HUDSON TAYLOR - Reformed Baptist Church of Riverside · HUDSON TAYLOR Born May 21, 1832, in...

HUDSON TAYLOR

Born May 21, 1832, in

Barnsley

At the age of 17, he was

dramatically converted

Sailed for China with the

Chinese Evangelistic Society

September 19, 1853 at the

age of 21

HUDSON TAYLOR

Landed in Shanghai March 1, 1854

Taylor: “Depend upon it, GOD’S work done in GOD’S way will never lack GOD’S supplies.”

Philippians 4:19: “My

God will supply every

need of yours

according to his

riches in glory

in Christ Jesus.”

HUDSON TAYLOR

On January 20, 1858, when he had been in China

almost five years he married another missionary

Maria Dyer

July of 1860, Hudson and Maria sailed for

England. He was seriously ill with hepatitis

He longed to go back with a new missions

agency

HUDSON TAYLOR The moment came on Lord’s day in June, 1865 on the Brighton

beach in, England:

“On Sunday, June 25th, 1865, unable to bear the sight of a

congregation of a thousand or more Christian people rejoicing in their

own security, while millions were perishing for lack of knowledge, I

wandered out on the sands alone, in great spiritual agony; and there

the LORD conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to GOD

for this service. I told Him that all the responsibility as to issues and

consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant, it was mine to

obey and to follow Him — His, to direct, to care for, and to guide me

and those who might labour with me. Need I say that peace at once

flowed into my burdened heart? There and then I asked Him for

twenty-four fellow-workers, two for each of eleven inland provinces

which were without a missionary, and two for Mongolia; and writing

the petition on the margin of the Bible I had with me, I returned home

with a heart enjoying rest such as it had been a stranger to for

months.”

HUDSON TAYLOR

On May 26, the following year (1566) Hudson and

Maria and their children sailed with the largest group

of missionaries that had ever sailed to China at the

time— sixteen besides themselves.

The year 1870, was the most difficult of his life

HUDSON TAYLOR

In his lifetime, Hudson Taylor made ten voyages to

China

February of 1905, Hudson Taylor sailed for China for

the last time. He died June 3 at Changsha, Hunan, at

the age of 73.

HUDSON TAYLOR

At the time of Hudson Taylor’s death, the China Inland Mission was an international body with 825 missionaries

Today about 1,600 missionaries work for what is now known as OMF international

The Mission Statement is: “To Glorify God by the urgent evangelization of East Asia’s Millions.”

The Vision Statement is: “Through God's grace, we aim to see an indigenous, biblical church movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelizing their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.”

HUDSON TAYLOR

2015, will mark the 150th anniversary of the

mission that Hudson Taylor founded.

In 1900, there were 100,000 Christians in

China, and today there are some estimates

around 150,000,000

THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN

WHY STUDY CHRISTIANITY IN ASIA?

Studying Christianity in Asia allows us to watch the promise of the Great Commission unfold.

Matthew 28:18: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

Hudson Taylor said, “The Great commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.”

Matthew 24:14: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”


Studying Christianity in Asia reminds us of why we must give and why we must go.

Matthew 9:37-38: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

The story of Lottie Moon: spent 1873-1912 in China


Studying Christianity in Asia shows us the changing tide of Christianity in the world.

D.A. Carson (writing in the year 2006): “The triumphant spread and growth of Christianity during the past twenty centuries, especially during the past two centuries, are nothing short of astonishing. Indeed, the figures for the last few decades take one's breath away. China had just over a million Protestants in 1949 when the Communists took over; today, there are perhaps 80 to 90 million. The number of Christians in Asia rose from 22 million in 1990 to over three hundred million in 2000. In the late 1970s there were only two thousand Christians in Cambodia; today, there are about one hundred fifty thousand. At one time, Mongolia was considered one of the most closed countries in the world: in 1989, there were only four known Christians. Today, there are about twenty thousand, worshiping in about six hundred churches and house churches. In 1959, there were only twenty-nine known Christians in Nepal; today there are about half a million. Korea has now sent out between twelve and fifteen thousand missionaries.”


Studying Christianity in Asia reminds us of the breadth and beauty of the family of God

John Piper: “The beauty and power of praise that will come to the Lord from diversity of the nations are greater than the beauty and power that would come to him if the chorus of the redeemed were culturally uniform. The reason for this can be seen in the analogy of a choir. More depth of beauty is felt from a choir that sings in parts than from a choir that sings only in unison. Unity in diversity is more beautiful and more powerful than the unity of uniformity.”


Studying Christianity in Asia demonstrates God’s sovereignty in evangelism.

Piper writes in a section entitled Victory from Inside the Tomb: “It will often look as though Christ is defeated. That’s the way it looked on Good Friday. But in all he was in control. So it will always be. If China was closed for forty years to the Western missionaries, it was not as though Jesus accidentally slipped and fell into the tomb. He stepped in. And when it was sealed over, he saved fifty million Chinese from inside—without Western missionaries. And when it was time, he pushed the stone away so we could see what he had done.”


Studying Christianity in Asia demonstrates God’s sovereignty in evangelism.

Johnstone and Mandryk in Operation World:“The survival and reviving of the Church in China was one of the decisive events of the 20th century. The growth of the Church in China since 1977 has no parallels in history. The atheist rulers of China became unwitting instruments in the hand of our Sovereign God to prepare the way for this growth. Mao Zedong unwittingly became the greatest evangelist in history…[He] sought to destroy all religious ‘superstition’ but in the process cleared spiritual roadblocks for the advancement of Christianity. Deng [Xiaoping] reversed the horrors inflicted by Mao and in freeing up the economy, gave more freedom to the Christians…[Today] the Church of the Lord Jesus is larger than the Communist Party of China.”


Studying Christianity in Asia displays Christ’s reward for His suffering. In Isaiah 53:11, God promised to the Son, “As a result

of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied

In Psalm 2:8, God the Father promises God the Son, “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.”

Revelation 5:9: “Worthy art Thou to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

CHINA

David Adeney:

One billion people live in China.

Out of all living persons one in four is Chinese.

Of every three non-Christians in the world, one is Chinese.

CHINA Number of People Groups

548

People Groups Unreached

455

Total Population

1,371,453,000

Unreached Population

184,640,000

% Christian Adherent

7.8%

% Evangelical

6.3 %

Largest Religion

Non-Religious(44.8%)

Official Language

Chinese, Mandarin

10/40 Window

Yes

http://joshuaproject.net/religions/7



http://joshuaproject.net/countries/CH

http://joshuaproject.net/languages/cmn

http://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window

CHINA

Johnstone and Mandryk, Operation World: “Elimination of all religious groups has always been the ultimate aim of the Marxist government. In the 1950s the government engineered the infiltration, subversion and control of all organized Christianity. By 1958 this had been achieved through the Three Self Patriotic Movement among Protestants. During the Cultural Revolution even these puppet structures were banned and all religious activity forced underground giving birth to the house church movement. In 1978 restrictions were eased and the TSPM resurrected as a means of regaining governmental control of the thousands of house churches. This has been only partially successful. The collapse of Communism in Europe is perceived as due to religion, so strict controls are maintained over Christian and Muslim organizations and all unregistered activity repressed wherever possible.”

CHINA AND THE OLD TESTAMENT

Some historians & theologians believe the land of Sinim to be in reference to China.

“I will make all My mountains a road, and My highways will be raised up. Behold, these will come from afar; and lo, these will come from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim.” – Isaiah 49:10 (NASB)

Historians believe China, or Sinim, to be the exclusive source of silk in the ancient world.

Ezekiel makes mention of silk in Ezekiel 16:10 and 13

CHINA AND THE OLD TESTAMENT

Specific Chinese characters could have derived its

individual parts from stories in the Old Testament

CHINA AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Silk Road

no records of Christian missionaries using the Old Silk Road to come to china prior to the 7th century

it was the Buddhist missionaries from India who used it first

Christianity would not arrive officially in China until the 7th century.

Cave Drawing Depicting the

Silk Road as early as 128 B.C.

CHINA AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

THEORIES OF AN EARLY GOSPEL PRESENCE IN CHINA

FuaSen Yang (Chinese Church History

published in Taiwan, 1984): both Chinese and

foreign traditions suggest the presence of the

gospel in China long before Christianity’s

official debut in 7th century Tang Dynasty


The Apostle Thomas

Thomas and his disciples went to India and

continued the gospel commission from South

Asia into China.


“According to tradition, when Paul preached the gospel westward, Thomas came to the East. First Thomas proclaimed the gospel along the eastern coastline near what is now Madras, then he moved to Malabar on the west coast. Thereafter, Thomas ventured eastward with the gospel until he reached China… when he returned to India again to preach the gospel on a mountain near Madras, Thomas was attached by unbelievers under the influence of Brahmin adherents. They threw stones at him, stabbed him with the sword, and buried his body inside the city. This happened in the year of our Lord in 68. Afterwards, his body was moved to Edessa. There are many other traditions that validate parts of the story above”


Apostle Bartholomew

Indian tradition says that at the same Paul

ministered in Asia Minor, Thomas and

Bartholomew brought the gospel to the East.

Thomas arrived in India; Bartholomew went to

China.


Persecuted Christians—Emperor Nero’s

persecution of Christians began in 65 A.D.,

Christians fled Jerusalem and arrived in China

Syrian Missionaries – During the time of the

Eastern Han Dynasty (25~220 A.D.), two Syrian

missionaries


Large Iron Cross – A large iron cross was recovered in the late 1300s with an imperial date inscription of the mid 3rd century. Also inscribed on the cross was a couplet of Chinese poetry which referenced “a cross which embosomed the masses with great grace.”

Seleucia Diocese –between 411~415 A.D., the bishop of Seleucia included both China and India in the districting of Dioceses

THE NESTORIAN CHURCH OF THE EAST

Atiya, A History of Eastern Christianity: “It is no

exaggeration to contend that, in the early

Middle Ages the Nestorian CIhurch was the

most widespread in the whole world. The

staggering rapidity of tthe rise of the Nestorians

in Asia is equaled only by the rapid decline of

their influence in the later Middle Ages. Their

world was drowned in a surging sea of Islam…”


Nestorius was originally a

monk of Antioch and

student of Theodore of

Mopsuestia.

Took Office as Bishop of

Constantinople in 428

A.D.


The theotokos Controversy – Nestorius was

against calling Mary the theotokos, “the mother

of God” and vehemently refuted such a title.

Nestorious began to argue against the widely

popular title Theotokos (bearer of God) for the

Virgin Mary, reasoning that Christotokos (bearer

of Christ)

THE POSITIONS

Theotokos - Mary bore God.

Anthropotokos - Mary bore man (Jesus). The idea that Mary gave birth to a man whom the logos began to dwell in after His baptism.

Christotokos - Mary bore Christ. The idea that Mary gave birth to Christ who was both God and man.


Cyril of Alexandria accused Nestorius of heresy,

dividing Christ’s humanity and divinity into two

separate persons

As a result, Nestorius was declared a heretic by the

synods of Alexandria, Rome, and Jerusalem in 430

A.D.


The Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.)

Cyril of Alexandria arrived early with 16 bishops at the council and began the council with the absence of John of Antioch and Nestorius.

In his absence from the Council, Nestorius was condemned, excommunicated and deposed.

Theodosius II –exiled Nestorius

Nestorius died at the eve of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D.


Second Council of Ephesus (449 A.D.), emperor Zeno ordered

the expulsion of all Nestorians from the Roman Empire


Was Nestorius really a heretic? “Some were of the opinion that the patriarch of

Constantinople, Nestorius, supported the doctrine of two sons, two persons, that is, two subjects. Christ is both fully God and fully man, united only morally but not ontologically. According to the position of currently available sources, one can conclude that Nestorius did not support this doctrine, that Nestorius was himself no ‘Nestorian’.” Baum and Winkler, The Church of the East: A Concise History, 4

“Judged by his own words at last (referring to the discovery of the Bazaar of Heracleides), Nestorius is revealed as not so much “Nestorian” and more orthodox than his opponents gave him credit for. Luther, for example, after looking over all he could find of his writings decided that there was nothing really heretical in them.” – Moffett, A History of Christianity in Asia, 176.


By the time of the collapse of the rise of the

Muslim Caliphate (the beginning of the 7th

century), the Nestorian church was well

established and began one of the greatest

missionary efforts in Asia

HUDSON TAYLOR - Reformed Baptist Church of Riverside · HUDSON TAYLOR Born May 21, 1832, in...

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