George Muller to J. Hudson Taylor - Excerpt of letter
Honoring Jesus: Müller's Secret of Success
and
The Care of His Soul: Müller's Chief Work
And the point to which as an older brother allow me to draw your attention is this: For the first 3 years that I preached, I saw scarcely any fruit resulting from my labors, but when 4 years, 3 months since it pleased God to bring me into such a state, that I was willing to be content to be only the instrument provided any good was done, and was willing to give to God all the glory if any good was accomplished, it pleased Him to allow me at once to see fruit, yea much fruit resulting from my labours.
This then beloved in the Lord is what we have to aim after: the lowly mind. The true and faithful servant seeks the Master’s honour, not his own. So should we, to the utmost regarding our service for the Lord Jesus. Just in the measure as we are not willing in our inmost soul to give all the honour to the Lord Jesus, so in proportion are we unfit practically to be used by the Lord. He will not use us, lest if He did we should rob Him of His honour.
Further, I have in my own experience found it of the utmost moment to make the care about my own soul the chief business of my life. Abundant as my work is, so much so, that if I had strength to work 24 hours every day, I would not accomplish what is ready for my hands, and feet and head, and heart; yet with all this I consider my first business to be, and my primary business, day by day, to get blessing for my own soul, food for my own soul, to be happy in the Lord; and then to work, and to work with all diligence. Now in your case, with all the many millions of idolaters around you, the temptation is, to be overpowered by the immense quantity of work to be done, to the not minding sufficiently your own souls. But this would only lead to loss. No amount of work can make up for the neglect of meditation in the Holy Scriptures and for the neglect of prayer. Moreover it is not the amount of work we do, at which our Heavenly Father looks, but the Spirit in which we do His work.
Now, this right state of heart, which we need for this, we can only enjoy by seeking to feed our own soul through meditation on the Holy Scriptures. We should therefore habitually and prayerfully as much as possible in the early part of the day, read with meditation the Holy Scriptures and seek with reference to our own individual necessities to enter into what we read. There is great temptation for preachers of the Gospel to read the Holy Scriptures with reference to others, to the neglect of their own souls; this is greatly to be guarded against for if we read the Scriptures not with reference to our own souls, primarily we shall lose the blessing, which God meant to convey thereby to our hearts.
I send by this mail and with this letter a cheque to all the dear brethren and sisters connected with the CIM (China Inland Mission), as a token of loving interest in their service, to whom I have not sent anything before; in order that I may thus manifest interest in the service of all and some love in the Lord to all.
It will give me pleasure to hear from time to time from all of you though I may be able to write but little. I also send to those of you who have not yet had it, a copy of my last Report the reading therefore may be a little encouragement to you, and I will also send 12 copies more of my Narrative, one for each of those of you, who have not yet had a copy.
I am
Beloved brethren and Sisters,
Yours affectionately in our Lord,
(Signed) George Müller
This letter was found in the Hudson Taylor archives
"All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reackoned on God being with them." - Hudson Taylor
"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him." - Hudson Taylor
"When I get to China, I will have no claim on any one for anything. My claim will be alone in God and I must learn before I leave England to move men through God by prayer alone." - Hudson Taylor
“Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success.” - Hudson Taylor
“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.” - Hudson Taylor
November 18, 1857 - "The Lord Will Provide"
"On Saturday we supplied, as usual, breakfast to the destitute poor, who came to the number of 70. Sometimes they do not reach 40, at other times exceeding 80. They come to us every day, Lord’s Day excepted, for then we cannot manage to attend to them and get through all our other duties, too. Well, on that Saturday morning we paid all expenses, and provided ourselves for the morrow, after which we had not a single dollar left between us. How the Lord was going to provide for Monday we knew not; but over our mantelpiece hung two scrolls in the Chinese character—Ebenezer, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us”; and Jehovah-Jireh, “The Lord will provide”—and he kept us from doubting for a moment. That very day the mail came in, a week sooner than was expected, and Mr. Jones received $214. We thanked God and took courage. On Monday the poor had their breakfast as usual, for we had not told them not to come, being assured that it was the Lord’s work, and that the Lord would provide. We could not help our eyes filling with tears of gratitude when we saw not only our own needs supplied, but the widow and the orphan, the blind and the lame, the friendless and the destitute, together provided for by the bounty of him who feeds the ravens." - Hudson Taylor, Founder of the China Inland Missions
James Hudson Taylor (21 May 1832 – 3 June 1905) was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM, now OMF International). Taylor spent 51 years in China. The society that he began was responsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to the country who began 125 schools and directly resulted in 18,000 Christian conversions, as well as the establishment of more than 300 stations of work with more than 500 local helpers in all eighteen provinces.
"He that sanctifieth and those who are sanctified, find their full satisfaction in [Christ], and in Him alone." - Hudson Taylor
"You do not need a great faith, but faith in a great God." - Hudson Taylor
"With GOD all things are possible, and no conviction ever takes place save by the almighty power of the HOLY GHOST. The great need, therefore, of every Christian worker is to know GOD." - Hudson Taylor
"While unbelief sees the difficulties, faith sees God between itself and them." - Hudson Taylor
“Pray for those you send, shield them by prayer." - Hudson Taylor
"It is not lost time to wait upon God!" - Hudson Taylor
"If I had a thousand pounds, China should have it. If I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him?" - Hudson Taylor
"All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them." - Hudson Taylor
"China is not to be won for Christ by quiet ease-loving men and women." - Hudson Taylor