Allow God to Break You — Zac Poonen

Continuous Spiritual Growth

We looked at this verse before 2nd Corinthians 4 we have seen it before verse 16. Therefore we do not lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying yet. Our inner man is being renewed day by day. Now that verse teaches us.

You see by the way this chapter goes back to the beginning of creation in Chapter 4 verse 6. It says in the beginning God said let there be light and there was light and he compares that to our being born again.

When light is comes into our heart and in verse 16, he's talking again about in the initial creation where Every day something happened first day second day third day fourth day fifth day sixth day till it was perfect.

So he's in the same way in our life our inner man. Just like in Genesis 1 must Progress more and more and more and more every day. It means our growth Must be continuous. There must never be any backsliding in our life.

That's God's perfect will for us so as I have observed a lot of Christians even in CFC through the years in many many churches that I've had the opportunity now to Observe hundreds and hundreds of believers in our own churches fairly closely over a period of 40 years.

I Have been greatly saddened and grieved To see this lack of growth. There are good brothers, but they remain good brothers without any spiritual progress and discernment and without greater godliness, it's like a Kid who's getting a hundred percent every year.

But he's in the first standard every year. What's he was getting a hundred percent every year if you remain in the first standard or first grade? So there must be progress and we must not be satisfied in our life.

If that is not happening. Think of God as a father. How would you feel as a father if your child is not growing? Taller. When it's one year two years the same size. Or when it's three four years old and it can't even speak can't even say a few words and it grows up grows up and When it's ten years old it can't add two plus two you'd really be grieved.

And I really believe God is grieved when he does not see his children progressing. Every parent would be grieved if their child fails in one class. And loses one year in school. Not two years one year.

You're grieved. You expect your child To go to the next class in one year. And I want to say to you in Jesus name Everyone sitting here now if you're not born again That means you have not surrendered to Christ.

Christ has not become Lord of your life. Then you are not even in school. Then you're like these Children of laborers and all who play in the mud and the sand the whole day. They're 20 years old. They learn nothing.

You're like that but if you're born again, you really surrendered your life to Christ you have entered school and Then there should be a progress in your life. Every single year if not every single day, which is a very high standard.

Paul writes this testimony. He had come to such a level where there was progress in his life every day. We can't get there if we are wholehearted maybe after 40 -50 years, but At least in the beginning there should be progress every year.

So it's good for us to examine ourselves at least once a year. You know God has made the earth To go around the Sun in 365 and a quarter days. So by the time it comes back to the same place. It's good to check up if we made some progress in that one period.

That's one cycle. And as I've tried to Understand what the reason for this is one is. Like I've often said There is a lack of assurance In the hearts of many many of God's people That God has really accepted them.

They're always struggling to be accepted, you know, even children Want to be accepted. Children feel very Inferior if the others in school don't accept them and I believe our security must come in knowing that God has accepted us.

Assurance of Adoption and Salvation

That's the first step. You must be absolutely sure That God has accepted you if you're not sure of that. Don't wait for somebody in CFC to tell you that you know, I never tell people You're a child of God.

God has accepted you. I mean, I'm gonna say it from the pulpit, but I don't go to an individual and say that because I don't know. It's hard. The Bible says in Romans 8 and verse. If you don't know this verse, please see it.

Romans 8 and verse 16 the Holy Spirit bears witness With our spirit that we are children of God. I want to say to all of you. I plead with you my beloved brothers and sisters Don't rest until the Holy Spirit Has given you a witness in your spirit that you are a child of God.

Every elder in CFC Putting you on the CFC commitment list and calling you a child of God Will not save you you can still go to hell. I Believe there are many people who sit in Commitment lists of CFC who are not going to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Because they are satisfied with man's acceptance don't ever be satisfied with that. That is only for earthly purposes. You must be absolutely sure yourself That the Holy Spirit has borne witness in your spirit That you're a child of God in the Old Testament.

It was not like this. If you were born into the family of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and you were circumcised on the eighth day. You're an Israelite it was an external thing you didn't have to worry about anything.

But in the New Covenant, it is an inner birth. Which I don't know whether it's taken place over a period of years. I may be able to see it. But in the beginning, I don't know. That's why we we wait some time even to baptize people and even baptism.

We may baptize the wrong people. I'm sure I've baptized some people. Sincerely. But who are going to hell, yeah, I know it because they backslid after they were born again, or They were never never really saved.

They fooled me. Do you know in Acts chapter 8 there was a magician who fooled even Philip? The anointed deacon Philip was fooled and he baptized a person and then Peter and John came and said hey. You're not even you're not even converted.

So mistaken baptisms have taken even taken place even in the Acts of the Apostles. We can't guarantee that everyone who's baptized is a child of God. That's why I say to you parents. Don't be satisfied that your child is baptized now heaven is guaranteed not necessarily I Hope they're following the Lord.

Hebrews 3 and verse 14 says if he hold fast to the beginning of our confidence from Until the end then we are made partakers of Christ, but the Holy Spirit will bear witness to you. So seek for the That witness of the Holy Spirit in your spirit to the Spirit of God says you're a child of God.

God is your father and It's the Holy Spirit in verse 15 when it comes in Cries out about father. There's a sense that the whole you feel the Holy Spirit says God in heaven is my own dad. Do you have that assurance.

If there's anybody sitting here without that assurance, I Want to. I want you to seek God earnestly from today. Seek him earnestly. Because we don't want you to be lost. We want you to be absolutely sure Every single one of you That the Spirit of God Gives you a witness.

You're a child of God and cries out dad. That is the number one step and to always be there to always remember that your Father in heaven cares for you cares for the hair on your head. He cares for you more than the sparrows in the world and He calls you the apple of his eye to find that security that he rejoices over you.

This is very very very important. And this is one of the main reasons many people do not grow. They lose that assurance so they give it up. They don't live every day in that assurance every day. You must wake up with that assurance.

God in heaven is my father and He's planned my day today. I don't know what's gonna happen, but he's my dad and he's undertaken for everything. I go go forth today with the assurance that my heavenly father has already Provided for everything needed for me in my life.

So that's a wonderful way to begin and to live our life and to find our security there and I believe that if I find my security in that you'll find that you're. Also, you don't end up in competition and with other believers and you don't find yourself Jealous that somebody has more than you if your heavenly father has decided to give more to somebody you say well praise the Lord.

It's my dad in heaven who decided he must have more than me or that. He should be better-looking than me or That she should be more intelligent than me. That's my heavenly father. Well, praise God if my dad in heaven decided that I'm happy.

You'll never never never I'll tell you honestly from my experience. You'll never be jealous of anybody. You'll never be in competition with anybody. You will never even compare yourself with anybody on the face of the earth.

Once you know God is your heavenly dad. It is the secret of constant spiritual development. But that assurance of acceptance alone is not enough. From there, which we must always have till the end of our life.

Seeing Jesus Through Brokenness

There's another very important truth. That the Bible says, you know, we we're told that it's only as we see Jesus more clearly that we can be like him. 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 18 says the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus in his word.

The mirror is the word then me he changes us into that likeness. I cannot be like him. Unless I see him clearly and even though The story of Jesus is in the four Gospels. So many Christians have read the four Gospels, even if they haven't read the rest of the New Testament.

I think most believers have read the four Gospels. But you can read the four Gospels and not see Jesus. You can see the historical Jesus, which the world also knows about there was a man called Jesus who?

Did miracles was crucified rose again? Okay, that's just story. But to see Jesus spiritually. That's very very important. That's what will Challenge us to be like him. So how can that take place? So I want to show you a passage in John chapter 12.

In John chapter 12, this is the answer that Jesus himself gave. How people can see him see John 12 and verse 20. You know the Jews had virtually rejected Jesus they hated him the Pharisees they wanted to kill him.

But there were people from another country Greece. We read in verse 20. There were certain Greeks Who were probably proselyte Jews? Who came up to worship at the feast? They were converted in Greece and became Jews and They came to Philip Verse 21 and said we want to see Jesus.

Isn't that your desire? We want to see Jesus. So Philip came and along with Andrew and told Jesus. There are some people from Greece Who want to see you? Now most preachers would be very excited if some foreigner wants to see them not Jesus.

He was not bothered by that. You can come from any part of the world and He told them How they could see him and that's what we need to learn. He says unless verse 24 a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies.

It remains by itself alone. Now this is the answer to we want to see Jesus, but if it dies it'll bear much fruit. He who loves his life in this earth will lose it. But you hates his life in this earth Will keep it to life eternal.

So if anyone serves me let him follow me and where I am There will my servant also be. If any man serves me the father will honor him. So this is the way to see Jesus. Jesus had a way of giving abstract answers To a very straightforward question.

What he was saying is the important thing is not to see my physical face. To see my physical face everybody sees it even the Pharisees see it and so many people see it. But to really see me You must be willing to fall into the ground and die like a grain of wheat.

That means you must be willing to lose that earthly Attractiveness that you have and this life that you have in this earth. Like that, you know a grain of wheat has got an outer shell and when it goes into the ground it cracks open and when it cracks open the life inside that grain comes up through the earth and Produces a hundred grains of wheat that is the principle of all farming.

One grain of wheat falls into the ground and it cracks open and the life inside comes out. Now if you don't let it go into the ground and fall into the ground and die. You take that grain of wheat and it's a beautiful grain of wheat and put it in a glass case in a cupboard.

It'll be a grain of wheat even after a hundred years. But if you allow it to fall into the ground and die. In a hundred years, it'll be a million grains of wheat. This is the secret of fruitfulness. This is the secret of seeing Jesus.

In other words, there must be a brokenness. That a brokenness, you know a grain of wheat which wants to appear beautiful before others. It'll never be willing to be broken or to die because it's concerned about its testimony.

Many Christians are more concerned about their testimony before others. Everybody must think I'm a spiritual man more than their desire to see Jesus. I want to ask you honestly. What is your greatest desire?

Is it that everybody in the church would think you're a very spiritual person or is it your passion to see Jesus? I couldn't care less whether people think I'm spiritual or not. It doesn't bother. I'm not interested in getting a reputation in the church.

I want to see Jesus. There are very few people like that I tell you. In all our CFC churches, even in people have been in the CFC churches for many years. They have a desire to have a good testimony. They are disturbed.

When they feel something has happened, which will spoil my testimony, uh-huh. That's what you're concerned about the Lord sees that. This is that's what you're concerned. Okay pursue that but there are others who say Lord what people think about me is not important.

Because what's you think about me? That's the only thing that's important. I want to see you more clearly because that's the only way I'll become like you and if the only way to see you is for me to lose my outward attractiveness and to be broken and misunderstood and And reproached and I rejoice in it Jesus said when you're reproached and misunderstood rejoice I Tell you in my entire life.

I may have seen two or three Christians like that. Most of them are so offended when people misunderstood me. Oh, they misunderstood me. I must do everything to justify myself. When will they ever won't be broken to see Jesus brokenness is a wonderful thing.

Brokenness in Worship and Service

Throughout scripture you find that you remember in the previous Chapter, I'm sorry, not three just same chapter before he speaks about the grain of wheat falling into ground and dying you see a picture of that in earlier on in it says in the house of Bethany chapter 12 verse 3 Mary Was so grateful that her brother Lazarus had been raised from the dead that she took a pound of very costly perfume and That was in some type of bottle or jar whatever they had those days and She had to break it in order to let that fragrance of the ointment.

Come forth otherwise It won't come forth. There's always brokenness before and then it says when she did it verse 3 the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. You see another example of that earlier on in John chapter 6.

In John chapter 6. Now that's not very clearly written here. Maybe we should see the other store same story of the feeding of the 5 ,000 in Matthew 14. In Matthew 14 we read here. The feeding of the 5 ,000 which we see in John 6 is written in more detail in Matthew 14.

Remember all the miracles that Jesus did he was teaching his disciples something. First of all, he was teaching that there's no problem that God cannot solve. That is the fundamental message in all the miracles.

Every miracle there was one message. No problem that God cannot solve. He taught his disciples that for three and a half years and if we have learned that that Solves a big problem in our life that there's no problem.

God cannot solve. So here was a problem with 5 ,000 people. There's not enough food. One boy had five loaves and two fish and Jesus said in verse 18 Matthew 14 18 Bring them here to me and he ordered the multitudes to recline on the grass and now see what he did.

He took the five loaves and two fish and there were two things that he did. He blessed it. We're saying 19 and then he broke it and Then fed the multitude. Now what I want you to see is When he blessed the five loaves, it was still five loaves.

But when he broke it it became 50 ,000 loaves. To feed all those 10 ,000 people 5 ,000 men plus a lot of women and children. So how do the five loaves become 50 ,000? Not just by being blessed. But by being broken there's a message there which The disciples probably didn't understand then but they understood later.

Very often we are so eager to pray Lord. Bless me. Bless me. It's one of the most common prayers That all believers pray. You're blessed and you remain the same. We also need to pray Lord know that you're blessed me break me.

Then five Will become 50 ,000. This is the secret whether you see it in the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying and Coming forward so that we can see Jesus more clearly or whether it's the Alabaster vial of Perfume that's broken so that the odor fills the whole house or in the feeding of a multitude.

It's always brokenness brokenness brokenness. We read in the Old Testament of examples like this, you know the great man Moses. He was mighty in word and deed we read at the age of 40, but he was not fit to lead God's people.

You can be mighty in Scripture. Mighty in preaching and you're unfit to lead God's people. God needed to take Moses into the wilderness for 40 years and break him. How did he break him? He made him live in his father-in-law's house for 40 years.

You try living in your father-in-law's house for one year and see what will happen. You marry somebody and live with her father and Work for her father. And if you experience that I don't know One year would be enough.

Imagine 40 years and a guy who was the ruler in Egypt going to be the next Pharaoh Boy. God really knows how to humble people. He humbled him so much. That the end of 40 years. He was such a broken man Moses.

That when God said Moses, I want you to lead my people he said Lord not me, please send somebody else. I'm not fit. This man who at the age of 40 was such a eloquent speaker such a powerful man. With one hit he could kill an Egyptian man killing an Egyptian with one blow in his hand.

He was really strong. But he wasn't broken. I mean if he had tried to Deliver the Israelites like that killing one Egyptian at a time. Where would he have finished? God said that's not my way. He broke him and as a broken man He stood at the Red Sea and lifted up his rod old 80 year old man and He didn't kill one Egyptian.

He killed the entire Egyptian army under the Red Sea. They were all buried there and God was saying Do you know what I can do through a broken man. What could you do Moses when you were strong in yourself?

You killed one person. See now what I did. I Delivered all of you. That is a great lesson in the Old Testament. When God gives a man leadership He has to first take him through an education of brokenness.

And I really believe that is the reason why we don't have many Godly Humble leaders today whom God can anoint and back up. India needs a lot more like that. The world needs a lot more like that many who are blessed tremendously blessed.

They've got such abilities and such they can sing. Well, they can preach. Well, they know the Bible so well what's missing. Brokenness the grain of wheat is still a Beautiful grain of wheat. It's on display in the pulpits in a glass case.

Not much fruit. Not much fruit in their life. Even after years and years they still lose their temper. They still get into bad moods and No self-control. What's the reason they've never allowed God to break them?

They always want to appear good and great and spiritual before the eyes of man. You really want to be spiritual. My dear brothers and sisters, let me give you a little bit of advice. Stop trying to appear spiritual before people.

It's a battle. It's very very difficult. But if you stop trying to appear spiritual before people and when you lose your reputation rejoice. Jesus said leap for joy. When people speak evil about you, how many times have you leapt for joy?

When you were misunderstood and people spoke evil of you. No, you want to justify yourself and say no. No, it was not like that. It was this Another opportunity to be broken missed and God gives you hundreds of opportunities to be broken and you miss all of them.

And you wonder at the end of so many years why it's not better with you than it should be. Why there's not a greater anointing in your life. Why rivers are not flowing out of your life. Scripture is not opening up to you in Revelation.

I'll tell you the answer.

Live before the face of God alone and.

If God breaks you through your father-in-law or mother-in-law or anybody just let him break you and humble you. And make you small in your own eyes you know when King Saul fell away what Samuel told him it's very interesting if you turn to 1 Samuel 1 Samuel and I think it's chapter 13.

It's either in chapter 13 or chapter 15. I'm not very sure where you know, the Lord told him to go and kill all the Amalekite sheep, but before that once when He acted as a in 1 Samuel 13. He acted as a priest we read that in verse 12 Samuel he said to Samuel I saw the Philistines coming and I forced myself to offer an offering and He had no right to offer an offering.

He was not a priest and Samuel said you have acted foolishly. Now the Lord would have established you as king forever. But now he's taken away the kingdom from you and he's appointed a man after his own heart in chapter 15.

It happened a second time when the Lord told him go and kill all the Amalekites and He didn't kill all the Amalekites. He said I've taken some of the best of the Amalekites and I give them to you and the Lord Samuel told him in 1 Samuel 15 22 does the Lord have delight in sacrifices or an obedience to obey is better than sacrifice and Somewhere there he says when you were small in your own eyes chapter 13 1517 yeah, okay.

Thank you 1517 yeah when you were little in your own eyes I'm getting old. I Missed the verses. When you were little in your own eyes God made you the head. Anointed you king. I want to ask all of you my dear brothers and sisters.

Please examine yourself carefully. Was there a time When you were little in your own eyes. Not so today right. Now you're a big person. You're an important person. You're a respected person. You're appreciated.

You've become prominent. No wonder. Your spiritual life has gone down. It's a very blessed thing to remain little in our own eyes. That's how Saul lost his kingdom and that's how many people lose the anointing and.

That's how many people. That's the reason why many people don't progress. It's because they are not broken. To be little in our own eyes is to become small. We really small. We possess the kingdom of God.

Otherwise all you'll get a is a kingdom in the church. Or the kingdom on earth the people respect you. I'm not interested in a kingdom in the church or on earth the kingdom of God. Jesus said if you want to possess the kingdom of God you must be able to go through the eye of a needle.

A Camel gone go through the eye of a needle. You heard me say how an amoeba which is the smallest of all beings. Amoeba is so small. You got to see it. I don't know whether you can even see it under a microscope, but it's so small.

That the eye of a needle is as big as that door. It can just run in and out of the eye of a needle. Why. Because it's small. Whereas we find it so difficult even to put a thread through an eye of a needle.

And amoeba is so small. It's a no problem. I can run in and out of it without touching the edges of that eye of the needle. Smallness that's what Jesus said. That's how you enter God's kingdom. You cannot enter the God's kingdom.

He said unless you can go through eye of a needle. So to be little in our own eyes is a wonderful thing. And when you're little in your own eyes, I'll tell you one mark of it. You don't get offended. Do you ever get offended with people?

What somebody said to you? Or somebody didn't give you the respect you felt you deserved. Or somebody said something about you that was false. And you rise to justify yourself. You're offended. I have often said that's one of the first things we have to learn to overcome.

You're getting offended. It's a kindergarten lesson. That means Whatever people do to me or say to me. I refuse to get offended. And whether you get offended is not something seen in the outside in your heart.

There are many people who are good at yoga and keep their mouth shut. And you think they are not offended. Boy, they are offended. Look inside their heart. They go back home and meditate on what somebody said.

Or the respect somebody didn't give them. Are you like that? You got honor before men. You got honor before men because you kept your mouth shut. What is it? You value that? When you see that in your heart you were offended and hurt with somebody.

Because of what he told you. Or what he didn't say to you. You can be offended with your own husband or wife. Jesus said blessed is he who is not offended in me. It's one of the marks of not being broken.

You know, these are tests by which we can find out. Lord, I thought I was a broken person. But I discover in this situation. I'm not. Praise the Lord that you discovered it. I mean if you went for a routine annual medical checkup and you discovered you had cancer.

Oh Boy. Shouldn't you be thankful that you discovered that? You didn't go for a checkup on cancer. You go for an annual medical checkup and you discover something seriously wrong with you. That's the way you should feel when in normal life something happened and you got offended.

Say wow. Thank you Lord for that Revelation that I'm not small in my own eyes that I think pretty highly of myself that though I controlled my Mouth and tongue like a good practitioner of yoga. I my heart was still hurt.

And I'm thinking about it for the whole day after that. You if you're offended it won't bother you what people said or did you won't be thinking about it the whole day? You won't be lying awake at night and thinking about what people said.

I'm telling you honestly Seek with all your heart my dear brothers and sisters from the earliest time of your Christian life to finish with getting offended. Not just to get up and boast. Oh, I don't get offended.

That's to get honor. Make sure you're not offended in your heart. Make sure that in different circumstances in your life. You just don't get offended it's one more it's one proof of being broken. It's broken.

I mean the grain of wheat that's gone underground and All types of people are walking on top of the ground. It's not bothered. God's allowed me to go down as a brokenness is going to take place fruit will come out.

This is very very important. This is what God has to do with all his people. God had to do it with The Old Testament Saints and the New Testament Saints and sometimes I want to tell you this. It's God's last resort.

God’s Discipline and Peter’s Brokenness

He allows us to sin to break us. That's not his best way. God hates him. For example when he broke Moses, he did not make him sin he just humbled him with his father-in-law and even Jacob Who was a pretty tough stubborn man.

God broke him by putting him 20 years with his father-in-law it seems to be a standard method in the Old Testament put them with their father-in-law and Make them work for their father-in-law and live there and they come out broken and God can do that even today sure.

You know make you so financially helpless that you've got to keep going to your father-in-law for money there you are and God breaks you. But God did not break with Jacob through sin. It was through that humiliation of having to work for his father-in-law for 20 years and God broke him and said now you're Israel from now on.

You read that in Genesis 32. It's the same message right through but in the New Testament, we see another example of Peter Who was such a proud man when God called him when Jesus called him at the lakeside of Galilee.

He was just an ordinary fisherman. Nobody knew of him. Peter Simon he was known as Simon those days Simon. We don't know there are so many people with that name and God had a plan for him and he picked him up and Jesus did miracles through him.

We read that Jesus sent out his disciples to heal the sick and Peter went out healing the sick and he really began to think that he was very important. He was one of the inner three circle of Jesus. It's like the elders among the twelve disciples and he really began to have high thoughts about himself to the point where he said Lord if everybody denies you I won't deny you.

Now, how does God break such a proud man because God's got a plan for him and I tell you this God loves you so much. That he's got a plan for your life. And if there's no other way to break you he will even allow you to fall into sin.

If that's the only way he can break you that's his last resort. He can give you a difficult father-in-law mother-in-law difficult wife difficult children. None of these things break you then finally He says okay with this guy.

I love him so much. I want to fulfill my purpose through him. I have to allow him to fall. Can you imagine how God hates that God hates sin? And to allow one of his children to fall into sin in order to make him what he wants to be that shows how much God is interested in breaking us and That is why we read in the life of Peter that even though Jesus prayed for Peter.

If you're not familiar with that passage, please turn with me to Luke's gospel chapter 22. Luke 22. Well, you know the story where the Lord said Simon you're going to deny me three times. Before tomorrow morning.

You'll deny me three times. Luke 22 verse 34. And just in case you don't know denying Jesus is a very serious sin. Because Jesus said I think it's in Matthew 10. If you deny me before men I Will deny you before my father.

He said that He didn't say if you commit adultery, I'll deny you know. He said if you deny me, I'll deny you so which is more serious. We think Peter denying Jesus was a small thing. No. It was the one sin that Jesus said would make him deny you before the father.

That's how serious it was and he did it three times. Now if you had read that Jesus Peter went out and committed adultery three times that night. In one night say wow that guy was really a sinner. But we don't take it so seriously when we read that he went and denied Jesus three times.

That's a very serious sin. And why did God allow him to do that? Why didn't God protect him? I've often thought about that. You know, it says Peter went to the gate of the high priest. And he could not go in.

Because the sentry at the gate said who in the world are you get out from here? John who was inside and who knew the high priest came to the gate and say to the sentry. Okay, let him in. Why did God allow John to do that.