Brokenness, Brokenness is what I long for

1 Brokenness, Brokenness is what I long for The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. (Ps. 34:18) For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart these, O God, You will not despise. (Is. 51:16-17) And a highway will be there; it will be called the Highway of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. (Is. 35:8) You have heard me say, The pathway of brokenness leads to the highway of holiness. It is imperative we understand what that statement means. No one walks the highway of holiness without first going down the pathway of brokenness. We must first be broken over our sins before we are truly motivated by love to pursue holiness. Thought #1 - There is no holiness without brokenness. Most of us understand that in terms of our salvation experience, when we first trusted Christ to save us. We remember the horror of realizing what our sins did to Jesus, of our future if we continued on that path, and what Jesus did to take that upon Himself. What we often do not see is that same level of brokenness is required in the process of our sanctification, our daily growth in Christ. We should be more broken over what the writer of Hebrews calls, the sin which so easily ensnares us. Why? Because it ridicules what Jesus did for us on the Cross! Once again the writer of Hebrews warns us that those how live in perpetual sin, crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (6:6) Crucify Jesus again? Shame Him? It is much worse for those who have been redeemed by the Blood of Christ to dishonor that great price for our redemption by continuing in the very sins that required Christ to suffer. It is as if Jesus was speaking to us from His Cross saying, Really! Really? You are continuing to commit the same sin that I have died for? Why? Is my suffering not enough? Do you require me to continue to suffer so that you may sin on to your heart s content? Paul answered that question in Romans 6:1-2. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! Those last two words are an expletive in Greek, the closest you will find to profanity! Paul is saying, What an absurd idea! It is unconscionable! Unthinkable! Ridiculous! I fear in American churches we have so totally accepted that Christ died so that all our sins can be forgiven (which is true) that we have concluded that there is no consequence to my continued sin (and that is blasphemy)! I mean, if Jesus has taken care of all my sin, why should I go through the trouble of leading a pure life? I already have a ticket to heaven! That disgraces grace! I invite you to ask yourself a question right now. Here it is: Lord, am I as broken over my present sin as I when I was first saved? Am I crushed over my disobedience? Or does it not bother me at all? Some of you have shared with me that our church is in need of revival. Indeed. But I wonder if we are we willing to pay the price for genuine revival? There is a price, you know. I don t mean the cost of having a revivalist and special musicians. I don t mean the cost of advertising and promotion. I mean the soul cost of bearing our heart and soul before the Lord and crying out for revival to begin in our own hearts. What I mean is being broken over the sin in our own hearts! See, revival is never for them. That is where we so often miss the boat! Revival is NEVER for them. It is always for us! WE need to be revived! WE need to be broken over our sin just as broken as we were when we first came to Christ. So thought #1is - There is no holiness without brokenness.

Thought #2 - There is no revival without brokenness, individually then collectively. There was a small band of church leaders who had been praying earnestly for revival in their community on the Isle of Lewis, an island just off the coast of Scotland. They were particularly burdened for the young people of the island who had no interest in spiritual matters and scorned the things of God. For eighteen months they met three nights a week, praying through the night, right on into the early hours of the morning, beseeching God to come and visit them in revival. But there was no evidence of any change. Then one night, a young man in the group rose to his feet, opened his Bible, and read from Psalm 24: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall dwell in His holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart He shall receive the blessing from the Lord." Facing the men around him, this young man said, "Brethren, it seems to me to be just so much humbug to be waiting and praying as we are, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God." Holy Spirit came down then! Right there in the straw, the men knelt in brokenness and humbly confessed their sins to the Lord. Within a short period of time, God had begun to pour out His Spirit in an extraordinary awakening that shook the entire island. Before revival can come to a church it must first come in the hearts and lives of that church s individual members. If the impact of the work of the Holy Spirit is to be felt in a home, a church, or a nation, revival must first be experienced on a personal level in the hearts of men and women who have encountered God in a fresh way. How does that happen? How does revival come? We find the Holy Spirit of revival on the pathway of brokenness being broken over our sins and contrite before the Lord. The single greatest hindrance to our experiencing personal revival is our unwillingness to humble ourselves and confess our desperate need for His mercy. Our generation has been programmed to pursue happiness, wholeness, good feelings about ourselves, positive self-image, affirmation, and cures for our hurt feelings and damaged hearts. We have been led to the think that life s goal is happiness, yet most struggle to find happiness or to even know what it is. Our goal should not be happiness but holiness in our lives. When holiness comes then comes peace, joy and happiness. God is more committed to making us holy than making us happy. And there is only one pathway to holiness, one road to genuine revival, and that is the pathway of brokenness. Lord, am I broken over my present sin? Am I walking the pathway of brokenness in order to join You on the highway of holiness? BUT WHAT IS HOLINESS? Holiness Defined Often we assume that everyone knows what the biblical words mean, but we often find that they are not understood or people have a wrong idea of what the word means. The word means, to be separated from the world and dedicated solely to God. The first time the word is found in the Bible is Exodus 3:5 when God told Moses as he stared at the burning bush that he was to take off his shoes... because he was on HOLY ground. In other words... the place was sacred, being used by the Lord. Therefore something that is holy is something that is sacred or separated to the Lord. It is exclusively His! It can be people, places and things. But what makes them holy is that they belong to the Lord, they are in the Lord s service... separated from the world... or any other use, but the Lord s. Concerning Israel God said in Leviticus 20:26 "And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." 2

3 Note God uses the word "severed." God separated Israel, He cut them out from the nations and peoples around them. He separated them to have then uniquely for Himself. That call to be uniquely His was also a call to holiness. The Scripture makes it clear that this is the number one prerequisite to meeting God in revival. " But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. (Romans 6:22) "For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (Isaiah 57:15). The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. (Psalm 34:18). For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart these, O God, You will not despise. (Psa. 51:17) God requires brokenness, humility, and contrition if we are to have true fellowship with Him. God is near only those who are humble, for He resists the proud. God ministers to, revives, strengthens, and quickens those who have a contrite heart. But what is a contrite heart? What is contrition? A contrite heart is one in which the natural pride and self-sufficiency have been completely humbled by the consciousness of guilt. The Hebrew and Greek words often translated contrite actually mean crushed, crippled, or broken. When contrite modifies heart, we get the picture of a conscience that is crushed by the weight of its own guilt. When a human spirit stops justifying its wrong choices, awakens to the depth of its depravity, and humbly accepts God s righteous condemnation of sin, contrition is present. A contrite heart offers no excuses and shifts no blame. It fully agrees with God about how evil it is. A contrite heart throws itself upon the mercy of God, knowing that it deserves nothing but righteous wrath. The place of contrition is a blessed place to be. God says, I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57:15). Those with a broken, contrite heart are promised a dwelling place with God. Their broken hearts will be revitalized. Jesus illustrates what a contrite heart looks like in Luke 18:10 14. The humble repentance that God desires is contrasted with self-righteousness in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The eloquent prayer of the proud Pharisee did not reach the heart of God, but the humble cry of the repentant sinner brought forgiveness. They both needed mercy, but only the contrite heart was in a position to receive it. So brokenness and contrition are necessary for us to pursue holiness, as God requires. For revival to happen, we must be broken over our sin RIGHT NOW and contrite in our heart before God for sin that continues to plague us. We often think of revival as a time of great joy, blessing, fullness, and celebration. And so it will be in its fullness. But the problem is that we want a painless Revival. Many want God s blessing without our repentance from sin, without brokenness and contrition of soul. God knows of no such revival. Peterus Octavianus, a man greatly used by God in the 1973 revival in Borneo, reminds us, "Revivals do not begin happily with everyone having a good time. They start with a broken and contrite heart." You and I will never meet God in revival, until we first meet Him in brokenness.

Brokenness does not sound like something to be sought after. After all, it seems so negative! We may even be afraid of the concept. Perhaps that is because we have a misconception about the meaning of brokenness. Our idea of brokenness may be quite different from God s idea. Brokenness Explained: 1. Brokenness is more than sadness, gloom, and introspection. It is a crucifying of self. Brokenness does not mean, as some think, having a sad, gloomy, downcast countenance--never smiling or laughing. It does not mean always being morbidly introspective. Nor can it be equated with deeply emotional experiences. It is possible to shed buckets full of tears, without ever experiencing a moment of brokenness. Further, brokenness is not the same as being deeply hurt by tragic circumstances. A person may have experienced many deep hurts and tragedies, but never have been broken in heart and soul. Brokenness is a matter of the heart; it has to do with the disposition of the inner man, the inner conviction wherein we do not trust our selves, we desire to be dead to sin, and alive unto God. (Gal. 2:20) It is a matter of being crucified with Christ, hating sin, submitting unto Him totally. 2. Brokenness is more than a feeling. It is an ongoing, continual lifestyle. Brokenness is not a feeling; rather, it is a choice, an act of the will. It is not primarily a one-time experience or crisis (though there may be crisis points in the process of brokenness); rather, it is an ongoing, continual lifestyle. Brokenness is a lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and life, as He sees it. It is a lifestyle of unconditional, absolute surrender of my will to the will of God--a heart attitude that says, "Yes, Lord!" to whatever God says. Brokenness means the shattering of my self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord Jesus may be released through me. Brokenness is my response of humility and obedience to the conviction of the Word and the Spirit of God. And as the conviction is continuous, so must the brokenness be continuous 3. Brokenness has both a vertical and horizontal dimension. True brokenness has both a vertical and a horizontal dimension: it is demonstrated in a willingness to live with the "roof off " in my relationship with God, and the "walls down" in my relationships with others. Scripture provides us with numerous examples of broken people. Interestingly, these examples are often set in contrast to people who were not broken. In every case, both individuals had sinned. The difference was not so much in the nature or magnitude of their sin, but in their response when confronted with their sin. For example, two kings sat on the same throne. One king, in a fit of passion, committed adultery with his neighbor s wife, and then plotted to have his neighbor killed. Yet, when the story of his life was told, this man was called "a man after God s own heart." By contrast, his predecessor s sin was relatively insignificant; he was only guilty of incomplete obedience. But it cost him his kingdom, his life, and his family. What was the difference? When King Saul was confronted with his sin, he defended, justified, and excused himself, blamed others, and tried to cover up both the sin and its consequences. In short, his response revealed a proud, unbroken heart. On the other hand, when King David was faced with his sin, he was willing to acknowledge his failure, to take personal responsibility for his wrongdoing, and to repent of his sin. His response was that of a humble, broken man. And his was the heart that God honored. Coming to a place of brokenness demands a willingness to humble ourselves; to look at our lives in the light of the searchlight of God s word and making decisions accordingly. (Rom. 6:16-18) 4

Conclusion: The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. (Ps. 34:18) That means God is with the person who sees him/herself as crushed in admitting his/her sins and being in turn repentance. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart these, O God, You will not despise. (Is. 51:16-17) Remember that God uses the word "contrite" to describe the broken heart. It literally means, to be crushed. In Isaiah 53:10 the word is used in reference to Jesus Christ " Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin" The word "bruise" is the same word "contrite, meaning to be crushed, broken." All who Christ receives come with a contrite heart, a humble spirit. He revives the spirit and heart of the humble. That means He gives them a new life, eternal life, and forgiveness of sins, and heaven in time. Question: Do you have a contrite heart that confesses your sin and failure to the Lord? Those that do have 1 John 1:9-10 as God s promise to cleanse you... "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-10) If revival is something that they need you have totally missed the point. It is YOU! You are the modern Pharisee who is really what Jesus called white washed tombs filled with corruption. God has spoken to each one here today. The Holy Spirit has brought conviction and urging and empowering you to be humble, have a contrite heart, and receive God s blessing. 5