Have To Lose Reputations

So it has been with all of God's saints who have pleased Him and praised Him through the centuries.

At some time in their witness and expression of the living Christ they have had to lose their reputations among those who have been traditionally pious and somber, dogmatic and cautious. This is still happening in our day, and with glorious results.

A young man who is director of one of our American Bible conferences has given me his testimony of great and radical things which the Lord has done for him in recent months.
 
I realize now that in my service for God I was one of the most self-assured, conceited and horrid young fellows you could ever meet" he told me frankly. "I could raise money, I could put on a great program, and I figured I was a great success in the Lord's work.

But recently on a trip to Wales, I had the opportunity of talking to some older folks who remembered Evan Roberts and the great Welsh revival. They told me about the true working Of the Holy Spirit in Christian renewal and revival - and I didn't really know what they were talking about. 

Somehow, and they did not realize it, it was just as though they were burying me under a great load of crushing bricks, and God spoke to me about my own great spiritual lack.

He told me that he made his way to the little cottage where he was staying and got down on his knees and began to sweat it out before God.

Do you know what this was?

It was the act of dying! It was the end of self. 

That man died to reputation, ability, presumption, success, conceit, personality - all of that stuff!

He said to me, "Mr. Tozer, I was filled with the Holy Spirit and my whole life has been transformed. Now I only want this cheated and betrayed generation to see the glory of God once more!"

I said to him then, "Brother, do you realize that if you carry through with this message and this blessing that you will lose some of your best fundamentalist friends? You will be described as having gone off your rocker."

I am not worried any more about my reputation. he replied. "I am perfectly willing because I am going to let the Lord have His way in the whole operation."

The interesting thing is that he hasn't had to switch or change his doctrines around at all-he just found out that he needed the fire of God on his doctrine, and he got it!

~A. W. Tozer~