Part 3 (1/2)
No News is Good News
Smith Wigglesworth knew the value of staying preoccupied with G.o.d.
A man went to visit him one time. When he knocked on his door, Smith said, 'Til let you in, but your newspaper has to stay outside.” Smith couldn't read when he was first born again. He asked G.o.d to help him, and the Bible was the only book he ever read. He never read a newspaper or any other book in all his life.
A friend of mine in Colorado Springs had Smith Wigglesworth in her home when she was a child and told me her impressions of him. He carried his own communion elements and got up at four or five o'clock every morning to take communion and study the Word. After his wife died, he never spent 30 minutes without praying or studying the word. My friend said they never finished a meal without Smith stopping to have a Bible study. Their meals were usually cold, because he never stopped long enough to eat a whole meal without studying the Word.
Maybe you think that's a little strict, and perhaps it is. I read newspapers on occasion, and I've gotten some good things out of them for my preaching. I believe Smith Wigglesworth, in the course of 35 years, probably missed a dozen good things in the newspaper, things that could have benefited him, but he probably missed two or three hundred thousand bad things that would have made him fearful, preoccupied and sensitive to the world-things that would have put him back in touch with so-called reality, instead of the reality of G.o.d's Word. It would have affected his ministry for the worse.
It Takes Commitment
If all you did was meditate on G.o.d's Word day and night, then you would make your your way prosperous and have good success; there's no alternative. You'd have a miracle ministry that would blow people's minds. You'd see the power of G.o.d operate in your life more than you ever thought possible. It doesn't take huge faith, but it does take pure faith. way prosperous and have good success; there's no alternative. You'd have a miracle ministry that would blow people's minds. You'd see the power of G.o.d operate in your life more than you ever thought possible. It doesn't take huge faith, but it does take pure faith.
We need to be sensitive to G.o.d, and we do that by the things we consider consider-what we focus our attention upon. Every person who has been greatly used of G.o.d was a fanatic in the matter of being separated from the world. You can love G.o.d and be carnal, but it's going to cost you your effectiveness. G.o.d's grace is always consistent, so He still loves you; but when you consider something other than Jesus, you deaden yourself to the voice of G.o.d, and you open yourself to the voice of the enemy.
Accepting Corruption
The reason most of us hear the devil easier than we do G.o.d is because we spend more time listening to the devil. Satan comes in insidious ways. Fifty years ago, for example, adultery and divorce were not nearly as common as they are today. Why are they being tolerated today? Satan has corrupted us in this area, and the biggest inroad he has used is television. Some of the old black-and-white comedies we consider to be clean, for example, actually hardened our hearts-they portrayed adultery or theft in a comic way and made fun of it. They took the seriousness out of it.
Christians weren't smart enough to realize it, so they started laughing at it, just like everybody else. The Bible says it's a shame to even speak speak of what the unG.o.dly do in secret, so it lost its shame. The next step was to show somebody actually getting trapped in adultery (although they didn't really want it, understand), so that you would pity the person. It was still condemned as wrong, but the excuse was, ”the devil made me do it,” as Flip Wilson says. Today, it is virtually of what the unG.o.dly do in secret, so it lost its shame. The next step was to show somebody actually getting trapped in adultery (although they didn't really want it, understand), so that you would pity the person. It was still condemned as wrong, but the excuse was, ”the devil made me do it,” as Flip Wilson says. Today, it is virtually glorified, glorified, and some people think you're crazy for staying with one person all your life. There is a sitcom that even shows a man living with two girls! It's deteriorated to the point of total perversion. and some people think you're crazy for staying with one person all your life. There is a sitcom that even shows a man living with two girls! It's deteriorated to the point of total perversion.
Then we wonder why the Word of G.o.d is not producing in us. We're entertaining thoughts that G.o.d hates. We're crusting our hearts over. Some of you watch shows that feature h.o.m.os.e.xuality. Every time you persist in it-every time you laugh at h.o.m.os.e.xuality-you harden your heart toward G.o.d and His standards. Even shows that are considered harmless can make you hard-hearted: all that violence, immorality and perversion are totally opposed to G.o.d's nature. They should not be laughed at.
Shalt Thou Kill? Thou Kill?
The same thing is true in the area of violence. Before I went to Vietnam, I was on an Army rifle range one day firing bullets at human-shaped targets, and it suddenly dawned on me that this wasn't cops and robbers. They were training me to kill a man kill a man made in the image of G.o.d. I can't tell you the feeling that came over me. I began to pray, ”G.o.d, please help me never to kill a man.” I am not necessarily a dove, or a hawk, on the subject of war. I believe that fighting is sometimes necessary, but I don't want to kill a man. made in the image of G.o.d. I can't tell you the feeling that came over me. I began to pray, ”G.o.d, please help me never to kill a man.” I am not necessarily a dove, or a hawk, on the subject of war. I believe that fighting is sometimes necessary, but I don't want to kill a man.
It occurred to me then, that when I was a kid, I played Hopalong Ca.s.sidy. I had two six-guns and rode a stick horse around all day. If my kids ever played with guns like they were killing someone, they were in big trouble with me. I let them play if they pretended to kill an animal and eat it, because G.o.d sanctioned that, but if they played like they were killing a man, they had my wrath to contend with! Someone might say, ”But, Brother, that's just normal.” It is normal for a corrupted, unG.o.dly world, but G.o.d never intended for us to enjoy pretending we're killing people. However, the vast majority of good, well-meaning Christians have bought guns for their children just like everyone else.
Then we wonder why they're so violent. We wonder why they scream, ”I'm going to kill you!” when another kid takes their toys away. We've let them play like they're killing a million people a day, so they're deadening themselves to the voice of G.o.d. It's no wonder violence finds such a natural place in kids today.
John Lake-A Driving Force for G.o.d
Let's look at another example of being separated to G.o.d: John Lake. look at another example of being separated to G.o.d: John Lake.
Lake was a mighty, powerful man of G.o.d in the early part of this century. He saw well over 500,000 doc.u.mented doc.u.mented cases of healing. He was licensed by the state of Was.h.i.+ngton as a medical doctor, although he had no medical training, because he saw so many people healed. He opened a hospital and had a staff of people that anointed patients with oil, prayed for them, and saw them healed. He even saw numerous people raised from the dead. cases of healing. He was licensed by the state of Was.h.i.+ngton as a medical doctor, although he had no medical training, because he saw so many people healed. He opened a hospital and had a staff of people that anointed patients with oil, prayed for them, and saw them healed. He even saw numerous people raised from the dead.
Like Smith Wigglesworth, John Lake was separated and sensitive to G.o.d. Once, he was driving up a mountain in Was.h.i.+ngton. As he was rounding a hairpin curve, the voice of the Lord suddenly said to him, ”Pull over to the left-hand side of the road and park.” Lake immediately pulled over to the left, which of course, isn't good on a left-hand curve going up a mountain! In a few seconds, a lumber truck came down the road out of control, nearly running off the road-it would have knocked John Lake off a 3,000-foot cliff. The only reason he was alive was because he was sensitive to the voice of G.o.d.
G.o.d is no respecter of persons. If G.o.d spoke to John Lake, He'll speak to you and me, but you and I aren't always listening. You and I have had our spiritual receiver tuned to something else. I would probably have responded to something like that about 30 minutes later, after I'd tested it a dozen ways. After it was too late.
John Lake was driving in a car with some people another time, when all of a sudden he just yelled, ”Stop!” The fellow driving the car pulled over and asked, ”What's wrong?” John Lake prayed, ”G.o.d, forgive us. We've talked for 10 minutes and haven't even mentioned your name.” He repented, asked G.o.d to forgive them, and they began talking about Jesus. That's the caliber of his commitment to a separated life.
Sensitive to G.o.d
It's no coincidence that men like John G Lake and Smith Wigglesworth saw things happen that you and I haven't. They didn't have as much knowledge as we have, but they were totally sensitive to the knowledge they did have. It worked a thousand times better for them because their minds were stayed upon G.o.d. They didn't fill themselves with the junk of this world. I'm not saying this to condemn anyone, but to enlighten our eyes that we're polluting ourselves with doubt and unbelief. The Bible says, no coincidence that men like John G Lake and Smith Wigglesworth saw things happen that you and I haven't. They didn't have as much knowledge as we have, but they were totally sensitive to the knowledge they did have. It worked a thousand times better for them because their minds were stayed upon G.o.d. They didn't fill themselves with the junk of this world. I'm not saying this to condemn anyone, but to enlighten our eyes that we're polluting ourselves with doubt and unbelief. The Bible says, ”The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” ”The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Mt. 6:22). In other words, if you fill yourself with the Word of G.o.d, the Word of G.o.d will come out of you. (Mt. 6:22). In other words, if you fill yourself with the Word of G.o.d, the Word of G.o.d will come out of you.
This principle works with anything, even things we don't consider to be sin. If I have one weakness, it's the Road Runner cartoon. I like the Road Runner-and it's not wrong to watch it-but if I get in trouble and out comes ”beep beep,” I've had it. I guarantee you, it won't heal my body, restore my marriage, or bolster my finances. It doesn't have to be an X-rated movie that nullifies the power of G.o.d in us. It can be anything other than G.o.d.
Separate Yourself Unto G.o.d
We have to start spending quality and quant.i.ty time with G.o.d, being separated unto Him. I dare you to spend a week shut off from the world, alone with G.o.d's Word, and see what it will do to you. It's impossible for you not to see results.
We also need to a.s.semble together as a body and sit under the Word. That is a concept we put into practice at our campmeetings, which is why many people receive more there than they do anywhere else. We remove them from the things Satan has been using to feed them with doubt and unbelief. They don't have radio or television. They don't have pressures on a job. They don't have anyone striving with them. All they have is people speaking the Word of G.o.d, praising G.o.d, encouraging them, and talking about faith. People who are never touched under any other circ.u.mstances often have their lives totally changed at our campmeetings. They can do anything anything for G.o.d by the end of the week, because they've been fed the Word of G.o.d all week long and were separated from their natural surroundings. They're powerhouses of faith. We literally starved the devil out of them. for G.o.d by the end of the week, because they've been fed the Word of G.o.d all week long and were separated from their natural surroundings. They're powerhouses of faith. We literally starved the devil out of them.
Whatever you are today is what you've been thinking yesterday. Proverbs 23:7 says, ”For as he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he. ”For as he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he. ...” ...” Likewise, 2 Peter 1:3 says, Likewise, 2 Peter 1:3 says, ”According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and G.o.dliness, through the knowledge of him that called us to glory and virtue. ”According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and G.o.dliness, through the knowledge of him that called us to glory and virtue. ...” ...” Notice that these things come through knowledge. What kind of knowledge have you been meditating on? Whatever your life is, is a result of what you've been thinking. Notice that these things come through knowledge. What kind of knowledge have you been meditating on? Whatever your life is, is a result of what you've been thinking.
Someone may object, ”But I've really been in the Word and I still don't have it.” But, as every farmer knows, when you plant corn in the ground, you get corn. When you plant soybeans, you get soybeans. When you plant weeds, you get weeds! It's an irrevocable law of G.o.d-whatever you sow, that you will also reap (Gal. 6:7). If you're reaping depression, you've sowed depression. If you're reaping sickness, you've sowed sickness. If you're reaping poverty, you've sowed poverty, or at least you have allowed it through neglect. One way or another, you've allowed Satan to conquer you. You may say, ”But I haven't been thinking I want to be sick.” Maybe not, but your thinking has been sick. You may not have been thinking, ”1 want to be poor,” but your thinking has been poor.
Isaac Polendo-On Fire for G.o.d
In Africa, around the turn of the century, there was a man named Isaac Polendo. His father was the witch doctor in their village and Isaac, even from a very young age, knew in his heart that witchcraft was wrong. He cried out for G.o.d, the true G.o.d, to reveal Himself to him. He had a dream in which he saw a white man come to his village and tell them about G.o.d (Isaac had never seen a white man before). He waited his entire life for this white man to come. Finally, a Presbyterian missionary came to the village and Isaac went to listen to him. He heard the gospel, but he thought it was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard: the missionary didn't present it in power and authority. But because of his vision, he stayed around the missionary. Finally, Isaac Polendo got saved. He was convinced it was real, but he knew very little about it.
The missionary tried to put him through the Presbyterian school and teach him how to read the Bible, but Isaac flunked. The missionaries said he was uneducable, so they wouldn't allow him to continue in school. Disillusioned, he went back to his hut and began to get drunk on coconut wine. He did virtually nothing with his faith. Some time later, when his wife was dying, he began to get really serious and asked G.o.d, ”Why is this happening?” G.o.d appeared to him in a vision again and told him some great and mighty things. Inspired, Isaac laid hands on his wife and she was healed. He cut down his coconut grove, and went to re-enroll in school. In six weeks, he graduated from the school. G.o.d had totally turned his life and mind around.
Those Presbyterians still thought he would never amount to anything, so they just gave him a copy of the Bible and said, ”Go back and read it, and whatever it says, do it.” So he spent six months studying the Bible, then went to the next village and began preaching. He would sit in front of a hut, beat on a large drum, and the villagers would a.s.semble to hear him. The witch doctor disliked him, so he started fighting against him, saying that he would curse anyone who came to the meetings. The crowd started dwindling, and finally no one came at all. To make matters worse, they put the drum Isaac used for his meetings in the middle of a large clearing, and used it for an orgy honoring their G.o.ds.