If you are in your late forties or early fifties and you are still not thinking about your legacy, you are probably withering away in worldly pursuits that have no lasting impact. This afternoon we had a most enlightening faculty colloquium on John Sung's legacy, especially Sung's emphasis on holiness. It has been a while since I heard a paper or sermon on the topic of holiness, so it was a good reminder that without holiness no one will see the Lord. Personal holiness in terms of confessing of daily sins, repentance, self examination and complete honesty before God are attributes and actions of a disciple of Christ. John Sung attacked sin and hyprocrisy with great severity and many were moved to tears confessing their sins and asking for the filling of the Holy Spirit. John Sung would pray for hours and days before conducting revival meetings and night meetings could last up to the early hours of the morning because Sung would pray for each and everyone who came forward to confess their sins and those who sought after a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.
I think I have only experienced once in a revival meeting that my wife and I prayed for hundreds of people until past midnight after the service ended at 10.30pm. At most in usual revival meetings, the prayers lasted for 15 to 30 minutes at the most when the Spirit moved in power to convict and many rededicated their lives unto the Lord. When I think of John Sung's lasting legacy, my prayers are that my next phase of ministry will be greatly empowered by the Holy Spirit, with a double portion of the spirit of Elisha and John Sung be upon me as I preach God's Word. Though I know I am not an evangelist like John Sung, yet as a preacher and teacher of God's Word, personal holiness and the Spirit's empowerment are not optional but are the twin drivers that undergird any successful ministry that will bear lasting fruits for the Lord's kingdom.
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