When children are born into a Christian home and raised being taught about Jesus it is hard for them to point to an exact date when they asked Christ to save them. Such was the home that John Wilbur Chapman was born into on June 17, 1859. Raised going to a Quaker church on Sunday mornings and a Methodist church on Sunday evenings, he seemed to have always believed in Christ. Even after his mother, Lorinda Chapman, died when he was 13, he never waivered in his belief that Christ was the only one who could save him.
In 1876, he joined the Presbyterian church and left for Oberlin College. He then went to Lake Forest University where he attended a Moody crusade while enrolled there. He went forward to get some answers and was edified by D L Moody, himself. He graduated in 1879. He completed his ministerial studies at Lane Seminary in 1882 in Cincinnati, Ohio. And was married just 6 days later.
He, and his wife, Irene Steddon, accepted the pastorship of two churches. One in Liberty, Indiana and the other at College Corner, Ohio. They would alternate Sundays between the two congregations for about a year.
In 1883, he became the pastor of a Dutch Reformed church in Schuylerville, New York. Then, on to Albany, New York to lead at the First Reformed Church. It was while pastoring this congregation that his daughter, Bertha Irene, was born, and his wife died. This was such a confusing time for John. He was discouraged by the loss of his beloved.
In 1886, his life was changed as he listened to Bro. Meyer speak, "If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?" John realized that he was willing to give up precious things for his Savior.
He remarried in 1888 to Agnes Strain, and together they had four children. His new family moved to Philadelphia in 1890 to minister in the Bethany Presbyterian Church. The church had an auditorium that could seat 4,820 people. Some of his congregation decided to get together and start a prayer meeting every Sunday morning. This prayer meeting ended up have around 1,000 people who assembled to pray for John Chapman's preaching. As this church became nationally known, John started getting requests for him to come preach at evangelistic services. Near the end of 1892 he resigned as pastor because he had too many requests to fulfill both positions- pastor and evangelist.
He assisted in many crusades during his time as evangelist, and was also a speaker at one of D L Moody's services at the World's Fair in Chicago. He traveled all over the United States so much in just two short years that Moody called him the greatest evangelist in the country. He even served as vice-president of the Chicago Bible Institute.
But he could never get away from Bro. Meyer's question, "If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?" His new wife, Agnes, died in 1907 leaving him a widow for the second time in his life.
John began to work even more fervently in the ministry. He joined up with Charles M Alexander, and together they focused on revival services throughout Philadelphia. Over 400 churches of all different denominations joined with them in this revival.
Next, they went to Boston with around 30 other evangelists and musicians. Here, 166 churches joined together for a city wide three week revival. In these weeks around 990 services were held by John and his fellow evangelists; an estimated 7,000 conversions were recorded.
After their national ministry, they went on a Paul-Silas type international missionary journey. They spent 8 months going to parts of Canada and Australia which Charles Alexander and his earlier partner, R A Torrey, had preached to in 1901 and 1902. Together, John and Charles visited cities throughout the Philippines, China, Korea, and Japan.
Again, Bro. Meyer's words would become a reality in his life, "If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are willing to be made willing?" A few years later he saw his ministry slow down to a crawl. By 1912, he wasn't having much luck with his large revival meetings.
Instead of letting this discourage him, John focused on taking small evangelistic meetings where ever they were offered. Just because he wasn't preaching to enormous crowds didn't mean that God was through with him. He was willing to preach to any amount of sinners who needed to hear the message of the Savior. He preached in Canada and then left for a meeting in England.
At one of these small meetings in England, John met an American missionary known as "Praying Hyde" who began to pray for John's meetings. John said that after Hyde got done praying he now knew what real prayer was. These prayers made a monumental difference in the revival meetings from then on.
John was back at it in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and even islands such as Fiji. He saw thousands saved, and even more who desired to give their life's to the work of Christ. His efforts even prompted Bible Institutes to be established where more men and women could be trained for the ministry.
John Chapman was willing to be made willing to give up everything for Christ. He accomplished all this through good times and sorrowful times, through sickness and surgical operations. A myriad of sermons, songs, and souls won to Christ were the fruits of his labor. He laid down his cross on Christmas 1918 in New York City and went home to see his Savior and take up his crown.
One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He.
Living, He loved me; dying, he saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away,
Rising He justified freely forever;
One day He's coming, Oh, glorious day!
-J W Chapman
