Count Zinzendorf and Christian David
In 1722 Count Zinzendorf and his wife began to settle into the Berthelsdorf Estate they had just purchased. They had both sacrifices their right of nobility and willingly entered into the sacred service of their Savior. the purpose that God had for the Count’s life was about to be fulfilled. Zinzendorf’s life was not flawless, but he was moved with consuming passion and preoccupation with the Person of Jesus Christ: My mind inclined continually toward the cross of Christ…My conversation always turned to that subject.” A glimpse of his burning love for Jesus can be caught in the following letter: Our method of proclaiming salvation is this: to point out to every heart the loving Lamb, who died for us, and although He was the Son of God, offered Himself for our sins…By preaching of His blood and of His love unto death, even the death of the cross, never, either in discourse or in agreement, to digress even for a quarter of an hour from the loving Lamb! To name no virtue except in Him and from Him and on His account to preach no commandment except faith in Him; no other sanctification but the privilege to sin no more; no other happiness but to be near Him, to think of Him and do His pleasure; no other self denial but to be deprived of Him and His blessings; no other life but in Him.
Before long a lone Christian refugee from Moravia showed up at Zinzendorf’s door. His name was Christian David, and he hoped the Count might allow a group of oppressed Moravian refugees a haven on his land. The Count was eager to help. Christian David was brought up as a Catholic but could find no spiritual satisfaction within the organizations teachings. Rick Joyner comments: “At age 20, David obtained a German Bible and began his quest for truth. This resulted in a profound conversion.”
He made many evangelistic trips into Moravia. There he happened upon a group of brethren who longed for the rebirth of the true New Testament Church. After David met Zinzendorf, he returned to Moravia for those oppressed saints and led them to the Zinzendorf estate. The Count called David the “Moravian Moses” because he crossed the borders ten times to lead groups of refugees to the land donated to them by Zinzendorf.
