Lately I’ve been reading through the book of Acts, and once again, I am convicted that the saints of that time were just in a different realm from where we are today in terms of their following of Christ and their impact for Him.

This should cause us not just to appreciate those saints, but even more, to be exercised before the Lord regarding how we can learn from them to follow Christ more fully in our time. We should exercise the faith to believe the Lord does indeed desire to do something more through us for the sake of His testimony upon the earth today, and seek Him to that end.

The brief quotes below from Hudson Taylor, the great 19th century missionary to the inland of China, surely speak to one of the basic reasons for our spiritual lack. (I also refer to these statements in the Note, “How Prisca and Aquila were Saved.”)

I would add, the standard biography of Mr. Taylor done by his son and his son’s wife is perhaps the most insightful study of the life of a servant of the Lord ever done outside of the Bible itself, and extremely helpful for anyone who desires to serve the Lord today. Mr. Taylor’s life gives us a pattern of what that looks like in relatively recent times. If you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to do so; the link to the original, two-volume set is below.

Hudson Taylor on
Why We Can’t
Get People
Saved

The cause of want of success [in the gospel] is very often that we are only half-saved ourselves. If we are fully saved and confess it, we shall see results….

We tell this people that the world is vain; let our lives manifest that it is so. We tell them that our Home is above, that all these things are transitory; does our dwelling look like it? Oh, to live consistent lives! The life of the Apostle Paul was thoroughly consistent….No one could feel that his home was here; all saw that it was up there.

— Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission Volume 2, “The Growth of a Work of God,” pages 405-406; emphasis original.

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—  10 August 2024 —