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Jonathan Goforth
Jonathan Goforth (1859–1936) was a Canadian preacher and missionary whose fervent ministry ignited revivals across China, establishing him as a pivotal figure in early 20th-century Protestant missions. Born on February 10, 1859, near Thorndale, Ontario, the seventh of eleven children to farmers John and Jane Goforth, he grew up in a hardworking Presbyterian family. Converted at 18 after hearing Rev. Lachlan Cameron preach, he felt called to ministry while reading Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s memoirs at Knox College, Toronto, where he graduated in 1887. Inspired by missionary George Leslie Mackay, he wed Rosalind Bell-Smith in 1887 and embarked for China in 1888 as the Canadian Presbyterian Church’s first missionary there. With Rosalind, he had eleven children, six surviving to adulthood, enduring profound personal losses amid their mission. Goforth’s preaching evolved from church planting in Henan—where he narrowly survived the 1900 Boxer Rebellion with sword wounds—to a revivalist focus after witnessing Korea’s 1907 awakening. From 1908, his itinerant evangelism in Manchuria and beyond sparked the Manchurian Revival, with thousands converting as he preached repentance and prayer, often eight hours daily to crowds of up to 25,000. His ministry, marked by a rejection of modernism and a reliance on the Holy Spirit, faced criticism from liberal colleagues but bore fruit, with over 13,000 conversions by 1913. Blind by 1934, he returned to Canada, preaching until his death on October 8, 1936, in Wallaceburg, Ontario, leaving a legacy as a “God-intoxicated” revivalist whose work paved the way for figures like John Sung, chronicled in Rosalind’s Goforth of China (1937).
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Jonathan Goforth warns about the danger of becoming accustomed to darkness and false doctrines, emphasizing the ease with which believers can compromise their faith by fraternizing with unbelievers. He uses powerful illustrations like the Coast Guard crew's mission and the infiltration of Marxism in religion to highlight the urgency of staying true to God's Word amidst a world filled with deception and distractions.
Holy Living
People get so used to the dark that they think it is growing brighter ... It is possible to fraternize with unbelievers until false doctrine becomes less and less objectionable. I have read of a Coast Guard crew summoned on a stormy night to rescue survivors from a sinking vessel. One member of the crew was fearful: "Captain," he moaned, "we'll never get back." "We don't have to come back," was the reply, "we only have to go." Our Lord sent His disciples out as sheep among wolves; now the wolves are being invited into the sheepfold. Vice-Admiral Rickover said: "If the Russians announced they were going to send a man to hell, there would be at least two government agencies ... asking for money on the grounds, We've got to get there first." Lenin said: "We will find our most fertile ground for infiltration of Marxism within the field of religion, because religious people are the most gullible and will accept almost anything if it is couched in religious terminology." Somebody asked a prominent figure of that day, "What do you think of civilization?" He replied, "I think it's a good idea. Why doesn't someone start it?" There is a trend today that would put a new robe on the prodigal son while he is still feeding hogs. Some would put the ring on his finger while he still in the pigsty. Others would paint the pigsty and advocate bigger and better hogpens.
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Jonathan Goforth (1859–1936) was a Canadian preacher and missionary whose fervent ministry ignited revivals across China, establishing him as a pivotal figure in early 20th-century Protestant missions. Born on February 10, 1859, near Thorndale, Ontario, the seventh of eleven children to farmers John and Jane Goforth, he grew up in a hardworking Presbyterian family. Converted at 18 after hearing Rev. Lachlan Cameron preach, he felt called to ministry while reading Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s memoirs at Knox College, Toronto, where he graduated in 1887. Inspired by missionary George Leslie Mackay, he wed Rosalind Bell-Smith in 1887 and embarked for China in 1888 as the Canadian Presbyterian Church’s first missionary there. With Rosalind, he had eleven children, six surviving to adulthood, enduring profound personal losses amid their mission. Goforth’s preaching evolved from church planting in Henan—where he narrowly survived the 1900 Boxer Rebellion with sword wounds—to a revivalist focus after witnessing Korea’s 1907 awakening. From 1908, his itinerant evangelism in Manchuria and beyond sparked the Manchurian Revival, with thousands converting as he preached repentance and prayer, often eight hours daily to crowds of up to 25,000. His ministry, marked by a rejection of modernism and a reliance on the Holy Spirit, faced criticism from liberal colleagues but bore fruit, with over 13,000 conversions by 1913. Blind by 1934, he returned to Canada, preaching until his death on October 8, 1936, in Wallaceburg, Ontario, leaving a legacy as a “God-intoxicated” revivalist whose work paved the way for figures like John Sung, chronicled in Rosalind’s Goforth of China (1937).