Lessons From Azusa Street – Part 3
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
As most of you are probably aware, we have been in the middle of a series of messages rediscovering and learning from the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that took place in Los Angeles, CA back in 1906. Now, this wasn’t the first great outpouring of God’s Spirit upon mankind – neither was it the first outpouring here in the Untied States. Never-the-less, it was significant and life-changing for many believers 100 years ago.
In fact, it was not only an empowering encounter for them, but also became a powerful catalyst in the life of the Church world wide. Our church is quite literally the fruit of this great move of God.
Now, before we talk about the final lessons from Azusa Street, let’s go back to the first great outpouring and gain our footing for addressing the wonder of the move of God!
The first outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place in Jerusalem in 33 AD. We find this account in the second chapter of the book of Acts. Here, Luke – a student of the Apostle Paul, is writing a documentary of the beginnings of the church…under the inspiration of the God’s Spirit.
Look at this with me.
Acts 2:1-21
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
13Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17" ’In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Tonight, I want to share with you the lessons that we can learn from Azusa Street Outpouring and Revival!
Four Lessons that we can learn from the Azusa Street Revival:
I want to pick up where we left off 2 weeks ago…and, I must tell you these thoughts are not original - but rahter are a compilation of thoughts I have received from some of the leadership within our great movements (the Assemblies of God):
1. The Necessity for Simplicity:
In today’s society we seem to elevate complexity. We honor things as being better if they are more complicated. If it takes a brain surgeon to understand something – then it must be better!
The problem with this thinking is that when it comes to the Gospel and the work of the Spirit of God in His Church, is that these elements are basic and simplistic at their core.
The Gospel and the message of the Church should be simple!
I know, there have been people who have said that the issue of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is way too complicated. And, in fact if we embrace this move of God – it will actually scare people away from the faith. But I do not believe that!
The Bible tells us a different story. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:22, “Tongues…are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers.”
One of the main reasons that the Holy Spirit was able to move during the Azusa Street revival was because of the simple faith of those who attended. And they were open to His move. They were not resistant.
And it wasn’t complicated…it was quite simple. Their prayer was – God, give us more of you!
Now, there are others who have accepted the idea that the H.S. does come with power and the sign of tongues…never the less, they have questioned the necessity for tongues to be an abiding element within the believers life.
But church, hear me tonight…this is one of those simple necessities of the believers’ life.
I think I shared with you one time that there was an errant teaching that went through the church many years ogo…and even continues in some places today that promotes the idea that “An empty wagon makes more noise than a full wagon!”
The idea, is that believers who are immature and young in their spiritual walk – may need to be a bit more demonstrative and vocal than the more mature believers. But this just isn’t true.
It was the mature followers of Christ who were seeking after the move and promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit who were in the upper room that morning when the H.S. fell upon them.
In fact, before Jesus ascended back into heaven, Mark’s gospel records in chapter 16:17…
17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." 19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Mark 16:17-19 (NIV)
If it wasn’t good for the believer to experience the simple move of God’s presence through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would not have launched the church with it!
But thankfully, Jesus endorsed this simple sign of His Spirit’s Baptism with the earliest New Testament Church – and I submit to you that it is the same today!
We would do much to learn from the simplicity of this early revival and the great outpouring of Azusa Street!
The second lesson that we can learn from Azusa Street is this…
2. We Must Be Willing To Be Responsive :
One of the distinctives of this great outpouring was that the people were open to the move of the Holy Spirit.
There was no hesitation to responding. They were willing to be embraced by God’s Spirit and were open to whatever move God decided to make.
When it comes to revival – or a spiritual move of God, we must guard our hearts in this area. We must have a longing to respond appropriately to the work of the Spirit of God.
Here is the issue I want you to understand. We love to sit and learn. As Americans, we quantify knowledge with value. So, when it comes to our faith…we want to be taught more and more. In fact, we would many times be completely satisfied with understanding…and be fine with the absence of the experience of God’s Spirit.
Jim Cymballa (Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church) wrote this in his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire –
“Christianity is not predominantly a teaching religion. We have been almost overrun these days by the cult of the speaker. The person who can stand up and expound correct doctrine is viewed as essential; without such a talent the church would not know what to do. The North American church has made the sermon the centerpiece of the meeting, rather than the throne of grace, where God acts in people’s lives.”
Do you understand what he is saying?
He is proclaiming the fact that God’s presence and move within us – and our response to Him is the more important distinctive of the Church.
In John 5:39-40 Jesus said this, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
Jesus was speaking to religious Rabbi’s of His day…they knew the Word of God – yet refused to embrace the move of God….the experience of God.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Mark Rutland (President of South Eastern University – where I attended), writes this:
The church, and its writings did not produce Pentecost; Pentecost produced the Church and all its doctrines. The doctrinal writings of the apostolic community did not bring down power from on high. Men full of the Holy Spirit and fire spent the rest of their lives trying to explain, articulate and invite others into the power they had found. They were not mere Pentecostal Apologists defending creedal positions out of a sense of duty to the prophet Joes. They were souls on fire whose doctrinal utterances on Spirit Baptism had never had the pure punch packed into their lives and their ministries.
To the apostles, the issue was not who and how many agreed with them on the pneumatology, but upon who and how many the Holy Spirit rained down like fire.
Doctrine is good. We are admonished to preach sound doctrine. But there are who denominations sinling like pathetic dinosaurs in the La Brea tar pits whose doctrines on paper are right – dead right. Destined to become nothing but fossils of former revivals, they go gently into that good night with their doctrines, but are not radically altered.
It is their experience that is wanting.
Experiential, not doctrinal Pentecost, is more the apostolic model. In Acts 19 at Ephesus, Paul didn’t ask, “Do you believe there is a Holy Spirit?” They could have answered that right enough. He asked, ”Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
That is where we must also be renewed. A believed-in Pentecost is good, but it was a received Pentecost that turned the world upside down!
Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying…I am not admonishing you to throw out the Word of God and be open to foolish non-biblical experiences of human design. But, I am saying that you must be willing to embrace the move of God and willing to be responsive to the Holy Spirit.
The third lesson that we can learn from Azusa Street is this…
3. We Must Desire God’s Presence:
James said, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” (James 4:8)
We must have a spiritual hunger. We must be willing to seek God. Jesus said that if we would position ourselves to receive…that we would. For those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled.
We must desire God’s presence! And often that is demonstrated by our willingness to linger in God’s presence. It takes an investment of time sometimes to receive from God.
Christians today are so time conscious…to the point that we would rather mind our watches than mind the moving of God’s presence.
Now, I know that time is a commodity…I know that it is the only resource that we have which cannot be replaced…
However, if we are worried about lunch or some show on TV or even our own personal agenda more than we are lingering in the presence of God…then we will never experience a genuine move of His Spirit.
Here is the thing – we want everything to be governed by time…yet the Spirit of God is not subject to the constraints of time. And I would add that nothing of any real value is ever accomplished without an investment of time! (A micro-wave mentality will not work with the things of God).
Think about you IRA, your relationships with your spouse or children, the beauty of your yard.
They all demand time if they are to grow! So it is with the Spirit of God in your midst!
The last lesson I want to mention is this...
4. There Is Always A Requirement of Risk:
We must be willing to risk!
The easiest way to ruin a Pentecostal move of God is for you or me to be too controlling. As your pastor, I must be willing to step aside and allow the Holy SPurut to move within our midst. It is far easy to actually program God right out or our service.
As people of the Spirit, we must allow the Spirit to Govern what happens when we come together. He desires to run our services. He desires to move in His way. And we must allow Him to do so.
Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20, 19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt.
When the Holy Spirit runs a service it becomes refreshing, renewing and powerful. And, He can accomplish so much more in just a simple move than we can do in a life time of labor.
Now here is the risk – moves of God are usually messy. They are often stretching. He rarely does things the way we would. Because His ways are higher than ours.
And when He moves within people, we can even make mistakes in our responses…creating other issues that must be addressed. But, if we are unwilling to embrace the risk – then we will never be able to embrace the move.
Let’s pray…
