I tell you, my friends, when you have once tasted how gracious is your Lord, how real and true is his personal presence, and how sweet are his words, yea, “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb,” no destructive criticism, and no evil teachings of New Theology, can disturb your faith in the absolute divine authority of the Bible, as well as in the perfect deity of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is only when we have no such experimental knowledge of spiritual truth, when our minds are not enlightened from above, and our faith is cold, formal, and lifeless, that the crafty arguments of the enemies of the Gospel can shake us. Just as when our bodies are weak and our vitality is low, we are apt to be attacked by disease, so the best precaution against this disease of the soul, and the most effective remedy for the pestilential doctrines of the present day, is the spiritual health and strength gained by a vital knowledge of God and the unseen world. Thus returning to my old simple faith in my Saviour and Lord, I became the preacher of his cross, and God has wonderfully blessed my work.
CHAPTER IV
THE SERVANT REAPING
IN JAPAN I am known as the man of one sermon, because I preach the same sermon everywhere. This sermon consists of three parts,—God, Sin, and Salvation. In fact, I try to give all the fundamental doctrines of Christianity in one sermon. To preach it, therefore, requires three hours. Its English translation, published by Fleming H. Revell Company of New York, is called “The Three Hour Sermon.” But though this sermon consists of three parts, in reality it is on one subject. The first two parts, God and Sin, are like two posts on which rests the cross of Christ as the climax of the sermon. Thus I became literally a preacher of one sermon, on the cross of Christ.
When I am engaged in an evangelistic campaign in any one place for several nights, sometimes a week or two at a time, I repeat this same sermon night after night. I tell my congregation each time that I am going to preach this same sermon every night: “Therefore you who have heard it to-night need not come again. Your part now is to decide whether you will accept or reject this offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. But in this place there are many people who have never yet heard this Gospel message. Perhaps such may be found in your own homes, or among your own friends. Why can’t you send them, or bring them here tomorrow night, and let them also have the opportunity of hearing the Gospel? And if you don’t wish to stay, you may go back, leaving your friends.” Thus I change my congregation every night, instead of changing my sermon, which amounts to the same thing. I need not be troubled about getting a new audience every night, since I have sixty millions yet to preach to.
However, though I preach the same sermon, I usually have large congregations. I do not preach now in the churches. Our church buildings are too small to hold the large crowds which come every night to hear this one sermon. I am obliged everywhere to rent theaters for my meeting places. The largest ones hold from three to four thousand, and they are packed every night.
Since the fall of 1915 I have conducted evangelistic campaigns in all parts of Japan, and also among the Japanese in the island of Hawaii, and on the Pacific coast of America. I will give you here the exact figures of these campaigns, by which you can judge for yourselves the present situation of Christianity in Japan.
| PACIFIC COAST CAMPAIGN | |
|---|---|
| From September, 1915, to February, 1916, Five months | |
| Places visited | 64 |
| Evangelistic meetings held | 142 |
| Churches which took part in campaign | 67 |
| Denominations or missions co-operating | 9 |
| Total attendance | 30,000 |
| Number of decisions for Christ | 2,400 |
| CAMPAIGN IN JAPAN PROPER | |
| From September, 1916, to June, 1919,Thirty-three months | |
| Cities and towns visited | 204 |
| Evangelistic meetings held | 577 |
| Churches which took part in the campaign | 404 |
| Denominations or missions co-operating | 23 |
| Total Attendance | 270,000 |
| Number of decisions for Christ | 43,370 |
| HAWAIIAN CAMPAIGN | |
| From July, 1919, to October, 1919, Three months | |
| Places visited | 32 |
| Evangelistic meetings held | 82 |
| Churches which took part in the campaign | 18 |
| Denominations co-operating | 3 |
| Total attendance | 10,000 |
| Number of decisions for Christ | 2,080 |
| SECOND PACIFIC COAST CAMPAIGN | |
| October, 1919, Half a month | |
| Places visited | 5 |
| Evangelistic meetings held | 11 |
| Churches which took part in the campaign | 14 |
| Denominations co-operating | 5 |
| Total attendance | 3,400 |
| Number of decisions for Christ | 488 |
| GRAND TOTAL | |
| Number of months engaged in campaigns | 42 |
| Places visited | 305 |
| Evangelistic meetings held | 812 |
| Churches which took part in campaigns | 502 |
| Denominations or missions co-operating | 40 |
| Total attendance | 313,000 |
| Number of decisions for Christ | 48,338 |
In Japan proper I have already visited forty provinces out of the forty-seven. I have held evangelistic campaigns in more than two hundred cities and towns. Everywhere people flocked to hear the Gospel. They are hungering and thirsting for the saving power of the Gospel. Their old religious beliefs have been shattered and destroyed by the light of modern civilization, and they are looking for the true religion which can satisfy their spiritual need.
As I have said, Christianity in Japan was strictly forbidden for many centuries, and people had very poor ideas about it. When the missionaries first came they found the ground so very hard that it seemed almost impossible even to sow the seed; but for the last fifty years they have been patiently working on this hard ground, plowing the field and sowing the seed, yet without being able to see the longed-for fruits. Now the harvest has come. The time of ingathering has arrived. Throughout the whole country, from the highest to the lowest, all people are ready to receive the message if you preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity and simplicity. From the figures just given as a result of my four-years’ campaign, you can easily see how receptive the minds of the Japanese people have become to the Gospel message. But as an example of the great awakening in my country, I wish to tell you about the largest campaign I have ever had thus far in Japan.
In the spring of 1919 I conducted an evangelistic campaign for six nights in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. This campaign was undertaken by a Presbyterian church in Tokyo which is one of the largest and strongest Japanese churches in the country. The pastor of the church is one of the greatest Christian scholars, as well as one of the most thoroughgoing orthodox theologians, in Japan. The total membership of his church is about a thousand, but those members who are living in and around the city of Tokyo are not over five hundred. The campaign was conducted in the large auditorium of the Tokyo Y. M. C. A. building, which holds from eighteen hundred to two thousand. For a whole year this church was earnestly praying in preparation for this great campaign. When the time drew near, for five successive Sunday mornings the services were turned over to me, that I might train the whole church for the coming campaign. Before beginning on such a campaign I had to instruct the Christians on the following points: First, how to prepare for the campaign; second, how to work during the campaign; and third, how to follow up later the work of the campaign. Unless the churches taking part in the campaign are thoroughly instructed on these points, it cannot be a successful one.