John Sung of China — E.A. Johnston

John Sung’s Conversion and Intellectual Background

As a research scholar, I have found few men as mildly used of God as John Song of China. He was an intellectual genius. He spoke four languages, had an earned Ph .D. in chemistry. While a graduate student at the Liberal Union Theology Seminary in New York, he experienced a vision of Jesus and was remarkably saved, and he became so zealous in his newfound Christianity the president of the seminary had him committed to an insane asylum where he was held against his will for 193 days.

Scripture Immersion and the Apostle Paul of China

But during that time, he read through his Bible 40 times, getting a key word from God for every chapter, which he would later use in a revival ministry that would shake China for God. John Song was very much like the Apostle Paul.

He had a ministry of signs and wonders. He suffered physical hardship like the Apostle, and I believe it's fair to call him the Apostle Paul of China. He read 11 chapters of the Bible every day and condensed each chapter into one key sentence.

A Passion for Souls and Sacrificial Love

But more than anything, he had a passion for the souls of men, and he loved his countrymen of China willing to die at a young age for them. He is quoted as saying, A few men have been used of God like John Song.

John Sung’s Diary and Revival Legacy

I highly recommend, friends, the reading of the biography On His Life by his daughter Levi entitled, The Journal Once Lost, Extracts from the Diary of John Song. To read his diary is like reading a chapter out of the book of Acts.

I bought my copy when it was published in 2008, and I've read it over the last 15 years at least 50 times, and it's 50 pages long, and I get a blessing every time I read it. In his diary was a check dated 22 March 1932 from the Bank of Heaven, on which he filled in the words, 100 ,000 souls.

Faith for a Harvest of Souls

He requested God for 100 ,000 souls. At the end of 1932, he requested for another 200 ,000 souls. John Song had a big faith in a big God, and God honored that by doing big things through his ministry.

Revival and the Formation of Preaching Bands

Wherever John Song went and preached, a powerful revival would occur. One of the most remarkable aspects of a John Song meeting were the many preaching bands that would emerge from each province he labored in.

New converts would dedicate their entire lives to spreading the gospel, and they would form preaching bands that would canvas cities and villages, while they carried banners of a white flag with a red cross as they shared Jesus with the multitudes.

Holy Ghost Power and a Life of Holiness

John Song preached with holy ghost power. Right after his conversion, he prayed the following prayer, May God confer unto me the same spirit that he had given to Finney, Moody, and John Wesley. I would rather die if God does not do that.

In 1936, he said, What is more joyful than ministry work and saving human souls? I wouldn't mind living a shorter life if I could save more human souls. John Song lived his life in holiness to his Lord.

A minister once asked him, Why are your sermons so powerful? He replied, The answer is found in my constant repentance. He lived sacrificially for his God. He was away from his wife and children 11 months each year to save souls.

Enduring Physical Hardship for Ministry

He continually faced hardships, hunger, and physical persecution, enduring all these things with a terrible physical handicap, where he bled from his bowels from an operation to remove piles back in 1921 in America.

But he went against the doctor's orders and left the hospital early to go back to work at a hard physical job in a factory. And every time he preached after that, he had to wash his underwear, and he was in constant pain.

Bearing the Cross in Service to God

He was quoted as saying, Those who are greatly used by God are willing to bear the cross. He who does not will certainly lose his power. More than anything, John Song was a man of prayer. He would kneel and pray every night, even after a long and grueling day.

A Deep Life of Prayer

The last year of his life, when he was dying, he would pray on his knees for hours. Five hours at a stretch were not too long for him. During his convalescence in Fragrant Hills, his wife would change his dressings.

He would kneel on one knee when he found his wounds too painful to do so on both. I strongly urge you, friends, to study the life and ministry of John Song. I urge you as well to believe in the big God John Song believed in and served.

Following John Sung’s Fearless Example

And if you are a brother preacher, I urge you to go out on the full stretch for God, like John Song, and not fear man like Song, for he only feared his God. John Song learned the following key to revival as he was praying through the night on 5 March 1931.

The Key to Revival: Sin, Repentance, and Rebuke

God told him that his sermons must deal with the issue of sin, and the evils within the church are to be rebuked. Living waters can only come in after the evils have been chased out. To do this, the preacher must first empty his own vessel and take account of his own sins.

Only then will he be able to break the strongholds in the hearts of his listeners and deliver them from the bondage of sin. John Song knew full well that what counts costs and what costs counts. He was willing to go all out on a limb for God and lay down his life for his fellow men.

A Life That Shook China for God

He was a man who lived for eternity, and during his brief life he shook China for God, and the reverberations are still being felt in that country today.