TITLE: WHEN I GET TO HEAVEN, I DON’T WANT TO BE THE ONLY ONE WITHOUT SCARS
TEXT: GALATIANS 6:17
INTRO:
1. I don’t know if anyone else ever wonders what it will be like in heaven, but I do from time to time. My thoughts about heaven are probably different than what some of yours might be. I think about the marriage supper of the Lamb, I think about seeing loved ones, I think about being in the presence of God, but I also think about scars.
2. Illustration,
Webster’s Dictionary:
Scar- a mark left (as in the skin) by the healing of injured tissue; a mark or indentation resulting from damage or wear.
3. I believe that when we’re in heaven we will display our scars like medals of honor in the same way that a soldier wears ribbons across his chest.
4. My fear is that we have embraced such a watered-down, easy to live version of Christianity that we will never be in a position to receive our scars. We have embraced the completely heretical teachings of prosperity preachers and now believe that God wants us all to be rich instead of trusting Him for daily bread, that there is no righteousness in suffering, and that everyone should love us.
5. The prosperity gospel that is widely accepted in American churches today stands in complete contradiction to what Jesus taught. Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, we say blessed are the rich in their bank accounts. Jesus said blessed are those who mourn, we say blessed are those who have no need to mourn. Jesus said blessed are the meek, we say blessed are the proud. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, we say blessed are those who support the most ministries. Jesus said blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, we say blessed are the powerful, the big wigs, the top dogs. Jesus said blessed are those who are persecuted and insulted, we say blessed are those who popular and well liked.
6. The longer I’m involved in Christianity the more I want an authentic, Biblical Christianity no matter what it cost me. When I get to heaven I want scars. I don’t want to sit in the back with my head down knowing that I never risked anything, but I want to be able to sit at the same table as Paul and Timothy and take turns showing off scars. Scars are supposed to be a part of the Kingdom of God.
7. Lk. 21:12-19
12 But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 All men will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain life.
8. Acts 14:21 & 22
21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
9. Illustration,
Andrew- He is said to have been a missionary in Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly in areas in modern Russia and Poland. He was crucified at Patras (Greece) in AD 60. He suffered on the cross for 4 days, while preaching and encouraging the people gathered around him.
Bartholomew- He is said to have preached in India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Armenia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and on the shores of the Black Sea. He was beaten, skinned alive, then crucified, and afterwards beheaded in Albanoplois, Armenia.
James, son of Alphaeus- He was beaten and stoned to death by the Jews at the age of 94; and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller’s club.
James, son of Zebedee- He is said to have preached in Samaria, Judea, and Spain. As he was led to the place of his execution, his accuser, seeing James’ extraordinary courage, repented and asked for his forgiveness. This man became a Christian and asked to be martyred with James. They were beheaded at the same time.
John- He is said to have founded churches in Asia Minor and baptized converts in Samaria. He was immersed in boiling oil. John was not killed by this event, so the emperor exiled him to the Island of Patmos.
Judas (Not Iscariot)- He is said to have preached in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Magicians killed him with clubs and stones in Persia.
Matthew- He was martyred with a spear in the city of Nedabah, Ethiopia, AD 60.
Simon Peter- According to John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, after hearing Nero’s intention to kill Peter, the Christians convinced him to flee Rome. “But coming to the gate, he saw the Lord Christ come to meet him, to Whom he, worshipping said, ‘Lord, where do you go?’ To whom He answered and said, ‘I am come again to be crucified.’ By this, Peter, perceiving his suffering to be understood, returned back into the city.” He was then killed in Rome at the order of Nero around AD 68. According to Tertullian and Origen, he was crucified head downwards at his request. He said that he was unworthy to be crucified the same was as Jesus Christ.
Philip- He is said to have preached in Asia Minor. He was martyred in Hieraplis, a city in today’s Turkey.
Simon Zelotes- He is said to have preached on the Black Sea, in Egypt, Northern Africa, Britain, and Persia. He was crucified in Britain in AD 74.
Thomas- He is said to have preached in Parthia, Persia, and India. He was martyred with a spear in India.
Matthias- He is said to have preached the Gospel for more than 30 years in Judea, Cappadocia, Egypt, and Ethiopia. He was stoned to death and beheaded in Jerusalem.
James, the Brother of Christ- He was thrown from the top of the temple, then stoned. As he was being stoned he began to pray for the people killing him. Then one of them took a club and beat him to death on the head.
Paul was imprisoned, flogged, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, and finally beheaded.
Scholars estimate that as many as 100,000 Christians lost their lives in Rome during Nero’s reign.Nero enjoyed dipping the Christians in wax, and impaling them on poles around his palace, he would then light them on fire, and yell: “Now you truly are the light of the world.” Nero also performed many other kinds of torture, often killing them in the Circus Maximus in front of large crowds of spectators where he did some of his most gruesome murders. Here he would wrap Christians up in animal skins and throw them to lions, or dogs who would then tear these men and women apart in front of thousands of entertained spectators. At other times he would crucify them, and after the crowd would get bored, he would set the Christians on fire.
According to Christianity Today, an average of 171,000 Christians worldwide are martyred for their faith per year.
10. Thankfully we live in a nation where we will probably not suffer physical persecution for our faith. However, we must be willing to live our lives in such a way that challenges us in our faith and causes us to grow closer to Jesus.
11. Today we need to understand the importance of scars.
I. SCARS SHOW SACRIFICE
A. Sacrifice Is The Basis Of The Kingdom Of God
1. The word “sacrifice” is used 357 times in the NIV translation of the Bible.
2. Rom. 3:25 & 26
25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
3. Jesus set the example through His sacrifice and brought about the fulness of the Kingdom of God.
4. Phil. 2:6-11
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
B. We Must Be Willing To Make Sacrifices For God
1. Charles Thomas Studd,
“If Jesus Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.”
2. Oswald Chambers,
“Our notion of sacrifice is the wringing out of us something we don’t want to give up, full of pain and agony and distress. The Bible idea of sacrifice is that I give as a love-gift the very best thing I have.”
3. Phil. 3:7-11
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
4. Sacrifice is not coming to church a few times a month or putting something in the offering every once in a while. Tonight we will begin our week of prayer and fasting and some of you haven’t made any plans at all that involve sacrifice this week. For you Christianity is still all about what you get instead of what you give.
5. Heb. 13:15 & 16 NLT
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
II. SCARS SHOWS COMMITMENT
A. Commitment Is A Forgotten Concept In Our Society
1. Illustration,
According to divorcerate.org, 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce.
Barna, Women Are The Backbone Of Christian Congregations In America,
“More than 90% of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday.”
2. Lk. 9:62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
B. We Must Be Committed No Matter The Cost
1. Jim Elliot,
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
2. Lk. 9:23 & 24
23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
3. 2 Cor. 6:4-10
4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
4. Illustration,
I have a scar on my chin that I got when I was a teenager. I had been working every week in our church’s bus ministry. One Sunday morning we picked up a kid whose parents had forgotten to give him his medicine. He was disrupting the service and so we had to take him out of the gym and into the fellowship hall. He kept jumping out of his seat and trying to run back into the gym. One time he almost got into the gym. I chased him down and when I got to him I slipped and ran into the door leading into the gym. I heard a loud pop in my neck and back and felt kind of numb. I didn’t even realize that I had split my chin open. When I came back into the room the other workers were amazed at my chin. It was a pretty serious cut. It actually ripped open. I got some paper towels and kept the blood from getting on my suit. I finished Kid’s Church, rode my bus to make sure my kids got home, drove home, and then went to the hospital. Seven stitches later, I now have a scar of commitment. In our society I’ll probably never be beaten with rods for my commitment to Christ, but I worked bus ministry every Saturday and Sunday for two and a half years for this scar.
5. Frances J. Roberts,
“Tomorrow I keep for God. Today I give to God.”
6. 2 Tim. 1:12 NKJV For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
III. SCARS SHOW ADVENTURE
A. God Doesn’t Want Boring Christians
1. Mark Twain,
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
2. Eric Hoffer,
“When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves.”
3. Mt. 25:24-30
24 Then the man who had received the one talent came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” 26 His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
B. We Must Be Adventurous In Our Faith
1. Mt. 14:25-32
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It's a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it's you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
2. Illustration,
When I was about 11 or 12 my friends and I were searching for an adventure. It was the beginning of summer and we had been riding our bikes around town searching for something to do. We decided to go swimming in a creek outside of town. There were parts of the creek that the water was well over our head. The creek opened up into a large pool. We had fixed a rope in the top of a tree so that we could swing over the pool and drop into the deep water. For some excitement we decided to dive to the bottom of the creed and try to find treasures. After what seemed like hours we hadn’t found anything very adventurous. Finally we found something that got our spirits up. A knife. And not just any knife, but a big knife. It was old and extremely rusted. To us it was obvious that this knife wasn’t dropped by other local boys who used to swim in the creek. To us it must have been lost by a Civil War soldier. We weren’t aware of any battles that had been fought near our town, but it still seemed the most logical conclusion. We decided to take our treasure home to run test and determine if it was a Yankee or Confederate blade. Boys very rarely ride their bikes in a straight line. My friend held the knife in between his hand and the handlebars of his bike. We weren’t paying attention and almost ran into each other. When we did, the knife cut my forearm. It was a pretty deep cut. We got home and I poured some Hydrogen Peroxide on it, which was a common practice of mine. I should have ended up with tetanus, but instead I ended up with a scar that serves as a reminder of an exciting day of adventure.
3. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
“Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.”
4. 2 Cor. 11:23-27
23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
IV. SCARS SHOW REDEMPTION
A. We All Need A Savior
1. Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
2. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
B. Jesus’ Scars Prove Our Redemption
1. Milo L. Chapman,
“The strangest truth of the gospel is that redemption comes through suffering.”
2. Jn. 20:26-28
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
3. Isa. 53:3-5
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
CNCL:
1. We must understand that one day we will be in heaven. When we get there will we be able to share our scars and our stories with the heroes of the Bible or will we sit in a corner upset about what we had not done for Christ.
2. We may not ever be physically persecuted for our faith, but we should live a life for Christ that is worthy of scars.
3. We must live a life that demonstrates sacrifice, commitment, adventure, and redemption.
4. We need to have scars when we get to heaven.
ALTAR:
1. Salvation/Rededication
2. Scars
