4. Zac Poonen - Brokenness

I want to share something with you concerning the breaking of bread which is a symbol of fellowship we've been talking about fellowship the whole day in 1 Corinthians in chapter 11 for most people the lord's table or breaking a bread or communion whatever you call it is a ritual like many other rituals people take part in it without understanding its meaning like baptism I think many people will get baptized don't realize this is a testimony that my old man is dead and buried and I'm raised up with Christ as a new person it doesn't matter if you don't understand it we still obey God in Baptism without him and understanding the first Christians on the day of Pentecost the 3,000 record baptized they didn't have any understanding of Romans 6 because Romans 6 was not written and Peter never gave any explanation to them about what baptism meant but it's always good to take part in something with understanding it's better than blind obedience so same way with the Lord's table I think anyway in my case I took part in the Lord's table for many years just as an act of obedience a lot commanded it so I take part in it and I said this symbolized the broken body of Jesus on the cross and his shed blood that was all it meant to me but as I studied the Scriptures I discovered there was more and here's one of those verses 1 Corinthians in chapter 10 and verse 16 and 17 is not a cup of blessing which we bless sharing in the blood of I know the Roman Catholic Church says it is the actual blood of Christ it's not the actual blood of Christ I'm you because it doesn't taste like blood at all we got to be honest with this like what it is great juice but it's a fellowship in the blood of Christ it says here it's not the blood of Christ it's a fellowship that I have inwardly with the blood of Christ that cleanses me from sin and the bread which we break is a fellowship or sharing in the body of Christ and then it says verse 17 since there is one bread we who are many are one body we all partake of that one bread so did you know that when you break bread with other people in a church you're also testifying not only about the fact that Christ died on the cross you take part in that bread to say I want to go that way that's the meaning of it see many people admire Jesus for dying on the cross but they don't feel that they also have to walk the way of the Cross so if you only admire Jesus dying on the cross then when the broken bread comes to you you should say wow there's a grave and pass it on without taking part in it but if you take part in it you're saying lord I want to go the same way you went that's the meaning of taking part in the broken body of Christ in the same way when we partake with others it says from one bread we are all partaking proving that we are in fellowship with all these different people so when we break bread if I can't have fellowship but somebody sitting over there I can't really break bread with that person I'm testifying I am in fellowship with these people with whom I'm breaking bread so that's what Jesus was emphasizing in the Last Supper also of course all of this the disciples did not understand when they broke bread they didn't even understand the meaning of baptism till it was explained in Romans chapter 6 by the Apostle Paul much so it's probably okay to obey take part in baptism all the breaking bread without understanding but it means a lot more when we understand what it means so I see that this broken bread describes fellowship with others who also break bread and I think part of the meaning in it is then I need to be broken if I am to really come into fellowship with others brokenness in the Christian life is one of the most important things if we understand it we have understood one of the great secrets of the Christian life it's part of the way of the Cross when we speak of the way of the Cross it includes being broken and there are many parables in nature for example the atom the atom is one of the smallest particles in nature which you can't even see with the naked eye but when it is broken it can release is so much power as to light up enough electricity for a whole city so that's what's called nuclear power and there's a I see there's a message in that parable in nature a brokenness and you find that many times in Scripture one of the most important things in for fellowship is that the people in the church must all be broken people brokenness is what brings fellowship even between a husband and a wife see for example I don't know whether you've noticed this in John the Gospel chapter 6 when there was a large crowd following Jesus and Jesus said let's give them something to eat this is described in other passages as well so I want to find the passage red makes it more clear yeah it's clearer the same thing in Matthew 14 it's clearer over here let me read it to you here were these 5,000 men and many women and children and jesus said let's give them something to eat Matthew 14 verse 16 and they brought him the five loaves and two fish and I want you to notice how they were fed it says in Matthew 14 and verse 19 he made the people sit down there were three things he did he took the laws and first of all he looked up toward heaven verse 19 and gave thanks and then he blessed the food and still it remained five loaves but when he broke it it all of a sudden became fifty thousand loaves because there were at least ten thousand people there five thousand says in verse 21 five thousand men plus women and children probably ten thousand people and that those five laws became fifty thousand when he broke it he gave thanks and He blessed it nothing happened so God can bless you and he may still not be able to feed the multitude through you but the moment he breaks you hundreds and thousands can be blessed through you and I believe that brokenness is the thing that's lacking in many many Christians which hinders the power of God from being released in their life when the laws were broken the multitude was fed you know the other place where a woman came with an alabaster bottle or appointment and when that alabaster bottle of perfume was broken then the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume that's in John chapter 12 verse 3 so it's when something is if it was kept inside the bottle nobody would have got the is their perfume but nobody gets that scent of the perfume till it is broken and poured out and all these things as a message that comes through that the fragrance of Christ is released through us only when we are broken when the strength of self is broken when our sense of self-importance is broken when we are concerned about our own name and we want people to recognize us and all that is broken and we are no longer interested in what people think about us that self the importance of self is broken and I believe that there are many people whom God could use much more if he succeeds in breaking them you see this in the Old Testament I'll give you a couple of examples let me show you one example in the book of Genesis in Genesis we read about the two children of Isaac one was Jacob and the other was he saw and the Lord had told them when they were born that Esau would serve Jacob that Jacob would be the one whom he says that in Genesis 25 when the Rebekah are the wife of Isaac had twins and the children struggled together within her in Genesis 25 verse 22 and the Lord said to her in verse 23 of Genesis 25 two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from your body one will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger so Esau came out first and she he was the older then Jacob came out later he was the younger when the Lord had said he's going to serve he saw and it's very interesting to see how Jacob in verse 26 it says he came out grabbing his brothers heel the most amazing birth where he saw comes out and Jacobs almost like pulling him back and say I want to go first then his holding is heal and that's why he was called Jacob which means grabber and you know God wanted to bless Jacob but he was a very shrewd cunning person he first I don't want to go into the whole story but you know the story how he got the birthright from his brother Esau by just selling him a bowl of soup and saying you sell me the birthright I can give you the soup and later on how he cheated his father-in-law Laban of the sheep and all that I don't have time to go into all that but he was a grabber he grabbed the birthright and he grabbed Laban's daughters he wanted one but he got two and then he grabbed his sheep and his cattle God wanted to bless him but he could not bless him as long as he was grabbing seeking his own seeking his own sea his own and finally we read in Genesis 32 that God broke him and it's a very interesting passage to see how God dealt with him it's the same principle of brokenness that goes right through Scripture in which we see in the breaking of bread it speaks a fellowship with God and fellowship with one another it's very important to understand it so we read in Genesis 32 the number there was a time when he read verse 24 Jacob was left alone Genesis 32 verse 24 and God wrestled with him in appearance God came appearing like a man and wrestled with Jacob what he was trying to show through that was I'm trip I've been trying to break you Jacob all your life you're always grabbing grabbing grabbing seeking your own seeking your own grabbing means seeking your own see we are all born with the nature to seek our own and God has to break us from that and free us from it before he can really fulfill his purpose through us and why finally when Jacob was left alone and he wrestled with him and he could not break him it says here that God touched the socket of his thigh Genesis 30 to 25 and the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated and from that moment onwards he was a broken man he was physically broken because he had to limp for the rest of his life he was a young man relatively speaking and he began to limp from that day onwards and then God said to him okay let me go now where's Genesis 32 26 from the dawn is breaking and now you see Jacob has changed he had spent all his life grabbing money property women but right beginning with grabbing his brothers he'll know he starts grabbing God that's a great day in your life when you stop grabbing after material things and start grabbing God and saying like Jacob God verse 26 I will not let you go until you bless me where all the other things you spent your life grabbing your empty dirt now and you laid all of God and say Lord I want you now you know when it happened it happened when Jacob was broken that's why I say brokenness is so important the God could not succeed with Jacob until he had broken him the strength there is a there's a strength in all of us that needs to be broken before God can accomplish his purpose through us and you see that in Jacob here and he asked him what is your name remember Jacob means grabber and he said my name is grabber I've been grabbing all my life that's the other thing we see here that God wanted this man to be honest with him to be honest and say Lord I've been grabbing things for myself all my life it's a great day when we can see ourselves as God sees us as one who's seeking our horn seeking our own and the little things we do and say we're seeking our own we come to the church and we can still be seeking our own in different things and we are honest about it Lord that's my name I am one who seeks my own and God says okay he breaks him and when he sees his honesty he says I'm gonna change your name you're going to be a now you have striven with God and with men worse 28 and you have prevailed no when did jacob prevail not when he was phoned but when he was broken it's when we are broken that we succeed in our dealings with god until then we don't get anywhere the moment jacob was broken and humbled and weak that's the time god said now your name is israel now you're a prince now you got power with God and man see this is not something worldly people can understand God's power is manifested maximum and those who are broken in their life broken by God the strength of self when it is broken Paul says this something like this in 2nd Corinthians in Chapter 12 2nd Corinthians 12 Paul was a man who had amazing revelations and amazing miracles done through him and there was a great danger of him becoming proud puffed up and so God broke him by giving him a sickness from which he could not be healed it's there are many different ways God breaks the strength of self in us in Jacobs case it was by dislocating his and making him walk with a staff for the rest of his life you know those days people lived too long years they lived up to 120 130 and also relatively speaking Jacob was a young man when his thigh was broken and when he starts walking with a stick it's like a young 30 year old man walking with a stick it's pretty humiliating for a young 30 year old the walk of the state with a cane like an old man and that's what God did with Jacob he broke him as a young man and he depended he was humiliated and broken and the same with Paul Paul was in danger of getting puffed up and he says in 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 7 God had to break this mighty Apostle Paul and the way he broke him was by giving him a sickness he said to keep me from exalting myself there was given me a thorn in the flesh now I'm sure you probably read this many times and heard about it as well but it's very interesting to see here that that which is a messenger of Satan something that Satan does did are sent in Paul's life was used by God to humble him he calls it a messenger of Satan and God could use even that in verse 7 to keep Paul from exalting himself and when Paul didn't understand the reason for it he said Lord heal me of this heal me heal me heal me and he never got healing and he gave up I said Lord okay I'll submit to you and the Lord said my grace is enough for you because my power verse 9 is perfected in weakness this is a principle in the Christian life that God's power can be released through us only if we recognize our weakness all the time God doesn't make us feel powerful he makes us feel weak then he releases his power through us so that is God's way and that's how he released his power through Paul and Paul recognized that and therefore he said verse 9 I'm going to boast about my weaknesses I'm not going to boast about what I accomplished I boast about my weaknesses and if you find some situation in your life where God is making we can breaking you and making you small in the eyes of others just rejoice because that may be the very means by which he's trying to release his power through you because its power that the Living Bible paraphrase is that like this my power shows up best in weak people we are all weak really but where if you realize that weakness many Christians are so full of themselves and so aware of how much they know and how capable they are then God can do very little through them God can do most through those who recognize their weakness who are broken that is what is symbolized in the breaking of bread as Jesus was broken I want to be broken all my life and Jacob was broken as Paul was broken all the great servants of God was like that you know the story of Moses when he was a mighty Prince of Egypt at the age of 40 the Bible says he was a eloquent speaker and very strong man he read that he once hid the Egyptian with one blow he killed him he must have been really strong to give one blow to the Egyptian and kill him but incapable of serving God because why he was too strong he was too full of himself and there are many people like that when they are young it is so full of themselves that God cannot use them until he succeeds in breaking them and so the way God brought moses was by taking him into the wilderness for forty years and humbling him and making him dependent on his father-in-law for forty years he broke Moses so thoroughly that Moses finally says Lord I'm not the one I can't when God says now I've chosen you I want you to go and lead my people out of Egypt Moses says no not me please send somebody else in God says no you're the one he says no not me how did this man who at the age of 40 felt definitely I'm going to be the leader of God's people suddenly come to the place not suddenly come finally come to the place where he said I'm not capable if you turn to Acts of the Apostles in chapter 7 if you see what I'm saying that when Moses was 40 years old and he killed one Egyptian Acts chapter 7 verse 24 you know Stephen is describing the history of Israel and he says Moses was educated verse 22 in all the learning of the Egyptians he was a man of power acts 7:22 in words and in deeds meaning he was a very eloquent speaker and he was a very strong man and one day when he was 40 years old verse 23 he visited his brethren and was 24 he saw one of them treated unjustly he took vengeance by striking down the Egyptian and by striking down the Egyptian verse 25 he thought that his brothers would understand that God had made him their deliverer do you see fellas I am the one whom God has chosen to deliver you from Egypt but they didn't understand and he was not ready and he had to run away God arranged circumstances where you have to run away from Egypt for 40 years and at the age of 80 God calls him and he tells him in Exodus chapter 4 he says I want to send you to deliver my people and look what Moses says to the Lord in Exodus 4 verse 10 Lord I have never been eloquent how is that at the age of 40 he was the most eloquent person of all he read that in Axum he's completely forgotten it he said lord I can't speak and slow of speech and the Lord says go verse 12 I'll be with your mouth and he says please Lord don't send me I'm not the one throw any amazing I've seen through the years that is the one who recognizes that I'm completely unfit to serve God he's the one whom God uses if any of you think you're very qualified to serve God I'll tell you you've got to probably wait a few years before God will ever use you effectively because you're too full of yourself you're so confident and you know the Bible so much you've got an upright life you know the Lord you're faithful here people you've surrendered everything and tell you you are useless to God one day hopefully not after 40 years sooner than that sometime when God succeeds in breaking you then you'll be ready and this is the one of the main reasons why so many people who know the Bible so much while yielded surrendered everything yielded to God and very faithful their life is upright they are useless to God because one thing is missing they're not broken it's like the loaves you know fully surrendered blessed anointed or still five loaves but the moment it's broken it becomes fifty thousand the same principle that Staton symbol and actuality in these lives so then Moses is used by God to and I often see how this is the difference the contrast between what he was at forty and what he was at eighty that when he was 40 he struck an Egyptian and killed him and he thought the Israelites would recognize I'm going to deliver you man but how long would he have taken to deliver the Israelites if he went killing the Egyptians one by one by striking them all down but when he was 80 years old and we and helpless he didn't have to do anything like that after they crossed the Red Sea God told Moses just lift up your rod and the entire Egyptian army was buried in a moment that's the result of brokenness when he was unbroken he could kill one one man with a blow when he was broken he didn't have to do anything the power of God was released from the entire Egyptian army was knocked out and justify his raising his hand there's a lesson in this for all of us I'm not talking about human things I'm talking about our service for God and our overcoming evil overcoming sin fighting the devil binding the powers of darkness God does it through wheat people whether it is Jacob or Moses they have to be broken first why do you think God allowed Peter to deny him same reason Peter was too strong he was unfit to be the leader of the apostles he was too full of himself he was sure he was so dedicated consecrated he said to the Lord even if everybody denies you I'll not deny you just like Peter Moses felt he was going to be the leader and you see the Lord speaks to him in Luke chapter 22 Luke's Gospel chapter 22 the Lord says to him Peter you're going to deny me three times tonight before the crows Luke chapter 22 verse 34 I say to you Peter the rooster will not crow today that's in the morning until you've denied me three times now if you know that somebody's going to sin and denying the Lord is a pretty serious sin what do you pray for him lord please help him that he doesn't deny the Lord and Jesus should have prayed for Peter you would think that father please help him when he's tempted to deny me that he won't deny me he would think that Jesus should pray like that but he did not he did not pray for him at all he said he are going to deny me and I'm not gonna pray for you that you won't deny me I'm not gonna pray that you should not sin you will sin and I will not pray that you should not you really the Lord can pray like that for you yeah he will not stop you and say I'll allow you to fall into sin because you're such a strong person but I'll tell you something else he said I'll pray for you verse 32 looked ready to tell you I will pray this for you that after you have fallen into sin that your faith will not fail that when you have fallen and denied me three times and hit rock bottom you will still believe that I love you and my father loves you and then he would be broken and when you turn again verse 32 you can go and strengthen your brothers he could not be a strength to his brothers until God had taken away that strength in him which felt human of all people deny you will not deny you I've met young people like this who are so aware that they are so dedicated they are so consecrated that's so yielded they're so filled with the spirit and they're gonna serve God and I can see there this guy's gonna be useless until God breaks him one day he will be useless and if he continues in his arrogance he'll be useless all his life but if God can succeed in breaking him one day God will be able to accomplish great things through him please remember this principle dear brothers consecration and total surrender is not enough it's good to be consecrated totally surrendered everything given to the Lord there's one more thing needed in other words the five loaves the boy gave the five loaves total surrender that's the first step definitely you need total surrender don't give three loaves give all five he gave all five and then the blessing of the Lord anointing okay the Lord prayed for the five loaves it's still five loaves totally surrendered still five loaves blessing of the Lord the anointing still five loaves but when it was broken then it became fifty thousand it's the same principle that we need to understand here that Peter needed to be broken because he's the kind of self even if everybody denies you I will not deny you you're too strong Peter you're unfit to serve me you're too full of yourself you need to be broken and so he denies the Lord three times and you know denying the Lord is a very serious sin I don't know whether you feel realized that it's worse than murder and adultery because the Lord did not say if you commit murder I'll deny you before my father no you can be forgiven if you commit adultery I'll deny you before my father he didn't say that you can be forgiven but he said if you deny me before men I will deny you before my father that's what he said in Matthew chapter 10 so which is more serious murder adultery or denying the Lord Peter committed the worst possible sin he denied the Lord three times and that's why he was convinced that he could never be in a puzzle again he was absolutely convinced that it could never be an apostle and he read finally later on in John chapter 21 he says folks I'm going back to my fishing I finished with being an apostle I tried to be an apostle but I failed miserably and he tells his fellow disciples in John 21 you know that story where he called all of them and said to them John 21 and verse 3 I'm going fishing what he meant was I'm going back permanently to fishing he'd given it all up when the Lord called him he was not going out for a smaller thing he was going back to his old profession why was he going back to his old profession when the Lord caught up to me an apostle because he said I'm a failure as an apostle I tried and I did the worst possible thing anybody could do I deny the Lord three times see there's something we have to learn there there are many ways in which God tries to break us through circumstances and he Jacobs case through giving him a dislocated hip in Peter Wallace case by sickness in Moses case by making him stay with his father-in-law for 40 years I mean one year with your father-in-law would be more than enough but 40 years imagine what what it did to him there are different ways God does it but if all those methods fail that God tries to break you then the last method God will try is to make you fall into sin God allowing you to fall into sin yes and he will not pray that you don't sin he'll allow you to fall three times because he tried every other way to break you and he did not succeed we're still proud and haughty and then Lord says okay there's only one way now allow you to fall and publicly here and everybody knows you the great believer fell into some terrible sin and then you are really broke you can't lift up your head anymore you say God I can't serve the Lord no I'll go back to do something else and that's when the Lord comes back to him and read Commission's him and he says Peter I haven't given up on you you're still going to be my apostle not only my apostle you're going to be the leader of the Apostles after he was broken after you'd given up all hope of ever being well what he wanted to be this is a message that comes through all these examples I quoted all these examples to show you how God's dealings with these great men of his Moses Peter and all the others Joseph imprisoned for 10 years in a jail David chased around cave after cave by Saul it's all to break these men before he gives them a ministry now I've discovered through the years that if God does not succeed in breaking a man and he gives them authority he'll become a tyrant he'll become a dictator I've seen preachers and pastors were like dictators their boss around everybody else and it's pathetic I think they're not servants of God but if God can succeed in breaking a person then that man will never be a dictator in his life he will be able to exercise authority the way God wants him to exercise it and I believe God wants to use every one of us every single one of you I want you to know that God has a plan for your life which was determined before you were born in your mother's womb you got to believe this it's true because the Bible says that you know the words in Ephesians 1 verse 4 it says he was chose you before the foundation of the world before the words were created he knew that one day you would accept Christ as God looked into the future and he saw that one day you would accept Christ and so when you were conceived in your mother's womb God could see and saying this is the person I know he's gonna wander around and be a worldly unconverted person for so many years but I know that one thing he will accept me and I'm gonna keep my eye on him he's got a purpose for you but that purpose will not be accomplished if God does not succeed in breaking you and humbling you and making you realize that you're a zero making you realize that without him you can do nothing of the eternal value that is brokenness as long as we see even if everybody denies you I will not deny you God I believe that you're gonna use me more than everybody else I've seen young people like this who feel that they are so dedicated and consecrated God used them more than everybody else who compared themselves with other people in that church and think that I am the one whom God is going to use and I'm the one who's fit to be an elder here or something like that it's scary because I know that nothing will come of their life they live up to the age of 80 and waste their life but God can succeed in breaking them early in life when they are young what tremendous usefulness can come through their life and that's why I say to those of you who are young let God break you and then the Lord Commission's him to serve Him turn with me to second Corinthians in chapter 13 and you see a very interesting statement there fall says second Corinthians in chapter 13 Paul is saying you want to seek a proof of Christ speaking in me today people say well here are the miracles and here the people I raised from the dead that is the proof that Christ is speaking through me but look what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 13 verse 3 you are seeking for proof of Christ's speaking in me well you see it in my weakness verse 4 Jesus was crucified because of weakness but he lives by the power of God we also are weak in him we are weak we are broken that's the proof of Christ speaking through me not the miracles I did not the great sermons I preached we will live with him by the power of God see and then we see the reason why God breaks us until we are broken what we think is the power of God is just our own human soul power hard determination which you can use in business or in some other professional field you bring it to the Lord's work you succeed in some business because you're you've got determination you got the ability you bring that power into God's work and you think you can do it the same way and God's Word in C Scott says no in my work you need to become weak you need to become broken and Paul understood that he didn't understand that in the beginning but he understood that when he got a thorn in the flesh and he says we live by the power of God we are weak in him and I want to say to you through the years I've discovered and I mean I've now come because I've had many years of experience when I meet a brother and speak to him even for a short while I can make out whether he's a broken person or not and it's very easy to fellowship with a broken person very very easy I know it'll go well with him I know what to be we can have wonderful fellowship because we are both broken well when I meet a person who's very capable and gifted and it was pretty sure that he's consecrated and yielded and spirit filled and everything else I'm scared I know nothing will come of his life I mean you just drift along imagining that he's a great man a man of God a great woman of God and waste his life so dear brothers and sisters let me tell you from many years of serving the Lord and having observed many types of believers in many parts of the world I wish with all my heart that he will learn brokenness very early in life that which is symbolized in the breaking of bread which you take part of when you break a bread and take part in it you're saying Lord I want to be broken too in my life the strength of self the strong self-confidence must be broken the old testament example of this is circumcision everything in the Old Testament had a meaning you know the Passover lamb was a picture of Jesus being crucified the children of Israel going through the Red Sea is a picture of water baptism going into the water and coming out in the pillar of cloud coming from heaven upon these realizes a picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit that came from above everything in the Old Testament was a picture the brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness is a picture of Christ crucified Jesus himself said that the Sabbath that you know when God created Adam on the sixth day and the seventh day he rested not because God was tired but teaching man that before you go out to serve me on the eighth day the eighth day he had to go out into the garden to serve Adam had to serve but the Lord told him before you go out to the garden to serve me learn to rest in me come to a life of rest that's the meaning of the Sabbath and that's explained in Hebrews chapter 4 that you have to come to a life of rest in you before you serve and always and in a rest I've told people this for example that whenever you're you're agitated in your spirit do to anything don't speak because you'll mess up things whenever you're agitated I mean I followed that rule myself I remember once years ago in our local church it was a Wednesday meeting and some brother who was supposed to do something and get something ready in the church it was not done and I was really agitated in my spirit because his brother hadn't done this and something that needed to be done in the church and I was supposed to speak in the meeting that evening and we were kneeling down in the prayer we usually prayed for 10 minutes for so before the meeting I was still agitated my spirit and I said I'm not gonna speak today I'm not gonna speak until I come to rest because I know I'll mess up things so I said okay I was leading the meeting so I could extend the prayer meeting to any length as I liked so instead of 10 minutes it went on and on and on and on and people wondering why we're having a long prayer meeting the reason was brother Zack has not come to rest yet if it's because he's agitated about somebody else without having done its job and I think he went on for about half an hour or more finally I came to rest I said okay Lord I finished it doesn't bother me now anymore I am at rest then I got up and spoke but I followed that principle always then when I'm I would advise you husbands and wives you know something had happened at home and you're agitated in your spirit bless your home by keeping your mouth shut yes because you open your mouth you'll say something stupid that you'll regret when you're agitated in your spirit keep your mouth shut I followed that rule for many years now because I know it can happen you know something can happen if somebody else does or does not do and hesitates you we must come to rest that's the meaning of the Sabbath okay circumcision that also must mean something you know what circumcision means in fact it was such an important law and they'll Israel that the Lord said if you're not circumcised you're not a part of Israel cannot be considered a part of Israel if you're not circumcised and the meaning is explained to us all these wonderful things in the New Testament is explained Philippians chapter 3 what is the meaning of circumcision here it is circumcision physically is a cutting off of the flesh that's what it is as a physical act in Philippians 3:3 it says it symbolizes that we are the true circumcision verse 3 the last part of verse 3 we have no confidence in the flesh as a meaning the cutting off of the flesh in the Old Testament was a symbol of I have no confidence in my flesh in myself I'm broken I can't do anything like Moses says Lord not me I'm not fit to serve you like a ball with this thorn in the flesh something that makes me small something that reduces me to zero God is in the business of reducing us down down down down low until we come to zero then he begins to use us and if you haven't come there if you want God to use you better hurry and get there so this is how the Lord was trying to teach Israel but they didn't understand it then but the meaning is this God has to cut away from us all our confidence in our own ability I'll show you one more version and we'll close 1 Corinthians in Chapter 1 I mean this is true even in our day 1 Corinthians 1:26 when you look around at the people in your local church in your local church it is really an expression of the body of Christ you see what is written here there are not many wise according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble you don't have billionaires in your church you don't have the world's top scientists in your church no the world's richest men are not Christians God has chosen the foolish things verse 27 to shame the wise God has chosen the weak things to shame that which is strong the base things the despised things God has chosen the things that are nothing the things that are zero so that he might nullify the things that are why does God do it like this so that no one can boast that God used me see when Moses varied Egyptian army under the Red Sea he couldn't boast like the way he boasted when he killed one Egyptian with one blow because this was not him when he killed the Egyptian with one blow it was him this is my strength but when he buried the Egyptian army he said that was God whenever you do something for the Lord and you feel at the end of it boy that was a great word that I shared today in the meeting I could see that many people were blessed through it well brother I hope God will break you one day that you'll come down to a zero and say Lord it's nothing I because God is determined that no man can boast before him it's very easy for you to look down on some other people in your church were not so gifted not so capable not so smart as you are you're like Moses you know with one blow you can knock somebody down you got a long way to go maybe you got to be put with your father-in-law for a few years for God accomplishes his purpose no that was something God does a different way in different different ways in different people but even God if you're really determined to God's bed do God to have God's best I really believe he will deal with you strongly and bring you to the place where he really wanna come to she's his purpose through you but she'll have to be broken no man may post in his presence it's a very important principle that's why God uses the weak the foolish those who are nothing that's why you see in Christendom most of Christendom I mean I've traveled in many many places they're really godly people are not millionaires and billionaires and the cleverest people know the people whom God uses the most or sometimes very weak or there are people who were capable but God has crushed them and broken them up all for example I'm not saying you have to be like Peter an uneducated fisherman no you can be a very qualified I think a person like Paul if Paul was living today he would have excelled in any profession if you've gone into business he'd have been a tough businessman if you had gone into the computer science field I'd have been a brilliant computer scientist or US inventor or something ID yeah it's such a brilliant mind I think he had one of the most brilliant minds that anybody had I see that when he when I read his letters but he could not be used by God until he was broken so that he could not glory or boast so as I said earlier you're not disqualified because you're clever you're disqualified because you're not broken I'm not saying God will use stupid people the stupid people also God cannot use it they are not broken because I'm stupid people can be proud too they can hear a message like this it's a great I'm sure please oh I'm God can use me no God can't use me because you're stupid God can use you if you're broken he doesn't matter whether you're stupid Oprah that's a clever that's the point so it's a very important principle and how is this relate to fellowship because I'll tell you because I've seen through the years it's very easy for broken people to fellowship together it's like the difference between hard potatoes and mashed potatoes you know you put the whole lot of potatoes together and there's no fellowship between them but you mash them all in there's you know no potatoes is trying to show I'm this potato number so in certain notes you disappear in that mashed potato Plato which is potato number one and which is potato and our number 10 that's all when you remain as a single potato you thin numbers on it I'm number 10 and I'm bigger than the others but what happens when your mashed nothing that's a simple principle that's how God works with us so that no one will glory in his presence now like this in your own life before we close see if in past years in your church wherever you are where you had a feeling that God can use you more than the others because you are gifted or some other thing you're proud of no and I'll tell you something you can even even be proud of your brokenness that's another type of pride you know like pride in your humility it's very deceptive when you're broken you're not thinking of yourself you're thinking God I want you to be glorified here in all your work for God at the end of it all you say God if you're glorified that's all that matters I'm not thinking of what people are thinking about me or any such thing ask God to bring you to that place your only desire is hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come Thy will be done in this church as it is done in heaven now let them forget about me make that your aim my brothers and sisters you'll be the most valuable brother in God's church and you'll be a blessing that will be very easy to fellowship and you will be a person who will help make God's family beautiful because in God's eyes the real beauty is in brokenness okay let's pray Heavenly Father please help us to understand your ways which are so different from our ways your thoughts that are so different from ours though we may have heard many of these things before yet we need to be gripped by them help us to be encrypted pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: NCCF Church

Views: 5,430

Rating: 4.9499998 out of 5

Keywords: NCCF, CHRISTIAN, ZAC POONEN

Id: nTlht6oPMI0

Length: 57min 1sec (3421 seconds)

Published: Sat May 12 2018