Power through being broken by Zac Poonen

I want to turn to 1 Corinthians in chapter 1 if you have read Paul's letter to the Corinthians you would have seen that that was perhaps the most carnal worldly sinful immature Church at least in Paul's time by the time you come to the end of Revelation you may discover a few more likely the seer and Sardis that are worse but among the churches that Paul established here was a church that was very very carnal and if you read in Acts you read that the Apostle Paul spent one and a half years there most places the Apostle went well he never stayed more than a few weeks in Ephesus he stayed for three years and they also didn't really benefit from it because ultimately read in revelation to Ephesus also became a pretty backslidden church but the Corinth was the second as far as we know he spent one and a half years there and Paul was the type of person would preach every day - imagine if you lived in a church where you heard about 500 sermons from the Apostle Paul you think you've become really spiritual but they were not and it's amazing how Paul describes them he describes them in chapter 3 as men verse 1 men of flesh babies who can only drink milk imagine listening to the Apostle Paul for one another and still being only capable of bringing milk milk means the message of forgiveness of sins how to go to heaven to have your sins forgiven and people who live in an endless cycle of sinning having your sins forgiven sitting and having your sins forgiven sinning and having your sins forgiven our babies it's like babies are dirty the diapers and the diapers are changed as dirty the diapers and the diapers are changed and they're dirty the diapers and the diapers are changed and they'll never grow up there's two babies you know that if you are sinning and asking God to forgive you and sinning and asking God to forgive you and sinning and I wasn't God to forgive you you're really like a baby in diapers I mean the mother cleans up the baby but she also hopes the baby will grow up and so does God and babies can only drink milk it says you are fleshly chapter 3 verse 3 there's jealousy there's strife and many other things as we read that letter we find there was serious sin in their midst immorality and such immorality that even among the heathen wouldn't be found very often and the elders were such incapable people that they couldn't do anything about it or they didn't do anything about it maybe the guy who was living in sin was a rich man and people are usually a friend afraid to correct a rich man or influential person and we also read that they were taking one another to court but what I want you to notice is along with all this they had every single gift of the Holy Spirit they could speak in tongues they could prophesy they had healings in their midst they had miracles in their midst they had word of knowledge word of wisdom discerning of spirits casting out demons all of this going on at the same time they were fleshly jealous sinful carnal babies always there dimers now if that was possible in the first century it's possible today it's possible that some of the people who are healing the sick and doing miracles are people are dirty their diapers in private and have to be changed every day that means their babies that means they live insane now many Christians do not believe that is possible because they haven't read 1 Corinthians carefully that's why or they don't believe it do you believe that in the first century that people could do all these miracles and still not have over an overcoming life and become a spiritual and not only that they had a tremendous amount of Bible knowledge that's the other mistake a lot of people make that people who have tremendous about a Bible knowledge you can answer any question and who can speak powerfully they say they must be spiritual I'll show you where it says that turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and see the things that Paul says they had no remember Paul is inspired by the Holy Spirit he knew them he had been there with them one enough years and he knew their what all they had he says in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 5 in everything you were enriched in Christ in speech that means they had the ability to speak well now the number of Christians who can preach well is very very small but these Corinthians were like that there are some wonderful preachers in their midst and they had fantastic Bible knowledge the number of Christians who have good Bible knowledge is also very small but these Corinthian Christians had a lot of people with Bible knowledge and it says in verse 7 you're not lacking in any gift now I don't know of any church that I have met in my life about whom it can be said you have every single gift of the Holy Spirit we don't have it ourselves you have every single gift of the Holy Spirit boy if you went into such a church you'd think that is a really spiritual church and you'd be thoroughly wrong that's what I want to say you know if some of today's Christians walked into the church in Corinth they would join it they say this is where God is moving God wasn't moving there at all the devil was moving there they didn't know it even because most Christians would be so impressed by going to a church for me there were 2,000 people there healings and miracles and casting out demons and fellow speaking in tongues and somebody interpreting in its head boy this is wonderful this is a place we want to be and then you at the end of it all you have this more powerful message and Bible study and I said this is the place we want to be and what's the result these 2,000 people are carnal having to change their diapers every day dirty getting dirty every day no overcoming sin going to court against one another fighting jealousy strife all going on at the same time exactly like a lot of churches today and I'm sure that even in that day believers had as little discernment about these things as believers today I'm sure a lot of believers there thought they were all spiritual the Corinthians certainly thought that but there were a few men like Paul who could see through the whole thing he said I'm not fooled by all your preaching and all your did you'd say well Paul isn't that the manifestation of power no no it is see later on what he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 he says in verse 20 1 Corinthians 4 in verse 20 the kingdom of God does not consist in words when you can preach powerfully and you can preach in a very eloquent manner you're gonna have a lot of knowledge for the kingdom of God that is a picture of the true church see the Jesus said the kingdom of God would come in power on the day of Pentecost the kingdom of God he says does not consist in words it's not induction it's not in how well you can speak it's not in how much knowledge you have it is in power and when many people read that they say hey the Corinthians had power you know what all was going on there they were doing miracles they were healing the sick they had words of knowledge and words of wisdom and tongues and interpretation casting out demons isn't that power and Paul would have said no but 90% of Christians today would say yes that's why I say most of today's Christians are without discernment there without discernment because of one reason which I've kept on stressing for a long time they don't read the Bible carefully they don't read the Bible slowly carefully and meditate on it that's why they are without discernment and like I've often said if you don't read the Bible which you have with you you deserve to be deceived it's unfortunate but I think you deserve to be deceived thoroughly because if God said God says if I gave you my word and you neglected it and you spent your time reading the newspaper and other books and watching the internet and watching television then God says you deserve to be deceived you have the one book in your home that would have given you light about what is spirituality and what is not and you didn't carefully study it what to do so that's the situation that's why we really need to look at these passages description carefully to see what is the mark of real power I mean it healing and miracles and all the gifts which the Corinthians God was not power Paul says it isn't he said I don't see that power in your midst he says in verse 19 of 1 Corinthians 4 I will come to you soon and if the Lord wills and I shall find out not the words of those who are arrogant but that power and none of these things seem put in press for none of the gifts of the Holy Spirit would impress Paul and then he says this is so serious because you're my children what do you desire verse 21 shall I come to you with a rod or with a little love and a spirit of gentleness he corrects them pretty strongly I mean if you heard some preacher say to you today shall I come to you with a rod you think is on Christ life or not inspired by the Holy Spirit what do you think so if somebody came to you and said I mean someone who not some stranger but someone who same wise somebody you respected as an elder came to you and said shall I come to you with a rod brother what do you want he wanted me to come to you the rod this guy saw in Christ's life he's not inspired by the Holy Spirit you know what you're saying they're saying 1 Corinthians 4 verse 21 is not inspired by the Holy Spirit see that's another example of how little discernment we have as to what is Holy Spirit and what is human gentleness and I believe this is the reason for the shallowness of so much of Christianity today we are influenced by the teachings of psychology that tell us to be positive and gentle and never say anything negative do you know that if I removed everything negative from the Scriptures you probably have a Bible this thin Bible doesn't follow psychology if I don't teaches what is good for you it's like telling your doctor don't use a knife on anybody here in this hospital match in a hospital way they never use a knife on anyone hundreds will die in that hospital who could be saved by surgery and unfortunately we have a christened em today we're preachers are afraid to use the knife either because they want money or they don't want to offend anybody or they want to increase the size of their congregation or they want a reputation themselves Paul was free from all that he was concerned that God's people should be prepared to be the bride of Jesus Christ and he didn't care less what they thought about it he was a prophet he was not a manager or an emcee or someone who was just running a show there he was a prophet of God so when Paul tries to deal with the serious problem of these Corinthian Christians how does he deal with them I wanted to show you in 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 you see the second letter to the Corinthians was written by Paul some years perhaps after the first one maybe one or two years at least I think and they have got the first letter and a lot of them were very offended because you know you read 1 Corinthians you see that Paul writes pretty strongly they're like I just showed you and many of those Corinthian Christians were offended and you see they didn't even respect Paul after that and when you read 2nd Corinthians maybe I should show you some of the one of those couple of those passages before we come to chapter 13 then you'll understand chapter 6 you know this is you've got to see this as the result of the strong rebuke that Paul gave in the first letter he says here in verse 2nd Corinthians 6 in verse 11 he says o Corinthians my mouth has spoken freely to you that is pretty clear in that first letter but that's because my heart is open wide to you fellows I love you folks but you are restrained now he says I speak to you as two children verse 13 open your heart wide to me as well guys that become so narrow just because you've got some strong correction in the verse letter and then if you see in chapter 10 you see what the reaction of the Corinthians to that first letter of all he says here in 1 Corinthians in chapter 10 he speaks about these Corinthians who look at things outwardly verse 9 I don't wish to seem as I would terrify you by my letters see they God who's Paul does he think he can terrify me by his letters he heard that that these guys say Paul can't terrify us by his letters I don't want to do that for they say his letters are weighty and strong but his personal presence is unimpressive to speech contemptible he said this guy writes such strong letters but look at him he's so ugly to look at you know Paul wasn't a very handsome person to look at he was pretty short he was bald he had a hooked nose and tradition says he was only four feet 11 inches high is shorter than any grown man here this is the man whom God used it's a greatest apostle of his time to show the world that it is not a question of good looks or its height or personality or and not only that his speech there was something this speech was not all that impressive but even the possible he's that they say his letters are so strong his words are so strong but he's not impressive so this was how they looked at Paul and in fact Paul had to say a number of things to prove that he was an apostle because they wouldn't even consider him that even though planted that church and to these people he says in chapter 13 he said I'm gonna come a third time to you and by the way that's the reason why he never took any money from the Corinthian church Paul did receive gifts from the church in Philippi but from Corinth he would not receive a cent Paul was wild he says people don't appreciate me I don't want their money it's a great privilege and honor to support a servant of God but I will not give them that privilege and honor because they are so carnal and he says I'm sorry Corinthians you will not have the privilege of supporting me I refuse it I will not take one cent from you see his attitude was so different from the attitude of many preachers today and he says I'm gonna come a third time to you first of all in chapter 12 verse 14 I'm coming at third time chapter 12 verse 14 and I will not be a burden to you you can be pretty sure of that because I'm not seeking anything that is yours I'm not seeking any gifts from you dear brothers and sisters in Corinth I'm seeking you I want fellowship with you I want you fellas to grow spiritually I don't want your money I don't want your gifts I don't want you to invite me to your homes and give me grand meals I want you I want you to grow spiritually because I'm your parent you're a child and listen to this shin burner don't have to save up for their parents can we have a herd of children saving money for their parents no parents save money for their children that's the right way and so he says I'm your parent so I'm gonna serve you and he goes on to explain now I'm coming to the main point what is the mark of spiritual power that he had to explain to these Corinthians who had all the knowledge and all the gifts and everything else chapter 13 verse three now this is the most important passage here verse three important since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks and me you are seeking for truth that Christ is speaking in me and this Christ is not weak toward you but mighty in you I mean you fellows have got some of those gifts of the Holy Spirit and you wonder whether Christ is speaking in me okay I'll explain to you verse four I believe this is a great secret in verse 4 which again the vast majority of Christians haven't understood Jesus Christ was crucified because of weakness yet he lives by the power of God are you got to read that slowly he was crucified because of weakness not because he was weak but because he chose to be weak you know when people taunted him on the cross saying come down do you think it is more difficult I mean you ask yourself is it more difficult to come down from a cross when you're alive or more difficult to come up from the grave after you're dead which is more difficult I mean I've heard of some of these magicians like Houdini and all who would get tied up and lowered into some water in a box and they would escape from that he can't escape from the hell if you're dead Jesus who could come out from death he was difficult him to come down from the cross why didn't he come down from the cross he chose to be weak do you know that Jesus never raised himself from the dead it's not a single verse in the Bible that says Jesus raised himself from the dead she has in John chapter 10 he had the ability to do it yeah he says I have the ability to raise myself from the dead but he didn't do it everywhere in Scripture notice this whenever you read it God raised up Jesus from the dead never do you read that Jesus raised himself jesus said in John 10 I have power to be crucified and I have power to raise myself up but he did only the first he gave himself to death but he wouldn't raise himself up God raised him from the dead it's very important to understand that that's what you see here he was crucified because a weakness means he refused to use the power to call 72,000 angels to fight for him he had the power you and I may not have the power to call send in two thousand angels but he had it he chose to be weak he chose not to curse people he chose not to threaten people it says when he suffered he did not threaten when people called him bills a book he could have turned around said wait one day fellows till I come back and I'll teach you all a lesson I mean you and I may be tempted to say that but Jesus was tempted like us but he never yielded to that temptation he said no I'm gonna say he said have you spoken a word against an ordinary man like me you're forgiven he chose to be weak he was crucified because of weakness because he refused to call the 72,000 angels he refused to use his supernatural power to come down from the cross he chose to die and because of that he lives by the power of God he says that is the way to experience the power of God if you really want it you gotta choose to be weak you gotta choose to die to yourself to your reputation to their getting hurt to all types of things it says here and we what about us also as far as I'm concerned I've just chosen to be weakened in myself because I know this is the secret of power it's not a question of casting out demons and healing the sick and doing miracles no does it say here that Jesus manifested the power of God when he cast out demons and heal the sick now it says through weakness he manifested God's power and he says we have decided to be weak in him and because of that we also will live by the power of God directed towards you and he could go on to say it's because of that power that I don't live carnal lives like you that's why I don't lose my temper like you do you know that it's not it's because if people are not willing to be weak that they don't have power to overcome their anger many people say oh man I'm so weak I can't overcome my anger no sir you're too strong that's why you can't overcome your anger you need to become weak I mean you've heard the illustration I've used a patient who's sick in hospital and he's yelling at the nurses and cursing them and gangrene with everybody and angry with his wife angry with everyone the next day he's a little more sick and the volume of his sound comes a little lower the next day is more sick and after a few days with the tubes in his nose and everything he's silent when was he angry tell me when he was strong or when he was weak but he was strong the moment he became weak all his anger disappeared and your anger will disappear when you become weak also the trouble is you're too strong don't ever say again what you do I'm so weak I can't overcome my anger say it differently from today on his Lawrence Lord I'm so strong and so I am angry please help me to overcome it we are we in him therefore we live by the power of God the power of God is there any sin that the power of God cannot overcome you think there's some sin in you which you done for 50 years which the power of God cannot overcome that's what the Israelites said when they came to Canaan all these giants have ruled here for so long they can't overcome them and he'll if said week on but God can and he'll do it and they proved it by their life at the age of 85 he'll it goes and conquers those giants he was much weaker humanly speaking but the power of God was the same I want to say to you this is what Paul was trying to tell these foreign teams this is all these manifestations don't be fooled by all that why is it you're still fleshly why is it you're still jealous why do you still lose your temper why is it you're still lusting after women what type of manifestation of power is a even the devil can do miracles and magic go to all these non-christian witches and wizards and Satan worshippers they they do a lot of black magic I tell you this tremendous power they kill lives they can do amazing things yeah but that that's not the power of God there are many things that can be duplicated by the devil but not this type of power of God every miracle almost the devil can duplicate but not the power that helps you to overcome sin the devil can never give you power to overcome sin he can even enable you to speak in tongues in other tongues but he can't give you the power to speak control your mother tongue that's the difference so if you can speak in other tongues but you can't control your mother tongue something's wrong the power of the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to speak in other terms and also to control our mothers very important to understand and that's what the Corinthians couldn't understand it's weakness so when we speak about being broken this is brokenness to be crucified that is the ultimate end of being broken that's why when Jesus broke the bread he was referring to a cross that was true in his life all true and there is finally going to be manifested outwardly a few hours later on Calvary brokenness I've often thought of that you know when you take the bread and break it you know when you do it yourself and you you break it isn't it good that that bread bread is not hard like rock many times I've thought of that Lord it's so easy so easy doesn't even take a second to break a little piece from that and eat him and many a time and I broken bread I've said Lord I want to be like that I want you to make me like that that when you touch me I yield from mediately that is the secret of spiritual power he died within we shall live it and it is because the Christian world is not understood this thing the word of the Cross that's why the Christian world is so shallow that's why the Christian world runs after money and that's why there's so much worldliness and so much jealousy and so much strife in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 it says here let the word of the Cross is foolishness and a stumbling block 1 Corinthians 1:23 [Music] 1 Corinthians 1:23 we preach the cross Christ crucified we crucified with him to the Jews a stumbling-block to the Gentiles foolishness to some people a stumbling block across you mean God Almighty hanging on a cross huh that can't be God to some people it's foolishness what a stupid type of way God thought out to save humanity foolishness but to us who are called it is the power of God Christ crucified the power of God and it says here the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men I don't know how many of you brothers and sisters our seeking for the supernatural power to heal the sick and do miracles or experience them in your life and how many of you are seeking for this real power I want to tell you you can seek those other gifts of the Holy Spirit and be as carnal as the Corinthians and be so carnal that the Lord may have to say like Paul told the Corinthians don't you know 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9 that such people will not inherit the kingdom of God 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9 the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God those who are fornicators idolaters adulterers effeminate homosexuals do you hear that it's the Bible thieves covetous drunkards revilers swindlers they will not inherit the kingdom of God now people in the world don't believe that there are there are moves in Christendom to make sure that all these people can become members of a church and be elders in a church whether you're fornicators or idolaters or adulterers or effeminate or homosexuals or thieves or covetous nor drunkards or swindlers you've cheated people doesn't matter of course you can be in the church well I just want to say that's not the Church of Jesus Christ no it isn't either that or this Bible is not God's Word I prefer to say the Bible is gone is God's Word so we're living in a time of tremendous compromise where the world is coming right into the church and there all these manifestations of healing and miracles and all didn't solve the problem because the people who do these things allow such people to sit in the church but it is when we have this when we are willing to die with Jesus so the power of God is manifested in the church and we will see the real manifestation of power which overcome sin but Jesus came into the world to save his people from their sins [Music] so let's look a little more this matter what being broken means I want you to turn first of all to the first sin outside the Garden of Eden that is after man was thrown out in Genesis 4 we can learn something from Cain because Cain was like these Corinthians Paul told the Corinthians you're jealous and the first person mentioned in the Bible who was jealous was King dear brothers sister if you're jealous of somebody that's one of the clearest proves you're not a broken person I mean tell you in Jesus name a broken person is not jealous of anybody in the world but as somebody has more than him it's better than him has more gifts than him has got a better job than him or a better car than him or a better house than a more a better children than Denmark I bet it churched any more anything jealousy is zero in a broken man you've got to be careful of jealousy in your heart and sometimes you may think it is not there and it is there and then some situation comes up in your contact with somebody else it immediately you find if you're honest jealousy and that's the sin of Cain that's the sin that sent came to hell it'll send you to hell be careful learn to rejoice when it goes well with someone learn to rejoice when somebody has somebody is better than you and has more than you spiritually or materially or anyways take the low position say Lord displeased you to give me this please you to give them particularly this can be in you know family also you know where one brother does better than the other there can be jealousy or one sisters better than the other in some way there's jealousy its whereas a broken person there's no problem and God can take you through circumstances to break you in one way he does is by letting other people be better than maybe your own physical brothers and sisters yeah I'm I know thought took me that way I only one brother and sister they were way better than me in terms of the world in terms of money and job and everything but I can say in Jesus name I never wanted to be like them there are lots of Christians or bigger churches more types of things I can say in Jesus name I never being jealous of any single one of them for a single moment I say that before God he's my witness because these things don't mean anything to me if somebody can has a gift better than me or can preach better than me I can do something better than me if you're broken it won't touch you now you may not understand that because you're not broken you see how can that be brother when you're broken some miracles take place in your life when you become weak the power of God becomes manifest in your life and the power of God can overcome all these things otherwise you can throw I didn't pass so that's the first thing we see about Cain that when he saw the fire of God fall upon the table of sacrifice he couldn't bear it do you ever wish that the fire would decrease in somebody so that you could feel a little more comfortable you're an evil person imagine wanting the fire of God to become less in somebody just to satisfy your ego because you can't bear it because you don't have that fire you're an evil person no matter what that a Christian you call yourself they're like a who couldn't bear to see the fire of God fall upon his younger brother I'll tell you there are older people like that who when they see a younger person on fire for God who is Ellis devoted it disturbs them I mean that person's older than them okay but when he's younger than they can't bear it that's sad but it's never true broken person a broken person fits the board I'm so delighted what I can do this guy can do it he's only half my age that's wonderful what I couldn't accomplish in my life and so many years this guy's accomplished in a few years because he's broke and he was surrendered his yielded praise the Lord so whenever you see such things in your life brothers sister take them as indications of a lack of brokenness in your life and say Lord I know what's lacking I'm not walking the way of a crucified Jesus self is trying to rise up you know in baptism baptism is a picture of death and burial and I remember when I was seeking for the baptism the Holy Spirit I've said this often way back in 1963 that's thirty-six years at all I was seeking daughter asleep with her baptism the Holy Spirit I was born again baptized and then their power in my life that's the time the Lord revealed to me the way of the Cross the way of brokenness which I it's never left me since I understood it then and thing is I was not seeking for that I was seeking for baptized with the Holy Spirit and the Lord showed me how Jesus received the anointing of the Holy Spirit when he went into the waters of baptism and what did that mean Jesus was submitting to death and burial when John the Baptist put him into the water and what the Lord said to me and then as he came up their spirit came upon him and what the Lord said to me there was if you choose that wave of death and burial to yourself let other people crucify you and go down be willing to go down all the time my power will rest upon you till the 10th of your life but if a day comes in your life when you don't want to go that way anymore my power will depart from I have shared that testimony many many many places many times but I don't know how many people have understood it themselves for me it came by revelation I didn't read that in any book or hear that in any message I was seeking for the power of God in the Lord the father showed me how Jesus received oh I wish all of you would see this what does it mean for Jesus to go under the water what think of the time when you were baptized when you went under the water for a moment nobody saw you you had disappeared are you willing to disappear and somebody else came up out of the water it is no longer i but Christ I hope so that was your testimony whether you knew it or not I go into the water Christ comes out this is Baptist I go into the water Christ comes out I don't come out if I come out brother you need to be baptized again then you didn't really die I mean when you put a man into the grave and the guy comes out of it then he probably wasn't really dead I mean if he was really dead he wouldn't come out of their grave and if you really died with Christ and you meant what you said in baptism you say Lord I want to disappear that's why I believe this sprinkling pouring water on her people said is a deception that's not baptism the baby doesn't disappear this does it when somebody's bringing water on his head now in baptism you're supposed to disappear completely like a man who is buried see how the devil is counterfeited this this tremendous testimony Jesus established it's a very simple thing she bought her baptism what does it matter whether you do it like this or do it like this I tell you it matters the world which way you do it because in one the person doesn't disappear the other the person disappears completely that's why it's an important testimony Jesus was buried and I was buried with him and Jesus wasn't buried with some sand thrown on his head when he was alive no it's completely hidden he disappeared Liz hidden do you want to be like that do you want to say put your name there Lord I want to disappear I don't want people to speak highly of Zack Coonan or know me or anything I want disappear and put your name there I want to disappear I don't want I don't want to sit back and meditate on the wonderful things people are thinking about me or saying about me if you are like that you'll be tempted all of you will be tempted all of you will be tempted you don't have to be as well-known as me to be to think like that you can think like that too sure but the moment you begin to think like that you know for yourself anyway that you haven't died you don't want to disappear you want to be you want to be up there to be seen to be known to be heard that's the reason why the mighty power of God doesn't manifest itself in your life to deliver you from sin Cain wanted to be prominent that's why and particularly if other people were watching I want to be prominent the great secret of John the Baptist life was he said he must increase and I must decrease I mean long before the truth of crucifixion by with Christ was revealed John the Baptist understood the principle if I have to exalt Christ I have to disappear I mean I can't exalt Christ and me get exalted at the same time not you know we sing he is exalted he's exalted what a lot of people who sing that they want to be exalted themselves you ask yourself brother sister the Corinthians wanted to be exalted that's why they didn't have power let me show you this verse in 1 Corinthians 4 where Paul writes to the Corinthians and you see the contrast between the unbroken Corinthians and the broken Apostle Paul [Music] many of us would like to be a bustles isn't it wonderful to be known as an apostle of Christ go around planning churches anointed by this spirit but listen to this here's what an apostle is in God's eyes and in man's eyes 1 Corinthians 4 in verse 9 for I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all in the eyes of the world we had right at the bottom of the list we had become a as men condemned to death that means these criminals were on their way to be hanged you see those days you see these fellows carrying the cross and you know that guys a criminal is going to be crucified we have become a spectacle a laughingstock that's the right word we become a laughingstock to the world to angels and to men angels means the evil spirits laugh at us when they see us humiliated when they see us you know going down in some way love we are fools in the eyes of the world but it's for Christ's sake but what about you Corinthians oh you are so wise we are weak but you are strong you are distinguished but we don't have any honor we are hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed that means he didn't take advantage of others he said we are roughly treated and we are homeless we toil working with our own hands and preaching the gospel when people revile us speak evil of us we bless them do you know that a broken man can always bless somebody who curses him an unbroken man at the most he may keep quiet he may keep quiet because he's unbroken and he's broken even bless do you know the difference with him keeping quiet when somebody revives you and blessing somebody who revives you as a difference between heaven and earth to revise somebody who reveals you is hell to keep quiet when somebody provides you is earth to bless somebody who reminds you as heaven it's a question of where you want to live when people revile us we bless when people persecutors we endure when we are slandered we try to conciliate we have become as the scum of the world the dregs of all things until now let me read that you in the message Bible people stand around and stare at us like they stare at an accident on the street and we are misfits in the eyes of the world you fellows using me pretty sure of yourselves but we live in the midst of frailty uncertainty you fellas are well thought of by others but we are mostly kicked around and much of the time we don't even have enough to eat and in those days that was true the Apostle Paul because he was travelling to places where the gospel was not preached very often he had to struggle to earn a living we wear patched clothes we get doors slammed in our faces when we try to preach the gospel we pick up odd jobs wherever we can so that we can earn our living in order to preach the gospel and when they call us names we say God bless you when they spread rumors about us tell false stories about us we put in a good word about them can you do that we are treated like garbage like the potato peelings from a kitchen and it's not getting any better this is an apostle in those days not like these guys who call him to the parcel these days and stand on the platforms and pass the bag around to collect money for themselves so my point is this God used all these methods because he had a mighty ministry for fall it wasn't just that Paul could do miracles that Magda's he had to go through all this to be broken to manifest the real power of God Paul was willing to disappear from the eyes of men so the Christ would be seen Cain was not willing for that and the interesting thing you see there is that when God corrects king he gets offended just like the Corinthians and Paul corrected them for their own good they got offended and that's another mark of an unbroken person when Jesus corrected judas iscariot saying why do you trouble this woman I mean she's done a good deed why do you want to criticize her saying you shouldn't have wasted his money on a perfume you should have given it to the poor you know what it says in the very next verse very next verse in Matthew read in Matthew 26 Jesus I mean Judas went to the chief priests next verse and said tell me how much will you give me to betray him he got offended with a small correction like why do you trouble this woman she's done a good deed pouring out the perfume he doesn't have to give the money to the poor the poor you always out with you but I'm not here around always that was too much of a human for Judas but he talks so much about himself he was not one of those who disappeared but think of the rebuke that Jesus gave to Peter on the other hand when Peter said some simple thing like Lord you're not going to go to the cross I won't let you go to the cross get behind me Satan you know what Peter said later on the Lord system do you want to go Lord to whom shall we go these are the words of eternal life which words get behind me Satan you're interested in things concerning yourself I really say Lord it's so wonderful you were willing to lose your greatest closest co-worker but you would not let him see his own you're willing to rebuke anybody lose anybody because you cared only for the glory of God yeah it's something to call I don't know how many Christian workers would turn around to their closest co-worker and say get away you are seeking your own and risk losing him I don't know that I've met people like that but Peter didn't get offended he didn't get off lending that's what made him the leading apostle on the day of Pentecost and not Judas Judas and Peter had equal chance to be the great apostle opening the door on the day of Pentecost why do you think Judas listed Peter got it Peter was willing to be broken Peter wasn't perfect he said wrong things we know that three times he denied Jesus but when he realized he was so broken he went out and wept bitterly I want to ask you brothers and sisters you can say that Peters sin was great but I want to ask you when was the last time you wept bitterly for some sin has there ever been a 10 I don't mean a 1 or 2 tears when was the time you went and wept bitterly before god oh god I let you down so badly when you lusted after a woman or you lost your temper or you did something unrighteous or you hurt somebody in some way have you ever gone before God and wept bitterly that's a broken man unbroken people don't do that unbroken people say yeah Lord sorry slipped up okay we're back intelligent right maybe you are I hope you are I don't know he'll never be like Peter not in a hundred years we gotta learn to weep bitterly for our see he was a broken man and there are many examples like that in Scripture people who were broken and David fell into sin he was under the Old Covenant he got so broken that he said Lord it's only me I'm the only one guilty in this you can do what you like with me Lord just don't let your Holy Spirit from me but I deserve whatever punishment you did you give me see a broken person God doesn't use people who have never failed no I mean David and Peter and Paul are examples God doesn't use people who've never failed he uses people who have failed but who are broken by their failure so broken and humbled that they're not so quick to reappear above the waters after their baptism say let God raise me up I've seen people for example who messed up their life and they don't let God raise them up they come up y'all I mess it up little while ago but I'm okay now and I've seen what happens to such people it never goes well with them because and they're very hard on others I'm surprised sometimes how people have messed up their own life can ever be hard on any other human being for the rest of their lives I've seen them critical of this critical of that critical of something in the church critical of this brother critical of the elders and who are these people who are critical people absolutely messed up their life God tried to break them by sin and he still didn't succeed now I'll tell you something he tries to break us in many ways the last step is he tries to break us by allowing us to mess up our life and if even that doesn't break you I want to say you'll probably be a legalist for the rest of your life some legalists that i know where people have messed up their life terribly in their olden days but God's forgiven then and they have conveniently forgotten all that happened in the past and they are some of the biggest illegal is in the world today Christian's brokenness is a wonderful thing and all the methods God uses to break you my brother's sister take it and whenever you see some situation where you find you're jealous you can't accept correction or you want to appear before others instead of disappear you're not satisfied that Christ we see you must be seen you don't see yourself in those situations there you know the reason why you're still defeated by sin even though you're sat in a church but you heard about victory over sin but 25 years now you know the reason I hope it won't continue like that I hope you will choose the way of brokenness there are others who came along after you were not in diapers anymore there are others who came long after you were not in diapers they've learned to keep themselves clean my god help us that's power before Lord dear brothers and sisters please take seriously the word of the Lord he seeks to break us because he wants to give us his power no other reason he cannot give his power to an unbroken man Heavenly Father help us to learn that which you have tried for so many years to teach us that Jesus himself was crucified in weakness lives by the power of God I want to walk that way pray in Jesus

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 28,644

Rating: 4.833828 out of 5

Keywords: Zac, Poonen, Revival, Repent, God, Sermons, Jesus, SermonIndex

Id: 43vK8yfWUHo

Length: 58min 3sec (3483 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 13 2011