Let us read in the fourteenth chapter of John, verses 12 to 14. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.”
“Greater works than these shall he do." What a word! Is it true? He said to the Father, “Thy Word is truth.” When you take up God’s Word you get the truth. God is not a man that He should lie; neither is He the author of confusion or error; but He enlightens and reveals truth unto us as clear as the noonday. By it we are changed. We enter into fellowship, into communion, into assurance, into the likeness of God when we see the truth and believe. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith is an operative power. It opens the understanding so that God can show us things we never would have known had not our hearts been opened.
No greater words can be found than those in Romans 4:16—“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.” Grace is God’s benediction coming right down to you. When, by an act of faith, you open the door to Him, He does that which needs to be done. It is of faith, that it might be by grace. You are the one to open the way, by faith. God is the One to supply your need, by grace.
Jesus says, “You have seen the work I do, and how I do it. You shall do the same work.” Did anyone ever work as He did? I do not mean His carpentering; I mean His ministry to the people. The people came to Him with their needs, their depressions, and He relieved them all. This Royal Visitor, who came from heaven to express the Father’s love, talked to men, ate with them, probably slept in their homes, and communicated the life and power of God unto them. And He says, “You have seen the work I do—healing the sick, relieving the oppressed, casting out demons. The works that I do shall ye do also.” Will you dare to believe? Will you take up the work He left and carry it on?
“He that believeth on me,” He says. What does this mean? How can mere believing bring such things to pass? Why should there be any virtue in our believing? It is because He said it. If we will meet the simple condition, the promise will be fulfilled in our lives. “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” But unbelief has hindered our progress, both in spiritual blessing and in physical healing.
Put away all doubt. Open your heart to God’s grace, and God will come and place in you an active faith. He wants His mighty power to move through you. No matter what obstruction may come across your path, He wants you to rise with divine power to rebuke and destroy it. Jesus has a life force to put in us that will change everything that we dare to believe it will change. “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” Because we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we have within us the essence of divine life, which causes a separation between us and the world. We have no room for sin. We delight in doing that which is right. As with sin, so with sickness and afflictions. He that believes, he that dares to trust, overcomes sickness and afflictions.
I will give you an instance. A needy creature came to me in a meeting. He was withered and wasted, in a hopeless condition; death lay in his eyes. He was so helpless he had to have someone on each side to bear him up. He said to me in a whisper, “Can you help me?” Let Jesus answer: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” He said, “I give you power over all the power of the enemy.” Those are the words of Jesus. If you believe on Him, the power of the enemy cannot stand, however evil the nature. God’s word is against him. If we have the words of Jesus abiding in us, those words are spirit and they are life. They make us supernatural. It is not just the faith of Jesus—it is the words of Jesus. We need more than mere faith. We need words added to our faith. Whatever we desire, if we believe we can declare that we are going to have it. We can begin to say, and what we dare to say shall be done. Of the one who believes, Jesus says, “He shall have whatsoever he saith.”
This afflicted man, standing before me so helpless, so withered, had had cancer of the stomach. The physicians had taken away the cancer from his stomach, but in removing it they had taken away the man’s swallowing power. The cancer was removed, and seemingly his life was spared, but he could not swallow. In order to keep him from starving, they had made an opening in his stomach and inserted a tube about nine inches long, with a cup at the top, and he fed himself with liquids. For three months he had managed to keep alive, walking about like a skeleton. Here he was asking whether I could help him. What should I say? I remembered the promise, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” And again, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
The Word must be true. Jesus is with the Father, and therefore even greater works than His can be done if we believe. So I believed, and therefore I spoke.
“Go home and have a good supper,” I said. The poor fellow replied, “I cannot swallow.” I repeated, “On the authority of the Word of God I say it. It is the promise of Jesus. Go home in the name of Jesus, and have a good supper." He went home. Supper was prepared. Many times before this he had taken food in his mouth and had been forced to put it out again. But I had believed God. (I am here to inspire you.) I am a natural man, just as you are, but I dared to believe that he would swallow that night. So after he had filled his mouth with food, he chewed it, and then it went right down. He ate until he was quite satisfied. He and his family went to bed filled with joy. The next morning when they arose they were filled with the same joy. Life had begun again, it seemed. The man looked down to see the opening which the physicians had made into his stomach, but it was gone. He did not need two openings, so when God opened the natural passage He closed the other. That is what God is like all the time. He brings things to pass when we believe. God wants you to realize this truth. Dare to believe, then dare to speak, and you shall have whatsoever you say.
A woman came up to me one night and asked, “Can I hear again?” She said, “I have had several operations, and the drums of my ears have been taken away. Is it possible for me ever to hear again?” I said, “If God has not forgotten how to make drums for ears you can hear again.” Do you think God has forgotten? There is one thing God does forget—He forgets our sins when He forgives us—but He has not forgotten how to make drums for ears.
A woman told me that her lungs were in ribbons, and that she could part with a pint of pus at any time. But when I invited people to receive divine healing, she dared to believe God, and she was completely healed in that very meeting.
Not long ago I was in a meeting and the power of God was present in a remarkable way. I told the people that they could be healed without coming to the platform. I said that if they would rise and stand wherever they were, I would pray and the Lord would heal them. There was a man who put up his hands. I said, “Can’t that man rise?” They said he could not, so they lifted him up. We prayed, and that man was healed then and there. His ribs had been broken and were not joined, but God healed him completely.
When it was evident that the man was healed, there was such faith throughout the congregation that a little girl said, “Please, gentleman, come to me.” I could not see her, she was so small. The mother said, “My little girl wants you to come.” So I went over to her. The girl was about fourteen years old, and she was a cripple. With tears running down her face, she asked, “Will you pray for me?” I said, “Will you dare to believe?” She answered, “Oh, yes.” I prayed, and placed my hands on her head, in the name of Jesus. The girl said, “Mother, I am being healed. Take those things off—take them all off.” The mother loosed the straps and bands on the girl’s legs. There was an iron on her foot about 3½ inches deep. She said, “Mother, I am sure I am healed. Take it all off.” So her mother unstrapped the iron and took it off, and that girl began to walk. There were not many dry eyes in that place as the people saw that girl walk about with legs quite as true as when she was born. God had healed her right away. What did it? She dared to believe, and trusted God. “Please, gentleman, come to me,” she had said. Her longing had been coupled with faith.
This is the faith we need. God wants us to be as children. He has hidden these things from the wise and prudent, but revealed them unto babes. “All things are possible to him that believeth.” Canst thou believe? Whatever there is in your life that is bound, the name of Jesus, through faith in His name, shall break it loose.
In our Scripture reading in John 14, we find that Jesus went on to say, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” He says, “When I do what you ask, the Father will be pleased for it will glorify Him,” God will be glorified in Jesus when you dare to believe and receive the life from Jesus through your faith.
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Smith Wigglesworth (1859 - 1947)
Smith Wigglesworth, often referred to as ‘the Apostle of Faith,’ was one of the pioneers of the Pentecostal revival that occurred a century ago. Without human refinement and education he was able to tap into the infinite resources of God to bring divine grace to multitudes.Thousands came to Christian faith in his meetings, hundreds were healed of serious illnesses and diseases as supernatural signs followed his ministry. A deep intimacy with his heavenly Father and an unquestioning faith in God’s Word brought spectacular results and provided an example for all true believers of the Gospel.
Smith Wigglesworth is considered one of the most influential evangelists in the early history of Pentecostalism and is also credited with helping give the movement a large religious audience.
Nominally a Methodist, he became a born again Christian at age eight. His grandmother was a devout Methodist; his parents, John and Martha, were not practicing Christians although they took young Smith to Methodist and Anglican churches on regular occasions. He was confirmed by a Bishop in the Church of England, baptized by immersion in the Baptist Church and had the grounding in Bible teaching in the Plymouth Brethren while learning the plumbing trade as an apprentice from a man in the Brethren movement.
Wigglesworth believed that healing came through faith, and he was flexible about the methods he employed. When he was forbidden to lay hands on audience members by the authorities in Sweden, he preached for a "corporate healing", by which people laid hands on themselves. He also practiced anointing with oil, and the distribution of prayer handkerchiefs (one of which was sent to King George V). Wigglesworth sometimes attributed ill-health to demons.
Reportedly, David du Plessis recounted that Wigglesworth prophesied over him that God would pour out his Spirit on the established churches, and that David du Plessis would be greatly involved in it. Later du Plessis was very much involved in the Charismatic movement.
Wigglesworth continued to minister up until the time of his death on March 12, 1947.
Smith Wigglesworth was born to a very poor family. At the age of six he had to go to work. As a consequence, he never learned to read well until he was an adult. Later he claimed he never read anything but the Bible. He became a plumber by trade.
As a minister, Wigglesworth was hardly known outside of his hometown until 1907. In 1907, he received the baptism in the Holy Ghost, which changed his life forever. It was then, at the age of 48, that God moved Wigglesworth from a small relatively unknown ministry to conducting powerful meetings throughout the world, stirring the faith of thousands to receive healing and salvation. Wigglesworth would usually conclude a sermon by praying for the sick; regardless of what text he had ministered.
Smith Wigglesworth's ministry centered on salvation for the unconverted, healing for the sick, and a call to believers to be baptized in the Holy Ghost. He was filled with God - with love, compassion, and faith.
Wigglesworth said, "To hunger and thirst after righteousness is when nothing in the world can fascinate us so much as being near to God."
On March 12, 1947, Smith Wigglesworth, in perfect health, closed his eyes and slipped into eternity, at the age of 87.