The Sufficiency of Christ

Hudson Taylor was invited to preach the opening sermon at the General Missionary Conference in Shanghai in 1890. His theme was "The Heart of Jesus and His Sufficiency". In it he dealt with Jesus' feeding of the four thousand in Matthew 15:29-39. He said, "I am so glad it was a great multitude, so great that the disciples thought it simply impossible to feed them. Yet the multitude were in real need, and the need too was immediate. It must either be met at once or not at all . . . Let us notice that in these circumstances the presence of the disciples alone would not have sufficed. They might perhaps have said, "Poor things!" They might have regretted that they had not more bread with them; but they would have left the multitude hungry. But Jesus was there; and His presence secured the carrying out of His compassionate purpose. All were fed, all were filled, all went away satisfied and strengthened; and the disciples were not only reproved and instructed, but were enriched also."

Sent to me by Jennifer Dixon from Roger Steer's biography of Hudson Taylor.