A thorn and grace
Apostolic Defense: Book of 2nd Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 42:41
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For God’s glory!
For God’s glory!
I think we can agree that Paul lived, and even suffered for God’s glory. It was not an easy road to travel, but in all things he gave the glory to God. We can learn from him.
Paul is drawing to the end, coming to the climax of his apostolic defense. A final display of his love for the church at Corinth.
For the glory of God
Do all things for it (1Cor10:31)
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Confess Christ for the glory of God (Php2:11)
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Transition) Paul lived for the glory of God, not for self as were the accusations against him. He did not just speak it, he lived it and offers his experience up as living proof today.
Paul was very reticent, which means not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily. He did not like to boast of himself, if he was going to boast he was going to boast in the Lord (1Cor1:31).
Paul presents some boasting, reluctantly to solve the problem, and he addresses the experience in third person rather than first person.
From our passage before us we can see things things that God did in the life of Paul.
God honored him (2Cor12:1-6)
God humbled him (2Cor12:7-8)
God helped him (2Cor12:9-10)
God honored Him
God honored Him
The accusers (Judiazers) were anxious, were proud to present their credentials and draw attention to themselves (2Cor3:1ff) In our passage Paul is not honoring, glorying in himself, he allows God to glory in Him, there is no better than.
1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
5 On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. 6 For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Question: what does Paul say about boasting (v.1)?
It is necessary though not profitable.
Question: From the vision to the revealing of it, how long was it (v.2)?
It was 14 years
Paul did not understand everything, but proclaimed the one who did, God (v.2, 3)
What did Paul say he heard (v.4)?
He heard inexpressible words
What did Paul boast of (v.5)?
He boasted of his infirmities
Paul says he will speak the truth (v.6) keep in mind Paul is making a defense, and he does it here from a place of humility not pride.
How God gloried in Paul
By giving him visions and revelations
Like on the Damascus road (Act9:3)
How about of Ananias
12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”
Or when called to Macadonia (Act16:9)
How about a vision of heavenly comfort?
9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
and one more I cannot leave out for it is vitally important to us today
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;
3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
All of these special visions prepared, revealed and were related to his call and ministry
Paul was entrusted with the mysteries of God, not just of Jesus as the Messiah but of the church, part of God’s grand plan.
(scriptures used or referenced: Act9:3; Act9:12; Act16:9; Act18:9-10; Eph3:1-6)
By taking him to third heaven (and sending him back)
God honored by taking him into heaven, the third heaven and then returning him.
If it were in body or in spirit alone Paul did not know, but it sure impacted him.
Have you ever wondered what the third heaven is?
Let me give you what I can know from reading on this matter
Third heaven is the same as “paradise” in the scripture
Now according to science men have visited the heaven of the clouds (any airline trip that went above the clouds) , the heaven of the planets (we have been to the moon, sent a rover to Mars). But no one can get to God’s heaven, the third heaven without God’s help.
There was that gap of 14 years from revelation to declaration, So backing into this that would put this have taken place between the departure to Tarsus (Act9:30) and the visit from Barnabas (Act11:25-26) so about AD43.
If Paul were going to glory in himself he would have been sharing this, write about about it, go on book tours, speaking engagements during that time, but no, God “buffeted” (means to strike repeatedly and violently, to know someone off course, to afflict or harm someone, repeatedly ore a long period of time. He allowed that to happen to keep Paul humble, it was not a punishment from God because of sin, it was a gift from God to keep him humble.
By permitting him to hear “unspeakable words.”
So not only did God take him to third heaven, he was honored by God to hear “unspeakable words” while there. Words that could not be repeated by mere men.
Moses met the Lord on the mountain top, Paul met the Lord on the road and was taken later to paradise!
Do you think this would be a motivating factor for Paul’s zeal, Paul’s willingness to endure and suffer for the gospel?
(Transition) So, I mentioned this experience came then with humility, God humbled him, so let’s get to that point now
God Humbled Him
God Humbled Him
As a Christian we need to have balance, blessings and burdens. God allowed Satan to buffet Paul so to keep him humble and not allow him to be proud.
Think about this if all God did was bless us it would be easy to get puffed up and prideful, so God allows, permits there to be burdens too.
Paul had a great experience in heaven and if he got prideful about it, well it could have ruined his ministry work here on earth.
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! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Why was the throne in the flesh given to Paul (v.7)
So he would not exalt himself
What was Paul’s desire to happen, what did he do (v.8)?
He implored the Lord for the thorn to leave him.
A question often asked is “why does God cause people to suffer?” - We do not understand the mystery of all suffering.
Sometimes the suffering is due to just our human nature, we get older we can suffer from human ailments
Sometimes suffering comes because of the consequences of our own foolish choices. Our rebellion can inflict us directly or the Lord may chose to chasten us.
(Other scriptures used or referenced: Heb12:3-7; 2Sam12:1-22; Ps51; Rom5:1-5)
Listen to the Hebrew writer, or at least let me give you a taste
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus endured suffering so to set the example for us, when we suffer we will not grow weary. The same holds true when it goes to godly discipline (Heb12:3-7)
Some sinful choices, poor choices have grave consequences like for David (2Tim12:1-22) that did come to a point of restoration later (Ps51)
I read this and thought it worthy to use.
“In His grace, God forgives our sins; but in His government, He must permit us to reap what we sow.” Bible Exposition Commentary
OK, suffering can be a tool that God uses too, look at this passage together (turn to Rom5) and let’s see what the tool is used for.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
According to Rom5:1-5, what is the purpose(s) of the suffering noted there?
It is perseverance, character and hope
It is interesting that we do not know for 100% what the thorn was in Paul’s flesh, be it eye issues, malaria, epilepsy, for if we knew we may miss out on the application for all in times of suffering.
There is no wonder Paul asked for the thorn to be removed he had places to go, letters to write, churches to plant and churches to encourage, but like the Lord it was about the Lord’s will, the Lord’s purpose to be done.
Now, how we handle suffering, a thorn in our side can be handled in a few different views and ways.
Become bitter and blaming
Blaming God for the circumstances
Others give up
Give up before the blessings come.
While yet others grit and bear it until the bitter end.
But this is self-defeating when we try to do it under our power instead of allowing God to work it out under his through us.
Ok, Ok, I need to stop and expand on some fake teaching, false teaching, misleading teaching of those who teach that all sickness is caused by sin, or no healing comes relief because of lack of faith.
The belief that if you are really the Lords and are doing His will you will never get sick and they use oftentimes a promise given to Israel for a time in (Deu7:12ff). He never promised that to all people, it was for certain people at a certain time
There is a paradox you can see in Paul’s experiences
From paradise to pain
From glory to suffering
From blessings to buffeting
From ecstasy to agony
One experience prepared him for the other and is an example for us and a reminder to us that God is with us in the good times and the hard times.
(Transition) That leads to our next point in what God did with Paul.
God helped Him
God helped Him
We have gone through the throne, now it’s time to see God’s help through His grace.
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
What did the Lord tell Paul was sufficient for him? (v.9)?
The Lord said My grace is sufficient for you.
Look at (v.10) what did Paul take pleasure in?
He took pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, in needs, persecutions, distresses
All that with a purpose for the Lord’s strength made perfect in Paul’s weakness (v.9) and Paul’s acknowledgment that when he is weak he is strong!
(Insert God’s grace picture here)
While Paul could not share the words heard in heaven he could share the words heard on earth that were eternal words, about God’s grace was continual to him.
Check the time, if time permitting ask the question what is your belief of God’s grace
God’s grace, oftentimes described as God’s unmerited favor, or maybe getting what we do not deserve. Others say it is power to perform.
Here to Paul it is God’s promise that He will always provide for Paul what is needed when it was needed.
So, God’s grace is:
God’s grace is God’s provision
Provides our means of salvation
Provides what is needed spiritually (the bible)
Provides what we need physically (the body of believers to help one another)
God’s grace is sufficient
Sufficient to make a sinner into saint
To forgive and to equip
To make that which is dead alive
God’s grace is strengthening
Where as we cannot under our power save ourselves with God’s grace we have the strength to be saved
In our passage Paul in his weakness was made strong in Christ.
Strong in faith, in service, in deeds (even with the thorn in the side)
God’s grace is transforming
Transforming the worldly to the heavenly
Transforming the lost to the saved
Transforming the babe to the mature
A few more quick thoughts on our passage this morning
Paul had a heavenly experience and earthly buffeting to keep him in check. Paul learned the thorn was not a hinderence to him but a gift from God to him so to keep him humble so not to be exalted because of the heavenly experience.
By Paul accepting the thorn it allowed Paul to be a tool of God’s grace to others.
God did not tell Paul, explain to Paul. God only promised Paul, “My grace is sufficient”
Our God is the God of all grace
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
And we are able to go to His throne
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
we have the words of His grace
32 “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
and he gives more grace
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
God’s grace to Paul helped him to weather the storms, the accusations the persecutions and everything else. God’s grace in us should help us to rise above any circumstances we may face
Paul was able to glory in his infirmities, can we?
A few things to take away from our passage
The Spiritual is of greater importance than the physical
God developing character far more important than a physical healing without character
God knows the balance of blessings and burdens, of suffering and glory.
It has been described that life is life a prescription the individual ingredients might hurt us, but when properly blended they help us
Not all sickness is caused by sin
God may allow affliction, including sickness to accomplish a great good in our lives, even we do not see it at the time
Something worse than sickness is the sickness of pride, a sin.
The sin of pride can keep God’s blessings from you
The sin of pride can keep you right out of the kingdom even.
Physical affliction need to hinder you from effective Christian service
Paul did not permit a thorn to keep him from serving the Lord, nor should we
Today commit to not being a fair weathered Christian
Don’t let your flesh be, physical afflictions you may have be a stumbling block, let it be a stepping stone!
Finally, always rest in God’s word, to Paul and to us it is “My grace is sufficient for you!”
(Prayer) (exit)