SMITH WIGGLESWORTH
A Man of the Word

by Albert Hibbert

It was my privilege to know Smith Wigglesworth, not merely as a passing acquaintance, but personally. I had fellowship with him both in my home and in his. We only get to know a person well and learn to appreciate him when we know him in the home. With many ministers we see an entirely different person in the home from the one we see in the pulpit.

The people who saw Smith Wigglesworth only in the pulpit did not get a true picture of the man; they could never appreciate the tender Christ-like person he was. They never, or very rarely, saw the tears of compassion he shed; these were only seen by those closely associated with him

Two things dominated the life and ministry of Smith Wigglesworth. Firstly, he had a consuming love for the Word of God. Secondly, he had an overwhelming confidence in the God of the Word.

What the Word of God said on a subject settled the matter as far as Wigglesworth was concerned. He proved that he was willing to stake his life on what the Bible said, as when he refused to have an appendectomy.

The following words of the Psalmist fit his experience:

O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day...
I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love...
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
(Psalms 119:97, 162, 163, 165)

These four lines of Scripture sum up the character of Smith Wigglesworth. Wigglesworth never went more than 15 minutes without reading the Word of God, regardless of where he was or in whose company he found himself.

During the meals we shared together, eating and the speaking of God's Word were interspersed. Wigglesworth would say grace, which was more than a mere sentence, or sometimes, in his cracked voice, he would sing a song of praise.

After this, we would have the first course. Then he would read and pray. Following that we would eat the next course. Afterwards, regardless of whether or not it was the last course, he would again read and pray. That was how he lived; his life was not one of monotonous repetition.

One of my brothers became especially aware of Wigglesworth's love for the Word of God on one particular occasion after Wigglesworth had been staying with our family. My brother was taking him to the next place where he was to minister.

They had been on the journey for about 10 minutes conversing about current events when suddenly Wigglesworth shouted, "Stop!" My brother stopped the vehicle immediately, thinking that something was wrong.

But Wigglesworth bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, I am sorry. We have talked about everything but Thee and Thy Word, and the souls of men. Please forgive us." Then turning to my brother, he said, "You can go now." The conversation was changed for the rest of the journey.

Someone once asked Wigglesworth if he could recommend a good book on divine healing. He answered, "Yes, there is only one textbook on that subject: the Word of God."

One of my brothers, on whom Wigglesworth had laid hands, commending him to the ministry of healing, was called to pray for a man who was dying with cancer. The man's life expectancy was only a few weeks.

My brother said to the man, "I am not going to pray for you now, but I will return in a week's time. Meanwhile I want you to read all the miracles of the New Testament."

My brother returned as he had said and asked the man if he had read the miracles. The man responded that he had read them several times during the week. Immediately, my brother laid hands on the man and he was healed.

The Psalmist wrote: "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name" (Ps. 138.2).

Source: Smith Wigglesworth by Albert Hibbert