Smith Wigglesworth On the Holy Spirit: Questions and Answers about the Baptism

Smith Wigglesworth On the Holy Spirit

Questions and Answers about the Baptism

Q: Is the Holy Spirit a personality?

A:Yes, He is. He is not an “it,” not an influence, but He is a presence, a power, a person, the third person of the Trinity. That is the reason why the Lord said, “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

Q: If you do not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, will you be lost?

A: Certainly not. You are not saved by the Holy Spirit. You are saved by the Word of God and the blood of Jesus.

Q: Is it as necessary to urge people to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit as it is to urge them to be saved?

A: No, because the baptism of the Holy Spirit cannot come to anybody until he is saved. And a person could go to heaven without the baptism of the Holy Spirit—the thief on the cross did. You must understand that the most important thing today is getting people saved. But do not forget that after you are saved, you must seek so that you receive “the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4).

Q: The Holy Spirit said through John the Baptist, “[Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11). Is it necessary that I receive the baptism of fire, and can I receive the Holy Spirit before I receive the baptism of fire?

A: It is one and the same thing. There is only one Holy Spirit, only one baptism, only one reception of the Spirit. When He comes in, He comes to abide.

We can’t always give all the figurative descriptions of the Holy Spirit, but the fire of the Holy Spirit is more than figurative. It causes assimilation. The Holy Spirit causes our whole being to become assimilated to the divine nature. When He comes in, you will feel fire going through your body. You will feel a burning of all inward corruption.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is essential for bringing into you a divine, holy fire that burns up all dross and quickens all purity, making you ablaze so that perfect love may continue.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire are one and the same. The baptism is the infilling of the divine third person of the Trinity.

Q:But on the Day of Pentecost, the fire fell upon them as tongues of fire, and afterward the Holy Spirit came. Will you explain that?

A:Before there were tongues of fire, there first was the “rushing mighty wind” (Acts 2:2). Let me explain the importance of this by looking at the life of our Lord. Jesus was a person, but He was a person of ideal perfection; the Father manifested all fullness in Him (Col. 2:9). And yet when all fullness came, it was necessary for Jesus to receive the flow of the Spirit’s breath to formulate the Word; the Spirit breathed and Jesus said the words. Christ said, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10 kjv). The Spirit was the breath, the power, that was making the language.

Now, why did the Holy Spirit have to come at Pentecost? Simply because when Jesus was here, He was local. But the Holy Spirit can fill people in England, in America, in China, in Africa, in the islands of the sea, everywhere, all over the world. When He came, the breath, the power could fill the whole universe because it was the breath of the mighty power of God Himself.

Also, the Holy Spirit was a flame. Tongues of fire—what could be more inspiring? Flames of fire, tongues of fire burning up what was inflammable within. The disciples saw this on the Day of Pentecost, and it has been seen many times since then. But they were not baptized in the wind; they were not baptized in the fire. When were they baptized? When the wind and the fire got inside and caused eruption.

Q:Can a person receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit before being sanctified?

A:Yes. Do you know what it is to be saved? As you go on with God, you are being saved, and the more you go on with God, the more confident you are that you are saved. It was an accomplished fact that you were saved when you believed, but you are being saved as you walk in the light to a greater depth of knowledge of salvation. You were sanctified, but you are also being sanctified according to light, and you are not what you were yesterday.

Light, light, light! When you received the Holy Spirit, it is certain that the Lord was pleased with the place at which you had arrived, but it is not where you are going to. Every believer is sanctified, but no believer has received sanctification who does not also have an increased sanctification. There is no man being saved today who does not need to have an increased salvation, truth upon truth, “line upon line” (Isa. 28:10), knowing that he is ripe for heaven but that he is also going on to perfection. He is being changed “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). The process is wonderful: being saved, being sanctified, being made ready every day!

Q:Is sanctification a definite work of grace?

A:Yes, and salvation also. And the next day, you will find out that as light comes, you will be like Isaiah in the presence of God; you will find you need another cleansing. (See Isaiah 6:5–7.) Light makes cleansing necessary.

Q:After being baptized in water, if one goes back in sin and then repents, is it necessary to be baptized again?

A:There has to come into your life a real knowledge that after you have had hands laid upon you, you do not have to expect that hands will need to be laid upon you again. After you have received the baptism, you are not to expect to be baptized again, in water or anywhere else. The Word of God is very clear; as you go on to perfection, you are leaving the first principles. You are leaving them behind because God says, “Come on!” Don’t repeat anything that has passed by. Believe it is finished.

Q: Are the results mentioned in Mark 16:17–18 meant only for those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit?

A: Thousands of people who have never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit are very specially led and blessed in healing the sick. Some of the finest people that I ever knew have never come into the same experience as I am in today regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit, yet they are mightily and wonderfully used in healing all kinds of sicknesses. But they do not have what is in the sixteenth chapter of Mark.

Only baptized believers speak in tongues. The Scripture says, “If you believe, you will lay hands on the sick” and “If you believe, you will speak in new tongues.” (See Mark 16:17–18.) This means that after the Holy Spirit comes, you are in the place of command. You can command. How do I know this? Because Paul, in 2 Timothy 1, was very clear when he said, “Stir up the gift” (v. 6). What was the trouble with Timothy? He was downcast. He was a young man who had been called out by Paul, but he had been among other clergymen. Because of his youth, he had been somewhat put off to the side, and he was grieved. Paul found him in a distressed place, so Paul stirred him up.

Every one of you, if you have faith, can “stir up the gift” within you. The Holy Spirit can be so manifested in you that you can speak in utterances with tongues as He gives you the ability, even though you may not have actually received the gift of tongues. And I believe that everybody baptized in the Holy Spirit has a right to allow the Spirit to have perfect control and to speak every day, morning, noon, and night, in this way.

Therefore, do not put out your hand to stop anybody who is doing good, but encourage him to do good; then bring him into the baptism of much good.

Q: When the Lord gives an interpretation of tongues, does He give it to the interpreter while the tongues are being given or when the interpretation is given?

A: The interpretation is not known to the interpreter at the time the tongues are given. The interpreter speaks as the Spirit gives him unction; he does not know what he is going to say or what he is saying. He speaks as the Spirit gives him liberty. Interpretation is like tongues. You do not know what you are saying when you speak in tongues. Likewise, you don’t know what you are saying when you give interpretation. But you know what you have said.

Q:I have been waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit for a long time. I have been told that if I will say “Glory!” or “Hallelujah!” until I have lost myself, I will receive, but so far I have not received.

A:You have had a great deal of things in your mind as to what ought to bring the baptism, and you are forgetting what will bring it, and that is Jesus. Jesus is the Baptizer. As soon as you are ready, He will fill you.

Q:Can anyone receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in his own room?

A:Yes. I believe that after hands have been laid upon you to receive the Holy Spirit, you can go away believing that you will certainly receive, whether it is in your bed or anywhere else. I laid my hands on a very remarkable man in London; we considered him one of the finest men we had. He went home and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in his bed.

Remember that no person is a baptizer. Jesus is the only Baptizer, and you never get away from His presence. He is with you in your bedroom; He is with you at your workplace; He is with you everywhere. “Lo, I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).