Three Keys We Should Know About Assemblies of God

If you were to give a concise summary of what one should know about the Assemblies of God (AG), what would you say? Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock gives us three keys.

In conjunction with the MM33 theme for this issue, “His Mandate, Our Identity,” I would like to highlight three keys to knowing the Assemblies of God (AG). The core beliefs of AG are articulated in its 16 Fundamental Truths¹. The first version of the Fundamental Truths was written in 1906 to unite the movement as the leadership involved in the formation of AG came from different denominational churches after they had experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the Azusa Street revival meetings.

We must hold fast to our belief that the Bible is the Word of God, and that it is the foundation to all our beliefs and practices.

The First Key: The Bible is the Word of God
The opening words in the introduction to AG Tenets of Faith are, “The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice” and its very First Statement states, “The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct” (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21). We must hold fast to our belief that the Bible is the Word of God, and that it is the foundation to all our beliefs and practices. Let me share three reasons why the Bible is the Word of God:

Unity and Consistency. The sixty-six books in the Bible were written by forty authors within a span of 1,600 years. Although the writers were from different countries and backgrounds, there is an incredible unity in its contents. For example, Moses recorded “the Word of the Lord” during the Exodus around 1440BC from Egypt to Canaan (Exodus 24:4; Numbers 33:1-2; Deuteronomy 31:9). Jesus who lived around 33AD told the Jews, “If you believe Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:46-47). Twenty-five years later, Paul mentioned Moses in his letter to the Romans (Romans 10:5-9). Jesus came and fulfilled the law and the writings of the Old Testament prophets (Matthew 5:17-18).

Authentic and Accurate. The geographical and historical records are accurate and authentic. Sir William Ramsay, one of the greatest archaeologists in mid-nineteenth century, was skeptical of the accuracy of Luke’s writings. However, he concluded at the end of his investigation that “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of facts trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense… in short, this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians.”²

Alive and Still Speaking. Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63b). The writer of Hebrews concurred that “the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God can instill faith in us (Romans 10:17). We would never have known Jesus if we do not have the Bible. During my secondary school days, I resisted the Gospel and often argued with Christians who witnessed to me. During my long medical leave in 1974, I read a book entitled, “The Greatest Is Love”³ not knowing
that it was the Bible. I wept as I read the four Gospels. I surrendered my life to Jesus and acknowledged Him as my Lord and Savior. For the past 48 years God has not stopped speaking to me through the Bible!

Come Holy Spirit, we need You!

The Second Key: The Holy Spirit
Another key emphasis of the AG is the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-48; 19:1-6). John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus would baptize believers with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). Jesus told His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel spread from Jerusalem to other parts of the world. We need the Holy Spirit to do the same work today! Only He can convict the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment, and guide people into all truth (John 16:7-14).

We need the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and remind us of everything that Jesus ever told us (John 14:16,17,26) to carry out what He had commanded believers to do (Matthew 28:19-20).

In 1906, God poured out His Spirit upon a gathering of believers in an old warehouse which became the Azusa Street Mission on Azusa Street. The revival lasted night and day for three years and birthed forth the Pentecostal Movement. Both Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements could trace their roots back to the Azusa Street Mission. Today, there are more than 700 million Spirit-filled believers around the world.⁴
We need God to do it again in the twenty-first century! Come Holy Spirit, we need You!

The church is a gathering of believers who love the Lord and impact the world around them by the way they love and serve one another and shine for Jesus!

The Third Key: The Church
People often associate church with a physical building, worship, songs, sermons, and liturgical practices. If these are what church is, what impact does the church have? The church is a gathering of believers who love the Lord and impact the world around them by the way they love and serve one another and shine for Jesus!

Love. Jesus commanded us to love one another just as He loved you, “By this all people will know that you are disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). Let us begin with one simple thing that we all can do together: start to speak well of one another, speak well of church leaders, and of our churches.

Serve. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and He is our role model (John 13:1-17). When the Early Church believers served one another despite their differences, the Gospel spread, rapidly increasing the number of believers. Even the priests who opposed them were converted (Acts 6:1-7). When we come together, the Holy Spirit also gives spiritual gifts to us to serve effectively, and to build up one another (1Corinthians 12-14).

Shine. The Church is ‘the salt of the earth and the light of the world.’ People “see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). The Church needs to light up the world with the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

The COVID-19 pandemic has kept us homebound for two years. It is time to gather back with your congregations. “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25, NLT).

A man had gone to church for several years but suddenly stopped attending. His pastor dropped by one evening. The man invited him in. He knew why his pastor came. They went and sat in front of a fireplace. Neither man said anything. After a few minutes, the pastor picked up the tongs, took one of the logs out of the fire, and laid it on the hearth. The flames died down and flickered a few times before going out. They watched in silence as the log started to grow cold. The pastor once again picked up the tongs and put the smoldering log back with the other burning logs. Immediately it burst back into flame. The pastor got up and said, “Well, I need to go now. But I’ve enjoyed the visit.” The man rose too and said, “I appreciate your message, Pastor. I will be in church on Sunday.”

While we are recovering from the disruptions caused by the pandemic, I exhort you to use these three keys to work together with AG churches globally to fulfill the vision of MM33.

¹ https://www.ag.org.sg/tenets-of-faith/ accessed on 3 August 2022
² https://bibleapologetics.org/luke-a-historian-of-the-first-rank/ accessed on 3 August 2022.
³ “The Greatest Is Love” was used as the title of the cover of the New Testament, Living Bible Translation.
⁴ George O. Wood, What Azusa Had And We Need https://news.ag.org/es-ES/Features/What-Azusa-Had-and-We-Need accessed on 3 August 2022