John Chambers, Servant of Christ and Master of Hearts, and His Ministry in PhiladelphiaGriffis, William Elliot
Religion
John Chambers, Servant of Christ and Master of Hearts, and His Ministry in Philadelphia
Griffis, William Elliot
Chambers, John, 1797-1875
The "three measures of meal" still abide. From them is still supplied
the bread of life to thousands. To change from metaphor to facts
that are as hard as stone, and as enduring as human character, there
are, first in point of time, the Bethany Mission Sunday-school and
the Bethany Presbyterian Church; the John Chambers Memorial Church,
an offshoot and outgrowth from the Bethany Church; the Presbyterian
Church at Rutledge, Pa.; the St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in West
Philadelphia; and the magnificent edifice and active congregation
of the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church on Broad below Pine Street,
which enshrines the name not only of John Chambers, but of T. W. J.
Wylie--two noble preachers of the gospel, sons of thunder and also of
consolation.
Shall we attempt to measure influence, by even suggesting how three
churches, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, and one Lutheran grew up out
of the early prayer meetings before 1840, sustained chiefly by John
Chambers' young men? Shall we hint at the missionary and educational
impulses given at "the ends of the earth" by missionaries, or of
lives nourished or transformed in our home land by the forty or more
ministers of the gospel, who call John Chambers their father in God?
Nay, our dear under-shepherd himself, were he with us, would say, "Not
unto us O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy
mercy and thy truth's sake."
_Nisi Dominus Frustra._
CHAPTER II.
IRELAND. A BONNY BAIRN.
Many a chairman, clerical or lay brother, in introducing John Chambers
to an always delighted audience, referred to his "big Irish heart,"
and indeed he had in him all the winning and fascinating elements
which make the jolly Irishman. He was emotional, clear-brained, rich
in personal magnetism, and in general a "good fellow". He had in him
also those traits which characterize the strong, clean, God-fearing
and man-loving Puritan, whose career so often illustrates the highest
type of manhood. Of superb and commanding figure, six feet high,
and the most imposing individual known in the Chambers clan, he had
an open illuminated face, and eyes that penetrated one's inmost
nature. He was skilled in the handshake or shoulder pat, that warmed
one's entire being into personal loyalty and were inspirations to
friendship for the man and his Master. His face made you believe in
the immortality of the soul. To these physical traits may be added an
absolutely fearless mien and a flashing eye, that made his enemies
fear him, even when they most hated his ways and words. With leonine
countenance and majestic presence, was a tongue that beat the blarney
stone, and yet was made, under God, a unerring instrument in winning
souls. Some one has written of "The Pastor as Praiser". John Chambers
by praising a boy made him a hero. Often a word from him came as
Paul's clarion call, "Stand fast".
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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