Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation.

The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here.

China's Christian Millions
Tony Lambert

Does Elijah’s God still live today? Yes, He does. In China! That ‘pagan’ country is experiencing the power of God, perhaps, like no other country in the world today. Does that shock you? It did me, too, until I read this book and saw the proof for myself. The subtitle calls it, “The Costly Revival,” and that pretty much tells the story. In fact, the pattern the book reveals is revival, persecution; revival, persecution; revival, persecution – or perhaps it should be expressed: persecution, revival; persecution, revival; persecution, revival. You will put it down saying to yourself, “Yes, the blood of the martyrs is still the seed of the church.” And these Chinese folks Lambert is talking about “glory in tribulation/persecution.” They are thrilled when it comes their way; they thrive on it. Part of the persecution comes from the fact that “every church [probably] has one or two opportunists who act as informers to the authorities.”

The author enthuses, “In China we are confronted with an exciting phenomenon – a grass-roots Church that is orthodox, evangelical and eager to hear and obey God’s Word.” Here is an example of what is happening in the world’s most populous country: in three decades the city of Wenzhov, on the southern coast of China, went from being an ‘atheistic zone’ to what the Chinese Christians themselves refer to as the ‘Jerusalem of China.’ Every kilometer or so the Christians have built a new church. In the county of 730,000 souls where Wenzhov is located, there are 130,000 registered evangelical adults – and that does not count children (who are not permitted to profess faith prior to age 18), or the many unregistered believers in the many house churches. And the Wenzhov story is multiplied in many, many sections of China.

The author tells of visiting a church in Lanzhou to witness a baptismal service. Two elderly pastors (who appeared well over 70) appeared and started immersing a host of new believers. It lasted until noon and he learned that there had been 250 baptized that morning. In another church, this one at Kunming, 100 were baptized as the author watched from the back of the balcony (the only seat available when he arrived); that church has since been demolished to eruct a much bigger building to handle the growing crowds. In central China, where the revival fires are burning brightest, a baptismal service started in the dark (at 4 a.m.) and didn’t stop until noon, when 1,100 new believers had been buried in the likeness of His death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection! Lin Xiangao, the pastor of one of the house churches, baptized 2,328 in a 7-year stretch. Some American churches baptize big numbers, too, but in China the converts stick and the congregations grow accordingly. One of the photos in the book (there are at least 25 photos in two sections, plus numerous graphs, etc.) shows members of a house church holding a secret baptismal service in a cave, where they had broken the ice to get to the water.

One time in North China the author had been asked to speak at an 8 o’clock service. Aroused at 6 by the singing and praying at the church next door, he hurried to inquire of the pastor if he were late. The smiling response was, “They come two hours early to ensure they get a seat, and spend the two hours in prayer and worship, preparing for the service.” The preaching part of the service averages about an hour in length (Americans get miffed if the preacher goes over 25 minutes. Perhaps that is why China is experiencing revival and America is not.)

What is responsible for what is happening there? We gathered that several factors enter into it. Part goes back to the missionaries of the past – in fact, some over a century ago – who won people to Christ, baptized them, and then discipled them in accordance with Matthew 28:19,20. Communism took over, thought they had destroyed them, but at the first opportunity those dormant seeds sprang forth again with life and fruit. The author, in closing, offers what he thinks is the key to China’s evangelical success: (1) absolute authority of the Scripture; (2) obedience to Christ’s commands; (3) prayer (some of the churches have 24-hour prayer meetings and Lambert says, “The Chinese revival is saturated in prayer, and often prayer with groanings and tears”); (4) deep repentance (“Preaching in China stresses the need for turning from sin. There is little ‘easy believism’”); (5) seriousness (“the dominant note is one of reverence and awe before a mighty God, and a quietness of spirit,” which is quite a contrast to America’s comedian/evangelists); (6) Christ and His cross (“For Chinese Christians ‘walking the way of the cross’ is not just a doctrinal truth but a way of life”).

There are “two committees” in China overseeing the churches and they are pretty much intertwined – some leadership posts in both groups being held by the same individuals. One is the Three Self Patriotic Movement founded during the middle of the last century and is pretty much the People’s Republic of China’s way of keeping control; it was founded mostly by liberal church leaders. The other is the China Christian Council, launched in 1980 and controlled by the TSPM. It is in charge of “re-opening churches and seminaries, printing Bibles and Christian literature and the more overtly spiritual side of State-supervised religion in China.” The registered churches are under the umbrella of these twins! The unregistered churches are not, but we gathered that they have about the same freedoms in today’s China as the others and, according to Lambert, the registered doing the better of the two.

The author was formerly a British diplomat to Beijing and Tokyo, but now serves as Director of China Research for the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, International – the latter founded by J. Hudson Taylor and known for years as the China Inland Mission. The 7-fold confession of faith prepared by house church leaders is very fine, differing little from a Baptist church in the States, other than some of the emphases in the section on the Holy Spirit and the fact that the section on last things is a little fuzzy. The book is more open to tongues and other Pentecostal manifestations than we are, including women preachers; in fact, one of the chapters is titled “Signs and Wonders.” Nor will you probably agree with all the groups he describes. The over-all thrust, however, is our kind of a book!

Our hope is that many of you will obtain and carefully read this volume. It is our conviction that many American pastors and church leaders will conclude they are not doing the job right after reading this exciting book.

Monarch Books, London

Distributed by Kregel Publications

Grand Rapids, MI

14 Chapters

4 Appendices

256 Pages

$12.99, Paper