The Need for a Larger Space
There was no keeping the crowds away, and because of the loud prayers that disturbed the neighbors and the increasing number of people cramped into small quarters, there became an urgent need to find a larger building at a different location. Seymour’s friends quickly located a vacant, two-story, whitewashed, wooden frame building at 312 Azusa Street. And on April 14, 1906, they had their first meeting in a building that had been a Methodist church and then had been sold and remodeled, the top half as apartments. When they acquired the building, the top floor was being used for storage and the bottom floor was used as a horse stable. They were offered the building for $8.00 a month
Life-Changing Encounters at Azusa Street
In one of the issues of The Apostolic Faith newspaper, a man attending the Azusa Street meetings proclaimed, “I would have rather lived six months at that time than fifty years of ordinary life. I have stopped more than once within two blocks of the place and prayed for strength before I dared go on. The presence of the Lord was so real.” Many of the newly baptized in the Holy Spirit would feel a call to the mission field. Consequently, men and women were departing for Scandinavia, China, India, Egypt, Ireland, and various other nations. Even Sister Julia Hutchin, who initially locked Seymour out of her mission, came to Azusa, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and left for Africa.
Seymour’s Humble Leadership and Devotion
At this time, everyone loved Seymour. When the Spirit moved, he was known to keep his head inside the top box-crate in front of him, bowed in prayer. He never asked for a salary, so he was continually trusting God for his finances. Frank Bartleman, a Holiness preacher from Pennsylvania, attended the meetings on Bonnie Brae Street. And when they moved to 312 Azusa Street, he was there with them enjoying the warmth of Pentecostal fires. Bartleman, who was there at the beginning of the revival, best described those early days also in his book, Azusa Street:
Continuous Meetings and God’s Transforming Power
“Brother Seymour generally sat behind two empty 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. The services ran almost continuously. Seeking souls could be found under the power almost any hour of the day or night. The place was never closed nor empty. The people came to meet God—He was always there. Hence a continuous meeting. The meeting did not depend on the human leader. God’s presence became more and more wonderful. In that old building, with its low rafters and bare floors, God broke strong men and women to pieces, and put them together again for His glory. It was a tremendous overhauling process. Pride and self-assertion, self-importance, and self-esteem could not survive there. The religious ego preached its own funeral sermon quickly.”
Testimonies of God’s Presence
John G. Lake visited the Azusa Street meetings and in his book, Adventures with God, wrote these words about Seymour: “But I want to tell you, there were doctors, lawyers, and professors listening to the marvelous things coming from his lips. It was not what he said in words, it was what he said from his spirit to my heart that showed me he had more of God in his life than any man I had ever met up to that time. It was God in Him that attracted the people. One of the most remarkable features of the meetings was the ‘heavenly choir.’ A few, or as many as 20, would sing in their unknown tongue. There was no human orchestration. It was all under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Truly, heaven had come to earth.”
William Seymour: A Humble Vessel of God
William Seymour was not a theologian with a compelling presence of commanding speech. He was a humble, one-eyed black man with light beard and a face scarred by smallpox who came from Houston, Texas, with the Pentecostal message burning in his heart.
Date: 1st November 2022
Title: William J. Seymour- part 2
Source: The Azusa Street Revival
Author: Roberts Lairdon
Tale Tuesday 015
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