July, 1935
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
248
Revivalin EUROPE^ T H E E V I D E N C E S O F I T
B y RUTH PAXSON
but it did not. It happened in Europe. I was speaking on the third chapter o f John. The next morning, a woman telephoned to my hostess and said, “ Would you please ask Miss Paxson what was the name of the gentleman she was talking o f yesterday?” The gentleman was Nicodemus. This woman had gone to church almost every Sunday of her life, and she had to be introduced to Nicodemus. D octrine W h ich D oes N ot L ead T o V ictory There is often preaching o f a cold, formal doctrine that has no relation to daily living and the practical side o f life. Why is the message o f victory over sin not told ? How to live victoriously is what people want to know in these days. They cannot be satisfied with cold, formal doctrine, even if it is sound and true. They 'want to know how they can have the truth brought down into their daily life. W e need this help in America quite as much as we need it in Europe. Then there is the preaching o f the merely elementary doctrine o f salvation. In Norway, a man who teaches in a Bible school came to see me one day. He rebuked me for the message I was giving. He said no one who had the spirit of humility would teach that it is possible to have vic tory over sin. I was amazed. I said, “ I understand you have a course in Romans. Where does it end? Does it end with the fifth chapter of Romans ?” He saw the point and could not answer that question. Romans does not end with the fifth chapter. I need the sixth, the eighth; I need the twelfth; I need every chapter. I am not going to use a shorter Bible. If we are giving that wonderful message of sanctification by faith as well as justification by faith, if we are teaching that salvation means not only forgiveness from the penalty of sin, but also power over sin, we are not preaching from a shorter gospel. Christ died and He rose again to deliver'us from the bondage o f sin. R ecognition of the H oly S pirit E ssential to R evival Again, there is the ignoring o f the place and person and power o f the Holy Spirit. It is amazing to discover the silence on that subject in Eufope. I verily believe that the condition in Germany today is due partly to the fact that the name of the Holy Spirit has long been banned from the organized church of Germany. A generation ago, there was a revival in Germany, and then it was followed by the Pentecostal movement in one of its most fanatical forms.
[In an article which appeared in the June issue of the K ing s B usiness , Miss Paxson described actual paganism and barren professionalism among peoples .of Continental Europe. She brought startling figures showing that there are proportionately few er evangelical witnesses in some European nations than m In dia or China. This month Miss Paxson presents the indications that the Holy Spirit is dealing with the causes o f this spiritual destitution and is creating a desire for revival in Europe .— E ditor .] W h at are the causes of the frightful spiritual drought and destitution in Europe today ? There are many. Word. Rejection o f the divine revelation appears in every Protestant country to some degree. Holland may serve as an example. In one city I was entertained in the home of one o f the pastors of the national church. In that church there were four pastors. Two o f them believed in the deity of Christ and two did not. On the Sunday that the preach ing was to be done by the men that believed in the deity of Christ, all the people who held this view came to church, and the others stayed at home. And on the Sundays that services were in the care of the pastors that did not believe in the deity of Christ, the people who believed likewise went to church, and the others stayed at home. T he N eglected B ook There is also ignorance o f the Word o f God. There is the knowledge of doctrine through the catechism, but mere possession of information is entirely different from the knowledge o f Christ through the Word of God. When I went into many o f the churches, I was delighted to find an open Bible,pn a table at the front. I thought that that was wonderful. But I found that the fact that the Bible was exhibited in the church did not necessarily mean that it was ensconced in the heart as it ought to be. One day when I was in Holland, the people had a Holy Day. The men went to church in their velvet suits, and the women were out in the kind o f dress they have worn through the centuries on such a day. They were going to church, and so was the Bible. The women were carrying something that looked like a lantern encased in glass, with silver trimmings all around it and a long silver chain. I thought it was some kind of a lantern. It was the Bible. The Bible was going to church. But it did not look as though it were used on ordinary days. , May we illustrate again? This could happen in America,
I can point out only a few. There is the denial o f God s
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