GOD HAS TO BRUISE YOU, TO USE YOU
2 Cor. 1:3-7
INTRODUCTION
A. WHY HAS THIS HAPPENED TO ME?
1. M. Night Shyamalan's film “Unbreakable” begins with a train wreck. Everyone on board is killed—over a hundred people—except for one. David Dunn not only survives the wreck, he walks away without a scratch.
2. Instead of being relieved by his good fortune, he's troubled by this remarkable outcome. Why was he unharmed, and what does it mean?
3. Into Dunn's life comes an eccentric comic book collector named Elijah, who seems equally intrigued by Dunn's survival. Elijah has reason to be interested; he was born with a genetic disorder that leaves his bones especially brittle—so brittle, in fact, that he is known as Mr. Glass.
4. Dunn, on the other hand, has never broken a bone, even after years of playing football. He's never had stitches; never pulled a muscle; never been bruised; never even been sick. Elijah tells David that he's not like other people; he's been given an extraordinary gift that he cannot keep to himself, but must employ in the service and protection of others.
5. For the rest of the film, Dunn struggles to understand and accept his remarkable abilities and the destiny that goes with them. He's “unbreakable.”
6. The film is fiction, of course, a comic book fantasy. There are no superheroes walking our streets. We are all quite breakable. We're fragile and susceptible to disease, accident, injury, violence, germs, and natural disaster.
7. These problems can lead to all sorts of questions, “Why did this happen to me or to my loved ones? How am I supposed to handle it? [Bryan Wilkerson]
B. IDEA
1. Into this mix comes A.W. Tozer, who said, “It’s doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly, until He has hurt him deeply.” He was of the opinion that suffering is necessary to usefulness to God.
2. I think we all agree that God has to work on us a lot to improve us. We’re shallow. We’re selfish. We don’t think about how other people are effected. We often don’t have a burden for others. So God has to put us into all kinds of varying situations to make us who He wants us to be.
3. So tonight’s message is “God has to Bruise You, to Use You.”
I. WHY GOD ALLOWS CHRISTIANS TO SUFFER
A. REASONS HE ALLOWS US TO SUFFER
1. TRIED & TESTED. God will have a tried & tested people. We must go through fire and water. The extreme tests demonstrate the true “metal” of the person. Even Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered, Heb. 5:8.
2. SYMPATHY. We can’t comfort others unless we’ve experienced what they are experiencing. When God wanted Ezekiel to prophesy to the Israelite captives, He placed him among them, in their despair, for seven days (3:15). Only then did he get God’s word for them, because only then did he understand their suffering.
3. AS A WITNESS. We Christians must face the same afflictions as the lost, but instead of responding with despair, anger, hopelessness, etc. that others do, we are to respond as the nature of Jesus Christ would. We should respond by the fruit of the Spirit. The different spirit we present will be a witness to them of Jesus’ reality. The sweetest music comes from the violin string that has been stretched to the limits.
B. THERE IS VALUE FROM SUFFERING
1. FRUIT TREES BRUISED. In the natural, certain types of fruit trees bear more fruit if the trunks are struck with sticks. It may be because a stressed tree may be jolted into returning to its original purpose (like a computer when restarted). A man on the internet said he noticed this “when a backhoe bumped into our mango tree several times while spreading dirt. The fruit that year was 3 or 4x the normal amount. I've since used this on other fruit trees.” https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1622277/beating-trees-with-a-bat
2. WHAT MAKES SWEET ORANGES
One lady said, “I live in Florida, a citrus capital. Most Floridians know that the colder the winter is for the trees, the sweeter the oranges.”
3. TEA BAGS & GOLF BALLS. A tea bag never gives off its flavor or aroma without being put in hot water. The hot water brings out the hidden quality of the tea. Why do golf balls have dimples? The original golf balls were smooth. But players noticed that a “roughed-up” golf ball would travel further than a smooth one. Investigation proved it, thus the dimpled golf ball.
4. Paul & James said “the trying (trial) of your faith works patience” which leads to maturity. Rom. 5:3; James 1:3-4.
II. YOUR PAIN IS NOT IN VAIN
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Thomas Chisholm (1866-1960) was sickly, a failure. He tried selling insurance, farming, tried to start a Christian magazine – and every thing he tried failed. He went into the ministry as a Methodist pastor and lasted only one year. But he did see that God was faithful to take care of the needs of his family.
2. So he sat down and wrote, “Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. As thou hast been thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness...” That hymn was birthed from years of pain.
3. YOUR PAIN IS NEVER IN VAIN. “Vain” means “having no value.” In Christ, our pain has a reason.
B. PAIN HAS A PURPOSE
1. You read about “pain chapters” in the life of Abraham, Moses, David, Paul – and ultimately the story of Jesus and His pain for us. In each case, the following “chapter” shows the arrival of God’s purpose as a result of their pain.
2. Isaiah 53 catalogues the suffering of Jesus for us, “3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief....5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” What He did, He did for us.
C. MODERN HALF-TRUTHS
1. The predominant message in churches today is that God wants to BLESS YOU. That’s only half the truth. That God wants to MAKE YOU A BLESSING TO OTHERS is the other half of the truth.
2. Yes, God does want to bless you, but to stop there is an incomplete message – a selfish message. God blesses us so we can be a blessing to others. This includes our PAIN MOMENTS TOO.
D. PAUL’S INSIGHT INTO PAIN & COMFORT
3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 WHO COMFORTS US IN ALL OUR TROUBLES, SO THAT WE CAN COMFORT THOSE IN ANY TROUBLE with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” 2 Cor. 1:3-7.
1. THERE’S A PURPOSE IN YOUR SUFFERINGS: YOUR SUFFERINGS & COMFORT ARE ALLOWED BY GOD SO THAT YOU CAN BE A COMFORT TO SOMEONE ELSE. WHAT HAPPENS “TO YOU,” IS FOR MINISTRY TO FLOW “THROUGH YOU!”
2. YOUR GREATEST MINISTRY WILL LIKELY COME OUT OF YOUR GREATEST HURT. The alabaster jar (of Mary of Bethany) had to be broken before the anointing (nard) could be poured out and the fragrance fill the house. Often we have to be broken before we can give off the fragrance of Christ.
III. EXAMPLE OF JOSEPH
A. GOD IS IN CHARGE
1. There’s no such thing as coincidence for the Christian. Under God, there is providence. The typical chess player is 2-3 moves ahead of his opponent.
2. A chess master is as much as 30 moves ahead and can often see the end of the game from his opponent’s first move. GOD IS INFINITELY SUPERIOR TO ANY CHESS MASTER – HE KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING!
B. GOD WILL ALL WORK ALL THINGS FOR GOOD
Let’s apply these ideas to Joseph. Gen. 39:2 & 21 say “the Lord was with Joseph” at Potiphar’s house and in the prison. God was “working ALL things together” for Joseph, to save his family, Rom. 8:28. Question: can God even turn sin, hatred, and evil around for good? YES, all the evil done to Joseph was turned around for his good. Let’s list some of the evils:
1. The IRRESPONSIBILITY of Jacob to give Joseph the coat of many colors (preferential treatment wrong too).
2. The PRIDE of Joseph to tell his brothers his dreams while wearing the coat.
3. The JEALOUSY of his brothers to sell him into slavery.
4. The GREED of the Ishmaelites to sell him for a buck.
5. The LUST & false ACCUSATION of Potiphar’s wife.
6. The BRASHNESS of Pharaoh to lock up his staff.
7. The CRIMINAL OFFENSE of the Cupbearer & Baker toward Pharaoh.
SUMMARY: So God took irresponsibility, pride, jealousy, greed, lust & accusation, brashness & rashness, and criminal offense – and God said, “I’m going to make all these things work out for the good!”
CONCLUSION
A. HUMOR
1. After a tree fell on his garage, the Rev. Ray Lanham was asked by neighbor Tom Bedell if it isn’t wrong that a man of God should suffer from an act of God.
2. “I wouldn’t know,” replied Mr. Lanham, “I’m in sales, not management.”
3. When you feel like things are over your head – remember – they’re UNDER GOD’S FEET!
B. THE CALL
1. Let’s pray that God will make us people who can empathize with those who are suffering and bring hope to them.
2. Will you be alert the next week to opportunities to share the love of Christ?
3. How many of you have been going through something and want to be included in a prayer for special healing and grace?
4. PRAYER
[This is a rewrite of Tim Dilena’s message preached at Times Square Church 3/14/21]
