Our scripture reading this morning is from from first, second, Corinthians, excuse me, verse chapter 12. We'll actually read from verse one all the way to verse 10. Second, Corinthians, chapter 12, verse one through 10 now give careful attention to his holy, inerrant Word.
[1] I must go on boasting.
Though there is nothing to be gained by it. I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was the throne of Your grace, knowing that you are for us, not against us. And we ask that you be present here, and you will speak to us through Your word and that caught up to the third heaven - whether in the body or out of sin, in the weakness and it comes to our hearts, at least in my own heart, to examine this weakness is not just for our the body I do not know, God knows. [3] And I know that this nine year old, seasoned saints, but it's actually I am weak. I'm not as strong as I thought I once was, especially as I'm man was caught up into paradise- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows - [4] and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. [5] On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses - [6] 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. [Verse 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. [8] Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he should leave me. [9] 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. [10] For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions turning 40, things just hurt.
And I don't get up from my bed.
I roll off my bed, and then I realize, hey, I don't think I'm as strong as I thought I was, and I'm sort of losing arm wrestle to kids. And I go, This can't be. I was undefeatable.
and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
And then I turned 40, and the fact of the matter is, we are all getting weak. And the world says, No, you're not. Bible says you're always been weak. So what will you boast in?
Where will you place your hope?
In Paul here, really in first, second Corinthians. One of the reasons why he's writing to the church in Corinth is precisely because the church in Corinth has so many problems. I mean, this is a problem church and praise God. He does not give up.
He is faithful, and he writes the first Corinthians. The letter the first Corinthians was written to them to tell them of their wickedness and say, Repent. And one of the reason was they were boasting in their people, that whom they follow.
Some boasted in caphas Peter, some boasted in Paul, some boasted in Christ. And they were boasting and boasting and boasting. And he writes, As we in the early. Your portion of the port. The part that we read, He says, Did, did Paul die for you? Who saved you? It is none of these but Christ. And by the time you come to second Corinthians, this is actually third letter, or maybe even fourth letter. You think the Corinthians have learned the lesson, but apparently not, because he had to remind them.
And one of the things that was happened at this time in Corinth was that there were false apostles. Matter of fact, they called themselves. Here we go, super apostles. Their apostleship was not enough.
They're super apostles. And Paul, in chapter 11, the previous to this text, he kind of talks about these super apostles, quote, unquote, are actually false apostles, because they boast upon themselves, they boast upon their strength, and they boast of their greatness and how much they're superior to the other other apostles, especially Paul so he writes in First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, excuse me, chapter 11, verse 30, he says this, If I mow, if I must boast, I'll boast of the things that show my weakness. The God of my God, and the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. So he kind of taps into if I'm going to boast, I'm going to boast in my weakness. And then chapter 12 comes in, and he talks about a man, he says, who had a vision, this great vision, who went up to the third heavens, whether in the body or in the soul, in the spirit, he does not know. And he went into the Paradise, whether in the body, whether in their spirit, I do not but the Lord knows. He's talking to himself about himself in a third person.
He says, I will boast of that man. And then he says, I must seize in verse six, and if I should wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I'll be speaking the truth, but I refrain from it, so that no one may think of me more than he sees me or hears from me. And we come to our sermon text here he refuses to engage in self boasting. He refuses to engage with these false super apostles to prove himself, his credentials. Paul says, is not him, his identity, his value, his worth is not him, his hope, his joy, his fat, his satisfaction, his pride is not him. And you may ask, why? How do we have this understanding, while Paul explains why, he gives his rationale, why he would choose to boast in his weakness, and refuses and refrains from boasting in himself. And he says number one, the Lord has given him an unexpected gift, unexpected gift, verse seven, 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. He says this, I the LORD taken me to the third heavens, to the paradise. And I've heard things and I saw things that I cannot even utter.
I cannot tell you what I saw. In one sense, he's saying words cannot show or even adequately describe what the third heavens is like. I cannot tell you.
Matter of fact, he's forbidden to tell you. And it's interesting, he says, As soon as I heard the glorious and I had those great vision, the Lord gave him another gift, not only the gift of this surpassing, great revelation. But the Lord, it says, has given him a thorn on his side. It says a thorn was given me in the flesh. The one, the word given here is a passive and many and I think it's true, many scholars sees this.
Commentator sees this as what we call a divine passive who gave the thorns the Lord Himself. The Lord Himself has given him the thorns on his side, thorns of his flesh. What is the thorns?
Many scholars would write much about it. Some say is this, some says that, and some says this.
Some says this. Some say it couldn't have been something of the body. It must have been relational. Some say this must have been the things of the flesh of the body, the physical, some kind of ailment, some kind of issue with his eyes, or this and that. Some even go as far as to say some. Lustful desires.
I'm not sure if that's quite true. The Lord does not tempt.
But whatever it is, as Paul, refuses to tell us what it is, merely calls it a thorn in the flesh. What it does show is it is something that makes him weak. It is something that brings about his weakness. Verse 10, maybe give us a little bit glimpses of what he means is, for the sake of Christ and I'm content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities, because that's his weaknesses, whatever it is, one thing we can say, it is something of a suffering. It is something that's very difficult and painful, something that is that makes you cringe, and oftentimes make you cry, and it reminds you really the function of it is of your own weakness.
It says verse seven, to keep me from becoming conceited, the Lord gave this unexpected gift for a particular result, to make him not to be conceited, to keep him humble. I mean, just imagine that if you have this kind of great wisdom, great revelation of the glorious heavens, what do you think people are prone to do? I mean, have you heard about people who had great visions?
What do they do? Do? They go, Yeah, I had a wonderful vision.
I cannot tell you that. No, we know. What do they normally do?
They go and tell everybody, you know what I saw, because I'm so amazing. Let me tell you what I know that you don't know. What do you think these super apostles would have done if they had a vision as great as this.
They went to everywhere and said, Look how great of a vision I have. Let me tell you about it. Let me boast about it.
That's the world, isn't it, and that's oftentimes so many churches around us. It's about how great I am, and how much I know, how smarter I am, how much experience I have, and what I've what great things I accomplished. I've been to one of those conferences once, and I came out thinking, well, they can do great things without the Lord. And so it is. And the fact of the matter is, no one is above that. Paul himself, isn't it ironic, a godly man, St Paul, the Lord says you cannot handle this revelation. So let me help you to stay humble and stay dependent. Here it is. Here is the gift from the Lord, not great blessing of riches and power and fame, but rather Thorn on your side, because I love you that you may not boast and the and the incredible thing about this, when he describes the thorn that was given to him from the Lord Himself in the flesh.
He says, a messenger of Satan.
If you look at the Greek the way, it's connected, the thorn is the messenger. It's opposition. It's a It's not only descriptive of but it is saying what the thorn is. The Thorn is actually an angel, the messenger of Satan. Matter of fact, what did Satan come to do? It says, To harass Paul. I love the way King James puts it. He uses the word he buffeted me. Buffeted.
It's a word that we don't use much. I think, when I first heard the word buffet. I think, oh, buffet.
But that's not what it means.
The buffeted means here. It's the same Greek word that's used when Jesus was put before the High Priest and they began to slap him. And the idea is it's, it's really strike on the face multiple times. It's a Strike after strike after strike. It's a buffeting, repeated pain and harm. And who's doing that Satan is for whatever it is, the Lord uses even Satan. Did you know that there is no suffering that comes your way, not even the one that's by Satan, is out of God's grip and his providence, the Lord is fully in control in all that comes your way, even when Satan is at work. Guess what?
The Lord is at work in and through it. There's no suffering, no persecution, no calamity, no sickness, no weakness, even the ones that the most evil of this creation brings against you. Oh, the Lord is at work in it and through it, you know, one of the beautiful things, one of the greatest, I think, of our theologies, especially as reformed people that we are, is God's omnipotence and his absolute power and sovereignty. Please understand. And I say this over and over wherever I can, the Lord does not work against evil.
The work the Lord works through evil. The Lord brings good, not as against evil, but the Lord brings good through evil. That's how good he is. He does not turn evil good, but he brings good through it. There's nothing in this world that's outside of God's control and our good God, even in the calamities that comes against us, even in all the persecutions, even in your weaknesses, the hardships, the insults, the pain and the anguish, the weakness of your body and flesh, even the harm and the buffet that even Satan and his messenger brings against us, the Lord he does good and the good that he brings in Paul's life. It says in the letter part, chapter, verse seven at the end, to keep me from becoming conceited. It's actually one Greek word there. I don't know why they translated using, I don't know how many words, five words really, he's saying to keep you from boasting, keep you from exalted high, to keep you humble. The unexpected gift the thorn on the side, and he produces what Paul needed the most, because he's been given such a beautiful revelation, which is a great, awesome gift, isn't it? I wish I can see it too, but he's seen it. He's experienced it. He cannot even utter it. And at the same time as the Lord has given him this blessing, the Lord has given him even greater gift of a thorn on his side, weakness of the body and the pain and the anguish, and it's like one punch after another. Have you ever felt that recently? Lot of times, you know, the calamities come all together, doesn't it?
You know, it's like, boom, and then you thought you could dodge it, and then boom. And you're like, Okay. And then it seems like the knockouts coming and you get hit and you stumble and you can barely stand, and that's how life comes at you. My covenant children here know this when things gets hard and it only gets harder and it gets worse, and you thought it's not going to get worse, and yet, indeed, it does get worse sometimes and all times, that is unexpected gift from the Lord to bring about good. As we read earlier, all things are subservient. I love that version, to work for our good and for our salvation. So number one, unexpected gift. Number two, then, all Sufficient Grace.
All Sufficient Grace. Verse eight says, three times, I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
You see this, Paul asked the Lord, He prayed. He said, this thorn in the flesh, it's, it's terrifying, it's painful, it's, it's, it's hard. And in his misery, he cries out. He cries out to the Lord three times. He says he didn't just do it once.
He fervently asked three times over and over and says, Lord, let it leave me. Lord, let it leave me. Lord, please. Let it Leave me. He knew confidently, the Lord is able. The Lord can take it away. He knew that it is from the Lord, even though it's Satan is buffeting, even though he knows the agency is Satan, he knows, ultimately, he's from the Lord, and He knows he's able.
And he asks, he prays and says, Please, please take it from me.
And indeed, the Lord does not rebuke him for this prayer. And I think it's fitting for God.
People to ask in your weaknesses and say, Lord, please help please let it leave me. Please alleviate me. Certainly, it's proper and good prayer. The Lord does not rebuke him, but he says something even more beautiful.
Says this verse nine. But though I pled, but what he says is, The Lord answered me. The Lord gave me an answer, and the answer is, My grace is sufficient for you.
You see, so often we ask for prayer, we ask the Lord. We make a petition and says, Lord, please answer my prayer. Did you know The Lord always answers your prayer? Sometimes the answer is, I'll take it away. He will leave you. But sometimes his answer is, My grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you. It's always his answer to you in your weakness, My grace is sufficient for you, your strength is never sufficient. Is it? Your power is never sufficient. Your strength is never your knowledge is never sufficient. There's nothing in you that's ever sufficient in your life. Is it? There's nothing sufficient in my life?
You know, a lot of times when you meet people and they ask, Oh, how did you become a pastor?
They expect something great coming out of me. And I go, just happen. I kind of, I kind of tumbled and tumbled here and there and then voila. It's not in me. It's not because I'm great or smart, or any of those things. Rather, I'm a man of unclean lips, from people of unclean lips, and I stumbled here only by his sufficient grace. And I submit to you. If it was up to me, I wouldn't be here. Couldn't be here. And I'm sure all of you can say, Nope, I can't, but I know his grace is always sufficient. There's no circumstances where his grace is not sufficient. Look at this.
The enemy, Satan is against me.
He's buffeting me. He's punching me in the face over and over and over and over and yet the Lord's grace is ever so sufficient. Oh beloved people of God, be comforted in your weakness, whatever calamities, whatever pain and anguish and sorrow that comes your way. I don't know where you are this morning, but I know one thing, his grace is sufficient for you, and he goes even farther. His grace is sufficient to do what for my power is made perfect in weakness. His power is made perfect in you, in your weakness. If you want to experience power, depend on his sufficient all sufficient grace.
And it's not that you will become strong, but rather his power will be made perfect in you. It's so ironic, isn't it, that how? How does this happen?
Or or when we are weak, we are made strong. How could that be?
It's the most ironic statement, two opposites, absolute opposites.
And yet all of this is possible because our Lord is Ever so gracious and ever so sufficient to meet all of your needs. Be confident in that there are times you wake up and say, I don't even know what to do. You don't even you don't even have words to order, and you don't know how to handle it. Maybe your friends have betrayed you.
They talk all these things, and you cannot even talk to your parents. Maybe it was your best friend, maybe it was your co worker, or you lost your work, and your health is deteriorating, and things are just not getting better, and it's gloomy after gloomy. Maybe all of that is going on in your life, but the Lord is not absent from it, but Lord is in it, and His power is in you. In your weakness, and he's perfecting that work and that power in you.
What words of encouragement, isn't it? It's amazing, the holy and awesome God will look down from heaven in all of your particular individual struggles and weaknesses. He's all powerful and all Sufficient Grace is here for you today and every day, his grace is sufficient for you. So number one, unexpected gift. Number two, all sufficient grace. And number three, true glory. Paul declares, therefore end of verse nine, I'll boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses. He's not going to hide his weaknesses. He's not going to pretend like everything is okay.
He's going to say, he's going to own up to his weaknesses. He's going to say, I failed. He's going to say, I can't do it. You know, one of the things I enjoy just spending time with children is they know they're weak. They know they can't Don't you know that? You know we have a we at our church now we begin to have little ones. And one of the boys, I gave him a little chocolate. I got permission from the parents first, okay, gave him the dirt chocolate, and he he couldn't even talk yet. He, he was like, trying to open it, and he looks up and he's like, ah, because he's too weak even to open up this little little package. And I opened it up, and I put it in his mouth, and he had a biggest smile, and he got it all over his face. I don't know how he did it, but isn't it so incredible? He owns up his weakness with no shame. He's not even trying to hide it. Of course, at times he's like, I gotta do it myself. You know, can I me to help you? But eventually he gives it back because he can't, and we certainly need that kind of childlike dependency upon the Lord men here, let me tell specifically to you, you're too strong and you're too powerful.
Or you think, oh, may we boast in our weakness? May we say, Honey, I don't, I can't, honey, I am weak because we think good husbands should be strong and firm and powerful and protect and provide, and we gotta be masculine? No true masculinity is true and utter dependency on the Lord and willingness to say, Lord, I am weak, and even willing to boast in our weakness. Now this is not the same thing as boasting in our sins, right? The world flaunts their sin. They boast in their sin. I mean, it's crazy. They have a whole month to celebrate and be proud of their sinfulness and their unnatural desires.
That's not what this is saying.
You're not saying boast in your sinfulness, and boast and take pride in your sins, but rather in your weakness against the battle against that sin, willing to admit to your wife, honey, I am sinful. Oh, pray with me.
Pray for me. O wives being able to embrace his weakness and husbands being able to embrace your wife's weaknesses in your marriage with your children, we often say, No, you're able. You know, sometimes you got to say, I don't think you can do that, honey, and it's okay. I still love you. It's okay that you can't I cannot do it either. Oh, may our words be seasoned with the Lord's grace, and boast in our weakness and say, but I know there is one who's sufficient for us. Let us boast on our weaknesses. Let us stop hide, stop hiding our weaknesses, but boast in it and gladly, gladly rest in our weaknesses, so that he says, the power of Christ may rest in Me. You see, it's impossible, it's not possible for you to be strong on your own. And experience the power of Christ in your life, it's only when you say, I can't say and give it to the Lord. And He opens the wrapper and he says, See, but I can, and indeed, I will. And Paul has experienced it in a real, tangible way. And he calls the power of Christ that rest in Me. He wants to experience it so he is willing to boast on his weakness. More and more, he says verse 10, for the sake of Christ, and I am content with my weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and calamities. I love the word contentment. Here.
Are you content with your weaknesses? Are you trying to fix it? Are you trying to get out of you? Are you trying to make something a headway? And certainly we should, as Paul pled to the Lord and say, Lord, take it from me three times he would ask. And certainly that's that's not prohibited, but in another side of it, in your weakness, as you'll recognize it and willing to take it in, it's proper to say, Lord, I can't do it, and I'm okay with it. I'm not content in my weaknesses.
You know, I have a one season saying that missed church for about six weeks. Gave her a call and said, Ma'am, I haven't heard from you. I haven't seen you for last six weeks. How are you doing? And she said, You know, it's hard. I want to be there. I can't be there. Hopefully I can be there next week. But he's but she said, I still remember she says, But I'm doing well. I'm doing well. She is well in our weakness. Oh, we are well, even when we are weak, because he is strong, we are well in our insults that we receive. You're well in the hardships. We're well in the persecutions. We're well in the calamities. We're well. We're well. You're well because the Lord's grace is sufficient for you. So boast and glory in your weakness and rest in the power of Christ. Why is that? Well, the reason why Christians we truly can boast in our weakness is because of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to this world. You know where he was born? He was born in a manger.
He was born between and amongst the animals in a little girl.
From a little girl, she was born in an unknown town, and he lived and moved and had his being, just like one of us born under the law, mocked and betrayed and took upon himself not a thorn on his flesh, but Thorn crown of thorns upon his head, and he died on the cross weak. I always find it fascinating that Jesus could not carry the cross all the way that a Roman soldier had to tell somebody else and compel him to carry the cross. That's how weak our Lord was, so weak he could not carry that burden, so hurt, so buffeted, and he crawled on the cross of Calvary in weakness, and he died in his weakness. And yet he conquered the world, the Satan and even death, didn't he in his weakness? You see Christian message, the gospel is not conquer the world with power, but our Lord conquered the world in his weakness. For whom? For you are weak creatures that you and I are. The Lord died a weaklings death. But that was so powerful, wasn't it? For death could not hold him down. And as he bore your sins and my sins on the cross of Calvary, he declared, cried out in victory and said, It is finished. And indeed it is finished. And he did not remain dead, but rose again victoriously, and now is seated at the right hand of God, the Father, and he poured his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of power, upon us, that you may, in your weakness, be strong, for His grace is all sufficient for you, even today, because of the lamb that which was slain and.
My friends, it's good to be weak, and it's well with me to know that I am weak because he is sufficient for you. Oh, how awesome is he? How wonderful is this Christian life, that even weakness, we can say he is sufficient our crucified and ascended Savior, amen, let's pray, O Heavenly Father, we thank you that in Christ Jesus, that we are made strong because of your all sufficient grace that has been won for us on the cross of Calvary, that even when the Satan, the accuser, buffets against us, that we will stand firm for our feet are planted upon The Rock the risen and ascended Christ, the lover of sinners, the one who has suffered on our behalf and now suffers with us by His Spirit, and one who empowers us and makes our weakness to become strong. We thank you for this very truth that the gift of our sufferings that we may know the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, Jesus, to participate in the fellowship of Christ and your sufferings, and that you're ever for with us and never leave us. So bless your people. We pray and comfort us and help us to suffer well and to rest in you, and to boast in our weakness and in Christ and Him crucified, and that you will be exalted and that we will be un strengthened by your grace, all sufficient grace. We pray all this in Jesus. Name, Amen.