Larry Martin started PentecostalGold.com to share recordings of classic sermons from Pentecostal preachers. Pneuma Review caught up with this busy evangelist and author to ask him about this golden archive available to the public without cost or obligation.

PneumaReveiw.com: Please tell our readers a bit about yourself.

Larry Martin: I am an Assemblies of God evangelist with more than fifty years in gospel ministry. I have served the body of Christ as a pastor, evangelist and Bible College administrator. I have dedicated myself to the study of Pentecostal origins and have published a number of books on the revival at Azusa Street and the outpouring in Topeka, Kansas.

PneumaReveiw.com: Briefly explain what Pentecostal Gold is.

Larry Martin: Pentecostal Gold is a free audio archive of classic Pentecostal preaching. There are more than 2,200 sermons on the site by more than 200 different preachers. I add several more sermons almost every week.

PneumaReveiw.com: What inspired you to start this website?

Larry Martin: With a love for history and good preaching, it seemed natural to take an interest in preserving great Pentecostal preaching. Over the years, I had personally collected several hundred tapes of sermons and soon found that several of my friends also had a lot of tapes. When God gave me the idea over seven years ago I immediately went to work on it, purchasing the web address and uploading sermons.

I spend part of most days working on the website. It is my gift of love to the body of Christ. I believe when I am gone or no longer able to minister Pentecostal Gold will continue to minister to new generations of men and women hungry for the Word of God.

PneumaReveiw.com: Did you have certain criteria that you used in order to determine which preachers you would include on your website?

Larry Martin: Yes, there are several.

• The preacher must be Pentecostal
• The preacher must be 70 years of age or in Heaven. I set the age limit arbitrarily, but was interested in posting preachers with experience and those who had passed the point of trying to impress others.
• I must be able to obtain permission to post the sermons. If the speaker is alive, I must have his or her permission. If they are deceased, I must have permission from an heir.

I am very serious about the third requirement. Christians and even preachers are sometimes the most careless about violating copyright laws. Every sermon ever preached is the intellectual property of the speaker and we respect that. In order to listen to the sermons, an individual must sign into the site and agree that they will not download or copy the sermons. If I can add a short side note, I am amazed that “Christians” will use a fake name or fake email to sign into the site to try and short cut that simple request.

PneumaReveiw.com: Who are some of the preachers that people can listen to on Pentecostal Gold?

Larry Martin: A complete list is on the website, but readers will recognize names like C. M. Ward, Jimmy Swaggart, R. W. Schambach, Aimee Semple McPherson, A A Allen and David Wilkerson. This, of course, is just a small sampling.

Not all of the preachers are famous. I value all preaching and intentionally include the obscure as well as the famous. I realize that most listeners will be drawn to the better known preachers, but the unknown men and women of God also had something important to say.

Many of my friends and even people I have never met send me sermons from their personal library. When I get a new preacher, I begin the search for permission. Locating the heirs of a long-deceased preacher can be the most difficult part of the process. When I get permission I edit the sermon and change the format to MP3 and another preacher is added to the archive.

PneumaReveiw.com: The Pentecostal Gold website makes a point of saying that your ministry “does not endorse every person posted on the site; neither do we endorse every doctrine and discipline advocated by every preacher.” Why was it necessary to include this disclaimer?

Larry Martin: I have been criticized because I have added preachers that may have had a blemish on their lives. My answer to that is that Pentecostal Gold exists to celebrate preachers, not judge them. I will let God take care of the rest on judgment day.

Image: Matt Botsford

As far as doctrines, there are certainly some minor things said on the website that is not totally in line with everything I believe. That would be especially true with regards to the interpretation of prophetic events. If someone raised an issue, I would probably joke and say, “I don’t always agree with myself.”

At the same time, I would not allow heresy on the site or a major deviation from truth. For example, I have not posted any sermons by “Oneness” Pentecostals. Will I ever? I am not sure. I do know I would not post a sermon that advocated a “Jesus Only” water baptism or Holy Spirit baptism as requisites for salvation.

PneumaReveiw.com: Are there any preachers that you would like to add to the website in the future?

Larry Martin: There are many. I don’t want to name names, but some preachers or their heirs have refused to allow me to post sermons. Some of those are big names that most would quickly recognize. Unfortunately, others are not at all famous but their families are just unwilling to share. Sad to say, it is often for monetary reasons. This really disappoints me because I feel if I could talk to the preacher themselves almost all of them would be glad to share the messages God has given them.

There are others I would like to add but to date I have not been given any of their sermons. Honestly, my unattainable goal would be to add everyone that ever preached a Pentecostal sermon.

PneumaReveiw.com: What can we learn from the Pentecostal preachers who are found on Pentecostal Gold?

Larry Martin: What is there not to learn? With over 2000 sermons, just about every subject regarding our Pentecostal practice is covered. Many of the sermons are categorized by subject.

Young preachers can also learn practical preaching styles by listening to these men and women of God. Of course, there is an anointing of the Holy Spirit, but there are also styles of preaching, cadence, homiletical structures and basic delivery that have been proven successful for over a century.

To be candid, I personally learned much about preaching by listening to reel-to-reel and cassette tapes of some of the sermons on the website.

PneumaReveiw.com: What do you feel is unique or special about Pentecostal preaching?

Larry Martin: I value all biblical preaching. Some of the greatest preaching I have ever heard was by preachers who were not Pentecostal. I, however, am Pentecostal and honor my heritage through celebrating Pentecostal preaching. If Pentecostal preaching is unique it is because Spirit-filled ministers tend to rely more on the anointing and power of Holy Spirit.

PentecostalGold.com

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What did God have in mind for you when he gave the gift of tongues to the church? What can you do to prepare yourself to receive this blessing? An excerpt from Larry Christenson’s classic work, Answering Your Questions About Speaking in Tongues.

What happens afterward in the lives of the people who pray for and receive the gift of tongues with some help or encouragement? If the gift becomes knit into their prayer life in a wholesome way, and brings forth the fruit of edification, then we cannot score too seriously the particular way in which they prayed for and received the gift.

Most people, however, can come into this blessing in a simple and natural way, without too much attention to “mechanics.” A few simple steps are often a helpful preparation:

1. Search the Scriptures. Be convinced in your own mind and heart that this gift is from God, is intended for the Church today, and is available to you. Consider these clear truths of Scripture:
   1. God tells us to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:1).
   2. God delights to give good gifts to His children (Matt. 7:11).
   3. The baptism with the Holy Spirit, with the manifestation of speaking in tongues, was for all believers (Acts 2:4; 10:44–46; 19:6).
   4. This is a gift that every believer can use with benefit. If a member of the church is sick, it is not necessary that every member have the gift of healing; one member with the gift would be sufficient. Every member, however, needs to maintain a private devotional life, and therefore every member can benefit from this wonderful gift. The main blessing of the gift of tongues is in one’s private devotions. The Lord, speaking by the apostle Paul, says, “I want you all to speak in tongues” (1 Cor. 14:5, emphasis added).
2. Ask yourself, “Why do I want this blessing?” It is a part of what you may receive through receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and Christ tells us what that is for in Acts 1:8: “You shall be my witnesses.” If you yearn to be a better witness for Christ, for Him to have a deeper grip on your life, this blessing is for you.
3. Put it to the Lord in prayer. Tell Him the desire of your heart and ask Him to guide you. You may feel led to wait a time, or you may feel ready at once to seek the blessing.

Often it is a help to seek out someone who already has experienced the blessing, and have that one pray with you (see Acts 8:15). Many people, however, have received it all by themselves in their own prayer closets.

4. In order to speak in tongues, you must quit speaking in any other language that you know, for you cannot speak two languages at once. After you have come to the Lord with prayers and petitions in your native tongue, lapse into silence and resolve to speak not a syllable of any language you have learned. Focus your thoughts on Christ. Then simply lift up your voice and speak out confidently, in the faith that the Lord will take the sound that you give Him and shape it into a language. Take no particular thought to what you are saying, for your mind is “unfruitful” during the exercise of this gift. As far as you are concerned, it will be just a series of sounds. The first syllables and words may sound strange to your ear. They may be halting and inarticulate. You may have the thought that you are just making it up. But as you continue to speak in faith, “boldly, confidently, and with enthusiasm” (literal rendering of Acts 2:4), and as the lips and tongue begin to move more freely, the Spirit will shape for you a language of prayer and praise that will be beautiful to the ears of the Lord!

The initial hurdle to speaking in tongues, it seems, is simply the realization that you must “speak forth.” (Many people wait and wait for something to “happen,” not realizing that the Holy Spirit is waiting for them to speak out in faith!) Once this initial hurdle is cleared, however, you will find your spirit wonderfully released to worship the Lord as your tongue speaks this new language of worship.

This excerpt is from Larry Christenson, Answering Your Questions About Speaking in Tongues (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, ©1968, 2005), pages 129-132. Used by permission.

Larry Hurtado is well known for his books on Christ-devotion among the earliest Christians, and for his text-critical work on the New Testament. In this new book, which began life as a lecture series at the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong, he shows how the religion that sprang from Jesus’ activities and from the efforts of his disciples differed from other religions around the Mediterranean. In other words, it reads as a sort of “yes, but …” to balance all that has been written to show how early Christianity fits in with the other religions surrounding it.

While there is some value in highlighting the ways in which early Christians fit in with other religionists of their day, the task of doing that has been pursued for so long and so proficiently in certain circles that there’s a danger of losing sight of Christianity’s distinctiveness. Hurtado appears to be reacting to a certain one-sidedness one might find in some books. (There is, however, little interaction with other scholars in the main text.) Hurtado’s book is written on a semi-popular level (and with endnotes rather than footnotes), perhaps aiming at a readership more in thrall to what they read than scholars might be.

Reviewed by John C. Poirier

Publisher’s page: http://www.baylorpress.com/Book/484/Destroyer_of_the_gods.html

How is it that early Christians, who were mainly monotheistic Jews, showed such devotion, even worship, to Jesus Christ while still worshipping God in heaven? Larry Hurtado answers that question and more in this book and he does it in intricate, scholarly detail. In fact, Hurtado argues that this attitude towards Jesus stretches back to earliest Christianity in Jerusalem. This doctrine, this concept, he says, did not arise out of much later reflection and theological development, as some would argue.

He begins by setting his study in the context of first century Jewish monotheism, making it clear that generally the Jews of that time believed in one God and one God only. He then shows that from early on Christians, while still demonstrating devotion and worship to God in heaven, also demonstrated devotion and worship to Jesus Christ, a man dead but risen. In other words, these monotheistic Jews engaged in “binitarian” worship.

Hurtado examines Paul’s letters in chapter two, arguing that they are the earliest forms of Christian writing available to us. Hurtado notes that while Jewish critics of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles complained about his mixing with Gentiles and his attitude to the Law, particularly his apparent rejection of circumcision, none seems to have complained about his using divine terms for this risen Jesus. Whilst arguments from silence can prove little or nothing, sometimes they carry weight, and this one, I believe, does that. The conclusion Hurtado draws is that the reason they did not reject Paul’s teaching on “devotion to Jesus” was because they too were teaching it and that even before Paul did. Indeed, Hurtado wonders whether this could be one of the reasons Paul originally so strongly opposed Christianity.

Even in Paul’s early writings “devotion to Christ is presupposed”. This would date its origins to not later than the 40s A.D. For example, in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians (probably written in 50 A.D.) Paul speaks of “our Lord [kyrios] Jesus Christ” (v.3) and of God’s “Son from heaven … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (vv.9-10). Scholars commonly regard Philippians 2:5-12, which begins “Christ Jesus, ‘Who, being in very nature God …’”, as an early Christian hymn that Paul uses in his letter. That hymn, if such it is, glorifies Christ in unmistakable terms. If that letter was written in about 60 A.D., as is commonly believed, then that hymn must have been composed earlier, perhaps much earlier.

In fact, this belief and its associated practices seem to have become common remarkably early in different Christian groups. Hurtado says, “for such a major cultic innovation to have so quickly become widespread, conventionalized, and uncontroversial among various Christian groups, it must necessarily have originated among one or more sufficiently influential, respected, and very early circle of believers.”

After looking at Paul’s letters Hurtado goes on to examine “Judean Jewish Christianity”, the synoptic Gospels, and then John’s Gospel. After that he looks at early Christian writings that are not part of Scripture, and in the process moves into the second century.

John’s Gospel is generally regarded as the last of the four Gospels to have been written, but it (or most of it, some would argue) was still written in the first century, so soon after the events it speaks of. Yet John’s Gospel has an undeniably high view of Jesus. A striking example of this is John’s frequent recording of “I am” (Gk. egō eimi) on the lips of Jesus, most significantly “before Abraham was born, I am!” (Jn. 8:58). Hurtado says, “this absolute use of ‘I am’ in the Gospels amounts to nothing less than designating Jesus with the same referential formula that is used in the Greek Old Testament for God’s own self-declaration.”

Strikingly, Hurtado also suggests that John’s portrayal of Jesus as the Word (logos) in his first chapter is not really connected with the Old Testament concept of wisdom, as is often suggested. Rather it is more related to “the name of God and the angel of the Lord” found in the Old Testament and later “Jewish traditions”.

Larry Martin, The Life and Ministry of William J. Seymour: and a history of the Azusa Street Revival (Joplin, MO: Christian Life Books, 1999), 384 pages, ISBN 9780964628946.

Dr. Larry Martin’s book The Life and Ministry of William J. Seymour is a valuable contribution to Pentecostal studies as the first volume in his series “The Complete Azusa Street Library.” Martin presents an easy reading biography of Seymour and also pieces together the history of the Azusa Street revival, drawing upon Douglas Nelson’s dissertation on Seymour (Douglas J. Nelson, For Such a Time as This: The Story of Bishop William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival), Seymour’s periodical The Apostolic Faith, and Frank Bartleman’s account of the Azusa revival, as well as other many other sources and his own original research. The book is sprinkled liberally with photos and illustrations that highlight the times, culture, artifacts, places, events, and people associated with Seymour and the Azusa revival.

Martin traces the relevant history leading up to the Azusa revival, including the earlier life, times, and ministry of Charles Parham and Seymour, how they met, and the divine preparation for the Azusa revival. Through several chapters, he describes in detail the various events of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and subsequent developments within and following the revival, including the controversies, opposition, and divisions that resulted. He also incorporates a brief chapter on the expansion of the movement throughout the United States and worldwide. One chapter is devoted to Seymour’s travels and ministry following Azusa Street, and another to the circumstances around his death and the future of his ministry and legacy after his death.

The main drawback of the book is that Martin only briefly summarizes in one chapter Seymour’s travels and ministry after the 1906 revival to his death in 1922. Seymour’s contacts and activities during this time are important features that were omitted from this otherwise insightful volume. Perhaps they will be documented more fully in a later volume. Also not mentioned is Seymour’s recanting of the evidential tongues doctrine, nor is the theology of Seymour discussed, although a later volume in the series includes Seymour’s church polity and doctrine manual. A volume discussing and evaluating his theology would be beneficial.

Despite these omissions and a few grammatical errors, Martin has provided a valuable and accessible record of Seymour’s life and ministry and the events surrounding the Azusa Street revival for the annals of Pentecostal history. I look forward to reading all the volumes in Martin’s series.

Reviewed by Paul L. King