In this sermon, the speaker discusses the method of spreading the gospel message to communist countries, particularly China. They describe how clear plastic envelopes containing the gospel message, along with a cork straw and chewing gum, are dropped into the seas and carried by ocean currents towards communist shores. The speaker references Bible verses such as Proverbs 18:10 and Romans 10:13 to emphasize the power and safety found in calling upon the name of the Lord. They also discuss the history of communism in China, highlighting the influence of literature and student demonstrations in its rise. The sermon concludes with an appeal for prayer for the suffering Christians in communist countries and for the work of Christian missions in reaching out to them.

Communism in China. The Word of God declares in Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. This passage speaks of safety. In Romans chapter 10 and verse 13, God speaks, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This passage speaks of salvation. Thus safety and salvation are both mentioned in the Word of God. This lecture concerns the brief history of the Communist Party of China. How the nation fell and the conditions that generally exist in China under the authority of communism up to the present. Two major factors contribute to the founding of communism in China. First, the spread of literature and especially the books of Marx and Lenin in the Chinese language. Second, the students at the University of Peking who were influenced by this literature and other lesser factors to cause mass demonstrations across China. Historically speaking the date of May the 4th 1919 was the date the big demonstration of students broke loose. This is the date used by many to mark the original rise of the communist beast in China. Consequently two major factors are combined in ushering communism into China. First, literature and second, rioting demonstrating students. Unrest, riots and uprisings spread over China and on this scene June 20th 1920 appeared two communists, a Russian named Georgy Voytinsky and a Dutchman named Maureen. In fact they had been sent to China to actually establish a Chinese Communist Party. A meeting was held. Twelve delegates appeared at this organizational meeting in July 1921. The meeting was held in the girls high school at Shanghai and especially encouraged by two university professors Dr. Qin Tu-Hsu and Dr. Lai Te-Kao. Both dedicated Marxist. One of the delegates present at this early meeting was a young student who had only recently returned to China from studying in Moscow. His name Mao Zedong. At this meeting they received into membership about 50 members. Another person to figure prominently in the early days of the growth of the Chinese Communist Party was Dr. Sun Yat-Singh. He was aided by advisors from Russia and soon found himself a top man in the newborn Chinese Communist Party. Dr. Sun Yat-Singh appointed a young man named Chiang Kai-shek as organizer of his army and actually sent Chiang Kai-shek to Moscow to receive special military training. It is a historical fact that both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek were leaders in the early Communist Party of China. Later in the year 1927 Chiang Kai-shek saw the utter roughness of the communist system and withdrew himself completely from its ranks. He thereafter became China's number one anti-communist leader fighting against this force of atheism imposed upon the people. However Mao Zedong stayed with communism and Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek to this very moment still fight the battle against each other. With the advent of the Second World War and the Japanese invasion of China both Mao and Shek ceased to fight against each other and joined forces to fight the oncoming Japanese troops. The same thing occurred with the United States joining Russia as well. With the end of the Second World War in 1945 the forces of Mao Zedong's communism and Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist powers picked up where they had previously left off and simply resumed their war against each other. In a few years Mao Zedong's communist forces had won the victory and had taken the entire vast nation of China. How did this happen? The factors that led to a complete communist victory on the China mainland are interesting history. With the surrender of the Japanese the Chinese Communist found itself with a membership of 1,210,000 and a regular army of 910,000 with over 2 million reserves. Incidentally it found itself ruling over 95 million people. The nationalist forces of General Chiang Kai-shek on August 15th 1945 were immediately recognized by General Douglas MacArthur the Allied Supreme Commander for the Pacific Theater of War. MacArthur recognized Chiang Kai-shek as China's only legal ruler. War again commenced between the forces of Mao Zedong and the nationalist armies of Chiang Kai-shek. During 1947 and 48 the communist forces swept across southern China and finally on the sad and fatal day of October 1st 1949 the communist led and inspired by Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China the communist state with Peking as its capital. Mao Zedong was the chairman and Chou In-lai the premier. What freedom there was in China slowly but surely began to vanish from the mainland with the rise of the Red Chinese Dragon. A question that is often puzzled those who have observed the history of these days is how did China fall so swiftly to the forces of Mao Zedong when General Douglas MacArthur himself recognized Chiang Kai-shek as China's legal ruler. During the periods from late 1945 through the end of 1948 or early 1949 the forces of Chiang Kai-shek were swept out with Mao Zedong's iron broom. Why? During the war the communist of Mao Zedong were not only fighting the Japanese but at the same time were laying their carefully drawn-up plans for the actions to be taken when the war with the Japanese was over. Now it was over. Communists began to move to take China. The reason for their successful and swift takeover can be explained generally under three headings. Number one a vast political communist operation. Attacking as the communists always do the political structure of an enemy government. This was one of the first methods used during the war years proven so successfully after the war. The forces of Mao Zedong sought to smash the government of Chiang Kai-shek. During the latter years of the war thousands of trained communist agents infiltrated into what was left of Chiang Kai-shek's government. They created conditions of mistrust, hate, suspicion, lies, vice of every practical description. They even succeeded in turning many of Chiang Kai-shek's own people against his government and succeeded in turning many members of the government against each other. The second area of attack was through civilian operations. This covered a wide range of maneuvers. Again thousands of trained dedicated communist agents sent by Mao Zedong infiltrated among the people of Chiang Kai-shek's southern China. These agents were trained to create acts of sabotage, assassination, murders, kidnapping, and then they joined the common innocent people in shouting for peace, peace, we want peace. And after causing these very incidents they would join the common innocent people, especially the workers, and blame Chiang Kai-shek's rule for these things. Rumors were vicious weapons. Possibly lies and misrepresentations were the most effective weapons used to discredit and weaken and bring about the collapse of Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist government. The spreading of vicious rumors occurred. These were dropped into the ears of the war weary people of Chiang Kai-shek's southern China. These rumors resulted in untold confusion, riots, demonstrations, etc. Students were also used as ever. The student bodies were especially taken into consideration by the communist agents slipping into the southern sections of China. These students were eager for peace and freedom and for the war ravaged people of China to be fed, helped, and assisted. The students were the main tools. They were used unwittingly by the communist agents and spread all over the country carrying stories of gossip and defamation against Chiang Kai-shek's southern China. When some students were arrested the shout of police brutality was echoed across the land. The authorities of the land were brought into ill repute. Law and order were broken down. The army of Chiang Kai-shek was so infiltrated that soon the morale almost completely collapsed. There was a third factor involved in the bringing to nothing the government of Chiang Kai-shek in southern China. This was not from within China but from overseas itself. Contact was made with the communist cells and various parties operating in the United States and these were given instructions to start working within the framework of the American State Department to help put pressure upon the government officials of America and use them to devise policies that would further bring the downfall of Chiang Kai-shek's southern China and the resurrection of Mao Tse-tung's communism over the whole country. A classical example the United States ambassador Patrick J Hurley was in China during these terrible days. He knew the communists and their dirty tricks. He was immediately the object of a vicious smear and propaganda campaign. Rumors were spread concerning the morals and character of this excellent United States ambassador Mr. Hurley. They proved successful. Mr. Hurley sent to the American State Department a full and true report of what precisely was going on in China and who was behind the trouble. Washington was told the truth. However due to pressure being put upon Washington by the American communist parties his report was scoffed at and rejected. Hurley resigned his post in anger and confusion. Another factor from overseas that was the straw that broke the camel's back was found in General George C Marshall sent by Truman to China to find the true situation as a result of all the conflicting stories. General Marshall like many people today knew little if anything of communism and less about China. The communists set off a campaign to deceive this uninformed American diplomat and sidetracked Marshall at every turn. They were successful and in short they made a complete fool out of General Marshall and he returned to America with the amazing report that the people of China needed and called for communism. An example of General Marshall's deceit is this. He threatened Chiang Kai-shek by saying that the United States of America would stop all aid to the war-torn people of China if Czechs government did not join with the communists in establishing a coalition type government. The USA did stop assistance for almost two years. This turned the tide in favor of mouthy tongues communism for the whole of China. The American government was swamped with demand from communist control groups all over America to cut off all aid to Chiang Kai-shek and to assist the liberator so-called mouthy tongues. The White House was pressurized by the red and succumbed it fell beneath the pressure. Finally a study group was called for by the American government concerning the confusing Chinese situation and believe it or not this American government appointed study group was directed by two men Philip Jessup and Owen Lattimore. Later on in American history proven to be top communist agents holding leading positions within the strata of the American government. Communists had the majority vote and the study group led by two agents came up with what we would expect to be the report quote the people of China want communism we condemn General Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist forces. A white paper was released with words to this effect contained their ends. This paper was released to the deceived American government and the worst deceived American people. As a result of this lying white paper designed by two communist agents Jessup and Lattimore the great leader Chiang Kai-shek and nationalist China fell. They were finished off by diplomatic intrigue. It was with these three steps that Mao Zedong's communism took China. Over 500 million humans went under the banner of the Red Star. But what is China like today? From 1966 through 1968 various civil wars broke out. Since the control of Mao Zedong there have been many problems. Since the fall of the whole of China to communism vast changes have taken place in this mammoth country. For example there was a cultural revolution that we've heard and read so much about. There have been hundreds if not thousands of coups efforts on behalf of the good people of China to smash the tyranny of Mao but it has stood firm. A reliable estimate given suggests that Mao Zedong has been responsible for the death of over 50 million people in the last 20 years of his rule in China. Incidentally in the past 20 years of communist rule 2 million 549 thousand people have fled from Mao Zedong's socialist paradise for the liberty of the free world. This figure does not take into consideration those who escaped and did not register in the refugee camps, neither does it take into consideration the many thousands who died attempting to escape. The position in China presently is something like this. Mao Zedong crushing all resistance and opposition soon launched his vast collectivization programs. Socialism is the first step to introduce communism. China today is made up of 26 provinces. These 26 provinces are divided into 2,100 districts and these districts are made up of 70,000 communes or collective farms. Each of these 70,000 communes or collective farms has 10 to 30 brigades and each brigade has about 140 families consisting of about 900 to a thousand people. In the process of establishing Chinese communist socialism millions of Chinese were moved into the communes or the collective farms during the so-called agrarian reform period. On the state owned and state control farms the people become in short slaves for the communist powers. We often hear and read the reports of well-meaning businessmen, industrialists, professors who have been given the rare privilege to travel into China. Often we hear them say, but wait a minute, there's no unemployment problem in China. We must give Mao Zedong that much credit. This is true. There is no unemployment problem in China. For the simple reason that the communist powers puts every half able-bodied person onto one of its collective farms or its collective industrial sites and forces every individual to work for the government. An estimate of about 200 million slaves have been forced into the collective communal farms alone. Agricultural products account for about 46 percent of China's national livelihood. These farm slaves, these millions forced onto the collectives having everything they have ever owned taken away, are usually paid with rice, oil, and strips of cloth. The city also has their collective locations. The city industrial systems work similar to the regimented farm communes. The only different being that some of the Chinese people are held as slaves on the countryside, while others are held as slaves within the walls of the cities. Factory workers in the industrial communes are in about eight different classes and their pay ranges from 17 to about $20 per month. We're often asked the questions about housing conditions in China. In the country, collective, or the city, collective, the communists appoint the place you live and with whom you live. Remember, they own the land, the buildings on the land, the streets. In fact, and in short, they have now confiscated and collected under the voice of their authority, everything. And they tell the people of China where to go, what to do, etc. Two rooms are usually government assigned for a family when such are found, that is, a family to be put together. Some few months ago, a prominent British authority, upon returning from a brain-capturing tour of China, published across Britain and other parts of the world these words, no taxes are paid by the people of China. The same report is often brought by tourists who have visited behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe. However, visitors who go behind the Iron or Bamboo Curtain should remember the reason why no taxes are paid. For the simple reason the communists own everything, even the people themselves. There is no need for taxes and if there were, the people would have nothing to pay the taxes with. With what little money the 800 million slaves of China may save from their starvation, state-appointed wages, they are only allowed to buy two things, watches and bicycles, nothing else. Thus, we understand, tax, of course, is not necessary. Everything, as far as is possible, is controlled by the powers of mousy tongues. Love, marriage, and in many cases, even sex, is communist controlled. All forms of entertainment are strictly adhering to the party line. And, of course, the Western world, especially America, is continually held up as an object of repute and ignominy. All activities such as sports, movies, theater, art, music, singing, in short, everything, is under the watchful eye of the party. All literature gives only the communist line. The last generation of China know nothing of the Western world. The present generation that we have now are taught only to hate the capitalist nations of the Western world. Your speaker remembers a missionary who spent some three years in Peking after the communist takeover. This missionary, escaping to Australia, reported how, that on the map of Australia, America, England, and the other free, non-communist nations of the world, are written the words, New China. And that the new generation of children and young people in China are actually being taught that these lands were once theirs, but that we, the Westerners, stole them. Now it is up to this new generation to go take their New China. It is theirs for the taking. Can the listener imagine for a moment the tremendous impact and effect of such lying, instruction? All worship is forbidden. Mao Tse-Tung has become the god, and his little red book, The Sayings of Chairman Mao, have become the Bible. The 800 million men, women, youth, and children of China, all dress alike. They are like a giant slave labor camp, where human freedom dignity, liberty, the right to choose and refuse, is being blotted out by the communist officials forever. Oftentimes we are asked, as a Christian mission to the communist world, precisely what is the position of the many Christians, no doubt who are in China. We can give at least this much of a report. Christians have suffered in China, perhaps as in no other communist-dominated nation on earth. All churches have been closed, except, of course, the Showcase Church in Peking, used to make a fool out of the visiting tourists, to send them back to their own free country, spouting out the communist propaganda. Oh, there's freedom of religion. I visited the church, and it was packed full on a Sunday morning. Christians have suffered mass extermination. Countless thousands have been tortured, harassed, and put free in South Korea. Christian mission to the communist world is shooting through the airwaves the blessed message that Jesus lives, and his blood-washing gestures quieter than snow. Huge balloons containing thousands and thousands of pieces of featherweight paper, upon which is printed the glorious good news of the message of Christ, are flown over the borders into the communist camps of China and North Korea. Plastic envelopes, in fact, hundreds of thousands of clear plastic envelopes, airtight and waterproof, containing the gospel message in appropriate languages, containing a Coke straw to make them float, and a piece of chewing gum to draw the children's attention, the children being constantly on the beaches. These are dropped into the seas and the waters that wash upon communist shores, when the tide is pulling and the wind is blowing the strongest towards the land of the red star and the hammer and sickle. The ocean currents take in the glorious message of Christ. One remembers the 29th Psalm, where God says, The word of God is upon the waters. A few couriers in the form of Christian high diplomatic personnel have also gone through and carried some Christian material. However, in concluding, as we have examined China, how communism took over, and generally its condition today, in concluding we would make an earnest appeal for those of you who do know Christ as your Savior, and you know something of the worth and changing power of prayer. Would you not join in prayer for the untold thousands of God's people who in these countries where the red star flies suffer indignities that defy human description? Would you not let the chain bind your heart that binds their wrists and their feet as they suffer under the tyranny of international communism? Would you not pray for them, and pray for the work of Christian mission to the communist world as we seek to take God's word to them, not only encouraging them, but oftentimes winning the communists themselves to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? What weather text we started with? Proverbs 18.10, The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Romans 10.13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Safety and salvation found in Jesus Christ our Lord. O people of the free world, hear these words, fasten them about thine heart, and take them.