Creflo Dollar - Where Does Brokenness Come From?
If you have your Bibles this morning, go with me to the book of Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. We have been talking about overcoming brokenness, and we're gonna continue with that today because, for the most part, we've been tryin' to define it, you know, what it is, and today we're gonna begin to talk about brokenness and how it relates with wholeness, and this is gonna be so very important because I've never quite had a series of sermons that I've studied that really impacted me as this series of studies. I thought that I would wait until we could all come back together in church and begin to teach the series, but, you know, praise God, you're there. You're listening into it now, and I pray that you take good notes, and just follow me through this. This is really gonna help you out.
And for those of you who say, "Well, this sermon is not for me 'cause I'm not broken", I can't tell you, you're just so wrong about that, and as you hear and understand and learn, you'll begin to see that Jesus came for that very, very, very purpose, to heal and to provide wholeness in place of brokenness in your life. Let's begin with looking at, we've been trying to dish out different definitions of "brokenness", and I wanna look at it from yet another perspective this morning. "Brokenness it's the fundamental disorder", that's important, "It's the fundamental disorder that exists in creation that affects a person's relationships and behavior". "It's the fundamental disorder that exists in creation that now ultimately will affect a person's relationships and a person's behavior".
Now, I want you to really look at that word "disorder" because, when God created everything, it was good. When God created everything, it was in good order. And so I'm sayin' to you that "brokenness", from the perspective we'll look at it today is "It is a fundamental disorder that exists in creation that will eventually affect a person's relationships and behavior". Now, we experience it inwardly in a way that the apostle Paul describes as the pull between what's right and what's wrong. And so we know what is good, but sometimes we choose the opposite of what is good. Let me show you this in Romans chapter 7, verse 14 and 19. You know, the apostle Paul described it as a pull between right and wrong, and where we know what is good, you know what's good, but you seem to choose the opposite.
Look how Paul described this. Romans chapter 7, verse 14. We'll read verse 14 through 19. He says, "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, and sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I", 16, "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do".
Now, outwardly, this disorder is expressed by scandals of greed, sexual abuse, and even other crimes that seemingly are becoming ever more prevalent, year by year, but I guess the first question here would be "Where does brokenness come from"? "Where does brokenness come from"? Where did this disorder come from? Well, it comes from Satan. I'm not gonna even beat around the bush. It comes from Satan. It comes from the devil. The devil is the source of disorder. The world's way and God's Creation was good. Satan is the source of all disorder.
Let's go through the Scriptures for a moment. Genesis chapter 1, and in verse 27, I wanna show you how this works. God created everything good. God is a good God. He created everything good. And I'm defining "brokenness" as "a fundamental disorder that exists in creation that affects a person's relationship and eventually will affect that person's behavior". Well look at Genesis 1:27. For example, he says, "So God created man in his image, his own image, and in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them". And then, in Genesis chapter 2, and verse 7, it says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul". But then, in Genesis 1:31, "And God saw everything that he had made", you just see he made man and woman. "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day".
So everything God made, from man to woman, to earth, everything that God made, he said it was very, very good. And then, to take it a little step further, if you look in Luke chapter 18, Luke chapter 18, in verse 19, verse 19, says this. He says, "And Jesus said unto him, 'Why callest thou me good? None is good, except one, that is, God". So God says everything he's created is good. Man was created good. Woman was created good. The earth was created good. And then Jesus declared of the Father that God is good. So one of the things you've got to understand is that the fundamental disorder that exists in Creation did not come from God. The fundamental disorder that exists in Creation that will eventually affect a person's relationships and that affects a person's behavior did not come from God.
The coronavirus did not come from God. God is good. And so one of the things you have to understand is God... somebody says, "Well, God sent the coronavirus to humble his people". No, God didn't have anything to do with the coronavirus, but now that it is here, I guarantee you he is going to do all kinds of things in the midst of this situation, hopefully, which includes drawing you to him so you can trust him more than you trust the things that you have been trusting over the last several years of your life, maybe your whole life. So there are consequences for this disorder. There are consequences for brokenness. There was a fracture in Creation, the disorder that came by the devil, the source of disorder.
Bible says, "Satan cometh not but to steal, to kill, and to destroy". There are consequences. There are consequences that you're probably all aware of, but I'm gon' call a few of 'em out so that you'll understand that all of these consequences are a result of brokenness and disorder that came from the source of disorder - Satan.
Adultery is a consequence of brokenness. Alcoholism is a consequence of brokenness. Anger is a consequence of brokenness. Fear is a consequence of brokenness. Bearing grudges is a consequence of brokenness. Child abuse, whether it's physical abuse or psychological abuse or sexual abuse or neglect, it's a consequence of brokenness. Drug addiction or addictions of any kind that are hurtful and harmful is a consequence of brokenness. Envy is a consequence of brokenness. Evil speaking, I'm talkin' about talking about someone, even if it's true, that's a consequence of brokenness. Failure to forgive, and you, just, still can't figure out how to forgive, that's a consequence of brokenness. Fornication, sex outside of marriage, it's a consequence of brokenness. Failure to thank God and to be grateful, and to trust in God, that's a consequence of brokenness. Lying and belittling other people, that's a consequence of brokenness. Selfishness is a consequence of brokenness.
I can go on for the next 30 minutes and talk about all of the consequences of brokenness, all of the things that showed up because of disorder and a fracture that came into our world, the fundamental disorder that exists in creation that affects a person's relationship and will eventually affect that person's behavior - brokenness. And now that brokenness of man, that disorder that cause brokenness that's in a man, that disorder that cause a fracture in a man, that disorder that cause this disorder, even in how God created man, one of the things we understand about the brokenness of man, that in this world, broken things are despised.
Broken things in this world are thrown out. In this world, damaged goods are rejected, and that includes people. In this world, when people meet people who are fractured or are broken in an area, they consider them like damaged goods, and they throw 'em away, and when you're broken and you appear to be damaged or somebody's talkin' about you on the news media or doggin' you out in the circle of the church, people have a tendency to reject you. And while the world does that, and I can understand that, Jesus came with the answer for brokenness, which is wholeness, and God wants the church, instead of throwing away and rejecting what is broken, he has called us to the ministry of reconciliation, and, yet we still have a tendency to reject and to throw away what's broken in people. We still have a tendency to not wanna be around what's broken. We still have a tendency to not wanna have to deal with the brokenness that we see in relationships.
You know, if it's broken, we've kind of picked up the same thing the world has. We reject you. We throw you away. And I'm telling you, that it is not what Jesus died, so that Christians can reject folks, like the world, so that Christians can throw away what's broken, like the world. We have the ministry of reconciliation. We don't throw away what's broken. We don't avoid what's been rejected. We come, and we say we have the ministry of reconciliation. Praise God, we're here to reconcile you and to love on you, and to not throw you away. Oh, God, give us a church filled with people who can be patient with brokenness and hopefully realizing their own brokenness. Excuse me. Even in a marriage, when relationships break down, the tendency is to walk away and find someone new rather than work at reconciliation because that's the mind-set. "Reject what's broken".
My friend, Bishop Kenneth Fuller, said that "Be careful when somebody tells you that the grass is greener on the other side", because, once you get on the other side, you'll find out that they didn't tell ya it was artificial turf. It is so important that, as Christian people, we recognize that we live in a broken world, we're surrounded by broken people, and, yet now that we're born again, we don't treat brokenness like the world does. We don't reject it. We don't cast it out. We enter into the ministry for which we were called, the ministry of reconciliation.
And I can remember when I was being blasted, all over the media, you know, I thought my preacher friends would be there, and a lot of them were, and I thought that certain people would be there, and, boy, I tell ya, when people see you fractured and when they see you being dogged out, "Oh I can't deal with you. Oh, I don't wanna spend time with you. Oh, I gotta take my invitation back from you because I'm afraid that your brokenness will stop my success". I'm not gonna do that. My job is to reconcile when I see somethin' broken. My job is to reconcile when I see somethin' that's been rejected. Say, "Amen", if you can. Say, "Oh, me", if you can't.
You see, the world is full of people with broken hearts. The world is full of people with broken spirits. The world is full of people with broken relationships. But here's somethin' that psalms 34, verse 18, says, that, even though the world is broken and the systems are even breakin' even more now and that people are broken and relationships are broken and spirits of some people are broken, here's what he said in Psalms 34:18, "The Lord is nigh unto thee. He is near unto them that are of a broken heart". Boy, that's somethin' strange. We're tryin' to get away from those who are broken, and God says, "I'm near to those who are broken".
And then the Bible says, "He saveth such as be of a contrite spirit", because, ladies and gentlemen, I still believe that somehow brokenness brings you to a place where you have a repentant heart. I believe that there is some beauty in brokenness that maybe you didn't mean to get into that situation, but there's somethin' about brokenness that'll cause you to land in the hands of God, and even in the time of this COVID-19, hopefully, somethin' that's happened around you will cause you to reevaluate, "Am I where I need to be where God is concerned? Am I having the relationship with God? I used to have one, but all of the distraction has taken me away from that".
God is near to the ones with the broken heart. He's near you. And whatever brokenness you may be experiencing, here's what I want you to take with you today. "God is near me. God is with me". See, there's something about reaching a breaking point that causes the believer now to seek the Lord more sincerely. There's something about reaching a breaking point. There's somethin' about stuff happening that causes you to seek God. Hopefully, this whole shelter-in-place and COVID-19, hopefully, somehow, someway, it's caused you to seek the Lord more and to seek God more sincerely.
In fact, in Psalms 51, I wanna read verse 10 and verse 17. Psalms 51, verse 10, verse 17, you see King David was a broken man. He was confronted by the prophet, and this is what I call "self-inflicted brokenness". He looked in an honest mirror, and he saw his sin, and he saw what he had done and what he had committed, and he was broken. And here's what David prayed in the midst of his brokenness. This is what David prayed in verse 10. He said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me". That brokenness moved him to pray this prayer. And then look what he said in verse 17. He said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise".
Somethin' happens that causes the believer to seek the Lord more sincerely. And in David's life, the king, man, he would fall on his face and seek God with sincerity. Oh, my, what has to happen in your life before you can go and seek God with a sincere heart and you're no longer doing things to maintain your fame, you're no longer doing things to impress people around you, you're no longer doin' things so that others will accept you for validation? There's something that's happened in your life that says, "God, I'm sincere with you". Somebody asked me one day, "How do I define 'success'"? And I replied, "I define 'success' by having a successful relationship with Jesus Christ", 'cause there's nothin' in this world, there's nothin' I can get, there's nothin' I can do that can be greater than knowing that I had a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
So there are some things in our lives, I believe, that they need to be broken. I believe that pride needs to be broken. I believe that having self-will and self-motivation, just you, just you, and being moved by self, self-effort, I believe that needs to be broken. The stubbornness in our lives, I believe, it needs to be broken. The sinful habits that we have in the booth in the back, in the corner, I believe, those things need to be broken. And God, in Isaiah 57, in verse 15, God responds to those who experience brokenness by saying this in Isaiah 57:15. He responds to that brokenness by saying, "For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabit eternity, whose name is holy", he says, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humbled spirit".
What happens when you eventually humble yourself? Why would he dwell with them? "To revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones". I believe there's somethin' that happens, man. Somethin' that happens when those things are broken in your life. I believe God takes advantage of those things. And, to us, broken things are despised as worthless, but God can take what has been broken, and he can remake it into something better, something that he can use for his glory, takin' what's broken and make it better. Not throw it away, not despise it, but take it, look at 1 Corinthians verse 11:24 and 25. We shared this in our Communion. God takes broken things and make it better.
Don't let somebody tell you that your brokenness keeps you from God. Don't let anybody tell you that your fracture, you know, put you in a place where God can't ever use you because, I'm telling you, God allowed his Son Jesus to be broken so he can come and provide wholeness for all of us. Think of that. Think of that. Look at this in 1 Corinthians 11:24, "And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and he said, 'Take, eat. This is my body, which is my body was broken for you. My body was broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. My body's broken for you. My broken body, broken, so that wherever you're broken, you can be whole".
Look at the next verse. He says, "And after the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, 'This cup is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me'". He shed his blood for you. Think about this. God allowed his Son to be broken so that whoever is broken or whoever experiences brokenness can be made whole. God used the brokenness in Jesus's life to bring about wholeness in our life. All I got to say, right where you're seated this mornin', lift your hands up and say, "How great thou art". Wow, you see, Jesus's death has made it possible for broken, sinful humanity to be reconciled to God, made it possible for us to be healed, made it possible for us to be made whole. And listen to this: And without the broken body of Jesus, we could not be made whole. Without the broken body of Jesus, there's nothin' we can do that we could be made whole.
Let me share with you about four or five Scriptures here. Luke chapter 9:23. Surrendering to Christ. Surrendering to Christ and being willing to allow your self-effort to be broken before him. Look at what he says in verse 23. He says, "And he said unto them all, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself'" watch this, and then take up Jesus's cross daily and follow me. He says you can't do this, see, you know, how are you going to follow God when you think you know more than God? How is it that you continue to try to be like God without God? Unless that self is broken, how will you ever going to begin to walk with him and rely on him?
Look at Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 5 in the NLT; Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 5 in the NLT. This really, really blessed me. You know, I now get ahold of this prayer, you know, "None of me, Lord, and all of you". None of me, Lord, and all of you. I don't know about you, but I got so tired of trying to go to self-preservation. And right now in the midst of all of the pandemic, you just see so many people trusting in themselves and trying to go to self-preservation instead of going to God. When are you going to wake up and recognize that without God it ain't going to be right, honey? It's not going to be right. And I'm sure you think you got the power and through humanism that you can make it happen, honey, but there's some time, one time in your life you're going to recognize that there's no way. There's nothing I can do to get out of this, but I know somebody who can. It's him.
Look at verse 1 in the NLT. He says, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins", look at verse 2, "You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God". Wow. Three, "All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger just like everyone else". Four, "But God", there it is, "But God is so rich in mercy". God is so rich in mercy. Mercy is the bad you deserve you don't get. "God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much", look at verse 5, "that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God's grace that you have been saved". It wasn't because of what you did. It was nothing because of your self-effort. It was because his grace that you're saved. Surrender that self-effort.
Look at this Scripture: Psalms 34:22, Psalms 34:22. I just got to go to this Scripture because that's what you meditate on. That's what you meditate on. I'm telling you only when you would surrender to Christ that you're going to begin to be transformed and you're going to begin to made whole, and wholeness is something that comes as a result of what Jesus has done. Wholeness has already been made available, and you're not going to get the real wholeness, you know, people use wholeness, I don't know, sometimes they use it to show how spiritual they are or sometimes they use it to, you know, get people to show self-pity. But I'm telling you, real wholeness can only be experienced by accepting Jesus and accepting the wholeness that he's already provided in your life. Look at verse 22. He says, "The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate". None of them that trust.
When you trust in him, you will not be made desolate. And look at this in the NLT. Here's one more Scripture; Hebrews 12, verse 2 through 3, Hebrews 12, verse 2 through 3 in the NLT. This is something I hope will encourage you. I want you to know. I see what's happening around here, man. People are looking for everything to give credit to other than God, and we keep coming in talking, "We're all in it together". But all of us can be in it together, but it's going to take God by his self to get us out of it. Praise God. And I trust in God. I trust in him. Look at verse 2. He says, "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor, besides God's throne". Verse 3, "Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people, then you won't become weary and give up".
You think of everything that Jesus has gone through, he said, then you won't become weary and you won't give up. So God calls us and he draws us. God calls us and he draws us. He longs for us to come to him and to turn from our sins. Why? So he can heal us. Oh my God. Why? Why does he long for us to come to him? Why does he draw us and call us to come to him? So he can heal us. So he can make us whole. So often we're unable to hear God's call sometimes. Even though he calls us, sometimes we don't hear him because we're so consumed with a lot of other things. We don't hear God because we're consumed with our lives and we're consumed with our families, we're consumed with our works and we're consumed with our own problems, we're consumed with our own unhappiness.
And I'm not saying that you're not supposed to give those things attention, but when all of those things together consume you and take up all of your time that God has none of it, then it's difficult to hear the call or to receive the draw because you're so cluttered in your mind with all the things that are going on. So how does he get your attention? You know, we were so busy before this pandemic hit, and I'm not saying that God sent the pandemic. No way. But I tell you what. I guarantee a lot of people are hearing God call now. I guarantee a lot of people are now being drawn to him. I guarantee you a lot of people are in a place right now that they are considering and looking at things a little bit more deeper than before.
Why do we have to make ourselves a little bit more sensitive and God in the middle of this? Ain't nowhere to go, ain't nothing to do, and now you can hear God's voice. Yeah, he didn't cause it, but, boy, he will certainly work in the midst of it. He'll certainly work in the midst of it. God is the master, a creator, and he'll take, you know, the Bible says he's like a potter. He'll take the clay and he'll mold you and make you, but he also take the pieces of the other stuff in our lives and he'll stick it in there and mix it with all the good stuff and it all turn out good. And only God can take the bad and mix it with the good and produce something that's good. Amen.
So there's something that happens when brokenness takes place and we start realizing our needs, and we start realizing our deepest need is to be reconciled to God. I pray a lot of you have realized, "I need God". I pray a lot of you have had the time to go through all of the things you can't do and all of what you've tried to do and all of what others said to do and I hope that right now you get to the place in your life where you say, "I need God". There are things that are failing. There are systems that are not working anymore. You wish you can trust the government 100%. You wish you can trust some people you know 100%. You wish you can trust the things that you've invested in 100%. Some of you have savings that are gone right now. And hopefully you see that your deepest need is to be reconciled to God, and only then can we be made whole. Only then can we be made whole.
And I think that's a great definition then of meekness because the Bible says the meek will inherit the earth; that when we're ready to just do what you want me to do like you want me to do it. Amen. That's the power of this. So you've heard me bring up this word wholeness as we talk about brokenness because that's the objective. The objective is becoming whole. You're stuck in brokenness. But when you become whole, you can begin to bloom and blossom in the things and the will of God for your life.
You see, all of us at times feel a sense of brokenness rather than a sense of wholeness, and generally our relationships with other people and our relationship with God is the primary source of that pain within. And undoubtedly this brokenness is probably due to some type of deep, abiding pain that we're experiencing. We may often feel deficient because of an underlying sense of inadequacy, because we are simply not what we think we should be. And when we have that sense of, "I just feel inadequate because I just don't think that I am what I should be and what I could be".
We may have grown up hearing critical comments from our parents, from our siblings, and from peers or people we hung around in school and as adults we discover that we internalize those harsh statements and we have become our own biggest critics and as such we are often plagued by a sense of guilt that all are striving and all the things we do or try to do is never quite enough. Wow. And though we may appear to be successful on the outside, we feel conflicted because of the inconsistency of I-have-it-all-together image that we portray in the world and that I'm barely holding on, or I'm-barely-holding-it-all-together image which lives on the inside. And the reality is that many people, even with their greatest efforts, cannot portray the I-have-it-all-together image to the world and in truth they feel damaged all the way through. And some may feel defeated in their depression, some may feel defeated in their anger, some may feel defeated in their anxiety, while others simply feel incomplete in themselves and distant from God and distant from other people.
So where do I begin then to get out all of this? It's in the very thing that the world's tried to stop you from experiencing. It's with community that's in the church. I believe the church should be the community where reconciliation can be found. I believe the church should be the community where God's love can be found. I believe the church should be the community where the relational nature of God begins to show through us and then healing from brokenness begins to take place. And that's why I started off with we can't be like the world. We have the ministry of reconciliation.
You know, there's a real strange thing when I have to say this and I have to admit this; that while the church can be the community that can cause healing from brokenness, sometimes it can be the disconnecting place where sometimes brokenness takes place as well, and that's why I'm preaching this. Church can also be the place where it rejects people that are living a certain way and it rejects people that they heard went through that, and it rejects people because, you know, they were on the news. And it could somehow at the same time be a disconnecting place as well as a healing place. I want to change that.
I want to challenge every Christian that every time you're tempted to throw away somebody who's going through some kind of brokenness in their life, that you have a flashback to your own brokenness and God allowed you to be around some loving person that without them you probably even wouldn't be alive today. Wholeness is often defined by people as being something like perfect or perfection. That's not what I'm talking about. You know, perfection, listen to me carefully, it implies emphasis on performance and doings. So I'm not talking about, you know, now that you're experiencing wholeness you're perfect. That's not what we're talking about. Wholeness encompasses all of our being, while perfection implies an emphasis on performance. Perfection talks about performance; wholeness, it encompasses all of our being.
And I want to show you something. I'm not defining wholeness as perfection. Let me make that clear. Wholeness is not perfection. Perfection requires you doing something, and it's performance. The truth is, if wholeness is equivalent to perfection, then we are all destined for failure because we will never experience wholeness through sheer will or hard work. And I think that's what a lot of people are doing, trying to experience wholeness through sheer will and hard work through performance. "Well, if I can't get wholeness through all of my hard work and performance, well, how do I get it"? Well, despite our messy lives and despite our inabilities to live perfectly, we have a Savior who has already made us whole.
Now, here's the thing people have tried to avoid. I'm telling you, you don't know real wholeness until you know Jesus as your Savior. "Well, there's got to be another way". I'm telling you, you can experience some symbolism of wholeness, but you're not going to know the wholeness that you can get from God without knowing Jesus. Somebody said to me one time, "Oh, there just got to be more ways to God than Jesus". Well, like I said, my filter is real clear. It's through the Word of God that I see everything through. It's through God's Word that I see. God's Word is the lens to my life that I see everything through.
And through the Word of God, it says to me that no man can come to the Father except by the son. You can't come to the Father through Buddha. You can't come through the Father through Mohammed. You can't come through the Father through life-coaching principles. There's only one way to the Father, and that's through Jesus, the name that people want to avoid. It's through Jesus, the name that television says don't say it out loud. It offends people. It's through Jesus. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And I'm shouting out loud Jesus is the way. Repent and receive Jesus into your life as your Lord and personal Savior, then you receive wholeness that has already been made available.
Wholeness is a part of the finished works of Jesus Christ. And even though we may not feel wholeness is ultimately, it's not about feelings. Wholeness is not about feelings, it's about our faith and our hope in Jesus, the one who was broken so we can be made whole. And isn't that just like the world? We're trying to find another way to get it. He's made healing available. We're trying to find another way to get it. He's made deliverance available, he's made peace available, but we keep trying to find another way to get it. Jesus has already made us whole. He's already healed us, he's already delivered us, he's already prospered us, and he's already made us whole.
Well, then what do I do? I take possession of it through faith. I take possession of it through faith. "Oh, God, I believe I receive that right now in the name of Jesus. I believe that I'm whole right now". And every time brokenness wants to speak to me, I open my mouth up and I declare I receive wholeness that Jesus has already made. Jesus is forever faithful to make us whole. He's forever faithful. Even when we sometimes don't even have faith, Jesus is forever faithful to us. Regardless of our often lack of faith, we can rest in that truth that Jesus is forever faithful. Oh, praise God. I'm about to shout in this church with these chairs Jesus is forever faithful.
Can I show you some Scripture on that? I need you to understand that. Look at Romans chapter 8, verse 28, and then verses 35 through 39. Romans chapter 8, verse 28, then 35 through 39. He's faithful to wholeness. He's faithful to wholeness, and it's not based on your performance and it's not based on your self-effort. He is faithful to wholeness. Look what he said in verse 28. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". He'll work it, man.
Look at verse 35 through 39. He said, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation", no, "or distress, persecution", shall famine, nakedness, peril, sword? Verse 36, "As it is written, 'For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter'". Verse 37, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".
I'm telling you he's faithful. Look at Philippians chapter 1 and 6. You can trust God, is what I'm saying. You can trust God who has already made us whole. I can trust God who has already made me whole. And every time brokenness wants to try to lift his ugly head, I just release my faith. "No, no, no. I'm whole. I can trust God. I'm whole. Wholeness is already given to me". He said, verse 6, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ". And the day you got born again, a good work started on the inside of you and here's the guarantee. If he started the good work, he's going to finish the good work.
Now I don't know where you are, I don't know what ditch you fallen into, I don't know what philosophy you've been buying lately; but if God started the work, he will finish the work. He will use every crazy thing in your life to make sure that the work is finished. Why? Because he is faithful. Look at this, 2 Timothy chapter 2:13 in the NLT. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 13 in the NLT. God is faithful. I'm not serving some time God. He's faithful. I can depend on him, and I can depend on him my whole...
Some of you would have lost your mind a long time ago. Some of you would have been in a crazy house. Some of you would have went ahead and killed yourself. Some of you... oh my God. But it was because of the faithful God that just would not let go of you. Even though you let go of him, he would not let go of you. He would not let go of you. And I don't know where you are this morning, but he still has his hands on you. Look at this Scripture here. He says, "If we are unfaithful, he", referring to God, "remains faithful for he cannot deny who he is". Who is he? He's faithful. He's a faithful God, and he can't be unfaithful to you because you're not acting right. Even when you're not acting right, he will not deny his character, his nature of being faithful to you not based on you, but based on his faithfulness.