© 19 Colin Melbourne
Misuse of Prophecy
Prophecy causes more trouble than anything else in the world.
If you turn to the Old Testament you will find prophetic utterances.
Prophetic utterances beginning in the flesh, and ending in the flesh are wrong.
People do it because they like to be heard, and it destroys confidence.
There are men who believe they have power to go up and down, and make prophets.
It is unscriptural, and I can prove it to a very ordinary man.
The man who would make a man a prophet is in a bad way, and the man who is willing to be made a prophet is in a worse way.
No man can save you, no man can baptize you in the Spirit, no man can give you a Gift.
Turn to Ephesians 4:8, Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Who is He that ascended up on high but Jesus? And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
No man has ever had the power to give these offices.
The most you can do is to lay hands on a person to receive the Holy Ghost, which is a perfectly scriptural thing to do. I have seen hundreds receive the Holy Ghost while I have had my hands upon them, but was it I?
No, but you may have the power of God so upon you, and through you, and in you, until from you will flow the healing virtue as from the Body of Jesus, and when you touch people, they will be healed.
I have touched people who were dying, and they have been instantly healed from head to foot.
I remember one night going into a house where a woman lay dying.
Her husband came to me and said his wife would like to say just a word before she passed away. I went in, and took hold of her hand, and she said, “Sam, I am healed. The virtue from Smith is going all over me.”
She was perfectly healed in that touch. And I believe too that if you are filled with the Holy Ghost you will create a desire for the Spirit, an inward thirst for God, and with the laying on of hands, the gift of the Spirit will be moving in that man.
You do not bestow the gift, but the power of God works through you, and remember there is never a baptism of the Holy Ghost, but that God is there.
It is the promise of the Father.
You never have a baptism of the Holy Ghost without Jesus is there, for He baptizes; you never have the baptism of the Holy Ghost without the Holy Ghost comes in, so you have the Trinity there.
Every touch of God that I get makes me see how I need more of Him all the time.
I hope no one in this meeting will ever be so foolish as to allow any person to make you anything, but that you will all be willing to let God make you something.
Is Prophecy Real?
It is as real as anything else.
When you have prophecy, be sure it is the Spirit of God that gives it, and when it is given, be sure it is nothing personal.
There are foolish and ridiculous things taking place in some parts.
I think a man ought to have the choice of his own wife, but when prophecy goes forth that you are to have a wife of their choosing, you are on dangerous ground.
When prophecy goes forth that you are to have a certain house on a certain street, you know that is carnal.
All these things make our position one of ridicule, and a laughing-stock in the eyes of the people.
God saves us from foolishness, and from ignorance.
How will He save us?
When we are humble enough to be taught
The deceptiveness of the Devil is shown in prophecy tremendously.
When prophetic utterances from the Lord go forth they are of great blessing to everybody, but where is the mistake?
It often lies in people going up to the one who has given the message, and saying, “Oh I got so blessed through that prophecy. It was wonderful. We must have it written down.”
So you spoil the people who give the prophecy.
It is a very serious thing, because prophecy is a gift, and the seriousness of the thing is to use a gift without the power of God upon you.
They begin to say, “Thus saith the Lord,” and go on forever.
Now listen: If the prophecy is not given in the unction of the Spirit, it will be damnation.
Genuine Prophecy
It is blessed when clear prophecy comes through, because a person may have prophecy who knows very little of the word of God, and yet have perfect prophetic utterance.
If you turn to the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and read the prophecy that Stephen utters, it is most sublime.
As he prophesied under the power of the Spirit, the power of the Devil came upon those people; they couldn’t stand it.
It meant death, but it was in the power of the Spirit.
There is something about prophecy that makes you know it is God.
Here is a man in the assembly who starts to pray. He has prayed many times in the assembly, and you have been blessed, but suddenly you catch fire, and you feel the inspiration as the Spirit prays through him, and you know when God has finished, and when he begins his own prayer.
The lesson to learn in Pentecost is when to finish, for it is a serious thing to go on after the Lord has finished.
You begin in the Spirit, and end in the flesh.
The same thing is true of prophecy; they begin in the Spirit, and end in the flesh.
Then there are some foolish people in the world, who, when they know someone has the gift of prophecy, go around to his house, and try to find out something by prophecy.
That is as bad as going to a medium.
Do you think you can get a prophetic message on those lines?
Now listen: Wisdom is justified by her children, and if you do not keep in wisdom, nobody wants anything to do with you, so do not work along those lines.
If you want to know the mind of God, get it in The Book: You do not need a prophet to tell you.
God is His own Interpreter
I was saved when I was a boy, eight years old, and I have never lost the witness.
I never went to school, and so I had no chance to learn to read.
When I got married, my wife taught me to read and write, though she could never teach me to spell, but I do the best I can.
I so love the word of God, I do not remember spending any time but with the word. Papers and books have no fascination for me. The word of God is my meat and my drink.
I get a fresh breath from Heaven every time I read it. It is full of prophetic utterances that make my soul rejoice.
END
Smith Wigglesworth message delivered at the Union Pentecostal Meeting Nov. 1922 USA.
Transcribed and annotated by Colin Melbourne from The Latter Rain Evangel 1923
Back to the start of Smith Wigglesworth On The Gift of Prophecy
© 19 Colin Melbourne