We saw in the life of the Apostle Paul—and we’re going to get into that in just a moment again as we continue along with this teaching—but Paul in his great humility, Paul in his great revelation—and isn’t it interesting today how men go around telling all the visions and dreams that they have and the great things that God has spoken to them?  And Paul received the greatest revelation of all time.  So great that he couldn’t even repeat it to men, and what he got in return was a thorn in the flesh, not fame.  Amen?  He wasn’t made famous.  He didn’t write books on it.  He didn’t get rich off the revelation.  He got a thorn in the flesh.  And the more spiritual we become, we should expect God to begin to work greater humility in us.  “And I besought the Lord thrice, to remove this from me.  And he spoke to me and said,”—your faith is too little; you need to pray and fast; you have all power and all authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you; you’re the head and not the tail; what things whatsoever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them, praise God.  Paul, what’s wrong that you’re not getting victory over this thing in your life?  God said to him, “I’m the source of it, and I want to humble you.  My grace is sufficient for thee.”  Whether it was that thing that he was despised of later to where he told the Galatians, “What’s the problem with you guys?  There was a day when you would have plucked your own eyes out, and given them to me.  And now you despise me, because I tell you the truth?”

He’s coming for a servant church.  So, we see, then, that we do understand God wanting to prosper and bless His people, but we saw it so clearly in 1 Peter, Chapter 5, that we’re to “be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, but He giveth grace to the humble.”  Amen?  “Therefore,” James says in his fourth chapter, “God resists the proud; He gives grace to the humble.”  Verse 10, “Therefore, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

In these last days, there’s no promotion of self, and there’s nobody worse today than the preachers in the world in which we live—and especially here in America.  And I say that to finish off some of this teaching we’ve been doing.  If we’re in the last days, the Bible says in the last days false prophets will arise, deceiving many; amen?  The Bible says in the last days that men will actually seek these false teachers.  The prophet said it this way: “They will declare to them, ‘Prophesy unto us smooth things’” (Isaiah 30:10).  In other words, “Tell us what we want to hear.”  And there are many people out there today, many false prophets, many false teachers, that we need to guard ourselves against in this hour.  False, lying, the Scripture calls them, signs and wonders.  In these last days, don’t be looking for the famous men.  Don’t be looking for the signs-and-wonders men.  Don’t be looking for the thundering prophets.  Look for men who are humble.  Look for men who can identify with the Apostle Paul and say, “I am the least among the apostles.  I shouldn’t even be here, but God in His mercy and grace has called me, and I am what I am.”  He wasn’t denying his apostolic position.  He wasn’t denying the revelations that God gave him, but he saw that where he was was due to privilege and grace and the mercy of God, and never represented himself any other way.  Not superior.  The servant.  Who does that emulate?  The Head of the church; amen?  Our Lord Jesus.