- Home
- Speakers
- C.T. Studd
- The Bible
C.T. Studd

C.T. Studd (December 2, 1860 – July 16, 1931) was an English preacher, missionary, and evangelist whose radical devotion to Christ transformed missionary work in China, India, and Africa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born Charles Thomas Studd in Spratton, Northamptonshire, England, to Edward Studd, a wealthy indigo planter, and Dora Thomas, he was the third of four sons in a privileged family. Educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1883), he excelled as a cricketer, captaining Cambridge and playing for England in the 1882 Ashes series. Converted at age 18 in 1878 during a revival meeting led by D.L. Moody and Ira Sankey, he initially resisted a preaching call, focusing on sports until his brother George’s near-death experience in 1883 prompted a full surrender to missionary service. Studd’s preaching career began when he joined the "Cambridge Seven" in 1885, sailing to China with the China Inland Mission (CIM) under Hudson Taylor, where he preached the gospel in rural villages for a decade, often adopting Chinese dress and customs. Returning to England in 1894 due to health issues, he preached revival across Britain and America before serving in India (1900–1906) with the Salvation Army, focusing on the untouchables. In 1910, inspired by a tract titled "The Chocolate Soldier," he founded the Heart of Africa Mission (later Worldwide Evangelization Crusade) and moved to the Belgian Congo in 1913, preaching amidst disease and isolation until his death. Married to Priscilla Livingstone Stewart in 1888, with whom he had four daughters, he gave away his inherited fortune (£29,000) to ministries like CIM and Moody Bible Institute, dying at age 70 in Ibambi, Congo, leaving a legacy of sacrificial evangelism and the motto, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."
Download
Sermon Summary
C.T. Studd emphasizes the indispensable role of the Bible in the life of a believer, comparing it to essential tools for various professions. He illustrates how the Scriptures reveal God's grace, the life of Christ, and the path to salvation, asserting that without the Bible, we would lack the knowledge of God's love and the means to live righteously. Studd encourages daily reading and meditation on the Word, warning against treating it lightly or selectively. He highlights the Bible's power to guide, comfort, and convict, urging believers to embrace its teachings wholeheartedly. Ultimately, he calls for a commitment to obeying God's Word as a reflection of true faith.
Scriptures
The Bible
What could we do without the Book That God gave us to read? No more than any farmer Who hadn't any seed! No other tells us of our Lord, The God of grace and love, Who made the whole creation, This world and those above. What could we do were we without The Gospels or the Acts? No more than could a barrister Who didn't know his facts! Were we without the letters of John, Peter, James and Paul, We'd be like some poor cricketer Without a bat or ball. If Genesis is humbug, We must cast into the flames The Gospels, Acts and Hebrews, Galatians, Romans, James. If we should try to live our lives Without the Book of Psalms, Our souls would lack the music Which comforts, cheers and charms. We couldn't know that God will be The Judge of all mankind, By the mere dictates of Reason, Or the workings of the mind. We shouldn't know God gave His Son, To agonise and die, To save and teach us sinful men To trust Him utterly. We shouldn't know Christ rose again— The proof He was the Lord— And then ascended up above To execute His Word. We ne'er had deemed He'd be the Friend Of publicans and sinners, Of prodigals and harlots, not Of hypocrites nor trimmers. That ne'er would He to any child Deny a Saviour's blessing, And ne'er would turn a soul away, Who came his sins confessing. That He Who healed the sick, the lame, The blind, the deaf, the dumb, And raised the dead, by touch or word, Would beg us all to come To Him, that we might be forgiven And made the heirs of God, Divorced from fear of death and hell, Warriors of the Lord. We ne'er had dreamed Salvation is A gift, and not a wage, To be received just as you are, Without the sacred page. The Bible is a gallery Of pictures full of life, A cinematographic show Of real historic strife. It warns against temptations And Satan's savoury messes; It paints the devil's portrait In all his fancy dresses. It's like a cordite rifle With a telescopic sight, Preventing those of single eye From missing, day or night. It is of heaven's narrow way The ordnance survey map, Revealing hell's paved broadway And every gin and trap. It gives the words of prophets, Who courageously denounced The sins of priests, and princes, and The Judgment day announced. It castigates the evil, and It never screens the good; It declares that every mortal needs The Saviour's cleansing blood. 'Tis a history of the godly, A hymn book for the saint, A comfort to the dying, A cordial to the faint. It prophesies the Coming Of the Saviour in His might, To judge the world's inhabitants, And darkness turn to light. Be sure, in their originals, Each word came straight from God; "Yea! every jot and tittle's true," Said Jesus Christ the Lord. Would you be brave and noble? Read it every day, Not as a duty merely, Nor in a slipshod way. Divorce yourself from humbug, And cant and lollipops; Don't live on milk and water, Nor sentimental slops. Don't be like Jackie Horner, Who when he got a pie, Picked out a plum or two, and said "See what a boy am I!" It's God's own patent medicine, Take it as it stands; Treat it as His aide-de-camp, Bringing Christ's commands. Mind! you must obey it, Otherwise you'll be Branded, as a hypocrite, Through eternity. Read it in the morning, Meditate and pray, Trust the Lord to keep you "Straight" throughout the day.
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download

C.T. Studd (December 2, 1860 – July 16, 1931) was an English preacher, missionary, and evangelist whose radical devotion to Christ transformed missionary work in China, India, and Africa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born Charles Thomas Studd in Spratton, Northamptonshire, England, to Edward Studd, a wealthy indigo planter, and Dora Thomas, he was the third of four sons in a privileged family. Educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1883), he excelled as a cricketer, captaining Cambridge and playing for England in the 1882 Ashes series. Converted at age 18 in 1878 during a revival meeting led by D.L. Moody and Ira Sankey, he initially resisted a preaching call, focusing on sports until his brother George’s near-death experience in 1883 prompted a full surrender to missionary service. Studd’s preaching career began when he joined the "Cambridge Seven" in 1885, sailing to China with the China Inland Mission (CIM) under Hudson Taylor, where he preached the gospel in rural villages for a decade, often adopting Chinese dress and customs. Returning to England in 1894 due to health issues, he preached revival across Britain and America before serving in India (1900–1906) with the Salvation Army, focusing on the untouchables. In 1910, inspired by a tract titled "The Chocolate Soldier," he founded the Heart of Africa Mission (later Worldwide Evangelization Crusade) and moved to the Belgian Congo in 1913, preaching amidst disease and isolation until his death. Married to Priscilla Livingstone Stewart in 1888, with whom he had four daughters, he gave away his inherited fortune (£29,000) to ministries like CIM and Moody Bible Institute, dying at age 70 in Ibambi, Congo, leaving a legacy of sacrificial evangelism and the motto, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."