Singapore Revival

I believe God raises up men to be mighty for him in certain epochs of history, like Wesleyan Whitfield in the 18th century, like D.L. Moody in Great Britain in 1883, Sam Jones in Nashville in 1885, Evan Roberts in Wales in 1904, and John Song in the years leading up to World War II in China, but few men have been used of God, like John Song, who is our topic today, friends. We will focus on the Singapore Revival of 1935. The evangelist John Song lived on the full stretch for God, often preaching as an invalid with a serious physical handicap.

He shook China for God and revival, dying at the young age of 42, but he saw over 200,000 converts from his mighty ministry of signs and wonders. He literally was the Saint Peter of China. I have his diary, which is nearly 600 pages in length, which I've read at least 30 times over the last decade, and every time I read it, I get stirred again for God to do big things for him.

John Song came to America in the 1920s for his education, where he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry, and he spoke four languages. John Song was an intellectual genius. He then enrolled in seminary at Union Theological Seminary in New York, which was a hotbed of liberalism, and it was there he was born again.

And his behavior as a new-born-again Christian was so zealous and strange to the unconverted seminary professors, they literally had him committed to a mental institution at Bloomingdale's, where he was incarcerated against his wishes for 193 days. And during that time, he read through his Bible 44 times, getting the key verse out of every chapter, which he later would use once he got back to China. God attended his ministry like an earthquake, where revival after revival occurred wherever he went.

On his return voyage to China, he tossed his degrees and diplomas overboard into the ocean to go preach the gospel of the cross of the Son of God to his countrymen. He is quoted as saying, I have made up my mind. Even if I have to die, I will preach the gospel in China.

I will die a willing death, if only my fellow men be saved. Well, God answered that prayer, for Sung died at the young age of 42, having shaken China in revival for God. We will examine his ministry in Singapore from 1935, where he was there in the revival meetings.

Sung landed there at the end of August, and he stayed until December, and God turned Singapore upside down in revival under John Sung's powerful preaching, and many of the converts were called into ministry themselves, most notably Reverend Timothy To, who had a far-reaching ministry for God up until he died in 2009. Most of the meetings in Singapore were held at the Telok Air, a Methodist church, which still is a vibrant church today in Singapore. My message today on John Sung in Singapore is taken directly from his own diary, Here Now is the Narrative from John Sung.

The Christians in Singapore got together and invited me to conduct a revival meeting there. I arrived in Singapore on August 28, 1935. At the welcome meeting, I described to them the revival God had wrought in the church in China.

Attendance extended beyond their expectations, and the organizers eventually changed the venue to the Telok Air Methodist Church, and I moved to the third floor of this church. The Holy Spirit moved mightily amongst us. The listeners felt as though they were at the judgment stand.

A total of 1,363 repented, and 80 people dedicated their lives to become preachers. A huge cross appeared in the skies of Singapore on the night of September 11. A church elder, Toh King Kee, and his wife's sister, Leona Wu, were with me and witnessed the vision of the cross too.

Elder Toh printed tracts, which he described how he was born again and how his entire family had received blessings from God. When he shared his testimony at the Sunday service, the Holy Spirit worked amongst the congregation, and many people confessed their sins. I pointed out the need for Christians to shine, to be loving, to be holy, and to be willing to bear the cross.

Those who are willing to die to themselves will be fully obedient to God. On the final night, I laid my hand in prayer on 13 bandleaders. Some 400 people wanted to share their testimonies.

One of them was a deaf mute who was healed and could utter, Praise the Lord! There was also a lame man who could walk. On 26 December, about 1,000 people were on the wharf shaking my hands and bidding me farewell. This lasted for about 45 minutes, and many songs were sung.

The local press had this news published in their papers with my photograph to boot. Well, that's the end of Song's diary entry, friends, but I want to read you sections of that newspaper report of his meetings in Singapore. The headline read, 700 Chinese Weep on Wharf as Dynamic Evangelist Goes Home.

When Dr. Song boarded the Corfu yesterday to return home, about 700 Chinese were weeping on the wharf, and Chinese of all ages marched through the streets carrying banners of the cross. Dr. Song preached his farewell sermon to Singapore's Chinatown last night. Outside the Chinese Methodist Church at the corner of Telok Air and Cecil Streets, a vast concourse listened in the open air to Dr. Song's oratory, which came to them through loudspeakers inside the building, a congregation of some 1,300 filled every seat.

It is estimated that Dr. Song, who arrived here at the end of August, has made 2,000 converts in Singapore. Dr. Song is a preacher of rare power. He has been described as a prophet of God, a John the Baptist, calling his people to repentance, an Oriental servanola, converting a whole city by his preaching against the sin of society, and as a Chinese John Wesley, translating the gospel into terms the Chinese people can understand.

In preaching, Dr. Song dramatizes Bible stories with chalk and blackboard. At any point of his sermon, he may stop to break forth into song. In the best manner of a Chinese actor, he seems able to imitate any voice and play the part of any character.

In Singapore, he inspired thousands of Chinese to buy Bibles and turn scoffers into converts. Well, that's the end of the newspaper article, friends, but they failed to report on the miracles of the healings that attended his meetings and the fact that the Bible bookstores in the city completely ran out of Bibles and they had to be ordered from out of town just to meet the great demand. I wish I could show you the photo I have of those 700 new believers standing on the wharf in tears, holding handkerchiefs in their hand as they wave goodbye to Song as he leaves them.

If that's not enough to break your heart and shame you for your lack in your own spread of the gospel, I don't know what can reach you. I weep every time I read John Song's accounts of what big things a big God did through such a broken vessel as Song. May his remarkable life be a challenge to each of us to believe God, to do big things, and to be available for God to use and to remember that the same God of John Song is the same God of today and God uses broken vessels to flow through in his mighty power.

Let us pray.