Smith Wigglesworth- Divine Promotion
If we read the account of David, we see how the Lord had Samuel anoint him as king, but the problem was that Saul was still king. Despite Saul having anointed him as king by divine decree, nobody accepted him as king. Even his family rejected David. Further, instead of David’s life getting better after being raised up by God to be king, his life got worse. The next number of years would be almost hell on earth for David as King Saul pursued him and sought to kill him.
In First Samuel chapter twenty-four, once again, king Saul gathers together three thousand troops to kill David. But David gives Saul into his hands.
“So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) Then the men of David said to him, ‘This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.”
1 Samuel 24: 3-5
Let me ask, ‘Did David have the right to kill Saul? After all, Saul was trying to kill him, and David was the rightful king?
This was not the only opportunity David would have to kill Saul, but each time he refused, and the fact that he cut off the corner of the rob, or the tassels, represented his authority. Amid David’s trials, the Lord was bringing him out of the old into a new season.
Smith Wigglesworth said:
“Thousands must be brought to a knowledge of the truth; that will only be brought about by human instrumentality, when the instrument is at a place where he will say all the Holy Ghost directs him to; be still and know that I am God, the place of tranquility, where we know He is controlling, and moves us by the mighty power of His Spirit.”
One of the things the Lord wants to do in us is bring us to a place where we no longer live for ourselves but for Him. Many believers get stuck in the wilderness because they never get past themselves. Consider David and how he had the right to defend himself, but he had to learn to get past himself, for God wanted him to be a blessing to the people. Saul spoke of the flesh man, while David walked by the Spirit.
“I have been crucified with Christ,; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2: 20
We are to live a new life no longer held captive by our flesh but walking by the Spirit. Here we abide in the Secret Place and attend to His voice. Our life is dependent on hearing and obeying His voice.
Smith explained:
“Ezekiel said, ‘I prophesied as I was commanded.’ He did what he was told to do. It takes more to live in that place than any other I know of. To live in the place where you hear God’s voice. Only by the power of the Spirit can you do as you are told quickly.”
It sounds so easy to say that we will listen and obey, but as we experience trials and tribulations, the voice of our flesh becomes loud and demand justice. Look at David and think how he had to the right to kill Saul in the flesh, but the Holy Spirit would not allow him. Then think of Jesus, who surrendered and said, “Not My will be done, but Yours.” Jesus always walked perfectly right, yet He willingly surrendered to the will of the Father. We who are imperfect tend to think we know best and struggle with surrendering to His will. When we can’t see tomorrow or understand His ways, it becomes a challenge to trust.
Smith explained:
“We must keep at the place where we see God, always hearing His voice- where He sends us with messages bringing life and power and victory.”
The Lord so wants to bless us that we are a blessing, and like Paul, though we stand in fear and trembling, we preach in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power. Unfortunately, we can settle for the form and not the power because there is a price to be paid to walk with power, and that price is death. Yes, death. When we have to cast the right to defend ourselves into His hands and trust Him even if we never see our vindication, He is working all things for our good.
Smith explained:
“The reason the world today is not seeing this is because Christian people are not filled with the Spirit of Christ. They are satisfied with going to church, occasionally reading the Bible, and sometimes praying. Beloved, if God lays hold of you by the Spirit, you will find that there is an end to everything in the old. All things will have passed away, and all things have become new- all things are of God.
Remember as Smith quoted:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold ALL things have become new.”
2 Corinthians 5: 17 Emphasis Added
We are to walk by a new order and if we walk by a new order we will experience tests. A test is to reveal and confirm what is in our hearts. God expects us to pass the test, and if we will get our eyes off of ourselves and unto Him, He will bring us into ALL new things.
In this new life, we walk softly to the Spirit, not tender and soft to our flesh. For in all walks, when our flesh was offended, we would capture and held captive by it. But now we hear the voice of the Spirit, and we daily learn to listen and obey. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is critical, and we will not do anything that will grieve Him. So, like David, even though he had the right naturally, he knew when he grieved the Spirit and immediately grieved himself.
Smith explained:
“You will see that as you are wholly yielded to God, your whole being will be transformed by the Spirit’s indwelling. He will take you in hand so that you may become a vessel unto honor. Our lives are not to be for ourselves, for if we live for self, we shall die. If we seek to save our lives we shall lose them, but if we lose our lives we shall save them. If we through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live, live a life of freedom and joy and blessing and service, a life that will bring blessings to others. God would have us to see that we must be filled with the Spirit, every day live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, and be continually renewed in the Spirit.
This is a daily walk, and the proof is that on the day of the trial, we respond correctly. Oh, we may fail many times, but we must quickly repent. The time spent in the Secret Place yielding to the Spirit and listening to His voice brings the change. As the Spirit lifts us so that instead of our prayer life is focused on our needs, it is focused on lifting Jesus up in worship and standing in the gap for others.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit moving in our lives is His fruit, which can be defined by love. If we love then the evidence is seen when the pressure is applied and we are crushed and instead of responding naturally, we respond in love.
Smith explained:
“Study the life of Jesus. It was quite a natural thing for Him after He had served the whole day among the multitudes, to want to go to his Father to pray all night. Why? He wanted a renewing of divine strength and power. He wanted fellowship with the Father. His Father would speak to Him the Word that He was to bring to others, and would empower Him afresh for new ministry.”
Yes, there is a price to be paid for making the quality decision to pursue. The flesh will resist, and everything will provide numerous reasons why you can’t, but your spirit says you must. You must decide and choose to sow to the Spirit, knowing that the time invested in seeking the Lord is not in vain.
Smith added:
“He would come from the hours of sweet communion and fellowship with His father, clothed with His holy presence and Spirit, and anointed with the Holy Spirit and power he would go about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the enemy.”
Many think the power will flow if they just have enough faith. But a living faith is what we need; it comes from abiding long daily in His Presence. A living faith comes from knowing Him and knowing His heart, what He desires, and how He works. As we spend time with Him, we seek to be more and more like Him, and anything not in compliance must be placed on the altar and crucified.
God wants to bring us out to bring us in. He wants to bring us out of a life of strife and struggle to bring us into a life of peace and rest. A place of knowing and bold confidence. A place where we know His will for your life and we know the timing of when to ask.
Smith explained:
“In the fourth chapter of Hebrews we are told, ‘There remaineth therefore a rest for to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his works…’ Oh, what a blessed place where God is now enthroned in your life, working in you day by day to will and to do His good pleasure, working in you an entirely new order of things.
