Revival & Repentance Pt3 - Brokenness — Phil Beach Jr.

There's been an incredible influx, outpouring of God's heart this morning into our lives, hasn't there? I feel so enriched and so blessed and so encouraged and so challenged this morning by all that the Lord has deposited in us through the many testimonies and the many words that have been shared through so many members of the body.

Isn't it wonderful? The richness and the fullness that comes to us as we look to the Lord Jesus. Two weeks ago, I began preaching on a three-part series entitled, Repentance and Revival. The first Sunday was on repentance and the need to repent.

Joel's Call to Repentance and Revival

And we saw in the book of Joel, the many, many, many instances that were recorded in the book of Joel, a call to repent. And then God promises he'll pour out his spirit. Last week, last Sunday, the message was on a call to forsake the comfort zone, to leave our comfort zones.

We all have comfort zones that we live in. And we're not going to grow in the Lord. We're not going to be followers of the Lord Jesus wholly if we stay in our comfort zone. We saw how the apostle Paul was willing to leave the comfort zone of the Antioch church, where he was ministering for a whole year.

Leaving the Comfort Zone for Mission

He was willing to leave the comfort zone. And because he was willing to leave the comfort zone, he went out on a missionary journey that blessed the whole world. And now, lastly, we're going to be looking for a brief time this morning on a call to brokenness.

All of these are essential if we are desiring genuine repentance and genuine revival in our lives, in our homes, in our churches, and in the church in America. I do not believe that there is hope for the nation apart from the church.

I believe that the source of blessing for the nation is the church. And as we repent and as we become light and salt, as we are intended to be, there's hope for the nation then. Isaiah chapter 57, Isaiah chapter 57, verse number 15, Isaiah 57, verse number 15.

Contrition, Humility, and the Presence of God

For thus saith the high and the lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite one.

The word contrite is a Hebrew word that literally means to smash, to pulverize, to make into ashes. This is a word that was used to describe what was done to certain herbs in the Old Testament in order to make fragrance.

Oil was made through smashing and pulverizing. Olives for olive oil and whatever other kind of oil. This is a word that was used to describe what happened to Jesus. He was bruised. He was crushed. He was broken.

Brokenness is an essential quality in our life. God says in Isaiah chapter 57 that he is the high and the lofty one that inhabits eternity. And he dwells in the high and holy place. But he also dwells with him that is of a contrite spirit and a humble spirit.

So therefore it is understood by that scripture that God dwells with those who are broken. Now here's a real simple down-to-earth definition of brokenness. We can understand by understanding this statement.

Whatever it is in your life that prevents the beauty and loveliness of Jesus Christ from shining through, whatever it is, that is the absence of brokenness in your life. Whatever it is in your life today that is preventing the beauty of Jesus Christ from shining, the fruit of Jesus Christ from shining.

That area of your life is not broken and needs to be subject to the work of God so that brokenness can occur. It's real simple. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse number 7. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

Christ as the Treasure in Earthen Vessels

Jesus Christ is a treasure. Please listen carefully, beloved. This is a very simple message from the heart of the Lord this morning. But if we take it to heart and let the Holy Spirit breathe upon it, it has the potential to radically change our lives.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels. The treasure that we have in earthen vessels is the Lord Jesus Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit. God has deposited into the depths of our spirit the very spirit of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul said that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. The whole intention of God in depositing the Lord Jesus Christ in your life and in my life is that Jesus might reveal Himself in us and through us to one another and to a lost and dying world.

Christianity is nothing more or nothing less than the unveiling, the revelation, the manifestation of the beauties of Jesus Christ flowing through a corporate vessel called the church. Christianity has nothing to do with you or nothing to do with I.

Christianity has nothing to do with me promoting myself or you promoting yourself. It has nothing to do with me seeking to accomplish my agenda or you seeking to accomplish your agenda. Christianity has everything to do with God revealing the loveliness of His Son in a corporate vessel called the church.

When Christianity ceases, when your Christianity ceases from being an ongoing revelation to the people that you know and that know you of the glorious person of Jesus Christ in your life, evidenced through your actions, then your Christianity is becoming false.

False. Christianity is not a system. Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is not a mere profession. Christianity is not me trying to please God through my own works of righteousness. Christianity is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, transforming a corporate vessel called the church from earthly to heavenly, from carnal to spiritual.

Christianity consists of Christ bursting through earthen vessels and revealing the splendid eternal attributes of God. You know, love, joy, peace, righteousness, goodness, mercy. That's what Christianity is.

And therefore, in light of this revelation, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. It becomes imperative, essential. It becomes mandatory that God would take special effort to ensure that the earthen vessel in which this heavenly treasure lives is sufficiently broken so that the vessel doesn't prevent the beauty of the treasure from shining through.

You see, when God planted Christ in the church, he did it because he wants the world and he wants the individual members within the church to meet Christ, not the vessel. The problem today in the church, in our lives, is that we want to claim that we possess the treasure, but we don't want to submit to the discipline of God to break the vessel so the treasure can be seen.

We want the best of both. We want to claim Jesus as our Savior, Jesus as our Lord, Jesus as our King, but at the same time, we don't want anything to touch the vessel. We don't want our vessel to be marred.

We don't want to be broken. We don't want our will to be broken. We don't want our way to be challenged. We don't want our personality to be tamed. We want Jesus, but we want ourself. We want to coexist with God, and God says, not so.

I have not saved you. I have not placed my spirit in you so you can continue in your way. Hallelujah. Hallelujah to God. Brokenness is the state of the earthen vessel whereby the treasure has an unhindered access to flow through my life.

Brokenness is the state of the earthen vessel whereby the treasure has unhindered access to flow through and reveal the beauty of Jesus Christ in my life. Brokenness is the basis of true unity in the body of Christ, realized unity, practical unity.

There is a unity that all believers have just like there is a unity that all family members have. Listen closely to what I'm saying. You can have a family of 12 people. All born of the same mother and father.

There is a unity based on the biological relatedness of each of the children. However, there might be great division among that family. That division does not annul the biological unity. However, for all practical purposes, there is not any way that they're going to work together to get anything done.

So the fact that they are in disharmony does not annul the fact that they are still united by the same life. But for practical purposes, if mom and dad had a plan and wanted the family to be involved, even though all the kids have the same genes, have the same relatedness because they all come from the same womb and all have the same daddy, for practical purposes, mom and dad would be very disappointed and very distressed because nothing could get done.

Everyone is divided against each other. And likewise in the church today, every true blood-washed child of God who is a possessor of the Spirit of God is one with and in union with every other believer who likewise is a true son and daughter of God.

However, for practical purposes, it doesn't do us any good to be one in Spirit if we're not all united at the cross in brokenness. So brokenness becomes the quality that is essential for the unity of the believers to be able to work together to accomplish Father's purpose.

Listen closely. Service that God accepts springs out of brokenness. Reward is not what we do in the name of Jesus Christ, but it is what God does through us in the name of His Son. Reward will not be based on what we do, in the name of Jesus, but reward will be based upon what God does through us by His Son in His name.

If God is going to do anything through us, the vessel, the earthen vessel, must be broken. If the earthen vessel is not broken, the treasure and the light that is contained within the Spirit of the man, within the Spirit of the redeemed child of God, can not be released.

I'm in the way. And so therefore, it is God's imperative intention to break us, to crush us, to weaken the earthen vessel. Why? Because He doesn't love us and He's being unkind? No. He does it because it is the only means by which the glorious treasure can be revealed.

We are too hard. We are too calloused. We are too strong in ourselves. Our wills are too set on doing our own thing. Our reactions to situations are too set. We react without even thinking. And oftentimes, the very reactions that we are engaging in are the very things keeping the life of Jesus from flowing through us.

Because our very reaction is a sign, it is a reflection of how hard we are. It's us. It's the vessel reacting instead of the Holy Spirit flowing. We react. We get into situations and without even thinking, we react.

Set habits, learn patterns in our life. All are areas of hardness in our life that must be subject to the discipline of God that we might be broken. Take for a moment and think. What is it in your life preventing the treasure from being revealed?

Where in your life is there an absence of brokenness? May I say to you that wherever there is the absence of brokenness in your life, there is the presence of hardness. There is the presence of something about your own personality or your own way that has not been subject to the decree of the cross, I am crucified with Christ.

I am dead and buried with Christ. When we understand that Jesus not only died on the cross to shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, but he also died on the cross in our stead so that not only are we forgiven sinners, but we are crucified sinners.

And as crucified sinners, that means that we have no rights to hold on to our life and to maintain a posture of being strong in ourself and adamant in ourself and not subject and vulnerable to God where we might become weak and broken.

We have no rights. We cannot demand that God give us by faith the treasure of Christ, but we maintain our own life. We maintain hold upon it. When we come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, we not only came to know the forgiveness of God, but we came to know the crucifying power of God by faith.

And we enter into this by faith alone. It is by faith we accept our position with Christ as crucified. When Jesus was crucified, he was crucified for us. And being crucified with Christ by faith is saying to God, I say no to all those areas in my life that I want to control.

I say no. I relinquish. I acknowledge that Christ is my life. I have no rights over my life anymore. When I acknowledge and accept by faith that I am crucified with Christ, that I am saying, God, I acknowledge that it is your will to bring my life into a state of brokenness, a state of humility, a state where I'm not strong in myself.

I'm not a demanding person my own way. But I become broken in Christ. I become humble in Christ. And in that posture, I find myself depending upon the strength that comes from the treasure within. I find myself depending upon the strength that comes from the word of God.

I find myself depending upon the strength that comes from the energizing of the spirit of God living in me. I become a vessel of clay broken so that the excellency of the power is of God and not myself.

I become a vessel in whom the treasure of God can be seen. This is God's purpose for the church, that we might be a corporate earthen vessel, not to vaunt ourselves, not to boast of ourselves, not to lift ourselves up, not to demand our own way, not to be something in the eyes of men.

But we are to be an earthen vessel broken in the hands of the heavenly potter that out of that brokenness and out of that humility might arise the perfections of the son of God. Hallelujah! If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me, Jesus said.

Gideon's Army and Victory Through Broken Vessels

A call to repentance, a call to leave our comfort zone, and now a call to brokenness. I would invite you to turn your Bibles to Judges chapter 7. And we're going to see in the Old Testament a story about Gideon.

And in this story, we see God illustrate this truth of brokenness in a most profound way. We're going to see in the story of Judges here regarding Gideon that it was the element of brokenness in those who were engaging in war that was the key to their victory against the enemy.

Judges chapter 7. God had appeared to Gideon's parents and told them that Gideon was going to be a vessel in the hands of the Lord. And now, after God revealed Himself to Gideon, time after time, Gideon was afraid.

Gideon questioned the Lord, and Gideon was always drawing back, and God mercifully kept coming to Gideon and giving him a sign and a sign and a sign. And that brings us to Joshua chapter 7 verse number 9.

Gideon is still a little bit frightened. Listen, brothers and sisters, this is a prophetic word. This is a prophetic word to your heart and to my heart this morning. Gideon was still a little frightened.

Are you still a little frightened about the battle that's set before you? Are you still a little fearful about what God wants to do in your life? And are you still a little fearful about the enemies that you see around about?

Is there still something in your heart that trembles in fear when you see some of the enemies that you yet have to overcome? When you see some of the enemies that might be on the horizon? Do you still find fear in your heart?

Well, hear the word of the Lord this morning. There is hope for the fearful. There is hope for those who lack courage. There is hope for you and I who are timid. And the hope, beloved, is not to pull up our bootstraps and to strengthen ourselves in our own might and to find some kind of willpower.

No, the hope comes when we understand the victory is ours as we walk in brokenness before Almighty God. I have found in my own life that the measure of brokenness in my life equals the measure of victory that I experience.

And that oftentimes when my heart is gripped with fear over a certain possible conflict that I see I'm going to have to battle or an enemy on the horizon that I see in the spirit I might have to deal with, oftentimes that presence of fear is a sign to me that I need to get more broken before God.

And when the brokenness comes and when that weakness comes and when that humility comes, I find the fear dissipating in the presence of a God who says, I am with you and I will fight your battles. We lose sight of that truth that God is going to fight our battles when we start getting strong in ourself.

And when we start getting high and holy in ourself, we lose sight of it. We forget that God's going to bring the victory. Hallelujah to God. Judges chapter 7, verse number 9. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered into thine hand.

But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phura, thy servant, down to the host. So let's understand what we're dealing with now. We're dealing with God who says, go, for I have delivered it into your hand.

That's the first part of this equation. The second part of this equation is we're dealing with a servant of the Lord. Who is still afraid. Does that sound like you and I? God has promised us that through the victory that was won on Calvary, through the blessed Son of God, that all our battles have been won in Him.

All of our besetting sins have been delivered in Jesus Christ. All of our weaknesses have been made up in the person of Jesus Christ. All that we have need of to live this victorious Christian life in victory and faith and full of glory has been provided for us.

God, listen, God will never add to what He's already done. God doesn't have a second plan, beloved. God doesn't have plan B. All that you have need of right now, right now, to go on the rest of your life has already been secured for you through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the blessed Son of God.

Hallelujah to God. It's all been done. Don't be looking for something. Don't look for something. It's been done. That's what it means. I have delivered it into your hand. But we've got a vessel that's afraid.

But God has a remedy for the fearful vessel. Listen carefully. Verse 11. And thou shalt hear what they say. And afterwards shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Furah, his servant, unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

Hallelujah. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay among in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude. And their camels were without number as the sand by the sea sighed for the multitude.

And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow and said, Behold, I have dreamed the dream. And lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian. Hallelujah.

Barley bread. Do you know what barley bread is indicative of? Do you know what that represents? Barley bread. Barley bread represents the beautiful harvest that God reaped when his son raised from the dead.

Jesus was the barley seed that fell into the ground. And when Jesus raised from the dead, God saw barley bread raising up. And now God says, This dream God shows barley coming in and destroying the camp.

What a picture of Jesus. And when we begin to understand that we are partakers of that same bread, when God, when the devil looks at the church, he sees a massive corporate barley bread. Hallelujah to God.

That's why God's got to get the vessel out of the way. He's got to get us out of the way. Because in this vessel, there's barley bread. You know, it's one loaf. And we all partake of that loaf. What's the loaf?

Christ. Christ is many. Many. We're all partakers of the life of Christ. God's got a massive barley bread in this world. And I'm telling you by the word of the Lord, Hallelujah. That if the army of God would see the truth in here and let God break our vessels, we'll experience the same victory in this world as Gideon did over the Midianites.

I love this. I dreamed and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian. And it came unto a tent and smote it. And it fell and overturned it. That the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, Hallelujah.

Listen, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host. Listen to this. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshiped.

Why did he worship? Hallelujah. Listen, beloved. What did God say back in verse 9 of Judges chapter 7? Oh, God, please help us get this. God said, Arise, get down, I have delivered it into thy hand. God said it, but Gideon what?

Didn't believe it. He was fearful. So God made a provision, gave Gideon the opportunity to go and hear about a dream. But it's not the dream so much that's significant. It's what the dream did to Gideon.

What finally happened to Gideon that caused him to worship? He finally caught it. He seen it. He got it. He saw it. God has delivered the Midianites into my hands. When you see that revelation, your whole life will change.

When you see that revelation, everything about your Christian life will become different. But watch what happens when you see that revelation. This is one side to a coin. Both sides are essential. All right.

Faith, Empty Pitchers, and the Light of Christ

Verse number 14 or 15. He worshiped and returned into the host of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. And he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put a trumpet at every man's hand with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers.

Listen closely. Empty pitchers and lamps were inside the pitchers. These were earthen vessels, earthen vessels made of clay. And inside the vessel of clay was a pitcher of light. Do you see where we're going?

Now, mind you, let's stop here. Gideon is moving now in faith. God has finally helped him to see and he's got the revelation. Here's the revelation. God's going to give us the victory. God's going to do it.

Not me, God. It's not my might. It's God's might. God has... It doesn't sound just like numbers. We're not going to turn to it. Numbers chapter 13. Moses sent the Israelites into the land to spy it out.

Twelve came back. Ten gave an evil report. And two, Joshua and Caleb gave a good report. What was the problem with the ten that gave an evil report? They didn't see it. They didn't believe that God said, I'm going to give you the land of Canaan.

God said it. God committed himself to do it. God committed all his omnipotent power to give the land of Canaan to Israel and to drive out the enemies that the ten didn't believe. The two, Joshua and Caleb did.

Same thing there as we see here. So in verse number 16, it says they had empty earthen pitchers and inside of these earthen pitchers, they had a bright light. Remember that. And he said unto them, look on me and do likewise.

And behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so shall you do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpet on every side of all the camp and say the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, and they had but newly set the watch, and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

What's happening right here? Verse 20. And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in the right hands to blow with all. And they cried the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

And they stood every man in his place round about the camp and all the host ran and cried and fled. And the three hundred blew the trumpets and the Lord said every man soared against his fellow, even throughout all the host.

And the host fled to Beth Shittah in Zarephath, or Zarephath and the border of Abel, Mihollah unto Tabath. What do we see happening here? What we see happening here, beloved, is this. Once the revelation, listen carefully.

Once the revelation was caught by Gideon that God had personally committed himself to giving them the victory. It was Gideon's job then to instruct the three hundred men with him that they were to take this light, put it inside the earthen vessel and at the right time break the earthen vessel so that the light can shine out of it.

And it was through the breaking of the vessel and the light coming forth and the blowing of the trumpet that God wrought the victory for the children of Israel. And likewise, beloved, this is a wonderful picture.

God has placed a light inside this earthen vessel. He has also given us the victory and promised us the victory through Jesus Christ. All power has been given Him in heaven and earth and we are now seated with Him in the heavens.

Victory Through Submission and the Word of God

All the work of the kingdom God promises to give us the power to accomplish. But this power and this victory that God Himself has secured cannot be experienced unless we submit ourselves to the disciplining hand of God and allow Him to both break our earthen vessels so that the treasure of Christ might have unhindered access to flow through our lives.

But secondly, He must equip us with the sound of the trumpet, which is the word of God, the voice of God. We must be filled with the word of God and walk in a state of brokenness. And as we are walking in a state of brokenness and filled with the word of God, we will know the victory that is ours.

And that is where we'll experience the full jubilee of what we've been talking about this morning. Areas of bondage in our life can be broken as we submit to God and allow Him to break us. So in closing this morning, may I remind you we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not ourself.

Ask God to break you. Ask God to break every area in your life right now that's keeping Jesus from shining through. And He will. And as He does, you will walk in the victory of Jesus Christ. Brokenness and knowing that God has given us the victory in Jesus Christ are the two sides of the coin that are imperative for a people to walk in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So remember, number one, repentance. Number two, a call to leave our comfort zone. And number three, a call to walk in brokenness. If we will submit to God and allow Him to work in us, these three important truths, repentance, leaving our comfort zone and living in brokenness, I assure you by the authority of the word of God, nothing shall be impossible to those people regarding accomplishing the will of God.

All things are possible to such a people. And those people will be like the barley cake that will go into the camp of the enemy and overcome and snatch the spoil. And God will be glorified and the victory of Christ will be secured wherever those people as a corporate vessel pray and set their hearts to believe God to move in a miraculous way.

Nothing is stopping us but our own unbelief. May God give us this revelation this morning and change our lives. Father, in revelation, enable us to enter into the good of these things that you might be glorified.

Let's spend a few moments in prayer. We have about five or 10 minutes before we have to get the children from children's church and nursery.