In 1902, D.E. Hoste succeeded Hudson Taylor
in overseeing the China Inland Mission.
He served as the director for 30 years.
Shortly after taking over leadership,
the Boxer Rebellion took place.
By the end of it,
58 members of the mission team
had been brutally murdered
along with 21 of their children.
How as a new leader,
facing such a massive test,
did Hoste lead the mission
at that crucial moment in missions history?
At the end of the rebellion,
upon the Chinese government regaining stabilization,
they sought to compensate the mission
for their losses and casualties.
But, for the sake of the Gospel advancing,
Hoste led the mission to do something
most would be shocked by -
he led them to not take the money
that the government offered.
In this incredible act of turning the other cheek,
when all these missionaries had been murdered,
it led the government to put a public notice out
that their citizens would read.
And in part, it declared the following:
"The mission, in rebuilding these churches
with its own funds,
aims in so doing to fulfill the command
of the Savior of the world,
that all men should love their neighbors as themselves...
Contrasting the way in which we
have been treated by the missionaries
with our treatment of them..."
"From this time forward I charge you all...
to bear in mind the example of Pastor Hoste,
who is able to forbear and to forgive,
as taught by Jesus to do."
Through Hoste's leadership,
the Chinese recognized
that the missionaries not only taught about Christ,
but sought to actually live as Christ lived.
Bearing with the Chinese,
that was what Hoste and the other missionaries
were striving to do for the sake of the Gospel.
Hoste is the one who said,
"It will not avail much to preach to the Chinese
of access to God through the blood of Jesus
if they find that there is no access
to the missionary himself and his home."
Hoste strove to be hospitable towards the Chinese,
to not be some far off foreigner.
And like those before him,
he even dressed like the majority
of the Chinese culture did
in order to have an open door for the Gospel.
So who was this man, D.E. Hoste?
And how did the Lord mold him
to this point in his life
to lead the mission in this way?
D.E Hoste was a military officer at 18
and he was lost,
but the Lord was gracious to save him
upon hearing the evangelist D.L. Moody preach.
And after that, the Lord did a work in his life.
He had a burden to go to the mission field.
And he went out as one of the Cambridge Seven
who went to China.
This group included the famous athlete of his day, C.T. Studd.
Hoste was a man who was gripped with eternity.
And he said, "If this Gospel is true,"
"and I know it is, as it has changed my life,
I want to make it known
where Christ is not known.
There are many people in other lands
who have never heard it,
and the Lord wants them to hear it,
for He says so.
And I want to give my life to this."
As a believer, he lived as a devoted soldier of Christ.
Here's just one example.
While in China, the mail days
were far and few between.
They weren't getting some notification
on a smartphone in their pocket.
And mail arrived one day
and his first impulse was to sit down
and read the letters.
But, he was arrested by the thought
that if he'd still been in the army,
he would not have allowed the personal to take first place.
And he thought why should I be more lax
in serving as a missionary?
So resolutely, he put away his letters until lunchtime
and he resumed his study.
Hoste was self-disciplined.
He was living as a soldier of Christ,
striving to not be entangled
by the affairs of this world.
As you read his biography,
his humility shines forth.
Consider some examples of his humility.
Number one, when Hoste first arrived in China,
he was serving with Pastor Hsi
and Stanley Smith,
another one of the Cambridge Seven.
Smith put himself forward as the leader
and Hoste says he was ruffled in his spirit
and he thought why should I serve under him?
We're about the same age anyways.
But later the Holy Spirit probed Hoste
and he was forced to admit
that he didn't relish the thought
of being under his friend.
And he realized the difficulty was in his own heart.
And it was impressed upon him
that his unwillingness, if it persisted,
would mean he'd have to part company
with the Lord Jesus Christ,
"who dwells with the humble ones,
those who willingly go down."
He says, "I, therefore, accepted my friend's suggestion,
and we worked happily together."
Notice what motivated Hoste
to not grieve the Holy Spirit
with his jealous desires.
He did not want to part company with Christ.
And he knew if he had pride,
it would distance his relationship with the Lord.
His communion would be grieved.
Hoste said, "When we are tempted to exalt self
and resent being put down or overlooked,
we need to be aware.
Satan said, 'I will be like the Most High.'
Pride and ambition are essentially Satanic characteristics."
The second example of his humility
that shown forth from his life
is from the content of his letters.
As you read his letters,
you see a sincere joy
as he recounts the spiritual triumphs of others.
This is in contrast to the jealous man
who envies the triumphs of others.
It's a beautiful thing to be able to read about
what the Lord is doing through the lives of others,
and rather than envy them,
you rejoice in what God is doing
and you don't have jealousy in your heart.
A third example of his humility
is how in his leadership,
he did not want to force people
to go against their conscience
in the decisions they made.
Hoste said, "What is the essential difference
between spurious and true Christian leadership?
When a man, in virtue of an official position in the church,
demands the obedience of another,"
no matter what that person's reasons are
and their conscience's convictions are,
"this is the spirit of tyranny."
When on the other hand,
by the exercise of tact and sympathy,
by prayer, spiritual power, sound wisdom,
one Christian worker is able to influence
and enlighten another
so that the latter through the medium
of his own reason now and conscience
is led to alter the course and adopt another,
that is true spiritual leadership.
What refreshing examples of humility!
This life of sensitivity to the Lord
will not be there if one's life
is not full of secret prayer.
And so secondly, I want to consider his prayer life.
In the biography, Thompson records
that Hoste had a knowledge
of the personnel of the Mission
that was extraordinary.
When there were 1,200 members and associates,
he knew each one of them by name,
where each one of them was working,
and the difficulties of the work
in which each was engaged.
And he knew all the names of the children
of the missionaries.
This was not just Thompson's glamorized perspective on Hoste.
As I read other biographies
of people who knew Hoste,
they made similar comments.
Dan Smith served with the China Inland Mission
and in his autobiography, he records,
"Another day, D.E. Hoste invited me to pray with him...
Mr. Hoste prayed and prayed
for four and a half hours.
Sometimes he would kneel, then stand,
then walk while he prayed.
There were 800 missionaries in the Mission.
And he knew them all by name
without looking at a book
and all their needs,
and the 300 children of them.
As for me, my knees were riveted to the floor.
I couldn't move.
I was filled with awe and reverential fear;
in this secret place of prayer.
Mr. Hoste was at home with God.
It was his chiefest pleasure..."
Dan Smith goes on to say
he would yet pray more.
He prayed for many in many countries,
for men of every race,
and for all classes of people.
The whole world was on his heart.
And this prayer session was no special thing.
It was his daily exercise
and "I was only in on it for part of it..."
albeit a four-and-a-half-hour part.
What a lesson!
What a way of teaching it.
You can only imagine being there yourself.
The well-known missionary to the Lisu, J.O. Fraser,
was also serving with the China Inland Mission,
and he required a medical operation.
And that cause him to spend
a significant amount of time at the headquarters.
And his biographer, Geraldine Taylor said
that for Fraser praying with Hoste
was among the most cherished privileges of his life
to join in those intercessions
and to learn through hours at a time
spent on their knees
what actual praying may mean
in the life of one bearing great responsibility.
So was prayer an easy task?
D.E. Hoste, this man of prayer,
acknowledged it was no easy task.
Hoste said, "It is far more difficult
to continue steadfastly in intercession
on behalf of those amongst whom
we are called to minister,
than to engage in outward activities for their good."
Meaning, it's easier to do the outward activities.
And he says this,
"And yet if the powers of darkness,
which are blinding the minds of the men
and hindering the work of God
are not overcome through sacrificial prayer,
little if anything is really accomplished."
So D.E. Hoste, this man of God,
was a man of prayer
who walked near to the Lord
which showed forth in his Christlike humility
that you see in his life.
And oh, how we need more men like this today
who are living for eternity
and doing so not with a Martha, Martha-like
anxious and troubled about many things type of attitude,
but with an attitude of sacrificial prayer.
This biography is one you can read
in which you will see areas in a man's life
to imitate as he imitated Christ.
And anyone in a leadership type position,
you'll find specific things to imitate
in this man as he imitated Christ
and lived a life as a soldier of Christ.
If you're interested in getting the book,
it can be acquired at Kingsley Press.
We've also published two articles from D.E. Hoste
that can be read on I'll Be Honest.
The first is "Jonathan's Robe:
A Humble Response to Being Surpassed and Overshadowed."
And the second is "The Folly of Human Preference."