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We are in our faith series, friends, and

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as we study the life of faith, our

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main objective is to affect change in someone's

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life.

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My objective isn't to fill your head with

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teaching and leave your heart untouched.

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My prayer is that God will take some

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of these truths we are discussing and take

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out his divine surgeon's scalpel and cut on

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you a new attitude and outlook, wake you

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up and clean you up so you can

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be a clean and empty channel for God

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to flow through in power and transformation.

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I remember a story my homiletical mentor, Dr.

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Stephen F.

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Oldford shared with me, and I'll never forget

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it.

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A pastor friend of his invited Dr. Oldford

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to go hear a young preacher who was

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making some noise among Southern Baptists.

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Well, Dr. Oldford traveled with this pastor friend

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to go hear this young man preach in

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a nearby town.

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On the drive back, the pastor asked Stephen

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Oldford what he thought of the young preacher.

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Dr. Oldford replied, oh, fine, very promising.

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But then he added, but he hasn't suffered

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enough yet.

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Stephen Oldford knew what he was talking about

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because he understood the connection between usefulness and

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brokenness.

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Listen, friends, God's eyes are continually searching the

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earth for those rare individuals whose lives of

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brokenness was directly connected to their usefulness.

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Men like Moses and John the Baptist, Whitefield

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and Wesley, Finney and Moody, men who live

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in a different atmosphere than other mortals, men

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who have annihilated self with the cross and

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whose lives are broken, alabaster boxes from which

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fragrances arise to the heavens from the broken

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pieces of surrender and sacrifice.

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God uses broken vessels to bring him glory

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and to demonstrate he alone is a sovereign

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ruler of all mankind.

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I wanna share a story with you, friends,

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that clearly illustrates the relationship between brokenness and

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usefulness in a life of faith.

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If you'll bear with me, I'll give you

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that story now.

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This is a story about the evangelist Sam

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Jones, whose mighty preaching turned the city of

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Nashville, Tennessee upside down in the year 1885

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and saw revival and made Sam Jones a

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household word throughout America.

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Well, one day, Sam Jones was at home

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in Cordersville, Georgia when he received a telegram

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from Texas inviting him to go preach to

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the cowboys of Southwest Texas.

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Well, he prayed about it and he got

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on a train and went to Texas.

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And for two weeks, he preached the gospel

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of Jesus Christ to the cowboys of Texas.

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When it was over, as they came to

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the end of the campaign, the cowboys wanted

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to give Sam Jones a love offering.

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They felt the laborer was worthy of his

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hire and they had received wonderful blessings from

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his time among them.

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But there was a problem.

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They had no money, not a single dollar

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in any of their pockets, and they didn't

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know what to do.

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And they allowed Sam Jones to go back

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to Cordersville, Georgia with no compensation or love

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offering of any kind, whatever.

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Well, Sam Jones went back and a number

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of weeks passed.

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Then suddenly, one day, he received a telegram.

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It was from the cowboys of Texas.

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It read like this.

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We are sending and we are shipping you

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a carload of Broncos.

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And Sam Jones scratched his head as he

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looked in amazement at that telegram.

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What am I gonna do, he said, with

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a carload of wild horses in the small

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town of Cordersville?

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Well, his friend was standing beside him and

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he said, why, it's easy.

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Hold an auction sale, sell the Broncos, and

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you'll get your money.

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You can get your love offering then and

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put it in your pocket.

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Sam Jones thought it was a good suggestion,

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so he held an auction sale.

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He sold the Broncos, all except one.

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He kept the finest-looking Bronco for his

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son.

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He wanted to give that Bronco to his

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son as a gift, and that's what he

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did.

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But the son had never in his life

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been on the back of an unbroken Bronco,

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and Sam Jones wondered what he could do.

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He called the cowboy to him who had

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brought the carload of Broncos to Cordersville and

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said, will you take this Bronco?

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Will you break him so that my son

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can ride him?

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Yes, sir, said the cowboy.

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I'd be glad to.

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How much will you charge?

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$15, said the cowboy.

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All right, said Sam.

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Take him away.

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The cowboy disappeared with the Bronco.

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Two weeks later, he came back.

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Is he broken?

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Said Sam.

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Yes, sir, he's broken.

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Can my son ride him in perfect safety?

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Yes, sir, your son can ride him in

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perfect safety.

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All right then, here's your $15.

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The father thought that before allowing his son

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to ride the Bronco, he'd better mount himself

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and make sure that the cowboy had broken

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the Bronco.

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He started toward the Bronco.

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The cowboy came running up, waving his hands

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in alarm.

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Why, said Sam.

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What's the matter?

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What's gone wrong?

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Oh, said the cowboy.

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He's only been broken on one side and

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you're mounting from the wrong side.

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Oh, said Sam, that will never do.

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My son might make a mistake.

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He might mount from the wrong side.

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How much will you charge me to break

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him on the other side?

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$15, said the cowboy.

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All right, said Sam.

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Take him away and break him on the

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other side.

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Well, another two weeks passed by him.

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Again, the cowboy returned, leading the Bronco.

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Is he broken?

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Said Sam.

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Yes, sir, he's broken.

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Both sides?

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Yes, sir, both sides.

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Your son can ride him in perfect safety

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from either side.

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All right, here's your $15.

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Well, I like that story, friend, because it's

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so true.

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You know, the average Christian is only broken

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on one side.

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He'll do this, but he won't do that.

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He'll go here, but he won't go there.

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He'll give God just so much of himself,

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but still hold something back.

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He's like the Bronco.

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He's only broken on one side.

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And then he wonders why God doesn't use

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him more.

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He doesn't realize he's only been broken on

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one side.

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And God cannot rely upon him.

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God cannot trust him.

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The man God uses is the man who's

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been broken on both sides.

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But some Broncos don't break so easily.

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They're more stubborn, more hard-headed, more self

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-willed.

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People are like that.

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At times, God has to use more drastic

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measures with us to get us to comply

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with him.

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Listen to me, friend, and get the wax

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out of your ears so you can hear

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me.

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God wants to increase your faith so you

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can be more useful to him.

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But faith and brokenness go hand in hand

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like mashed potatoes and gravy.

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The men of faith I've known in my

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life who had power with God were broken

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men.

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Alan Redpath used to say before God can

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use a man, he must crush him.

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We get a sense of this brokenness from

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Psalm 51.

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King David fell into moral failure with Bathsheba.

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But after that incident, he was broken over

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his sin and broken off from his sin.

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He never sinned like that again.

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And Psalm 51, we see the vivid picture

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of a man completely broken before God.

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Psalm 51, 17 reads, the sacrifices of God

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are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite

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heart, O God, thou will not despise.

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Notice, friends, the word broken is twice mentioned,

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for David is broken on both sides.

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And that word contrite speaks of something that's

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been ground to powder.

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David's sin of adultery, murder drives him to

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repentance to be completely broken on both sides,

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a broken spirit and a broken and contrite

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heart.

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I believe God uses broken things.

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Our faith must be developed through a time

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of brokenness in our life where all we

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can do is abandon ourself to God and

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believe him to be who he says he

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is so he can affect change in us.

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If you've been stuck, friend, in a place

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where you're wondering why God doesn't use you

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more, perhaps the reason is you were only

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broken on one side.

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God cannot rely upon you.

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If you're brutally honest with yourself, you may

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know that deep down, you may be a

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little hard-headed, a little too stubborn for

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your own good.

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And your only hope of going deeper with

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God is to give in to him, to

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yield it all to him, to where God

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can bring you, to that place where he

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wants to bring you.

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So when people look at you, all they

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see is the power and glory of God

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pressing through a broken, yielded vessel.

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When you get there, friend, you will experience

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enough of the reality of God to live

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on for the rest of your life.

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I think I see this clearly when I

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read Philippians 3.10, for in there is

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a striking life principle which always leaps out

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at me.

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The word of God declares there that I

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may know him and the power of his

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resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being

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made conformable onto his death.

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You see, friends, if you want the power

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of his resurrection in your life, then you

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must be deeply familiar with the fellowship of

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his sufferings.

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The power comes into a life that is

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broken on both sides.