2 Corinthians 1:8-10 Can God Give More Than You Can Bear?

Rev. David Holwick F Lies Christians Believe

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey (well-received)

February 8, 2015

2 Corinthians 1:8-10

GOD WON'T GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN BEAR?

I. Everyone loves platitudes.

A. Famous (and false) movie and TV sayings.

1) Movie CASABLANCA: "Play it again, Sam."

2) STAR TREK: "Beam me up, Scotty."

B. People find false platitudes in the Bible, too.

1) "God helps those who help themselves." (Benjamin Franklin)

2) Close second: "God never gives you more than you can bear."

a) It is meant to be a comforting thing we say to those

under great pressure.

b) It suggests that relief and deliverance will come soon.

1> But will it? Is it guaranteed?

C. Most platitudes are too simplistic.

1) Of course, that is at the core of what a platitude is.

2) Mature Christians should have a more realistic approach

to life.

3) I would like to look at three problems with this platitude.

II. This platitude is not in the Bible.

A. There is something close, but "no cigar."

1) In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul writes:

"No temptation has seized you except what is common

to man.

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond

what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out

so that you can stand up under it."

2) The focus is on temptation, an enticement to choose a

worldly pleasure over God.

3) However, the Greek word can also have a wider sense of

"test" or "trial."

a) God will help them endure, or show a way out.

b) So this platitude is not really a lie, but an

over-simplification.

1> It reads more into a verse than is really there.

2> It also begs a question is begged: how big a trial

can you bear?

A> If you don't bear up, but break, have you

failed God?

B> Even worse, has God failed you?

B. Other Bible verses suggest we have breaking points.

1) 2 Corinthians 1:8, Paul expresses fear he might not survive.

"We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability

to endure, so that we despaired even of life."

He thought he was toast.

2) Psalm 38:8 - David says, "I am utterly crushed."

As I showed in my recent series, many of the psalms

describe the extremes believe can face.

It is not all victory and confetti.

3) 1 Kings 19:7 - The prophet Elijah, a tough character,

is told by an angel to get up and eat, for the journey

is too much for him.

But isn't nothing supposed to be "too much"?

4) Matthew 27:46 - Jesus on the cross.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

This is the ultimate in brokenness and despair.

III. This platitude doesn't agree with our life experience.

A. Many unbearable things can happen to us.

1) Fatal illnesses.

2) Death of loved ones.

3) Martyrdom.

a) Two Japanese men were recently beheaded by ISIS in

Syria.

If you are like me, you were wondering what Japanese

guys were doing in the Middle East.

One saw himself as a mercenary and was fighting with

the moderate Syrians to overthrow the Assad regime.

The other one was a journalist.

Kenji Goto went to Syria to free his friend, and was

captured.

What you may not know is that this Japanese journalist

accepted Jesus as his Savior in 1997.

He was a member of the United Church of Christ in

Japan.

His faith motivated him to reach the poor and

downtrodden in war zones.

In an interview for a Christian magazine in May, Goto

said:

"I have seen horrible places and have risked my life,

but I know that somehow God will always save me."[1]

We don't know what his faith was like at the end.

Did he hold his head high and praise Jesus?

Did he break down?

We may never know.

b) Some Christians DO break.

Jason Russell is a Christian filmmaker who directed

"Kony 2012," a documentary film about an African

warlord who recruits children for his army.

In two weeks the film had 83 million views on YouTube.

It is considered the most viral video ever.

The attention on the young director was intense.

Probably too intense.

In March 2012 San Diego police found him wandering

the streets dressed only in his underwear, ranting

and damaging cars.

He was taken in for a psychiatric evaluation.

[2]

B. "Sentimental Christianity" is too trite.

1) Its platitudes are not realistic.

a) It has only snippets of theology.

b) Usually it has a heavy dose of self-help philosophy.

c) It doesn't confront the real brokenness of the world.

2) It can cause some to lose their faith.

a) If God never gives us more than we can bear, and we are

being crushed, what am I doing wrong?

b) One pastor has a website where he discussed this issue.

People were allowed to leave comments, and one woman

wrote:

"I have been having a very hard time with that

Scripture and feeling like a failure as a Christian

because I felt like I am not strong enough.

I lost my sister to cancer and then my baby sister in

a wreck and this June I lost my oldest child and

everyone kept saying God would not put more on me

than I could bear.

"Tonight I decided to start searching to see if it was

Scripture and I know that God led me to your page.

It has helped to take away the guilt of feeling like a

bad Christian because I am having such a hard time

dealing with the loss of my child." [3]

C. Protestants have a particular problem with this.

1) We don't put Jesus on the cross.

a) Partly, it's an issue with images.

b) Also, we emphasize the victory of the resurrection.

2) Catholics have a point in focusing on the crucifix.

a) It was an instrument of injustice.

b) It reminds us of the cruelty of life.

1> Our faith is driven by hope, but our world is still

very much defined by the crucifixion.

2> The cross is not sentimental at all.

3> It deals with the world as it really is.

IV. This platitude places all the focus on the wrong thing.

A. The emphasis becomes what I can bear.

1) It is all about me.

2) Paul counteracts this point in 2 Corinthians.

a) In verse 9 he says his suffering made him rely on God,

not himself.

b) This gave him hope that he would be delivered from

death, because God had done it in the past, and

would do it again.

c) And God did - up to the time that Paul himself was

beheaded.

B. This is why the cross is so important.

1) Not the empty cross, but the one with Jesus on it.

2) The cross with Jesus enduring pain and humiliation, to

the point of death.

a) But Jesus had God on his side, even when he didn't

feel it.

b) We have God on our side as well.

3) Words of Jesus: "Put on my yoke, ... my burden is light."

a) We cannot bear our burdens alone.

b) We must trust in God's grace to help us.

V. We are not alone.

A. We have God, and we also have a fellowship.

1) The church should be a place where we share each other's

burdens.

2) As Paul put it, when we suffer, we become equipped to help

others who are suffering.

B. We shouldn't judge others, but help them.

1) Faith is not a contest of worthiness.

2) It is a lifelong journey.

C. Our problems don't magically disappear when we get saved.

1) Our problems may increase!

2) But we do not bear them alone.

Back in 1998, Bob and Eleanor Terry were touring some

Baptist mission work in South Africa.

Bob regained consciousness on a sidewalk - their taxi

had been broadsided by another car.

Eleanor was also injured but the doctors were confident

she would do OK with a medical team by her side on the

flight back to the States.

But during the flight she coded.

They started her heart again, but at a hospital in the

United States, she died.

Bob says the year that followed was the longest he had

ever experienced.

Many nights seemed to have no end.

When he studied, he would stare at the same page for hours

and yet have no comprehension of what it said.

Frequently he hid behind the closed doors of his office

and cried.

No one realized how often he did this.

A year later, he began to feel life had come back.

A friend shared an analogy from the Bible that he found

helpful.

In Luke 5, an invalid could not get to Jesus, so friends

had to carry him into the presence of the Lord.

Bob said, during those twelve months, he was carried.

People prayed for him.

They encouraged him.

He still didn't know if he was doing things right or wrong;

he only knew his experience.

When people asked him how he was doing, he usually

answered, "I'm still here."

One thing he is sure of is the faithfulness of God.

Even though his prayers for his wife were not answered as

he was confident they would be, he still felt God had

been "a very present help in time of trouble."

Through God's Spirit, through the Bible and through his

people, God provided strength when Bob had none.

He loved him, even when Bob was too numb to feel his

presence.

He knows God is faithful.

#4719

Some of you will face a steep crisis this year.

You will bear it as best you can.

Don't focus on your success or failure.

Focus on Jesus, and you'll get through.

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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

[1] “After ISIS Beheads Kenji Goto, His Faith-Filled Tweet Going Viral,”

by Jessilyn Justice, Charisma News, February 2, 2015.

< http://www.charismanews.com/world/48128-after-isis-beheads-kenji-goto-his-fait

h-filled-tweet-going-viral>