IT CAME to me by inspiration! The huge tent was packed! Revival fires burned! Hearts were stirred! was in the very air!
j| T WAS DURING the Oakland campaign, in the summer of
922, that God led me, one night, to speak on the prophet iel’s vision, as recorded in the Book of Ezekiel, the first h to tenth verses, Verse ten was dwelt upon », as the Spirit spoke through me in revealing
‘pectancy the f
As for the liker ess of their faces, they four ad t of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.”
ately 8,000 people filled the hu crowded around the edgs e tent and hunwhere the side walls 1 up. People leaned forward in expectancy, as God message forth from out of my innermost being.
My own soul was awed as the Spirit painted in wordpictures the glorious account of that which Ezekiel saw In the clouds of heaven the prophet had beheld "a whirl wind, a at cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness.” Out of this phenomenon “came the likeness of four living creatures,” moving back and forth across the skies with "th ppearance of a flash of lightning.” Above the firmament that was over their heads, Ezekiel saw “the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon this throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it.” From his loins upward, and from his loins downward, he was clothed in the brightness of fire; and round about the throne there was a rainbow!
This, explains Ezekiel, “was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” So wonderful, so magnificent was the revelation, that the prophet could only repeat, “it was the
- appearance of the likeness of” some thing!
As I spoke, God revealed to the assembled multitude that a four faces typified the four-fold ministry of the Lord Jesus ist.
In the face of the MAN we beheld that of the “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’—the Saviour of the world!
In the face of the LION we beheld that of the mighty Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Jesus is the “lion of the tribe of Judah.” As a lion denotes strength and power, it is a fitting symbol for Christ as the Giver of the Holy Spirit.
In the face of the OX we beheld the Great Burden-Bearer, Who “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.” Jesus is the Great Physician and the Healer of our bodies.
In the face of the EAGLE we saw reflected a vision of the coming King of kings, Whose pinions would soon cleave the shining heavens as He returns to catch His waiting bride away!
A perfect gospel! A complete gospel for body, for soul, for spirit, and for eternity! A gospel that faces squarely in every direction!
As the wonder—the power—the majesty of it cascaded o'er the battlements of Glory, filling, flooding, enveloping my very being, the whole tent seemed enveloped as well—aquiver with the praises of God!
I stood there still and listened, gripping the pulpit, shaking with the wonder and the joy of it, then—
“Why—why, it's the F-O-U-R-S-Q-U-A-R-E Gospel!” burst from the white heat of my heart.
Instantly the Spirit bore witness! Waves, billows, oceans of praises rocked the audience.
Borne aloft upon the wings of a Holy Ghost revival, the term “The Foursquare Gospel,” which the Lord gave to me that night as vividly distinguishing the message which He had given me to preach, has become known around the world,
180 - THE STORY OF MY LITE
In studying the Word of God since that day I have discovered that the word, “Foursquare,” is entirely Scriptural, and that it is woven throughout every phase of the Old and New Testaments. As revelation follows revelation, it seems as though life itself would be too short in which to express the fulness of it all!
Four colors were revealed through a study of the Scriptures which I applied to the four phases of Christ's ministry: Red, typifying the precious blood which He shed on the cross for dying humanity, for the first phase—Salvation. Gold, symbolic of the fire which fell from heaven on the day of Pentecost, for the second phase—Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Blue, the color of heaven itself from whence cometh the third phase—Divine Healing. And Purple, the color of royalty, for the fourth phase —the Second Coming of Christ as King.
During the last week of the campaign, a ministerial confer. ence was held for the purpose of banding together the laity and clergy in America who held and practiced the Foursquare Gospel message. The new fellowship, born of a spirit of unity and prayer, was to be known as ‘The Foursquare Gospel Association.”
Over one thousand names of pastors, evangelists, teachers and prominent members of the recognized evangelical churches were signed to a statement of doctrine and purpose the first day, and many thousands in all churches stood ready to enroll as fast as the new project was presented to them by returning delegates and visitors.
Concerning the Oakland revival, Dr. Charles S. Price, then pastor of the First Congregational Church of Lodi, Calif., reported
“As I am writing this, the meeting has passed into history. I saw the lights turned out, the stage torn down, and the big s signs rolled up and hauled away. I saw the four gre topped tent poles standing alone as a reminder of the ing that had passed, and then one by one I saw res and I had to gulp something back that came into my throat, as the old tent that contained so many pleasant memories was taken away to serve some other purpose. But never as long as Oakland remains a city will that monument that has been builded in the mee! lowered. There came a tug at my heart string hearts and lives of men be torn down, or the work that has been done be erased from the lives of men. That building, eternal in the heavens, not made with hands, received material from the campaign, held in the beautiful City of Oaks, and who knows but what when the choirs of that Eternal City are singing the praises of God through the great eternity, that souls will remember that sacred spot with a sawdust floor and a “hardwood bench where they found the Saviour of the world.”
*
If you were going to a far-away country to conduct an evangelical campaign, and, upon arrival found that everything was in complete readiness and a sweet spirit of accord and cooperation was manifest, that would be fine. But if, on the other hand, you found that the campaign was to be launched within twenty-four hours of your arrival from a four-weeks’ journey; and if you discovered that the company by whom your name had been broadcasted for many months were not only small in numbers, but were ostracized and feared by the most earnest ministers and Christian workers, who believed them to be unsound in doctrines and methods; and if you found the views of the leader of the group diametrically opposed to the teaching of the Word of God on many fundamental subjects—that would be another matter entirely!
Such was the handicap we faced in Melbourne, Australia, where we had gone for a campaign at the close of the Oakland revival! But God blessedly rose to the occasion, took the seemingly impossible and made it gloriously possible, throwing the light of His Word upon many a hungry heart that had been afore time in bondage and swinging them into clear soul-winning channels.
The first few days of the campaign were spent in teaching and getting back to the fundamental truths concerning the inspiration of the Scriptures, the eternal deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the personality and true baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then the enemy began to retreat and the Lord to have His way in the midst. Sinners filled the altars from the first meeting and increased in numbers as the campaign continued. Ministers and laymen from almost every denomination and walk of life
volunteered; the most spiritual men and women workers came forward and laughed and wept, sang and shouted the victory together as sinners streamed home to the cross.
A large percentage of the converts were those confessing a Lord and Saviour for the first time in their lives. Many came in under the influence of liquor, were sobered up and gloriously saved. One man, said to have been from one of the best families in Australia and to have spent some twelve hundred pounds in one year’s riotous living and drunkenness, was thus sobered at the altar and became an inspiration to all day by day with his changed life. Several entire families, one of ten souls, came to Christ. Boys who had not written home in years left the altar to wire the good news of their salvation.
There were some precious instances of healing in answer to r, but the Lord gave us a very decided check in spirit; that we should not take up this phase of the work in any public or special way, partly because healing had been unduly exploited prior to our arrival as a means of advertising, and this battle, the Lord revealed, must be waged and won on the merits of the Word and the Blood, and partly because there was not as great a general need along this line as along that of soul-winning and teaching regarding the Holy Spirit
The campaign closed in a burst of glory, The Sunday night announced as the closing meeting 4,000 people unanimously began to clap and call and pat their feet on the floor of the dance-hall where the services were being conducted, until we promised to return the next night for a special repeat service and give once again our address on “The Second Coming of Christ.”
In order that we might catch the early boat to America, where the building of Angelus Temple was demanding our presence, our schedule was revised, and the planned Adelaide meeting set forward one week. From beginning to end, sweet unity and peace settled down upon the great auditorium in Adelaide, and the crowds grew from a few hundred until they filled the place to overflowing
Upon our return to Sidney, our hearts were stirred by the love and hunger of a multitude of Christian folk for a revival that should sweep their city. The auditorium was well filled at the first meeting in the afternoon, and overcrowded with peoist as ple standing at night. The first brief invitation to come to the altar and accept Christ, brought an instantaneous response, wherein men and women appeared to rise all over the building, coming from the balcony and the main floor, till they filled the space in front, then overflowed to the platform and crowded that, seeking and finding the Saviour.
Loving friends and subscribers to our magazine met us at every turn of the way in Australia, and a precious company were at the wharf to see us off. They sang songs of Zion, pressing souvenirs and flowers into our hands, called invitations to return, and tossed up to us ends of bolts of brightly colored ribbons, while holding the other ends and the bolts of ribbon all leading to our hands. Then as the boat pulled from the shore, and their songs drifted across the waves, the ribbons kept unwinding in their hands and reached unbelievably far out, slender threads still uniting loving hands and hearts. A pretty custom, and one that we had not seen before our departure from New Zealand.
The home voyage was filled with hours of prayerful writing, reading, planning for the temple of worship which was being built unto the Lord, and with a great longing to be up and at the work which the Master had entrusted to our hands. Busy moments seemed to fly, hungry hearts were calling; and 1 felt as though each future hour should count more for God than the previous!