Stephen Jeffreys : greatest revivalist since John Wesley

[Charis2u]

I found this to be an interesting piece of Pentecostal history, church history buffs will love this.

Stephen Jeffreys: A Welsh Evangelist Brings Revival to Springfield, Missouri
Stephen Jeffreys

This Week in AG History — August 25, 1928

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on PE-News, 25 August 2016

Stephen Jeffreys (1876-1943) was considered by many to be the greatest British evangelist since John Wesley and George Whitefield. He was affiliated with the Assemblies of God in Great Britain, but his ministry extended across the world. Jeffreys came to the headquarters city of the American Assemblies of God — Springfield, Missouri — for a 22-day revival in July of 1928. His message was plain and simple: "It is one thing to be religious. It is another thing to know the Lord Jesus."

Before his conversion, Jeffreys was a coal miner in Maesteg, Wales. His interest in religion was limited to playing the flute in the church band. When the Welsh Revival broke out under the preaching of Evan Roberts in 1904, hundreds of coal miners experienced life-changing salvation. The pubs were deserted as men went straight from the mines to the chapels. After seeing the change in his coworkers' lives, Jeffreys felt convicted for his own sinfulness. After a week of heavy conviction, he responded to the call of God and was gloriously converted on Nov. 17, 1904. In 1907, he received his own personal Pentecost and baptism in the Holy Spirit. This experience gave Jeffreys power to be a witness for his Savior.

In the divinely -charged atmosphere of revival, Jeffreys and his little brother, George, started to preach. They began sharing the message of Christ on the streets and their gifts soon led to invitations to fill the pulpits of many churches in Wales and England. Like the Wesley brothers of 150 years before, they also began to fill the greatest halls in Britain.

Jeffreys expected his converts to become new creatures in Christ. Many of his hearers, although already church members, became convicted of sin and experienced conversion. Hearkening back to his career in the coal mines, he would teach the people to sing "Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning." This song could be heard late into the night as people were encouraged to live a life of total consecration to Christ. The response was so great that Jeffreys experienced opposition from both priest and pub owner alike, as he converted the religious and the irreligious to his brand of Pentecostal Christianity.

On a preaching tour in the United States in 1928, Jeffreys was invited to hold meetings at Gospel Tabernacle, a large auditorium used by Christians of various denominational backgrounds and located at the corner of Boonville and Lynn Street, in Springfield, Missouri. Reports of healings and conversions were soon reported by the Springfield Leader (now the Springfield News-Leader) as crowds thronged to hear the fiery preacher with the Welsh brogue. Crowds were estimated at three thousand in the daily meetings with seekers lining up as early as 5 a.m. for the 3 p.m. service.

The Aug. 25, 1928, edition of the Pentecostal Evangel reported that the messages were often addressed to "religious sinners" — church members who had not been born again. One woman who testified of salvation had been an active church member for fifty years before knowing the power of relationship with Christ. Jeffreys encouraged the converts to find a church where the Pentecostal message was preached, exhorting them, "I don't believe in putting live chickens under a dead hen."

A few weeks after the revival, the Pentecostal Evangel noted, "the membership is agreed that great and lasting benefit has been realized by the City of Springfield."

After leaving Springfield, Jeffreys traveled to Los Angeles where the crowds grew to seven thousand in attendance. After a preaching tour of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Sweden, and Norway, Jeffreys returned home to Wales where his health suddenly began to fail. By the mid-1930s, arthritis had crippled his abilities to travel. He died on Nov. 17, 1943, the 39th anniversary of his conversion, only a few days after preaching his last sermon in Llanelly, Wales, on the theme of "the glory of God."

Read a report of "Revival at Springfield, Mo." on page 13 of the Aug. 25, 1928, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• "The Land of the Bible in the Last Days," by the Evangel editorial staff

• "How to Obtain the Gifts," by Donald Gee of Melbourne, Australia

• "Fearing or Trusting," by William Luff

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books

[Cardinal TT]

Have read about him ...he had a brother who was also used powerfully by God

[fuego]

Have read about him ...he had a brother who was also used powerfully by God

TT, I didn't realize who it was until you said that. His brother was George Jeffries.

Reinhard Bonnke told this awesome sacred story when I was at Brownsville about when he was a young man, I think he was going to college, or Bible college, or just came back or something, and was coming home to England (I really don't remember the details) but I think he had some time to kill and started wandering around and was walking down the street by some houses and saw 'Jeffries' on the mailbox. He wondered, 'could it be?' He went up to the door and knocked and got some surly maid came to the door and asked if it was one of the Jeffries and the maid basically was telling him to leave and he heard a voice from upstairs asking who was at the door.

To make a long story short, George Jeffries came down, he was in the twilight of his life, and before it was over Bonnke was on his knees and Jeffries was laying hands on his head and praying and crying over him, Bonnke said he could feel Jeffries tears falling on his head, and passing his mantle on to him. The Jeffries were used greatly in healing.

So Bonnke finally leaves, gets on his train, and when he gets home his father meets him at the door and says, "Have you heard? The great George Jeffries has just died." Talk about a divine appointment. l wish you could hear Bonnke tell it. Just an awesome God story.

And I still don't think there is a more powerful inspirational preacher than Bonnke especially when he is talking about the Holy Spirit and the power of God.

[Colonel]

Yeah, Bonnke wrote about that is one of his books.

[Cardinal TT]

Great story Fuego, wish I heard Bonnke tell that

[krystian]

Great story Fuego, wish I heard Bonnke tell that

Wonderful story Fuego! Found Bonnke telling about it on youtube:

[fuego]

Wonderful story Fuego! Found Bonnke telling about it on youtube:

I was looking for it but couldn't find it. Thanks!

Did you watch it? :)

[fuego]

Great story Fuego, wish I heard Bonnke tell that

Gotta watch that video TT. :)

[Charis2u]

Awesome

[Cardinal TT]

Gotta watch that video TT. :)

Wow...that would lift Reinhards faiths

See that lady with the long white hair get excited and shuffle across the front