NOW THAT MARTHA WING was healed, she lost no time in paying her vows to the Lord to go and work in His vineyard and so to “atone” for her “years of idleness.”
Already there were in Davenport, Iowa, a few people interested in divine healing and the deeper truths of God. Two days after her return from Chicago, this little company met and organized themselves into a fellowship, Sunday, July 2. The following Wednesday, July 5, they met again and chose Miss Wing as their leader.
The next Lord’s Day Miss Wing was to begin her ministerial labors officially. Thus it is not without significance that on the day before, Saturday, July 8, she should be subjected to a fierce attack of the enemy, perfectly timed and unquestionably designed to be a knockout blow which would prevent her from beginning her service. One of her old troubles came on her again. “It was serious,” she recorded. Fortunate for her, she was not ignorant concerning the devices of Satan but had learned to resist the devil when he would come in as a flood This she did so that she was healed of trouble same night”
Her great joy at being able to live and to work for God found expression in a “thought weaving” dated July 17:
To live for God — a privilege. Once it seemed a sacrifice. Consecration, a hard duty — “a doing something for God.” Now I know it only means letting God do for me and work with me and through me. A giving up of paltry brass for fine gold and exchange of one’s worthless life for the fullness of the love of Jesus.
Immediately Miss Wing began to be called upon to minister to sick people in their homes. One of these was a poor woman who had gangrene in her foot. Having accepted the good news that Jesus is the Healer of every disease, she decided to trust the Lord alone for healing. This she did in spite of the violent opposition of her husband and friends. With a true shepherd’s heart, Miss Wing went to this suffering sheep. “Night of August third I sat up and prayed for her in her pain. There were ten or fifteen persons in the room at the time for some time.”
This brief journal entry only suggests in the least degree the situation in which Miss Wing found herself. The fact is that most of those gathered in the room were a coarse and rough group of strong, angry men who cursed almost constantly, directing their wrath against her. Dauntless, this small, sensitive lady stood her ground against these roaring lions who were gnashing at her on all sides. “It gave me my first, clear lesson in moral courage,” Miss Wing wrote. Absolutely defenseless in herself, God defended her and gave a mighty victory.
An example of Miss Wing’s early teaching is seen in the following outline of a lesson which she prepared August 19 to give to the Gathering, as the group was called:
Four Modes of Healing
There are four modes of healing enumerated in the Bible. First, by the simple and direct prayer of faith. Such healings are rare. There are less than five mentioned in the Bible. One of these illustrations we find in Math. 8:5-13 in regard to the centurion’s servant. The promises concerning this are many, but the conditions must be fulfilled, as in Math. 21:22 — “All things whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive;” John 15:7 — “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Faith rarely rises to meet the conditions.
The second way is through a promise given to the disciples: Math. 18:19, 20 — “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”
The third way is by the anointing by the elders with oil. In James five we have the command, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,” and the promise follows, “And the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him.” Also we have it in Mark 6:13 that the disciples anointed with oil.
The fourth is by laying on of hands. This is the way most frequently mentioned in the Bible, and included in Christ’s command and promise, Mark 16:18. Under this comes the exercise of the Gift of Healing.
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The next day after Miss Wing had written out this study, Sunday, August 20, she woke up in the morning “with swollen cheek and tooth.” That Lord’s Day was to be a special one, for her position as conductor of the Davenport Gathering was confirmed. For her it was an advance step in the ministry. Unquestionably the enemy was angry at her and was determined to hinder and, if possible, to defeat her, whenever she was to take any forward step in her service for God.
In spite of her discomfort she ministered that day as usual. “At night, grew bad very rapidly,” Miss Wing cryptically notes in her journal, adding, “spread so could not move lips, and was swelling and paining into other side of face. Received instant relief on right side of face, and swelling confined to left, in answer to prayer Sunday evening. Rest of healing came gradually.” During the next three days she was very weak and sick in body,” but on Wednesday, the 23rd, she “improved with decided change for better. Later learned Dr. Dowie prayed for me at that time. It was neuralgia but had very little pain” Miss Wing wrote, explaining her trouble, something which she had suffered with periodically in past times, and then adds, “Getting continual answer to prayer in this matter.”
Throughout this trial Miss Wing remained in communion with the Lord and waited expectantly for deliverance till it came. What was occupying her thought may be seen from the “thought weaving” she wrote in her journal on the 23rd, possibly in preparation for a meeting Wednesday evening:
Jesus the Teacher
Thoughts on Mark 6:1-14 and 30-35. Also Matthew 9:35-38.
These chapters are among the most familiar at Zion because they are used a great deal in the teaching of beginners. And most that go to Zion are beginners. They may be themselves teachers of the gospel, ministers maybe, but they need to be taught when it comes to the question of divine healing. They “must become as little children” and be willing to learn the A, B, C of God’s will and God’s love before they can advance to higher truths. It is a sad fact, moreover, that many of these have believed themselves to be on the mountaintop in knowledge of God’s Word and have been trying to show others the way. These waken to the fact that they have been “false shepherds,” leading their sheep in paths God never laid down for them.
These chapters were not selected because it tells of healings by Jesus. The accompanying chapters are full of such accounts. The thought to be dwelt on here is of “Jesus the Teacher.”
I was interested, in looking at a list of titles, given in the back of my Bible, of names given to Jesus, that Teacher was among them. The reference is to John 3:2 where Nicodemus came to Jesus saying, “We know Thou art a teacher sent from God.”
We are not apt to think of Him in that light. We look upon Him as the divine Son of God, the Saviour of the world, the greatest preacher and prophet and performer of miracles the world has known. Some of us know Him personally as our Healer, but we do not realize how great a work He did as teacher.
It may seem a strong statement, but it seems to me His most important work on earth was teaching. When we think of how little understanding the world would have of the real object of His death on the Cross, of His work and mission and omnipotent love, if He had not taught, little by little, these things, we cannot question the importance of His work as teacher.
In Matthew 9:35 we see He went about teaching, preaching and healing. This order is not accidental. In the fourth chapter (of Matthew) we have an almost exactly similar wording: teaching—preaching—healing (Matt. 4:23).
Many erroneously, because thoughtless, suppose Jesus performed miracles first and thereby attracted the people —then He preached to them. A careful reading of the Gospels assures us this was not the divine order. It was not then, and is not now.
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“I have been blessed by the reading of a book written by Mrs. Smiley, called Fulness of Blessing,ⁿ” Miss Wing records in her journal immediately following the account of her deliverance from neuralgia. She had secured this book in Chicago the day before she returned to Davenport, and for the following six weeks she had carefully and prayerfully read it, and then the very day she finished it, she began to reread it.
Note: Smiley, Sarah Frances, The Fullness of Blessing or the Gospel of Christ, as illustrated from The Book of Joshua, 336 pp.. Anson, D. F. Randolph & Co., New York, 1876
The Fullness of Blessing or The Gospel of Christ as illustrated in the Book of Joshua by Sarah Frances Smiley is primarily an exposition of the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is shown to be an experience subsequent to conversion and the entrance, as it were, into the Promised Land of all the spiritual blessings provided for the believer.
“Am I willing that God’s Holy Spirit should baptize my whole being — spirit, soul, and body, so sanctifying me and keeping me blameless unto the coming of the Lord?” is the searching question which the author asks of the reader. And then referring to Christ’s promise, “I will come to you,” Mrs. Smiley goes on to show that this is in reality the purpose, the very essence of the baptism: “It is a Presence — it is a Person who comes — ‘I will come’ — ‘I will see you’ —‘I will manifest myself.’ “
Especially significant, in view of later developments in Miss Wing’s life, are the recurring suggestions in this book that “our entire being, even this body of ours,” is to become “like unto His glorious body,” which Mrs. Smiley links with the fullness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, implying that Christ desires to come and so manifest Himself in these temples of the Holy Ghost as to control them Himself.
Unquestionably at the time Martha Wing read The Fullness of Blessing, she was, spiritually speaking, very near the borders of the Promised Land. God had brought her out of Egypt and through the Wilderness. Most signally He had led her on, step by step. All the while He had fed her with manna and had given her to drink of “that spiritual Rock,” Christ. Unquestionably, too, this book was one of God’s calls to this “Israelite indeed” to go in and possess the “Fair Land” at this time.
Alas, for some reason or other, she did not cross the Jordan then, but remained on its banks, as it were, for seven years. Only then did she receive the blessed baptism of the Holy Spirit and go in to possess the Land. Meanwhile, she viewed the Land, saw something of its beauties, and even ate some of its fruits, such as the grapes of Eshcol. All blessed foretastes of what one day would be her very own possession! But there is a difference between enjoying a foretaste of God’s blessings and having all He has purposed— filled with all the fullness of God.
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Martha Wing Robinson (1874 - 1936)
Martha held meetings which touched people to return to the work of the service of God. The Robinsons opened a "Faith Home" where people would come for teaching and prayer. Like George Muller they depended on God to provide what was needed for expenses. Thousands came through her home and healings were a regular occurrence. Her husband died in April of 1916, but Martha continued in her ministry. She had a very sharp gift of discernment and regularly told people the secrets of their hearts. She often had directive prophetic words for those under her care. Many young people came to the home for training and went into the mission fields and evangelistic endeavours.Martha Wing Robinson died June 26, 1936. Shortly before she died she stated her life's message "Nothing matters but Christ Jesus." Her whole life was spent in the service of God and for the Glory of His Son Jesus. She had seen many healed, saved, delivered, empowered and sent out. She was truly a mother in Israel. In 1962 Gordon P. Gardiner wrote a book about her life called "Radiant Glory" because that is how she lived her life.