This is the final article in this series which reveals the nature of the spiritual beast trying to control people through twisting the Scriptures, church tradition, ecclesiastical hierarchy, false doctrine, out-right lies and persecution. The Roman Church’s classic publication of the Roman Ritual is a prime example of the lies that have caused people to reject speaking in tongues and still affects people today. It is amazing how many Protestants and Evangelicals reject the Catholic Church’s doctrine and tradition, yet use the same lies regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Catholic Church used to cause their members to reject the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Without the operation of the Holy Spirit working through the gift of tongues, a person is not as effective in power and anointing as a person who does possess and utilize this gift daily for their own edification.
Edward Irving (1792-1834) was ordained with the National Church of Scotland. In 1827 he preached a series of messages on baptism using the text Acts 2:38. Irving was convinced that the church should still receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including tongues, for power and authority. He encouraged prayer meetings for the purpose of acquiring the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Irving believed that the power came with the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence being speaking in tongues, subsequent to regeneration. Irving believed in the personal usage of tongues for edification and public usage in order to edify the church. Consequently, people started to speak in tongues. The majority of Irving’s congregation backed his desire for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to function in the church. However, a few influential members ardently opposed him.
The trustees of the church (Regent Square Church) finally appealed to the denomination’s presbytery. In a church trial, “Irving was found guilty of allowing individuals to lead public worship who had no official appointment or ordination. He was removed from the pastorate of Regent Square Church, and on May 4, 1832, he was locked out of his church. The presbytery then proceeded to try Irving on charges of holding heretical views concerning the person and humanity of Christ. Subsequently, on March 13, 1833, he was found guilty of the charges and was excommunicated from the ministry of the Church in Scotland. A majority of Regent Square members left with Irving and formed a new congregation…” (Eddie L. Hyatt, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity, pg. 130)
Phoebe Palmer (1804-74) was a Methodist lay person who held meetings which have been compared with Wesley, Finney and Moody. She held meetings on the “Promotion of Holiness” and “The Promise of the Father.” People were converted, received the baptism in the Holy Spirit (spoke in tongues), and were healed. (Hyatt, pg. 136)
Charles Grandson Finney (1792-1873) was first with the Presbyterian Church and then switched to the Congregational Church. Finney stressed holiness and real salvation by obeying the Scriptures, not just saying they believed Jesus was God. Without obedience, one’s testimony is hypocrisy and rebellion; a stumbling block to many people. Finney testified that he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Although he did not make a practice of praying for the sick, many people were healed during his meetings. The manifestations of falling under the power of God, weeping, crying, etc. ,were manifested during his services.
A. J. Gordon (1836-1895) was the founder of Gordon College and the pastor of Clarendon Street Baptist Church in Boston. He taught and believed in the baptism of the Holy Spirit subsequent to conversion for power with the manifestation of tongues as in the book of Acts. He taught that divine healing and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit were for the Church today and should be sought after.
Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) also taught the baptism of the Holy Spirit subsequent to conversion. Manifestations of the Holy Spirit such as tongues, healing, and prophecy occurred at times during his services.
During the summer of 1896 in Cherokee County of North Carolina, a revival broke out with manifestations of the Holy Spirit such as falling under the power of God, healings, speaking in tongues, weeping, repenting, etc. “Regardless of the different views of speaking in tongues, by the final decade of the nineteenth century, Pentecostal language had permeated the entire Holiness Movement. Wesleyan scholar, Donald Dayton, points out that by this time, everything from camp meetings to choirs were being described as Pentecostal. Even personal experiences were being reported as Pentecostal Testimonies. (Dayton, “Christian Perfection to the Baptism in the Holy Ghost”, pg. 47). Presbyterian minister, A. T. Pierson, expressed the prevailing mood when he said, ‘If in these degenerate days a new Pentecost would restore primitive faith, worship, unity, and activity, new displays of divine power might surpass those of any previous period.’ (Dieter, “Wesleyan Holiness Aspects of Pentecostal Origins”, pg. 58).” (Hyatt, pgs.144-145).
As has always been the result, a person who is serious in serving Jesus Christ combining holiness, prayer, fasting, and an attitude that wants to experience all the truths and promises of God for the saints will be baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929) whose focus was world evangelism, recognized that the Church lacked the power necessary to carry out the Great Commission. Parham and his Quaker wife opened Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. They demanded no tuition, but instead, prayer was the central focus. They had a prayer tower which was manned 24 hours a day by students. It was in this type of atmosphere and sincerity in which the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of tongues manifested at the college where they were tarrying for it.
William Joseph Seymour (1870-1922) was the pastor of a black Holiness church. Seymour listened to Parham teach on the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues and accepted it as biblically correct. He later experienced it himself. Seymour moved to Los Angeles upon accepting an invitation to pastor another Holiness congregation. After preaching his first sermon on the subject out of Acts 2:4, he was locked out of the church. He was invited to the home of the Asberrys where he committed himself to constant prayer. One evening during the dinner time, Richard Asberry fell off his chair and began speaking in tongues. Thus, the revival started as crowds soon gathered at the Asberry’s residence. They moved the meeting to 312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles, to a building that had recently been used as a stable and warehouse, although it had been a former Methodist Episcopal Church. Prayer was the central activity at these revival meetings. Seymour would be found with his head in his hands behind the pulpit as he allowed the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit to manifest His power. What should be noted is that there were no special choirs, singers, evangelists, activities, etc.; just a hunger and thirst for righteousness and allowing God to be God. The revival continued for three years (1906-1909), and had worldwide ramifications as many people came to experience this move of God. They took the Pentecost experience with them around the world and started new churches and denominations. Earnest S. Williams who served as the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God for twenty years from 1929-1949, visited the revival at Azusa Street and was astonished at what he witnessed and experienced. He had never witnessed anything like it before. John G. Lake had Seymour preach to his congregation of 10,000 people where men shook and cried out to God in repentance. Seymour obviously had great spiritual power as a result of his enormous time in prayer.
Parham eventually moved to Zion City, Illinois, by invitation of friends to bring the Pentecostal message to that city. He initially opened his meetings at the Elijah Hospice, and soon he was conducting three services daily. Wilbur Volvia, who was in political control of the city at that time, ousted Parham from the Elijah Hospice since it was under city control and proceeded to rent every available auditorium. Parham would not be denied. As always is the case since the first century, Parham held his meetings in various homes throughout the city. He would go from one home to another during the course of the evening visiting five homes a night, as well as day time services. In the evenings the meetings went from 7:00 PM until midnight. The revival at Zion City had a worldwide impact as over five hundred ministers went into the international harvest field and opened the door for the Pentecostal message into the worldwide network of Christian Catholic Churches. John Alexander Dowie and John G. Lake, whose ministries focused on divine healing, now merged divine healing in the atonement with the Pentecostal experience.
“Some of the more familiar names emerging from Zion City, to name only a few, include Cyrus Fockler, D. C. O. Opperman, Fred Volger, F. A. Graves, L. C. Hall and Martha Wing Robinson, Fred Hornshuh, Sr., Harry and Maggie Cantel, and Dr. Lillian B. Yeomans. Fockler founded the Milwaukee Gospel Tabernacle; and Opperman, after leaving his position as superintendent of schools in Zion, joined the Apostolic Faith in Texas. Both of these men were among the founders of the Assemblies of God and served on its first executive presbytery. Volger served as assistant general superintendent of that same denomination for over fourteen years. Fred Hornshuh, Sr. was one of the founders of the Open Bible Standard Churches, Lighthouse Temple in Eugene, Oregon, and Eugene Bible College. Martha Wing Robinson founded the Zion Faith Homes. Dr. Lilian B. Yeomans was well known for her teaching and healing ministry. Harry Cantel, overseer of Dowie’s Christian Catholic Church in England, visited Zion in 1907, was baptized in the Spirit, and returned to London with the Pentecostal message.” (Hyatt, pg. 166)
Another fruit of the Zion Revival was Marie Burgess Brown (1880-1971). She moved to New York City and founded and pastored Glad Tidings Tabernacle which became one of the prominent Pentecostal churches in the nation. While she was still pastor, it was known as a church with the largest missionary budget in the Assemblies of God. Also, John G. Lake launched his ministry of faith in South Africa and the movement today is known as the Apostolic Faith of South Africa with over 2,500 churches.
“The influence of the Azusa Street Revival tended to be focused upon bringing existing holiness churches into the new Pentecostal movement, whereas the Zion City Revival did bring a large part of Dowie’s worldwide following into the movement, its focus was upon founding new independent ministries and independent churches.” (Hyatt, pg. 169)
Reports from around the world, Europe, India, South America, Africa, Asia, etc., came in of the powerful sweep of the Holy Spirit as a result of people accepting the baptism with the initial evidence of tongues. If space permitted, I would share how in country after country God moved by His Spirit through people and churches developed and grew. Many others were born either within the existing denominations or new ones were birthed.
“By the second decade of the century, a trend toward denominationalism became obvious with the movement. As institutional distinctives in discipline and doctrine were defined, cooperation and fellowship based on the common experience of Spirit baptism became less common. The denominations usually formed along theological and racial lines. The Church of God in Christ, for example, organized in 1907 and now the largest Pentecostal denomination in America, was predominately a black denomination. The Assemblies of God, organized by white Pentecostals in 1914, was the first non-Wesleyan Pentecostal group. Oneness or Unitarian Pentecostal groups began forming after 1916. Several Wesleyan-Holiness groups already in existence before 1900, such as the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church had, in fact, become Pentecostal in doctrine and practice as early as 1906 through the overflow of the Azusa Street Revival. These organizations continued to grow rapidly and by the 1940’s were attracting the attention of the rest of the church world. At the founding meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942, ten percent of the delegates were Pentecostal. Although received warily at first, the Pentecostals eventually gained full acceptance in this evangelical organization and now constitute the majority of its membership. Along with the growing acceptance of their movement, Pentecostals were, at the same time, experiencing a loss of spiritual vitality that always accompanies the onslaught of institutionalism. The 1930’s and 40’s have been described as a time when ‘the depth of worship and the operation of the gifts of the Spirit so much in evidence in earlier decades were not so prominent.’ (Carl Brumback, “Suddenly...From Heaven”, pg. 331). Many were concerned to the point that systematic times of prayer and fasting were instituted to pray for spiritual renewal and revival.” (Hyatt, pgs. 182-183)
THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT BEGINS!
“The April 1960 Issue of Time carried the story of an Episcopal priest in Van Nuys, California, who had announced to his congregation that he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit and had spoken in tongues. Dennis Bennett (1917-1992), rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, had initially received this experience while praying in his home in November, 1959. Other news agencies, picking up the story from Time, gave it further coverage. Although others in the historic churches had experienced speaking in tongues prior to this, the event usually marks the beginning of the modern Charismatic Renewal. Although Bennett had considerable support from within his parish, a small group vehemently denounced his Pentecostal activity. He resigned from St. Mark’s under pressure and was assigned to the pastorate of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington. Regardless, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had begun, and by 1963, Christianity Today estimated that 2000 Episcopalians in southern California were experiencing the charismatic phenomenon of speaking in tongues…Unlike the Pentecostals sixty years earlier, many of the Charismatics found acceptance in their denominations. In fact, the leaders of the movement saw the revival as God’s way of renewing the existing denominations.” (Hyatt, pg. 195-196).
“The groundwork for the Charismatic Movement in the Roman Catholic Church had been firmly laid by the Vatican II Council (1962-1965). Pope John XXIII, in calling the Council, expressed his desire for the dawning of a new Pentecost which he said ‘is the hope of our yearning.’ (Edward O’Connor, “Roots of Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church”, pg. 183). He also directed the churches to pray that the Holy Spirit would renew His wonders ‘in this our day as by a new Pentecost.’ (O’Connor, pg. 183)
“Of equal importance was the attitude taken by the Council concerning charismatic gifts. When the subject arose for discussion, Cardinal Ruffini expressed the traditional Roman Catholic view that such gifts today ‘are extremely rare and altogether exceptional.’ (Francis A. Sullivan, “Charisms and Charismatic Renewal”, pg. 4). Contrariwise, Cardinal Suenens pointed out that the charismatic dimension, according to St. Paul, is necessary to the Church. He went on to say that these gifts are ‘no peripheral or accidental phenomenon in the life of the Church;’ on the contrary, he said, they are ‘of vital importance for the building up of the mystical body.’ (Sullivan, pg. 10). As a result of Cardinal Suenens’ influence, the Council adopted an open and receptive position on the charismata, declaring that these gifts ‘should be recognized and esteemed in the Church of today.’ (Suenens, “A New Pentecost?”, pg. 40). With this foundation in place, as Vinson Synan (1934-) writes, ‘It was almost inevitable that Pentecostalism would break out in the Roman Catholic Church.’ (Synan, “In the Latter Days”, pg. 109).
“It began with a retreat attended by about twenty professors and graduate students from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the weekend of February 17-19, 1967. In preparation for the retreat, the participants were asked to read the book of Acts and David Wilkerson’s The Cross and the Switchblade. When the group gathered in the chapel on Saturday evening, they experienced a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit and some began speaking in tongues. Synan says, ‘As these Catholic seekers prayed through to Pentecost, many things familiar to classical Pentecostals began to take place. Some laughed uncontrollably “in the spirit”, while one young man rolled across the floor in ecstasy. Shouting praises to the Lord, weeping and speaking in tongues characterized this beginning of the movement in the Catholic Church.’ (Synan, pg. 111).
“The fire at Duquesne soon spread to Notre Dame University, the center of American Catholicism. Many of its professors and students received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. From there the movement spread rapidly with Catholic Charismatic prayer groups springing up across the country. By 1970, a Catholic Charismatic conference at Notre Dame attracted 30,000 Catholic Charismatics. Priests, nuns, and laypeople together sang and prayed in tongues, prophesied, and rejoiced in what God was doing.” (Hyatt, pg. 196-198).
Ladies and gentlemen, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, starting with tongues for personal edification, were meant for the church today! They have been in operation since Pentecost (Acts 1:4-2:4). We have seen in these four articles that men have tried to discredit the gifts and prevent others from seeking them for their own use. Evil leaders continue to use the church for their own personal gain. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for power to follow the command in Matthew 28:18-20 to evangelize the nations.
Shalom
© 2002 World Ministries International