Being A Vessel Filled with God

I'm very blessed and humbled to be here. I don't know why you keep inviting me back, but I enjoy coming here. Thank you. This is a second home for me in many ways. I'd like to begin by having us turn to a verse in 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2. I've been thinking about vessels in the last few months or weeks, maybe. I thought I would speak on that during this weekend. We read here in verse 20, 2 Timothy 2, verse 20. By the way, this is one of the last, if not the last, letter that Paul wrote. He wrote more New Testament scripture than anybody else. These are his last words, almost as it were. He's served the Lord for 30 years or so, planted churches, raised up other leaders. Near the end of his life, he's going to say a couple paragraphs later that he's finished the course in chapter 4. He's waiting ready to meet Jesus. He knows his time is short. But before that, he says, now in a large house, 2 Timothy 2, verse 20, there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared for every good work. This is our calling, dear brothers and sisters, to be vessels for honor. If I take God's Word seriously, which I do, I understand these verses we just read to mean that there are people sitting in churches today who are vessels for dishonor. And let's not assume that I'm a vessel for honor. Let's examine our lives and let's see. He says, in a large house there are some for honor and some for dishonor. And you should be one for honor, verse 21, if you cleanse yourselves from all impurity. The impurities that he talks about in the previous verse, verse 19. Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. I want to show you another story in the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings, chapter 2. And this story takes place right after Elijah is taken up to heaven. And Elisha is going to carry on the ministry. We know he receives a double portion of the anointing that Elijah had, because he saw Elijah taken up. Elijah had said, if you see me, you will receive what you asked for, which is that double portion. And Elisha did receive it. And now Elisha is on his way back. Elijah is taken up. Now Elisha must carry on the torch, as it were. Similar to what Paul was telling Timothy. Paul says, in a sense, I'm leaving. Timothy, it's up to you now. I've spent years teaching you and training you. It's up to you now to carry on the torch with the same passion and the same anointing and the same humility and zeal for God's house as I have. And my dear brothers and sisters and the children as well, we are living in such times. We've been blessed to receive teaching from godly men. I think of my dad especially and the influence he's had in my own life and in this church here. We've been tremendously blessed. But, if the Lord was to call him home at some point, which he might, if the Lord doesn't come before then, will you be ready to take up the torch? Will you have received the same spirit, not the spirit of brother Zach, but the spirit of Christ in you that you can now be a part of building up the church? That was Elisha's responsibility. I don't think he was that old when the Lord called him. Young man, but already the anointing of God is over him. And here we read in verse 19, 2nd Kings 2 verse 19. Then the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord sees, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful. So the situation in the city is nice, it seems like a nice city, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful. When you think about that, when you think about your life, you think outwardly it seems like my life is pretty good, I've got a good job, I've got some stability, my marriage is doing okay, my family is doing okay. But does the Lord allow you to see every now and then when you drink from that water, when you find yourself in a situation, do you find unfruitfulness, a little bit of a bad taste, a little bit of a bad spirit that comes out in your interaction with your spouse at home? This is the situation that Elisha was facing. And Elisha said, Bring me a new vessel and fill it with salt. So they brought it to him, he went out to the spring of water and threw or poured out the salt in it and said, Thus says the Lord, I have purified these waters, there shall not be from their death or unfruitfulness any longer. I would like you to remember this phrase, the last part of verse 21. Lord, I want to leave this weekend with this promise of hope, that there will not be any death or unfruitfulness in any area of my life anymore. No spiritual death, no spiritual unfruitfulness in any area of my life. This is what I'm leaving, I'm coming here for this weekend for the Lord to speak to me, to receive a little bit more of His Spirit so that there will be no more death, no more unfruitfulness in any area of my life. Those areas that only you know about. And you see three things here that I like to speak on in the three sessions that I'll be speaking. First of all, a new vessel. It wasn't something old, it had to be a new vessel. Secondly, he filled it. And thirdly, he poured it out. A new vessel filled and poured out. We look at those three things. You know this verse, but I'd like you to see it. So we read it together, it's in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. See, God doesn't take anything that's old and reuse it. He always starts with a new creation. And that happened all the way back, you read in Genesis chapter 1, when the earth was formless and void, God had to remake it. It was a new earth, as it were. And then we read in the book of Revelation that He's making a newer earth, if you will. The new earth, which is coming. It's going to look nothing like this old earth. I don't think there will be continents and all this stuff that we knew. It will be a new earth. It won't be a remodeled earth. And the reason that's important is because often in our Christian life, we're trying to have God remodel our life. And say, Lord, I've got a pretty good life. I've kind of got things in order. I went to college and I studied this and I studied that. And I met the girl I liked or the man I liked. And we got married and we've got this nice little thing going. And we found a little cozy place in this church that we like. Can you remodel my pretty good life and make it a little bit more pleasing to you? And God says, No, I can't do that. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 says, If anyone is in Christ, the old is dead. The old has passed away. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things have passed away. All things have become new. Which means, Santosh must have had to completely die if I'm in Christ. Now, I think for all of you who are born again. You say, Yeah, I remember the day I was born again. I've been walking with the Lord. I'm in Christ. Let me ask you. By the test of this verse, are you really in Christ? By the test of 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, which is the only test that matters. Are you really in Christ? Has the old passed away? Or is it a mixture? A mixture of the old and the new? I won't tell you that. I'll let God's word tell you that. That's not Christ. It's another Jesus. Where you can bring in the old. Have it a little bit remodeled. And have a pretty good life. And this is going on in Christendom all over the place. See, the Lord will not share his glory with another. You read that. Isaiah 42 verse 8. I will not share my glory with another. If I could get to heaven with a remodeled Santosh. Where, okay, I didn't go out and murder anybody. I didn't do all those really horrible things. I wasn't a terrorist. I wasn't one of those horrible people. I had a pretty decent life. Yeah, I did some bad things. And God cleaned them up. And put a wrapping of Christ around Santosh on the inside. And I stand before God at the end of my life. I could still take a little bit of glory for that. There was something good in me that I stood before God at the end of my life. And said, yeah, I was pretty good, Lord. I did it. I made it. After I was born. Or maybe you had a sinful life. But then you grit your teeth. And you fought hard. And you obeyed all the rules. And you read your Bible. And you finished reading the Bible. And you raised a godly home. And you did all these wonderful things. And you say, look, Lord, I did it. Are you proud of me? And God will say, no, that's not what I was looking for. I cannot, I will not share my glory with another. This is God's way. So, you know, Paul recognized this. Even as I got up to preach, I was sitting there and praying. And said, Lord, I want to speak not in a way that has anything of me in it. I don't want to have a little bit of a cute idea I came up with. Or any gift or ability. I'm challenged by how Paul could do that. You know, Paul was a man of great authority. Let me start here by showing you a verse in Acts chapter 9. No, Acts 8. This is Saul, the old Saul. You know, we read 2 Corinthians 5. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. All things have become new. Here is the old things of Saul. Who became Paul the Apostle. This is Acts 8 verse 1. Saul was in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death. And there was a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Except the apostles. In verse 3, Saul began ravaging the church. Entering house after house. And dragging off men and women. Putting them in prison. This was Saul with great authority. From the chief priests. From the religious leaders. When Saul showed up in your house, he came with great pomp and authority. He had a badge that said, I have the authority to drag you and put you in prison. Now you read in the next chapter that he gets converted. Acts chapter 9, he gets converted. And then he becomes blind. This is Acts 9 verse 8. Saul got up from the ground after Jesus had spoken to him. And though his eyes were open, he could not see anything. He could see nothing. And he was led by the hand to Damascus. And he was there three days without sight. He didn't eat or drink. This is Paul being broken. The old things are passing away. Something new is happening. A new man is being created as it were. And then God tells Ananias to go and lay hands on Saul. And look at what Ananias says. After the Lord tells him, go there verse 12 and lay hands on him so that he might regain his sight. Ananias says, Lord, this is a man with a lot of authority. He's a powerful man. He could kill me. Lord, I have heard from many about this man. I've never met him, but I've heard about him. He's a famous man for the amount of authority he has. How much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. This is the old Saul. Now turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I want you to meet the new Paul. Where old things have passed away. The man who had authority. The man who could come into your house and everybody lived in fear and trembling. In fact, according to Ananias' words, his fame had spread far ahead of him. Where Ananias didn't even want to go anywhere near him. And now Paul, his name is changed to Paul, and he writes to the church in Corinth. Which is a church that he fathered. He planted this church, he tells them. And he says, verse 17. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 17. Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And look at how Paul preached the gospel. See how all things have become new. Paul is now a broken man. After he was converted, he spent three days and three nights blind. He says his eyes were open, but he couldn't see. Then Ananias, you read that story in Acts 9, comes and anoints him. His eyes are regained. And then Paul goes off to the Arabian desert and spends three years. And God is breaking him and breaking him and breaking him and breaking him. So that this man of authority, who had all power and wisdom. And raised in the school of Gamaliel, a theologian. He could argue to no end and prove you wrong about anything related to the law of God. In the Old Testament. And now God has broken him. Where he comes to the very church he's planted. And he says, to preach the gospel not in cleverness of speech. Why was it that Paul, who could have spoken with cleverness of speech. Paul was so articulate, I believe. Before he met Christ. He was so gifted. So scholar. He studied the scriptures so well. He was such an authority on God's word. And on God, according to the Jews. But he says, I refused to speak to you in cleverness of speech. Why? So that the cross of Christ would not be made void. It's a very, very powerful phrase. Do you know how you and I will make the cross of Christ, void means empty. You might think, Lord, I would never do that. I would never mock the cross of Christ. You know, I'm sure even in the world. If you mock a crucifix. People would be in uproar. You know, sometimes you hear about these weird, horrible art displays. Where they do something wicked. They mock the cross of Christ. They mock Jesus. They mock his suffering. I don't think any of us would be a part of that. But you know that it's possible for you and I as Christians. To make the cross of Christ empty. According to this verse. Paul, as an apostle who had planted churches. Was in fear that he would make the cross of Christ empty. Have you thought that it's possible that you or I might make the cross of Christ empty? You know how? By mixing in a little bit of myself. My cleverness of speech in how I preach the sermon. My ability in how I lead the singing. Something about me that I mix in with Christ. Yeah, we're singing about Christ. Yeah, we're preaching about Christ. But it's me on display. And Paul says, if I was to do that. I would be mocking the cross of Christ. Meditate on that, brothers and sisters. And see if in your Christian life. In your marriage. In your godly home. In the church you're seeking to build. There's a little bit of self that's coming in there. And I tell you, we'll see in eternity. That if we allowed that to happen. We were throwing dirt on the cross of Christ. He goes on to say, for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. See the reason. Think about it. If you were to present the gospel to an unbeliever. Would you present it in a foolish way? I'm speaking to myself here. I know when I speak to an unbeliever. Especially an educated person. I want to convince him somehow that Jesus is the true Christ. That he's the true God. I want to make my argument so well done. A lot of apologists unfortunately get caught up with this. Argue with the right and prove them wrong and all that. And Paul says, no I'm not going to do that. Because God forbid lest they should be converted as a result of my intelligence. My convincing them somehow. I would be throwing dirt on the cross of Christ. Because the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Let's skip down a few verses. Verse 20, where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God. Look at the wisdom of God. The world through its wisdom did not come to know God. So God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached. To save those who believe. Do you see that if you really have come to faith it was through the foolishness of the preaching. Foolishness of the message preached. For indeed Jews ask for a sign and Greeks search for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified to Jews as tumbling block. And to Gentiles foolishness. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks. Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men. And the weakness of God stronger than men. Verse 26. This is the kind of church we should be seeking to build. I want to say a word before we move on. During this weekend dear brothers and sisters. I think we face a choice. You and I could associate with the smart people. And the intelligent people. And the gifted people. And the cool people. And the ones that I enjoy the conversations with. Or you could choose who Christ would associate with. You could seek to be knit with those whom Christ wants to be knit with. And this is how it's described. Consider your calling brothers and sisters. That there were not many wise according to the flesh. Not many mighty. Not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world. If you are chosen by God you see yourself as a foolish thing in the world. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. And the base things of the world. You see the progression here in the spiritual life. This is progression in the Christian life. Foolish things. Weak things. Base things. Despised. The things that are not. Zeros. Let me read it again so you see it. This is verse 27 and 28. This is how you know that you're growing spiritually. You start out foolish. Because that's who you were when you came to Christ. And then the more you walk with Christ you become weak. Less trusting in your own strength and ability. And the more you walk with Christ you become base. Base means lowly. Base. It's what you stand on. It's a base. Lowly. Base things of the world. And the more you walk with Christ you become despised. Do you want to be a despised person this weekend? If you are you're probably becoming more like Christ. You went from foolish to weak to base to despised. You're growing spiritually brother, sister. This is God's way. To nothing. The things that are not. So that He may nullify the things that are. So that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus. Who became to us wisdom from God. And righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And sanctification. So that just as it is written. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. He goes on to say. When I came to you brethren. I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom. I could have. I hear Paul saying. I was trained in Gamaliel school. I could have come with all that superiority of speech. But I did not. Etc. etc. So I wanted you to see that Paul recognized the danger of his own wisdom. And his own ability. Now you and I. I think in Christendom. Face the option of continuing to pursue our Christian life this way. And that's what Paul warns us in 2 Timothy chapter 3. We read 2 Timothy 2. I'd like you to see this verse in chapter 3. After he talks about these vessels of honor. And vessels of dishonor. He goes on to say that. What do these vessels of dishonor look like? And as the time of Christ's return draws near. You see that these vessels of dishonor. You can summarize them this way. In 2 Timothy 3 verse 5. A few verses down from where we were just reading. That these vessels of dishonor will hold to a form of godliness. But they have denied its power. Holding to a form of godliness. But they have denied its power. So there are people. There will be people. And it will increase as the time of Christ returns draws near. Who will try to come up with this brand of Christianity. Where they create an unbroken version of Christianity. A version of Christianity that is still me. Underneath. With Christ as a wrapper around me. Still me underneath. And Christ as a wrapper around me. Now I don't know if you realize just how dangerous this is. Do you know that unbrokenness. In the presence of God. Is the most devastating thing that could ever happen. Think about it. If I'm unbroken. And I make it. Into the presence of God. You know what the result would be? You don't have to think hard. Because it's actually happened. There was an unbroken being. A long time ago. Who was in the presence of God. He was closer to God. Than any other being had ever gotten. Unbroken. And in a moment. He became the devil. Think about it again. Here was somebody. An exalted being. God had lifted him up. And given him a place closer to God himself. Than anybody had ever gotten. Have you thought about what that must have been like? Now think about you. If God was to allow you. Of all people sitting in this room. To come closer to him. Than any of the others. If God picked you by name and said. I'm going to allow you to come closest to me. But you were unbroken. In a moment. You would become the devil himself. So it's dangerous. The devil has already proved that. Unbrokenness in the presence of God. Has the most drastic of consequences. The end result of being unbroken. In the presence of God. Is that you end up in hell. Now. When I think about how I'm going to stand. Before God at the end of my life. And say Lord. Let me come near you for all eternity. And I'm there with a little bit of unbrokenness still in me. A little bit of Santosh still there. I deserve to go to hell. And hell is comprised. Of unbroken people. That's how I would describe it. It's not sinful people. Sin is just the consequence of unbrokenness. Sin is just the consequence. Of the fact that I still held on to who I was. I didn't want to really give up myself. Yeah. I wanted to clean up the outside. Maybe you are an alcoholic. And now you don't drink alcohol. Maybe you are a drug addict. And you are freed from that. Maybe you used to physically beat your wife. Or your husband. And now you don't do that anymore. Maybe you used to cheat on your wife. And you don't do that anymore. But is it still you underneath. With a clean up outside. And hell is full of such people. Good moral people. Do you think everybody in hell is the worst of criminals? Do you think everybody in hell is just adulterers and murderers and thieves? No. There are plenty of people in hell today who have never committed murder. Maybe never committed adultery. Never stolen anything. But they were full of themselves. Because that's how hell began. The devil didn't have to commit murder. He didn't have to commit adultery. He doesn't have a body to do those things. What made him the characteristic of hell? Self. You read that in Ezekiel 28. How did this person, this being that was closest to God and the moment he got closest to God because he was unbroken, he was cast down. Ezekiel 28. This is a prophetic picture about how the highest archangel became the devil. The word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, say to the leader of Tyre who is a picture of the devil. That says the Lord God, because your heart is lifted up and you have said I am a God. I sit in the seat of God. When God allowed you to come close to himself you allowed self to remain. In the heart of the seas yet you are a man and not God, although you make your heart like the heart of God. He says, look at this, you're wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that is a match for you. By your wisdom and understanding you have acquired riches for yourself. And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries. By your great wisdom by your trade you have increased your riches and your heart is lifted up. Therefore thus says the Lord, because you have made your heart like the heart of God I will bring strangers upon you and I will cast you down. Verse 8 I will bring you down to the pit. This is how the devil became the devil and hell is full of such people. Jesus picked exactly the opposite. We're told about that in Philippians chapter 2. I'm speaking about a new vessel. How does God make a new vessel? He destroys that old vessel shatters it and builds something new. Something that has nothing of the old in it. I wanted to start with this message because it's a good thing. I'll tell you brothers and sisters as I examine my heart I see that in different areas as if I allow the Holy Spirit to dig deep, I see that there are things that are of the old that are still there. And I hate it more as the Lord's been revealing it to me. If it's a little bit of the old Santosh, when I stand before him, he'll have to say I can't have that here. There's no room in heaven for even a little bit of me. It has to be all Christ. Now it's one thing to sing about and say yeah, Christ alone forever and all that but to still have that in my thoughts. Only you and the Lord know whether it's Christ alone in you or if it's a little bit of you mixed in. Philippians 2 we read Christ who was God and is God, has always been God. He wasn't elevated to be God. He is God. He's always been God. And after he saw this fall of the highest archangel to become Satan and then saw our fall in the same way in the garden of Eden it says that Jesus verse 5, Philippians 2 verse 5 have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. He says here I am God and I will always be God but I'm not going to hold on to this position. Do you know that God is not and I want to be careful how I say this the characteristic of God is that he doesn't hold on to that position of being God. That's what Jesus showed. Now God will never relinquish that position as God never lose his authority but the spirit of God is it's not fighting to keep its place. That's how I would describe it. The more you become like God even if God lifts you up into a position of authority you're not fighting to keep it. That's the spirit of Christ. Let's make it practical. If you were to become an elder in a church the real spirit of Christ is that you're not fighting to keep that and yet you see the exact opposite of that in Christendom. People fighting to keep their position and fighting to keep their authority and all these things fighting for their place. The spirit of Christ is that it does not fight for its place. You have this attitude who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or grabbed but emptied himself taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. This is the spirit of Christ and unless God is able to destroy the old vessel completely and give us the new vessel he can never pour his life into us. And so the end result of that is that we end up with a Christianity or a, it's not even Christianity a religion that looks like Christianity but it's not real. Let me give you an example you know, you all use money, we use currency all the time but because currency has value let's say a hundred dollar note it becomes a target for people to counterfeit. People make counterfeit money all the time. I don't know if you've ever seen a real counterfeit hundred dollar bill. I haven't. I've seen like monopoly hundred dollar bills that you can look at it obviously and say well that's not real but apparently real counterfeit money that's kind of weird, real counterfeit right? Counterfeit money that looks exactly like the original if it looked like monopoly money it would be obvious and what I'm trying to say is that if you were to see a real hundred dollar bill and a counterfeit hundred dollar bill it would look exact to you to you and I with our naked eye we wouldn't be able to tell the difference and it's exactly the same with real Christianity and counterfeit Christianity and you can they say that there's a watermark that you can see to compare if it's there in the original or not but even that they're getting better at counterfeiting all of that and to the naked eye, to somebody who's not really studied a one hundred dollar bill you could be given a one hundred dollar bill and it'd be fake and it has no power so what is it that makes a one hundred dollar bill actually genuine it's not the outward, because the outward can be copied what makes the real one hundred dollar bill authentic is who distributed it where did it come from did it come from the counterfeiters machine then it's fake if it came from the government of the United States then it's real, that's the only thing that ultimately determines whether a currency is real or not and it's the same with the Christian life if your Christianity is something that you've come up with because you didn't want to be broken, you didn't allow God to break you in that circumstance you wanted to preserve yourself you wanted to still keep a little bit of that and a little bit of the other thing and so God will not pour his spirit into such a vessel so you poured some of your own spirit into it, and you come to the church meetings looking like all the other vessels and God knows that what's in your vessel is just you, it's counterfeit he didn't give it to you I tell you the devil also knows that the devil sees he's operating in the spiritual realm not in the earthly realm and he can see who are the ones where God is pouring his life into them, and who are the ones that they're just coming up with their own vessels coming to the church looking like their vessels are also full of the divine nature but it's just their own self and this is why the essence of the new covenant is how are you walking in secret where nobody can see you sure it is who you are when the doors are closed and you're with your wife your husband, your children at home but even more than that, who are you where nobody else, not even your spouse knows what you think about and your thoughts about yourself and how you use your eyes and your ears and the thoughts that are going through your mind are they full of self have you been allowing the Lord to break you to destroy that old vessel completely so that you can have a new vessel and if not you can listen to all the messages you want you can be an upstanding member of the new covenant church and all that and use the language and all that everybody else could look on the outside and see what a wonderful new covenant Christian you are and God knows you don't have spiritual authority you haven't allowed me to break you you're holding on you're still stiff necked this is the danger you know that Jesus, after we read about how he emptied himself how was it that he overcame and lived a perfect life if he emptied himself he had to be filled again with that same life that he had existed all along we'll read about that here John chapter 5 how was it that Jesus as God when he became man so that he could set an example for us emptied himself of that ability to be holy on his own this is what Jesus emptied himself off we read in Philippians 2 that he emptied himself what was that that he emptied himself off because he was God for all eternity he didn't need to depend on anybody else to be holy he had the divine nature in him all along he didn't have to depend on anything else, he was holy you couldn't even tempt him and Jesus as God had to empty himself of that independence let me make it very very simple, there is only one person who has the right to be independent that's God himself and Jesus emptied himself of that right to be independent, to be holy on his own to have his own holiness because it was the divine nature and he became a man dependent on his father for holiness now, that's what he emptied himself off, so he came with an empty vessel and now from the day he was born, the father had to fill his vessel with the divine nature keep it full of, depending on his father, always leaning on the father we read that, it's not just now you won't hear this in many churches unfortunately, but it's right here in God's word if you read it carefully, John 5 we'll begin reading in verse 26 John 5 verse 26 just as the father has life in himself now this was also true about Jesus before he came down to this earth, but he emptied himself of that, we read in Philippians 2 so now it's the father who has life in himself, even so he gave to the son to have life in himself you see the connection with Philippians 2 that we just read, that it was Jesus and the father and the Holy Spirit there having life in themselves in him was life, you read in John 1 but he emptied himself of that and now came down to set an example for you and I, in a new vessel as it were, so that as the father now has life in himself he gives to the son, you see that the life that Jesus had while he was here on this earth to live free of lust free of anger, free of anything that's not of God, was a life that was given to him, he didn't have it in himself it's so important for us to know that, not just intellectually but do you find brothers and sisters that in your own private life that it's you trying to live like Jesus in your own strength you're living in your own strength and the life that is being manifest to your wife is not a life that you've been given, it's a life that you've managed to create of being a good husband and speaking more respectfully to your husband or wife than you used to and not going on those internet sites like you used to and not losing your temper in that situation like you used to, you've created a life of your own and this is what hell is full of and you might say well I didn't do all those bad things but that's not what God's path for our life is the Christian life is a life of receiving this life from the father just like Jesus received when he was here on this earth that's how he's our forerunner just as the father has life in himself even so he gave to the son, the son who never needed to receive anything for all eternity now emptied himself and put himself in a position where he says father I need you to give me this life and I want to tell you something that might shock your ears, which if you've listened to my dad it shouldn't shock you but if there was even one moment when Jesus never received that life from the father while he was here on this earth he would have sinned now we have to be careful not to go down that path could he have sinned, you know all these things, that's beyond our understanding so I won't go beyond that but he was tempted in all points as we are, that's what we're told in Hebrews 4, yet without sin, he was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin what was the temptation you know you say was Jesus ever tempted with road rage you know it's a hypothetical question what was road rage like in the in the land of Israel 2000 years ago, were the carts driving so fast and they're trying to overtake each other you know, I don't know but obviously he didn't deal with road rage like we do the temptation for it when it says Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, you know what the essence of that temptation was he was tempted for even that even for a second he wouldn't be dependent on his father for that life even for one second that was the temptation you see how it changes now, how I battle temptation, I realize that temptation is not about, oh I don't want to look at that woman who's walking by, I don't want to have that thought, I don't want to get impatient I don't want to lose my temper, no I don't want to live for even one second not being dependent on you father and then you will live free of sin, that's how Jesus lived, look at the few verses earlier in verse 21 John 5 verse 21 now just as the father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the son also gives this same life to whom he wishes this is how Jesus is our example, he came down to this earth, emptied himself and said father I'm going to prove for Santosh's sake and for your sake that I can live here on this earth as a new vessel, emptied dependent on you fully every single moment of my 33 and a half years that you've planned for my life 100% dependent on you so that Santosh can take courage from that and say Lord if you could do it for Jesus, then you can do it for me as well listen carefully it's not if Jesus could do it I can do it too if the father could do it for Jesus, the father can do it for me too, you see the emphasis, I need to back up and say that again it's not Jesus overcame sin, so now I'm going to overcome sin as well it's the father kept Jesus from sinning and the same father is going to keep me from sinning as well right, because it's the same father who preserved Jesus all along now it's not up to me anymore, I just say Lord I yield myself to you in the same way that Jesus yielded himself to you father when he was here on this earth you kept him, I know you can keep me now that's what Jude says right, to him who is able to keep you from falling, why? because he proved it when he kept Jesus from falling as well, now this is not to diminish the deity of Christ at all he was always God, will always remain God but he had to be made like us, you read that? Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10 Hebrews 2 verse 10 for it was fitting for him that is the father it was fitting, it was appropriate you can say it was the right thing to do for the father for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons, there is your name written there sons and daughters, girls and sisters you can take courage to, many children you can say, many sons and daughters to glory it was fitting for the father to whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing all of us, many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings and what was the suffering what do you think Jesus suffered the most when he was hung on the cross is that what you think of when you think about the sufferings of Christ no, that was just the last of his sufferings you can say the sufferings of Christ were this essentially, do your own will Jesus that's a suffering isn't it, think about it what is the suffering that you and I face, most of us, I don't think any of us will ever be crucified, they don't do that anymore, so it's not crucifixion the sufferings of Christ the sufferings that Christ suffered that you and I are called to be a partaker of is, Santosh, do your own will in this situation, even if it's a good thing maybe you're not going to go out and do something evil but just do that good thing in your own strength that's a suffering to deny that, to say I refuse to, and if there's anybody who was qualified to do it in his own strength it was Jesus wasn't it, he had never sinned, if Jesus had done, let me ask you this question if Jesus had done anything in his own strength at the age of 30 would it have been bad think about it again, if Jesus had done anything at the age of 30 but it was in his own strength, would it have been bad, of course it wouldn't have been bad because he had never sinned it wouldn't have been bad, but it would have been his own strength and that was what he came here to demonstrate, that he would never do anything in his own strength, why am I belaboring this point, because I see dear brothers and sisters that you and I face two choices I know you want to live a holy life I know you want to have a godly marriage you want to have godly children, you want to be patient, you want to be long suffering, you want to love your enemies and all that, but you and I face two ways of doing it, it could be the counterfeit $100 bill or the real thing and you could void the cross of Christ with your wonderfully accurate new covenant life, because it's a counterfeit and the only way to please Christ, the only way to please God is by living this this life by the power of God through his life that he's given us but he won't pour it into our vessel if he sees that it's still me and so he must break this vessel, he must shatter this vessel I want to look at a couple of stories in the Old Testament about the breaking so you say ok, I get this, I need this new vessel, how can I get it from God? I'll tell you this, I've seen from my own life, I see that this is a principle in God's universe that the only way he can give us this new vessel with which he can begin his work is if he breaks us breaks the old, it's a painful experience and you and I have probably all been through breaking experiences let's start in Genesis 28 with the story of Jacob we're not going to read the whole story because I think you know most of the facts but I'll just touch on a few points here that we'll see about how God was able to break these men and women and he will, if you want to be used by God, let me make it plain and simple children you can learn this at a young age if you want to be used by God the only way he can use you is if he's first able to break you because otherwise you'll still have that old vessel that old vessel must be shattered, completely shattered and some of you may have I'm sure all of you can testify you've had those breaking experiences, I want you to see why God has allowed you to go through that breaking and perhaps is still allowing you to go through that breaking because he wants to give you his divine nature, the only reason, please listen to this, the only reason God would ever take you through a breaking experience, it's not because he's a sadist, you know it's not because he enjoys seeing you suffer, oh no haven't you prayed Lord, do you see how much I'm suffering do you see how much I'm having to go through Lord do you know that your delay is just making it more painful for me, do you think he doesn't know oh he does but he loves you too much he loves you too much to leave the vessel not completely shattered lest you take that little bit of the vessel that is left and try to rebuild it into something that looks holy and he would have to reject it he wants to break you so thoroughly that there's nothing left of yourself that you can try to rebuild into a new covenant looking Christian life and then you come to God and say Lord you're shattered into so many fine pieces I can't do anything imagine if you dropped a vase and it was sort of cracked and it was an expensive vase, you could perhaps find a glue that could stick it back together and maybe put the crack against the wall so nobody can see it and everybody comes to your house and says wow what a nice looking vase they don't know that it cracked and you stuck it together and now you put the crack behind the wall, next to the wall so nobody can see it, this is what's going on in churches you know what God will do, he says I'm going to let it crack again and again and again until there's so many fragmented pieces that you think can't put that together and he says ok now I can really give you my life because I won't share my glory with another, you can't have any of self this is what Jacob had to go through, you know in Genesis 28 Jacob has just cheated his brother Esau out of the blessing and the inheritance and now it's time for him to run away, Esau hates him and Esau is probably going to try to kill Jacob and Jacob departs from there and at this point you can say Jacob he went from being a confident young man I think it takes a little bit of confidence to fool your father that you are your brother who looks completely different from you and even feels completely different from you Jacob said I can do that, I'm a deceiver I'm cunning enough that I can trick you, this is Jacob and now he's running away running away from calamity and the mistakes he made but he still wants God's blessing, you see that he meets God here in a place called Peniel Genesis chapter 28 verse 10, Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran and he came to a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and lay down and then he had a dream of the angels going up and down the angels of God ascending and descending we read in verse 12, the Lord himself stood above it and he spoke to him and said I am the Lord your God and verse 18 or verse 16 then Jacob woke from his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it he was afraid and said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of Heaven and Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and he called the place Bethel and then Jacob made a vow and this is what I want you to see if God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take see this Jacob is still full of himself he is not broken yeah he is on the run, yeah life is a little bit uncertain for him he is in a transition mode but he is not broken he says okay God I have got my own plans I am going to go to this place and I am going to make a new life for myself there, will you come with me this is Jacob taking God with him have you done that? I have I say Lord I am about to do this thing, can you bless me not sinful things but my things not God's things my way, Lord I am going to start a new church Lord I am going to do this other thing we are going to make this plan, will you come along and back me up and God says no, that is the old vessel this is Jacob and you know the story, he goes and lives with this man who becomes his father-in-law and that man cheats him God allows him to be cheated think about it for a moment don't you think God could have somehow allowed Jacob to find out that the girl standing next to him or laying in bed with him was Leah God could have done it, you know it is dark or whatever, you know the story right the layman cheated Jacob and got him to marry his oldest daughter God could have somehow allowed him to find out that this is not Rachel this is Leah God could have done it, no but God would say I am more interested in something else, I want to break you Jacob so I am going to allow you to go through the whole night not even realize you married the wrong girl wake up in the morning and say hold on, what happened, I got cheated because God is saying I am going to break you, I am going to break you so thoroughly, I am going to allow you to be cheated you know God will allow you to be cheated have you ever been cheated of money perhaps somebody took advantage of you God will allow you to be spoken falsely falsely accused you think God why are you allowing them to say all these things about me because he loves you brother sister because he wants to break you so thoroughly he wants to use the evil that people will do against you for your good for his glory for his honor so that you will be a vessel of honor not stuck with the old vessel unbroken and by the time Jacob 20 years or so he was in with his father-in-law by the time he comes back you can skip ahead to chapter 32 it is a different Jacob he meets God again Genesis 32 verse 24 before Jacob is left alone again it is like he has come full circle I don't think it was the same place but he was alone on his way there unbroken spent 20 years being broken by God and now he is on his way back and he is still alone Jacob was left alone he sent his family ahead and a man wrestled with him and this time Jacob is not saying okay Lord I am going back now I want you to come with me he is saying I want you this man Jacob was wrestling why was Jacob wrestling with this man I can't just walk away from this place with the blessing of God I want God himself that is the picture for us and when he saw that he had not prevailed against him when the angel saw that he was the man saw that he couldn't prevail against Jacob he touched the socket of his thigh so that the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated and while he wrestled with him then he said let me go for the day of dawn is breaking and Jacob said I will not let you go unless you bless me this is a broken Jacob and now when Jacob leaves this place he has got a limp are there limps in your life leaning on a crutch because God took you through a circumstance took you through a painful experience and you still have the scars of it Jacob limped till the end of his life God never healed him of that dislocated hip why? because it was a picture for him and for you and I of the breaking that God wants to do the same thing happens to Moses turn over to Exodus chapter 2 again you know these stories but I want you to see the example were shown in God's word and through these Old Testament stories of how God can use us and how he can only use us when he is able to fully break us shatter us so completely that we will never pick up those pieces again imagine that vase the next time you go through an experience where you feel like God is breaking you if he is still allowing it, remember he is your father he loves you that will never change he is sovereign in control of all circumstances and that too will never change a sovereign God who is your father if he is allowing you to be broken and reach frustration and hit brick wall after brick wall after brick wall and something else that you are praying for is not working out why? because there is a little bit more of, there is still enough of the old vessel remaining that you might try to use it that's why and let God shatter it so completely into so many fragments that you give up and say Lord I have given up all those plans and agendas all of myself is completely gone and God says ok now I can give you my life Exodus chapter 2 we read about Moses how in verse 11 it came about in those days Moses the gifted confident man he's got a good heart he's got a good heart you know it says that he forsook the riches of Egypt to be identified with the people of Israel his brothers, he knew they were his brothers and so in his good heart this gifted man Moses, it came about in those days when Moses had grown up that he went out to his brethren with compassion he says Lord I feel sorry for my brothers and sisters can I do something out of my large heartedness let me do something for you and for the people who are suffering you think God is that that's detestable to God pause for a moment and examine what Moses is about to do, he could have forsaken his people and just say thank you Lord for allowing me to be set free from that life of slavery I've got a comfortable life in Egypt in the palace live in luxury get anything I want for the rest of my life Moses was compassionate he saw his people he knew they were his brothers and sisters and he went out there, he didn't have to leave the palace you know they were out in the land of Gershon so he had to travel some distance what took Moses there? Compassion is it possible that compassion could be ugly in God's sight? Think about it brothers and sisters, in all the compassion you have in wanting to build a church and reach the lost and help the poor and all those things do you think that compassion could be detestable in God's eyes? Yes if it's you, and that's how it was for Moses and God was going to allow Moses this very compassion that he had to hit such a brick wall that he had to run from Egypt completely, you'll read about it, so it says that he went up to his brethren and he looked on their hard labors and I believe he felt sorry for them, I imagine a tear going down Moses eyes and thinking Lord I've got to do something for these poor people now I'm sure you and I are doing those things Lord I want to build a new covenant church here because all the lost around me I feel compassion for those who are lost and compassion is a good thing but if it's a compassion that's fueled by self it is the worst enemy to God's work so he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren verse 11, this is Exodus 2 verse 11 so he looked this way and that and says I can do something about this, I can beat up this guy and so he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hit him in the sand and he went out the next day and behold two Hebrews were fighting with each other and he said to the offender, he says I want to be a peacemaker for you, look at the compassion in Moses' heart and you know the rest of the story he has to run, Pharaoh finds out and he has to run and run away to the land of Midian and then he has to live for 40 years with his father-in-law, your father-in-laws are great for breaking people I have a great father-in-law so I don't say that with any but God can put you in circumstances that feels like somebody has the ability to irk you and bug you and say things that hurt you maybe it's a boss, maybe it's a neighbor maybe it's somebody else who just has a way of poking you exactly where it hurts and they know how to do it and God says I'm breaking you you know God could take away that thorn very easily that person that always has a way of nagging you or hurting you in some way, God could take it away in a moment but he loves you too much to take away that thing that will break you and by the time Moses skip ahead to chapter 3, Exodus chapter 3 you read in verse 11, now God meets him after 40 years of allowing him to live with his father-in-law Jethro Moses God says no, Moses I'm ready to use you, you've been broken it's shattered so completely how do you know, because when God tells Moses, hey Moses remember 40 years ago you were trying to save the people of Israel guess what, let's do it now and Moses says no Lord back when I had the vessel I could have done it, but you shattered it so much for the last 40 years that what do you mean, how are you going to make these shattered pieces useful for you God says I'm going to do something new that old has passed away don't even try to rebuild it, I'm going to do something new and so his response is who am I? it's the same Moses 40 years later broken man, who am I? no longer this confident powerful man that could kill an Egyptian with one blow he says who am I? that I should go to the Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt and then God has this dialogue with Moses, look again and God is pleading with him, you know it's like the man who was ready to go out in his own strength now God is trying to drag him into Egypt, read that dialogue between chapter 3 and chapter 4 you get to chapter 4 verse 10 and finally Moses says to the Lord please Lord I've never been eloquent neither recently nor in time past nor since you have spoken to your servant and I'm slow of speech and slow of tongue please send somebody else is that your mentality when God says hey I want to use you in the church and it's no longer your ability says Lord please Father please send somebody else, I can't do it I tried it 40 years ago maybe if you had asked me I would have jumped up to the front and said yeah I can do it but you've broken me so thoroughly brothers and sisters this is the only way we can build a church if we feel helpless if we feel completely incapable of living this life of doing it one more story in the book of Judges Judges chapter 7 this is the story of Gideon again stories that you know, you know why these stories are written yeah the children enjoy the stories of Moses and Jacob and Gideon but there's a lesson for us first Corinthians 10 says these things are written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come so there's a lesson in Gideon more than just that God won a great victory it's how he did it and how he wants to win a victory in you and through you you know the story that Judges chapter 7 it says the Lord said to Gideon Gideon had gathered what 32,000 I think was the number and he says the people who are with you are too many for me to give you the victory have you heard of such a thing? this is the foolishness in the eyes of the world it says the wisdom of God is greater than the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of the world this is the foolishness of God it sounds foolish imagine if the US was to go to war and they're sitting over there in the defense room no we have too many weapons our army is too big we gotta reduce the army it's the exact opposite of how you would think in the world the people who are with you are too many it's like God is saying listen you're too strong I can't use you this vessel is too perfect for me to be able to use it yet I gotta break it and so because otherwise it says Israel would become boastful saying my own power has delivered me verse 2 that's why it's too many I mean the same victory that God did with 300 people couldn't he have done it with 32,000 people of course he could have it was God who did the victory completely but if it was still the 32,000 they might have thought yes it was our strength a little bit yeah God won the victory but we were 32,000 and God says I gotta break you I gotta humble you I gotta crush you so much where you realize there's no way I could have ever won this battle and then God says ok it's done so God had to reduce them from 32,000 to about 10,000 and then down to 300 against I think it was millions certainly tens of thousands 300 versus this large army there was absolutely no way that Israel could ever think that it was their ability and my dear brothers and sisters if God is still breaking you still allowing you to hit frustrating circumstance after circumstance is because you're still too strong he wants to break you and he's not going to answer that prayer the way you want him to because he's trying to break you to the point where you come to such an end of yourself and you give up and you say Lord no way you could ever no way that I you could ever do this through me and God says now you're ready now when you reach that place most importantly don't give up you might give up in your own ability but don't give up on God Jesus prayed this prayer for Peter says Simon Simon Satan has demanded permission to sift you like weed but I prayed for you that your faith will not fail so when you've reached the end of yourself and you've given up in your own trying and you say there's no way I'm ever going to be able to do it but God you must do something still I still hope that you'll do something through me I give myself completely to you then God will pick up those not those pieces he will build something new so don't try to pick up the pieces of your past and I'm not trying to abuse the analogy either I'm just saying yes there'll be pain that you'll deal with and all that but let God do something new after he has broken you and this is you look at this Judges chapter 7 verse 16 he divided the 300 men into 3 companies he put now look at how they're going to battle the 32,000 men had swords and shields and armor and all that stuff the 300 men are like I don't think swords and shields are going to help us we're only 300 so let's do what God said look at what they have a pitcher and a trumpet now you face the choice your brothers and sisters to go into battle that you're about to face with your sword and your shield and all the abilities you have alright Satan I'm coming after you today my own strength I guarantee you'll fail I'm going to build a church we're going to establish a new coming church here because there isn't one we're going to do it I got my sword I got my shield I got enough people we got a little building we got somebody who can lead the singing somebody can preach we got brother Zach's messages yeah well let's build a church God says no you're too strong and finally you get to the place where he says Lord we're a bunch of nobody's ungifted but we got a trumpet and we got a pitcher can you use that he says yes so they took their pitchers their vessels and their put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them with torches inside the pitchers and he said look to me and do likewise verse 17 skip down to verse 20 this phrase really stood out to me when I recently read it when the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hand and what did they say a sword for the Lord and for Gideon what sword a torch and a trumpet this is the sword no human ability they couldn't take credit when that person died they know that it had nothing to do with their own strength all they had was a torch and a trumpet can you kill somebody with a torch and a trumpet no you can't can you win a victory for God with the little ability that he gives you no you can't God has to do it the beautiful picture here and they were destroyed the entire army they didn't even bring their swords to the battle I think this is what God wants to do in us he wants us to come to the battle without our own sword because we realize my sword is useless my own ability what is the sword I think I'm good for something I can preach or I can sing or I can do this or I can do that I can reach the lost I can do that other thing I can love my wife as Christ loved the church husbands let me ask you when you read in Ephesians 5 that it says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church what is your response you say ok Lord I'm going to do it then you can't that's a sword Santosh is going to love his wife as Christ loved the church and God will say ok go ahead and try I'm going to allow you to fail so horribly that you realize Lord I might as well be divorced and then you come to God and say Lord if I continue this way I'm going to end up in divorce you must come and rescue my marriage you must give me your life in a new vessel so that I will love my wife because I have your life in me it's not Santosh trying to love his wife anymore it is Jesus Christ living in Santosh loving his wife it's a world of difference I'd like to close with this little picture I'd like to put up on the screen if you can see it you know they say that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line mathematics will teach you that that's the wisdom of the world the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and that's kind of what I've drawn up there the distance from point A to point B that's the if you want to get from point A to B this is what you need to do go just draw that dotted line that's what the dotted line is here is the foolishness of God which is greater than the wisdom of the world this is the wisdom of the world I want you to see the foolishness of God in that next slide if we could go to the next slide this is how God gets from point A to point B does that look familiar now this is a graph I drew some years ago when I studied the life of Joseph and each of these points to me at least it's not accurate and it's not to scale like they say this is how God took Joseph to be the ruler of all of Egypt he started out you know you can read that you know Joseph's mom died when he was seven years old I don't know if you've ever lost a parent at the age of seven painful experience what do you think Joseph grew up what was his childhood like he lost his mom at the age of seven and then he lived with brothers who were unfriendly towards him because they knew that Joseph's mom was the preferred wife and so they treated him badly because of his mother and then on top of that Joseph was kind of one of those annoying types he was his father's favorite also and he always seemed to get the right answer and he always got the biggest piece of chicken and extra ice cream and he was pampered by his father and so you trace Joseph's life he gets this coat Jacob makes a special coat for him and all the brothers every time they look at it they mocked him and they probably taunted him because of it they hated him then he had some dreams and you see this up and down but you know the general trend is downward it seems like things are getting worse not better you know there is such a thing as the up and down Christian life where you're living in defeat that's not how God wants you to live but the up and down Christian life where God allows you to face some successes and then some disappointments that seem lower than anything you've experienced before that's God's way there is such a thing as the up and down Christian life in terms of God allowing things to happen good in your life and not allowing things to happen in your life that are good according to your own wisdom then his brothers are jealous of him they plan to murder him it's gotten a little worse they just made fun of him now they're planning to kill him it's getting worse for him and they're actually about to kill him and somehow God rescues him you see God is still in control you have to believe that I put a bunch of verses on there you take a picture of it or write them down or I can share them with you later on if you'd like verses that remind us that God is still in control he still loves you and he's determined to finish his plan in your life they sell him into slavery instead so it looks a little bit better than death you could say right slavery is better than death well what kind of a you know yeah sure but really God I was the you know my father was Jacob and I did nothing to deserve this so he's sold into slavery but then when he's in slavery he does God allows him to do well in Potiphar's house at least he's the head of all the slaves you can say it's a little bit better you know he could have been a horrible slave but God gives him a little bit of a promotion in the slave market his price tag is a little higher seems a little better but then he's falsely accused of adultery he ran from that temptation and just when it seems like life's going well God allows him to something else to happen he's accused of adultery and he was completely innocent and so he's thrown into jail and then he's so good at jail that he becomes the head of the slaves the head of the prisoners and then while he's there this butler and this baker come and he tells them their dream interprets their dream for them and then I believe he reaches that lowest point where he tells the butler something good's going to happen to you but hey listen when you get to Pharaoh's palace just tell them my story tell them how I'm innocent and I'm here and how do you think the butler forgot I mean just think about it in real life this butler miraculously in three days after the dream gets taken back to the palace I guarantee the first thing he'll think about is like this is what Joseph predicted I gotta tell I even promised Jacob, Joseph that I would tell Pharaoh about it but somehow he forgot why? because God said you need to forget I'm going to cause you to forget have you ever had somebody promise to do something for you and then they forget what's your attitude going to be towards them they say Lord you're in control you're doing something because Joseph hadn't reached that bottom point yet there was some time yet that God had to break him some more and plan circumstances on his life and then that very last point where he's forgotten and rotting in a jail cell in Egypt that in a moment he becomes what is the distance of time from that bottom point to the highest point hours after 30 years of suffering in hours he's at the very top you see God's way and I put a little bit of in addition to the verses you know that verse, let's look at that in closing Genesis chapter 50 these powerful words that Joseph tells his brothers the ones who were the prime cause of this downward spiral you can say Joseph saw how God had orchestrated the whole thing and now you and I God wants us to see in faith how God is orchestrating the whole thing so that you will rule with him and reign with him after Jacob dies the brothers are afraid that Joseph somehow because they're still carnal, they're still earthly minded they think we've done all this harm to him he has the power to destroy us, he's going to take advantage of it and he says no you guys don't understand do you see the graph? do you see how God used all of that stuff and I'm up here now he's brought good in my life through what you've done he says in Genesis chapter 50 verse sorry where is it 20? yeah oh yeah, Genesis 50 so they come to him in verse they bow down before him and says we are your servants, don't do harm to us, forgive us, we're really really sorry Joseph said to them don't be afraid for am I in God's place, first of all I'm not God to take revenge, secondly you, as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive if you can say that over your life all the harm that people have done for you all the disappointments, all the horrible things that have happened in your past, others meant it for good, maybe even your own failure you harmed yourself in some ways but God meant it for good, there's nothing that's too great, there's nothing that will prevent us from God being able to take us to this place except one thing and one thing alone and that is unbelief if you don't believe God can do this, if you don't believe that this is what God's doing it will not happen, according to your faith or lack of it, be it unto you but I have a bottom line and a top line, the bottom line is this, you must know this verse, 1st Corinthians 10 verse 13, you should know it by heart no temptation has overcome you but such as is common to man and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also so that you will be able to bear it, you can always be sure that any situation you face will never go below that bottom line, it will never be too much for you to handle God's in control, He's watching it this whole thing is in His plan He's still got it under control and He's watching the graph and it will never go below that point, you can be absolutely certain of that, because God said it 1st Corinthians 10 verse 13 and what's the top line, Philippians chapter 1 these are promises, all of those verses on there are promises as well, Philippians 1 it says in verse 7, no not verse 7, verse 6, yeah Philippians 1 verse 6, I am confident this is Paul drawing the top line, this is where it's going to finish, this is where I'm going to end up I am confident of this very thing that He who began the good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus He who began the good work in you will perfect it in Christ Jesus, so now you brothers and sisters, children God will take us through breaking circumstances and we don't know we're not in control of when and how and how long, but one thing's for certain God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we're able to bear, and He who began the good work in us will be faithful to complete it, Amen