A Conversation with Paul Washer

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Smith Wigglesworth (1859 – 1947)

http://www.theoldtimegospel.org/studies/preach21.html

His ministry is summed up in his own words, "There are four principles we need to maintain:
First, read the Word of God.
Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you.
Third believe the Word of God.
Fourth, act on the Word."
As George Stormont put it, "He lived so that people would only see Jesus."

Smith Wigglesworth's 3 pet sayings & these are true words of knowledge and wisdom,
"Great faith is the product of great fights"
"Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests"
"Great triumphs can only come out of great trials"

Beginnings of Healing Ministry

Smith Wigglesworth had a plumbing business in Bradford, England. Every Tuesday he would take people to Leeds to a group who practiced divine healing because they could not persuade Smith that the people could be healed in Bradford. Smith's wife Polly was healed in Leeds.

One day the leaders decided to go to the Keswick Convention and leave Smith in charge of the meetings at Bradford. Reluctantly Smith agreed. He hoped to persuade another to preach but each person he asked insisted that he must do it himself.

In that meeting, as Smith preached, he could not remember what he said but fifteen came out for healing. The first man was instantly healed after prayer. No one was more surprised than Smith himself. This encouraged the others to believe God and they were all healed. Smith said that it was not his faith but God helping in his hour of need. As a result, healing meetings were started in Bradford.

The work grew and they moved to other premises in Bowland Street. The text at the front read, "I am the Lord that healeth thee" and was an inspiration to many. A brother with a healing ministry came and was invited home for tea. Polly asked, "What would you think of a man who preaches divine healing, yet he himself uses medical means every day?" "I should say that man did not fully trust the Lord" was the answer. After the meal Smith told that he had suffered from hemorrhoids since childhood and used salts every day. They agreed to trust God for healing and, from that time forward, his system functioned naturally without any means whatsoever.

Their Promise

After this, Smith and his wife, Polly made a pledge to God, "From henceforth no medicine, no doctors, no drugs of any kind shall come into our house." Not long afterwards, Smith was gripped by a violent pain and was brought home. He and Polly prayed all night but, as he was worse, he thought it was his "home call." Smith reminded her of their agreement that, if one received a "home call," the other would send for the doctor to avoid the embarrassment of an inquest and the condemnation of outsiders.

The doctor diagnosed Smith with appendicitis in an advanced state. The only hope would be an immediate operation but his body was probably too weak. The doctor left, promising to return later. An elderly lady and a young man came and prayed. The young man laid his hands on Smith and cried, "Come out, devil, in the name of Jesus." Smith testified, "To my surprise the devil came out and I felt as well as I had ever been." He went downstairs and told his surprised wife, "I am healed." Answering a lady who left an urgent message in need for a plumber Smith went to help her.

While he was out the doctor returned and pronounced, "They will bring him back a corpse!" That "corpse" preached the gospel in many parts of the world for another 40 years. He was instrumental in bringing thousands of people to salvation, baptism in the Spirit and healing in God. About twenty people were raised from the dead during Smith's ministry. He believed great trials lead to a deeper experience with God. "Only melted gold is minted" was one of his sayings.

His Early Life

Smith was born in 1859 and at the age of seven he was working twelve hours a day with his father to supplement the family finances. As a result he had little education. He was born again at eight and immediately sought to win others to Jesus Christ. His mother was his first convert.

Smith was called by God to, "Come out." First from the Methodist, then the Anglican, Brethren, Salvation Army and so on. He ministered in Elim and Assemblies of God but he remained independent of any denomination.

His wife Polly was a great help, teaching him to read and write. Smith slipped back when his business prospered and God used her to restore him. He had a violent temper but God gave him victory.

In 1907, when he was 48, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues. His wife was a good preacher and she had tried without much success to help Smith. She, and many others, were surprised at his fluency after the baptism in the Spirit.

His Preaching

Smith read little other than the Bible. He waited for the Spirit to direct him to a particular passage for his ministry. He often gave a short message in tongues which he immediately interpreted.

Frequently he would quote a chorus. "Only believe" was one of his favorites. Another, which was his testimony, was, "I know the Lord laid His hand on me. Filled! A flowing, quickening, moving flame of God."

Some examples of God's healing power would be related. He believed his sermons should make his hearers either glad or mad! He would say, "If you do not progress every day, you are backsliding."

When he was preaching in Norway, the town hall was full and thousands were outside. He had prayed for something different to happen. God said to him, "If you will ask Me, I will give you every soul." Smith knew it was God but was slow to accept. He did ask and the Spirit swept over the place. He had never seen anything like it. Many cried for mercy and he was convinced that God gave him every soul.

Faith When We Do Not Understand

Although Smith believed all sickness was from the devil and everyone could be healed, there were some difficulties. The untimely death of his wife in 1913 was a real blow. He commanded death to give her up. She said, "Smith - the Lord wants me." "If the Lord wants you, I will not hold you" was his response but he greatly missed her.

His daughter, Alice Salter frequently traveled with him after Polly's death. Alice was deaf and was never healed. His youngest son, George, went to be with the Lord in 1915.

Early in the 1930's an X-ray revealed Smith was suffering from kidney stones. An immediate operation was necessary to avoid a painful illness and eventual death. "Doctor, the God who made this body is the one who can cure it. No knife shall ever cut it as long as I live" was his response. He endured six years of pain before he was delivered. Later he suffered from sciatica which made walking painful and often, he was more sick than the people he prayed for! At seventy eight he ruptured badly and in 1944 he suffered a slight stroke. He was quickened in 1945 and was able to chair the Easter convention at Preston.

His Prophecy

Early one morning in 1937 in South Africa, Smith marched into the office of the secretary of the Apostolic Faith mission. He prophesied what we now know as the Charismatic Revival. This man of 31 would play a major part in it if he remained humble and faithful. At that time, there was considerable antagonism between the established denominations and Pentecostals although there were some refreshing exceptions. That man was David du Plessis. Smith also told him, "The day I pass away, then you can begin to think about it." In 1947 du Plessis went to the World Pentecostal Conference in Zurich. From that point on, his ministry and influence developed.

Smith died on 12 March 1947 at the funeral of Wilf Richardson. His ministry is summed up in his own words, "There are four principles we need to maintain: First, read the Word of God. Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you. Third believe the Word of God. Fourth, act on the Word." As George Stormont put it, "He lived so that people would only see Jesus."

Acts 4:13 is true of Smith, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (NIV) A week earlier, he prophesied a second move of the Spirit. This would bring a revival of emphasis on the Word of God. He added that, when these two moves of the Spirit combine we shall see the greatest move the Church of Jesus Christ has ever seen.

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From Tradition To Truth

A Priest’s Story - a personal testimony of Richard Peter Bennett http://www.bereanbeacon.org/index.htm

I share these truths with you now so that you can know God's way of salvation. Our basic problem as Catholics was that personal worth and dignity was ingrained into us. We believed that could respond to the help God gives us to be right in His sight. This presupposition that many of us have carried for years is aptly defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) #2021, “Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons....” With that mindset, we were unknowingly holding to a teaching that the Bible continually condemns. Such a definition of grace is man's careful fabrication, for the Bible consistently declares that the believer's right standing with God is “without works” (Romans 4:6), “without the deeds of the Law” (Romans 3:28), “not of works” (Ephesians 2:9), “It is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8). To attempt to make the believer's response part of his salvation and to look upon grace as “a help” is to flatly deny Biblical truth, “...if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace...” (Romans 11:6).

The simple Biblical message is that “the gift of righteousness” in Christ Jesus is a gift, resting on His all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

So it is as Christ Jesus Himself said, He died in place of the believer, the One for many (Mark 10:45), His life a ransom for many. As He declared, ...this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). This is also what Peter proclaimed, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God...” (I Peter 3:18). Paul’s preaching is summarized at the end of II Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him..” (II Corinthians 5:21).

This fact, dear reader, is presented clearly to you in the Bible. Acceptance of it is now commanded by God, “...Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The most difficult repentance for us dyed-in-the-wool Catholics is changing our mind from thoughts of “meriting,” “earning,” “being good enough,” simply to accepting with empty hands the gift of righteousness in Christ Jesus. To refuse to accept what God commands is the same sin as that of the religious Jews of Paul's time, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3) Repent and believe the Good News!

To read the entire testimony, click HERE or go to http://www.bereanbeacon.org/index.htm

The Early Years
Born Irish, in a family of eight, my early childhood was fulfilled and happy. My father was a
colonel in the Irish Army until he retired when I was about nine. As a family, we loved to play, sing, and
act, all within a military camp in Dublin.
We were a typical Irish Roman Catholic family. My father sometimes knelt down to pray at his
bedside in a solemn manner. Most evenings we would kneel in the living room to say the Rosary
together. No one ever missed Mass on Sundays unless he was seriously ill. By the time I was about
five or six years of age, Jesus Christ was a very real person to me, but so also were Mary and the
saints. I can identify easily with others in traditional Catholic nations in Europe and with Hispanics and
Filipinos who put Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and other saints all in one boiling pot of faith.
The catechism was drilled into me at the Jesuit School of Belvedere, where I had all my elementary
and secondary education. Like every boy who studies under the Jesuits, I could recite before the age of
ten five reasons why God existed and why the Pope was head of the only true Church. Getting souls
out of Purgatory was a serious matter. The often quoted words, "It is a holy and a wholesome thought
to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins," were memorized even though we did not know
what these words meant. We were told that the Pope as head of the Church was the most important
man on earth. What he said was law, and the Jesuits were his right-hand men. Even though the Mass
was in Latin, I tried to attend daily because I was intrigued by the deep sense of mystery which
surrounded it. We were told it was the most important way to please God. Praying to saints was
encouraged, and we had patron saints for most aspects of life. I did not make a practise of that, with
one exception: St. Anthony, the patron of lost objects, since I seemed to lose so many things.
When I was fourteen years old, I sensed a call to be a missionary. This call, however, did not
affect the way in which I conducted my life at that time. Age sixteen to eighteen were the most fulfilled
and enjoyable years a youth could have. During this time, I did quite well both academically and
athletically.
I often had to drive my mother to the hospital for treatments. While waiting for her, I found quoted
in a book these verses from Mark 10:29-30, "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you,
There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this
time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions;
and in the world to come eternal life." Not having any idea of the true salvation message, I decided
that I truly did have a call to be a missionary.
Trying To Earn Salvation
I left my family and friends in 1956 to join the Dominican Order. I spent eight years studying what
it is to be a monk, the traditions of the Church, philosophy, the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and some
of the Bible from a Catholic standpoint. Whatever personal faith I had was institutionalized and ritualized
in the Dominican religious system. Obedience to the law, both Church and Dominican, was put before
me as the means of sanctification. I often spoke to Ambrose Duffy, our Master of Students, about the
law being the means of becoming holy. In addition to becoming “holy,” I wanted also to be sure of
eternal salvation. I memorized part of the teaching of Pope Pius XII in which he said, “...the salvation of
many depends on the prayers and sacrifices of the mystical body of Christ offered for this intention.”
This idea of gaining salvation through suffering and prayer is also the basic message of Fatima and
Lourdes, and I sought to win my own salvation as well as the salvation of others by such suffering and
prayer. In the Dominican monastery in Tallaght, Dublin, I performed many difficult feats to win souls,
such as taking cold showers in the middle of winter and beating my back with a small steel chain. The
Master of Students knew what I was doing, his own austere life being part of the inspiration that I had
received from the Pope's words. With rigor and determination, I studied, prayed, did penance, tried to
keep the Ten Commandments and the multitude of Dominican rules and traditions.
Outward Pomp -- Inner Emptiness
Then in 1963 at the age of twenty-five I was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and went on to
finish my course of studies of Thomas Aquinas at The Angelicum University in Rome. But there I had
difficulty with both the outward pomp and the inner emptiness. Over the years I had formed, from
pictures and books, pictures in my mind of the Holy See and the Holy City. Could this be the same
city? At the Angelicum University I was also shocked that hundreds of others who poured into our
morning classes seemed quite disinterested in theology. I noticed Time and Newsweek magazines being
read during classes. Those who were interested in what was being taught seemed only to be looking for
either degrees or positions within the Catholic Church in their homelands.
One day I went for a walk in the Colosseum so that my feet might tread the ground where the
blood of so many Christians had been poured out. I walked to the arena in the Forum. I tried to
picture in my mind those men and women who knew Christ so well that they were joyfully willing to be
burned at the stake or devoured alive by beasts because of His overpowering love. The joy of this
experience was marred, however, for as I went back in the bus I was insulted by jeering youths shouting
words meaning “scum or garbage.” I sensed their motivation for such insults was not because I stood
for Christ as the early Christians did but because they saw in me the Roman Catholic system. Quickly, I
put this contrast out of my mind, yet what I had been taught about the present glories of Rome now
seemed very irrelevant and empty.
One night soon after that, I prayed for two hours in front of the main altar in the church of San
Clemente. Remembering my earlier youthful call to be a missionary and the hundredfold promise of
Mark 10:29-30, I decided not to take the theological degree that had been my ambition since beginning
study of the theology of Thomas Aquinas. This was a major decision, but after long prayer I was sure I
had decided correctly.
The priest who was to direct my thesis did not want to accept my decision. In order to make the
degree easier, he offered me a thesis written several years earlier. He said I could use it as my own if
only I would do the oral defense. This turned my stomach. It was similar to what I had seen a few
weeks earlier in a city park: elegant prostitutes parading themselves in their black leather boots. What
he was offering was equally sinful. I held to my decision, finishing at the University at the ordinary
academic level, without the degree.
On returning from Rome, I received official word that I had been assigned to do a three year
course at Cork University. I prayed earnestly about my missionary call. To my surprise, I received
orders in late August 1964 to go to Trinidad, West Indies, as a missionary.
Pride, Fall, And A New Hunger
On October 1, 1964, I arrived in Trinidad, and for seven years I was a successful priest, in Roman
Catholic terms, doing all my duties and getting many people to come to Mass. By 1972 I had become
quite involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement. Then, at a prayer meeting on March 16th of that
year, I thanked the Lord that I was such a good priest and requested that if it were His will, He humble
me that I might be even better. Later that same evening I had a freak accident, splitting the back of my
head and hurting my spine in many places. Without thus coming close to death, I doubt that I would
ever have gotten out of my self-satisfied state. Rote, set prayer showed its emptiness as I cried out to
God in my pain.
In the suffering that I went through in the weeks after the accident, I began to find some comfort in
direct personal prayer. I stopped saying the Breviary (the Roman Catholic Church's official prayer for
clergy) and the Rosary and began to pray using parts of the Bible itself. This was a very slow process. I
did not know my way through the Bible and the little I had learned over the years had taught me more to
distrust it rather than to trust it. My training in philosophy and in the theology of Thomas Aquinas left me
helpless, so that coming into the Bible now to find the Lord was like going into a huge dark woods
without a map.
When assigned to a new parish later that year, I found that I was to work side-by-side with a
Dominican priest who had been a brother to me over the years. For more than two years we were to
work together, fully seeking God as best we knew in the parish of Pointe-a-Pierre. We read, studied,
prayed, and put into practise what we had been taught in Church teaching. We built up communities in
Gasparillo, Claxton Bay, and Marabella, just to mention the main villages. In a Catholic religious sense
we were very successful. Many people attended Mass. The Catechism was taught in many schools,
including government schools. I continued my personal search into the Bible, but it did not much affect
the work we were doing; rather it showed me how little I really knew about the Lord and His Word. It
was at this time that Philippians 3:10 became the cry of my heart, “That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection....”
About this time the Catholic Charismatic movement was growing, and we introduced it into
most of our villages. Because of this movement, some Canadian Christians came to Trinidad to share
with us. While much of what I learnt centered on pretended signs and wonders, which I have later
renounced, the use of the Scriptures was truly a blessing to me. The love the Canadian Christians had
for the Bible got me deeply into it as an authority source. I began to compare scripture with scripture
and even to quote chapter and verse!
One of the texts the Canadians used was Isaiah 53:5, “...and with his stripes we are healed.”
Yet in studying Isaiah 53, I discovered that the Bible deals with the problem of sin by means of
substitution. Christ died in my place. It was wrong for me to try to expidite or try to cooperate in
paying the price of my sin. “If by grace, it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more
grace..” Romans 11:6. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
One particular sin of mine was getting annoyed with people, sometimes even angry. Although I
asked forgiveness for my sins, I still did not realize that I was a sinner by the nature which we all inherit
from Adam. The scriptural truth is, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans
3:10), and “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The
Catholic Church, however, had taught me that the depravity of man, which is called “original sin,” had
been washed away by my infant baptism. I still held this belief in my head, but in my heart I knew that
my depraved nature had not yet been conquered by Christ. “That I may know him, and the power
of his resurrection...” (Philippians 3:10) continued to be the cry of my heart. I knew that it could be
only through His power that I could live the Christian life. I posted this text on the dashboard of my car
and in other places. It became the plea that motivated me, and the Lord who is Faithful began to
answer.
The Ultimate Question
First, I discovered that God's Word in the Bible is absolute and without error. I had been taught
that the Word is relative and that its truthfulness in many areas was to be questioned. Now I began to
understand that the Bible could, in fact, be trusted. With the aid of Strong's Concordance, I began to
study the Bible to see what it says about itself. I discovered that the Bible teaches clearly that it is from
God and is absolute in what it says. It is true in its history, in the promises God has made, in its
prophecies, in the moral commands it gives, and in how to live the Christian life. “All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works” (II Timothy 3:16-17).
This discovery was made while visiting in Vancouver, B.C., and in Seattle. When I was asked to
talk to the prayer group in St. Stephen's Catholic Church, I took as my subject the absolute authority of
God's Word. It was the first time that I had understood such a truth or talked about it. I returned to
Vancouver, B.C. and in a large parish Church, before about 400 people, I preached the same message.
Bible in hand, I proclaimed that “the absolute and final authority in all matters of faith and morals is the
Bible, God's own Word.”
Three days later, the archbishop of Vancouver, B.C., James Carney, called me to his office. I was
then officially silenced and forbidden to preach in his archdiocese. I was told that my punishment would
have been more severe, were it not for the letter of recommendation I had received from my own
archbishop, Anthony Pantin. Soon afterwards I returned to Trinidad.
Church-Bible Dilemma
While I was still parish priest of Point-a-Pierre, Ambrose Duffy, the man who had so strictly taught
me while he was Student Master, was asked to assist me. The tide had turned. After some initial
difficulties, we became close friends. I shared with him what I was discovering. He listened and
commented with great interest and wanted to find out what was motivating me. I saw in him a channel
to my Dominican brothers and even to those in the Archbishop's house. When he died suddenly of a
heart attack, I was stricken with grief. In my mind, I had seen Ambrose as the one who could make
sense out of the Church-Bible dilemma with which I so struggled. I had hoped that he would have been
able to explain to me and then to my Dominican brothers the truths with which I wrestled. I preached at
his funeral and my despair was very deep.
I continued to pray Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection....” But to learn more about Him, I had first to learn about myself as a sinner. I saw from
the Bible (I Timothy 2:5) that the role I was playing as a priestly mediator -- exactly what the Catholic
Church teaches but exactly opposite to what the Bible teaches -- was wrong. I really enjoyed being
looked up to by the people and, in a certain sense, being idolized by them. I rationalized my sin by
saying that after all, if this is what the biggest Church in the world teaches, who am I to question it? Still,
I struggled with the conflict within. I began to see the worship of Mary, the saints, and the priests for
the sin that it is. But while I was willing to renounce Mary and the saints as mediators, I could not
renounce the priesthood, for in that I had invested my whole life.
Tug-Of-War Years
Mary, the saints, and the priesthood were just a small part of the huge struggle with which I was
working. Who was Lord of my life, Jesus Christ in His Word or the Roman Church? This ultimate
question raged inside me especially during my last six years as parish priest of Sangre Grande (1979-
1985). That the Catholic Church was supreme in all matters of faith and morals had been dyed into my
brain since I was a child. It looked impossible ever to change. Rome was not only supreme but always
called “Holy Mother.” How could I ever go against “Holy Mother,” all the more so since I had an
official part in dispensing her sacraments and keeping people faithful to her?
In 1981, I actually rededicated myself to serving the Roman Catholic Church while attending a
parish renewal seminar in New Orleans. Yet when I returned to Trinidad and again became involved in
real life problems, I began to return to the authority of God's Word. Finally the tension became like a
tug-of-war inside me. Sometimes I looked to the Roman Church as being absolute, sometimes to the
authority of the Bible as being final. My stomach suffered much during those years; my emotions were
being torn. I ought to have known the simple truth that one cannot serve two masters. My working
position was to place the absolute authority of the Word of God under the supreme authority of the
Roman Church.
This contradiction was symbolized in what I did with the four statues in the Sangre Grande Church.
I removed and broke the statues of St. Francis and St. Martin because the second commandment of
God's Law declares in Exodus 20:4, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image....” But
when some of the people objected to my removal of the statues of the Sacred Heart and of Mary, I left
them standing because the higher authority, i.e., the Roman Catholic Church, said in its law Canon
1188: “The practise of displaying sacred images in the churches for the veneration of the faithful is to
remain in force.” I did not see that what I was trying to do was to make God's Word subject to man's
word.
My Own Fault
While I had learned earlier that God's Word is absolute, I still went through this agony of trying to
maintain the Roman Catholic Church as holding more authority than God's Word, even in issues where
the Church of Rome was saying the exact opposite to what was in the Bible. How could this be? First
of all, it was my own fault. If I had accepted the authority of the Bible as supreme, I would have been
convicted by God's Word to give up my priestly role as mediator, but that was too precious to me.
Second, no one ever questioned what I did as a priest. Christians from overseas came to Mass, saw
our sacred oils, holy water, medals, statues, vestments, rituals, and never said a word! The marvelous
style, symbolism, music, and artistic taste of the Roman Church was all very captivating. Incense not
only smells pungent, but to the mind it spells mystery.
The Turning Point
One day, a woman challenged me (the only Christian ever to challenge me in all my 22 years as a
priest), “You Roman Catholics have a form of godliness, but you deny its power.” Those words
bothered me for some time because the lights, banners, folk music, guitars, and drums were dear to me.
Probably no priest on the whole island of Trinidad had as colorful robes, banners, and vestments as I
had. Clearly I did not apply what was before my eyes.
In October 1985, God's grace was greater than the lie that I was trying to live. I went to Barbados
to pray over the compromise that I was forcing myself to live. I felt truly trapped. The Word of God is
absolute indeed. I ought to obey it alone; yet to the very same God I had vowed obedience to the
supreme authority of the Catholic Church. In Barbados I read a book in which was explained the
Biblical meaning of Church as “the fellowship of believers.” In the New Testament there is no hint of a
hierarchy; “Clergy” lording it over the “laity” is unknown. Rather, it is as the Lord Himself declared
“...one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren” (Matthew 23:8). Now to see and to
understand the meaning of church as “fellowship” left me free to let go of the Roman Catholic Church as
supreme authority and depend on Jesus Christ as Lord. It began to dawn on me that in Biblical terms,
the Bishops I knew in the Catholic Church were not Biblical believers. They were for the most part
pious men taken up with devotion to Mary and the Rosary and loyal to Rome, but not one had any idea
of the finished work of salvation, that Christ's work is done, that salvation is personal and complete.
They all preached penance for sin, human suffering, religious deeds, “the way of man” rather than the
Gospel of grace. But by God's grace I saw that it was not through the Roman Church nor by any kind
of works that one is saved, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
New Birth at Age 48
I left the Roman Catholic Church when I saw that life in Jesus Christ was not possible while
remaining true to Roman Catholic doctrine. In leaving Trinidad in November 1985, I only reached
neighboring Barbados. Staying with an elderly couple, I prayed to the Lord for a suit and necessary
money to reach Canada, for I had only tropical clothing and a few hundred dollars to my name. Both
prayers were answered without making my needs known to anyone except the Lord.
From a tropical temperature of 90 degrees, I landed in snow and ice in Canada. After one month
in Vancouver, I came to the United States of America. I now trusted that He would take care of my
many needs, since I was beginning life anew at 48 years of age, practically penniless, without an alien
resident card, without a driver's license, without a recommendation of any kind, having only the Lord
and His Word.
I spent six months with a Christian couple on a farm in Washington State. I explained to my hosts
that I had left the Roman Catholic Church and that I had accepted Jesus Christ and His Word in the
Bible as all-sufficient. I had done this, I said, “absolutely, finally, definitively, and resolutely.” Yet far
from being impressed by these four adverbs, they wanted to know if there was any bitterness or hurt
inside me. In prayer and in great compassion, they ministered to me, for they themselves had made the
transition and knew how easily one can become embittered. Four days after I arrived in their home, by
God's grace I began to see in repentance the fruit of salvation. This meant being able not only to ask the
Lord's pardon for my many years of compromising but also to accept His healing where I had been so
deeply hurt. Finally, at age 48, on the authority of God's Word alone, by grace alone, I accepted
Christ's substitutionary death on the Cross alone. To Him alone be the glory.
Having been refurbished both physically and spiritually by this Christian couple together with their
family, I was provided a wife by the Lord, Lynn, born-again in faith, lovely in manner, intelligent in mind.
Together we set out for Atlanta, Georgia, where we both got jobs.
A Real Missionary With A Real Message
In September 1988, we left Atlanta to go as missionaries to Asia. It was a year of deep fruitfulness
in the Lord that once I would never have thought was possible. Men and women came to know the
authority of the Bible and the power of Christ's death and resurrection. I was amazed at how easy it is
for the Lord's grace to be effective when only the Bible is used to present Jesus Christ. This contrasted
with the cobwebs of church tradition that had so clouded my 21 years in missionary garments in
Trinidad, 21 years without the real message.
To explain the abundant life of which Jesus spoke and which I now enjoy, no better words could
be used than those of Romans 8:1-2: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” It is not just that I have been
freed from the Roman Catholic system, but that I have become a new creature in Christ. It is by the
grace of God, and nothing but His grace, that I have gone from dead works into new life.
Testimony to the Gospel of Grace
Back in 1972, when some Christians had taught me about the Lord healing our bodies, how much
more helpful it would have been had they explained to me on what authority our sinful nature is made
right with God. The Bible clearly shows that Jesus substituted for us on the cross. I cannot express it
better than Isaiah 53:5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
(This means that Christ took on himself what I ought to suffer for my sins. Before the Father, I trust in
Jesus as my substitute.)
That was written 750 years before the crucifixion of our Lord. A short time after the sacrifice of
the cross, the Bible states in I Peter 2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the
tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed.” Because we inherited our sin nature from Adam, we have all sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God. How can we stand before a Holy God, except in Christ, and acknowledge that He died
where we ought to have died? Only through faith we can see, understand and grasp Christ as our
substitute. It was Christ who paid the price for our sins: sinless, yet He was crucified. This is the true
Gospel message. Is faith enough? Yes, born-again faith is enough. That true faith, engendered by God,
will inevitably show good fruit, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). In
repenting, we put aside, through God’s strength, our former way of life and our former sins. It does not
mean that we cannot sin again, but it does mean that our position before God has changed. We are
called children of God, for so indeed we are. If we do sin, it is a relationship problem with the Father
which can be resolved, not a problem of losing our position as a child of God in Christ, for this position
is irrevocable. In Hebrews 10:10, the Bible says it so wonderfully: “...we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The finished work of Christ Jesus on the Cross is
sufficient and complete. As you trust solely in this finished work, a new life which is born of the Spirit
will be yours -- you will be born again.
The Present Day
My present task: the good work that the Lord has prepared for me to do is as an evangelist
situated near Austin in the central Texas U.S.A. What Paul said about his fellow Jews I say about my
dearly loved Catholic brothers: my heart's desire and prayer to God for Catholics is that they may be
saved. I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based in God's Word
but in their church tradition. If you understand the devotion and agony that some of the men and women
in the Philippines and South America have put into their religion, you may understand my heart’s cry:
“Lord, give us a compassion to understand the pain and torment of the search that devout Catholics
have made to please You. In understanding pain inside the their hearts, we will have the desire to show
them the Good News of Christ’s finished work on the Cross.”
My testimony shows how difficult it was for me as a Catholic to give up Church tradition, but
when the Lord demands it in His Word, we must do it. The “form of godliness” that the Roman
Catholic Church has makes it most difficult for a Catholic to see where the real problem lies. Everyone
must determine by what authority we know truth. For Papal Rome the ultimate authority lies in the
decisions and decrees of the reigning Pope. In her own words, “The Supreme Pontiff, in virtue of his
office, possesses infallible teaching authority when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful...he
proclaims with a definitive act that a doctrine of faith or morals is to be held as such.” (Code of Canon
Law, Canon 749). Yet according to the Bible, it is God's Word itself which is the authority by which
truth is known. It was man-made traditions which caused the Reformers to demand “the Bible only,
faith only, grace only, in Christ only, and to God only be the glory.”
The Reason Why I Share
I share these truths with you now so that you can know God's way of salvation. Our basic
problem as Catholics was that personal worth and dignity was ingrained into us. We believed that could
respond to the help God gives us to be right in His sight. This presupposition that many of us have
carried for years is aptly defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) #2021, “Grace is the
help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons....” With that mindset, we
were unknowingly holding to a teaching that the Bible continually condemns. Such a definition of grace
is man's careful fabrication, for the Bible consistently declares that the believer's right standing with God
is “without works” (Romans 4:6), “without the deeds of the Law” (Romans 3:28), “not of works”
(Ephesians 2:9), “It is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8). To attempt to make the believer's response
part of his salvation and to look upon grace as “a help” is to flatly deny Biblical truth, “...if by grace,
then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace...” (Romans 11:6).
The simple Biblical message is that “the gift of righteousness” in Christ Jesus is a gift, resting on His
all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one,
Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
So it is as Christ Jesus Himself said, He died in place of the believer, the One for many (Mark
10:45), His life a ransom for many. As He declared, ...this is my blood of the new testament, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). This is also what Peter proclaimed,
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to
God...” (I Peter 3:18). Paul’s preaching is summarized at the end of II Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him..” (II Corinthians 5:21).
This fact, dear reader, is presented clearly to you in the Bible. Acceptance of it is now
commanded by God, “...Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
The most difficult repentance for us dyed-in-the-wool Catholics is changing our mind from
thoughts of “meriting,” “earning,” “being good enough,” simply to accepting with empty hands the gift of
righteousness in Christ Jesus. To refuse to accept what God commands is the same sin as that of the
religious Jews of Paul's time, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God.” (Romans 10:3) Repent and believe the Good News!
Richard Bennett

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Testimony of Divine Healing - Pastor Eugene Hoe of Melbourne was healed from infective endocarditis

by Angelina Hoe, Eugene's wife - http://www.jesushealsmi.com/

It was a phone call I never want to receive again. My uncle, who had taken my husband, Eugene Hoe, to the doctor to get an MC, had been advised to immediately take Eugene to the hospital. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that Eugene would be in a hospital! He was suspected to be down with meningococcal meningitis and, my uncle told me, had been taken to the hospital "just in time".

I knew this could not have been so because I had been praying for him all night.

A couple of days earlier, when Eugene had bruises on his arms and legs, I had phoned mum (Pastor Jean Lim) in Malaysia. I had told her that I felt the Lord reminding me of the time when she was sleeping in the night and I heard her proclaiming the name of Jesus and commanding the enemy to leave in Jesus' name. The next morning, when I asked her what happened, she had said that she had literally felt the enemy attacking her and pulling her legs. Then we had noticed that there were bruises on her legs. 

The bruises that Eugene had were similar to mum's. I knew then that the spiritual warfare was especially intense because we had been praying for Melbourne and preparing for the Jesus Heals miracle services and for the TRANSFORMING GLORY 2 Prayer Retreat.

Now Eugene was at the hospital and all I could think of was how to get him out of there. I rang mum and she suggested that I get one of our prayer partners to come with me to the hospital. As we were praying on the way there, I really felt I should pray what Jesus had prayed:

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matt 26:39)

I am not exaggerating when I say that I literally felt what I think could have been the intensity that Jesus felt when He asked that the cup be passed from Him. I knew that the Lord could take this all away in an instant, but He had His plans for Eugene. 

The other verse that struck me was, "For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." (Ex 20:5)

All I wanted was that only God would be glorified in all of this, but if Eugene was going to be in the hospital, I did not know how God was going to get ALL the glory. There would be people who were bound to say that he had been healed by the doctors and the medication instead of by God. 

When we arrived at the hospital, Eugene was already in ICU. He was on drips and tubes were everywhere. He had to be isolated for 24 hours because meningococcal meningitis is contagious. There was no way I could take Eugene out of the hospital then . 

We were even advised to be immunised because we had been in close contact with Eugene. The Health Department informed Eugene's office about his situation and advised anyone who was concerned and who had come into contact with Eugene to be immunised. That was how serious the situation was. 

This was my first time in an ICU. As I walked in, my heart was just filled with compassion for all the people there. There was no joy, no smiles. People were sullen and serious. We met the parents of a teenage girl diagnosed to have this same meningitis. She had been in a coma for a week already. I felt that God wanted me to witness this so that I could have a heart of compassion for people who are going through a life-threatening crisis. 

I went home that night, praying that when I returned in the morning, I could take Eugene home.

Eugene looked better the next day. I was very hopeful that I could discharge him. Even the nurses said that he was stable. Then came the bombshell. One of the doctors had ordered a check on Eugene's heart and discovered a bacterial infection about 2cm long on his heart valve. They suggested transferring Eugene to a hospital better equipped for performing surgery to remove the bacteria and see how much damage had been done to the mitral valve. And they were thinking of doing this in the next day or two after consulting with the surgeons. 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. One of the doctors from our church came to visit and I asked him if the hospital would operate on Eugene without our permission. He said that if there was the possibility of death occurring within a few minutes, they would go ahead with the surgery even if there were no family members present to give consent. I knew then that we had to have someone with Eugene round-the-clock, to pray and intercede on his behalf, and also to prevent any surgery from taking place. Not wanting to cause much of a scene, I prayed that the Lord would give us a window of time during which we could pray and have Eugene walk out of the hospital without surgery.

Our children had not seen Eugene for almost two days and we felt that it was now time for them to visit him. This was a challenge because I had to prepare the children emotionally for the shock of seeing their daddy with drips and tubes. I also had to prepare their daddy to be strong for his children. 

Praise God. There were tears but the Lord gave strength to both daddy and the children. It was a scary and shocking time for the children but it gave them the resolve to pray for their daddy even more and to trust God to bring him out of the hospital. Every day, their prayer was for the Lord to bring Eugene out of the hospital. Every morning, they asked if they would come home from school and see their daddy at home. Believe me, they knew the gravity of the situation, BUT I praise God for their simple faith and trust in God. To them, it was an easy task for God. All they had to do was to ask and believe.

Everyone at church was so relieved when mum and some of the intercessors from Malaysia arrived. Mum went to the hospital two hours after landing in Melbourne. I praise God for mum's arrival but I knew that as Eugene's wife, I myself had to have the faith to believe that God was going to heal Eugene. I thank God that I had been brought up in a faith-filled atmosphere. This was definitely the key for me. 

I knew that there have been families who believed God for divine healing, but did not receive and became disappointed with God. But I just knew that God is a God Who never fails. Things happen that we cannot explain but if we ask of God and believe not only with our mouth (confession) but truly with our whole heart (not wavering, not letting the slightest doubt come in), God can and will answer. God is only waiting to be asked. Indeed, God does deserve to have all the glory.

We faced a challenge over the next few days as we were not allowed to bring Eugene home. The doctors were frustrated at having to postpone the surgery for another day or two because we refused to give consent for surgery. We kept on praying and having at least one person with Eugene at all times to worship, pray and intercede. 

Then, after lots of tests, they discovered that bits of the bacteria had broken off, gone into the bloodstream and deposited itself in various parts of Eugene's body. His lungs, kidneys and spleen were affected. He was also having pains in his stomach. Bits of the bacteria traveled to Eugene's brain and caused him to have three strokes!

We really felt that the enemy was coming in like a flood but praise God, we knew that the gates of hell could not prevail against us. We also felt that it was time for God to show Himself strong. Every time they did a test on Eugene, there seemed to be more parts of his body being affected. 

Eugene was now more alert and could talk more cohesively. By now, he was just sick of all the tests and more bad news about his condition. So, he told the consultant the he wanted to go home. We were told that it was a "preposterous" decision, and that without medical support and antibiotics, Eugene would not survive. I guess the hospital staff felt that we did not realise the seriousness of Eugene's condition. 

The most bizarre thing happened next. The hospital took a 24-hour injunction on Eugene which meant that he could not leave the hospital for the next 24 hours. During that time, the hospital submitted for a court order to appoint a public guardian for Eugene to decide for him whether he should leave the hospital or not. 

The hospital did this because they felt that the three strokes were severe enough to impair Eugene's judgment and he was not able to make rational decisions for himself. Hence, he needed someone to make the decision for him. So it was submitted that either Eugene's dad, myself or someone from the Public Advocate's office be Eugene's guardian. The court appointed a Public Advocate, whom we have never met, and who did not know anything about Eugene to make decisions for him.

That night, I went home with a real burden to pray that the Lord would somehow speak to the guardian, and this person would be used as an instrument for the Lord's plans and purposes to be accomplished. We were scheduled to meet the following afternoon. 

This time, I felt the Lord prompting me on two Scriptures. 

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Is 55:8)

I cried out to the Lord, saying, "Lord, I know that indeed my thoughts are not Your thoughts BUT indeed I want you only to be glorified in all this. If it is Your desire to take Eugene, how are you going to be glorified in all this? Yet, Lord, You have spoken and even as You have said that Your ways are not my ways, then have Your way, Lord. Do not let it be my way." 

Then came the second verse: 

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Rev 12:11)

I knew straightaway that the Lord was asking whether I was willing to lay Eugene down so that He would have His way. What a turmoil. Yet I knew that I had to. In order to have the victory, there was a price to be paid, and if we had to pay the price in this way, then - so be it, Lord. 

I knew that we were fighting a battle beyond that of Eugene's healing. We were also in warfare for the church and for our city as we had been crying out to God to move among us for so long. 

The next morning, I only told mum about these verses. Then mum had a word:

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. (Ps 2:4)

We just felt that the Lord absolutely had everything in control and indeed, He was even laughing in heaven. With that assurance, we prayed as a family and then I went to the hospital. I prayed with Eugene and shared the verses with him. 

He asked me, "You mean that you would rather have me die so that God can move in His way and be glorified?" What an unfair question!!

I replied that I would rather him die and God be glorified than for God to share His glory with man. The only way for us to overcome the evil one was for us not to love our lives to the death. If Eugene was more afraid to die than eager to see God glorified, then he could not say that he did not love his life to the death. 

This was a real difficult time as we spent the next few moments releasing each other to the Lord and imploring the Lord to truly have His way which is far higher than our ways. 

After that, Eugene broke into laughter. He said, "I see it now. I have been so blinded." He was laughing so loudly that I had to shut his mouth. I thought that if the hospital already thought Eugene was not competent enough to make his own decisions, now they would think he had gone delirious and hysterical. 

So we met up with Eugene's guardian and some of the hospital staff to discuss the predicament. After that, the guardian asked to have time alone with the hospital staff. I called mum from the hospital as she was home with the children and I asked her to pray because the decision was being made. She said not to worry as God has everything in the palm of His hands, and God is always victorious.

Finally, after two hours - which seemed like eternity - we were told that Eugene could leave. Of course, against medical advice and we were very welcome to bring him back BUT with the view of having surgery. There was nothing else the hospital could do as the bacterial vegetation had grown to 3cm (another test had been conducted in the morning), which was an indication that the antibiotics were not having an effect. 

I believe that the Lord allowed this in order to confound the hospital staff because, every time we said that it was God and our prayers that were keeping Eugene alive, they said that it was the antibiotics that were keeping Eugene alive. Hence, I believe that the Lord allowed the vegetation to grow just to show that He would be the one to sovereignly heal Eugene. 

Also, because the vegetation was growing, and they had not determined exactly what bacteria was attacking Eugene's heart valve, the only thing that could be done medically was surgery. Even if Eugene were to continue being on life support, without surgery, he would only have two weeks left to live. So SURGERY WAS THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD HAVE KEPT EUGENE ALIVE. By now there was only a 60% chance of surviving the surgery. In the midst of doing the paper work to discharge Eugene, we were told repeatedly by different staff members that without the medical care and antibiotics, Eugene would die very quickly, perhaps even that very night.

Praise God, it was such a relief to have Eugene in the car. I thought of bringing Eugene straight home BUT he said he wanted to attend the Jesus Heals meeting - it was the second night of the meetings - because after all, he was supposed to be there leading worship. I was amazed at his courage and strength, but I had to ask him again just to be sure that I had heard the right thing. 

So off to Jesus Heals we went, and so many of our friends were so shocked to see Eugene. In fact, a number of them were so shocked that it took them a while to be able to talk about Eugene's situation. This night, 22/02/02, was indeed the beginning of Eugene's miraculous healing. I truly thank God that indeed He is not only our Creator, but He is also our Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord our Healer. 

We have not often seen the Lord heal, divinely and miraculously, in the Western World because, I believe, we have put too much faith in medicine. In the Third World countries, people are healed instantly because they have no other choice, no other hope BUT JESUS. We in the Western World have too many choices and have allowed ourselves to be deviated from the true and only source of healing. One that is without any side effects and is free. 

I pray that Eugene's testimony will encourage the believer and the non-believer to trust God 100%. God does not pick and chose who He wants to heal. God will heal if we do not waver or doubt Him. 

Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:2b,3)

Let us not ask amiss anymore. Let us pray believing that God can and will heal. Are we willing to release our lives or our loved ones into the hands of the God Who made and created us, or into medicine with all its humanistic values?

I praise God for the unceasing prayers of the saints that were offered up to God on behalf of Eugene. I believe that it was not only the round-the-clock prayers BUT more importantly, the "act of faith" - taking Eugene out of the hospital against all odds - and placing him completely in the hands of God. I now see that this it the 'faith working together with his works' as mentioned in James 2:22.

What does it profit, my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.

You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (James 2:14, 17, 21 - 24)

But without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6a)

I believe God is calling His saints to trust in HIM completely, to the point of foolishness in the eyes of man. I praise God that because of the 'foolish' act of discharging Eugene, he is still alive - not only two weeks later without surgery, but at the time of this writing, five months down the track. 

We are so thrilled to hear of the other 'foolish' acts being done because of the faith that they received from hearing Eugene's testimony. God is getting all the glory because these people are being healed and many are becoming living testimonies of His healing power. 

I believe that God is challenging more and more to trust Him 100%. It is one thing to say we trust Him, but after this experience, I can really see that God honours those who trust Him totally and completely. God desires that we put our 100% trust in Him. Then He can move mightily without the limitations and inhibitions of man. I strongly encourage everyone reading this not to choose God only when there is no other hope. Why leave it till so late? Why not trust Him from the very offset?

I praise God for the strength and wisdom that only God could have given me during this time. I had to be strong for the children, and I felt the best way was to keep their routine - daily activities - going. Looking back now, I know that indeed my help (and especially) strength comes from the Lord Who made the heavens and the earth (Ps 121:1, 2). 

Indeed, He took me on eagle's wings. I was fasting, praying, running around up and down for two whole weeks, yet I did not feel weary or exhausted. The Lord truly not alone brought healing to Eugene, but gave us all the strength and perseverance to go through this. 

Praise be to our Lord God Almighty. Indeed, He is our all-in-all !!! 

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