By Rev. Jerrell H. Miller
 

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND—Paul Mercy’s life was spoken of by prophecy. It happened in a service in Wales. Smith Wigglesworth called two mothers forward in a service in 1933 and said that both would birth a baby within a year. Pastor Paul Mercy of Ebenezer Assembly of God was one of those babies, and the other was a woman who would go on to play a vital role in the British Assemblies of God.

Mercy spoke about the move of the Spirit and the effects of the Welsh revival. His father pastored the Pentecostal church in Cross Keys, Wales. The old stories of Pentecost are more than just legends. They tell a story of powerful supernatural testimonies of people who sought God and found Him when they were in need. Mercy spoke about a common phenomena that happened during the Welsh revival. Many people talked about walking off the front steps of their homes and being translated to the front door of the home church. The same thing would happen to people who stayed late in services. Coal miners who had to work the next day very often found themselves transported from the steps of the church to their own homes nearly two and three miles away. At the time nobody thought of this as being a miracle. It got to be a common place occurrence that happened to several people.

A BALL OF SPIRIT FIRE

Some spoke of seeing the tangible Spirit of God moving like a ball of fire over the fields. Very often children, mothers, and families saw these occurrences while they walked toward a church that was in revival. "It was like a giant fireball that hurled itself through the air and hit the church. You could actually see it coming across the field and hitting the church," said Mercy.

In 1934, George Jeffreys came to Sheffield to hold meetings. The meetings lasted ten days and when they were over, a church of 1,000 was built. Amazing miracles were wrought during those meetings. People who had never walked before gained strength in their legs and walked out of wheelchairs. People watched with amazement as the club feet of a child were healed right before their eyes. Years later when the old Kensington Temple was opened by Wynne Lewis in the 1950s, someone went downstairs to clean out the basement and was amazed at what they found. Spine braces, leg braces, and bundles of crutches along with wheelchairs were found from the revival meetings that had been conducted by Jeffreys in the old church.

Plymouth, England & 
Stephen Jeffreys

Awesome power was birthed out of the revival in Wales. The Jeffreys’ brothers would be raised out of this awakening. In Plymouth, England, as Stephen Jeffreys was ministering one day, an entire row of people in wheelchairs sprang to their feet as the power of God came down. He almost emptied an entire hospital before they were through with the meetings. Blind eyes were opened, the lame walked, and several other miracles stirred the city to belief. Mercy said the power of God was so powerful on these brothers that 75% of the people for whom they prayed were healed in these meetings. The Jeffrey brothers set the standards for what we know as the divine healers of the 20th Century. One of the most popular publications of the time was called The John Bull Magazine. This was a magazine that very often poked fun at the Jeffreys by calling them fraudulent and dishonest. One day when a believer asked George Jeffreys if he was going to answer his critics from The John Bull Magazine, Jeffreys said, "Why should we answer them. There’s too much work to do." He knew who he was and he knew Who the healer was, Jesus. To answer his critics would only have taken the emphasis off Jesus, and George Jeffreys had no time for that. Recently a young woman had a dream about a man in a dog collar (Roman Collar). As she looked at the man in the dream, he said to her, "It’s coming back and be careful that you don’t miss it." Later she saw a picture of the same man about whom she had dreamed and it was a picture of George Jeffreys.

Wigglesworth had no time for foolishness and was all business when it came to things of God." Paul Mercy is a second generation Pentecostal who still has a burden for his homeland.  Mercy was 14 years old in 1948 when Wigglesworth died at the old Glad Tiding Church in 

THE GREATEST APOSTLE OF FAITH

Raising the dead was only one amazing facet of the ministry of Smith Wigglesworth. This great apostle of faith walked in such an astounding measure of God's anointing that the miraculous following his ministry was only secondary to it. In his lifetime, this onetime plumber would give new meaning to the word "adventure." "Only believe!" To Wigglesworth, simple obedience to what one believed was not an extraordinary featóit was simply the fruit of it. His own faith was said to be unflinching and sometimes ruthless. But he was also said to possess an unusual teaching anointing and a keen sense of compassionóthe fruit of which produced countless salvations and miracles in his ministry every day. The same power Wigglesworth walked in is here for us today!
· at the beginning of his ministry, begged others to preach in his place because of shyness.
· was so hungry to speak in other tongues, that he disrupted a service and the minister three times and was escorted out by the ushers.
· when he did speak in other tongues, he interrupted the minister again, took over the pulpit, and 50 people were baptized in the Holy Spirit as he preached. The next day, the newspapers wrote a front page account of the story!