My Grace is Sufficient for you

Will of course, one of the heart-wrenching questions of life is, how do you not only explain, but live through trials, involving suffering? The passage concludes my grace is sufficient for you. That's that's the answer that Paul received from the Lord when he went to him three times pleading that this Thorn In the Flesh would be taken away. And so, the question is, how will, how do you live through, trials, involving suffering, specifically illness or disease or chronic conditions? We met a family. When we lived in Florida, we met a family who

Who's in and who's newborn? Through a series of Errors at the hospital was misdiagnosed and the level of I think it was bilirubin in the blood caused, a whole bunch of problems. But now you know the child has special needs and hand and the family has all of these things that they have to do for the child. You know. It's a lifelong thing. And so, we think we'll why me. Why is this happening to me or my family? Or what's the purpose? What's the purpose? I mean, wouldn't it be easier? If we could know what, what the purpose is, what the reason is behind certain elements of physical suffering or we just wake up and we think we'll how can I function daily with this condition or with this messenger of Satan, the storm that Paul talks about. And of course, people of Faith have spectrums of beliefs or practices regarding sickness, faith and medicine, and the two ends of the pendulum so to speak. If you if it were to swing to an extreme other one extreme view as well, God does not heal miraculously today Miracles ended with the signs and wonders of the Apostles until God now has provided medicine and we live in a scientific era. And so we should just simply use medicine That's one extreme view. Another extreme view of many different groups actually is the God wants you to be healed, and you do not need medicine, it would be sinful of you even to use medicine, and that's the promotion of the Christian Scientist Church of Christ scientist, or Christian Science, which is neither Christian nor science. Interesting, Lee,

We'll talk about that a little bit later, but the Achilles heel of both extremes. Of these two extremes of use of how sickness and faith in medicine into relate the Achilles heel of both of those is what happens when you cannot get relief. Right. I mean, how would each of those extremes answer? The question will, what, what, what do you attribute it to when you can't get relief? So, for example, if you say that God does not heal today and that the Miracles ended with the apostles, then the the answer to someone who cannot get relief as well. You're not pursuing the right treatment, you're not doing the right things. You haven't found out the right information. You need this or that or the other thing? And the answer that would come to someone who says will God heals, and we don't need medicine. The answer that they would give to someone who cannot find relief as well as something must be wrong with your understanding or something. Must be wrong with your face. Or you don't have enough Faith or something like that. Actually in the Christian Science movement, the term belief. Is used to refer to someone who lets say they're diagnosed with cancer and the Christian Scientists in their lingo will say, well, so, and so is suffering from a belief of cancer. That's how much they distance the spiritual from the physical. Until it's almost this illusion that you need to get in touch with the spiritual of God's love to such a degree that this illness will not exist.

Well one of the reasons II Corinthians 12 is so meaningful is that I think it teaches all of us that God's grace is what carries us through suffering. Amen. God's grace is what carries us through suffering in our hardest moments of weakness which may be short or may be long lasting. God is our strength, his undeserved favor, his grace is what enables his children to Bear up under suffering. And this chapter re-emphasize is a prominent theme in first and second Corinthians and that is the the graphic here. But I want us to just focus, mainly on the title, The Paradox of the cross, the Paradox of the cross a paradox. Meaning there are two truths that seem to be in contradiction to each other, but they're not. It's a, it's a paradox, it's an aspect of truth. That, that is intention.

To the Paradox of the Cross is essentially, that's the God's way of wisdom. Saving people through a messiah who died on the cross on a cross is foolishness to mankind. 1st Corinthians, chapter 1 and 2 talks about that. I mean, the message of God saving people from hell and sending them to Heaven is completely contrary to human effort. Is it not? every other religion in the world teaches, this is what you have to do to Achieve a certain level of of they might not say righteousness, but a certain level of spirituality and in the Islam, it's the fivefold path. You you need to do the follow the five five pillars of Islam in Buddhism. It's the 8th, the 8th fold path, and you want to reach the state of Nirvana. Every other religion is do do do, what is mankind doing in order to reach God, when Christianity is about what God has done in reaching down to save people to save sinners. So, the Paradox of the Cross. If you could stay at another way, I would say the way to Greatness in the kingdom of God is humility and service. Think of Jesus words, right. If anyone among you would be great. What does he say? Let him be the last of all let him be servant of all. Or another way to say it is our desires and needs are met when we healed to God's desires. It's counterintuitive.

Thirdly by dying to our sin nature. We find Abundant Life In Christ. Realize how confusing it must have been to Jesus disciples in the people who were listening to him when he says, well for anyone who wants to find his, if you try to save your life you will lose it. But if you lose it for my sake and the gospel, you will save it.

Wait a second. It's counterintuitive, that's the Paradox of the cross that if our salvation and our continuation in the Christian faith is by God's grace and his Spirit working in us and, and exercising faith in his Spirit, working through us. If the if that is all due to God and not to us, that's counterintuitive. Now, certainly we have to exercise our faith. We have to exercise, our will we have to make daily choices? But the Paradox of the Cross is that we are saved by grace. And that God preserves Us by his grace. And that he is bringing us to heaven. Because of his eternal plan.

Suppose a opponents in Corinth, they made a lot of light of Paul suffering. They said will Paul how legitimate of an apostle. Can you be, if you had all these hardships, if you had all this suffering and they boasted of their own Revelations. And that we talked about in chapter 10, but then Paul says, well, I'm going to boast. I'm going to do this little boasting exercise play along with me. So, to speak, if you will in the beginning of chapter 12 and this is probably one of the passages that sounds the most strange to our ears, because you think will the Bible doesn't usually talk? This way? Paul doesn't usually talk this way. So he says I Know a Man. You ever hear that phrase? I know a guy, I got a guy. I got a guy who can fix that. I know a guy that can that can do that. Pulses, I know a man. I know a guy, I know a man who was caught up in Christ, 14 years ago. Caught up to the third heaven weather in the body or out of the body. I do not know. God knows, and I know that this man was caught up into Paradise weather in the body or out of the body. I do not know, God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. Okay. Well, that's interesting. So a couple of questions here, who is Paul referring to? I Know a Man in Christ. Secondly, where was this person caught up? Thirdly, what did this person see or hear and fourthly? How important was this personal experience? Now Bible scholars have given different answers to those questions, but it seems like the best option for a question. Number one, is that Paul is referring to himself in the third person. Kind of like if I were to come home and then tell Emily you know Jim had a great day today at work or Jim Jim. Jim did a did a good job. Picking up dog food on the way home. You don't usually refer to yourself in the third person but I think that's what he's doing either he's making a parody of the false Apostles or talking about someone else, but I think most likely he's talking about himself. In Galatians 1 and 2. He says that he went to Arabia after his conversion. Then he went back to Damascus. And then only after some years later, did he go to Jerusalem and present himself to the other apostles? So, I think it's most likely since he switches, then from the third person back to talking about himself, this Thorn In the Flesh, was given to me, I think it's likely that he's referring to himself here. Where was he caught up the third heaven? Well, basically, the, at the time, there was a view that there were three levels of Heaven. There was the heavens, meaning the sky that was above the Earth. What we see, as the heavens then there was another layer of water above the heavens. And then there was a third heaven. That was the idea at the time. And so the third heaven or Paradise refers to essentially being in God's presence. Psalm 148 refers to the highest heavens and then it talks about the water above the heavens. And so, the highest Heavens would be that upper level of Heaven in terms of being in God's presence. Imagine being in the throne room of God. Or an Isaiah chapter 6, where Isaiah receives a vision of the Lord. I Saw the Lord seated high on a throne and the train of his robe. Filled the temple. That must be some big robe if the bottom of the robe fills the temple. And so Paul is having this this heavenly vision, we don't know whether it was a dream or whether it was a sort of out-of-body experience so to speak. But he was in God's presence. Now, what did he see or hear? Well, apparently, we don't need to know. Because he says, God knows. And it's not relevant to the discussion at hand because he's using it as a counterexample. He says, I could go on boasting about Visions but what I want you to understand is how God works in my weakness.

So how important was it was this personal experience? Well, not it was important in the sense that it's included in scripture but it's not, it wasn't important in the sense that Paul was referring to this time. And again, when he was going to different churches, I think this is the only time that he mentions it in the New Testament. We don't know of him mentioning it any other place.

It's not something that he makes mention of any says in verse 6, but I refrain from it so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

Wow. Talk about a self evaluation. R6, but I refrain from it. So that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. He's saying I don't want you to think of me based on this experience that I had that you weren't there for. I don't want you to base your opinion of me on what I say happened when I was traveling here or there, I don't want you to base your opinion of me on something that that it was hard to communicate to you. I want you to base your opinion on me of what you see and hear from me. In person. Brothers and sisters, isn't that insightful?

Isn't it telling how we react when someone greets you for the first time and says great to meet you, I've heard a lot about you. And you think?

I wonder what they've heard of baby. They have they heard of me or seeing my social media post or did they hear about my postings or my exaggerations Paula? Saying, I want you to understand what you see for me and what you here for me in person cuz he's coming to visit them again. A third visit, And so, apparently, this spiritual experience was not important for them to know.

And God's gracious, purpose. In our suffering and weakness then is in 47. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations of thorn was given me in the flesh. A messenger of Satan to harass me to keep me from becoming conceited. Noticed that phrase there is repeated twice to keep me from becoming conceited to keep me from becoming conceited. God used this weakness in Paul's life to keep him from becoming proud from becoming arrogant. To keep him from thinking, oh, I'm all that. and so, even in our pain, God meets our need through his grace in Christ, Even in our pain. Why? Because the purpose was to to keep him from becoming proud. To conform his character to the image of Christ.

And so, to the person who is stuck on the problem of evil or the problem of suffering, I would first degree. Yes. If I were God, I would end all pain. But I'm not. And therefore, I have to ask the question, where does the universal human desire to alleviate suffering? Come from? Where is the universal human instinct to rush in and Save? When someone is in peril. Not from evolution. Not from the strong dominating the week, not from survival of the fittest.

Not from secular values. Not from reason alone. But God has planted in every human heart. A yearning that this world there has to be something better. There is something more than the pain and the suffering of this world and I think there's a yearning and every human heart that says, yes, there is something more Ecclesiastes says, God has planted eternity in the heart of man, and yet he is not comprehended it

alright so here's four facets of God's grace in Paul's weakness and in our pain and weakness that I want us to see in this passage Facet number one, pain, sickness and death are part of life in a sense, sick World. They are both physical and a sign of Greater spiritual conflict.

He says of thorn was given me in the flesh. What? We're not sure what it was. I think it's providential that we don't know what it was because it applies to all of us. Amen. Hawthorne a Barb or a steak, I think of a, a fish hook. You know what, the little the little bar, but the end that that sticks in there, it's something that cause continual hurt. It could have been physical. It probably was physical or it could have been some other ailments, some emotional almond. Now, of course, the faith healers would say. Well, what's the reason that God didn't heal Paul physically from this Thorn In the Flesh, they would just say well this wasn't some physical ailment because God does heal. And this was some other ailment that Paul was talking about. And like I said, Christian Science and other movements have a faulty view of the universe. A faulty view of the universe that physical matter is evil. And is corrupted and the spiritual realm is good. That is their goal is to achieve a higher level of knowledge and experience in order to reach purity. Let me, let me just point this out.

Here's how Christian Science defines death. Death is an illusion, the LIE of life in Manner and matter. Excuse me, matter has no life hence, it has no real existence. Any material evidence of death is false for it. Contradicts the spiritual facts of being

That's like a science fiction novel. In terms of separating so much the spiritual and physical. And then how does Christian Science, Define the atonement. It defines the atonement as the Supreme example of God's love. So that once we get in touch with God's love mentally and spiritually, then our bodies will overcome illness because the physical is is not really a real.

Here's how Christian Science to find flesh, an error of physical belief, a supposition that life substance and intelligence are in matter. Andalusian a belief that matter has sensation Okay, again, we're talkin metaphysical philosophy. They're essentially

God declared the physical material creation, very good, he did not declare, an evil are in pure. Our souls are distinct from our physical bodies, but we have the promise of new bodies when we die physically, our soul returns to the Lord. And we have the promise of a resurrection body. That is why Jesus addressed both the physical and the spiritual And I sincerely believe this, the cancer is Satan's last attempt to denigrate the image of God in humanity. Cancer tries to amplify Satan's live, that life has no purpose.

And rather than separate the spiritual and the physical God, often uses physical things in order to get our attention about spiritual things.

Now, we don't want that. Typically, we want the physical things to go well and then we want God to, to teach us the spiritual things and we don't want to have problems with physical things, but c.s. Lewis said it so well. He said he said, God God, Whispers to us in end in times of a good physical health, but he but he says he's God, shouts to us in our pain. Emotional and physical because he's trying to get our attention.

We want to treat the physical and just move on C. The god may be saying to us. Wait pay attention.

So the first facet is that sickness pain and death are part of life in this sin-sick world. But they are both physical and a sign of the greater spiritual conflict. Secondly, Satan is allowed to use sickness to afflict in her ass only for now Only for now, but God uses sickness for both present and future Eternal Redemptive purposes. Look at verse 7. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations of thorn was given me in the flesh. A messenger of Satan to harass me to keep me from becoming conceited. Now, on the one hand, it was a messenger of Satan. There was a messenger to her ass to beat him up. So the word literally translated there is to strike with a fist.

Satan Satan purpose in any physical Affliction is to confuse is to cause doubt is to disrupt is 22.2. Push you towards unbelief.

So it was a messenger of Satan, but who gave it a thorn was given me in the flesh? Who gave it to Paul?

Was God, the Father? Who says how much Satan is allowed to do in the book of Jobe? God, the Father.

It says you can. You can do anything to do, but you cannot take his life. It's a we have to live with that tension that yes, God is Sovereign, and that he allows a certain level of Satan power in this world in order to prepare us for the best world. Amen.

And so the other side of it is that God gave this to Paul, why to keep him from being conceited to keep him from becoming proud. And God is saying the Paul and God is saying to us being proud being arrogant, being self-sufficient, being self-reliant, that is worse than you having a physical condition in which it causes you discomfort.

Because being crowd leaves you to unbelief.

God is shaping Paul in Christ likeness. He says to keep me from becoming conceited. That's the same phrase that's used in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2, where it says, the man of lawlessness will appear and he will exalt himself. He will Puffs himself up.

And again, the word of faith movement, the Christian Science movement, many other groups have no room in their theology for God to use sickness in shaping our character. Their explanation. Is that all of it is due to sin or impurity in our thoughts or wrong beliefs or wrong prayers or wrong methods. You ever notice that? In the, in the, in the faith healing movement, whenever someone is not healed. And my question is, will when do you stop praying for healing? I mean do you say to someone who is 96 years old will? I believe that God is going to restore you and give you the body of a 75 year old?

It it just is so disjointed from reality. Put the blame in the face movement of the word of faith movement. The blame always rests on the person. This is what was wrong in your prayer. This is what you did. You didn't give enough money. That's why you weren't healed is because you didn't give enough money. This ministry of the televangelist or whatever. Satan is the accuser. So when the consequence of someone not being healed in the word of faith, movement is the person themself being accused. I don't think that's God. I think that's the work of the devil, deceiving people pointing them towards unbelief.

The result in those movements those fall for the movements as God always wants. You to be killed and if you are not healed, then something is wrong with you. Now, the difficulty for us, as Christians is to say, well, wait, we don't know, all of God's future, Eternal Redemptive purposes. we know the end that he is moving the universe towards, but I don't know what God's Redemptive purposes are in in In in someone's life, a Meta Meta Family, a couple of weeks ago, where the sun, I had a leg who is amputated youngboy maybe 10 years, old, or so happened in an accident. I don't know what God's Redemptive purposes are in that young man's life, I can't say for sure.

so it's one thing to know, mentally that God uses pain and suffering redemptively, but it's another thing is presumptuous for me as a pastor to say, well, I know the specific reason for this,

So we have to be careful.

We cannot go further than what scripture says. And I think sometimes in our zeal to, to help someone to, to say something that might encourage them or Comfort them, we all can go beyond what the scripture says. And so on this side of heaven, we know that our future is secure with Christ, but there is growth. There is having our minds and our hearts renewed by Christ learning to trust him and living with the mystery of. Not knowing all of how God uses pain.

I can accept that. I that God has reasons for pain and suffering that I do not understand. Why can I accept that? Because I know that we have a God, who understands what pain and suffering is who gave his only son.

Facet number 3, God's desire is for his people to seek Him for relief from pain and suffering. Yet trust the results to him.

So Paul is not telling the Corinthians you just pray and you don't seek medical help. He tells Timothy "take a little wine for your stomach ailments" in I Thessalonians 5. So we're not to ignore the physical material remedies that God has provided. Again, I always use the example- I believe in the sovereignty of God, but I also buckle my seatbelt. Why? Because God provided, the seat belt, and you follow the law by putting on your seatbelt.

Notice he says, three times. I pleaded with the Lord, that it should leave me multiple times, fervently, not just asking "give me some relief" but urging, pleading, and after a time of pleading comes a time of waiting.

And then we look to the example of Jesus in Luke 22:39

"And he came out and went as was his custom to the Mount of Olives in the disciples, followed him. And when he came to the place he said then pray that you may not enter into temptation and he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying "Father If you are willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but yours be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him." Jesus pleaded with the Father. Not my will, but your will be done. If you are willing, remove this cup from me, he had to leave the results in God's hands. He knew that this was the purpose for which he came. And yet you see God's grace in the midst of difficulty, there, an angel came and strengthened him.

So it might be the future of a loved one. We recently learned of friends who have been missionaries to Kenya in Nairobi for the last 10 or 12 years, and the wife was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and so they're coming back to the US to seek further treatment.

They're, they're pleading. "Lord, we we want this to be healed." But they're also pleading, Lord, not my will but your will be done."

There's a great documentary. I'll call the Heart of Texas. It's a story about a husband and a wife who lose their young child. I think she was probably four or five years old at the time that they lose their young child to a hit-and-run driver, the owner of on the country to Country Road. I think the wife and the daughter had stopped to get out of the car for some reason on the side of the road and it was, you know, about that dusk time, where it gets hard to see and for whatever reason, the child went out in the road and was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver, will then it turns out that they found out who the driver was; the driver was a close family friend.

and the interview, the wife, A couple of years later and she says she said that, she said "There will always be pain and sadness about losing my daughter. But the moment I began to have some peace with God with when I realized that even if God told me his answer as to why this happened, I still would have been angry. His reason wouldn't have been good enough. And so, then it was then that I realized for the sake of my own soul, I didn't need an answer from God. Now, that's a living example of my grace is sufficient for you.

Last facet, facet number four of God's grace, in our suffering. God gives his grace and power to meet our weakness and bring strength. Now, this is probably the hardest part for me, because I think Lord, I know that the scripture says for when I am weak, then I am strong, but I am tired of feeling weak.

I just want to feel struck on most of the time. But sufficient means adequate means enough means more than enough, you know, we think of sufficient as oh, yeah. Just kind of meats the need and you know, maybe that's the minimum know, the word sufficient. My God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Flipping chapter 4. We have this word that God's grace will meet our need.

That the word their refers to being completed.

It refers to the goal, the god-ordained end for which he is preparing us. I think about this God's power and God's grace are displayed. Most fully in people who are the weakest.

Where did the truth that our weakness is meant by God's strength originate.

well, you can see it all through the scriptures, but most prominently at the cross That our weakness is meant by God's strength and not only our weakness, but our problem that we cannot solve ourselves at the cross Jesus, the very Son of God took upon himself, weakness suffering and sin, so that we could be freed from sin so that we could have strength. We do not have

It's a notice there in verse 9, Paul ties this to his own Joy. He says therefore I will boast all the more than gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ May rest upon me,

He saying, I want the joy of knowing the power of Christ. Operating in my life, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for when I am weak, then I am strong.

I think one of the difficulties we have as Christians in America as we don't like, to admit our own weakness.

We don't want to project an image. That's well well that would that would portray that I'm not adequate to meet this task.

Pause freely, admitting his own weakness, and for each one of us, we have many weaknesses, don't we?

First 1st Corinthians 1:30 says this.

I'm not sure if we have that on the screen or not. "And because of him you are in Christ Jesus and because of him God, you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." That's sufficient. That's everything we need. And so we are in Christ Jesus. We need to apply that to our lives daily that we are in Christ Jesus.

The truth that I want to leave you with is that God does meet us in our suffering. In any anything that we face in everything that we face, Jesus has gone before us and has won the final victory. You can keep going because God's grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect. His power is made complete in our weakness. Let's pray.