The Rising Son Newsletter, Volume 2 (4)
http://www.thejapannet.com/prod13.htm
Barclay Buxton
Instantaneous
conversion and the filling of the Holy Spirit
Barclay
Buxton, was a man used of God to powerfully impact Japan. He brought
methods of evangelism and emphasis on the Holy Spirit not liked
by all when he came to Japan in 1890.
But
people could not argue against his holy lifestyle and the results
of his ministry Within several weeks after his arrival over 700
people were attending his gospel services. By the end of the first
year seven churches had been founded in the Matsuye and Yonago areas
where he served.
From
Yonago, bands of young men went from village to village on ten-day
“gospel treks,” some times leaving one of their number
behind in a village to give further instructions, Buxton, would
guide them and instruct them as they traveled. Untold numbers were
being touched by the gospel. From 1890-1900, Buxton averaged 40
baptisms a year and added 300 members to his church in Matsuye.
Having
been out of the country for many years, in 1937 he received 3 separate
calls to return to Japan for one last missionary effort at the age
of 75.
Beginning
in Kobe, he spoke 125 times in 153 days in 19 areas of the country.
Wherever he spoke, hundreds and even thousands were gripped with
his call to holiness and the power of the Holy Spirit to evangelize
the nation. Crowds that began at 200 would soon increase to three
or four times that size.. Even Catholic priests began clamoring
to have him speak. In Kyoto and Tokyo thousands came out to hear.
Even members of the cabinet came to these messages. Revival seemed
to have broken loose. It’s interesting to note that this was
all done in English through translators.
Buxton’s
Great Contribution
For
most of missions in Japan, the going is slow, the results few, and
the loss of mission
aries
great.What made Buxton so successful? What can we learn for our
own ministry? The answer lies in three basic themes in his ministry:
1)He
taught that the ministry of the Holy Spirit was the most important
aspect of the Christian life. He held the deep conviction that that
which is done must be done in the power of the Holy Spirit or it
was all futility. An example of this was in 1893 he organized a
conference in Nagasaki and invited the great missionary statesman,
Hudson Taylor, to come and give the message, “How to be filled
with the Holy Spirit”.
2)Buxton
believed a man could be genuinely converted to Christ at the very
first hearing of the Gospel. Many people believe that evangelism
must be done through prolonged periods of study with the individual.
Buxton
did not believe in teaching the Gospel but rather preaching the
Gospel to unbelievers. From the book of Acts, he taught that
though a man had no prior knowledge of anything “Christian,”he
could be supernaturally touched by the Holy Spirit at the first
hearing.
Year
after year, Buxton’s ministry saw scores of previously untouched
Japanese receive Christ. While other missionaries criticized Buxton,
Buxton simply built new churches.
3)Buxton
believed every Christian should be a leader and disciple of his
own.His belief in the “priesthood of all believers”
developed many Japanese Christian leaders who established hundreds
of their own churches. He constantly taught new believers to be
leaders and organizers for the Gospel. He taught his disciples to
establish their own churches. As a result, when he left Japan, Buxton
left behind literally hundreds of Christian believers.
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