Author: Billy Conrad

September 9

He received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. — Acts 9:18

Scripture reading: Acts 9:10–22

God chose Saul. What was he? A blasphemer. A persecutor. That is grace. Our God is gracious, and He loves to show His mercy to the vilest and worst of men.

There was a notable character in the town in which I lived who was known as the worst man in town. He was so vile, and his language was so horrible, that even wicked men could not stand it. In England, they have what is known as the public hangman who has to perform all the executions. This man held that appointment, and he told me later that he believed that when he performed the execution of men who had committed murder, the demon power that was in them would come upon him, and that, in consequence, he had been possessed by a legion of demons.

His life was so miserable that he decided to kill himself. He went down to a certain train depot and purchased a ticket. English trains are much different from American trains. In every coach there are a number of small compartments, and it is easy for anyone who wants to commit suicide to open the door of his compartment and throw himself out of the train. This man purposed to throw himself out of the train in a certain tunnel just as the train coming from the opposite direction would be about to dash past; he thought this would make a quick end to his life.

There was a young man at the depot that night who had been saved the night before. He was all on fire to get others saved, and he purposed in his heart that every day of his life, he would get someone saved. He saw this dejected hangman and began to speak to him about his soul. He brought him down to our mission, and there he came under a mighty conviction of sin. For two-and-a-half hours he was literally sweating under conviction, and you could see a vapor rising up from him. At the end of two-and-a-half hours, he was graciously saved.

I said, “Lord, tell me what to do.” The Lord said, “Don‘t leave him. Go home with him.” I went to his house. When he saw his wife, he said, “God has saved me.” The wife broke down, and she, too, was graciously saved. I tell you, there was a difference in that home. Even the cat knew the difference. Previous to this, the cat would always run away when that hangman came through the door. But the night that he was saved, the cat jumped onto his knee and went to sleep.

There were two sons in that house, and one of them said to his mother, “Mother, what is up in our house? It was never like this before. It is so peaceful. What is it?” She told him, “Father has gotten saved.” The other son was also struck by the change.

I took this man to many special services, and the power of God was on him for many days. He would give his testimony, and as he grew in grace, he desired to preach the Gospel. He became an evangelist, and hundreds and hundreds were brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through his ministry. God saved Saul of Tarsus at the very time he was breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, and He redeemed Berry the hangman. He will do it for hundreds more in response to our cries.

Thought for today: The grace of God is sufficient for the vilest, and He can take the most wicked men and make them monuments of His grace.

September 8

He received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. — Acts 9:18

Scripture reading: Acts 9:1–9

Ananias went down to the house on Straight Street, and he laid his hands on the one who had before been a blasphemer and a persecutor. He said to him, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17). He recognized him as a brother whose soul had already been saved and who had come into relationship with the Father and with all the family of God, but there was something necessary beyond this. Yes, the Lord had not forgotten his physical condition, and there was healing for him. But there was something beyond this. It was the filling with the Holy Spirit.

Oh, it always seems to me that the Gospel is robbed of its divine glory when we overlook this marvelous truth of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. To be saved is wonderful; to be a new creature, to have passed from death to life, to have the witness of the Spirit that you are born of God—all this is unspeakably precious. But whereas we have the well of salvation bubbling up inside us, we need to go on to a place where from within us will flow “rivers of living water” (John 7:38). The Lord Jesus showed us very plainly that, if we believe in Him, from within us will flow these “rivers of living water.” And this He spoke by the Spirit. The Lord wants us to be filled with the Spirit, to have the manifestation of the presence of His Spirit, the manifestation that is indeed given “for the profit of all” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

Thought for today: The Lord wants us to be His mouthpieces and to speak as the very oracles of God.

September 7

He received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. — Acts 9:18

Scripture reading: Acts 8:14–40

When Saul went down to Damascus, he thought he would do wonderful things with that bunch of letters he had from the high priest. But I think he dropped them all on the road. If he ever wanted to pick them up, he was not able to, for he lost his sight. The men who were with him lost their speech, but they led him to Damascus.

Some people have an idea that it is only preachers who can know the will of God. However, this account of Saul shows us that the Lord had a disciple in Damascus, named Ananias, a man behind the scenes, who lived in a place where God could talk to him. His ears were open. He was one who listened in to the things from heaven. Oh, they are so much more marvelous than anything you can hear on earth! It was to this man that the Lord appeared in a vision. He told him to go down to the street called Straight and to inquire for Saul. And He told him that Saul had seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight. Ananias protested,

Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name. (Acts 9:13–14)

But the Lord reassured Ananias that Saul was a chosen vessel, and Ananias, doubting nothing, went on his errand of mercy.

The Lord had told Ananias concerning Saul, “Behold, he is praying” (v. 11). The Lord never despises a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). Saul was given a vision that was soon to be a reality, the vision of Ananias coming to pray for him so that he would receive his sight.

Thought for today: Repentant prayer is always heard in heaven.

September 6

“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. — Acts 9:17–18

Scripture reading: Acts 8:1–13

Saul was probably the greatest persecutor that the early church had. Saul hated the Christians: “He made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). In Acts 9, we read that he was breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. He was on his way to Damascus for the purpose of destroying the church there (vv. 1–2).

How did God deal with such a person? We would have dealt with him in judgment. God dealt with him in mercy. Oh, the wondrous love of God! He loved the believers at Damascus, and the way He preserved them was through the salvation of the man who intended to scatter and destroy them. He shows mercy to all. If we would just realize that we are alive today only through the grace of our God!

More and more, I see that it is through the grace of God that I am preserved every day. It is when we realize the goodness of God that we are brought to repentance. Here was Saul, with letters from the high priest, hurrying to Damascus. He was struck down, and he saw a light, a light that was brighter than the sun. As he fell speechless to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” He asked, “Who are You, Lord?” And the answer came back, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” And Saul cried, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:4–6).

I do not want to bring any word of condemnation to anyone, but I know that many have felt very much the same way toward the children of God as Paul did, especially toward those who have received the Pentecostal baptism. I know that many people tell us, “You are mad,” but the truth is that the children of God are the only people who are really glad. We are glad inside and outside. Our gladness flows from the inside. God has filled us with “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). We are so happy about what we have received that, if it were not for the desire to keep a little decorum, we might be doing strange things. This is probably how the apostle Paul felt when, referring to himself and his coworkers, he said, “we are beside ourselves” (2 Corinthians 5:13) in the Lord. This joy in the Holy Spirit is beyond anything else. And this joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Thought for today: Our God delights to be merciful, and His grace is granted daily to both sinner and saint.

September 5

And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. — Acts 22:16

Scripture reading: Galatians 3:1–14

I want to take you to the Scriptures to prove my position that tongues are the evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Businessmen know that in cases of law where there are two clear witnesses, they could win a case before any judge. On the clear evidence of two witnesses, any judge will give a verdict. What has God given us? He has given us three clear witnesses on the baptism in the Holy Spirit—more than are necessary in law courts.

The first is in Acts 2:4, on the Day of Pentecost: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Here we have the original pattern. And God gave to Peter an eternal word that couples this experience with the promise that came before it: “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (v. 16). God wants you to have this—nothing less than this. He wants you to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit according to this original Pentecostal pattern.

In Acts 10, we have another witness. Cornelius had had a vision of a holy angel and had sent for Peter. When Peter arrived and proclaimed the Gospel message, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard his words.

And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Acts 10:45)

What convinced these prejudiced Jews that the Holy Spirit had come? “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God” (v. 46). There was no other way for them to know. This evidence could not be contradicted. It is the biblical evidence.

If some people were to have an angel come and talk to them as Cornelius did, they would say that they knew they were baptized. Do not be fooled by anything.

We have heard two witnesses. Now let us look at Acts 19:6, which records Paul ministering to certain disciples in Ephesus: “And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”

These Ephesians received the identical biblical evidence that the apostles had received at the beginning, and they prophesied in addition. Three times the Scriptures show us this evidence of the baptism in the Spirit. I do not glorify tongues. No, by God‘s grace, I glorify the Giver of tongues. And above all, I glorify Him whom the Holy Spirit has come to reveal to us, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who sends the Holy Spirit, and I glorify Him because He makes no distinction between us and those who believed at the beginning.

But what are tongues for? Look at the second verse of 1 Corinthians 14, and you will see a very blessed truth: “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” Oh, hallelujah! Have you been there, beloved? I tell you, God wants to take you there. The passage goes on to say, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” (v. 4).

Enter into the promises of God. It is your inheritance. I pray that you may be so filled with Him that it will not be possible for you to move without a revival of some kind resulting.

Thought for today: Be sure that what you receive is according to the Word of God.

September 4

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? — Acts 19:2

Scripture reading: Isaiah 61

When I returned home from Sunderland, my wife said to me, “So you think you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why, I am as much baptized in the Holy Spirit as you are.” We had sat on the platform together for twenty years, but that night she said, “Tonight you will go by yourself.” I said, “All right.” My wife went back to one of the furthermost seats in the hall, and she said to herself, “I will watch him.”

I preached that night on the text the Lord had given me from Isaiah 61. I told what the Lord had done for me. I told the people that I was going to have God in my life and that I would gladly suffer a thousand deaths rather than forfeit this wonderful infilling that had come to me.

My wife was very restless, just as if she were sitting on a red-hot poker. She was moved in a new way and said, “That is not my Smith that is preaching. Lord, You have done something for him.”

As soon as I finished, the secretary of the mission got up and said, “I want what the leader of our mission has got.” He tried to sit down but missed his seat and fell on the floor. There were soon fourteen of them on the floor, my own wife included. We did not know what to do, but the Holy Spirit got hold of the situation, and the fire fell. A revival started and the crowds came. It was only the beginning of the flood tide of blessing. We had touched the reservoir of the Lord‘s life and power. Since that time, the Lord has taken me to many different lands, and I have witnessed many blessed outpourings of God‘s Holy Spirit.

Thought for today: It is when you get out of the will of God that you have a hard time.

September 3

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? — Acts 19:2

Scripture reading: Mark 1:1–12

As the days passed, I became more and more hungry for God. I had opposed the meetings so much, but the Lord was gracious, and I will always remember that last day— the day I was to leave. God was with me so much. They were to have a meeting, and I went, but I could not rest. This revival was taking place at an Episcopal church. I went to the rectory to say goodbye, and I said to Sister Boddy, the rector‘s wife, “I cannot rest any longer; I must have these tongues.”

She replied, “Brother Wigglesworth, it is not the tongues you need but the baptism. If you will allow God to baptize you, the other will be all right.”

I answered, “My dear sister, I know I am baptized. You know that I have to leave here at four o‘clock. Please lay hands on me so that I may receive the tongues.”

She stood up and laid her hands on me, and the fire fell. There came a persistent knock at the door, and she had to go out. That was the best thing that could have happened, for I was alone with God. Then He gave me a revelation. Oh, it was wonderful! He showed me an empty cross and Jesus glorified. I do thank God that the cross is empty, that Christ is no longer on the cross.

Then I saw that God had purified me. I was conscious of the cleansing power of the precious blood of Jesus, and I cried out, “Clean! Clean! Clean!” I was filled with the joy of knowing that I had been cleansed. As I was extolling, glorifying, and praising Him, I was speaking in tongues “as the Spirit gave [me] utterance” (Acts 2:4). I knew then that I had received the real baptism in the Holy Spirit.

It was all as beautiful and peaceful as when Jesus said, “Peace, be still!” (Mark 4:39). The tranquillity and the joy of that moment surpassed anything I had ever known up to that time. But hallelujah! These days have grown with greater, mightier, more wonderful divine manifestations and power. That was only the beginning. There is no end to this kind of beginning. You will never come to the end of the Holy Spirit until you have arrived in glory—until you are right in the presence of God forever. And even then we will always be conscious of His presence.

What had I received? I had received the biblical evidence. This biblical evidence is wonderful to me. I knew I had received the very evidence of the Spirit‘s incoming that the apostles had received on the Day of Pentecost. I knew that everything I had had up to that time was in the nature of an anointing, bringing me in line with God in preparation. However, now I knew I had the biblical baptism in the Spirit. It had the backing of the Scriptures.

Thought for today: You are never right if you do not have a foundation for your testimony in the Word of God.

September 2

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? — Acts 19:2

Scripture reading: Acts 19:1–20

Let me tell you about my own experience of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. It had to be something that was based on solid facts in order to move me. I was certain that I had received the Holy Spirit and absolutely rigid in this conviction. Many years ago, a man came to me and said, “Wigglesworth, do you know what is happening in Sunderland, England? People are being baptized in the Holy Spirit exactly the same way that the disciples were on the Day of Pentecost.” I said, “I would like to go.”

Immediately, I took a train, went to Sunderland, and met with the people who had assembled for the purpose of receiving the Holy Spirit. Continuously, I caused disturbances, until the people wished I had never come. They said that I was disrupting the conditions for people to receive the baptism. But I was hungry and thirsty for God, and had gone to Sunderland because I had heard that God was pouring out His Spirit in a new way. I had heard that God had now visited His people and manifested His power, and that people were speaking in tongues as on the Day of Pentecost.

Therefore, when I first got to Sunderland, I said to the people, “I cannot understand this meeting. I have left a meeting in Bradford all on fire for God. The fire fell last night, and we were all laid out under the power of God. I have come here for tongues, and I don‘t hear them – I don‘t hear anything.”

“Oh!” they said. “When you get baptized with the Holy Spirit, you will speak in tongues.”

“Oh, is that it?” I said.

“When the presence of God came upon me, my tongue was loosened, and when I went in the open air to preach, I really felt that I had a new tongue.”

“Ah, no,” they said, “that is not it.”

“What is it, then?” I asked.

“When you get baptized in the Holy Spirit—”

“I am baptized,” I interjected, “and there is no one here who can persuade me that I am not baptized.” So I was up against them, and they were up against me.

I remember a man getting up and saying, “You know, brothers and sisters, I was here three weeks and then the Lord baptized me with the Holy Spirit, and I began to speak with tongues.”

I said, “Let us hear it. That‘s what I‘m here for.”

But he could not speak in tongues at will; he could only speak as the Spirit gave him the ability, and so my curiosity was not satisfied. I was doing what others are doing today, confusing the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians with the second chapter of Acts. These two chapters deal with different things; one deals with the gifts of the Spirit, and the other deals with the baptism of the Spirit with the accompanying sign of tongues.

I saw that these people were very earnest, and I became quite hungry for tongues. I was eager to see this new manifestation of the Spirit, and, as I said, I would be questioning all the time and spoiling a lot of the meetings. One man said to me, “I am a missionary, and I have come here to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I am waiting on the Lord, but you have come in and are spoiling everything with your questions.” I began to argue with him; the argument became so heated that when we walked home, he walked on one side of the road, and I walked on the other.

That night, there was to be another meeting, and I purposed to go. I changed my clothes and left my key in the clothes I had taken off. As we came from the meeting in the middle of the night, I found that I did not have my key with me, and this missionary brother said, “You will have to come and stay with me.” But do you think we went to sleep that night? Oh, no, we spent the night in prayer. We received a precious shower from above. The breakfast bell rang, but that was nothing to me. For four days, I wanted nothing but God.

Thought for today: If you only knew the unspeakably wonderful blessing of being filled with the third person of the Trinity, you would set aside everything else to wait for this infilling.

September 1

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. — Joel 2:28–29

Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 14:1–25

We know that the prophecy spoken by Joel was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. This was the first outpouring of the Spirit, but what would it be like now if we would only wake up to the words of our Master, “Greater works than these [you] will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12)?

Hear what the Scripture says to us: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is inspiration; the Holy Spirit is revelation; the Holy Spirit is manifestation; the Holy Spirit is operation. When a man comes into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, he is in perfect order, built up on scriptural foundations.

I have failed to see anyone understand 1 Corinthians 12–14 unless he has been baptized with the Holy Spirit. He may talk about the Holy Spirit and the gifts, but his understanding is only a superficial one. However, when he gets baptized with the Holy Spirit, he speaks about a deep inward conviction by the power of the Spirit working in him, a revelation of that Scripture. On the other hand, there is so much that a man receives when he is born again. He receives the first love and has a revelation of Jesus. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

But God wants a man to be on fire so that he will always speak as an oracle of God. He wants to so build that man on the foundations of God that everyone who sees and hears him will say he is a new man after the order of the Spirit. “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). New things have come, and he is now in the divine order. When a man is filled with the Holy Spirit, he has a vital power that makes people know he has seen God. He ought to be in such a place spiritually that when he
goes into a neighbor‘s house, or out among people, they will feel that God has come into their midst.

“He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church” (1 Corinthians 14:3–4). There are two edifications spoken of here. Which is the first? To edify yourself. After you have been edified by the Spirit, you are able to edify the church through the Spirit. What we need is more of the Holy Spirit. Oh, beloved, it is not merely a measure of the Spirit, it is a pressed down measure. It is not merely a pressed-down measure, it is “shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38). Praise the Lord!

Thought for today: Anybody can hold a full cup, but you cannot hold an overflowing cup, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an overflowing cup.