THE NOBLE BEREAN: Volume Eight April 2006

“Azusa Street - 100 Years Later – A Sovereign Move of God or Man? ”

By Michael C. Gaudiosi - The Noble Berean

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SIGNS AND WONDERS… There is an event that is about to take place at the end of April 2006, and the way some see it, this will be another great move of God, even greater than what occurred originally in 1906, or better yet, even more greater than what occurred 2000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost. The upcoming Azusa Street Centennial in Los Angeles April 25^th-29^th will be an event that will capture the attention of the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches the world over. This event will feature some of the most noted Word of Faith leaders in Christianity today, some of which I will note in this newsletter. To the average believer, this sounds like another mighty move of the Lord is about to sweep through America, but to the discerning Berean, searching the scriptures, there is great cause for concern.

First, a little about Azusa Street. In 1906, a minister by the name of William Seymour came to Los Angeles, preaching about the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and leading prayer meetings with a small group of people. As this group continued to grow, Seymour had found an available building located at 312 Azusa Street, and started to conduct his services and prayer meetings from there, and from that point on, things started happening. People were speaking in tongues, slain in the Spirit, and strange manifestations began to occur, thus the Pentecostal movement was born.

It’s not the intent of this newsletter to focus on the history of this movement, but rather the impact of what occurred in 1906 has in the Church today, especially the fact that 100 years later, many Christians will be commemorating this movement, with the hopes of seeing signs, wonders and miracles, and of hearing the sound of a mighty rushing wind throughout the entire Los Angeles Convention Center, with tongues of fire over everybody’s heads, looking for another Day of Pentecost, just like in Acts chapter two. Now before I receive any emails, please, I am not trying to be sarcastic, nor am I personally judging anyone who attends this event or the leaders who will speak there. I am simply sharing the concerns I have with this and asking the simple question…is this biblical?

I know there are many who would answer “of course this is biblical”, but I am not talking about quoting a few verses from the book of Acts, I am talking about doing deep, intense research and study of the Word of God. This of course requires quality time and hard work. Only then can one make a determination based upon the evidence found in scripture and, of course, the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After all, He wrote the Bible Himself! If you are hungry and thirsty for seeking His truth from the scriptures, He will be more than willing to gladly provide! That is why I do not need or desire to seek signs, wonders and miracles, it is not necessary, I have His Holy Word! That is enough!

To some people, my claim that the Bible alone is sufficient is totally absurd, especially to those involved in the Pentecostal and-or Charismatic movements. Which brings me to my concerns over this upcoming Azusa Street event. People are not looking for truth; they are looking for the experiential. It is no wonder that this event is being called “The Spiritual Experience of a Lifetime”. The scripture alone is just not acceptable to many believers today. If the Bible were sufficient, then I truly believe that many, if not all those who are to attend this event would change their plans and run as far away from this man-centered event as possible. Again, is this biblical? From evidence I have researched from the Bible I would have to say no. There is no account in the New Testament that the apostles or the early believers of the Church ever came back to Jerusalem to commemorate the miracles that occurred on the Day of Pentecost. They did not come together 50 or 100 years later to seek the same signs and wonders, or to celebrate a movement.

Acts 2:42 states - And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. It says clearly that the first thing the believers did was to remain steadfastly in the DOCTRINE OF THE APOSTLES! Not to continually seek signs, wonders and miracles. I can base this entire newsletter around this passage of scripture. Think about this, if this event were a seminar on sound biblical exposition and doctrine, you can bet there would be a very small remnant of believers that would show up. The majority of Christians today are looking for something that would tantalize the senses, stir their emotions and mesmerize them. Teaching Sound biblical doctrine does not cater to the flesh; therefore, to the majority it is dry, dull and lifeless.

A good example of this is when a friend of my wife asked where we attend church, because she and her husband were looking for a church home. We told her that we attend a fundamental Baptist church in town. She then went on to say for us, that is well and good, but she was looking for a church that is, in her own words, “alive”. Her idea of this was a church that would play the upbeat music that she enjoyed, so she can dance, jump and shout during the service. To my wife’s friend, my church does not fit the bill of a church that’s “alive” because we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and teach nothing but sound biblical doctrine. So my wife’s friend decided not to come and visit my church because there’s no contemporary music, nobody speaks in tongues or falls down “slain in the Spirit”, there’s no hooting and hollering, and there’s none that seeks signs and wonders. Sadly, this is the mindset of Christianity today.

As I stated, the list of those who will speak at this event are the most notable in Christianity today. David Cloud’s Friday Church News Notes from March 24th 2006 lists some of them: “People from 74 nations have registered to attend and more than 150 Pentecostal leaders will be speaking, including Jack Hayford, T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, David Yonggi Cho, and Jerry Savelle. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, is also scheduled to speak ("Azusa Street: 100 Years Later," WorldNetDaily, Mar. 18).” Brother Cloud continues to note: “Kenneth Copeland teaches that Jesus was born again in hell, that believers are little gods, and that we can create things with our words. Jack Hayford teaches that a believer can learn to speak in tongues by beginning with "baby tongues" and claims that God spoke directly to him and told him not to judge the Roman Catholic Church. Jerry Savelle claims that people create the world they live in by the words of their mouths. T.D. Jakes denies the Trinity.

David Yonggi Cho claims that when Jesus personally called him to preach he appeared to be dressed as a fireman and teaches that effective prayer requires visualizing the thing desired exactly in your mind before God and then "incubating" that image in your heart by faith until you receive it. Benny Hinn has taught that Adam could fly like a bird and swim underwater like a fish and claims that his "anointing" comes from visits to the graves of Kathryn Kuhlman and Aimee Semple McPherson.”

Is it any wonder to be concerned with a list of speakers like these? Their doctrine is so warped and has gone so far from biblical truth that it is scary. What does the scripture teach about those who bring false doctrine? The Bible says in 2 John 1:9-11 - Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. What is so tragic is that thousands from the world over will go to hear these speakers and will be captivated by their Word of Faith messages and theatrics. Nobody there will be discerning truth from error. Their energy will be focused on seeking the signs, wonders and of miracles. I doubt very seriously if there will be any mention of the cross, of sin and repentance, of judgment and righteousness, of sanctification and of hell and damnation.

I will never understand why the Word of God is not enough for the Church today. Why must we have these kinds of events? From the official Azusa Street Centennial website (http://www.azusastreet100.net) the purpose of this event is clear:

· To bring together all the various streams of the movement

· To commemorate the rich heritage of the movement

· To lift up the diversity while demonstrating the unity of the movement

· To celebrate the dynamic progress of the movement’s first 100 years

· To evaluate the movement’s response to the divine mandates given at Azusa Street

· To seek the face of God for the movement’s future direction

Where does it say anything of seeking truth, or about sound doctrine? It’s all about “the movement” The above points emphasize unity without truth, and what is this about responding to the “divine mandates” given at Azusa Street? What about the divine mandate given in Matthew 28:19-20 - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Sounds pretty clear to me! So then, what does the scripture emphasize? Well, according to my King James Bible, it mentions doctrine 24 times in the New Testament, and miracles only 9 times. Which do you think the scripture deems more important? Jesus said it very clearly in Matthew 12:38-39 - Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

What about those who walk in the ways of the Lord by keeping His Word? John 8:31-32 states - Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. There is freedom and liberty when we seek the Lord diligently through His Word, but there’s bondage when people adhere to these false teachers, and run after signs, wonders and miracles, especially attending this Azusa Street Centennial.

SOLA SCRIPTURA – THE SCRIPTURE ALONE!

The Word of God is all we need! Nothing more; nothing less. Yet the very fact that the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements exist, clearly shows that scripture is not enough, that we need more signs, more wonders. People want more revelation from God. The very thought that one lone book contains all the revelation from God that we will ever need draws the response “we cannot put God in a box”. However, God in His sovereignty has chosen to put Himself in a box by limiting the evidences and revelations of Himself through the scripture. We do not need anything further and that is a very difficult fact for people in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements to accept, but the apostle Paul said it very clearly:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - 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.

Unless I am mistaken, “ALL SCRIPTURE” in this passage means just that…ALL SCRIPTURE!! Paul says that ALL scripture is profitable, meaning helpful or advantageous. For what? For DOCTRINE, REPROOF, CORRECTION AND FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS!! This sums up everything needed to function in life and in ministry, nothing about seeking signs and wonders here! Paul also says that the man of God may be perfect, meaning complete, thoroughly furnished, meaning equipped fully! It does not get any clearer than that!! THE SCRIPTURES ARE ALL YOU NEED…PERIOD!!

Search the Scripture for yourself!

SOLA SCRIPTURA! The Scripture ALONE! May the Lord bless you!

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