WAYMARKS

IN

THE WILDERNESS.

THE LORD'S DEALINGS WITH GEORGE MUELLER.

THERE are probably few of our readers who are not familiar with the name, and to some extent with the life and labors of George Müller. His "Life of Trust," as it is appropriately named by Dr. Wayland, has been an example and a blessing to many of the children of God among us. The work of Dr. Wayland is chiefly composed of extracts from the annual reports published by Mr. Müller himself down to the year 18-. These reports, or, as they are styled, "narratives of facts," have been continued annually till the present time. To those who are acquainted with the narrative of the earlier years of the Orphan Houses, we will be performing an acceptable service in stating the later proofs of God's faithfulness. To those who are not acquainted with the former, it will be an acceptable service to give a brief statement of the work from the beginning, and we may, in doing so, find an opportunity of answering many enquiries regarding the views of Divine truth and the ecclesiastical position (if we may use the phrase) of a man who has been so graciously owned by the Lord.

Mr. Müller was born at Kroppenstaedt, in Prussia, in the year 1805; and has now entered upon his sixtieth year. His father held an office under the government of his native country, and appears to have been a kind and generous man of the world, whose partiality for his son George was among the injurious influences to which the youth was exposed. The brief account of his earlier years with which the first part of the "Narrative of Facts" is introduced, abundantly proves that the remarkable work of grace, the fruits of which redound to the praise of God, had no foundation in any original excellence of character and disposition. With a certain precocity of intellect, there was an early display of depravity which, in the judgment of men, would have given promise only of a career of vice and infamy to afflict society. At ten years of age he had been guilty of many acts of dishonesty; and his student life was one of profligacy, not undisturbed by remorse, but unchecked by all the good resolutions by which he sought to silence the upbraidings of conscience.

Such was his character when in conformity with the wishes of his father he entered the University of Halle as a student of Divinity, at the age of twenty. One day when he was in a tavern, he met Beta, a former schoolfellow, who in boyhood had been quiet and serious, but who in youth was endeavoring to throw off all serious impressions. They were attracted to one another-Müller by the hope that the seriousness which had characterized the boy would now aid him in his good resolutions; the other by the hope that Müller's early maturity in vice would introduce him into the so-called enjoyments of the world. They became companions in dissipation for a year, at the end of which, Beta, consciencestricken by their folly and excesses, had sought the acquaintance of a Christian tradesman at whose house there was a

weekly meeting for prayer and Bible enquiry. Mr. Müller was easily persuaded to attend this meeting; and he says with reference to his first visit to these friends: "I have not the least doubt that on that evening the Lord began a work of grace in me, though I obtained joy without any deep sorrow of heart, and with scarcely any knowledge. That evening was the turning point of my life." He had learned something of the love of God to a lost world, and of the object and results of the death of Christ; and then, he says, "apprehending in some measure the love of Jesus for my soul, I was constrained to love Him in return. What all the exhortations and precepts of my father and others could not effect; what all my own good resolutions could not bring about even to renounce a life of profligacy, I was enabled to do, constrained by the love of Christ."

Some months later he began truly to enjoy the peace of God; and it will not surprise our Christian readers to learn that one of the first impulses of this new life was to write to his father and brother, in the expectation that if the Gospel were only fairly presented to them, they would gladly embrace it. Nor will it much surprise them to learn, though it greatly surprised him, that an angry reply was returned. The displeasure of his father was complete when, a few months later, Mr. Müller announced his desire to devote himself to missionary service; and the father who had forgiven all the delinquencies of the prodigal, now informed the youthful disciple of Christ that he could no longer consider him as his son. About this time Dr. Tholuck settled at Halle as Professor of Divinity, and he, in various ways, befriended and encouraged Mr. M. When he could no longer receive pecuniary aid from his father, Dr. T. introduced him to several American gentlemen, who paid him liberally for instruction in the German language.

With his views directed to the missionary work, he did not overlook the spiritual destitution more immediately around him. At a very early stage of his discipleship, God blessed him as an instrument in the conversion of two of his fellow students. He begun to distribute tracts, to write letters to friends, and in other ways to spread the knowledge of the name of Jesus. As he himself expresses it, “he who so faithfully had served Satan, sought now to win souls for Christ." Gradually he was led out to preach the Gospel in public, and, in view of the work in which he has subsequently been so extensively engaged, it is interesting to notice the fact thus recorded: "About the time that I first began to preach, I lived for two months in free lodgings provided for poor students of Divinity, in the Orphan House built in dependence upon God, by that devoted and eminent servant of Christ, A. H. Franke, Professor of Divinity at Halle, who died 1727." In the same connection we may mention that from the commencement of his Christian life, he was distinguished by a simple and childlike disposition, and was accustomed to carry the most minute matters to the Lord in prayer.

We cannot dwell upon his experience during this period of his life, though there is much in it that might be profitable both in the way of warning and of encouragement. There is, however, one great error which he notices at some length, which we cannot pass over, especially, because it is a prevailing one amongst ourselves," the error of reading religious books in preference to the Scriptures." "Like many believers," he says, "I practically preferred for the first four years of my divine life, the works of uninspired men to the oracles of the living God. The consequence was that I remained a babe both in knowledge and grace. In knowledge, I say, for all true knowledge must be derived

by the Spirit from the word. And as I neglected the word, I was for nearly four years so ignorant that I did not clearly know even the fundamental points of our faith. And this lack of knowledge most sadly kept me back from walking steadily in the ways of God. For it is the truth that makes us free, (John viii. 31, 32,) by delivering us from the slavery of the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life. The word proves it, the experience of the Saints proves it, and also my own experience most decidedly proves it."

His desire to devote himself to missionary life led him to seek an appointment from the Continental Society in England, as an assistant to an aged minister at Bucharest. After the appointment was received, the war between the Turks and Russians, in 1827, led the Society to abandon their intention to send a missionary to Bucharest, as it was the seat of war. Dr. Tholuck then proposed that Mr. Müller should go as a missionary to the Jews; and upon application to the Society, the committee determined to take him as a missionary student for six months on probation, provided he would come to London. In pursuance of this arrangement, after many trials and delays, he arrived in London in March, 1829.

After some months of intense application to study in the Missionary Seminary, his health failed, and he was recommended to go to the country for change of air. In accordance with this advice, he went to Teignmouth, and there, in the providence of God, he became acquainted with a godly minister through whose instrumentality, he says, "the Lord bestowed a great blessing upon me, for which I shall have cause to thank him throughout eternity." The blessing to which he refers was a great advancement in knowledge on several important points, which has exercised a decided in