In this sermon, Joshua Daniel emphasizes the importance of having a humble and contrite spirit before God. He quotes Isaiah 66:1-2, where God declares that He looks favorably upon those who are poor in spirit and tremble at His word. Daniel acknowledges his own unworthiness and the need for God's mercy. He encourages listeners to be honest with themselves and with God, acknowledging their sins and seeking forgiveness. He warns against hypocrisy and the use of masks in our Christian walk, emphasizing the need for genuine brokenness at the foot of the cross.

Welcome to the Lord's Challenge, our weekly quarter-hour broadcast bringing the reality of God's Word to all people everywhere. Stay tuned as Joshua Daniel challenges us to a walk with God and the corresponding impact that it will have on our lives, families and society today. Isaiah 66 and 1 and 2, Thus said the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you build unto me, and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, said the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. So my dear people, you see, what does God say here? To this man will I look. What should God have to look at any particular person? Can't he dismiss me this very moment as being totally unfit for this holy ministry? Yes, and if he should dismiss me, I will tell him, yes Lord, how many times I have told you, I deserve to be dismissed. I have done so little for you. I am an unprofitable servant. Yes indeed, but God says to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. You know my dear friends, when you turn to Psalm 51 and the 17th verse, you see King David in the Psalm of Confession saying, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. A broken and a contrite heart. Where do you get such a heart? You and I have pretty proud hearts. I had a very stubborn, proud heart, and I kept Jesus Christ far away at arm's length. But it took the cross. It was when the cross of Jesus stood before me that I was broken. You know my dear friends, a real encounter with Jesus, what is central? The cross. It can't be a man. It can't be a good teacher. It can't be a great sermon. It can't be this, that or the other. It has to be the cross. It's at the cross you see a real picture of your heart, and I saw a picture of my heart, a most ugly picture at the cross. You see, every man was forgotten. There was no person on the scene. Not my friends, not my cricket, not all the foolish, frivolous things that I had engaged in. It was the cross. It was the love of the cross which broke me. My dear friends, listen. Don't let us use a Christian paintbrush or some kind of questionable devices from what is known as modern evangelical methods. It's the cross. It's not you. It's not me. It's the cross. And at the cross, you and I are truly broken. My dear folks, here in the 17th verse, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Unfortunately, you know, our whole way of life today is to mask ourselves, you know, put on a mask. I don't know what kind of mask you are wearing, but as a wife said to me, oh my, I don't know my husband. While he was out on tour, he was doing all these things. I couldn't imagine that my husband would stoop so low. Just a mask in the family. Can you imagine that? A man said to me in Europe, there was a knock on my door late at night. And here he came in and he said, I have not been faithful to my wife. I need to put things right. I said, go and put it right with God and with your wife. You promised to be faithful to him. Go and do it. He said to me, my wife will not believe me. She loves me so much. And he did it. And then he wrote to me, or she wrote to me, saying it was very hard at the beginning. But now it's better than the marriage night. You see, how can there be love when there is a mask? And modern life only teaches us to be painted dolls. Shocking. The hypocrisy of it all. And don't you bring hypocrisy into the kingdom of God. You need to throw away that mask. Here King David is humbling himself. Psalm 51, three and four. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against thee the only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. You see how it is. You know, people want to flirt these days. They flirt around and then they think, oh, you know, we are doing Christian service. A bunch of fellows came along. You know, they were saying, well, we use sex in order to attract young people to Christ. What? A whole bunch of fellows. And that's what they believed. I tell you, my dear friends, we have reduced Christianity to such a level that it can produce the most smelly, stinky people in the world. Whereas you and I should be producing clean, holy, straight, nothing to hide. Straight shoulder people instead of that. I tell you, it's very hard even to know a church these days. It's very sad. I'm telling you the facts. I know them. It's very hard even to know a church. Oh, their singing is fine. The choir is fine. Oh, the organist plays very well. Oh, my, here's a lovely place. And the people are dancing up and down. Is that also a requirement to be a Christian? Whatever it is. And slowly you recognize, you realize. As a pastor said to me one day, you know, my dear friends, some of those men were surprised that I was still sticking on to the word of God. They said, what you are preaching is the old abandoned standards of the word of God. How can I abandon them? How can I preach another gospel? I dare not. I have not known another gospel. This pastor said, you know, I was out of the church for some time. I went to another church. When I got back, I discovered women seated next to other men. I said, how's this? Oh, in the meantime, they got divorced and in the church, they just exchanged partners. A woman said to me in another church, you know, this man went after me. He went after me. My, he wouldn't leave me. He said, no, I want you. I want you. And finally, he got me to divorce my husband. The sin. And King David, when he confessed, he said against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. Let us pray. Let us tell God, oh God, I want to be that person. The boy, the girl after God's own heart. Here I am. Take me. Oh, Lord, touch us, break us. Here we are. Take us and give us humble hearts, broken spirits. Hear our humble prayer in Jesus almighty name. Amen. Let us labor for the master from the dawn to setting sun. Let us talk of all. The speaker on this program was Joshua Daniel. He would like to know what your response has been to the Lord's challenge and would be delighted to hear from you. Please write. And if you have burdens you want to share and want prayer, do let us know. You can reach us on the World Wide Web at lefi.org, or else you can mail us at The Lord's Challenge, PO Box 14, South Lyon, Michigan, 48178. Or in Canada, PO Box 31002, Windsor, Ontario, N9G2Y2. 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