(Clip) God Prepares His Ministers Through Brokenness
Alan Barley teaches that God prepares His ministers through a process of brokenness and contrition, stripping away self-reliance to cultivate true spiritual maturity.
This sermon delves into the ongoing struggle between the spirit and the flesh in the lives of believers. It emphasizes that despite being saved by God's grace, many still face defeat and struggle with hidden sins due to the lingering influence of the old self and flesh. The process of brokenness, as described in Psalms 51:17, is highlighted as essential for God to work in the lives of His saints, leading to a contrite spirit that has lost confidence in self. The sermon draws parallels to Moses' 40-year journey of being stripped of worldly wisdom and abilities by God to prepare him for his divine calling, emphasizing the need for believers to be constantly deprogrammed from worldly ways and aligned with God's unique ways.
Full Transcript
Spirit but the flesh is there and often in our naivety we believe that because we are saved by the grace of God that all areas where Satan could have touched us are all gone, that everything has just sorted itself out, that everything's clear and clean and it's all sorted out but often it's not and many find that their lives are still plagued with great defeat, find that they're involved in secretly that they should not because this undercurrent of the old self and flesh is operating. You see in the scripture we find that the method for God to bring the saint to brokenness is found in Psalm 51 and verse 17. A broken and a contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Now that word contrition or contrite is closely related to brokenness, it actually means in the original Hebrew it means broken or beaten to pieces, it means sorely broken, it means to be crouched, it's the picture of a person who has lost all confidence in self. You see I've said before the late Leonard Ravenhill said and many of his predecessors said that it takes 20 years for the Holy Spirit to make a man and prepare him for the ministry that God has shaped him for, 20 years approximately, took 40 years for God to make Moses. The first 40 Moses is displaying his own ability, he's displaying what he can do by the power of Egypt, the world.
All that the world has poured into him he has taught and learned in all the wisdom of Egypt and the next 40 God takes that 40 years to strip him of it all. As one has said to deprogram him and you know the more I go on with the Lord I find that the more I go on and submit myself to God and the teaching of God's Spirit and his word and to be taught by the Lord is that the Lord is constantly deprogramming me. The Lord is constantly arresting my mind and saying you don't do it like that, in my economy we don't do it the way the church is doing it, we don't do it logically the way that the church think that they imitate the world and that's the way it's done to get people into the kingdom.
God said there's a way and my ways are not the world's ways and we do where
Sermon Outline
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I
- The ongoing struggle between flesh and spirit
- Misconceptions about salvation and spiritual victory
- The reality of secret defeats in the believer's life
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II
- The biblical foundation of brokenness in Psalm 51:17
- Meaning of contrition as being broken and humbled
- The necessity of losing confidence in self
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III
- The example of Moses' 80-year preparation
- God's process of stripping worldly wisdom
- The concept of spiritual deprogramming
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IV
- God's ways differ from the world's ways
- Rejecting worldly logic in ministry
- Submitting to the teaching of the Holy Spirit
Key Quotes
“A broken and a contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise.” — Alan Barley
“The Lord is constantly deprogramming me.” — Alan Barley
“God said there's a way and my ways are not the world's ways.” — Alan Barley
Application Points
- Embrace brokenness as a necessary step in spiritual growth and ministry preparation.
- Allow God to strip away worldly influences and self-reliance in your life.
- Submit daily to the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit rather than worldly logic.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does brokenness mean in this sermon?
Brokenness refers to a contrite spirit that is humbled and stripped of self-confidence, allowing God to prepare a person for ministry.
Why is brokenness necessary for ministers?
Because God uses brokenness to remove worldly influences and self-reliance, shaping ministers into effective servants.
How long does God take to prepare a minister according to Alan Barley?
Approximately 20 years, as the Holy Spirit gradually molds and teaches the individual.
What example from the Bible is used to illustrate preparation through brokenness?
Moses' 80 years, with 40 years learning worldly ways and 40 years being stripped of them by God.
How should believers respond to God's ways versus the world's ways?
Believers should submit to God's teaching and reject worldly logic in favor of His divine methods.