David Brainerd (1718-1747) was a missionary to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania. Born in Connecticut in 1718, he died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-nine. David Brainerd: Afame for God by Eugene Myers Harrison A frail young man, with sad, lustrous eyes and face so blanched that he seems to be the palest of the palefaces, is engaged on a serious and dangerous mission. Having heard of a tribe of particularly ferocious Indians living in the dense forests of the region known as the Forks of the Delaware, he is on his way to tell them of a loving Saviour. Coming at sunset in sight of the smoke of their campfires, he decides to spend the night in the woods and to proceed in the morning. Little does he realize that several red men, with wolfish eyes and as silent as serpents, have followed him for hours. As he builds a fire, the Indians steal away to their encampment to tell the startling news that a white man is in the woods nearby. Let us go at once, says the chief, and kill this paleface, whose people have taught us to drink firewater and then, while we are drunk, have taken our baskets and skins and even our lands for almost nothing. As the warriors silently draw near, they see the white man on his knees, praying most fervently that the Indians might come to realize that the great God of the universe loved them and sent His Son to save them. While he prays, a rattlesnake squirms up to him, lifts its hideous head, flicks its forked tongue close to his face, and then, for no apparent reason, glides away into the darkness. And so does the chief, followed by his men. When the young missionary enters the Indian village early the next morning, he receives a much more cordial welcome than he had anticipated, for not until later does he learn of the strange events of the preceding night. When the people gather around him in an open place among the wigwams, he opens his Bible, reads from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and tenderly tells the sweet story of how God sent His Son to die on the cross that He might take away the sin from peoples hearts and make them good children of the Heavenly Father. At the close of his message there are tears in the eyes of many of his auditors. The paleface is a praying man! remarks one of the warriors who had gone forth the preceding night intending to kill him.And the Great Spirit is with him! says another, remembering how the rattlesnake had mysteriously failed to strike.And he brings a wondrous sweet message! says the squaw of the Indian chief. A Man in a Million - This young paleface was David Brainerd. He was born at Haddam, Connecticut, April 20, 1718, and died on October 9, 1747, at the early age of 29. He is remembered not only as the great Apostle to the North American Indians, but also as a chief source of inspiration in the lives of thousands who have been challenged from ease and selfishness to lives of holiness and sacrifice, as they have prayed and wept over his Journal. Have a good look at him, writes F. W. Boreham; he is a man in a million; he did more than any other to usher in the worlds new day. His story, as J. M. Sherwood says, has done more to develop and mold the spirit of modern missions, and to fire the heart of the Christian Church, than that of any man since the apostolic age. In answer to the question, What can be done to revive the work of God where it has decayed? John Wesley said, Let every preacher read carefully the life of David Brainerd.One of the many who heeded Wesleys counsel was William Carey, and God used Brainerds life story to open Careys eyes to the need of all races everywhere and to fire his heart with a passion to speed the gospel to the uttermost part. It was chiefly the reading of the story of Brainerds heroic missionary labors that thrust Henry Martyn out as a bundle of fire into the darkness of India and Persia, and caused Robert McCheyne to become the Apostle to the Jews. May some earnest-hearted young people reading this account be similarly inspired to burn out for God in some needy foreign land. May many others be shaken out of living, as Brainerd says, at the rate of common Christians, and be inspired to live lives of fervent prayer, genuine piety and holy passion for souls. And may any hearts without Christ be melted into penitence and saving faith as they read of Gods marvelous love revealed in His dear Son. His Missionary Labors - Accordingly, after three years of study at Yale College, he became a missionary to the Indians, under appointment of the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. On the way to his work among the Indians at Kaunaumeek, New York, he stopped and preached at Montauk, Long Island, at that time chiefly inhabited by Indians; and what was his text? He says: I went and preached from Isaiah 53 — Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him ... [and] make his soul an offering for sin. Jesus death on the cross was part of the divine plan: It pleased the LORD to bruise him. Jesus death on the cross was the costly remedy for a terrible disease: ... an offering for sin. Jesus death on the cross would be divinely used to the salvation of multitudes: The pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand ... and justify many. Several months after reaching Kaunaumeek, the young missionary set aside a day for secret fasting and praying from morning till night. Thus far he felt that his work had been a failure. He was overwhelmed by a sense of his own unworthiness and of the obstacles confronting him, chiefly, the depravity of the Indians and the weakened condition of his own pain-racked, consumptive body. He read extensive passages from the Bible, frequently in the meantime, he states, falling on my knees and crying to God. As he read of the worthies of old and of how marvelously God had used them, he longed to be like them. That day the pattern of his amazing life was formed, as he solemnly consecrated himself to walk in the footsteps of four of the heroes of the Bible. O that I may be, as were they, aflame for God, he prayed. That night he wrote in his Diary, My soul blessed God that He had shown Himself so gracious to His servants of old. Brainerd longed to be AFLAME FOR GOD, living, like Moses, a life of self-abasement to His service and glory. When God spoke out of the burning bush in Midian, He found Moses very different from what he was forty years earlier. Then he was self-assertive, endeavoring to deliver his enslaved brethren by his own hand and by his own ill-chosen methods. Now he was self-abased, conscious of his inadequacy and unworthiness. Who am I, he said, to undertake so great a task? God could and did use mightily one thus yielded and eager, not for self-glory but for the glory of God. No man ever yearned more ardently to be like Moses, or succeeded to a greater degree, than did David Brainerd. I spent the evening, he says, praying incessantly that I might not be self-dependent but have my whole dependence upon God. In a letter to his brother, January 2, 1744, he wrote: We should always look upon ourselves as Gods servants, placed in Gods world to do His work; and accordingly labor faithfully for Him. Let it then be your great concern, thus to devote yourself and your all to God. His Diary contains innumerable passages of similar import to the following. April 26,1742. Oh, that I could spend every moment of my life to Gods glory! August 30, 1742. My soul longs with a vehement desire to live to God. November 22, 1745. I have received my all from God. Oh that I could return my all to God. Not in self-dependence but in God-dependence, Brainerd found the source of unlimited power, the secret of a gallant spirit, the prayer. His soul was much moved as he read the story of Elijah the prophet, who, by laying hold upon God in prayer, was sustained in all his trials and was enabled to overcome the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, to call a multitude to repentance and to bring down rain upon a famished earth. Thereupon, says Brainerd: My soul breathed after God, and pleaded with Him, that a double portion of that spirit which was given to Elijah, might rest on me. He usually spent several hours a day in prayer and frequently devoted an entire day to this purpose. June 14, 1742, he writes: I set apart this day for secret fasting and prayer. Just at night the Lord visited me marvelously. I wrestled for an ingathering of souls ... I was in such an agony from sun half an hour, till near dark, that I was all over wet with sweat. Oh, my dear Saviour did sweat blood for poor souls. I went to bed with my heart wholly set on God. Brainerd discovered the reality of prayer: The Lord visited me marvelously. Brainerd experienced the agony of prayer: I wrestled for souls ... in agony. Brainerd discerned the resources of prayer treasures of divine grace were opened to me. Brainerd learned the transforming power of prayer: My heart was wholly set on God. July 21, 1744, on hearing that the Indians were planning to hold an idolatrous feast and dance the next day, he spent a day and night in prayer. He writes: This morning about nine I withdrew to the woods for prayer. I was in such anguish that when I rose from my knees I felt extremely weak and overcome, and the sweat ran down my face and body ... I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ. I continued in this frame all the evening and night. Thus empowered, he went forth to meet the Indians the next morning, convinced that God was with him in this contest just as He was with Elijah on Mount Carmel; and, wonder of wonders, instead of promptly scalping him when he called upon them to stop their dance, they actually desisted and listened to the missionary preach, both morning and afternoon. Made strong by prayer and the awareness of the divine companionship, Brainerd dragged his tortured body through the forests from village to village, preaching with such tenderness and conviction that the stony-hearted Indians were frequently melted to tears. Brainerd longed to be AFLAME FOR GOD, his life, like Abrahams, being characterized by the holy piety of one on pilgrimage to eternity. In his Diary Brainerd makes frequent reference to the ancient patriarch. He spoke of Abrahams pilgrimage and of what a stranger he was here on earth. He longed to be like Abraham and the worthies referred to in Hebrews 11:13, who confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. As a citizen of heaven, he felt that he should be insensible to the enjoyments of this world. My desires, he wrote on July 19, 1742, seem especially to be after weanedness from the world, perfect deadness to it, and that I may be crucified to all its allurements. My soul desires to feel itself more of a pilgrim and stranger here below, that nothing may divert me from pressing through the lonely desert, till I arrive at my Fathers house. Being on such a pilgrimage, he was filled with the most intense longings after holiness and sanctification. Blessed Jesus, he prayed, may I daily be more and more conformed to Thee. All I want is to be more holy, more like my dear Lord ... that I may be fit for the blessed enjoyments and employments of the heavenly world. As a pilgrim here below, Brainerd was animated by a threefold yearning: to be crucified to the allurements of this world, to be conformed daily to the holy purposes of Christ, to be made fit for the enjoyments and employments of heaven! Brainerd frequently felt himself cast down into the dust because of his sinfulness and spiritual deadness. What a vile wretch I am! he exclaims. Oh that I could give up myself to God, so as nevermore to attempt to be my own, or to have any will or affections that are not perfectly conformed to Him! But alas, alas! I find I cannot be thus entirely devoted to God. Few men have ever exposed their inmost souls as did Brainerd; and yet it should be remembered that he had no idea that any other eye than his own would ever see his private writings. If a saint is one who lives in time with a view to eternity, no saintlier man ever lived than David Brainerd. I love to live, he said, on the brink of eternity. Brainerd longed to be AFLAME FOR GOD, living, like Paul, to preach Christ and to share His sufferings unto the salvation of souls. His Diary contains this entry, July 6, 1744: I long and love to be a pilgrim; and want grace to imitate the life, labors and sufferings of Paul among the heathen. He and Paul were kindred spirits in being captivated and animated by one great design — the salvation of lost souls, and in believing that this objective could best be attained by preaching the gospel of Christ and by living a life of self-denial and sacrifice. Sweeping Through the Gates - During the conversation in the Palace Beautiful, Christian confessed that he sometimes lost his ardor on the pilgrimage. When Prudence inquired how he was enabled to revive his heart and press on his journey, Christian replied, When I think of where I am going -- that will do it! It was the same with David Brainerd.... After five years of arduous travel, manifold hardships, and almost incessant pain, the frail consumptive, spitting blood and almost delirious with fever, stumbles down the road to Northampton to die in the home of Jonathan Edwards. But he is by no means despondent. He is thinking of where he is going and his soul is exultingly happy. The pilgrim has finished his course and waits eagerly for the chariot to take him home. When someone comes into his room with a Bible, he exclaims: Oh, that dear Book! I shall soon see it opened! The mysteries that are in it will all be unfolded! As his physical powers wane, his spiritual perception heightens. I was made for eternity, he whispers. How I long to be with God and to bow in His presence. The light of another world is in his eyes as he murmurs, Oh that the Redeemer may see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Oh come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! And with this petition upon his lips he greets Death as a long-awaited friend, who will forthwith usher him into the presence of the King! Brainerds Diary and Journal reveal an ardent and oft reiterated yearning to burn out for his Lord and to be aflame for God. It is my fervent longing, he said, to be a flame of fire, continually glowing in the divine service, till my latest, my dying moment. To the very last, Brainerd was supremely concerned with the extension of the kingdom of his blessed Redeemer, the suffering Christ Isaiah 53. On his deathbed he prayed that He who was bruised for our iniquities might see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. October 9, 1747, he experienced the ineffable joy, which, in prospect, had so long cheered his lonely and heroic pilgrimage — namely, to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. The flame that burned so brightly and glowed so warmly seems to have burned out at last. But it only seems so. Death is lifes sublimest illusion. For those in Christ there is no death, there are no dead. The event called death does not extinguish, but rather intensifies, the vital flame of life and service. He is not dead. The sweet and consecrated spirit of David Brainerd is continually glowing in the divine service and, to a degree beyond all his imagining, he is still AFLAME FOR GOD.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 03:00:14 +0000
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