Try the Spirits

 

Life and Work of Mrs M.B. Woodworth-Etter
Pages 489-493, Chapter LXI: ‘Try the Spirits’
Sermon Preached to Ministers and Workers at Montwait, Mass.

Beloved “try the spirits.” There are many spirits we do not want to have anything to do with. There is our own spirit; the flesh and the devil. There are many spirits contending, and many times we let our own spirit rule and make ourselves think it is God; the same, with the flesh and the devil.

Sometimes we know it is not God, but we want to have our own way. If we have the Holy Ghost we can prove the spirits, because everything the Holy Ghost does is confirmed by the Word. We do not want to trust to tongues and interpretations. You must measure things by the word. We must measure tongues and demonstrations by the Word, and if they do not agree with the Word, we must not accept them; everything must be measured by the Word.

We do know God and the voice of God, but the devil can come as an angel of light. When you are in the Holy Ghost, that is the time the devil tries to get in and lead you astray. The Holy Ghost is revealing some secret things; at the same time the devil comes in, and if you are not careful, you will listen to what he has to say and follow him.

Once I was having a wonderful vision, and right in the midst of it, the devil said to me, “You are going to die.” I was very poorly and was worked nearly to death and I listened to the devil for a minute; then I stopped to hear what God wanted to teach me.

I said, “What is this God is showing me? Does this agree with what God is showing?” I saw there was a big difference. God touched my forehead, the seat of intellect and reason: my mouth, signifying courage and power to give forth the message, and I could not die if I was to do this; if I was to give the peopIe His message, I was not going to die.

There was someone in the meeting here God was blessing. He wanted to use her, but the devil came in and made her think she could do any outrageous thing and it would be of God.

See how the devil can lead us off. She was talking in tongues and praying, and she said, “Lord, if you want me to kill anyone, I will do it; if you want me to set the camp on fire, I will do it.”

That is the way in spiritualism; the Holy Ghost never does anything like that; He does not come to kill and knock people’s heads off; He deals with them in love and tenderness. People have even offered up children in sacrifice. If you listen to God, the devil will he put to one side.

These things hurt the Pentecostal movement; God is in it, but the devil is in it, too. Many people are honest, but they do not understand. God shows great things that are going to happen and the devil comes in and makes them set a date.

Daniel did not understand the vision he had, for some time; an angel appeared to him to make him understand the vision. Be careful the devil does not come in, and give you another meaning all together different from what God wants you to have.

So many prophesy this or that, and it never comes true; the prophecy was not according to the word of God. Some one gives a person a message and he believes God sent it, when it is not according to the Word.

When God calls you out for His work, He will take care of you, give you something to eat and clothe you; there are so many who run before they are sent; better not go at all. Sometimes the devil uses tongues to upset things generally; the devil can speak in tongues, and your flesh can.

When God speaks in tongues, it means something, and you want to look for interpretation. God says ask for interpretation. Sometimes God gives it through someone else, but give the person who speaks in tongues a chance to interpret. Be careful you do not give an interpretation in your own spirit; this hurts the work everywhere. Let us try the spirits and not get in the flesh.

Some people if they do not like anyone, will give a message in tongues, or a rebuke and nearly knock the person’s head off. This is the work of the devil. Then someone will get up - some people are so silly - and say, “Don’t lay hands on that; it is the Holy Ghost”; and no one dares to touch it, and the devil has the whole thing.

It goes out that the leader sanctions all that, and people do not want to have anything to do with it. The leader may have discernment but some one will pull his coat-tail and say, “Don’t lay hands on that.” Instead of being so afraid, let us search the scriptures. God never told anyone to rebuke in an ugly tone.

There was a great work being done in the West. One woman, especially, said the United States was going to be destroyed, and they should go to Japan. They went. People who could not spare the money helped them; they went to escape the wreck.

The whole thing was of the devil. The United States were not destroyed; they could not speak the Japanese language; they were stranded and a number backslid; they tried to raise money for a great building, but never accomplished it. They had been doing a good work here, but other spirits got in.

God gave me a special commission to take the precious from the vile; and I do not want you to get into the snare of the devil. So many young people, after their baptism, give up work and go to preaching. In a few days they tell all they know, then tell something they don’t know; bread and butter does not come in, and many of them backslide.

Don’t take up with every vision that comes along. In the Pentecostal movement in some places, they have discarded the Word of God. They ‘don’t want a leader’, and God always had a leader; when there is none, the devil takes the chair. God hath set some pastors and teachers. (Eph. iv.)

How does any one know when God calls them to the ministry? Some one has said that when God calls anyone to do His work, you can hardly get him into the pulpit; but when the devil calls him, you can’t keep him out of it.

Hold up Jesus and try to get the people so full of the Holy Ghost that they will live in unity **We do not want to lay hands on anyone suddenly** If we do anything in a spirit of contention the first thing we know everything is in a jumble and we have done more harm in one meeting than can be imagined Hold up Jesus and the Resurrection Let us walk in the light as He is in the light Christ is the great Headlight and I am on the stretch for more light than I ever saw in my life, you have fellowship when you walk in the light. We are the lower lights and He will show us what to do next.

Be careful not to lay hands suddenly on anyone. Regarding the recent disturbance here,[presumably some kind of opposition from a group of "boys"] we profess to be saints and we want to show forth the Spirit of Christ. We must be firm, but kind. Do not speak roughly. The crowd want to see. I would have nearly broken my neck when I was young to see what you are seeing.

When they became noisy, it would have been useless to attempt to use force; it would only have ended in a fight, and the plan of the enemy would have been accomplished. God led me in the only way by which the **disturbance could be quelled, and order restored**; God fought for us. Do not speak roughly to the boys; each one is some mother’s boy God can smite with conviction; the battle is His, not ours.

“Try the spirits.” In one of our meetings there was a colored woman who had wonderful experience spiritually; that is the kind the devil gets after. One day she commenced to go about on her knees, twisting about like a serpent. GOD does not tell anyone to do that. She spoke in tongues; then she said, “I don’t want to do it ; I don’t want to do it.”

Every one knew it was not of God; and I said to her, “that is not God; the enemy has got hold of you.” At first, she didn’t want to give up, but the next day God showed her and she asked to be delivered. The devil had got in and made her do things that were not right, to kill her influence.

A woman came to me and said. “I am afraid this spirit on me is not of God; I was baptized in the Holy Ghost; I went into a mission where they did everything by tongues and they got me so mixed up, I did not know where I was; then, this spirit got hold of me; it shakes my head and makes my head ache.”

THAT IS SPIRITUALISM. Some people, when they pray for anyone and lay on hands, throw the slime off. That is spiritualism. Don’t ever do anything like that. When you lay hands on a person, God takes care of the evil spirit. If you are filled with the Holy Ghost, the devil is outside you; keep him out. BE CAREFUL WHO LAYS HANDS ON YOU, FOR THE DEVIL IS COUNTERFEITING GOD’S WORK. For two years, that woman could not give a testimony. God rebuked the shaking spirit, the power of God came in her hands and in her voice, and she gave a testimony for God.

That is what ails the Pentecostal movement; so much of this has crept in. Some people take every foolish thing for the Holy Ghost. There are two extremes; one keeps the Holy Ghost from working, except in a certain channel: and the other thinks everything is of the Holy Ghost; “don’t lay hands on it.” One is as bad as the other. Let everything be done by the word of God.

We are living in the last days and there has got to be a higher standard for the Pentecostal movement. Christ is coming, and we cannot move along in the old rut. God is sifting us today and we have got to rise above errors; we have to rise tip and go forward. By the grace of God we will. Praise His Name!

Honey in the Rock

Psalm 81

2 Tim 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Often the Lord will impress upon my heart a verse, phrase or idea from Scripture from which to preach. I usually have a sense of what the Lord wants to say, but sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way. We, as humans, often misinterpret meanings. We think one thing while the other person meant another. This is what sometimes happens with sermon topics. The notion that I received from the Spirit’s “highlighting” the verse in my heart, turns out to be completely different than what He really wants to say. And this is what has happened with this sermon.

Read Psalm 81.

We find that the Psalmist, Asaph, pens a “retrospective glance at Israel’s early history” (Keil&Delitzsch). Here we find that Israel has been liberated from their bondage to Egypt, and now journeys through the wilderness on their way to the great Land of Promise. God warns them to make no other gods before Him, not to worship the god of a foreign country. But the Children of Israel did not obey the Lord. It says that they “did not listen to my voice, and Israel did not obey me”.

 

Now, in our modern American society we do not worship carved images of some deity. We do not offer incense or fruit to show appreciation, or gain favor from some nether worldly being. No, we are more sophisticated. We worship the selfish trinity made up of the great “Me, Myself, and I”. We worship ourselves. We have been baptized in the spirit of self with the evidence of speaking our own minds regardless of who, what, where, when, or why.

The mindset of America is “what can I get”, “I may have to give a little to get what I want, but so long as I give just the minimum, and if things get out of hand or life gets too hard, then I don’t want it anymore, because its not worth the hassle.” We sacrifice the lasting and fulfilling rewards of the future for the instant and empty pleasure which lasts but seconds. America is selfish; America is greedy.

And as Christians in America it is so easy to get caught up in her selfishness and greed because we are surrounded by it every day, all day long. The purpose of this sermon is not the dragging of America through the mud, or to wave a self-righteous finger in Uncle Sam’s face. I am an American, and I love America, and thank God for this nation. America is not the only nation at fault; the whole of humanity is basically selfish and greedy.

This is the nature of the flesh. We may seemingly find it more predominate in America because there is

 

so much that we can have, and easy means by which to obtain it. When we want things bad enough, we usually find a way to get it, and get it now.

While in the wilderness Israel wined, complain, and moaned over just about everything. The water was too bitter, there was nothing to eat, it was too hot, the road was too dusty, the people of the surrounding nations were too mean and nasty.

All the while God had turned bitter water into sweet, rained manna from heaven upon them, and when that wasn’t enough He gave them meat, and provided victory over their enemies. Scripture even records that during their 40-year tour of the Middle Eastern Countryside their clothes did not wear out, and their feet didn’t swell (Deut 8:4). When you walk around a lot your feet tend to swell, but the Children of Israel never had that problem.

Elsewhere, (Psalm 105:37

 

KJV

) it records that God led them out and there was not one feeble or weak among them. In other words, God kept them in perfect health as they followed Him. It is unfortunate, however, that though they may have physically followed the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night (because who wants to be deserted in a desert?), they were not always whole-heartedly pursuing God or holding fast to His word.

They thought that

 

they knew best. Of course, what THEY wanted was best for them, right? They would listen to God with one ear and let it go out the other, and then follow after the desires of their own hearts. We see this exemplified at 

Sinai. Moses had gone up the mountain to meet with the Lord, and the children of Israel became impatient and decided that they would worship another god.

The God who had delivered them out of Egypt with great signs and wonders was taking too long, so in their me-first, I-want-it-now selfishness they decided to make an idol and designate it as their great deliverer. They substituted the truth for a lie. For their stubbornness and hardness of heart the Lord wanted to obliterate them from off the planet, but Moses went to bat for them, and the Lord honored Moses’ request.

This wasn’t the only time they hardened their hearts, there were many times. Another graphic illustration was when the people had grown impatient because of the long trek, and they began to wine and complain instead of praising God and offering Him their hearts in thanksgiving for His provision and presence among them along the way. Out of irritation the Lord sent “fiery serpents” to bite them.

Matthew Henry says in his commentary on this verse,

 

These serpents are called fiery, from their colour, or from their rage, or from the effects of their bitings, inflaming the body, putting it immediately into a high fever, scorching it with an insatiable thirst. They had unjustly complained for want of water, [so] to chastise them…God sends upon them this thirst, which no water would quench. [Those who previously cried without a just cause now have that cause given to them.] They distrustfully concluded that they must die in the wilderness, and God took them at their word, chose their delusions, and brought their unbelieving fears upon them; many of them did die. (comm. on Numbers 21:4-9).

God responds to people’s faith, and God answered them according to theirs. Their faith was not in the goodness of God, but rather that God had evil intentions in bringing them out into the wilderness. Because they had  hardened their hearts against obedience to the Lord, He gave them over to the evil desire of their heart.

This is also what happened when they were not satisfied with the supernatural provision of manna from heaven, and wanted the meat of earthly animals. God said, “You want it, you got it, till you get so full of it that it comes out of your nose!”

We find this concept reiterated by Paul in Rom 1:18-28. He writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and  unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be

 

dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…”

Because of their own selfish willfulness, and the hardening of their rebellious hearts to do want they wanted to do regardless, God gave, and gives, them over to their own wickedness. God said, “You want it so badly, okay, here you go, have your fill of it!”

But, before we point fingers, and say, “Naughty Children of Israel”, we have to be honest and admit that we are sometimes like that too! God has been so loving and caring, tenderly and thoughtfully providing for our every need, and sometimes those we didn’t even know were there, and yet we demand more. Our heart becomes hardened. It doesn’t happen overnight, but is a gradual progression descending the downward spiral.

 

We begin to take God’s provision for granted. What God has supernaturally given to us is not good enough. We begin to whine and complain. We start treating holy things as if they were common.

Perhaps you had been believing God for a vehicle, and He supernaturally provides one. And oh, its wonderful, expect “I wish the interior was a slightly different hue, and the windows in the back only go partly down and I wish they would go all the way down. The gas tank only holds 13 gallons, and it would’ve been really nice if it held 15. The headlights aren’t as bright as I wish they would be, and the blinker blinks rapidly and I like slow blinkers.” I think you get the picture. Your heart gets hard towards God and you become ungrateful. You become so selfish and self-centered that you turn a deaf ear as the Spirit deals with you to focus on Christ and what He has done.

The One whom you used to long for time with and earnestly yearned to know more intimately gradually begins to be the One you take for granted, the One whom you try to quiet when He convicts your heart about your self-will and pride. He’s the One who is holy enough on Sundays and Wednesdays for six hours of your time, but not holy enough for the other 162 hours of the week.

You earnestly seek Him while others can take notice, but as soon as you get in the car to go home, you take the spiritually devout mask off, and let the real you come out from hiding. Instead of finding fulfillment and liberty in His presence, 

 

you find that, in His presence, you must restrain who you really are, because other people might look down on you. Who cares about other people, when the Lord Jesus

sees all, hears all, and knows all?

He is the One who will judge you on the final day, not the TV preacher, not your pastor, not the deacons, not the one who sits next to you in the pew every service. Are you putting on a religious act to please men, and gain their acceptance, or are you genuinely moved in the depths of your being by the Holy presence of God? Are you so in love with Jesus that what other people might think about you doesn’t matter to you, because you have a open and honest relationship with the Son of God? What

 

He thinks is the only thing that matters.

You might not have all the worship songs memorized or can quote Hymn number and title, and you may even be the last one to find the text for the Sunday’s sermon, but all of that doesn’t matter, because you’re so in love with Jesus and so excited about Him that if you could fly you would fly to the moon and back a thousand times in two seconds!

It’s not about how religious you act or how spiritual other people think you are, it’s how well you know Jesus, and even more importantly, how well Jesus knows you. In that day, not all who say Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in  your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus will declare to them, “I 

 

never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

You may be able to prophesy, have the most famous healing ministry of all time, have great visions of angelic hosts, but none of that matters if Jesus doesn’t know you. You say and act like you know Jesus, but does Jesus know you?

Is your heart submitted to His will? Are you obedient to the sweet and tender call of the Spirit to know Christ, or are you obedient to the screaming demands of your flesh? Is your heart open before Christ, soft and pliable in His hands, or is it hard, cold, and indifferent?

Our text says that God gave them over to the hardness of their hearts. God will give you over to what you really desire. It is your choice. Do you really desire to know Christ and to become one with Him? Or are you so full of yourself that you can’t see past your own nose. Are you too engrossed with yourself to see the hurts and needs of others? Jesus always took time to speak to people, and to minister to their most earnest need. Are you really like that, or are you putting on a show?

If your heart is hard, and want to do things

 

YOUR way, if you have sin that you excuse as a personality disposition, or just have flat out refused to deal with it, God will give you over to it. You will get your way, you will enjoy that sin to the fullest, but while in it, you wont find that full satisfaction that you crave. In sin there is no peace.

If you lean on your own understanding and “wisdom”, your plans and strategy may succeed, but it will never be with the desired result. God will give you over to that love for the social drink, or “recreational drug habit” and you will throw away all your money, lose those whom you hold so dear, and will not only ruin your health, but ruin your eternal heritage. You’ve tolerated the casual glance at the magazine rack, and it has now developed into the lustful stare. Now you’re beginning to buy the magazines and hide them from the people that love and care about you the most. Exposure means ruin, ruin to your marriage, ruin to your family, ruin to your reputation.

You’ve allowed the little whispers about others. They were harmless, but now they’ve become more and more vicious. Your conversations get out, and friends are deeply wounded beyond words, relationships are torn apart, the church has split, all because of one little hard heart. You may enjoy sin for a season, but that season will end quickly, and you will find yourself in hell’s torment, having cheaply traded it for abundant life on this earth and eternal riches in heaven.

Is your heart hardened to the Spirit and soft towards sin, or are you hardened against sin and soft towards Christ? You must violently deal with sin, or sin will deal violently with you.

 

The Lord earnestly desires that we never become hardened. He desires to bless us and prosper us, beyond our wildest dreams. Scripture says that He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think… He desires to humiliate our enemies, and fight for us. He desires to give us honey out of the rock.

He desires to take what the enemy has meant for harm and turn it around for our good. But it’s 

 

our choice. Do we harden our hearts to God’s ways and pursue our own desires, or HIS?

Jackass for Jesus

We can learn a lot from Balaam’s ass in Numbers 22 (I’d ask you to read the story to refresh yourself, but I doubt anyone really would). In fact, here are some characteristics that we as believers need to incorporate into our walk.

 

#1 A Beast of Burden

             A mule is a beast of burden. They hold up well under pressure and heavy weight. We as Christians are called to be burden bearers (Gal. 6:2). We need to come along side of our brothers and sisters, and seek to minister to them the love and power of Christ when they are hurting and in need.

              A mule is a servant. We need to serve one another. We need to look after the needs of each other. When someone is in need, we should lend a helping hand in Jesus’ name. Jesus said that He put before us an example of servanthood and that He “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). We need to be givers. We are the most like God when we give, and respect nothing in return.

               Notice in the story, the donkey was beaten even though he was doing what he was created for. Though he was carrying his master, Balaam didn’t like it when the animal strayed off course. The animal had more sense to the spiritual than the self-seeking, carnal, greedy prophet did! Scripture says that spiritual things have to be discerned through spiritual means, and that the mind that relies too heavily on the natural isn’t able to comprehension it (1 Cor 2:4).

               Sometimes when we are following the Lord, those who we are serving and ministering to will not like the direction the Spirit of God leads us. But that’s okay. If we follow our Master, lean wholly upon Him, He will direct our steps and everything will turn out for the best. Balaam was wrong to strike his donkey, but the donkey endured it. We are called to endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ. War is never pretty. War is never comfortable, and never convenient. This is what we are called to. It’s all out war for the souls of men. Following Christ means that we continue to be faithful to what He calls us to do, even if we are beaten, smitten, or struck. We overcome the enemy through the BLOOD of the LAMB, the WORD of our testimony, and because we do not love our lives to the end (Rev. 12:11). Jesus said that those that love their lives would lose it, but those who lost it for their sake would, in the end, save it (Mark 8:35).

 

#2 Jackasses are Stubborn

             The key things that mules are known for is their stubbornness. We need to be stubborn for Christ! We must be stubborn in our holiness. Don’t compromise sin, because sin ISN’T there to entertain you, it’s their to TAKE YOU OUT. Sin always ends in death. It kills your joy, it kills your peace, and it will kill the anointing and presence of the Spirit in your life. We must keep our standards high. When we lower our standards, we lower the hedge of holy protection around us. If one snake get’s through the wall, soon it will cause an infestation, and overrun the place. It’s easier to take care of one snake than a whole nest (ask Indian Jones about the Temple of Doom…I’m sure he wished there was only one!). Don’t give in to sin and the flesh….give them NO ROOM. Be stubborn in your standards of holiness, and you will be rewarded (Heb 12:14).

             We must be stubborn in prayer. To many times we don’t gain from prayer because we give up praying too soon. Jesus said that if we would keep on knocking, keep on seeking, keep on asking, that we would on a constant and continual basis keep on receiving, finding, and doors in the spirit would continually open up. We don’t receive our request, because it isn’t that important to us. If it’s not important to us then why should the Lord take interest in it? A child will be constant in their pestering because to them, their request is something that is important and necessary to them. Be stubborn in prayer. Prayer will win every spiritual battle. Don’t let the enemy gain the upper hand just because you stopped talking to the Lord about your life, your parent’s lives, your friend’s lives, this nation, etc……

            Be stubborn for the supernatural. Don’t ever settle for nominal Christianity. Don’t settle for a powerless religion. Jesus said that we would do the same kind of things that He did, and He wasn’t only talking about loving our neighbors, and being a good boy. He was talking about the deaf hearing, the blind seeing, miraculous demonstrations of God’s love. He was talking about setting free the captives and those that are oppressed by the devil. He was talking about raising the dead, and cleansing the leper. Be stubborn for the supernatural. He said that we would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us. He’s here for MUCH more than a little “shundi” on sunday! He’s here to produce Christ in us (the fruit) and demonstrate Christ through us (the gifts). Don’t settle for less than what the Bible says is rightfully yours. Don’t settle for less than what Christ left us with….the fullness of the Holy Spirit!

                We need to be stubborn to press past every obstacle and obstruction satan places in our way! Praise the Lord, He told us that we would take up serpents and they won’t harm us (Mark 16:18). That really means that we have the authority and power to remove out of our way every work of satan. The devil will try to get in the way, but when we are stubborn and use the authority of Jesus’ name and His BLOOD, the devil has to leave. Don’t put up with the devil and his mess. Tell him to hit the road!

 

#3 Balaam’s Ass had Double Vision

              I alluded to this before, but the donkey saw the things of this world, and in the spirit realm. He saw the angel the Lord had sent to kill Balaam. He had more spiritual sensitivity than the prophet. It doesn’t matter if you are an apostle or prophet or elder-bishop-deacon-doctor-reverend his high holiness. Selfishness will dull your spiritual sensitivity. Pride will blind your spiritual eyes. Carnality will lull your spirit to sleep.

               Keep your eyes on Christ. Keep your spiritual sense sensitive to His Spirit. Don’t let the flesh rob you of your anointing, and don’t let it rob someone else from being ministered to by you! Guard your heart, guard your eyes, guard your lips. Have double vision. Realize your natural circumstances, but KNOW that the supernatural rises above them and overrules it!

               Keep your ears open to the Spirit of God. He desires to speak, but we often don’t hear because we aren’t attentive. Practice attentive and patient listening, and you’ll hear Him. Hear what people are saying, but hear what the Spirit has to say about it. Follow along with Him, go with what HE says. He’ll lead you in paths of righteousness, abundant living, and a prosperous walk.

 

#4 The Jackass Spoke!

               Don’t keep silent! Speak out for Christ! If God can use a donkey to instruct a prophet, then most certainly He will use us to speak to a lost and dying world. He’ll speak words in due season to our brothers and sisters. We MUST be voices of righteousness. When asked why the mule did what he did, he spoke honestly in his defense convicting Balaam of his ways. Peter said it’s better to be persecuted for righteousness than to rightfully deserve what others dish out (read 1 Peter 3: 13-17).  

                BUT sometimes we need to be silent! Some of us do talk way too much. The old saying, God gave us two ears and one mouth…we should do twice as much listening than talking. Sometimes we talk just to hear ourselves talk, just to entertain ourselves, and half of what we say only caters to the flesh and doesn’t do anyone any good. Ephesians 4:29 says that we are not to let any “corrupt communication proceed out of [our] mouth[s], but that which is good to the use of edifying , that we may minister grace unto the hearers”.  If what we are saying doesn’t encourage and strengthen one another, if it doesn’t prod one another to press deeper into the Lord or go further in our walk with Him….perhaps it shouldn’t be said.

 

How much of a JACKASS are you?

Are you:

#1 a Servant of and on behalf of Christ

#2 Stubborn for Christ

#3 Spiritually Sensitive to His Spirit

#4 Speaking Out

Take a moment and ask the Lord to help you be more of a JACKASS FOR JESUS!

The Way to Overcome: BELIEVE!

The Way to Overcome: Believe!

by Smith Wigglesworth

 

First Published in Flames of Fire p. 2 March 1917
Published in The Weekly Evangel (Pentecostal) p. 3 August 18, 1917
Published in Triumphs of Faith p. 156-157 July 1927
Published in Triumphs of Faith p. 220-221 October 1943

First John 5. The greatest weakness in the world is unbelief. The greatest power is the faith that worketh by love. Love, mercy, and grace are bound eternally to faith. There is no fear in love and no question as to being caught up when Jesus comes. The world is filled with fear, torment, remorse, and brokenness, but faith and love are sure to overcome. “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). God hath established the earth and humanity on the lines of faith. As you come into line, fear is cast out, the Word of God comes into operation and you find bedrock. The way to overcome is to believe Jesus is the Son of God. The commandments are wrapped up in it.

When there is a fidelity between you and God and the love of God is so real that you feel you could do anything for Jesus, all the promises are yea and amen to those who believe. Your life is centred there. Always overcoming what is in the world.

Who keepeth the commandments? The born of God. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). They that believe, love. When did He love us? When we were in the mire. What did He say? Thy sins are forgiven thee. Why did He say it? Because He loved us. What for? That He might bring many sons into glory. His object? That we might be with Him forever. All the pathway is an education for this high vocation and calling. This hidden mystery of love to us, the undeserving! For our sins the double blessing. “…whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory…even our faith” (1 John 5:4). He who believeth — to believe is to overcome. On the way to Emmaus Jesus, beginning from Moses and all the prophets, interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27). He is the root! In Him is life. When we receive Christ, we receive God and the promises (Galatians 3:29), that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. I am heir to all the promises because I believe. A great heirship! I overcome because I believe the truth. The truth makes me free.

TONGUES AND INTERPRETATION: “It is God who exalteth, God who maketh rich. The Lord in His mighty arms bears thee up — it is the Lord that encompasseth round about thee. When I am weak, then I am strong.”

No wavering! This is the principle. He who believes is definite, and because Jesus is in it, it will come to pass. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). They that are poor in spirit are heirs to all. There is no limit to the power, for God is rich to all who call upon Him. Not the will of the flesh, but of God (John 1:13). Put in your claim for your children, your families, your co-workers, that many sons may be brought to glory (Hebrews 2:10), for it is all on the principle of faith. There is nothing in my life or ambition equal to my salvation, a spiritual revelation from heaven according to the power of God, and it does not matter how many flashlights Satan sends through the human mind; roll all on the blood. Who overcomes? He who believes Jesus is the Son (1 John 5:5). God calls in the person with no credentials, it’s the order of faith, He who believeth overcometh — will be caught up. The Holy Ghost gives revelation all along the line. He that is not against us is for us, and some of the most godly have not touched Pentecost yet. We must have a good heart especially to the household of faith. “…If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). The root principle of all truth in the human heart is Christ, and when grafted deeply there are a thousand lives you may win. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), the secret to every hard problem in the world.

You can’t do it! Joseph could not! Everything depends on the principles in your heart. If God dwells in us the principle is light, it comprehends darkness. If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light, breaking through the hardest thing. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17) — for faith has full capacity. When man is pure and it is easy to detect darkness, he that hath this hope purifieth himself (1 John 3:3).

TONGUES AND INTERPRETATION: “God confirms in us faith that we may be refined in the world, having neither spot nor blemish nor any such thing. It is all on the line of faith, he that hath faith overcomes — it is the Lord Who purifieth and bringeth where the fire burns up all the dross, and anoints with fresh oil; see to it that ye keep pure. God is separating us for Himself.

“…I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to gainsay nor resist” (Luke 21:15). The Holy Spirit will tell you in the moment what you shall say. The world will not understand you, and you will find as you go on with God that you do not under-stand fully. We cannot comprehend what we are saved to, or from. None can express the joy of God’s indwelling. The Holy Spirit can say through you the need of the moment. The world knoweth us not because it knew Him not.

“Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). A place of confidence in God, a place of prayer, a place of knowledge, that we have what we ask, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. Enoch before his translation had the testimony, he had been well-pleasing unto God. We overcome by believing.

Hold Fast to the Word!

1 Cor 15:1-2 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”   Not everything you hear from behind a pulpit is true! Not every minister is sent from God. Signs and wonders are not proof of a God-ordained ministry. How do we know this? Because it is in the Word of God, and it is because of these three things that we need to hold fast to the Word of God. It is because of these three things that we need to know the Scriptures for ourselves. We need to know the Word of God so well that when we hear something different we will get a check in our spirit. When we hear falsehood that inner buzzer or that light should go off and alert us that something is not right. We may not be able to recite book, chapter, and verse, but we will know intuitively that something is wrong. Let’s look at 2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.     The Apostle Peter is warning the Church that false prophets and teachers will arise and have already arisen. Peter links prophesying and teaching together and does so with the idea that both are a declaration of what God is saying or has said. Prophesy communicates that which God is saying to His Church and teaching is communicating and interpreting and making plain what God has already said. They are essentially inseparable. We have teachers in the Church expounding and making clear what God has already said by His prophets in the Scripture. We received the Scripture through prophecy or men being inspired by God to write down what He was saying, and now we have teachers in the Church explaining what God has said in His Word. Peter said that false prophets arose among the people, speaking of the Children of Israel, and that false teachers would arise from within the Church. Peter realized that there is more room for false doctrines and ideas to take root in the heart and mind of mankind when so-called logic and rationale is used to support what is being said, than a blanket statement of “Thus saith the Lord: such and such.” Peter describes the method of false teachers as “secretive”. It is not so much the blatant lie that Peter is worried about, it is that it is being done deceitfully. Most people can tell when there is a blatant lie…rat poison is rat poison and you aren’t going to sit down to a big bowl of rat poison and have it for breakfast, but you might if someone had deceived you and put rat poison in your coffee, cereal, and cornbread muffin! And this is what the false teachers were doing and are still doing today. You mean, there are false teachers today? Yes! Wherever God has sent the genuine, Satan will always send the counterfeit. Just because people say that they are delivering what God has spoken to them, does NOT guarantee that they are genuinely speaking for God. For a prophet is someone who speaks for another. Jeremiah was God’s prophet to Israel who told them that if they would not repent of their willful sin and open rebellion and rejection of God that God was going to punish them with the sword and famine and pestilence. But there were two voices in the land: the true prophet and the false prophets. Jeremiah 14:10-14 Thus says the LORD to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.” So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. “When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.” But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I [Jeremiah] said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, “You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name…”   Many times people will turn off their minds and just soak in some new teaching or idea just because someone is behind a pulpit and is speaking over a PA system, and saying “This is the Truth” and it sounds so good. We need to investigate the claims, the teachings, the ideas that they are giving and compare them with the Word of God. We mustn’t just take someone’s word for it, or just find one little Scripture that seemingly appears to back-up somehow what they are saying. It mustn’t be just one Scripture, it must be the whole of Scripture. Is it taught elsewhere, or demonstrated by Biblical characters? Talk it over with other believers, and not just the ones in your little camp or clique. Scripture says that in the counsel of many there is safety. Especially talk it over with those who are left in charge with your spiritual care and are concerned with your spiritual growth. And don’t be afraid to be wrong in your thinking, don’t be afraid to embarrassed that you have bought into a lie. It is better to go through alittle embarrassment than to live an entire lifetime believing a lie. Many times false teachers will preface their teaching with, “Now, you won’t hear this in any other church, and what I’m about to tell you may seem a little strange, but hear me out.” And it seems like some people just turn their brains off because they think, “Well here is this well meaning guy, and he seems like a good guy, he won’t lie to me.” But a genuine teacher, preacher, minister will admonish people to know the Scriptures for themselves, to search the Scriptures out on their own to see if what they are saying is true, because they know what they are presenting is Truth, and that they live in the Light, they aren’t trying to hide anything. Luke writes in the Book of Acts 17:10-12, “ The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.”   Luke doesn’t say that Paul and Silas got upset because the people were daily searching the Scriptures to see if what they were saying was true, but refers to them as noble-minded, because they did study it out. Luke said that they were examining the Scriptures daily. That Greek word for examine means to “to scrutinize, i.e. (by implication) investigate, interrogate, determine: KJV uses other synonyms such as- ask, question, discern, examine, judge, and search. In Christianity the Bereans were people who have always been known for their desire to know the truth and to seek it out. They were known for not believing everything they heard just because it was declared from behind a pulpit. No individual or group of people is your final authority. Only Scripture. Scripture is the final authority. It doesn’t matter what anyone says or how eloquently they say it or how good it sounds, or how much you may like it, if it not in the Word of God, then it is garbage. And garbage should be thrown out! I mentioned at the beginning that not every minister is sent from God. How do I know this? Well, let’s look in the Word. Go back to Jeremiah 14 verse 14 “Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”   Lets also look at Jer 23:16 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD. VERSE 21 says “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.   Jesus even spoke of false prophets and teachers. He said in Matt 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”   Jesus said that they would come in sheep’s clothing, but are really ravenous wolves. It would appear that they are legitimate followers of Christ, but they really are not. How will we know them then? By their fruit. Their teaching will line up 100% with whole counsel of Scripture. Their lives will be marked by holiness and Christ-likeness. You will know them by their fruit, not only the fruit of their personal lives, but also of their ministries. Do they bring confusion, teachings that divide or cause conflict? Do they show favoritism to the rich and affluent of society (in hopes that their pockets might bulge as well). Are they always talking about receiving this new car from God, or this big mansion, or this worldly possession or that worldly possession? Yes, its nice to have things, but what is the focus. Is their ministry there to serve them and get them things? Is it a means by which they increase wealth? Or is the ministry there to serve others, to equip the saints, to fulfill the Commission of Christ? Is it a means by which they increase souls in heaven? 2 Peter 2:3 says that false prophets and teachers, “in their greed will exploit you with false words.” They will tell you things that will woo and wow the crowd just to get a big offering. I once personally heard a minister say that God wasn’t happy with you unless you were rich and that’s why you needed to sow a big seed into his ministry, so God could make you rich. What’s the focus there? Is it on souls? Is it greater passion for Christ, a deeper reverence for Scripture? Or is it on money and the riches of this world that Jesus Himself said would rust and corrupt. Paul says to Timothy in 2 Tim 4:1-4 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.   Paul prophesies to Timothy that in the last days there will be those who will not endure sound doctrine, and they will pick out this preacher and that teacher and this minister who will give them what they want to hear. That term “endure” means to put up with. That in the last days people will not be satisfied with sound doctrine, but will be searching after some new teaching, some new revelation from God. But I’m here to tell you that there will be no new revelations, because we have the perfect revelation, right here in the Holy Word of God. So if someone starts preaching something you haven’t heard before, and you can’t find it clearly spelled out in Scripture, then throw it out in the garbage because they have not been sent by God! They may say God told me to tell you this and that, or God sent me but if you can’t find it in the Word, find yourself out the door (or the television off)! Not everything said from behind a pulpit is true, not everyone claiming to be sent from God really is, and signs and wonders do not prove a true ministry either! I know I just challenged some people’s theology right there! Signs and wonders are not the proof of a God-ordained ministry, but signs and wonders will follow those who believe. The using of gasoline for fuel is not the proof that an object is a car, but a car will use gasoline as fuel. Let’s look at Matt 24:24-25 again. Jesus warns that in the last days “false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so  as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. “Behold, I have told you in advance.”   He is warning that there will be people who will demonstrate signs and wonders, but the power to do so is not originating from God. He also says in Matt 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’   Matthew Henry, in his commentary on this passage says, “Grace will bring a man to heaven without working miracles, but working miracles will never bring a man to heaven without grace.” R.T. France of London Bible College states that “‘Charismatic’ activity is no substitute for obedience and a personal relationship with Jesus.” Just because someone has a “deliverance” ministry or “healing” ministry doesn’t mean that they have a right relationship with Christ. Just because someone can preach good, or even write deeply theological books does not guarantee a close intimacy with Christ. Romans 11:29 says that the gifts and calling of God is irrevocable. That means that the gifts will still operate and the minister will stand in the office to which God had called him, but that doesn’t say anything about his moral character. How many times have we seen ministries where people are getting saved and healed and delivered, and revival breaks out everywhere they set their feet, and then one day you hear that they’ve been caught in adultery, that they’ve embezzled from the church, or done some other heinous crime? In Mark 9:38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” Johns informs Jesus that there are others out there using His name to deliver people, but not following Him as one of His disciples. Jesus replies that he shouldn’t worry, because those who use His name will not soon be able to speak evil of Him. This, however, does not apply to those who once knew the Truth, followed Christ for a period, received gifts and calling into ministry, and then walked away. If we receive a ministry and its teaching just because the minister heals the sick and casts out devils then we are in danger. We must never allow signs and wonders to numb our minds and hearts. We must always be on alert. Don’t just believe some weird theology just because the lame walk and the blind see. We must hold fast to the Word. If they are preaching the Word and only the Word thenwe have nothing to fear. It all comes down to the Word of God. It is the sole foundation of our faith and practice and if anyone teaches something contrary throw it out in the garbage, even if they sound educated, claim they are sent from God, and perform signs and wonders. Many in the New Testament and even Christ Himself warned that false prophets and teachers would arise in their time and in the last days. And this is why Paul admonished in 1 Cor 15:1-2 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preachedto you, unless you believed in vain.” He also tells the Galatians in Gal 1:6-8 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

Bible Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The Bible Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit by Smith Wigglesworth There is much controversy today as regards the genuineness of this Pentecostal work, but there is nothing so convincing as the fact that over fifteen years ago a revival on Holy Ghost lines began and has never ceased. You will find that in every clime throughout the world God has poured out His Spirit in a remarkable way in a line parallel with the glorious revival that inaugurated the church of the first century. People, who could not understand what God was doing when He kept them concentrated in prayer, wondered as these days were being brought about by the Holy Ghost, and found themselves in exactly the same place and entering into an identical experience as the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. Our Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). God promised through the prophet Joel, “I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh… Upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.” As there is a widespread misconception concerning this receiving of the Holy Spirit, I believe the Lord would have us examine the Scriptures on this subject. You know, beloved, it had to be something on the line of solid facts to move me. I was as certain as possible that I had received the Holy Ghost, and was absolutely rigid in this conviction. When this Pentecostal outpouring began in England I went to Sunderland and met with the people who had assembled for the purpose of receiving the Holy Ghost. I was continually in those meetings causing disturbances until the people wished I had never come. They said that I was disturbing the whole conditions. But I was hungry and thirsty for God, and had gone to Sunderland because I heard that God was pouring out His Spirit in a new way. I heard that God had now visited His people, had manifested His power and that people were speaking in tongues as on the day of Pentecost. When I got to this place I said, “I cannot understand this meeting. I have left a meeting in Bradford all on fire for God. The fire fell last night and we were all laid out under the power of God. I have come here for tongues, and I don’t hear them-I don’t hear anything.” “Oh!” they said, “when you get baptized with the Holy Ghost you will speak in tongues.” “Oh, is that it?” said I, “when the presence of God came upon me, my tongue was loosened, and really I felt as I went in the open air to preach that I had a new tongue.” “Ah no,” they said, “that is not it.” “What is it, then?” I asked. They said, “When you get baptized in the Holy Ghost-” “I am baptized,” I interjected, “and there is no one here who can persuade me that I am not baptized.” So I was up against them arid they were up against me. I remember a man getting up and saying, “You know, brothers and sisters, I was here three weeks and then the Lord baptized me with the Holy Ghost and I began to speak with other tongues.” I said, “Let us hear it. That’s what I’m here for.” But he would not talk in tongues. I was doing what others are doing today, confusing the 12th of I Corinthians with the 2nd of Acts. These two chapters deal with different things, one with the gifts of the Spirit, and the other with the Baptism of the Spirit with the accompanying sign. I did not understand this and so I said to the man, “Let’s hear you speak in tongues.” But he could not. He had not received the “gift” of tongues, but the Baptism. As the days passed I became more and more hungry. I had opposed the meetings so much, but the Lord was gracious, and I shall ever remember that last day-the day I was to leave. God was with me so much that last night. They were to have a meeting and I went, but I could not rest. I went to the Vicarage, and there in the library I said to Mrs. Boddy, “I cannot rest any longer, I must have these tongues.” She replied, “Brother Wigglesworth, it is not the tongues you need but the Baptism. If you will allow God to baptize you, the other will be all right.” “My dear sister, I know I am baptized,” I said. “You know that I have to leave here at 4 o’clock. Please lay hands on me that I may receive the tongues.” She rose up and laid her hands on me and the fire fell. I said, “The fire’s falling.” Then came a persistent knock at the door, and she had to go out. That was the best thing that could have happened, for I was ALONE WITH GOD. Then He gave me a revelation. Oh, it was wonderful! He showed me an empty cross and Jesus glorified. I do thank God that the cross is empty, that Christ is no more on the cross. It was there that He bore the curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, and now, there He is in the glory. Then I saw that God had purified me. It seemed that God gave me a new vision, and I saw a perfect being within me with mouth open, saying, “Clean l Clean! Clean!” When I began to repeat it I found myself speaking in other tongues. The joy was so great that when I came to utter it my tongue failed, and I began to worship God in other tongues as the Spirit gave me utterance. It was all as beautiful and peaceful as when Jesus said, “Peace, be still!” and the tranquillity of that moment and the joy surpassed anything I had ever known up to that moment. But, Hallelujah l these days have grown with greater, mightier, more wonderful divine manifestations and power. That was but the beginning. There is no end to this kind of beginning. You will never get an end to the Holy Ghost till you are landed in the glory-till you are right in the presence of God forever. And even then w e shall ever be conscious of His presence. What had I received? I had received the Bible evidence. This Bible evidence is wonderful to me. I knew I had received the very evidence of the Spirit’s incoming that the Apostles received on the day of Pentecost. I knew that everything I had had up to that time was in the nature of an anointing bringing me in line with God in preparation, but now I knew I had the Biblical Baptism in the Spirit. It had the backing of the Scriptures. You are always right when you have the backing of the Scriptures and you are never right if you have not a foundation for your testimony in the Word of God. For many years I have thrown out a challenge to any person who can prove to me that he has the Baptism without speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance-to prove it by the Word that he has been baptized in the Holy Ghost without the Bible evidence, but so far no one has accepted the challenge. I only say this because so many were as I was; they have a rigid idea that they have received the Baptism without the Bible evidence. The Lord Jesus wants those who preach the Word to have the Word in evidence. Don’t be misled by anything else. Have a Bible proof for all you have, and then you will be in a place where no man can move you. I was so full of joy that I wired home to say that I had received the Holy Ghost. As soon as I got home, my boy came running up to me and said, “Father, have you received the Holy Ghost?” I said, “Yes, my boy.” He said, “Let’s hear you speak in tongues.” But I could not. Why? I had received the Baptism in the Spirit with the speaking in tongues as the Bible evidence according to Acts 2:4, and had not received the gift of Tongues according to 1 Corinthians 12. I had received the Giver of all gifts. At some time later when I was helping some souls to seek and receive the Baptism of the Spirit, God gave me the gift of Tongues so that I could speak at any time. I could speak, but will not - no never! I must allow the Holy Ghost to use the gift. It should be so, so that we shall have divine utterances only by the Spirit. I would be very sorry to use a gift, but the Giver has all power to use the whole nine gifts. I want to take you to the Scriptures to prove my position. There are business men here, and they know that in cases of law, where there are two clear witnesses they could win a case before any judge in Australia. On the clear evidence of two witnesses any judge will give a verdict. What has God given us? Three clear witnesses on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit-more than are necessary in law courts. The first is in Acts 2:4, “They were all filled with tile Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Here we have the original pattern. And God gave to Peter an eternal word that couples this experience with the promise that went before. “This is that.” And God wants you to have that nothing less than that. He wants you to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit according to this original Pentecostal pattern. In Acts 10 we have another witness. Peter is in the house of Cornelius. Cornelius had had a vision of a holy angel and had sent for Peter. A person said to me one day, “You don’t admit that I am filled and baptized with the Holy Ghost. Why, I was ten days and ten nights on my back before the Lord and He was flooding my soul with joy.” I said, “Praise the Lord, sister, that was only the beginning. The disciples were tarrying that time, and they were still, and the mighty power of God fell upon them then and the Bible tells what happened when the power fell. And that is just what happened in the house of Cornelius. The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.” What convinced these prejudiced Jews that the Holy Ghost had come? “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” There was no other way for them to know. This evidence could not be contradicted. It is the Bible evidence. We have heard two witnesses, and that is sufficient to satisfy the world. But God goes one better. Let us look at Acts 19:6, “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied.” These Ephesians received the identical Bible evidence as the Apostles at the beginning and they prophesied in addition. Three times the Scriptures show us this evidence of the Baptism in the Spirit. I do not magnify tongues. No, by God’s grace, I magnify the Giver of tongues. And I magnify above all Him whom the Holy Ghost has come to reveal to us, the Lord Jesus Christ. He it is who sends the Holy Spirit and I magnify Him because He makes no difference between us and those at the beginning. But what are tongues for? Look at the 2nd verse of 1 Cor. 14 and you will see a very blessed truth. Oh, Hallelujah! Have you been there, beloved? I tell you, God wants to take you there. “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” It goes on to say, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself.” Enter into the promises of God. It is your inheritance. You will do more in one year if you are really filled with the Holy Ghost than you could do in fifty years apart from Him.

Present-Time Blessings

Present-Time Blessings by Smith Wigglesworth Read with me the first twelve verses of Matthew 5, these verses that we generally call the “Beatitudes.” Some tell us that Matthew 5 is a millennial chapter and that we cannot attain to these blessings at the present time. I believe that every one who receives the Baptism in the Spirit has a real foretaste and earnest of millennial blessing, but that here the Lord Jesus is setting forth present-day blessings that we can enjoy here and now. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is one of the richest places into which Jesus brings us. The poor have a right to everything in heaven. “Theirs is.” Dare you believe it? Yes, I dare. I believe, I know, that I was very poor. When God’s Spirit comes in as the ruling, controlling power of the life, He gives us God’s revelation of our inward poverty, and shows us that God has come with one purpose, to bring heaven’s best to earth, and that with Jesus He will indeed “freely give us all things.” An old man and an old woman had lived together for seventy years. Someone said to them, “You must have seen many clouds during those days.” They replied, “Where do the showers come from? You never get showers without clouds.” It is only the Holy Ghost who can bring us to the place of realization of our poverty; but, every time He does it, He opens the windows of heaven and the showers of blessing fall. But I must recognize the difference between my own spirit and the Holy Spirit. My own spirit can do certain things on natural lines, can even weep and pray and worship, but it is all on a human plane, and we must not depend on our own human thoughts and activities or on our own personality. If the Baptism means anything to you, it should bring you to the death of the ordinary, where you are no longer putting faith in your own understanding; but, conscious of your own poverty, you are ever yielded to the Spirit. Then it is that your body becomes filled with heaven on earth.” “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” People get a wrong idea of mourning. Over in Switzerland they have a day set apart to take wreaths to graves. I laughed at the people’s ignorance and said, “Why are you spending time around the graves? The people you love are not there. All that taking of flowers to the graves is not faith at all.” Those who died in Christ are gone to be with Him, “which,” Paul said, “is far better.” My wife once said to me, “You watch me when I’m preaching. I get so near to heaven when I’m preaching that some day I’ll be off.” One night she was preaching and when she had finished, off she went. I was going to Glasgow and had said goodbye to her before she went to meeting. As I was leaving the house, the doctor and policeman met me at the door and told me that she had fallen dead at the Mission door. I knew she had got what she wanted. I could not weep, but I was in tongues, praising the Lord. On natural lines she was everything to me; but I could not mourn on natural lines, but just laughed in the Spirit. The house was soon filled with people. The doctor said, “She is dead, and we can do no more for her.” I went up to her lifeless corpse and commanded death to give her up, and she came back to me for a moment. Then God said to me, “She is Mine; her work is done.” I knew what He meant. They laid her in the coffin, and I brought my sons and my daughter into the room and said, “Is she there?” They said, “No, father.” I said, “We will cover her up.” If you go mourning the loss of loved ones who have gone to be with Christ, I say it in love to you, you have never had the revelation of what Paul spoke of when he showed us that it is better to go than to stay. We read this in Scripture, but the trouble is that people will not believe it. When you believe God, you will say, “Whatever it is, it is all right. If Thou dost want to take the one I love, it is all right, Lord.” Faith removes all tears of self-pity. But there is a mourning in the Spirit. God will bring you to a place where things must be changed, and there is a mourning, an unutterable groaning until God comes. And the end of all real faith always is rejoicing. Jesus mourned over Jerusalem. He saw the conditions, He saw the unbelief, He saw the end of those who closed their ears to the Gospel. But God gave a promise that He should see the travail of His soul and be satisfied, and that He should see His seed. What happened on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem was an earnest of what will be the results of His travail, to be multiplied a billionfold all down the ages in all the world. And as we enter in the Spirit into travail over conditions that are wrong, such mourning will ever bring results for God, and our joy will be complete in the satisfaction that is brought to Christ thereby. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Moses was headstrong in his zeal for his own people, and it resulted in his killing a man. His heart was right in his desire to correct things, but he was working on natural lines, and when we work on natural lines we always fail. Moses had a mighty passion, and that is one of the best things in the world when God has control and it becomes a passion for souls to be born again; but apart from God it is one of the worst things. Paul had it to a tremendous extent, and, breathing out threatenings, he was hailing men and women to prison. But God changed it, and later we find him wishing himself accursed from Christ for the sake of his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh. God took the headstrong Moses and moulded him into the meekest of men. He took the fiery Saul of Tarsus and made him the foremost exponent of grace. Oh, brothers, God can transform you in like manner, and plant in you a divine meekness and every other thing that you lack. In our Sunday school we had a boy with red hair. His head was as red as fire and so was his temper. He was such a trial. He kicked his teachers and the superintendent. He was simply uncontrollable. The teachers had a meeting in which they discussed the matter of expelling him. They thought that God might undertake for that boy and so they decided to give him another chance. One day he had to be turned out, and he broke all the windows of the mission. He was worse outside than in. Some time later we had a ten-days revival meeting. There was nothing much doing in that meeting and people thought it a waste of time, but there was one result–the redheaded lad got saved. After he was saved, the difficulty was to get rid of him at our house. He would be there until midnight crying to God to make him pliable and use him for His glory. God delivered the lad from his temper and made him one of the meekest, most beautiful boys you ever saw. For twenty years he has been a mighty missionary in China. God takes us just as we are and transforms us by His power. I can remember the time when I used to go white with rage, and shake all over with temper. I could hardly hold myself together. I waited on God for ten days. In those ten days I was being emptied out and the life of the Lord Jesus was being wrought into me. My wife testified of the transformation that took place in my life, “I never saw such a change. I have never been able to cook anything since that time that has not pleased him. Nothing is too hot or too cold, everything is just right.” God must come and reign supreme in your life. Will you let Him do it? He can do it, and He will if you will let Him. It is no use trying to tame the “old man.” But God can deal with him. The carnal mind will never be subjected to God, but God will bring it to the cross where it belongs, and will put in its place, the pure, the holy, the meek mind of the Master. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Note that word, “shall be filled.” If you ever see a “shall” in the Bible make it yours. Meet the conditions and God will fulfil His word to you. The Spirit of God is crying, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The Spirit of God will take of the things of Christ and show them to you in order that you may have a longing for Christ in His fullness, and when there is that longing, God will not fail to fill you. See that crowd of worshipers who have come up to the feast. They are going away utterly unsatisfied, but on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stands up and cries. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Jesus knew that they were going away without the living water, and so He directs them to the true source of supply. Are you thirsty today? The living Christ still invites you to Himself, and I want to testify that He still satisfies the thirsty soul and still fills the hungry with good things. In Switzerland, I learned of a man who met with the assembly of the Plymouth Brethren. He attended their various meetings, and one morning, at their breaking of bread service, he arose and said, “Brethren, we have the Word, and I feel that we are living very much in the letter of it, but there is a hunger and thirst in my soul for something deeper, something more real than we have, and I cannot rest until I enter into it.” The next Sunday this brother rose again and said, “We are all so poor here, there is no life in this assembly, and my heart is hungry for reality.” He did this for several weeks until it got on the nerves of those people and they protested. “Sands, you are making us all miserable. You are spoiling our meetings, and there is only one thing for you to do, and that is to clear out.” That man went out of the meeting in a very sad condition. As he stood outside, one of his children asked him what was the matter, and he said, “To think that they should turn me out from their midst for being hungry and thirsty for more of God!” I did not know anything of this until afterward. Some days later someone rushed up to Sands and said, “There is a man over here from England, and he is speaking about tongues and healing.” Sands said, “I’ll fix him. I’ll go to the meeting and sit right up in the front and challenge him with the Scriptures. I’ll dare him to preach these things in Switzerland. I’ll publicly denounce him.” So he came to the meetings. There he sat. He was so hungry and thirsty that he drank in every word that was said. His opposition soon petered out. The first morning he said to a friend, “This is what I want.” He drank and drank of the Spirit. After three weeks he said, “God will have to do something now or I’ll burst.” He breathed in God and the Lord filled him to such an extent that he spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. Sands is now preaching, and is in charge of a new Pentecostal assembly. God is making people hungry and thirsty after His best. And everywhere He is filling the hungry and giving them that which the disciples received at the very beginning. Are you hungry? If you are, God promises that you shall be filled.

Gifts of Healing and Miracles

“GIFTS OF HEALINGS, AND MIRACLES”  by Smith Wigglesworth

  God has given us much in these last days, and where much is given much will be required. The Lord has said to us, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” We see a thought on the same line when our Lord Jesus says, “If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” On the other hand He tells us, “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” If we do not move on with the Lord these days, and do not walk in the light of revealed truth, we shall become as the savorless salt, as a withered branch. This one thing we must do, forgetting those things that are behind, the past failures and the past blessings, we must reach forth for those things which are before, and press toward the mark for the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

      For many years the Lord has been moving me on and keeping me from spiritual stagnation. When I was in the Wesleyan Methodist Church I was sure I was saved and was sure I was all right. The Lord said to me, “Come out,” and I came out. When I was with the people known as the Brethren I was sure I was all right now. But the Lord said, “Come out.” Then I went into the Salvation Army. At that time it was full of life and there were revivals everywhere. But the Salvation Army went into natural things and the great revivals that they had in those early days ceased. The Lord said to me, “Come out,” and I came out. I have had to come out three times since. I believe that this Pentecostal revival that we are now in is the best thing that the Lord has on the earth today, and yet I believe that God has something out of this that is going to be still better. God has no use for any man who is not hungering and thirsting for yet more of Himself and His righteousness.

      The Lord has told us to covet earnestly the best gifts, and we need to be covetous for those that will bring Him most glory. We need to see the gifts of healing and the working of miracles in operation today. Some say that it is necessary for us to have the gift of discernment in operation with the gifts of healing, but even apart from this gift I believe the Holy Ghost will have a divine revelation for us as we deal with the sick. Most people seem to have discernment, or think they have, and if they would turn it on themselves for twelve months they would never want to discern again. The gift of discernment is not criticism. I am satisfied that in Pentecostal circles