Pentecostalism: A Theology of Urgency

For Pentecostals, theological reflection is not merely a “speculative enterprise; it is urgent, last-days work.” [1]
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Preachers, evangelists, and missionaries wrote and continue to write Pentecostal theology while in passenger seats on their way to deliver an urgent message to a lost and dying world at the end of the age.
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Hades: Building on the themes of George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and the nineteenth century revivalists as well as the plain teachings of Scripture, early Pentecostals preached the reality of “hell.” They believed that all who had rejected God’s offer of salvation in Jesus Christ would be removed from the presence of God and placed in eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels—a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30, 41-46). They believed all whose names were not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life would be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). This certainty of hell filled the early Pentecostals with an urgent desire to reach and save the sad souls who were stacked up as brands ready for the burning.

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Imminent Return of Christ: Early Pentecostals also firmly believed in the imminent return of Jesus Christ and a fiery, cataclysmic end to earth (2 Peter 3:7). They believed they were living in the Last Days.

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Gary McGee writes, "Influenced by the rise of premillennialism in the late nineteenth century, Pentecostals were convinced that civilization would get worse before it got better. Hearing the incessant rumblings of war on the international scene and fascinated by the concomitant stirrings of Zionism, premillennialists became convinced the end was near." [2]
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Rapture of the Church: The Pentecostal pioneers expected Jesus to come at any moment to “rapture” His Church. They expected Christ to lead His people to a Holy City—a New Jerusalem. They believed that no one who was impure, or shameful or deceitful could enter this Holy City, only those who had made their robes white in the crimson stream of Calvary (Matthew 24:42-44; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21:1-8).

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Some went so far as to say that only a sanctified subset of the Church would be raptured. To support this view they pointed to Paul’s words to the Ephesians: “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27, KJV).

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Hastening the Return: Many, following the lead of C.I. Scofield and A.B. Simpson, believed they could hasten the return of Christ by developing an aggressive strategy to evangelize every nation on earth. The basis for such a belief was their understanding of the words of Jesus: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14, KJV).

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Urgent Need for Power: These eschatological beliefs filled the Pentecostal pioneers with an urgency to be ready for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ by living holy lives and by reaching the lost while there was still time. This urgency drove them to seek for the God-given enablement to live sanctified lives and for the power to proclaim boldly the gospel to a lost and dying world.

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Gary McGee writes, "The emergence of Pentecostalism in the twentieth century is all about missiology: How could the world be evangelized in the 'last days' before the imminent return of Christ? To Pentecostals, the only successful course lay in a return to the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit which accompanied the ministry of the disciples in the book of Acts." [3]
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Baptism in the Holy Spirit: While seeking for the power that they believed Jesus promised in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8, these earnest people experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them the ability.

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The reception of the baptism in the Holy Spirit was a further sign of the end of the age. Charles Parham, an early leader, was convinced that Christ’s premillennial return would be the culmination of a worldwide revival. Viewing glossolalia as proof of the “latter rain” outpouring of the Spirit, Parham believed the restoration of Pentecostal power would launch the expected global revival as “divinely trained” missionary workers spread the “apostolic faith” around the world.

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[1] Steven J. Land, Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 41.

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[2] Gary McGee, “Pentecostals and Their Various Strategies for Global Mission: A Historical Assessment,” in Called and Empowered: Global Mission in Pentecostal Perspective, ed. Murray A. Dempster, Byron D. Klaus and Douglas Petersen (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1991), 207.

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[3] McGee, 201.