Two Worthy Witnesses
Once a soul enters His Rest, there is some real adapting to do!"There are three levels of souls within His Rest. The first sits cautiously on the restful banks of the Jordan in the shade of a fruitful bough where he can leisurely view his former land. The second type of soul is allowing any remaining distracting earthly attachments to fall away, so that his eyes rest on Him alone. The third is enraptured within His vast and extravagant Purposes." (see the non-Charismatic heritage article Possessing The Land for more quiet detail.) (excerpted from "Golden Sheaves" in the "Wisdom for Ministers" section.)
If this same hidden soul is also passionately and sacrificially "poured out" in His Holy Spirit, so that his or her every breathe is filled with His Glory and His Prayer, both awake and asleep, then we see a mature Son being rapidly formed. His personal spirit is now One with His far vaster Spirit. For this soul, Jesus' prayer has just been answered:
"that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." John 17:21-23 NKJVEnclosed in this short section we find a few rare concrete examples of recent souls that give evidence that they were simultaneously walking in this third and highest form of both His Rest and His Spirit. These are forerunners worthy of the name. These have recaptured their measure of the unconquerable lowly life of the leaders of the early church. These are truly dread warriors and hidden champions that have shaken the earth and changed their age.These are worthy stewards of the full and original measure of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.
O Lord: send us more of these deliverers.................
The Holy Spirit Told Us Exactly What to do
This is an astonishing story of resurrection power at work: two lowly young Chinese women obeyed God by His Spirit within His Rest and brought in so many souls that...... 3 pages by Carl Lawrence
Smith Wigglesworth
"It has been recorded that Smith Wigglesworth raised 23 people from the dead in total, over the years of his ministry." He was a most extraordinary man: he first obtained entire sanctification and then years later embraced the Pentecostal blessing, early on while it was still being preached along with Holiness. He then proceeded to pour out both without limit for the rest of his days regardless of many great hindrances. He was a major pioneer in establishing the Pentecostal Movement. 7 pages by A. Strom
Wigglesworth and Authority
God wants us free on every line. Men and women are tired of imitations; they want reality; they want to see people who have the living Christ within, and are filled with Holy Ghost power.
3 Page PDF
Twice Endued
Smith Wigglesworth tells of when he was endued with entire sanctification and years later when he is again endued- but this time with the newly re-discovered Pentecostal blessing of His Spirit. In today's deficient version of Pentecost, only very rare souls have yet embraced both the supernatural purity and the supernatural power that make up the completed Baptism. For this reason, we must pay very close attention to these few exemplars we have for what a Christian was originally created to be. (of course, not all who enter this place will have Smith's remarkable gift of healing) -a 4 page excerpt from the book "Smith Wigglesworth Apostle of Faith' by Stanley Frodsham -with my comments included. Earnest Seeker
Wigglesworth's Secret
The secrets of Wigglesworth's awesome spiritual strength are assessed. "He saw that the source of Christ's mightiest miracles was His wonderful compassion. Tears would stream from his eyes as he beheld the sin-scarred souls and the sickness-wrecked bodies. He burned in his zeal to undo the works of the devil, and was positively aggressive as he tried to emulate his Master in going about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." -11 pages by Stanley Frodsham -with my comments included.
The Key to Wigglesworth
This author reaches to reveal for us the keys to Wigglesworth's brutally solid faith. "Wigglesworth knew that without holiness, no man can see the Lord (Heb. 12:14), so with all his heart, he sought holiness. There was no “shilly-shallying, no playing games, no pretense. He meant to see God. (Matt. 5:8.) One of his great joys in the baptism of the Holy Spirit (that includes entire sanctification) was the sense of cleansing. He had a vision of an empty cross and Jesus glorified. He cried out in ecstasy, “Clean, clean, clean." -18 pages by George Stormont -with my comments included.
Sanctification of the Spirit
In May 1922, Wiggleworth preached this revolutionary sermon on the place of entire sanctification in the Pentecostal believer's life. We now must take the opportunity to follow this path that was recklessly buried by the ignorant new Pentecostals of that time. They did not comprehend that the choice to ignore their glorious heritage of Holiness meant the implicit embracing of compromise and mixture with all the attending dark consequences..... -7 pages from the Appendix of “Wigglesworth: A Man Who Walked With God" by George Stormont -with my comments included.
Lake and Wigglesworth Compared You will find both of these remarkable souls to be extremely challenging, however you will find that Lake handles words and doctrines better while the unschooled Wigglesworth was famed for tears, devotion and astonishingly brutal raw power.
Before God apprehended Wigglesworth, he was a shy and uneducated plumber in England. Lake's natural talents, on the other hand had advanced him to become a wealthy developer and financier working on Wall Street!!!
Wigglesworth was further disadvantaged by biographers who did not at all understand his sanctity. He was not especially literate, did no writing for himself and read only the Bible. The educated Lake on the other hand, wrote his own material, and wrote it well. For these reasons we have a much better record of Lake's briefer pilgrimage.
Both Wigglesworth (1859-1946) and Lake (1870-1935) were filled with the Spirit in 1907- just before the enemy sidetracked and hamstrung the infant Pentecostal movement. ( see Azusa Street Timeline and Where Did Our Pentecostal Faith Come From? )
Instantaneous heart-cleansing had been preached by Wesley since 1725, calling it "entire sanctification" or "Christian Perfection". The subsequent Holiness Movement applied the term "Baptism with the Holy Spirit" to it. Wigglesworth had heard of and received this years before 1907, and when the same term first came to be applied to tongues and gifts, he aggressively pressed in to obtain those as well.
The younger Lake, on the other hand, heard it preached as containing both heart cleansing and the pentecostal gifts, and so he simply received it as such. He received both blessings in one sitting -and had a gift of healing added as well because he was believing for that also!
Was this how the apostles and the earnest seekers of the primitive church received and then preached the Baptism in the Spirit and Fire?
From the Diary of John G. Lake
John G. Lake's diary tells us exactly how he entered His Rest and was Baptized in the Spirit. Observe that both of these post-salvation upgrades came to him in one grand package! Afterwards the Lord then struggled with him until he vowed to serve only His purposes in this life. This was no easy thing, for his successful Christian business faithfully helped meet the needs of many. "Every student of the primitive church discerns at once a distinction between the soul of the primitive Christian and the soul of the modern Christian. It lies in the spirit of Christ dominion." 5 pages by John G. Lake -annotated by Earnest Seeker
The Healer: Dr. John G. Lake
Here is John G. Lake's remarkable biography. 7 pages compiled by Roberts Liardon
Baptism in the Holy Ghost
This an early sermon that presents the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and Holiness.
"This cleansing from inbred sin - the nature of sin, the carnal mind, the old man, the man of sin, etc. - is the actual taking out of our breast the desire for acts of sin. All correspondence with sin in us is severed, and the carnal life is laid as a sacrifice on the altar of Christ in glad surrender by us. This inner heart-cleansing that John and the disciples of Jesus demanded before they would baptize a man is the necessary preparation for baptism of the Holy Ghost. A holy God must have a holy dwelling place. O! wondrous salvation, wondrous Christ, wondrous atonement. Man born in sin, shapen in iniquity, forgiven, cleansed, purified outside and inside by the blood of Jesus, and made the habitation (dwelling place) of God." (See above! - Lake preached it just the same way Seymour did!) 8 pages by John G. Lake with an Epilogue by Earnest Seeker
The Holy Ghost Made Manifest
Whew!!! These burning hot pages of interpretation of tongues make clear the complete thrust of Lake's ministry. You would be best served to save this trumpet call to read prayerfully on your knees. 3 pages by the Holy Ghost...
A Letter to Charles H. Parham
Here is a copy of a remarkable ministry letter that Lake wrote in 1927 to Charles H. Parham, the recognized founder of modern Pentecostalism. It gives us some idea of the behind the scenes struggle in those hectic days of joy and success. 5 pages by John G. Lake (The import of this letter is better understood within the context of "The Rejected Blessing" found earlier on this page. )
Sermons from the Burning Heart of John G. Lake
I have so many of his wonderful sermons that I have listed them on a special page. Enjoy!!
In summary then, both Wigglesworth and Lake:
- were granted pardon for sins in the work of initial salvation
- laid down their all to enter a supernatural purity of heart in His Rest
- had their already indwelling Holy Spirit gloriously released for active working in their life and ministry
- pressed in by faith to receive and use their spectacular spiritual giftings
- kept the pedal to the metal as they ought, to stay poured out for God and His service
- had enough health, intelligence and freedom from circumstance to apply the above with energy
- in retrospect they both realized that ministered healings fade, while a gift of the glorious purity within His Rest remains and increases in fruitfulness evermore.
Note: not all gifts are spectacular, and not all otherwise qualified vessels have the health and intelligence necessary for effective service. Some vessels are kept aside to be sovereignly released at a certain season in the Spirit. His rewards are for simply stewarding what He has given, whether that is little or much.