Grace to Make it Through

2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul did a little boasting

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, not boasting in

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

the way that maybe some of these, as he would

call them, super apostles were boasting. These

super apostles had come in and they were preaching

a different Jesus. The people were following.

this version of Jesus as they were preaching,

whatever that looked like. And Paul said, look,

they're telling you a bunch of foolishness, but

you gladly are listening to that foolishness,

so let me be foolish for a minute. And so Paul

in his foolishness said, look, if they have these

credentials that make them, you know, something

that you want to listen to, then here's my credentials.

But Paul's credentials were essentially... hard

work and suffering and persecution for the gospel.

I filled up seven football stadiums, and I took

up a gazillion dollars, and I've been on every

talk show in the whole region around this area.

He didn't brag about those kind of things that

maybe we may see people boast about today. Instead,

Paul boasted about... I've been in prison. I've

been beaten many times. I've been shipwrecked.

I've been lost at sea. I have experienced dangers

in any way you can imagine. He says, I have suffered

greatly for the kingdom of God. And that was

what he boasted in. And tonight in this chapter,

he's going to kind of conclude that idea, that

thought. He doesn't really have any desire to

boast in himself. We have to realize when we

see these things through 2 Corinthians, Paul's

desire is not to boast in himself. I think that's

clear as we read through the whole book. But

even still, he knows that even though he feels

foolish in doing this, he sees some benefit in

it. Not so people would come to have some greater

appreciation and worship him, but so they would

listen to his message, which was Jesus Christ.

And so he boasts in a reluctant way. But tonight,

he's going to boast in a way that really shows

his heart. So let's pray, and then we'll get

started. God, we come to you. We thank you for

your good words. I pray that your Holy Spirit

will be with us tonight. I thank you that we

can come and laugh and love each other and just

have a good time, dear Lord, and have freedom

to do so in your house. I pray that your Holy

Spirit would lead me in the words to say that

you would help your word to speak to us tonight.

Meet us where we are, dear Lord. Help us to find

strength in you in the midst of our weakness.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right, we're going to look at about the first

few verses, and we'll talk about that for a little

bit. We'll go through about the middle of verse

7, and verse 7 kind of takes up in the middle

of a sentence. We'll finish that sentence. We'll

talk about those few verses, then we'll move

on to the rest of the passage. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 12:1

chapter 12, verse 1. Boasting is necessary, it

is not profitable, but I will move on to visions

and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in

Christ who was caught up into the third heaven

14 years ago. Whether he was in the body or out

of the body, I don't know. God knows. I know

that this man, whether in the body or out of

the body, I don't know. God knows. was caught

up into paradise. He heard inexpressible words

which a man is not allowed to speak. I will boast

about this person, but not about myself, except

for my weaknesses. For if I want to boast, I

will not be a fool because I will be telling

the truth. But I will spare you so that no one

can credit me with something beyond what he sees

in me or hears from me. especially because of

the extraordinary revelations. Now this passage

leaves us maybe with more questions than it does

answers. We see here that Paul is kind of wrapping

up his boasting in a sense. He sees that in some

way it's not profitable, but he still realizes

that there is some need for that. And then he

shifts gears and he says, I want to tell you

about somebody else. I don't want to boast in

myself, but I want to tell you about another

man who 14 years ago was caught up into the third

heaven. Now, there is a lot of speculation as

to who Paul is talking about here. Obviously,

we don't know. We can only speculate. Scripture

doesn't tell us who he's talking about here.

The general rule that is commonly agreed upon.

is that Paul is in fact talking about himself,

that he doesn't want to say his name, he doesn't

want to draw attention to himself, and so therefore

he says, well, I'm just going to tell you about

a man. Now, whether or not this is Paul, it doesn't

really matter too much. I don't know if it was

Paul or was not Paul that he was talking about.

I suspect it probably was. He probably was speaking

of himself in some way. We see a similar thing

in the book of Mark when there's one who's there

with Jesus when he's arrested and those who are

arresting Jesus, they grab the clothes of one

of the people there and this person runs away

and his clothes rip off and he runs away naked.

We see that in the book of Mark. And it is also

believed that that is probably Mark, that Mark

is probably talking about himself there now.

How scholars come to these conclusions. I'm not

really sure, but it's been generally agreed upon

through the years that there Mark is talking

about himself while not naming himself. And here

it is usually agreed upon that Paul is speaking

about himself and not wanting to draw attention

to himself. Perhaps for just the kind of the

grandeur of this experience that somebody is

taken up into heaven and hears inexpressible

words. I mean, Whatever it was that Paul or whoever

this person was heard is indescribable, something

that we could not even begin to understand or

wrap our head around. And Paul gets to his main

point as he gets toward the end of this passage.

He says, look, it's not a big deal. It's not

a big deal about these things. that I'm telling

you about. What matters is what you see of me

and what you hear of me, what you have seen of

me. So he could have told him this story, but

this is all unprovable. So he's not trying to

tell him something that is unprovable. He's not

saying, let me tell you about this grand story.

While it is certainly true, he's saying what

you really need to pay attention to is not just

this story, but what you really need to pay attention

to is what you have seen and what you have heard

from me. Now, this is a pretty incredible thing

that, that Paul describes here. And Paul describes

that he says, I don't know if this was real,

if this person was literally taken to heaven,

or if this person was having some type of vision.

He's not certain as to how all this occurred.

There's a lot of questions here that we can speculate

on, but we simply don't have the answers to that.

But nevertheless, Paul is using this as an example

in boasting. Kind of using it to get to people's

attention, but in reality saying, but don't pay

too much attention to that. You've got enough

that you've seen and heard of me here that you

can pay attention to. Now, he says in this passage

that this person was caught up into the third

heaven. Again, there's a lot of speculation to

be had there because what in the world is the

third heaven? Well, you see right here, this

is the mention of the third heaven. What we know

about it is right here in this passage. Which

isn't a whole lot. Now, there are certainly different

views and interpretations about what the third

heaven is. There are some religions, and it's

a pretty important part of their religion, that

they have interpreted this to mean that there

are multiple levels of heaven. The worst people

still make it to heaven, but they're on the first

level. And then those who are a little bit better

on the second level and those who are really

good get to make it to the third heaven. But

you've got to be really special. That's one teaching

that you may hear. Again, this is total speculation

because the Scripture, it does not say that.

It simply says the third heaven. Now, I think

that there's maybe a more reasonable explanation

than that. I certainly would disagree with that

interpretation. I think the more reasonable explanation

we see is we read through Scripture. Because

what we see when we read through Scripture is

we see the heavens referring to different things

through the Scripture. The same word as heavens,

but it's not always referring to the abode of

God. Now certainly we would say God is in heaven,

and I think that that's right to say. And so

sometimes when we see heaven in the Scripture,

it is talking about, where God resides. But sometimes

when we see heaven, it's talking about the sky,

the atmosphere that's around us. We see that

in Genesis, that God created the heavens and

the earth. We also see scriptures that talk about

the heavens declare the glory of the Lord, or

we see the heavens referring to the stars of

the sky. And so those are three different heavens,

all the same word. that's used there, heavens,

and those instances that refer to the sky, outer

space, and the abode of God, but it's the same

word for all of them. So I believe that it's

probably the most reasonable explanation for

three heavens here. It's not that there are multiple

levels of heaven that we will go to one day,

but it's simply saying the highest heaven. Okay,

the first heaven we can see is the sky. The second

heaven we can see, outer space. And the third

heaven, the abode of God, this is what this person

saw, Paul or whoever it was. He was taken up

to the third heaven. And so this first part of

this passage, It's a lot to consider and a lot

to think about, but we don't want to get too

caught up in the weeds, but perhaps some of you

had some thoughts or questions on that, so maybe

you want to research it more, but we will move

on. And he says in the middle of verse 7 here,

Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself,

a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger

of Satan to torment me, so that I would not exalt

myself. All right, now this is an interesting

passage and maybe hard for us to wrap our mind

around or kind of grasp. But what does he say?

So that I would not exalt myself. That is to

say, so that I would remain humble. Now, we probably

all at some point in time, there is a temptation

to exalt ourselves, a temptation to be proud.

Maybe you get a compliment or maybe, you know,

you really take care of yourself, and man, you

start looking good, you start working out, you

start losing weight, and man, you start looking

good, and you see yourself in the mirror, and

you think, man, I'm pretty good looking, or you

sing, and you think, man, I'm a pretty good singer,

or you get that compliment, or whatever it is.

There's a lot of things in this life that we

can begin to... exalt ourselves a little bit.

Man, I do such a good job at my job. Like, who

else could do as good as me at doing this job?

Or I'm so great at this sport. And we begin to

exalt ourselves. And there's probably times in

all of our lives that maybe we could say that

we've had a humbling. Man, those are not good

times. But all of a sudden, we start getting

a little proud. We start exalting ourselves.

And God graciously humbles us sometimes. But

Paul says here, so that I would not exalt myself.

Now, maybe the exaltation was going to come from

what he had seen or whoever he's talking about

had seen. Maybe there would be a temptation there.

Look, I've been to the highest heaven. I've heard

and seen things that you cannot even imagine.

Man, I must be special. Maybe that's what he's

referring to. Maybe there's something else in

his life that he's tempted to exalt himself about.

Whatever the thing is that's maybe a temptation

for him to exalt himself, God deals with that.

Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself,

a thorn in the flesh was given to me. Now, again,

like the other verses, there's a lot of speculation

here as to what this thorn in the flesh is. Now,

I suppose that it is possible that the thorn

in the flesh is a literal thorn in his flesh.

However, it's unlikely. It's probably something

much more severe than an actual, I've been walking

through a thorn into a thorn bush and I got a

thorn in me. There's a symbolic language that

there's something that's sticking in me and it's

painful and it hurts and I can't get it out.

It's always there poking me and jabbing me. It's

always reminding me that it's there. So therefore,

so that I will not exalt myself, he says, a thorn

in the flesh was given to me. Now, we don't know

what that thorn in the flesh is. You can go home

and you can research this and you're going to

find a lot of things that it could be. It could

be some physical ailment. It could be some anxiety.

It could be some depression. It could be just

the persecutions that he goes through. I mean,

the list goes on and on of things that people

have speculated that this thorn in the flesh

could be. We simply do not know what it is. But

it's something that was always kind of there

with Paul that was keeping him on level ground,

so to speak. It was keeping him grounded in the

Lord. Now listen to what he says about this thorn

in the flesh. He says, a messenger of Satan to

torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

So a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger

of Satan to torment me. Now that's pretty serious

language right there. What is he talking about

when he talks about a messenger of Satan? Some

translations may say angel. Same word there,

messenger angel. You look back and you study

the original language. We see that a lot. That's

what an angel is, a messenger. And so he says

part of this thorn in the flesh was that a messenger

of Satan was sent to torment him. What does this

mean? Well, perhaps it was some kind of demonic.

follower of Satan that was doing something, having

some impact in Paul's life that wasn't giving

him rest, that was just constantly just attacking

him in some way. That's a possibility. Maybe

this messenger of Satan was human. Maybe it was

somebody that Satan was using to hinder Paul.

We know that Paul faced a lot of opposition.

We see a similar thing with Judas who betrayed

Jesus, that Satan... essentially used Judas as

a messenger of Satan to betray Jesus. So we don't

know who this messenger is, whether it's a supernatural

messenger or whether it's a real person that's

just coming against Paul. But whoever this messenger

was, it was a constant torment to him. It was

a constant struggle to him. It was something

that he always was having to deal with, and he

never could quite escape. And in whatever way

that God was allowing this to take place, and

God did allow this to take place, and God sometimes

may allow us to go through things, maybe that's

how God keeps us in check and keeps us dependent

on him, is he allows us sometimes to endure things

that we may not think are for our good. But maybe

in the same way that Paul is being helped here

so that he would not exalt himself, maybe the

Lord uses events in our life, allows things to

happen in our life that are going to cause us

to have to continue to trust in the Lord. Because

if we do begin to exalt ourselves and we're never

brought down and we're always living in that

pride, then eventually we will just kind of forget

about the Lord and we will not seek the Lord.

And if Paul would have done that, and let's say

that Paul would not have had this thorn in the

flesh, would not have had this messenger of Satan,

perhaps Paul would have exalted himself in whatever

way that it was that he was tempted to do so.

And maybe he would not have been as effective

for the kingdom of God. Maybe he would have been

more concerned about his own ministry and what

he had seen and what he had done, and maybe he

would have allowed that to go to his head. People

do that. Human beings do that. We see that sometimes

with famous people that start out on a good track.

Maybe they're preachers. Maybe they're politicians.

There's a lot of people that I think start out

on a good track. And they don't intend to go

off the rails. They don't start off being evil.

But, man, there's some exaltation and there's

some pride and there's some greed that comes

in. And sometimes well -meaning people end up

just really doing some horrible things. And so

maybe in some way we... Man, we don't like these

thorns in our flesh. They're painful to us. We

wish we could just be free of some of our temptations,

some of the things that just keep coming back

and coming back and coming back. And maybe this

is a way that God says, no, I want to use you,

but I want to make sure that you stay humble.

I want to make sure that you continue to trust

in me. And so God certainly had allowed this

thorn in Paul's flesh in whatever way it was,

whatever was tormenting him that he wanted to

escape from, he was not able to escape from that.

And sometimes it's a hard thing for us to consider,

but there may be some things in our life that

God may not deliver us from. It may not be his

will to deliver us from those things. But it

may be that he allows things to happen because

those things are making us into the person that

he wants us to be. And that's a hard thing for

us as human beings to wrap our head around because

we understand things in a human way. But as the

proverb says, trust in the Lord with all your

heart and do not rely on your own understanding.

I was talking to somebody the other day and they

said, man, you see in the scripture, You know,

Jesus had the ability to heal and the apostles

thereafter had some ability to heal. And he said,

wouldn't it be great? He said, I wish I had the

power to touch somebody and heal them today.

And I said, I don't know if I would want that

power or not. And I don't know that we could

be trusted with that power if God were to give

all of us that power. Because I don't know about

you, but I'd heal everybody. Man, I'd get me

a jet. I'd fly around to every hospital, to every

sick person in the world. I'd just be like, bam,

heal, bam, heal, bam, heal, bam, heal. I mean,

that's what we would want. Every child we saw,

every person, every friend we know, we get to

call so -and -so's in the hospital like on the

way. And we would go and we would heal every

person. And we would think this is a good and

right thing to do. But we know that it's maybe

not the best thing to do. How do we know that?

Because God does not do it and God is good. Why

is it maybe not always good? Well, how many people

have come to the Lord in the midst of their suffering?

How many people in the midst of their pain, in

the midst of their heartache, in the midst of

their life falling apart, have called out to

the Lord and trusted Him? How many people in

their hardest moments have trusted the Lord all

the more? And what if those hardest moments were

wiped away? What if that pain was wiped away?

What if healing was instant? Perhaps there would

be many people who would not come to the Lord.

I suspect there are some of you in here that

would say, man, there was a time in my life where

I was going through so much stuff and I had to

pray to the Lord so much and your faith was strengthened

and you trust the Lord more as a result of that.

So maybe if we had that power, We wouldn't be

able to use it in the way that God wants us to.

Sometimes, as we see in the case of Paul, and

maybe in our life sometimes too, God allows us

to go through things because he knows it's going

to make us into the men and the women that he

wants us to be, that we need to be for his kingdom.

And the things that he's allowing you to go through

today, that you've been going through for 20

years, maybe he's preparing you and he's strengthening

you and he's getting you in the right spot for

something that he wants you to do next week or

next year and in 20 years. And maybe he's preparing

you for that. And maybe he wants to use you in

the same way that he wanted to use Paul. And

the way that he kept using Paul and the way that

he wanted was he allowed this thorn in Paul's

flesh to persist. So what does Paul say in verse

8? Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three

times to take it away from me. Now this is a

natural thing to do. This is what we should do.

When we've got conflict and stress and pain and

temptation, we should take it to the Lord. We

should pray to the Lord and say, God, here's

this thing I'm going through, but God, your will

be done, not my will be done. That's exactly

what Jesus prayed, okay? He's listening to go

be crucified. He's about to go be nailed to a

cross. Jesus knows that what is before him is

about to be a horrible and painful thing in a

lot of ways. I mean, you got the pain of all

the people that are closest to you just running

off and leaving you. Well, that's pretty bad,

and that ain't even the start of it. As soon

as your friends leave, now all of a sudden you're

in a mall of people who hate you, that spit on

you, that mock you, that rip your clothes off,

that put a crown of thorns on you, that nail

you to a cross and that stand there and joyfully

watch you die while you are dying to cover their

sins. Now that's a pain. That's a lot of pain

that Jesus knows that he's about to experience.

And knowing that this pain is before him, He

says, God, let this cup pass from me if it be

your will. God, deliver me from this if it be

your will. And Paul prayed this prayer three

times, it says. I pleaded with the Lord three

times to take this away from me. Now, I suspect

that there are some of us in here that have pleaded

with the Lord many more than three times. For

ourselves, for our loved ones, for our world.

There are lots of things that we have pleaded

with the Lord on. God, would you deliver me from

this? God, would you heal this person? God, would

you heal our world? God, would you heal me? God,

would you make my job better? God, would you

make my marriage better? God, would you help

me with my children? God, would you help me with

this? God, we have pleaded with God. I'm talking

about earnestly and genuinely pleaded and called

out to the Lord. And sometimes God has heard

our prayers and other times he has heard those

prayers but not answered in the way that we have

asked. And Paul asked, and there is nothing wrong

to ask, but what we always must remember is that

we must always ask in God's will. We think we

may know that... If we got healed in this way

or somebody else got healed in this way or if

we got this new job or if we got this new thing,

we think that it'd be better for us, but God

knows what's better for us, and we do not. So

we plead with the Lord and we seek the Lord and

we pray to the Lord and we seek the Lord's will,

and that's what Paul did. Now, you're not going

to tell me that Paul wasn't a man of faith, that

Paul didn't trust the Lord. Certainly he did.

But even though he pleaded with the Lord, God

did not remove this thorn in his flesh. Listen

to what the next verse says. This is God speaking

here in verse 9. But he said to me, My grace

is sufficient, for power is perfected in weakness.

Now if you don't know that scripture, you need

to know that scripture. You need to make a note

of that. You need to write that down. You need

to underline that if you underline that in your

Bible. That is a good scripture. My grace is

sufficient for power is perfected in weakness.

Now there are going to be things in our life

that are hard. And you know that because you've

gone through them and you're going through them

and you will go through them. And there are things

in your life that you just wish you could be

delivered from and they bring a lot of difficulty

and pain and stress and heartache and angst in

your life and those things are just so tough.

And you call out to the Lord and listen to what

the Lord said to Paul here. He said, my grace

is sufficient. And that's the only way we're

going to make it through the things that we go

through. Say, God, how am I going to make it?

God, how am I going to make it through this?

I cannot make it another day, dear Lord. The

pain, the heartache, the hardship that I'm going

through, it is too much, God. God, how will I

make it? And maybe we need to hear the words

of God tonight where God says to Paul, my grace

is sufficient. By the grace of God, that's how

we'll make it. By the grace of God. On the days

where you say, I don't know if I can make it

another day. You can make it by the grace of

God. On the days that you say, I got too much

pain, dear Lord. I just, I cannot make it. You

make it by the grace of God. You're going to

see people. family and co -workers and people

that you just do not want to see, that are just,

they make your life hard and miserable, and you

say, God, I cannot bear to be around them for

one more day, God. How am I going to make it?

You're going to make it by the grace of God.

My grace is sufficient, God says. And what does

he say after that? For power is perfected in

weakness. Power is perfected in weakness. He

doesn't say power is perfected in strength. He

doesn't say I'm just going to make you super

strong and everything's going to go good for

you and in that strength and in all of that good

that's happening for you, then you're going to

see my full power. That's not what he says. He

says power is perfected in weakness. He says,

with this thorn in your flesh, with this weakness,

with all of this that you're going through and

suffering in your life, with all of these things,

God says, this is how you're going to know my

power. This is how you're going to see my grace.

This is how you're going to learn to trust me

all the more. This is how I'm going to make you

into the man that I want you to be. This is how

I'm going to use you for my kingdom. This is

how you're going to make it through by my grace

and my power. And God tells him, you're only

going to experience that in weakness. And listen

to what Paul says. Therefore, I will most gladly

boast all the more about my weaknesses so that

Christ's power may reside in me. So I take pleasure

in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions,

and in pressures because of Christ. For when

I am weak, then I am strong. What a beautiful

Close to that section there. For when I'm weak,

then I'm strong. There's a lot of people in this

world. And man, they have exalted their self.

And they are living in their strength. And their

strength may be physical strength. It may be

their fame. It may be their wealth. It may be

their job. It may be, you list it. There may

be a lot of things that people, man, they are

finding strength in these things and they are

exalting themselves in these things. But guess

what? At the end of the day, in their strength,

they are weak. But for those who trust in Jesus

Christ, we find a strength that is hard to explain

to people who have never experienced. Paul says,

for when I am weak, then I'm strong. That just

don't even make any sense. You tell that to an

unbeliever, they're going to say that don't even

make any sense because they don't understand.

They don't know what true power is. They don't

know what the grace of God is. They're living

for the world and the things of the world and

they are living in weakness and pain and they're

still trying to find the answer and the answer

is humbling ourselves before Jesus Christ. That's

where we're going to find strength. On the days

that we say, God, I am too weak to carry on.

God I am too weak to go back to that office.

God I am too weak to go out into that mission

field. God I am too weak to go in for another

treatment. God I am too weak to make it through

another day. When we get to that moment and we

become completely and totally dependent on God.

You'll find a strength that you can't even imagine.

You'll find a peace that you can't even imagine.

And Paul says, this is what I will boast in,

that I am weak, that I'm a human being and I'm

weak and I have failures and I have difficulties

and I have temptations and I fail sometimes and

I'm not a good speaker and I'm a weak man. But

I have found strength in Jesus Christ and that's

what he wants his audience to find. That's what

he cares about. He don't care about all this

boasting. He don't care about people knowing

what he's done or how he's done it. He wants

people to know that he loves Jesus. And he knows

that to love Jesus and to feel the strength of

Jesus requires humility. So wherever you are

tonight, maybe you're in the midst of a struggle

now. Maybe you will be in a couple of months.

You remember the word of God that his grace is

sufficient. And on your weakest days, you seek

his power for his power is perfected. and weakness.

Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you

for these good words. That's a few things in

here, dear Lord, that we just speculate on that

we don't have a good answer to. We just don't

know. And help us not to get caught up in the

weeds. What we do know, dear Lord, is that you

are good. And sometimes, God, as hard as it is,

you allow us to go through things that are hard

and that are painful and that we do not enjoy.

But God, just like Paul, sometimes you use these

thorns in our flesh to keep us humble. To keep

us to seek you, dear Lord. Without that, man,

maybe we'd go out on our own and get ourselves

into trouble. And maybe, God, there are some

here tonight or some online that are listening

that they have gone out on their own. And they

have trusted in their own strength. And they

have realized they're not as strong as they thought,

dear Lord. So I pray that we would listen to

Paul's words here. That we would listen to your

words, dear Lord. That we would know tonight

that your grace is sufficient. And that's the

only thing that's sufficient. And God, we may

have come in here weak tonight. We are, God.

We just need to admit that. Maybe we don't want

to, but we need to admit that truth. We are weak

human beings and we struggle and life is hard.

But God, if we would just seek you, your power

is perfected in our weakness. So God, help us

just to humble ourselves, to quit trying to do

it on our own, but to trust you so that we may

be able to say, God, that when we are weak, We

are strong through Jesus Christ. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen.