Pentecostal Order of Salvation

Which is correct!

 

I remember as a teenager that I would sometimes listen to evangelists preach with such conviction that the entire congregation would go for prayer. The sermon below was given by an evangelist way back in the 1970's in my old GARBC Baptist church I attended. There was so much conviction in the church that everyone would go to the prayer rooms after the service. I brought an un-churched friend with me who testified that 'he never prayed so hard' after the sermon was given. I myself would go to the prayer rooms and leave with a sense of having visited the Holy of Holies. Notice that the preacher preaches a tough message, but not out of an arrogant heart, but a soft and broken one.



And I understand this man is still in ministry....
The Interim Pastor - About

 

I first saw the light of day at a Marine Corps base in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina way back in the 1960's. My mother was a Marine brought up Pentecostal and my father was a Naval medic brought up Catholic. As a boy I use to enjoy the times my parents would drop me off at my grandmothers and I would take in all the beauty of their small Virginian farm. The people on mom's side of the family were very poor, but lived very well, almost like a visit to the old Walton's home. My grandfather was Pentecostal Holiness who possessed all the fruits of the Spirit as well as the tongues and his last two days on earth were of speaking in another language. We as a family moved from place to place until we settled down in the Ann Arbor Michigan area in the 1970's. My parents bought me a Yamaha dirt bike and I would have tons of fun riding both winter and summer.

One Sunday, while riding my bike in the early AM a church bus stopped, the door opened, and the driver yelled at me that I needed to be in church. The man's name was Rod Moxely and his church was a GARBC Baptist church. To make a long story short the whole family ended up getting saved, the church expands, and attendance skyrockets from 80 to over 400. During this time as a teenager I would go on youth trips where the Holy Spirit would touch my heart. I went up for salvation many times as it always produced a spiritual sensation joyful and clean. I can remember our pastor showing deep concern on the way north in hopes we would get something spiritual out of the meeting.I must say the GARBC Baptist had a whole lot going on for the children, lots of fun events that left me with a spiritually clean feeling every time and very challenged. All of the events were decent and well organized.

As I thought of all the wonderful services I enjoyed GARBC Baptist I actually got teary eyed today, thankful for such spiritual touches on my life. Three denominations that deeply influenced my life as a teenager...

1. GARBC Baptist
2. Freewill Baptist
3. Pentecostal Holiness

 

Why don't I promote Pentecostal Holiness anymore than what I do? The reason being character in the experience. It used to be taught the experiences as three...

1. Salvation - As simple as the sinners prayer.
2. Sanctification - With the sweet spirit of Christ. If you did not have it they would tell you to come back tomorrow night, and smile a little as they said it.
3. The Holy Spirit - They would teach that if one was properly sanctification the Baptism was not that far away.

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, - Galatians 4:19

I believe that once the Christ is formed on the inside one can claim sanctification. To illustrate the teaching of sanctification back in the Billy Graham days some guy calls in and says the sinners prayer. But something was a matter. He calls back into the ministry and asks a few questions. After a counselor helped him along he could finally sense the Christ in his spiritual man. At this point I believe he passed from salvation to sanctification.

The problem I see with most Pentecostals these days is that Christ is not fully formed on the inside. Or... They avoided Sanctification in the experience. The Pentecostal Holiness church was founded as a result of the evangelistic ministry of Abner Blackmon Crumpler, a Methodist evangelist, who I do not believe ever spoke in tongues. Our Methodist roots ought to stress character in the sanctified soul before talking about any further experience. It is then an annoying thing for me to hear of tongues stressed without the foundation of sanctification being laid.

So, to hear of people such as @1689Dave say things such as, "Sports fans grab the same buzz Pentecostals do. It's all about adrenaline." Makes me wonder if he ran across Pentecostals who were not properly sanctified to the point that made him question the noise and the motives. I don't criticize such allegations. I believe you can be fire baptized, such as Abner Blackmon Crumpler, and not speak in tongues or come across as fleshly motivated. But since I do not have living examples these days, I don't have much to say on the matter and normally do not debate it. Our Pentecostal Holiness church was once filled with souls properly sanctified, motivated, and also spoke in tongues. I regrettably rarely find such folks these days.

As far as more of the Holy Spirit Paul once said, even after his Apostleship....
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:13

I believe there is more available for us if we are willing to strive for it.

 

There is a difference between spiritual and emotional.

Spiritual fruit - The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

Emotional, on the other hand, is something totally different and tends to the flesh. There is a change of heart that is neither flesh nor mental reasoning. I believe the change of heart, or sanctification, is superior to mental doctrine, or any kind of noise one may make.