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James Stalker
James Stalker (February 21, 1848 – February 5, 1927) was a Scottish preacher, scholar, and author whose calling from God within the United Free Church of Scotland ignited a passion for biblical exposition and evangelistic preaching across five decades. Born in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, to a joiner father and a mother whose details are unrecorded, he grew up in a modest Presbyterian family. Converted during the 1873 Moody and Sankey revival at age 25—an event that left an evangelical glow on his ministry—he excelled at the University of Edinburgh, winning prizes in every class, and studied divinity at New College, Edinburgh, later spending summers at Berlin and Halle under theologians like Tholuck and Dorner. Stalker’s calling from God was affirmed with his ordination in 1874, leading him to serve as minister of St. Brycedale Free Church in Kirkcaldy (1874–1887) and St. Matthew’s Free Church in Glasgow (1887–1902), where his sermons called vast audiences to faith with commanding eloquence and devotional depth. Appointed Professor of Church History at United Free Church College in Aberdeen (1902–1926), he preached to students and delivered the 1891 Yale Lectures on Preaching, published as The Preacher and His Models, emphasizing the preacher’s divine commission. Author of over 20 works, including The Life of Jesus Christ (1879) and The Life of St. Paul (1884), he became Scotland’s most renowned preacher in America. Never married, he passed away at age 78 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
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James Stalker delivers a powerful sermon reflecting on Esther 4:14, challenging listeners to consider if they have been placed in their current circumstances 'for such a time as this.' He highlights the initial self-centeredness many experience, seeking personal success and pleasure, but emphasizes the transformative moment when one realizes their gifts are meant for a greater purpose - to serve humanity, their country, and Christ's cause against evil. Stalker encourages a shift from self-importance to selflessness, where individuals are compelled to contribute to a higher calling beyond their own desires.
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A Different Understanding
"...and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14). We all, I suppose, begin like Esther. We are the center of all things to ourselves; our happiness is the supreme end for which all other persons and things ought to be conspiring. We are proud of our abilities, and eager to shine and command admiration. Perhaps, like Esther, we are brought by circumstances into competition with others, and the verdict of our superiors and our equals confirms the estimate of our powers which we have secretly formed ourselves. The prizes of life glitter ahead of us; we feel confident that we can win them; and we are hungry to taste as many pleasures as we can. But it is a transfiguring moment when the thought first penetrates a man that perhaps this is not the purpose for which he has received his gifts at all--when the image of humanity rises up before him, in its helplessness and misery, appealing to him, as the weak appeal to the strong; when his country rises before him, as an august and lovable mother, and demands the services of her child; when the image of Christ rises before him and, pointing to His cause struggling with the forces of evil yet heading towards a glorious and not uncertain goal, asks him to lend it his strength--when a man ceases to be the most important object in the world to himself, and sees, outside, an object which makes him forget himself and irresistibly draws him on.
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James Stalker (February 21, 1848 – February 5, 1927) was a Scottish preacher, scholar, and author whose calling from God within the United Free Church of Scotland ignited a passion for biblical exposition and evangelistic preaching across five decades. Born in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, to a joiner father and a mother whose details are unrecorded, he grew up in a modest Presbyterian family. Converted during the 1873 Moody and Sankey revival at age 25—an event that left an evangelical glow on his ministry—he excelled at the University of Edinburgh, winning prizes in every class, and studied divinity at New College, Edinburgh, later spending summers at Berlin and Halle under theologians like Tholuck and Dorner. Stalker’s calling from God was affirmed with his ordination in 1874, leading him to serve as minister of St. Brycedale Free Church in Kirkcaldy (1874–1887) and St. Matthew’s Free Church in Glasgow (1887–1902), where his sermons called vast audiences to faith with commanding eloquence and devotional depth. Appointed Professor of Church History at United Free Church College in Aberdeen (1902–1926), he preached to students and delivered the 1891 Yale Lectures on Preaching, published as The Preacher and His Models, emphasizing the preacher’s divine commission. Author of over 20 works, including The Life of Jesus Christ (1879) and The Life of St. Paul (1884), he became Scotland’s most renowned preacher in America. Never married, he passed away at age 78 in Aberdeen, Scotland.