All Sufficient Grace | 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Though we will not be in Revelation today, we have been walking through the book of Revelation, and we are in the most intense portion of the book where everything comes to a dramatic climax with the conclusion of the tribulation and the return of Christ to judge the antichrist, the wicked, and establish His kingdom. This period is known as the Great Tribulation.

We believe that we, the church does not participate in the tribulation. For those who were at the mini-conference yesterday, we heard about that, I’ve taught on that, we believe the Scriptures are sufficiently clear on that.

Sometimes critics of the pre-trib rapture will say that we are escapists who are just biding our time waiting for Christ to return to rescue us from this world. Sometimes our critics think that we believe that because we have the hope of Christ’s return for the church prior to the 7 year tribulation, we are training ourselves to not be ready to suffer, training ourselves to believe that we will never face tribulation.

But we all know that is not the case. We emphasize the importance of being about the work of the Lord, proclaiming the Gospel, and being faithful followers of Christ. We emphasize the reality that though we will not face the GREAT tribulation, the time of JACOB’s trouble, that does not mean we are free from encountering ANY tribulation, right?

We have all experienced tribulation. We have all dealt with hardship. We have all encountered things that have rocked our world. I’m sure even now things are flooding your mind about what those things have been or even are right now.

The natural question we all face is Why? Why Lord? Why did you let this happen? Why have your brought this into my life? Where are you? Have you forgotten me?

Years ago I taught a lesson about the things the Bible reveals about why hard things are sometimes brought into our lives. Many times we can discern the purpose, in the moment, or perhaps un retrospect.

Consequence for sin. We don’t have to wonder about these. These are direct results of sin. Lord, why am I being persecuted, why do bad things always happen to me? You’ve got a DWI, bro, I think we can figure this one out. Galatians 6:8 “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Discipline to cause you to return to the Lord. Perhaps you’ve been walking in a season of unrepentant sin. God brings a trial, that may or may not be directly related to the sin, but it causes you to wake up and return to him. Heb 12:4-11

Sanctification. Perhaps the Lord wants you to grow in a certain area. This is less about punishment and discipline and more about refining and deepening you. Rom 5:3-5

Persecution from the ungodly. Sometimes we suffer because we live in a God-hating world. 1 Peter

To encourage others. Some trials equip up us to be able to minister to others who are facing hardships of their own. 2 Cor 1.

To prepare you for service to others,. Genesis 50:20 ““As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive.”

Direct affliction from the demonic realm. 2 Cor 12.

Combination

Indiscernible reasons known only to God. I think of Job. We know what was happening to Job and why. He didn’t. In fact, we aren’t told that he was ever informed about what was happening behind the scenes. He may have never learned until he died why he experienced what he did.

Sometimes we learn the reasons years later. Sometimes we never do.

How do we approach and handle our suffering, our tribulation, if you will, with grace and dignity? How do we navigate these trials?

And what do we do when it seems like God is not answering our prayers the way we desire?

We can pray and pray and pray, and beg the Lord to move and act, and yet we still walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and we are very much fearing the evil. Lord, remove me from the valley! Shine your light to eliminate the shadows!

What do we do when he says, no. You must walk through this?

I’m going to take us to 2 Cor 12 this morning in an attempt to answer that question.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 LSB

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

I need to set the context for us a little bit. In chapter 11, Paul has been taking up the task of defending his apostleship. It seems that there were some people who were critical of Paul and His leadership, and saying that he was not someone to be followed. There were false teachers trying to gain influence and authority, and they felt the need to attack Paul in order to gain that.

So Paul was in the awkward position of having to provide his credentials, his resume, and his experiences.

In the immediately preceding passage, he talks about someone who was caught up to heaven and experienced inexpressible things, but he doesn’t want to boast about it, yet he feels the need, in light of the attacks, to talk about it. Most scholars believe that Paul was the one who experienced these things and he’s trying to tell his experience while maintaining some level of humility.

So Paul has been discussing his credentials, his experiences, how God has used him, and to some, this may seem like boasting, and he is very uncomfortable with boasting, and yet he feels the need to defend himself because he has operated with integrity.

As we come to today’s text we find him sharing of how God, in spite of all his exalted experiences, God has worked to help keep him humble and dependent upon the Lord.

Look at vs 7.

2 Corinthians 12:7 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!”

God uses our pain to keep us humble.

This verse contains many details that we have to sort through, though I won’t be able to hit them all for the sake of time.

The Reason

But briefly. Paul recognizes that he has had experiences that very few people get to have. It is natural in the flesh to begin to think too highly of ourselves when such exclusive experiences have been had.

Wow, God did this, I must be really special. God must really like me in particular.

As an electrician, I work with many guys, some licensed, and others not. Occasionally, some guys who didn’t have their license eventually get theirs, and all the sudden their demeanor changes. They start acting like a big shot. They want to throw their newfound weight around. It’s not like they are suddenly a better electrician today with their license than they were yesterday without, and yet there is the behavior changes that reveals that someone is exalting themselves in their own minds.

Or even Nebuchadnezzar. Is this not Babylon the Great which I have built??

So, to prevent Paul from thinking that way, to prevent him from exalting himself above where he belongs in his own mind and the minds of others, there was given to him something.

Now, we have to ask the question. Given...by whom?

The Giver

This belongs to a grammatical category that biblical scholars call “divine passives” where the one doing the action is clearly God, but it is assumed in the context.

God is the one who providentially brought this into Paul’s life. It was given to him...by God.

And that’s important. Paul recognized God’s providence over his suffering. He is going to attribute the affliction to Satan, but still recognizes God’s providence over it all.

Don’t miss that. This was from God’s hand. And yet, we are going to see that Satan was involved. We’ll get into that in a moment, but for now, it’s worth remembering that Paul recognized God’s providence over these things.

The Affliction

What was given by God? A thorn in the flesh.

Now this is the million dollar question. What was the thorn?

We’ve all experienced being pricked by thorns, having splinters in our hands, etc. Some believe this word would be better translated as stake, but thorn is perfectly legitimate.

It speaks of a piercing wound that causes pain and irritation.

What was the thorn? Lots of suggestions have been made. Some think it was Spiritual or psychological anxiety. Some think it was the opposition to Paul in his ministry, which is why he has to defend himself in the first place.

Some think it was some kind of physical malady, be that poor eyesight, gout, migraines, or something else.

Paul doesn’t identify it, and it’s likely his readers knew exactly what he was talking about, but for us, it’s a bit of a mystery, and I don’t believe it’s particularly helpful to speculate.

Commentator Murray Harris wrote on this text

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians 7. A Vision and Its Aftermath (12:1–10)

Paucity of data and the ambiguity of Paul’s language have frustrated—and will always frustrate—all efforts to reach finality in this enigmatic question.

He concludes, however, that this ambiguity actually serves us, listen to this:

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians 7. A Vision and Its Aftermath (12:1–10)

If, in fact, Paul had identified his [thorn], Christians of subsequent generations who lacked his particular affliction would have tended to regard his experience, as summarized in vv. 8–10, as largely irrelevant to their situation. As it is, multitudes of believers, with a variety of “thorns,” have been challenged and consoled as they have made Paul’s experience their own

The ambiguity allows us to apply the principle more broadly to all of our own afflictions.

Whatever the thorn is, it affected Paul so much that he furth identifies it as a messenger from Satan to torment him. That word for torment is a harsh term that can mean “to strike with a fist” “maltreat violently” “to batter” to “knock about”.

Paul says that this wasn’t just a minor annoyance. Paul felt this. He felt it so severely he calls it torment. He says “I’ve been beat up by Satan.”

Do you know what it feels like to be beat up by Satan. I know some of you do.

I’ve used this phrase a few times over the last few months, but at times it feels as though every one of Satan’s fiery darts are aimed directly at you.

Paul felt that way.

And legitimately, it was Satan.

The Agent

Now, this is an odd thing. Sometimes I joke about people who think there is a demon behind every bush and never want to take personal responsibility when things go poorly for them.

The reality is that there legitimately are times when Satan and his demons are at work, and it’s probably more than we realize or even suspect.

What makes this especially odd is that we just stressed the importance of recognizing that the Lord’s providence is over what Paul is dealing with.

How can this be? Is this the Lord or Satan?

Forgive me for quoting Harris a third time, but he put to well:

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians 7. A Vision and Its Aftermath (12:1–10)

As Paul experienced his [thorn], he discovered it to be both a gift from God and a tool of Satan—in the first case, because it deflated pride; in the second case, because it inflicted suffering. The deflation of pride is God’s distinctive work, while the infliction of suffering is Satan’s distinctive work .

Both a gift from God and tool of Satan. I think of Joseph with his brothers. They sold him into slavery. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

Satan meant this pain for evil. God meant it for good.

Even when the evil one comes at us, he does not do so without God’s permission, and when God permits it, he has good intentions for you that it would humble you.

And so Paul reiteras once more to emphasize and really drive the point home:

The Reason restated

To keep me from exalting myself.

God used this pain to keep Paul humble.

So that Paul would not become overly exalted in himself. So that Paul would remember that he needs God’s grace moment by moment. So that he would remember that God is over all and Paul is merely an instrument in the redeemers hands.

I’m sure you can think of hardships that you’ve endured in your own life that have significantly humbled you. I know I can think of a handful myself.

God uses our pain to humble us.

Second,

God uses our pain to drive us to him.

Look at vs 8.

2 Corinthians 12:8 “Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me.”

Paul prayed for deliverance from this evil from Satan. Notice Paul didn’t cast the demon out. He didn’t directly rebuke the demon. He asked for God’s work that the demon might leave him be.

The word for pleaded might be translated “implored”. This word was used numerous times in the Gospels of people coming to Christ and begging him to heal them. This was Paul’s position before the Lord. His pain and suffering drove him to prayer and drove him to His Lord, the only one who could remedy the situation.

Sometimes this is what God wants from our pain. To bring us closer to him.

Years ago I heard a story of a young boy playing with his boat in a pond and the boat drifted out of reach. He asked his dad for help. The day picked up stones and tossed them into the water, creating ripples that pushed the boat back to the shore.

Sometimes we experience the waves of this life and it rocks our world. But through it, God’s intent and design to push us closer to Him.

This is clearly the effect it had on Paul. It drove him to his knees in prayer.

By the way, this is not an example to say that you should only ever pray to God three times for something. There are some who teach that. I do not. Paul only stopped because God directly answered his prayer, as we see in the next verse.

God uses our pain to show us His strength

2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

This is hard to reckon with. Lord, wanted to humble me. I’m humble! You wanted to drive me to you. I came!

And God still said. No. This is going to stay. You’re going to have this with you on and intermittent or ongoing basis.

But instead of giving you what you’re asking for, I’m actually going to give you something better.

I’m giving you my grace to endure it. I’m giving you my power in the midst of your weakness.

This is one of those things that makes absolutely no sense to the world. Power perfected in weakness, what are you talking about?

God says, I’ve given this to you, and I’m denying your request for me to take it away, but through the trial you get to experience the power of God working in and through you. You will live and act in ways that are beyond your own power because it not only highlights the weakness of your own flesh, but it displays the power of Christ in you.

The word for perfected carries the idea that this power finds it end, or realizes its full potential in weakness.

If we are able in our own strength to just overcome or walk through all our trials alone, we would never see the power of God, we would never know the awesomeness of His might, never see his power perfected!

But as it is, God allows us to encounter trials so that in those trials when we feel like we are at the end of ourselves, when we see that we are truly weak and that we are not sufficient for the day by ourselves, THAT’S when we get to see God’s all encompassing, all powerful, all sufficient grace rush in like a freight train and carry us through.

So Paul’s conclusion is yes I abslutely will boast in my weaknesses, because it is in THOSE where I see the power of Christ more clearly.

Anyone can boast about their strength. Only those who know their weaknesses can boast in Christ because they have seen the power of Christ working through them.

Consequently, Paul says he is well content with hardships.

2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

God’s grace is sufficient for all your trials. God’s grace is his power for you to endure all things.

Allow me to being this all the way home for us as we think about where the Lord has us as a church.

I don’t know why God has not seen fit to cause this church to grow. I wish I did. Maybe it’s because He knows that if the church took off, I would be tempted by pride in MY accomplishments, or you would be tempted by pride about what YOU did to help things grow, and so God said. No I’m graciously going to prevent that. It’s possible. God hasn’t told me that, like he told Paul.

Perhaps there are other reasons that are way beyond our ability to know. Spiritual warfare unseen to us. Factors that we cannot account for.

I know I’ve prayed. The Lord knows I’ve prayed. Not just the last few months. I’ve begged the Lord for the life of this church. I wept over this church. I’ve wept for you. I’ve prayed for you. And I know you have prayed with me and for me as well.

And as of today it seems as though the answer is no. Unless something changes, in one week’s time we will host our last Worship meeting. We will transition to a bible study to finish Revelation. We will encourage you to visit other churches and find new church homes.

This is going to be difficult. It will be hard for us. It will be hard for you.

But God’s grace is sufficient. God doesn’t stop being God. His power is perfected in our weakness. Whatever comes, wherever the Lord takes you and me, God’s grace goes with us. God said my grace IS sufficient. Not was sufficient. Not will be sufficient at some point, but IS sufficient right here, right now.

Can we say with Paul “I am well content with weakness”?

Can you sing the song, It is well? and mean it?

Can you say “I can endure all things through Christ who gives me strength?”

Paul’s thorn was different from ours. But God’s grace extents the same to us as it did for Him.

This applies to our church. This applies to whatever hardship you are encountering or will encounter in your life. God’s grace is sufficient. Keep your eyes on the one who has promised

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Because truly. Even in our best moments. It’s all of grace.