is for her happiness, so I now rejoice as I realize how far happier she is, in beholding her Lord who she loved so well, than in ...

One of my favorite sections of the biography is when A.T. Pierson presents a list of 24 important steps, steps that he believes were essential in the spiritual formation of George Müller. Here are the final steps 19-24: 19. His surrender of all earthly possessions. Both himself and his wife literally sold all they had and gave alms, henceforth to live by the day, hoarding no money even against a time of future need, sickness, old age, or any other possible crisis of want. Again, the reader must look at Müller as a description of a godly Saint, not as a prescription of a godly Saint . In other words, don’t finish reading this blog post and then go sell all of your belongings. That response is probably not in the will of God. Yet we must re-examine our love of money or at least the security that money provides. Our lack of prayerfulness is often connected to our self-sufficient heart and our self-sufficient heart is fueled by having the monetary resources to “fill our mout...

Every Christian should sit at the feet of George Müller. His discipline and his faith are worthy of study, but most of us need to learn how Müller pleaded with God. The excerpt below gives us a snapshot into his prayer life: “This method of holy argument —ordering our cause before God, as an advocate would plead before a judge—is not only almost a lost art, but to many it actually seems almost puerile (this means infantile or childish …I didn’t know what it meant). And yet it is abundantly taught and exemplified in Scripture. Abraham in his plea for Sodom is the first great example of it. Moses excelled in this art, in many crises interceding in behalf of the people with consummate skill, marshalling arguments as a general-in-chief marshals battalions. Elijah on Carmel is a striking example of power in this special pleading. What holy zeal and jealousy for God! It is probable that if we had fuller records we should find that all pleaders with God, like Noah, Job, Samuel, David, Danie...

Packer was a man of the times. He seemed to always have his thumb on the issues of the day. This is one of the reasons why he was profoundly influential in the 20 th century. This quote gives the reader some insight into Packer’s “thumbprint”. “Packer’s views on predestination and election were strongly Reformed, stressing the sovereignty of God in creation and redemption. Not all students at Tyndale Hall were entirely sympathetic to Packer’s views in this area, particularly in relation to predestination. One issue which emerged as particularly important in the late 1950’s concerned a tension between the sovereignty of God and the need to evangelize. If God was sovereign, why bother to evangelize? It was an issue which had emerged as important at several points in church history. For example, when the Baptist missionary William Carey announced his intention to found a Mission Society, he met with the following response from one of those whose advice he asked, ‘When God is pleased ...