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Biography of William Carey, the Bible translator of India

English Baptist missionary to India. Born in England in 1761. Pastor before going to the mission field, he spent an active forty-one years serving the Lord in India, including translating the Scriptures.

William Carey
carey.jpg
1761-1834

"Shoemaker by trade, but scholar, linguist and missionary by God's training," William Carey was one of God's giants in the history of evangelism! One of his biographers, F. Dealville Walker, wrote of Carey: "He, with a few contemporaries, was almost singlehanded in conquering the prevailing indifference and hostility to missionary effort; Carey developed a plan for missions, and printed his amazing Enquiry; he influenced timid and hesitating men to take steps to the evangelizing of the world." Another wrote of him, "Taking his life as a whole, it is not too much to say that he was the greatest and most versatile Christian missionary sent out in modern times."

Carey was born in a small thatched cottage in Paulerspury, a typical Northamptonshire village in England, August 17, 1761, of a weaver's family. When about eighteen he left the Church of England to "follow Christ" and to "...go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." At first he joined the Congregational church at Hackleton where he was an apprentice shoemaker. It was there he married in 1781. And it was in Hackleton he began making five-mile walks to Olney in his quest for more spiritual truth. Olney was a stronghold of the Particular Baptists, the group that Carey cast his lot with after his baptism, October 5, 1783. Two years later he moved to Moulton to become a schoolmaster -- and a year later he became pastor of the small Baptist congregation there.

It was in Moulton that Carey heard the missionary call. In his own words he cried, "My attention to missions was first awakened after I was at Moulton, by reading the Last Voyage of Captain Cook." To many, Cook's Journal was a thrilling story of adventure, but to Carey it was a revelation of human need! He then began to read every book that had any bearing on the subject. (This, along with his language study -- for at twenty-one years of age Carey had mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Italian, and was turning to Dutch and French. One well called his shoemaker's cottage "Carey's College," for as he cobbled shoes along with his preaching he never sat at his bench without some kind of a book before him.)

The more he read and studied, the more convinced he was "the peoples of the world need Christ." He read, he made notes, he made a great leather globe of the world and, one day, in the quietness of his cobbler's shop -- not in some enthusiastic missionary conference -- Carey heard the call: "If it be the duty of all men to believe the Gospel ... then it be the duty of those who are entrusted with the Gospel to endeavor to make it known among all nations." And Carey sobbed out, "Here am I; send me!"

To surrender was one thing -- to get to the field was quite another problem. There were no missionary societies and there was no real missionary interest. When Carey propounded this subject for discussion at a ministers' meeting, "Whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent," Dr. Ryland shouted, "Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." Andrew Fuller added his feelings as resembling the unbelieving captain of Israel, who said, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be!"

But Carey persisted. he later said of his ministry, "I can plod!" And he was a man who "always resolutely determined never to give up on any point or particle of anything on which his mind was set until he had arrived at a clear knowledge of his subject."

Thus Carey wrote his famed Enquiry Into the Obligations of the Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. In this masterpiece on missions Carey answered arguments, surveyed the history of missions from apostolic times, surveyed the entire known world as to countries, size, population and religions, and dealt with the practical application of how to reach the world for Christ!

And he prayed. And he pled. And he plodded. And he persisted. And he preached -- especially his epoch-producing message, "EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD. ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD." The result of that message preached at Nottingham, May 30, 1792 -- and all the other missionary ministries of Carey -- produced the particular Baptist Missionary Society, formed that Fall at Kettering on October 2, 1792. A subscription was started and, ironically, Carey could not contribute any money toward it except the pledge of the profit from his book, The Enquiry.

It was in 1793 that Carey went to India. At first his wife was reluctant to go -- so Carey set off to go nevertheless, but after two returns from the docks to persuade her again, Dorothy and his children accompanied him. They arrived with a Dr. Thomas at the mouth of the Hooghly in India in November, 1793. There were years of discouragement (no Indian convert for seven years), debt, disease, deterioration of his wife's mind, death, but by the grace of God -- and by the power of the Word -- Carey continued and conquered for Christ!

When he died at 73 (1834), he had seen the Scriptures translated and printed into forty languages, he had been a college professor, and had founded a college at Serampore. He had seen India open its doors to missionaries, he had seen the edict passed prohibiting sati (burning widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands), and he had seen converts for Christ.

On his deathbed Carey called out to a missionary friend, "Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey -- speak about Dr. Carey's God." That charge was symbolic of Carey, considered by many to be a "unique figure, towering above both contemporaries and successors" in the ministry of missions.

A WORD OF PRAYER!
 
Loving Father, I thank You for the wonderful Word given to me so that I can inherit the eternal life. Open my eyes to see the truth in Your Word and give me a heart to obey Your Word. Give me a heart to take Your Word in every language of this world! Give me a similar vision that William Carey had when he landed in India! In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Words of Prophecy for you!

"A LITTLE CLOUD"

Will you please meditate on I Kings 18:41-48? The Lord has a message for you. In the days of Elijah, the prophet and Ahab, the King of Israel, there was a drought in the land of Israel. Similarly, you may be facing a spiritual drought in your life or ministry.  “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain”, Elijah tells Ahab.  Ahab, accordingly, went up to eat and drink.  Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Elijah said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea”.

 

Then it came to pass the SEVENTH TIME that the servant said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea”.  So Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, “Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you”.

 

Now it happened, in the mean time that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.

 

Dear child of God, you would have sought the intercessory prayers of some minister of God for a miracle in your life.  Since you have experienced no miracle, you have now become disheartened.  Six times you have seen “nothing”.  Now the SEVENTH TIME has arrived in your life, and you are hearing a small voice “Go again”. As you read this message, you can see “a small cloud, as small as a man’s hand”.  You can now see a little evidence of the ensuing great blessing upon your life.  With this small cloud, you should now trust God and be happy.  There will be a sudden outpouring of His blessing in your life. Dear minister of God, there will be a great outpouring of His anointing on your ministry in a manner never imagined by you. The God of Elijah is alive today to perform the same miracle for you. Amen.

 

JESUS REBUKING THE GREAT TEMPEST IN YOUR LIFE TODAY

"Behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He (Jesus) was asleep" (Mat.8:24). Here, Matthew tells us about a great tempest that struck the ship in which Jesus and His beloved disciples traveled. That was the very ship Jesus commanded His disciples to get into. The disciples obeyed Him and entered this ship. Then that ship was hit by a great tempest. Dearly beloved in Christ, you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and have decided to follow Him in His ship. Many preachers preach today that after accepting Christ Jesus, you should have only bliss and not sorrow; you would receive only miracles and not disasters.

Behold, a great tempest has arisen in your life today. Somebody has told you that your sins have invited the wrath of God and that the divine judgment has now come to devour you. Do you know that your Beloved Jesus, though He appears sleeping, is still in your ship?

There arose a great tempest! The ship was covered with the waves. There was no way out for the disciples to escape. They could not swim to safety because the ship was covered with the violent waves. They had no other option but to call on the Lord. They awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us: we perish". Even if they had not called on the Lord, they would not have perished at all because Jesus was with them. Annoyed with their cry or SOS, Jesus rebuked them saying, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" (Matt.8:26).

Today, you may be fearful and may be wondering why this misfortune has befallen you, though you have been following the Lord faithfully. Oh, this great tempest has hit you not just because you have not given your tithes to God or not just because you have not spent enough time in prayers or not just because you have not been actively engaged in His vineyard.

This great tempest has hit you because He loves you very much. You may wonder as to why He should send you this great tempest if He loves you. This great tempest has come into your life because He loves you ETERNALLY. The eternal love of Christ Jesus does allow the great tempest in our lives. You will never know Him very intimately when everything goes on well with you. You will never know more of Him when you get only the bliss. You will know more of Him only when the great tempest hits you or when you pass through the furnace of afflictions.

The "eternal" love or the divine love is different from the human love. It cannot be defined in any dictionary. The human love bestows on you happiness in life whereas the eternal love of God bestows on you salvation or eternal life. The eternal love unfolds the incomprehensible love of Christ for His elect – the sheltering love which covers the multitude of sins; the sublime love which blinds the holy eye of the Bridegroom to the wretchedness and unworthiness of His beloved; the flaming love which cannot be quenched by "many waters"; the lofty love which cannot be drowned by "the floods", the precious love which cannot be valued in mere monetary terms. Only the floods or the fire reveals the eternal love of Christ.

It is the great tempest, and not ordinary tempest that reveals the full Person of Christ to us. The Holy Spirit inspired and enabled me to write my book "The Voice of My Beloved" over a long period of 15 years. I spent most of this period in the furnace of afflictions only. The Holy Spirit taught me about the love of Christ through every verse from the book of Song of Songs as I wrote my book. I faced tempest after tempest and the great tempest in my life while writing this book.

The same Jesus is in your ship today. He did slumber for a while when His disciples were traveling in the ship because He was in flesh. To your eyes, He may appear sleeping. But He never slumbers today. The Holy Spirit in you is powerful and mighty. He reveals Christ to you through this school of suffering. You will never perish at all. The great tempest in the Christian life brings him very close to Christ.

As the disciples called on Jesus, He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm (Mat.8:26). The disciples of Jesus were not forsaken but were saved by their Master on hearing their SOS. Today your SOS has reached His ears. He has heard your prayers. Dear sister in Christ, this message comes to you only. Do not think it is meant for some other person. It is you whom the Lord calls "blessed" because you have been in your ship being hit by the great tempest. Dear minister of God, your ministry has been hit by this great tempest so that your faith in human help has been nullified. Call on Him now, saying, "Save us: we perish". God does allow the great tempest in our lives so that we may learn to trust Him all the more and not to continue to trust in human help.