The Life And Testimony Of Isaac Beeman

Gospel Standard 1873:

A Brief Memoir Of Mr. Isaac Beeman, Penned From The Recollection Of One Who Had It From His Own Lips

I was born in 1764, at Seberton Green, Boughton Malherbe, near Ashford, in Kent. My father was bailiff to Dr. Briton, rector of ———, in that vicinity. About 1778 I was apprenticed to Mr. Clifford, draper and general shopkeeper, at Cranbrook, in the same county, and attended with my master’s family at a Particular Baptist chapel; but, like other youths, I walked after the vanity of my own mind.

When I was about 16 or 17 years of age, as I was going down to my master’s stable, this scripture very powerfully seized my heart: “Now, consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” The sins of my past life were set before my eyes, and, in the light of God’s countenance, the eye of his justice was opened upon and pursued me. From that moment the scrutiny was carried on for a considerable time, till I was brought almost to despair. While under this severe chastening for my sins, the customers who came to the shop used to say they could not think what was the matter with Beeman; he used to be very clever, but now he could not tell six pennyworth of halfpence; and verily my thoughts were so swallowed up with the state of my soul that if an article was asked for by a customer, before I could get it from the shelf I had quite forgotten what had been inquired for. But the deepest trouble I had to endure was at a shop in the parish of Sandhurst, of my master’s, which I had to attend twice a week. ‘I’here the guilt of my sin and the anger of God against me were so heavy that I paced the shop to and fro, thinking I was as sure to be damned as I was born; but while in this distress of soul, I felt in my heart an inclination to go once more into a little room behind the shop, and pray to God to have mercy upon me, a miserable sinner; and while thus engaged, these words dropped into my mind: “And we know that all things work together for good,” which brought hope for the first time into my heart, and, as Mr. Huntington expresses it, turned my mind from looking backward to looking forward and hope for better days.

At another time, when ruminating on the dangers I was exposed to by my sin, and swallowed up with the thoughts of the eternity of that state of misery which after death I must be in if I died unforgiven of God, these words were applied to my sinking soul: “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones; for I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.” The help, the good that I found from these words, so exactly suited to my troubled mind, was more than could be expressed.

At Another time, when sorely pressed with the Spirit of bondage, not knowing what I could do or how I could be saved, near Benenden Gate, on my road home from Sandhurst, these words were powerfully applied, with light and Comfort attending: “Look unto me, and be ye saved.” They struck me so forcibly that I literally lifted my bodily eyes to the heavens, though it was the spiritual light and comfort that did me good. Another help I obtained from this scripture: “He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” In another case, this word was a great blessing: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, elect and precious, a sure foundation; and whosoever believeth on him shall never be confounded.”

At another time, when sorely pressed again with a legal spirit, these words absolutely broke it down: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” Another text was a wonderful help to me: “It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” This text was of great use and instruction to me; it showed me the divinity of the Saviour. “No man can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” Notwithstanding these helps, the power of unbelief was so strong upon me, at times, that although I knew I was a sinner and God had provided a Saviour for sinners, and God had “so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” yet I could not believe; and so great were my fears that I should perish as an unbeliever that my bones were literally pained within me, and these words of Mr. Hart, “that repentance without faith is a sore, that, never healing, frets and rankles unto death,” was what I thought would be my lot; and, to add to the distress of my heart, and to make it as though quite complete, there was one sin I had been guilty of, for which I thought there was no forgiveness. (What that particular sin was I never heard him say, though he said he never found but one person who had committed the same.) But while I was thus fearing and trembling under the fear that this one sin must sink me for ever, this word was applied to my sinking spirit: “The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” O! This word all took in this one sin which I verily feared could not be pardoned. Now I hoped that some day I should, notwithstanding all my guilt and all my fear, find the mercy of God in Christ to heal my sin-sick soul. How I did long for an interest in the Saviour’s merits, and to know he had put away my sin by the sacrifice of himself. He was so precious to me in the sight of his worth, and in the sense of my want of him, that I longed to know my interest in him; for nothing less would satisfy my heart; and thus it was, with these strong desires in my soul, I left the shop, and went up into my bedroom, and there poured out my soul in prayer that God would show me my interest in his dear Son. I came down again, and a few minutes after, while I was in the act of striking with a hammer to break some pitch, God sent this word into my soul: “You were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.” The Saviour and my interest in him were made known to my heart; so that I cried out, in the words of good old Jacob, “It is enough; it is enough.” Then was fulfilled in me this scripture: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength;” and now, as Mrs. Row says, the very being of God was a recreation to my spirit. And this song of Mr. Newton’s was the happiness of my new-born soul:

“Lord, we return thee what we can; 

Our hearts shall sound abroad

Salvation to the dying Man, 

And to the rising God.

“And while thy bleeding glories here 

Engage our wond’ring eyes,

We learn the lighter cross to bear, 

And hasten to the skies.”

And in this enjoyment of God’s peace and rest I lived for about twelve months, dead to all earthly charms, my affections risen to the right hand of God, where Christ sitteth. I had now found the place where God rested pacified towards me, and there was the resting-place of my troubled and afflicted mind, according as it is written: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” This divine peace, rest, comfort, and happiness continued with me for about twelve months; and then, as Mr. H. says, the heavenly vision began to wear off, and the enjoyment of the divine favour and presence became less and less frequent, and a coldness and lifelessness gradually suceeeded.

About this period, the term of my apprenticeship having expired, I went up to London, seeking for a situation; and no more expecting to come back to Cranbrook than to go to the West Indies. For several weeks I continued there, using every effort in my power to procure a situation; but every step I took proved useless. My utmost endeavours totally failed, and I became much bowed down, wondering what I should do. But in the midst of my heavy cogitations on this business, in reading my Bible, this word made a considerable impression upon my mind: “I will plant them again in their own land,” &c. Not many days after, a friend from Cranbrook came to town, and seeing me still out of and, seeking for a situation, said, “Why do you not come back again and open a shop, for So-and-so is going to leave?” I fell in with the proposition; he went back, hired a place, and in a few days I returned, and commenced on my own account. Shortly after this, I purchased more premises, and after some time had elapsed I recollected the word that came to my mind: “I will plant thee again,” &c.; and I hope Providence had a hand in this affair.

Some time having passed over, the world, with its profits, appeared to be worth my notice and attention, and my house and premises being mortgaged, I thought it very desirable to get that rubbed off. To effect this I embarked in the hop-buying business, and the better I succeeded in it the more eagerly I pursued it; and, in fact, my Saviour became neglected and but very little enjoyed or thought of; yet the fear of the Almighty abode with me, so as to keep me from anything outwardly base, or to bring any scandal upon my profession before the eyes of the world, though I was sensible in my heart, all the while I thus hunted after what the worldling calls gain, that I was not walking in the enjoyment of my best and greatest Friend. Yet the sense of this was not strong enough to stop my anxious pursuit after it. In fact, I had purposed (O, what a fool I was!) to go on till I had gained the sum of £20,000, thinking that would be sufficient to make me independent; but it happened, as I was going to Maidstone, passing along near Stile Bridge, these words sounded in my heart: “What doest thou here, Elijah?” repeated three times, louder each time. Nevertheless, I went on my way, but filled with much thoughtfulness. My worldly pursuits were struck at, I knew.

Not a great while after this, being in London, I purposed to hear Mr. Huntington. He had been at Cranbrook two or three times, and I had heard him preach at a chapel on the hill; but I could not then see anything in him superior to those I had been in the habit of hearing in the Baptist connexion. However, having many workings in my mind, I went to hear him, and in the course of the sermon he made the following remarks: “There is among some professors a kind of religion my soul hates. They will tell you of the word of God being made of use to them, both in conviction and comfort, years ago; but now there is nothing of the kind going on in their hearts, nor has for years, perhaps. And now I tell you, I say, I tell you, if ever God brings you out of that lifeless and barren state, he will shake you to purpose.” And these words of Mr. H. fixed themselves like a barbed arrow in my soul, and verily, in about three months after, the shaking, the shaking to purpose, came upon my soul indeed; for I was made to feel, to the breaking of my heart, the jealous reproofs and rebukes of the Almighty for neglecting and forsaking him to follow after the empty but glittering gains of this vain world. O! How was I made to see my folly and sin, and to see that it was an evil and bitter thing that his fear was not exercised by me when he led me by the way. Now I found the truth of Paul’s words: “But they that will be rich fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition; for the love of money is the root of all evil, which, while some coveted after, have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” And for the idolatry of my foolish heart God rendered to me his anger in fury, and his rebukes like flames of fire, till my frame so withered under his chastening hand that one might have told all my bones, and my flesh literally failed of fatness. O! How did I rue this my heart-departure from him. It was as if he would consume me by his anger and by his wrath. Then was I troubled so that I forgot to eat my bread; for I reckoned from morning till night, “Thou wilt make an end of me, and as a lion thou wilt break all my bones.” And yet, what was remarkable to me, the old score of my transgressions that I was first charged with under my first work was not brought into this account.

But during this period of trouble, Mr. Huntington having been to Cranbrook two or three times, as mentioned above, some four or five of the friends who used to attend with me at the Baptist chapel withdrew, and met together to read Mr. H.’s and others’ writings, in which they found more edification than in the ministry; but as yet I could not go with them, and they used to accuse me to Mr. H. of still sticking to the old place. I had, I confess, fears and obstacles that lay in my way of leaving. My mind went one way, and these pulled the other; but being in London on business, I went, as was now my fixed plan, to hear Mr. H., and I felt a desire to speak to him. After the sermon, accordingly, I went into the vestry, and offered him my hand; but, after his manner, he spake to me thus: “Why, surely you must be as hard as iron to offer to shake hands with me.” All the reply I made was, “Sir, time will tell.” Harsh as this may seem, it did not lessen him in my esteem one tittle. I knew it arose from a misrepresentation of my conduct by some friends who did not thoroughly understand all my case. However, I travelled on as well as I could, and, labouring under guilty terrors for my backsliding, these words were sent one day with great power, and gave me much direction and encouragement: “Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not obeyed my voice.” O! What encouragement did I find here. How suited to my mind were such words as these, that the God I had sinned against should say so-and-so, and to such a sorry creature as I. Who but such as I can tell the worth thereof?

Again, at another time, when sinking in my mind, and bowed down with fears, this word of his grace gave me a wonderful lift: “The Lord, the God of Israel, saith he hateth putting away.” How much good this did me I shall never be able to tell. It so suited my case and my needs, it was a word in due season indeed.

At length the time was at hand that my backsliding was to be healed, and thus it was: I was brought into very trying and peculiar circumstances of a temporal kind, and filled with very heavy grief and sorrow, which caused me to entreat the interposition of God’s providential hand towards me, though I had acted so base a part towards him; and I knew and felt it too, and while seeking his help, these words dropped upon my spirit: “And no manner of hurt was found upon Daniel, because he believed in his God” (6:23); and directly on the back of them these of Paul: “And I believed God that it should be even as it was told me.” But still I again sank in my mind, and found sorrow and grief press down my spirit to a very great degree; and while musing and pondering over my trouble with grief and sorrow, it was as though these words were spoken to me: “When did you so grieve for a suffering Saviour as you now do over these worldly matters?” And immediately the Saviour in all the circumstances of his wonderful sufferings and death for sin and sinners, together with my interest in them, was set before the eyes of my understanding so powerfully that I instantly ceased to grieve over my lot, and was constrained by the force of his dying love to weep and mourn over him. Ah! His love, his dying love to me, swallowed up all; yea, the world and all its profits, gains, and wealth were utterly eclipsed and lost to me; and glad indeed was I to find it so, the precious Saviour taking the place thereof; and though, as Mr. H. says, a second lying-in is worse than the first, yet, as with Job, my first deliverance was but hearing of him by the ear, now mine eye seeth him; therefore I repent and abhor myself in dust and ashes. This scripture also was sealed upon my spirit: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins.” It was as life to the dead, and how clearly I saw myself described in the three preceding verses: “But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the cattle of thy burnt-offerings, neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” To all this I was obliged to say, “True;” but when he was pleased to say, “I, even I, am he,” &c., O! I did love much; for I had had much forgiven.

Again. This also was sealed home upon my heart at this time: “Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.” And thus I found that the love of Christ made known to the soul would do for me what, to use a homely expression, a team of foul horses would not do, namely, pull me out of, and deliver me from, the spirit of this world. Now my soul did again magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in God my Saviour; for he that was mighty hath done to me great things, and I cried, “Holy is his name!” These days of spiritual prosperity continued for nearly eighteen months, and this scripture was very sweet to me: “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy all ye that mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolation; that ye may milk oat, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory; for thus saith the Lord, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then shall ye suck; ye shall be borne upon her sides, and dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” This also was made very special and very sweet to me indeed one day: “My beloved spake, and said to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away; for lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” To find all this verified and fulfilled in my soul, I did say, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”

I used, in these days, to sit up in my bedroom for half the night for months together, reading the Word, without the least wearisomeness, and felt a kind of reluctance to leave it, and, if ever so cold, found no inconvenience; and when my candle was burnt out, I sat in the dark to contemplate and meditate, and thus had fellowship with the Old Testament saints,—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, my spirit and views mingling with theirs, both in faith and love; and thus I found that we were, all baptized into one body, and all made to drink into one spirit, and for which concordance, as Luther says, “I would not take the whole Turkish Empire.” To hope I knew, loved, and worshipped the same God that they did was pleasant to my spirit indeed.

But now I was about to enter a path I had little thought of. I sat down to my Bible as usual, but could neither feel nor find so much warmth imparted to my spirit as heretofore. The power I formerly enjoyed in reading the Word grew less and less. O! How reluctantly I used to rise from this exercise of reading to go to my bed, if I had found no fresh savour thereby. I longed, I pined for the comforts I had found aforetime. At length I was obliged to retire without any fresh dew distilling upon my spirit. I felt I wanted the breasts of Zion’s consolations to be continued to be drawn out, that I might always be satisfied; but I did not find it so, and what to think of this mighty change I could not tell. I longed, I sought, I exercised diligence in the use of the means of grace; but still I could not obtain that flowing of divine pleasure and comfort as formerly. I wondered, but could not tell why; but, in time, I found, by what Mr. H. had written, that I was still in the footsteps of the flock; “for it is a terrible thing,” he says, “for the heirs of promise to find the breasts of Zion’s consolations put up, for Little Faith to be made to go behind, and only now and then to hear the Shepherd’s voice;” and so I found it. Once, when Mr. H. had been down, I was pondering over what a miss we should find in the next Sabbath, and feeling a great degree of regret and sorrow thereat, this word was dropped upon my heart, and gave me a gleam of comfort in a twofold sense: “The more feeble members of the body are necessary.” It did me much good. But O! What jealous fears would sometimes come over my mind, if my foolish and deceitful heart should again wander after vanity, and again lightly esteem the Rock of my salvation. I was afraid to trust myself, for I knew I was not to be trusted; for once, when under these fears, I heartily groaned in my spirit to him who was able to keep me from falling. He graciously and kindly sent this word into my heart, and enabled me to trust him through it: “Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.” And this set my soul at rest, and gave me much peace and comfort on this matter.

About this time I again went to London, and heard Mr. H., and had an interview with him. He was about to take his breakfast. I began to relate what God had done for my soul, and I could not help noticing that while I was giving the relation he ate nothing. When I had concluded, he rose from his seat, and retired for about a quarter of an hour, when he addressed me in these words: “Now, Isaac, now, Isaac, the people at Cranbrook will have a minister.” This was in the year 1800, and from that time by entreaties, by reproofs, by scoldings, by threatenings,—for he once said, “Isaac, damned you never will be; but I should not wonder, for your refusing to preach the gospel of God’s grace, to see you in a workhouse,”—all kinds of arguments did he use to make me speak to the people the things concerning the kingdom of God; but, after all, would say, “But nothing moves Isaac.” Nor could I help it, the sense of the greatness and nature of the work, together with my inability and unbelief, kept me back from daring to attempt it. My friends also earnestly desired and wished it.

Now, upon this union of hearts being formed with Mr. H., I, with others, was desirous to get him to come to Cranbrook occasionally; and having, at the back of my premises, an old building, it was fitted up for a place to meet in on the Sabbath day, and at this place he preached a few times. The love of Christ being, as I hope, in my heart, I was desirous to see poor sinners flee from the wrath to come; and as the old place was very incommodious, I felt many workings of mind to have a better, and once, when in London, pondering and thinking these things over, with some affections to the church and cause of Christ, these words came into my heart with great power and light: “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.” (Hag. 1:8.) And subsequently verses 3,4, 5,6,7,9,10, and 11; and again, the 2nd chapter of the same, 18th and 19th verses; and again, the 5th verse of the 2nd chapter was of great comfort and establishment to me in this work, being applied with much power under peculiar exercises on these things: “According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you; fear ye not.” These things were the delight of my soul, and having a desire reigning in my heart to seek the good of the children of Israel, I purposed building a chapel at my expense. Accordingly I communicated my intentions to Mr. H.; but he said, “No, Isaac; you shall not do so. There is no need for you to be at the cost yourself. We will see to that.” But now a difficulty arose, which for a time became a let. I could not feel disposed to sell the site on which the chapel was to stand. The London friends did not choose to build upon my ground, but wished it to be sold off, and the chapel to be vested in trustees, to which proposition I could not comply, the premises being so peculiarly situated; in consequence of which the contention between us rose so high that Mr. H. ordered G. Lansdell to look out a piece of ground wherever he could purchase it, and they would build a chapel, and desired him to signify the same to me. The reply I made was this: “You may do so, if you please; but I tell you one thing, I shall never enter it, and I know if I do not the people will not.”

At length a letter came to me from Mr. H., saying, in reference to this matter, “Any how, Isaac; any how, so we do but have a place.” So then Mr. H. and the friends in London framed and prepared it, sent it to Cranbrook, and it was put up according to my wish. He, with several of his substantial friends, came to the opening of it, in 1803; but he would be every now and then urging me to speak to the people. Once, when he had finished his discourse, he gave out this notice, that next Sabbath Mr. Beeman would preach to them, if the devil and unbelief did not stop his mouth. And who can tell what I felt at this unexpected notice? I knew not where to put my head. Though he continued his solicitations, I, through fear, was obliged to hold back; for I felt so strongly, like Moses, that I was not eloquent hitherto, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; and once, as I was objecting thus against myself, these words were made to sound in my heart: “Who made man’s mouth, the seeing and the blind?” At another time, when the same subject was pressing upon my thoughts, this word: “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say,” was sent into my heart, and gave my fears a jostle; and though these good scriptures, with many more of the like kind, used to afford me some help, strength, and encouragement against my fears on this head, yet I had not strength enough to come forth in so important a work, but still kept saying, “Send, Lord, by whom thou wilt send; for I am a child.” And thus I went on until the last month of the year in which Mr. H. died.

(But here it will not be out of place to state that Mr. B. took the lead in the worship, both as to reading to the people and speaking in prayer, from the year 1800 to 1813, and his Master gave him a gradual increase of hearers, and added many to the church such as should be saved; for, be it observed, when the usual service was concluded, he used to come down from the pulpit and sit upon one of the seats, and speak to those who chose to stop (and mostly all did) of the things that he ,had found touching the King; and much good was done, by his instrumentality, in the name of the holy child Jesus.)

But at the close of 1813, or the first Sabbath of 1814, unthought of by myself, that is to say, I had not previously determined thus to do, I awoke early, and this text flowed into my mind with very sweet light and power: “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me; and if any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” The text opened itself in its meaning so to my mind that the thought of speaking to the people without the usual reading occurred to me, and I purposed so to do. The service was begun as usual. I ascended the pulpit, read the chapter, and spoke in prayer; and while they were singing the second time I was much beset with this fear, that if I attempted to deliver my thoughts and views from the pul¢t, I should fall down (literally) before the people. This remedy occurred to me: If I go down and sit upon the seat, I cannot fall much lower. Accordingly I adopted this method, and it was five or six Sabbaths before I was delivered from this fear.

And thus was this dear man and servant of our Lord Jesus Christ “set as a candle upon a candlestick,” that all who came into the house might see the light of God’s truth, and the light of his salvation, to the increase and edification in the love of God of the members of the mystical body of Christ, which, by his ministry, were made partakers of the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! Amen.

In the spring of 1838, he was taken with that illness which terminated his valuable life, at the commencement of which l called one morning, and found him in a very sweet and comfortable frame of spirit under the melting power of grace of this portion of the word of his Master, which had just before been sent into his heart: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;” to which promise he came the August following, when he departed this life, passed over Jordan, rested from his labours, and took possession of the promised land, to go no more out for ever. Then was fulfilled also this scripture, which some years before was made of great comfort and establishment to his own soul, and on which he preached the following Sabbath: “And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, If thou wilt walk in my ways, and wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts; and I will give thee places among those that stand by;” having fought a good fight, kept the faith, and finished their course; and having received that crown of righteousness, crown of life, and crown of glory which are promised to all those that love the Saviour’s name. Amen.

Frederick Siggs

August 15, 1844