2 Corinthians 12:1-10 “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. 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. 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.”
1-6
Paul is a humble man who does not want to boast about himself, but he is being forced to defend himself as an Apostle to people who should be loyal to him. He preached at Corinth for over a year and kept in contact. At this point in time there is some sort of revolt under way
He is clearly talking about himself being caught up in the third heaven (vs. 7), and saw things he would not even talk about!
But he will talk about one thing – his weaknesses
Nobody likes being a weakling – we don't like to think of ourselves as needy or unable to handle things. We tend to despise weak things, and like things that are strong. But Paul wants to talk about his weaknesses; Being a hurting, struggling, deficient person.
This is a really important and practical issue. And it is an area where Christianity is completely different from the whole direction of the world with our natural inclinations.
How do we deal with the pains and problems with this life?
vs. 7-10
“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations...”
This is where Paul refers to the revelations in the preceding verses. But he also had other miraculous experiences with God – not many of us had incredible conversion experiences like his (being struck blind, regaining sight, a vision of Christ...)
God also revealed a lot of truth to Paul – much of the New Testament is comprised of his letters!
There is a great honor in all of this, but also the great danger of pride. We tend to think of Paul as some kind of superhero who never gets tempted with the same things we do. But he confesses that he was tempted with pride
Are we susceptible to this, or is it just people who have visions?
It doesn't take some big vision for any of us to have pride problems
What does the Bible say about pride?
James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”
(Speaking of becoming an elder) 1 Timothy 3:6 “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.”
Proverbs 6:16-17 “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: Haughty eyes...”
Paul was given something to protect him against the danger of pride
He was made weak by the thorn in his flesh, and a messenger of Satan
This word “thorn” is actually indicative of a large sharpened stick, not a tiny rose bush thorn
Some suspect the thorn is a physical ailment
The other part, “a messenger of Satan,” is referring to demons
They can cause physical problems – Job was covered with boils
But I think the thorn has been kept especially vague by the Holy Spirit so we can apply this to ourselves
God gives us problems so we will be weakened and needy and helpless
We have physical problems, health problems, family problems, church problems, work problems
Where did Paul's problem come from?
The verse mentions a messenger of Satan, but he also says it is given to him. It ultimately came from God.
So is this a good thing or a bad thing?
The thing in itself was not good, but the results of it were really good. The results were so good that Paul's whole attitude towards them changed. When he first had this problem, his immediate reaction was to ask God to take it away, but over time we see he eventually comes to embrace it and rejoice because of it.
If you have a thorn in your life, you should follow Paul's example and pray earnestly about it. It may be something given to you to learn that God's grace is sufficient, like Paul – or He could take it away.
Right there we have a lesson in our prayer life – we may think that we know what we need, but God knew that it was better for Paul to have the thorn. God does not ignore our prayers, He does answer. But sometimes He answers in a very different way than we expect.
vs. 9
This is a wonderful promise from God. We can apply this easily to ourselves in our problems.
What does He mean by His “grace” in this situation?
God's help given to cope with a problem
As we have need, God will pour out His sufficiency to make up for our deficiencies.
How irrational is it to say that when you have a little problem, you can go to God – but with big ones you need to go to the “human expert”?
Whatever our trouble is, if God will not remove the trouble, we can hold on to this promise. God can give us the grace to handle every problem.
What does it mean that His power is perfected in weakness?
A weak person who is able to thrive magnifies the power of God to accomplish results. It makes it clear that victory is from God
If we never have need, we are never able to experience the power of God in this way
Paul says he is able to rejoice in his suffering, not in spite of. He is happy about the weakness.
“That the power of Christ may dwell in me”
This is where Christians want to be – near to and used by Christ.
This is found in our weakness, not in our greatness. It is not the picture of a mighty man effortlessly doing amazing things for God. The disciples were not impressive people!
“Well content with...” King James says “take pleasure in...”
Paul probably suffered more problems than any Christian, but he embraced these trials as friends
We must be empty of ourselves to be filled with God
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
This reaction does not happen automatically
Job worshiped God, his wife cursed God. We have to remind ourselves and each other of these things so that we respond to trials in faith.
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