Brethren, I was traveling from Egypt to Italy when something happened that will forever change how you understand the power available to every Spirit-filled believer.
There I was on that massive ship, cutting through the Mediterranean waters. Hundreds of passengers going about their daily routines, when suddenly a man collapsed right before my eyes. His wife began screaming in absolute terror. Passengers gathered around, and I could hear them whispering that he was going to die. Everyone was gripped with fear and helplessness.
But I want you to understand something. I wasn’t just another passenger on that ship, Church. I was a man who had learned to live in the reality of Acts 1:8. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
And brothers and sisters, when that man collapsed and everyone else was paralyzed by fear, something rose up within me that I want every one of you to understand today.
You see, we are backslidden if we have to pray for power. We are backslidden if we have to wait until we feel a sense of His presence.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit has already come upon you. Within you right now is a greater power than there is in all the world. 1 John 4: 4 declares this truth.
Oh, to be awakened out of our unbelief into a place of daring for God on the authority of the blessed word. So, what did I do?
While everyone else stood around wringing their hands and declaring the man was finished, I stepped forward.
In the name of Jesus, I rebuked the devil. And glory be to God, to the absolute astonishment of that man’s wife and the man himself, he was able to stand.
But here’s what will amaze you. He looked at me with complete wonder in his eyes and said, what is this? It is going all over me. I have never felt anything like this before.
From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, the power of God shook him. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead was flowing through this man’s body, healing every part of him.
Can you imagine that scene? A man who was dying moments before, now standing strong and declaring he’s never felt anything like the power of God flowing through his entire being.
The other passengers were dumbfounded. They had never witnessed such a demonstration of divine authority. This is what happens when believers realize that God has given us authority over the power of the devil.
But little did I know that God was preparing me for something even more extraordinary. What I experienced on that ship was just a preview of the supernatural explosion that was about to take place in Ceylon.
You won’t believe what happened when I arrived in Ceylon for what was supposed to be just a brief series of meetings. The local church leaders came to me with discouragement written all over their faces. They said, Brother Wigglesworth, you know, four days are not much to give us. We are not touching the people here at all. What are we going to do?
I looked at these precious servants of God and said, can you have a meeting early in the morning at eight o’clock? They agreed, though I could see the doubt in their expressions.
So, I told them, we will tell all the mothers who want their babies to be healed and all the old people over seventy to come. Then, after that, I will give an address to the people to make them ready for the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, what happened next would challenge everything these church leaders thought they knew about God’s power. It would have done you all good to see the sight that greeted us that first morning.
Four hundred mothers showed up with their babies. Four hundred precious women, each carrying a child that needed the healing touch of Jesus and then, listen to this carefully. One hundred and fifty old black people with their white hair came hobbling, walking with canes, some being carried by family members, all believing that this might be their moment to experience the miraculous power of God.
But here’s where the story becomes absolutely incredible. And you’re going to understand why I say that His ministers must be flames of fire, as Hebrews 1:7 declares. The word angel is a bad translation; it is messenger referring to us.
As I began to minister to these precious souls, something began to happen that I had never experienced before. The power of God started flowing like a mighty river. Those four hundred babies, every single one of them, was touched by the healing power of Jesus.
Mothers began weeping and shouting as they watched fevers break, as twisted limbs straightened, as diseases fled in the name of Jesus.
And those one hundred and fifty elderly saints, oh glory to God, they began throwing away their walking sticks, dancing and praising God as strength returned to their aged bodies.
But that’s not even the most amazing part of what I’m about to tell you. What happened next will show you what occurs when a believer truly lives as a flame of fire.
Word spread like wildfire throughout that region about what God was doing. There were thousands gathered outside the chapel to hear the word of God.
But when I say thousands, I mean there were about 3,000 people crying for mercy at the same time. Church, I tell you, it was a sight that will remain burned in my memory forever.
Can you imagine three thousand voices lifted in desperation, calling out to God for salvation, for healing, for deliverance?
The sound was like thunder rolling across the heavens. After that first morning meeting, something happened that even I wasn’t prepared for.
Attendance rose to such an extent that every single night, five to six thousand people gathered to hear the word of God. And remember, I was preaching in a temperature of 110 degrees. The heat was so intense that many people would normally have stayed home.
But they came anyway, because they knew something supernatural was happening.
But I tell you, a flame of fire can do anything. Things change in the fire. This is Pentecost in action. When the Holy Spirit ignites a believer, climate doesn’t matter. Comfort doesn’t matter. Convenience doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Jesus is being glorified and lives are being transformed.
Night after night, as I stood before those massive crowds, I watched the power of God sweep through that place like a holy hurricane. People were being saved, healed, delivered, and baptized in the Holy Spirit.
But what moved me more than anything else was this, and I say this carefully and with a broken spirit because I would not like to mislead anybody.
There were hundreds who tried to touch me because they were so impressed with the power of God that was present. And here’s what will astound you.
They testified everywhere that, with just a touch, they were healed. Blind eyes opened when they simply brushed against my clothing. Deaf ears popped open when they shook my hand. Crippled legs were straightened when they reached out in faith.
Now listen carefully, beloved. It was not the power of Wigglesworth. It was because they had the same faith that was with those at Jerusalem who believed that Peter’s shadow would heal them.
Acts 5:14-15 tells us that believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
You see, when Jesus becomes King in our lives, truly King, then all the glories of His kingly manifestations are brought forth in us.
Jesus Christ, who is the express image of God according to Hebrews 1:3, has come to our human weaknesses in order to change them, and us, into a divine likeness, so that by the power of His might, we may not only overcome, but rejoice in the fact that we are more than overcomers.
The important point of this entire message is that the Holy Spirit has come to make Jesus’ king.
The seed, the life that was given to us when we believed, which is an eternal seed, has such resurrection power that I see a New Creation rising from it with kingly qualities.
When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, it is to crown Jesus King in our lives. Not only is the King to be within us, but also all the glories of His kingly manifestations are to be brought forth in us.
Oh, for Him to work in us in this way, melting us, until a new order rises within us so that we are moved with His compassion.
I can see that God has nothing less for us than to be flames. It seems to me that if Pentecost is to rise and be effective, we must have a living faith so that Christ’s great might and power can flow through us until our lives become energized, moved, and aflame for God.
Now, church, I must address something that grieves my spirit every time I see it. Why do most believers live as if they have no authority? Why do the majority of Christians shrink back when faced with impossible situations that cry out for the supernatural power of God?
Romans 8:37 declares that God wants you to be more than conquerors.
The baptism of the Spirit has come for nothing less than to possess the whole of our lives. It sets up Jesus as King, and nothing can stand in His holy presence when He is made King. Everything will wither before him.
But here’s what I see in churches today. Believers who have received the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, yet they act powerless when sickness strikes their family. They retreat in silence when their co-workers need a miracle. They call for the pastor when their own children need deliverance, forgetting that 1 Corinthians 12: 7 says the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man for the profit of all.
Most Christians will never step out in bold faith to pray for the sick. Most believers will never rebuke devils in Jesus’ name. Most will never lay hands on the dying and command life to return. Most will never dare to believe that the same power that flowed through me on that ship and in those meetings in Ceylon is available to flow through them right now. But beloved, this is exactly what Jesus has called us to do.
Mark 16:17-18 declares, and these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Did you hear that?
These signs will follow those who believe. Not just the famous preachers, not just the missionaries, but every believer who dares to step out in faith and exercise the authority that Jesus has given them. This same Jesus has come for one purpose, that he might be made so manifest in us that the world will see him.
We must be burning and shining lights to reflect such a holy Jesus. We cannot do it with cold, indifferent experiences, and we never will.
I remember what my dear wife used to say to our daughter. She would ask, Alice, what kind of a meeting have you had? And Alice would always respond, Ask father. He always has a good time.
You see, his servants are to be flames. Jesus is life, and the Holy Spirit is the breath. He breathes through us the life of the Son of God and we give it to others, and it gives life everywhere.
The inheritance of the Spirit is given to every believer, not just to preachers, not just to missionaries, but to every man and woman who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 1:7 says, we should come short in no gift. Did you hear that?
No gift should be missing from your life. In the order of the Holy Spirit, we have to come short in no gift. Praise the Lord.
We can come into the order of God, where the vision becomes so much brighter, and where the Lord is manifesting His glory with all His virtues and gifts.
All His glory seems to fill the soul who is absolutely dead to himself and alive to God.
There is much talk about death, but there is a death that is so deep in God that out of that death, God brings the splendor of his life and all his glory.
A flame of fire. It is a perpetual fire, a constant fire, a continual burning, a holy, inward flame, which is exactly what God’s Son was in the world.
You see, Jesus is life, and the Holy Spirit is the breath. He breathes through us the life of the Son of God, and we give it to others, and it gives life everywhere.
This is what it means to be a minister who is a flame of fire.
But let me tell you something that will revolutionize your understanding. You can receive something in three minutes that you can carry with you into glory. What do you want? Is anything too hard for God?
God can meet you right now. God sees inwardly. He knows all about you. Nothing is hidden from Him, and He can satisfy your soul and give you a spring of eternal blessing that will carry you right through.
I believe that you need to have something more than smoke to touch people. You need to be a burning light for that.
His ministers must be flames of fire. When people encounter you, they should sense that there’s something different, something supernatural.
Something that sets you apart from the lukewarm masses who call themselves Christians but have no power.
Here’s what grieves me about the modern church. Too many believers are satisfied with just getting to heaven. They want fire insurance from hell, but they don’t want to live as flames of fire on earth.
They want Jesus as savior, but they refuse to make him king. They want the benefits of salvation, but they won’t pay the price of total surrender.
But I’m here to tell you that God has called you to something far greater than spiritual mediocrity.
You have been filled with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. The same power that healed that man on the ship lives inside you. The same authority that brought healing to thousands in Ceylon is available to flow through your hands right now.
So, I challenge you today, beloved, Will you live as a flame of fire for God? Will you step out of the mediocrity that has paralyzed most of the Church? Will you dare to believe that the same power that healed that man on the ship, the same power that brought healing to thousands in Ceylon, is available to flow through you right now?
Stop waiting for a feeling. Stop waiting for someone else to step forward. You have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. You have authority over the power of the devil. The world is dying while believers sit in comfortable pews, refusing to exercise the very power that Jesus died to give them. I’m not talking about working up your emotions or trying to manufacture something supernatural.
I’m talking about awakening to the reality of who you already are in Christ. I’m talking about daring to step out on the authority of God’s blessed word when impossible situations arise.
When sickness attacks your household, be a flame of fire. When your neighbor faces an impossible diagnosis, be a flame of fire. When your workplace needs a miracle, be a flame of fire. When your family needs breakthrough, be a flame of fire. When your community cries out for revival, be a flame of fire.
The time for playing church is over, beloved. The time for spiritual games and religious entertainment has passed. The world is groaning under the weight of darkness, disease, depression, and despair.
They need to encounter believers who carry the flame of God’s power, not just the smoke of religious tradition.
You have everything you need right now to live as a flame of fire. You don’t need more teaching, more conferences, more books, more seminars. You need to activate what you already possess. You need to exercise the authority that Jesus has already given you. You need to step into the inheritance that is already yours.
Let us pray, Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before you in the mighty name of Jesus, acknowledging that you have made your ministers to be flames of fire. We confess that too often we have lived beneath our spiritual inheritance, shrinking back when you called us to step forward in power. We have been satisfied with smoke when you called us to be flames. We have been content with mediocrity when you designed us for supernatural living.
Holy Spirit, ignite within us that divine flame that burns away every excuse, every fear, every doubt that keeps us from manifesting your glory.
Melt us until a new order rises within us, until we are moved with your compassion and empowered with your authority.
We declare that Christ is King in our lives, and by His authority, we will no longer be silent spectators when the devil attacks. We will be more than conquerors. We will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. We will cast out devils in Jesus’ name. We will speak life into dead situations.
Light us up, Holy Spirit, until we become burning and shining lights that reflect our Holy Jesus to a dying world.
Let the power that raised Jesus from the dead flow through us with such force that the impossible becomes possible wherever we go.
We refuse spiritual mediocrity. We embrace our calling as flames of fire, make us perpetual fires, constant fires, continual burnings, holy inward flames that will never be extinguished. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
I believe with all my heart that as you’ve learned about becoming a flame of fire today, you’ve been activated into a new level of spiritual authority.
The understanding you’ve gained about your inheritance in the Holy Spirit is already working to transform how you approach impossible situations.
Start each day by declaring your spiritual authority out loud. When you face challenges, immediately speak to them in Jesus’ name instead of calling someone else to pray for you.
Begin laying hands on sick friends and family members, believing for their complete healing. Refuse to live beneath your spiritual inheritance any longer.
But speaking of inheritance, what happens when your flame of fire faces its greatest test? Not sickness or demons but crushing financial pressure that threatens to destroy everything you’ve worked for.
How do you declare spiritual authority when the bills are piling up and there seems to be no earthly way out?
What if I told you that every spirit-filled believer has access to a heavenly bank account that makes the Rothschilds look poverty-stricken?
What divine principles can transform a struggling believer into a real spiritual millionaire who never lacks for anything?
We need to learn to access God’s unlimited supply through glory and virtue, the supernatural principles that govern divine provision, and how you can tap into your heavenly bank account to experience miraculous financial breakthrough in your own life.
By Smith Wigglesworth