Brother Whipple’s Early
Life
By Mrs. J. A. Whipple
The following article is taken from: The Burning Bush, Vol. 29, No. 44, October 30, 1930, published by the Metropolitan Church Association of Waukesha, Wisconsin.
I have only one candle of life to burn and would rather burn it out in a land of darkness than in a land flooded with light. – A Missionary
JOHN SAMUEL WHIPPLE was born in the town of Ledyard, Conn., July 19, 1884. His parents on both sides were direct descendants of good old Puritan stock, and were strictly moral people although they made no religious profession. John was not a strong child and New England winters are severe; and, as he had to walk about two miles to the country school which he attended, it was impossible for him to not miss a good many weeks in the wintertime. His father, being a schoolteacher, helped him with his studies so that he did not fall behind his class.
John was of a very quiet and retiring disposition, and a great lover of nature. His parents were the stay-at-home kind, sometimes not visiting their own brothers and sisters more than once a year. This living so entirely within the home circle, developed in John a bashfulness which took him years to overcome. When he was about twelve years old his parents moved into a neighborhood that was, in name at least, very religious. A neighbor's son, with whom John became quite intimate, was a lad of high principles and with a good deal of light on real Bible salvation. He had never experienced a change of heart himself, but he believed in it, and was very anxious about his own soul and the salvation of his friends and neighbors. In answer to his prayers he got in touch with an evangelist to whom he wrote, expressing his deep concern over the spiritual condition of his neighborhood.
The evangelist was soon to pass near their town on his way to fill another appointment, so arranged to stop off for one meeting. This meeting was attended by a large number of young people who showed deep concern for their souls. The preacher was a man of God, and he could see the conditions were such that he might, under God's blessing, look for a real revival of religion. He made his arrangements to get back as quickly as possible for a series of meetings. In the meantime he told the young man to pray and to urge his friends to attend.
About a month later the revival began. People attended for miles around and were stirred by such preaching as they had never heard. Salvation from all sin, confession, restitution, and the second coming of Christ were subjects they had heard very little about, but they would listen and then go away to walk in the light of what they had heard. They began taking back stolen or borrowed .articles, confessing the lies they had told, paying old debts, and settling old grudges. In a short time the praises of God could be heard almost from one end of the little town to the other, because people had met God's conditions and He has saved them.
But John was not among this happy number. He had worldly ambitions which he was not willing to give up. In his mind's eye he could see a nice little farm – paid for and all his own. His parents had always been poor and had lived on a rented place, and his ambition was to get ahead in the world and have something of his own. So for more than a year he hesitated about giving himself to God. One evening about that time he attended a prayer meeting at his brother's house. The little sitting-room was full, and the chairs were all taken when he came in; so, hunting up a box he sat down almost in the doorway. I shall never forget that meeting. During the course of the evening something was said that got hold of him. He jumped up from the box and, clapping his hands together, said: "I see it, I see it." He did see it and all during the years that followed he never lost that vision. He went out from that meeting a new creature, his ambition was changed and he loved to pray. Oftentimes when things got to pressing hard, he could be heard off in the woods or in the pasture, "praying it through."
He learned in the early part of his experience, the secret of taking things to God and tarrying until relief came. After about a year had passed, during which time the preacher had become acquainted with the Burning Bush, and had received an invitation to go to Chicago and hold some special meetings in the old Huron St. Church, the young converts were left without a shepherd; and the result was that a number of them drifted back into the old life. John was among this number. God had talked definitely to him about leaving home and his family whom he loved very dearly, and entering the Bible School for training in His work. This was such a tremendous step for a boy who had hardly passed a night away from home in all his life, that he felt he could not do it.
He lost the peace and joy of salvation by disobedience, and soon plunged deeper into sin and worldly ambition than he had done before. But God did not leave him alone. First one thing and then another happened to impress upon him the uncertainty of life and the reality of eternity. A horse which he prized very highly dropped dead at his feet, as he led it out to drink; and an acquaintance, whom he respected much for his worldly accomplishments, was suddenly called into eternity. These things made a deep impression on John's mind, and when a chain of circumstances brought to bear upon him the necessity of an instant choice to obey God, he decided that no matter what the cost he would pay the price.
In a short time, very much against his parents wishes, he was on his way to enter the Bible School. But the enemy was right on his track, and more than once whispered in his ear that he better turn back while he still had sufficient money to pay his fare home. Another thing he told him was, that he knew his mother was far from strong and that his leaving home would be the cause of her death. He entered the Bible School in January 1905, at the age of twenty-one. In July 1910 he was married to Miss Jessie Crouch who was converted in the same revival in which he was converted. She had previously entered the Bible School. In October, 1912 they sailed for India reaching there at Christmastime. Serving God meant an absolute surrender of every selfish ambition and plan for his own life, but when that surrender was made there never was a more unselfish man than he, one who literally gave his life to minister to the needs of others.
Return to QUAKERTOWN Online