Knowing God Through Brokenness by Zac Poonen

the most important thing that God wants us to experience on earth is to know him personally Jesus defined you know that Jesus came to give us eternal life and we must never forget the definition of eternal life that Jesus gave in John 17 this is the clearest definition of eternal life many many people think of eternal life still as living forever that's not eternal life because man was created to live forever whether he goes to hell or heaven he will live forever that's not eternal life that's just living forever the word eternal like I've often said is something meaning something that has no beginning and has no end that's eternal man's life is not eternal it had a beginning so it cannot be eternal it has no end but eternal means that which has no beginning and has no end no angel has it only God has eternal life and God sent his son so that those who believed in him may have this eternal life and that's the greatest thing that we can ever have eternal there's absolutely nothing too superior to that when it says that God has given us great promises and above all of them that we can partake of his nature so in John 17:3 it says this is eternal life Jesus defined it like this that they may know you the only true God he was praying to the Father and Jesus Christ whom you have sent there's only one way that I can have eternal life and that is by knowing God personally and knowing Jesus Christ personally the measure of your spiritual growth is the measure in which you know God personally where you know Jesus personally it's not just the assurance that my sins are forgiven and we know that knowing about a person is very different from knowing a person to know God intimately is the greatest privilege that we can have ever have to a fellowship with him day by day and in a world cursed by sin because of the defilement that sin has brought into our bodies and minds it appears to me that there is no way in which God can bring us to a knowledge of him except through trial and suffering in some way it doesn't seem to be any other way you can't know God buying if your life is all very comfortable and prosperous but just is like that because we live in a world which is under a curse so God has to allow suffering and difficulty to get us to know him and sometimes we don't understand that but throughout the scripture from Genesis to Revelation that is the message turn with me to James chapter 5 James fire it says he's talking about people who are who have been exploited by others you know rich people James 5e says some of you rich people you have not paid your laborers verse 4 and he says you will be judged if you don't pay your servants properly then he speaks to those servants who have been ill treated by their masters you know maybe masters who claim to be believers and did not pay their servants properly he is saying to them in verse 7 be patient brothers don't worry if your masters didn't pay you properly they exploited you took advantage of you don't worry be patient to the coming of the Lord just like the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil being patient you also be patient and don't complain maybe somebody didn't give you your pay don't complain leave it in God's hands God will use that suffering you go through to accomplish something in you to help you to know him and to have eternal life don't complain against one another because if you do that and then you'll not only suffer on earth you'll suffer in eternity because you'll be judged it's a very serious thing to complain against others it's so clear don't complain brothers against one another otherwise you will be judged and if you don't want to be judged it's a clear way to escape judgment in verse 9 if you don't want to be judged don't complain against others it's not an easy way to escape God's judgment I think this word seriously that's why I given up complaining against people long ago I want to be absolutely sure when I stand before God that there's no judgement against me and God shown me the way that I never complain against anybody even where people have mistreated me or made a mistake take for example a doctor who makes a mistake in treating you I've experienced that seriously more than once in my life that's but I decided not to complain and it doesn't solve the physical problem but it gets you get to know God better that's the thing when you spend your life complaining against the doctor who treated you badly or some man who didn't pay you or something like that you're losing an opportunity to get to know God better the suffering that God takes you through his plan is to so that you may know him so she may have eternal life and he says for example as an example brothers James 5:10 of suffering and patience take the profits there was not a single prophet in the Old Testament who was not persecuted ah who did not suffer in some way those are the greatest men of God in the Old Testament they suffered a lot sometimes it's not all written down and exactly the same in the New Testament the apostles and prophets got to know God through suffering I mean you read the sufferings that Paul went through in 2nd Corinthians 11 imprisonments and beatings and all types of things you think Almighty God couldn't have protected him of course he could have God has protected you and me from so many dangers and harm that other people try to do to us is it difficult for God to get Paul out of a prison he took Peter out of a prison but God in His great wisdom knew that he had a great ministry to accomplish through the Apostle Paul and for that he had to know him and the only way he could know him was believe it or not by being beaten by imprisonment by shortage of money the shortage of food all of these things Paul went through now when God doesn't where a person does not want to have such a ministry and whenever God tries to lead him further he's not bothered about a ministry but he wants a little comfort on the earth God will allow such a person to make a lot of money live comfortably and as far as eternity is concerned live a useless life he may be a good brother in cfz but in terms of eternities accomplished zero don't be like that it's possible to be here and if you don't have your focus right to miss out in eternity even though you may think Oh God's blessing me my life so comfortable I'm healthy I don't have any sickness and I got a good house and I've got a lot of money I'm okay make it your passion my brothers and sisters please listen to me Lord at any cost I want to know you you kept me on earth that I might know you before I leave this earth and I want I want this is my passion that I want to know you better and he says count then he stakes the other example he says we count those blessed who endured you've heard of the endurance of Joe and seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings see James coats Joel and says see there's an outstanding example of a man who suffered even though he was so upright now you would think a man who was upright and it was faithful in turning his eyes away from evil and fearing God I mean in the understanding of many Christians today you should be so blessed he should have plenty of property and money but the way God blessed him was by take away his property and money so that he could get to know him he even got sick and he got to know God better through that whole experience and he says don't think of just what he went through think of the outcome that means the final end of the Lord's dealings and these are the examples given us in Scripture are to remind us that there's a final end sometimes when we are going through a trial as some of you may be going through right now you can only think of that but the Lord says always think of the final end of the Lord's dealings that the Lord is full of compassion and merciful when a person is being beaten like Paul and imprisoned or you may think oh well the Lord is not compassionate merciful he is or when Paul had a sickness which he prayed to the Lord three times to get rid of and God said no imagine God's greatest servants on earth and God says no I'm not gonna I'm not gonna grant your prayer now the average worldly type of believer can't understand that they think if you know God better he'll answer your prayer he'll give you a comfortable lie he'll give you help he'll give you wealth not so those are people who don't know God and God told Paul I'm not gonna take it away but he got to know God better and the same with job you know the end of the Lord you must always think of the outcome what is the Lord accomplishing in me through all this and let me read the paraphrase of that you've heard of job staying power and how God it God finally brought it all together for him at the end our life is like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces scattered around they look so strange but when it says God brought it all together for him at the end he put all the pieces in the right place the trials and the sufferings and everything else and when we finally look at it the outcome and the a puzzle is all complete we say Wow Lord you did it perfectly I couldn't understand it when I was on earth but he did it perfectly and here it says that's because the last part of verse 11 that's because God cares he cares right down to the last detail that's what the message Bible paraphrase it is and I want you to remember that my brothers and I think you will need you and I will need that more in the days to come if the Bible says very clearly it's not going to be easy to be a Christian in the last days and we are approaching those days and you must remember when such days come sometimes you hear a word today which may be preparing you for something in the future remember in that time when you can't understand why you are going through certain things then God cares right down to the last detail that's why Jesus often told his disciples things to encourage them he says the hairs on your head are numbered never forget that never forget that the care of God for you goes down to the last hair on your head every little hair and he said you're more value than the sparrows God careful and these are real truths and it's easy to believe that when everything is going easy I mean when you've got comfort and money and ease and everything to say yeah yeah I believe that that's not the place where you prove your faith it is in the darkness that your light must shine and there's an expression that says never doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light never doubt in the darkness of your life what God once showed you in the light I mean if you got a hundred rupee note and you saw it clearly in the sunlight and then you're in a dark room at night and you take it out and you can't even see what what it is you know it's a hundred rupees because you saw it in the light but in the darkness you look at it and say hey I don't know is this counterfeit or not no you saw it in the light never doubt in the darkness what you have seen in the light and God gives us understanding of certain things in times of relative ease so that in the time of trial we remember and we confess God is still my loving father that's a tremendous testimony and he speaks about job here and I love the book of Job because as you have often heard me saying it was the first book of the Bible the first book that God wrote in the Bible was written was the book of Job written about maybe 500 years before Moses wrote Genesis so I've said this before and I repeat it again when God wanted to write a book for man he did not say I must tell them how I created the heaven and earth first that can wait God waited 500 years before he wrote about the creation of Heaven and Earth the book of Genesis is not the first book that God wrote it was the book of Job job lived 500 years before Moses who wrote Genesis and the reason I emphasize that is because you see something of God's heart there that God is seeking to [Music] show us what is really his passion what is really his passion for man God writes about a man who suffered imagine when God wanted to write the first book for the human race he talks about a godly upright man who suffered more than anybody else there was nobody on earth who was more godly than him and there was nobody on earth who suffered more than him I mean can you combine that can you believe those things that the most godly man on earth suffers the most that's not only true in this case of Joe the greatest example is Jesus Christ himself you see it's a tremendous lie of the devil this prosperity gospel this health wealth gospel because if that is the gospel then everybody should choose it well why do people go after another God know the reason why true Christianity is rejected is because the true message of Christ says if you really want to know God you will suffer on this earth that's not a message most people want but that is the gospel and it's proved by God writing his first book about the most upright man in the world suffering more than anybody else in the world and being misunderstood by all the other preachers of his time those preachers we can say they new theories about God but they didn't know God himself so when they saw this godly man suffering they say hey you must have sinned I mean there must be something wrong in your life just like you know when you see somebody sick you think ah there must have been some there must be some sin in his life I'm healthy because I follow the Lord look at all the terrorists in the world who are healthy who go around killing people with bombs and all that and that it should expose the lie that everybody who's healthy is pleasing to God or look at all the criminals and crooked businessmen and crooked politicians who make millions and millions of billions of rupees they're not pleasing to God it's amazing how he Christians don't seem to understand that is right before their eyes the most godly are the ones who suffer the most and the examples are job Jesus Christ Paul all the prophets in the Old Testament or take all the apostles every one of them was killed the most godly followers of Jesus Christ were all killed we don't know about John but even he was persecuted I've heard that he was put into a tub of boiling oil John the Apostle is an old man that's where the story goes I don't know what happened but then they exiled him to Patmos there he was alone but he knew God I mean you think of all these people now in heaven Joe Paul and all the Apostles in you go to them and say well what do you think about it all now I'll tell you the answer they'll give every one of them all the prophets all the apostles turn with me into second Corinthians chapter 4 2nd Corinthians 4 we're 16 to 18 we don't give up I want to read this in the paraphrase we don't give up second Corinthians 4:16 even though on the outside it looks as if everything is falling apart do you feel like that sometimes in your life that on the outside everything's falling apart on the inside God is renewing us making a new life not a single day goes by without God unfolding His grace to us when outside things are falling apart and he says these hard times are nothing compared to the good times that are coming this momentary light affliction that's what he calls it that's what they all call it in heaven Jove I don't know how long you suffered Paul I know you suffered for twenty thirty years and the Apostle suffered many years John suffered sixty years but from Heaven's viewpoint he says it was only a moment on earth that looked so long but now when we are in heaven we realize it was only for a moment because you know when we get to heaven we have the eternal perspective and we see in the light of eternity where I'm gonna live forever and ever and ever never liked that song says I've got so many million years I can't even count them got so many million years to live and I can't even count them so don't ever wait for me I've got so many million years of joy and eternity is coming in so short momentary a moment he they call their entire life of suffering on earth as a a moment of light affliction that's great but Paul wrote that before he went to heaven and that's one of the wonderful things of being filled with the Holy Spirit when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we get to see a heavens viewpoint now that's a wonderful thing the way I will look at things from heaven one day I can look at it now and particularly in the new covenant the new covenant Apostle said followers of Jesus had a greater understanding of that than even Old Testament because the Holy Spirit had come in and shown them heavens viewpoint that's one of the wonderful things when we come to know God never eternal life that we look at everything we go through on earth is heavens viewpoint do you think heaven is very excited when you got an increment in your salary I don't think so because I know a lot of people who got plenty of money and it destroyed them I know brothers in CFC churches who were been far better off spiritually when they were poorer they were humbler and they had a greater sense of need in their life for God and when they got plenty of money and it went well with their children it destroyed them so from Heaven's perspective was that good or bad that was bad but from an earthly perspective it looked very good oh it's not a lot more money now I can afford a lot more and my children are all well off now really if they really are well off they'll be knowing God better and if you know God better I'll tell you this the mark of a man knowing God better and better is that he becomes humbler and humbler he as year by year goes by he thinks less and less of himself he's humbler and humbler you should see a man who's getting humbler and humbler and humbler year-by-year and there you see a man who's not spending his life thinking about himself it's not thinking about how smart he is or how much people appreciate him because he's getting to know God he's getting prepared for heaven where one day when he gets there the only sing about the Lamb that was slain they don't sing about Paul or Joe or anybody he's getting prepared for that like and so like John the Baptist he's decreasing every day so that Christ can increase eternal life is for Christ to increase in us and I'm absolutely convinced that the reason why Christ does not increase in the lives of many believers is because they are not willing to decrease if you are serious about being willing to decrease Christ will increase in your life without any doubt you'll get to know God better your life will be a tremendous blessing to other people because they'll be less of you and more of Jesus we can't bless people just with Bible knowledge or correct doctrine remember this I wish I could convince you all of it it's not we thank God for all the wonderful doctrines of the New Covenant and all that God has revealed to us but you can understand all that intellectually the whole purpose of the New Covenant is so that we might get to know God better the New Covenant was mentioned in Jeremiah and Ezekiel and it's quoted in the new in the New Testament and I want to show you a verse in Jeremiah where he's the man who spoke about the New Covenant first there was no prophet who used the word New Covenant like Jeremiah and Ezekiel and he was the one who prophesied that the day is coming when he'll establish a new covenant with God's people and in Jeremiah chapter 9 this man who was the prophet prophesied the new covenant says this Jeremiah 9 and verse 23 don't let the wise man brag about his wisdom and don't let the mighty man boast about his might and don't let the rich man jb3 and don't let the rich man boast about his riches if you want a boast there's only one thing worth boasting about God says that you know me that I am the Lord do you know that's the only thing worth boasting about on this earth the things that even Christians inwardly boast about some about how good-looking they are or how clever they are how well they did in their profession or how God honored them with money or position or honor it's all rubbish it's all fit for the trash can never forget it it's all fitted the only thing that's worth boasting about God says is that you know me that you know what type of person I am that I'm full of loving-kindness and justice and righteousness that is the essence of the New Covenant if you haven't seen that my brothers sister you've understood a doctrine so make it the pursuit of your life to know god like Paul says at the end of his life turn with me to Philippians 3 Philippians 3 it's a great verse Philippians 3 verse 8 remember Paul is writing this from prison he was in a prison when he wrote Philippians and he has already labored and he's raised the dead and his planet churches and written Scripture but what does he say there he says you know there are so many things I've done but I count everything to be loss Philippians 3:8 everything is lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ and I've considered everything as rubbish compared to knowing Christ everything outside of Christ is rubbish have you seen it brother sisters your ability there are qualifications the things that you feel make you superior to other believers what is it if we don't have the right values it will hinder our spiritual programs in the matter phrase it says all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life compared to the high privilege of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord firsthand I count everything else as rubbish and he says I counted like dog dung that's the actual word the dung on the road that's how I look at it everything except knowing Jesus all the things that once I consider it important I've thrown it away it's not only trash it's dog done holy God Holy Spirit can open our eyes to see that and once you have seen it the passion of our life will be to know Jesus better to know him better and better and whatever trial he go takes us through that we might know him better at many good qualities and you and I have many good qualities sure I'm sure in Frank Joe was the most god-fearing man on earth and I think many of us are among some of the most god-fearing people perhaps in Banglore I don't know I hope so but even if you are even if God can point you out and say there's a god-fearing man or woman in bang job still did not know the Lord the way he should know him he turned his eyes away from evil he was god-fearing in all that but there was something in him that was missing still and God was such a jealous God you know it's like like a father who saw his son get 90% and says son I want you to get a hundred percent 90 percent of so good I'm if you get 90 percent in some tough examination you're way ahead of most of the other percentage just Bosma I'm just going to heaven and you're getting 90 percent that's how job was compared to all the other people in his day and you may be like that because of the truths you've heard you've taken life seriously but God may still say there's something in you that's still missing don't compare yourself with others one of the easiest ways to stop growing spiritually is to compare ourselves with others you'll destroy yourself 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 12 says those who compare themselves with each other our spiritual idiots if you want to be a spiritual idiot just compare yourself with other believers in CFC or other places and say oh thank God I'm not like them that's what the Pharisee said it's foolish the only person worth comparing ourselves with is Jesus Christ and if we there was something in job that was missing there was something in Paul that was missing and that's why God had to Paul was an upright man he once said I've lived all my life with a good conscience something like Joel all my life I lived with a good conscience and yet something was missing job was a perfect upright man and yet something was missing you know what it was they were not broken a man can be very holy and very good in many ways and yet he may not be a broken man God has to break us before we can come to know him better and that's not something people seek for why did God take this godly man through sickness and bring him down to poverty only one reason I don't think he became a holier at the end of that but he was a broken man by the time he came to the end of that experience and the experiences God leads us through is to break a side I find many good people in our CFC churches but I guess I can sense when I get to know them they're not broken yet there's not a brokenness in their life and that's why God is limited in what he can do through them the greatest work you can do for God my brother and sisters is what somebody told me when I was about 30 years old the greatest work you can do for God is to fall into the ground and die you believe that and somebody told me that you want to do a great work for God in India brother I was about 32 years old and he said if you want to do a great work for God in India fall into the ground and die that's not the type of teaching that most people give to young people but if you haven't understood that you missed out on the most important thing in the Christian life and I knew it was true and I decided I was gonna die die to my reputation and died to the use of my spiritual gifts the way I thought I should use them die to what people thought about me just like that grain of wheat fall into the ground and die the alternative is that you may be a beautiful Christian and you can be like a corn of wheat that's in a glass case in C f/c everybody admires whoo wow what a beautiful corn of wheat do you want that there'll be no fruit in your life if you're under interested in admiration of fruit if you want admiration for your Christ likeness put yourself in a glass case in all your life you'll be one grain of wheat but if you want fruitfulness let that thing go into the ground let your repetition be ruined and spoiled and let people say what they like about you that grain of wheat goes into the ground and people trample on it it goes inside the ground it cracks open it's broken and when it's broken the life inside that grain of wheat comes out there's a life inside the grain of wheat you know that there's a life in every seed that's what produces the trees but that life will never come out till it is broken open that's what I mean by brokenness it's like the alabaster bottle of perfume may have wonderful perfume but nobody gets it smell of it till it's broken and that's when when the perfume was broken and poured out then the whole house got the order of it it's a message right through scripture brokenness Moses was a complex man at the age of 40 and he thought he could lead God's people and God said he got many good qualities at the age of 40 he said I don't want to be the ruler in Egypt I reject the honor of the world he rejected the pleasures of sin imagine a 40 year old man rich wealthy position in the best country in the world and saying I don't want honor I don't want the pleasures of sin and I don't want anything that this world can offer me I don't want money and God still says you're not good enough yeah I mean you may be like that see I don't want the money of this world I don't want the honour of this world I don't want the pleasures of sin and you think you've made it you know it says in Hebrews 11 verse 24 and 26 that God that Moses said those words when he was 40 I don't want the pleasures of sin I don't want the wealth of this world and I don't want the honor of this world you think such a man is spiritual God says no that's good now he's got to be broken and it took him 40 years to be broken and then God says now you're ready for me till now you were just a admired by the world there's a man who doesn't live for money who's kept himself pure and who doesn't seek for honor then you get the glory of the world but God says if I'm to use you I have to break you and he took him for 40 years and broke him and crushed him till he was so broken that he said Lord I'm not fit to serve you when Moses said I'm a wretch he meant it we can sing sing amazing grace that saved a wretch like me and I don't know whether you really believe you're a rich a broken man will feel like that all true and it's a wonderful thing when God breaks a man so thoroughly because Moses had to remain broken for 40 years so and that's why it says about Moses he was the humblest man in all the earth he all your holiness my brothers and sisters is not enough when you know God you'll be broken and that's not a message that's proclaimed in most of Christianity or even another law all religions will appreciate holiness but who understands brokenness it it says about even about Jesus that it pleased the father to bruise him and to crush him so job the one thing he lacked was brokenness and you can see evidence of that in let me show you one chapter in the book of Job which says in job 29 you know when he was going through all this suffering in the beginning he reacted well but as time went on and the suffering did not stop he began to complain when we suffer physically in the beginning we usually react well like Joe say yeah I know I must give thanks to God but I have a secret hope that if I give thanks to God he'll sort it all out in a week or so but nothing happens in a week or in 10 years then we can sink like Joe and say what's the matter now I did all the right things and yeah Joe in his heart he was thinking job 29 how it was in the days where's to when God watched over me whereas for the friendship of God was over my tent the almighty was with me were spy my children around me my steps were bathed in butter I was so rich I went out to the gate of the city and when I took my seat in the square the young men saw me and hid themselves out of respect the old men stood up the princes stopped talking when I came by the voice of the nobles they kept quiet when the year heard what I said it called me blessed he's a man who's got a ministry spoken ministry that blessed people people heard it and said oh how blessed the I saw me gave witness of me I delivered the poor who cried for help and I helped the orphan and on and on and on and on he says how he lived and the purity of his life chapter 31 verse 1 I did not lust after women and I did not seek after gold or any such thing so many wonderful things he says all that inward congratulating oneself and boasting oneself is a clearest proof that a man is not broken it was there all in his mind Paul said forgetting the things that are behind and pressing to the things that are before that means forgetting all the orphans I helped and forgetting all the poor people I helped and forgetting all the good things I did that's not easy a broken man does not keep on remembering all the good things he did job remembers it very well he says I can look back over my life and see all the good things I did have I kept myself pure and I did this and I did this be careful of such thoughts my brothers and sisters those are an indication that you're not a broken person you may sing amazing grace that save a wretch like me but you don't really believe you're a wretch because you can list at least 20 30 40 things good things that you did you're not a wretch yes brokenness doesn't come easily but when it does come there will be abundant fruit and you won't take any credit for it it's God's will that all of us should be fruitful it's not only few outstanding brothers and sisters that should be foodle I want to say to you in Jesus name what Jesus said I have chosen you the Lord says in John 15 and appointed you John 15:16 that you should bring forth fruit to everyone sitting here if you are born again and you have given your life to Christ I want you to take that word from the Lord the Lord saying to you I have chosen you and ordained you then you should John 15:16 that you should bring forth fruit and not fruit that comes and disappears but fruit that remains for that you have to fall into the ground and die that beautiful grain of wheat will lose its beauty and men will despise you well that's what happened to Joe he had to sit outside the gate of the city scraping himself men despised him misunderstood him oh this great rich man there must have been some secret sin in his life that's why God has punished him like this even his wife couldn't understand how the preachers couldn't understand and maybe other godly men who can't understand why or what you're going through maybe your wife can't understand your husband can't understand but you don't defend yourself you don't complain you keep your mouth shut and God doesn't work in breaking you and we know the job was broken because finally he says these words and this is the these are the words of a broken man see what he says in job chapter 40 and there you see you know what James says you know the end of the Lord the outcome of the Lord's dealings what God finally accomplished in job was this job 40 verse 4 lord I am insignificant what can I reply to you I boasted about how wonderful things I did now I lay my hand on my mouth I've spoken once twice but I'll never say anything anymore because I've seen what I am I am insignificant you know that first word of the Sermon on the Mount blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs the kingdom of God in the Amplified Bible it says blessed are those who rate themselves as insignificant I want to ask you do you rate yourself as an insignificant person in CFC perhaps not the more people because some of you are serving and doing so many good things and many others are appreciating you it's very easy to begin to rate yourself as well not so insignificant I'm another significant well I pray that you will get to know God because when you do like when Isaiah saw the glory of God he said oh woe is me I'm unclean John the Apostle when he saw Jesus at age of 95 he fell at his feet and says all one nothing I'm like a dead person it's always the mark of broken people they rate themselves as insignificant it's not you know saying it just to act humble it's a deep conviction inside I am insignificant that doesn't mean I have low self-esteem not at all I know in God's eyes I'm a son of God I'm a prince of heaven I have no doubt about that I know where I stand before God and we must know where we stand with God a son or a daughter of God but in our relation to other fellow believers we rate ourselves as insignificant we don't desire any honor we don't desire any recognition and we don't question if God puts us in prison or makes us suffer or gives us a thorn in the flesh that he'll never heal or like in Timothy's case give us frequent sicknesses that are never healed you know we read about Paul's thorn in the flesh but a lot of people don't know about Timothy's thorn in the flesh Paul told Timothy 1 Timothy in chapter 5 he says don't just drink water 1 Timothy 5:23 but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments Timothy was the most outstanding servant of God next to Paul Paul says that in Philippians 2:19 but that man had frequent sicknesses how do you how do you understand that that God's greatest men on earth in the first century had frequent sicknesses that's not what today's Christians understand you know why because they don't know God they don't know brokenness they don't know that God's whole purpose in keeping us on this earth for a length of time it's not to make us healthy or wealthy dear brothers take it from me your wealth is no mark of God's blessing you may have it but it's an incident the color of your skin do any of you think that because your skin is white you're more acceptable to God I'm sure you don't have that idea it's exactly the same wealth is like that then just because God gave you maybe you came to CFC years ago and you were very poor and now God has blessed you so much blessed you in what way I hope you're broken not money not even children no you have many children that's not what's blessing because any any Muslim family will beat you outright when it comes to children hmm don't boast in that it's in brokenness which with mark of God's blessing you mustn't forget it not not that he gave you this and he gave you that and a lot of things that worldly people aspire for that's not it that's not it it can be a deception and the more you think about it the more your mind gets clouded so think of brokenness that God is seeking to do in your life so that you really come to know him personally let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me turn with me again to Isaiah 53 I sign chapter 53 we read about Jesus I've often meditated on this chapter there are parts of this chapter which we can have no part in like it says the sin of the world was placed upon Jesus verse 6 and those things we have no part in but there are many other aspects of this chapter that have a message for us you know we look into the scriptures to see Jesus and it says the Holy Spirit makes us like him so here is Jesus reverse Isaiah 53 verse 2 first of all it says in verse 1 who would have that God's saving power would look like this who has believed our report I mean this whole chapter he says when I say it Isaiah says Lord when I proclaim this who in the world is going to believe that this is the description of a man of God no nobody can believe this is the description of a man of God he says who will believe it who will believe that God's saving power makes a man like this like what there's nothing attractive about him verse 2 he's looked down upon people don't even give him a second look he's passed over a man who suffered who knew pain firsthand one look at him and people turn away is this the description of a man of God most of today's preachers and you've seen the television are like film stars they have as much money as film stars collected from poor people and they look like film stars too but not Jesus don't get fooled by all these movies about Jesus the real Jesus is here there was nothing attractive about him nothing to cause us to take a second look he was looked down upon passed over a man who suffered and who knew pain firsthand one look at him and people turned away we looked on him and thought he was scum scum means rubbish do you want to be like him there was no man on earth who knew God better than Jesus Christ you know God's greatest men are not attractive in the eyes of the world and not even attractive in the eyes of worldly believers you have to ste have spiritual eyes to see men whom God values and not just admire such man you can admire a godly man but you may never want to pay the price to be like that yourself every godly man and woman that's ever been on this earth right from the time of Enoch has paid a price for it and you can be like that too if you're willing to pay the price and it's worth it because in eternity when you look back you'll say Lord I'm so thankful that I counted everything else as rubbish just to know you make it the passion of your life to know you and if you want to know Jesus read the scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the beauty of Jesus the beauty in God's eyes and say Lord I want to be like that and you'll see the way of the Cross that is marked on Jesus face and life throughout his life he went went that way of the cross that's a message that's not proclaimed in most of Christianity I don't know whether you know that Jesus was sick I've been accused of preaching a lot of strange doctrines and this may be another one but it is in Scripture let me give you a little two-minute Bible study it says in verse 4 our griefs he bore and our sorrows he carried the word there if you look in your margin is sickness if you got a margin in your Bible it says our sickness he bore but the translators did not have the courage to write sickness they wrote griefs but the real meaning is our sicknesses he bore the Matthew chapter 8 and there it doesn't say griefs it's a sickness Matthew chapter 8 quoting Isaiah it says in Matthew chapter 8 verse 17 this was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet he took our infirmities and carried away our diseases now some people miss God Scripture and say that is what Jesus did on the cross that he took our sicknesses on the cross nowhere in the bible does it say that those are people who read the Bible carelessly this was fulfilled it says read read it carefully this was fulfilled here three years before he went to the cross when when he healed all those who were brought to him who were sick he healed all those who were sick verse 16 and as he healed all those who were sick the saying was fulfilled that he took away our sicknesses and our diseases it was fulfilled there not when he died on the cross when he died on the cross he died for our sins that we might die to sin and live unto righteousness and he didn't carry our diseases on the cross he won't find a verse in scripture that says that 1 Peter chapter 4 I'm sorry 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24 he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by His stripes we are healed healing from what to read the context healed from sin to live to righteousness that is spiritual health so we see that the word griefs in isaiah 53:4 he carried our sicknesses it is sickness okay the same word comes in Isaiah 53 verse 3 and let me read it to you as it isn't as it should be a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness this is not some strange teaching a lot of people think sickness is due to sin that's what job's friends thought if Jesus was not acquainted with sickness this one part of our experience on earth which he never had I will be able to say to him Lord you don't know what I'm going through a lot of people who don't believe he was tempted like us he was tempted like us but he never sinned I've been in times of sickness or I asked the Lord I said Lord did you go through this you see how difficult it is to overcome temptation when I was sick even I'll grab a headache I remember once when years ago and my children were small I had a very severe headache and I was lying in bed and I said Lord did you ever have a headache on earth do you know what it is like to have a headache and to try and fight against sin when you got a headache and the Lord spoke to me yes he had a headache also on earth but he never sinned and the Lord said to me I'm leading you to a higher level you have overcome getting irritated with your children you have overcome that without a headache now I'm taking out to a higher class well you'll have to overcome that irritation with a headache I said oh praise the Lord that means it's a it's an education for me under greater pressure to be an overcomer so Jesus faced temptation when he had a headache there was no synonym absolutely not you all know that death is worse than sickness and we see all sickness is the result of the curse how could Jesus have it do you know that perspiring is also result of the curse how many of you believe that Jesus when he was slogging away in a carpenter shop never perspired you believe that I believe he perspired just like you and me or death is a result of the curse do you believe Jesus died perspiration sickness death they're all the result of the curse Jesus became a curse for us that we might never have a curse ourselves but we do face perspiration we do face death so we face sickness - but in it we are overcomers and God uses it to make us more like him God used the sickness a thorn in the flesh to make Paul humble God used frequent ailments in Timothy's body to make him the most outstanding servant of God in Paul's time and I say Lord if that is the price I have to pay I'm ready for it it's rubbish it's a momentary affliction which produces in me a tremendous glory because my passion in life is not to be wealthy or healthy my passion in life is to know God better as my father and if and I don't have any fear you know Jesus nobody could ever kill Jesus before his time came people tried to once catch him and throw him over a cliff could not kill him why his hour had not come when soldiers were sent to capture him to kill him they could not catch him one reason his hour had not come always the reason is his hour had not come not that they were not strong enough or he quickly escaped or him no no no his hour had not come and remember this my brothers and sisters no sickness no attack of evil people or anything if you're living in God's will and your only passion in life is to know God better to have eternal life and to fulfill God's will on earth you cannot die till your hour comes I believe that for myself I'm immortal till my life's work is done if my only ambition in life is to do the will of God and to finish the work he gave me you were born on earth with a particular task to be fulfilled for God in Jesus Christ and if your aim on lot in life is say Lord that's the only thing I want to do on earth everything else is secondary I can give you this promise you are immortal till your life's work is done what more do you want you should be the happiest man on earth believe I am what a wonderful life that's why Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17 lay hold of eternal life lay hold of eternal life let's look at that verse enclosing 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17 1 Timothy in chapter 6 sorry verse 12 not 17 1 Timothy 6:12 fight the good fight and take hold of eternal life 1 Timothy 6:12 fight the good fight and take hold of eternal life what does that mean he wasn't telling him to accept Jesus Christ that's what some people say to accept Jesus Christ you get it on a lie he had accepted Christ years ago lay hold of this knowledge of God to know God is eternal life to which you were called and I would say that the same thing to you brothers and sisters lay hold of eternal life say Lord whatever the price whatever the cost I want to know you better I want to know what it is to be broken so that I can know you better job new god better he said I'm insignificant he says till now I only heard about you now I see you a broken man will always repent constantly may God help us let's bow in prayer our Heavenly Father as we bow before you it's a wonderful thing that you've given us the Holy Spirit to help us to know the things that have eternal value we live in a world where hardly anybody has that eternal sense of values even among so called believers it's possible that men sitting here don't have the eternal sense of values and it's so easy to be influenced by them we want to be different Lord we want to be like Jesus that our whole mindset is the mind of Jesus those things that are really valuable and help us to decrease that Christ my

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

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Length: 67min 37sec (4057 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 12 2014