This sermon emphasizes the importance of continuous growth and progress in our spiritual lives, highlighting the need for humility, brokenness, and a willingness to be small in our own eyes. It draws lessons from the life of Peter, showcasing how God can use brokenness to bring about transformation and fruitfulness. The message encourages believers to avoid justifying themselves, getting offended, and to be quick to apologize, ultimately seeking to see Jesus more clearly through a life of humility and surrender.

We've looked at this verse before. 2 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 comes into our heart. And in verse 16, he's talking again about the initial creation where every day something happened. First day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day, until it was perfect. So he says in the same way, in our life, our inner man, just like in Genesis 1, must progress more and more and more every day. That 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've 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 100% every year, but he's in the first standard every year. What's he who's getting 100% 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 10 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, for everyone sitting here, now if you're not born again, that means you've not surrendered to Christ, Christ has not become Lord of your life, then you're 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've really surrendered your life to Christ, you've 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. 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, in that 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. 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 say it from the pulpit. But I don't go to an individual and say that because I don't know his heart. 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 are 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 8th day, you are 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. I don't know whether it has 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 wait some time even to baptize people. And even baptism. We may baptize the wrong people. I am sure I have baptized some people. Sincerely. But who are going to hell. I know it. Because they backslid after they were born again. Or they were 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 are not even converted. So mistaken baptisms have taken place even in the Acts of the Apostles. We can't guarantee that everyone who is baptized is a child of God. That's why I say to you parents, don't be satisfied that your child is baptized. Heaven is guaranteed. Not necessarily. I hope they are following the Lord. Hebrews 3 and verse 14 says, If we hold fast to the beginning of our confidence, firm until the end, then we are made partakers of Christ. But the Holy Spirit will bear witness to you. So seek for that witness of the Holy Spirit in your spirit. Where the Spirit of God says, You are a child of God. God is your Father. And it's the Holy Spirit in verse 15, when it comes in, cries out, Abba, Father. There is a sense that you feel the Holy Spirit says, God in heaven is my own dad. Do you have that assurance? If there is anybody sitting here without that assurance, 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 are 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 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 has planned my day today. I don't know what is going to happen. But He is my Dad. He is undertaken for everything. I go forth today with the assurance that my Heavenly Father has already provided for everything needed for me in my life. So that is 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 will find that you are also you don't end up in competition 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 is 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 is my Heavenly Father. Well, praise God. If my Dad in heaven decided that, I am happy. You will never, never, never. I will tell you honestly from my experience. You will never be jealous of anybody. You will 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, there is another very important truth. That the Bible says. You know, we are told that it is only as we see Jesus more clearly that we can be like Him. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18 says, The Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus in His word. The mirror is the word. Then 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. 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 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. He can come from any part of the world. And he told them how they could see Him. 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 will bear much fruit. He who loves his life in this earth will lose it. But he who hates his life in this earth will keep it to life eternal. So if anyone serves me, let him follow me. 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. This life that you have in this earth. Like 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, take that grain of wheat and some beautiful grain of wheat and put it in a glass case in a cupboard. It will 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 will 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. A brokenness, you know, a grain of wheat which wants to appear beautiful before others. It will never be willing to be broken or to die. Because it is concerned about its testimony. Many Christians are more concerned about their testimony before others. Everybody must think I am 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 are a very spiritual person? Or is it your passion to see Jesus? I couldn't care less whether people think I am spiritual or not. I am 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 who 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. That's what you are concerned about? The Lord sees that. He says, that's what you are concerned about? Okay, pursue that. But there are others who say, Lord, what people think about me is not important. Because what 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 the only way to see you is for me to lose my outward attractiveness and to be broken and misunderstood and reproached and I rejoice in it. Jesus said, when you are 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 be broken to see Jesus? Brokenness is a wonderful thing. Throughout scripture, you find that, you remember in the previous chapter, sorry, not the previous chapter, same chapter, before he speaks about the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying, you see a picture of that earlier on. 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 or 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 is always brokenness. 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 story, 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 is no problem that God cannot solve. That is a 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 is no problem God cannot solve. So, here was a problem with 5,000 people, there is 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 verse 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 did the five loaves become 50,000? Not just by being blessed, but by being broken. There is 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 is one of the most common prayers that all believers pray. You are blessed and you remain the same. We also need to pray, Lord, now that you have blessed me, break me. Then five will become 50,000. This is the secret. Whether you see it in the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying and coming forth so that we can see Jesus more clearly. Or whether it is in the alabaster vial of perfume that is broken so that the odor fills the whole house. Or in the feeding of a multitude, it is 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. He can be mighty in Scripture, mighty in preaching and you are 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. Have you experienced 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 at 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 am not fit. This man who at the age of 40 was such an eloquent speaker, such a powerful man, with one hit, he could kill an Egyptian. Imagine 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. 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 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? Why 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 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 Samuel told him in 1 Samuel 15 22 does the Lord have delight in sacrifices or in obedience to obey is better than sacrifice and somewhere there he says when you were small in your own eyes chapter 13 15 17 ok thank you 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're not broken to be little in our own eyes is to become small be really small we possess the kingdom of God otherwise all you'll get 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 can't 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 I don't know if 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 an amoeba is so small no problem I can run in and out of it without touching the edges of that eye of the needle smallness that's how you enter God's kingdom you cannot enter the God's kingdom unless you can go through the 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 it's 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're 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 honored before men you got honored before men because you kept your mouth shut what is it you value that when you see that in your heart you're 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 my heart was still hurt and I'm thinking about it for the whole day after that 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 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 bothering God's allowed me to go down 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 he allows us to sin to break us that's not his best way God hates sin 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 make them work for their father-in-law and live there and they come out broken God can do that even today, sure make you so financially helpless that you got to keep going to your father-in-law for money there you are and God breaks you but God did not break 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 are 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 he'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 where 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 no 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 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 if Peter had not gone in he would not have denied the Lord it was John opening the door for Peter to go in that made Peter come inside and deny the Lord three times God knew Peter going in is going to deny why not protect him from that don't let John know that Peter is at the gate and Peter has to go away he doesn't deny the Lord simple but he would not be broken so no no no John has to know that Peter is waiting at the gate John has to go and speak to the sentry and Peter comes inside see the sovereignty of God in all these things sometimes you wonder God knew that I was going to commit the sin why didn't he stop me over there no he won't stop you because he wants you to sin because you're so proud you're so big in your own eyes he hates sin but he sees there's no other way to break you but there are some people even after they sin they don't get broken brokenness is so important in God's eyes that he even allows a person to fall into what he hates in God's eyes I'll tell you what sinning is like sinning is like falling into the sewage pit where all the toilets being flushed down the street you know what's in that sewage pit and you fall into that God says you got to fall into that that's how bad sin is and God allows that to one of his children because he says what comes out of it if you're broken something valuable has come out of it that's why Jesus said verse 32 Luke 22 verse 32 I'm not praying that you will not fall no that I will not pray but I will pray that after you fall your faith will not fail that when you failed and failed and failed and failed and hit rock bottom after denying me three times there you will remember that I still love you that your father still loves you and you can come back just like the prodigal son so why did God have to do this with Peter because he had such a fantastic plan for Peter on the day of Pentecost which is just about 40 days after this just about 6 weeks in 6 weeks Peter has to become the great man of God on the day of Pentecost who's going to preach a 15 minute sermon and 3000 people are going to get converted and baptized in the Holy Spirit I don't think there's ever been a sermon like that in the history of Christianity where somebody gets up and preaches for 15 minutes and 3000 people are saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit and 3000 Jews it's difficult to convert one Jew 3000 Jews getting converted and can you imagine if some one of the disciples went and slapped Peter on the back and said WOW Peter what a great man of God you are he said hang on I know what I did 6 weeks ago don't pat me on the back I know what a total failure I was worse than the whole lot of you 11 disciples it did not go to his head all that he accomplished in his life never went to his head because God did such a thorough work in breaking him and that day when he denied the Lord if God hasn't done such a work in you my brother sister you can live many many years and do many great things for the Lord in the church but you'll never accomplish what God wants to accomplish through you maybe because in some situation God saw when he corrected you or did something you got offended you got hurt and God said OK I won't trouble you anymore I remember once correcting a brother who used to be an elder in one of our churches not with us now and I corrected him in something one of our CFC churches and I said brother this is not the way to do things and he turned around to me and said he was 10-15 years younger to me he said brother Zack nobody talks to me like that I said oh I'm sorry I'm sorry I'll never speak to you like that again and I never did I never corrected him for the rest of his life I don't know where he is he left us long ago but I could see his life went down we are not willing to receive correction we get offended who's going to lose? you think the one who corrects us is going to lose? not at all we're going to lose so Peter was willing to let God break him humble him whichever way he chose and the result was not just the day of Pentecost till the end of his life he remained a broken man and I'll give you one example of that we read in the book of Galatians many many years after Pentecost many years after Pentecost this must be maybe 13 years at least after Pentecost because Paul was converted 10 years after Pentecost and then 3 years after Paul was converted it says in Galatians 1.18 3 years later I went to Jerusalem and I became acquainted with Peter it was the first time he was meeting Peter after 3 years and then later on after an interval of 14 years chapter 2 verse 1 he went again to Jerusalem chapter 2 verse 1 with Barnabas and by the time Paul had accomplished a great ministry planted churches and understood the revelation of the gospel and when he was in Antioch in verse 11 when Cephas came to Antioch a little later Paul was there I opposed him to his face can you imagine standing up to the leader worldwide leader of the apostles and you are 10 years younger than him and you got converted 10 years after him and standing up to his face and saying why are you why did you stop eating with the Gentiles just when you saw some Christian leaders from Jerusalem coming you didn't want them to see you eating with the Gentiles you moved your table and sat with the Jews you moved your chair rather you went and sat with the Jews because you wanted to give them the impression no I don't have any contact with the Gentiles see the Jews and Gentiles didn't get along too well those days and Peter sought honor and it says here verse 12 prior to the coming of certain men from James he ate with the Gentiles but when they came he withdrew and held himself being afraid being afraid of one group of Christians who were legalists and even the other Jews who were converted were carried away in their hypocrisy even Barnabas was carried away in hypocrisy Barnabas went along with Peter but when I saw this remember this is a young Paul who was probably about 40 years old talking to Peter who was 50 I saw they were not straight forward I said to Cephas in the presence of everybody if you being a Jew live like the Gentiles how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews we are Jews by nature and so on and he goes on and then you know the worst part of it ok he did that humiliated Peter in the presence of all these great Christian leaders and then he writes about it to the Galatians who are the Galatians an immature bunch of Christians can you imagine writing about the great Apostle Peter his failure to an immature bunch of Christians you see according to our human understanding we say you should never do that brother Paul are you sure you are inspired by the Holy Spirit writing to these immature Galatians about the failure of the great mighty Apostle Peter why don't you keep that secret and hide it all do you know how many Christians are governed by the thinking of psychology and human wisdom they don't know God God's ways are different inspired by the Holy Spirit God told Paul write about Peter Lord these Galatians are immature never mind write about them do you have that boldness I think most Christians I have met don't know God like that they think love covers a multitude of sins just hide it all but Paul was concerned about the Gospel more than about an individual even if it's Peter you see that in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3 also the Lord told John the failures of the five of those elders publish it to all the seven churches there are very few people like John who would do it today because they lose their reputation why you want to advertise the failures of those elders you read Revelation first three chapters read it out can you picture this the elder of the church of Laodicea sitting there with his wife and family and John's messenger comes up in the pulpit and says I've got a message from the apostle John and it is for the elder sitting here you are wretched, miserable poor, can you imagine how his family is feeling now I'm not finished blind, naked I'm going to spit you out of your mouth I can imagine some of the deacons in that church going up to him and say you shouldn't say all that in public why can't you just call him aside and tell him that privately human wisdom versus divine wisdom I have met very very few people in my life who have understood God's ways it says in Psalm 103 verse 7 the people of Israel saw God's actions but Moses understood God's ways because he lived in secret before the top of the mount with God God's ways are not our ways and that's why people try to build the church according to man's ways they don't build it they build a congregation God's ways are different brokenness never get offended let God break you in any way he wants and the wonderful thing I wanted to tell you about Peter was even though he heard humiliated in public and he also heard that Paul wrote about him to the immature Galatian Christians I want you to turn with me to second Peter see how Peter refers to Paul this is the mark of the man second Peter was little in his own eyes second Peter 3 and verse 15 he says regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation second Peter 3.15 just as our beloved brother Paul imagine he is quoting somebody 10 years younger than him have you ever quoted somebody 10 years younger than you and somebody who criticized you publicly according to the wisdom God gave him has written so many things in his letters which are hard to understand look at the humility of Peter he says they are tough I can't really understand everything but some people distort it there I see that is towards the end of Peter's life Peter says in second Peter 1 the Lord has shown me that I have got to lay aside my body now second Peter 1.14 he says I am going to die very soon what is his attitude just before his death he is little in his own eyes how did he become like that because God did such a thorough work in breaking him and he responded to it when God stripped the outer shell of that grain of wheat he said do it Lord make me small in the eyes of others if you will sincerely listen to me if you will sincerely allow God to do that to you to humiliate you in public or in private or anywhere and you say ok Lord I accept it and let God do a thorough work in you your life will be a fantastic usefulness to God till the end of your life brother or sister and if you young people can learn this from a very young age you should be preeding Lord you blessed me now break me break me put me in my father-in-law's house for 40 years if you like but break me do something but I want to live a useful life for you on this earth I don't want to drift along like so many believers easily offended another characteristic of people who are not broken is they always are quick to justify themselves Jesus said about the Pharisees in Luke 16 15 you are those who justify yourself before men that verse has been written so strongly in my mind you are those who justify yourselves before men and I said Lord I never want to do that in my life let the whole world misunderstand me I will not justify myself before men it's ok if somebody wants to believe something about me they can go ahead and believe it it's perfectly ok for me does it disturb you do you have such a lust to prove that you are not so bad as people think you are that you are more spiritual than people have given you respect for no if you die a dead man he is not interested what you think about him the fact that you are concerned what people think about you proves that you are not dead yet you are alive you are not crucified with Christ yeah this is the reason why you know so many people say Lord anoint me I've seen so many people are anointed with the Holy Spirit speak in tongues but the perfume inside the bottle nobody can smell it because it's not broken the light doesn't shine out we read in the Old Testament you read a beautiful story in Judges chapter 7 of Gideon his army of 300 he told them carry a earthen jar with you and inside the earthen jar put a light nobody will be able to see it but just as you go into battle break that jar and the light will shine out Paul takes that example and he says in 2nd Corinthians 4 I don't have time to show it to you read it we have this treasure in an earthen vessel but nobody can see it but God allows us to go through so many persecutions and humiliations and we bear the dying of Jesus in this earthen vessel and the vessel is broken and the light shines out it's the same message everywhere in scripture if you look for it it's through brokenness that the perfume is spread it's through brokenness that the light is spread so don't justify yourself don't get offended don't try to prove how spiritual you are I'll tell you one more thing be quick to apologize is the advice I give to married couples and I give to all people be quick to admit your error say I was wrong I'm sorry it was my mistake it's very difficult to hear those words come out of the mouths of believers I'll tell you young believers older believers to hear these words you're right, I'm sorry, that was my mistake I'm really sorry, please forgive me when was the last time you said words like that to anybody oh, we had to fight and protect ourselves so much and then with great reluctance we say yeah, I think I was wrong what conceit if you're little in your own eyes you'd have no problem or you've heard me say the wrong way to apologize to your wife or to anybody else if I have hurt you please forgive me you know the meaning of that I don't think I've hurt you but if you're stupid enough to think I've hurt you ok, I'm sorry if ever you use the word if in your apology that's what you're saying if you are stupid enough to think I made a mistake ok, I'm sorry but most believers I have met in my life apologize like that ok, if you think that was wrong, I'm sorry it's not an apology it's conceit because you're so big in your own eyes and you want to remain big in the eyes of others how much you have missed my brothers and sisters through all these years when your life could have been like rivers of living water flowing from your life to bless thousands of people trickles are coming out just because of one thing you won't allow God to break your pride your opinion about yourself you keep justifying yourself you will not apologize you get offended die to all that my brothers and sisters, die let God break you let that corn of wheat fall into the ground and die then you will see Jesus you will see how he allowed himself to be broken to be called all types of names and he never defended himself this is the savior we say we are following this is the one we say we want to be disciples of may God help us to mean what we say, let's pray I don't think we can ever get light on ourselves unless God gives it to us you can intellectually understand a message and you will forget it very soon what you need to do is to ask God to blind you with his light so strongly that you will never be the same again you know that song we sing I'll never be the same again that's what you need to pray, Lord I want you to do such a thorough work in me that I shall remain little in my own eyes, my face in the dust till the end of my life on earth thank you for these great examples I see in scripture of what you could do even with a man like Peter Lord I want to follow in the footsteps of such godly men work in my life you young brothers and sisters, start let God do that work early in your life God's got great plans for you young people but he'll never be able to commit spiritual authority to you believe me if you don't allow God to break you in your younger days and keep you small in your own eyes you sisters, God can accomplish a lot through you if you allow God to break you and make you small in your own eyes start when you're young Heavenly Father please help us give us grace give me grace give us all grace to keep our face in the dust to be little in our own eyes till the end of our life on earth so that we can decrease and you can increase in all of our life we pray in Jesus name Amen