A Narrative of some of the Lord's Dealings with George Müller. Part 3Müller, George
Religion
A Narrative of some of the Lord's Dealings with George Müller. Part 3
Müller, George
Orphanages -- Great Britain; Prayer
--I now enter upon the narrative of a few facts which I wish to
communicate to you, that you may be led yet more highly to prize the
spiritual privileges, and especially the religious liberty, which you
enjoy in England.--About nineteen months since a brother and sister
here, who were connected with the little Baptist Church, (the only
body of believers in this country who are separated from the State
Church) desired to be united by marriage. As they had conscientious
objections to be married according to the usage of the State Church,
a statement was sent to the director of this city, the first
magistrate, in which this brother and sister expressed their desire
and declared that they would submit themselves to everything to which
they could with a good conscience, such as having their names three
times publicly called at the church, paying the clergymans fees, &c.;
but that they could not conform to the marriage ceremony at the
church, and they therefore begged to be exempted from this; and they
finally claimed for this the rights of the subjects of the kingdom of
Wirtemberg, to whom full liberty of conscience is granted by the
constitution of the Government. After a time they received a complete
denial to this request from the Ecclesiastical court, called the
Consistory. They now gave in a full statement of their views, why
they left the State Church, why they could not conform to the
marriage ceremony in the State Church, &c., and sent this statement,
if I remember right, to the highest court, the ministry of the
kingdom. It was again refused. And so also by the king himself. Many
months had in the meantime elapsed, and the patience of the brother
and sister at last began to fail, and as the sister (at that time)
saw scarcely any objection to be married at the church, the brother
was at last overcome, and he went and gave in the banns at the
church. This was in the middle of June last summer. The nearer,
however, the marriage day came, the more tried the brother felt, and
all peace left him. At last he came to the conclusion to leave
himself quite in the hands of the Lord while in the church, and to do
no more than he could do with a good conscience; yet he did not know
anything definite, nor did he tell his intended wife anything. He
asked the brethren, with whom he was in fellowship, to pray for him,
who accordingly met at the time when he was to be married. It was on
a Lords day afternoon after the public service, and several hundreds
of people had remained. The clergyman, a believer, who, no doubt,
knew of the former expressed conscientious objection of this brother
and sister, did not at all use the printed liturgy, but only gave, as
I hear, a scriptural address as the occasion called for, which our
brother found profitable. After this the brother and sister made the
usual solemn declaration that they would take each other as husband
and wife, &c. This, our brother considered all that could be required
of him as a subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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