IN PREPARATION for special services to be held in September (1901) by a visiting minister, Miss Wing and the members of the congregation “distributed some thousands of notices.”
“The meetings were full of blessing,” reported Miss Wing. “The interest gradually increased until, toward the close of the series, many were seeking the truth. At the last meeting . . . as the people passed out, strangers on all sides were heard expressing regret that they had failed to attend earlier. We believe an opening wedge has entered and that it is only the beginning of greater work for God through the three cities.”
Unquestionably that is what God intended to do. Alas, however, Miss Wing would not be permitted to see this “greater work” for which she had prayed so earnestly, had labored so faithfully, and which now seemed at hand, for soon she would be called to other fields of service.
Dr. Dowie carefully watched the regular reports which came to his office from his ministers. When he found promising workers, he usually brought them to headquarters, with a view to using their talents there or in some other place which he deemed more strategic or needful. Consequently it is not surprising that in the fall of 1901, he advised Miss Wing to give up her work in Davenport and to come to Chicago.
To even a casual observer it would not have seemed to be propitious for Miss Wing to leave the work there at that time. The assembly had been steadily growing under her ministry, and now there seemed to be a bountiful harvest at hand as a result of her prayerful sowing and watering of the precious seed of the Word of God. Later Miss Wing was certain that it would have been the will of the Lord for her to have continued in Davenport and not to have run away from the success He was so evidently giving. After all, she it was to whom God had given the light and faith of the work. She it was to whom the Chief Shepherd had given a shepherd heart for the sheep of that particular pasture.
At the time, however, she knew no other course than to follow Dr. Dowie’s directive. Certainly a man of God such as he, an experienced and great minister, would know the mind of the Lord better than she, a young Christian and only a beginning minister. Therefore, no matter how she may have felt in her own soul, humbly and unhesitatingly she obeyed him who had the rule over her, believing that his will must be the will of God and thus the spiritual thing for her to do.
The fact was that Dr. Dowie needed capable men and women to assist him in the gigantic project of building Zion City. Therefore, he called to headquarters many of his ministers whom he thought would be likely helpers. His plan was to build, first of all, a strong nucleus or home base and then from there to send out missionaries and evangelists to all the world. In the meanwhile most of these Christian workers would have to serve the Lord in a secular capacity with very limited opportunities for spiritual service. (But after all, was not all service of whatever kind for just one purpose?) This arrangement was intended to be only temporary. Alas, for many it became permanent and proved to be a dead-end street from which there was no exit. Thus many were sidetracked from the real call and purpose of God for their lives.
Such were the treacherous waters with its hidden shoals into which Miss Wing’s bark was being steered at this time. In November of 1901, Martha Wing left Davenport for Chicago.
That month, it may be noted in passing, Miss Wing celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday. This she eventually came to regard as an important milestone in her pilgrim journey, the close of a special period in her spiritual experience. Referring to this period she remarked many years later: “From the age of twenty-three to twenty-seven I was like a trunk in which the Lord packed away the truths of His Word.” During these four years the Lord had instructed His child, and she had been an apt pupil.
Thorough habits of study learned in earlier years she had applied in the study of the Scriptures which her notebooks, kept at this time, are eloquent evidence of, for she roasted that which she took in hunting. Here, for example, are her own lists of subjects studied in the Gospels:
Parables, Similes, Comparisons, etc.
Incidents of Healing
Incidents in Life of Jesus with exception of Healings
Jesus’ Teaching of Prayer
Jesus’ Teaching of Faith and Seeking
Divine Healingⁿ
Note: Some of these studies she considered so valuable to her, especially the “Incidents of Healing” and her study on “Divine Healing,” that she copied them in a Bible she acquired years later.
In connection with her intensive study of the Old Testament it appears that it was at this time that she first read the Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, making numerous observations on the book and carefully comparing it with the Bible, noting any differences, additions, etc.ⁿ
Note: Years later she was to return again to this volume, study it most carefully, making numerous comments and notations in the margins. This examination and study she extended to Josephus’ Wars of the Jews and, to judge by her markings, she prepared an abridged version of this remarkable book which deals with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and so contains the record of the fulfillment of a number of Christ’s prophecies. Of interest is the word she wrote on the title page of her copy: “The Bible has truth. Josephus —loquacity.”
All this assiduous, personal Bible study Miss Wing carried on in addition to her heavy business and ministerial schedule!
A knowledge of these facts gives special point to the testimony which Miss Wing gave in Chicago about two weeks after she had gone there: “I had two and a half years of invalidism. I have had two and a half years of active service . . . I know it is away beyond my natural strength the way I have been able to work, living almost the entire year on four and five hours’ sleep at night, and carrying on the work of two women, not having lost an hour’s work through sickness and not having missed a meeting. I think it is quite a record for a person who had been almost an invalid from birth.”
Quite a record, it might be added, for even a person of normal health!
Be the first to react on this!
Martha Wing Robinson (1874 - 1936)
Martha held meetings which touched people to return to the work of the service of God. The Robinsons opened a "Faith Home" where people would come for teaching and prayer. Like George Muller they depended on God to provide what was needed for expenses. Thousands came through her home and healings were a regular occurrence. Her husband died in April of 1916, but Martha continued in her ministry. She had a very sharp gift of discernment and regularly told people the secrets of their hearts. She often had directive prophetic words for those under her care. Many young people came to the home for training and went into the mission fields and evangelistic endeavours.Martha Wing Robinson died June 26, 1936. Shortly before she died she stated her life's message "Nothing matters but Christ Jesus." Her whole life was spent in the service of God and for the Glory of His Son Jesus. She had seen many healed, saved, delivered, empowered and sent out. She was truly a mother in Israel. In 1962 Gordon P. Gardiner wrote a book about her life called "Radiant Glory" because that is how she lived her life.