THE ONLY MAN MADE THING IN HEAVEN?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
God does not need giraffes in the pew, with their heads stuck up in the clouds.
We need empathy. We need real passion and compassion! We need to share the burdens of the hurting. We need understanding from the pulpit and the pew.
TEXT:
John 20:27 Then said Jesus to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, (the scars), and reach hither thy hands and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Eph. 5:27 That He might present it to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish!
Gal. 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the MARKS (scars) of the Lord Jesus.
I ask you today, what are the only man made things in heaven?
The answer is easy --- THE SCARS ON THE BODY OF JESUS.
Why were not the scars removed from the Son of God?
Well, there are some wise reasons, let us ponder scars.
I. THE SCARS OF JESUS ARE A TESTIMONY!
John 20:27 Then said Jesus to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, (the scars),
and reach hither thy hands and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
A. Great test? Great testimonies! Great messes, great messages.
B. Thomas could identify Jesus and Thomas could identify with the scars of Jesus!
C. God could have removed the scars very easy, there is a deep lesson here.
D. Scarred hands reach to scarred life’s.
II. CAN WE HAVE FAITH EVEN IF WE ARE SCARRED?
A. The word scarred in the Bible takes various forms, mark, injury, spot, blemish.
B.The faith of the Gospel reaches far beyond the pain of the scar.
III. DEFINE SCAR:
A.**a bare place on a mountain,
B.**a mark left by the healing of an injury,
C. **a mark left on fallen fruit,
D. *indentation resulting from wear,
E. **a lasting moral or emotional injury,
IV. SOME GENERAL LESSONS ABOUT SCARRING:
A. **A scar may be evidence of healing!
B. ** THE SCARS OF OTHERS SHOULD BE LESSONS TO ALL.
C.**If you have never felt a wound, then maybe you will laugh at other’s scars.
D. **Scars may be a silent witness that we have been in a battle.
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF SCARS:
A. Internal
B. External
V. A SCAR IS EVIDENCE OF HEALING.
A. Scars are no more than outward signs, something that proves, a witness to the fact, a
testimony of being wounded or hurt.
B. 9/11 will always be a witness to a scar placed on a whole society.
C. M16’s and 38’s and 45’s may WOUND many, but God has a
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He Gave His only Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
VI. SCARS DON’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO WEAR A MASK OR HIDE YOUR SCAR.
A.Remember the parable of the King that fell in great love with a woman?
The woman was beautiful 12 hours a day, and very ugly 12 hours a day.
The King had to make a decision, would he have her to be pretty in public to impress the people?
Or would he have her to be ugly when she was with him?
The King knew that all that mattered was when they were together.
After a season of thinking, the King made a clear decision, the King opted to have her beautiful when they were alone, he did not care what the public saw
or thought. Because of the King’s unselfish thought, the Queen was beautiful 24 hours a day.
B. Many people are so overly concerned with impressing others, that they lose their real beauty.
VII. A SCAR IS A HEALING THAT OTHERS CAN SEE!
A. A SCAR CAN BE A DISPLAY, A BADGE OF COURAGE, that shows others you made it through a difficult time.
B. Scars can be a tanible, external sign.
VIII. A SCAR CAN DISPLAY STRENGTH AND FAITH.
A.Those that have survived terrible times and terrible battles need to express to others:
B. CAN, YOU CAN, WE CAN!
IX. SOMEONE HURTING NEEDS TO SEE YOUR SCAR.
A. Thomas would forever be known as the DOUBTER, but Thomas got to see the scar.
B. Thomas touched the scar, the scar helped Thomas overcome his fears and doubts.
X. SCAR IS AN OPEN DOOR TO MINISTER!
A. God does not need giraffes in the pew, with their heads stuck up in the clouds.
We need empathy. We need to share the burdens of the hurting. We need understanding from
the pulpit and the pew.
B. The Holy Spirit must make us seeker sensitive! Do you feel for others?
Do you radiate passion, compassion, and mercy? Or are you critical and judgmental?
XI. SCARS DEMONSTRATE GOD CAN TRUST YOU AND YOU CAN TRUST GOD!
God can pull you through, if you can stand the pull!
**The devil is wrong and God is right!
**Life is not always fair.
**I have a choice to be bitter or better.
**Many things in life are neutral, they are neither good or bad within themselves, It is your choice that makes
things bad or good.
**Your three basic choices are: fight, flight, or flow? Do you want to die on this hill?
**Nothing is as bad as it first appears.
**Keep the main thing the main thing! What is the main thing?
**Good comes out of bad!
**Life tries to steal your laughter, laugh anyway!
**Splat, You don’t have to quit when it hurts, you can keep running.
**The TV can be a thief of family times and family values.
**There is absolute insanity in staying the same!
**Ministry is carrying scars for a purpose. You must take risk and gamble on people.
**Sometimes the worse thing that can happen to you is the best thing that could happen to you!
XII. CAN WE CARRY PROUDLY THE SCARS OF A LOVE SERVANT?
Gal. 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the MARKS (scars) of the Lord Jesus.
A. THE MARKS THAT PAUL REFERS TO WAS A TYPE OF A SCAR.
In Biblical times, some slaves were branded with the mark of their Master to indicate their owners.
B. So Paul here declares he is not ashamed of his scars, his marks, his wounds that he suffered for the
Suffering Savior. Paul’s scars were a clear identifying mark that he belonged to Christ Jesus forever.
XIII. NEED TO CAUTERIZE OUR TIES WITH SIN AND THIS OLD WORLD!
XIV. THERE IS A SCARLESS CHURCH, NOT IN MAN’S EYES BUT IN JESUS’ HEART!
A. Songs of Solomon is a record of a love story, a type of love story between Jesus, the Bridegroom,
and His Precious Love the Church. Jesus sees His Church much differently than man sees the Church!
Songs of Solomon 4:7 THERE IS NO SPOT IN THEE ....
B. JESUS IS THE BRIDEGROOM, THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE.
If you will note, Jesus sees more than a scar free church, Jesus sees a spot free church.
This is more than a promise to help us through our scars, Jesus promises to remove all spots.
In this language the spots are already removed!
XV. DOES NOT ALLOW THE CHURCH’S SCARS AND SPOTS TO AFFECT HIS LOVE FOR THE CHURCH.
Eph. 5:27 That He might present it to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish!
XVI. JESUS’ SCARS ARE A MEMORIAL, A REMEMBRANCE TO ALL BELIEVERS!
Rev. 5:6 And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beast, and in the midst of the Elders, STOOD A LAMB AS IF IT HAD BEEN SLAIN...
The perfect lamb, the lamb without scar, blemish, spot, or wrinkle stood for the healing and
salvation of a scarred and broken people. God’s Son comes with His scars, as a lily speaking of
purity, and as a rose, as speaking of His Precious Blood of the LAMB.
XVII. JESUS’ SCARS ARE WITNESS:
** Of His Glory
** Of His Testimony of the Test
** Of His Royal Priesthood
**A Sacred Ornament
The balm of Gilead heals all scars!
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek!
TOUCH THE NAIL SCARRED HANDS OF A SERVANT?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
3/1994
COME STILL, SMALL VOICE. COME STILL, SMALL VOICE AND LEAD ME
TO THOSE NAIL SCARRED HANDS OF A SERVANT!
MAY MY HEART BECOME THE HEART OF JESUS,
AND MAY HIS HEART BE MY HEART!
TEACH ME THE LESSON PAUL TAUGHT ARCHIPPUS: "MAKE SURE TO FINISH THE WORK!"
SEEMS THE CRY OF OUR SYSTEM’S FOUNDATION IS
CHEAP GRACE AND PROFESSIONAL SHOWMANSHIP.
SEEMS WE MEASURE SUCCESS IN MERE NUMBERS, BUDGETS,
MATERIALISM, AND SELF GRATIFICATION?
HOW EASY WOULD IT BE TO MISS
MY WHOLE REASON OF MY EXISTENCE?
FATHER, I ACKNOWLEDGE HOW MUCH I LOVE THE PRAISE AND APPLAUSE OF MY PEERS.
I HAVE BEEN LOST ON THE PSEUDOPSYCHOLOGY AVENUE, I HAVE BEEN LOST!
FATHER, PLEASE STEER ME WITH THAT STILL, SMALL VOICE.
FATHER, BE MY STEERING WHEEL, NOT MY SPARE TIRE.
GRANT ME THAT SENSATIONALISM AND SHOWMANSHIP WILL NOT BECOME MY STANDARD!
I HAVE LEARNED THAT WHENEVER MAN DEMANDS A SIGN,
THAT THE REAL DIVINE PLAN IS ALWAYS DISTORTED.
LORD, I KNOW THAT WHILE PROFITS, GOALS, ACHIEVEMENTS,
AND TROPHIES IMPRESS PEOPLE,
THEY DO NOT IMPRESS GOD OR SELF, THEY ARE SO EMPTY.
I KNOW NOT HOW TO WALK, MAY I HOLD THOSE NAIL SCARRED HANDS?
I CANNOT SEE THE TOTAL OF THY PLAN.
I HAVE NOTHING, I AM NOTHING, I HAVE LOST MY DREAM.
COME NAIL SCARRED HANDS, COME!
COME STILL, SMALL VOICE, AND GIVE ME YOUR DREAM!
I WANT MORE THAN TO SHARE THY WORD! I MUST PREACH THY WORD!
HELP ME GOD TO PREACH THY WORD! GOD MAKE ME A HUMAN AGENT OF REVIVAL!
MAY I HOLD THOSE NAIL SCARRED HANDS?
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Help me? Pass this on to at least one other?
