Smith Wigglesworths Insight into Wisdom – To Know what To Do and Say
Life is filled with challenges, especially in these last days when the attacks of the enemy have intensified. Further, as we discern the times and what is at stak,e the need for wisdom has never been greater.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
James 1: 5
James would also say:
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”
James 4: 2
Smith Wigglesworth said:
God has shown me in the night watches that everything that is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). God wants to bring us into harmony with His will so that we will see that if we do not believe all of the Word of God, something in us is not purely sanctified to accept the fullness of His Word. Many people put their human wisdom in the place of God, and God is not able to give the best because the human is confronting God in such a way. God is not able to get the best through us until the human will is dissolved.
There is something about the night watches when we are alone and seeking His face. In those night watches, so often we face great battles and need to know what to do and how to do it. The terror of the enemy surrounds us, and our faith is challenged to its core.
We see just what is at stake, and we know we can’t afford to miss it. The only way we can obtain victory is His way. We need to hear His Word clearly and have a rich Word abiding in us.
In the Old Testament you can’t separate wisdom and the Holy Spirit and so we must stand full of the Holy Spirit.
The first battle we face is ourselves and all our wrong thinking. Like Jacob, we must stand honest and exposed to the Lord God Almighty. We know that we must change if we are to face tomorrow.
The early Church understood the keys to facing and overcoming the complex attacks of life, and the enemy demanded that we were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom:
“Therefore, brethren, seek out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”
Acts 6: 3
We look at the resume of applicants, and if they have rich experience and the right personality, we declare them a match for the need. But the early Church understood the secret sauce was to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
Smith Wigglesworth said:
What a divine thought. No matter what kind of work was to be done, however menial it may have been, the person chosen had to be “full of the Holy Spirit.” The plan of the church was that everything, thing, even everyday routines, must be sanctified to God, for the church had to be a Holy Spirit church. Beloved, God has never ordained anything less.
Many of us quit too soon and fail to linger and wait until we are filled to the overflow. There is nothing like being filled to the overflow and knowing it. As James so wonderfully explained that God gives liberally. Yes, He gives the pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing measure.
“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped.’ And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five of six times; then you would have struck Syria till you destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”
2 Kings 13: 18
The Lord loves those who demand more and break free from the natural mode. The natural man loves things in sets of three, but the spirit man wants more. The spirit man always wants everything God has and refuses to quit. Many people need wisdom for the battle, but the Lord wants to give wisdom to the race. The Lord always has more for us but we settle.
Smith explained of Stephen, who was FULL of the Holy Spirit and wisdom:
When some of the various synagogues arose to dispute with Stephen, “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (Acts 6:10). When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will have wisdom.
We become fearful about what we will say or what we should do, but He calls us to come and be filled until we are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Look at Solomon when he became king, the Lord asked him what he wanted. Solomon understood the complexity of life and being king. The responsibility and what was at stake were too great for him, and he could not afford to make mistakes.
“Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?’
1 Kings 3: 9
The Hebrew for “understanding” is “shama” and it means to hear and obey. When we are full of the Holy Spirit and we abide longer in the Secret Place, we become in tune with His voice and we hear Him clearly. Yes, we need to hear His voice and obey.
Smith explained:
Know the wisdom and purpose of God’s great hand upon you. Glorify God in distresses and persecution, for the Spirit of God is made manifest in these situations. Be chastened. Be perfected. Press on to higher heights, deeper depths, broader breadths. Faith is the victory (1 John 5:4). The hope is within you (1 Pet. 3:15). The joy is set before you. (See Hebrews 12:2.) God gives the peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). We know that the flesh has withered in the presence of the purifying of the Word. He who has brought you to this point will take you to the end (Phil. 1:6). I have mourned and wept bitterly when I needed revelation from God, but I did not need to do so.
Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we must earn His provision, but He calls us to learn how to receive. Everything we need is in His Presence. The hindrance is not God’s unwillingness to give or His demand that we earn it. But rather, we are too full of ourselves and our wrong thinking.
Moses, before he encountered the Lord and learned to place his life on the altar, had a zeal to do the right things but was rich in human wisdom. Many believers deem themselves rich in wisdom because of the depth of their experiences. But Smith explained:
Moses was headstrong in his zeal for his own people, and it resulted in his killing a man. (See Exodus 2:11-12.) His heart was right in his desire to correct things, but he was relying on human wisdom, and when we work on natural lines we always fail.
Human wisdom always fails to gain the spiritual victory. James wrote:
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full or mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
James 3: 13-17
Do you see the differences in wisdom? For too long we have allowed natural wisdom to dictate, and we have seen the harvest of it. Smith explained-
Divine wisdom will never make you foolish. Divine wisdom will give you a sound mind; divine wisdom will give you a touch of divine vine nature. Divine life is full of divine appointment and equipping, and you cannot be filled with the power of God without manifestation. station. I pray that we understand that to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with manifestation, the glory of the Lord being during us, manifesting His divine power.
We can’t face tomorrow or today’s problems until we are FULL of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. His wisdom always leads us to victory. So, Smith explained:
This is a living word of faith: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally.” You will never find that God ever judges you for the wisdom He gives you or for the blessing He gives you. He makes it so that when you come to Him again, He gives again, never asking what you did with what He gave you before. That is the way God gives. God “gives to all liberally and without reproach.” So you have a chance today to come for much more. Do you want wisdom? Ask of God.
Let us ask, and let us ask for the abundance. His wisdom brings clarity, freshness, and strength. Smith explained:
I am satisfied that God, who is the builder of divine order, never brings confusion into His order. It is only when things are out of order that God brings confusion.
