Four Proofs of Paul’s Apostleship

2 Corinthians 12 (NLT)

1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord.

2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows.

3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know

4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.

6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,

7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

11 You have made me act like a fool. You ought to be writing commendations for me, for I am not at all inferior to these “super apostles,” even though I am nothing at all.

12 When I was with you, I certainly gave you proof that I am an apostle. For I patiently did many signs and wonders and miracles among you.

13 The only thing I failed to do, which I do in the other churches, was to become a financial burden to you. Please forgive me for this wrong!

14 Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have—I want you. After all, children don’t provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children.

15 I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.

16 Some of you admit I was not a burden to you. But others still think I was sneaky and took advantage of you by trickery.

17 But how? Did any of the men I sent to you take advantage of you?

18 When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did Titus take advantage of you? No! For we have the same spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way.

19 Perhaps you think we’re saying these things just to defend ourselves. No, we tell you this as Christ’s servants, and with God as our witness. Everything we do, dear friends, is to strengthen you.

20 For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.

21 Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.

Introduction:

“While we often extract parts of this chapter for devotional blessings, we must keep in mind Paul’s purpose in answering his critics and proving his apostolic calling. In the previous chapter, he had decided to recount those things that showed his infirmities, that Christ might receive the glory.

We find in this chapter four proofs of Paul’s apostleship and four principles for you and I to practice in service to the Lord.

I. WE MUST MAINTAIN THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ABOUT GOD’S WORK IN OUR LIVES. (2 Corinthians 12:1–6)

2 Corinthians 12:1–6 (NLT)

1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord.

2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows.

3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know

4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.

6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,

A- His Revelations from Christ

1- The “man” Paul is talking about here is, of course, himself. Imagine being able to keep a thrilling experience like this secret for fourteen years! (Imagine, too, bearing suffering silently for fourteen years!)

a- Paul was given divine revelations that no other man saw or heard.

b- He was God’s chosen instrument to reveal to the world the greatness of God’s grace (note carefully Acts 26:16).

Acts 26:16 (NLT)

16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.

c- The “third heaven” (v. 2) is paradise, the very heaven of the presence of God.

d- What Paul heard from God, we do not know.

e- Paul himself said nothing about this experience lest any Christian start honoring him more than he deserved. What humility!

2- God would not have given these revelations to Paul if he were not his chosen servant. As Paul argues in Gal. 1:11-18, the truths he taught came directly from God; Paul did not receive them secondhand from another apostle.

Galatians 1:11–18 (NLT)

11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning.

12 I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

13 You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.

14 I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him

16 to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.

17 Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.

18 Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days.

B- Lessons on perspective from Paul’s experience:

1- While there is great assurance from God’s special blessings and gifts, we should never allow them to cause us to become puffed-up with our importance.

II. WE MUST MAINTAIN THE RIGHT VIEW OF OUR ADVERSITIES.(2 Corinthians 12:7–10)

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (NLT)

7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

A- The Thorn in His Flesh

1- We do not know what this thorn was, but the best suggestion is an eye ailment. Paul was supernaturally blinded when converted (Acts 9:9), and it is possible that some weakness remained even in later years. Galatians 4:15 and Galatians 6:11 (“with what large letters”) suggest eye trouble. This would have been a trial to Paul both physically and emotionally, and could honestly be called a thorn (stake) in the flesh. (Sometimes prisoners were impaled on stakes and left to die a horrible death.) Whatever the thorn was, it was a burden to him, and it brought pain. He asked to have it removed.

2- The presence of this thorn was proof of his heavenly experience related in vv. 1–7; for God gave him the thorn (what a gift!) to keep him from getting proud. The enemies at Corinth had been accusing Paul of being weak (see 10:1 and 10; 11:6 and 29), and now he admits that he was weak, but that his weakness was a gift from God. The very weakness they accused him of was actually an argument for his apostolic authority!

B- practical lessons to be learned from Paul’s experience with the thorn:

1. Spiritual blessings are more important than physical ones. Paul thought he could be a better Christian if he were relieved of his weakness, but just the opposite was true. “Faith healers” who preach that sickness is a sin have a hard time with this chapter.

2. Unanswered prayer does not always mean the need is not met. Sometimes we get a greater blessing when God does not answer our prayers! God always answers the need even though it seems He is not answering the prayer.

3. Weakness is strength if Christ is in it. Read 1 Cor. 1:26–31 for proof; remember Gideon’s pitchers, David’s sling, and Moses’ rod.

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 (NLT)

26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.

27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.

29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

4. There is grace to meet every need. Grace enabled Paul to accept his weakness, glory in it, and take pleasure in it! Paul knew that his weakness would bring glory to Christ, and that is all that mattered. See 2 Cor. 4:7.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

III. WE MUST SEEK TO DEMONSTRATE THE EVIDENCE OF OUR CALLING (2 Corinthians 12:11–18)

2 Corinthians 12:11–18 (NLT)

11 You have made me act like a fool. You ought to be writing commendations for me, for I am not at all inferior to these “super apostles,” even though I am nothing at all.

12 When I was with you, I certainly gave you proof that I am an apostle. For I patiently did many signs and wonders and miracles among you.

13 The only thing I failed to do, which I do in the other churches, was to become a financial burden to you. Please forgive me for this wrong!

14 Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have—I want you. After all, children don’t provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children.

15 I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.

16 Some of you admit I was not a burden to you. But others still think I was sneaky and took advantage of you by trickery.

17 But how? Did any of the men I sent to you take advantage of you?

18 When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did Titus take advantage of you? No! For we have the same spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way.

A- His Apostolic Signs

1. Paul is not exalting himself when he claims to be second to none of the apostles; he is simply defending his office. Note that Paul lists several “signs” that proved his apostleship, starting with patience! We expect him to mention miracles and wonders, but not patience! Yet it was Paul’s steadfast endurance under trial that gave evidence that he was divinely called and commissioned (see chap. 4).

2. He mentions too his attitude toward money. It can be stated as an accepted fact that the servant’s attitude toward material things indicates his spiritual life and outlook (Luke 16:1–15).

a. A true servant of Christ cannot have a love of money. Paul reminds them that he and Titus proved their sincere love for the church in the way they supported themselves and generously helped the Corinthians.

3. Miracles and signs alone are no proof that a man is sent from God, for Satan himself has miraculous credentials (see 2 Thes. 2).

a. When a servant’s life and motives are pure, then we can trust any miracles that God may give; but when his or her life is not right, those miracles cannot be from the Lord.

IV. WE MUST AVOID COMPROMISE WITH SIN. (2 Corinthians 12:19–21)

2 Corinthians 12:19–21 (NLT)

19 Perhaps you think we’re saying these things just to defend ourselves. No, we tell you this as Christ’s servants, and with God as our witness. Everything we do, dear friends, is to strengthen you.

20 For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.

21 Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.

A- His Courage in Dealing with Sin

1. “When I come to you, you will see how weak I am!” writes Paul. “I would rather you start cleaning up the church now,” he advises. “If you wait for me to do it, you’ll see how humble I can be in the hands of the Lord!”

2. When the hireling sees the wolf coming, he runs away (John 10:13), but the true shepherd stays and protects the sheep.

John 10:13 (NLT)

13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

a. Paul was not about to run away. He even went so far as to name the sins that were rampant in the church.

b. Though they had taken care of the offender mentioned in 1 Cor. 5, there were other sins now that needed attention. “A little leaven” had indeed leavened the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6).

1 Corinthians 5:6 (NLT)

6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?

3. There are two types of sin mentioned here: the social sins (v. 20) and the sexual sins (v. 21). There were both prodigal sons and their elder brothers in the church, and both needed to repent. What began as factions in 1 Cor. 1:10 had now grown into debates, strifes, and tumults! Satan was in command, for God is not the author of confusion. False teaching leads to false living.

B- This chapter might well serve as a test for Christian servants.

1. While none of us receives special divine revelations today, we all must be in communion with God and receive our messages from Him only.

2. We all must have grace to endure suffering. There dare not be any love of money or any fear of man that would hinder us from dealing with sin.

3. May God help us to be the kind of servants that God can commend and bless!

Conclusion: