"What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his soul?" Those words kept bouncing around inside John Sung's head. The brilliant son of a Chinese Methodist minister, John was in the United States to learn all he could about the sciences. In just five years, even while working to support himself, he completed his Bachelor of Science Degree, his Master of Science and his Ph.D.
But the importance of the soul did not escape him. He entered Union Theological Seminary. That brought him to the crisis of his life. Union had abandoned many clear teachings of Scripture and substituted modern theology (God is dead) and Bible criticism in their place. John began to doubt everything that he had been taught while growing up. This troubled him and he prayed and studied the Bible looking for answers.
Suddenly, one night, his soul was transformed. He began to weep and to shout for joy. He raced to tell teachers and fellow students. The next thing he knew, he was locked in an insane asylum! In the eyes of the spiritually dead school authorities, his behavior indicated that he had gone mad.
John was allowed to take only his Bible and a pen into the cell with him. In the 193 days that he was locked up, he read the Bible from cover to cover forty times. He later said that that was his real theological training.
After his release, John returned to China. On the ship, he threw overboard all of his diplomas, certificates and awards, keeping only his doctorate for his father's sake. From that moment on, his life was dedicated to winning souls.
And that is what John did. After a slow three-year start, God sent him from end to end of China and around Southeast Asia where he preached sermon after sermon stressing mankind's sin and need for the gospel. He named specific sins by name. Stung to the heart, his listeners wept openly. Many confessed their sins in front of the whole congregation.
At meeting after meeting, people listened to John and repented. He preached for only fifteen years, but in that time, he led hundreds of thousands to Christ. The secret of his success was hours of prayer. Every morning he rose early to pray for two or three hours. People said he prayed as if Christ were an intimate friend in the room with him. To him, faith was watching God work while you were on your knees.
John died on this day, August 18, 1944; He was only 43 years old.
Sources:
1. Anderson, Gerald H., editor. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. (New York: Macmillan Reference, 1998).
2 .Moreau, A. Scott, editor. Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2000).
3. Smithers, David. "John Sung; the apostle of revival." (www.watchword.org/smithers/ww51a.html).
4. Tan, Paul Lee. "Dr. John Sung; Billy Graham of China." (www.tanbible.com/tol_knw/tol_knw_jsung.htm)
5. Tow, Timothy. "John Sung and His Legacy in Singapore." (www.lifefebc.com/febc/BurnBush/V1N1A4.htm)
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John Sung (1901 - 1944)
John Sung was born on September 27, 1901 in Hinghwa of the Fukien province in southeast China. He was the son of a respected Methodist minister and was converted as a young boy at the age of nine. In 1920 John Sung at age nineteen left for America to study at Wesleyan University of Ohio. He later went on to study at Ohio State University and Union Theological Seminary. Within five years and two months from the day he entered college, he earned three academic degrees, all while doing menial labor on a full time basis. However, these high honors did not come without taking a great toll on his spiritual life. After a few years in America, sitting under a steady diet of worldly philosophy and liberal theology, John Sung found himself backslidden and doubting everything that his father had taught him.On February 10, 1927, John Sung recommitted his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. This was just the beginning of a much deeper work. After repenting of his sins, he immediately began to preach to all his classmates and professors. This drastic change in John Sung's behavior made some believe that he had become mentally unbalanced. He soon found himself being committed to an insane asylum by the seminary authorities. He was allowed to take with him only his Bible and a pen. He would later refer to that asylum as his true theological seminary. John Sung was incarcerated for 193 days. During that time he read the Bible from beginning to end forty times. He devoted almost every waking hour to reading the Bible and prayer. Through those months, the Holy Spirit was carefully laying the foundations for John Sung's revival ministry. He was being prepared to participate in one of the mightiest revivals of the twentieth century.