Zhang Lingsheng

Zhang Lingsheng (張靈生 Pinyin: Zhāng Língshēng, 1863 - 1935), was born in Shandong county, China. In 1900, Zhang converted to Christianity at the age of thirty seven and became a member of the Presbyterian church for seven years and was then appointed as a Deacon for the following three years.[1]

On September 1909 after hearing a testimony from Elder Zhāng Pǔquán (张溥泉), Zhang journeyed from Shandong to the Shanghai Faith Mission to study their Pentecostal teachings.[2] For twenty days he prayed for the Holy Spirit but did not receive it; after returning to Shandong Zhang continued praying for the Holy Spirit for fifty days. Finally on 21 December of that same year, he entered a church hall one morning in order to pray alone. It was at this time he began experiencing glossolalia, claiming to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. In 1910 Zhang was baptised in a Suzhou lake by the Apostolic Faith Mission. From that time onward, Zhang resolved to offer himself to the Lord's service. Later that year at Weihsien, Zhang established "Jesus' True Church" [3] which was still a part of the Apostolic Faith Mission.

The following year after closely studying the Seventh-day Adventist publications containing their doctrines, he subsequently changed his Sabbath services to Saturdays instead of Sunday. Worshipping sessions were held at his home with friends and relatives and the number of believers also steadily increased day by day; among those who received special spiritual gifts from God during this time was his nephew Barnabas Zhang.

In 1914 Zhang went to the Church of God in Beijing and there he met an American missionary named Berntsen who also kept the Sabbath on Saturdays and who preached on issues concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Zhang Lingsheng then accepted the laying on of hands by Berntsen and two other Elders and as a result was ordained as a Deacon.[4]

In the Spring of 1918 in Tianjin, Zhang first met Paul Wei,[5] who had been preaching under the name "Universal Correction Church" [6] and had also observed the Sabbath. They seem to have hit it off well together. Wei laid hands on Zhang in an act of ordination or legitimation, and the two of them [7] agreed to merge their two groups together under a new name and apparently put together the doctrinal foundations of a new church. The name of the church became the two former names combined, the "Universal Correction True Jesus Church" [8] which was later shortened to "True Jesus Church" [9] upon registration. Zhang started preaching the gospel of the TJC in co-operation with Paul Wei.

During January 1919, Ling-Sheng and Barnabas Zhang preached at a village one hundred kilometres from Weihsien; several people, who had not yet been baptized, received the Holy Spirit. Hence on January 27, thirty people requested to be baptized. However, prior to baptizing them, Ling-Sheng and Barnabas first baptized each other with their heads facing downwards before baptizing those new believers.[10] On March 1919, at the urgent request of Zhang Lingsheng and Barnabas Zhang, Paul Wei travelled from Tianjin to Weihsien in Shandong Province to hold evangelical sessions and perform baptisms.[11] Whilst Wei was at Weihsien, Zhang Lingsheng helped him organize the second edition of the Universal Correction Church newspaper. On October 1919, Zhang Lingsheng, together with two other co-workers Lǐ Xiǎofēng and Liáng Qīnmíng [12] travelled to Beijing and aided in the publication of the Universal Correction Church newspaper. When Paul Wei was about to pass away, he laid hands on Zhang Lingsheng and Liang Qinming to designate them as Overseers and successors of the church.

Later life

Later on, Zhang Lingsheng joruneyed to Nanjing, Changsha to evangelise, and also attended important church council meetings. In the spring of 1920, Ling-Sheng resigned from his position as overseer of the church and returned to his hometown of Shandong to settle down and pastor the local church there. When he heard that the church in Changsha was prosperng, Ling-Sheng paid a visit to them in 1922.

In 1935 he left the True Jesus Church and joined The Assembly of the One Undivided God (一位神召會)[13] allegedly founded by Berntsen.

He later died at the age of seventy-one.[14]

See also

Notes and References

  1. ^ The Winds of Foreign religions: Chapter Ten - Barnabas Zhang and the Chinese True Jesus Church (Chinese: 〈異教之風：十、張巴拿巴與中華真耶穌教會〉) ; Isaac Wei, Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the True Jesus Church - Special Issue, page J5. Published by the TJC General Assembly in Nanjing (1947), page J5 (Chinese: 《真耶穌教會卅年紀念專刊》（南京：真耶穌教會總會，1947）)
  2. ^ The Apostolic Faith Mission's three basic faiths were:
      1. Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit through speaking in tongues,
      2. belief in the One True God instead of Trinity and
      3. performing baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus (instead of the Father and the Holy Spirit).
      4. Berntsen 's Apostolic Faith church also performed feet washing. However his church later changed to the Church of God and later switched again to the Assembly of God.
  3. ^ Chinese pinyin: Yēsū Zhēn Jiàohuì, 耶穌真教會. See Zhang Lingsheng: Research Report on the Origins of the True Jesus Church (Chinese: 張靈生，〈真耶穌教會發源歷史研究報告〉)
  4. ^ Stone Zhang, History of the True Jesus Church, p.25-26 (Chinese: 張石頭，《真耶穌教會歷史》，頁25~26)
  5. ^ By this time, Paul Wei already had roughly two hundred followers.
  6. ^ Chinese pinyin: Wànguó Gēngzhèng Jiào, 萬國更正教
  7. ^ (though other names also appear by now in the accounts)
  8. ^ Chinese pinyin: Wànguó Gēngzhèng Jiào Zhēn Yēsū Jiàohuì, 萬國更正教真耶穌教會
  9. ^ Chinese pinyin: Zhēn Yēsū Jiàohuì, 真耶穌教會. It should also be noted that the English name adopted at that time was actually "True Jesus Mission"; however this English name was seldom used in China (except in Southeast Asia where the use of English was more prevalent) and was later changed to True Jesus Church. Today it is almost always referred to as "True Jesus Church"
  10. ^ The idea of performing baptism with the peron's head facing downwards came from the revelation which Paul Wei purported to have received. See Barnabas Zhang, Preaching Records, p.1-18. True Jesus Church General Assembly Nanjing 1929 (Chinese: 張巴拿巴，《傳道記》（南京：真耶穌教會總部，1929），頁1-18)
  11. ^ Stone Zhang, History of the True Jesus Church, p.25-26 (Chinese: 張石頭，《真耶穌教會歷史》，頁25~26). Zhang Lingsheng and Barnabas Zhang both received baptism from Paul Wei.
  12. ^ Chinese: 李曉峰和梁欽明
  13. ^ Chinese pinyin: Yīwèi Shénzhāo huì
  14. ^ The Biography of Saints: The Biography of Zhang Lingsheng (Chinese: 〈聖徒傳記：張靈生傳記〉), Isaac Wei, Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the True Jesus Church - Special Issue, page M20-M21 . Published by the TJC General Assembly in Nanjing (1947), (Chinese: 《真耶穌教會卅年紀念專刊》M21)