Azusa Street

[Mr.Bride]

An excerpt from the book Azusa Street by Frank Bartleman.

Beginnings
The New Testament Church seemed to be drifting toward intellectualism. I became much burdened for it. During one meeting-it was so painful after what we had seen-I groaned aloud in prayer. One of the elders rebuked me severely for this. "How are the mighty fallen" (2 Samuel 1:19) kept ringing in my ears. A few of the most spiritual had the same burden with me. After this incident, prayer again seemed to prevail in a measure. We had a great meeting in the church one Sunday night, and one hundred knelt at the altar.

I met with the Peniel boys in Pasadena for prayer, and we had a breaking through time. We felt the Lord would soon work mightly. At Brother Brownley's tent at Seventh and Spring Streets, Los Angeles, we had a deep spirit of prayer and powerful altar services. There was a feeling that God was about to do something extraordinary. The spirit of prayer came more and more heavily upon us.

In Pasadena, before moving to Los Angeles, I would lie on my bed in the daytime and roll and groan under the burden. At night I could scarcely sleep for the spirit of prayer. I fasted much, not caring for food while burdened. At one time I was in soul travail for nearly twenty-four hours without intermission. It nearly used me up. Prayer literally consumed me. Sometimes I would groan all night in my sleep.

Prayer was not formal in those days. It was God -breathed. It came upon us and overwhelmed us. We did not work it up. We were gripped with real travail of soul by the Spirit that could no more be shaken off than could the birth pangs of a woman in travail, without doing absolute violence to the Spirit of God. It was real intercession by the Holy Spirit.

For several days I had an impression another letter was coming from Evan Roberts. It soon came and read as follows:

Loughor, Wales, November 14, 1905
My dear comrade: What can I say that will encourage you in this terrible fight? I find it is a most awful one. Praise God, the kingdom of the Evil One is being besieged on every side. Oh, the millions of prayers-not simply the form of prayer-but the soul finding its way right to the White Throne! People in Wales have prayed during the last year. May the Lord bless you with a might downpouring. In Wales it seems as if the Holy One rests upon the congregation, awaiting the opening of the hearts of the followers of Christ. We had a mighty downpouring of the Holy Spirit last Saturday night. This was preceded by the correcting of the people's views of true worship. 1. To give to God, not to receive. 2. To please God, not to please ourselves. Therefore, looking to God and forgetting the Enemy, and also the dear of men, we prayed and the Spirit descended. I pray God to hear your prayer, to keep you faith strong, an to save California. I remain, your brother in the fight.
~Evan Roberts

This was the third letter I had received from Wales, from Evan Roberts, and I feel their prayers had much to do with our final victory in California.

Evan Roberts tells us of his own experience with God:

One Friday night last spring, while praying by my bedside before retiring, I was taken up to a great expanse, without time or space. It was communion with God. Before this I had had a far-off God. I was frightened that night, but never since. So great was my shivering that I rocked the bed, and my brother, being awakened, took hold of me, thinking I was ill.

Evan Roberts experienced this every night for three months, from 1 A.M. until 5 A.M. He wrote a message to the world about this time, as follows:

The revival in South Wales is not of men, but of God. He has come very close to us. There is no question of creed or of dogma in this movement. We are teaching no sectarian doctrine, only the wonder and beauty of Christ's love. I have been asked concerning my methods. I have none. I never prepare what I shall speak, but leave that to Him, I am not the source of this revival, but only one agent among what is growing to be a multitude. I wish no personal following, but only the world for Christ.

I believe that the world is upon the threshold of a great religious revival, and I pray daily that I may be allowed to help bring this about. Wonderful things have happened in Wales in a few weeks, but these are only a beginning. The world will be swept by His Spirit as by a rushing, mighty wind. Many who are now silent Christians will lead the movement. They will see a great light and will reflect this light to thousands now in darkness. Thousands will do more than we have accomplished, as God gives the power.

To be cont.....

 

[Mr.Bride]

Continued from pg.32 of Azusa Street by Frank Bartleman

What beautiful humility! This is the secret of all power. An English eyewitness of the revival in Wales wrote,

Such real travail of soul for the unsaved I have never before witnessed. I have seen young Evan Roberts convulsed with grief and calling on his audience to pray. "Don't sing," he would exclaim; "it's too terrible to sing."

Conviction has often been lifted from the people by too much singing.

Another writer declared,

It was not the eloquence of Evan Roberts that broke men down, but his tears. He would break down, crying bitterly for God to bend them, in agony of prayer, the tears coursing down his cheeks, his whole frame writhing. Strong men would break down and cry like children. Women would shriek. A sound of weeping and wailing would fill the air. Evan Roberts, in the intensity of his agony, would fall in the pulpit, while many in the crowd often fainted.

Of the later work in India we read,

The girls in India were wonderfully wrought upon and baptized with the Spirit (in Ramabai Mission), under conviction of their need. Great light was given to them. When delivered, they jumped for joy for hours without fatigue; in fact, they were stronger for it. They cried out with the burning that came into and upon them. Some fell as they saw a great light pass before them, while the fire of God burned the members of the body of sin-pride, anger, love of the world , selfishness, uncles ness, and so on. They neither ate nor slept until the victory was won. Then the joy was so great that for two or three days after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit they did not care for food.

About twenty girls went into a trance at one time and became unconscious of this world for hours; some for three or four days. During that time they sang, prayed, clapped their hands, rolled about, or sat still. When they became conscious, they told of seeing a throne in heaven, a white-robed throng, and a glory so bright they could not bear it. Soon the whole place was aflame. School had to be suspended, they forgot to eat or sleep, and while nights and days were absorbed in prayer. The Spirit was poured out upon one of the seeking girls in the night. Her companion sleeping next to her awoke, and seeing fire envelop her, ran across the dormitory and brought a pail of water to dash upon her. In less than an hour, nearly all the girls in the compound were weeping, praying, and confessing their sins. Many of these girls were invested with a strange, beautiful, and supernatural fire.

The spontaneous composition of hymns was a curious feature of some of the meetings in other parts of India. At Kara Camp, pictures appeared on the walls to a company of small girls in prayer, supernaturally depicting the life of Christ. The figures moved in the pictures and were in color. Each view would last from two to ten minutes, and then the light would gradually fade away, to reappear in a few moment with a new scene. These appeared for twelve hours and were seen not only by the native children of the orphanage and eight missionaries, but also by native Christians living nearby. Even heathens came to see the wonderful sight. These pictures were all faithfully depicting the Bible narration and were entirely supernatural. They had a tremendous effect in breaking up the hard hearts of the heathen. In Wales, colored lights were often seen, like balls of fire, during the revival there.

I kept going day and night to different missions, exhorting believers continually to prayer and faith for the revival. One night at the New Testament Church, during a deep spirit of prayer on the congregation, the Lord came suddenly so near that we could feel His presence as though He were closing in on us around the edges of the meeting. Two-thirds of the people sprang to their feet in alarm, and some ran hurriedly out of the meeting, even leaving their hats behind them, almost scared out of their senses. There was no out-of-the-ordinary demonstration in the natural to cause this fright. It was a supernatural manifestation of His nearness. What would such do if they saw the Lord?