Day 19
The Mind of a Missionary Devotional

Living for Life Eternal
The Cambridge Seven

“How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” — Romans 10:14

The hallowed halls of Cambridge University echoed with a newfound zeal for God’s Kingdom expansion in the late nineteenth century. The landscape of Christian missions was about to be altered by seven radical, young, and influential men.

Stanley Peregrine Smith, the head of the well-known Cambridge rowing team, began to sense the missionary call after reading China’s Spiritual Needs and Claims by Hudson Taylor. “About the end of 1883,” he said, “I wrote to Mr. Hudson Taylor telling him I wanted to come out to China.” Six of his friends sensed the foreign fields calling them, too. Montagu Beauchamp, Stanley’s best friend who had long supported Taylor’s China Inland Mission (CIM), joined the call. Overwhelmed by the profound Gospel disparity in China, Dixon Hoste followed suit. C. T. Studd, the captain of the Cambridge cricket team and one of the greatest players to have ever played the popular sport, expressed interest in the mission. William Cassels, Cecil Polhill-Turner, and Arthur Polhill-Turner joined the band of brothers who became known as the Cambridge Seven.

The seven men deviated from the cultural norms of their day. Each was recognized for his athletic prowess, educational genius, military valor, or spiritual stature. Yet, when they chose to cast aside their earthly ambitions and societal expectations to obey God’s call to missions, their decision was seen by many as a sad waste of youth. They reckoned otherwise. Compelled by Christ’s command to “Go into all the world,” their willing obedience and response to a higher calling far eclipsed human aspiration.

After their acceptance into the CIM, the seven young men toured the campuses of England and Scotland for one month in early 1885. Their testimonies and revival meetings drew large crowds, changing lives and altering ambitions, and awakening the Church in Great Britain to the need for global missions. Their influence soon extended across the Atlantic to the United States, helping bolster the early days of the Student Volunteer Movement.

England was shocked to read The Evangelisation of the World: A Missionary Band. The small publication documenting the Cambridge Seven’s missionary plans became a national bestseller, inspiring countless others to give themselves to the cause of Christ. The spiritual enthusiasm of the young men reached the Queen of England herself, who received the booklet containing their testimonies. One entry by Stanley Smith clearly stated their collective intentions: “We want to come to the Chinaman, buried in theories and prejudices, and bound by chains of lust, and say to him, ‘Brother, I bring you an almighty Saviour!’” Their zealous appeals sparked a missional zeal among their countrymen, turning Great Britain’s domesticated Gospel approach on its head.

At their last farewell meeting before setting sail to China in February 1885, C. T. Studd posed a challenging question to the audience: “Are you living for the day or are you living for life eternal? Are you going to care for the opinion of men here or for the opinion of God?” His words, along with the testimonies of the other members, stirred the hearts of many, leading to a profound spiritual awakening.

The Cambridge Seven arrived in Shanghai on March 18, 1885, continuing their journey inland to Shanxi with Hudson Taylor. Their efforts in the obscure field proved successful. In the four years from 1886 to 1890, they baptized over six hundred people. During that same period, their presence assisted in opening eight new mission stations in various parts of the province.

Some of them made their way to new inland fields as far as Tibet and beyond China to India and Central Africa, catapulting the China Inland Mission from obscurity to “almost embarrassing prominence.” When the seven men first arrived in China in 1885, the entire missionary task force of the CIM had 163 missionaries. By 1890, the number of missionaries had doubled, and by 1900, roughly 800 Kingdom workers had made their way to mission fields around the world.

The “men of culture, education, and distinguished gifts, intellectual as well as spiritual” revealed the impact a group of individuals can make when they obey God’s call. “Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into Heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ,” C. T. Studd later wrote. “Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.” Confronting the enemy’s plans head-on, the seven young men sounded the trumpet for succeeding generations to follow their steps to foreign mission fields.

– Personal Response –

Passage: How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:14)

Point: Responding to the call of God with a willing heart and mind is the essence of living for everlasting things.

Ponder: Do you care more about earthly comfort and the opinion of others, or the souls who have never heard the name of Jesus?

Prayer: Lord, awaken my heart to Your global mission. Give me boldness to live for what truly lasts. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Proclamation: I will not waste my life on what fades or elevate the opinion of man over God’s desires. I will live for Christ and eternity regardless of what others may think.

Practice: Contact a missions organization or missionary this week. Ask how you can tangibly support global evangelism through giving, praying, mobilizing, or going.

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