Page 107 - Living Epistles

of God, we do not hesitate to ask the great Lord of the Harvest to call forth,
to thrust forth twenty-four European and twenty-four native evangelists, to
plant the standard of the Cross in the eleven unevangelized provinces of
China proper and in Chinese Tartary. To those who have never been called
to prove the faithfulness of the Covenant-keeping God in supplying, in
answer to prayer alone, the every need of His servants, it might seem a
hazardous experiment to send twenty-four European evangelists to a distant
heathen land, "with only God to look to"; but in one whose privilege it has
been through many years to put that God to the test in varied circumstances,
at home and abroad, by land and sea, in sickness and health, in dangers, in
necessities and at the gates of death, such apprehensions would be wholly
inexcusable. "The writer has seen God, in answer to prayer, quell the raging
of the storm," Mr. Taylor continued, "alter the direction of the wind and give
rain in the midst of prolonged drought. He has seen Him, in answer to
prayer, stay the angry passions and murderous intentions of violent men,
and bring the machinations of His people's foes to nought. He has seen Him,
in answer to prayer, raise the dying from the bed of death, when human aid
was vain; has seen Him preserve from the pestilence that walketh in
darkness, and from the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. For more than
eight years and a half he has proved the faithfulness of God in supplying his
own temporal wants and the needs of the work in which he has been
engaged..."

Instance after instance is given from Mr. Taylor's experience of direct,
unmistakable answers to prayer, and the deduction drawn is that with such
a God it is safe and wise to go forward in the pathway of obedience-is indeed
the only safe and wise thing to do.

Remarking on the operation of the China Inland Mission and the type of men
and women it needed, he wrote:

"That Word had said, 'Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things (food and raiment) shall be added unto you.' If any one
did not believe that God spoke the truth, it would be better for him not to go
to China to propagate the faith. If he did believe it, surely the promise
sufficed. Again, 'No good thing will He withhold from them that walk
uprightly.' If any one did not mean to walk uprightly, he had better stay at
home; if he did mean to walk uprightly, he had all he needed in the shape of
a guarantee fund. God owns all the gold and silver in the world, and the
cattle on a thousand hills. We need not be vegetarians.”