Appendix
ON June 12th, 1902, Mr. R. C. Chapman fell asleep, and in the Report of the Orphan work for that year Mr. Wright wrote:—
"These gifts, in money and kind, can thus be recorded, their 'marked value' estimated and expressed in figures; and this fact by no means lessens their value in the sight of Him who still sitteth 'over against the treasury.' All these gifts represent 'cheerful givers,' such as God loveth, for all give without being pressed or appealed to, so that 'the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the' Orphans, 'but is abundant by many thanksgivings unto God.' But there is another agency in operation for the benefiting of this Institution, to which I am led now to refer, viz., the power of Intercessory Prayer. This agency is invisible in its working and beyond all human calculation in its results, but we have the divine estimate of its importance in James 5:16: 'The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' It is a simple, undeniable fact, that the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad owes its existence and largely its history, instrumentally, to 'the effectual fervent prayer' of one man, whom God raised up to accomplish it. But his faith proved contagious, and the phalanx of praying souls that the Holy Spirit has banded together to sustain and forward it by their believing supplication and intercession, have become, like David's supporters of old, 'a great host like the host of God.' But as in that 'host' there were some pre-eminently 'mighty,' so also with the modern parallel, there have been amongst the secret pleaders with our 'Father who seeth in secret' the mighty, the mightier, and the mightiest. One who, I believe, I may safely class with the last named has just passed away from earth, and it is his decease tha leads me to make these remarks. Robert Cleaver Chapman, late of Barnstaple, Devon, was one of George Müller's oldest and most intimate friends. More than once, in critical periods of this work, Mr. Müller sought and obtained his valuable counsel. This confidence Mr. Chapman responded to by always showing the liveliest interest in the progress of the Institution. Throughout the 68 years of its existence ho has been its helper by continuous intercession. It was the knowledge that he was such a mighty spiritual helper that led me, in the spring of 1901, to visit Barnstaple for the express purpose of gaining the expression of his judgment upon our contemplated alteration of the conditions of the admission of Orphans; and I need hardly say that it was no small confirmation that we were really led of God in the matter, to learn, as I did, from his own lips, that he most heartily and unreservedly approved of our modifying the conditions by receiving Orphans bereft of only one parent. Well beloved, single eyed 'servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,' thou hast 'fought the good fight, thou hast kept the faith, thou hast finished thy course,' may grace be given to us to follow thee as thou didst follow thy Lord!"
I add here that in April, 1898, when Mr. Wright invited me to join him in the Directorate of the work, before giving him my final reply, I went to Barnstaple, and with my wife laid the proposal before Mr. Chapman. After hearing all we had to say, Mr. Chapman said, "When I consider the twenty-four years of unbroken fellowship between you and beloved brother Wright, your own exercise of mind about it, and brother Wright's exercise of mind, I can only say, Go forward, for the Lord is surely with you." On page 250 Mr. Müller records how in 1845, Mr. Chapman's judgment was that he should build an Orphan House, so from 1845 to 1898 his counsel was sought and obtained in connection with this work.
G. F. B.
-----
MONERGISM BOOKS
Autobiography of George Müller, Copyright © 2021
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Monergism Books.
ePub, .mobi & .pdf Editions May 2021 Requests for information should be addressed to: Monergism Books, PO Box 491, West Linn, OR 97068