                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                       Breaking the Heart of Jesus!

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By David Wilkerson
September 15, 1993
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          When Jesus walked on the earth, He was all God - and
          all man! The man the disciples saw ascending into the
          clouds was the same Jesus they had walked with, eaten
          with, learned from - the same man who had washed their
          feet. And He ascended in the same body that had laid
          hands on the sick and held young children.

          When Jesus was taken up into heaven, He didn't vanish
          into a spirit. No, He was just like you and I - He had
          the body of a man, the face, hair, nose, eyes, teeth,
          arms, legs, fingers and toes of a man, He was flesh and
          bone, And He had visible scars on His hands and His
          side.

          After He had ascended, two angels told the disciples:
          "...this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
          heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen
          him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). In other words, He
          went up as a man, He is now in glory as a man1 and He
          will come back the same way - as both God and man. And
          when He returns, we will recognize Him as His disciples
          did - as being human as well as God!

          Right now in His heavenly abode, Jesus has a substance
          in which He walks, rules and reigns. In fact, He is
          building a city as a gift to His bride. It too will
          come down out of heaven, and it will be as tangible and
          real as the ground we walk on, It will have streets,
          walls, gates, homes everything that can be touched and
          felt. And it is being made of an eternal substance!

          When we get to glory, we will behold incredible light
          all around us. But no angel is going to say, "Jesus is
          spirit only - He is the light you see all around you."
          No we will see Him face to face! We will touch Him,
          embrace Him, talk to Him. He will walk among us forever
          for He is God in bodily form. He will romp with
          children. And He will be our teacher throughout
          eternity, revealing the secrets of all His creation!

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                    This Glorious Man Jesus Christ
                    Is Right Now God In the Flesh!

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          We have a Man in glory and He went there with all His
          human feelings. He did not cast off His humanness when
          He ascended. No - He is still a man who feels deeply
          and is touched by our feelings and infirmities. He
          still laughs, grieves, rejoices, sings, weeps!

          You might say, "Jesus couldn't possibly be weeping in
          heaven. You can't break God's heart. That's
          ridiculous!"

          Yet Jesus did weep while He was on earth. And right now
          in eternity, He is the same Jesus who looked down on
          Jerusalem and was so heartbroken He wept: "And when he
          was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
          Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in
          this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!
          but now they are hid from thine eyes" (Luke 19:41-42).

          The voice that Saul heard on the road to Damascus was
          the voice of Jesus, speaking from glory. And what Jesus
          said proves He is much affected by all we say and do:
          "...Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 9:4).

          He was saying to Saul, "'You're hurting Me! I feel your
          hatred - I feel the pain of all these Christians you're
          pursuing. You are persecuting Me!" Jesus identified
          himself to Saul as a man - one who was being persecuted
          by another man!

          Paul later told the Jews: "... I [asked], Who art thou,
          Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom
          thou persecutest." (Acts 22:8) . Jesus identified
          himself to Paul not as a King of kings or Lord of
          Lords, but as a Nazarene! In other words, "'I'm the
          same man who preached in your nation. My father,
          Joseph, made our home in Nazareth, of Galilee. You know
          all about My miracles." Jesus was speaking to Saul from
          heaven as a man - He was emphasizing His humanness!

          Beloved, Jesus still feels, even now in glory. And He
          is still being hurt - His heart is still being broken -
          by His very own children!

          "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in
          thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I
          was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zechariah
          13:6).

          Indeed the writer of Hebrews warns of Christians who
          "will fall" away from Jesus. These are people who at
          one time were "...enlightened, and [had] tasted of the
          heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
          Ghost..." (Hebrews 6:4). They tasted the good Word of
          the Lord and the powers of the world to come - yet now
          "they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and
          put him to an open shame" (verse 6).

          Let me tell you something of this open shame. A few
          weeks ago, I watched a girl walk out of Hannah House
          (our outreach to troubled women) carrying her suitcase.
          She was walking away from the Lord - going back to her
          sin! She had been saved and was a testimony to His
          grace. But now she was rejecting all that - putting
          Jesus to an open shame!

          The longer you have known the Lord - the more you have
          tasted of His mercy and grace - the worse this open
          shame is. You are saying to the world, "I tasted the
          peace and joy of Jesus. I knew what it was like to have
          all guilt and condemnation gone. I enjoyed the presence
          of the Holy Spirit. My eyes were opened - I understood
          the things of the Bible. I experienced love and
          fellowship as I'd never known before. I understood
          Jesus' sacrifice for me on the cross.

          "But in spite of all of that, Jesus was not enough!
          What the devil gives me now is greater than anything
          Jesus ever offered. I've tried Jesus, but He doesn't
          satisfy me - He doesn't truly fulfill. I'm looking
          elsewhere."

          That is the testimony of the open shame! Such people
          are saying, in effect, "The Cross was in vain. Crucify
          Him again - and again and again! Let Him hang. He
          doesn't give me what I'm looking for!"

          They wound Jesus, making an open display of their
          contempt for Him, But they don't feel the shame of it -
          He does! Scripture says, "What iniquity have your
          fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me?"
          (Jeremiah 2:5). "Oh my people, what have I done unto
          thee?" (Micah 6:3).

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              Yet What About All Those Who Do Not Fall Away?

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          There are many today who call themselves believers,
          They go to church regularly. They think of themselves
          as being truly saved. Indeed, our churches are packed
          with just such Christians -yet they continually break
          the heart of Jesus!

          I used to think I wounded Jesus most by my failures,
          sins and short-comings. I feared ever being guilty of
          fornication, adultery, materialism, cursing His name,
          etc. - the sins the church frowns upon.

          Of course, we are to flee from fornication and all sins
          of the flesh. God says He will judge those who commit
          such sins. But these are primarily sins against our own
          bodies: "He that committeth fornication sinneth against
          his own body" (1 Corinthians 6:18). These sins have
          their immediate judgments here on earth: guilt,
          exposure, loss of reputation, divorce, pain, AIDS, even
          death. All end in heartbreak, loneliness, condemnation.
          And all hurt your own body.

          Yet a Christian can sit in church without ever
          committing any of these sins - and still break Jesus'
          heart! The sins that break His heart have to do with
          love. I call them "sins against love."

          You see, every believer is a member of the bride of
          Christ. The Bible likens us to a betrothed bride - we
          are pledged to marry Jesus Christ. Paul said: "For I am
          jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have
          espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as
          a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2).

          You are engaged, promised, committed to one husband -
          Christ! "For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of
          hosts is his name..." (Isaiah 54:5). This wonderful
          engagement is going to be consummated in glory at the
          marriage supper of the Lamb. We're going to be married
          to Jesus through all eternity!

          Yet we also are likened to an abandoned woman,
          hopeless, unwanted: "For the Lord hath called thee as a
          woman forsaken and grieved in spirit..." (verse 6).
          Jesus found you, cleaned you up, put new garments on
          you, asked you to pledge your life and love to Him -
          and you said yes! Then Jesus put a ring on your finger
          - the Holy Spirit. You walked away from all your old
          loves and ways. You said, "Jesus, You are my love, my
          future, my one and only. I love You with all my heart.
          I'll be true - I'll be faithful!"

          Yet you continually break His heart! And He weeps over
          you.! You ask, "Me break Jesus' heart? I worship Him! I
          love His Word. How could I break His heart?" Let me
          point out to you three ways you may be breaking Jesus'
          heart right now:

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                          1. The Sin of Neglect!

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          Jesus feels the same way any engaged man would feel
          toward his bride-to-be. Indeed, He endures the same
          pain any man would feel if his beloved continually
          praised him, saying "I love you" over and over.- yet
          showed him little or no attention!

          What would any man think if his bride-to-be invited him
          into her house, sat him in the living room - and then
          went her way? She tinkers in the kitchen, sweeps the
          house, changes the beds - but never says a word to him!

          She may claim, "Well, He's always on my mind. "I've
          heard people say just that about Jesus: "He's on my
          mind all day, in everything I do." But you can have Him
          on your mind all day and still neglect Him!

          That's just what it is - neglect - and that bride's
          so-called love is a lie! She may tell her fiancee she
          truly loves him, but her actions tell him she doesn't.
          Otherwise, he would come first in her life!

          The Lord asks: "Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a
          bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days
          without number" (Jeremiah 2:32). David also said Israel
          kept forgetting the Lord: "They forgot God their
          Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt" (Psalm
          106:21).

          The Lord has put His pain in Scripture, for all the
          world to see! He has said openly, "My people neglect Me
          for days on end!" Every generation has read about it.
          Yet, why would the Lord tell the whole world about such
          neglect? Shouldn't lovers' differences be kept quiet?

          No - He wants us to know how hurt He is! He tells the
          whole world because He is so heartbroken by our
          behavior!

          Let's say you are an engaged young woman, and you go to
          church with your husband-to-be. You grasp his hand and
          tell everyone, "We're going to be married. I love him -
          he's wonderful!"

          But as soon as you're out the door, you don't say a
          word to him. You clam up! Naturally, he says to you,
          "What was all that about in the church? Was it just
          hypocrisy, a show? Where is the intimacy now - where's
          the love you showed me in there?"

          I wouldn't want a bride who extols my virtues, says
          loving things about me in public, looks - lovingly into
          my eyes and tells me how precious I am - then later
          gets cold and doesn't want to spend quality time with
          me. That is taking me for granted - it's not true
          affection!

          Beloved, if you do not have quality time with Jesus
          every day - if you do not spend time in prayer with
          Him, or seeking His Word - you do not love Him! You are
          a hypocrite and a liar -and you are breaking His heart!

          Recently, I had a difficult time getting a word from
          the Lord for this message. I prayed for days, putting
          in hours - yet I got nowhere. I begged the Lord to show
          me if something was blocking me from hearing His voice.

          A few days later, the answer for my message finally
          came: "The broken heart of Jesus." I was so grateful -
          but I thought, "Lord, why did you wait three days? You
          could have told me this during the first hour I prayed.
          I started four different sermons, and none of them
          worked."

          The Lord answered, "Yes, David - I could have given you
          this message right away. But I waited simply because I
          was hungry for your fellowship. I wanted to be with
          you, because you're dear to Me. If I had given you this
          message the first hour, you would have run off to your
          books and we wouldn't have had this time.

          "You needed to be close to Me for those hours. I knew
          My presence would strengthen you. So I waited until our
          communion was full and you entered into My rest."

          If you have been praying about something and you're not
          getting an answer, the Lord may be saying to you, "Hang
          around - be still. I want time with you. Don't break My
          heart!" We have time for friends, telephone calls,
          parties, jobs, dinner gatherings. But we break Jesus'
          heart because we don't have time for Him!

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                      2. The Sin of Cheating On Him!

                      -------------------------------

          "For thou hast [uncovered] thyself to another than me,
          and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed...thou
          lovedst their bed where thou sawest it... Thou art
          wearied in the greatness of thy way" (Isaiah 57:8, 10).

          This is the groaning of our broken-hearted Lord. He's
          saying, "You're cheating on Me! You've found someone
          else, because you're weary of being with Me!"

          I know a wonderful young Christian husband who adored
          his wife. He was so happy with her. But after a while
          she began neglecting him - yet still he didn't
          complain. Then one day he got the shock of his life:
          She told him she'd been seeing another man. She said,
          "I want out - I'm going to marry someone else!"

          They were divorced about eight years ago. In the past
          few years some wonderful Christian women have come into
          the young man's life. And right now he's dating a young
          woman who dearly loves him and would like to get
          married. But he still loves his wife - he hopes she'll
          come back!

          I use this example not to bring up physical adultery -
          that's not the cheating I'm talking about. I'm speaking
          of cheating on Jesus - spiritual adultery. Those who
          neglect Jesus will one day cheat on Him! Even what
          little love they have now will die - and the love of
          something else will enter in.

          What is this other love? It is the love of the world
          and its things: "Love not the world, neither the things
          that are in the world, If any man love the world, the
          love of the Father is not in him" (John 2:15).

          You may answer, "I don't love the world. I don't drink,
          smoke, curse or run around. I'm a good family person."

          But your "other lover" could be your job, your career.
          Whatever consumes your time, thoughts and energy is now
          your first love! You have no time for Jesus - and you
          cheat on Him by wrapping yourself up in your work. It
          takes precedence over all else!

          You object, "But I've got to make a living!" Yes - but
          at what cost? Your soul? Your love for Jesus? You do
          want the things of this world - or else you'd be
          spending less time on them!

          Paul said even a doctrine can be an "other lover." You
          can become ensnared by a false gospel and love it more
          than Christ:

          "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I
          have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
          you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by
          any means... your minds should be corrupted from the
          simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh
          preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or
          if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not
          received, or another gospel, which ye have not
          accepted, ye might well bear with him" (2 Corinthians
          11:2-4).

          Beware of those who want to indoctrinate you! They
          "preach another Jesus," wanting you to fall in love
          with their doctrine. It has become their love. But Paul
          warns we are to follow no one but Christ and Him
          crucified! He said, "Do not be corrupted from the
          simplicity of Jesus and His gospel!"

          There is a cult in New York City that has attracted
          thousands. These people are not in love with Jesus -
          their love is water baptism. They say, "You can join us
          only by being baptized. You can't be saved unless you
          come to our church and go through our baptism." They
          send people around the globe just to baptize one
          person!

          I believe in water baptism. And I believe every
          Christian should be baptized. But this group's gospel
          isn't about Jesus at all - it's about water baptism!
          Their talk does not flow with love for Jesus. It's all
          about this other gospel - "another Jesus"!

          There are Christians everywhere who want to talk only
          about their church or pet doctrine. Often their teacher
          means more to them than Jesus. They've left Christ in a
          corner somewhere. And they're cheating on Him - because
          they're married to some doctrine!

          I also know Christian husbands and wives who substitute
          their unsaved mate for Jesus. This is their "other
          love." They are so infatuated with their mate they
          actually sin for them! They go drinking and
          club-hopping with them - and they neglect God's house,
          they neglect prayer. They obey their mate more than
          they obey Christ!

          If you worship your husband or wife, you are cheating
          on Jesus - you've got another lover! I'll never forget
          one of the first drug addicts who got saved through
          Teen Challenge. His name was Joseph, and he was
          terrible! He beat up his wife and mistreated his baby.
          He stole everything out of their house to buy drugs.

          Joseph's wife begged me to take him into our center. We
          did - and he got marvelously saved! He got off of
          drugs, and three months later he went home with a Bible
          in his hand and a smile on his face.

          Yet, after a week at home, Joseph's wife told him, "I
          liked you better the other way when you were a drug
          addict!" So she went out and bought three bags of
          heroin and laid them on the table, saying, "Go to it!"
          She had "another love" - her unsaved husband of the
          past!

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              3. The Sin of Not Believing Jesus Wants The Best
              for His Bride And Is Doing All He Can for Her!

                     ---------------------------------

          How it must break Jesus' heart when we question His
          ability and desire to do what is best for us! The Bible
          tells us clearly how the Lord took wonderful meticulous
          care of Ruth. Ruth pledged her love to Jehovah God. She
          told her mother-in-law Naomi: "...thy people shall be
          my people, and thy God my God..." (Ruth 1:16).

          God loved Ruth and He opened up every door for her. She
          was poor and had to glean in the fields - but Scripture
          says, "She happened to come to the field belonging to
          Boaz" (Ruth 2:3 NAS). Now, there's not a chance in the
          world that this just "happened." It was the Lord doing
          what He knew was best for Ruth!

          Ruth simply loved the Lord - she put all her trust in
          Him. And God had a very rich man prepared for her as a
          husband! Boaz saw Ruth in the fields and immediately
          discerned, "She's different - really different," His
          heart was captured!

          What a love story - and what incredible circumstances
          brought it all about. Ruth married this godly man. And
          if the Lord would do that for Ruth, will not He do
          right by His own bride, in every circumstance?

          We have Someone who is richer and mightier than Boaz.
          He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He knows all
          and can do all - and He loves His bride! Yes, the Lord
          works everything in your life for your absolute best.
          And He takes great pleasure in doing it. Even in
          suffering and trials, every lover of Jesus gets His
          full attention!

          Yet, sadly, we simply do not rest in that. We doubt He
          is on the job at all times, working out all things to
          our good. We look at our circumstances and don't see
          Him at work anywhere.

          Beloved nothing breaks His heart more! Paul describes
          the bride of Christ as "a glorious church, not having
          spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27).
          "Wrinkle" here means "fold," as on one's face - a
          wrinkled brow, This speaks of worry, fretting. And Paul
          is saying Jesus' bride won't have any "worry lines"!

          The bride of Christ rests in His love. She is confident
          He knows where she is, how she feels, what she is going
          through, what is best for her. And His love gives her
          peace and calm. She knows He'll not allow anything that
          will cut her off from Him or hurt her. He's going to
          preserve her - because He said, "She's mine!"

          That is what Jesus is saying over you right now - "You
          are mine! And you can trust I'm going to do what is
          best for you."

          Dear saint, are you neglecting Jesus? Are you breaking
          His heart because you don't have time for Him? Are you
          mistrusting Him because you don't see Him at work on
          your behalf?

          Pray this prayer from your heart:

          "Lord, forgive me. Make this message real to me. Let
          Your Word so sink into my heart that when I get up from
          reading it, I won't forget Your great love for me."

          "I don't want to neglect You any longer, Jesus. I don't
          want to cheat on You anymore. And I don't want to worry
          or fret - I don't want any wrinkles blemishing Your
          bride. I believe You are going to care for me, that You
          will preserve me - because I am betrothed to You!"

          Amen!

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