Seth Rees

Seth Cook Rees (August 6, 1854–May 22, 1933) was an American Quaker preacher and evangelist, a pivotal figure in the Holiness Movement, known for co-founding the International Holiness Union and Prayer League and later establishing the Pilgrim Holiness Church, a precursor to the Wesleyan Church. Born in Westfield, Indiana, to Zechariah and Luzena Rees, devout Quakers from North Carolina, he attended the Friends Academy in his hometown. At 19, in March 1873, a revival led by Calvin Pritchard sparked his conversion, and by August, he preached his first sermon atop a dirt mound, earning the nickname “Earth Quaker” for his boisterous style. In 1876, he married Hulda Johnson, a minister herself, forming a strong partnership in ministry until her death in 1898. A second spiritual awakening in 1883 deepened his commitment to holiness, leading him to preach to Native American tribes in Kansas before returning to pastoral work. Rees’s ministry flourished as he co-founded the International Holiness Union and Prayer League in 1897 with Martin Wells Knapp in Cincinnati, emphasizing holiness, healing, and evangelism. After Hulda’s death, he married Frida Marie Stromberg in 1899. His career took him to Chicago, where he established rescue homes for women, and in 1908, to Pasadena, California, where he pastored the Nazarene University Church from 1912 until a schism in 1916 over his radical revivalism led him to found the Pilgrim Holiness Church. Author of works like The Ideal Pentecostal Church (1897) and Miracles in the Slums (1905), Rees preached until his final days, dying in Pasadena in 1933. Father to Paul S. Rees, also a preacher, his legacy endures in the Holiness tradition’s emphasis on sanctification and fervent faith.
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Sermon Summary
Seth Rees preaches about God's vision for the Pentecostal Church, emphasizing how God has always known the potential for grace within the Church despite the wreckage caused by sin. He compares God's vision to that of a sculptor, painter, or architect who envisions the final masterpiece before beginning the work. Just as a husband desires specific qualities in his wife, Christ has expressed His desires for His bride, the Church, who must align with His character for the eternal union. Rees highlights the importance of understanding God's thoughts and desires for the Church, which are clearly revealed in Scripture, particularly in the characteristics of the 'Ideal Pentecostal Church' outlined in Acts 2.
Opening Words
For at least six thousand years God has had his idea of what the Pentecostal Church should be. From the time he first viewed the wreck and ruin of the race, wrought by that miracle of hell, sin, he knew what was possible for Him to bring out of the debris. Just as a sculptor, before ever he touches the marble with chisel or mallet, has a clear conception of his statue; just as a painter sees his picture long before the brush begins to transform the face of the canvas; just as the architect conceives of his building in his mind, while as yet not a line has been drawn nor a stroke of work accomplished; so God saw from the first the possibilities of grace in the Church, the Bride, the Lamb's wife. Every pure and true man has his idea of what he desires to find in the woman who is to be his wife. Like the needle to the pole, her heart must be true to her husband. She must not flirt with other men nor cast adulterous glances at old lovers. Separated from all others, she must be loyal to him. No noble man will ever bear to the old homestead, to father and mother and loved ones, a wife whom he even suspicions as unworthy. She must not only be pure and true herself, but she must be capable of entering fully into the secrets of his life, of sharing his sorrows as well as his joys, of sympathizing with him, both in his sufferings and in his triumphs. So Christ had his idea of what he would like to have as a bride. He has most emphatically expressed his wishes concerning the character of the wife who is to be his companion throughout eternity. Splendid preparations are now being made for the celebration of the nuptials; and she, whom the spotless Christ bears on his arm into the royal halls of glory, must fill his idea. If we can know God's opinion, if we can find out his thought concerning any matter, it is of no consequence to us what churches think or what creeds say. It makes no difference about the jargon of the schools. From the "Thus saith the Lord" there can be no appeal. God has not left us in the dark as to what his thought for the church is. He has taken every pains to give us a clear understanding of Christ's wishes and desires in the matter; and whatever Christ has desired to see in his church, his bride, is made gloriously attainable and possible through the power of the cross. In the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we find plainly enunciated the characteristics of the "Ideal Pentecostal Church." May the dear Holy Spirit anoint our eyes to seethe truth as it is set forth in this Scripture.
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Seth Cook Rees (August 6, 1854–May 22, 1933) was an American Quaker preacher and evangelist, a pivotal figure in the Holiness Movement, known for co-founding the International Holiness Union and Prayer League and later establishing the Pilgrim Holiness Church, a precursor to the Wesleyan Church. Born in Westfield, Indiana, to Zechariah and Luzena Rees, devout Quakers from North Carolina, he attended the Friends Academy in his hometown. At 19, in March 1873, a revival led by Calvin Pritchard sparked his conversion, and by August, he preached his first sermon atop a dirt mound, earning the nickname “Earth Quaker” for his boisterous style. In 1876, he married Hulda Johnson, a minister herself, forming a strong partnership in ministry until her death in 1898. A second spiritual awakening in 1883 deepened his commitment to holiness, leading him to preach to Native American tribes in Kansas before returning to pastoral work. Rees’s ministry flourished as he co-founded the International Holiness Union and Prayer League in 1897 with Martin Wells Knapp in Cincinnati, emphasizing holiness, healing, and evangelism. After Hulda’s death, he married Frida Marie Stromberg in 1899. His career took him to Chicago, where he established rescue homes for women, and in 1908, to Pasadena, California, where he pastored the Nazarene University Church from 1912 until a schism in 1916 over his radical revivalism led him to found the Pilgrim Holiness Church. Author of works like The Ideal Pentecostal Church (1897) and Miracles in the Slums (1905), Rees preached until his final days, dying in Pasadena in 1933. Father to Paul S. Rees, also a preacher, his legacy endures in the Holiness tradition’s emphasis on sanctification and fervent faith.