The following post was adapted from an article in written by William Seymour in “The Apostolic Faith,” the newsletter sent out from the Azusa Street Revival.
We’ve collected these papers and released them in an eBook titled “The Azusa Papers.” Many have found these to be a great study, and have stated the value of referring to primary resources for historical research. You don’t get much more primary than this, and there is a lot held in these texts.
You can download the eBook from Amazon if you’d like. Thanks for being with us!
Children of God, partakers of the precious atonement, let us study and see what there is in it for us.
First. Through the atonement we receive forgiveness of sins.
Second. We receive sanctification through the blood of Jesus. “Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” Sanctified from all original sin, we become sons of God. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). (It seems that Jesus would be ashamed to call them brethren, if they were not sanctified.) Then you will not be ashamed to tell men and demons that you are sanctified, and are living a pure and holy life free from sin, a life that gives you power over the world, the flesh, and the devil. The devil does not like that kind of testimony. Through this precious atonement, we have freedom from all sin, though we are living in this old world, we are permitted to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Third. Healing of our bodies. Sickness and disease are destroyed through the precious atonement of Jesus. O how we ought to honor the stripes of Jesus, for “with his stripes we are healed.” How we ought to honor that precious body which the Father sanctified and sent into the world, not simply set apart, but really sanctified, soul, body and spirit, free from sickness, disease and everything of the devil. A body that knew no sin and disease was given for these imperfect bodies of ours. Not only is the atonement for the sanctification of our souls, but for the sanctification of our bodies from inherited disease. It matters not what has been in the blood.
Every drop of blood we received from our mother is impure. Sickness is born in a child just as original sin is born in the child. He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. Every sickness is of the devil.
Man in the Garden of Eden was pure and happy and knew no sickness till that unholy visitor came into the garden, then his whole system was poisoned and it has been flowing in the blood of all the human family down the ages till God spoke to his people and said, “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” The children of Israel practiced divine healing. David, after being healed of rheumatism, (perhaps contracted in the caves where he hid himself from his pursuers,) testified saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.” David knew what it was to be healed. Healing continued with God’s people till Solomon’s heart was turned away by strange wives, and he brought in the black arts and mediums, and they went whoring after familiar spirits. God had been their healer, but after they lost the Spirit, they turned to the arm of flesh to find something to heal their diseases.
Thank God, we have a living Christ among us to heal our diseases. He will heal every case. The prophet had said, “With his stripes we are healed,” and it was fulfilled when Jesus came. Also “He hath borne our griefs,” (which means sickness, as translators tell us.) Now if Jesus bore our sicknesses, why should we bear them? So we get full salvation through the atonement of Jesus.
[bctt tweet=”Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. Every sickness is of the devil. —William Seymour” username=”JawboneDigital”]
Fourth. And we get the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire upon the sanctified life. We get Christ enthroned and crowned in our hearts. Let us lift up Christ to the world in all His fullness, not only in healing and salvation from all sin, but in His power to speak all the languages of the world. We need the triune God to enable us to do this.
We that are the messengers of this precious atonement ought to preach all of it, justification, sanctification, healing, the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and signs following. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” God is now confirming His word by granting signs and wonders to follow the preaching of the full gospel in Los Angeles.
