"Your Breaking Point"

Verse 22 and he arose that night and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his 11 sons and crossed over the ford of Jordan or the river of Jordan. He took them and sent them over the stream and then sent over all his possessions. Then Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Then when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip. And the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, "Let me go for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he SAID UNTO HIM, "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" And he said, "Jacob. " He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, the supplanter, but it will be called Israel, for you have struggled with Yahweh and with men and you have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him saying, "Well, what is your name?" And he said, "Why is it that you ask about my name?" Then he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, that is the face of Yahweh. For I have seen Yahweh face to face and my life was spared. The sun rose above him as he left Peniel and he limped on his hip. Amen. I want to talk to you tonight just a few minutes this evening about your breaking point. I want to talk to you about your breaking point. There's a place that everyone in this room will come to one day and it is your breaking point. And Jacob was a man, brother Allen, that he was actually a con man, Jacob was. Jacob was uh a hustler, if you will. He knew how to get things done any old kind of way that it took. You ever met somebody that they're just a hustler? They just hustle. They make things happen. They know how to get it done, no matter what laws they have to break, no matter what they have to do, they are they need nobody. They need no help. They need no wisdom. They need NO GUIDANCE. THEY DON'T NEED ANYTHING. They don't NEED ANYBODY TELLING THEM HOW TO DO IT OR GIVING THEM ADVICE. THEY KNOW HOW TO get life done. Jacob was that kind of man. Jacob was a get-er-done kind of man. HE WAS THAT MAN THAT DID LIFE HIS WAY, EVERY WAY. His His name means a deceiver. HIS LIFE WAS A LIFE OF REBELLION and deception. He literally RAN FROM GOD and lived life his way. Jacob was a man had great PRIDE IN HIMSELF AND his own riches. JACOB WAS A very rich man. AS A MATTER OF FACT, JACOB KNEW HOW TO BLESS HIMSELF WITHOUT NEEDING ANY HELP FROM THE LORD OR ANYBODY. HE BLESSED HIMSELF. HE WAS THE KIND OF MAN THAT WAS A SELF-MADE MAN. HE WAS A MAN THAT WOKE UP WITH A PLAN EVERY DAY OF HOW TO CON THE SYSTEM, HOW TO GET AROUND ALL OF THE ROADBLOCKS IN HIS LIFE. HE WAS A MAN THAT COULD BE DEPENDED ON TO GET IT DONE. HE COULD BLESS HIMSELF. HE NEEDED NOBODY TO DO THAT for him. HE HAD GREAT PRIDE IN HIMSELF. BUT ONE DAY JACOB WAS ABOUT TO MEET God face to face THROUGH THE LORD'S ANGEL. AND HERE COMES JACOB USED TO DOING IT his way. But I want you to notice what happens here. JACOB TELLS HIS TWO WIVES AND ALL OF HIS children go on across the river now. AND THEN HE GETS ALL OF HIS MONEY OUT OF THE BANK ACCOUNT, ALL OF HIS CATTLE, ALL OF HIS RICHES, AND HE SENDS them across the river with his wives. AND THE BIBLE SAID THAT JACOB WAS LEFT ALONE. ANYTIME GOD IS GETTING READY TO CHANGE YOU, he will put you IN THE WILDERNESS OF LONELINESS. I want you to hear what I'M TELLING YOU. ANYTIME GOD SAYS YOU'VE DONE IT YOUR WAY LONG ENOUGH, ANYTIME GOD IS FIXING TO GIVE YOU A RUN-IN WITH HIM, THE FIRST THING HE DOES IS SEPARATE YOU FROM YOUR OWN SUCCESS AND YOUR OWN WAYS OF DOING THINGS IN YOUR LIFE, GOD TOLD JACOB, "TODAY'S THE DAY, BOY, WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. TODAY IS THE DAY THAT YOU'RE GOING TO REACH YOUR BREAKING POINT IN EITHER DIRECTION." THAT DAY COMES FOR EVERY MAN, WOMAN, BOY, AND GIRL. THERE WILL COME A TIME in your life WHEN ALL OF YOUR CONNIVING RUNS OUT, ALL OF YOUR DRUG USE RUNS OUT, ALL OF YOUR ALCOHOL RUNS OUT, AND THERE YOU ARE LEFT ALONE IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, NOBODY WILL ANSWER YOUR PHONE CALLS, NOBODY WANT YOU TO STAY WITH THEM, NOBODY WANT YOU TO RIDE WITH THEM. IT SEEMS THAT GOD HAS CUT YOU OFF FROM EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING. WHEN THAT BEGINS TO HAPPEN, YOU'RE ABOUT TO HAVE A RUN-IN WITH DESTINY. YOU'RE ABOUT TO HAVE A BREAKING POINT WITH GOD. JACOB, he sends his WIFE AND CHILDREN AWAY, AND THERE HE IS ALONE. Let me tell you something. When God is using you, calling you for a higher purpose, you will be in a room full of people and yet be all by yourself. There will be people talking all around you, and you feel like you were not even invited to the party THAT YOU'RE SITTING AT. WHY? BECAUSE IF GOD'S EVER GOING TO USE A MAN, GOD HAS TO FIRST SEPARATE A MAN from his family, FROM HIS FRIENDS, FROM HIS FOES, FROM his resources, FROM HIS DRUGS, FROM HIS ALCOHOL, FROM HIS ADDICTIONS. WHEN GOD IS GETTING READY TO BEAT YOU DOWN, HE WILL SEPARATE YOU INTO THE WILDERNESS OF LONELINESS IN YOUR LIFE. Somebody said, "Brother Von, I feel so alone." That is the greatest place you will ever be. When you feel like the world IS SEPARATED FROM YOU, THAT'S THE BEST PLACE you will ever ever be. BUT TODAY, JACOB IS about to have a change. HE COMES FACE TO FACE with the angel of Yahweh. That's God for those of you that don't know what that NAME MEANS. HE'S ABOUT TO RUN FACE TO FACE WITH GOD. And I want you to understand something tonight. The word Israel was never known before this moment. ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, NOBODY HAD EVER HEARD OF THE WORD ISRAEL BEFORE THIS moment in your Bible. I want to teach you SOMETHING TONIGHT. I WANT TO TEACH YOU WHO ISRAEL IS AND WHAT THE WORD ISRAEL MEANS. AND I WANT TO TEACH YOU THAT BEFORE ISRAEL WAS A NATION, IT WAS A condition with God. And if you don't get this, you'll never UNDERSTAND YOUR BIBLE. ISRAEL WAS A CONDITION, AND HERE IS A MAN THAT'S ABOUT TO CHANGE HIS CONDITION. HE WAS A CON MAN THAT FOUGHT AGAINST GOD, that did IT HIS WAY, BUT TODAY GOD SPOKE TO HIM, and he said, "Let me go, son." But Jacob grabbed hold of that angel and literally began to wrestle with him. I've always wondered, why did he wrestle with that angel? But you see, here's what happened. Jacob had missed out on the inheritance from his father, Isaac. You see, HE HAD DONE THE WRONG WAY. HE KNEW ABOUT THE GOD OF ISRAEL BECAUSE ABRAHAM WAS HIS GRANDFATHER. ISAAC WAS HIS DADDY. HE HAD SEEN AND HEARD ABOUT THE GOD OF ISRAEL. AND NOW, NOTHING SATISFIED HIM. HE HAD TWO WIVES. HE HAD CATTLE. HE HAD RICHES, BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING IN HIS LIFE. AND TODAY, HE WAS GOING TO RUN INTO WHAT WAS MISSING IN HIS LIFE. AND WHEN HE got to that angel, he began to wrestle. The Bible said all night long. And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Let me go, son. I don't want to hurt you, son. Let me go cuz all I got to do is just touch you and I'll you. Let me go." And Jacob said four words that changed his life forever. He said, "Not until you bless me. Because I've blessed me my whole life. That's my word. I've blessed ME MY WHOLE LIFE. I'VE DONE IT MY WAY MY WHOLE LIFE. BUT I KNOW now that until you bless me, I am nothing. I am nobody. I need you to bless me OR I WILL NOT GO ONE STEP FURTHER IN MY LIFE. YES, LORD, I'VE GOT SUCCESS. I'VE GOT MONEY IN THE BANK. I'VE GOT EVERYTHING A MAN COULD WANT, TWO BEAUTIFUL WIVES. BUT I TELL YOU, GOD, I DON'T HAVE YOU. I DON'T HAVE YOU AND I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU TAKE OVER my life. There'll come a point in YOUR WALK WITH GOD WHERE YOU WILL HAVE TO LAY IT ALL DOWN and quit playing church AND QUIT PLAYING LIKE YOU'RE SERVING GOD AND QUIT HALFWAY LIVING FOR GOD. YOU WILL EITHER COME TO THE BREAKING POINT OR YOU WILL BE BROKEN. IT'S AT THE BREAKING POINT WHERE YOU GET BROKEN IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES. YOU KNOW THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN A PICTURE BROKEN, YOU SORT OF HOPE IT GOT BROKEN IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES SO YOU CAN PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN. WHEN GOD BREAKS YOU, HE BREAKS YOU IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES. BUT IF YOU ARE BROKEN ON YOUR OWN, YOU WILL BECOME THE MOST DISGUSTING SCENE THAT ANYBODY'S EVER LOOKED AT. YOU WON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE YOURSELF ANYMORE. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO WALK OR TALK RIGHT. WHY? BECAUSE YOU BLESSED YOURSELF INSTEAD OF LETTING God bless your life. We've all been there. We've all want walked that road. But the angel of the Lord reached down and gave him a gentle reminder in his hip. And he walked with a limp the rest of his life. Let me tell you something. After you surrender to God, after you reach the breaking point where you let him break you, he you will always carry the reminder of the chastisement of the Lord. You will carry it with you all of your life. But you must come to the point of total surrender. And God said to him, "Your name is What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." He said, "Today you're going to change conditions. Because now you just overcame." You just overcame your own successes, your own resource You just overcame you. And now you get a name change. No longer will you be called Jacob, but you will be called Israel, which means an overcomer with God. So every time I tell you that I'm an Israelite, I'm telling you I'm an overcomer with God. Don't get CONFUSED WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ISRAEL. WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT A LITTLE PIECE OF LAND. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A condition that every man must come to where he's broken by God. Last night I watched a man like Jacob. I watched walk out to a podium like this. And I watched a man like Jacob who had it all. I watched a man like Jacob who had a beautiful who has a beautiful wife, Plenty of money in the bank, cattle, resources. I watched A MAN A LOT LIKE JACOB WALK TO A PODIUM last night. And I watched him finally after 4 years in the Oval Office, I watched him surrender to God. How? What are you talking about Brother Vaughn? BEFORE LAST NIGHT, everybody said, "He's got a trump card up his sleeve." Do you know why we said that? Because many people put their faith in a man. And so did he. But I watched LAST NIGHT AFTER ALL HIS FRIENDS HAD LEFT HIM, resigning one BY ONE. I WATCHED A MAN COME TO THE PODIUM LIKE JACOB AND SAY, "I DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE TO TURN. I HAVE NO CARDS LEFT." AND I WATCHED A broken man. And ladies and gentlemen, when you get to that point, is when God steps in. WHEN YOU GET TO THAT POINT, IS WHEN YOU WE WE WE SING A SONG THAT SAYS GOD LIKES TO WORK WHEN YOUR BACK IS TO THE WALL. WHENEVER YOU FINALLY BREAK AND SAY, "IT'S NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER, BUT BY YOUR SPIRIT, OH GOD, WHEN YOU GET TO THAT POINT IN YOUR LIFE, GOD WILL COME THROUGH FOR YOU. BUT AS LONG AS YOU'VE GOT IT ALL FIGURED OUT, MR. TRUMP, ALL YOU PEOPLE, AS LONG AS YOU THINK YOU KNOW HOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK, GOD WILL SIT BACK AND LET YOU DO IT. BUT THE MOMENT YOU SAY, "I'M HELPLESS. I'M PITIFUL. I'M JUST A MAN." THE MOMENT YOU SAY THAT IS THE MOMENT WHEN GOD STEPS ON THE SCENE. If you exalt any man above the almighty Yahweh, God will step back and show you the results of it. But when we turn to the Lord, and I'm calling on you tonight telling you, people in this room, when you've come to the end of your road, and you surrender to God completely, when you say, "Oh God of heaven, I don't know what else to do. I don't have what it takes, oh God." When God breaks you, that's when God can heal you. But he'll only break you when you ask HIM TO. HE'LL ONLY BREAK YOU WHEN YOU SURRENDER TO HIM, AND YOU GIVE HIM YOUR LIFE, EVERY EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIFE. YES. WHAT IS YOUR BREAKING POINT? God knows your breaking point. I had a breaking point about 10 years ago. I had a breaking point in my own life. I was like Jacob. I thought I could do it my way. I could make things happen. I could circumvent things. And I was running from the Lord. And brother Allen, I'll never forget every day I had to wake up not leaning on the Lord, but leaning to my own understanding. How I was going to work it out. What I could do to to have that successful life that I wanted. Forgetting the law of God, forgetting the ways of God, forgetting the things of God, doing it my way. And ladies and gentlemen, God was determined to break me. I ran into God for three long years. I ran into God sitting in a cell about 6 by 9 for 3 years of my life sitting there having run headlong into God. Let me tell you something. If you've ever hit a brick wall, it don't compare to hitting God. Whenever you run into God and he's determined to turn your life around, everything in your life will be destroyed. And you will either keep rebelling or you will surrender. I'm so glad I surrendered. I'm so glad I sit there in that little room and every day I made God some promises. And I kept those promises every day since I've left that place. Why? Because that day I changed my nature. That day I gave it all up to God and I told him, "If you'll help me, I will live for you with everything I've got. " Why? Because God can come in when you go out. God moves in when you move out. God helps you when you quit helping yourself. God does the impossible when you've decided, I can't do anything else in my life. Tonight, I come to tell somebody, IT IS TIME for you to reach your breaking point before God breaks you. It is time for you to surrender to God before God breaks you. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GIVE YOUR LIFE TO HIM BEFORE HE HAS TO TAKE YOUR LIFE AND TURN IT all kinds of directions. YOU'VE NEVER SEEN A LIFE LIKE SOMEONE THAT'S FIGHTING GOD. I've been there. And tonight, as I watched the president last night stand before his audience and surrender to God and say, I have no cards left, I believe with all my heart when you get to that same point and you confess to God, I have no cards left. I have no plans left. That's when God will come into your life and change it forever. Every success that I have today, I can tell you, it all came from the Lord. I learned years ago that if you'll wait on the Lord, he'll give you a blessing no one can take away from you. If you'll wait on the Lord, he'll give you a blessing, brother Allen, and a life that nothing else compares to. Brother, IF YOU'LL LIVE FOR THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, he'll take all the bad memories and create the most beautiful story you can EVER TELL. GOD HAS A WAY OF TAKING A BROKEN LIFE AND CREATING OUT OF IT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STORY. YOU'RE LOOKING at it right now. I'm not a rich man with diamonds and pearls. And I may not have the riches of this world. And I can't make any claims to success on my own. But when I came to the altar these things I possess I've only dressed to a city where streets are pure gold. Someday all of heaven will be mine. Sometimes I'm so ashamed I must confess WHEN I COMPARE WHAT I'VE given to the things I possess. Nothing left on the altar will ever be lost. No matter how great be the cost. It might be all your riches, your fame or success. But when you put it all ON GOD'S ALTAR, these things I possess, I'm only a to that city WHERE STREETS ARE PURE GOLD. SOMEDAY, all of heaven will be mine. Oh Lord, I must confess when I compare WHAT I'VE GIVEN UP TO ALL these things I possess, I'm only a to that city WHERE THE STREETS ARE pure gold. Someday, all of heaven will be mine. Sometimes I'm so ashamed, I must confess when I compare what I've given up to all these things I now possess. Woo! IF YOU'RE IN THIS ROOM TONIGHT AND YOU'RE NOT SAVED, IF YOU'RE IN THIS ROOM TONIGHT AND YOU'RE READY TO MEET GOD face to face, if you're IN THIS ROOM TONIGHT YOU SAY, "BROTHER VAUGHN, YOU'VE PREACHED TO ME." IF YOU'RE IN THIS ROOM TONIGHT AND YOU'RE READY TO TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND, THIS IS YOUR NIGHT. THIS IS YOUR NIGHT TO FIND AN ALTAR AND SURRENDER TO GOD. THIS IS YOUR NIGHT TO GIVE EVERYTHING TO GOD. EVERY HEAD BOWED, EVERY EYE CLOSED.