Humbling Yourself

How serious are you about your desire for revival? I don’t believe revival will come until people fast and pray. How serious are you about your family being saved? If I were to ask how many of you here today have unsaved relatives, unsaved children, many of you would put a hand up. How many of you are willing to give up a little food indulgence to cry out to God and humble yourself before Him on behalf of your family? David said in Psalm 35 verse 11

“I humbled my soul with fasting...”

You know the problem with the British? Remember I’m as British as you are. We’ve ruled the world so long that we think we know how to tell everybody what to do. True? Yes it is. You can talk to people from other nations.

In 1954 I was the secretary of the Pentecostal World Conference which was held in London. And we got people from Sweden that had churches of five and six thousand members. People from the United States with even more members. People from Africa. And as far as I can remember the largest Pentecostal church in England at that time had about two hundred members. But when we all got together it was the British who were telling everybody how to do it. Do you still love me? I was the secretary. I recorded those meetings. I’m not theorizing.

You know what we need to do? Humble ourselves. Can you hear me? Humble ourselves. How? Well one Scriptural specific way is by prayer and fasting. David said, “I humble my soul with fasting.” Your soul is the part of you that needs to be humbled. It’s the arrogant self-assertive part of you that says “I want, I think, I feel, I’m important, look at me, do what I want.” And God doesn’t move on that sort of person. But when you humble yourself and say “God I don’t have much. I’m not much of a success. I’m really not a very significant person, but whatever I have I lay it at Your feet. I put it down. I give it to You.” And you’ll be surprised how much God can do with so little when it’s wholly His.

All right. We’ve dealt with serving in time and in this life. Let’s go on to eternity. How many of you believe there will be an eternity? How many of you know where you’ll spend it? You don’t need to put your hand up. I hope you’re right but don’t take it for granted. Speaking in the last chapter of Revelation, chapter 22 verses 3 and following.

“And there shall be no more curse, [what a wonderful thought.] but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.”

What’s the reward for faithful servants on earth? Serving Him in eternity. You know I’ve served the Lord to the best of my ability for more than fifty years. The most disappointing thing that could happen to me is when I get to heaven is God say, “I’m going to pension you off now. You’ve done a good job. I’ll give you a little villa with a rose garden, eternal roses that never perish. But I don’t need you anymore.” That’s the worse think that God could say to me. I want to go on serving Him. I want to serve Him in eternity. And that’s what I’m going to do because His servants shall serve Him. And then one more wonderful beautiful thing and that is the next verse says,

“They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.”

A lot of Revelation depends on whose name is on your forehead. Do you know that? If it’s the name of the antichrist you’re headed for a lost eternity. If you belong to the Lord like the hundred and forty-four thousand it says the name of Jesus and the Father was on their forehead. It’s one of the main themes of Revelations—whose name is on your forehead. And it says, “They shall see His face.” I wonder if you realize what a tremendous statement that is. “They shall see His face.” I believe it’s the climax of redemption. I don’t believe until that point any of us will ever see God face to face. Let me give you just a couple of examples. In Exodus chapter 33 Moses said he wanted to see the Lord’s glory. The Lord said I’ll accommodate you but there are limitations. Exodus 33 beginning at verse 18.

“Moses said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then God said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’ And then the LORD said, ‘Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.’ So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

I don’t think we have any appreciation of what it means to see the face of God. And then in 1 Timothy chapter 5, I think I’ll read it all. It’s beautiful, beginning at verse 13. Paul is writing to his spiritual son.

“I urge you in the sight of God who give life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, he who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.”

So when you turn now to Revelation 22 and verse 4 and you read they shall see His face that really is the climax of redemption. No one, no human being I believe will ever have seen the face of God until that moment, and it’s for His servants. His servants shall serve Him. I ask for no other reward. I ask for no other privilege. “Lord, just one thing please let me go on serving You throughout eternity. I’m glad to be a servant. I’m glad to humble myself and bow at Your feet and offer You my service little and inadequate though it is, it’s the best I have.”

David said, “How can I offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing?” “Lord, whatever it costs—and it has cost me a lot in the last few years. It’s Yours. I offer it to You. I want to be Your servant. Not just in time, not just on earth, but in heaven, in eternity, forever.”

I want to be a servant of the Lord. What about you? Would you tell God tonight that you want to be His servant? I’m not talking about getting saved or getting the Baptism or speaking in tongues. I believe in all those things, but all those are just stepping stones to becoming a servant. And when you become a servant, you serve others.

In our ministry we’ve had some of the sweetest people you’d ever think of doing what? Serving. I blush when I think of their sweetness, their purity, their kindness. I feel in many ways they’re more worthy than I am. How about you? Does it attract you, the thought of being a servant? I mean being a servant. Washing up, drying dishes, making beds, using the Hoover, sweeping the streets, serving the meals. Do you think that’s unspiritual? I think it’s very, very spiritual.

Listen I don’t want to end this message without giving you an opportunity, but please think it over carefully before you make your decision. Are you here tonight and you say, “Lord, I want to be Your servant now and forevermore. I count it my highest privilege to be Your servant.” If you’ve never made that decision or if you want to reaffirm that decision here tonight, I ask you to think carefully before you do this because whatever you say it’s being recorded in heaven. There’s a recording that writes down everything we said and the book of Ecclesiastes says, “Don’t tell the angel you made a mistake.” Because it’s too late, it’s recorded.