John Sung - Summing up the spiritual journey

1.Five Pillars to Build the Church:
a. Repentance
b. Born Again
c. Holiness
d. Victory
e. Preaching the Gospel

2. Three Steps to Loving Christ:
a. Understanding the Love of the Lord
b. Experiencing the Love of the Lord
c. Being filled with the Love of the Lord

3. On True Confession and Repentance:

a. The main pillar of the church in the various regions lies in true repentance and confessions of sins.

b. The purer one is in heart, the more powerful one's sermons would be.

c. Those who have been saved by the Lord will inevitably become hypocrites if they do not examine their own sins in a steadfast manner.

d. I have not achieved spiritual cleansing yet; this is why God has not conferred extraordinary spiritual power onto me.

e. Satan's craftiest trick: Let the people feel that thay have not sinned at all, and that it is all right even if they did.

f. Those who are truly repentant have a strong foundation in their faith.

g. The reason for my strenght lies in my constant repentance and confessions to God.

4. On Faith:

a. Faith is seeing God's own work in action.

b. Faith comes in knowing God; the more one knows God, the greater one's faith would be.

c. We worry because we are lacking in faith.

d. Faith is refined gold, and he who has faith is in possession of refined gold.

e. The Lord will help you to succeed according to your own faith.

f. The wealth of the spirit is faith.

g. The greater one's faith is, the greater his power and gifts would be.

5. On Spiritual Communion:

a. The Christian who is blessed has two wings - prayer and reading the Bible - to take flight to where the Lord is and enjoy rest there.

b. Only through spiritual communion can one kill the desires of the flesh.

c. Not by influence, not by oratical skills, but by walking with God on bended knees and seeeing God's own work in action.

d. Prayer is the most joyful thing ever, and is not to be treated as a burden.

e. Satan is most frightened when disciples pray together.

f. The most crucial steps to church revival is to pray together.

g. We can get the Heavenly warriors to carry out the work of God through prayer.

h. A church that does not pray is doomed. there would be many amongst us who regret that we had spent too little time in prayer on the day when we face the Lord.

i. One will invariably fall by the wayside if he fails to pray in vigilance.

j. Pray! Pray! Henceforth, our work is to pray.

k. Many evangelistic bands focus on work rather than prayer, and fail in the end.

6. On the Preacher:

a. The revival of the church depends on the type of preacher.

b. Many preachers lack spiritual experience rather than oratical skills.

c. The behaviour and life of a preacher is more important than the Word he preaches.

d. If a preacher is not baptized in the Holy Spirit, he might as well not preach at all.

e. The church needs good shepherds. Sheep will come flocking if there is true food for them.

f. The church can be self-reliant if the preacher possesses the power of life.

g. God will make use of those who are humble and willing to bear the cross.

7. On the Key to Church Revival:

a. Truly repent of your sins. The aim of spiritual work is to cleanse all the sins of the church and the individual.

b. Pray fervently and as one.

c. Go after the infilling of the Holy Spirit and get the power from above.

8. On Suffering:

a. Great suffering shall bring about great revival.

b. Good seeds are found in those believers who emerge victorious from great trials.

c. God finds the greatest use of those workers who are honed in the most difficult environments.

d. It is through suffering that the Lord teaches me lessons in humility, so that I do not lose my abilities.

e. It is easy to obey His will and be glorified, but difficult to obey His will and bear the Cross.

f. More suffering brings forth more benefits.

g. The blessings of God are concealed under the guise of suffering.

h. God has carefully planned when you shall suffer and how much such suffering shall be. He gives us suffering when He deems that we are ready for it.

i. The lives of disciples are likened as olives: The harder we are being pressed, the more oil will exude from within.

j. Only those who have gone through suffering can show empathy and consolation to others.

9. On Testimonies:

a. Every believer must be led to a stage where he can bear witness to others.

b. Punctuating our sermons with our personal experiences and testimonies will touch others more deeply. We will receive God's greatest blessings.

c.Provide the blessed listeners with opportunities to share their testimonies after every sermon. Not only will the name of the Lord be greatly glorified, the congregation's love for God will burn brighter too.

10. On Family Prayers;

a. While physical churches may be demolished one day, the service and prayers that believers have set up in their own home shall remain forever.

b. The greatest joy as parents is to bring their children into the presence of the Lord.

c. Those who punish their children with the rod or via their own means are doomed to failure. Learn from Hannah who brought Samuel into the care of God. God will chasten us in the best way ever.

11. On Self:

a. Rather be a dead living man than a living dead man.

b. "Self" is Man's greatest foe.

c. The more one realizes how bad he is, the more one cherishes the goodness of the Lord.

d. Only when "self" is crucified in the church will it be as one.

e. "Self" robs the Lord of His glory, causing us to fall short of the glory of God. It results in the lack of love and longing for the flesh.

f. I have been a fisher of men for many years and take great pride in this work. I gave all glory to the Lord at the first few catches, but became boastful about my own experience after many successes. Such is human nature indeed!

12. On the Infilling of the Holy Spirit and Gifts:

a. The greatest need in the church today is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

b. Before being filled with the Holy Spirit, a preacher can only carry others into the Kingdom of God. This is indeed a tough job. When he has been filled with the Holy Spirit, God will dispatch His automobiles to carry out the job.

c. The infilling of the Holy Spirit empowers you to bear witness for the Lord. It is very important in the pursuit of holiness and love.

d. Among all the gifts conferred by the Holy Spirit, the greatest is love, and the smallest, speaking in tonques.

e. Everyone who has been filled by the Holy Spirit will possess at least two gifts: love and one of the nine blessings ( 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). In as much as each of us is unique, we need to work as one. But one cannot do this without love.

f. I have the power from above only because I have received the baptism in the Spirit.

13. On Making the Heart of Christ our Own:

Love as the Lord loves, joy as the Lord joys, grieve as the Lord grieves, hate as the Lord hates, speak as the Lord speaks, seek as the Lord seeks, do as the Lord does, and let my heart be like the Lord's heart.

14. On Trusting in the Lord:

a. Nothing shall cause you to fear.

b. Nothing is too heavy for you to bear.

c. No situation is so bad that you cannot sing in it.

d. No old character is there that you cannot eliminate it.

e. No situation has arisen that will not do you any good.

f. No victory is there that is not the result of grace.

g. No want is there that the Lord cannot provide.

h. Nothing is there that shall separate you from the love of God.

i. No Grace is there that did not result from the Blood.

j. No abundance is there that one cannot enjoy in Christ.