Lasting Results from Evangelist Dr John Sung’s Ministry in Manila, Philippines.

“Three Churches in Manila – the Episcopal, the United Evangelical and the Christian Assembly Churches – united in extending an invitation to Dr Sung to conduct meetings from June 6th to 14th. he traveled to Manila after another great campaign in Peking in April.

Crowds gathered from all over Luzon and from other islands to attend the meetings. About 800 people filled every seat and blocked the aisles and stairways of the Chinese United Evangelical Church. Pastor Silas Wang of the United Church who took a prominent role in the meetings said: ” Dr. Sung had one line of teaching: sin, repentance, the new birth, holiness.” As usual, his denunciations of sin were fearless – the sins of professing Christians especially so. Sometimes he would single out an individual, a pastor or an office-bearer in the church, and say, “There is sin in your heart !”and he was always right. Sung used some of the old illustrations and some new ones. Once he appeared carrying a miniature coffin half full of stones. These represented sin committed and the death which sin would bring. For every fresh sin committed a stone would be added to the load until the bearer was almost bowed down under the weight. To emphasize the New Birth, he came on to the platform one day wearing an old gown with the names of different sins written all over it. Then, at the appropriate moment in the address, he discarded the old gown “at the Cross” and put on a new robe of righteousness produced from somewhere ! The sermons lasted as usual two hours or more with the favorite choruses copiously interspersed. Evangelism was followed by instruction to newly converted and the other Christians, and towards the end there was healing meeting. Crowds went to the platform to be prayed for, yet Dr. Sung, days later, would met the individuals and recognizing them as among those who had sought healing, ask “How are you?” He has a prodigious memory.

There were lasting results from these meetings. The United Evangelical Church was greatly straightened and its evangelistic zeal kindled. The Evangelistic Band organization which was formed at that time was still active in 1953, eighteen years later having survived the years of war and grown out of all recognition. It was divided into ten sections, each with its own leader and its own responsibility for prison, hospital and radio evangelism, for personal visitation, cottage meetings, devotional gatherings and the like. A missionary, writing in 1954, reports: “So many of the true Christians in the Philippines are the direct result of John Sung’s ministry”

A Biography of John Sung By Leslie T. Lyall Page 181-182

A copy of book can be read online here: A Biography of John Sung By Leslie T. Lyall.

Some Photographs of John Sung’s ministry and meetings can be viewed here: Dr John Sung – God’s Evangelist to Chinese in China and Asia

For other posts on this blog on John Sung.

In the New Jerusalem

In the New Jerusalem, a hymn  penned by the late  Reverend  (Dr) Timothy Tow  Siang Hui (1920-2009) .  The accompanying melody for In the New Jerusalem is  from  Bethel Hymns. This hymn In the New Jerusalem is one of my favorite  because of  its  joyous melody and the heavenly truth declaring the blessed Hope all believers, washed by the blood of the Lamb of God, can  look forward to.

I thanked God  for Timothy Tow, for his faithful ministry for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the many years of labor and service for his beloved Saviour. Indeed, I was blessed by his faithful  preaching, indirectly through his books and through the many people God raised up over the years through his ministry.

Rev Dr Timothy Tow Siang Hui

“When every true servant of Jesus Christ is blessed in his preaching ministry, he must be careful to exalt his Lord and Saviour and not to usurp one ray of His glory. This is the Apostle Paul’s admonition to us preachers. “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (II Cor 4:5). ……………I have therefore taken II Cor 4:5, ….. as my life verse. Please pray for me” (“He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease” sermon  By Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow, Aug 4, 2002)

“Let every preacher take note, when God blesses your preaching and when your hearers thank you for your sermon, don’t be proud about it. Remember John the Baptist saying, “For he must increase, but I must decrease. Amen.“ (“He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease” sermon  By Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow, Aug 4, 2002)

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In the New Jerusalem

We’re a pilgrim band now headed for the glory land of light.
We are travelling through the wilderness of night.
We’ve a home that’s far away beyond the heaven and the stars.
In the New Jerusalem.

In that land of glory where the saints are gathered round the Throne.
Not a sigh or tear, no sorrow nor a groan.
But an everlasting song of victory flows from every tongue.
In the New Jerusalem.

We are heading nearer nearer for the land that’s now in sight.
Will you join us to the City fair and bright?
Is your name forever written in the Lamb’s book of Life?
In the New Jerusalem.

Chorus
Hal-le-lu-jah ! fills the heaven
For the saints have all come home
To Je-ru-sa-lem ! To Je-ru-sa-lem !
Joy-fully they shout Ho-sanna ! Come and crown Him King of Kings !
In the New…….Je-ru-sa-lem !

Lyrics: Rev Dr Timothy Tow
Music: Melody – Bethel Hymns (Please follow this link to enjoy the melody)

Note:

Rev Dr Timothy Tow was the Founding Pastor of Life Bible Presbyterian Church and related Bible Presbyterian Churches in Singapore and Malaysia.  He was also the Founding Principal of Far Eastern Bible College ( FEBC), Singapore.

How Big is God ?

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, ……..(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

Two merging galaxies located 140 million light-years from Earth

The God of the Bible is a big God. He is not contained by space, scripture is clear  even “the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain” Him (1Ki 8:27). God fills His entire creation, they cannot contain Him (Jer 23:23 – 24).   It is important to keep in mind, God is immensely bigger than anything existing or what you can even imagine. This truth about the attributes of God offers great peace and comfort when we are seized with doubt or fear, we must remember that no one or anything is bigger than God. AMEN – God is BIG. God is near, never fear !

When God is near, who else but God do we need to fear ? If God stands on our side, do we need fear anything ? It gives great joy, peace and comfort to know that this immensely big God, Jehovah my God is near His people and  hears the prayer of those who cry out to Him (1Ki 8:28-30). Scriptures says “And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant” and “and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive!”.

Never Fear! He Is Near!
Never fear! He is near!
Look to no man, Care not what the world may plan;
Only trust in the Lord, All the way to Beulah Land.

不要怕只要信

不要怕，只要信，不要看人，不看环境与外面，

只要仰望耶稣，一路跟主到天家。

John Sung Choruses, trans. by Tow

1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built?

Jer 23:23 – 24  “Am I a God near, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off?  Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.”

1Ki 8:28 -30 Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive!

When the Holy Spirit Moves and Brings Revival

When the Holy Spirit moves and brings revival, people are found turning away from their selves, they are found humbling themselves before a Holy God, there will be much prayers, tears, repentance, confession and forsaking of sins and souls will be saved. Evangelist John Sung, the anointed servant of Jesus Christ, knew from his own experiences that these sovereign works of the Holy Spirit in convicting sinners are clearly evident in the 1931 Nan-Chang revival when the Holy Spirit came mightily to draw men and women to Him and revived the churches in China.

During that revival, he recounted an occasion when one of the teachers brought five students who had already heard about the Gospel to see him. While their hearts were prepared, they had yet to come before God in faith to repent and believe. He wrote, “I asked everyone to kneel and pray, and said: “Lord, you have greatly suffered for us on the Cross, and they have doubts or are still unwilling to accept this unprecedented salvation. Those who are proud or doubtful are but seeking their own demise. Who can enter the Kingdom of God but he who is like a child? As I prayed, I felt that my “self” had died, and it was the Lord who was speaking to them. At that hour, the Holy Spirit descended upon us and Li Yun Ding started to cry bitterly as she felt heavy with sin. All five of them finally turned to the Lord.”

Clearly the message that John Sung was saying to every sinner that is seeking salvation, with a child-like faith you must humble yourself and look to the Lamb of God on the cross and cry out to God for mercy and grace and be born again. Through the preaching of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit calls the sinner, convicts him of his sins and draws him to Calvary. The sinners saw their sins and they saw Jesus Christ, the pure and perfect Lamb of God, offered as their atoning sacrifice and their only hope.

Walking very closely with God, John Sung himself fully immersed with the Word of God and prayers before God. He shared with foreign missionaries and teachers, “I read 11 chapters of the Bible every day. After each chapter, I will ask the Lord to reveal to me my sins. The Bible is His Precious Blood meant to cleanse my sins. I cannot leave the salvation brought about by His Precious Blood for even one minute.” He urged foreign missionaries and teachers to attend a particular meeting to be held in the night and he revealed “as this was the day the Holy Spirit would descend upon us mightily.”

In the afternoon before the meeting, it was already evident that the Holy Spirit was already working amongst attendees, he wrote “Many were tearing amongst the audience even before the service was due to begin that afternoon.” John Sung pointed them to the Savior, the perfect Lamb of God dying on the cross for the transgressions of sinners. He wrote,”I preached from Luke 23:26-46. Before long, the entire congregation and I were in tears and everyone raised their hands. The hall was reverberating with heartfelt prayers.”

In a meeting with the teachers and preachers just prior to start of the meeting, he pleaded with them, “If a preacher could not identify his own sins and empty himself, he would lack the power to penetrate the strong citadels in other people’s hearts. Destroy not what the Holy Spirit has wrought in your heart, lest God be grieved. God loves to work with him who has an obedient heart.” He stated “There is now a spiritual revival amongst the students, and the leaders will be guilty of a great sin if they themselves do not experience a spiritual revival.” Surely, John Sung clearly understood that a preacher of the Gospel must have spent much time before the Lord praying and preparing his heart and dealing with known sins and seeking to rely and call upon God’s power to bring forth the Gospel to illuminate sinners who are spiritual dead and blind. He mentioned, “In my prayers, I lamented the fact that I do not even have a tiny fraction of His Love, and begged for His forgiveness. May He give me His love and save all the prodigal sons who have been led astray”. During the meeting that evening, John Sung recorded the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit: “At that hour, the Holy Spirit came upon us …… broke down and cried as she confessed and gave her heart to the Lord.” Sins were confessed, lives and focus priorities of leaders were aligned.

He believed that The Holy Spirit will sustain the revival already begun but it was important that weekly prayer meetings be held for people who are saved to come together to pray and ask for God’s “cleansing by the Blood of the Lamb”. Weekly prayer meeting were the focal points where people of God come together to seek His face and seek His interventions in their lives and for the work at hand. On 7 March 1931 in another meeting, he delivered a sermon warning about hypocritical attitudes will take over if people who are saved do not come often before God. He wrote, “I asked the audience to pray when I had finished. At this juncture, I heard the sound of the Holy Spirit descending in my left ear. More than 50 people continued to pray incessantly, confessing their sins in a deluge of tears, and were unable to continue with their prayers. All but three girls from the high school accepted salvation on that day.”

When hearts of God’s people are prepared and they earnestly seek His presence, He will come !

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The quotes from John Sung are from “The Journal Once Lost” Page 120-121 published by Armour Publishing.

Holy Spirit’s work in convicting all sinners before God

From his diary, John Sung revealed the key to the 1931 revival in Nanchang, China . In any true revival, he confirmed the vital works of Holy Spirit in convicting men and women of their sins. John Sung wrote then: “Suddenly, I felt deeply touched to speak on sin and salvation”. God must prepare the hearts of his messengers in a revival.

This distinct aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work in convicting all sinners before God  is clearly stated by our Lord Jesus Christ in John 16:8 – 11 : “And when He is come, He will reprove the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment: concerning sin, because they believe not in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to My Father and ye see Me no more; concerning judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

It is evident that John Sung was convinced that for evangelism to be effective,  God must send the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of men and women through the clear preaching the Gospel. John Sung was sure that those“who have not been touched by the Holy Spirit are not aware of sin.’ and those “who are not aware of sin cannot accept salvation from the Lord”

This is an important point in any effort to evangelise to sinners. It is not about the making the message more “seeker friendly”, toning it down to the “unchurched” or “pre-believers” and relying on the man-made method to claim “decisions for Christ”.  God centred evangelism is toward sinners and must faithfully declare the Truth as proclaimed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the  Spirit of Truth who will show sinners  their sinful  and lost state and point them to their only hope and Savior.

John16-13-15 “However when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore I said that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”

“I have come to understand more clearly than ever that the Lord did not come to teach us or set an example. Indeed He came to take away our sins and die for sinners. A sense of great guilt burned within me as I recalled that my past sermons were ineffective for lack of emphasis on confession and salvation. Henceforth, I shall be a fisher of men! The Lord will only glorify the teachings of those who spread His Truth. As the Lord loves me, He allowed me to experience the many weaknesses of the ministry workers and showed me the path to church revival. I knew in the past that the Lord had come to cleanse our sins, but I knew not that He had come to do just that. A miss is as good as a mile indeed! One who is truly born again can spot sin with ease and repent because he knows what sin is. He will surely be concerned for the salvation of those around him.” Pg 119 “The Journal Once Lost”

Holy Spirit Fell on All Present

William E. Schubert in his book “I Remember John Sung”.wrote this account of the NanChang China Pentecost when the power of the Holy Spirit came mightily during a John Sung led revival meeting.

Holy Spirit Fell on All Present
(NanChang, China – March 1931)

“That evening, instead of the six or eight or ten coming, there were 250 to 300 present in the Baldwin School chapel. The place was filled. Dr. Sung had us sing some choruses about prayer. Then he told us to pray. But nobody prayed. It was rather embarrassing at first. Then two little high school girls stood up and began to pray at the same time. I can still see their double braids. We had never had that; never more than one person prayed at the one time. ……….

Just then the Holy Spirit fell on everybody. All began to pray at once. There was no rushing wind, and there were no tongues that I know of. But God spoke to everyone in Chinese, and it seemed the natural thing to pray in Chinese, with utterance beyond what I had ever experienced. God spoke to me in Chinese, and I prayed in torrents of Chinese.

At first, Dr. Sung was very much surprised, and not pleased. He called out for us to stop: “We don’t want any fanaticism here.” I don’t think he had ever been in a place where all prayed at one time, though later in his meetings it often happened. Later, it became common, and still is practised in Taiwan and among most evangelical Chinese groups everywhere. But at the time we had never seen or heard it before. The whole outburst was unplanned and spontaneous — a moving of the Holy Spirit. But that night in March 1931 Dr. Sung stopped us.

He asked all to go to their rooms and pray quietly. He said, “Now I’ll pronounce the benediction.” But as he prayed, the Holy Spirit fell the second time, and everybody began to pray a in chorus again. Again he stopped us: “You didn’t understand; I didn’t say to pray here.” I later asked him why he stopped us, and he told me, “I didn’t want the missionaries to say `That crazy Sung made all the students crazy.”

Then, as he began to pronounce the benediction again, the Holy Spirit fell upon the whole congregation the third time. So he finally let us go on, and the spontaneous prayer must have continued forty-five minutes to an hour. Christians got under conviction and confessed their sins. There were about seven or eight communist students, who later confessed that they had been paid to come there to school to cause trouble.

These communist students were in the center of rows, scattered throughout the audience where they could make the most disturbance. When they got under conviction, they tried to get out, but the Christian students wouldn’t let them out of the rows. The Christian students had been praying for them. I can remember seeing the Christian students beating their own knees for joy when the young communists got so under conviction. All the agitators could do was to stand up and beat their breasts and cry out, “Oh, my unspeakable sins.” They all became earnest Christians.’

John Sung – God’s Evangelist for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Chinese in China and Asia

God in His grace will see to it that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be transmitted and preached by His messengers to every tongue and tribe in the entire world before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ at His 2nd coming. God raised up one of the greatest evangelists of all time to reach out to the Chinese people in China and those scattered outside of China.

William E. Schubert in “I REMEMBER JOHN SUNG” said, “Dr. Sung was probably the greatest preacher of this century. I have heard almost all the great preachers from 1910 until now, including R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Henry Jowett, the great holiness preachers, the Methodist bishops, including Bishop Quayle, even Harry Emerson Fosdick, who set a great example of the homiletic art, though I did not agree with him, and finally Billy Graham. Yet John Sung surpassed them all in pulpit power, attested by amazing and enduring results, …..”

Today, many Chinese churches outside of China (in South East Asia and Taiwan) had their original roots through the ministry of this worthy servant of the Lord: John Sung Shang Chieh (traditional Chinese: 宋尚節; simplified Chinese: 宋尚节; pinyin: Sòng Shàng-Jíe; (29 September 1901 – 18 August 1944) was a faithful Chinese Christian evangelist who was greatly used by the Lord in the revival movement among the Chinese in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia during the 1920s and 1930s.

Our Almighty and Everlasting God has been merciful and gracious to the Chinese. He sent His servant John Sung to shine the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to reach millions of Chinese. John Sung sowed a lasting legacy of faithful believers who have reaped more than hundred folds many times over.

Though, I was came into this world long after John Sung has passed away, I came to know the Lord through the ministries of faithful believers who came to the Lord through the preaching of John Sung in the past.

Thank You Lord for John Sung !

Asian Awakening

I Remember John Sung

John Sung My Teacher

http://articles.christiansunite.com/article2573.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sung
http://www.bdcconline.net/bdcc_stories/c…
http://www.evanwiggs.com/revival/portrai…
http://wapedia.mobi/en/John_Sung
http://www.armourpublishing.com/armour/site/products/NEW_TITLES/Christian/9789814222082