Struck Down But Not Destroyed

Good morning everybody. Good morning balcony. Thank you. Good morning all of you over in venue or joining us online, watching us at home on your television set. So glad that you could be here this morning. My name is Mark and before we dive into the message, I want to give you a brief 20/20 vision update.

You've no doubt noticed that where we used to have lawns, we have some beautiful new plaza areas. Also we have retrofitted our bathrooms, about 80 new high-efficiency plumbing fixtures here throughout the campus. I like to say that our toilets don't really flush anymore. They just kind of sneeze. You know, just kind of pshh, what happened there? They work awesome. We had Soquel Creek Water District here on Tuesday. We sailed through those inspections and so, yeah, it was awesome.

And by the way, prior to all this work out here, we'd already reduced our water use by 30% over last year and so these new changes are just going to push our water use even further down. And the reason for that is that even with the new building, we will be using less water than we were before and that's all good and necessary. Next step, September 2nd, our application for permanent water service to the new building will go before the board of directors of the water district.

And if you'd like to come out for that, it would be great. You could cheer when they vote yes or you can raise up your pitchforks and torches if they vote no. Just kidding. Kinda. Seriously, we will be mindful. We represent Jesus. He's in control no matter what. But that meeting is September 2nd, 7 p.m., Capitola City Council Chamber. September 2nd. Not all of us can be there, but everyone can pray. So would you be praying about the outcome on September 2nd? Would you do that? Thank you. That would be awesome. Really appreciate it and we'll let you know how it goes if you can't be there that night.

Now we're going to wrap up this series, Lightbulb Moments, today and I have loved this series. Even I couldn't be here two weeks ago when my brother spoke, but I got to watch him online and then I got back just in time last week to be in our last service to hear Jessica. I thought that both of them just did an outstanding job. I was just so blessed by their messages and that was cool.

And by the way, if you missed any of the messages in the series or happened to fall asleep at some point, you can go to our website, tlc.org. Try again. All of the messages will be there for as long as there is an internet and of course it's always free. And when I last left you, the last message I had here at the very end, I showed two video clips of our dogs Teddy and Boone. And all the dog lovers, man, you just loved that. I mean, you told me as much and you showed me pictures of your dogs and you had no idea what the message was about, but it had dogs in it. You were happy.

And I started thinking about, well, do we have any cat lovers here? I started thinking about all of you. Okay, see, I know. And I want you to know that I believe that cats can also illustrate certain truths as well. And so in order to balance the scales, I want to show you a little clip of a cat. It's not my cat. In fact, this cat is still looking for a home, I believe. But have you ever heard that saying, no good deed goes unpunished? You've heard that before? Well, I think this is a great illustration of that saying. Watch the screen.

Pinky. Hi, this is Pinky. This is Pinky. He's a male cat. Domestic short hair. He's available for adoption. He's pet of the week. Placer County Animal Shelter. He's a very loving cat. Pinky, settle down, bud. I get a catch call. Yeah, because I'm. Yes. Pinky is still available for adoption. Placer County Animal Shelter. Their motto is, if you can catch him, you can keep him. But there is a point to that, I actually have a point.

Just this. You don't have to go looking for pain and trouble in this life. It just has a way of finding you. In fact, it may even crawl up your leg and bite you someday. For example, 13 years ago this month, a man named Dave Dravecki was our guest speaker here. Remember Dave Dravecki? Some of you were here for that. You're probably familiar with his story. In the mid late 1980s, Dave Dravecki's career was shifting into high gear. He'd already pitched in the major league All-Star game. He had pitched in the World Series in 1987. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, who happened to be in first place when that happened. And so Dave is living the dream.

1988, he notices a lump in his pitching arm. Turns out to be a cancerous tumor. When the doctors remove it, they also have to remove half of his deltoid muscle. Half of it in his pitching arm. Everyone assumes that his career is over, and yet 10 months later, on August 10th, 1989, Dave Dravecki takes the mound as the starting pitcher for the Giants. Giants fans, Bay Area residents, everyone is going crazy. Dave Dravecki pitches eight inspired innings. The Giants win. His story becomes one of the greatest comeback stories in the history of sports.

Five days later, he's starting pitcher again for the Giants against the Montreal Expos. He's up in Montreal. Even the Canadians are going crazy over Dave Dravecki. And just hours before the game, he's talking to a friend of his, and he says to this friend, he goes, "It's a miracle that I'm able to pitch again. It's just a miracle. It's in awe of this." And his friend says, "Well, hey Dave, I hate to burst your bubble, but I think the real miracle is what Jesus has done in your life, and the platform that he's given you through baseball to share God's love with people who are hurting." Turns out that when Dave first broke into the major leagues, his roommate led him to the Lord, and his friend is reminding him of this moment. That's the miracle.

Just hours later, he's on the mound, sixth inning. He rears back and throws the pitch heard around the world. His arm snaps. He falls to the ground. And in the shock and agony of that moment, he says the words that just kept going through his brain were the words his friend had mentioned to him just hours earlier about the platform God had given him to share the Lord's love with people who are hurting. Obviously the cancer had returned, and in the process of receiving multiple treatments and surgeries, eventually it became necessary to amputate not only his arm, but his shoulder in order to save his life.

Now that would be a tough thing for any of us to have to go through, but Dave's a major league pitcher. This is the thing that he dreamed of doing since he was just a little boy. This is the one skill he has that makes him special. This is his career. This is his identity. And this is the thing that gets taken from him. I mean this would be like Trent losing his ability to sing and perhaps even losing his awesome hair. This would be like Renee losing his ability to preach. This would be like you losing the one thing that maybe allows you to do your job the way that you do it, that makes you special, that allows you to make a contribution. Dave Dravecki lost that one thing. And it happened to be the thing that paid the bills too.

Well he went on to embrace the platform that the Lord gave him, and when he spoke here he was so encouraging, so full of joy. It was just such a wonderful weekend. And after the last service a number of us got to take him to lunch. And I was even more impressed with him at that lunch because off stage, out of the limelight, he was so genuine. He was just the real deal. He wasn't manufacturing the sense of hope or joy in his life. And I was so impressed by him, I began to ask myself this question. Would I respond to that type of adversity in the way that Dave Dravecki did? Would I be hopeful or would I become miserable?

Two weeks later I would find out. I'll mention that a little bit later. But it's times like this in our lives where we find out whether our lives are built on rock or on sand. It's times like this we realize we're on one side of a line or another that cuts through all humanity. There are people who are able to go through adversity and maintain a sense of hope and confidence towards the future. And there are those who live in a constant fear of dread, anxious over when the next shoe is going to drop. Where would you be in that? Some of you probably know because I know that many of us in this room, you've gone through very, very tough times. Maybe you're in a tough time right now.

Well, I'm here to remind you of something that Dave Dravecki discovered through his pain, through his trial. Something that many of us have discovered and that's this. You can be struck down but not destroyed. You will be struck down but you do not have to be destroyed. Today I want to take you to one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible. It's 2 Corinthians 4 and I invite you to open up your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 4 if you have one or you want to grab one of those from the pew racks in front of you. If you're in venue, the Bibles are in the back of the room on the table. If you're watching this at home, the Bible is, I don't know, somewhere. Look on the desk or something like that. I'm sure you'll manage.

We're only going to look at four verses here, verses 7 through 10. But before we do, I want to tell you a little bit about the guy who wrote these verses, the apostle Paul. Paul knew about suffering. In fact, at the end of 2 Corinthians, he goes on this riff about all of the trials he's gone through in life. It talks about being imprisoned multiple times. It talks about being flogged, whipped 39 times when 40 was considered the amount that would kill a person. That happened on five different occasions in Paul's life. He was brutally pelted with stones so intensely that the people that did it, they left him for dead. He was in that bad of shape. They just assumed he was a goner.

He talks about being shipwrecked multiple times, bitten by a venomous snake. He's been hunted down, beaten down. He says, "I have been hungry. I've been thirsty. I've been cold. I've been naked." In other words, Paul has a black belt in suffering. And yet, look what he writes here, starting at verse 7. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." And I love this because Paul is saying that in the final analysis, we're indestructible.

We're indestructible. And this is so much more than positive thinking, because when the power of God enters your life, this is a reality. And he calls God's presence in our life, he calls it a treasure. And I want you to imagine some sort of priceless gem that God has given you. And today we're going to look at three facets of that gem. It's all part of the same thing, but I want to have us focus on three sides of that gem that will give you hope and power, no matter what life hurls at you. Because the verses that we just read here, this will be a reality in your life, in my life, when first of all, we receive the power of the gospel.

You might want to write that down. We receive the power of the gospel, because when you receive the life that Jesus offers you, it's much more than just something that you carry around in your head. It's much more than just maybe some sort of feeling that you have. You receive eternal life. Jesus says in John 11, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though they die." And with this in view, Paul says in verse 7, "But we have this treasure, we have it." We who have received Jesus into our lives. And what is the treasure? I didn't put verse 6 in your notes, but Paul describes this treasure in verse 6, and he says this, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of," who? In the face of Jesus Christ.

That is the ultimate light bulb moment when God causes his light to shine in our hearts. And the knowledge of his glory displayed in the face of Jesus, whom we recognize as our Savior and our Lord. And you know the gospel is so simple, isn't it? I mean all it takes to respond to this light that God reveals in our hearts is simple trust that Jesus is my Savior and my Lord, and yet it is so powerful. It's the ultimate game changer. And as this power presses into our lives, the power of God's presence through the gospel presses into our lives, it changes our perspective on all the things that we go through in this life. It doesn't eliminate them in a way that we don't feel them, but it puts them in a different perspective, a different light.

Because your problems, you've got a problem in your life right now, I'm sure. You're going to outlive that problem. You're going to outlast it. That trial. It's going to come and it's going to go. You are going to live forever. You ever wonder how the first apostles became such dynamic world changers? Ordinary men, ordinary women who followed the Lord. How did that happen? It happened when those disciples saw the risen Christ and they knew that when they would be raised from the dead as well, and once they were convinced of that, they were unstoppable. It happened for Paul when he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and he knew, hey, I'm going to follow him all the way into glory and that gave him more than enough hope and power to endure the many, many trials that he would suffer. We have that same power. We have that same hope because we have that same risen Christ dwelling in us.

I find it fascinating in our culture, there's this obsession with superheroes, with characters that have superhuman powers. Have you noticed how many movies there are about one superhero and the next superhero? It's kind of crazy. Think of just like, for instance, Spiderman. There was Spiderman 1, Spiderman 2, Spiderman 3, The Amazing Spiderman 1, The Amazing Spiderman 2. I'm sure there's going to be The Amazing Spiderman 3, 4, 5. There were eight Batman movies so far, eight of them. They've resurrected Superman so many times. I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually immortal because he just keeps coming back in different forms. I mean, think about this, if you were to take out, just from the theaters right now, you take away all of the movies that are about superheroes, what do you have left? Probably some movie your wife or your girlfriend wants you to take her to, I guess. That would be my guess.

But I looked this up this week. Of the eight highest movie openings in history, of the eight highest openings, five of them are the superhero movies. And the other three are Hunger Games 1 and 2 and one of the Harry Potter movies. So basically all of them are about characters that are either immortal or have superpowers or basically can blast through any problem that's in their way. But you want to know who the ultimate superheroes are? The true superheroes are? You are. We are. Because we have the power of the gospel in our lives.

Now, the tough part, the reason that we don't just skip through every problem that we might encounter in life, is that this power is in what Paul calls jars of clay, right? Paul is comparing us to these little clay jars and pots that were super common in his day. They were like the plastic bottles and containers that we have now. They were just everywhere. And Paul compares us to them because we're fragile. We're easily broken. He says in verse 7, "We have this treasure in jars of clay." Why? To show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. It's God's power. And you may not feel God's power every day in your life. I know I don't. But when you need to feel it, you will.

In fact, that really leads into the second facet of this jewel, because it's in the tough times of life that we experience God's sustaining grace. God's sustaining grace. It's really when these little jars get cracked open that you see what's inside of them. And that's where the treasure is. I mean, you heard the Camp Attitude people that were up here, both the team. Greg talked about his experience with his wife, Heather, and their little boy, Tommy. This is just an awesome, awesome, wonderful ministry. In fact, Steve Craig called it this week, "A glimpse of heaven." And if you were here two weeks ago, my brother talked about how Camp Attitude got its start. This camp was basically mothballed. And then a guy in this church, Dan Whitney, it became his life's passion.

And it was his life's passion because probably about 12 years ago, Dan went over the handlebars of his mountain bike right over here in Nicene Marks. And when he went over the bars of his bike, he would end up with a serious spinal cord injury. His life took a completely different turn. He had a successful career over the hill in Silicon Valley. Now he's the director of Camp Attitude. I talked to Dan in June of this summer. The first groups were about to arrive. Dan was beyond excited about what the summer had in store for him. He was so excited. I've known Dan for 20 years. I don't think I've ever heard him more stoked than he was on the phone when I was talking to him as kids were arriving. Kids like Tommy or kids who have various physical or developmental disabilities.

And yet the amazing, sustaining grace that God gives these families and he gives Dan, this is not to minimize the challenges. And yet every single person that goes through that camp would be able to affirm what Paul writes here in verses 8 and 9 when he says, "We are not crushed. We are not in despair. We are not abandoned. We are not destroyed." Far from it. In fact, this is not just theoretical. This is not some kind of Sunday School propaganda. This is real. Bear in mind, Paul didn't just write these words. He lived them.

For example, he says in chapter 7, "For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn. Conflicts on the outside, fears within." That's a pretty good summary of a stressful life. Conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not only by his coming, but also by the comfort you had given him. Right when Paul was at the end of his rope, when he was tired, harassed, afraid, Titus just shows up. And it seems like just such an insignificant thing. And yet that's what Paul needed in that moment. And with Titus' appearance in Paul's life, he gets the comfort and the encouragement that he needs. And it was so simple.

But something that I've learned over the course of time, something I believe with all my heart, is whether it's something large or small, God will give me what I need when I need it. God will give me what I need when I need it. Not, by the way, what I want when I want it. We've all discovered that. What I need. And I'll be honest, there are many times when what I think I need and when I need it and what God thinks about the same, they could be miles apart. Maybe you can relate. Because you prayed for something very specific and in return what you got was a lesson in patience, right? You're like, God, I didn't ask for a lesson in patience. I asked for a job. I asked for a spouse. I asked for a friend. And yet God didn't answer, at least on your timetable.

But again, it's in the waiting and the longing and the trusting that this third facet really begins to shine like never before in our lives. And that's when we see Christ's life revealed in our own. I see Christ's life revealed in my own life. Later in Chapter 12, Paul's going to talk about a thorn in his flesh that was given to him. He never explains what this thorn is. Different scholars speculate, but no one really knows what the thorn was. But what we do know, Paul tells us, is that he didn't want it. In fact, three times he says, I prayed that God would remove this thorn in my flesh. And you want to know what God said? No. No, Paul. My grace will be sufficient for you. My power will be perfected in your weakness. As my son is revealed all the more in your life.

And again, that's not something that we go out asking for. And yet it's part of what God will do in our journey of faith. Look what Paul says here. In fact, this is really a consistent theme in all of these verses. And it comes up here again in verse 10, where he says, "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus." In other words, we are going to have opportunities to identify with his sufferings. We always carry this around. There's no escaping this. But why? So that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. I want you to circle that phrase, so that. Why do we have to wait sometimes? Why does God say no sometimes? So that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.

Let me give you a dramatic example of that. Just this week, American doctor named Kent Brantley. This was the doctor that was serving the needs of Ebola victims in Liberia only to contract the disease himself. And he was given a very rare, very experimental drug as a last ditch effort to save his life. This Thursday, three days ago, he was released from the hospital. I want you to hear what he had to say. As I lay in my bed in Liberia for the following nine days, getting sicker and weaker each day. I prayed that God would help me be faithful, even in my illness. And I prayed that in my life or in my death, that he would be glorified.

I did not know then, but have learned since that there were thousands, maybe even millions of people around the world praying for me throughout that week and even still today. And I've heard story after story of how this situation has impacted the lives of individuals around the globe, both among my friends and family and also among complete strangers. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and your support. But what I can tell you is that I serve a faithful God who answers prayers. Through the care of the Samaritan's Purse and S.I.M. missionary team in Liberia, the use of an experimental drug and the expertise and resources of the health care team at Emory University Hospital. God saved my life. A direct answer to thousands and thousands of prayers. Amazing.

Of course, we celebrate this incredibly positive outcome in his life. But did you catch what he said? We read this quote. As I lay in my bed getting sicker and weaker each day, I prayed that God would help me to be faithful even in my illness. And I prayed that in my life or in my death. He would be glorified. And that was going to happen either way. It was going to happen in the yes, which did. God was glorified. Jesus was revealed in Dr. Brantley's life. But I want you to know it also happens in the no. God is glorified in the no as well.

How do I know this? I mentioned earlier that when Dave Dravecki was here, he left me with this question. How would I respond if trouble or trial or pain entered into my life on a profound level? Two weeks later. Actually, 13 years ago this week. My wife was in her last month of pregnancy with our second child. And as many of you know, we lost that baby very unexpectedly. That ordeal began when Laura began to notice that the baby wasn't moving, wasn't kicking. And over the course of a day and day and a half, she became increasingly worried about this. And of course, we prayed that the baby would be fine.

Eventually we find ourselves on our way to the hospital hoping that this is just a false alarm, that we'll get an ultrasound and everything will be OK. We arrive at the hospital and we're quickly admitted in. And I remember this young gal who was the ultrasound tech. She puts the ultrasound paddle on Laura's abdomen and again, I'm praying that we're going to hear that familiar sound of your parent, you know that. We didn't hear. And when I saw the tears start to stream down this young girl's face. We knew that we had lost this baby.

And it was in that moment that it was almost like a fog began to descend as the grief pressed in and I didn't know what to expect. I began to worry about what the outcome might be for Laura because she was certainly not out of the woods at that point. And as hours progressed, eventually she started to go into labor. And gentlemen, if you've ever had the opportunity to be by your wife's side when she's bearing your child, the child you've privileged to create together, there's no prouder moment. I've had that privilege four times, but I was never more proud than that second time.

When Laura was laboring to deliver the baby that we know we knew. We would not be able to keep there would be no joyful end. And it was during her labor between one of the contractions, I was holding her hand and I was trying to comfort her, just brushing her hair. And in that moment, suddenly just flashing across my brain were the words, "We are struck down, but not destroyed." I've never had more of a dramatic light bulb moment in my entire life. We are struck down, but not destroyed. And I knew from that moment on, I didn't know what the outcome was, but I knew we were going to be okay.

And it's almost as the Lord gave me this weird mental image. Maybe I grew up on too much TV or something, but I remember, you know, in those old Roadrunner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote, he gets flattened by a rock or, you know, steamroller or something like that. And then he could peels himself up, the whole two dimensional and goes back on to do what he always does. I almost have this image that that's what was happening to us. The truck had just run us over. We were flattened, but somehow we were going to peel back up in God's strength. I just had this assurance. We were going to be okay.

Now, I don't presume to be an expert in suffering. I don't want to be an expert in suffering. Some of you, you've had similar griefs. Some of you have had harrowing griefs in your life. I can promise you this. I can promise you on the basis of God's word and on my own experience that you can be struck down, but not destroyed. And I know this because I lived it. And so have hundreds of you. And so what God has done for us, He will do for you. Because you have a treasure in you. A treasure that will allow you, enable you to overcome any obstacle in your life. And may the knowledge of that fill you with power and hope today.

Let's pray. Lord God. Thank you again for your goodness and your grace, your presence in our lives right now. And Lord, I simply pray that you would encourage your church this morning. That you would strengthen those in particular who are feeling pressed down, who are perplexed. Who feel struck down. Lord, lift us up. Remind us that we cannot be destroyed because we have the living God in us. You have given us eternal life. And that Lord, even in our death, we shall yet live.

And so, Lord, I pray that you would give much strength, much encouragement, much hope through the power of your word and the presence of your Holy Spirit in our lives today. And Lord, I pray for the person who maybe they're standing on the periphery of faith. And really what they need to do is simply trust that Jesus Christ died for their sins. And will reconcile them to the God who loves them and created them. And that if they place their trust in you, they place their life in your hands, you will come into them and bring eternal life. And a life here and now filled with hope and promise and purpose.

So Lord, for as many who are hearing my voice right now or in this room, simply need to say, "Yes, Jesus, I hear you calling me. I want to follow. I want to trust you as my Savior, my Lord." I pray that in faith they'd be able to do that right now. Lord, I pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.