In a conference commemorating the Chinese influential evangelist John Sung, a speaker delivered the message of the spiritual inheritance of the revivals in the Chinese church.
On the second day of commemorating the 120th anniversary of the birth of John Sung (1901-1944) who played an influential role in the revival movement in churches of China during the 1920s and 1930s, Pastor Edwin Su, founder of “Overseas Campus” magazine in the United States, shared the speech titled “Let the Fire Burn On: The Spiritual Inheritance of Revivals in the Church in China”.
On October 27, Pastor Edwin Su or Sun Wenfeng who has devoted himself to theological education for many years encouraged Christians to carry on the church's revival tradition to which Dr. John Sung was committed and strive for the great commission, with references to Bible verses and church history.
Throughout the history of the church spanning more than 2,000 years, God led many spiritual revivals at different times and in many different ways, the American Chinese pastor claimed.
Pastor Su said, “In Mark 1:15, Acts 1:6-8, and Acts 1:14, there are seven key sentences: ‘the time is fulfilled’, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’, ‘repent and believe in the Gospel’, ‘you will receive power’, ‘you will be his witness’ and ‘these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication’.”
He explained that they were the seven common points of spiritual revival through the ages, clearly seen in the great revival of churches in Britain and America in modern times, the revival of churches in China in the 20th century, and the revival meetings of John Sung.
At that time, the Welsh Revival also spread to China through many missionaries. Some missionaries in China said, "Many places in China, such as the northeast, northwest, and the central, Xiamen, Fujian, Guangdong and so on, are experiencing a great revival like the Welsh Revival.” At that time, there was a sister named Dora Yu, who studied medicine in China and was qualified as a doctor. Later, God called her to follow a missionary to preach the gospel in South Korea in 1896. This was the first cross-national and cross-cultural missionary in China. When she returned to the homeland, she stopped working as a doctor and became a full-time evangelist. God used the stutterer, who stammered and couldn't speak fluently, as a messenger of the gospel. Later, many famous pastors and preachers in China were influenced by her. It could be said that she was the pioneer of the revival of churches in China in the 20th century.
The pastor said that the message that God gave to Yu was to “pray without ceasing”, “deal with sin”, “spiritual life is more important than spiritual gifts”, and "obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit”. It is said that when she finished her preaching, “The ground in front of the audience was filled with tears.” This is the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit.
During the period from 1920 to 1930, in the revival in China, God brought the inheritance of churches in China including making confession publicly, praying together, crying, and remaining in silence. At the same time, many believers in the revival resolved grievances from the Boxer Rebellion.
Later, the great revival from 1920 to 1949 was the one initiated by God in the era of John Sung, the “Wesley of China”. In the 1920s, a series of national salvation and survival movements emerged in the society of China, such as the May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement. It was also during this period that God called many young missionaries and believers in China to rise up. Pastor Su said they shared a common belief in changing hearts with God's salvation.
The Chinese evangelist John Sung inherited the influence of the revival of churches in Britain and America and the ten-year revival of churches in China. After returning to China from the United States, he began a full-time preaching ministry. He said, "God has given me the secret of reviving the church: keep talking about sins and denouncing sins in the church! Only when sins go out can living water come in. Of all the sins of the church, I most target those of leaders and preachers.”
He often inadvertently pointed out a person's specific sin, so that people couldn’t hide from God's holiness. Sometimes he would point to someone in the audience at a gathering and say, "Brother, you are in the act of committing fornication. You should humble yourself! You have to repent!”
According to Pastor Su's mother, she attended the evangelistic meetings in Taiwan in which Sung preached. She remembers his sermons so well that she recalled that true repentance was “knowing sin-confessing sin-correcting sin-making amends for sin”. Moreover, one should have a specific list of sins, such as the sins of idolatry (idols include the Bodhisattva, Guan Yu, a famous Chinese general, the Land Lord, the God of wealth and so on), and the sins of theft (this includes stealing from parents, schools, public houses, companies, neighbors and so on). Each sin must be carefully listed and then people should confess and repent.
Pastor Su shared that when he decided to serve God full-time in 1970, his mother asked him, "Are you just serving to fulfill your ideals? Can you help people to repent and renew their lives as John Sung did?”
He concluded, "From the perspective of church history, the great revival of churches in Britain and America and the revival meetings during the period of John Sung (including Dora Yu, Wang Mingdao, etc.) with Chinese characteristics have many common messages: prayer, confession and repentance, holiness, and the way of the Cross.”
“May we all light and carry on the fire of revival through prayer, so that the great revival can come to churches in China in the future," he added.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
在纪第三天的念主仆宋尚节诞辰120周年大会”上，《海外校园》杂志的创办人、投身神学教育多年的苏文峰牧师“灵火继焚烧—中国教会奋兴的属灵传承”。
10月28日，藉着圣经多处经文和教会历史，苏牧师鼓励大家要继承宋尚节博士委身的教会奋兴传统，为了大使命而努力。
在2000多年的教会历史当中，上帝在不同时空中兴起了多次多方的属灵复兴，苏牧师说：从【可1:15】、【徒1:6-8】 和【徒1:14】，7个关键词：日期满了、神国近了、悔改归信、圣灵降临、得着能力、作主见证、恒切祷告正是历世历代属灵复兴的7个共同点。这7个共同点在近代英美教会大复兴、20世纪中国教会的复兴、宋尚节的奋兴聚会中，全都明显可见。
近代中国的复兴火焰
在当时，威尔斯大复兴通过很多传教士也传到了中国，当时在中国的传教士他们说：“在中国的东北、西北、华中、厦门、福建、广东等很多地方，正在经历像威尔斯那样的大复兴。”那时候中国有一位余慈度姊妹，她在中国读了医学课程，得到了医生的资格。后来神呼召她，让她在1896年跟着一名传教士去了韩国宣教，这是中国走出去的第一位跨国家、跨文化的宣教士。之后回国以后，不再继续做医生，而是成为了一名全职传道人。她本来是一个讲话结巴的人，但是上帝却使用了她这样讲话结巴口才不流畅的人，让她成为了福音的传达者，后来很多中国有名的牧师和传道人都受到了她的影响，可以说她是20世纪中国教会复兴的先驱。
神赐给余慈度的信息是“不住的祷告”“对付罪”“生命比恩赐更重要”“顺服圣灵的引导”，据说当时她讲完道以后，“听众前面的地上都是一排一排的泪水。”这是圣灵所作的非常奇妙的工作。
在1920年到1930年这一段时间，在中国的复兴运动上帝带给中国教会的传承是公开认罪、争相同声祷告、哭泣、肃静，同时也让教会很多信徒在复兴运动中化解了当年义和团教案的恩怨。
之后从1920到1949年代的大复兴运动，就是宋尚节所处的这个年代里面神所兴起的复兴的运动。1920年代中国社会兴起了一系列的救亡图存运动，比如五四运动、新文化运动等，也是在这一时期，上帝在中国兴起了许多的年轻传道人和信徒。苏牧师说，他们持有一个共同的信念，那就是用上帝的救赎来改变人心。
宋尚节的奋兴聚会
宋尚节传承了英美复兴和中国教会十年大复兴的影响，从美国回到中国以后，从1928年起宋尚节开始全职做传道、布道的工作。他说：“神给我复兴教会的秘诀是：讲题离不开罪，痛斥教会中的罪恶！只有罪恶出去，活水才能进来。教会的罪中，我最针对是领袖和传道人的罪。”
他常常在不经意间，指出某个人具体的罪，使人在神的圣洁面前无法隐藏。有时他会在聚会中指着台下的某一个人：“弟兄，你正在犯淫乱的光景中，你要枪毙（其实是‘谦卑’，宋尚节是福建莆田人，谦卑的发音和官话的枪毙非常相似）！你要悔改！”
据苏牧师的母亲回忆，当年宋尚节到台湾来布道的时候，她也参加了。对于宋尚节主持的布道会记忆深刻，她回忆说真正的悔改是“知罪—认罪—改罪—赔罪”，而且在认罪方面有着具体的认罪清单，比如拜偶像的罪方面，偶像包括菩萨、关公、土地公、财神爷等等，偷窃的罪方面，偷窃对象包括父母、学校、公家、公司、邻居等等，每一个罪都需要仔细的列出来，然后认罪悔改。
苏牧师分享，在1970年，他决定全职服事的时候，他母亲曾经询问他：“你的事奉，只是为了实现自己的理想吗？你能够像宋尚节那样，帮助人在生命上彻底的悔改更新吗？”
分享的最后，他总结说：“从教会历史的角度来看，近代英美教会的大复兴，和宋尚节那段时期（包括余慈度，王明道等等），这些中国特色的奋兴会，信息上有着诸多的共同点：祷告、认罪悔改、圣洁、十字架的道路。”无论时代怎么改变，今后教会的复兴也同样需要重视这些信息。
苏牧师最后鼓励大家：愿我们都能够通过祷告来点燃和传承复兴之火，让大复兴能够临到今后的中国教会。
纪念主仆宋尚节诞辰120周年纪念大会主题三 苏文峰牧师分享“灵火继焚烧—中国教会奋兴的属灵传承”
In a conference commemorating the Chinese influential evangelist John Sung, a speaker delivered the message of the spiritual inheritance of the revivals in the Chinese church.
On the second day of commemorating the 120th anniversary of the birth of John Sung (1901-1944) who played an influential role in the revival movement in churches of China during the 1920s and 1930s, Pastor Edwin Su, founder of “Overseas Campus” magazine in the United States, shared the speech titled “Let the Fire Burn On: The Spiritual Inheritance of Revivals in the Church in China”.
On October 27, Pastor Edwin Su or Sun Wenfeng who has devoted himself to theological education for many years encouraged Christians to carry on the church's revival tradition to which Dr. John Sung was committed and strive for the great commission, with references to Bible verses and church history.
Throughout the history of the church spanning more than 2,000 years, God led many spiritual revivals at different times and in many different ways, the American Chinese pastor claimed.
Pastor Su said, “In Mark 1:15, Acts 1:6-8, and Acts 1:14, there are seven key sentences: ‘the time is fulfilled’, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’, ‘repent and believe in the Gospel’, ‘you will receive power’, ‘you will be his witness’ and ‘these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication’.”
He explained that they were the seven common points of spiritual revival through the ages, clearly seen in the great revival of churches in Britain and America in modern times, the revival of churches in China in the 20th century, and the revival meetings of John Sung.
At that time, the Welsh Revival also spread to China through many missionaries. Some missionaries in China said, "Many places in China, such as the northeast, northwest, and the central, Xiamen, Fujian, Guangdong and so on, are experiencing a great revival like the Welsh Revival.” At that time, there was a sister named Dora Yu, who studied medicine in China and was qualified as a doctor. Later, God called her to follow a missionary to preach the gospel in South Korea in 1896. This was the first cross-national and cross-cultural missionary in China. When she returned to the homeland, she stopped working as a doctor and became a full-time evangelist. God used the stutterer, who stammered and couldn't speak fluently, as a messenger of the gospel. Later, many famous pastors and preachers in China were influenced by her. It could be said that she was the pioneer of the revival of churches in China in the 20th century.
The pastor said that the message that God gave to Yu was to “pray without ceasing”, “deal with sin”, “spiritual life is more important than spiritual gifts”, and "obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit”. It is said that when she finished her preaching, “The ground in front of the audience was filled with tears.” This is the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit.
During the period from 1920 to 1930, in the revival in China, God brought the inheritance of churches in China including making confession publicly, praying together, crying, and remaining in silence. At the same time, many believers in the revival resolved grievances from the Boxer Rebellion.
Later, the great revival from 1920 to 1949 was the one initiated by God in the era of John Sung, the “Wesley of China”. In the 1920s, a series of national salvation and survival movements emerged in the society of China, such as the May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement. It was also during this period that God called many young missionaries and believers in China to rise up. Pastor Su said they shared a common belief in changing hearts with God's salvation.
The Chinese evangelist John Sung inherited the influence of the revival of churches in Britain and America and the ten-year revival of churches in China. After returning to China from the United States, he began a full-time preaching ministry. He said, "God has given me the secret of reviving the church: keep talking about sins and denouncing sins in the church! Only when sins go out can living water come in. Of all the sins of the church, I most target those of leaders and preachers.”
He often inadvertently pointed out a person's specific sin, so that people couldn’t hide from God's holiness. Sometimes he would point to someone in the audience at a gathering and say, "Brother, you are in the act of committing fornication. You should humble yourself! You have to repent!”
According to Pastor Su's mother, she attended the evangelistic meetings in Taiwan in which Sung preached. She remembers his sermons so well that she recalled that true repentance was “knowing sin-confessing sin-correcting sin-making amends for sin”. Moreover, one should have a specific list of sins, such as the sins of idolatry (idols include the Bodhisattva, Guan Yu, a famous Chinese general, the Land Lord, the God of wealth and so on), and the sins of theft (this includes stealing from parents, schools, public houses, companies, neighbors and so on). Each sin must be carefully listed and then people should confess and repent.
Pastor Su shared that when he decided to serve God full-time in 1970, his mother asked him, "Are you just serving to fulfill your ideals? Can you help people to repent and renew their lives as John Sung did?”
He concluded, "From the perspective of church history, the great revival of churches in Britain and America and the revival meetings during the period of John Sung (including Dora Yu, Wang Mingdao, etc.) with Chinese characteristics have many common messages: prayer, confession and repentance, holiness, and the way of the Cross.”
“May we all light and carry on the fire of revival through prayer, so that the great revival can come to churches in China in the future," he added.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
Marking Rev. John Sung’s 120th Birthday, Pastor Edwin Su Wenfeng Urges Chinese Christians to Carry on the Fire of Revival
