Strength in Weakness

“Strength in Weakness”

Introduction:

1. Can I let you in on a little secret?
1. I feel so weak when I can’t do anything to help the ones I love when they are hurting.
2. Especially true of my wife and kids, when they are sick or just aren’t feeling well and there is nothing that I can do to help, it just eats at me and it drives me crazy to think that there is nothing that I can do.
3. After all I am the Man I am supposed to fix and make everything better for the family that God entrusted to my care. 
2. Can I let you in on another secret?
1. Human weakness is no match for the endless resources of God’s strength.
2. The problem is that we fool ourselves into thinking we’re stronger than we really are, or that somehow we NEED to be strong for people because they NEED us so much.
3. Partly our culture is to blame for this:  Let me explain…
1. We idolize those we see as strong and put down those we see as weak.
2. We Americans value things like determination, willpower, ingenuity, individuality, emotional toughness, and guts.
3. We market products with catch phrases like, “Never let them see you sweat.” 
4. We say that people are, “tough as nails”, or that somebody has learned to have a “thick skin.”
5. Why does strength have to be defined by the size of a person’s muscles instead of the courage or tenderness of someone’s heart?
6. Somewhere along the way we got it all wrong.
7. We decided that being American meant being Tough.
8. Now don’t get me wrong, America is a great place to live and I am so thankful to be an American, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, but I must admit that I am ashamed at some of the things that we value in this country.  Bigger, better, faster, stronger, more, more, more seems to be the values that many people live their lives by and the priorities that motivate them to work.
9. We want bigger homes, better incomes, faster cars, and more stuff that we could possible need or use.
4. But one American value stands above the rest as a serious obstacle to authentic faith in Christ:  our outlook on Weakness makes embracing the way of Christ difficult of many of us.
1. Why, because Christianity is primarily a call to being completely drained of self and
2. Being filled by someone bigger, stronger, and more capable then ourselves-Jesus Christ
3. The truth is we don’t like thinking that there are things we can’t handle.
4. We like to think, “Ain’t no mountain high enough”
5. We like to think, that with enough hard work and determination anything is possible.  Even that Song, “I believe I can Fly.” 
6. Whatever you put your mind to you can do is the common thought today.
7. Now hard work and determination are important, we aren’t supposed to be lazy or apathetic.
8. But it needs to be for the right reasons and of course everything is impossible without God.
9. The values of Christ Kingdom seem upside down to what the world would believe and embrace.

                                                              i.      Greatness in Christ’s Kingdom is found in becoming the servant of all, not in being served by others.

                                                            ii.      The way of Christ will lead to a cross, not because we go out of our way to offend people, but because Christians who live their lives after the model of Christ are a threat to the world and the tings it values most.

                                                          iii.      If you are really living as a follower of Christ, you must be ready to pick up your cross and follow Him wherever that might lead you

1. Our text tonight is from the Apostle Paul’s Second letter to the Corinthians church
1. The church in Corinth was emerging out of a deeply pagan culture, Greek.
2. The Greeks and even Romans had a polytheistic religion (many gods).
3. And often the worship of these gods lead to immoral rituals and practices.
2. So the new Christian converts of Corinth faced many challenges as they embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ and tried to live as his disciples.
1. Basically they had to unlearn everything that they knew, and learn a whole new way of life.
2. So Paul is writing to them to encourage them to continue to conform to the image of Christ, in such a hostile culture towards Christ.
3. Not much different than today.
3. Paul started back in chapter 10 to defend his apostleship and service of Christ but we will pick it up here in chapter 12 vs. 1-10 where I see three stages of Paul’s spiritual life.  Let’s Read.

Outline:

I         Paul’s Spiritual High (vs. 1-6)

A      Vs. 1 “I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.”

1        Some would say, well then why do it?  But has been “boasting” in his Call because there were many who were trying to discredit him.

2        And if he didn’t defend himself then more would be lost and many people would discredit him totally from his ministry

B       But it is interesting to see that even in his boasting he changes the Subject as to not draw attention to himself,

C       Vs. 2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven.”

1        Later on in this passage we see that Paul was talking about himself.

2        Even in this Spiritual High Paul did not want people to look at him as some great man.

3        He wanted them to see him as he was and not elevate him because of some vision that he had, because it didn’t do the WHOLE body any good it was personal edification given to him alone from God.

4        Then the part that I find amazing, vs. 2 “…who fourteen years ago…”

a         WOW, Paul kept that to himself for 14 years.

b        How long can you keep a secret?  When we hear something or especially when something WONDERFUL happens to us, we can’t wait to Tell someone.  Why, well normally it is to feed our own egos.

c         We want others to see how great we are and how good we did.

5        But not Paul, he kept it to himself for 14 years…

a         He was in Heaven, he heard things that he was not permitted to share.

b        How many times has someone said to you, “I am not supposed to tell you this, but.”  And then they spill the beans.

c         Paul never did that.  He was not allowed to share what he heard and he never did.  Now that took some self-control.

D      What a spiritual high that must have been for Paul to be allowed to experience something so great and wonderful! 

E       And it sure would have a tendency to “boost his ego” but,

F        This is where we come to the Second stage of Paul’s Spiritual Life…

II      Paul’s Spiritual Low (vs. 7-8)

A      Vs. 7 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”

1        To keep Paul from becoming conceited, which would be natural and normal when something this great an wonderful just happened to you, he was given a “thorn in his flesh”

2        One commentator put it this way, “God… brought the elated Paul down to earth and pinned him there with a ‘thorn.’”

3        Now we have no idea what that “Thorn” may have been.

a         Some say it was a physical “defect”

b        Some say it was his poor eyesight

c         Others have different speculations

d        Some say that this is proof that Paul was married…  Mother-in-law J

e         But they all agree that we don’t know for sure what it was.

4        But whatever it was it was severe.  Vs. 8 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.”

a         Since Paul prays so fervently to have the “Thorn” removed, it was probably something that he felt interfered with his ministry.

b        The mysteriousness about what that thorn might be allows others to identify their own personal “thorns” with Paul’s and gain theological lessons from it as well.

B       Thorns in the flesh are not good, but they also are not bad because they may convey a word from God, if we are in tune with God and our ears our open to hear His message.

C       Paul’s thorn was a constant reminder of who he really was; nothing without God!

D      Most of us do not appreciate hardships while going through them.  It is only in retrospect that we value their lessons.

E       Even Paul pleads with God to remove it.  But he gets a strong answer, NO!

F        Now we have the Third Stage of Paul’s Spiritual life.

III   Paul, Right Where God Wanted Him (vs. 9-10) Read

A      Vs. 9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

1        What an answer?

2        God says, “No, I will not take this ‘thorn’ away but my grace is sufficient.” 

3        No matter how difficult this may be, no matter how hard it is to go on, don’t worry about it God’s grace is sufficient.

B       But what is grace?  It is God’s provision for our every need when we need it.

1        It has been well said this way:  God in His grace gives us what we do not deserve, and in His mercy He does not give us what we do deserve.

2        God’s Riches Available at Christ’s Expense.

C       It was a message of Sufficient Grace.

1        There is never a shortage of grace.

2        God is sufficient for our spiritual ministries and our material needs as well as our spiritual needs.

3        If God’s grace is sufficient to save us, surely it is sufficient to keep us and strengthen us in our times of suffering.

D      It was a message of Strengthening Grace.

1        God permits us to become weak so that we might receive His strength.

2        Strength that knows itself to be strength is actually weakness, but weakness that knows itself to be weakness is actually strength.

E       As Paul prayed about his problem, God gave him a deeper insight into what He was doing.

1        Paul learned that his thorn in the flesh was a gift from God.

2        What a strange gift!

3        There was only one thing for Paul to do:  accept the gift from God and allow God to accomplish His purposes.

4        God wanted to keep Paul from being “exalted above measure,” and this was His way of doing just that.  Keeping him Humble

F        Once Paul accepted this affliction as a gift from God, he made it possible for God’s grace to go to work in his life.

G      God did not give Paul any explanations; instead He gave him a promise.

1        We do not live on explanations; we live on promises,

2        Our feelings change, but God’s promises never change.

H      That is why Paul could go on in vs. 10 and say, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

1        Paul knew that these were all trials to strengthen his faith and avenues for Christ grace to be displayed in his life.

2        He could truly DELIGHT in troubles, and he had plenty of that.

Conclusion:

1. Paul’s spiritual high was being in Heaven and hearing the wonderful things that only he would ever know on this earth. 
2. Then he went to a spiritual low questioning God and begging for the “thorn” to be taken away only to have his request denied, by Christ saying, “My grace is sufficient.”
3. To being right in the place that God wanted him to be in.  On his knees and at the feet and mercy of Christ his Lord and Savior.
4. From Paul’s experience we can learn several practical lessons:
1. God knows how to balance burdens and blessings, suffering and glory
2. Physical afflictions do not need to be a barrier to effective Christian Service.
3. And we can ALWAYS rest in God’s Word.  His grace is sufficient!!!
4. Then we will be able to say as Paul did, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Vs. 10

Hymn # 573 “His Strength is Perfect”