Wigglesworth Devotional for November 30
November 30
Misled by a Voice
Part Four
Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God.
—1 John 4:1
Scripture reading: Matthew 4:1-11
The voices continued. Ah, those evil voices. How will we know whether they are of God? When God speaks, He speaks with wisdom. When the Devil came to Jesus he said, “If You are the Son of God” (Matt. 4:3). The Devil knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and Jesus knew and answered, “It is written, „You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve‟” (v. 10).
Was there anything wrong with what was happening with these two young women? The wrong was that the first young woman ought to have judged the spirits. If she had asked, “Did Jesus come in the flesh?” the voice would have answered no. No satanic voice in the world and no Spiritualist medium will acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh.
The same power said to the young woman, “Now that I know you will obey me in everything, I will make you the greatest missionary in the world.”
How could the two women have known at that moment that this was a false voice? Why, they could have known according to the Word of God. What does it say? “Many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Who are these false prophets after? Perhaps those with sincerity, earnestness, zeal, and purity. Who knows? These evil powers know. These are the questions they should have kept in their minds: What am I living for? What is the hope of my life? Do I have to be the greatest missionary in the world, or does Jesus need to be glorified in my life to do as He wills with me? The ripe grape is never as pure and perfect as it is just before it decays. The child of God is never as near to God as he is when the Devil can come and say, “You are wonderful!”
It is satanic to feel that God has a special message for you and that you are someone more special than anyone else. Every place that God brings you to in a rising tide of perfection is a place of humility, brokenness of heart, and fullness of surrender, where only God can rule in authority. It is not where you are somebody, but where God is everything and where you will be living for His glory.
It took three difficult months before these two young women were delivered from their delusion. But God did deliver them, and later He opened the door for them to go as missionaries to China. Thank God, the Devil’s plan was defeated, but it was at a tremendous cost, almost of their lives.
How could they have known that it was a false voice? How can you know? When a voice comes, no matter how it seems to you, you must test it. When it is persistently pressing you to do something and you can hardly conceive how this thing could be possible, you have a position in the power of the Word of God to say to this evil power, “Did Jesus come in the flesh?” (1 John 4:3). And the satanic power will say no. But the Spirit of the living God, the Holy Spirit, always says yes. And so you can get to know the difference. We have to live in the place of knowing the Scriptures and listening to His voice so that we are able to divinely discern whether these things are of God or not.
Did Jesus come in the flesh? Yes, and now the living Christ is within you. Christ came into you the moment you believed. There is a manifestation of it. You may live in such a way that your language, your expressions, your actions, and everything speak of Christ. “They realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). You can live in such a way that the personality of Christ is exactly what Paul said: “Not I — I don’t live anymore. Christ lives in me.” (See Galatians 2:20.)
The Christ life, the Christ power, the personality of His presence may be in you in such a way that you cannot doubt the Word of God.
Thought for today: The workings of the Spirit are always contrary to the workings of the flesh.
Excerpted from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional by Smith Wigglesworth, © 1999 by Whitaker House. Published by Whitaker House, New Kensington, PA. Used with permission. All rights reserved. www.whitakerhouse.com.
Smith Wigglesworth Devotional: 365 Day Devotional
By Whitaker House
Smith Wigglesworth was a man who took God at his word, and God used his faith as a model for others. Explore these daily truths from Scripture and the writings of the Apostle of Faith, and you’ll quench your spiritual thirst, conquer defeating fears, be an effective soul winner, and see impossibilities turn into realities. 558 pages.
Holy Spirit increase my wisdom and knowledge more for Your glory in Jesus Christ name