This sermon emphasizes the importance of faith, healing, and the power of God's Word. It shares stories of miraculous healings, the impact of faith in action, and the necessity of being men and women of the Book, rooted in the Word of God. The speaker highlights the intimate relationship with Jesus that Smith Wigglesworth had, leading to holy boldness and supernatural encounters.

When I was going to hospital for open-heart surgery, some of you have heard this, but I feel I should share it tonight. God spoke to my heart from Deuteronomy, underneath of the everlasting arms. And the first eight verses. Who shall judge the quick and the dead, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day? Not to me only, but unto all men, I be sure. God himself has condescended to teach us the way, to burn their libraries. For a long time, and he said, you know, having obtained missionary to Congo, he was the international missions director for the Elam churches in England. And so he stopped the whole proceed. Spurgeon had been right on beam on the first point. And Wigglesworth discerned it straight away. I never says an important thing. I think today we're just to the flesh. And we get built up, built up the book, and we get diluted more and more and more. I will get some of the great master books on the doctrines and get hold of those. But principally, get hold of the word of God. Mrs. Charles Common was the writer of that delightful devotional book, Streams in the Desert. She wrote other books as well. She was the wife and then the widow of a missionary. And when she died, they found this on the fly teachers. There's a need for teachers, and there's a balanced position that Wigglesworth had regarding the teaching ministry. But it's also wonderfully possible for the simplest saint to read the word of God and to have the same psalm. Oh, how I love thy vestiment is on my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts. I have a friend I knew 50 years ago, Percy G. Parker. And he told me something interesting. He said, you know, there was an experience in my life when I accepted the Holy Spirit as my teacher as definitely as I accepted Jesus as my Savior. And when I accepted him as my teacher, he began to open. The consequence was that I remained a babe. I think this story could be apocryphal, but it sounds like Wigglesworth, and it was before you. Well, in this English home, they provided Wigglesworth with bacon for breakfast, and they didn't ask him, so he had it. Well, it sounds like Wigglesworth to me because I knew him so well. One of his sayings was this. Some people like to read their Bibles in the Hebrew. Some like to read their Bibles in the Greek. I like to read my Bible in the Holy Ghost. I said, what do you mean? It's just this way of that verse. God chose me. I'm a child of God. And he was tremendous. Somehow more the life and the spirit of God. He never did anything for impression. He did everything. Become a man, a woman of one book. And could I put one other thing? Properly in public. One of the most vital in the church where he attended when he had come to later years. I'll sing till you read it tonight. And that meant more to me than if she'd said anything about my message. It was the reading of the Word of God that communicated its meaning. And so as you soak yourself in the Word of God, you will teach it. If you talk to young people, if you become a preacher or an evangelist or a pastor, learn to read the Word of God and make it a joy for people to listen to you read the Word of God. I shouldn't have put that in, but I did. Is it all right? Thank you. Well, it's done now, isn't it? But I do challenge you in Jesus' name. Smith Riddlesworth is the apostle of faith. When Stanley Forgson, who was at that time editor of the Pentecostal Evangel for the Assemblies of God of America, wanted to write a book, he discussed it with James Salter and Alice, Salter's wife. Alice was Riddlesworth's daughter. They traveled a lot with Riddlesworth. And they gave all the information that was put into the life story that you read in Smith Riddlesworth, apostle of faith. And when it came to a title, that seemed to Forgson, that's the only title, apostle of faith. Right from an early age, he was sensitive to God. But I want to tell you something to encourage you. He didn't start off with big faith. Some people think that he was a special man, and he did become special. But he used to say, I never jumped into big faith. It grew. It was something that had to develop. Then the ear. Then the ear. Then the full corn in the ear. And this friend said, it seemed so simple at the time. But it opened to us this simple, beautiful thought that faith can grow. The purpose of God that he had for Riddlesworth's life. He was just nine miles away. And he would take them across every week to a meeting that was being held for the healing of the sick. And they said to Riddlesworth, we want you to conduct the service. But he said, I can't. And Riddlesworth was on the spot. First, he said, was a big Scotsman on sticks. And he said, I didn't know how to pray, but I put my hands on him and prayed, Lord, heal him. And his face was covered with saturating sores. It was a horrible sight. She had been discharged from Birmingham Hospital as incurable. And so she said, would you pray for her? And I'd never prayed for the sick. And sort of trying to get out of it, I said to the little girl, do you believe that Jesus will heal you? She said, yes, sir. And I had to pray for her. So I put my hands on him tremblingly. We have this great faith that we can do it with authority. And we are impressive. One day he was going to pray for a young woman, and her baby. And there was violence. And the violence, take it in his faith. I told you this morning that that violence was connected with his fist at times. And he would smite people as he prayed for them. But behind that smiting was the faith that believed God would deliver. He took Mark 11.22, which you know says in the King James Version, have faith in God. But the margin has it, have the faith of God. And he linked that with Galatians 2, the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. And Riddlesworth's interpretation was this, that that means you have to get God's own faith. The God kind of faith. Charles Price, Dr. Charles S. Price, who was so mightily used of God, also followed this line. And he had a sermon on faith based on Hebrews 12.2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. And Dr. Price used to point out that all the theme of Hebrews is better. We have a better priest, we have a better governor, we have a better sacrifice. We have, and so Price used to teach, we have a better faith. And that's the faith that comes as God's gift. Some people who were superior in their exegesis of scripture said that's not sound exegesis. But the more you look into it, the more you realize there's some evidence of truth there. But I'll tell you something. Sometimes the people who knew all the rules didn't do anything with them. And Riddlesworth may not have known all the rules, but he did something. He told me that according to the laws of aerodynamics, bumblebees can't fly. But bumblebees, so they fly. But he knew God, and God met him. Sometimes in his stumbling mistakes, God met him because he believed God. And he believed that this faith was equally available to all. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone in this congregation rose into this degree and quality of faith? What an impact! If, Pastor, when we came together, you and your congregation as a whole was moving in this realm, what dynamic things could take place? There would be perception, there would be discernment, there would be anointing, there would be the breaking of bondage, there would be lifting of the captive's genation. And I believe that God wants us to move on to faith. Natural faith, Riddlesworth, so as God's gift, he would quote Romans 12.3. In short, we're quoting, as God has dealt to every man, the measure of faith. And that natural faith could grow as it was nourished in the world. But there was a degree of faith that came as you pressed into the presence of God, and God gave it, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. A. S. Way, an Englishman who translated the epistles of Paul and included Hebrews in it, translates that, looking unto Jesus who gives the first impulse to our faith and brings it to final maturity. And this, I read through the whole of the New Testament every month. And I spend time in the Gospels, and I'm looking at Jesus. And I'm looking unto Jesus in the Gospels. And I keep looking to him, and as I look to him, my faith grows. Looking unto Jesus who gives the first impulse to our faith and brings it to final maturity. And this is what Riddlesworth did in his own way. Salter, his son-in-law, told me one day of a woman with cancer in an advanced stage. And she sent for Smith Riddlesworth. And he and Salter went, and God completely healed this woman. Soon after, she was emptying her cupboard, and an old Bible came to light. And she was thumbing her way through it. And she noticed that she had underlined a verse, and indeed was against it. It was twelve years before. Thine health shall spring forth speedily. Isaiah 58 and verse 8. And God had given it to her twelve years before, and she had never claimed it. And she came down to the point of death before God's servants came and brought her deliverance. And Riddlesworth said she could have enjoyed it for twelve years if only she had laid claim to the thing that God had shown her. This is something that Riddlesworth said, and I never tire of repeating it, though I do memorize it. I want to read it to be exact. There is something about believing God that makes God willing to pass over a million people just to anoint you. God will always turn out to meet you on a special line if you dare to believe Him. He used to say, I'm not moved by what I see. I'm not moved by what was restrained about this. What was trusting was resting. There's no tension. You don't come to a pinnacle where you have to try to balance. Or you don't live on a knife edge where you damp feet in the land of faith. He plants them in a large place. You can move in the freedom and joy of the Lord. I once heard Riddlesworth define faith. I don't know what you'll make of his definition. Brother Stormont, he said, faith is that that's behind that that makes definition complete. Faith is that that's behind that that makes you believe that that's that. If you got that out, you'll like it. But leave that definition alone. There's one or two things that I want to share with you to reveal what faith really meant in Riddlesworth's experience. There was an Ascendant of God minister named J.E. Stiles. Maybe some of you know the name. And he was marvelously used of God in leading people into the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And a friend of mine who lives in Nineveh, Victoria, asked Stiles how it was that that ministry began in his life. Well, he said, I went to a meeting that Riddlesworth had in California. It was a big tent meeting. And he said, Riddlesworth said that he was going to teach the people two lessons in faith. Now, he said, it was a big meeting. How many of you have not received the baptism of the Holy Ghost since 200 people raised their hand? How many of you haven't spoken in tongues for two years and some more? For one year, for six months, for three months? Now, he said, come out all of you and come as near to me as you can. Just crowd into the platform. I'm going to pray. And when I say go, you all start to speak in tongues by faith. And Stiles said to his friend, that might work in England, but it won't work in America. Sounds a little superior, doesn't it? And Riddlesworth prayed a short prayer and said, go. And Stiles said he was utterly astonished. It was like the sound of many waters. People were praising God and worshipping God and magnifying God in new tongues. And Stiles said the greatest surprise of it all was this. I was praising God in tongues louder than anyone else. And everyone at the front began to speak in other tongues by faith. And Riddlesworth shouted, hold it! And they stopped and one man started again. He said, I said, hold it, brother. Now, he said, I'm going to teach you the second lesson in faith. I'm going to teach you to sing in the spirit by faith. And he didn't mean just singing the notes of the chord, which we call singing in the spirit. That is very beautiful, but there's something better than that. Let me interject this. In Wales, there's a little town called Cross Keys. It's in the mining area. Some years ago, the pastor's name was Mercy, Pastor Wilfred Mercy. What a delightful name for a pastor. And it was a weeknight service. And as they were conducting the service, the Spirit of God came down. And the congregation began to sing in the spirit. And they sang melody and harmony. It was like a great choir. And people began to come in off the street. And they stood in the lobby. Nowadays, we have a posh name for it. We call it the foyer. Or we used to call it the lobby. And they pressed in and people pressed in behind them, filled up the back of the church, filled up the lobby, overthrew it onto the side room, overthrew it onto the pavement. And the traffic couldn't get by. There was such a crowd listening to this marvelous singing. And it went on for an hour more. Fantastic singing. The next day, the Catholic priest came to Wilfred Mercy and said, Pastor Mercy, could you tell me where your choir got that marvelous music from? I'd like it for my choir. And Pastor Mercy said, My brother, you can get it where you got it from. It came from heaven. But you'll have to get saved and filled with the Holy Ghost before you can get it. And this was the thing that Riddlesworth sensed. There was a degree of quality that were not being touched. So he said, I'm going to pray. And when I say go, you all sing in the spirit. And Jamie Starr said, Well, the other might work. It did, but this won't. He's given us no tune. We don't know where to start. And Riddlesworth prayed and said, Now go in the name of Jesus. And Starr said he never heard anything like it. It was heavenly music. Those beautiful tune and harmony, full-blood harmony. And then the whole congregation or group would quieten down. And a sober voice would lead out. And then the congregation as a whole would provide harmonious beckoning. And then without any prelude, a prodigue would sing in harmony. The whole thing was fantastic. It was just heavenly music. And Riddlesworth said, You can discover this. You can learn this by faith. And you know, there's a realm here. I find that in some congregations, people are just content. You know the notes of the major chord? That's about all we sing of it. Beautiful. We sing in tongues. But we launch out into faith sometimes. And begin to learn to speak in tongues by faith. And sing in the spirit by faith. Begin to discover God working in you. Singing Jenny was a member of our church back in Birmingham, England in 1930. She had been a harsh, coarse living woman. She had frequented the taverns. She used to sing on the old honky-tonk in the taverns. All the coarse, wordless songs. And she absolutely ruined her voice. She sang like a crow with a sore throat. Singing Jenny. But God's Spirit came down on our church. We had a congregation of 1,200. And when Singing Jenny was alluded by the Holy Ghost, you never knew the human voice could touch such notes. The whole congregation was lifted into worship. And I had a feeling in my spirit that God was going to restore that wonderful music in His church in preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we're all going to sing in the spirit when we get up there, because we've been rehearsing down here. Amen? And we're going to glorify God. A certain incident has to deal with healing. About 40 miles from where I was living, when we moved over here to England, from England to America, 40 miles from Manchester, there was a place called Chesterfield. The pastor's name was William Davis. And he had Riddlesworth for a crusade there. And one of us asked him, What was the greatest miracle that you saw? Well, he said, I think it would be this. One night a young man came forward for prayer. He had a bandage around his throat and a tube sticking through the bandage. And Riddlesworth said, What's wrong with you? He said in a voice that was very, hardly a voice at all, I had surgery on my voice box. And I can't speak. And I can't swallow. I have to faint through this tube. Can God do anything for me? Riddlesworth said, Of course he can, unless he's forgotten how to make voice boxes. And turned him around and said, Go home and eat a meal of meat and potatoes. He said, I can't. I have to take food through this tube. He said, Go out with God. The next night he was back, still with the bandage around his throat. Riddlesworth said, I prayed for you last night. What are you here for? He said, I've come to tell you what God has done for me. He said, You needn't tell me. Turn around and tell them. And the boy said, After the stern rebuke I had from Brother Riddlesworth, I went home last night and said to Mother, Mother, I want you to cook me some meat and potatoes. But my voice, she said, you can't eat. He said, But the preacher said I've got to. And he said, Order what the preacher said. So she cooked him some meat and potatoes. And he said, I took a mouthful. I was too nervous to swallow. But then I had to do something and I swallowed it. And it went down so easily. And I finished that plateful and said, Mother, have you got some more? He said, I had three platefuls of meat and potatoes. And I had a shock when after the third plateful he said, Thank you in a normal voice. Then what's that bandage doing down around your neck, my boy? He said, I've got to go to the hospital tomorrow to have the tube taken out. Will Roswell said, God can finish what he started. And he unwrapped the bandage, laid it on one side, put his fingers on each side of the tube and gently extracted the tube. And then he called William Davis and the workers to come and watch. He said, You're going to see something you've never seen, may never see again. And he just took that hole, put his thumb and finger on each side and said, Lord, heal that hole. And Davis said, as we watched it, it healed right up. And we couldn't see where it could be. That's faith. That's faith. And with us was an ordinary man. A man who began in a very humble way. And a man who stumbled and failed sometimes. A man who didn't always live for God. One time nearly lost out completely. And I'll be telling you that tomorrow morning. But God dealt with an ordinary man and just began to bless him and use him. And the thought I have is, Willowsworth used to say it to me, I say it now to echo it to you, What God did for him, he can do for you. Willowsworth said, Well, God has given me my boy, God will give you. And I see miracles not only in my ministry. I'm thinking of some young people in our church. I've been teaching them along this line. And they had a prayer meeting in their home by arrangement. There was no rebellion. It wasn't a separatist thing at all. And Tony and Jane and Julian were the three who were reading. And a girl came in who had been under spiritualistic influence. And she was under a death curse because she had offended one of the spiritualistic mediums. And so she asked for prayer. And they cried to God for her. Her name was Christine. And they prayed in the power of the name of Jesus. And in faith. And the spiritualistic medium who put the curse on her died. And Christine lived. And that brought the antagonism of the spiritualistic mediums of the whole area. And a hundred came together to deal with this girl. And she developed cancer. Cancer of the mouth. And it became so serious that they eaten a hole in her mouth. She went back to these people. She had not been reconned with God. She went back to Tony and Jane and Julian. And said, look, this is my situation. And they prayed for her and laid her back to God's throne. And she fell on her back, full length on the carpet in the living room. And she was baptized in the Holy Ghost. Speaking without the tongues. And she opened her mouth to the hell hole. They could see the hole in the roof of her mouth. As they continued to worship God. They watched that hole heal right up. And Christine was totally healed of cancer. Ordinary young people in the church. Because they moved in faith. One thing God has shown me to do with some of the young ministers what I'm preaching these days. Is to call people forward. And let these young men pray for the sick. And this happened quite recently when I was down in Alabama. I felt the burden to call people forward. And I'm looking forward. And then the Spirit of God said, stand back, let the pastor do it. And I stood right back and said to the pastor, you pray for them. And one after another, miracles of healing. They had her spine out of place because of whiplash. And all had it put back into place. She was instantly delivered. Every person he laid hands on who had not been filled with the Holy Ghost. Was filled with the Holy Ghost. And the power of God swept through. God is calling us to be men of the book. And men of faith. Men of the book. And virtue and completeness in Jesus Christ. We can't reproduce Smith Viggosworth's ministry by imitation. We've got to get down to the secret that he got. And his secret was Jesus. I can remember now, we would walk together. And sometimes when he'd be walking, he used to wear a cap. When he was on walks. When he was going to church. But he'd be wearing his cap. And he'd say, brother, I feel I want to pray. And I'd say, well, what's stopping you? And so he'd take his cap off and pray. And his face would light up as he talked to the Lord. Lovely Jesus, he'd say. Lovely Jesus. Oh, Jesus, I do love you. And it was this intimate relationship with Jesus. Through his word. And by the Spirit. That gave him such holy boldness. In the presence of sin. In the presence of demons. In the presence of antagonisms of all kind. And I tell you, the secret is ours. It's right open to us. We can revel in the book. To exercise our faith. And it will grow as we exercise it. And most of all, we can be wrapped up in Jesus Christ. And I believe that I can say from my heart, God has something better for you tonight than you've ever experienced. There's no one here too old to improve. Can I say something to the older people? One of the most subtle and effective devices of the devil has been to tell us older people that we have passed our prime and that we can't be much use to God or man. It's a lie from the pit. With his word was ministering in his ages in the power of the Holy Ghost. Because he knew God and loved Jesus. And I believe with all my heart that God is calling the mature saints with the young people to come together to the place where Jesus shall be supreme. You know I tell you, I've told you before, old age is man's invention. God's idea is maturity. And it's a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. To bless you and use you as never before. And I want you to move tonight into a place of real possessing of what God has in store for you. And you can come to the place tonight where if you're not saved, you can find and receive salvation. If you're not healed, you can be healed tonight by the power of God. If you've not been filled with the Holy Spirit, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit tonight. If you've never heard of the realm of gifts, then God can impart gifts to you tonight. If you've been bound by the Holy Spirit, there's more gifts for you tonight. Are you ready for it in the spirit of God? Thank you. Do you know the course, Early Belief, All Things Are Possible, Early Belief? This was Wigglesworth's favorite course. He had all two, but this was, I think, the one he liked the best. I quoted one this morning, Yes, filled with God. Pardon and cleanse and filled with God. Yes, filled with God. Emptied of self and filled with God. But how he liked to sing the coming days, he'd sing, Early Belief. But he used to drop H's and put H's in. And so he would sing, Holy Belief, Holy Belief. All things are possible, Holy Belief.