Church of Jesus Christ Signs Following

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Church of Jesus Christ Signs Following

• Charismatic Snake Handlers in Appalachia

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John Wesleyhomo uni libris
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John Wesley Preaching at Bolton Cross August
28th, 1748
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Wesleyan Theology

• Justification implies pardon, the forgiveness
  of sins. God justifies not the godly but the
  ungodly. They that are righteous need no
  repentance so they need no forgiveness. This
  pardon or forgiveness comes by faith.
• Sanctification Ultimately for the true Wesleyan
  salvation is completed by our return to original
  righteousness. This is done by the work of the
  Holy Spirit.

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George Whitfield and the First Great Awakening
1740-1760
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Colonial America
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Cane Ridge Revival and the Second Great Awakening
1801-1840
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Methodist Organization
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Itinerant Ministers
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Baptists
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Burnt Over District
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Holiness Meeting
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Holiness Movement

• 1840s-1850s
• Restoration of Wesleyan piety
• Reemphasis on Sanctification

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Communion Tokens
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Church Discipline

• Served to remove offenses, vindicate the honor
  of Christ, promote general edification of all and
  last but not least, benefit the offender
  himself.
• Presbyterian Book of Discipline.

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Reformist Movement

• Movement with established churches (Methodists,
  and to a lesser extent Baptist and Presbyterian)
  connection to historical churches.
• National Holiness Association did not accept
  members who were not members of a church.
• Prevailing vision had been to "Christianize"
  Christianity within whatever form or rubric it
  found a home.
• Not until turn of the century were Holiness
  churches established.

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Restorationist Impusle

• Come-outers appeal to Biblical authority
  declared the existing sects to be the source of
  disunity and a hindrance to the restoration of
  true apostolic order, worship, and experience by
  their refusal to establish New Testament Churches
  "on the holiness line.
• A Church of the Spirit

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Phoebe Palmer
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New York City c. 1850
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Key Religious Writings

• 1845 Article by John Morgan The Gift of the
  Holy Spirit
• 1856 Book by William Arthur "The Tongue Of
  Fire"
• 1859 Guide by Phoebe Palmer, "Guide to
  Holiness"
• 1870 Book by Asa Mahan "Baptism Of the Holy
  Ghost"

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Asa Mahan
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The BAPTISM of the HOLY GHOST, 1870

• According to the other view, "the Spirit falls
  upon," "comes upon," believers, and "the sealing
  and earnest of the Spirit" are given, not in
  conversion, but "after we have believed." The
  Spirit, first of all, induces in the sinner
  "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord
  Jesus Christ." After he has believed," that is,
  after conversion, "the Holy Ghost comes upon,"
  "falls upon," and is "poured out upon him," and
  thus "endues him with power from on high" for his
  life mission and work. In this baptism of power,
  this "sealing and earnest of the Spirit," which
  is always given, not in conversion, but "after we
  have believed," "the promise of the Spirit" is
  fulfilled.

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Keswick Higher Life Movement
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Keswick Idea of Sanctification

• Positional Righteousness at conversion the
  believer is imbued with the righteousness of
  Christ.
• Experiential Sanctification the Holy Spirit
  works through the believer in daily life
• Complete Sanctification comes at the end of life
  a.k.a. glorification

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Dispensation
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Gifts of the Spirit I Corinthians 128-10

• Wisdom
• Knowledge
• Faith
• Healing
• Prophecy
• Discerning of spirits
• Tongues
• Interpretation of tongues

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Jesus Casting Out Satan
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Resurrection of Lazarus
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The Pentecost
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Acts 21-4

• "When the day of Pentecost had come, they (the
  Apostles) were all together in one place. And
  suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush
  of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house
  where they were sitting. And there appeared to
  them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting
  on each one of them. And they were all filled
  with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
  tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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Moses and the Commandments
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Glossolalia

• The term glossolalia is derived from the Greek
  glossa, "tongue" and lalia, "to talk."

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Tower of Babel
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Latter Rain Theology

• Restorationism  --  This further development of
  restoration theology viewed God as progressively
  restoring truths to the church since the
  Reformation.
• Fivefold Ministry  --  The teaching that God is
  restoring apostles and prophets to the church to
  function with the three other gifted offices
  evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 411).
  Apostles and prophets provided direction with new
  revelations that would play a major role in
  paving the way for Christ's second coming.
• Laying on of the Hands  --  A ritual performed by
  modern apostles and prophets to impart the Holy
  Spirit and other spiritual blessings and gifts.
• Prophecy  --  Views the practice of "personal
  prophecy" as being restored to the church.
  Prophecy would no longer be restricted to general
  words of exhortation, but would include personal
  detailed revelations for guidance and
  instruction.
• Recovery of True Worship  --  The belief that
  God's manifested presence is dependent upon a
  certain order of worship involving singing in
  tongues, clapping, shouting, singing prophecies,
  and a new order of praise dancing.
• Immortalization of the Saints  --  The belief
  that those believers moving in the truth of
  Latter-Rain restoration, not necessarily all in
  the church, will attain an immortal state before
  Jesus returns. 
• Unity of the Faith  --  The doctrine that the
  church, usually perceived to be a band of
  overcomers in neo-Pentecostal ranks, will attain
  unity in the faith before Christ returns.

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Charles Fox Parham
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Bethel Bible College
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The Second Blessing

• I Thessalonians 523 speaks of "entire
  sanctification.
• first suggested in one of John Wesley's tracts in
  1766.
• Being anointed for service.
• Usually manifested as healing power, not tongues.
  

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Agnes Ozman
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Pentecostalism

• An Act of God
• Shared encounter with the divine (imminent)
• Emphasis not simply on glossolalia but on the
  empowerment the holy spirit brings to the
  believer.
• Second blessing no longer a cleansing, but an
  anointing
• Emphasis on experience allowed for participation
  of women and blacks in leadership roles

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William Seymour
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Bonnie Brae Street
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Azusa Street Revival
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Los Angeles Times
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Seymours
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Apostolic Faith
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Early Azusa Mission Leaders
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Union Station
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Church of God (TN)
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Charles Price Jones
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Charles H. Mason
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Aimee Semple McPherson
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Angelus Temple
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Assemblies of God
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William Branham
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Oral Roberts
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Laying on of Hands
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Appalachia
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Daniel Boone
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Scotch-Irish

• 17th c Presbyterian Scotts, strict Calvinists,
  who settled in the Plantations of Ireland and
  eventually migrated to the Appalachian region of
  the United States in 1703 as a result of the Act
  of Union which demanded alliegence to the
  Anglican Church.

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French and Indian War
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Cultural Qualities of Ulster Scots

• Fiercely loyal to clan and kin.
• Territorial.
• Deep mistrust of government authority.
• Military readiness.

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Snake Handling
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George Hensley1880-1955

• Former Bootlegger who turned to Christ and joined
  the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee.
• Began the practice of handling snakes in 1910.
• The practice spread throughout the church by
  1914.
• Left Church in 1920 when it refused to allow the
  handling of snakes and founded the modern
  Charismatic snake handing movement.
• Died of a snake bite in 1955.

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Sacred Texts

• "And these signs will follow those who believe
  In My name they will cast out demons they will
  speak with new tongues they will take up
  serpents and if they drink anything deadly, it
  will by no means hurt them they will lay hands
  on the sick, and they will recover." Mark
  1617-20

• Behold, I give unto you power to tread on
  serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
  the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt
  you. Luke 1019
• "So then after the Lord has spoken unto them
  Jesus' disciples, he was received up into
  heaven, and set on the right hand of God. And
  they went forth, and preached everywhere, the
  Lord working with them, and confirming the word
  with signs following Mark 1619-20

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Leading a Godly Life

• Jewelry is kept to a minimum. Some groups go so
  far as to consider wedding bands or watches as
  too extravagant.
• Women, moreover, generally wear their hair long
  without any artificial curling, straightening or
  coloring and men must keep their hair short.
• Men wear open necked, long-sleeved shirts and
  slacks although jeans and bib-overalls are
  generally accepted as well
• Women must wear dresses of solid or flowered
  print.
• Sign followers do not use tobacco or alcohol,
  and, depending on the church, caffeine.
• The belief in the healing power of the Lord
  proscribes any professional medical treatment or
  even over-the-counter medications. A break with
  the belief in healing exhibits "a sure sign of
  lack of faith in God's ability to cure the sick."
  In some extreme cases churches have been known to
  ban eyeglasses However, much like the dress and
  grooming standards the issue of eyeglasses and
  even more serious medical attention is variable.

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Church of Jesus Christ Signs Following

• Believers are encouraged to
• lay hands on the sick.
• speak in tongues.
• and provide testimony of miracles.
• handle poisonous snakes (usually copperheads and
  rattlesnakes).
• drink water laced with strychnine, arsenic, or
  some other poisonous substance.
• Rags soaked in kerosene are ignited and placed in
  glass jars or empty pop bottles and passed around
  for any of the faithful who feel so inclined to
  touch them.

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WHAT BEING BITTEN REVEALS ABOUT THE HANDLER

• 1. That the person has sin in his/her life. If
  discovered to be the case, the faithful members
  shun the sinners.
• 2. That the person handled the snake without
  being under "the anointing" of the Holy Ghost.
  Since God promises no protection to the
  unanointed, snakes are prone to bite them.
• 3. That the person lacks the faith to handle
  the serpent. Handling snakes without faith is
  presumption.
• 4. That God is testing the handlers to see if
  they will deny the faith when they are bitten.
• 5. That God is a healer. One of the ways to
  know this is for him to heal the victim of a
  venomous snakebite.