My most precious Bro. Boddy,
Your request to me, to send some reports for your valuable paper from time to time, have never slipped my memory.
I now have a dear English brother accompanying me on this trip. He, owing to reading a copy of Confidence, was led to visit Bro. Mead in Los Angeles. He had just come from Mexico, and was in need of spiritual help. I was staying at Bro. Mead’s at the time, and being fresh from England, we became closely associated. This led to his baptism, and now he is most anxious to please God in any way, and is now writing this letter from me to you for your paper Confidence.
I must have seen not less than 1,500 people healed and great numbers baptized into the Holy Spirit since I came into this country. My ministry, as in England, grows very rapidly, and the great cry is, “Do not leave us!” I have heard this cry at every place, only California’s cry has been louder than that in other places I have visited.
I am now going to describe one or two things which may be helpful and useful for your paper, for they prove that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is given in accordance with Mark 16.17-18:
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
The baptism in the Holy Ghost was also clearly revealed to our minds, the gifts being in evidence, according to the 12th, 13th, and 14th chapters of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
At all points, at all places, including Oakland and Los Angeles, the buildings were thickly packed with people eager to hear the word of God, and one feels now, as never before, that as the Spirit rests upon us, they press to hear the word of God, as is mentioned in Luke 5.1.
God help me!
It was common to see, at the end of the meetings, crowds waiting for the ministry of the health in Christ, and as in the days of the Acts of the Apostles, as one laid hands on the needy, marvelous changes were instantly wrought.
For instance, at Victoria Hall there came a woman pressed down with cancer of the breast. She was anointed with oil, according to God’s word. [Jm 5.14] I laid hands on the cancer, cast out the demon, and the cancer which had up to then been bleeding dried up. She received a deep impression through the Spirit that the work was done, and closely washed the healing process together with a lady friend. The cancer began to move from its seat, and in five days dropped out entirely into the protecting bandage. They were much interested and full of joy, and looking into the cavity from whence the tumor had come, they saw to their amazement and surprise that not one drop of blood had been shed in the separation of the cancer. The cavity was sufficiently large to receive a small cup and they noticed that the sides were of a beautiful reddish hue. During the nest two days, and whilst they were watching closely they saw the cavity fill up with flesh and a skin formed over it, so that at last there was only a slight scar. At two meetings this lady, filled with enthusiasm, held in her hand a glass vessel containing the cancer, and declared how great things God had done unto her.
This is not the only cure I could describe on the cancer line. I will give you others in a further letter.
Here is a point well worth the notice of the readers of your valuable paper. At Oakland a fine-looking young man, a slave to alcohol and nicotine, came along with his wife to see if I could heal him. They stated his case, and I said, “Yes, I can heal you in Jesus’s name.” I told him to put out his tongue, and I cursed the demon power of alcohol and also cast out the demon power of nicotine. The man knew that he was free. He afterwards became an earnest seeker and within 24 hours was baptized with the Holy Spirit, thus clearly confirming Mark 16.17: “In my name they shall cast out devils.”
A preacher, suffering many days from the kick of a horse, walking with great pain and in much distress, made a special call at the hotel in which I was staying, and being led by the Spirit, according to God’s word, I laid hands on the bruised ankle. A fire broke out with burning and healing power, and from that moment he could walk easily and without pain.
A boy came to a meeting on crutches, suffering from a broken ankle. Prayer was made and hands laid upon him, and I got him to walk across the platform. He declared that he had no pain, that it had all gone, and carried off his crutches under his arm.
At the Los Angeles meetings all descriptions of sickness, lameness, deafness, tumors, cancers, and brokenness of spirit, etc., were healed.
Truly one could say the vision which Jesus gave was fulfilled: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” [Mt 11.28]
I notice that in your paper you say that I hoped to be home by Christmas. Beyond measure I have been pressed out for duties of preaching and for conventions, so that I cannot be home by that time. If, however, the seas are free and danger removed, I would strike for home after visiting Rochester January Convention, in order to have my own convention at Easter in Bradford. Thus I hope to wire you so as to allow time for making it known.
I will send a fuller report the next time I write.
God bless you and all the saints in England, especially your dear wife.
Yours in his name and service,
SMITH WIGGLESWORTH
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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.