Hilton started surfing when he was three. He loves the ocean. o­ne day Nola told him that he should always serve God. Hilton exploded: ' Surf God? Yea!' Now that he is older he understands what Nola taught him and he told me that God is number o­ne in his life and surfing and everything else comes after God. If we really serve God with all our hearts we are promised to have success. Success in the Hebrew mind is really having a successful journey and arriving at your destination. The journey might have some troublesome and some wonderful experiences along the way but what matters is if you arrive where you were heading. We can decide where we want to end: heaven or hell…Jesus Christ is the way to heaven and without Him you will end up in hell. The choice is ours. Either serve God or not. If you do it half-heartedly you will not have success. God will honour those who serve His Son. If we know what is required of a servant we can be assured of success in this earthly mission. Make up your mind today to serve God and to tell others to serve God with you. God will do the rest.Isaiah 52:13-15 13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men; 15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.

I. By looking at Christ we see our role as servant
1. Messiah: encounter suffering o­n his mission to give his life as ransom
2. Abraham (Gen 26:24/ Deut 34:5) and Moses also called servants
3. Overcome hostility to accomplish mission as servant (Acts 3:13 / 4:27)
4. Ancient mission of Abraham through Christ is now the Church?s mission
5. ?Be a blessing to all nations!? Genesis 12:1-3/ Is. 50:6 (shame & spitting)

II. A bond slave no longer has any rights of his own
1. It is an ancient practice to serve a Master (Gen. 9:25)
2. The treatment of a slave depended o­n the character of the Master
3. After 5 years or in the year of Jubilee a slave was allowed to go free
4. If a slave chose to stay with his master he became a bond slave (Ex. 21)
5. Someone else could buy the freedom of a slave (Lev. 25:47)

III. In Christ we are free to serve by choice
1. No longer a slave but a son & heir through Christ (Gal 4:7)
2. Onesimus (?Useful?) was a redeemed slave (Philemon 1:16)
3. We willingly acknowledge Christ?s authority (Titus 1:1)
4. We do not have to be slaves of sin any longer (Rom 6:16)
5. We serve by obedient labour and worship to contribute to the cause

IV. We are His servants if we spread the Gospel
1. We are Christ?s ambassadors reconciling the world to God (II Cor 5:18)
2. Salvation includes victory, wholeness, peace, prosperity, contentment
3. Is. 52:7: How beautiful are the feet of those?explore/spy/ tell the tale
4. Christ was despised and rejected but God honoured Him (Phil 2:5-9)
5. He startled nations and rulers had to shut their mouths (peh: entry)

V. His servant shall succeed
1. Act with understanding and live circumspectly
2. If you humbly obey God will lift you up: cross & ascension of Christ
3. The crown of thorns precedes the glory (John 12:23-25)
4. A successful mission will cleanse sinners and astound kings!
5. ?If any man serves me; Him will my Father honour.?
Listen to what God is saying to us today: He is speaking like a father to a son, like a mother to her child: ?I will be a father to you. I will keep you and provide for you, if you walk in my ways. I have promised that you shall have good success if you serve me with all your heart. Even though men may dishonour and despise you, I will not neglect you. I will honour you in a way you could not imagine, for I am your Father in Heaven and I see everything that happens. There is nothing that escapes my eye. I am with you. I will not forsake you. I hold you by the hand. Trust in me!? People may not like you or approve of what you are doing, they may mock and ridicule you, but if you keep o­n doing what the Lord told you to do, He will vindicate you and leaders and rulers will have to acknowledge that you are the servant of the Lord! If you really serve the Lord you shall succeed!

That is the message the Lord told me to bring to you. If you are not busy serving the Lord you shall not succeed in the end, no matter how successful you may appear right now! What does it help if you win the whole world but loose your soul in the end? Servants of God do go through hardships and have to face tribulation but if they remain faithful during the time of testing, they will be highly honoured! Jesus? ministry was very successful in the midst of great opposition! God promises success to his servants throughout the Bible. When Paul & Silas were in prison they heard throne room songs in their hearts! God gives throne room songs to his servants who worship Him in spirit and truth. Prophet William Mitchell prophesied that God would give Nola throne room songs because she has faithfully served Him all these years! We need throne room messages ? straight from the heart of God for God?s people today because there are so many confusing teachings, causing believers to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We need throne room conversations in our homes ? let our speech always be gracious and seasoned with salt that we might know how to answer every man concerning the hope that is within us. What is our hope? Christ within the hope of glory! If we have this hope within us we will purify ourselves ? with the washing of the pure water of the word of God. We will sanctify our vessels and cleanse our spirits and minds from sins that so easily beset us. Your God has come to liberate you and to give you victory in your battle in life! He is here to help you overcome what you are struggling with. He is mighty to save; He is ready to deliver you with His power! This is the good news of the Gospel: Jesus Christ has become the Saviour of all men who put their trust in Him. Hear this word today: remember it long after I am gone! My servant shall succeed in his task and he shall be highly honoured! This is God?s word for you today. Tie into the purpose of God to spread the good news about His Son Jesus Christ and love God by serving Him and keeping His word then all things will work together for good in your life!

Romans 8:28, 29 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Keep telling Zion, ?your God reigns!?
Isaiah 52:7 7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, ?Your God reigns!?

Zion or Tsiyown in Hebrew is a conspicuous place, a parched place that overlooks the area and that can serve as a sign and monument of what God can do! We have already come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of a new and better covenant and to God the Father of our Spirits. We are already o­ne with them in the spirit. This is the true church: the spiritual church that links all the saints together in Christ.

Isaiah 52:9 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.