Life is Tough, God is Glorified

2 Cor 11:16-12:10

Intro

Intro Zeal

I’ve found that one of the things that steals my zeal is consistent hardship and consistent weakness

Momentum in sports. Your momentum suffers when your team continually makes mistakes, or when your opponent is noticeably stronger than you

For us as people, it’s natural for weakness to steal our zeal from us

But today, we’re gonna see the opposite from Paul. For him, he doesn’t just endure weakness, but he allows his weakness to actually add to his zeal

Read 2 Cor 12:1-10

Super Apostles

I talked a little bit last week about the “Super Apostles”

Just to refresh your memory

The “super apostles” were a group of false teachers in the Corinthian church who used their status and their skills to impress the Corinthians to listen to them over Paul

Last week, we saw a little bit of Paul saying that even though they’re impressive, it doesn’t make their teachings correct

And he expands on this idea today. Go ahead and look down at 2 Cor 12:1

He talks about “going on boasting.” This is because in the previous section, Paul was basically doing nothing but boasting about himself

You might say, Isn’t that sinful of Paul to be boasting about himself? You’re right, and Paul actually acknowledges that

Look at 2 Cor 11:23. He’s essentially saying: “They claim to be servants of Christ and, although I’m about to sound like a fool and a madman, I have technically been a better servant than any of them will ever be”

And then he goes into all of the hardships he himself has gone through for the sake of the Gospel

By the way, take a second to appreciate the hardships Paul went through

The “man” caught up in heaven

So after Paul is finished talking about all the things he’s been through for the sake of the Gospel, he boasts more, but in his boasting he makes his point. Go ahead and look down at 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether 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—whether 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.”

Who is this man? It’s Paul

And what does it mean that he was “caught up in the third heaven?”

First heaven = the sky

Second heaven = space

Third heaven = where God dwells

So why is he being so coy and vague? Because he’s making a point

We can see his point in 2 Corinthians 12:5 “On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses”

In other words, Paul wants to make it clear that his boasting—even his boasting in ch. 11—is boasting solely in the work of Christ, not in himself

He doesn’t want the Corinthians to be impressed by him because he had a spiritual experience, he wants them to be impressed by the one who gave him that spiritual experience

By the way, I think we should take this advice as well

God has given you significant spiritual experiences, he’s given you the ability to pursue a greater knowledge of Him, He has given you the strength to withstand significant attacks and hardships

Where is your heart posture?

Are you boasting in the Lord? Or do you feel puffed up and conceited?

Only you can answer that question

Let’s keep reading 2 Corinthians 12:5–10 “On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Thorn in the Flesh

What is the “thorn in the flesh?”

Something physical like an eye disease (In Galatians 4:15, we see that Paul commends the Galatians saying that they would have “gouged out their eyes and given them to him”)

Something mental like depression

Something spiritual like a strong proclivity towards a certain sin

But at the end of the day, Paul doesn’t tell us what this “thorn of the flesh is”

Which is a good thing because that means we can read our thorn into this verse (which is not a luxury we get very often)

The Applied New Testament Commentary Paul’s Vision and His Thorn (12:1–10)

if we knew exactly what Paul’s thorn was, we might then be tempted to say: “I don’t have any ‘thorn’ like that; therefore, Paul’s teaching here about his thorn has no relation to me.”

No, every one of us has a thorn in the flesh, and every one of us can be encouraged by these words of Paul: we don’t have to be brought down by our weakness because we know that the Lord has a purpose behind it

Personal Charge

Christopher Yuan - Holy Sexuality and the Gospel. Story about denying his flesh and people saying they were impressed by Him

Every one of us has a thorn in the flesh, and every one of us as Christians are called to fight against that thorn in the flesh leading us away from Christ

Because notice what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:7 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”

You see here, there are two different parties with Paul here: God and the devil, and they each want something from him

The devil gave him the thorn to harass him and get him far away from God

God allowed the devil to give him this thorn so that he might rely more fully on the power of God

The same is true for you. God is at work in your life, but the devil is also at work in your life

The devil’s goal is always to get you as far away from God as possible

God’s goal is always to draw you nearer to Him and further establish His kingdom here on earth

Who are you going to allow to have dominion in your life?

Prayer

But I want to make something clear: just because God could be doing a work through the hardship in your life right now, you should still pray earnestly that the Lord relieve you of that hardship and take that thorn out of your life

The implication of this passage is not: sit there and take it

No. Paul himself prayed in this passage. In v8 he says that three times he prayed that the Lord remove this thorn

In fact, I would go as far as to say you should pray that the Lord remove the thorn in your flesh, because when you do that, you’re relying on the strength of the Lord and not your own strength

When Paul says in 2 Cor 12:10 that “when I am weak, then I am strong,” he’s saying that his strength comes from seeing the strength of the Lord

In fact, maybe what the Lord is trying to give you is more fortitude in prayer, and more faith

But if it isn’t removed, don’t be discouraged because He always has the greatest good in mind with everything He does and allows.

Take comfort in this: if He answers your prayer with a yes, He has your greatest good in mind. And if He answers your prayer with a no, He still has your greatest good in mind

And remember this as well, if He does answer with a “no,” just remember that if you lean on Him, He will give you the strength to endure your hardship (Philippians 4:13)

Joseph

Implications

Like Paul, we see God gave Joseph humility through the things he suffered

We see Jonah allowing God’s power to be made perfect in his weakness (dreams)

We see God accomplishing something through Joseph’s weakness

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The specific reason why God allowed these things to happen to Joseph is literally so that people would live

The story of Joseph is the second greatest example of God using evil to bring about the greatest good

Who’s the first? Well, who do you think it is?

Jesus

Get this: You know how Paul prayed 3 times for the thorn to be removed?

In the Garden of Gethsemane, moments before he would be betrayed into the hands of the Romans to be crucified, he prayed that “this cup would pass before him”

Guess how many times Jesus prayed for the cup to pass before him? Three times

In the instance of Jesus, why did the Father not answer Jesus’ prayer with a “yes?” Because he had our greatest good in mind

Sometimes the Lord doesn’t answer our prayers to remove some sort of thorn in the flesh, whether it be physical ailment, grief, hardship. Sometimes, he will allow us to go through some things

But just like Jesus, it is always because He has the greatest good in mind

This is the great exchange. We glorify Him, He redeems and empowers us

So boast in your weakness. Stand strong despite the things going on in your life right now, and the power of Christ will rest upon you for His power is made perfect in your weakness

Let Him use you as a way to bless others

Let Him do His work in your heart and your soul

You don’t have to ignore your weakness, you don’t have to pretend you’re ok

But the encouragement I would offer you is this: you can have faith that God is using the pain you’re going through right now and He is bringing good out of it

If you don’t believe him, look to the one who prayed three times for the cup to be removed, and yet it wasn’t. If he would go through that for you, what makes you think he would abandon you now?