Smith Wigglesworth- On the Altar
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”
2 Corinthians 4: 7-10
There are many messages we preach and minister to others, but there are some messages we preach to ourselves. These are the messages that break and make us. The power and impact of our ministry are built upon what we do in our secret place life.
Smith Wigglesworth would be launched into a worldwide ministry in a time of great personal attack. Many believers would love to walk in the power he saw, or Paul saw in their ministries, but few would be willing to pay the price. The hidden story of the price we pay may never be told, and the heartache that at times was so great we could barely stand may never be known. We have heard many of Smith’s messages, but what about messages he had to walk through himself? In his letters, Smith said things like:
“I am truly on the altar for God.”
“Every week God is leading to greater things and power in ministry. I do feel it must be all for Jesus on the altar for God.”
“I am on the altar for God’s best. Crys come from all quarters.”
When we think of Smith, we see a giant of the faith, who we assume in his day all the leaders of the Pentecostal movement must have held in high esteem. Yet this is not true. Not all persecution is physical in nature; a lot is through words and actions that cut deep into the heart. Some decades of our lives can be extremely challenging, and the one between 1910- 1920 was for Smith. His wife and son would be promoted to Heaven. The loss of his wife was a deep blow to Smith and a turning point in his life.
Early in his life and ministry, the Lord taught Smith about the Secret Place. Smith said:
“Years ago the Spirit of God began to speak to me, but I was too busy to heed His voice. He persisted, until I commenced to go aside when He spoke so that I could hear what God the Lord had to say. This became my manner of life. I obeyed His pleading voice; until now, at the slightest breath of the Spirit, I leave everyone and everything to be in His Presence, to hear and obey His Word.’
Smith also understood that we must pray to get into prayer. That is, we start often in the flesh, but we must press forward until we get into the Spirit. Sadly, many believers never pray long enough or press forward to enter into praying in the Spirit.
Smith said:
“As I start out in the natural, in faith, the Spirit of God always meets me and anoints me, so that although I start in the natural I continue in the Spirit.”
If we are to enter in and abide in the Secret Place of His Presence, then we must learn how to take the first steps in faith, trusting that if we draw near to Him, He will draw nigh to us. Now, we have this treasure in an earthen vessel, so we must bring this earthen vessel into submission to Him. This becomes critical in times of trial, especially those attacks that impact us the most.
Proactively building our Secret Place life is critical if we are to face the challenges of life and always overcome them. Smith would explain:
“Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.”
The Lord wants to place on our chest a medal of honor, the Cross. For it is the symbol of the greatest conflict and the site of the greatest victory. True heroes are birthed on the Cross. There are deaths that we die that no one sees but Him, but it is these deaths that work life in us for others. Smith understood this. Many of these deaths come from injuries in the House of God. Betrayals and attacks by believers can truly cut deep and, for many, derail them, but for those who understand spiritual principles, the death they die is the door to spiritual promotion.
Paul explained:
“Are they ministers of Christ?- I speak as a fool- I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.”
2 Corinthians 11: 23
So many boasts of great accomplishments in ministry and demand respect and to be served. But the true minister of God is often seen in abundant labors that go on recognized, persecutions without vindication, and deaths without honor.
Smith, in his unique way of saying things, said:
“God has repeatedly sent His steam roller over me and flatten me out; but He has never left me on the ground.”
The enemy will use authorities in the Church and in your life to try and get you to stop. Yes, we need accountability and submission, but our submission and obedience to Him must always supersede all other voices. The leader of the PMU had wanted Smith not just to resign from the PMU but to step down out of ministry and wait until he was declared fully restored. His terrible sin was something foolish, and the punishment was inappropriate. Smith sought to address the issue, and he kept explaining they were overreacting. Smith had repented, but it wasn’t enough for one man. The Smith, we know, was the man that continued that day. Had Smith listened to one man’s voice and opinion, it would have destroyed his life and ministry. While the man was a good man and did good things for the Lord, he was wrong on this. Many good leaders, for whatever reason, do wrong things at times. Smith didn’t run from the problem and sought to address it but refused to allow it to take him captive. When they refused to listen to his side, look at his character and record, but rather trusted his accusers, he moved on!
The PMU wanted Smith to tell his congregation and:
“We think also that you should abstain for a prolonged season from participation in the Lord’s public work; and seek to retrieve your position before God and man, by a fairly long period of godly quiet living, so showing works meet for repentance.”
Smith’s response to this was clear:
“You could of settled at Bradford. Bradford is settled and God will settle all. The Good Hand of God is upon me and I will live it all down. This week God has rebuked the oppressor through his servant. I shall go forward dear brother and I ask you be careful that the Gospel is not hindered through you …at this time.”
Yet, the Lord moved powerfully through the ministry of Jesus confirming that he was forgiven and sent by Him. Smith called him out for his contradictions and that, ultimately what is at stake is the preaching of the Gospel.
But the event had played a toil of Smith. Remember we have this treasure in an earthen vessel and we must also understand that the attack is a spiritual and physical one. Smith said: “The Spirit of the Lord abideth…Pray my strength will be according to the need…God has gradually restored my strength…”
Smith explained in his letter:
“I have written them a letter that I expect them to read to you. I have not sinned but repent of the foolishness and ask for mercy. God has forgiven me and for months back has witnessed to this.”
Look at Jesus and how the authority of the hour, the Pharisees attacked Jesus demanding from Him, who had sent Him out. What Bible School did He attend? What they were making clear was that He was not operating in their authority, and He was illegitimate.
Smith later wrote of the man:
“I paid the price and now am free and I have no desire to again to think he has destroyed my love through his baby pride… He tries to impress people. He claimed fellowship, unity and revival and destroys those that love Him. Must I have given days of valuable time to serve him at Zion College and he has treated me the last year as a dog. God love him and give him repentance”
There are certain injustices that we may never see vindication here on earth. We need to learn how to move forward regardless. It is easy to think that if I could get them to see their wrong, then I can go forward! But if we linger here, the enemy will manipulate us using our emotions and memories. These become deaths we must die, and we must claim the harvest of life for others. Our lives must be hidden in the Secret Place of His Presence. Here, we must lay our lives on the altar. This is easy to say, but it can be one of the hardest things to do.
Smith shared in one of his letters:
“God entrusted to me let us keep near God for this is the secret of power.”
We must be hidden in the Secret Place. Here, we must come and pour out our soul before Him. Believers must pour out their souls, telling their stories repeatedly, but all they can receive is his sympathy. Sympathy only lasts as long as it takes for the freshness of the words spoken to fade. But in the Secret Place, we pour out in faith, trusting He hears us and comforts us.
Here, God brings forth and makes those who have the substance and not just the form.
Smith said:
Libraries make swelled heads, but the Word of God makes enlarged hearts. We are to have enlarged hearts, hearts filled with the fragrance of the love of God that will show forth the life and power of the Lord.”
In the Secret Place, real Christians are made. Here, as we take up our cross and die a death that no one sees but the Lord and us. Here, there is no glory of men, but true spiritual power is released. Here, the olive is crushed, and the oil comes forth. Here, no one knows the pain and hurt we are enduring but the Lord, and no one sees the price we are paying. Here, the death we die produces life for others.
Smith explained:
“He that has an experience is not at the mercy of a man who merely has an argument.”
Job wonderfully said:
“But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.”
Job 23: 10-11
Many of us want big results, and if we are true to our intentions, then in the Secret Place, we lay our lives on the altar, dying deaths that life might come forth for others.
Smith said:
May God move upon us in this life to bring us into an absolute death, not merely to talk about it. In this way, Christ’s life may be made manifest.
This is often a lonely path, and few choose to go down. You can only walk down this trial if your eyes are fixed on Him. It is a path where the pressure is applied from every side, and many a night, we wet our pillows with our tears. But as Smith explained:
The Lord wants us to understand that we must come to a place where our natural life ceases, and by the power of God, we rise into a life where God rules and reigns. Do you long to know Him? Do you long to be “found in Him”? Your longing will be satisfied today. I ask you to fall in the presence of God. If you want to know God, yield to His mighty power, and obey the Spirit.
