This morning we are going to talk about boasting and weaknesses and thorns. The question we can ask is ‘How can the power of Christ be made available in my life?’ What is God’s avenue for making me usable in His kingdom?
What would you talk about if someone asked you about what you were most proud of regarding your life? If you were a boastful person or were given a ‘get out of humility free’ card in the game of life? What would you tell the world about?
When I was 12 years old I played on a 14 and under baseball team. I could have played with a younger team but my dad coached my brother on the older team. It was easier to just have me move up to the older since my brother could not move down. Our team ended up going to the Oklahoma Little League State Tournament and coming in second but one of our toughest games was in winning our own local league. We had to play a team called Westport for the championship game in our league. Westport had a kid named Alan Huff. Alan Huff had hair on his legs. He might have even had sideburns as a 14 year old. He always hit the ball hard. In the championship game we came down to the last inning and the last out.
Alan Huff stepped up to bat. I was in center field. If Alan got any kind of hit they would win and we would lose. Alan hit the ball as hard as I have ever seen. It was like a straight shot right into center field and right at me. I took one step to my left and stuck my glove in the air. Something hit it and stayed there. My whole team and all the fans from our side converged upon center field. We were headed to the playoffs. One after another people congratulated me for ‘the catch’.
Afterward I got in the car with my Mom and two of my friends we were giving a ride home. Westport was 30 minutes from out town and so I had a captive audience for a half hour. Since everyone else had talked about ‘the catch’ I figured it was now my turn. I described the moment and my thoughts and reactions and contemplated how amazing it really was over and over. About 15 minutes into the drive home and my unending speech I remember seeing the look on my Mom’s face. It was a look of frustration and she was probably entertaining thoughts of whether I could walk the rest of the way from here or not.
Boasting is only the favorite pastime of the boaster and not of those having to listen to it. Paul says in verse 1: Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable
The situation with the false teachers in Corinth had pushed Paul to where he felt he had to communicate some things he otherwise might not have. Although in another setting it might come across as boasting Paul knew that the church in Corinth needed to understand how God had truly worked in Paul’s life.
Paul was not an ‘apostle come lately’ but was someone in whose life God had dramatically worked to call him to a life of service and a specific position of authority in the Body of Christ.
Even as Paul shares some dramatic things he is still so uncomfortable with the boasting aspect of it that he presents the story in a third person format.
AN AMAZING SUPERNATURAL EVENT:
Paul describes an unbelievable personal experience in his life. You might have thought that the Damascus Road experience would be enough to make Paul’s point but he speaks of something that even blows that event out of the water.
1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. False teacher love the sensational claim.
Why is Paul considered to be the person we see him as in the history of the church. Why is he and his teachings the foundation and inspiration that we consider them to be. God worked in his life in an amazing way to prepare him as the vessel that could be the primary resource of unbelievable New Testament truths.
These were not things Paul spoke of when he first met people. Remember that this is Paul’s 4th letter to this church and that he is only now sharing this experience at the end of the letter and because of a unique situation with the damage false teachers were causing.
Television, book stores and speaking circuits are filled with the continual stories of God supposedly doing off the chart things in the lives of certain Christian celebrities. They make various claims that often are not able to be proven and are sometimes in direct contradiction with Scriptural truths. Although Paul could have done the same in a big, big way yet he chose not to unless he was left with no other option.
There are things that have happened in my own life which I have chosen to rarely or never talk about. Things that God did or I saw that if I related those events there were be people who would automatically classify me in a certain way. Someday in the right circumstance God may bring those events to a place of meeting a specific purpose or else they may only be there to reinforce His own call upon my life.
A true servant of Christ wants to always keep the spotlight upon Him and is very cautious about anything that would put themselves center stage.
This event might possibly be tied to what Paul described in Galatians chapter 1. There he is much more guarded about the supernatural details involved.
Galatians 1:11-18 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ………..But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem
Others speculate that this moment was a result of when Paul was left for dead outside of Lystra in Acts 14
14:19-20 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city.
The reason this ‘out of body’ experience of Paul seems less likely is because the event he describes seems to have provided a foundation for the gospel that Paul began preaching. Otherwise you would have to assume that from Acts 10-14 Paul was preaching differently than when he laid seemingly dead outside the city and had this revelation trip to heaven.
Paul describes what happened:
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.
1. First off it was 14 years earlier: The dating of 2 Corinthians is around 45 to 50 A.D. which would place it in the perfect time frame of 14 years after the events after the Damascus Road.
2. Paul took an amazing trip: 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.
a) Paul was not even sure if it was a physical or vision related experience. He just knew it happened and that the destination of the trip was the 3rd heaven.
b) Third heaven?
Mormons have a unique doctrine about heaven. They say there are different levels of heaven. Bad people go to first heaven, good people to second heaven, and good Mormons go to the third.
The Jewish Rabbis had ideas about different grades of heaven, some thought 2, some 3, some 7.
It is commonly understood that Paul saw these heavens as:
1) First heaven was the atmosphere around us
2) Second heaven was the stars and planets and physical things outside of our earth’s atmosphere.
3) Third heaven was what we often call heaven. The dwelling place of God’s presence. Paul called it paradise which reminds us of Jesus’ words to the repentant thief on the cross beside Him.
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.
3. Paul says that on behalf of such a trip made by ‘such a man’ that he would boast. We know from verse 7 that Paul was talking about himself but he stresses that he would not boast about the Paul they knew him to be but only of this person and the experience they had.
Paul saw himself as two people. One through whose veins pumped blood while another through his life pumped grace.. This may seem strange to us but I think I understand the mindset he was in. In my own life I see myself as Guy McGraw and then there is this other person that God uses from time to time. I cannot take credit for that person whenever they appear in my experiences. Paul described this in truth in 1 Corinthians 15:10 where he wrote, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.’ (also Gal 2:20) God’s grace and work in our lives produces a person beyond our self. A person that we could never take credit for and in whom it almost feels more natural to speak of in the 3rd person.
Paul recognized the power behind the testimony of this event. It certainly demonstrated how God had chosen him for a special task and even equipped him in an unbelievable way. These false teachers in no way had such an authority bestowed upon their lives or ministries.
Paul then shares the downside of such an event happening in a person’s life.
AN UNDERSTANDABLY NATURAL CONCERN:
The danger of having such an experience as Paul had is the effect it would have upon the sin nature within each one of us. Paul was not exempt from having a sin nature and just such an experience could bring out some counterproductive pride issues in his heart.
It is interesting how God dealt with making sure Paul was still usable after his life had been impacted in such an amazing way.
God has his way of keeping us humble. I am convinced that some people in churches feel it is God’s calling upon their lives to keep their pastor and other leaders humble. They feel it is important that the negative have a voice in leader’s lives and that too much positive input does not spoil them.
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!
to keep me from exalting myself - God’s way of keeping Paul with a usable spirit was to allow Satan a level of access into his life.
Jesus told Peter in Luke 22 that Satan was desiring access to attack his life:
Luke 22:31-34 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like whea ; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail ; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." But he said to Him, "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!" And He said, "I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me."
The end result with Peter was that, although Satan would attack him, he would be even more usable afterwards. Peter certainly was a good candidate for a dose of humility.
We often think that Satan can only cause bad things for our lives but Paul assured us in Romans 8:28 that ‘all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose’.
Even the satanic efforts against us can be effectively turned by God to have a positive final impact in our lives.
there was given me a thorn in the flesh – One of the question asked for the past 2,000 years is ‘what was Paul’s thorn in the flesh’? I am glad that we do not know exactly what the thorn was or even the category it might fit in.
Commentators have suggested it was an eye disease, malaria, an irritating person who followed him around, or physical repercussions of the stoning he endured.
Calvin thought spiritual temptations; Luther temptations & persecutions; some say disfigurement(like hunchback, epilepsy, malarial fevers, or severe headaches); others speculate a speech impediment; & others Ophthalmia(inflammation of the eye) Gal.6:11 “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” It was not what the thorn was that mattered, but what it did! Create humility!
This we do know: The word translated “thorn” is the word for “tent stake”—the 18-inch-long spikes necessary to anchor tents in the fierce desert winds.
A constant and continual source of radical discomfort
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
How often do we see a testimony of UNANSWERED PRAYER? Paul prayed repeatedly and yet the thorn remained in his life. I don’t think that ‘three times’ means Paul said three prayers but that he spend three seasons in prayer pleading with God to remove this from his life.
1) Some of us could make a long list of ‘unanswered prayers’ that we are now thankful that God did not answer yes to.(Garth Brooks song)
2) Our prayers tend to focus on making life easier and softer and rarely are for the kind of difficulties that would challenge us and make us grow spiritually.
Is there anything in your life that initially you prayed for God to remove but as time went on you began to see the spiritual value it was bringing into your life?
9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."
GOD’S ANSWER: NO to removing the thorn but YES to providing an avenue in your life to receive my power. Grace and PRIDE cannot co-exist.
There is nothing that we need outside the parameters of God’s grace to make us sufficient for His calling for our lives.
The secret to effective service to God is learning to walk in the power of His grace.
What are the benefits of a thorn:
1) Discover early the disabling power of our own weaknesses.
Learning the lesson early that we don’t have within us what we need for God’s call.
2) Experience a greater intimacy with God in our lives. Leaning upon His grace will naturally bring a more intimate relationship with Him into our lives.
A skeptic said to an elderly believer who had endured great pain for 20 years said, “What do you think of your God now?” To which she replied, “I think of him more than ever!”
Manley Beasley spent the last 20 years of his life with many physical problems including four diseases that were terminal in nature. He initially went to God with the intention of praying for healing. God’s answer to him was that if he were healed he would have the testimony of a healing that would grow weaker with time. The other option was to live with the physical struggles that would demand he depend upon God day after day and would result in an intimacy that would not be experienced if he were healed. Manley said he chose option 2.
3) Opportunity to boast to the world of the difference God’s grace can make in a person’s life.
Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
The greatest boasts in our lives are not the things we have done for God but the things that God has done for us.
Many of us prefer to boast about what makes us look good instead of sharing the things that make God look good.
God is often best dressed in our dirty laundry.
10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
If you want to be a person with the kind of faith that Paul demonstrated then take verse 10 and make it your prayer list for this coming week.
Say to God: ‘God this week I pray for insults, distress, persecution…God give me difficulties or whatever is necessary for Christ’s sake to show your strength in my life’.
We all want God’s grace in our lives but few of us are willing to accept the vehicles that bring it to us.
there was given me a thorn(7) The word Paul chose was a word used for the ‘giving of a gift’. Paul eventually learned that this thorn was God’s gift.
SOMEONE WROTE:
We pray for lighter burdens when we ought to pray for stronger backs.
We pray for an easier path when we ought to pray for tougher feet.
We pray for fewer problems when we ought to pray for better solutions.
An unknown person also wrote:
I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health that I might do better things.
I was given infirmity that I might do greater things.
I asked God for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for but everything I had hoped for...
Fanny Crosby – Blinded as a young child by a wrong prescription given by a doctor. But in her 90 years of darkness she penned some 8,000 hymns. Her pain has brought more glory to God than she could have ever imagined!
When asked at the end of her life what one prayer she would ask of God if she knew it would be answered. While everyone expected her to say to be able to see she said, ‘I would pray that I might stay blind the rest of my life so that the first face I would ever remember seeing would be the face of my Lord’.
Do you have a lack of Christ’s power in your life?
Do you realize that God’s best gifts can come in our least desired packages?
Do you understand that a gift is ultimately defined by the impact it brings to
our lives.
