BIOGRAPHY
GEORGE HENRY LANG - A TRIBUTE
Having known Mr. G. H. Lang for nearly 60 years I am glad
to be given the opportunity of paying a tribute to his memory; in doing so I
desire only to 'magnify the grace of God' in him.
First, I would say,
that over the years I have been growingly conscious of his deep spirituality;
he was one of those rare souls who really lived in heaven; he found himself
truly to be 'a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth'. His 'city home' was in
heaven from which he saw himself to be sent to this world as an ambassador for
Christ. He was completely devoid of any earthly nationalism - it mattered
little to him where he was down here, except that he should be in the place of
Christ's choosing for the moment; so from time to time he was found in many
countries on the service of his Lord, now enduring the scorching heat of
Arabian deserts, now the freezing cold of Russian steppes; he was equally
content to be posted by his Sovereign in some primitive village of 'the pensive
East', or in some great city of the West with all its modern amenities. Thus he
roamed the world, Christ's 'ambassador at large', beseeching sinners to be
reconciled to God.
He was essentially a man of faith, never looking to
man for the means of his subsistence, but only to his heavenly Father, and
faith grew with its exercise. In this school, like his great predecessor, he
learned in whatsoever state he was therewith to be content; he learned the
secret of how to run low and how to run over. And he was such a man of faith
because he was such a man of prayer; his prayers were always unusual and as
inspiring as they were unique; he spoke with an intimacy to his heavenly Father
as one who knew God, but whose intimacy was the very soul of reverence.
I think I may truthfully say that he was the most apostolic man I have ever met
perhaps for that very reason he was a very controversialist figure; a
correspondent suggested to me that he was the most controversial figure in
brethren circles since J.N. Darby; yet it would be true to say that he himself
was not a controversialist. A very close student of the Word, and an
independent thinker, he was not prepared to take traditional interpretations
unless he was personally convinced that they were right. Though completely
convinced of the eternal security of the believer, many of his views on
prophecy led him into avenues of thought and teaching where a great number of
us felt unable to follow. Unfortunately this closed doors to his otherwise
extremely valuable ministry. Perhaps one of the greatest teachers of his time,
multitudes could testify to the great help they have received from him, either
from his public utterances or from his numerous writings. It was only to be in
his presence to realize that one was in the presence of a true saint of God
whose holy life gave weight and authority to all he taught.
From our
midst has gone 'a prince and a great man'; he has been an ensample to the
flock. If we cannot follow all he taught, we may well follow his faith, and
like him, come to the Scriptures with an open mind and teachable heart, ever
keeping before us that day, quickly coming, when differences of judgment will
have disappeared for ever and when 'we shall know even as we are
known'.
Douglas W. Brealey
The Witness, December 1958
Born
November 20, 1874 in London, England and died at Wimborne, Dorset, England
October 20, 1958. Born again at 7.5, his writings include 14 major books and
innumerable booklets. He once said, "No man should write a book until he is 40.
He needs to orove his theories in oractice before publishing" All but 9 of his
many books were published after he was 50.