Strength in Weakness

Good morning again to everybody. Good to see you. I'm Jason. I'm one of the pastors here. And today I'm the one that's going to bring you the Word.

So if you've got a Bible or a Scripture journal, we are probably making our way to the back of your Scripture journal. We've only got a couple of Sundays left in this book of 2 Corinthians.

So let me ask you to find 2 Corinthians chapter 11. We're actually going to be in chapter 12 most of the day, but we've got to start out in verse 30 in chapter 11.

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

Some of you might forgot about this series because we had a few things that happened in the meantime. We've had a visitor here, Bob Andrews. We've had Easter.

Last week right here was a big water tank if you missed it. Go watch it on the live stream. It's a wonderful, kind of an inaugural first baptism service here in the building for us.

It went really well. People got wet and I didn't have to get in. It was even better. I just stood outside and did my thing. And we have discovered that we can do baptisms here in the building.

And so what that means is if you were watching last Sunday, if you're here right now today and you say, you know, oh, that was kind of cool.

I've been thinking about the step of water baptism. We want you to talk to us because I don't think we're going to get it out next week, but we will do it again soon.

And so if that's something that the Lord is leading you toward, please come and talk to Matt or myself. We'd love to have another baptism service.

So it's been about a month since we've been in this book. Let me just kind of recap where we are. This is a letter from the Apostle Paul. He has here in chapter 11 kind of finally taken the gloves off, if you might say, because he's been in this contest, this battle with some opponents.

Yes, Paul planted this church. He's the original founder of the church at Corinth, but he has left for other ministry opportunity. In his absence, what's happened?

Well, some usurpers have infiltrated the church, and they are questioning two things. Paul's person himself, his role as an apostle, and his message, the gospel.

You have to remember that in this day, the two are one and the same. They're tied together. So by challenging Paul, they are challenging his gospel, which is the true gospel.

Now, we don't know what their background, these opponents, or their training was, but it seems like they were some pretty sharp dudes. They were well-educated.

They were well-spoken. They were probably charming and very compelling to people. And they were not only claiming the title of apostle like Paul, they were presenting themselves as the new breed, right?

Apostles 2.0, the so-called super apostles. In fact, that's what Paul actually calls them in chapter 11, verse 5. He says, Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles.

I think I had a slide for that, Luke. I don't want to mess you up. Verse 5. I try to do that for you every time we go back into something different that is a part of the passage we're not actually reading for today.

This is the first slide, verse 11. We'll get it here soon enough. So these super apostles, you know, the funny thing is, the joke is that we think they actually like the title.

I mean, we know that Paul means it as a jab. He's mocking them. But we think they actually ran around and called themselves that. Can you imagine?

Well, how are you doing today, super apostle Jack? Well, I'm just fine, super apostle Dan. I mean, it's absurd what they were doing. Now, Paul, of course, doesn't mean it as endearing at all.

He's not trying to flatter them. Actually, it's a way for him to call them out. And he has called them out. If you remember back in chapter 11, verse 15, he actually described them for what they really are.

He said, I've called you super apostles, but what you really are are false apostles, deceitful workmen, even servants of Satan. You know, I was looking at that term, servants in the Greek.

It's diakonos, from which we get our word deacon. They are literally deacons of Satan, he says. But it's actually in verse 16 where Paul really pours it on.

Because what happens in verse 16? Well, Paul launches into his famous fool's speech. And what he's doing is he's basically stacking up credentials with these guys.

And he says, Okay, if you want to boast about all the things that you can do and that you are, I guess I can play that game too. Here goes nothing.

And so he begins by boasting about his pedigree, his background. He's like, I'm a Hebrew, I'm a Jew, I'm an Israelite, offspring of Abraham, same as some of you are.

But it's not long before he takes it into this just absolutely absurd realm. Because next thing we know, as we saw again about a month ago, he's boasting about all the things that he's gone through.

Not the strengths that he's got, not the successes that he has. He's not listing off a resume of all the churches he's planted. He's talking about all the beatings he's endured.

The whippings that he's had. The shipwrecks. The danger. The toil. The hardship. The constant deprivation that he's faced in his life. It's like, Yeah, I live a really good life.

The apostle's life's wonderful. It's literally killing me. And so we come to verse 30. And here's where we're going to pick up and read our passage.

Verse 30. And we're going to read on through chapter 12, verse 10. Because these really go together. Verse 30. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, He knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me.

But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. 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 14 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 on 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.

Let's pray once more, shall we? Father, we simply ask that you would open your word, that you would teach us today. We pray for grace in my mouth as I speak.

We pray for you to open hearts and ears, that you would teach your people. And we pray this in the name of our Savior, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. So the contest is on, right? It's like the boast-off, you could say, between Paul and the super apostles. And he's like, Okay, I've got to do this.

I can keep up. What's next on your list? You've got what? Visions and revelations? Oh, that reminds me. You know, before I get to that, let me talk a little bit about something that really showcased my weakness.

And he goes back to an experience that probably happened around the same time as this great vision he's about to talk about. But first he goes back to that one time when he says, I was back in Damascus.

This is 14 years ago. This is a time where Paul was pretty new in the faith and new in ministry. We know for him, those two things happened pretty simultaneous.

Again, very unique. We don't recommend that. But very unique for Paul. And he says, I've got a story for you. I'm not making this up. And he goes on and talks about how he was in the city of Damascus.

We actually know that he was around the region that's called Arabia, which is near here, and that he was preaching the gospel. And we learn that somehow his preaching of the gospel raised the antagonism of some very, very powerful people in the region.

And so what happened? Well, the local viceroy, again, it's the Roman Empire. There are no real kings. The only king is really Caesar. But they had these viceroys, and the one in this territory was a guy named Aretas.

And King Aretas, word came to him that I was in the city of Damascus. And you know what he did? He ordered the governor to keep me in the city, to get me, to arrest me, to not let me leave unless I was in chains.

Here's how Luke describes it over in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 9. I want you to hear this. When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill Paul.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

But their plot became known to, at that time, Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him. But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Yeah, I had a really cool and impressive escape. Verse 33. I was let down through an opening in the wall in a basket and I escaped. Now we have to stop right here because I don't know if you're aware of what Paul's trying to do.

But this is not a good look for a grown man. This is not, he's not Moses in a basket in the reeds, right? He's a grown man being lowered through the wall like a piece of merchandise.

Because they don't want anybody to see him. He wants to get away. We have to remember that this is a time where of course the Roman Empire rules the world, at least most of the world at that time.

And that that meant there were soldiers everywhere and so there's this language, there's this, you know, kind of world in which soldiering and courage and discipline and talking about battles and getting awards were really important.

Stories of heroism, achievement. You know, they had this one award and it was called in Latin the Corona Moralis which is literally Wall Crown.

The Wall Crown Award. You know how you got that? It was an award, a badge of courage for the guy that was first over the city wall in a siege.

You're the first guy over the wall and you get, if you survive, you get the Wall Crown Award. We think that Paul is deliberately offering a parody of this achievement.

He's like, I wasn't the first over the wall. I was the guy that they sneakily by night lowered down through the wall by means of a basket. Paul is actually lampooning himself.

Scholar Colin Cruz believes this is probably, at this point in Paul's life, 14 years earlier, probably the first taste of real humiliation that he experienced.

Remember, he was a guy that arrested Christians. He was very sure. He was afraid of nothing and no one. He was zealous. He was doing the Lord's work, he thought.

And here, what an imprint it must have had, an indelible imprint it must have had upon him that he can remember this. So he starts out, he says, if I've got to boast, I'll boast about these things that show my weakness.

But he's not done. He goes right on in verse 1 of chapter 12. He says, I must go on boasting, though there's nothing to be gained on it. What was that on your list?

Oh yes, visions and revelations. It almost sounds like he's making his way down through a list. And we think that's exactly what the super apostles were doing, that this was their MO, their modus operandi.

And he says, well, some of you have got some visions and revelations you've been talking about. That's nice. That's good. You want to hear one from me?

And he goes on in verse 2 and he says, I know a man, and please, you know, insert wink wink, because we know the man's him. He's talking about himself.

I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Third heaven. Stop right there. Some of you are thinking like, are there levels in heaven?

It's just like the opposite of Dante and the levels of El? What level am I going to get to? And I want to just kind of calm you right now. Yes, I'm aware that in some of the Jewish literature, the writings that were written after this time, there was a lot of talk about levels of heaven.

And I can tell you that some said there were three and others said that there were five and some said as many as seven or ten. But that's not biblical.

That's not anything. Even in this day and age in the first century, we think this is basically the ancient world cosmology. Basically, what it is is that the sky above your head, the atmosphere, that's the first heaven.

And then, you know, the realm that Elon Musk wants to go to, outer space, that's the third heaven. And that's probably a fair assessment. That's literally heaven for him.

He wants to go to outer space. And the third heaven, well, that is the actual heaven. And that's what Paul's talking about. Just plain old heaven.

And he says, I know a man who 14 years ago went there. He says, I was caught up there. That's the term that he uses. And that should be familiar to us, those of us that have been around the Bible a little bit, because it's the term that's used to describe what will happen in the rapture.

To be caught up in the air. That's how he describes it in 1 Thessalonians 4. And then he immediately adds this part. He's like, now you're probably wondering, was I in the body when this happened?

Did my body go? Or did I just like have an out-of-body experience and go in my spirit? And he's like, I don't know. Only God knows.

And of course, you know, there are the Bible nerds out there, we won't name any, because it would be me, that want to know, what was it? Was it in the body?

Or out of the body? And I was, you know, scouring the commentaries this week, and I came across this one scholar and he said, you know, if Paul doesn't know and he says it twice, you're probably not going to figure it out.

Alright. Now remember, of course, that Paul, he's no stranger to visions and revelations. What I mean is, it's not the first one he's ever had.

It's not the only one he's ever had. You could read, and maybe you have read, the book of Acts, where Luke records multiple visions, and times where Paul heard the actual voice of Jesus.

But this one's different. This one is unique. This one is very special. And what's bewildering is to think that this experience happened to him like 14 years ago and he's never once talked about it.

He says, I was forbidden to talk about it, and apparently we realize he's gotten some permission from the Holy Spirit now to at least mention it.

And we wonder, why did Paul get to have this experience? Why would Paul be afforded an early preview of the rapture? Taking him literally into heaven to hear things as he says, he wouldn't be able to talk about, not to mention what he saw.

We wonder, was it to sustain him for a very rough, suffering kind of ministry that he was going to have? That's what the Lord predicted on day one.

He told the man that was laying hands on him to help him restore his sight, I'm going to show Paul how much he must suffer for my name. Maybe that was the reason.

Or maybe the experience was to help him deepen what he would write about in the scriptures. I mean, how many times does he talk about how it would be better to be in heaven with the Lord?

Maybe he had a foretaste so he could say this with real meaning. I mean, you and I could say that, but I don't have much to base it on, but some very vague imagery in the Bible.

It sounds pretty good, heaven, but I don't really have a taste of it, a foretaste. Paul did. It would lead him to be able to write scriptures like Romans 8, Romans 8, 18.

What's he say here? He says, For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

Takes a little more weight, a little more meaning now when you think about Paul's seen some of the glory that's coming. Or how about what he says over in Philippians, chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

He says, My desire is to depart, he means die, and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Did God in his wisdom know that Paul would need this experience? Again, to sustain him, or to empower him, to write the words of scripture that he did.

It very well may be. But the fact remains, as Paul himself testifies to it right here, the things that he heard up there in the third heaven, they are top secret.

There is a gag order on Paul. He is forbidden to talk about them at all. Verse 4, I heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Why?

Was it too sacred for him? Too sacred for us? Was it just intended for Paul alone? And again, we can make our theories all day long, but we're never going to know.

And I would suggest what we can do is go to heaven and ask Paul. Because he'll be able to tell us that. But given that he at least mentions the experience again, we think he's got some permission from the Lord.

He's not sinning by giving us a little glimpse into what happened. Here's the interesting thing. Paul doesn't even let his Corinthian audience dwell on it very long.

It's like he just kind of stops in verse 6 and he says, you know, I could boast about this stuff. I wouldn't be a fool if I did. God knows I'm not lying.

Which kind of seems to suggest that maybe the super apostles are making some stuff up. Paul's like, I'm not. I've mentioned it and that's it.

Yes, I refrain from boasting about it and here's why. So that no one may think more of me than what he actually sees in me or hears from me.

What Paul's saying is that if I were to flaunt my special heavenly experience, that would only create a worldly minded trust in me as a person.

You'd just want me to write a book about it and sign copies. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to make it all about the great Saint Paul.

I don't want you to think more of me than what you see in me every day and what you hear from me and what I teach. I want you to evaluate my ministry by my daily practices.

And guys, if ever there were a timely word for today, I know there are places and there are movements and there are even churches where there are some really wild stuff described and claimed and shared.

And you know what? It happens every time that that's shared. There's a big crowd that comes. And what Paul is telling us is that this is not the way to evaluate a ministry.

You evaluate it by the ordinary, daily practices of what that ministry does and what that ministry teaches. Not about its special experiences that it claims.

Again, makes us wonder, is Paul undercutting the super apostles? Yeah, he is. Were they actually the ones running around doing what often happens when you share these kinds of experiences?

Creating a separation between those that get to experience special things or even special gifts and those that don't. creating an almost kind of gnostic, some of us have a higher experience.

Others of you, well, we're sorry. But that makes us more special, more elite. Apparently, that's what was happening and that's very much what Paul was trying to cut against.

He wants everyone to understand that impressive heavenly visions or gifts or even otherworldly experiences, these are not what make for authentic ministry.

But then we come to verse 7. And in verse 7, something new. Something, at least to me, very unexpected gets introduced. Paul comes to his famous thorn.

Yes, apparently even the apostle Paul is not about failure or slippage into boasting about things. He too, remember, is a sinner saved by grace.

He too is a man who might struggle with certain sins, who apparently might struggle with pride. Pride about a very unique and very unparalleled special experience.

I mean, there were a couple of others in the Bible that went and got to go into heaven. They didn't come back.

The Lord seems to know what Paul needs and so Paul goes on to report what the Lord does for him for his good. 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. Now, there are several things to notice in this verse. Here's the first one. Notice that he says revelations.

Makes us wonder, is he talking about just this one experience or better yet, was it maybe multiple trips, multiple raptures that he had at this time?

Was this a three-day event? We don't know. The second thing to notice is the fact that Paul repeats the purpose of the thorn, the why behind it.

It's not like he had to wonder, why, oh Lord? Why do I have to suffer? God told him, is to keep you from becoming conceited. Paul testifies again, it was to keep me from becoming conceited.

The third thing is, did you notice how he describes the thorn? He says it's a messenger of Satan. You know, literally the Greek word here is angelos, angel.

Angel of Satan. Last time I checked, that's a demon. Meaning, yes, there was a literal demon dispatched just for Paul. It makes me think of the lyrics of that old popular rock song in the 70's.

Paul really did have Beelzebub setting aside the devil just for him. Right? If you don't know that song, it's for your own good. It's actually a really amazing song and I get to that part and I'm like, this is really creepy.

But the devil had a special demon set aside for the apostle Paul and God let it happen. And what is this personal demon we've heard of guardian angels?

This is like the opposite. What is this personal demon aside to Paul? What's he going to do for presumably, mind you, the rest of his earthly life?

What is he going to do? He says, he's not just going to mess things up, he's going to harass me. I think about the words Paul writes over in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 18.

1 Thessalonians 2:18

I think Paul might have been referring to his thorn when he wrote this. He says, we wanted to come to you, verse 18, I, Paul, I wanted to come to you again and again, but Satan hindered us.

A lot of scholars link these two things, these two experiences, and think it was the thorn, it was the messenger of Satan, it was the demon assigned to Paul that was preventing him from being able to do what he wanted to do in visiting these Corinthians.

He says here that this demon was to harass him, literally, that means torment him, torture him. The word implies a humiliating kind of violence, like the worst kind of bully on the playground, to slap him around.

What in the world is the thorn? If only we knew, there are a lot of theories, I can tell you. The theories range everywhere from a certain powerful temptation to a psychological illness, some think maybe a severe depression, and others say it's just powerful

human opponents that the devil was using that would constantly make trouble for Paul, wherever he went. And we know some of that did happen, I mean it's recorded in the book of Acts chapter 21, there were Jews from Asia that followed Paul to Jerusalem and made trouble for him, caused him to get arrested.

Acts 21 · chapter mention

But most think that this thorn was some kind of a bodily ailment, a severe condition with migraines maybe, some have suggested epilepsy, maybe some kind of personal disfigurement.

The most popular theory is the condition of the eyes. Over in Galatians chapter 4, Paul writes that he says, I know that you Galatians, you loved me, and that you would have literally gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

And a lot of people think maybe he's talking about the thorn in the flesh. Of course, others say it was a common figure of speech of the day.

They said, I'd gouge out my eyes for you. Like we would say, I'd give you my right arm if I could, or the shirt off my back. But then there's this part at the very end of the book of Galatians that does make me think it might have been something with the eyes.

Here's how he closes this letter to the Galatians. He says, chapter 6, verse 11, he says, see what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand?

That would make sense. An ailment of the eyes making it difficult to see. Making you write really large letters. Some of you know what I'm talking about.

You forget your readers and you go to a restaurant. You're like, why is the type so small? You go to the grocery store. You don't have your glasses.

You're like, why do they write things so small? I never thought that. I never started thinking about that until about three years ago. Everything seemed fine until then.

And this is also a guy that's writing under poor lighting. You know, he doesn't have like a good strong LED bulb. He doesn't have even an incandescent bulb.

He has lamplight. And a lot of times he's writing letters from prison cells. Not the greatest condition. Whatever it was, here's what we know for sure.

We know that Paul absolutely hated it. It was torment to him. And he wanted desperately to be delivered of it. In fact, he prayed for healing.

Verse 8. Three times, I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. You know, don't read that too lightly. Remember who it is that's praying.

This is the Apostle Paul. Arguably, the only other person on this planet that had deeper, more fervent prayers was Jesus. This is the Apostle Paul for whom extraordinary healings were kind of not all that extraordinary.

This is the guy who in Ephesus, his healing power was so potent that they could actually take, again, articles of clothing, his handkerchief, maybe an apron that he'd worn earlier, and they could take it out around town, and they could literally heal people and drive out demons from people with just a handkerchief.

So there's no deficiency of faith on Paul's part. It's not like he's got some kind of a sin problem that's keeping the demon around, doing this dastardly, destructive work on Paul's flesh.

And he asked the Lord.

And his answer, verse 9, I don't know about you, but that sounds like a no to me. Lord, will you take this away?

And the answer comes back, no. He pleads, he begs a second time, Lord, please, you know how it's afflicting me. It's making it more difficult for me to do ministry, whatever it was.

And again, the same answer, no. Third time, he says, Lord, please take this away. And just like in Gethsemane, it seems like the third time is enough for Paul to get it, that this is in fact the Lord's final answer.

No. I'm not going to take it away. My grace is sufficient for you. My grace is enough for you to deal with it as you struggle with it. Because as you struggle, as you have weakness, my power is made perfect.

Paul gets the memo. He goes on in verse 9. Therefore, in light of what the Lord told me, I will boast in it. And not just I will boast in it, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ can rest on me.

It's like now that I understand that Christ's power is made perfect in my weakness, it's like Paul saying, give me more weakness. Let me celebrate my weakness.

And Paul could say this because he had learned that a stricken apostle would be an even greater, more effective instrument for the work of the gospel.

And a proud apostle, a proud apostle would actually hinder it. Pride and conceit would never be a problem for the apostle Paul. If I wrote a third of the New Testament, I think it might go to my head.

I had a hand in writing that much scripture. For Paul, that was never a problem and this is why. You are understanding today in this passage how and why it was not a problem for him to get prideful.

And Paul shares it with us. He shares it with the church. Because he wants all of Christ's power on him and he wants all of Christ's power on all of Christ's followers.

You know, these words help us understand Paul a lot better, not just his willingness to die for the gospel and get to heaven given what he had seen in the vision.

His words also help us understand what he says earlier in the letter. How he says back in chapter 1 verse 8, he could be utterly burdened beyond his own human strength, but that's okay.

Because when that happens, it just makes me, Paul says, rely not on myself, but more on God. It makes me rely not on my own power, but wait to see God's power to show up through me.

He sums it all up for us in verse 10. Verse 10 he says, for Christ's sake, for the sake of Christ then, I'm content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a popular word this morning. I don't know if you're aware, but they don't print t-shirts with 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 10 on them.

Do they? Can you imagine that, having a t-shirt that says, I'm content with weakness for the sake of Christ? Or maybe it's on the back. I'm good with getting insulted for the sake of Christ.

Or up the sleeve. I'm totally fine with the hardships in life for the sake of Christ. Bring on the persecution. Bring on some calamities for the sake of Jesus.

But I want you to understand today that that is the Apostle Paul.

And some of you are saying, well, maybe that's just for the Apostle Paul. I mean, he's unique, isn't he? He had that amazing rapture to heaven.

He wrote a third of the New Testament. This is a really special guy. Maybe it was all just supposed to apply uniquely to him and only him. At least I hope so.

But we ask ourselves, why share it here? Why share it in a letter that has become part of our inspired Bible? Why share it here in the way that he does?

As if he's suggesting that there is something for other believers like you and I to learn from this. Why speak as if through his own personal experience there is something here for every follower of Christ?

Well, he speaks this way because there is. And this is what he's teaching us through the influence of the Holy Spirit even right now today. In this little passage where we've heard Paul highlight two events in his life.

The first one, he just gives it a couple of short verses, really one verse. The humbling basket escape. The second one gets a little more attention.

The rapture to heaven. The accompanying thorn in the flesh that he'll have for the rest of his life. And ironically, of course, both of these events come at the tail end of his fool's speech against the super apostles.

But I do think they're here to teach us something this morning. I think really they're here to teach us two things, two main points I'm going to offer you.

One is about what we do, what we have a tendency to do. And the other is about what the Lord does. So here's the first point. Number one is this.

Number one. Our default is to celebrate and rely on things like strengths and gifts and experiences and our own power.

That's our default. It's to celebrate and rely on these kinds of things. Strengths, gifts, experiences, our own power.

You do realize this is exactly what Paul's opponents have been doing. The so-called super apostles, these deceitful workmen. Offering a resume, as it were, of their strengths.

Here's how I am so gifted. It's like a four-year-old on a playground, right? Or a group of them. Look at me. Look what I can do. And today, Paul takes on their boast to these amazing experiences with their great visions and revelations.

And he very decisively one-ups them. He beats them. But it's really to show them and to show everyone that claims to impressive heavenly visions, whether real or fake, and we think they're probably fake with the super apostles.

These are not what make for authentic ministry. Authentic ministry is verified, as he says in verses 6 and 7, it's validated by what you see, by what you hear from God's servants in the normal day-to-day of life.

You know, I can tell you that in my own life as a pastor, and in my associations with others like me who do what I do for a living, it is the air we breathe to give in to this temptation, to rely on these things, strengths, gifts, experiences, our own power.

And sadly, sometimes we don't just rely on them, sometimes we also celebrate them.

God's really just blessing us over at such and such a church, followed by a brag list of things that are happening. Or, you know, other times it comes, you get the brag list first, and then you get a little perfunctory all glory to God at the end.

But this is our tendency as human beings. This is our human default. And today, I want you to see that the Lord turns this on its head. He turns all of this on its head and has us fix our attention on Paul, the

suffering apostle. The weak one. And that brings us to a second point. The second point is this, number two. It's in our weakness where the Lord keeps us humble and perfects his power.

It's in our weakness where the Lord keeps us humble and perfects his power. You see, this is where the gospel comes in. Let's not just make this about a man, an apostle.

Let's remember that again, Paul and his gospel are inextricably bound together. The gospel, of course, is the ultimate reversal of everything that anybody expected.

Especially in Jesus' day. What did people expect? Well, we expect the Messiah to smash our enemies. We expect flash and glory. We expect a Savior with a sword who comes to conquer.

Who brings an inspiring, thrilling message for us to rally around. But Jesus, their Messiah, comes and he overturns this, doesn't he? This is precisely why when, as John says, he came to his own and his own did not

receive him. They rejected him because he came in weakness. Came as a humble baby. Lived a rather humble life in the flesh. And went to a very humble, humiliating death on a cross where he took not just one

thorn, but a whole crown on his head first. After which his flesh was pierced and he died. Weakness. Not an ounce of resistance from him. He didn't call down any angels.

Just a dead, lifeless body pulled down from the cross, buried with some spices in a borrowed tomb.

But this is where his power was perfected. Right? God's power in resurrection. And Paul not only preaches this gospel, he understands the gospel and his ministry is completely embodying the gospel.

And he's letting the Lord teach him how it now works out in his own life and growth and ministry.

Those sufferings and weaknesses, they keep us humble. They kept Paul humble. You and I experience them too. They're a little different than Paul's, I'm guessing.

But we still struggle today. They remind us, our struggles, our weaknesses, that we are still sinful people. They remind us that we don't always understand, much less have the answer for everything that happens in this world.

If you get into some hardship, some kind of suffering comes into your life, I am going to resist coming and showing up and telling you I have an answer for that.

Because I don't.

And our struggles and our sufferings and hardships also remind us that we don't have the power to fix everything. That you and I don't have the power to fix everybody.

Or really anybody. But listen, when Paul's thorn, whatever it was, brought him to the point of saying, I can't do this without you, Lord. Or to the point where he was saying, my efforts,

my self-sufficiency is not going to be enough, Lord. Lord, they immediately led him to a place where he would say, Lord, I need you and I need your power.

I need your help, Lord. Because all I can offer you is my calamity right now. My hardship that's so overwhelming to me. All I got for you is some weakness, Lord.

But he shows us that that's actually a perfect place to be. There's no better place for you or for me because in our imperfection is where we see God's perfection.

In our weakness, in our suffering, is where you and I witness the power of God in strength. In our humility and total dependence, where we ask not just for the hard thing or the painful thing to go away, but where we ask

instead, Lord, how are you going to work in this and please use me as you keep me humble? How will you show your greatness, your glory in my humility?

Lord, what do you want to do through my weakness to show others and me your strength? Well, this is quite a way to finish things off when you're in a boasting contest with somebody, right?

Boasting duel. To be reminded that as a servant of Christ, our default is to celebrate and rely on things like our strengths and our gifts and even our experiences and our power.

power. But to also remember that it is in our weakness where the Lord keeps us humble and where the Lord perfects us in his power.

Let me ask you if you would stand with me. Bow your head for a moment as the team comes. I'm going to give you a moment just to process and think about this.

Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you, yes, even for the hard parts in it. It's not a popular message, Lord, that we want to hear.

That you might actually keep us in weakness for an opportunity to display your power. That you might continue to let us struggle with something.

If it was something physical in Paul's life, many of us can relate to something like that, Lord. Things that debilitate us. Things that remind us how limited we are, how weak and fallible we are and prone, Lord, to struggle.

We know the enemy, Lord, he works against God's people. That he does have forces that are trying to subdue us and get us to fall, get us to give up.

But, Lord, we also know that we are not alone. In as much, Lord, as you uniquely came and stood by the Apostle Paul at one point in the book of Acts, and essentially put your hand on his shoulder and told him, you're going to be with him.

You have great things in store, even in his suffering. I pray that you would remind each and every one of us, especially those of us that are in it right now.

God, we thank you for your resurrection power in our lives. Help us to trust you. Help us to grow closer to you when our tendency, our natural reaction might be to pull away.

And we pray this all in your name, Jesus, and in the power that you won for us at the cross and through your empty tomb. In your name we pray.

Amen. Amen. Amen.