Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
This is the second Embryonic Revival Principle that came out of the 1948 North Battleford, Saskatchewan Visitation. It is linked especially with J. E. Stiles and his book “The Gift of the Holy Spirit.” It had a very strong impact on the leaders of the Revival starting February 12th. It was the contention of Stiles that when the two conditions of the “Peter Package “ of Acts 2:38 were properly met, that without tarrying, candidates immediately would receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit upon the laying on of hands. This was abundantly confirmed in 1948. Winston Nunes believed that J. E. Stiles along with William Branham and Franklin Hall brought the three critical principles that God used at this time. I agreed with him in part: but there are nine other Revival Principles that God wove together to form His effective montage.
In the 1960's, this book by J. E. Stiles was dubbed “The Episcopalian Bible,” and men like Dennis Bennett effectively used this principle during the Charismatic Renewal. Tens of thousands were swept into the Kingdom of God at this time.
Let us now look at several aspects of the working of this principle at the time of this visitation.
Day 1. HOLY SPIRIT: “SIMEON” CONNECTION.
Luke 2:22-38. JESUS: BLESSED BY SIMEON AND ANNA. “There was in Jerusalem a man named Simeon. This man was a Tzaddik (righteous one), he was devout, he waited eagerly for God to comfort Israel, and the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) was upon him. … It had been revealed to him by the Ruach HaKodesh that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah of the LORD. … Prompted by the Spirit, he went into the Temple courts” (2:25-27a). The name of the New Testament Simeon and the Tribe of Israel by the same name, both mean “hearing.” Just as Jesus only spoke the words He heard from the Father, SO THE HOLY SPIRIT ONLY SPOKE THE WORDS HE HEARD FROM JESUS. We in like measure should only speak the words we hear from the Holy Spirit. This has been true of a number of special saints like Madame Guyon.
We read of the birth of Simeon in Genesis 29, born of Jacob and Leah. We read of prophecies spoken over him by Jacob and Moses in Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33. His name was inscribed on the beautiful blue sapphire as recorded in Exodus 28 and Numbers 2. No animal is mentioned with him as with most of the other tribes, but he and his brother Levi are much like the ranging bear, especially in their dastardly deed upon the Shechemites. Simeon never fully recovered from the curse of his father upon him for this foul deed. Yet, his name linked with his New Testament counterpart is of great significance.
Day 2. HOLY SPIRIT: “REES HOWELLS” CONNECTION.
Acts 5:17-42. PETER: WITH APOSTLES CONFRONTS THE SANHEDRIN. Peter said, “We are witnesses to these things; so is the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), whom God has given to those who OBEY him” (5:32). This is one of the significant verses of the Bible. Perhaps few committed believers illustrate this principle more than Rees Howells. Norman P. Grubb wrote his biography in 1952, shortly following his death. Rees was even known in his hometown in Wales as “the man with the Holy Spirit!” Chapter 5 of this book records how Rees Howells not only had the Holy Spirit - but the Holy Spirit had him by POSSESSION. It should not seem a strange thing to us to hear such a term. Servants of satan spend years learning how to be fully possessed of evil spirits - even to the point of manifesting ectoplasm. Surely God deserves MORE from us than what servants of the evil one render unto him!
In chapter 32 of this biography - we read how shortly before World War II, 120 members of his staff of the Bible College in Wales allowed themselves to CORPORATELY be possessed of the Spirit in the like manner as Rees had experienced in the first decade of that century.
Mark it - individuals and groups who in like manner totally yield to the Holy Spirit, will regularly hear from Him, as did Simeon.
Day 3. HOLY SPIRIT: “SOUTH KOREAN” CONNECTION.
Jude 17-23. APOSTLES SPELL OUT WARNING AND PROTECTION FROM APOSTASY. “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith, AND PRAY IN UNION WITH THE RUACH HaKODESH (Holy Spirit). … THUS keep yourselves in God's love, as you wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah to give you the mercy that leads to eternal life” (20-21). Over 50% of the population of South Korea profess faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Pastor David Yonggi Cho has a church of over 800,000 members! He has been interviewed many times to learn his secret. “It's PRAYER,” he says, and praying in the Holy Spirit over one hour every day. No matter how much they badger him to get a list of success principles - he merely repeats again and again - “My secret is prayer, with praying in the Holy Spirit.”
This was a secret of the 1948 visitation also - MUCH prayer - and much praying in the Holy Spirit with fasting.
Day 4. HOLY SPIRIT: “J. E. STILES” CONNECTION.
Acts 2:37-42. PENTECOST (SHAVUOT): EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS. When Peter was queried concerning the extraordinary events on the day of Pentecost, he answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Jesus the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the GIFT OF THE RUACH HaKODESH (Holy Spirit, 2:38)! Some have called this “The Peter Package:” two conditions, and then one certain promise. 3000 proved it to be so this very first time of demonstration. Notice that the word “Gift” in Greek is “doreA.” It appears only 11 times in the New Testament. In John 4:10 Jesus describes the GIFT as an “Artesian Well” to the Samaritan woman. Here in Acts 2:38 Peter clearly points out the conditions if one is to receive the doreA: turn FROM sin; turn TO God. There is no “easy-believism” here, or “sloppy aGApe.” In Acts 8:20 Peter shows the GIFT cannot be purchased with money. It has already cost the Savior His life's blood! In Acts 10:45 and 11:17 we learn the wonderful truth that God wants Gentiles as well as Jews to have this GIFT, and THAT apart from circumcision on the part of Gentiles! In Romans 5:15 and 17 we learn that the GIFT is all of GRACE, and that it is an abundant GIFT imparting to us the VERY RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ, and enabling us to be overcomers in this life! In 2 Corinthians 9:15 this GIFT made hilarious givers out of the Corinthians. Words are unable to describe it! Paul claims in Ephesians 3:7 that the Gift is the secret why God uses him, and in 4:7 that He will do the same for us also! Finally in Hebrews 6:4, the apostle issues a solemn warning not to neglect or despise this GIFT, and sets out consequences.
IN THE LIGHT OF THE ABOVE - anchor your soul solidly in this Second Embryonic Revival Principle, that even now God is bringing into Glorious Maturity!
Day 5. HOLY SPIRIT: “INTERCESSION” CONNECTION.
Romans 8:18-30. POWERFUL HELP: THE SPIRIT'S MINISTRY. “Similarly, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don't know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself PLEADS ON OUR BEHALF with groanings too deep for words; … and the one who searches hearts knows exactly WHAT THE SPIRIT IS THINKING, because his pleadings for God's people ACCORD WITH GOD'S WILL” (8:26-27). This is one of the most powerful and encouraging verses in the Bible. Who would not be willing to pay the price of total surrender and full possession by the Holy Spirit - and receive such inward, accurate and supernatural help! In “Rees Howells, Intercessor” by Norman P. Grubb, we learn three of the eight great intercessory principles the Holy Spirit uses through such a surrendered vessel. Identification, Agony and Authority become meaningful realities. With Christ we identify first with Him in His interests, and then with the needs of our fellow man, as He lays them upon us. Next the Holy Spirit Himself prays through us with groanings that cannot be uttered - even an agony that we jointly share with Him. And then the Father bids us cease praying and start praising - for the Holy Spirit has successfully prayed through us, and we have now entered into the AUTHORITY of the Father. We now speak the Word of Command, and it is DONE!
Day 6. HOLY SPIRIT: “FEAST OF PENTECOST” CONNECTION.
Acts 2:1-4. PENTECOST (SHAVUOT): ITS FULFILLMENT. “The festival of Pentecost (Shavuot) arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. … Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. … Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. … They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.”
Compare this with the day God gave the Torah (Law) to Israel through Moses, on THE DAY OF PENTECOST. Only on that day 3400 years ago, God wrote the 10 words of the Covenant on Tables of Stone! Now is the time for a NEW COVENANT. It is not as of the Old, for now the Holy Spirit writes theTorah (law) on fleshly tables of the heart and on the mind, first of all on Jewish hearts - and then soon on hearts of both Jews and Gentiles. See Jeremiah 31:33-34, for how God states this.
On one occasion I asked God: “How do YOU see the Torah (Law) as it relates to us today in church - for both Jew and Gentile?” He replied, “Just as Jesus laid out in the Sermon on the Mount. He did not come to abolish the LAW, but to make it FULL. He came to give the Gift of the Holy Spirit on the basis of His Atoning Sacrifice. Then the Holy Spirit would do this supernatural work in and on the hearts of believers. Not only is the law (Torah) of continuing significance - but by the power of the indwelling Spirit, and because He and Christ are One - Christ will NOW live in us His overcoming life through believers, enabling them to live Torah, the Law - for all Eternity! See Galatians 2:20!
Pray this. Believe this. Live this - or rather, let Christ live it through you. Then this second Embryonic Truth of the Gift of the Holy Spirit will release you to open the next 10 Gates of the City - and walk in the remaining 10 Revival Principles birthed in 1948 - but coming to Maturity TODAY!
This will enable the Holy Spirit to bring you from the 30-fold Outer Court into the 60-fold Holy Place! It is your choice!
Day 7. HOLY SPIRIT: “SECOND REFORMATION” CONNECTION.
John 16:7-15. JESUS: HIS MANIFOLD WORK THROUGH THE COMFORTER. “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don't go away, the comforting Counselor will not come to you. However, if I do go, I will send him to you” (16:7). Ponder this: FIRST the Blood - THEN the oil. First Jesus must come and die as a ransom for many, and then He can return to Heaven to send the Gift of the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father. Notice also how intimately Passover and Pentecost are connected by 50 days at the time of the Spring Feasts. Both Israel and the Church regard this 50-day connection. Jews have the counting of the Omer from the Feast of firstfruits, which represents as a symbol the Resurrection of Christ. This signifies that Passover is not complete or consummated until the Holy Spirit comes! The church leaders heard Jesus teach for 40 days following His Resurrection - and then upon His command following His Ascension - waited in Jerusalem for 10 days until the Promise of the Father. This happened exactly ON THE 50TH Day, (the meaning of Pentecost,) following the Resurrection of Jesus.
So - Old Testament Symbolism exactly parallels New Testament Fulfillment.
Martin Luther humanly speaking inaugurates the First Reformation through restoring the truth of “Justification by Faith.” Tradition tells us that as Luther climbed the stairs of St. Peter's in Rome on his knees - the Spirit spoke to him powerfully in his spirit, “MARTIN - the JUST shall live by FAITH.” Works of penance do not cut the mustard. Tetzel with his promise that coins as gifts of indulgence would free from purgatory - enraged Luther in the light of God's revelation. THUS - the 95 theses nailed to the church door of Wittenburg in 1517 - and THE FIRST REFORMATION. The Brazen Altar of the Outer Court was restored, but not much more.
But in the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the turn of the 20th Century, the SECOND REFORMATION found Restoration! This brought the church into the Holy Place.
But the THIRD REFORMATION is yet FUTURE - it is connected with the Feast of Tabernacles - the greatest Jewish Feast of all. The Second Coming of Jesus is intimately tied into this feast. The bringing of a company of believers into the Holy of Holies - the Holiest of all - this is what is next on God's agenda of Restoration. God wants His Son in the Spirit to enjoy Bridal Love in His 1000 year Millennial Reign. We are on the Threshold of God's greatest Restoration Event of all - the Capstone of His Temple. The first and second Reformation laid the Foundation Stone of Christ in His Passover and Pentecost. But the Capstone of the Temple capsulates, consummates and completes what God has been planning ever since the fall of Adam 6000 years ago.
CONCLUSION: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one's heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love him (Isaiah 64:4, 52:15;). … It is to us, however, that God has revealed these things. How? Through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes all things, even the profoundest depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
Here we are back to the extraordinary ministry of the Holy Spirit again. He brooded upon the waters in the beginning prior to the first six creative days - and now He is the one to reveal to us what and how God is about to consummate this age. How then can we possibly function in being instruments under God in His last day Restoration, if we do not only have - but also are CONTROLLED and POSSESSED by this blessed Gift of God?
If you have not already done so, by all means procure and read “Rees Howells, Intercessor” by Norman P. Grubb, a Christian Literature Crusade publication. By this you will be helped to understand how to be a partner under the guidance of God's Holy Spirit, how to be led into intercession, and how to be all that God would have you to be.
Blessings on us each one as we take an effective second step upon our Jewish Roots. With these two foundation steps, we can then confidently step on into the 12-fold fullness of the purposes of God!