Voddie Baucham: Brokenness

Dr. Voddie Baucham demonstrates from Psalm 51 that brokenness over sin is absolutely appropriate, and exposes a dangerous movement within evangelicalism that strives to eradicate it.

"Brokenness is the place to which we come when we recognize that all that we are, all that we have, and all that we do in and of ourselves is sorely and miserably insufficient, when God crushes us under the weight of our own sin." — Voddie Baucham

An illustration of repentance and of brokenness (2:07)
Clarification of what is meant by brokenness (17:00)

A GREAT TRAGEDY CURRENTLY UNDERWAY WITHIN EVANGELICALISM (3:30, 5:38, 6:00)
Proponents of this dangerous movement: Rob Bell, Joel Osteen, The Shack, Eugene Peterson (7:25, 7:40, 33:30)
* Notice: Voddie Baucham mentioned Stephen Curtis Chapman by mistake. He clarified in a subsequent blog post that he meant to say Michael W. Smith. It is Michael W. Smith who has endorsed The Shack.

"David sometimes sang with his harp; and sometimes the organ of his eyes wept." — Thomas Watson

Brokenness is appropriate because:
1. Our sin stains and scars our very souls. (17:25)
2. Our sin creates memories that remain with us. (24:00)
3. Our sin is an affront to a holy God. (32:18)
4. Our sin is a hindrance to the true worship of God. (39:00)

It is only in brokenness, when we come to the end of ourselves, that:
We truly recognize God is worthy of our worship (46:27)
We truly see the matchless majesty of Christ (47:44)
We truly recognize the answer to our problem
Therefore, know this: apart from brokenness, you are incapable of authentic worship! (41:40)

3 reasons why it is good that we do not forget our sins (53:50)
If you could forget your sin:
1. You could never testify of the goodness of God. (26:25)
2. You would never be warned against doing them again. (28:30)
3. You could never rejoice in your victories or see growth that the Spirit has produced in you. (29:35)

"You can't have the memory of my sin—I won't let you take it. It reminds me of God's goodness to me; it reminds me of His grace in my life. It reminds me of where I was and where I never want to be again. It reminds me that His work in me may not be complete, but it is effectual—I'm not who I ought to be, but Hallelujah, I'm not who I was!" — Voddie Baucham (31:17)

"It is there You show me to myself—what I am, what I have been, and what I am coming to; for I am nothing and I did not know it. Left to myself, I am nothing but total weakness. But if You look upon me for an instant, I am at once made strong and filled with new joy. Great wonder it is that I, who of my own weight always sink to the depths, am so suddenly lifted up, and so graciously embraced by You." — Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (46:00)

"I despise the picture that is painted in our culture of this sissified, needy Jesus. … He's just yearning for you, He's longing for you, He wants friendship and relationship with you. He needs you. Oh, you're breaking His heart. No—He's going to break you! Newsflash: by definition, God is self-sustaining, self-existent, and self-sufficient, therefore He needs nothing. God does not need you!" — Voddie Baucham (34:30)

Revelation 19:11-16 (ESV) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on His thigh He has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.

"That's my Jesus. That's the God whom I serve, not the sissified Christ that's preached in pulpits around the United States of America. I serve the great God of the universe, who gets angry and pours out His wrath, and who demonstrated His wrath when He poured it out on His own Son. It amazes me that we believe this: that God would crush and kill His own Son but let you slide! Not for a minute! The spotless, sinless Lamb of God suffered and bled and died because of the wrath of God—that propitiation, the satisfaction of the righteous wrath of God. That's what was experienced on the cross—how dare we take that lightly. That's the One against whom you have sinned!" — Voddie Baucham