Published in the Pentecostal Evangel, October 28, 1922.

Recently the office of the Missionary Treasurer was visited by an evangelist of international note, a man who has been especially honored of God in praying for the sick. Real miracles of healing have followed him wherever he has gone. We had not talked with him long until we discovered the secret of his power.

This man of God is not reaching out after things for himself, but he has put God first in everything. The work of the Lord is the chief concern of his life. He is tremendouslv concerned that the Gospel be given to as many as possible before the Lord comes. He stated to us, “I am not concerned about myself, for the Lord will take care of me. But I will not consent to hold a campaign unless I am given the privilege of taking a missionary offering. God has given me a ministry of faith and I must use it for the glory of God.”

Some evangelists seem to think that missions and evangelism do not go well together. They seem to feel that unless every effort is made to raise money for the expenses of the meeting that they will not be met and the campaign will be a financial failure. But here is an evangelist who has proven that when Missions are put to the front, God takes care of the running expenses of the campaign and his own needs as well. It has been a real inspiration to meet such a man.

The evangelist referred to is Smith Wigglesworth, who is just now opening a campaign in the Convention Hall, in cooperation with the Assembly of God at Springfield, Mo.

Labels: 1922, Pentecostal Evangel

From the Pentecostal Evangel, March 23, 1946.

In the second chapter of Mark we have the wonderful story of the healing of the one sick of the palsy who was laid at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Christ spoke a word, “and immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, and wants to manifest Himself in our midst in a similar way. It is His purpose that signs and wonders shall be seen in our midst, and men shall go away and declare, “We never saw it on this fashion.”

God wants the gifts of healings and the working of miracles to be seen in our midst. In the book of Acts we read, “There came also a multitude out of the cities round about Jerusalem bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits and they were healed every one.” God wants us to move on into a Pentecostal experience where we shall see this happen in every meeting.

I believe that if there is anything that God is dissatisfied with, it is our settling down into a stationary condition. We stop on the threshold, when God in His great plan is inviting us into His treasury. Oh, this treasury of the Most High, the unsearchable riches of Christ, this divine position which God wants to move us into, so that we are altogether a new creation, the old self-life having passed away, where we are dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

There is one thing that hinders, and that is the carnal mind, which is enmity against God. But there is a glorious victory over carnality through the cross of Christ. My Bible tells me that my old man with all his carnality was crucified with Christ. At the cross of Christ there is victory complete and full over all the old self-life. God wants us to know the resurrection power of the Lord, and to bring us into a place of rest, of faith, of joy and peace and blessing and of fulness of life; the very same Spirit which raised up Christ from the dead quickening our mortal bodies so that we are full and overflowing with the life of Christ Himself.

May the Lord give us a new vision of Himself, and such a fulness of His divine life that we will shake off all that remains of the old life. Let us pray that He may bring us fully into all the newness of life. May He reveal to us the greatness of His will concerning us for there is no one who loves us as Jesus, there is no love like His, no compassion like His. He is filled with love and never fails to take those who fully obey Him into the promised land.

Beloved, in God’s Word there is always more to follow, always more than we can know, and if we will allow the Spirit of God to take us into all that is in the mind of God for us, what wonderful things will happen. Do not merely take a part of the Bible, take it all. When we get such a thirst upon us that nothing can satisfy us but God, we have a royal time.

If you are a child of God do not be satisfied with anything less than reality all the time. God has His hidden treasures for those who seek Him. Are you dry? There is no dry place in God, but all the good things come out of hard times. The harder the place you are in, the more blessedness can come out of it, as you yield to His plan. God is so abundant, so full of love and mercy; there is no lack to them that trust in Him.

It is an ideal thing to get people to believe, when they ask, that they shall receive, for Christ has said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” It must be so, when God says it.

In the case of this man with the palsy, we see a helpless man, so infirm that he could not help himself to get to the place where Jesus was. Four men, whose hearts were full of compassion, carried the man to the house, but the house was full. I can see that house today as it was filled, jammed and crammed, just as I have seen houses in Mexico, in Switzerland, in Sweden, in Norway, and in Denmark. The places have been packed to hear the word of our Savior. There was no room even by the door. It was crowded inside and crowded outside.

The men who were carrying the palsied man said, “What shall we do?” But there is always a way. I have never found faith to fail, never once. Do not accept opposition. Believe through. There is always a way. May God the Holy Ghost give us a new touch of faith in God’s unlimited power to remove every obstacle, and bring us to the place where we have such a living faith that we dare to trust Him and say, “Lord, I do believe.”

There was no room, not so much as by the door. But these men said, “Let’s go up on the housetop.” Unbelievers would say, “Oh, that’s ridiculous!” But the men of faith declared, “We must get this poor fellow in at all costs. It is nothing to remove the roof. Let’s go up and go through.” That is the spirit that we must have. These men said in their hearts, “Let’s drop him right into the arms of Jesus, and He will fix him up.”

O beloved, that is a lovely thing to do, to drop right out of your self-righteous unbelief, right into the arms of Christ, who will meet every need of yours for spirit, soul, and body. I find some people who have been in a strange place of deadness for years; but press through to our lovely Christ and He will shake you out of it. He can make perfection out of imperfection by His wondrous loving touch.

I tell you, my sister, my brother, that when Christ’s blood was shed, He paid the full price and met all the world’s needs. Truly our Lord Jesus has met the need of the broken hearts and the sorrowful spirits, and also the withered limbs and the broken bodies. God’s dear Son paid the debt for all, for He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. In all points He was tempted like as we are, in order that He might be able to succor them that are tempted.

I want to make Him real to you so that you will say, “He is my only salvation, He is my only life, He is my only help.” Oh, thank God! He has triumphed over all the power of hell. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, and He heals all that come to Him. Even though your faith may be tested, believe, and continue to believe. He never fails. In Him there is full redemption. He is still the same blessed Jesus, under the same mighty anointing filled with the Holy Ghost and with power, just as He was when He went about doing good in the days of His flesh, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.

As the palsied man is let down through the roof there is a great commotion, and all the people are gazing up at this strange sight. We read, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” What did the forgiveness of sins have to do with the healing of this man? It had everything to do with it. Sin is at the root of disease. May the Lord cleanse us from outward sin and from inbred sin, and take away from us all that hinders the power of God from working through us.

The scribes reasoned in their hearts, “Who can forgive sins but God only?” Christ answered the thoughts of their hearts by saying, “Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.”

Christ had seen the weakness of that man and his helplessness. He saw also the faith of these four men. There is something in it for us today. Many people will not be saved unless some of you are used to stir them up. Do not say with Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We have a responsibility towards our brethren, we must take them to Jesus. When these men carried the palsied man, they pressed through until he could hear the voice of the Son of God, and liberty came to the captive. The man became strong by the power of God, arose, took up his bed, and went forth before them all.

Beloved, I have seen wonderful things like this wrought by the power of God. We must never think about our God on small lines. He spoke one day and made the world from things which did not appear. That is the kind of God we have, and He is just the same today. There is no change in Him. Oh, He is lovely and precious above all thought of comparison. There is none like Him. Let us remember this. He has declared, “The just shall live by faith,” and nothing will profit you but that which you take by faith. God wants you to come into a close and intimate place with Himself, where you will believe and claim the promises, for they are Yea and Amen to all that believe.

Let us thank God for this full gospel which is not hidden under a bushel today. Let us thank Him that He is bringing out the gospel to us as in the days of His flesh. God is all the time working right in the very midst of us. Beloved, there is greater blessing for you than you ever received in your life. Do you believe it? Will you receive it?

Labels: 1946, Pentecostal Evangel

Published in the Pentecostal Evangel, October 19, 1946.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” 1 John 3:1.

God does not dwell in temples made with hands; but our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost. We read in Isaiah 57:15, “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

The place in which we worship does not matter much, but the manner in which we worship is of utmost importance. Christ told us, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” How much we need the Holy Spirit to bring us into the kind of spiritual worship that will bring joy to the heart of our heavenly Father, who delights to receive the worship of His blood-bought children.

He wants us to come to a place of undisturbed rest and peace. Only simple faith will bring us there. Christ said, “Except ye... become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Not that we should have a child’s mind, but a child’s spirit of meekness and gentleness. It is the only plane upon which we can meet God.

How my heart cries out for a living faith, for a deep vision of God. The world cannot produce it. There is a place of vision where we see the Lord, where we have Him set always before us. And when we pray, we know that He hears us. We make our requests to God and believe for the answer, knowing no fear, and having a living faith as we come into the presence of God. In His wonderful presence we find fulness of joy, and at His right hand there are eternal pleasures.

God is looking for a people to whom He can reveal Himself. I used to have a tremendous temper, getting white with passion. I was difficult to please at the table. My wife was a good cook, but according to my judgment there was always something wrong with the food. God knew that I could never be of any service to the world until I become wholly sanctified. But after God sanctified me, I heard my wife testify in meeting that from that time on I was pleased with everything. I had men working for me, and I wanted to be a good testimony to them. One day they waited after work was over and said to me, “We would like to have the spirit that you have.”

We read in 1 John 2:6, “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” Abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in us, our actions, all controlled by the blessed Holy Spirit, must be just like those of our Lord Jesus when He was upon the earth. There is a place of death and life where we become dead indeed unto sin in our daily reckoning, but we reckon ourselves alive unto God, and we let Christ reign in our body. Then all is well.

The Word of God is a stimulant to our faith. The Lord would have us all come into a new place of grace, that all may see us as new creatures in Christ Jesus, all the old things of the flesh done away and all things become new and all things of God.

Note the word “behold” at the beginning of our text. What does it mean? It means that the Holy Spirit is arousing our attention. He has something special to say. He wants us to pay attention to the fact that our loving Father in heaven has bestowed such grace upon us that believe, that He calls us sons. He wants us, in likeness, in character, in spirit, in longings, in acts, to be made like unto His own beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. He purposes that we should be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

You can reach this altitude only by faith. No man can keep himself. The old nature is too difficult to manage. You have been ashamed of it many times. However, God can change you. He will operate upon you by His power and will make you an entirely new creation, if you will only believe. Then you can have this testimony: “I am kept by the power of God.” The Almighty will stretch His covering over you, and you will know what it is to be able to do all things through Christ who strengtheneth you. For all things are possible to him that believeth.

Christ says to us, “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” The world has no rest. It is full of trouble. But in Christ there is a peace that passeth understanding, and from Him there is an inward flow of divine power that changes your own nature until you live, move, and act in the power of God. The Scripture says, “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.”

I will give you an illustration of this. I have lived in one house for sixty years. I have preached from my own doorstep, and all the people in our neighborhood know me. They know me when they need someone to pray for them, when they are in trouble, or when they are in any special need. But when they call their friends, do they call me? No! Why? They would say, “He is sure to want a prayer meeting, but we want to finish up with a dance.” Wherever Jesus came, sin was revealed, and men did not like sin revealed. But it is sin that separates from God forever.

You are in a good place when you become sensitive to the least sin and weep before God, repenting over the least thing in which you have grieved Him. You may have spoken unkindly; you realize that it was not like the Lord, and your conscience has taken you to prayer. It is a wonderful thing to have a keen conscience. It is when we are close to God that our hearts are revealed to us; it is then we learn to loathe ourselves, and the Holy Spirit turns us to Christ. We take Him to be our righteousness and our holiness. God intends us to live in purity. He has said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” And the pure in heart can see Him all the time in everything.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” That is God’s standard. Don’t accept a lower one. Our Lord, who died for us, became poor that we might be made rich, that we might be made pure, that we may be made holy. What an offering! He suffered for us, He died for us. He was buried, but rose again, and is now living for us. How we should love Him! What a privilege to know that you may be a son of God now! How simple it is. It is written, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” When we believe, we receive Him. When we receive Him, anything may take place, for all power is given unto Him.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “In everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge.... Come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God wants us to be enriched with utterance for Him, so that everywhere we go we are joyous witnesses of the goodness of the Lord. Wherever I am, whether traveling by train or ship, I preach to the people. It is God’s plan for me. On board ship, the captain hears, the sailors hear, and the stewards hear. “Oh,” they say, “we have another on board!” The world thinks there is something wrong with you if you are full of zeal for God.

One time, on board ship, a young man came to me and asked me to take part in a sweepstake. I said to him, “I am preaching on Sunday. Will you come if I do?” He said, “No!” Later there was an entertainment. I said I would take part. It was the strangest thing for me. I said I would sing. I saw men dressed as clergymen entertaining the people with foolishness. I was troubled. I cried out to God. Then came my turn, just before the dance. A young woman came to take my book and accompany me. She was only half dressed. She said, “I can’t play that!” I said, “Never worry.” Then I sang, “If I could only tell you how I love Him, I am sure that you would make Him yours today!” There was no dance. A number began to weep, and six young men gave their hearts to God in my cabin.

No man that sins has power. Sin makes a man weak. Sin dethrones, but purity strengthens. Temptation is not sin. The devil is a liar, and he will try to take away your peace. But we must always live in the Word of God and on that scripture which tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” If Christ condemns you not, who is he that can condemn you? Do not condemn yourself. If there is anything wrong, confess it out and then come to the blood of Jesus Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

You can come into a new experience in God, with all fear gone. You can live in a new realm—among the sons of God with power. “If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in His sight.”

Not long ago I received a wire asking me if I would go to Liverpool. There was a woman with cancer and gallstones, and she was very much discouraged. If I know God is sending me, my faith rises. The woman said, “I have no hope.” I said, “Well, I have not come from Bradford to go home with a bad report.” God said to me, “Establish her in the fact of the new birth.” When she had the assurance that her sin was gone and she was born again, she said, “That’s everything to me. The cancer is nothing now. I have got Jesus.” The battle was won. God delivered her from her sin, from her sickness, and she was free, up and dressed, and happy in Jesus. When God speaks, it is as a nail in a sure place.

Will you believe, and will you receive Him? Life and immortality is ours in the gospel. This is our inheritance through the blood of Jesus—life for evermore!

Labels: 1946, Pentecostal Evangel