THE BUSINESS OF THE WHOLE CHURCH
By William Evans, Ph. D., D. D. Associate Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles
Testament shows us that when the fear of God fell on Israel, and when that nation fell on its face before God and assumed right relations with Him, then the fear of God fell on the nations round about them. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”—then, when the church is right, when the believer is right,—then “shall sinners be , converted unto thee.” The- disciples of old began their revival at Jerusalem. Can there be a better place -for us to begin a personal evangelistic revival than at the church door, yea, within the walls of the church? That the church is indifferent and hypo critical is too true. Judgment must there fore begin with the Church of God. ITS GREAT IMPORTANCE The importance of Personal Evangelism cannot be overestimated. We have noth ing to say against revivals as a means of extending the kingdom of God. We believe in revivals. We believe in fishing with a hook,- so that we may catch one fish at a time. We believe also in catching fish with a great net. Each kind of fishing has its place. There are some fish you never can catch with a net; they can only be caught with a hook and line. They can not be caught in shoals, but only one at a time. We are not going to find fault with a man who is a mechanic because he uses his left hand instead of the right. Nor are we going to say that the only way to
VERY great revival or evan gelistic campaign has had its own characteristic keynote. The prédominant note of the great revival under Jonathan
Edwards was the sovereignty of God: God must be worshiped; God is absolute; God is King. Under Wesley, the doctrine of Jree will received special emphasis : “Who soever will, . . . let him come;” “Him that corneth unto me I will in no wise cast out.” Under Finney, the note of per sonal responsibility seemed to be the out standing one : “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ?” Under Moody, the vision of God’s love to man was the characteristic in his great revival campaigns. If there shall come upon us in these last days a campaign anything similar to those campaigns of the past; if the past is any prophet of the future; if the temple of the future is to be built on the founda tion of the past; if the present enables us in any sense of the word to tell what shall be the nature of the great campaign and revival that is .yet to come, or that has begun, but is yet to come in its fullness, then I am of thé firm opinion that the predominant note of the revival that is to come will be that of Personal Evangelism fo r Jesus Christ. Such a revival must begin with the church itself and not with the masses. The Old
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