Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret Quotes

To me it seemed that the teaching of God's Word was unmistakably clear: 'Owe no man anything.' To borrow money implied to my mind a contradiction of Scripture--a confession that God had withheld some good thing, and determination to get for ourselves what He had not given.

Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me A living, bright reality; More present to faith’s vision keen Than any outward object seen; More dear, more intimately nigh Than e’en the sweetest earthly tie.

It was in blessed reality “Christ liveth in me.” And how great the difference! - instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.

it was not easy to keep first things first and make time for prayer. Yet without this there can not but be failure and unrest.

Now I am happy in my Saviour’s love. I can thank Him for all, even the most painful experiences of the past, and trust Him without fear for all that is to come.

How few of the Lord’s people have practically recognized the truth that Christ is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all!

To him, the secret of overcoming lay in daily, hourly fellowship with God; and this, he found, could only be maintained by secret prayer and feeding upon the Word through which He reveals Himself to the waiting soul.

If you are ever drinking at the Fountain [he wrote] with what will your life be running over? - Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One.

Let us see that we keep God before our eyes; that we walk in His ways and seek to please and glorify Him in everything, great and small. Depend upon it, God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies.

If we can judge God’s Word, instead of being judged by it, if we can give God as much or as little as we like, then we are lords and He the indebted one, to be grateful for our dole and obliged by our compliance with His wishes. If on the other hand He is Lord, let us treat Him as such. “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

But Hudson Taylor, young though he was, had learned to know God in a very real way. He had seen Him, as he wrote, quell the raging of a storm at sea, in answer to definite prayer, alter the direction of the wind, and give rain in a time of drought. He had seen Him, in answer to prayer, stay the hand of would-be murderers and quell the violence of enraged men. He had seen Him rebuke sickness in answer to prayer, and raise up the dying, when all hope of recovery seemed gone. For more than eight years he had proved His faithfulness in supplying the needs of his family and work in answer to prayer, unforeseen as many of those needs had been. How could he but encourage others to put their trust in the love that can not forget, the faithfulness that can not fail?

Take time. Give God time to reveal Himself to you. Give yourself time to be silent and quiet be fore Him, waiting to receive, through the Spirit, the assurance of His presence with you, His power working in you. Take time to read His Word as in His presence, that from it you may know what He asks of you and what He promises you. Let the Word create around you, create within you a holy atmosphere, a holy heavenly light, in which your soul will be refreshed and strengthened for the work of daily life.2 It was just because he did this that Hudson Taylor’s life was full of joy and power, by the grace of God. When over seventy years of age he paused, Bible in hand, as he crossed the sitting-room in Lausanne, and said to one of his children: “I have just finished reading the Bible through, today, for the fortieth time in forty years.” And he not only read it, he lived it.

ENOUGH THAT GOD MY FATHER KNOWS:— NOTHING THIS FAITH CAN DIM. HE GIVES THE VERY BEST TO THOSE WHO LEAVE THE CHOICE WITH HIM.

In digging in the field of the Word, he threw up now and then great nuggets which formed part of one’s spiritual wealth ever after.

From two to four A. M. was the time he usually gave to prayer; the time when he could be most sure of being undisturbed to wait upon God. That flicker of candlelight has meant more to them than all they have read or heard on secret prayer; it meant reality, not preaching but practice.

Deeper down, deeper down that life had to go, in God. Outwardly it might seem, at times, that the work was carried on a floodtide of success. Glorious steps of faith were taken; glorious answers to prayer were received. But the preparation of heart beforehand and the steady burden-bearing afterwards were known only to those who shared them behind the scenes.

The One Great Circumstance of Life, and of all lesser, external circumstances as necessarily the kindest, wisest, best, because either ordered or permitted by Him.

THE STEPS OF FAITH FALL ON THE SEEMING VOID, AND FIND THE ROCK BENEATH. —J. G. Whittier

Take time. Give God time to reveal Himself to you. Give yourself time to be silent and quiet before Him, waiting to receive, through the Spirit, the assurance of His presence with you, His power working in you. Take time to read His Word as in His presence, that from it you may know what He asks of you and what He promises you. Let the Word create around you, create within you a holy atmosphere, a holy heavenly light, in which your soul will be refreshed and strengthened for the work of daily life.

Depend upon it, God's work, done in God's way, will never lack God's supplies.

Meanwhile, let us beware alike of the haste of the impatient, impetuous flesh, and of its disappointment and weariness.

The soul that is starved cannot rejoice in the Lord

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people listen with attention, but we need the power from on high to convince and convert.

He who was to encourage thousands in a life of childlike trust, must himself learn yet deeper lessons of a Father's loving care.

We had to consider [Mr Taylor continued] whether it would not be possible for members of various denominations to work together on simple, evangelistic lines, without friction as to conscientious differences of opinion. Prayerfully concluding that it would, we decided to invite the co-operation of fellow-believers, irrespective of denominational views, who fully held the inspiration of God’s Word and were willing to prove their faith by going to inland China with only the guarantee they carried in their Bibles.

Saved, not condemned; a way to find everlasting life; a God who loved the world; a serpent, no a “Son of man” lifted up - what could it all be about?

This last sentence, I think I now fully endorse. To let my loving Saviour work in me His will, my sanctification, is what I would live for by His grace. Abiding, not striving nor struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power; … resting in the love of an almighty Saviour, in the joy of a complete salvation,

How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith … but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.

I have long sought the Truth, but without finding it. I have travelled far and near, but have never searched it out. In Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, I have found no rest. But I do find rest in what we have heard tonight. Henceforth, I am a believer in Jesus.

The secret of faith that is ready for emergencies is the quiet, practical dependence upon God day by day which makes Him real to the believing heart.

If we are faithful to God in little things, we shall gain experience and strength that will be helpful to us in the more serious trials of life.

His love is unfailing, His Word unchangeable, His power ever the same; therefore the heart that trusts Him is kept in “perfect peace.” … I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that it is all in love. Well, if He is glorified, I am content.