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John Sung and Watchman Nee

sermonindex Aug 6, 2003

John Sung, Leland Wang and Watchman Nee, Shanghai 1934"John Sung and Nee unhappily never quite hit it off, though each held the other in high regard and each reaped where the other had sown. Sung, who lived for only ten years after this, was a whirlwind evangelist who acheieved results through dogmatic statement and emotional appeal. A friend describes him as a 'cocksure and stubborn, constantly off at a tangent, a man whose every opinion was a conviction.' Nee was certaintly the more talented preacher; yet Sung was the one whome God used to sweep multitudes into the kingdom , and the revival that flowed from his preaching spread like a prairie fire. Sung's converts generally stood firm, but he left their care to others. In the words of one ovserver, when he preached 'the sheep woke up and were hungry; and because there was no one to feed them, Watchmans's teaching ministry was timely in filling the gap.' But in course of time Sung became outspokenly critical of Nee, while Nee privately expressed mesgivings at Sungs's theological immaturity and failure to provide for the permeanence of his work."- Against the Tide (Watchman Nee Biography)

A
Agent001 Jun 2, 2004

This picture shows how tall Watchman Nee was. He stood at 6'2" -- quite unusual for someone coming from southern China.The other people featured in the picture:Leland Wang - who was a friend of Billy Graham. If I recall correctly, Graham's father- and mother-in-law were missionaries to China. It was said that Graham's habit of "No Bible, No Breakfast" originates from Wang. A great evangelist in his own right, Wang was one of the first co-workers of Watchman Nee. He was five years older than Nee, the one referred to in Nee's biography, in the incident where Nee learned the lesson of submission.John Sung - probably the greatest revivalist from China in the 20th century. His conversion experience in the USA (while he was finishing his PhD.) was so powerful that he was mistaken for a maniac and locked up in an asylum for 100 days. In those 100 days, he used forty approaches to read the Bible from beginning to end. His preaching was very strong and direct (somewhat like Charles Finney, I think), challenging both Christians and non-Christians alike, to repent from their ways of sin. He exhausted every bit of his strength in his work, and died at a young age (early 40's, I believe).An interesting observation: these prominent Christian figures in China during the first half of the 20th century all came from the province of Fujian. Perhaps it was God's answer to the diligent prayers of the missionaries there (such as Margaret E. Barber, the mentor of both Nee and Wang).

sermonindex Jun 2, 2004

Brother Sam your insight is phenominal. And your speculations are very interesting. Yes Watchman Nee was 6'2" which is quite tall for a Chinese, He probably as seen the picture would have stood out in amongst crowds of people. An Interesting aspect of this is that in the old testament, if a person was tall and had a high stature it was considered something very good. King Saul who hid when being chosen for King was a very tall man. Possibly Watchman Nee was a King or shepard to the people of China to guide then in the requirements of the Lord.

sermonindex Jun 2, 2004

He exhausted every bit of his strength in his work, and died at a young age (early 40's, I believe).John died on this day, August 18, 1944; He was only 43 years old. I have been inspired by this man, I have read his autobiography which is hard to find but well worth the find. Here is a document about John Sung: John Sung and the Asian Awakening

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