## BEARING SCARS

## Galatians 6:17

- Scars are a reminder of something.
- In most cases it is a reminder of something unpleasant.
- Many people have scars all over their body.
- In every case, each one represents something bad.
- Most of the scars you get are from something bad.
- They have a reason.

God Could Have Made The Flesh So That It Would Not Scar When It Was Torn.

- The tongue has a certain type of tissue that does not scar when it is torn.
- The tongue does not have scar tissue.
- When it repairs and most of the time it is by itself, it leaves no scar tissue.
- The only scar that a tongue makes is when it scars someone else.
- Many scars have been put on others by the tongue.

Everyone Has Scars On Their Body.

- Some are very obvious.
- Some are in more private places.
- There are all types of ways to get scars.

- Sports wounds.
- War wounds.
- Surgical cuts.
- Accidents.

I. SCARS REMIND US THAT SIN IS PAINFUL

A. It Does Not Always Scar At The Time Of The Sin.

1. Some have marks on their body that are the result of sin.

2. I hope that you do not have any scars of that kind.

3. Many do have them.

4. If they are not scars where physical pain has been inflicted then they might be scars to our inner man, which is more serious.

5. Many times the scars do not come until later.

6. Sometimes much later.

7. Sometimes the sin does not affect us but the ones that follow after us.

8. This is more of a reason to not sin than it would be if the sin was hurting us.

B. Sin Brings Misery And The Ugly Scars Remind Us Of The Pain.

1. Check each scar out on your body.

2. Remember how it got there.

3. You can remember the pain that you went through for that scar.

4. Wish you could forget it, but the reminder is still there.

5. It will be there forever. It will never go away.

6. Plastic surgery may cover it, but it is still there.

7. Patches can cover the hole in the knee of the pants, but the hole is still there.

8. Things that happened even when you were a small child can be remembered through the scars.

9. The scars are there and are a reminder of the pain that we went though when the scar was made.

10. The scars no longer hurt, except for the memories.

11. They are there to remind us.

II. SCARS REMIND US NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES AGAIN

A. Mistakes Can Be Good If We Learn From Them

1. It is not so bad to make mistakes.

2. The problem is that we make the same mistakes over again.

3. A teacher in high school that would count double points off if you missed the same question twice.

4. He said that we should never make the same mistake twice.

5. The worth of mistakes is learning from them.

6. Most of the time we make the same mistakes again.

B. The Lord Leaves Us Reminders In The Way Of Scars.

1. At times these are physical.

2. Actual places where the skin has been torn.

3. During the healing process, scar tissue has formed.

4. It does not have to be like that, but that is the way God made it to work.

5. God does everything good for us.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

C. At Times The Scars Are Not Physical On The Outside But Are Emotional And From The Inside.

1. Some things hurt worse than physical hurts.

2. At times the hurt from the inside is much more serious than the hurt from the outside. Some of the deepest and most severe are from within.

3. The flesh will heal soon.

4. The hurt at times lasts much longer.

5. These scars are there to remind us for the future.

III. SCARS IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS REMIND US AND TEACH US

A. Mouse Trap Would Not Work If Mice Learned From Others’ Mistakes.

1. Set the trap.

2. A mouse comes up, smells the cheese, takes a bite and then - Wham!

3. Next mouse comes up, smells the cheese, takes a bite and then - Wham!

4. You would think that the second one would learn from the mistakes of the first one.

5. He does not and neither do we!

B. Many Things Leave Scars On Others That We Should Learn From.

1. Cigarettes.

a. Take a walk through the lung cancer ward.

b. Check out all the pulmonary diseases.

c. Ask a heart surgeon what he thinks of smoking.

2. Alcohol.

a. More physical problems caused by alcohol than they can really imagine.

b. Liver problems: from the liver turning into a piece of leather trying to filter the poison out of the alcohol.

c. More scars left than just the physical.

d. There are more homes broken up over liquor than over any one thing.

e. Nearly every home has some scar from alcohol.

C. Look To Others And Gain Value From Their Mistakes And Problems.

1. We can learn from others if we will.

2. Why pay the price yourself, learn from others.

IV. SCARS REMIND US THAT AN ARM OR LEG IS NOT USELESS JUST BECAUSE IT HAS A SCAR

A. Injuries Render A Part Of The Body Useless.

1. A broken leg at times render the entire body out of service.

2. You cannot work.

3. You cannot go to school.

4. You cannot do the activities that you once did.

5. But this is just for a temporary time.

6. It does not last for ever.

7. The uselessness is for just a time until the injury heals.

B. A Scarred Limb Can Be Just As Good As An Unscarred One.

1. At times it can be more useful.

2. The burned hand knows not to go too close to the fire.

3. It may have some burned scar tissue on it.

4. But it also has some experience that the unscarred one does not have.

C. God Has A Plan For The Scarred Limbs.

1. Could God have kept the limb from getting injured?

2. Could God have intervened?

3. Was it not within the power of God to protect the limb?

4. Of course He could have.

D. It Is Sometimes God's Plan To Scar For His Purpose.

1. Scarred lives make better instruments for God at times.

2. You could not accomplish the mission that God has for you without being scarred.

3. It is necessary for the accomplishment of the mission.

4. It is for the good and not for the bad.

5. God planned it this way.

V. SCARS IN MANY CASES MEAN THAT WE HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL TO GOD

A. Paul's Scars Indicated He Was A Slave To Christ By Choice.

1. A rancher brands his cattle to know which ones are his.

2. God marks His to see which ones are his.

3. Note: Acts 5:40-42

B. Are You A Servant In The Same Manner As These Early Christians?

1. What will happen if you have to go through persecution?

2. What will happen if you have to suffer for Christ sake?

3. Will you be willing to bear the marks?

4. Will you be willing to suffer for Christ’s sake?

5. Are you willing to pay the price to serve Jesus?

C. Our Scars Come Not So Much By Physical Scars As By Inner Scars.

1. If you serve God in the way that you should you will be persecuted.

2. At the job you will be talked about.

3. You will get the short end of the stick at times.

4. You will get pushed around a bit.

5. You will get tried.

6. You will get done dirty.

7. You will get some scars.

8. Those scars are for good and not for evil.

9. God allows every one of the scars.

VI. MORE SCARS WE HAVE IN THIS LIFE, THE MORE STARS IN HEAVEN

A. Paul's Scars Speak Of Surrender And Service.

1. Scars come from actual combat with the enemy.

2. Most have very little combat with the enemy.

3. Most have very few battles.

4. Most Christians are not aware of the war going on

5. Many say, I never am bothered by the devil."

6. Those that the devil is not bothering is not bothering the devil either.

7. You will get some scars if you serve God.

8. Many have done certain things that will leave scars:

a. Motorcycles.

b. Football.

c. Combat.

B. Everyone That Has Stood For Christ Bear The Scars.

1. Every year 150,000 people die as a martyr for Christ.

2. Consider "Foxes Book of Martyrs" CONCLUSION:

-Scars are not for our bad but are for our good.

- Scars can be beneficial if we take them in the right way.

- Scars are to help and not to hurt.

- Everything that God does is for good and not for evil.

Sharon was a high school senior. The seniors were going on their senior trip. Sharon's mother was going on the trip to help as an adult chaperon. The high school class was going on a boat trip on the Hudson River. Sharon's mother was scarred on her face. She was very ugly because of the scars. On the boat, Sharon’s mother walked by a group of the girls of which Sharon was a part. One of the girls said, ‘Who is that ugly old scar faced woman." Sharon said, "I do not know."

Sharon had asked her mother at times why her face was so scarred, but her mother had always told her that it happened a long time ago when Sharon was just a little girl.

After the trip was over Sharon’s mother called Sharon into the living room and said that she wanted to talk to her. She told Sharon that she had heard her deny that she knew her and realized that she was ashamed of her. Sharon’s mother shared this story with Sharon.

"Sharon, when you were a very small infant baby still in the cradle there was a fire in the apartment that we were living. Your father had deserted us and I was left to raise you by myself. In the apartment that we were living the flames broke out. I was in the bathroom and saw the flames engulfing the room that you were in. I took a wet towel and ran into the room and wrapped you in a wet towel and carried you to safety. My clothes caught on fire and my hair was in flames, but I proceeded until I got you safely out of the building.

I was in the intensive care burn clinic for a number of weeks. I was unconscious for several days. I finally got so I could come home. It was a long time before I was able to operate again. My scars are from the love that I had for you. You are ashamed of me, but the scars [17]

that you are ashamed of are the very scars that saved your life." Sharon began to weep. Tears began to run down the cheeks of the mother. Sharon said, "I am sorry that I was ashamed of you. I will never be ashamed of you again."

ARE YOU ASHAMED OF JESUS? His scars are the means of our salvation.

"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." (Zec 13:6)