Brothers and sisters, let me tell you about something that completely transformed how I operate in God’s power.
This wasn’t any service. It was the day I discovered there’s a higher way to live, a place where mortality gets swallowed up by life itself, where the flesh stops dominating our spiritual expressions, where divine wisdom flows through us perfectly.
You see, Most Christians today are stuck in a place where their spiritual experiences are messy, chaotic, and frankly, embarrassing.
They’re still wrestling with manifestations that draw more attention to their flesh than to God’s glory. I know, because I was once there myself.
Now, I was preaching in a meeting when the Holy Spirit began moving powerfully. People were getting saved, hearts were being touched, The anointing was flowing beautifully when suddenly something happened that could have derailed everything. Right in the middle of delivering God’s word, someone in the congregation began having wild manifestations. Kicking, rolling on the floor, creating such a distraction that the entire flow of the Spirit seemed threatened.
By this time in my ministry, I had learned something most preachers never discover. I had come to understand what Paul meant when he said in 2 Corinthians 5:1 that we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
I had discovered the secret of being dissolved. You see, beloved, there was a time when I experienced similar manifestations.
When the Holy Spirit first baptized me, I went around my dining room on my knees, clapping my hands, working through all that flesh that needed to be dealt with. The power was real. Glory to God. But it was mixed with natural reactions that had to be purged out. I went through the whole dining room like that, clapping and moving, until finally, tongues came.
Then I stopped, because there was no more kick left. You see, it couldn’t go out through my feet when tongues were coming out through my mouth.
That was the beginning of my education in spiritual maturity. As I matured in the Spirit, I realized something profound that changed everything. I will never believe that God would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and then make you like a machine so that you couldn’t begin at any time and stop at any time. Never. Listen to what I discovered.
When the Holy Spirit gets perfect control of a life, Divine wisdom flows through so that all people receive edification.
No more chaos, no more flesh mixed with spirit, no more manifestations that bring confusion rather than glory to God.
You see, brethren, there’s a vast difference between operating in the flesh and operating from heavenly places.
And this difference will determine whether your Christian walk brings glory to God or becomes a stumbling block to others.
Suppose I was reading 2 Corinthians 4:18 in a meeting. What would you think if I had to stop because of a great kicking sensation, and I had to lie down on the floor for three hours before I could go on with what the Spirit of the Lord was saying because my body and spirit were in disagreement?
All the people in the audience would be waiting to see Wigglesworth kick through a half hour before he goes on. I wonder if you would think that was in the will of God. I don’t believe it is in the will of God. The glory of the Lord may be upon me, and the Lord may be speaking through me. But now I must stop to have a manifestation. That’s not the highest way, beloved. Here’s where it gets interesting.
I began to understand what Jesus meant when he said in Matthew 12:48-50, Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
You see, flesh and blood connections meant nothing to Jesus compared to spiritual relationships.
But there was one problem I had to overcome, and it’s the same problem most believers never conquer.
We remain tied to earthly associations, earthly thinking, earthly responses. We never learn how to live as heavenly citizens while still on earth.
To ascend spiritually, everything that binds us to worldly thinking must be dissolved. Not destroyed, dissolved.
Like salt dissolving in water, our old nature must be completely absorbed into God’s nature until only his life remains visible. You might be wondering, Brother Wigglesworth, how is this even possible?
Well, it happens through something the Bible calls groaning. Not complaining, not murmuring, but spiritual groaning for transformation.
I want to take you to the book of Nehemiah to show you what I mean. When Nehemiah heard about Jerusalem’s broken walls, Nehemiah 1:2-4 tells us Hanani came with men from Judah and told him, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. Listen to what happened next.
So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
That wasn’t just emotional upset. That was spiritual groaning that dissolved his old nature until he could move kings and nations.
Nehemiah mourned, fasted, and prayed until his humility and yieldedness before God brought the same thing that God’s word brings to us. It dissolved him. It brought everything of his old nature into a dissolved place where he went right through into the presence of God.
You see, Nehemiah was the cup-bearer for the Persian king Artaxerxes. The moment the king saw Nehemiah’s sad expression, he asked, What is the matter with you, Nehemiah? I have never seen your countenance changed like this.
Nehemiah was so near almightiness before the king that he could pray and move the heavens and move the king and move the world until Jerusalem was restored.
And Daniel, let me tell you about Daniel. He groaned and travailed for three weeks until heaven shook, and Gabriel was dispatched with visions that would change the course of history.
Gabriel passed through all the regions of the fallen angels to bring the message to him. There was something so powerful about Daniel’s dissolved state that when Gabriel appeared, Daniel became as corruption before such glory yet was lifted up and strengthened by Gabriel’s right hand.
Jesus also demonstrated this dissolving principle in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Matthew 26:39 shows us his human nature instantly cried out, If it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
But the next moment he was saying with his divine nature, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
John 12:27 But for this purpose, I came to this hour. You see, his human nature had no more choices left. The flesh had to be dissolved so that God’s perfect will could flow through unhindered.
When God the Holy Spirit brings us to see these truths, we will deny ourselves for the sake of the cross. We will deny ourselves of anything that would cause our brother to stumble. But here’s what amazed me most.
This dissolving doesn’t happen after we die and go to heaven. This transformation is meant to happen while we’re still living on this earth.
The clothing upon, the swallowing up of mortality by life, the building not made with hands, these are present realities for believers who will pay the price to be dissolved.
I had to learn that if I live on the earth, I fail everything. If I continue on the earth, everything I do will be mortal and will die.
But if I live in the heavenly realms, in the heavenly places, Everything I touch becomes spiritual, vital, purified, and eternal.
Let me explain this dissolving in terms you can understand. What is the good of having a white raiment to cover your nakedness so that it may not be seen in heaven? You know very well that isn’t a heavenly condition. There will be no flesh in heaven. No nakedness will be seen in heaven.
Then what does it really mean? It means that the power of God can so dwell in us that it can burn up everything that is not spiritual and dissolve it to the perfection of beauty and holiness that Jesus has.
He walked on this earth, and when Satan came, he could find nothing in him.
Jesus was perfectly dissolved in regard to everything in his human nature, and he lived in the spirit over everything else.
Brothers and sisters, as he is, so we have to be. We shouldn’t be troubled in the flesh.
Was Jesus troubled in the flesh? Didn’t he go forth with perfect victory?
It is impossible for any avenue of flesh, or anything that you touch in your natural body, to be helpful. Even your eyes have to be sanctified by the power of God so that they strike fire every time you look at a sinner, and the sinner will be changed.
Brethren, Paul reveals this mystery in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4: For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
This is not talking about dying and going to heaven, beloved. This is about living in such spiritual authority that everything we touch becomes spiritual, vital, purified, and eternal.
When we operate from heavenly places, we stop being governed by earthly circumstances and start governing them through God’s power.
Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
But most Christians never step into this authority because they’re still living according to the flesh, rather than being dissolved into God’s nature.
Romans 8: 28 promises, all things work together for good to those who love God.
But this only becomes reality when we stop trying to work things out through earthly means and start operating from our heavenly position.
I had to learn what Paul means in 2 Corinthians 4:10 when he says, always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
What is this dying of the Lord?
It is dying to desire.
In the measure that we look to one another for our help, we lose faith in God.
If you rely upon any man or woman, upon any human assistance to help you, you fall out of the greater purpose God has for you. You must learn that no earthly source can ever assist you in this realm.
You are going to this realm of life only by mortality, being swallowed up by life. As Paul declares in Galatians 2:20, And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God.
It is a process of dying and living.
Paul could see that if he had any communion with flesh and blood, he couldn’t go forward in the Lord. It was even necessary for Jesus’ flesh and blood ties to be put in this context. The body that brought him forth was nothing to him. God brought him into the world as a seed of life.
To him, that obedient believer was his mother, that servant of God was his brother. That follower of Christ was his sister.
Now, here’s the challenge that separates mature believers from spiritual babies.
Most Christians will never step into their spiritual authority because they refuse to be dissolved.
They want God’s power, but they won’t let go of earthly securities, earthly associations, and earthly ways of thinking.
Listen carefully.
You cannot operate in heavenly authority while remaining attached to worldly systems. I had to learn this the hard way.
Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:16 From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.
This means your conversations must become spiritual. Your relationships must be built on spiritual foundations. Your entire perspective must shift from earthly to heavenly.
If you ride with me in a train compartment, you will have to pray or testify.
If you don’t, you will hear a whole lot of talk that will lower the anointing, bring you into a kind of bondage and make you feel you wish you were out of the compartment.
But if you break in and have a prayer meeting, you will turn the whole thing around.
If you go out to dinner with anybody today, don’t get sidetracked by listening to a long story about the state of their businesses.
You must know only one man now, and that is Christ. and He hasn’t any businesses. Yet He is Lord over all businesses.
Live in the Spirit, and all things will work together for good to you.
If you live for your businesses, you will not know the mind of the Spirit.
The majority of believers struggle to take this step because it means dying to everything that feels safe and familiar. It means no longer depending on human assistance, no longer being moved by circumstances. No longer reacting according to the flesh when pressure comes.
I learned that what holds me is association. I must have no earthly associations that tie me or bind me or have any persuasion over me.
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
What does it mean to conform to the death of Jesus? It leads me to that death of separation to God, of yieldedness of exchange, where God takes me to himself and leaves the old nature behind.
But, beloved, this is not optional for serious believers.
If God could dissolve Nehemiah until he moved a king, if he could transform Daniel until angels came with revelations, if Jesus lived in such dissolved authority that Satan could find nothing in him, then he can do the same for you.
The question is, are you willing to let everything that’s not of God be dissolved so that only His life flows through you?
Are you ready to stop living as an earthly citizen trying to get heaven’s help, and start living as a heavenly citizen exercising authority over earthly situations?
When believers reach that standard, they will never murmur anymore. They will be above murmuring.
They will be in the place where God is absolutely the exchanger of thought, the exchanger of actions, and the exchanger of their inward purity.
He will be purifying them all the time and lifting them higher, and they will know they are not of this world.
Brethren, we are not our own. We belong to a spiritual order. We don’t belong to this earth. We know we are heavenly citizens. We know we have to exit this earth and have been preparing for our exit.
Yet while we are on earth, we must live in the place where we groan over everything that binds us from being loosed from the world.
I maintain that, by the grace of God, we are so rich, we are so abounding, we have such a treasure house, we have such a storehouse of God, we have such an unlimited faith to share in all that God has, for it is ours.
We are the cream of the earth. We are the precious fruit of the earth. God has told us that all things will work together for our good. God has said that we will be the children of the highest and that we will be the salt of the earth. God has declared all that in his word.
And you will never reach those beatitudes if you are holding on to the lower things of this world. They will keep you down.
How are we to have all the treasures of heaven and all the treasures of God?
Not by getting our eyes on the things that are seen, for they will fade away.
We must get our eyes on the things that are not seen, for they will remain as long as God reigns.
The time has come to stop being satisfied with chaotic manifestations and step into the maturity where God’s wisdom flows through us perfectly.
The time has come to be dissolved, not destroyed, but transformed until mortality is swallowed up by life.
You have been called to live in the place where you groan over everything that binds you to worldly thinking, where you refuse to be held by earthly associations, where God becomes your only source and your supreme authority.
This is your moment to step into the building not made with hands. to be clothed upon with power from heaven, to know no man according to the flesh, but to see everything through spiritual eyes.
Let us pray. Father God, we come before you asking for the grace to be dissolved into your nature. We confess that we have been too attached to earthly ways, too dependent on human assistance, too moved by circumstances that should be under our authority.
Holy Spirit, we ask you to begin the dissolving process in our lives. Let mortality be swallowed up by life.
Let our old nature be transformed until only Christ’s life flows through us. Give us the courage to let go of every earthly security so we can grasp our heavenly inheritance.
We declare by faith that we are heavenly citizens with authority over earthly situations. We refuse to live beneath our privileges.
We choose to be clothed upon with power from heaven, to walk in white as overcomers, to bring your glory wherever we go.
Transform our conversations to be spiritual, our relationships to be built on your foundation, our entire lives to reflect your nature.
Make us so dissolved in you that when people see us, they see Christ.
Cause our very eyes to be sanctified so that they strike fire when we look upon sinners bringing conviction and transformation. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
I believe with all my heart that as you’ve learned about spiritual dissolving today, you’ve been activated into a higher realm of authority. The understanding you’ve gained about being clothed upon with heavenly power is already working transformation in your life.
Start today by examining every conversation, every relationship, every reaction through spiritual eyes rather than earthly perspective.
Practice seeing people not according to the flesh, but as souls created for divine purpose.
Refuse to be moved by circumstances and instead move them through prayer and faith.
What it means to be clothed with the Spirit in God’s abundant life?
What happens when believers stop living under Satan’s theft and destruction and step into the fullness of what Jesus promised?
How can mortality be completely swallowed up by life until there’s no weakness or failure left?
What does it look like when the Spirit becomes your absolute guarantee of heavenly power operating on earth?
Learn how being clothed with God’s own personality transforms every circumstance.
By Smith Wigglesworth