George Müller of Bristol, and His Witness to a Prayer-Hearing GodPierson, Arthur T. (Arthur Tappan)
Religion
George Müller of Bristol, and His Witness to a Prayer-Hearing God
Pierson, Arthur T. (Arthur Tappan)
Müller, George, 1805-1898; Orphanages -- Great Britain; Prayer
obviously called of the Spirit, so that no one person has been
indispensable. Various brethren have been able to give more or less time
and strength to preaching, visiting, and ruling in the church; while
scores of others, who, like Paul, Priscilla and Aquila, the tent-makers,
have their various business callings and seek therein to "abide with
God," are ready to aid as the Lord may guide in such other forms of
service as may consist with their ordinary vocations. The prosperity of
the congregation, its growth, conduct, and edification, have therefore
been dependent only on God, who, as He has withdrawn one worker after
another, has supplied others in their stead, and so continues to do.
To have any adequate conception of the fruits of such teaching and such
living in church-life, it is needful to go at least into one of the
Monday-night prayer meetings at Bethesda. It is primitive and apostolic
in simplicity. No one presides but the unseen Spirit of God. A hymn is
suggested by some brother, and then requests for prayer are read,
usually with definite mention of the names of those by and for whom
supplication is asked. Then prayer, scripture reading, singing, and
exhortation follow, without any prearrangement as to subject, order in
which or persons by whom, the exercises are participated in. The fullest
liberty is encouraged to act under the Spirit's guidance; and the fact
of such guidance is often strikingly apparent in the singular unity of
prayer and song, scripture reading and remarks, as well as in the
harmonious fellowship apparent. After more than half a century these
Monday-night prayer services are still a hallowed centre of attraction,
a rallying-point for supplication, and a radiating-point for service,
and remain unchanged in the method of their conduct.
The original congregation has proved a tree whose seed is in itself
after its kind. At the time of Mr. Muller's decease it was nearly
sixty-six years since that memorable evening in 1832 when those seven
believers met to form a church; and the original body of disciples
meeting in Bethesda had increased to ten, six of which are now
independent of the mother church, and four of which still remain in
close affiliation and really constitute one church, though meeting in
Bethesda, Alma Road, Stokes Croft, and Totterdown chapels. The names of
the other churches which have been in a sense offshoots from Bethesda
are as follows: Unity, Bishopston, Cumberland Hall, Charleton Hall,
Nicholas Road, and Bedminster.
At the date of Mr. Muller's decease the total membership of the four
affiliated congregations was upwards of twelve hundred.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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