“Therefore take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.” Luke 8:18 One of Jesus’ favorite teaching methods involved the use of parables. His simple, down-to-earth stories were loaded with spiritual meaning. Those who heard Jesus’ parables were sometimes both enlightened and confused—but there was simply no way to avoid the power of His words. In Luke, after using a parable to teach, Jesus explains the meaning of the parable. He then challenges His hearers to . . . listen. Even more, He challenges His hearers to take care how they listen. Jesus is not merely emphasizing the importance of listening; He is wanting us to understand that there are ways to listen well. Jesus’ teaching here suggests that understanding leads to even more understanding. Evidently, there is a way to listen to Jesus that will allow His truth to sink in, take root, and make a difference. With this kind of listening, we not only hear the words that Jesus speaks, but we also embrace those words and act on them. In our lives, we have always sought to listen carefully to God’s call. From early on, we claimed that we would do anything God told us to do. And we repeatedly asked God to speak clearly to us. As a matter of choice and habit, we learned that saying “Yes” to God made it easier and easier to hear His voice. Because we had already expressed our intention to obey, we found it relatively easy to follow God’s guidance when that guidance became clear. Of course, that obedience carried a cost; it normally does. But our decision to respond to God’s voice whenever we heard it set us free to obey . . . often without a significant struggle. In our case, we discovered that we could hear God’s voice . . . because we wanted to hear God’s voice! And we discovered that we were often able to obey . . . because we had already decided to obey in advance. Jesus’ invitation in Luke 8 is not only to listen—but to listen in a way that makes obedience likely. Educators sometimes talk about “learning readiness.” Or we might speak of a “teachable moment.” Those ideas suggest that a learner can be in a place where the truth can be received. Obviously, the truth doesn’t change. But our willingness to receive the truth—and our willingness to be changed by that truth—does change.
The kind of listening that Jesus calls us to is humble and open. It is listening that indicates a willingness to change. It is an eager and intentional listening. And it is a listening that opens the door for response and obedience. That kind of listening will likely be a challenge for us. But it is the kind of listening that we will master if we are serious about obeying the call of God. Speaking God, teach us to listen. More to the point, teach us how to listen in the right way. Teach us how to be eager, hungry, open, and serious in our listening. Teach us that our listening is intended to change us and make us Yours. After we have learned to listen, give us the courage to act, to answer, to respond. After we have heard You, we pray for the courage to go, to speak, to share, and to love. Lord God, we want to hear You. Teach us to listen well.
Smith Wigglesworth.
Deliverance to the Captives Read Luke 4:1-20 Our precious Lord Jesus has everything for everybody. Forgiveness of sin, healing of diseases and the fullness of the Spirit all come from one source – from the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear Him who is the same yesterday, today and forever as He announces the purpose for which He came: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus had been baptized by John in Jordan, and the Holy Spirit had descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him. Being full of the Holy Ghost, He had been led by the Spirit into the wilderness, there to come off more than conqueror over the arch enemy. Then He returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and preached in the synagogues, and at last He came to His old home town – Nazareth, where He announced His mission in the words I have just quoted. For a brief while He ministered on the earth, and then gave His life a ransom for all. But God raised Him from the dead. And before He went to the glory He told His disciples that they too should receive the power of the Holy Ghost upon them. Thus, through them, His gracious ministry would continue. This power of the Holy Ghost was not only for a few apostles, but even for them that are afar off, even as many as our God should call (Acts 2:39) even for us in this twentieth century. Some ask, “But was not this power just for the privileged few in the first century?” No. Read the Master’s great commission as recorded by Mark, and you will see it is for them that believe. After I had received the Baptism of the Holy ghost (and I know that I received; for the Lord gave me the Spirit in just the same way as He gave Him to the disciples at Jerusalem), I sought the mind of the Lord as to why I was baptized. One day I came home from work and went into the house and my wife asked me, ‘Which way did you come in?” I told her that I had come in at the back door. She said, “There is a woman upstairs and she has brought an old man of eighty to be prayed for. He is raving up there and a great crowd is outside the front door, ringing the door-bell and wanting to know what is going on in the house.” The Lord quietly whispered, “This is what I baptized you for.” I carefully opened the door of the room where the man was, desiring to be obedient to what my Lord would say to me. The man was crying and shouting in distress, “I am lost! I am lost! I have committed the unpardonable sin. I am lost! I am lost!” My wife said, “Dad, what shall we do?” The Spirit of the Lord moved me to cry out, “Come out, thou lying spirit.” In a moment the evil spirit went, and the Lord said to me, “This is what I baptized you for.” There is a place where God, through the power of the Holy Ghost, reigns supreme in our lives. The Spirit reveals, unfolds, takes the things of Christ and shows them to us, and prepares us to be more than a match for satanic forces. When Nicodemus came to Jesus he said, “We know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” Jesus said to him, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was impressed by the miracles wrought; and Jesus pointed out the necessity of a miracle being wrought with every man who would see the kingdom. When a man is born of God, is brought from darkness to light, a mighty miracle is wrought. Jesus saw every touch by God as a miracle, and so we may expect to see miracles wrought today. It is wonderful to have the Spirit of the Lord upon us. I would rather have the Spirit of God on me for five minutes than to receive a million dollars. Do you see how Jesus mastered the devil in the wilderness? He knew He was the Son of God and satan came along with an “if.” How many times has satan come along to you this way? He says, “After all, you may be deceived. You know you really are not a child of God.” If the devil comes along and says that you are not saved, it is a pretty sure sign that you are. When he comes and tells you that you are not healed, it may be taken as good evidence that the Lord has sent His word and healed you. The devil knows that if he can capture your thought life, he has won a mighty victory over you. His great business is injecting thoughts, but if you are pure and holy you will instantly shrink from them. God wants us to let the mind that was in Christ Jesus, that pure, holy, humble mind of Christ, be in us. I come across people everywhere I go who are held bound by deceptive conditions, and these conditions have come about simply because they have allowed the devil to make their minds the place of his stronghold. How are we to guard against this? The Lord has provided us with weapons that are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds of the enemy, and by means of which every thought shall be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ and His
say to me. The man was crying and shouting in distress, “I am lost! I am lost! I have committed the unpardonable sin. I am lost! I am lost!” My wife said, “Dad, what shall we do?” The Spirit of the Lord moved me to cry out, “Come out, thou lying spirit.” In a moment the evil spirit went, and the Lord said to me, “This is what I baptized you for.” There is a place where God, through the power of the Holy Ghost, reigns supreme in our lives. The Spirit reveals, unfolds, takes the things of Christ and shows them to us, and prepares us to be more than a match for satanic forces. When Nicodemus came to Jesus he said, “We know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” Jesus said to him, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was impressed by the miracles wrought; and Jesus pointed out the necessity of a miracle being wrought with every man who would see the kingdom. When a man is born of God, is brought from darkness to light, a mighty miracle is wrought. Jesus saw every touch by God as a miracle, and so we may expect to see miracles wrought today. It is wonderful to have the Spirit of the Lord upon us. I would rather have the Spirit of God on me for five minutes than to receive a million dollars. Do you see how Jesus mastered the devil in the wilderness? He knew He was the Son of God and satan came along with an “if.” How many times has satan come along to you this way? He says, “After all, you may be deceived. You know you really are not a child of God.” If the devil comes along and says that you are not saved, it is a pretty sure sign that you are. When he comes and tells you that you are not healed, it may be taken as good evidence that the Lord has sent His word and healed you. The devil knows that if he can capture your thought life, he has won a mighty victory over you. His great business is injecting thoughts, but if you are pure and holy you will instantly shrink from them. God wants us to let the mind that was in Christ Jesus, that pure, holy, humble mind of Christ, be in us. I come across people everywhere I go who are held bound by deceptive conditions, and these conditions have come about simply because they have allowed the devil to make their minds the place of his stronghold. How are we to guard against this? The Lord has provided us with weapons that are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds of the enemy, and by means of which every thought shall be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ and His mighty name are an antidote to all the subtle seeds of unbelief that satan would sow in your minds. In the first chapter of Acts, we see that Jesus gave commandment to the disciples that they should wait for the promise of the Father, and He told them that not many days hence they would be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Luke tells us that he had written his former treatise concerning all that Jesus began both former treatise concerning all that Jesus began both to do and teach. The ministry of Christ did not end at the cross, but the Acts and the epistles give us accounts of what He continued to do and teach through those whom He indwelt. And our blessed Lord Jesus is still alive, and continues His ministry through those who are filled with His Spirit. He is still healing the broken-hearted and delivering the captives through those on whom He places His Spirit. I was traveling one day in a railway train in Sweden. At one station there boarded the train an old lady with her daughter. The old lady’s expression was so troubled that I enquired what was the matter with her. I heard that she was going to the hospital to have her leg taken off. She began to weep as she told that the doctors had said there was no hope for her except through having her leg amputated. She was seventy years old. I said to my interprerer, “Tell her that Jesus can heal her.” We stopped at another station and the carriage filled up with people. There was a rush of men to board that train and the devil said, “You’re done.” But I knew I had the best proposition, for hard things are always opportunities to get to the Lord more glory when He manifests His power. Every trial is a blessing. There have been times when I have been pressed through circumstances and it seemed as if a dozen road engines were going over me, but I have found that the hardest things are just lifting places into the grace of God. We have such a lovely Jesus. He always proves Himself to be such a mighty Deliverer. He never fails to plan the best things for us. The train began moving and I crouched down, and in the name of Jesus commanded the disease to leave. The old lady cried, “I’m healed. I know I’m healed.” She stamped her leg and said, “I’m going to prove it.” So when we stopped at another station she marched up and down and shouted, “I’m not going to the hospital.” Once again our wonderful Jesus had proven Himself a Healer of the broken-hearted, a Deliverer of one that was bound. At one time I was so bound that no human power could help me. My wife was looking for me to pass away. There was no help. At that time I had just had a faint glimpse of Jesus as the Healer. For six months I had been suffering from appendicitis, occasionally getting temporary relief. I went to the mision of which I was pastor, but I was brought to the floor in awful agony, and they brought me home to my bed. All night I was praying, pleading for deliverance, but none came. My wife was sure it was my home call and sent for a physician. He said that there was no possible chance for me — my body was too weak. Having had the appendicitis for six months, my whole system was drained, and, because of that, he thought that it was too late for an operation. He left my wife in a state of broken-heartedness. After he left, there came to our door a young man and an old lady. I knew that she was a woman of real prayer. They came upstairs to my room. This young man jumped on the bed and commanded the evil spirit to come out of me. He shouted, “Come out, you devil; I command you to come out in the name of Jesus!” There was no chance for an argument, or for me to tell him that I would never believe thart there was a devil inside of me. The thing had to go in the name of Jesus, and it went, and I was instantly healed. I arose and dressed and went downstairs. I was still in the plumbing business, and I asked my wife, “Is there any work in? I am all right now, and I am going to work.” I found there was a certain job to be done and I picked up my tools and went off to do it. Just after I left, the doctor came in, put his plug hat down in the hall, and walked up to the bedroom. But the invalid was not there. “Where is Mr. Wigglesworth? he asked. “O, doctor, he’s gone out to work,” said my wife. “You’ll never see him alive again,” said the doctor; “they’ll bring him back a corpse.” Well, I’m the corpse. Since that time, in many parts of the world, the Lord has given me the priviledge of praying for people with appendicitis; and I have seen a great many people up and dressed within a quarter of an hour from the time I prayed for them. We have a living Christ who is willing to meet people on every line. A number of years ago I met Brother D. W. Kerr and he gave me a letter of introduction to a brother in Zion City named Cook. I took his letter to Brother Cook, and he said, “God has sent you here.” He gave me the addresses of six people and asked me to go and pray for them and meet him again at 12 o’clock. I got back at about 12:30 and he told me about a young man who was to be married the following Monday. His sweetheart was in Zion City dying of appendicitis. I went to the house and found that the physician had just been there and had pronounced that there was no hope. The mother was nearly distracted and was pulling her hair, and saying, “Is there no deliverance!” I said to her, “Woman, believe God and your daughter will be healed and be up and dressed in fifteen minutes.” But the mother went on screaming. They took me into the bedroom, and I prayed for the girl and commanded the evil spirit to depart in the name of Jesus. She cried, “I am healed.” I said to her, “Do you want me to believe that you are healed? If you are healed, get up.” She said, “You get out of the room and I’ll get up.” In less than ten minutes the doctor came in. He wanted to know what had happened. She said, “A man came in and prayed for me, and I’m healed.” The doctor pressed his finger right in the place that had been so sore, and the girl neither moaned nor cried. He said, “This is God.” It made no difference whether he acknowledged it or not, I knew that God had worked. Our God is real in saving and healing power today. Our Jesus is just the same, yesterday, and today, and forever. He saves and heals today just as of old, and He wants to be your Saviour and your Healer. Oh, if you would only believe God! What would happen? The greatest things. Some have never tasted the grace of God, have never had the peace of God. Unbelief robs them of these blessings. It is possible to hear and yet not conceive the truth. It is possible to read the Word and not share in the life it brings. It is necessary for us to have the Holy Ghost to unfold the Word and bring to us the life that is Christ. We can never fully understand the wonders of this redemption until we are full of the Holy Ghost.
Ever Increasing Faith
