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In the parallel passage, in Matthew 8:5-13, Christ healed the servant of a Roman centurion who was a Gentile. On this occasion Christ gave the words of our text, as it is repeated in Luke 13:29, concerning the conversion of many Gentiles in all parts of the world.

“And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29).

Dr. John Gill (1697-1771) said of this verse,

“And they shall come…” from all parts of the world, from every nation under the heavens; meaning the Gentiles…these “shall come from the east and from the west”: from the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same (Isaiah 45:6; Malachi 1:11; Matthew 8:11) “and from the north, and from the south”: from the most distant parts of the world inhabited by men; see Isaiah 43:5-6. God has his chosen ones…in all parts of the world; and therefore his Gospel must be preached to all nations, for the gathering of them in, which will be done in the latter day (John Gill, D.D., An Exposition of the New Testament, The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989 reprint, vol. I, p. 628; note on Luke 13:29).

Since the Olympics began on Friday, August 8, 2008, the attention of the world is on China. And the words of Christ come to mind, “And they shall come from the east” (Luke 13:29). Here is a short sketch of the history of Christianity in China.

Recent archaeological evidence reveals that Christianity was first brought to China in 86 A.D., during the lifetime of the Apostle John. The gospel was rejected by the Chinese at that time. The Nestorian Christians brought the gospel a second time to China in 635 A.D., under the preaching of Alopen and others. Christianity gained a foothold then and continued for about a hundred and sixty-five years. In the ninth century the Nestorian Christians in China were persecuted and ceased to exist as a movement, although some of their church buildings are still standing today.

Then in 1807 Christianity was introduced to China a third time, when the British missionary Robert Morrison reached Macao and translated the Bible into Chinese. He baptized one Chinese convert before his death in 1834. Eight years later the Treaty of Nanjing of 1842 allowed foreign missionaries to enter China freely. Preaching from Morrison’s Chinese translation of the Bible, the missionaries began to see numbers of conversions. Twenty-three years later, in 1865 the British missionary James Hudson Taylor began establishing the first of his 205 preaching stations (or missions) deep in inland China. For this work, some have called Hudson Taylor the “Apostle to China.” By 1928 the number of missionaries in China peaked at 8,325. Thousands of Chinese were converted to Christ under their sacrificial ministry.

The Communists came to power in 1949 and began expelling all foreign missionaries. One of the last British missionaries to leave (possibly the last one) was Miss Gladys Aylward, an English missionary whose courageous story has been told in a movie titled “Inn of the Sixth Happiness.” I had the privilege of hearing Miss Aylward in person for three hours in 1962. It was a soul-stirring testimony, and I remember much of what she said today, more than forty years later. She made such an impression on me that I rededicated my life as a missionary to the Chinese after I heard her speak, when I was twenty-one years old. 

With all foreign missionaries expelled by them from China, the Communists then banned the ordination of the Chinese themselves. Shortly before this my former pastor, Dr. Timothy Lin, left China to study theology and Semitic languages in the United States. I learned a great deal of what happened in China, before the Communists took over, directly from Dr. Lin, who is now nearly 98 years old. Before coming to pastor our Chinese church in Los Angeles, Dr. Lin taught Hebrew in the graduate department at Bob Jones University for several years. Then Dr. Lin came to pastor our Chinese church in Los Angeles. Dr. Lin’s ministry made a deep impression on my life in the 1960s, for which I will always be grateful. He taught me to have complete faith in the Bible as the very Word of God. Dr. Lin’s father had also been a pastor, in old China, before the revolution in 1911.

The Communists forbade any Chinese from being ordained to the ministry between 1955 and 1985. Ordinations had to be carried on in secret among those in the underground “house church” movement. In 1995 the Communists banned what they called “evil cults” in the house church movement. They gave that name “evil cults” to the best Christians in Communist China!

Jonathan Chao had an article in Reformation Today (November-December 2000) in which he said, “In China, the Protestant Church has grown a hundred times during the last fifty years (1950-2000) under adverse circumstances and a hostile environment. That environment has been one of persecution by the atheistic [Communist] state” (Reformation Today, Nov.-Dec. 2000, p. 3).

Chao continued by saying, “In January 1950…there were 834,000 Protestant… members. Today, while there is no reliable survey available, an educated estimate would put the number of believers at nearly 85 million…70 million are found in a variety of house churches scattered throughout the land” (ibid.). [These figures are much higher today, ten years later.] He concluded by saying that “Today in North and Northeast China reports indicate that there is a church in every village” (ibid.).

Chao told of the phenomenal growth of the Chinese churches under intense persecution. He cited such faithful pastors as Wang Mingtao (1900-1991) who was imprisoned for twenty-three years for preaching the gospel; Yuan Xiancheng of Beijing, who was imprisoned for twenty years, and has pastored a church since 1979; Xie Moshan of Shanghai, who was imprisoned for twenty years; and Samuel Lam of Guangzhou, who also spent 20 years in prison for preaching the gospel of Christ.

These extraordinary pastors, and thousands of other totally dedicated Chinese Christians have led the Chinese churches into an explosive revival, the greatest revival on earth in the last seventy-five years.

Jonathan Chao said, “As a student of Chinese church studies, I can say that the ongoing expansion of the church in China has already passed the point of the [Communist] state’s ability to control it. There are already more Christians than [Communist] party members, some of whom are turning to Christ” (ibid.).

The success of this mighty revival is astonishing, particularly when you realize the great suffering many Chinese Christians have had to endure. The website religiousfreedomforchina.org/English (November 24, 2002) gave this report that illustrates what happened to thousands of others in China:

• At the local police station, the police interrogated and tortured them. With the Bible in his hand that he found from Yuxi Wei, Yang Zhang shouted at Wei, “Where did you get it? Who is your leader?” Before Wei got a chance to reply, Zhang slapped several hits on his face, and then used an electric police club to strike Wei’s ears. Seeing Wei groan under the strike, Zhang shouted, “We have to give you a hard time because you believe in God.” Then he told another police, “Go and see what is going on with Xiang. Beat him to death if he refuses to confess!”

Christian Persecution Magazine (http://www.christianpersecution.info/) gives a list of persecutions this year (2008) in China. These persecutions against Christians occurred in the months and weeks before the Olympics began in Beijing.

• China: Authorities Banish Pastor From Beijing Prior to Games
As U.S. President George W. Bush attends Olympic events in Beijing this week and a church service in the capital next Sunday, Chinese authorities have banished house church pastor Zhang Mingxuan from the city for the duration of the Games. Several other Christians remain in detention or face ongoing harassment.
Added: Aug 6th, 2008 3:46 AM

• Beijing Christian bookstore owner Shi Weihan's condition deteriorating in prison
Beijing bookstore owner and House Church leader Mr. Shi Weihan, has been suffering a deterioration in health since his imprisonment four months ago.
Added: Aug 1st, 2008 4:06 AM

• China House Church Leader “Homeless” After Meeting US Congress Delegation
One of China's most respected house church leaders remained homeless Sunday, July 20, with his wife after authorities expelled them from their home in the Chinese capital Beijing for meeting an American Congressional delegation, officials of a rights group said.
Added: Jul 21st, 2008 4:14 AM

• China Sentences Evangelical Leader To Two Years Forced Labor
An evangelical pastor who trained Christian missionaries and evangelized in northwest China and Tibet has been sentenced to two years forced labor because of his Christian activities, investigators said.
Added: Jul 10th, 2008 3:31 AM

• China Detains House Church Missionary And Co-workers
A key member and missionary of an unofficial 'house church' in China's Heilongjiang Province faced difficulties Monday, July 7, to worship with fellow believers after Chinese security forces briefly detained him and two co-workers, representatives said.
Added: Jul 8th, 2008 2:38 AM

• Chinese Security Forces Raid House Church At Coal Mine
Chinese security forces raided a house church at a coal mine in China's Gansu Province and detained several Christians as part of a crackdown on unauthorized worship services in the Communist nation, a Christian rights group said Monday, June 30.
Added: Jul 1st, 2008 1:32 AM

• China Cancels Court Hearing Of Frail House Church Leader
A frail [sickly] prominent Chinese house church leader and Christian bookstore owner already detained for three months remained in a Chinese prison Sunday, June 22, after a court hearing was unexpectedly cancelled, Chinese Christians said.
Added: Jun 23rd, 2008 2:49 AM

• China: Bookstore Owner Due to Appear in Court
Christian bookstore owner Shi Weihan, detained in a Chinese prison without his medication for diabetes, is due in court Thursday (June 19) to face as yet unspecified charges [related to selling Bibles and Christian books].
Added: Jun 19th, 2008 3:34 AM

• China Detains Church Leader Due To Meet EU Official
The president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, a major umbrella group of underground churches, has been detained along with his interpreter while on his way to meet a senior European Union official, fellow Christian workers said.
Added: Jun 19th, 2008 3:33 AM

• China Continues Crackdown On House Churches As Nation Mourns Quake Victims
As China mourned Monday, May 19, some 34,000 people killed in a massive earthquake, Chinese security forces, operating outside international media attention, continued a crackdown on underground house churches, Christians said.
Added: May 20th, 2008 3:15 AM

• Beijing Christian Bookstore Owner Rearrested In China
A bookstore owner in Beijing was still behind bars Saturday, April 19, a month after he was re-arrested for publishing Bibles and Christian literature, his wife said.
Added: Apr 22nd, 2008 11:11 AM

• China Detains Dozens Of Christians In Xinjiang
Chinese security forces detained dozens of House Church Christians in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, forcing them to show allegiance to the [Communist] government as part of crackdown similar to a campaign against Buddhist monks in nearby Tibet, rights watchers said Thursday, April 17.
Added: Apr 18th, 2008 10:04 AM

• China Detains House Church Leaders For Running “Evil Cult”
House church leaders and other Christians remained detained Sunday, April 6, in China’s Sichuan Province, on charges of running an “evil cult” [the Communist name for evangelical house churches] after security forces raided their house church and Sunday School, fellow Christians said.
Added: Apr 8th, 2008 7:37 AM

• “Wave of Persecution in China”; Group Smuggles Millions of Bibles
Government initiated attacks in China against Christians and their churches are “the worst in years” with a “wave of persecution” reported across the Communist nation, a well-informed group revealed Tuesday, April 1.
Added: Apr 2nd, 2008 10:39 AM

• Chinese Christian Evangelist Mistreated In Muslim Prison
A Chinese Christian who was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment last November for distributing Christian leaflets among Muslims is mistreated in a Muslim...prison, a Christian news agency reported Tuesday, March 18.
Added: Mar 20th, 2008 10:21 AM

• At 7:00 the next morning, there came Xian Li, the party director of the Political Protection Division of the county Public Security Department. Li used a leather belt whipped Brother Cai until the bloody bruise covered all around his face and other parts of his body. Then they tightened him onto a bench, and poked him with an electric power line. Brother Cai could not bear with the electric shock, and he shouted and groaned. Then Li kicked him down to the ground, and stamped on his face, shouting, “I will cut off your [organ] if you don’t [reject] God!” (.religiousfreedomforchina.org/English, Nov. 24, 2002).

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand spent fourteen years of torture and suffering in a Rumanian Communist prison, where he witnessed the courage and commitment of many persecuted Christians. I had the privilege of knowing Pastor Wurmbrand quite well. He spoke at our church many times, and my wife and I had dinner with him and Mrs. Wurmbrand in their home several years ago. In his book, Tortured for Christ, Pastor Wurmbrand said,

It must be understood that there are no nominal, half-hearted, lukewarm Christians in…China. The price Christians pay is far too great. The next point to remember is that persecution has always produced a better Christian – a witnessing Christian, a soul-winning Christian. Communist persecution has backfired and produced serious, dedicated Christians such as are rarely seen in free lands [like America]. These people cannot understand how anyone can be a Christian and not want to win every soul they meet [to Christ] (Rev. Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ, Diane Books, 1976, p. 105).

It is my prayer that you will become like the dedicated Christians in China, not like so many half-hearted evangelicals in the United States! To be like the dedicated Christians of China, you must be converted. You must turn whole-heartedly to Jesus Christ, and trust Him alone. He died on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sins. He shed His Blood so your sins could be washed clean. He rose physically from the dead, and is now alive – seated at the right hand of God the Father – up in Heaven. Come to Christ. Believe on Him. Be converted. And then, live the Christian life with the same dedication as those in China. Be in church every Sunday morning and every Sunday night, like they do. Go to evangelism, like they do. Be in the prayer meetings, as they do. Live your life for Jesus Christ – as they do!

Over a hundred years ago, Horatius Bonar wrote a hymn that expresses the dedication of the Chinese Christians today. Let his hymn inspire you to live your life for Christ as they do in China!

Go, labor on; spend, and be spent,
   Thy joy to do the Father’s will:
It is the way the Master went;
   Should not the servant tread it still?

Go, labor on while it is day:
   The world’s dark night is hastening on;
Speed, speed thy work, cast sloth away;
   It is not thus that souls are won.

Toil on, faint not, keep watch and pray,
   Be wise the erring soul to win;
Go forth into the world’s highway,
   Compel the wanderer to come in.
(“Go, Labor On; Spend, and Be Spent” by Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889).

And may God help you do so! Amen.

(END OF SERMON)
You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.realconversion.com. Click on “Sermon Manuscripts.”

Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. Kreighton L. Chan: Matthew 8:5-13.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“Go, Labor On; Spend, and Be Spent” (by Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889).