The Jawbone of an Ass

The following was written by C. T. Studd as one of the Cambridge Seven, on his way through China on his first missionary trip.  It is taken from The Evangelisation of the World:  A Missionary Band:

"'The Lord reigneth,' and no mistake. But that is to be only the thin end of the wedge that is to stir the young men of the world. The Lord can do it easily enough ; nothing is too hard for Him. I am sure we want the young men to be saved ; then how much more does Jesus long for it. Let us just yield to Him and trust in Him, and He will do it sharp enough.

"I believe the way is to believe. Impossibilities have no real place in the real Christian soldier's vocabulary. No, we only know that 'all things are possible.' Some of us have only the jawbone of an ass ; but oh, what a mighty weapon that is, when surrendered to the Lord Jesus ! It beats a whole battery of scientific artillery, whose management is kept in human hands. Come along, then ; let us go forward, some of us with asses' jawbones, some with empty pitchers with lights inside, others with better weapons, may be ; but we won't go with anything that is not wholly consecrated.

"Just look how some armies of the world have gone forth to battle, how they have longed for the fight, how confident, though they could only hope for victory. We Christians have certain victory before us; yet how many hang back, how many want to be mere camp followers, taking the spoil, but not fighting the Lord's battles.

"Let us not be camp followers; let us be well girded, and ever ready to wield the sword of the Spirit. It is only a very short campaign, too, before the final victory and everlasting reward; then we shall see our great loving General in all His beauty and splendour, and how we will shout and sing His praises. But had we not better be getting some practice for it down here ?

"I am more sure than ever since coming to China that the reason why so many get dead and cold is that they refuse to obey Paul's command, 'Rejoice in the Lord always!' I am sure the devil is always trying to keep one from rejoicing in Jesus, and especially out here in China. I now more than ever realise that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Out here one finds the temptations are far stronger and more subtle than at home. You see, this is the devil's stronghold (but, praise God, it won't be for long). Temptations are of a different kind, too, as a rule.

". . . I am sure the Lord is going to do great things for us soon, and He will make the heathen acknowledge it, too. One often feels out here how the devil tries to get one depressed or cold, but the Lord is too strong for him, and so are we if we are abiding in Him, but not otherwise. Remember our temptations, and pray for us, as we do for you all.

". . . This is a real live work. If China is to be turned upside down, the missionaries must be turned inside out first. Pray that the Lord will rouse us all to go forth in His might, conquering and to conquer. Pray that Paul-like men may be raised up, whether among those here or at home. If a man cannot say from his heart and conscience, 'This one thing I do, and will do,' let him not come out. We want the pick of the Christian army out here, where the devil's headquarters and main army are."