What I would do this evening in opening
up is really just reiterate what was read
to you this morning in the adult Sunday
school class, if you were there, from Hebrews
chapter 11, from what has been dubbed by
some the Hall of Faith, rather than the
Hall of Fame, the Hall of Faith.
And let me just read some of these
verses to you, and really emphasizing one aspect
of this.
I'll jump right in.
You're reading through, and you know the chapter,
brings up many of those names whom we
recognize from the Old Testament, and then there's
some references, general references made to others in
general.
Still others had trial of mockings and scourging,
yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two,
were tempted, were slain with the sword.
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being
destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was
not worthy.
And as we get into C.T. Studd's
life, I think you'll recognize him as one
of those men of great faith, of whom
this world was not worthy, but he gave
much of his life to serving Christ and
the gospel, spreading the gospel across foreign lands,
three in particular, and he was used really
in an immeasurable way.
And I keyed in on this particular man
because of who he and what he was
before Christ converted him.
It'll speak to many of you young people
this evening.
So let's begin.
C.T. Studd, and you'll notice in your
little handout that he's on the second page,
I believe, and there's sort of a progression
of age there.
I didn't label all the pictures, but you
can see that at the top I tried
to make it a progression of age till
you see the very bottom, and then I
think there's a picture of his wife there.
But you'll notice on a lot of the
pictures in that handout that they went by
their initials.
And I think that was something of the
era.
D.L. Moody, whom you'll hear about, the
same thing, Dwight L.
Moody.
But Charles Thomas Studd, he was known as
C.T. Studd, was a man who possessed
everything that the world could give.
And a man who gave all he had
back to the world for his own glory,
not for God's glory, for his own glory
and for the satisfaction of his own heart.
His father was a millionaire who made his
fortune in India in the 19th century.
And so as a result, C.T. and
his brothers were reared quite literally with a
silver spoon in their mouths.
And they were reared in the arrogance and
the attitude of superiority that was seen only
amongst the wealthiest children in England.
They were fox hunters, they raced horses, they
were welcome in the elite homes of those
wealthy, the wealthiest individuals of England.
There was privilege, obviously, with being a part
of such a wealthy family.
And they were admired by all of those
who were in England because C.T. and
his brothers were amongst the greatest cricket players
of their day.
Now, how many of you know what cricket
is, you young people?
It would be the equivalent of baseball in
this country.
They're different, but I want to draw an
analogy here and a parallel.
These men were popular, C.T. and his
brothers, because of their athleticism.
And they would be akin to Barry Bonds
in our day.
Fill the blank with any name that you
want in there with regard to a famous
baseball player, a basketball player, Michael Jordan.
They would be of that par, recognized in
England for their ability to compete in cricket.
So they knew, they were known, and the
question, of course, would arise because of who
they were, who their father was, could the
Lord Jesus Christ ever lay hold upon Edward
Studd and his three sons?
And if they did indeed become Christians, wouldn't
the world into which they were so deeply
entrenched, because of their rich background, because of
their wealthy background and their fame, wouldn't that
crowd out any real commitment to Christ anyway?
Well, you judge for yourself as I tell
you about the life of C.T. Studd.
It all began when Edward Studd, the father
of C.T. Studd, was invited by a
friend to attend a D.L. Moody evangelistic
meeting.
And to the surprise of all, Edward Studd,
this worldly man, this money-seeking, pleasure-loving
millionaire, was converted to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And immediately, his whole concern became the lost
souls of the world, and his love for
money and pleasure had vanished.
Edward Studd actually lived only two more years
after he was saved, but he accomplished more
in those final two years of his life
than he had prior to his conversion, his
whole life prior to his conversion.
He left a legacy in his sons that
was beyond belief and the effect which is
immeasurable.
This ought to be an encouragement to those
of us who are parents.
You have a legacy that you're trying to
leave as a saved individual, and the legacy
that you're leaving has to do with your
sons and daughters if God's blessed you.
And perhaps right now those sons and daughters
aren't saved, and perhaps right now they're going
quite the opposite direction you would desire them
to go.
My encouragement to you this evening would be
don't give up hope.
Continue to pray and continue to live the
life of Christ before them, and let God
worry about saving them, so to speak.
This man God snatched from, really, the very
fires of hell, and through his sons he
left a legacy that is immeasurable.
At the time of Edward Studd's conversion, his
three sons were away at school, of course
very good schools, and he arranged to meet
with them.
And what a shock it was for them
to hear that their father had been converted
at a Moody meeting.
And then to hear his request that they
all come to a Moody meeting with him,
this was unbelievable to them.
They were not at all happy to hear
about their father's conversion.
After all, they were leading athletes in England
and really amongst the nations.
And they thought, what kind of sissies would
our friends think we are and our fans
if a reporter, a news reporter, actually saw
us at a Moody meeting?
But they gave in to their father's gracious
insistence, and the three of them were also
converted that night under the preaching of D
.O. Moody and by the power of God.
Their lives were changed radically by the power
of Christ as had been their fathers.
And so these three men who were idolized,
really, in England, who had been drifting away
into eternity on the perilous sea of this
world, were rescued by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The three Studd brothers were, the other two
brothers were also known by their initials.
So you had J.E.K., you had
G.B., and you had C.T. And
they had not only risen to the highest
circles in the athletic world in college, but
they also were the recognized athletes in the
amateur and professional world of cricket.
C.T. was labeled by many as the
greatest cricket player of his day.
If you go on the Internet and you
type in his name, he is the topic
still on cricket discussion lists.
So he still is regarded, his name is
still well known.
And again, I would liken him to almost
like a Barry Bonds of his day.
During the days following their conversion, all conversions,
all three brothers lived for Christ and with
even more commitment and enthusiasm that they had
given to cricket.
But after a while, C.T. fell into
a coldness of heart and there came a
turning point in his life when his brother,
G.B., was on his deathbed.
And it's quite unexpected, he had an illness
come upon him and C.T. was constantly
at his brother's bedside.
And during those days of his concern for
his brother, he reached this conclusion.
What is the worth of popularity, fame, riches
and the possessions of this world when a
man is facing eternity?
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
What will a profitable man if he gained
the whole world and yet lose his own
soul?
Well, C.T. Studd had had it all.
Vanity of vanities, he concluded, all is vanity.
And this portion of his life turned out
to be a turning point that brought him
to a fresh commitment again to Jesus Christ.
And from that hour on, we are at
least we read that his soul burned, his
soul burned for the souls of lost men
and women.
And this world and its things meant nothing
to him.
Now, it was during this time also that
God used him for the first time to
lead somebody to Jesus Christ.
He said, quote, I cannot tell you what
joy it gave me to lead that soul
to the Lord.
I've tasted all of the pleasures that the
world can give.
And I can tell you that those pleasures
were nothing compared to the joy that the
salvation of that one soul brought to my
heart.
So you young people, you don't have to
experience all that C.T. Studd experienced of
the world.
Here's an eyewitness telling you that that has
nothing to offer you as far as pleasure,
true, lasting pleasure.
So from that moment on, he was burdened
for the souls of men, especially those who
had never heard the gospel.
He began to hear their voices, to see
faces in his mind, though he had never
been to the nations that he was concerned
for.
He knew that he had to live for
the salvation of the lost.
Following the renewal of his faith and his
commitment to seek the loss of this world,
he found his heart was no longer for
the sport of cricket.
C.T. Studd became a speaker at Moody's
subsidiary meetings in Britain because Moody had left
to evangelize in America.
Strange, isn't it?
We actually need missionaries now in this day
in our country, in the state that we're
in.
But Moody had left for America.
And so C.T.'s seeking to find God's
will for his life.
He spends three months in intense Bible study
and prayer, praying for God's guidance.
He rejected business possibilities.
It was during this time of seeking to
understand God's will that he encountered this tract
that was written by an atheist and a
portion of it read this way.
If I firmly believed, as millions of Christians
say that they do, that the knowledge and
practice of their Christianity in this lifetime influences
their destiny in another life, then Christianity would
mean everything to me.
I would cast away all of my earthly
enjoyments as dross, my earthly cares as well,
and my earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity.
Christianity would be my first waking thought and
my last image as I sank into unconsciousness
of sleep.
I would labor in the cause of Christ
and I would take no thought of tomorrow,
but only of eternity alone.
I would consider one soul gained for heaven
worth a life of suffering.
Earthly consequences would never stay my end, nor
seal my lips from telling men of Christ.
Earth, its joys and griefs would occupy no
moment in my thoughts.
I would strive to look on eternity alone
and on the immortal souls of men around
me.
So to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable,
I would go forth to the world in
preach and preach to it in season and
out of season.
And my whole text would be what shall
it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and yet loses his own soul?
By a by an atheist.
CT immediately saw that this was truly consistent
Christian living as impossible as it seemed to
live in that manner, and he saw as
well how inconsistent his life had been, and
he was determined to go from time from
that time forth to to live in the
grace of God as consistently as he could,
committing himself once again to living for Christ
as much as he could by the grace
of God.
He would do God's will.
He determined and God's will alone, regardless of
what any man might say.
And God was faithful in revealing his will
for CT's life.
CT concluded at this point in time in
his life that he must go to China.
But then came the biggest test of his
life, his family, not his brothers, but his
other immediate family and extended family.
They had learned to cope with CT's conversion,
but a missionary on a foreign field, that
was too much.
So every means was used by his family
to persuade him not to go to China.
Even some missionaries and Christian friends told him
that he was making a great mistake.
Many told him that he could stay in
England and give all his money and inheritance
to missionaries.
You see the temptation.
Stay here, give your money, help the cause
of Christ.
Some told him that he would break his
mother's heart if he went.
But as he kept praying, God kept the
worlds before him and his word before him.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for your inheritance and the uttermost
parts of the earth for your possession.
And these words became CT's marching orders.
This conviction was solidified in his mind when
one night he stood under a flickering light
waiting for a train and he read the
words, a man's foes shall be they of
his own household.
And from that moment on, he never looked
back.
He must go to China regardless.
After this commitment, six other men, to be
exact, followed.
And that's what you have in your sheet
before you.
They they were dubbed by the media in
England, the Cambridge Seven, the Cambridge Seven.
This led they became so popular in England
that it led to invitations for these men
to speak at student gatherings where they were
where they were, in a sense, cheered.
And a great revival began amongst the student
groups there in England, finally faithful to their
callings.
The Cambridge Seven set sail for China in
February of 1885, sponsored by China Inland Missions.
And that's why you have a picture of
Jay Hudson Taylor there, a founder of China
Inland Missions.
They sailed and as they sailed, they impacted
the lives of those who were on board
the ship.
Many of those crew and passengers before the
ship landed in China came to know Christ.
And when they arrived in China, they began
adapting to the Chinese culture and there was
nothing glamorous about what was going on in
China.
The stench of dung was prevalent, mingled with
the stench of unwashed bodies.
They were heading into the interior of China.
Disease was common, especially amongst the poor and
peasant class.
These seven men dispersed themselves into the inland
areas of the nation of China and faced
journeys on mule.
They had to walk by foot.
They had to take houseboats, trudging through the
mud daily, sometimes living in dirty inns at
night, as well as trying to learn the
language.
The CT committed himself at this time anew
to reading the Bible extensively.
But yet another decision was pressing upon him.
What am I to do with my large
inheritance that is going to be coming to
me soon?
All through his life, because of the wealth
of his father, he lacked absolutely nothing.
He had enjoyed and lived in an expensive
estate in a mansion.
He had always had money for these needs
and for whatever pleasure he desired, and he
never had to learn to live by faith
with respect to God meeting his needs for
God, with respect to God being the sole
object of his faith for his provision.
He'd never known what that was like.
And though he understood that it was not
the decision that every man was to make,
that is, what was he going to do
with his inheritance?
He felt that because God had been because
money had been a God in his life
before he was saved.
He thought that because he'd never learned what
it was to live by faith in that
area of his life with respect to money,
he came to the conviction that he was
to give away his massive inheritance in order
to know what it is to live by
faith.
And so when he reached his 25th birthday
in China, he signed papers to give up
his inheritance.
One biographer wrote this, this was not a
fool's plunge on his part.
It was his public testimony before God and
man that he believed God's word to be
the surest thing on earth and that hundredfold
interest, which God had promised in this life
not to speak of the next, is an
actual reality for those who believed and acted
upon it.
Now, he didn't know the exact amount of
his inheritance, but he began giving it away.
He sent money to deal Moody, which helped
start the Moody Institute as well.
He sent money to George Mueller in Bristol,
England.
Now, can you imagine this?
We don't appreciate this, but I like because
we're we're in the Bay Area and the
Giants and Barry Bonds is so huge in
the Bay Area.
Could you imagine Barry Bonds standing up one
day in front of the media and saying,
I'm leaving baseball to go become a missionary
in China?
And oh, by the way, I'm giving away
all my money to mission work.
I think if you heard that, you'd you'd
do a double take.
What is that?
Is that did he say what I thought
he said?
This is the type of impact that this
had in England upon those countrymen.
Who saw this man converted and then acting
upon his faith, really, with everything he had.
He gave other portions to other worthy ministries
and he kept a small amount for himself.
And now his friends and family hear about
this and they thought that CT had lost
his mind.
Also about this time, having been in China
now three years, he got married to Priscilla
Livingstone Stewart.
You see a picture of their also of
her on the second page.
So just before his wedding, he presents his
wife to be with the remaining money from
his inheritance.
And it's recorded that she looked at CT
and said, Charlie, what did the Lord tell
the rich man to do?
And he responded, sell all.
And she responded, well, then we'll start clear
with the Lord at our wedding.
And they proceeded to give the rest away,
the rest of the money away to the
Lord's work.
Clearly, Priscilla was a godly woman who had
married CT, not for his fame and not
for his money, but that they might pursue
the will of God together.
And the richest gain, according to the world,
they counted but loss.
And the vain things that had charmed them
most, they were willing to sacrifice for the
blood of Christ.
He demanded their lives and their all.
As he grew in the Lord and as
he contemplated, I'll have some quotes for you
at the end, some common quotes from him,
and you'll see that he was taken up.
That's what drove him.
He was taken up.
He understood how much he had been loved
and it was nothing for him to give
it away, nothing for him to give it
all to God.
Well, CT's new wife was from Belfast, Ireland.
She had come to China the same year
that Cambridge Seven had come to help in
the missionary work before her conversion.
She had set her heart on the world
as well until she was found by Christ.
And from that point on, her full allegiance
was to Jesus Christ.
Immediately after their wedding, they went to work
in the inland city of China, Loom Gang
Fu.
And for five years, they never went out
of their house without facing the cursing of
the people in that little town.
Anything that happened bad in that city was
blamed on them.
Droughts, floods didn't matter.
They blamed the missionaries as they left their
houses, housed glass and bricks would be thrown
at them.
But in time, God melted the hearts of
the people, giving the studs the fruit of
their labors.
Their converts became bold for Christ, even though
they too faced severe persecution and suffering from
their fellow countrymen.
And during this time, CT also opened an
opium refuge, a ministry to the opium addicts
of China.
There were as many as 50 refugees or
or patients in this in this facility at
one time.
And during their seven years in China, 800
men and women passed through the doors of
that refuge, and many went away knowing Christ
as well as being cured of their opium
opium addiction.
During this time, God gave studs five children.
They never had a doctor present for the
birth of their children because they were in
such a remote part of China.
Mrs. Studd, in fact, almost died at the
birth of their first child in 1889.
Their fifth child was born and lived only
one day in the year 1893, CT himself
almost died.
He returned home to England in 1894 after
serving 10 years as a missionary in China.
In 1896, he traveled to America to help
stir revival amongst the students as he was
used of God in England before he left
for China.
So God used him again in America amongst
the students as the revival has now spread
to the states.
CT traveled extensively, speaking to hundreds of students
at a time.
Many were saved.
Many deepened their commitment to serve Christ in
any way that they could.
In 1900, in the year 1900, CT and
his family went to Udi, India, and he
pastored a church there for six years.
He was especially excited to go back to
India because this was the nation in which
his father had made, had acquired his wealth.
And now his desire, CT's desire, was to
harvest souls from that nation.
And indeed, he found many responsive hearts.
He even joined the cricketer for a time
in order to gain opportunities to minister the
gospel and soon returned to his old form.
But all of this work in India was
not without trial.
CT was beginning to suffer from asthma and
he was actually getting about two hours of
sleep a night.
He was having to sleep.
He could sleep somewhere between the hours of
two and four a.m. Otherwise, he was
up sitting upright in a chair, struggling and
gasping for air.
In the midst of the trial, though, God
also gave victories.
All four of their daughters, Grace, Dorothy, Edith
and Pauline, came to know the Lord during
these days in India.
The family left India and returned to England
in 1906, and God continued to provide all
of their needs, including the funds for their
daughters education, educations.
And to those who said that they might
have given up too much during their earthly
years of marriage and family, CT and Priscilla
needed only remind themselves of the sacrifice of
Christ, what he had suffered, his humiliation, his
life, his death on the cross.
Christ's love for them, that in turn motivated
them to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, who
had loved them so much.
Again, it sounds like this morning's sermon, doesn't
it?
The last and perhaps greatest era of CT
Studd's ministry was into the heart of Africa.
While home during this period in 1906 and
following, he came across a posted sign advertising
a missionary speaker by the name of Carl
Kuhn.
The sign read rather humorously, cannibals want missionaries.
Cannibals want missionaries.
It caught his attention.
Carl Kuhn had walked across the interior of
Africa preaching the gospel, and now he was
in America telling his story or in England,
excuse me, telling the story of his life
and ministry experiences.
CT went to listen to him and to
hear the large, large amount of tribes across
the middle middle of Africa who had never
heard the gospel.
Kuhn said this, explorers had come, big game
hunters have come, traders, scientists had traveled and
braved the dangers, but no missionaries have gone
into these areas.
And that truth sank deeply into CT's heart.
He asked himself, why haven't the Christians gone?
And the Lord seemed to answer back, why
don't you go?
And CT thought in return, my doctors won't
let me go.
And thought came back into his mind, am
I not the great physician?
Can I not take you through?
And so he felt he had no excuses.
He knew he had to go to Africa,
but he knew it would not be easy.
He had no money.
He was now 50 years old.
He had gone through the past 15 years
of bad health.
How could he face the tropics and all
of the problems in Africa with his health?
What about his family?
He would have to leave them in England.
Priscilla could not travel because of her health.
And when he discussed the matter with his
wife, she agreed that he had to follow
the Lord wherever he led.
But then the Lord put CT down with
malaria.
One group of Christian businessmen agreed to sponsor
CT and his trip to Africa, but only
if the doctors would approve it.
CT knew that the doctors would never approve
of such a trip, but then the businessmen
agreed to back him no matter what, if
he would only go to certain areas that
had already been evangelized and not south of
Khartoum.
CT refused to such an agreement, he did
not want to go to an area that
had already been evangelized, so the businessmen refused
to support him.
So here he is, he's penniless.
He's opposed by his doctors.
He's forsaken by his prior supporters.
And yet God's still burdening him to go.
What is he going to do?
What he'd done for all of his life,
he staked everything upon his faithful God, the
one who had been faithful in the past,
he concluded would be faithful to him now.
His answer to his doctor and the committee
of businessmen was this, gentlemen, God has called
me to go and I will go.
I will blaze the trail, though my grave
may only become a stepping stone for the
younger men who may follow.
And God did not fail him.
Funds were provided for him in a matter
of days, and CT sailed for Africa December
15th, 1910.
By this time, he was a man who
was of age.
He was well past the age of of
a pioneer missionary.
What was he doing in Africa on a
pioneering mission endeavor?
Yet he was willing to set out alone
and with very little backing.
His only certainty was God had called him
to go.
He was convinced that this trip would not
only have an impact on the on Africa
now, but the future evangelization of Africa.
And he was right.
He left a lasting impact upon the mission
endeavor into Africa.
The following years in Africa were more difficult
than any of his previous days as a
missionary.
His daily situation could have led to discouragement
and disillusion if he would have allowed it.
He suffered many bodily weaknesses.
He continued to face negative attitudes, not only
in Africa, but of those back home, but
not from his beloved wife, who stood solidly
behind him, understanding the great necessity of his
ministry and his work.
That's interesting.
I don't know that that I would have
counseled CT to leave his wife and family
to go to the mission field.
But I'm not there and I wasn't in
the context of everything that was going on
there.
No idea what the rationale was.
You might be sitting there thinking, well, he
was irresponsible.
He left his wife and family.
Bottom line is, we don't know exactly what
the context was.
So he stated this at one time.
Well, we know at least this, his wife
never stopped backing him.
So there was no bitterness there.
He stated at one point that the doctors
would have frightened me into my grave a
long time ago had I paid attention to
them.
But I live by faith, by the faith
in Jesus and by faith in the power
of God.
And Christ never failed him.
Maybe he wasn't seen as prominently in every
situation, in the circumstances, in his friends and
family who opposed him.
But Christ was there in the shadows, strengthening
CT and helping him in the most difficult
of circumstances.
In the years that followed, though he was
weak in body, he trekked through the very
heart of the great continent of Africa, evangelizing
the lost and planting churches.
He was the first pioneer of the Heart
of Africa Missionary Society.
He constantly challenged others to this great work.
CT returned home after several years and laid
out the challenge personally to others.
And when he left to return to Africa
from his visit home, parting from his family
and his daughters, his wife and his daughters
was even more difficult than ever before.
When others questioned his need to stay at
home and not return to Africa, he said
this.
If Jesus Christ is God and died for
me, then no sacrifice can be too great
for me to make for him.
His only companion on this trip, as he
pioneered again into Africa, was a man named
Alfred Buxton.
They faced unimaginable dangers.
While on this tour, he heard that he'd
become a grandfather for the first time, which
no doubt was a time of joy, but
also a time of homesickness.
Men continued to question him and his his
his endeavors in Africa.
In addition, there were threats to his life.
There were headhunters, there were cannibals.
His friends asked him, what if you die
there in Africa, to which he would reply,
Hallelujah.
He also replied, some wish to live within
the sound of a church or chapel bells.
I want to run a rescue shop within
a yard of hell.
That's amazing conviction, isn't it?
I want to run a rescue shop within
a yard of hell.
In the year 1916, CT returned home once
again, and when he left for Africa after
this visit, neither he or Priscilla realized that
this was going to be their final extended
period of time together on Earth.
They did meet briefly for a few hours
over the next 13 years, but this was
their final extended time together.
When he got back to Africa, he pushed
further and further into the dark heart of
the Great Continent until finally his body couldn't
take it anymore.
Not only was he continued to being plagued
by his asthma, but now he had bouts
with fevers.
He suffered suffered several heart attacks and he
had intestinal problems.
Having already opened a great part of Africa
up to the gospel, he would not stop
working.
He was determined to translate the New Testament
in the King Wano language.
It would be a marvelous intellectual feat for
a man 70 years of age.
He worked day and night, 18 hours a
day with no set meals.
He was a man on a mission, perhaps
realizing it was his last.
He finished the New Testament in portions of
the Psalms and Proverbs, but at a great
cost, he was finally confined to his bed.
Only those who were with him could understand
the suffering of his last two years.
He had an agonizing weakness of body.
He had nausea.
He had heart attack after heart attack.
He had terrible fights for breath because of
his asthma.
He had violent shivering.
And yet the spiritual man was full of
joy as he saw other missionaries going forth
following the trail that he had blazed, winning
souls to Christ.
In 1529, it can't be the right date.
I've got the wrong date here.
And what is it?
Is it there on your sheet?
1829?
1929, it had to be right.
He received word that his beloved wife had
been taken home to be with the Lord.
He knew that it wouldn't be long till
he joined her.
And the years that the people had thought
that he had lost with her would be
regained, rejoicing at the throne of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
The last few months of his life, he
saw the native church in Africa catching fire
for evangelizing their own people, sending forth their
own people to evangelize their own countrymen.
His death came suddenly at 1030 on Thursday,
July 16th, 1931.
His breathing became labored.
Between each hard-fought breath, he would cry
out hallelujah until finally he passed to his
eternal reward.
Thousands of natives came to his funeral and
carried him to the gravesite and buried him
as they sang standing by the cross, standing
by the cross.
We shall help each other standing by the
cross.
He had finally reached his destination.
The battle was over.
Jesus had welcomed him home.
Now, someone has said that the life of
C.T. Studd will be an eternal rebuke
to the easygoing Christianity of America in the
20th century, and it is, isn't it?
There's no doubt that C.T. Studd had
a tremendous impact on the cause of missions.
One man wrote to him during his life
and he wrote these words, Let the victors
when they come, when the forts of folly
fall, find your body close to the wall.
And certainly that's where they found him, close
to the war of battle for his Lord.
Albert Buxton, who was C.T.'s co-pioneer
into the heart of Africa, wrote of him,
C.T. was essentially a cavalry leader.
In that in that respect, he led several
splendid charges.
China, India and Africa.
And like a good cavalry leader, he never
sounded retreat.
But he lived the life and died the
death of a faithful soldier for Christ.
His body was truly found at death close
to the wall.
Yes, C.T. Studd, the famous athlete, the
one who had been raised with a silver
spoon in his mouth, the man who gave
up his fortune to go to the mission
fields, to live in shacks and huts and
to even die for the glory of God
in the souls of men.
Yes, he was quite a man.
Now, I'm not suggesting this evening by setting
this man's life before you that all of
us should follow exactly in the footsteps of
C.T. Studd.
There are those of us whom God calls
to given stations.
God calls some of us to right where
you're at in your present job situation.
God may be calling some of you young
people, older people to the mission field.
God calls some to pray and to give
to mission causes.
So don't do as I used to do
when I hear these biographies, you get so
discouraged.
How could I ever live like that?
Well, maybe God hasn't called you to live
like that.
But perhaps there's someone here this evening.
Some of the young people whom God might
use.
And you whom you might be one of
those that follows in the steps of C
.T. Studd to the mission field to give
up everything.
It's truly amazing to think about what he
gave up.
I'm not saying go out and become a
famous baseball player, make all this money and
then give it up.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying this man had a commitment to
Christ that would put most of us to
shame because of the willingness of what he
was able, the strength of faith that God
gave him and what he was able to
give up for the cause of Jesus Christ.
But I would exhort you tonight, whatever station
God has called you to right now in
this particular aspect of your life, particular time
of your life, ask yourself, which one am
I?
Am I one of those that God's calling
to go?
Am I one of those that God has
called to pray and to give and to
support with my prayers?
That's just as important, believe it or not.
You saw the struggle that C.T. went
through to get funding to go to the
mission field.
Yes, it's important that we support missionary causes
so that the missionaries free to preach the
gospel.
Which one am I?
Are you the one who's going to go
or wants to go or is being called
to go in that sense?
Are you the one who prays and gives?
Perhaps God is calling some young man tonight
to follow in C.T. Studd's footsteps to
the mission field.
Perhaps, perhaps it's one of your sons whom
God's going to call.
I would encourage you parents to keep ever
before your children's eyes.
The glorious aspect of serving God.
Not necessarily here, but perhaps abroad.
Don't paint a romantic picture in that sense.
But perhaps God has placed within the confines
of this church a missionary to go forth
and preach the gospel.
And bring rejoicing to your hearts, wouldn't it?
As a church, all of us must fill
the place that God has given to us.
No one else can fill it for us.
And that place will surely include if we
stay here in America, giving and praying for
mission fields.
And don't beat yourself up over that.
It's just as important.
Giving and praying for the mission fields of
the world and missionaries whom he calls to
the field.
Are you willing?
Are you and I willing?
And are we fulfilling our callings to evangelize
the world with the gospel?
Whatever that might mean, there isn't an option
with us.
What are we doing?
Are you praying?
Are you giving?
Is God calling you?
We're all participating in the Great Commission, one
way or another, God sends us into this
world to reach the lost with the gospel
of Christ.
We must have a part in reaching the
world with the gospel.
And I know that you as a church
are.
But I'm asking you individually, make it a
point in your family devotions, in your schooling.
To bring up the mission field and to
give your children a vision beyond Sacramento and
beyond California.
And perhaps God will stir up within their
own hearts a heart to go.
And preach the gospel to lost souls, perhaps
within your families, God will raise up one
of your daughters.
Who will have a heart.
That wants to go with a man who's
going to go, you see what I'm getting
at, right?
Oftentimes, young ladies aren't interested at all in
going to a mission field and giving up
what Priscilla gave up, the comforts of England,
the comforts of Ireland and going and serving
God beside her husband.
Raising our daughters is just as important with
that mentality as it is raising our sons.
And may God, may God lay hold of
some of you young men here, not only
in salvation, but with a heart to serve
God at whatever cost.
Whatever cost, leaving the comforts of this country
to preach the gospel to lost souls.
What a joy and what glory it would
bring to God.
Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father, we do we do marvel
at the grace, the work of grace that
you fashioned not only in Edward Studd, but
in his sons and the impact that they
had for the cause of Christ as they
sought to follow the Great Commission.
To live out the Great Commission, especially C
.T. And God, we recognize that you have
not called all of us to be missionaries,
but you have called us to do something.
God, we pray that you probe our hearts,
that we would have a gut check, as
it were, with you this evening.
And that we would have a clear conscience
as to what we're doing.
But as far as our prayers and as
far as our giving for the cause of
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, stir
up within each of our hearts a greater
love for the souls of men.
Not only here in the in the Sacramento
area and within right right in within the
proximity of this church building, stir up within
us a love for the souls of men.
Perhaps whom we've never seen.
And yet we know are dying and going
to hell.
Help us to that end, God, you've loved
us so much.
God, might we manifest that love in our
own lives by loving the souls of lost
men and women and boys and girls.
We ask it in Jesus name.
Amen.
We're going to sing a close.