HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

200 THE MAN WHO BELIEVED GOD
It was the blessedness of literally obeying the Scriptures
upon which he laid such emphasis.
"The words, 'The Law of the Lord', which we understand
to mean the whole Word of God, are very suggestive", he
wrote. "They indicate that the Bible is intended to teach us
what God would have us to do; that we should not merely
seek for the promises, and try to get all we can from God; but
should much more earnestly desire to know what He wants
us to be and to do for Him.
"It is recorded of Ezra, that he prepared his heart to seek
the Law of the Lord, in order that he might do it, and teach
in Israel statutes and judgments. The result was that the
hand of his God was upon him for good, the desires of his
heart were largely granted, and he became the channel of
blessing to his whole people."
His expositions of Scripture always came down to
the bed-rock of obedience, of some practical issue. "If
ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." He
was no doctrinaire. As a teacher, and as a preacher, his
strength lay in the practical application of truth. Speaking,
for instance, at the close of one of the Mildmay
Conferences when the subject was "The Knowledge of
God", he opened his remarks as follows:
. "We have been considering together for the last three
days the subject of the Knowledge of God. . . . And now
comes the responsibility. We are going away. Where are we
going? What are we going to do? How are we going to live?
How are we going to serve this gracious One, the knowledge
of Whom has been our theme from day to day?
"The practical part of our subject ... is very closely connected
with the meditations of the preceding days. There is
a far closer connection than we sometimes realize between
the knowledge of God and practical use of that knowledge .
. . . We cannot separate these things .... We only know that
through which we have passed .... "