Remembering the 120th anniversary of the birth of Chinese evangelist John Sung, Pastor Ka-Tong Lim, senior pastor of a Chinese church in the U.S. shared a speech with the theme of “John Sung and the Work of the Holy Spirit”.
On October 26-29, the conference in commemoration of the 120th birthday of John Sung was held by the Chinese Pastors’ Fellowship of North America Mainland Chinese Mission, with the theme "Commemorate, Repent, and Revive".
On the third day, Pastor Lim said that some people claimed John Sung (1901-1944), the “Wesley of China”, had many shortcomings, such as his allegorical interpretation, fiery temper, neglect of his family, and his accent. A pastor once told an interesting story, saying that Dr. Sung, born in Putian of Fujian Province, once preached that you sinners should be humble before God. But when the interpreter translated the sentence, everyone burst into laughter because what the interpreter translated was "you sinners will be shot before God.” "Be shot" (qiangbi in Chinese) should have been Sung’s Putian pronunciation of "be humble"（qianbei in Chinese), but his accent did not convey the accurate meaning, and so the people there did not understand him, so it ended up being a big joke.
The pastor claimed that Sung's public service lasted only twelve years, and he had not been deeply cultivated in theology, but his influence and contribution to the church were great. He summarized five points of his ministry: “be filled with the Holy Spirit”, “hold high the Bible and live according to it”, “confess sins and repent”, “work in prayer”, and “bear more fruit”.
In the early years of the Republic of China, almost all the highly educated leaders in mainstream churches in China were influenced by liberal theology. Reverend Jonathan Chao in his book specifically mentioned that when the National Christian Council of China was founded in 1922, unity was promoted, and several large denominations were united. Of the eight commissioners, only one was not a liberal church leader, but a young chemistry doctor from the United States, John Sung. He valued and highly revered the Bible, while many people at the time considered there to be superstition in the Bible and that the miracles in it were not credible. But Doctor Sung healed diseases, and cast out demons, valuing signs and wonders.
On December 14, 1928, Sung wrote, “People's words have no power to influence people, only to excite people's feelings.” He valued God's Word very much. W. B. Cole wrote a letter in 1929 to the headquarters of the American Methodist Episcopal Mission in New York, mentioning that Sung "seems to have mastered the whole Bible and is ready to explain any passage of scripture at any time.”
In 1929, the American Methodist Episcopal Mission held its annual meeting in Xinghua. During the conference, they had a report about how Dr. Sung went everywhere to lead the Bible study, preach, and tell people to read the Bible after they believed. Therefore, the Bible Society said that the annual Bible sales in Xinghua that year surpassed those of the newly established distribution centers in various parts of China. Later throughout China and even in Southeast Asia, the society repeatedly reported that their Bibles were all sold out and sold very well. Later people found that those places had just been visited by John Sung.
In 1935 and 1936, Sung held a national Bible study meeting, during which people there spent a month reading the whole Bible. This meeting led to a big contribution, which was to record what he talked about including the background of each book of the Bible, the history of the Bible, and what he had read in English reference books. All of them were recorded and reviewed by Sung and then published as a book. It is said that during the most difficult times, many people preparing sermons in many places did not have reference materials, and those materials in that book became the help of many.
Valuing the work of the Holy Spirit in his life, Sung was very sensitive to sin. He often confessed and repented before God. He said of his day of rebirth, “The Holy Spirit came and worked in my heart, reminding me of my sins, and I could not bear the condemnation of my conscience. Day and night I wept and prayed, and in the middle of the night the Lord came to me and said, ‘Your sins are forgiven, and henceforth your name will be John, and you will bear witness about me in all the world.’” This is what John Sung mentioned when he preached in Fuzhou in 1938.
He came to Nanchang in March 1931, confessing Nanchang was the turning point of all his work. He discovered that the secret of church revival was to confess, pray and be filled with the Holy Spirit. After a whole evening of prayer, he confessed and dealt with his sins before God, askingd all the people to do the same thing - confess their sins, and the wonderful spirit of God would work greatly.
On one Friday, he went to Luhe to preach sermons. While preaching, he shed tears and said to the congregation, “I committed the sin of losing my temper the day before yesterday. I blamed all the people who attended the meeting on the spot, especially the leaders.” There he said, “Please forgive me.” Tears fell down in his eyes, and the crowd was deeply moved. The message and effect of that day were immediately different, namely, people on that day saw the work of the Holy Spirit.
As he took a break from his outside work and recovered from his illness, he began to do much introspection. During this time, he mentioned that he had made many mistakes, such as losing his temper when he saw children shouting when he preached, exaggerating things that he witnessed, and so on.
After his death in 1944, some conservative Christians referred to him as a Pentecostal “member”. Even Pu Xingshi, an old missionary in his hometown, commented on him like this, "It is a pity that John Sung took the wrong path of a magic doctor.” But a pastor of the Assemblies of God Church wrote an article that he was against the Charismatic church.
In the autumn of 1926, a teenage preacher named Uldine Utley, whose “charismatic sermons” influenced Sung, was invited to attend a sermon at a large Baptist church in Mt. Calvary, New York. So, in 1927, when he reflected on his day of rebirth, some of the words he used in his testimony sounded quite charismatic.
Apart from that, he said that the Lord Jesus changed his name to John and called him to be a ‘John the Baptist’. In 1928, John Sung returned to his hometown Putian as a preacher. He was sent to every countryside and city in Putian to spread the Gospel. At that time, Putian was a place where evil spirits prevailed. When he used to preach and lead meetings, what often appeared in his diary was encountering demons, experiencing demons’ disruption, driving out demons and so on.
Sung also attached great importance to prayer and worked in prayer, making prayer his work. In 1931, during a long night of prayer, God had given him the secret of reviving the church: dealing with sins and denouncing sins in the church. After leaving the Bethel Mission, John Sung began to start watchtower prayers everywhere he led the meeting, praying for meetings.
And he carried with him the intercession card filled out by the congregation. He asked churches to organize fasting and prayer meetings that would take place in the backroom or classroom at the same time as he laid his hands on the patients.
Before John Sung left the world, he said, “Pray, the future work is the work of praying.”
In 1938, after serving in Vietnam for a year, many preaching stations were added in each district, 11 new churches were self-sufficient, 1013 new believers were baptized, and more than 5,000 people made a prayer of repentance. The news was published in the magazine The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal. Sung only visited Vietnam once.
In 1966, the Christian and Missionary Alliance did a study, and they found that Sung's mission team in Vietnam, founded in 1938, was an important reason why churches in Vietnam continue to plant churches today.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
在“纪念主仆宋尚节诞辰120周年大会”第三天中，林加东牧师，他分享的主题是“宋尚节与圣灵的工作”。
林牧师说有人说宋尚节有很多缺点。他用灵意寓意解经；脾气火爆；忽略家庭；口音过重。曾经一位牧师曾经讲过一个有趣的事情，他说有一次宋博士讲道，宋博士本来讲的是说你们这些罪人在神面前要谦卑。但是翻译的人把他翻出来的时候，大家全都哄堂大笑。因为翻译说宋尚节所讲的是“你们这些有罪的人在神面前都要枪毙”。“枪毙”原本应该是他莆田发音的“谦卑”，结果宋尚节讲不准，大家也听不准，最后就闹了很大的笑话。
那上帝为什么要使用这样的一个人呢？宋尚节公开的服事只有十二年，也没有受过很深的神学的造就。但为什么他对教会的影响跟贡献是那么大？从五点来看，第一点是圣灵充满。然后其他的四点跟这一点是环环相扣的，是跟圣灵的充满、高举圣和活出圣经；认罪悔改；工作祷告；多结果子。
中国在民国初期，主流教会里面受过高等教育的中国教会的领袖们，几乎都受到了自由神学的影响。赵天恩牧师，在他的书里特别提到一九二二年成立中华全国基督教协进会的时候，那时候推展合一，几个大宗派合在一起。在八位委员当中，只有一位委员不是自由派的教会领袖，就是一位留美回来的年轻的化学博士，就是宋尚节。他看重和高举圣经，当时很多人说圣经里面有迷信的成分，里面的神迹不可信。宋博士却医病赶鬼，看重神迹奇事。
在1928年十二月十四日，他写下了“人的言语没有感化人的能力，只能动人的感情。”他非常看重神的话语。郜温柔宣教士在一九二九年写了一封信给美以美会在纽约的总部，提到说宋“似乎已经掌握了整本圣经，随时可以讲解任何一段经文。”
一九二九年，美以美会在兴化开他们的年会。在开会当中，他们有一个报道说，因着宋博士到处去带领查经布道，待人信主之后，要人好好的读圣经。所以圣经公会说，那一年的兴化区全年圣经销售量超越中国各个地方新设的分售中心。以后在中国各地，甚至在东南亚，圣经公会一再的写了这样的报道，说他们的圣经全都卖完了，畅销的很。后来一看发现原来这些地方都是宋尚节刚刚到过的地方。
在一九三五年和一九三六年宋尚节都召开了全国性的查经大会，聚会当中用一个月的时间，把旧约跟新约读完。这个聚会有一个很大的贡献，就是把他所讲的课程内容，包括所讲的圣经每一卷的背景、圣经的历史，把这一些他从英文参考书上所看到的资料，有人把这些课程内容记录下来然后宋审阅以后出版成书。据说在最困难的时期，许多地方准备讲道的人没有参考的资料，这些资料就成为了许多人的帮助。
因着他看重圣灵在他生命里的工作，他对罪非常敏锐。他经常在神面前认罪悔改。他说到他的重生日的时候，“圣灵来到我的心里做工，使我想起罪恶来，我担当不起良心的谴责。日夜流泪祷告，半夜里主来到我的面前，对我说，你的罪赦了，从今以后要起名叫约翰，往普天下为我做见证。”这是宋尚节一九三八年在福州讲道的时候所提到的事情。
一九三一年三月来到南昌，他说南昌是一切工作的转机，他发现了复兴教会的秘诀就是认罪祷告圣灵充满。整个晚上祷告之后，在神面前认自己的罪，对付自己的罪，并且他也要求所有人都做同样的事情，那就是认罪，很奇妙的神的灵就大大动工。
有一次，他到六合去讲道，周五宋尚节讲道的时候流泪对会众说：“我前天犯了发脾气的罪，当场责备所有参加聚会的人，特别是大家的领袖。”他在那边就说请你们赦免我，说时声泪俱下，众人深受感动。那一天的信息和果效立刻不同，即见圣灵的工作。
在他停下外面的工作，外面的服事养病的时候，他开始很多的反省。这段时间当中，他就提到他自己有许多的不对的地方——讲道的时候看见孩子们吵闹就开始发脾气，见证的时候，刻意夸大等等。
他在世的时候，一些保守的基督徒称他是灵恩派。连他自己家乡的老宣教士蒲星氏这样评论他，说“可惜宋尚节他走上神医的偏路去了”。但是神召会的牧师撰文写文章说：宋尚节反对灵恩。
一九二六年的秋天，他少女布道家阿特莉受邀将会参加纽约加略山一个很大的浸信会做的布道会，这位阿特莉有“灵恩能力的讲道”对宋有有相当的影响。所以在一九二七年，当宋回想他的重生日，他的见证里面所用的一些词句有相当浓厚的灵恩的色彩。
还有一点，宋尚节说，主耶稣给他改名叫约翰，呼召他为众多的施洗约翰的其中一个。一九二八年，宋尚节回到他的莆田老家当传道人。他被差派到莆田的每一个乡下和城市传福音，当时的莆田是邪灵盛行的地方，他经常出来讲道带领聚会的时候，其中日记里面经常出现的事情就是碰到鬼，碰到鬼的搅扰，要赶鬼等等。
宋尚节也非常看重祷告，也在祷告中工作，以祷告成为他的工作。一九三一年长夜祷告，神曾指示他奋兴教会的秘诀：对付罪，痛斥教会中的罪恶。宋尚节从伯特利布道团出来开始，在各处领会都开始守望台的祷告，为了整个聚会祷告。
并且他随身携带会众填写的代祷卡。他要求教会组织禁食祷告会，在宋博士为病人按手时，同步在副堂或者课室进行。
在宋尚节离开世界以前，他讲了很有名的一句话，他说：祷告，今后的工作是祷告的工作。
宋尚节在一九三八年，在越南服事一年之后，各区增加了许多布道站，11所新教会已经自立自养，1013名初信者受洗，有五千多人做了悔改的祷告。这个消息刊登在教务杂志这个杂志上，而宋尚节只到过越南这一次。
一九六六年宣道会做了一个研究，他们发现一九三八年宋尚节在越南成立的布道队，是越南教会能够直到现在继续植堂的重要原因。
纪念主仆宋尚节诞辰120周年大会第三天 林加东牧师分享“宋尚节与圣灵的工作”
Remembering the 120th anniversary of the birth of Chinese evangelist John Sung, Pastor Ka-Tong Lim, senior pastor of a Chinese church in the U.S. shared a speech with the theme of “John Sung and the Work of the Holy Spirit”.
On October 26-29, the conference in commemoration of the 120th birthday of John Sung was held by the Chinese Pastors’ Fellowship of North America Mainland Chinese Mission, with the theme "Commemorate, Repent, and Revive".
On the third day, Pastor Lim said that some people claimed John Sung (1901-1944), the “Wesley of China”, had many shortcomings, such as his allegorical interpretation, fiery temper, neglect of his family, and his accent. A pastor once told an interesting story, saying that Dr. Sung, born in Putian of Fujian Province, once preached that you sinners should be humble before God. But when the interpreter translated the sentence, everyone burst into laughter because what the interpreter translated was "you sinners will be shot before God.” "Be shot" (qiangbi in Chinese) should have been Sung’s Putian pronunciation of "be humble"（qianbei in Chinese), but his accent did not convey the accurate meaning, and so the people there did not understand him, so it ended up being a big joke.
The pastor claimed that Sung's public service lasted only twelve years, and he had not been deeply cultivated in theology, but his influence and contribution to the church were great. He summarized five points of his ministry: “be filled with the Holy Spirit”, “hold high the Bible and live according to it”, “confess sins and repent”, “work in prayer”, and “bear more fruit”.
In the early years of the Republic of China, almost all the highly educated leaders in mainstream churches in China were influenced by liberal theology. Reverend Jonathan Chao in his book specifically mentioned that when the National Christian Council of China was founded in 1922, unity was promoted, and several large denominations were united. Of the eight commissioners, only one was not a liberal church leader, but a young chemistry doctor from the United States, John Sung. He valued and highly revered the Bible, while many people at the time considered there to be superstition in the Bible and that the miracles in it were not credible. But Doctor Sung healed diseases, and cast out demons, valuing signs and wonders.
On December 14, 1928, Sung wrote, “People's words have no power to influence people, only to excite people's feelings.” He valued God's Word very much. W. B. Cole wrote a letter in 1929 to the headquarters of the American Methodist Episcopal Mission in New York, mentioning that Sung "seems to have mastered the whole Bible and is ready to explain any passage of scripture at any time.”
In 1929, the American Methodist Episcopal Mission held its annual meeting in Xinghua. During the conference, they had a report about how Dr. Sung went everywhere to lead the Bible study, preach, and tell people to read the Bible after they believed. Therefore, the Bible Society said that the annual Bible sales in Xinghua that year surpassed those of the newly established distribution centers in various parts of China. Later throughout China and even in Southeast Asia, the society repeatedly reported that their Bibles were all sold out and sold very well. Later people found that those places had just been visited by John Sung.
In 1935 and 1936, Sung held a national Bible study meeting, during which people there spent a month reading the whole Bible. This meeting led to a big contribution, which was to record what he talked about including the background of each book of the Bible, the history of the Bible, and what he had read in English reference books. All of them were recorded and reviewed by Sung and then published as a book. It is said that during the most difficult times, many people preparing sermons in many places did not have reference materials, and those materials in that book became the help of many.
Valuing the work of the Holy Spirit in his life, Sung was very sensitive to sin. He often confessed and repented before God. He said of his day of rebirth, “The Holy Spirit came and worked in my heart, reminding me of my sins, and I could not bear the condemnation of my conscience. Day and night I wept and prayed, and in the middle of the night the Lord came to me and said, ‘Your sins are forgiven, and henceforth your name will be John, and you will bear witness about me in all the world.’” This is what John Sung mentioned when he preached in Fuzhou in 1938.
He came to Nanchang in March 1931, confessing Nanchang was the turning point of all his work. He discovered that the secret of church revival was to confess, pray and be filled with the Holy Spirit. After a whole evening of prayer, he confessed and dealt with his sins before God, askingd all the people to do the same thing - confess their sins, and the wonderful spirit of God would work greatly.
On one Friday, he went to Luhe to preach sermons. While preaching, he shed tears and said to the congregation, “I committed the sin of losing my temper the day before yesterday. I blamed all the people who attended the meeting on the spot, especially the leaders.” There he said, “Please forgive me.” Tears fell down in his eyes, and the crowd was deeply moved. The message and effect of that day were immediately different, namely, people on that day saw the work of the Holy Spirit.
As he took a break from his outside work and recovered from his illness, he began to do much introspection. During this time, he mentioned that he had made many mistakes, such as losing his temper when he saw children shouting when he preached, exaggerating things that he witnessed, and so on.
After his death in 1944, some conservative Christians referred to him as a Pentecostal “member”. Even Pu Xingshi, an old missionary in his hometown, commented on him like this, "It is a pity that John Sung took the wrong path of a magic doctor.” But a pastor of the Assemblies of God Church wrote an article that he was against the Charismatic church.
In the autumn of 1926, a teenage preacher named Uldine Utley, whose “charismatic sermons” influenced Sung, was invited to attend a sermon at a large Baptist church in Mt. Calvary, New York. So, in 1927, when he reflected on his day of rebirth, some of the words he used in his testimony sounded quite charismatic.
Apart from that, he said that the Lord Jesus changed his name to John and called him to be a ‘John the Baptist’. In 1928, John Sung returned to his hometown Putian as a preacher. He was sent to every countryside and city in Putian to spread the Gospel. At that time, Putian was a place where evil spirits prevailed. When he used to preach and lead meetings, what often appeared in his diary was encountering demons, experiencing demons’ disruption, driving out demons and so on.
Sung also attached great importance to prayer and worked in prayer, making prayer his work. In 1931, during a long night of prayer, God had given him the secret of reviving the church: dealing with sins and denouncing sins in the church. After leaving the Bethel Mission, John Sung began to start watchtower prayers everywhere he led the meeting, praying for meetings.
And he carried with him the intercession card filled out by the congregation. He asked churches to organize fasting and prayer meetings that would take place in the backroom or classroom at the same time as he laid his hands on the patients.
Before John Sung left the world, he said, “Pray, the future work is the work of praying.”
In 1938, after serving in Vietnam for a year, many preaching stations were added in each district, 11 new churches were self-sufficient, 1013 new believers were baptized, and more than 5,000 people made a prayer of repentance. The news was published in the magazine The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal. Sung only visited Vietnam once.
In 1966, the Christian and Missionary Alliance did a study, and they found that Sung's mission team in Vietnam, founded in 1938, was an important reason why churches in Vietnam continue to plant churches today.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
Remembering the 120th Anniversary of the Birth of John Sung, Pastor Shares Five Points to Church Revival
