A Hell Shaking Ministry

When one walks down the corridors of Hebrews chapter 11, you leave this world for quite another, for in those hallowed halls of faith you bump into some men and women, the worthies of whom the world was not worthy. Those faithful servants of the Most High God had all hell come against them because they were individuals who made hell shake, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection, and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. I will stop there, friends.

I believe most of us today in the church are just whiny babies compared to such giants of the faith. I want to read you a story about John Song this evening, the Chinese evangelist who shook China for God in a mighty hell-shaken ministry for God. Listen to the hardships he encountered before he got to his preaching meeting during the invasion of China by Japan in 1937.

Listen to his words taken from his diary. The only place open for me was to travel in the locomotive and sit on boxes of coal. The smell was awful.

Enemy planes were circling over our heads, and the danger of being maimed or even killed by gunfire or bombs were never far away. I must have looked more like a refugee than a preacher. My skin was dark and red, and it was only after three buckets of murky washing that I managed to gain some semblance of my former appearance.

I was worn out by the punishing journey of the day. It was after midnight when I got there. All the hotels were full.

I sprawled myself on the floor of the train station. I will stop there to tell you, friends. John Song went to bed hungry that night on that train station floor and had a grueling journey the next day to finally get to his meeting, which was held on August 25, 1937.

I will let an I will let an eyewitness describe the scene. And remember, friends, this is China he's talking about. The people whom we dispatched failed to meet Dr. John Song.

When we came back, we saw a man in a blue tunic with a basket in one arm resting by the well. So that was Dr. John Song. That afternoon, the congregation was some 2,000 strong.

People from five villages all over converged here when they heard that John Song was in town. The various miracles bore witness to all as many patients were healed in body and spirit. Many had come with crutches which were abandoned when they left.

At the close of the spiritual healing service, heaps of crutches were lying all around. Many evangelistic preaching bands were set up after the service. Holding the banner of the cross, they spread the gospel at regular intervals along the streets.

The gates of hell were shaken. That's the end of that stern account from the diary of John Song. Several hundred thousand souls were saved in China under his hell-shaken ministry.

He wore himself out and died at the age of 42. Listen to me, friend. If you want a hell-shaken ministry, then be prepared for all hell to come against you.

Because when you won't leave the devil alone, the devil won't leave you alone. He doesn't like it when you disturb his kingdom. You'll get roughed up, my friend.

You may even pay dearly for it. You'll wear scars of the battle for sure, and it may even shorten your life. And when we stand before Jesus at the beam of seed for believers, when he reviews our lives as they were lived for him, his gospel and his glory, and when his eyes of fire fall on us beneath that white hot scrutiny, he won't be looking for medals on us, but scars that let us pray.