He built five large orphanages and cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime. When it began in 1834, there was accommodation for 3600 orphans across England and twice as many children under the age of eight were in prison. Muller’s ministry should inspire others so that, according to biographer ATPierson, “Fifty years after Muller began his work, have at least a hundred thousand orphans been cared for in England alone?(George Muller of Bristol, 274).
He prayed for millions of dollars (in current currency) for orphans and never asked anyone directly for money. He never received a salary in the last sixty-eight years of his ministry, but he trusted that God would put people in their hearts to send him what he needed. He never borrowed or went into debt. And neither he nor the orphans were hungry.
- He did all of this by preaching three times a week from 1830 to 1898.
- At least 10.
- 000 times.
- And when he turned seventy.
- He fulfilled his dream of long missionary work for the next seventeen years.
- Up to 87 years.
- To 42 countries.
- Preaching on average once a day and reaching some three million people.
From the end of his travels in 1892 (when he was 87) until his death in March 1898, he preached in his church and worked for the Institute of Scripture Knowledge. He led a prayer meeting at his church on Wednesday, March 9, 1898 at night. The next day, they brought him a cup of tea at seven in the morning, but there was no answer when he knocked on the door, he was found dead on the floor by his bedside.
The funeral was held the following Monday in Bristol, where he served for 66 years. “Tens of thousands of people have bowed down the path of simple procession; men have abandoned their workshops and offices, women have abandoned their elegant homes or modest kitchens, all seeking to pay a final mark of respect. A thousand children gathered for a service in the home of orphans No. 3. Now they had “lost a father” a second time (George Muller of Bristol, 285-86).
He had married Mary Groves twice when she was twenty-five and Susannah Sangar when she was 66. Mary gave him four children. Two were stillborn. A son, Elijah, died when he was one year old. He was married to his daughter, Lydia, who succeeded him as the institution’s director. But Lydia died in 1890 at the age of 57. Five years later, he lost his second wife, just three years before his death, so he survived his family and met only his Savior, his church, and two thousand children.
When Muller was diagnosed with Mary’s rheumatic fever, he said, “Is my heart about to break because of the depth of my condition?”(An account of the Lord’s relationship with George Muller, 2:398). God answered ten thousand prayers for the support of the orphans did not receive what He asked for this time. Or did you get it?
Twenty minutes after four o’clock, on the lord’s day, February 6, 1870, Mary passed away. “I fell to my knees and thanked God for his deliverance and for taking him with you, and I asked the Lord to help me. Do you support us and support us? (History, 2:400) He later recalled how he strengthened during these hours with Psalm 84. 11: “For the Lord God is sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No property escapes those who stand?And here we can see the key to your life:
I am in me a poor sinner worthless, but I was saved by the blood of Christ; And I do not live in sin; I walk straight before God, so if it is really good for me, my dear wife will be resurrected, even if she is sick as she is, God will restore him again. But if it is not restored, it would not be good for me, and then my heart is at rest. I am happy with God, and all this derives, as I said, from accepting the word of God, from believing in what he says?(The Story, 2:745)
Here are all the unwavering convictions and experiences that are the key to Mr Muller’s extraordinary life.
All this comes from taking God in his word. See George Moller’s innermost being and the key to his life?The word of God, revealing your sin, revealing your Savior, revealing God’s sovereignty, revealing God’s goodness, revealing God’s goodness. promise, awaken your faith, satiate your soul. ” I am satisfied with God. “
So your prayers for Mary have been answered? To understand how Muller himself would answer this question, we must see how he distinguishes the extraordinary gift of faith and common grace from faith. He constantly insisted, when people placed him on a pedestal, that he did not have the gift of faith simply because he prayed for his own needs and the needs of orphans, and money came in remarkable ways.
The reason he is so adamant about it is that his entire life, especially in the way he supported orphans through faith and prayer without asking anyone but God, was consciously designed to encourage the Christians to say that God is truly trustworthy to fulfill his We will never understand Mr. Muller’s passion for orphan ministry if we do not see that the good of the orphans has come second.
“The three main reasons for establishing a House of Orphans are: 1) May God be glorified, if he is happy to give me the means, for it is not something they will trust; and so that the faith of their children may be strengthened. 2) The spiritual well-being of children without a father and mother 3) Your temporal well-being ?. (History, 1:103)
It was the main passion and unifying goal of Muller’s ministry: to live a life and lead a ministry to show that God is real, that God is trustworthy, and that God responds to prayer. He built orphanages as he did to help. Christians trust God and he repeats it over and over again.
Now we see why he was so categorical that his faith was not the gift of faith mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. 9 that only some people have, but the grace of faith that all Christians should have. If Christians simply say, “Muller is in an exclusive class; does he have the gift of faith ?, then we are all out of that connection and he can no longer be a stimulus, an ordeal and an inspiration in relation to how we should live, this is what it says:
The difference between the gift and the grace of faith seems to me to be this: according to the gift of faith, I can do something, or believe that something will happen, not do it, or not believe that it will not be a sin; already according to the grace of faith, I can do something, or believe that something will happen, considering that I have the word of God as the foundation upon which I must rest, and therefore not do it, or not believe. would be a sin.
For example, the gift of faith would be necessary to believe that a sick person should be restored again, although there is no human probability: because there is no promise to do so; the grace of faith is necessary to believe that the Lord will give me what is necessary for life, if I first seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness, for there is a promise about it (Matthew 6:33) (History, 1:65)
He did not think he had a biblical basis to make sure God would forgive his wife Mary. Do you admit that sometimes in your life you had received something like the gift (not grace) of faith so that you could ask and seek an answer unconditionally?, But he did not have this rare gift in the case of Mary (A Story) . 1:65). And then he prayed for his conditional recovery, that is, whether it was good for them and for the glory of God.
But more deeply, he prayed that they would be satisfied in God, no matter what God did. And God answered this prayer, helping Muller believe in Psalm 84. 11: “no good escapes. “God had nothing good for him and he was satisfied with God’s sovereign will. All this, he says, was born . . . accept the word of God, believing what he says?(History, 2:745).
The purpose of George’s life was to glorify God by helping people accept the word of God. To this end, he saturated his soul with the word of God. At one point, he said he had read the Bible five to ten times more than any other book; his goal was to see God in Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead so that he could maintain the happiness of his soul in God; for this deep satisfaction in God, he was freed from the fears and lusts of the world.
And in this freedom of love, he chose a strategy of ministry and lifestyle that highlighted the reality, reliability, and beauty of God. In your own words, has your life become one?Visible proof of the Lord’s immutable faithfulness? (History, 1:105).
He was supported in this extraordinary life by his deep conviction that God is sovereign in the human heart and can take him wherever he wants in response to prayer; that God is sovereign over life and death; and that God is good in his sovereignty and does not deny good to those who walk in righteousness. He continually strengthened himself in the final phase of his wife’s illness with the words of a hymn:
“The best blessing you will give us. Nothing but good will happen to us. Sure for glory, he will guide us, O how he loves!”(History, 2:399)
I will leave the last word of exhortation to Muller, asking us to join him on the path of a joyful and radical faith:
“My dear Christian reader, will you not try this way?You won’t know for yourself . . . courage and happiness in this way of throwing all your worries, burdens, and needs to God?This path is as open to you as it is to me. . . All are invited and commanded to trust in the Lord, to trust him with all their hearts, to place their burden upon him, and to invoke him on the day of anguish. in Christ, I hope so. I want you to try the sweetness of this mood, in which, although surrounded by difficulties and needs, you can always be at peace, because you know that the living God, your heavenly Father, takes care of you?(History, 1:521).