The secret of Brother John Song being mightily used by the Lord

Transcription

1 The secret of Brother John Song being mightily used by the Lord Firstly, he had intimate spiritual fellowship with God. Secondly, he made every effort to pursue holiness. Thirdly, a zealous heart to love the souls of men Fourthly, through suffering God had refined the impurities of his body. May all of us forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead with a hundred times of faith to give thanks and rejoice to welcome the New Year. Hallelujah! From Home of Grace for Christ s Workers, Dec

2 Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, Peace be with you! We would like to share the below message with you as our New Year gift for you. The secret of Brother John Song being mightily used by the Lord Firstly, he had intimate spiritual fellowship with God. In many days of his diary he wrote, At daybreak, I woke up and prayed watchfully and fervently. In his diary, there always appeared the names of some places and these were the places where he prayed specifically for their respective churches. At times, there appeared the names of some people and these were the ones whom the Lord reminded him to pray for them. He had a special intercession book and it contained the names of the favored in each place. Everyday he read eleven chapters of the Scriptures. On each chapter he would write a key sentence (the focus of the chapter). Besides, he would also read a chapter or a passage of the Bible precisely and then write what he had gained from the text or his understanding. This had become his lecture. Every night, no matter how tired he was, he would kneel down and pray reverently. During his time of rehabilitation on Mount Fragrance of Beiping, he knelt down to pray for a very long time after he had finished reading the Scriptures with his co-workers. Even a five-hour prayer was not considered long. Every morning after Mrs. Song had dressed his wound, they would pray together. In the evening, he would organize family worship and lead the family members to read the Bible and pray. If his wound was unbearably painful, he would kneel down with one leg. On the night of June , the wound was so painful that he could not get into sleep. He then prayed. When the body and soul separated, he flew to the throne of the Lord. The Lord kissed him and touched his wound. He joyfully cried, This is true spiritual fellowship. How intimate was his relationship with the Lord! Mrs. Song recollected when his sickness deteriorated and the wound was as big as a fist that he could not turn his body due to the pain. He said to Mrs. Song, My body has decayed and became stinky. But my mouth has not decayed or stinky. I can still pray to God. He really wept and had the running pus and blood while he prayed. On the day before he passed away, he exhorted the brothers and sisters to pray. From now on our work was to pray. Take root below and bear fruit above. (Isa 37:21) The strength of the Lord s servant on the platform, the effect of his work and his power to endure the suffering of his sickness all came from the intimate spiritual fellowship in the hidden place with God. Secondly, he made every effort to pursue holiness. On March 5, 1931 the Lord s servant prayed for the whole night. As a result he was revealed by God of the secret to raise the church. The topic could not turn from sin. He denounced the sins of the church. Only if the sins were gone, then the living water might enter. The throng of listeners was freed from the - 2 -

3 bondage of sins. But if the preacher did not first pour out himself and clear himself from his account of sin, how could he have the power to demolish the strongholds of men? During the process of writing his diary, he would recollect his daily words and actions. In his diary, these words always appeared, God instructed me I am not purified, May the Lord judge me, The dream of last night was not holy, Remembered I had not repaid the money that I have borrowed, Yesterday I did not speak honestly to my co-worker Once he found himself at fault, he would confess to God, and then his heart had peace. In his diary of June 8, 1931 he wrote, God still has not given tremendous spiritual power because I am still not cleansed. Sin had great influence on our work. If I truly confess my sins, God will make every listener confess their sins. If I am completely holy, then wherever I go, I will definitely bear a lot of choice fruit. From now on, only when I examine my sins everyday and seek the Lord s forgiveness, it is not hard to lead the whole of China to return to the Lord. I myself rise up, and then I can make everything rise up. In his diary of February 1, 1936 he wrote, If those who have been saved by the Lord do not often examine their own sins, they cannot avoid falling to be a hypocrite. Those who truly open up their coffin are made holy and they will not fall. They become the pillars of the church. The backbone of the churches everywhere are those who completely open up their coffins. The more the heart is holy, the more power he has in his lecture. Someone asked him, Why are your lectures so powerful? He replied, Because I repent and confess unceasingly. Just as the Scriptures says, If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (2 Ti 2:21) Thirdly, a zealous heart to love the souls of men In the diary of the Lord s servant, there always appeared such words as longing for China to return to the Lord, Come back to the Lord, China He had his petition and his request for God. (Es 5:7) He wrote in his diary on Jan 1, 1931, Money and fame are not what I want. May the Lord let me lead one hundred men to the Lord in this year. On March 22, 1932 he had sandwiched a heavenly check in his diary. He personally wrote with a writing brush 100,000 souls. He pleaded to God for one hundred souls to come back to the Lord. In the year end of 1932 he asked God for two hundred souls to return. On Jan 10, 1934, he wrote in his diary, From now on I will risk my life to save the souls whatsoever and be prepared in season and out of season. One sheep being saved is more important than all the work. He prayed to God and said, May the Lord give me a double portion of the spirit of John Wesley, Moody and Finney. I will prefer to die if you would not give me the power. In March 1934 he spoke about the four key points for the Holy Spirit to be filled in Pingdu of Shandong. He pointed out to the assembly, The greatest gift of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is love. I am sad if I see - 3 -

4 that one man is not saved. If we have a heart to love the soul of men, we will shine in our words and actions and are willing to carry the cross in order to save men s souls. Those who are mightily used by God are those who are willing to carry the cross. Whoever is not willing to bear the cross will surely lose the power. In the spring of 1936 he said to elderly sister Qian, Which kind of job is happier than preaching and saving souls? If we can save more souls, it does not matter even if our live is short. Each year he is out for eleven months to save the souls. He is at home only for a month. Each time his wife gave birth, he was in a foreign place leading the assembly. He wrote in his diary for several times, My heart really does not want to leave my home, especially during the period of the national disaster. He had to risk the possibility of being bombed by the Japanese plane any time and to endure all kinds of sufferings of hunger and cold and to run about. As he had reproached the sins of men, he was repeatedly driven out and ordered to be arrested. Thank God he was miraculously saved and still existed. Fourthly, through suffering God had refined the impurities of his body. It really takes great pain for God to edify a person to become an instrument fit for His use. Some can be of use by God for a period of time but cannot uphold their integrity in their later years. God loved His servant and He had always refined him through all sorts of sufferings so he might become an instrument fit for use and he could still uphold his integrity in his later years. He was born from a poor pastor s home. During his study in U.S., he did all kinds of hard work and tasted the pain of poverty and sickness. In Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York he experienced the pain of the poison mind of the new theology. After he was reborn, he was sent to the house of the lunatics and tasted the suffering of hell on earth. In the house of the lunatics he tried forty means of reading the Bible for forty times and took the special edification by God. In the three years after his return to his hometown, he experienced the preachers who had suffered climbing mountains and crossing rivers. He also suffered to prepare to be a preacher without any ability. From March 1931 he had the secret how to raise the church and tasted the joy of gaining people like fish. Thereafter he was given the gift by God to cure sickness and drive away demons, just as the Scriptures said, Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mk 16:20) In order for God to love His servant, there was a thorn which never departed from him. Back in 1921 he had overworked in U.S. He removed his hemorrhoids. But due to poverty, he left the hospital before the wound was healed. At that time, the doctor had confirmed this sickness would last in his life. Thereafter when he had overworked without a peaceful mind, the sickness pierced in him. From his diary we can see that he went everywhere to lead the assembly. He always had to wash his inner pants with blood personally. Just as he had written his psalm Be ungrateful and beaten by God in This was said, For years I have carried the cross and went around everywhere, the thorn in my body followed me. I prayed continuously may the Lord have mercy on me. I have more gifts but the thorn has not been removed. Through His servant the Lord prayed for the sick ones. There was once when the number of people nearly reached two thousand. Many sick people were cured by God. They thought he was the one to cure the sickness. Many people bought his photograph and even called him son of God. But the Lord s servant was a sick man. He had taken six surgeries successively in Shanghai, Beijing and - 4 -

5 Tianjin. This was to tell us Song Shang Jie was a man, a sick man with running pus and blood. He was not God. It was the Lord Jesus who had healed their sickness so the blind might see, the mute might speak, the deaf might hear and the lame might walk. All the glory and praise be ascribed to the Lamb who was slain. Thanks to the Father God, All things God works for the good of those who love Him. (Ro 8:28) The Lord s servant said, Paul had a thorn in his flesh and God also gave me a thorn to keep me from becoming conceited. Just as he had composed his psalm of nail the flesh to death on May 29, In his lyrics he wrote, Sufferings make you understand yourself, sufferings make you put your flesh to death and sufferings enable you to receive the grace. Now we do not know God s deeds, but we will understand when we meet the Lord in the future. The Lord s servant came to Mount Fragrance of Beiping. By the light of God he saw he had stolen God s glory in his past work. He was a man of hot temper, arrogance and lack of love for others. He continuously confessed to God and humbled before the Lord. Through sufferings the Lord had refined his impurities. When he had learned his lesson, he was taken to the heavenly home and rested in the arms of the Lord. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. May all of us forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead with a hundred times of faith to give thanks and rejoice to welcome the New Year. Hallelujah! From Home of Grace for Christ s Workers, Dec