Lk 20:17-18
17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?
Psalm 118:22KJV
22 The stone which the builders refused is
become the head stone of the corner.
Isaiah 28:16KJV
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Lk .20:18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
- Will You Be Broken or Will You Be Crushed?
- The 1st step to Revival is — BROKENESS
- You Will Not Meet God In Revival Until You Are First Broken
- When you think of brokennss you think it of un-useful and it is finished
- Moses - Broken Rock - To feed a thirsty nation Ex 17:6
- Gideon - broke the lamp to release the light so
victory could be won - Jud 7:20
- Esther - Broke court excecate to save a nation - Esther 4:16
- Mary broke the alabaster jar to release the
fragrance - Mk 14:3
- Jesus aloud his body to be broken to give us
salvation - 1 Cor 11:24
- Jesus broke the loves and fishes to feed a
multitude - Mt 14;19; Mk 6:41; Lk 9;16; Jn 6:11
- Elizabeth Elliot
“If my life is broken when given to Jesus It is because pieces will feed a multitude while a loaf will satisfy only a little lad”
- God uses brokenness in our life to multiply our
influence
- When our life is broken the very life of God will
flow from us
Brokenness
- Is the humble & obedient response to the
convection of God’s Spirit
- Brokenness is the shattering of my will so that
God’s will be spilit
- A. W. Tozer said, “It is doubtful whether God
can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”[The Root of the Righteous p.137]
Isaiah 57:15KJV
15 For thus saith the high and 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 ones.
Isaiah 66:2KJV
2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Psalm 34:18KJV
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 51:16-17KJV
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
- Jacob needed a broken lag to understand God’s
blessing
Genesis 32
- Jacob’s encounter with God at Penuel,
transformed his life.
- Before Penuel, Jacob had been the master
manipulator.
- Secured Esau’s birthright
- Laban’s daughters and flocks.
- 31:3 God has told him to return
- All by faith here
- 31:20 Has sneaked away from Laban
- 32:3-5 - Scared of Esau
- Sends messengers ahead
- 32:6 - Esau is approaching with 400 men, Jacob
is terrified.
- 32:7 - Now greatly afraid & distressed
- 32:7-8 - Second move is to divide his servants
and herds into two camps, some might escape”
- 32:9-12 prays, reminding God of His covenant promises
- 32:13-21- Doubting his prayer, he sends three
presents of servants and animals to Esau in hopes of buying him off
- 32:22-23 - Lastly Jacob sends his wives,
children, and remaining goods across the Jabbock ford.
- 32:24a - Now he is alone out of options .
- 32:24b - God comes.
- 32:24 - A man wrestled with him all night .
- 32:25 - The man did not force defeat on Jacob
- He wenched Jacob’s hip
- Now every step reminds him of this encounter
- Hip the strongest bone becomes the weakest
- Hip for progress
- Now He is broken and dependent on the one who broke him
- No more running for him
- Beforer it was running from Esau, Laban
- Now facing his responsibilities
- With them & the Lord
- Limp gave witness to others of his encounter with God
- Asks to be blessed
- Jacob “Deceiver” changed to Israel
“He Struggles with God”;
“He will be Prince With God”
- Hurt and humbled, Jacob is a new man
- Israel is born.
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones ” I say the mark of the genuine experience is its permanence. Jacob after Penuel was never the same again. He was lame—he had a mark upon him—and his name was changed from Jacob to Israel. As you read the story from this point onward you will find that he behaved in an entirely different manner. Jacob—the old Jacob—was no more. Now he is a cripple, in a sense, but a new man and living a different life.[D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Old Testament Evangelistic Sermons]
- Now powerless and dependent upon God
- To be blessed by God, we must first be humbled by God.
- Encounter the living God, and you will be changed—but not without being broken.
- This is proven by the limp.
God Knows What He’s About
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man, and skill a man;
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways.
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay
Which only God understands,
While his tortured heart is crying,
And he lifts beseeching hands.
How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses,
And with every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out—
God knows what He‘s about!
Conclusion
- Am I like Jacob - self-reliant, & manipulative?
- Only with an encounter with Christ where I cry out Lord bless me will I ever be changed
- The evidence of the change will be total dependance upon Him
- Walking with a limp of brokenness & humbleness
