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TRADEMARKS OF THE HOLINESS PIONEERS
By Rev. Morris Chalfant
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Digital Edition 10/07/94
By Holiness Data Ministry
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CONTENTS
1
Defining the Holiness Movement
2
Definite Trademarks of the Holiness Movement
3
Dangers to the Tracemarks of the Holiness Movement
4
Quotations From "Trademarks of the Holiness Pioneers"
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1
DEFINING THE HOLINESS MOVEMENT
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore
that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy
Spirit (I Thess. 4:7-8).
During the fifty-year period from 1850 to 1900, America, and to some extent
England, witnessed a revival of religion which followed the pattern of the
"holiness revival" meeting. It was known as the holiness movement. It cannot be
traced to one geographical location, one religious leader, nor to one
denomination. It was more spontaneous than it was planned, published, or
promoted, but it influenced the entire church world. Almost everyone, including
church leaders, participated in it or opposed its progress.
Near the close of the nineteenth century various individuals and groups felt the
necessity of organized holiness churches. Their first reason was for more
frequent meetings. The "holiness revivals" by and large were at first conducted
in large tents or tabernacles during "camp meeting" times. These meetings were
limited to certain seasons of the year, and as the people felt the need of more
frequent meetings, they began services in the cities, towns, and in rural
schoolhouses.
Another reason for organized holiness churches was to escape the active
opposition or the frigid indifference to the experience and testimony of
churchmen within the various denominations. Lastly, many felt that through
organized holiness churches the good which had been accomplished throughout the
holiness movement could be be conserved.
Several methods were followed in organizing holiness churches. Several large
groups remained within their respective denominations. They endeavored to keep
the local churches true to the teachings and life of holiness as advocated by
the leaders of the holiness movement. Others organized independent holiness
churches and remained as such until today or until they disbanded. Many formed
associations, of which the National Association for the Promotion of Holiness
was the most important. Still others organized independent churches and then
joined with other independent churches to form a denominational-type
organization.
There are four generally recognized stages or periods in the history of the
modern holiness movement, the movement since 1867. They are:
1. Period of undenominational movements, 1867-93
2. Period of sect formation, 1894-1907
3. Period of consolidation, 1907-25
4. Period of recognition as denominations since 1926
The pioneers of the modern holiness denominations were characterized by some
distinctive "trade-marks." The primary function of a trade-mark is to indicate
an origin. Trade-marks also serve to guarantee the quality of the goods bearing
the mark and through advertising serve to create and maintain a demand for the
product. Only as the holiness movement maintains its trade-mark will it create
and maintain a reason for its existence.
Here let us mention some of the trade-marks of the early pioneers of the modern
holiness movement:
1. As to doctrine: The insistence upon the great fundamentals of faith. But also
a latitude for the exercise of individual opinion upon nonessentials
2. As to experience: An insistence upon definite experiences of justification
and entire sanctification.
3. As to conduct: It was required that the membership be separate from the world
in dress, amusements, and associations; that they attend the means of grace, as
the public preaching of the Word and the prayer meeting; that they keep Sunday
as a holy day unto the Lord.
4. Evangelism was central. The fire burned in the hearts of the preachers and
laymen alike. The gospel must be told. The preachers proclaimed the rugged
gospel without many frills. Powerful conviction attended.
The encouraging results already attained by the various holiness denominations
should inspire them with firmer faith in God and in the means employed for the
promotion of the work. But the holiness denominations cannot live on past
history. "The mill will never grind with the water that has passed." To maintain
the Bible standard of religion, "to seek the salvation of all classes and to
spread scriptural holiness at home and abroad" must ever be the first mission of
the holiness denominations.
Carl L Howland in his book, The Story of the Free Methodist Church, said: "The
many conversions and careful organizations made Methodism in England and America
numerically powerful and influential. Many leading citizens were counted in the
membership. The reproach of the Cross, which had been so great in former days,
passed away. It was honorable to be a Methodist.
"Fine churches were planned. These were costly. People of means must be in the
membership to pay for such buildings. The enforcement of discipline upon those
who were necessary to meet financial obligations proved difficult. The second
and third generation Methodist had come into the church because the families
were thus associated. They had no convictions as their fathers."
With a heart that is burdened and concerned I ask all second- and
third-generation members of holiness denominations. Is not this our problem in
too many instances today?
The pioneers of the modern holiness movement were heroes of whom the world was
not worthy. It would be too bad if we, with such spiritual ancestry, should
prove weaklings. It is too bad, after these paid so much to preserve the faith
passed to them, we should count too great the small sacrifices which we are
called upon to make for its further preservation, propagation, and transfer to
posterity. Those in the holiness ranks who feel they cannot afford to follow
these men will do well to remember the unidentified proverb, "A religion that
costs nothing is good for nothing."
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2
DEFINITE TRADEMARKS OF THE HOLINESS MOVEMENT
A People of Demonstration
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus; and great grace was upon them all (Acts 4: 33).
"The world is sick and tired of dead ecclesiasticism. What it wants is something
that has anointing of the Holy Ghost on it, something that has fire that burns,
and something that can save a poor old lost sinner. The day we lose a sense of
spiritual liberty in our services, we can write Ichabod across the doors of the
holiness movement" (E. O. Chalfant, 1938).
A Methodist historian tells of hearing Bishop George preach to the Conference at
Gardiner, Maine, in the year 1825. He says:
When the hour of service came, and he stood up in all his manly proportions,
before an audience collected from all the villages along the Kennebec and from
far off into the interior, and held a four days' meeting it continued night and
day without intermission. For three nights I did not sleep. He preached on
Monday morning, and while he was preaching, the power of God rested upon the
congregation and about the middle of his sermon it came down on him in such a
manner that he sank down into my arms where I was sitting behind him just back
of the pulpit. His silence focused every eye toward us. I instantly raised him
up to his feet, and the congregation said his face beamed with glory. He shouted
out the praise of God and it appeared like an electric shock in the
congregation. Many fell to the floor like men slain in the field of battle.
Hundreds were saved and family after family saw their children come to know the
saving grace of Jesus in real personal experiences of new birth.
At Chicago, Illinois, Church of the Nazarene, September 9, 1905, Dr. Bresee
said:
The Nazarenes in Chicago love God with an ardor and intensity that is
indescribable. They give expression to this burning love in varied ways. They
smile and laugh and weep, and clap and wave their hands, and sing and shout.
They say, "Amen," "Glory," "Hallelujah," "Bless God," "Praise the Lord," and
other things which have ample scriptural warrant and sanction. Sometimes when
they cannot help it, they leap for joy, and walk up and down the aisles or
platform. Sunday morning, one sister, who is usually very quiet and
undemonstrative, walked swiftly up and down the platform, clapping her hands and
praising God. Her face was so radiant with holy joy that my own heart was
instantly filled with glory, and my eyes suffused with tears. Her husband told
me afterward that she had been sick and had besought the Saviour to heal her, so
that she might take part in the services and victories of the day. The Lord
answered her prayer and gave strength to her body, and raptures to her soul. Oh,
glory!
They love one another with a warm, tender, and sincere affection, and do not
permit differences of opinions to estrange them. All their meetings are
sociable, and Sunday is a real camp meeting. Many scores of people come to the
church in time for Sunday school, at 9:00 a.m., and stay until 10:00 o'clock at
night. They bring their food with them, and eat two meals in the church. Most of
them bring enough to entertain one or two others. Between services, they have a
real picnic to the glory of God. All are happy, and their conversation is in
heaven, and not of a worldly character. Now and then, even at these times, a
soul is brought to the altar, and saved and sanctified.
In the last half of the twentieth century the question being asked is, Just
where does the holiness movement stand on this matter of demonstration in the
Spirit? Note that we say "in the Spirit," for surely none of us would condone
that which is out of the Spirit. Have we become so cautious that we hurriedly
quench the Spirit himself? If so, have we lost also the burden for souls, the
passion for revivals? The apparent lack of any outpouring upon many holiness
gatherings is in itself a warning which we boldly state must not go unheeded.
There was a remarkable spirit of freedom that characterized the holiness
movement at the turn of the twentieth century. Oftentimes the saints were
carried above earthly things by a spirit of ecstasy which seemed to be of divine
origin. We cannot be honest and say that none of this was out of the Spirit.
Frankly, we feel that there may have been times when some people went beyond
bounds of reason. But this was infrequent and not serious enough to hinder the
progress of the work. Perhaps the few exceptions were in a way beneficial, for
the saints were led to examine their motives and purposes. Thus they would
safeguard this remarkable spirit of freedom which was theirs since leaving the
large churches. The spirit of freedom has been a distinguishing trade-mark of
the holiness movement from the first Pentecost in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.
It has been the moving of the Spirit in holiness gatherings that made them truly
different from cold and formal ritualism. Holiness people have often been
accused of being too emotional and noisy, but the fact remains that the entire
human race is equipped with an inherent capacity for experiencing and expressing
emotions. Take note of the feelings that are so openly evidenced at sports
events, political rallies, entertainments, etc. If such mundane things as
touchdowns or a candidate can bring forth pandemonium or excitement from normal
people, what is to be expected in life's greatest experiences when men and women
come into the searching and stimulating presence of God?
Meetings that are all explanation without demonstration become barren. If we, as
holiness people merely recite our theories and explain what took place in the
past, no one gets excited and very few are attracted. Any in our ranks who
oppose demonstration in the Spirit because it will intrude upon the nice order
of their services are traitors to the pioneer spirit. If the Holy Ghost has
charge of a service, we need not be afraid of disorder. We must have
instruction, inspiration, and demonstration in the Spirit. This has always been
the New Testament pattern of evangelism.
Are there those in our ranks satisfied with substitutes? Would they substitute
formality for spirituality? Perhaps too, some don't want a shout, don't want an
amen, don't want demonstration in the Spirit, don't want a divine healing
service. They must remember that all the time the rank and file of the holiness
people are starving to death for something where they can feel the power of God
fall. The need is for Spirit-filled laymen and ministers in the holiness ranks
to rise up who want to go forward. They must be men who refuse to be stampeded
into sham revivals. But they must be men who refuse to be herded back into
formalism, from which we, as well as our fathers, joyfully escaped.
In the Lord's warning to the church at Sardis, He says, "I have not found thy
works perfect before God." His exhortation to them is, "Be watchful, and
strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die." He doesn't tell them
to abandon their organization but to receive divine life in that organization.
Pentecost produces variety, but variety doesn't produce Pentecost. What we need
desperately is the life of God in our services.
The planning of true Pentecostal worship reminds one of a radio program. We know
when it will be on the air. We know that there will be a regular procedure. But
we also know the station has the right to suddenly interrupt that program at any
time to bring a special news bulletin. Likewise in true Pentecostal worship. We
may know when the service begins and may proceed with a systematic plan, but
suddenly, spontaneously, the Holy Spirit can interrupt our plans to bring us a
special communique fresh from the throne. These times of refreshing have been
one of the trade marks of the holiness movement.
A People of Prayer
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled
together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word
of God with Boldness (Acts 4:31).
In a revival conducted by Dr. Bresee at the turn of the twentieth century, he
said:
"Let us begin this meeting at the altar," and immediately the people gathered
for earnest prayer. After a somewhat prolonged season of prayer, when the house
had become filled with worshipers, he said "There has been much questioning in
reference to this great doctrine of entire sanctification as a second work of
grace. I am going to prove it, and I will do so this morning in such a way and
so fully that it never can be questioned by any of these people any more. I will
not prove it as a theory, or as a doctrine, but as a fact--a fact and experience
known in consciousness, the most clear and satisfactory method of knowledge. I
now ask the men and women who know this in their consciousness, to testify in
reference to this matter."
About half a dozen of the leading members of the church arose one after another
and deliberately testified to the fact of their conversions, their clear
experience of the pardon of their sins, and the manifest grace of God unto them.
They also witnessed to their subsequent realization of the need of a further
work of grace in their hearts; how they sought and obtain the cleansing of their
hearts from all sin, and the fullness of the indwelling Spirit of God. These
testimonies were not only very clear and definite, but were given under great
unction. After about half an hour spent in this way Dr. Bresee said: "I have
proved by these witnesses the fact of the experience of entire sanctification as
a second work of grace. The testimony of these witnesses would hang any man in
Los Angeles, and they have clearly testified that they know by this best method
of knowledge, their own consciousness, that this is a fact. If there is anybody
here who doubts their testimony or doubts the fact that they have witnessed, I
want him to say so, for I will prove it this morning so that no one present can
ever question it again. Now, if there are any here who doubt in reference to
this matter of the second work of grace in a human soul, let them stand up and I
will prove it to them so that they will never doubt it again." No one arose, and
he then said: "You accept it, then, as a truth. You believe these witnesses, and
you believe that men and women are sanctified as a second definite work of
grace." Then he said: "You had better seek it."
At this point the pastor of the church sprang to his feet in the pulpit, and was
followed to the altar by a large number of members. The revival broke out with
such depth and power that the meeting had to be continued a week longer than had
been planned.
Rev. John Hatfield was a famous, rugged, holiness Methodist preacher who spent
more than fifty years in the ministry around the turn of the present century.
Hatfield was known as a man of prayer, one who literally devoted himself to the
service of God, and who built his life daily upon prayer.
Mr. Hatfield relates how one time when he got off a train and was going into the
depot he felt strangely urged to pray for protection. He asked God to be with
him. As he left the depot he started to go around the building in one direction
when a voice said, "Go around the depot the other way."
Now John was a man who had learned to obey these promptings of the divine voice,
and immediately he changed direction, not knowing or questioning the reason why.
The next day he picked up a paper and, reading it, saw the story of a man who
had been hit on the head by a bandit as he walked around the depot on the very
side where the voice had warned the minister not to go.
Many second-and third-generation people in the holiness ranks are asking, What
was the secret of the pioneers? Their outstanding characteristic above all
others was that they were a people who prayed. On phrase found in their
literature was "a burden for souls." Indeed, they prayed for that burden as if
it were a great gift. They pleaded for anxious hearts. Their very carelessness
made them careful! Sometimes they crept to the public altars or to their private
sanctuaries and prayed that God would lay that burden upon them. They sought
their own Gethsemanes. They appealed to God to give them the willingness to
climb up their own little Calvaries. Sometimes they filled the night seasons
with the longing cries for that holier interest in wayward and needy men.
Believing that Christ was the great necessity for every man, they rebuked
themselves because they exalted the tiny interests and did not promote the one
true interest of the souls. Thus did they call it a "burden," and thus did they
regard the "burden" as a thing to be sought.
They seemed to have a desperate urge to get men and women converted and
sanctified. They had a passion for souls. Many times we have observed,
especially in revival services, someone become entirely unconscious to
everything about him and experience what was then called "travail for souls."
Those periods of soul travail were usually effective, too, as many were the
slain of the Lord. Raw sinners were brought to realize the need of God.
The expressions "on praying grounds" and "on pleading terms with God" were also
used by our fathers to indicate that they had met the conditions for communion
with God so that they were assured that He would hear and answer their prayers.
These expressions are heard too infrequently today. May it not indicate the lost
art of living "on praying ground" and "on pleading term with God."
It is not uncommon to be asked: "What do you mean by 'praying through'?" Perhaps
many who think they know what it means cannot properly explain it. One pours out
his soul in penitence, beseeching God to pardon his sins. He arises with beaming
face and say that he has "prayed through." Subsequently that same person may
again pour out his soul, asking for a pure heart. He again rises with serenity
and joyfully declare that he "prayed through" and obtained a clean heart. This
same person may later ask sympathetic friends to join him in prayer that some
especially perplexing problem or some troublesome and depressing matter might be
cleared or removed. The Lord hears their prayer and they rise to testify that
the perplexity is gone and the load is lifted. They "prayed through" about it.
To "pray through," then, is to lay one's need, or burden, or concern before the
Lord; to pray until the load lifts, the pressure is removed, the darkness is
dispelled, and the uncertainty is replaced with assurance. Confusion then gives
way to peace and quiet, and one feels in his heart that all is well and that the
answer to the prayer is on its way.
The pioneers of the holiness movement insisted on a family altar. When their
families came together in church it was like "adding power to power," with the
result that there was a mighty spirit of revival prevailing. Souls were saved,
the saints were blessed and edified, backsliders were restored, and whole
communities were shaken and brought under the convicting power of the Holy
Spirit. There were remarkable answers to prayer. People were healed in their
meetings. Incurable diseases were healed; broken limbs were straightened; blind
eyes were opened; tuberculosis, typhoid fever, pneumonia all manner of diseases
were healed. It didn't get into the papers, but the holiness folk were not
dismayed. They went on their way praising God for the miracles and His goodness.
As long as the church continues to pray, it will never fail. Revivals are born
in an atmosphere of prayer. Compromise, worldliness, and modernism will never
make inroads on the church as long as she stays on her knees in fervent prayer.
How is your prayer life? Do you pray things to pass? Do your comrades know you
as a man of prayer? Remove not that ancient landmark!
T. M. Anderson, one of the pioneer leaders and evangelists of the holiness
movement, said: "Unless the preachers and people in the holiness movement take
time to pray and give less time to programs and plans the movement will soon be
in woeful want of spiritual power to withstand the evils of the modern age. The
Almighty God revealed in His beloved Son is our Refuge and Strength. We must
prevail in prayer in these last days or utterly perish. Our hope and our help
come from God, who has promised to answer the agonizing prayers of His people."
A People of One Book
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away (Mark 13:31).
For ever, O Lord. thy word is settled in heaven (Ps. 119:89).
General Superintendent Dr. Hardy C. Powers, speaking at the Golden Anniversary
celebration of the Church of the Nazarene, October 13, 1958, said:
They [the holiness pioneers] were Bible Christians in the highest sense of that
term. They loved God's Word. They studied the Scriptures. They carried their
Bibles.
They read it persistently, eagerly, prayerfully, and as they read its sacred
pages they heard holy men of God speak "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
To them, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
When they found their lives below the standard of God's Word, they tampered not
with its plain teachings, but rather sought the grace it promised. Thus, instead
of seeking to bring the Scriptures down to the level of men's lives, they sought
always to bring men's lives up to the level of the Scriptures. To them the final
arbiter in all matters of faith and practice was, "What saith the Lord?"
The pioneers of the holiness movement believed in the authority of the
Scriptures; by the Scriptures they meant the writings of the Old and New
Testaments. As one of them has said, "The difference between the Testaments is
the difference between the letter E and the letter U. The Old Testament enfolds,
shuts in; the New Testament unfolds, makes plain the Old."
By the authority of the Scriptures the holiness movement has always meant the
God-established and God-commanded imperatives for human life found therein.
Three things have always characterized the attitude the holiness movement toward
the authority of the Scriptures.
1. The Bible is the Word of God.
2. God is ultimate Authority.
3. Divine authority is inherent in the Bible.
Of one thing we are certain--our holiness pioneers knew the Bible. It would be
tragic if we merely knew about the Bible. They not only knew the Bible; they
believed it and preached it. Shame on us if our faith in the Bible is weaker or
if we use it less.
We live in a day when Bibles are carried but not only committed to heart; are
displayed in church, but used too sparingly in sermons. In a day of Bible
ignorance we of the holiness movement need to check the dead drift away from the
Scriptures.
Growing out of the widespread ignorance of the Scriptures, there is a general
indifference to their authority; and as a result people lack adequate motivation
in their religious life, and are unable to defend themselves in the hour of
temptation. Our only sure weapon of defense is the one Christ used in His
temptation--"the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
The devil is afraid of the sharp edge of this Sword I have often wondered what
Christ would have done in His wilderness temptation if He had not been able to
say, "It is written," and then to quote what was written.
It would be the devil's delight if in the holiness ranks there were those who
questioned the authority of the Bible--the whole Bible. If such a tendency
exists we should remind ourselves that our holiness forebears insisted that it
was sin in the life which resulted in doubts regarding the Bible.
Sin began when the reality and the authority the Word of God was first
challenged. That challenge is found in Gen. 3:1. It appears in the first
question found in the Bible: "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree
of the garden?" By indirection, through creating doubt, the serpent attacked the
reality and authority of what God said. This method of attack has worked so well
ever since that the devil has never been under the necessity of revising it.
The modern holiness movement in our day has no place for apologetic attitude
toward the Word of God. The Bible is the one Authority we have on God, and
Christ, and the Holy Ghost. All we know of the Godhead is found in the
Scriptures. The Scriptures are the authority on sin, redemption, repentance,
salvation, prayer, stewardship, heaven, and hell. In these days we are in danger
of saying too little about sin and hell. And, yet the Bible is full of
references to them. In the Old Testament the word sin appears 486 times, and in
the New Testament 202 times. Thus 688 times the blessed Book warns us about sin.
In Gen. 4: 7 God warns Cain "If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." In
Jer. 7:1 we read, "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the
point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart." God says that
sin is the transgression of the law and that its wages are death.
How can we give the Holy Ghost His chance to exercise His function, which is to
"convict . . . of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," unless we preach
on sin and hell?
If we soft-pedal sin we deny the Holy Ghost His chance; and the man who
soft-pedals sin must soft-pedal redemption, and he who does that robs the Lord
of His Calvary glory. The way the worldlings talk about hell you would think God
had put out the fire and the devil has had it air-conditioned, and they have
installed pop boxes full of ice-cold drinks down there. But, my friend, it is
the same hell Jesus preached about when He said that it would be better to lose
your eye, hand, and foot than to have all these members and die and go to hell,
where the fire is never quenched and the worm dieth not.
Holiness people in all ages have accepted the authority of the Scriptures. God's
living Word has been and still is the all-sufficient Word. If you are lost, He
alone can save you. If you need pardon, He alone can forgive you. If you need
cleansing, His blood can cleanse you from sin. If you are sick, He is the Great
Physician. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed" (Isa. 53: 5) .
Is it true that every sickness may be laid at Jesus' feet? All my trouble, care,
and sorrow, and I rest in joy complete? Yes, my brother, every sadness, if by
faith to Him you pray, He'll remove with tender mercy, for He's just the same
today.
If you need grace, He says, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (II Cor. 12: 9) .
If your soul is thirsty, He says, "If any man thirst let him come unto me, and
drink" (John 7:37).
If your soul is hungry, He says, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35).
If you are naked, He will clothe you with the "robe of righteousness" and cover
you with the "garments of salvation" (Isa. 61:10).
If you are dissatisfied, He "satisfieth the longing soul" (Ps. 107: 9).
If you are in need of a friend, He is a Friend "that sticketh closer than a
brother" (Prov. 18:24).
If you need a guide, He will guide you "even unto death (Ps. 48:14), and after
death receive you into glory (Ps. 73:24).
If you need life, Christ says, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John
11:25).
If you need rest, He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).
If you need light, He says, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).
If you need wisdom, in Him "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"
(Col. 2:3).
Thus does Christ, the living Word, present himself as the Center and Fullness of
all things in this life and the life to come. He is completely the embodiment of
all that is found in the God of power, blessedness, immortality, love, and
wisdom. There is no deficiency in the restoration and salvation of man. Christ
is "all, and in all."
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, tho' all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!
A People of Revivals
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And
the people with one accord gave heed unto these things which Philip spake,
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did (Acts 8: 5-6).
When asked how he kept a constant revival, Dr. Bresee said: "We keep a red-hot
center of fire and work the edges."
A revival was held in Indiana at the turn of the twentieth century by E. O.
Chalfant. He says about it "One night during a revival in central Indiana, a
young girl who was praying at the altar suddenly became rigid and fell over on
the carpet in front of the altar. Some folk feared that she was dead, but I knew
she was in trance, and I advised them to leave her alone. A few hours later she
came out of her stupor and announce that she had been to hell. She had
previously told the crowd at the altar that she had promised the Lord that she
would give up everything. However, she was holding on to something. She had a
half bushel of yellowbacked Nick Carter dime novels. She said that when she lied
about them she was punished. She continue, 'I told the Lord that if He would
bring me back from perdition I would quit lying and burn those books."'
Such incidents used to be heard in old-fashioned revivals.
A revival was held in Texas at the turn of the twentieth century. At this
noonday camp in eastern Texas in the year 1898, while Rev. Bud Robinson was in
charge, a young man fell into a trance on Monday and lay in this condition for
forty-eight hours. He was seen by hundreds of people and examined by many
physicians while in this unconscious state. He stuttered until he could scarcely
be understood before this, but when he came out of the trance, he preached to
the great crowds that thronged him for more than an hour, without stuttering one
time. He told of his visit to both heaven and hell while in this condition. He
told of meeting many people who had long ago died in the neighborhood; some he
meet in heaven, others in hell. He told of a noted holiness-fightening preacher
who had recently died in that country and whom he knew well, how he was in the
most awful flames in hell begging for help. He pleaded with this young man to
warn his friends not to fight holiness.
At a camp meeting at Dalby Springs, Texas, under the leadership of Rev. C. B.
Jernigan, some things occurred out of the ordinary. The power of God came in a
marvelous way on a Sunday night service that will never be forgotten by those
present. It had been a day of special prayer and fasting. At the grove meeting
there was great victory and several were saved, both at the men's service and at
the service held for the women. Without taking time for supper, they all with
one accord came just before sundown to the gospel tent for night service. Such
shouting and singing as filled the air was refreshing. The testimony service ran
a long time with great power and glory. When time for preaching had arrived, the
tent was overflowing, and hundreds of people had to stand outside the tent.
The preacher of the evening read a scripture lesson on "The Great Day of
Judgment," and called for prayer. Such a prayer as fell from the lips of Sister
Jernigan was surely God-breathed. You could hear sobs all over the congregation.
When the prayers ended, Cornelius Spell, the song leader, was standing on the
long altar bench singing, "When the books are opened by the Saviour's hand." The
silence that prevailed was awful. At the close of the song the preacher
announced his text, "The judgment was set, and the books were opened." Then he
stood looking into the congregation in absolute silence for several minutes.
Words were gone. He could think of nothing to say. You could have heard a pin
drop during that time; the silence became painful, but still no one moved. In
that great congregation of ten thousand people some stood and some sat in
perfect silence. Not a hand moved; not a sound was heard. All of a sudden a
women who had been professing holiness shrieked and fell from her chair into the
straw, declaring that she was not ready for the judgment, and in just a few
minutes people fell into the altar without a song, sermon, or a call, until
there were no more room at the altar, and scores knelt at their seats praying at
the very top of their voices. The scene beggars all description. Praying and
shouting continued till far into the morning, and there were fifty-seven who
testified to being saved in that one service.
A revival handbill in early days in Texas carried the following:
AN AWFUL CYCLONE 3,120 STRUCK BY LIGHTNING A CITY TERRIBLY SHAKEN A MAGNIFICENT
CHURCH RUINED PEOPLE SCREAMING IN THE STREETS LIKE DRUNKEN MEN
This cyclone struck Jerusalem A. D. 33: The exact date was the day of Pentecost.
Struck by lightning: one hundred and twenty sanctified--three thousand
converted. Thunder: now when this was noised abroad. The church ruined: Jewish
formality completely destroyed. Drunken men in the street: others mocking said
these men are full of new wine. Peter answered, "These men are not drunken, as
ye suppose."
For further description, read second chapter of the Acts and attend the holiness
meeting now in progress at the Presbyterian Church.
Revival Essentials
1. Humbling ourselves.
2. Intercessory prayers.
3. Faithful preaching.
4. Home visitation.
5. Good advertising.
6. Real altar services.
7. Souls really saved and sanctified.
8. Great spiritual uplift.
9. Getting people into the church.
10. Glorifying our God.
What Will Happen In An Old-Fashioned Revival?
1. God will be manifested.
2. Sin will uncovered and confessed.
3. Genuine conviction will be manifested.
4. Sinner will be saved and believers sanctified.
5. Numerical increased in church membership.
6. Tithing will be practiced.
7. Old-fashioned shouting.
8. People will dress like Christians.
9. Christ will be honored in the homes.
10. Consistent Christian living.
A People of Sacrifice and Convictions
"We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed,
but I am bound to live to the light I have. I must stand with anybody that
stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he is
wrong."--Abraham Lincoln.
A pledge card used in early days of the holiness movement to raise finances:
S. O. S. !!! IS THE CALL FROM REV. L. G. MILBY PASTOR OF THE NAZARENE CHURCH
We are in a hole! Not as Collins in sand cave when millions of people
sympathized with him and sent him thousands of dollars. Our feet are not tied,
but in the hole. Our voices cannot be heard. The good work we do cannot be seen.
Our breathing is bad. Unless you answer this call we may die.
Is it becoming to the city for one of the leading congregations of the city to
worship in a hole?
Does your conscience feel easy to let us be buried alive?
Are we not your brother? Are we not your friend?
Are we not worthy of your support? If we could get out ourselves we would, but
we cannot.
Will you help us now?
Remember, you may be in the hole someday and will need our help. Please sign on
the other side.
Our fathers were noted for their positive and definite convictions which were
found upon the word of God. Things they believed unbecoming to Christians they
would rather suffer martyrdom than indulge.
The holiness movement is a product of much heroic sacrifice. The godly men and
women who laid the foundation for this movement were true pioneers. They were
impelled by a positive conviction that holiness was a gospel essential and
counted no sacrifice too great in order to bring this doctrine to the attention
of the people. They were deprived of the necessities of life, ostracized by
their former friends, persecuted by their enemies, despised by the people whom
they came to evangelize. As a result of their sacrifice many have gone to
untimely graves, others have become invalids, while others with more rugged
bodies have been able to continue on in the good warfare. Nothing could stop
them in their efforts to "spread holiness over these lands." Such heroism
commands our appreciation and demands that we follow in the steps of these who
have given us the holiness movement.
Our fathers were baptized with a heavenly flame. They lived in the fulfillment
of the promise uttered by that great Baptist: "...he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire." There was fire in their preaching. There was
fire in their praying. There was fire in their souls. There was a "magnificent
obsession" about these men. They believed in a real God who had given them a
real gospel to proclaim. They believed in experimential religion. Their meetings
were alive. The Spirit of God within them gave them boldness. They were men of
conviction.
They preached holiness. It was a fire burning within their very bones. To them
it was holiness or hell, as we heard them emphatically state over and over
again. Scarcely an opportunity was allowed to pass without getting in a good
stroke for that doctrine which was dear to their hearts. "Holiness unto the
Lord" seemed to be their watchword and song. There was no mistaking as to their
meaning to this matter. They preached it until all understood clearly the
meaning of their message. Much persecution came because of their definite stand
for a holy heart and life. They were happy to bear the reproach, which as far as
we can discover has always gone along with full-salvation preaching. Satan
doesn't like holiness. Back there they did not generalize, so that the hearers
were made to wonder just what they were driving at. Our people, both young and
old, understood that to make heaven meant to be saved, sanctified, and walking
in the light that was given. Perhaps it would be well to ask ourselves the
question, particularly our ministry, "Are we preaching holiness so that our
people clearly understand that holiness is the main line to heaven?"
Their major purpose was to rediscover that apostolic power and blessing which
had been so long absent from the ranks of God's people. The message of the new
birth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine healing, and the second coming of
Christ were so emphasized that these truths were made to live again as in the
days of the Early Church.
Prayer became a divine obsession, a desire to see sinners saved became a
passion, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a holy flame, and the hope of the
soon return of Jesus became real in the heart of every Christian. All of these
things gave purpose for holy living. These pioneers had no place or time for the
things of the world. The hardships and privations incurred in living this kind
of life were incidental rather than important. The though of winning was more
important than the reward which we were to receive at the end of the race. The
thought of conquering in battle was more important than the spoils of war.
We find today in all quarters of the holiness movement a cry in many hearts, O
God, to see Thy glory, so as we have seen in the sanctuary! We are grateful to
have been brought out of our mission halls, and inadequate places of worship.
Much that was undesirable has disappeared. But are there not some things we
should do well to recapture? We are thankful for our new edifices with lovely
carpeted aisles and soft-cushioned seats. But are we more concerned with
building beautiful churches than strong Christian character? A new church may
bring people in, but it takes the warmeth of God's fire to keep them in.
The fire is the Holy Spirit. He is the burning, cleansing Flame which consumes
the dross until we can say with Paul, "Not I, but Christ liveth in me."
This Fire will consume with a love for God and for the lost, so that we will
pray, go, and give with such love that the Church of Jesus Christ will be united
in spirit, an invincible force in the world.
John Wesley is quoted as having said to his ministers, "I do not fear the day
may come when there will be no Methodist Church. But I do fear lest the time
come when the Holy Spirit is not present in power."
A minister of that same denomination was pleading for the church to return to
its pristine power. In substance he remarked, "There was a time when we as a
denomination had the ear of the people. Today the denomination that emphasizes
the message of holiness has it. But unless they take heed and keep on the old
paths, they will find themselves going down the same road that we as a
denomination started to travel fifty years ago."
The Early Church had strong convictions as to who they were and their place in
the world. Peter said, "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and
heard." (Acts 4:20). He said, "We have a message, a destiny." Peter and John and
the other disciples were crusaders for a cause. "We cannot keep still," they
said.
Down through the years, men of God have had such deep-rooted convictions that
they staked their lives upon them. We must have some convictions about getting
this truth out to all the world. The Early Church knew what they believed. They
knew where they were going. The pioneers of the holiness movement knew what they
wanted to do and to accomplish.
We must have some convictions, and we must get excited over our convictions.
Have you ever read the Book of Acts straight through and thrilled at the
enthusiasm and drive of that small group of disciples? Their enthusiasm was
contagious, and they grew by leaps and bounds.
We live in a world that is on fire, and there are too few Christians who want to
be awakened from their dreams. The lethargy, the sleeping sickness which grips
us is far more destructive than any forces which threaten the Church from
without.
My heart cry for the holiness movement in the middle of the twentieth century
is, "O, God, send the fire, the fire of the Holy Ghost." When He is come, the
supernatural becomes the natural, the unusual the usual, the expected is thrust
aside by the unexpected. His coming may not solve all our problems, but it will
solve the inner problems of deadness, lethargy, coldness, selfishness, and the
tendency to worldliness that has engulfed us in this mid-twentieth century.
* * * * * * *
3
DANGERS TO THE TRADEMARKS OF THE HOLINESS MOVEMENT
Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? (Ps. 85:6)
The outstanding method used by the holiness denominations for their promotion
has been revivals. Revival means awakening within the church. It means old
covenants restored, differences adjusted, forsaken altars repaired and used. It
means new zeal for God, more compassion for the lost, more love for the
brotherhood. Revival means a quickened life, a new interest, a sacrificial
spirit.
Evangelism is an expression of the revival. Evangelism, according to the
Encyclopedia Britannica, "stands for certain interpretations of Christianity
emphasizing the objective atonement of Christ, the necessity of the new birth or
conversion and salvation through faith."
The word evangelism is quite in vogue. It is a good word. Its meaning is more
inclusive, both in the New Testament and also in present-day promotional plans
of the New Testament Christianity, than the word revivals. Our revivals must be
evangelistic. Evangelism should be the watchword in the holiness movement, as it
now is and has been through its history, but we must have definite spiritual
revivals to keep us evangelistic.
Potpourri Evangelism
In places today there masks under the name of the Lord a potpourri evangelism.
The dictionary suggests, among other definitions, that potpourri means, "a mixed
pot with a bad odor."
Potpourri evangelism robs the gospel of its power and the cross of its reproach.
As one of the Puritans quaintly expressed it: "The face of error is highly
painted and powdered so as to render it attractive to the unwary." Satan as an
angel of light is more to be feared than Satan as a roaring lion. A patronizing
enemy is more dangerous than a persecuting enemy. Church history shows this to
be true. Persecution never did the Church any harm, but compromise with the
world has always robbed it of the power of its purity. Heroic Bishop Latimer,
dying at the stake, turned to saintly Ridley with these prophetic words, "We
shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England as I trust will
never be put out." And such proved to be the case.
General William Booth, with great prophetic insight, stated over fifty years
ago, "The chief danger of the twentieth century will be: (1) religion without
the Holy Ghost, (2) Christianity without Christ, (3) forgiveness without
repentance, (4) salvation without regeneration, and (5) heaven without hell."
What would this blessed man of God say to our day and generation regarding this
new danger? Many preachers have robbed the Cross of its stigma. They are failing
to demand a supernatural experience in the new birth. They have reduced the
message of the Cross to a meaningless evangel.
It cannot be denied that there is a religious revival in America today. It is
popular to be religious. It is fashionable to be a church member. Movie stars,
popular entertainers, disc jockeys, sportsman, mayors, and politicians all are
fluent in talking about religion. It is not uncommon for one of these
personalities to tell you to "go to church Sunday" and "read your Bible" and
"God is the only hope for America." A story with a religious slant will hit the
front page. A religious jazz song will be among the top ten tunes on the hit
parade. The religious book will rank among the best sellers.
The tragedy is that evangelical Christians have all too often so little
spiritual discernment. They seem to be thrilled and flattered when some ungodly
person who is an outstanding figure in the world condescends to say something
nice about the gospel. We have reached such a low state spiritually that we are
excited when a prominent personality professes conversion and speaks our
evangelical vocabulary--even through his life shows no evidence whatever of the
revolutionary change that can be wrought of the gospel of Christ.
Potpourri evangelism has polluted, poisoned, and weakened the holiness movement.
Vast numbers have passed through the mechanics of being saved and sanctified,
joined the church. They have a "form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof." The holiness movement was born in the flame of rugged evangelism. We
must overcome our potpourri evangelism or we will die. It is really a matter of
self-perservation. A church cannot stand still long and continue to be a church.
If we do not go forward, we will stagnate and disintegrate. The task of
evangelism is too great for man alone. God has said, "Not by might, nor by
power, but by my spirit." Too many times potpourri evangelism lacks motivation.
Our God has provided a supernatural source of energy and guidance to support and
motivate and permeate our revival efforts, which will carry them through and
make them successful. For this reason He said, "But tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem, until ye be enduded with power from on high."
In a general sense there is a dynamic of evangelism in personal Christian
experience. The thing that sends men out after others is the fact of the
experience they themselves have found. "We have found the Messiah," said Andrew
to Peter. "And he brought him to Jesus." The thing that has made the holiness
movement the power it has been in the world is the emphasis on a definite,
personal experience of God in the soul, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." One
has said, "You need not exhort a saved and sanctified man to go out after the
lost; he has already gone."
Power was the outstanding positive aspect of Pentecost. Jesus said the disciples
should receive power when the Holy Ghost had come upon them. At one time during
World War II it was said of the Allied armies that they were "strategically
competent but dynamically ineffective." Looking at the Church today, one might
be impressed in the same way. She has all the machinery and program necessary
but needs power to operate them. The Holy Spirit at Pentecost dispelled forever
the paralyzing sense of futility, sending the Church forth on an expedition of
conquest until, in spite of ecclesiastical and political opposition, the gospel
had been planted in all the great cities of the Roman Empire. Pentecost is the
infusion of divine energy into human personality, and bringing man once again
into his own, so that individually and collectively we may have the power of God
with us. This power coupled with faith and prayer and fasting is the great,
dynamic motivating power that will overcome our potpourri evangelism without
revivals.
Prayerlessness
God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you (I Sam.
12:23).
Dr. Oswald Smith said: "We adopt extensive advertising methods with which to
arrest the attention of the people and secure large crowds. Yet it is possible
to so pray that God Himself will move upon the Christless masses and bring them
in. I do not for a moment mean that I disapprove of advertising, for I do not.
The people must be informed. In simply saying that when we depend upon our
advertising to the extent that we consider prayer unnecessary, it is dishonoring
to God."
There isn't any question that in the middle of the twentieth century we are
tempted to turn from God-appointed means of intercessory prayer and adopt,
instead, merely natural agencies to carry on His work. Everywhere we look it is
the same, both in evangelism and in ordinary work of the Church. Satan would
have the Church cease prayer. And where prayer has become out-of-date, human
methods are adopted, and as a result there is a failure to bring to pass the
supernatural.
We may appear successful; the crowds may come; the altar may be full night after
night. Reported results may be broadcast everywhere. Whole cities may be stirred
and mightily moved, and yet when it is all over and two or three years have
passed, how little will be found to be genuine! And why? Simply because we have
satisfied ourselves with the superficial, spectacular work, brought to pass by
natural means. Consequently the supernatural has been largely lacking.
The greatest peril facing the holiness movement in the last half of the
twentieth century is prayerlessness. We have many problems but we are most
poverty-stricken here. In the place of prayer, we have many organizers, but few
agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers;
lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little
passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters.
Failing here we fail everywhere.
The Bible still says, "For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her
children." The implication is clear: When the people of God become burdened for
the souls of those about them and spend days and nights in intercession, Zion
will bring forth. We have plenty of educated, talented, socially active,
world-admired, and high-positioned professors of religion; but how many do we
have to weep, travail, and prevail for the lost? Remember this dry-eyed,
passionless, emotionless Christianity of our day will never save souls.
To be intercessors we must get beyond ourselves, our needs, and our problems and
get into the position spiritually where we can take upon us the burden for
others in a real soul travail, allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through us in
the will of God. Our prayers are not coming out of a broken and burdened heart
for lost souls. This is the reason they are lamentably weak and unreal.
It is a shocking to see that intercessory prayer is such a small part of the
holiness movement today. Why is it that we are not interceding? Why do we not
have old-fashioned family altars where the glory is prayed down upon our
children? Why is it so hard to get folk to have a prayer list? Why is it hard to
get folk out to prayer meetings these days?
Is this not the reason? We are not seeing the lost on the slippery hill,
goose-stepping on the road to hell. We do not see their next step may be hell's
fire, hell's devil, hell's angels, hell's moaning, hell's groaning, hell's
darkness, and hell's eternal death. We do not see how they dishonor God, pierce
the blessed Christ, grieve the Holy Spirit, and damn the rising generation. No,
we have lost the vision of what it means to be lost. We are not seeing souls
lost today.
The challenge says, "If any man see..." You might read it, "If any mother see
her daughter...," "If any father see his son...," "If any son see his
father...," etc. Here is our trouble: Our eyes are blinded by our worldliness
and by our earthly, low-level living. Unless we are deeply impressed in our own
minds of the need of man, we shall play at prayer. Is this not the reason we can
talk so much about evangelism and do little about it? Evangelism is more than a
method; it is a passion; methods are but channels for the more successful of
passion. When a soul burns with an evangelism passion, it finds a way to reach
the souls of the unsaved and unsanctified.
The question being asked by friends, foes, and critics of the modern holiness
movement is: Have we become so substandard to the New Testament Christianity
that we know not the historical faith of our fathers (with its implications and
operations), but only the hysterical faith of our fellows? Prayer is to the
modern holiness movement what capital is to the businessman.
Can any deny that in the modern church setup the main cause of anxiety is money?
Yet that which tries the modern churches the most is that which troubled the New
Testament Church the least. Our accent is on paying; theirs was on praying. When
we have paid, the place is taken; when they had prayed, the place was shaken. In
the matter of New Testament, Spirit-inspired, hell-shaking, world-breaking
prayer, never has so much been left by so many for so few to do. We do it--or
die as a holiness movement.
Oh, for a passionate passion for souls!
Oh, for a pity that yearns!
Oh, for a love that loves unto death!
Oh, for a fire that burns!
Oh, for a prayer power that prevails,
That pours itself out for the lost,
Victorious prayers in the Saviour's name!
Oh, for a Pentecost!
The Solution
We mutter and sputter;
We fume and we spurt;
We mumble and grumble;
Our feelings get hurt.
We can't understand things,
Our vision grows dim---
When all that we need
Is more time with Him.
Holiness Without Standards
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up
a standard against him (Isa. 59:19).
Rev. Haldor Lillenas, the best-known song writer of the holiness movement, said,
"Can we have on our pianos or organs all the late hit-parade songs? In our young
people's social gatherings can we sing the late popular tunes from tin-pan
alley? If we feed on such things we may be surprised to find that our spiritual
fervor is waning, our interest in the prayer meeting diminishing, and our
contact with God is nonexistent. Could it be that we need a revival of preaching
and teaching in this field? Surely the rules for membership as recorded in
church discipline and manuals were made for good reasons. Are we in danger of
drifting from the landmarks which our fathers have set?
Dr. Hugh C. Benner, general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, said:
"'Not of the world' involves the inner heart. To exemplify the attitudes of
Jesus becomes the deep concern and highest goal of the sanctified. That perfect
love may rule the personality becomes the consuming desire. There is a constant
vigilance against the worldly elements of pride, envy, self-will, legalism,
carnal self-assertion, and vindictive self-defense. 'Love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance'--these are the
normal fruitage of the sanctified life. But 'not of the world' also affects the
outward life. True Christian modesty, scriptural restraint in attire and
adornment, basic simplicity in living, and consistent courtesy characterize
those who are 'hid with Christ in God.' It is not enough to say, 'God looketh on
the heart,' and therefore appearance is no issue; for it is just as true that
'man looketh on the outward appearance.' 'Not of the world' is basic in
scriptural holiness. Thus 'not of the world' is fundamental in spiritual and
moral concept of the holiness movement. So it has been. So it is now. And by the
help of God, so it ever shall be. Amen."
Harold B. Walker's book, Power to Manage Yourself, tells of a mountain boy who
achieved quite a reputation as an expert marksman with a rifle. If you went into
the woods near his farm, you would find dozens of trees and posts marked in
chalk with a small ring, and squarely in the center of each ring a bullet hole.
One says someone asked this fellow the secret of his uncanny marksmanship. He
answered, "That's easy. I just shoot the hole and draw the ring around it."
There are thousands of people doing exactly that in the field of moral and
religion. Their lives are undisciplined. They do as they please and then search
frantically through their Bibles for some verse to misapply and twist until it
apparently justifies them in their questionable acts. It is amazing how many
people are apparently able to justify themselves in doing the very thing which
they used to condemn. Today they commit acts and hold attitudes which yesterday
they would have considered sin. What has happened? Has God changed His
standards? Are we more broad-minded, or have we lost our basic convictions?
Some who think they are not broad-minded have just experienced a thinning out of
their religion. Are we shooting a hole and then marking a circle around it? If
so, who is really being deceived in the process? Principles are changeless
standards. We violate them at great spiritual and moral cost. There is a great
damage done to the moral fiber of our soul whenever we compromise our sound,
basic spiritual convictions.
The only church that will meet the need of the world is the church that is
different from the world. There are those in all groups who say: "If we would
only soften the message and lower the standards, we could appeal to vast numbers
of people who are today alienated by our message and method." This is a false
reasoning. Whenever any church begins to adapt itself to the world, that church
soon becomes like the world, and the individual who adapts himself to the world
is soon absorbed by the world. The Church will win the world only as it remains
different from the world, set apart unto Christ. One has said, "We can measure
our spiritual decay and defeat by our success in our adaptation to the world."
One hears, and rightly so, about the holiness movement's standards. And these
standards have been one of the movement's distinctive features. But is it not
possible that more may be said about "our standards" than about "the standards?"
There are some honest differences of opinion about what constitutes authorized
"standards" and what they include. These few differences may vary with
geographic areas of the denomination and their views on the question at issue.
Some areas seem to interpret one thing or another as being more important there
than the thing or another as being more important there than the thing being
stressed in some other area of the church. Many deplore a lack of uniformity on
standards, but there is no real disagreement as to the standard for the
Christian life: our Lord Jesus Christ himself.
The pattern for a godly life is plain: "He that saith he abideth in him ought
himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (I John 2:6). Paul said: "Be ye
followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Cor. 11:1). Peter declares that
Jesus is our Example, or Writing Copy, whose steps (or pattern) we should follow
(I Pet. 2:21). More emphasis on Jesus' example, commands, and expectations of
us, as well as our responsibility to Him, with more stress on His authority as
"the standard," the One and only perfect One for us, would end much of the
contention and disputing over "our" standards in the holiness movement.
While the church should be and must be firm, unyielding, and uncompromising on
all gospel principles, there must be long-suffering, patience, and tenderness.
However, undue neglect of discipline and adulterous communion with the world
will surely ruin the holiness movement in the last half of the twentieth
century. All compromise and accommodation of truth is a mortal sin. Worldliness
cannot be defended or tolerated. The distinction which God ordained between the
Church and the world should be maintained. There is a work that needs to be done
in the Church. Judgment must begin at the house of God. God's Word must be
preached without fear or favor. Jesus said to His disciples: "Ye are clean
through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3). We must pile on fuel
by thought and faith, and desire and prayers, till the zeal of God's house shall
eat us up. This age requires a ministry thoroughly imbued with the light and
spirit of the Word. Only faithful Bible preaching and Bible living will do the
needed work. The ministry of the holiness movements must speak with authority
because we speak by authority. It must prune the vines, dig the roots, enrich,
spade deep, do thorough work, and trust God for the results.
Dr. J. B. Chapman said, "No church or movement that has ever diluted its
doctrines or modified its standards has ever prospered over a long period of
time."
Institutionalism at Home
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,... after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Col. 2:8).
While the evangelism of men and building them up in holiness is our first
commission and our first love, it also inheres in our commission to train those
who through our labors, are brought into this great salvation. Academies, Bible
schools, colleges, and seminaries at home and abroad are a necessity in the
holiness movement.
Educational institutions of the holiness movement from the very beginning have
been one of the greatest contributing factors to its phenomenal growth around
the world. It has been said that when a denomination loses its spiritual power
and vigor the loss begins in its higher institutions of learning. We must face
up to our problems. Not only must we keep our schools distinctively Christian;
we have a moral obligation to keep the denominational viewpoint as well. In
harmony with Christian democracy, the standards, practices, and beliefs of the
majority group should be given major emphasis--especially if that group is
responsible for both the origin and major financial support of the institution.
If the holiness movement is to retain its distinctive message and fulfill its
reasons for existence, it will be only if its institutions of higher learning
remain true to the great imperatives that have been their heritage across the
years.
Our holiness schools must impart knowledge and character. Emerson said, "The
true test of a civilization is not the census, nor the size of its cities, nor
the crops, but the kind of men that the country turns out." This is the true
test of our institutions at home and abroad. The true test of our institutions
is not the size of their enrollment, the number of subjects offered, the
scholastic attainments of its professors, the number of volumes in its
libraries, its financial endowment, its accreditation, the beauty of its campus,
but the kind of men and women it turns out.
Our holiness schools must uphold the standards, practices, theology, and
philosophy which gave them birth. History of church schools reminds us again and
again of the dangers of forgetting from whence they came, to what they owe their
existence, and for what purpose they were born. We want no false, blind
parroting of antiquated theories, but there must ever be an unquestioned loyalty
and strict adherence to the great truths and conscience of the church which
supports them. The holiness movement must be true to its great heritage. The
belief of the pioneers in education, their faith in the brethren, their
sacrifice, their wonderful Christian spirit, their dedication to the cause to
which they felt God had called them will ever inspire us onward and upward. We
must be true to the great men who have gone before.
The greatest responsibility resting upon the institutions of higher education of
the holiness movements is saving the faith of our young people as well as their
souls. Dr. P. F. Bresse said, "Most of our problem are not intellectual, but
moral." Dr. Chapman said, "In our beginning days we were too busy saving man's
soul to give much attention to saving man's faith. Charles H. Spurgeon said,
"Unsanctified wisdom is the devil's greatest tool." Theodore Roosevelt said,
"When you educate a man in mind but not in morals, you educate a menace to
society." Oswald Chambers said, "We must not measure our spiritual capacity by
education or by intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured by the
promises of God." Mrs. G. B. Williamson said, "Let us never take our colleges
for granted. A lot of people broke their hearts and laid down their lives to
give them to us. We must arise and prepare for our approaching generations of
students. We must plan for their future in our present as the founding fathers
did for us."
In his book The Place of Help, Oswald Chambers said: "In every civilized country
we are told if we will educate the people and give them better surrounding we
shall produce better characters. Such talk and such theories stir aspirations
but they do not work out in reality. The kingdom within must be adjusted first
before education can have its true use. To educate an unregenerate man is but to
increase the possibility of culture degradation. No one would wish to belittle
the lofty attainments of education and culture, but we must realize we have to
put them in their high, and mighty, second place. Their relationship in human
life is second, not first. The man whom God made is first, and the God who made
him in his only help. God seems to point this out all through his Book."
* * * * * * *
4
QUOTATIONS FROM "TRADEMARKS OF THE HOLINESS PIONEERS"
By Morris Chalphant
The following quotations are from the original book:
Quotation #1
In the providence of God, I was born in the parsonage of a pioneer holiness
preacher. For thirty years my father served as district superintendent of the
Chicago Central District of the Church of the Nazarene. This district for many
years included the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. I observed him under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit organize over two hundred churches, some of which
today are the largest in the holiness movement.
At the age of six I can clearly remember going with my father to halls, tents,
basements, old dance halls, garages, etc. It appeared to me that these places
were always on the wrong side of the tracks. Today many of these places of
worship which were organized then under those undesirable circumstances and
places are some of the leading holiness churches in the states of Illinois and
Wisconsin.
I must be honest and say that for years I was ashamed that my father was a
holiness preacher. The sermons he preached in revivals and organizational
meetings still ring in my ears: "Holiness or Hell," "Come Out from Among Them,
and Be Ye Separate," "Called unto Holiness, Not unto Uncleanness," "The Pure in
Heart Shall See God." His emphasis was always holiness accompanied with
standards which would produce a separation from the world inwardly and
outwardly.
I was privileged to travel year after year with the great leaders in the
holiness ranks as they toured Chicago Central District in the interest of home
missions and holiness. Uncle Bud Robinson was my bed partner on many of his
yearly tours. All the great leaders were guests in our home: H. C. Morrison, J.
G. Morrison H. F. Reynolds, R. T. Williams, J. B. Chapman, H. V. Miller, O. J.
Nease, and scores of the early missionaries, plus many others. Their messages
were always clear when it came to the great doctrine of holiness.
The years have passed; my father is now in glory. These early leaders of the
holiness movement have almost all gone to their eternal rewards, but their
lives, examples, and influences still speak from their graves. The early leaders
and pioneers of the holiness movement were characterized by some definite
"trade-marks." Their lives were different, their services were different, their
messages were different.
It is a known fact that the solidarity of any movement depends very largely upon
its traditions and, lest we forget, it is necessary for some in each generation
to commit the most precious of our traditions to writing. As a boy of fourteen I
was called to the ministry. In fact, I knew I was to be a preacher at my
earliest recollections. From my observations, from a district parsonage, after
having served as a missionary in South Africa for five years, having served the
past years in two downtown city holiness churches, I have felt impressed to send
forth this book, that the second and third generation of the holiness movement,
if Jesus tarries, may know the "trade-marks" or the things for which the
pioneers of the holiness movement lived and died.
Quotation #2
General William Booth, with great prophetic insight, stated over fifty years
ago, "The chief danger of the twentieth century will be: (1) religion without
the Holy Ghost, (2) Christianity without Christ, (3) forgiveness without
repentance, (4) salvation without regeneration, and (5) heaven without hell."
What would this blessed man of God say to our day and generation regarding this
new danger? Many preachers have robbed the Cross of its stigma. They are failing
to demand a supernatural experience in the new birth. They have reduced the
message of the Cross to a meaningless evangel.
Quotation #3
Harold B. Walker's book, Power to Manage Yourself, tells of a mountain boy who
achieved quite a reputation as an expert marksman with a rifle. If you went into
the woods near his farm, you would find dozens of trees and posts marked in
chalk with a small ring, and squarely in the center of each ring a bullet hole.
One says someone asked this fellow the secret of his uncanny marksmanship. He
answered, "That's easy. I just shoot the hole and then draw the ring around it."
There are thousands of people doing exactly that in the field of morals and
religion. Their lives are undisciplined. They do as they please and then search
frantically through their Bibles for some verses to misapply and twist until it
apparently justifies them in their questionable acts. It is amazing how many
persons are apparently able to justify themselves in doing the very things which
they used to condemn. Today they commit acts and hold attitudes which yesterday
they would have considered sin. What has happened? Has God changed His standards
? Are we more broad-minded, or have we lost our basic convictions? Some who
think they are not broadminded have just experienced a thinning out of their
religion. Are we shooting a hole and then marking a circle around it? If so, who
is really being deceived in the process? Principles are changeless standards. We
violate them at great spiritual and moral cost. There is a great damage done to
the moral fiber of our souls whenever we compromise our sound, basic spiritual
convictions.
Dr. J. B. Chapman said, "No church or movement that has ever diluted its
doctrines or modified its standards has ever prospered over a long period of
time."
Quotation #4
During a meal a young minister who was sitting next to the bishop was seen to
have used three spoonfuls of sugar in one cup of coffee. The bishop quietly
asked, "Do not three spoonfuls of sugar make your coffee too sweet?" Then came
the reply, "No, sir. Not unless you stir it." What a lesson for us! Why should
we "stir" our differences ? A world that is in the vortex of a twister of
despair and is being rushed hellward in midnight darkness cries for light, hope,
and help, which cannot come from a divided holiness movement. Ways must be found
of joining hands for a united front.
Quotation #5
At a camp meeting at Dalby Springs, Texas, under the leadership of Rev. C. B.
Jernigan, some things occurred out of the ordinary. The power of God came in a
marvelous way on a Sunday night service that will never be forgotten by those
present. It had been a day of special prayer and fasting. At the grove meetings
there was great victory and several were saved, both at the men's service and at
the service held for the women. Without taking time for supper, they all with
one accord came just before sundown to the gospel tent for night service. Such
shouting and singing as filled the air was refreshing. The testimony service ran
a long time with great power and glory. When time for preaching had arrived, the
tent was overflowing, and hundreds of people had to stand outside the tent.
The preacher of the evening read a scripture lesson on "The Great Day of
Judgment," and called for prayer. Such a prayer as fell from the lips of Sister
Jernigan was surely God-breathed. You could hear sobs all over the congregation.
When the prayer ended, Cornelius Spell, the song leader, was standing on the
long altar bench singing, "When the books are opened by the Saviour's hand." The
silence that prevailed was awful. At the close of the song the preacher
announced his text, "The judgment was set, and the books were opened." Then he
stood looking into the congregation in absolute silence for several minutes.
Words were gone. He could think of nothing to say. You could have heard a pin
drop during that time; the silence became painful, but still no one moved. In
that great congregation of two thousand people some stood and some sat in
perfect silence. Not a hand moved; not a sound was heard. All of a sudden a
woman who had been professing holiness shrieked and fell from her chair into the
straw, declaring that she was not ready for the judgment, and in just a few
minutes people fell into the altar without a song, sermon, or a call, until
there was no more room at the altar, and scores knelt at their seats praying at
the very top of their voices. The scene beggars all description. Praying and
shouting continued till far into the morning, and there were fifty-seven who
testified to being saved in that one service.
Quotation #6
Rev. John Hatfield was a famous, rugged, holiness, Methodist preacher who spent
more than fifty years in the ministry around the turn of the present century.
Hatfield was known as a man of prayer, one who literally devoted himself to the
service of God, and who built his life daily upon prayer.
Mr. Hatfield relates how one time when he got off a train and was going into the
depot he felt strangely urged to pray for protection. He asked God to be with
him. As he left the depot he started to go around the building in one direction
when a voice said, "Go around the depot the other way."
Now John was a man who had learned to obey these promptings of the divine voice,
and immediately he changed direction, not knowing or questioning the reason why.
The next day he picked up a paper and, reading it, saw the story of a man who
had been hit on the head by a bandit as he walked around the depot on the very
side where the voice had warned the minister not to go.
Quotation #7
It is said that the backed-up waters of the TVA were advancing to engulf the
one-room log cabin of a Tennessee mountaineer. The engineers built a nice stone
house on the hill and told the mountaineer it was his without cost. But the man
refused to leave his cabin, and the engineers discovered that his reluctance had
to do with the fire upon the hearth. "My grandfather built that fire years ago,"
the man explained, "and he never let it go out, for he had no matches and it was
a long trip to the nearest neighbor to borrow fire. When Grandpa died, my pa
tended it; and when he died, I tended it; and none of us ever let it go out. I'm
not going to move away and leave the fire which my father built."
The engineers brought a great kettle and gathered up the coals in the man's
fireplace, carried them up to the new house, and poured them out upon the
hearth, and kindled them up again. And the faithful mountaineer moved out of his
log cabin in the valley into the stone house on the hill, but he took along the
fire of his fathers.
We who call ourselves the holiness movement have moved into a new world that the
pioneers never knew. We have problems they never met, demanding methods they did
not use. We cannot duplicate their program, nor would it enable us to survive in
this complex age. But if we can move into our new environment and carry along
their spirit, their singleness of purpose in search of souls, their total denial
of personal comforts in their search, and their unending effort to build men up
in holiness--then the record of our achievements will be worthy of comparison
with theirs.
Quotation #8
A traveler going through a county in eastern Kentucky got lost. He stopped at a
crossroads and inquired of a boy where the road he was traveling would take him.
The boy recognized him as an obvious out-of-stater and made the following reply,
"Mister, you follow this black top for five miles and it will become a gravel
road. You follow that for three miles and it will become a dirt road. Follow
that two miles and you will come to the creek. Cross the creek and you will find
a cowpath. Follow the cowpath over the hill to a hickory tree. Climb the tree
and you will find a knothole. Mister, that's where this road takes you."
Quotation #9
Rev. Haldor Lillenas, the best-known song writer of the holiness movement, said,
"Can we have on our pianos or organs all the late hit-parade songs? In our young
people's social gatherings can we sing the late popular tunes from tin-pan
alley? If we feed on such things we may be surprised to find that our spiritual
fervor is waning, our interest in the prayer meeting diminishing, and our
contact with God is nonexistent. Could it be that we need a revival of preaching
and teaching in this field? Surely the rules for member ship as recorded in
church disciplines and manuals were made for good reasons. Are we in danger of
drifting from the landmarks which our fathers have set?"
Quotation #10
When asked how he kept a constant revival, Dr. Bresee said: "We keep a red-hot
center of fire and work the edges."
A revival was held in Indiana at the turn of the twentieth century by E. O.
Chalfant. He says about it: "One night during a revival in central Indiana, a
young girl who was praying at the altar suddenly became rigid and fell over on
the carpet in front of the altar. Some folk feared that she was dead, but I knew
she was in a trance, and I advised them to leave her alone. A few hours later
she came out of her stupor and announced that she had been to hell. She had
previously told the crowd at the altar that she had promised the Lord that she
would give up everything. However, she was holding on to something. She had a
half bushel of yellow-backed Nick Carter dime novels. She said that when she
lied about them she was punished. She continued, 'I told the Lord that if He
would bring me back from perdition I would quit lying and bun those books.' "
Quotation #11
John Wesley is quoted as having said to his ministers, "I do not fear the day
may come when there will be no Methodist Church. But I do fear lest the time
should come when the Holy Spirit is not present in power."
Quotation #12
A revival was held in Texas at the turn of the twentieth century. At this
noonday camp in eastern Texas in the year 1898, while Rev. Bud Robinson was in
charge, a young man fell into a trance on Monday and lay in this condition for
forty-eight hours. He was seen by hundreds of people and examined by many
physicians while in this unconscious state. He stuttered until he could scarcely
be understood before this, but when he came out of the trance, he preached to
the great crowds that thronged him for more than an hour, without stuttering one
time. He told of his visit to both heaven and hell while in this condition. He
told of meeting many people who had long ago died in the neighborhood; some he
met in heaven, others in hell. He told of a noted holiness-fighting preacher who
had recently died in that country and whom he knew well, how he was in the most
awful flames in hell begging for help. He pleaded with this young man to warn
his friends not to fight holiness.
* * * * * * *
THE END