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Holiness To Pentecost
By Terry Dashner, Fri Dec 9th
“From Holiness to Pentecost” In the postscript of his book entitled, A Survey of 20th-CenturyRevival Movements in North America, Richard M. Riss makes thefollowing comments: A resurgence of Evangelical Christianity has been coming aboutin America since the late 1940s…If the current resurgencecontinues, it will provide a milieu conducive to the incidenceof an awakening of far greater statistical significance andconsiderably more extensive societal impact than the earlierrevivals of this century… (Article continued below)
Should God raise up sufficient intercessors for revival, thereis a real possibility that a momentous ‘Third Great Awakening,’not only in North America but throughout all Christendom, willexplode
on the modern scene. Many are alluding to a spiritual awakening in Christendom. I,for one, agree with Mr. Riss and believe that ministers who arecalling for a spiritual awakening, especially in America, areright on with their prophetic insight. I believe that the coming spiritual awakening in America alonewill surpass the impact of the American first and second GreatAwakening(s) of the 18th, 19th, and 20th century revivals. IfGod can intervene in the affairs of man as He has donethroughout recorded history, then He will have no problembringing about the greatest revival in the history of man. Ibelieve this. In continuing my series entitled, “An Awakening is Coming,” I’dlike to conclude the series by documenting some of the importantfeatures of the American Holiness movement that began in themiddle 19th century, up to the time when it separated from thePentecostal movement. One of the important features about the American Holinessmovement was the foundation it served for the revivals of the20th century. It was John Wesley’s teaching on “entiresanctification” that started the American Holiness movement. Insimple, Wesley’s doctrine spoke of a divine work of the HolySpirit in the life of the believer, subsequent to salvation.From this teaching came many seekers searching for a greaterdepth to their salvation experience. Because they came seeking,the Lord blessed them with much more. It was during this time that ministries of Divine Healing cameinto existence. Also at this time Phoebe Palmer, the wife of aprominent physician in New York and a leading teacher in theHoliness movement, labeled the doctrine of ‘entiresanctification’ as the ‘Baptism of the Holy Ghost.’ It seems theHoliness movement was okay with the new Holy Spirit moniker aswell as embracing other spin-off movements, which includedhealing ministries and Pentecostal “experiences,” but when theissue of “tongues” was recognized by Pentecostals as the initialevidence of being Baptized in the Holy Ghost, the Holinessmovement went its own way. The American Holiness movement that started in the middle 1800scontinues to this day but has fractured into variousdenominations that cover the globe. Another important feature of the American Holiness movement wasthe number of major revivals that branched from its teachingsand continued into the 20th century. For example, the Healingrevivals of the 1940s were rooted in the Holiness movement. The1940s healing revivals brought to prominence men likeEvangelists Oral Roberts and TL Osborn. Also the decade spawnedother movements like the Latter Rain movement and Salvationcrusades such as the Billy Graham Crusades. It seems that Godlinked revival movements together, sustaining the second GreatAwakening in America to the end of the 20th century. If you remember, the second Great Awakening started in themidnight hour of the 1700s, and continued through the 19th and20th century with pocket revivals, the Holiness movement, andmany other works of grace right up to the end of the 20thcentury. The 1960s and 1970s were the years of the Charismatic Renewal,Jesus Movement, and the Word of Faith Movement. Dr. Bill Hamonsaid recently, while being interviewed on TBN, that the decadeof the 1950s was the decade of the Evangelist. The decade of the60s was the restoration of the Pastor. The decade of the 70s wasthe restoration of the Teacher. The decade of the 80s belongedto the Prophets and the 1990s the Apostle. Now that theFive-fold ministry has been restored to its place in the Body,the new millennium will see the ministry of the Saints. Thelaity will be equipped to do the work of ministry. I believe that God is raising up a united front of believers (nonames) and bypassing solo ministers who try to go at it alone,for the “Third Great Awakening.” This unified front is the laitywho will minister in large teams as one, for one purpose. I believe they are being positioned now by the Holy Spirit. Thebaton is being passed to a new generation of people who willwalk under great anointing to preach the gospel in the “ThirdGreat Awakening.” Could the third Great Awakening come in the beginning of the newmillennium? It certainly could. The spiritual environment ofAmerica is ripe for it. In the past, Awakenings came about asthe result of widespread spiritual complacency in the nation. Itappeared that God brought these great movements of the past toready men’s hearts for coming national tragedies (Revolutionarywar, War of 1812, Civil War, WWI, WWII, and etc.). The 20thcentury was a century of evil and blood shed. It has been saidthat it was the century of the devil. There were two world wars,many smaller wars, ethnic cleanings in European nations, deathand property destruction by race riots in America, an attempt toexterminate an entire race of people by Hitler, and much, muchmore evil. No doubt about it, the century we just left was a nightmare. Butone must remember that God was not asleep during the 20thcentury. He raised up a standard against the satanic onslaughtof the 20th century. During this time, God brought forth some ofthe greatest movements in the history of the church. Forexample, Evan Roberts in the early 1900s cried out for revivalin his country of Wales, and God heard him and sent a worldwideexplosion. The revival that turned Wales upside down spread toAmerica and was the forerunner to the Azusa outpouring in LosAngeles, California. From the Azusa outpouring, the revivalspilled over America and to the uttermost with the Baptism inthe Holy Spirit. Moreover, another feature of the American Holiness movement, asit jumped into the 20th century, was the unique opposition itfaced. What am I referring to? I’m referring to an unusualopposition, which can be identified as a particular Westernmindset that had been developing since the Renaissance. Forexample, from the fourth century onward, Western culture as awhole held to a Christian concept that regarded naturaldisaster, such as earthquakes or floods, as judgments from God.Such calamities were considered a call to all people everywhereto repent from evil and turn to faith in God. Somewhere along the line a predominate number of people began tosee natural disasters as accidental or irrelevant to God’spurposes. From this mindset came the belief that God was nolonger Sovereign. He no longer controlled the events of history.Also, miracles didn’t happen any more, and it was foolish tobelieve such nonsense. When revivals brokeout in the 20thcentury, they were opposed by this mindset. Because of theprevalence of this attitude, the 20th century would not see therestoration of cities and economies like it did in the FirstGreat Awakening. The Bible says that we are to believe Him for who He is—AlmightyGod. Because He is Almighty, He can do anything but fail. Aslong as we have a heart to believe that God is still the samemiracle working God that He has always been, we will experiencethe miraculous in our lives; however, if we think God has lostcontrol and is weaker than He was during Pentecost, we will missmany supernatural events that are soon coming. There are two secular movements—one of the 18th and one of the19th century that stripped God of His Sovereignty. In his bookthat he co-authored with Peter Bocchino, Unshakable Foundations:Contemporary Answers to Crucial Questions about the ChristianFaith, Norman Geisler talks about the secularization at workduring the 19th century. One powerful force that opposed Christianity and is stillaffecting lives today was a philosophy propounded by a Germanatheist, Friedrich Nietzche. He’s the intellectual that coinedthe phrase, “God is dead and we have killed him.” In simple,Nietzche asserted that the myth of God’s existence, which wasonce widely believed, died, and that the myth of objectivevalues died with him. He believed that there was no meaning tolife, except the meaning man gave to it. Hitler was influencedby this philosophy. Another secular force at work during thistime came about in the middle of the 19th century. In 1859Charles Darwin published his book on macroevolution, On theOrigin of Species. People were ripe for the godless theories itstated. They readily embraced Darwin’s teaching and man waslowered to the level of animals. One final feature of the Holiness movement, was its split fromthe Pentecostals because of their belief that “tongues” was theinitial evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. When theAzusa outpouring began, people came from around the world toreceive the gift of “tongues,” and then carry the gift back totheir part of the world. Typical of what happens when great moves of God break out, theexplosion happens first, and then men try to explain theexplosion by doctrines later. When one of Charles Parham’s Biblestudents, Agnes Ozman, received the Baptism of the Holy Ghostand began speaking in tongues, Parham made an assignment for hisstudents. He wanted them to study the Bible, and list everyoccurrence of Holy Spirit Baptisms in the New Testament. Theywere then instructed to list the one thing that manifested withit. Overwhelmingly the students reported “tongues” to be the initialevidence of the Holy Spirit Baptism. Later when the Azusaoutpouring was going strong in Los Angeles, California, theReverend William Seymour, a Holiness preacher who led the earlyAzusa outpouring, came into conflict over the doctrine ofsanctification with William Durham. Durham said thatsanctification was a progressive work of holiness being workedout in the believer by the Holy Spirit. He said that the Baptismof the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues wasnot the work of sanctification but an experience subsequent tosalvation. Sanctification was a work of the Holy Spirit in the life of thebeliever, which continued the entire lifetime of the believer.Seymour, being a true Holiness preacher who had received theBaptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues, disagreed. He said thatsalvation was first, then entire sanctification, and then theBaptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues, last. They neverresolved the issue and eventually went separate ways. The issue has never been settled. The Holiness churches thatteach “entire sanctification” still believe that sanctificationis a Divine work of the Spirit to seal the Salvation experiencewith power. They are opposed to “tongues” being the sole orinitial evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. And, then again, there is a group of sincere Christians thatbelieve the Reformed doctrine of Martin Luther. They believesanctification is a progressive work of the Spirit, continuingthroughout the lifetime of the saint. They do not teach "entiresanctification" nor the Pentecostal experience of being baptizedin the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. However, some groups in the Reformed tradition believe there isfirst Salvation, then the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with theevidence of speaking in tongues, and then progressivelysanctification of a believer is worked out a believer “walks inthe spirit and not the flesh.” Nevertheless, no matter how youpronounce potato, it’s still a potato. If one is hungry for Godand seeks a deeper walk, one will find a more intimate, a moresatisfying experience of Him if they keep searching for Him. So, I’ve given you some of the important features of theHoliness movement from its inception in the middle 19th centuryto its split from the Pentecostal movement of the 20th century.One important point to remember from this document is God’sdesire to use simple prayers and insignificant people who simplyhave a burning and passion for God, to reach their community andnations. The Bible warns us against sneering at smallbeginnings. No matter how big the move, it started with a seed.Once again, I believe that God is stirring up revival winds. Thewind of His Spirit is getting ready to fan the flames, untilrevival is burning out of control. Are you ready? Terry Dashner Pastor of Faith Fellowship Church Broken Arrow, OK(Sources cited are available)
About the author:Writes history articles about faith in early America(918-451-0270). | 