Pioneers of the Faith
"PIONEERS OF THE FAITH
SECTION"
“The Words of This Life”
By
Smith Wigglesworth
Bible Reading-Acts 5:1-20.
Notice this expression that the Lord gives of the Gospel message-"the
words of this life." It is the most wonderful life possible-the life
of faith in the Son of God. This is the life where God is all the time.
He is round about and He is within. It is the life of many revelations
and of many manifestations of God's Holy Spirit, a life in which the Lord
is continually seen, known, felt and heard. It is a life without death,
for "we have passed from death unto life." The very life of
God has come within us. Where that life is within in its fullness, disease
cannot exist. It would take me a month to tell out what there is in this
wonderful life. Everyone can go in and possess and be possessed by this
life.
It is possible for you to be within the vicinity of this life and yet
miss it. It is possible for you to be in a place where God is pouring
out His Spirit and yet miss the blessing that God is so willing to bestow.
It all comes through shortness of revelation and through a misunderstanding
of the infinite grace of God, and of the "God of all grace,"
who is willing to give to all who will reach out the hand of faith. This
life that He freely bestows is a gift. Some think they have to earn it
and they miss the whole thing. Oh, for a simple faith to receive all that
God so lavishly offers. You can never be ordinary from the day you receive
this life from above. You become extraordinary, filled with the extraordinary
power of our extraordinary God.
Ananias and Sapphira were in this thing and yet they missed it. They thought
that possibly the thing might fail. So they wanted to have a reserve for
themselves in case it did turn out to be a failure. They were in the wonderful
revival that God gave to the early church and yet they missed it. There
are many people like them today who make vows to God in times of a great
crisis in their lives. But they fail to keep their vows and in the end
they become spiritually bankrupt. Blessed is the man who will swear to
his own hurt and change not; who keeps the vow he has made to God; who
is willing to lay his all at God's feet. The man who does this never becomes
a lean soul. God has promised to "make fat his bones." There
is no dry place for such a man; he is always fat and flourishing, and
he becomes stronger and stronger. It pays to trust God with all and to
make no reservation.
I wish I could make you see how great a God we have. Ananias and Sapphira
really doubted God and were questioning whether this work that He had
begun would go through. They wanted to get some glory for selling their
property, but because of their lack of faith they kept back part of the
price in reserve in case the work of God should fail.
Many doubt whether this Pentecostal revival will go through. Do you think
this Pentecostal work will stop? Never. For fifteen years I have been
in constant revival and I am sure that it will never stop. When George
Stephenson made his first engine he took his sister Mary to see it. She
looked at it and said to her brother, "George, it'll never go."
He said to her, "Get in, Mary." She said again, "It'll
never go." He said to her, "We'll see, you get in." Mary
at last got in-the whistle blew, there was a puff and a rattle, and the
engine started off. Then Mary cried out, "George, it'll never stop!
It'll never stop!"
People are looking on at this Pentecostal revival and they are very critical
and they are saying, "It'll never go;" but when they are induced
to come into the work, they one and all say, "It'll never stop."
This revival of God is sweeping on and on and there is no stopping the
current of life, of love, of inspiration, and of power.
(Interpretation; It is the living Word who has brought this. It is the
Lamb in the midst, the same yesterday, today and forever.)
God has brought unlimited resources for everyone. Do not doubt. Hear with
the ear of faith. God is in the midst. See that it is God who bath set
forth that which you see and hear today.
I want you to see that in the early church, controlled by the power of
the Holy Ghost, it was not possible for a lie to exist. The moment it
came into the church, there was instant death. And as the power of the
Holy Ghost increases in these days of the Latter Rain, it will be impossible
for any man to remain in our midst with a lying spirit. God will purify
the church; the Word of God will be in such power in healing and other
spiritual manifestations, that great fear will be upon all those who see
the same.
It seems to the natural mind a small thing for Ananias and Sapphira to
want to have a little to fail back on; but I want to tell you that you
can please God, and you can get things from God, only ova the line of
a living faith. God never fails. God never can fail.
When I was in Bergen, Norway, there came to the meeting a young woman
who was employed at the hospital as a nurse. A big cancer had developed
on her nose, and the nose was enlarged and had become black and greatly
inflamed. She came out for prayer and I said to her, "What is your
condition?" She said, "I dare not touch my nose, it gives me
so much pain." I said to all the people, "I want you to look
at this nurse and notice her terrible condition. I believe that our God
is merciful and that He is faithful, and that He will bring to naught
this condition that the devil has brought about. I am going to curse this
disease in the all powerful name of Jesus. The pain will go. I believe
God will give us an exhibition of His grace and I will ask this young
woman to come to the meeting tomorrow night and declare what God has done
for her."
Oh, the awfulness of sin! Oh, the awfulness of the power of sin! Oh, the
awfulness of the consequences of the fall! When I see a cancer I always
know it is an evil spirit. I can never believe it is otherwise. The same
with tumors. Can this be the work of God? God help me to show you that
this is the work of the devil, and to show you the way out.
I do not condemn people that sin. I don't scold people. I know what is
back of the sin. I know that Satan is always going about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. I always remember the patience and love
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When they brought to Him a woman that they had
taken in adultery, telling Him that they had caught her in the very act,
He simply stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then He quietly said,
"He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."
I have never seen a man without sin. "All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God." But I read in this blessed Gospel message that
God bath laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all; so, when I see an evil
condition, I feel that I must stand in my office and rebuke the condition.
I laid my hands on the nose of that suffering nurse and cursed the evil
power that was causing her so much distress.
The next night the place was packed and the people were jammed together,
so that it seemed that there was not room for one more to come into that
house. How God's rain fell upon us. How good God is, so full of grace
and so full of love. I saw the nurse in the audience and I asked her to
come forward. She came and showed everyone what God had done. He had perfectly
healed her. Oh, I tell you He is just the same Jesus. He is just the same
today. All things are possible if you dare to trust God.
When the power of God came so mightily upon the early church, even in
the death of Ananias and Sapphira, great fear came upon all the people.
And when we are in the presence of God, when God is working mightily in
our midst, there comes a great fear, a reverence, a holiness of life,
a purity that fears to displease God. We read that no man durst join them,
but God added to the church such as should be saved. I would rather have
God add to our Pentecostal church than have the entire town join it. God
added daily to His own church.
The next thing that happened was that people became so assured that God
was working that they knew that anything would be possible, and they brought
their sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at
least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow them. Multitudes
of sick people and those oppressed with evil spirits were brought to the
apostles and God healed them every one. I do not believe that it was the
shadow of Peter that healed, but the power of God was mightily present
and the faith of the people was so aroused that they joined with one heart
to believe God. God will always meet people on the line of faith.
God's tide is rising all over the earth. I had been preaching at Stavanger
in Norway, and was very tired and wanted a few hours rest. I went to my
next appointment, arriving at about 9:30 in the morning. My first meeting
was to be at night. I said to my interpreter, "After we have had
something to eat, let us go down to the fjords." We spent three or
four hours down by the sea and at about 4:30 returned. We found the end
of the street, which has a narrow entrance, just filled with autos, wagons,
etc., containing invalids and sick people of every kind. I went up to
the house and was told that the house was full of sick people. It reminded
me of the scene described in the fifth chapter of Acts. I began praying
for the people in the street and God began to heal the people. How wonderfully
He healed those people who were in the house. We sat down for a lunch
and the telephone bell rang and someone at the other end was saying, "What
shall we do? The town hall is already full; the police cannot control
things."
In that little Norwegian town the people were jammed together, and oh,
how the power of God fell upon us. A cry went up from every one, "Isn't
this the revival?"
Revival is coming. The breath of the Almighty is coming. The breath of
God shows up every defect, and as it comes flowing in like a river, everybody
will need a fresh anointing, a fresh cleansing of the blood. You can depend
upon it that that breath is upon us.
At one time I was at a meeting in Ireland. There were many sick carried
to that meeting and helpless ones were helped there. There were many people
in that place who were seeking for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Some
of them had been seeking for years. There were sinners there who were
under mighty conviction. There came a moment when the breath of God swept
through the meeting. In about ten minutes every sinner in the place was
saved. Everyone who had been seeking the Holy Spirit was baptized, and
every sick one was healed. God is a reality and His power can never fail.
As our faith reaches out, God will meet us and the same rain will fall.
It is the same blood that cleanseth, the same power, the same Holy Ghost,
and the same Jesus made real through the power of the Holy Ghost. What
would happen if we should believe God?
Right now the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is efficacious to
cleanse your heart and bring this life, this wonderful life of God, within
you. The blood will make you every whit whole if you dare believe. The
Bible is full of entreaty for you to come and partake and receive the
grace, the power, the strength, the righteousness, and the full redemption
of Jesus Christ. He never fails to hear when we believe.
At one place where I was, a lame man was brought to me who had been in
bed for two years, with no hope of recovery. He was brought thirty miles
to the meeting, and he came up on crutches to be prayed for. His boy was
also afflicted in the knees and they had four crutches between the two
of them. The man's face was filled with torture. There is healing virtue
in the Lord and He never fails to heal when we believe. In the name of
Jesus-that name so full of virtue-I put my hand down that leg that was
so diseased. The man threw down his crutches and all were astonished as
they saw him walking up and down without aid. The little boy called out
to his father, "Papa, me; papa, me, me, me!" The little boy
who was withered in both knees wanted a like touch. And the same Jesus
was there to bring a real deliverance for the little captive. He was completely
healed.
These were legs that were touched. If God will stretch out His mighty
power to loose afflicted legs, what mercy will He extend to that soul
of yours that must exist forever? Hear the Lord say, "The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because be hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance
to the captive, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised." He invites you, "Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." God is
willing in His great mercy to touch thy limbs with His mighty vital power,
and if He is willing to do this, how much more anxious is He to deliver
thee from the power of Satan and to make thee a child of the King. How
much more necessary it is for you to be healed of your soul sickness than
of your bodily ailments. And God is willing to give the double cure.
I was passing through the city of London one time, and Mr. Mundell, the
secretary of the Pentecostal Missionary Union, learned that I was there.
He arranged for me to meet him at a certain place at 3:30 p. m. I was
to meet a certain boy whose father and mother lived in the city of Salisbury.
They had sent this young man to London to take care of their business.
He had been a leader in Sunday school work but he had been betrayed and
had fallen. Sin is awful and the wages of sin is death. But there is another
side-the gift of God is eternal life.
This young man was in great distress; he had contracted a horrible disease
and feared to tell anyone. There was nothing but death ahead for him.
When the father and mother got to know of his condition they suffered
inexpressible grief.
When we got to the house, Brother Mundell suggested, that we get down
to prayer. I said, "God does not say so, we are not going to pray
yet. I want to quote a scripture, 'Fools, because of their transgression,
and because of their iniquities, are afflicted: their soul abhorreth all
manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death."' The
young man cried out, "I am that fool." He broke down and told
us the story of his fall. Oh, if men would only repent, and confess their
sins, how God would stretch out His hand to heal and to save. The moment
that young man repented, a great abscess burst, and God sent virtue into
his life, giving him a mighty deliverance.
God is gracious and not willing that any should perish. How many are willing
to make a clean breast of their sins? I tell you that the moment you do
this, God will open heaven. It is an easy thing for Him to save your soul
and heal your disease if you will but come and shelter today in the secret
place of the Most High. He will satisfy you with long life and show you
His salvation. In His presence there is fullness of joy, at His right
hand there are pleasures forevermore. There is full redemption for all
through the precious blood of the Son of God.
Listen to our Broadcast
