Monthly Archives: January 2013

Divine Unction in Preaching is extremely important in any Church Worship. The life  giving Presence of the Holy Spirit makes a great difference between the savour of life unto life or savour of death unto death.(2 Corinth. 2:16)  Just as the same sun that melts the wax, it also harden the clay. By our preaching men’s hearts may either melt or harden – depending  on the infusion of grace by the Holy Spirit through us. It was just after the conclusion of the Evangelistic Campaign on 9th September 1978 that I was led to preach for Sunday Worship 4pm 10th September 1978.

Again, allow me to quote verbatim from the journal:-

Last night departed to Rev. Ng’s home (Toa Payoh, Singapore). He asked me to preach since the LORD burdened my heart. ( Preach 3 different messages in 3 Mission Stations on the same day.) But as I waited on the LORD I felt no message. This morning on the last minute spoke on th “Prayer of Faith” at PK Mission, then on “Prayer” at the Craig Road Station. (Both in the morning) Rested some time in the afternoon and prepared again for the afternoon Worship Service.

I was still not prepared when I stepped into the pulpit by faith. The LORD met with us in a miraculous and marvellous way. I WONDERED GREATLY AT THE WAY THE HOLY SPIRIT  BROUGHT TO MY MIND THE WORD OF GOD. It  was too glorious for words. Strolled the Tiong Bahru Park to-night.

Epilogue:-

Many preachers who have experienced Divine Unction know it but cannot explain it. I think the lawyer turned  Preacher Charles G. Finney   gave a clear explanation:

“The subject (of the sermon} would open up to my mind that was surprising to myself, so that I could see with intuitive clearness just what I ought to say, and whole platoons of thoughts, words, and illustrations, came to me as fast as I could deliver them.” Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

My own experience is this, “When the  Comforter is come , he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,  and of judgment (john 16:8) “the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph.6:17b) The word Comforter is paraclete in greek. A compound of 2 words

para (along side) caleo (called) it means SOMEONE  CALLED ALONG SIDE or someone called to be by our side to offer help. In our case the Holy Spirit indwells us, take control of our mind, bring all things to our mind in concentration when we preach. Only the All Knowing Holy Spirit know our audience’s darkest sins and secrets. So when He speaks through us  He will reprove sin, show Christ’s righteousness & convict with fear of judgment to come and its consequences.

In the testing of Jesus, Satan  consolidated  all his temptation  in a concentration of time. “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world IN A MOMENT OF TIME (Luke 4:5)” Just as the sinner is irresistibly tempted by the devil  to sin, the Holy Spirit irresistibly convict the sinner of his sinfulness, and turn him to Christ’s righteousness and freedom. Both are done In A Moment of Time,  though in different direction. The word ATONEMENT is a combination of 3 words AT ONE MENT.

In the moment when we have saving faith to see Christ Jesus dying for our sins. That moment we have atonement and are justified. That’s why salvation is instantaneous.

Since divine unction can come ONLY BY PRAYER we must devote MUCH TIME to wait FOR HIM ON OUR KNEES.

As promised we would like to relate the Powerful Soul Winning Campaign after the Blessed Revival Year of 1977.

In 1978 September 2nd  – 9th we held a wonderful Evangelistic Campaign in Bukit Ho Swee “JESUS SAVES MISSION” in Singapore.  After the great visitation from God in December 1977 in the Penang Camp the Revival Spirit of Prayer continued with us. For many months we planned and prayed – many a time praying with a day or 2 of fasting. After the very successful Evangelistic Campaign I told sis. Betty that I lost 5 pounds due to the 8 days of prayer and also fasting. She replied, “I lost 10 pounds.”  Such was the total serious consecration to God’s work that we were willing to pay any price for souls to be saved.  Let me relate verbatim from my diary of 1978:-

September 2nd  1978

” Spent the morning and afternoon at Mt. Faber in prayer and fasting. About a dozen brothers and sisters were present. It was a blessed time of prayer. The Presence of God was felt gloriously  amid the refreshing weather. After the initial prayer  we went through an article on Prayer from the “Herald of His Coming” paper. Sister Betty & Sister Seow Fong read them distinctly. Brother Matthew Khoo came later. Then it rained. It was a shower of blessing. We continued in prayer at the pavilion. About  3p.m. we broke fast.

“Tonight the Evangelistic Meeting Commenced. Brother James came over early and prayed. The LORD granted us liberty in prayer. Brother James preached on “One Most Needful Thing.”  Felt the power of God. 5 people were saved. It was a blessed time.

Note: Fast forward  today 27th January 2013:-

Sister Betty is my sister in law. Her sister Christiana(Dolly Soh) is my wife. Sister Betty (now called Bethany) is the wife of Rev. John Khng (Founding Pastor of 2 Churches : Faith Independent Baptist Church & the current “Mt. Calvary Baptist Church” of Singapore.

Sister Seow Fong is the wife of Rev. Matthew Yong. Assistant Pastor of Singapore “Jesus Saves Mission.”

Matthew Khoo was ordained in 1980 and is now the Chinese Pastor of Singapore Jesus Saves Mission. Now Rev.(Dr.) Matthew Khoo.

Brother James Tan. Ordained in 1980. Pastor of “CHRIST GRACE CHURCH” Now Rev (Dr) James Tan.

September 3rd 1978 (SUNDAY)

My greatest fear is sin – especially at this time.

A wakened this LORD’s Day.  During the Adult Bible Class we went through an article on faith – “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, OBTAINED

PROMISES.. (Heb 11: 33)  We claimed Psalm2:8 “Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance…”& Acts 18:9&10 : Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city.” During Worship Rev {Dr) Peter Ng (Founder of Jesus Saves Mission)  spoke a clear, challenging message on the colt(Luke 19:30)

The Meeting Commenced tonight with more Christians. The place was filled. We felt liberty again in prayer. We bound Satan and prayed for the scales to fall from the eyes of the sinners. More souls were saves tonight. The PK Choir sang tonight.

Note:-  Throughout the entire message there is a group of brothers and sisters praying separately upstairs for power on the preacher and for souls to be saved. So great faith  were given that we boldly claimed the promises of God, “ASK OF ME..I WILL GIVE THEE THE HEATHEN FOR THINE INHERITANCE Psalm  2:8) I was praying for 10 souls to be saved but only 5 souls got saved. As I moved downstair to see the converts Brother Cheng Hong who was sitting on the stairs exclaimed, “Thank God for answering my prayer – 5 people accepted Christ as Saviour tonight.”  I gently chided him. “Don’t ask for 5, ask for 10 souls to be saved.” No wonder my prayer for 10 was blocked by your asking for only 5. And so we started to see 10 or more souls saved as the Campaign progressed.

PK Choir :  PK stands for Persiaran Keliling ( Choir from Curcuit Road Jesus Saves Mission) Macpherson, S’pore

Mr. Lim Cheng Hong is the deacon of Faith Independent Baptist Church.

September 4th 1978 (Monday)

Again felt liberty in prayer tonight during the Evangelist Meeting. Rev. Ng preached on “THE UPLIFTED CHRIST” More souls were moved and saved tonight. The BHS Student Choir sang during the Meeting with Scripture Verses read in between by brother Liang Teck:  “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7)” The effect was piercing.

Tonight brothers Matthew & James,  Sis. Rhoda  & I discussed about the Campaign. We were reminded of James Alexander Stewart’s book- EVANGELISM WITHOUT APOLOGY”. We ought to have more prayer.

Note: Brother Liang Teck now called Mark – a Trustee of Mt Calvary Baptist Church.

Sister Rhoda Chang – wife of Rev. Matthew Khoo.  She was the Missioner for BHS.

September 5th 1978 (Tuesday)

It was my turn to preach tonight.

Fasted this day. In the afternoon prepared the message on “THE PERFECT GOVERNMENT” with many thoughts and Scripture verses written down, but could not construct it into a sermon.

Listened to the testimonies of brothers Weng Kee & James Tan tonight. The  testimonies were very convicting. The Choir sang “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood.” When I stood up to preach I literally looked to the LORD. Felt the resistance of the evil spirits. But preached the truth by faith. Felt a little assisted after one quarter of the message. A number of souls were saved. (I think about 12).

Tonight the LORD showed me the two agents of conversion: THE WORD OF GOD & THE HOLY SPIRIT SO CLEAR AS NEVER BEFORE. *Born of the Spirit and of the Word of God.”

September 6th 1978  (Message by Brother Matthew in Mandarin.)

Tonight we had  the first night of Evangelistic Campaign in Chinese. Brother Matthew Khoo preached in Mandarin. The attendance was good. Brother James Tan remarked that the Chinese side was  (more) united then the English. Went to Craig Road  Mission with James Tan and prayed.  Returned at about 9 pm. Salvation came upon lost souls again tonight. Went out for dinner with Brother Matthew Khoo.

September 7th 1978.

Tonight attended the Evangelistic Meeting in Cantonese. The place was filled again tonight. Felt worn out in my body by tonight. Listened to the message delivered by Brother Matthew. Felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  When the invitation was given souls responded but many held back. I believe this was due to the lack of travailing prayer. The children are come to birth but there was not enough strength to bring forth. In future we need to recruit more agonizers. Counseled a Chinese who engaged in mediumistic work.

September 8th 1978 (FRIDAY)

Tonight brother Matthew spoke a Hokkien message on HEAVEN AND HELL. Again felt the power of God in the Meeting. There was a better response tonight to the message.

There was a glorious liberty of prayer at Mt. Faber to-night.

WE STORMED THE THRONE OF GRACE & CLAIMED PSALM 2:8 AGAIN.  The Meeting seem to be terminated in a very short time. When we are truly in GOD’S PRESENCE we are unconcious of time.  To GOD time is not applicable, for He is Eternal.

Note: Every Friday JSM conducts An All Night Prayer Meeting on Mt. Faber lasting from 10 pm to 4 am – a 6th hour long Marathon Prayer. There’s where we get our power from God. Prayer Meetings are power meetings. A prayerfull   christian is a powerful christian and a prayerless christian is a powerless christian. Same goes for preachers and Churches. However, the prayers at Mt. Faber have ceased.

SEPTEMBER 9th 1978 (Final Day of Campaign; Saturday)

Awakened this morning in the Mission. Was alone by myself because the students went for outing. To-night the whole Mission was packed with saints and sinners. The stairs were filled.  Many others stayed outside the Mission to hear the Messages. On the last minute chaired the Meeting in the place of James Foo. Felt a little liberty as we sang, “IN TIMES LIKE THESE”. Sister Lai Siong gaves her testimony. The Choir sang “SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER “. Brother Bee Hin spoke on “IS THIS THE LAST GENERATION?” Felt the chill of deep conviction in the message. Many souls were saved to-night.

The eight nights of Evangelistic Campaign closed with a glorious power of God’s Presence in the midst of His Children. Amen & Amen.

.Note: Brother Bee Hin went on to become one of the Highest Ranking Officer in the Singapore Military – COL(RET) Png Bee Hin.

In early 1990 my family attended  a camp at AWANA, Genting Highland  (Malaysia)held by CALVARY PANDAN BP CHURCH(S’pore). A sister approached us and said, “I was a convert of the Evangelistic Campaign more than a decade ago in Singapore.

Sometime in 1993 after preaching for Worship Service in CALVARY JAYA BP CHURCH, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia) a brother came to me and asked,  “Do you still remember the Evangelistic Meeting held in BHS Jesus Saves Mission in 1978?”. I replied, “Of course I do. How could I forget.” He said, “I was saved during your preaching that night.” It filled my heart with very warm and fond memories as I relate WHAT GOD HAD DONE FOR US IN ANSWERS TO PRAYER.

Epilogue:-

According to Sister Rhoda Chang there were 20 converts in the Chinese Services & 48 converts in the English Services – giving a total combined conversions of 68 people during the eight days of Soul Winning.

One LORD’s Day after attending Worship at Mt Calvary Batist Church in Singapore, my family decided to visit Malacca, a historic town on the west coast of  Malaysia. It was to be a journey of 3 hours one way.

As it was already pass noon time and we intent to return to Singapore by nightfall, we needed to start our journey immediately, as we only have time for a short visit – for sight-seeing, food and to make some purchases.

As our family custom, we always (Yes ALWAYS, ALL THE TIME) PRAY FOR JOURNEY MERCIES  before and  during our journey – whether by car, train or plane.

After driving pass the undulating and winding road near the town of Ayer Itam we finally reached  the section of the highway which is flat and straight  as far as the eye can see. So it is time to accelerate and pick up speed.

We were on MAXIMUM SPEED when suddenly a car cut  in front of us in a double lane highway.  The car in front of us was overtaking a slower car – we followed behind the car on the faster lane, expecting the driver to either move over or speed up. All this was done at a very slow speed – should I say  – snail speed. Both cars infront of us traveled slowly side by side in a 2 lane road – blocking us for miles after miles- it was a test on our patience. In a time we needed  to hurry up to reach our destination urgently.

After a very long wait the driver finally gathered speed and moved to  the slower lane. As we started to accelerate we saw a big puddle of water in front of us – the water was about 5 inches deep and to our horror we saw a Mercedes  Benz overturned into a ditch on the right as we drove past it. Thank God for sending the car to block us and slowed  us down as we drove past the flooded part of the highway. If not the fate of the Merc Benz that turned turtle might befall us.

The traveler’s Psalm promised >”The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121: 8″

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them (Psalm 34: 7)