Lived: 1859 to 1947
Few evangelists have pushed the kind of religious buttons Smith Wigglesworth pushed. His methods seem bizarre, but the fruits of his life and ministry are profound.
Wigglesworth’s wife, Polly, was a powerful preacher, but Smith was painfully shy. He hated to speak in public, until the day the Holy Spirit got ahold of him. In 1907, he received the gift of tongues and was a changed man. As he preached that first Sunday, his wife was stunned: that’s not my Smith. What’s happened to the man? What had happened was a touch from God: God once said to me, Wigglesworth, I’m going to burn you up till there’s no Wigglesworth left; Only Jesus will be seen.
His message was simple. There are 4 principles we need to maintain: First, read the word of God. Second, consume the word of God until it consumes you. Third, believe the word of God. 4th, act on the word of God. It was the way he acted on the word of God that offended religious people. The stories of his healings are legendary.
There was the time he kicked a deformed baby across the stage. When the child landed, it was whole. Another time, a frail, crippled woman came up for prayer. Wigglesworth was impatient with her, so he commanded her to walk. The woman stumbled around for a few moments, until the evangelist walked up behind her and pushed her. She fell forward into a run and Wigglesworth followed her up the aisle, shouting run, woman, run! She ran all right-right out of the building, but completely healed! On another occasion, Wigglesworth punched a man-wearing a hospital gown-who was suffering from cancer. When he got up, he was healed. I don’t hit people, I hit the devil. If they get in the way, I can’t help it. You can’t deal gently with the devil, nor comfort him; He likes comfort, he said.
During his ministry, Smith Wigglesworth raised 23 people from the dead, including his own wife. He attributed his success to one person: God. I know the Lord laid his hands on me. Filled! A flowing, quickening, moving flame of God.
He said only believe. Fear looks, faith jumps.