J. Hudson Taylor

“ Is it less important that the Christian of today, called to be a witness for Christ, should be manifestly characterized by His Spirit? Should we not all be “imitators of God, as dear children,” and “walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us”? And should not the Spirit of God-likeness be carried into the smallest details of life, and not be merely reserved for special occasions? ”

“ Do we not often give to a poor Christ rather than to a rich one? Are we not sometimes unwilling to give until we know His work to be in straits, and sometimes its very existence imperilled? Are not our hearts oft times more moved by the recital of human needs than by Christ’s claim for the prosecution of the one work for which He has left His Church on earth? A famine in India, a flood in China, is more potent to bring temporal relief than the continual famine of the bread of life and of the increasing floods of heathen ungodliness. ”

“ The natural sun is inconceivably great, we cannot grasp its magnitude; it is inconceivably glorious, we cann bear to gaze on one ray of its untempered light. The source to us of all heat, we have to shield ourselves form its tropical power, though millions of miles from its surface: the sustainer of the essential conditions of physical life, and the great ruler and center of the solar system – how great and glorious is the natural sun! ”

“ We are not, therefor, independent workers, for there is a fundamental difference between fruit and work. Work is the outcome of effort; fruit, of life. A bad man may do good work, but a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. The result of work is not reproductive, but fruit has its seed in itself. The workman has to seek his material and his tools, and often to set himself with painful perseverance to his task. The fruit of the Vine is the glad, free, spontaneous outcome of the life within; and it forms and grows and ripens in its proper season.
And what is the fruit which the believer should bear? ”

“ We were like sheep, blindly, willfully following an unwise leader. Not only following ourselves, we in our turn have led others astray. This is true of all of us: “All we like sheep have gone astray;” all equally foolish, “we have turned every one to his own way.” Our first though has been, “I like this,” or “I don’t like that”’ never thinking what the Lord would prefer, we have just followed our own inclinations. So terribly astray were we that nothing less than the life-blood of our good Shepherd could atone for our sin, and save us from its power and its penalty. ”

“ How is it that believers so often fail to enjoy this promised blessing? Is it not that we fail to be anxious for nothing, and to bring everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving before GOD? We may bring nine difficulties out of ten to Him, and try to manage the tenth ourselves, and that one little difficulty, like a small leak that runs the vessel dry, is fatal to the whole, like a small breach in a city wall, it gives entrance to the power of the foe. ”

“ The life within is too strong to fear the shortened day, the cold blast, or the falling snow. So with the man of GOD whose life is maintained by hidden communion through the Word; adversity only brings out the strength and the reality of the life within. The leaf of the tree is no mere adornment. If the root suggests to us receptive power in that it draws from the soil the stimulating sap, without which life could not be maintained, the leaves no less remind us of the grace of giving, and of purifying. ”

“ While thus studying GOD'S Word the believer becomes conscious of a new source of delight; not only is that which is revealed precious, but the beauty and perfection of the revelation itself grows upon him. He has now no need of external evidence to prove its inspiration; it everywhere bears the impress of Divinity. And as the microscope which reveals the coarseness and blemishes of the works of man only shows more fully the perfectness of GOD'S works, and brings to light new and unimagined beauties, so it is with the Word of GOD when closely scanned. ”

“ Our Father makes according to His perfection the least little thing that He makes. The tiniest fly, the smallest animalcule, the dust of a butterfly’s wing, however highly you may magnify them, are seen to be absolutely perfect. Should not the little things our daily life be as relatively perfect in the case of each Christian as the lesser creations of God are absolutely perfect? ”

“ If companionship with one of God’s poor servants is so precious, what shall we say to Him who exhorts us, “Go! . . . and, lo, I am with you”? Is He not saying: The good Shepherd must seek the wandering sheep until He find them. Go ye, too, and seek them, and so doing you shall find My companionship ensured? Shall we decline this fellowship with Him, and leave Him, so far as we are concerned, to seek them alone?
We next find Ruth toiling in the burning sun as a gleaner, and there she meets for the first time the lord of the harvest. ”

“ In many respects we resemble the Queen of Sheba. Though of royal birth, she was doubtless, like the bride in the Song of Solomon, black, because the sun had looked upon her. The post which she was called to occupy was no easy one; in her own life, and in her duty towards others, she found many hard questions to which she saw no solution. She hear of one reigning in the power of the Lord, whose wisdom exceeded that of the wisest of men, and who, if any one could, might afford her the help that she needed. ”

“ The stronger our faith in the plenary, verbal inspiration of God's Holy Word, the more fully we make it our guide, and the more implicitly we follow its teachings, the deeper will be our peace and the more fruitful our service. "Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them." Becoming more and more convinced of the divine wisdom of the directions and commands of Scripture, and of the reliability of the promises, the life of the believer will become increasingly one of obedience and trust ”

“ But it is the will of God that there should never be a cloud between His people and Himself; and that, as the Israelite of old, wherever he went, carried the ribband of blue, so His people today should manifest a heavenly spirit and temper wherever they go; and should, like Moses, in their very countenance bear witness to the glory and beauty of the God whom they love and serve. ”

“ The man of God will also delight to trace GOD in the Word as the great Worker, and rejoice in the privilege of being a fellow-worker with Him – a glad, voluntary agent in doing the will of GOD, yet rejoicing in the grace that has made him willing, and in the mighty, divine power that works through him. The Bible will also teach him to view himself as but an atom, as it were, in GOD'S great universe ”

“ We wish, however, to draw attention to another aspect of self-denial which is often overlooked, and perhaps we shall do this most intelligibly by use of the antithetical expression, self-assertion. What does the Word of GOD teach us about our rights, our claims, our dues? Does it not teach us that condemnation, banishment, eternal misery, are our own deserts? As unbelievers, we were condemned criminals; as believers, we are pardoned criminals; and whatever of good is found in us is but imparted, and to GOD alone is due the praise. ”

“ May we not well say that if Job's prosperity was blessed prosperity, his adversity, likewise, was blessed adversity? "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning;" and the night of weeping will bear a fruit more rich and permanent than any day of rejoicing could produce. "The evening and the morning were the first day." Light out of darkness is GOD'S order, and if sometimes our Heavenly FATHER can trust us with a trial, it is a sure presage that, if by grace the trial is accepted, He will ere long trust us with a blessing. ”

“ Do we not rather see from the Word of GOD that He is like a glad father, delighting to be able to encourage a strong, healthy son to undertake some athletic feat which will entail arduous effort and careful training, or to stimulate him to prepare for a difficult literary examination by a prolonged and toilsome course of study, knowing he will obtain honors and permanent advantage from his attainments? ”

“ Ought we not to be more thorough in our service, not simply doing well that which will be seen and noticed, but as our Father makes many a flower to bloom unseen in the lonely desert, so to do all that we can do, as under His eye, though no other eye ever take note of it? ”

“ The lying wiles of the seducer were instantly rejected by our LORD; not so ineffective are such wiles to many of His people; a little policy rather than the course for which conscience pleads; a little want of integrity in business dealings; a little compromise with the ways of the world, followed by a prosperity which brings no blessing – these prove often that the enemy's arts are still the same. But, thank GOD! there is a true prosperity which comes from Him and leads towards Him. ”

“ The spirit of retaliation is not to be indulged in; a yieldingness of spirit is to characterize the child of the kingdom; those who hate and despitefully use us are to be pitied, and loved, and prayed for. Then comes the direction, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” In the little frictions of daily life, as well as in the more serious trials and persecutions to which the Christian is exposed, he is to be manifestly an imitator of his heavenly Father.
Now, God’s perfection is an absolute perfection; while ours, at best, is only relative. ”

“ The Testing of Job Reverting to the history of Job: the great accuser, having no fault to find with his character or life, insinuates that it is all the result of selfishness. "Doth Job fear GOD for nought." Indeed, he did not, as Satan well knew! Nor has anyone, before or since, ever feared GOD for nought. There is no service which pays so well as the service of our HEAVENLY MASTER; there is none so royally rewarded. Satan was making a true assertion, but the insinuation he connected with it, that it was for the sake of this reward that Job served GOD, was not true. ”

“ But sweet as are God’s promises, the Promiser is greater and better. Finite human words fetter the expression of the heart of the Infinite Giver. Hence if we had claimed all the promises, and had opened our mouths most wide, and had asked with all the blessed presumption of loved and favoured children – yet, above and beyond the promises, He would still be able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. ”

“ It is our privilege to take our rest and recreation for the purpose of pleasing Him; to lay aside our garments at night neatly (for He is in the room, and watches over us while we sleep) , to wash, to dress, to smooth the hair, with His eye in view; and, in short, in all that we are and in all that we do to use the full measure of ability which God has given us to the glory of His holy Name? ”

“ And shall we, in the prosecution of our work as ambassadors of Him whose kingdom is not of this world, be jealous of our own honor and rights, as men and as citizens of Western countries, and seek to assert the one and claim the other, — when what our MASTER wants is witness to, and reflection of, His own character and earthly life, and illustration of the forbearing grace of our GOD and FATHER? ”

“ This divine prosperity is GOD'S purpose for every believer, in all that he undertakes; in things temporal and in things spiritual, in all the relations and affairs of this life, as well as in all work for CHRIST and for eternity, it is GOD'S will for each child of His that "whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Yet many of His children evidently do not enjoy this uniform blessing; some find failure rather than success the rule of their life; while others, sometimes prospered and sometimes discouraged, live lives of uncertainty, in which anxiety and even fear are not infrequent. ”

“ We are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, not to break one of the least of the commandments, not to give way to anger, not to tolerate the thought of impurity, to give no rash promises, or in conversation to say more than yea or nay. ”

“ We are often brought into circumstances of trial and misunderstanding. People imagine that this or that discipline is the fruit of sin. The Lord knoweth the secrets of the heart. If we are unjustly accused or suspected, if it is asserted that we have forgotten the name of our God, God knows the secrets of our hearts. Sometimes we have trials which we cannot put into prayer; the Lord knows the secrets of our heart. There are things that affect us, and yet we cannot understand how it is that we are so affected by them. ”

“ The child of GOD has no need of the counsel of the ungodly; if he loves and studies GOD'S Word it will make him wiser than all such counselors. If he seeks for and observes all the counsel of GOD, through the guidance of the HOLY SPIRIT, he will not walk in darkness even as to worldly things. The directions of GOD'S Word may often seem strange and impolite, but in the measure in which he has faith to obey the directions he finds in the Scripture, turning not to the right hand nor to the left, will he make his way prosperous, will he find good success. ”

“ We are not to think that our holiest service is free from sin, or can be accepted save through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are not to suppose that sins of omission, any more than sins of commission, are looked lightly upon by God: sins of forgetfulness and heedlessness or ignorance are more than frailties – are real sins, needing atoning sacrifice. ”