My spiritual pride nearly cost me the greatest experience of my life. I had been preaching for years, seeing souls saved, watching the fire of God fall in meetings where people were laid out under the power of the Almighty.
I was absolutely rigid in my conviction that I had received everything God had to offer. But when I heard rumors of something more happening in Sunderland, England, something that sounded too good to be true, my spiritual hunger drove me to board a train and see for myself.
Little did I know that my arrival would cause such a stir that the believers there would wish I had never come.
You see, my questions and challenges would disrupt every meeting, spoil the atmosphere, and create heated arguments that left missionaries walking on opposite sides of the street.
The scripture that connects to this incredible story is found in Luke 24:49 where Jesus declares, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
Let me tell you what happened when I arrived in Sunderland. When I first stepped off that train in Sunderland, I was loaded for bare as they say. I had left a meeting in Bradford that was all on fire for God. The power had fallen the night before, and we were all laid out under the glory of the Almighty.
So, when I walked into that first meeting in Sunderland, I looked around and said to those gathered saints, I cannot understand this meeting.
I have left a meeting in Bradford, all on fire for God. The fire fell last night, and we were all laid out under the power of God. I have come here for tongues, and I don’t hear them. I don’t hear anything.
The believers looked at me with patience and said, oh, brother, when you get baptized with the Holy Spirit, you will speak in tongues. Oh, is that it? I replied with confidence.
When the presence of God came upon me, my tongue was loosened, and when I went in the open air to preach, I really felt that I had a new tongue.
But they shook their heads and said, ah, no, that is not it. What is it, then? I demanded. When you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, I am baptized, I interrupted them sharply, and there is no one here who can persuade me that I am not baptized. Can you imagine the tension in that room?
Here I was, up against them, and they were up against me. But glory to God! My hunger was greater than my pride.
I remember one dear brother getting up with excitement and declaring, you know, brothers and sisters, I was here three weeks, and then the Lord baptized me with the Holy Spirit, and I began to speak with tongues.
My ears perked up immediately. Let us hear it, I said eagerly. That’s what I’m here for.
But what happened next will show you something important about the gifts of God. This man could not speak in tongues at will. He could only speak as the Spirit gave him the ability.
My curiosity was not satisfied and I was doing what so many believers do today, confusing the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians with the 2nd chapter of Acts.
One deals with the gifts of the Spirit, and the other deals with the baptism of the Spirit with the accompanying sign of tongues.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Despite my disruptions, I could see that these people were genuinely earnest. Their hunger for God was real, and it stirred something deep within me. I became quite hungry for what they had, even though I continued questioning everything and spoiling meeting after meeting.
One day, a missionary approached me with frustration written all over his face. He said, I am a missionary, and I have come here to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I am waiting on the Lord, but you have come in and are spoiling everything with your questions.
Well, that set me off. I began to argue with him right there, and the argument became so heated that when we walked home that evening, he walked on one side of the road and I walked on the other. Can you picture that? Two grown men, both seeking God, so at odds that we couldn’t even share the same sidewalk.
But little did I know what God was about to do. That night, there was to be another meeting, and I had every intention of going. I went to my room, changed my clothes, and left my key in the garments I had taken off. When we came from the meeting in the middle of the night, I discovered I didn’t have my key with me. That missionary brother, despite our heated disagreement, said with Christian kindness, you will have to come and stay with me.
Now, do you think we went to sleep that night? Oh no, we spent the entire night in prayer. Glory to God, we received a precious shower from above. When the breakfast bell rang the next morning, that was nothing to me.
For four solid days, I wanted nothing but God. Brethren, if you only knew the unspeakably wonderful blessing of being filled with the third person of the Trinity, you would set aside everything else to wait for this infilling.
As the days passed, I became more and more hungry for God. I had opposed those meetings so much, causing disturbances and asking difficult questions, but the Lord was gracious to me, despite my stubbornness.
I will always remember that last day, the day I was scheduled to leave Sunderland. God was with me so powerfully.
The revival was taking place at an Episcopal church, and before my departure, I went to the rectory to say goodbye. I found myself standing before Sister Boddy, the rector’s wife, and the desperation in my heart finally broke through.
I cannot rest any longer, I declared. I must have these tongues. Listen to her wise response.
Brother Wigglesworth, it is not the tongues you need, but the baptism. If you will allow God to baptize you, the other will be all right.
But I was still fighting it. My dear sister, I said, I know I am baptized. You know that I have to leave here at four o’clock. Please lay hands on me so that I may receive the tongues.
What happened next will change your understanding forever. She stood up without another word and laid her hands on me, and beloved, the fire fell. There came a persistent knock at the door, and she had to go out to answer it. That was the best thing that could have happened, for now I was alone with God.
Then, he gave me a revelation that was absolutely wonderful. He showed me an empty cross and Jesus glorified. I thank God that the cross is empty, that Christ is no longer hanging there in defeat.
But you won’t believe what the Lord showed me next. I saw that God had purified me. I was conscious of the cleansing power of the precious blood of Jesus, flowing through every part of my being, and I cried out with all my heart, Clean! Clean. Clean. The joy of that consciousness of cleansing was overwhelming.
As I was extolling, glorifying, and praising him with everything within me, I found myself speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave me utterance, just like the disciples on the day of Pentecost.
I knew then, not hoped, not believed, but knew, that I had received the real baptism in the Holy Spirit.
It was all as beautiful and peaceful as when Jesus said to the raging storm, Peace, be still. The tranquility and the joy of that moment surpassed anything I had ever known up to that time.
But hallelujah! These days have grown with greater, mightier, more wonderful divine manifestations and power. That was only the beginning, and there is no end to this kind of beginning.
But what had I received? I had received the biblical evidence that the Word of God promises. This evidence is wonderful to me because I knew I had received the very same evidence of the Spirit’s incoming that the apostles had received on the day of Pentecost.
Everything I had experienced up to that time was in the nature of an anointing, bringing me in line with God in preparation.
But now I knew I had the biblical baptism in the Spirit with the backing of the Scriptures.
When I returned home from Sunderland, my wife said to me, So you think you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why, I am as much baptized in the Holy Spirit as you are. We had sat on the platform together for twenty years, but that night she said, tonight you will go by yourself. I said, “Alright.
My wife went back to one of the furthest seats in the hall, and she said to herself, “I will watch it”. And as I went up to the platform that night, the Lord gave me the first few verses of the 61st chapter of Isaiah, starting with the first verse. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
I preached that night on the subject the Lord had given me. And I told what the Lord had done for me. I told the people that I was going to have God in my life and that I would gladly suffer a thousand deaths rather than forfeit this wonderful infilling that had come to me.
My wife was very restless, just as if she were sitting on a hotbed of coals.
She was moved in a new way and said, that is not my smith that is preaching. Lord, you have done something for him.
As soon as I finished, the secretary of the mission got up and said, I want what the leader of our mission has got. He tried to sit down, but missed his seat and fell on the floor. There were soon fourteen of them on the floor, my own wife included.
We did not know what to do, but the Holy Spirit got hold of the situation, and the fire fell. A revival started, and the crowds came. It was only the beginning of the flood tide of blessing.
Now let me show you the three clear witnesses that God has given us regarding the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In any court of law, two clear witnesses can win a case before any judge. But God has given us three.
The first witness is found in Acts 2.4. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. This is the original pattern and God wants you to have nothing less than this.
The second witness appears in Acts 10 when Peter preached to Cornelius and his household. Acts 10, 45-46 tells us, and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
What convinced those prejudiced Jews that the Holy Spirit had truly come? They heard them speak with tongues. There was no other way for them to know.
The third witness is found in Acts 19.6, when Paul ministered to certain disciples in Ephesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Three times the Scriptures show us this identical evidence. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14.2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God, for no one understands him. However, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. And verse 4 declares, He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.
For many years, I have thrown out a challenge to any person who can prove to me that he has the baptism without the speaking in tongues, as the Spirit gives utterance, to prove it by the word that he has been baptized in the Holy Spirit without the biblical evidence. So far, no one has accepted the challenge.
Brethren, here’s what I want to challenge you with today, and it’s something that most believers in our generation refuse to do.
Stop settling for spiritual mediocrity when God has made supernatural power available to you.
Most Christians today are exactly like I was before Sunderland, convinced they have received everything God offers while never experiencing the biblical evidence of the Spirit’s baptism.
They’ve been saved, perhaps even filled with joy and peace, but they’ve never pressed through to receive the fullness of what Jesus promised.
Listen to me carefully. You will do more in one year if you are really filled with the Holy Spirit than you could do in 50 years apart from Him.
But here’s the problem. Most believers are too proud to admit they might not have everything, too comfortable with their current spiritual state, and too afraid of being seen as one of those Pentecostals.
I’m issuing you the same challenge I’ve thrown out for years. Show me by the word of God that you have the biblical baptism in the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. Prove it by Scripture alone. So far, no one has accepted this challenge because the word is clear.
Don’t be like I was in those early days at Sunderland, disrupting God’s work because of your rigid ideas about what you think you already have.
Instead, be hungry, be desperate for more of God. Be willing to look foolish in the eyes of religious people if it means encountering the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
The majority of Christians today have never spoken in tongues, never experienced the baptism Jesus promised, and never moved in the miraculous power that should be normal for every believer.
They’ve accepted a watered-down version of Christianity that looks nothing like the Book of Acts.
But you don’t have to remain in that place. Enter into the promises of God. It is your inheritance. Get hungry for the real thing.
Church, the truth I want to leave with you today is this. God has made available to every believer the same supernatural baptism that transformed me from a stubborn, argumentative preacher into a vessel of his glory.
The promise of the Father that Jesus spoke of in Luke 24:49 is still available today, complete with the biblical evidence of speaking in tongues.
But here’s my urgent challenge to you. Most Christians will never experience this because they’re too proud to admit they need more, too comfortable in their current condition, and too afraid of what others might think.
Don’t be part of that lukewarm majority. Press in for everything God has made available to you.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for every person hearing this message today.
Lord, create in them the same holy hunger that drove me to Sunderland. Break through their pride and religious preconceptions just as you broke through mine in that rectory. Baptize them with your Holy Spirit according to your word, with the biblical evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.
Let them experience the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus and see the empty cross and the glorified Christ. Fill them with your supernatural power so they can do more in one year than they could do in 50 years without you.
May they never be satisfied with anything less than the fullness of your Spirit. I pray that you may so fill them with your Spirit that it will not be possible for them to move without a revival of some kind, resulting. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
I believe with all my heart that as you’ve learned about the biblical baptism of the Holy Spirit today, you’ve been activated for supernatural encounter.
The understanding you’ve gained about God’s available power is already creating holy hunger within your spirit.
What area of your life do you need God’s supernatural power to transform.
Start each day this week by asking the Holy Spirit to baptize you with power from on high.
Spend time in prayer speaking directly to God, allowing Him to create deeper hunger for His fullness.
Don’t be satisfied with yesterday’s experiences when God has fresh encounters waiting.
If God can baptize willing seekers like us, imagine what happens when He targets Christianity’s greatest persecutor.
What kind of power does it take to transform someone who’s breathing out threats and slaughter against believers into the church’s most powerful apostle?
How does God use an ordinary disciple to accomplish the impossible? And what does this reveal about the grace available to the worst sinners today?
This is the incredible story of Saul’s conversion. Why God chose a simple man named Ananias for the most dangerous mission in church history, and how the same transforming grace that saved Christianity’s greatest enemy is waiting to revolutionize any life today.
By Smith Wigglesworth