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William Seymour
William Joseph Seymour (1870–1922). Born on May 2, 1870, in Centerville, Louisiana, to formerly enslaved parents Simon and Phyllis Seymour, William Seymour was a Holiness preacher who led the Azusa Street Revival, birthing modern Pentecostalism. Raised in poverty as one of eight children in a Baptist family, he experienced racial violence early, prompting moves to Indianapolis by 1895 and Cincinnati by 1900, where he contracted smallpox, losing much of his vision in one eye. Converted in 1895, he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church but was drawn to the Holiness movement, briefly attending Charles Parham’s Bible school in Houston in 1905, where he embraced speaking in tongues. In 1906, invited to preach in Los Angeles, he was locked out of a church for his Pentecostal teachings but began meetings at a home on Bonnie Brae Street, sparking the Azusa Street Revival at 312 Azusa Street, where thousands experienced spiritual outpourings from 1906 to 1909, transcending racial divides. Seymour pastored the Apostolic Faith Mission, publishing The Apostolic Faith newsletter, but authored no books. Married to Jennie Evans Moore in 1908, he had no children and faced declining influence as Pentecostalism fragmented. He died of a heart attack on September 28, 1922, in Los Angeles, saying, “The Holy Spirit is the life of the Church, bringing us into God’s presence.”
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William Seymour preaches about the ongoing prayer of Jesus for believers to be sanctified and kept from evil, becoming one with Him through sanctification. It is God's will for every soul to be saved from sin, both actual and original, requiring a real death to the old man. Sanctification makes believers holy, pure, and vessels fit for the Master's use, leading them out of sin into the light of God's Son.
Sanctified on the Cross
"I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth, Thy word is truth." Jesus is still praying this prayer today for every believer to come and be sanctified. Glory to God! Sanctification makes us one with the Lord Jesus (Heb. 2:11). Sanctification makes us holy as Jesus is. Then the prayer of Jesus is answered, and we become one with Him, even as He is one with the Father. Bless His holy name. He says again in 1 Thess. 4:3, "For this is the will of God even your sanctification." So it is His will for every soul to be saved from all sin, actual and original. We get our actual sins cleansed away through the blood of Jesus Christ at the cross; but our original sin we got cleansed on the cross. It must be a real death to the old man. Romans 6:6, 7, "Knowing this that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin: for he that is dead is freed from sin." So it takes the death of the old man in order that Christ might be sanctified in us. It is not sufficient to have the old man stunned or knocked down, for he will rise again. God is calling His people to true holiness in these days. We thank God for the blessed light that He is giving us. He says in 2 Tim. 2:21, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use." He means for us to be purged from uncleanness and all kinds of sin. Then we shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Sanctification makes us holy and destroys the breed of sin, the love of sin and carnality. It makes us pure and whiter than snow. Bless His holy name! The Lord Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in heart." Sanctification makes us pure in heart. Any man that is saved and sanctified can feel the fire burning in his heart, when he calls on the name of Jesus. O may God help men and women everywhere to lead a holy life, free from sin, for the Holy Spirit seeks to lead you out of sin into the marvelous light of the Son of God. The Word says, "Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." So, beloved, when we get Jesus Christ our King of Peace in our hearts, we have the almighty Christ, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusteth in Thee." We shall have wisdom, righteousness and power, for God is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His acts. This holiness means perfect love in our hearts, perfect love that casteth out fear. Brother Paul says in order to become holy and live a holy life, we should abstain from all appearance of evil. Then the apostle adds, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 5:23). "To the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (1 Thess. 3:13). Bless His holy name. O beloved, after you have received the light, it is holiness or hell. God is calling for men and women in these days that will live a holy life free from sin. We should remain before God until His all cleansing blood makes us holy—body, soul and spirit.
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William Joseph Seymour (1870–1922). Born on May 2, 1870, in Centerville, Louisiana, to formerly enslaved parents Simon and Phyllis Seymour, William Seymour was a Holiness preacher who led the Azusa Street Revival, birthing modern Pentecostalism. Raised in poverty as one of eight children in a Baptist family, he experienced racial violence early, prompting moves to Indianapolis by 1895 and Cincinnati by 1900, where he contracted smallpox, losing much of his vision in one eye. Converted in 1895, he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church but was drawn to the Holiness movement, briefly attending Charles Parham’s Bible school in Houston in 1905, where he embraced speaking in tongues. In 1906, invited to preach in Los Angeles, he was locked out of a church for his Pentecostal teachings but began meetings at a home on Bonnie Brae Street, sparking the Azusa Street Revival at 312 Azusa Street, where thousands experienced spiritual outpourings from 1906 to 1909, transcending racial divides. Seymour pastored the Apostolic Faith Mission, publishing The Apostolic Faith newsletter, but authored no books. Married to Jennie Evans Moore in 1908, he had no children and faced declining influence as Pentecostalism fragmented. He died of a heart attack on September 28, 1922, in Los Angeles, saying, “The Holy Spirit is the life of the Church, bringing us into God’s presence.”