THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHURCH HISTORY.

Some Christians assert that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were confined to apostolic times, or at the very latest to the end of the third century. This directly contradicts the Scriptures which teach that spiritual gifts will be in operation right up to the great day when Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom. Acts.2v16-39. For Christians who believes in the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures, an appeal to the Scriptures is quite sufficient without any other proof. However, to correct the untruth that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are absent from Church History, and to give the Pentecostal Christians some more weapons for their armoury, we will now give a few well-authenticated cases from Church history that prove that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been manifested from the days of the apostles right up to the present day.

THE FIRST CENTURY.

It must be remembered that all the churches that were founded by the apostles were Pentecostal churches, and the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit were looked upon as the normal experience of these churches. The Christian converts were not left ignorant of spiritual gifts, they were automatically led into an experience of the baptism in the Spirit and His spiritual gifts by the apostles of Christ. Acts.2v38,39. 8v14-17. 1Cor.12v1. The apostle Paul, like all the other apostles, led Christians into a Pentecostal experience right throughout his ministry, and this he did in ALL the churches that he founded. The baptism in the Spirit with the manifestation of speaking with other tongues was the next step after believing in Christ and being baptised in water. This was no temporary expedient for in 1Cor.14v18. we read that Paul is still speaking in tongues, and in 1Cor.12. 13. and 14. he is giving instructions regarding spiritual gifts about 26 years after the outpouring at Pentecost. Indeed, Paul tells us in 1Cor.13v8-12. that we shall need and enjoy spiritual gifts until the perfect day comes and we shall see the dear Lord Jesus face to face.

Just before Paul died, he exhorted Timothy not to neglect or despise the revelations that had been given by spiritual gifts, and the ministry of spiritual gifts, this was 33 years after Pentecost. The apostle John about 63 years after the day of Pentecost was still experiencing the gifts of the Spirit. Indeed, he experienced a greater revelation of spiritual gifts than he had ever known before in his life, and through him the Lord Jesus was exhorting Christians to take heed to the voice and work of the Holy Spirit in the churches. We cannot do better than follow the example of the Lord Jesus and the apostles in relation to spiritual gifts, we should "covert earnestly" the lovely gifts of the Holy Spirit, and this means that we should desire to speak with other tongues "as the Spirit gives utterance." 2Tim1v6. Rev.2v7,11,17. etc. 1Cor.14v1.

FROM THE SECOND CENTURY TO THE END OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.

Dr. Philip Schaff, the well known Church historian, writes in his history of the Apostolic Church, Book 1, Sec. 55. "The speaking with tongues, however, was not confined to the day of Pentecost. Together with other extraordinary spiritual gifts which distinguished this age above the succeeding periods of more quiet and natural development, this gift also though to be sure in a modified form perpetuated itself in the apostolic church. We find traces of it still in the second and third centuries, and even later than this, though very seldom."

It is good to know that historians recognise that the gifts of the Spirit continued for at least several centuries. However, Pentecostal Christians believe, and the Scriptures teach, that the other succeeding periods of Church History were not more natural or desirable, the fact that these gifts became scarce were not due to "natural development," but to spiritual backsliding from the faith which was once and for all delivered unto the saints. Jude.v3,4. We also do not believe that our all-wise Lord needed to modify His gift of tongues, His gift of tongues has always been good and perfect and very desirable.

Eusebius of Caesarea, the Church historian, who lived about A.D. 260 to 340, writes in his Church History Book 3, of the evangelists that were living during the early years of the second century. He writes:-

"Of those who flourished in these times, Quadratus is said to have been distinguished for his prophetical gifts. There are many others, also, noted in these times who he held rank in the apostolic succession....The Holy Spirit also wrought many wonders as yet through them, so that as soon as the Gospel was heard, men in crowds voluntarily and eagerly embraced the true faith with their whole minds." Acts.8v5-8. Rom.15v18,19. Quadratus, was overseer of the Church in Athens, and was "a disciple of the apostles, "He presented around A.D.126 a discourse to the Emperor Hadrian in the defence of the faith, because certain malicious persons attempted to harass our brethren." This work was highly regarded in its day, and part of it has been preserved, in this Quadratus tells some of those who had been miraculously healed by Christ were still alive when he wrote his defence of the faith.

was said by Irenaeus to have been "a hearer of John, and an associate of Polycarp." Eusebius' ECU. Hits., Book 3 page39. Eusebius gives the following short account of poison being rendered harmless from the writing of Papias, it was written around A.D.130 to 135. He writes:- "Another wonderful event happened, respecting Justus, surnamed Basra's, who, though he drank poison, experienced nothing injurious, through the grace of the Lord."

Irenaeus, A.D. 115-202., overseer of the church at Lyons in France, spent his early life in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, and during the first 25 years of the second century when he was at Smyrna he came into contact with Polycarp and became one of his pupils. Irenaeus writes of Polycarp, "Polycarp was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also by apostles in Asia appointed bishop of the church in Smyrna; whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried on earth a very long time, and when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffered martyrdom."

Irenaeus became overseer of the church at Lyons around A.D.117. He had obviously been set a lovely Pentecostal example by Polycarp, the apostle John's disciple, for he and experienced manifestations of the Holy Spirit in his church. In about A.D. 180 Irenaeus wrote his five books "Against Heresies," or as Eusebius calls them "A Refutation and Overthrow of False Doctrine." In his writing Irenaeus defends the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. he writes in Book 2:- "Even among the brethren frequently in a case of necessity, when the whole church united in much fasting and prayer, the spirit has returned to the ex-animated body, and the man was granted to the prayers of the saints."

After some other observations he writes, "But if they say that our Lord also did these things only in appearance, we shall refer them back to the prophetic declarations, and shall show from them that all these things were strictly foretold, and were done by Him, and that He alone is the Son of God. Wherefore, also, those that were truly His disciples, receiving grace from Him, in His name performed these things for the benefit of the rest of men, as every one received the free gift from Him. Some, indeed, most certainly and truly cast out demons, so that frequently those persons themselves were cleansed from wicked spirits, believed and were received into the Church. Others have the knowledge of things to come, as also visions and prophetic communications; others heal the sick by the imposition of hands, and restore them to health. Moreover, as we have said above, even the dead have been raised, and continued to be with us for many more years. So why should we say more? It is impossible to tell the number of gifts which the Church throughout the world received from God, and the deeds performed in the name of Jesus Christ, that was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and this too every day for the benefit of the heathen, without deceiving any, or exacting their money. For as she has received freely from God, she also ministers."

In book 5 he says:- "In like manner do we also hear many brethren in the Church who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit will speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostles term spiritual."

What a marvellous testimony, and what a lovely Pentecostal Church Irenaeus had at Lyons, a church with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation. How can anyone say that spiritual gifts ceased after the apostolic age in the light of such evidence?

Tertullian of Carthage in North Africa. A.D. 160-240. He was educated as a lawyer, and was a very earnest advocate for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He opposed Marcion the Gnostic heretic and wrote five books refuting his heresies. (Once, when Polycarp met Marcion, Marcion said, "Dost thou not recognise me?" "Yes," replied Polycarp, "I recognise the firstborn of Satan." Irenaeus Ag. Heresies3,3.) Tertullian wrote his great work against Marcion in A.D. 207, He invites Marcion to produce evidence of the gifts of the Spirit being manifested among his followers as they were among Tertullian's Christians. He said, “Let him exhibit prophets such have spoken, not by human sense but with the Spirit of God, such as have predicted things to come, and have made manifest the secrets of the heart; let him produce a psalm, a vision, a prayer, only let it be by the Spirit in an ecstasy, that is in a rapture, whenever an interpretation of tongues has occurred to him." He also tells of a certain sister who often spoke with tongues. See Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, Vol.4, page3310.

Pachomius. A.D. 292-348. Founded a monastic settlement on an island in the Nile, which when Athanasius visited it had a population of about 3,000 Monks. A. Butler informs us in his book, "Lives of the Saints," which was published in 1756, that Pachomius after seasons of special prayer was able to speak the Greek and Latin languages under the inspiration of the Spirit. These were languages that he had never learned.

John Chrysostom, overseer of Constantinople. A.D. 346-407. He was banished for his fearless preaching to Cucusus, a village in the Taurus mountains, on the borders of Cilicia and Armenia, by the Empress Eudoxia. Gibbon comments, "Every tongue repeated the praises of his genius and virtue, and the respectful attention of the Christian world was fixed on a desert spot among the mountains of Taurus." this was no exaggeration for John Chrysostom is one of the most illustrious names of Church History. He led a simple abstemious life devoted to works of humanity and benevolence. He was a fearless reformer, a renowned preacher, and inspirer of missionary enterprise, and one of the greatest homiletical expositors of Scripture. Though Chrysostom admits that he is ignorant of the facts referred to in 1Cor.12 and 14, and that to his knowledge spiritual gifts had ceased, he says: “Whosoever was baptised in apostolic days, he straightway spake with tongues; for since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once received the Spirit; not that they saw the Spirit, for He is invisible, but God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of His energy; and one straightway spake in the Persian language, another in the Roman, another in the Indian, another in some other tongue; and this made manifest to them that were without that is was the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore the Apostle calls it 'the manifestation of the Spirit which is given to every man to profit withal.'

There is some who ask, 'Why are not miracles performed still? why are there no persons who raise the dead, and cure diseases?' To which he replies "That this was owing to the want of faith, and virtue, and piety in those times." For as Jerome says, "The Church lost as much of its virtue, as it had gained of wealth and power."

FROM THE FIFTH CENTURY TO THE REFORMATION.

These were the dark ages of Church History, the Church going farther and farther into darkness until the truths of the Christian Gospel were completely abandoned by the vast majority of church-goers. Baronius, the famous analyst of the Roman Church writes; "The Tenth Century, was an iron age, barren of all goodness; a leaden age, abounding in wickedness, and a dark age, remarkable above all others for the scarcity of writers and men of learning." This spiritual darkness resulted in all of the major doctrines of the Christian faith being hidden under a mass of foolish and wicked superstition.

John Wesley states in his sermon, "The More Excellent Way, that backsliding caused the scarcity of spiritual gifts from the fourth century onwards, he writes:-"It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom here of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian; and, from a vain imagination of promoting the Christian cause thereby, heaped riches and power and honour upon the Christians in general, but in particular upon the Christian Clergy. From this time they almost totally ceased; very few instances of the kind were found. The cause of this was not, as has been vulgarly supposed, "Because there was no more occasion for them," because all the world was become Christians. This is a miserable mistake; not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The real cause was, "the love of many," almost of Christians, so called, was" waxed cold." The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other Heathens; The Son of Man when He came to examine His Church, could hardly "find faith upon the earth." This was the real cause why the extra-ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were to no longer be found in the Christian Church; because the Christians were turned heathens again, and had only a dead form left."

Alexander Mackie in his book "The Gift of Tongues," gives a similar explanation for the scarcity of the manifestation of the gift of tongues during the dark ages of Church History, he says on page 27 of his book: "From patristic times until the power of the reformation had made itself distinctly felt, the gift of tongues is an almost forgotten phenomenon. The attention which the Reformation drew to the Scriptures is the reason for the reappearance of the gift. Men do not usually have the gift of tongues unless they know there is a gift of tongues. The revival of the Bible made also necessary in some minds a revival of states of mind and actions such as were those of men who lived in Bible times and who were esteemed Holy. During the long silence of these weary centuries there was evidence, however, of those psychological and physiological tendencies and actions which we find go hand in hand with the appearance of the gift in the history of the Corinthian church, or in the history of the more modern sects which we shall discuss. Simply because the ages preceding the Reformation were deficient in a Scriptural vocabulary we fail to find these phenomena described and classified as related to the gift of tongues."

Bengel gives the reason for the lack of spiritual gifts in the following short note. "The reason why many miracles are not now wrought is not so much because faith is established, as that unbelief reigns." However, even during these dark centuries God raised up centres of revival in Southern Europe, the most notable of these outpourings of the Holy Spirit took place among the Albigenses and Waldenses. These Christians returned to the simplicity of New Testament Christianity, and experienced manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Albigenses. These were so called because they originated from the area around Alby in Languedoc, forty miles north-east of Toulouse. They were founded around A.D. 1,110 and became quite a large sect by A.D. 1,150. They were anathematised by Papal councils as heretics, (A.D. 1,139& 1,179,) and by other provincial synods at Toulouse and elsewhere. In A.D. 1198 Pope Innocent 3rd. determined to use force, and so an army was sent against these dear Christians. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester was in charge of military operations and Arnold, abbot of Citeaux was commissioned as legate to suppress the "heretics" by any means at his disposal, these turned out to be assassination, torture and murder. The first place to be captured was Beziers, a town of 30,000 people. When the general asked Arnold what to do with the people, Arnold said, "Kill them all! God will know His own!" This murderous and ruthless mission suited the army under the control of Simon de Montfort, for as one Roman Catholic historian records, they were composed "of desperadoes, mercenary soldiers, and adventurers of every description, whose sole object was plunder." A court was started by Dominic and his brotherhood which descended to the depths of cruelty and injustice. Out of this court sprang the inquisition, which was established and authorised in A.D. 1,229 at the council of Toulouse, this decision was confirmed by Pope Gregory 9th. in A.D. 1232. (This council also forbade the Layman to read the Scriptures in the Latin or vernacular.) So ruthlessly were these dear Christians exterminated that we hear no more of them in history after 1232 A.D.. Satan is well named, he hates the movings of the Holy Spirit, and is a ruthless adversary to the children of God who experience them.

The Waldenses. These were led by Peter Waldo a wealthy and devout merchant of Lyons. He came to see the truth about 1170 A.D. when he first read the Scriptures in his own language and saw the tremendous difference between the churches of his day and the teaching of Christ and the early Church. Waldo sold all his goods and gave the proceeds to the poor. He gathered around him a company of men who sold up their possessions and accompanied him on an evangelistic mission. Later these "Poor Men of Lyons," as they were called, went everywhere preaching the Gospel, earning their keep as peddlers, or in other humble vocations. They adopted the Scriptural method of going two and two. Pope Alexander 3rd. tried to stop Waldo and his associates from preaching, A.D. 1179., when this failed, the next Pope, Lucius 3rd. excommunicated them. Pope Innocent 3rd. at the fourth Lateran Council, A.D. 1215, again emphatically condemned the movement, for though Peter Waldo had died in 1229, tried to stop this revival by establishing the Inquisition and forbidding the Layman to read the Scriptures. In 1234 a synod at Tarragona prohibited the clergy from reading the Scriptures in their own language. These Christians were persecuted by the Dominican Inquisitors of Languedoc and in A.D. 1312 one was burned at the stake by this Inquisition. They were finally driven back to take refuge in the Piedmontese valleys of the Alps where they continued to worship the Lord in their simple, Scriptural way. Later, in more peaceable times, they became the chief evangelists of Italy.

The move of the Holy Spirit in the latter part of the dark ages of Church History was rejected by a backslidden and wicked clergy, there was a determined and vicious opposition from a corrupt and Satan-inspired clergy. The Scribes and Pharisees of the 12th. and 13th. centuries killed the children of God, as their forefathers had killed the Lord Jesus. When the promises of the Scripture became known to the people, then the people desired and experienced these promises, they enjoyed justification by faith in Christ and the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Satan did everything that he could to stamp out the knowledge of the Bible, and the revivals that came through this knowledge of the Scriptures. John Wesley says, "Some have computed, that, from the year 1528 to 1548, fifteen million of Protestants have perished by the Inquisition. This may be overcharged, but certainly the number of them in these years, as well as since is almost incredible." Those who enjoy the promises of God today can expect some measure of Ecclesiastical opposition, one has to make a choice between orthodox but unscriptural teaching and Scriptural teaching called "heresy" by the servants of Satan. 2Tim.2v8-13. 3v12-17. It is a great tragedy when godly men align themselves with the servants of Satan and resist the truths of the Scriptures. Acts.13v50. Jn.12v42,43.

FROM THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION TO THE PRESENT DAY.

Philip Schaff, in his "History of the Christian Church," Vol. 1 page 237 to the 1882 edition, shows that the phenomenon of speaking with tongues reappeared between the years 1419 to 1882 during the times of special religious revival: "Among the Camisards and the prophets of the Cevennes in France, among the early Quakers and Methodists, the Readers (the followers of Lasare) in Sweden in 1841 to 1843, in the Irish revivals of 1859, and especially in the 'Catholic Apostolic Church;' commonly called Irvingites, from 1831 to 1833, and even others say, this saint was honoured with the gift of tongues." Schaff also tells us that Francis Xavier, who died in 1552, "is said to have made himself understood by the Hindus without knowing their language." Xavier was a truly converted man, and a most remarkable missionary. The Catholic Encyclopaedia confirms that Xavier had a remarkable exercise of the gift of tongues.

Souer, in his German "History of the Christian Church," tells us in his third volume page 406, that Martin Luther experienced the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit, he writes:- Dr. Martin Luther was a prophet, evangelist, speaker in tongues and interpreter, in one person, endowed with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit."

Cannon A. A. Boddy, when writing of the revivals among the Huguenots, A.D. 1685-1714, states:- "When Louis XIV of France in 1685 revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had given religious liberty, he strove by dragonnades to drive Protestants into the Roman Catholic Church. The Huguenots were led by John Cavalier, a farmer, into inaccessible mountains. Among the persecuted people were those who spoke in tongues. There are records both by enemies and by friends as to their prophetic gifts. Prophets came from the Cevennes to Holland, and on to Germany. At that time, among professors and students, there was great receptivity to God's power. In 1714 they brought the gift of tongues and prophecy to Wetter, near Frankfurt-on-Main. Their leaders were an ejected Wurtemburg pastor, named Gruber, and a Brother Rock, a saddler. They and their 'gifted' followers were called 'the inspired ones of the Wetterau.'"

In his diary, Thomas Walsh, one of John Wesley's most spiritual and capable preachers, writes of March 8th. 1750:- "This morning the Lord gave me a language that I knew not of, raising my soul to him in a wonderful manner."

The Encyclopaedia Britannica, also tells of the manifestation of the gift of tongues, "amongst the Jensenists and early Quakers, the converts of Wesley and Whitfield, the persecuted Protestants of the Cevennes, and the Irvingites."

John Wesley and Dr. Middleton. Dr. Middleton wrote: "After the apostolic time, there is not, in all history, one instance either well attested, or even so much as mentioned, of any particular person who had ever exercised that gift (tongues), or pretended to exercise it in any age or country whatsoever....This gift has never once been heard of, or pretended to by the Romanists themselves." John Wesley proved that this statement was not true: he wrote: "But has it been 'pretended to' (whether justly or not) by no others, though not by the Romanists? Has it never once been heard of since that time? Sir, your memory fails you again. It has undoubtedly been 'pretended to' and that at no great distance either our time or country. It has been 'heard of' more than once, no farther off than the valleys of Dauphiny. Nor is it yet 50 years ago, since the Protestant inhabitants of those valleys so loudly 'pretended' to this and other miraculous powers, as to give much disturbance to Paris itself, and how did the king of France confute that pretence, and prevent it being heard anymore? Not by the pen of his scholars, but by (a truly Heathen way) the swords and bayonets of his dragoons....He who worketh as He will, may (with your good leave) give the gift of tongues, where he gives no other: and may see abundant reasons so to do, whether you and I see them or not."

W. C. Braithwaite, in "The message and Mission of Quakerism," page 17, quotes from "Burrough's Preface to Great Mystery," we read:- "While waiting upon the Lord in silence, as often we did for many hours together, we received often the pouring down of the Spirit upon us, and our hearts were glad and our tongues loosed and our mouths opened, and we spake with new tongues as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us, which was poured down upon us, on sons and daughters, and the glory of the Father was revealed, and then began we to sing praises to the Lord God Almighty and to the Lamb forever."

John Welch, one of Scotland's most saintly and spiritual ministers, experienced the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit to a remarkable degree. He was a man of prayer and would often spend hours in the night in intercession for Scotland. It appears that even the dead are raised in answer to his prayers. We will now quote some experiences that John Welch enjoyed, these show that he experienced great manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

"As the duty wherein John Welch abounded and excelled most was prayer, so his greatest attainments fell that way. He used to say that he wondered how a Christian could lie in bed all night, and not rise to pray; and many times he rose, and many times he watched. One night he rose and went into the next room, where he stayed so long at secret prayer, that his wife, fearing he might catch cold, was constrained to rise and follow him, and, as she hardened, she heard him speak as by interrupted sentences, 'Lord, wilt Thou not grant me Scotland?' and, after a pause, 'Enough Lord enough.' She asked him afterwards what he meant by saying, Enough Lord enough.' He showed himself dissatisfied with her curiosity; but told her that he had been wrestling with the Lord for Scotland, and found there was a sad time at hand, but that the Lord would be gracious to a remnant. This was about the time when bishops first overspread the land and corrupted the Church."

Here is another instance of this dear man of God experiencing the gifts of the Spirit.

"An honest minister, who was a parishioner of his for many a day, said that one night as Welch watched in his garden very late, and some friends were waiting upon him in his house, and wearying because of his long stay, one of them chanced to open a window toward the place where he walked, and saw clearly a strange light surround him, and heard him speak strange words about his spiritual joy."

And yet another instance of the manifestation of words of wisdom and knowledge.

"But though John Welch, on account of his holiness abilities, and success, had acquired among his subdued people a very great respect, yet was he never in such admiration as after the great plague which raged in Scotland in this time. One cause was this: The magistrates of Ayr, for as much as this town alone was free, and the country around infected, thought fit to guard the ports with sentinels and watchmen. One day two travelling merchants, each with a pack of cloth upon a horse, came to the town desiring entrance, that they might sell their goods, producing a pass from the magistrates of the town from whence they came, which was at that time sound and free. Notwithstanding all this, the sentinels stopped them until the magistrates were called, and when they came they would do nothing without their ministers advice; so John Welch was called, and his opinion asked. He demurred, and putting off his hat, with his eyes towards heaven for a pretty space, though he uttered no audible words, yet he continued in a praying posture, and after a little space told the magistrates that they would do well to discharge these travellers from the town, affirming, with great asseveration, that the plague was in these packs. So the magistrates commanded them to be gone, and they went to Cumnock, a town twenty miles distant, and there sold their goods, which kindled such an infection in that place, that the living were hardly able to bury their dead."

In 1855 there was a great Pentecostal revival in Russia, which carried over into Armenia about 25 years later.

The story of the deliverance of the Pentecostal Christians in Armenia by the gifts of the Spirit is certainly remarkable and well worth mentioning here. In 1855 in Kara Kala in Armenia, a young 11 year old Russian boy received a series of prophetic visions. For a whole week he neither slept nor ate but under the inspiration of the Spirit produced some intricate diagrams and maps with written text, some of this writing was very beautiful, some of it scrawled. However, non of it could be expected to be produced by an eleven year old uneducated boy. The theme of it was that the Turks would turn upon the Christians, but that those who went to a land across the ocean (America), would be preserved and blessed. The manifestations were so obviously miraculous that even when the years went by and nothing that he had said happened, he was respected as a prophet.

About 25 years after these prophecies a Pentecostal outpouring took place around Kara Kala and a small group of Pentecostals, derived mainly from the American Presbyterians, gathered together in Pentecostal worship with the prophet among them. Among this group was the well- known Shakarian family. However, Demos, the head of the family had not accepted the Pentecostal experience as coming from God even though he attended the meeting. When the Russian Pentecostals heard of this group they came to have fellowship with these Armenian Pentecostals. The custom was to provide the best steer from the herd for such an important occasion. When the news came one year that the Russian covered wagons were coming, Demos went to kill the fattest steer. He found that it had been blemished with the loss of an eye, but rather than give what he felt was something inferior, he killed it and hid the head in a sack under the wheat in his barn.

Just before the blessing on the family and their provision by the Russian elder, the prophet left the room to return a short while later with the sack with the steers head in it. He opened it and told how just before the blessing the Lord had spoken to him. Demos confessed and was freely forgiven by all, for they realised that he wanted to give them the best. Demos was now convinced that the manifestations of the Spirit were of God, and all determined to give God what He required, not what they personally felt should be given.

In 1900 the prophet began to warn again that the prophecies that he had given 45 years before were about to be fulfilled. The Russian and Armenian Pentecostal groups began their exodus to America, and in 1912, the last families had gone, this was just two years before the total destruction of the village by the Turks. One day in 1906 in Los Angeles, the newly arrived head of the Shakarian family, his brother-in-law and another Armenian friend were amazed to find in an old building in Azuza Street a Pentecostal gathering with Christians speaking in tongues and enjoying the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. All over the world, Christians who had been earnestly seeking God began to experience the baptism in the Spirit with speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of that experience.

The Rev. Michael Baxter and Mrs. Baxter. are well known as the founders of the "Christian Herald." a paper which was published to teach the subject of prophecy, and comment on the signs of the times. Mrs. Baxter, told at an international conference held in England in 1885, how God had enabled her to preach for 35 minutes in German, a language which she was almost completely unfamiliar with, she told that she was well understood and that one soul was converted, she stated:- "After that He led me into a shop I could not make myself understood, nor could I understand the people."

Mrs Baxter's attitude to the subject of spiritual gifts is recorded in the "Christian Herald" of May 12th., 1910. "We can never be judges as to whether any of the gifts of the blessed Spirit can or cannot be dispersed with His working. There are some who think and say that the Holy Spirit's working in the way of physical healing, or in the gift of tongues, is not needed in our day; and that His working in wisdom and knowledge alone is necessary. Let God be the judge: He hath set the members everyone in the body as it hath pleased Him, and it is the workman who must judge what tools his work requires; the Head must judge with what member He can carry out His purposes."

The Rev. R. Boyd D.D., in his book "Trials and Triumphs of Faith," tells how his intimate friend, D.L. Moody, experienced the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit in his meetings He writes on page 402 of his book:-

"When I (a Y.M.C.A. member) got to the rooms of the Y.M.C.A. (Victoria Hall, London) I found the meeting 'on fire.' The young men were speaking with tongues, prophesying. What on earth did it mean? Only the Moody had been addressing them that afternoon! What manner of man is this? thought I, but still I did not give him my hand.... Many of the clergy were so opposed to the movement that they turned their backs upon our poor, innocent Y.M.C.A. for the part we took in the work; but afterwards when the flood-gates of divine grace were opened, Sunderland, (near London), was taken by storm. I cannot describe Moody's great meeting: I can only say that the people of Sunderland warmly supported the movement, in spite of their local spiritual advisers."

Dr. F. B. Meyer, visited Estonia during his lifetime, and he wrote to the "London Christian," and told of the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit that he saw among some simple peasant Baptist congregations in one of the Baltic provinces of Russia, he wrote:-

"It is very remarkable, at a time when the Lutheran Church of this land has lost its evangelistic fervour, and is inclined to substitute forms and rites for the living power of Christ, that God raised up a devoted nobleman, Baron Uxhall, to preach the Gospel in all its simplicity, and is renewing among the peasantry those marvellous manifestations which attended the first preaching of the Gospel when God bore witness to the message of salvation with signs and wonders and gifts of the Holy Ghost. To have come across a movement like this is intensely interesting. The gift of tongues is heard quite often in the meetings, Especially in the villages, but also in the towns. Here at Revel, the pastor of the Baptist Church tells me that they often break out at his meetings. They are most often uttered by young women, less frequently by men. When they are interpreted they are found to mean, 'Jesus is coming soon; Jesus is near. Be ready; be not idle.' When they are heard, unbelievers who may be in the audience are greatly awed. A gentleman who was present on one occasion was deeply impressed by the fact that those who spoke were quite ordinary people until they were uplifted as it were by a trance and then they spoke with such fluency and refinement."

Charles G. Finney. Finney refused to accept orthodox doctrine that was illogical and unscriptural, his Barrister-at-Law training was applied to his study of the Scriptures with blessed results. He was not only an intellectual giant, he was a spiritual giant too, his "Systematic Theology" and his "lectures on Revival" are still having a profound influence on those who read them. The following account of how he received his baptism in the Holy Spirit is taken from his autobiography.

"As I went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face...it seemed to me a reality, He stood before me, and I fell down at His feet and poured out my soul to Him...I returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I had made of large wood was nearly burned out. But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense wings. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; AND I DO NOT KNOW BUT I SHOULD SAY, I LITERALLY BELLOWED OUT THE UNUTTERABLE GUSHINGS OF MY HEART. (This was beyond doubt speaking in tongues.) These waves came over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, "I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me.' I said, Lord I cannot bear any more;' yet I had no fear of death....

When I awoke in the morning the sun had risen, and was pouring a clear light into my room. Words cannot express the impression that this sunlight made upon me. Instantly the baptism that I had received the night before, returned upon me in the same manner. I arose upon my knees in the bed and wept aloud with joy, and remained for some time too much overwhelmed with the baptism of the Spirit to do anything but pour out my soul to God."

Finney's experience has been the experience of an untold number of Christians who are alive today. The baptism and gifts of the Spirit are today enjoyed by millions of Christians inside and outside of the Pentecostal denominations. This proves that we are approaching the end of this dispensation, we are in the last days of the last days. God is preparing His Church for the coming of Christ and the period of great tribulation that will precede that coming. Have you a reserve of Pentecostal oil to see you through those dark days? Are you determined to meet your Saviour with a life glowing with the glory of God, and shining with the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Father is open to you, claim the inheritance that the death of Christ has bought for you. Acts.2v17-21. Mt.25v1-13. Mk.13v9-13. Lk.21v33-36. 1Jn.2v28. Lk.24v49. with Acts.2v38,39.

Moody said in one of his last sermons in Boston: "I believe Pentecost was but a specimen day. I think the Church has made this woeful mistake that Pentecost was a miracle that is not to be repeated. I believe now if we looked on Pentecost as a specimen day and began to pray, we should have the old Pentecostal fire here in Boston."

Conclusion.

Christian, do you want a Pentecostal experience? The Saviour waits to baptise you in the Spirit, and to give you His precious gifts. Wait upon the Lord, and delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.

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