Power Is Perfected In Weakness

Paul’s Visions and Revelations

Paul is being discredited as an apostle from the false teachers that have crept in and deceived many of the believers at Corinth. He is forced into a position to defend himself, not for himself, but for the gospel. The false teachers were teaching a work base salvation that was founded in traditional Judaism. They were teaching that you earn your salvation by observing the law. They taught that as God’s chosen people they were obligated to the law.

Paul’s gospel was quite the opposite. He preached a gospel of faith in Jesus Christ. He taught the people that the law was given to show that no one could uphold it. Since you couldn’t uphold the law, you need a Savior. Jesus is the Savior that died on a cross to take your guilty status and pay the penalty for your sin. Paul preached a gospel of faith in Jesus, instead of depending on yourself for salvation.

To defend himself he shared an experience that would elevate his status above the “super-apostles” or false teachers. He shared that he was caught up to the third heaven. No other teacher could claim this. T

The third heaven is the heaven where God resides. The first heaven is the atmosphere. This is where we live and the living creature reside. The second heaven is where the sun and other planets reside. The third heaven is known as Paradise. This is the place that Jesus promised the thief on the cross he would reside that day .

42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come [a]in Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:42-43

Paul also explained that he heard words inexpressible words which man is not permitted to speak. Paul had knowledge of things that he knew but, couldn’t explain. he was not permitted to share.

The fact that he had 4 personal post-resurrection experiences with Jesus and was called up into the third heaven gave him more qualification than any other teacher that was at Corinth.

Needless to say Paul was God’s man for Corinth and the Gentiles.

Application

Many people aspire to greatness through education and positions of authority. They go to great lengths to attain qualifications. Many leaders have Doctorates and PHD’s. They have worked hard to attain these qualifications. There is nothing wrong with pursuing and attaining high academic degrees. As a matter of fact I encourage people to get the highest level of education that they can attain.

Other people work very hard to climb the corporate ladder or lead their businesses to such a successful position that they have political, social, and even religious clout. I also encourage people to be as successful as they can be.

However, never let education or success define your call. What truly qualifies a person is the call of God on their life. Paul had credentials that no one else had, but the one that defined him is the one that God gave him. No matter how much education you have or how successful you are, what defines you is what God calls you to. You are important in the Kingdom of God! Know Jesus, Know His Word, Walk in your calling!

Paul’s Thorn In the Flesh

With Paul’s credentials came a tremendous burden. He explains that God gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself. Pride would be Paul’s biggest obstacle in accomplishing what God wanted to accomplish through Paul. What was at stake? Let’s take a look at what God accomplished through Paul. He established the first century church. He was the apostle to the gentiles. He wrote over half of the new testament. He is much of the reason we are here this morning.

God could not allow pride from accomplishing God’s call on his life. If pride would have got in the way, Paul would have started doing kingdom advancement in his own strength and in his own way. He would want accolades for himself and rob God of His Glory. God could not have this happen, so he gave Paul a thorn in the flesh.

I know what you are thinking when you think of a thorn. You are thinking of that sharp thing that sticks in your finger when you pull a rose off of a rose bush. The Greek word used here is skolops. It is actually a pointed piece of wood that is meant to impale a person. God did not give Paul a trivial “thorn” but somthing that was meant to impale him for the purpose of keeping him humble.

Application

With great knowledge comes great sorrow. Perhaps the wisest man to live besides Jesus captures it the best when Solomon says,” 16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. Ecc. 1:16-18

When a person has personal achievement in their life they must fight pride in their life stronger than those who haven’t. The reason is that they have accomplishments that feed their pride. There is no room for personal pride in our lives. Any time you elevate your value over someone else value it is sinful. We are all made in the image of God. God’s call on everyone’s life is equally important. The preacher of 10,000 is no more valuable than the preacher of 25. The preacher is no more valuable than the one who teaches the kids.

What was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”

Many scholars have many different opinions on what it is. Some say it is physical, some determine it is spiritual, other’s claim it is emotional. What we often fail to see is that he tells us what it is. It is a messenger of Satan to torment him. I believe if we look at the context we will be able to discover what this thorn is.

Remember what is going on at Corinth. There are leaders in the church that are opposing the gospel. They are personally attacking Paul. What does Satan and his demons seek to do? They seek to destroy the gospel and God’s people. Let me remind you of what we discussed last week. Paul says, 4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. 2 Cor. 11:4

or

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 2 Cor.11:13-14

Satan is attacking the very people that Paul loves. It is crushing him because of his deep seeded love for them and his desire for them to walk with Christ. The agony is so bad that he asks the Lord to remove it three times. I can imagine Paul's’ prayer was something to the effect of the exposure of the false prophets or even the harm of the false prophets. It sounds like a logical prayer on the surface, however God’s plans are bigger than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours.

You see what is really going on here is God is using Satan to defeat himself. Satan would want Paul to be conceited and prideful because then he could defeat Paul. But as long as Paul remained humble and relied on God to do the work rather than Paul’s effort than Satan could not defeat him. I love God’s mode of operation here. He is using Satan’s messengers as a tool to keep Paul humble.

God had a bigger purpose than the church at Corinth. He needed Paul to remain humble and rely on Him to complete the entirety of His call!

Application

There will be times in our lives where we too will have “thorns in the flesh”. We must always be mindful that the thorns are for God’s purpose. An though we may want the thorn removed because of the pain it causes, we must we willing to understand that God’s grace will enable us to endure.

Tell story of Lifetech. I was so prideful that i believed i deserved a mega church. God gave me a women’s prison with 4 ladies. In the end over 200 ladies were baptised and over 2500 ladies heard the gospel.

Do you have a thorn in the flesh?

God’s Power In Our Weakness

The reason God would not remove the thorn in the flesh from Paul was because he wanted Paul to learn that the work of the Lord is done in the power of the Lord. The work of the Lord is not accomplished in man’s power.

This is why Paul said that he would rather boast about his weakness, so that the power of Christ would dwell within him. God often does God size things through normal people. Paul learned that apart from Christ, he could do nothing.

God had big plans for Paul. He needed to remain humble and dependent on God for the work the Lord had for him. He used Satan to keep him humble so that he would learn to trust in the strength of the Lord

Application

When a person is truly humble, they are innately aware of their deficiencies. They recognize that they cannot accomplish what God wants to accomplish through them on their own. They become dependent on God and have faith in Him to accomplish His will through them.

Are you willing to boast in your weakness so the power of God can be revealed in your life?