Broken Chains

You can go ahead and open in your bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 11; we’ll start there then go to James and we’ll be covering the first few verses there this morning. Matt a few weeks ago asked if I would teach, and I think I’m growing because usually I’m like “yes”. But while there was still some of that nervousness, I feel like the Lord had already begun to prepare me for this teaching. And the Holy Spirit kind of warned me that it would be soon. And so I’m thankful to have the opportunity to lead through a bible study this morning.

A couple of different things have been driving the topic for this morning . Shelby and I have been married for almost 9 years now and we’ve been doing this thing every year where we’ve prayed about and have chosen or have been given a word for the year. Something just for us to focus on through the lens of the Bible. Something that has either been a theme with the Lord or something that we sense will be a theme. For instance, my first word was “word” haha. Thankful, today, peace, righteous, humility, repentance. And for this year, something I wasn’t and still am not super excited about is the word “broken”.

I’ve been pondering and seeking the Lord on this. And He has directed me in as much as I’ve asked Him to show me. Because my first thought was, “Lord, what’s going to happen? Am I going to lose my family? Am I going to be paralyzed? Am I going to be betrayed?” All of these questions about ME being broken. And what I’m realizing is that He wants me to understand brokenness in Him. Whether it leaves me “successful” in my terms or not, He wants me to know and understand His heart. And so He directed me to Isaiah. You can turn there if you’d like but let’s read starting in verse 11 through 20.

Isaiah 1:11-20

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample my courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The prophet Isaiah is writing to a generation of Israel whose religiosity had become the focus. Why were they still doing all of the things the LORD had commanded when truly the LORD was not their lord. The sacrifices they bring are not for the Lord; they had made it about themselves. They had missed the point of the law and sacrifices entirely. So we see the Lord call them out and then, as only a gracious and merciful God can, He offers and promises redemption if they turn to Him. This is the Lord’s heart.

In Psalm 51, we see the Lord’s heart as well. This is the Psalm that David wrote after he went into Bathsheeba and then killed her husband just to cover it up. Perhaps you know the story. Anyways, this is David’s cry out to the Lord because he’s broken over his sin. Specifically the Lord captured my attention in verse 16 and 17 when he writes, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” One of the first things the Lord has been teaching me about brokenness is this: that my brokenness is what brings me to Him. My brokenness God can work with and do a work that only He can do, and that work is to restore who I am in Him as He designed me to be. I want to avoid brokenness altogether, though. Because it hurts, and it sucks. But the Bible says that Godly sorrow leads to repentance, and that’s all the Lord desires, is for me to turn to Him. He doesn’t want sacrifice, he doesn’t want burnt offering. He wants my heart. And if my heart is glued together by my own hands, I won’t come to Him, because I don’t need to. God can’t work with it because I’ve done the work myself. But what the Lord wants is to restore my heart fully, but He can only do that if I come to him in humility. And when we do that, well, check out verse 8 of Psalm 51: “Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice”

Paul the apostle tells us in 2 Corinthians 12 that he asked three times for the Lord to remove this thorn in the flesh. Maybe it was his shortness. Or his baldness. Wait, don’t worry, I’m not talking about Matt. Ha! After praying three times to the Lord, God’s response was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul’s response is then this: “therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For When I am weak, then I am strong.”

The Lord allows brokenness for the sake of proving Himself strong on our behalf. For the sake of drawing out our trust and dependency on Him, who is a good father and Master, and the One who is in complete control.

Paul let the Lord correct His thinking. God answered Him with a no. And Paul received it. And installed something new in his heart of hearts. He let the Lord install a new IOS that gave him and understanding of the Lord’s heart and reason behind this thorn.

Do you recall back a little over a year now when we studied through Ezekiel, towards the end, Ezekiel was caught up and had a vision of the millennial kingdom, and temple that will be in place during that 1,000 year reign. In chapter 47, Ezekiel describes water flowing from under the threshold of the temple, and out of the temple. The messenger that Ezekiel is with brings him out of the temple and follows the water. Outside of the temple, Ezekiel is brought through the water to where the water is ankle deep, and then again to where the water is knee deep, and then again to where the water is waist deep, and then finally, to where one would have to swim. Matt, when discussing this portion applied this to the trials in our life and how sometimes it’s ankle deep. Our shoes may be wet, it’s a little hard to walk but it’s not too bad. Other times, just as Ezekiel was floating waiting to be carried back to shore, so we have no choice but to depend on the Lord. After that picture in Ezekiel, the messenger tells Him where the water flows and its through the land and to the sea. And the messenger with Ezekiel tells him that it heals the sea. And wherever the rivers go, every living thing will live. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more, the Bible says.

I want to make a connection today that hopefully will help activate the faith in you. As we’ve heard these last few weeks this theme of coming alive in the faith, we’ve heard that we can do that right now. Because we have everything we need right now. We can pursue and honor the Lord with our lives right now. I want to make a connection that perhaps you’ve heard before, but the connection is this: that this walk with the Lord, though sometimes it’s walking on water, sometimes it’s being dragged through it, our strength of character (the healing), who we are and who we become, depends on our dependency on the Lord; it depends on our trust in the Lord. Our belief that He is going to do what He promises. One of which is that He is always with you and me, and that He will never leave nor forsake us. Do you trust that? Maybe you know that. The connection is this: that who we are is driven by whose we are. And ultimately, it’s our approach to who God is.

I see a way of thinking today that I feel needs to be addressed because it’s a dangerous way of thinking for the body of Christ. But if we could change this, the rest of what we’re going to talk about today becomes so much easier. It’s pivotal. Because I think that the majority of the church, or rather, church goers are what Jesus called the pharisees in Matthew 23: whitewashed tombs.

Matthew 23:27-28 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

I don’t think that there’s anyone in the church who doesn’t start out with at least a true desire to know God. Perhaps some but the majority of people start out well. Just like the Israelites and the priests back in Isaiah, something had changed. They were missing something. They missed the point of the sacrifices and the law. They thought the law would save them if only they followed it to a tee. The same way of thinking exists in the church today. People are worshipping and but dead. There may be few, the remnant, who are truly alive. But they’re standing in a field of tombs. The hardest people to reach are actually those who think they’re in good standing with God. But have been lulled asleep by the enemy. An atheist is closer to knowing God that any religious person who is doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. They’ve been deceived. And when they stand before the Lord, Jesus says that they’ll ask, “Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not perform many miracles in your name.” And He will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness.”

I would submit that the problem comes in when we start thinking that our circumstances are directly correlated to works. There is danger in thinking, “my right standing with the Lord is based on the works I do for Him or in His name”. But that’s not true at all. My right standing with the Lord is because of the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s it. But this is how we think and it can be quite subtle. We’re going to talk about trials today, and often times, my mindset is that trials are the direct result of my disobedience or lack of faith. That the trial is coming my way because God is upset with me, and His favor has somehow departed from me. But this type of thinking sets the framework for a works-based salvation. Because if this is what I believe about my disobedience, what do I believe about my “obedience” or “works of faith”? I think that the blessings in my life are a result of me being a good christian boy. And usually the “blessings” are the material things of this world. Measured by the world’s standard of success. I begin to think that my circumstances are good so I must be good with the Lord. His favor is upon me. But in my heart of hearts, the connection is made that I’ve “earned” this or I “deserve” this. And from there, anything I do for God is about and for me. And then what happens is I become harsh on those whose circumstances are poor and I project onto them that “they must be in sin”. And then from there, I begin to resent the “sinner” and never have compassion for the lost. And that’s when I’ve missed God entirely. And then, when a trial does come, I’m weak. And I default then to questioning the authority of God, saying, “Have I not accomplished this for you? Did you see what I gave to the church?” And then I question His authority and power; but really He never had authority in my life to begin with. When the trial hits, I have no strength of character to endure. Because I’ve made this walk about me and not about the God who made me by His grace.

But my performance does not correlate with God’s blessings or trials. Now, hang on, I am not saying that I am somehow like Paul in prison when what got me there was dealing drugs. But I’ve repented and now this prison thing is a trial. That’s not a trial, that’s a sentencing by the American court system. No. A trial deals with faith in God. And actually, a trial may often times may not look like suffering at all. I would submit that it’s simply the testing of our faith as James says.

Before we get into James, I want share something I wrote down that’s driving this topic today as well.

I have a running list on my phone title “Seed thoughts”. I learned this from matt a while ago, just to write down the things that the Lord shows you. Otherwise, you forget. I mean, I forget. I’d be willing to bet that you have the same problem. Something I wrote down recently was on January 19th of this year actually. It says this: Trials produce strength of faith and character. If there were no trials, we would not grow. Like someone lifting weights without weights, just going through the motions of the workout, where there is no resistance, there will be no growth and no results. Like a boxer who just beats the air, without ever punching a bag or facing an opponent, where there is no resistance, there will be no growth. There’s nothing to apply the technique. Same with Christianity.” I actually added to this later. “You’ll never learn to move your feet in stride with an opponent, nor will you ever learn to dodge or block a punch. You’ll never get punched to know to dodge or block. You’ll never learn how to get back up because you’ve never learned what it’s like to be knocked down or knocked out.”

Back to this thought though; where there is no resistance, there will be no growth and no results. Your muscles, for example, only grow when they’re first stretched and torn. In the healing they come back stronger.

Let’s get into the text: James 1: 2-4

Verse 2

“My Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”

Count it all joy.

Stop right there. No matter the end of that sentence, as believers, redeemed by the blood of Christ, we ought to stand in joy. We ought to be joyous. God Most High has seen it fit to save you. To show his love for you and for me.

Joy is regardless of circumstance. Joy is hope lived out. Hope that is sure, because it is hope in the promises of God, the God who never breaks his promises, whose word has come to pass every single time. His word does not fade. What He says will come to pass.

Joy, for the longest time to me, I thought was removing emotions in order to trust the Lord. Because emotions, especially in our culture, cause people to do things that harm themselves and others. And emotions are such a focus in our world that I didn’t want anything to do with them. So, I said, “Emotions cause me to act unwisely, therefore, emotions are bad.”

But that’s not true. I act unwisely, because I lack wisdom. Emotions are part of God’s design. They make up part of who we are.

Joy is not omitting emotions and trusting the Lord. Joy is emotions under control, handed over to the Lord. It’s His will, His kingdom, you’re His servant, and therefore your emotions are His to command. Joy is a choice. The choice is to embrace the Lord no matter what, and in so doing, find peace and excitement for the things of the Lord, that He’s already given us more than we deserve.

Various Trials

The word for “various trials” just means different types of exams. It will look different for everybody at different times. It might be cancer, or a divorce, or even the death of a loved one. Those are the hard examples but they still happen. There are other things that test our faith as well. Maybe your house catches fire. My parents house actually caught fire a few years ago. They couldn’t live there for 11 months. Our house a couple of years ago flooded. Not only were we not able to live in our house for 6 months, but there’s just a lot that goes with putting things back together before you can even move back into your own home. Not only were we not there but we had to constantly be there to meet with all the people involved in the restoration. And so I was getting up early to go into work just so I could leave early to meet whoever it was so they could do whatever they needed to do. I remember one day, we needed someone to come to the house to inspect for mold I think, and they, like other service type work, set up an appointment for somewhere between 8am and 5pm. This dude, showed up at 3:47. It’s fine. So I was already in a poor state of mind. So I let this guy in and he starts doing the work, and then about 30 minutes later, he has the audacity to ask my what time it is. I said, “Oh. It’s somewhere between 8am and 5pm.” Ha! Eye roll. Probably not the most Godly response. But that’s okay.

Anyways, regardless of the type of trial, the circumstance, the difficulty, or the length of the exam, it comes down to our response to the Lord. Our response to the circumstance, our approach to any trial, is based on our approach and response to the Lord, our belief about who He is and what He has done, as well as our daily disciplined actions in either seeking or not seeking Him. We ought to come to the Lord in humility and boldness, knowing that He’s already paid for everything and is still on the Throne. Is He on the throne in your heart? That’s what the test determines.

In Hebrews 4:12, and in the other places throughout Scripture, the Bible, the Word of God is like to a two-edged sword. It says,

“For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of should and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

the Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. When we come to the Lord and examine the character of God as written down for us, right, the codified DNA of Jesus Christ. When we come to the Word of God and examine it, it actually begins to examine us. It’s a two-edged sword, maybe not like how you’re picturing a sword right now. It’s like a surgical instrument. That cuts deep to reveal and then remove the things that are not of God. It cuts to the core, the marrow, and not only gives the diagnosis, but can perform the heart surgery as well.

Let’s look at verse 3.

Verse 3

“Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

James 1:3

Testing of your faith

The proving of your faith. The word implies testing by way of adding pressure.

Back in middle school, one of the very first elective classes I ever took was an engineering class of sorts. And I remember for one of our projects we were supposed to build a tower out of balsa wood. There were points for aesthetics, there were points for height, but the majority of what we were graded on was how much weight the towers could bear. I think people missed that because so many went for height or for a cool pattern on the side. I didn’t do that though. I sacrificed height by using the materials to reinforce the walls on every side. The teacher had this hydraulic pressure machine, perhaps you’ve seen them. But we all placed our towers on the base and the machine would incrementally add pressure until it completely just crushed the towers. Most everybody’s towers only last a few seconds, maybe 10 at most. I’m happy to report that mine, lasted way longer, but that’s not the point. I mean kind of, in the sense that it was reinforced more so than the other towers, and it made a huge difference. But the test itself is what I want to focus on here. I remember watching the towers and I remember the teacher even bringing up to pay attention to where the tower began to buckle first. The point was not to build a perfect tower. The point was to build a tower so we could test the flaw in our design. It was to see the points of failure. So that we could then revisit the designs and build a better tower for the next test.

Trials have the same purpose. It’s the proving of your faith by way of pressure. Pressure tests to find the points of failure. Pressure, like a drip drip drip that never stops. Whoa. Pressure like a tick tick tick til you just go pop. Whoa oh oh.

Pressure. Not to see if it’s perfect. That’s not what God asks of us. But He allows these tests to reveal the weakest points of who we are. In our heart of hearts. If we allow God to exam our hearts, or if He allows the trial, what comes to the surface, the impurities, are of what God wants to cleanse us in our lives.

In the heat of trial, in the heat of testing, the impurities are the parts of our hearts that we keep in darkness, we suppress in unrighteousness. These are the things that we do have power over by His Spirit. But we harbor them in our hearts. But just like the seed of faith that God has given us, everything pertaining to life and Godliness, the flesh throws out its own seeds. It has its own hooks. And coupled with the whispers of the enemy and the pressure of the world, the hooks are irresistible to our flesh.

So often when we are walking in the Spirit, the world throws out something to trip us up. Someone, who isn’t your spouse, walks by, and their face is beautiful. And the flesh says, “Aren’t you curious about the rest of what they look like?” Right there, that is the test. the Bible says to take every thought captive. That means to not give it the legs that it wants you to give it. Don’t entertain it. Shut it out. But the flesh, it knows you. It’s like big data, it delivers exactly what you want. And once you even just talk about it, Siri sends you all of the ads. Turn on Pop-up Blockers.

There have been thoughts you’ve had that absolutely disgust you, I’m sure of it. Because afterwards, you’re like, “I can’t believe I had this thought”. And immediately you snuff it out. Because it vexes you. And so you become aggressive towards it and you don’t allow it to take root. You have the power, by the Holy Spirit, to do that with these thoughts that are tailored towards who you were in the flesh. But instead, we let it manifest in our minds, and then eventually our actions. We give it life. Something that is indeed death and causes death, we breathe life into it.

And that’s the point of failure. How many times does God accept that failure? Well, that’s a good question. And honestly, you have to take that to the Lord. But He is patient and merciful. He allows us to fail to the point of rock bottom sometimes, until we finally look up and hand Him everything. That’s how we ought to come to Him, is in brokenness.

This is the mind picture that God gives me. When I fail, I become so broken over my sin, that it paralyzes me. But God breathes life into me by reminding me of His grace. He desires a broken and contrite heart. He says, “Come let us reason together.” In response, I hand Him my heart wrapped with the chains that bind me. He breaks them both, picks out the pieces of my heart, restores it, and hands it back to me. He also hands me the chains as a reminder of what He’s done for me, a reminder of what used to keep me from Him, and now has no power over me.

It’s up to me to walk in that, to remember what He’s done. Though often times I bring the pieces of the chains back to the enemy to reforge.

The Lord knows exactly what it’ll take for me to come to Him. Sometimes it’s rock bottom.

“It pleased the Father to bruise His Son.” Why? Because Jesus’ sacrifice restored many sons to glory the Bible says. We are made sons and daughters, redeemed for an eternity by the blood of Christ.

The trial produces a result that is more like Christ than the person you were going into the trial. Rejoice in that God sees fit to shape you into the image of His Son. That you’ve been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ, which is proof that you are indeed sealed by the Spirit. That God has indeed given you everything you need, that seed of faith, to grow you into the person He designed you to be.

When you plant a seed (or rather, when you want a plant that gives you food, or shade, or firewood, or even just oxygen), you can’t just throw a seed anywhere. You have to find the right environment, the right soil, somewhere there is sunlight, and somewhere there is water. The very first thing to do is to break up the soil. The dirt has become crusty, it’s become hardened and the only way for the conditions to be right is to till up the soil. To break up the ground.

But what is that in my life? That is to humble yourself before the Lord and ask for Him to enter into your life. To give you everlasting life, or for the believer, to give you understanding, wisdom, strength, and the desire to walk in righteousness. And so He does. He brakes up the ground and enters in. That is repentance by the way. Coming to the Lord. And when we have allowed the Lord to enter this part of who we are, He begins to water us with the Word. He’s already given us everything we need for life. Life eternal, yes, but life abundant starting now.

The trial produces patience, James writes.

Patience - long suffering, steadfastness, constancy, endurance. - fruit of the Spirit - this is love

This is the result when we allow love to permeate the situation, when we know that by God’s love we’ve already overcome this testing. And when love enters, it restores the broken pieces of our hearts, and pushes out the things that are not love, that are not good, that are not God.

Trials produce strength of faith and character, all the while proving the faith God has placed in us. If there were no trials, we would not grow. If the ground wasn’t broken up, or if it was flooded with water, or if it was scorched by the sun, the conditions would not produce life, there would be no growth.

Like someone lifting weights without weights, just going through the motions of the workout, where there is no resistance and ultimately no tearing of the muscles, there will be no growth and results.

Like a boxer who just practices the motions and beats the air, without ever punching a bag or a face, where there is no resistance, there will be no growth. There’s nothing to apply the technique. Sometimes it takes getting punched in the face and getting knocked to the ground to know what it takes to get back up. For those who follow Christ, it’s the trial that brings us to a greater dependency on the Lord. And when the real battle comes, which is what Paul “boasts” about in his letter to the Corinthians, the infirmities, the reproaches, the needs, the persecutions, and the distresses. You’ll be ready to depend on the Lord then just as you do now.

*BONUS if there’s time.

James 1:4

Let Patience have its perfect work

Wait on the Lord to bring you through this. Patience is dependency on the Lord, because you have forsaken the flesh and you’re suffering. It is the fruit that you will enjoy, but in the midst of a trial, the other food starts to look good.

But what does that mean?

Put it into practice:

Delegate your responsibilities in all other aspects of your life. The things that you can let other people handle that you are letting slip; let other people help you. You put yourself in a position to trust them to do what you’ve asked of them. And it’s hard, because in our society, no one takes that kind of responsibility to follow through on what’s asked of them. They just ghost you. But truly, that sort of dependency is the type that God desires in us.

Practical Application:

Listen to your spouse

Don’t interrupt anyone

Trust other people with the things you normally do so you can focus on the vital few and they have something to do that gives them a sense of helping you like they want to

Give your kids responsibility

Teach without notes: prepare, obviously, but let the Spirit lead and bring to remembrance everything He’s shown you.

James 1:5

Wisdom

I asked for wisdom from the Lord and He has granted it time and time again.

“You have not because you ask not”

“Anything you ask in my name I will give”

James 1:6-8

The Seed of Faith. We have everything we need.

James 1:9-11

White washed tombs. There is death around us; the people who claim they worship and serve God, but have not handed their lives over to Him.

A story of a little girl and her pearl necklace

James 1:12

When we hand these parts of our hearts over to the Lord, what he has for us is so much better than anything I could earn for myself, or the world could give me. It’s life, Zoe life, and the Lord is ready to breathe it into us, if we let Him.