Sound from Heaven

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven . . . and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Act 2: 2-4

"The baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire means to be flooded with the love of God and power for service, and a love for the truth as it is in God’s word. So when we receive it we have the same signs to follow as the disciples received on the day of Pentecost. For the Holy Spirit gives us a sound mind, faith, love and power (2 Tim. 1:7). This is the standard Jesus gave to the church.

The greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit abiding in the believer is what Jesus Christ promised He would do. Jesus promised He would teach us all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said so He means what He says. (John 14:17-26; John 16:7-15). So when He comes He does that in the believer, for He does it for me..."

"Bishop Seymour began ministry with a prayer group that had been meeting regularly at the home of Richard and Ruth Asbery, on North Bonnie Brae. Asbery was also employed as a janitor. Most of the worshippers were African-American, with occasional visits from whites. As the group sought God for revival, their hunger intensified.    

Finally, on April 9, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. When the news of his baptism was shared with the true believers at Bonnie Brae, a powerful outpouring followed. Many received the Holy Spirit baptism as Pentecostal revival arrived on the West Coast. That evening would be hard to describe. People fell to the floor as if unconscious, others shouted and ran through the house. One neighbor, Jennie Evans Moore played the piano, something she did not have the ability to do before..."    

“Brother Seymour generally sat behind two empty shoe boxes, one on top of the other. He usually kept his head inside the top one during the meeting, in prayer. There was no pride there…. In that old building, with its low rafters and bare floors, God took strong men and women to pieces, and put them together again, for His glory…. The religious ego preached its own funeral sermon quickly.”

“In a short time God began to manifest His power and soon the building could not contain the people. Proud, well-dressed preachers come in to 'investigate.' Soon their high looks are replaced with wonder, then conviction comes, and very often you will find them in a short time wallowing on the dirty floor, asking God to forgive them and make them as little children...”

~ "In 1906, William J. Seymour, an African-American Holiness pastor blind in one eye, went to Los Angeles to candidate for a pastoral job. But after he preached, he was locked out of the second service! He began prayer meetings in a nearby home and the Spirit of God, which they called "the second blessing," fell after many months of concerted prayer. Eventually, the interracial crowds became so large they acquired a dilapidated Methodist church at 312 Azusa Street where daily meetings continued for three years. The resulting Pentecostal Movement and the later Charismatic Movement, which both exploded worldwide in the twentieth century both trace their roots to this revival." -- Wikipedia

"Dear loved ones, God’s promises are true. We read in Exodus 12:3, God commanded Moses to take a lamb for a house and a house for a lamb when He was about to bring the children out of Egypt. Bless His holy Name, amen! They were to kill the lamb and take its blood and sprinkle it over the door overhead and the sides to save them from the destroyer. But in the very house they were instructed to eat the body. The blood saved them from the destroyer, but the body of the lamb saved them from disease and sickness. Glory to His Name! May we obey God’s word and voice and we shall be saved through Jesus from sins and feast on His perfect body. Jesus is founder of His church, the Christian church, by His own precious blood. Hallelujah! So, Jesus is the Christian Passover. When the Jews eat the Passover they remember God bringing them out of Egypt and point to His coming. So we eat the Christian Passover and remember Calvary, how Jesus died and saved us.."

"The Pentecostal power, when you sum it all up, is just more of God’s love. If it does not bring more love, it is simply a counterfeit." ~ Brother Seymour