Pentecostal Presence

by Mary Hudson

“Pentecost”, oil painting by Jean Restout, 1732, Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Day of Pentecost

What happened on the day of Pentecost over 2000 years ago? The Bible says in Acts 2:1-4 that is when the Holy Spirit came, and Jesus’s disciples spoke in tongues. Subsequently, the church was filled with power and added 3,000 new believers to its ranks.

Just imagine if something like that happened in Santa Barbara today.

Many people describe tongues as glossalia or different languages. When we pastored the Word of Faith Ministry here from 1980-1987, we toured Jerusalem in 1982 with a group of ministers. One of the ministers who spoke at night began to speak in tongues. This meeting was held at the Jerusalem Hilton conference room, and the hallway doors were open. Across the hall was a jewelry store. As soon as the minister finished, a Jewish woman ran out of the store and said, “That person was speaking in perfect Hebrew, and he said that Jesus is my Messiah.”

Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1:8 that the first sign of the Holy Spirit would be that the disciples would have power and they would be witnesses in Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Think about it; the Apostle Paul went as far as Spain, and it is said that Thomas went to India.

The revival of the Holy Spirit really began again in the last century around 1906, when William Seymour was asked to minister at a Pentecostal Holiness church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. This humble one-eyed black man launched a revival of the Holy Spirit that touched nations. Meetings were seven days a week, practically around the clock. A newspaper called the Apostolic Faith recorded the testimonies and healings seen in these meetings. At its peak, there were 50,000 subscribers. Today the charismatic movement touches 600 million Christians worldwide.

“Miraculous Cures”

Acts 4:31 says that after the Day of Pentecost, the believers “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

John G Lake was a well-known American minister who went to Africa in 1908-1913. He played a decisive role in the most successful Pentecostal movement in Southern Africa during that time. Lake contracted a deadly case of malaria and an intercessory prayer lady in England was alerted by the Holy Spirit in the middle of the night and began to pray for Lake, in spite of the fact that he was thousands of miles away. Lake, unbeknownst to this lady, was healed the next day.

Kathryn Kuhlman was another great evangelist with such a strong relationship with the Holy Spirit that hundreds of people would come to be healed in her crusades in 1940-1976. One woman named Sara O’Meara was riddled with cancer. In hospital at the time, her doctors forbade her from leaving, saying she would bleed to death. But she was determined to get to Ms. Kuhlman’s meeting at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. Once inside, Sara ascended the steps to the third balcony. Every move she made was a huge effort. Finally, Sara made it to the top balcony in the huge hall. Ms. Kuhlman called out a lady in a red dress sitting on the first row of that balcony, and said the Lord was healing her that very moment. Everyone in that row looked at her, since she was the only person wearing red. She was asked to go down to the front of the auditorium where Ms. Kuhlman was praying for people and did so without any effort. She felt stronger with every step. Sara gave her testimony on the platform. Sara O’Meara became Kathryn Kuhlman’s assistant until Kathryn passed away in 1976.

How did the Holy Spirit first make His entrance on Earth?

Immediately after Jesus was resurrected from the grave, He made many appearances but the last one was to His disciples just before he ascended to heaven in Acts 1:3, “To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs.” Then Jesus promised these disciples that the Holy Spirit would be taking His place “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:5 This statement indicates there are two separate baptisms, one in water and the other in the Holy Spirit.

“When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven…” (they could hear it!)

As of a rushing mighty wind.

And it filled the whole house where they were sitting…

Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and one sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance…Acts 2:4

The day of Pentecost brought a new freedom to the church through the baptism of the Spirit. It created new life and a freshness to people who were hungry for the Presence of God. And it is still doing that today in Charismatic Churches in Santa Barbara and worldwide.