© 19 Colin Melbourne, Transcribed and annotated from The Latter Rain publication of the Stone Church 1923
We must always clearly see that the baptism of the Spirit must make us ministering spirits.
The next thought then is, that it must be on the line of operation.
The Operation of The Holy Spirit
You will find that if you really get full of the Holy Ghost, two things must happen; ministry and operation.
I want you to notice Peter and John had been baptised only a short time.
Did they know what they had?
No.
I defy you to know what you have.
No one knows what he has in the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
He has no conception of it.
You cannot measure it by any measuring line of human standards. It is greater than any man has any idea of, and consequently those two disciples had no idea what they had.
For the first time after they were Baptised in the Holy Ghost, with this order of the Spirit, they came down to the Gate Beautiful.
There they saw the man sitting, who for forty years had been lame.
What was the first thing after they saw him?
Ministration.
What was the second?
Operation.
What was the third?
Manifestation, of course!
It could be no otherwise. You will always find that this order in the Scripture will be carried out in everybody.
Active Faith
In these meetings we are having, you must have one set purpose.
I believe that God has me here for this purpose, to make you all “actors”.
There are so few actors; therefore, so little is done.
I want you to notice that there is a great deal of difference between your acting, and the acting upon the stage.
On the stage in the theatre, they tell me that they take fiction, and act it so it produces a fact before the people.
We Have a Fact
Let us not work as if it were a fiction. [11]
If we do, it will be very serious, but we must work out facts in the Name of Jesus.
Here I am on this platform this morning. I had no idea what God had given me until I began to act.
As I began to act, then God began. [12]
You cannot have results; manifestations, operations, the truths of the Spirit, the working of the ministry and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, without you begin to act.
Spiritual Giants
I clearly see that we ought to have spiritual giants in the Earth; mighty in apprehension, wonderful in activity, always having a wonderful report, because of their activity in faith.
I find out, instead of that, there are so many people who have perhaps better discernment than you, better knowledge of the word than you, but they have failed to put it into practise, so these Gifts lie dormant.
I am here to help you begin on the sea of life with mighty acts in the power of God through the Gifts of the Spirit.
You will find that this which I am speaking on is out of knowledge.
I can truly say, of a wonderful experience in many lands, having seen so many things that have wakened me up.
Action-Men and Action-Women
The man who is filled with the Holy Ghost is always in an acting place.
Jesus was always in the act.
You read the first verse of the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus began both to do and teach.
He began to do first, and so must we.
Beloved, we must see that the Baptism of the Holy Ghost is an activity with an outward manifestation.
When I was in Norway…
Continue reading:
Smith Wigglesworth on The Active Life of the Spirit-filled believer
[11] Let us not work as if it were a fiction: By this SW alludes to Christians mentally assenting to the Holy Bible as the word of God, instead of putting it into practise. For instance; they may develop symptoms of sickness, and immediately run to medics for a cure, instead of following God’s word, submitting to God, believing His word, resisting the Devil, and receiving healing the Holy Bible way: Through active living faith in Christ Jesus.
[12] As I began to act, then God began: SW could not preach before he was Spirit-filled. Whenever he attempted to, in his own Bradford Mission, he would quickly become a faltering embarrassment, stop, and call for his Wife to take over. “Polly” was an experienced preacher, one of the original Salvation Army “Halleluia Lasses” led by William Booth. But as soon as Smith was Baptised in the Holy Ghost, and put the Spirit’s leading into action, he preached around the world with an astonishing anointing.
Additionally, SW means here, that he didn’t know what he was going to say, or do, that very morning as he stood before his hearers. He never preached from notes, or used prepared sermons. He simply lived in The Spirit all the time, and trusted God would supply the anointing and the words, as long as Smith yielded, and kept his flesh under his spirit.
He was particularly noted for the dynamism of his messages. As the Spirit led him, he acted wholeheartedly on the leading, and God worked through him.
© 19 Colin Melbourne, Transcribed and annotated from The Latter Rain publication of the Stone Church 1923
