Thorn Theology

I'm going to invite you to, if you have your

Bibles, go with me. We're going to the book of

2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

12 and verse 7. Amen. And I'm going to point

you to a passage of Scripture here that I think

many of us have heard or are familiar with, written

by Paul. And I want you to... Read along with

me in verse 7. We're going to read verse 7 through

verse 10 of 2 Corinthians chapter 12, giving

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

you a time to flip there or scroll there. Amen.

How many of you are there now? Amen. All right.

All right. All right. You guys are on point today.

Praise God. It reads this way. And lest I should

be exalted above measure by the abundance. of

the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given

to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest

I should be exalted above measure. Concerning

this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times

that it might depart from me. And he said to

me, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength

is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most

gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities

that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore,

I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,

in needs. in persecutions, in distress for Christ's

sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Amen.

Why don't we pray? Father, we thank you for your

spirit that we feel so strongly, so beautifully,

wonderfully in this place today. God, we have

come. as a group of people lord with a made -up

mind to worship you today to gather in this place

lord for such a time as this and now god i ask

that as we go into your word that you would speak

to us anoint our hearing so that he who has an

ear would hear what the spirit is saying to the

church god and anoint my lips of clay god to

speak in this moment in this moment god what

you want to express to your church, your people.

God, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Everyone say

amen. I'm going to give this a title right on

the cusp, Thorn Theology. Someone say thorn theology.

I have taught in Bible college for many years.

In fact, I am now the director of our district

Bible college, and we have lots of theological

classes. different subjects, pastoral theology

and apostolic theology. But you know what's not

in our curriculum? Thorn theology. But maybe

we'll add that, Brother Jose, after today, huh?

We might add that to the curriculum because thorn

theology is something that the Apostle Paul introduces

us today in this very transparent portion of

writing. As he is opening up to the church in

Corinth in his second letter, a church that he's

developed a relationship with as an apostle that

he helped establish. He's writing some things.

And as typical of Paul, not only does he lay

theological foundations, not only does he teach

the word of God and biblical spiritual principles

of Christ. the doctrines of Christ, but also

at times he gives the reader a view. He opens

up his life to the reader so that the reader

might see or the church might understand some

of his own personal understandings, revelations,

and for the reader to see that even him as the

apostle was... still growing and learning a work

in progress. From his very encounter on the road

to Damascus, we see that the life of the Apostle

Paul is kind of an open book. A little different

from the other apostles and disciples that were

fortunate enough to learn under the instruction

of Christ, such as Peter or John or some of the

other disciples. Peter was one of the more prominent

ones. But Paul's life is a little different because

he was not a one of the original 12 disciples.

He wasn't handpicked in the way that Peter, James

and John and some of the others were in the beginning

of Christ's ministry. At that time, Paul was

still very much a Pharisee and he had an anti.

Christ theological point of view and made it

his personal mission that as the church was being

formed to persecute the church. As many of us

know, this was Saul of Tarsus before he became

the Apostle Paul. And so his trajectory looks

very different from that of the other disciples

of the other apostles. And it gives him a very

unique perspective. on the Christian faith, very

unique perspective on what it means to serve

God. He was not an eyewitness to many of the

things that Christ did in his three and a half

years of ministry, but he probably, like many

others, heard and was a listener through secondhand

information about what Christ did, but he had

that encounter. that moment on the road to Damascus

as he was intent on persecuting and carrying

out every threat that he breathed out against

the church. He made it his personal mission in

life to persecute the church. But there we see

in the book of Acts, I believe it was Acts 9,

where God encounters him in that famous scene

in Scripture where he is probably knocked off

of his horse. blinded by a bright light, and

a voice from heaven tells him, why are you persecuting

me? And tells him it's hard to kick against the

goads. And he has this personal encounter with

God. And we see from the very beginning of Paul's

journey, this very transparent life, one that

is... brought to the forefront, one that we begin

to see just how real God begins to work in his

life and how his life is an open book from that

moment. All the dirty details are left there

on the front page of Scripture. He isn't afforded

the opportunity to go back and scrub out and

redact some of the things in there. It's all

put out there, all the things that... that we

may want to gloss over or tuck away. It's all

out there in the open for everyone to see. But

this really set the stage for the kind of apostle

that he would become. A few weeks ago, we talked

about, or I mentioned a little bit about Paul

and the struggles that he confesses to us about

how there is this other law at work in him that...

that even when he wants to do good, there is

this contrary force, his flesh, that is pulling

him in the other direction. And I find that refreshing.

I find that just encouraging for me to know that

even somebody like him was struggling and battling

within himself. And in that same spirit, in that

same... Type of that same theme or that same

spirit, the same atmosphere. We see Paul writing

yet again about an area of his life that as for

me as a Christian, I find once again refreshing.

In chapter 12, he begins and he starts talking

about these wonderful things that God has shown

him. I won't read it there, but you're free to

read it on your own. He talks about a vision.

That was so profound, so majestic, so supernatural.

He said, I don't even know if I was having an

out -of -body experience or a bodily experience.

But he talks about this moment, this divine,

supernatural moment that he has. And he said,

the things that I saw were inexpressible. He

said, I can't even repeat these things. They're

so holy. They're so awesome. They're so powerful.

I can't even put into words the things that I

saw. It would cheapen it. If I try to explain

in human terms what happened, what I saw, it

would cheapen, it would dilute it. It would water

it down. It was so awesome. It was so holy. And

so, you know, he's talking about this great thing

that God is doing. God is showing him in his

life. And he doesn't even tell us what it is.

He's like, just trust me. It was awesome. It

was great. And in the moment that he's telling

his readers, he's telling the church about these

great things, it must have dawned on him there

that as he's expressing these things, as he's

talking about the great height that God has taken

him to, talking about the wonderful things that

God has blessed him to be able to experience

and to see, not just with his natural eye, but

with his spiritual eye, he has seen things that

perhaps nobody has ever seen or ever will see.

I mean, you know, Paul is just talking about

these wonderful things, but then he says in verse

7, unless I should be exalted above measure by

the abundance of the revelation, he said, a thorn

in the flesh was given to me. He said, a messenger

of Satan to buffet me, or in other words, to

harass me, to torment me, lest I be exalted above

measure. So Paul begins to tell us about an area

of his life that is a touchy subject. He begins

to show us that in spite of the great knowledge,

in spite of the wonderful things, the blessings

of the Lord and his life and the great places

that God has allowed him to go as a man of God,

as a preacher, as an apostle, he says, but there

is this one issue that I have in my life that

has kind of brought me back down to earth. He

tells us that despite these heavenly things that

he's experiencing in his life, that there is

this thing that keeps his feet grounded right

here in this world. Lest he become boastful,

lest he become proudful, lest he think that he

is somebody greater than he truly is. He said,

there is this one thing in my life, and he calls

it a thorn. Someone say a thorn. Calls it a thorn.

And he wants us to understand that serving God

is beautiful, but even roses have thorns. Can

I tell you that on your way to smelling the roses

that God has, you're going to encounter some

thorns. And sometimes those thorns... are not

so easily removed. And so Paul is telling us,

look, there is this thing in my life and it's

a messenger of Satan. And now that's an interesting

term that he uses, a messenger of Satan. In the

original word, that word messenger is the same

root word for angel. So he's not just talking

about some... Random thing that happens in life.

We all know that life is filled with just sort

of accidents and random things that come. Just

the rain that falls on the just and the unjust.

There are just difficulties that we deal with

in life. Amen? Let me give you an aging or a

hurting body. Amen, right? I got no amens when

I said that. Help me out, folks. There's nothing

we can do about getting older. Now, God, can

you turn back the hands of time? Well, that's

just a fact of life. That you're not going to

feel as robust and as strong as you were when

you were, you know, a young whippersnapper. And

all the energy in the world, you know, that's

just life. And there are other things that are

just part of life. Paul's not talking about just...

Things that happen because life in general, like

Jesus said, in this world, there will be trouble.

There's going to be trouble. We live in an age.

We will get sick sometimes. Amen. That person

at work sneezes on you. You're like, why didn't

you call in sick? You're not getting any awards

for coming in here. You know, you're not. Stay

home. Because we know that if you get around

somebody that sneezes, you've got the flu. There's

a good chance if you're not careful, right, you're

going to get. You're going to get sick. That's

just a fact of life. If you got sick because

you were hanging around someone that was sneezing

and coughing, don't go blame the devil. No, wear

a mask next time. Or don't get around that person.

The devil is after. No, that's just, there's

sickness. There's viruses. There's bacteria.

These are just normal things that happen. And

can we become discouraged? Can that kind of add

on to whatever it is? Absolutely. I'm not saying

don't pray that God would heal you. I'm not saying

that those things are not real. They are real.

But what Paul is talking about here is not just

the facts of life or the realities of living

in a broken world and living in a broken and

an aging and a deteriorating body. He's not talking

about that, folks. He's talking about something

that hell. or that the enemy has done against

him. He's talking about something that is purposeful,

that has been strategically planted in his life,

that God himself has allowed. Now this is going

to be an uncomfortable moment, an uncomfortable

subject for us today, but this whole series is

about the battles. Someone say the battles. The

battles that build us. We think that getting

built in God, growing in God, developing in our

relationship with Christ is just reading another

book and attending another seminar and going

to another service and getting prayed for more.

Those things are wonderful and they can help.

But I come today, the Holy Ghost sent me here

today to talk about thorn theology. Thorn theology.

This is nothing you're going to get. You're not

going to get this in a book, my friend. You're

not going to get this with the latest best -selling,

you know, top 10 Christian book on Amazon. You're

not going to get this on a YouTube clip. You're

not going to get this on a podcast. Man, look

at all these notes. This is foreign theology.

These are things that we learn about God and

His plan and His purpose in our life by simply

allowing God to bring us through those valleys,

allowing God to work in us, and trusting Him.

And still serving him and loving him and giving

of him, of ourself to him, even when he doesn't

do the thing that we so desperately want him

to do. The question before us today is not whether

you can serve God when things are going right.

Not when you can serve God when it's all, you

know, rose petals and a garden, you know, a bed

of roses. But can we still serve him and love

him and serve others when there's a thorn in

our life? Can we still pray with thorns? Can

we still worship? Let me tell you something.

If you can learn how to serve God with a thorn,

there's no devil in hell that can ever cause

you to backslide. Come on. If you can learn how

to keep on pressing on and serving God and come

to church Sunday after Sunday, if you can keep

on worshiping, keep on giving, keep on doing,

with a thorn in your life, let me tell you, you've

got longevity in your spirit. You're the kind

of saint that's going to endure to the end. This

is the key. The key to being saved. We think

that you get baptized, filled with the Holy Ghost

in Jesus' name, and that's all that it takes

to be saved. No, that's the starting point. If

you haven't been baptized, you've got to get

baptized in the name of Jesus, be filled with

His Spirit, and salvation comes. But listen,

it's not just that. The Bible says, Jesus said,

He that endures to the end shall be saved. Which

is why we don't preach the once saved, always

saved gospel. The Bible says to work out your

salvation. Someone say work it out. Come on,

say it again. Work it out. Work out your salvation,

he said, with fear and trembling. And Paul is

giving us thorn theology so that we can work

out our salvation. And he says about this thorn,

a thorn is a painful thing. It hurts. It might

wound you. It might cripple you in some way.

But he said, look, in verse, go with me to your

Bibles again. He said in verse 8, he said, concerning

this thing. Now, he doesn't tell us what it is.

I'd like to know what it was. You know, what

was that thorn? Scholars. speculate about what

the thorn might be. They think that perhaps a

thorn was a physical ailment. Others think that

perhaps it was more just a spiritual thing, an

oppression. And others, they think maybe it was

a relationship or somebody who was a thorn. I

heard an amen. I've got a couple of thorns. My

neighbor. No, I'm just kidding. We don't know

what it is. Amen. So while Paul's being transparent,

I mean, he's not showing us all of his cards.

He's not saying, but he said concerning this

thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that

it might depart from me. Now, taking into account

everything that I have learned about Paul, Paul

was a man of prayer. Paul was a man of the spirit.

He walked in the spirit. I think Paul had a clear

and consistent connection with God. I think that

when Paul prayed, most of the times God answered.

That's just my perception of Paul is that Paul

was a man of prayer and that he believed in the

doctrine of prayer. How many of you believe in

prayer today? Come on, how many of you believe

in prayer today? And how many of you know that

God is a God who answers prayers? So for Paul

to say, I prayed about this thing on three separate

occasions. Now, he had marked these moments in

his mind where he had prayed earnestly to God.

God, here I am again, little old me. It's me

again, God. And I've got this one thing. And

if you would just remove this one thorn, Lord,

life would be so much easier. And then God told

him, no. All right, well, maybe there's just

something else I need to learn. You know, maybe

I'm not ready yet. You know, these are the things

that we tell ourselves when God doesn't answer

according to our wishes. Well, maybe there must

be another lesson. And so some time went by,

and he prayed again. And the answer was still

no. He said, well, Paul, maybe it's just not

my season. Huh? Maybe the next season God's going

to do. This is just not my season. And so more

time goes by and he prays again and still the

answer is no. Can I tell you that no is also

an answer? Someone say no is an answer. Sometimes

God has answered your prayer. And the problem

is that you just haven't accepted what the answer

is. And we keep praying for God to change his

mind. And God said, no, on this one, you're the

one that's going to have to change. So he said,

praise and praise and praise. And God keeps saying,

no, no, I'm not going to do it. And there came

a point where Paul realized, okay, if God's not

going to answer this specific thing, there must

be a reason. And the Lord spoke to him. You see,

God's going to answer you. It may not be what

you want to hear, but watch what he tells Paul

in verse 9. Look at this. Look at this with me.

And he said to him, my grace, someone say my

grace. My grace is sufficient for you. For my

strength is made perfect in weakness. So God's

answer to Paul's plea to remove this painful.

thorn in his flesh in his life was that listen

in other words I'm not going to remove this but

here's what I'm going to do for you Paul because

I love you because I'm still your God because

I haven't abandoned you Paul just because I didn't

answer you in the way that you had hoped or dreamed

of Paul I'm still your God and I'm still In control.

I haven't stopped being your God. I still love

you with an everlasting love. I've got a plan

for you that's unshakable. But Paul, and saint

of God, this is what you needed. The reason why

it's still there is so that my grace would be

sufficient for you. I want you to understand

that not everything will be fixed. Overnight,

not everything will be removed in our life according

to our liking. And that is very difficult for

us to accept at times because we have never stopped

believing. We never stopped confessing that God

can do it. But there are certain things that

God says, the reason I have allowed the enemy

to touch this area of your life, the reason I've

allowed this problem to persist is so that you.

can grow in grace and so that you will understand

that my grace is more than enough. But there

are two things that Paul gets a revelation of,

and I'll be just a few more moments. Amen. Two

things that Paul gets a revelation that I pray

that every one of us here today, the Holy Spirit

wants you to get a revelation of two things.

Number one, the grace of God. And number two,

the strength of God. He said, number one, he

said, my grace is sufficient for you. You're

learning. The value of grace. God is trying to

teach somebody here today. What grace is all

about. Because we have been fed, many of us,

a false concept of grace. That grace is simply

the favor of the Lord for blessings and for increase

in our life. That grace is simply, you know,

the blessings of God and the goodness of the

Lord. And yes, those are manifestations of grace.

But God's grace is manifold. There are various

expressions of grace. And one of the most important

ones that we must learn and we must contend with

in our own lives is the doctrine of grace that

sustains us when our problems won't leave us.

The doctrine of grace that holds us and is more

than enough for us. It's grace. Even when you've

got that problem in your life, that situation,

it's grace that'll still let you get a good night's

sleep. Oh, I'll come to preach to somebody right

now. It's grace that'll still let you keep walking.

It's grace that even when your world is falling

apart in that one area, you still can wear a

smile on your face. And it's not fabricated.

It's not phony. It's not fake. It's the grace

of God. That says I might have this problem.

But God has still been good to me. I wonder if

somebody can give the Lord some praise here today.

We learn grace. But you're not going to learn

grace. Now you can learn theologically. You can

learn the doctrine of grace. Through study of

the New Testament. But you're only going to learn.

what true grace that is sufficient is to what

I've called thorn theology. And he said, not

only will I give you a revelation of grace, but

of strength. Somebody say strength. He said,

my strength is made perfect in weakness. Think

about that for a moment. Think about what the

Lord is telling us about how strength in the

kingdom of God works. God's strength is not activated

fully until his strength has a place in your

life to set up its power. And the only way God's

strength can have its effect in our life is when

something gives. In other words, He can't be

strong in areas that you refuse to let go of.

He can't be strong in areas where God's not going

to get in a. in a match with you. Something has

got to give. And this is illustrated very profoundly,

and this might be next Sunday's message now,

when Jacob wrestled with God. God said, if you

really want to see my blessing, then something's

got to break. And he touched his hip. See. Can

I tell you what the issue is as I get ready to

close? The issue is we want God to give us more

strength, but we don't want any weakness. We

don't want to be weak in an area. We don't want

to struggle. We don't want to have a need. We

don't want to be broken in any way. And God is

saying, if you really want my strength to be

revealed, if you want me to see how awesome and

how powerful and how mighty I am, then I will

allow some things to happen in your life so that

you will know that I am God and that I am the

one that is holding you. I'm the one putting

food on your table, not your employer. Come on

now, somebody. Are you hearing me today? I'm

the one that's putting food on your table, not

your employer. But you would never know that

unless God had put you in a situation where all

you could do was depend on him. You'll never

know him as a friend. That sticks closer than

a brother until you've been betrayed by people

who you thought were your friends and you thought

you could trust and you thought would be there

for you. Then you realize that, ha, he is the

God that will never leave me nor forsake me.

Would you stand with me this afternoon? Somebody

say amen. I want to grow in grace. I want to

grow in the strength of God, but I must do so

with an understanding that God is going to use

my weaknesses. Can I tell you that sometimes

the thing that we're praying for God to remove,

that if he removes, you know, there are some

things that if God answered your prayer, you

wouldn't be back next Sunday. I'm going to say

it again. Amen? There are some prayers that if

God actually prayed, you wouldn't be back to

church next time. He said, whoo, not me. There

are some things that if God did, you wouldn't

serve him the way you would had he left that

thorn there. He said, but why? Why would God

do that to me? It seems like a little messed

up, huh? Like, God, why would you hold out on

me like that? Someone say, why, God? Because

God knows you better than you know yourself.

He made you. He wired your brain. He understands

what makes you tick. He understands the buttons

that need to be put. God knows you better than

you know you. And in his supreme, listen, in

God's knowledge, His all knowledge about your

life. There are certain things that God knows

that if he does things always the way that we

want. He knows why it's there. And if he always

did what we always wanted him to do. He knows

that probably that would be the thing that takes

us away. Some of us wouldn't pray the way we

pray without a thorn. Hello, somebody. Oh, my

God. In fact, you learn how to pray. You see,

you don't even really learn how to pray until

you have a thorn in your life. You know what

I mean? You know what I mean, Brother David?

Like, read all the books on prayer you want.

There's some good ones out there. Maybe I should

write one, too. I don't know. There's some good

ones out there. There was a whole series of praying

books a few years ago. The Power of a Praying

Husband. The Power of a Praying Wife. The Power

of a Praying... And that's wonderful. But none

of those books will teach you how to pray like

a thorn will. Can I tell you where I really learned

how to get a hold of God? When I had a need in

my life. Jesus. And all I could do was cry out

to God. A thorn in your life will make you forget

about what time it is and how long you've been

there because you're so desperate for the presence

of God. You really learn how to praise God. Can

I tell you what I really teach you how to worship?

Not the latest song on CCM or... Erwan and Caleb

and all that. The latest song is not going to

teach you how to worship and how to praise God.

You know what's going to teach you? A thorn.

Because until you have learned how to lift up

your hands and open up your mouth and say, I

will bless the Lord at all times. Come on now,

somebody. And his praise shall continually. That

you haven't learned how to worship yet. But when

that thorn is there. And yes I've got a problem.

But I've come to bless his holy name. Anyhow.

Come on. Is there somebody with the worship in

your heart today? Is there somebody that can

lift your voice in worship today? Lift your voice

in praise today? I'm not telling you to like

the thorn. I'm not telling you that we are to

pretend that these thorns are comfortable. No.

What I've come to, through the Holy Ghost today,

is to tell you about thorn theology. The greatest

lessons that you will learn about God are those

uncomfortable places in your life that God has

yet to answer and maybe never will. But here's

the point, is that if you could serve him that

way, then you can boast like Paul did. I don't

know. I have read this so many times. I have

read this and I have thought to myself. I don't

think I'm there yet. I'm just not there. I'll

be honest with you, church. I'm not ready to

say I take pleasure in affirmities. Can I be

real with you? How many of you are going to be

real right now? I'm not at that level yet. Maybe

some of you are. God bless you. Share with me

your secrets. But I'm not ready to say, like

Paul, I take pleasure in affirmations. I'm struggling

with saying in reproaches. I don't know if I

can say I take pleasure in needs. And certainly

not persecutions. everybody to how about you

you want everybody to like you i want everybody

to like me i'm not ready to take uh you know,

take pleasure in distresses. I'm not ready to

do that. But here's what, but if I can just today,

here's all you've got to do today. All you've

got to do is, I'm not saying that when you leave

this place, you're going to start thanking God

for all the problems you have in your life. I'm

just boasting of my infirmities today. I'm not

telling you to do that. But all you've got to

do today is accept that if God allowed it, then

obviously God sees a need. If God is allowing

that thorn, then there is There's something that

God is trying to work in your life. And if you

can just praise God for that. Say, God, I don't

understand it all yet. I'm not at that level

yet, God. I don't know if I'm there yet. But

here's what I know. That when I am weak, then

I am strong. When I can lay it down at your feet.

When I can surrender. When I can submit. commit

when i can god put myself in your hands god then

i know everything's gonna be all right i wonder

right there where you are if we can just go before

god in prayer there's somebody here today that

just needs to touch the throne of god oh it could

be that god will answer but it may not be the

answer that you want but in the end god will

give you the grace come on there's a grace that's

here right now there's a grace that god is working

in your life oh Oh, hallelujah. I wonder if you

can praise him even with that thorn. I wonder

if you can pray even with that thorn. I wonder

if you can touch God. I wonder, oh, hallelujah.

Oh, the grace of God is here. The joy of the

Lord is my strength. Come on, anybody got joy?

I'm not talking about fleeting happiness. That's

up one day and down the next. I'm talking about

the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord. Is

my strength. Is he your strength today? Come

on, is he your strength today? How many of you

want that joy? The Bible says that in his presence

there is fullness of joy. And that is right hand

pleasures forevermore. So right now for the next

60 seconds, I'm asking for somebody to step into

the presence of God. Somebody to let your heart

go. and get into His presence where the joy of

the Lord is, where the grace of God is, where

the strength of God will be found. Come on, somebody

open up your heart today. Somebody open up your

worship. Open up your mouth today. Let the Spirit

of God let it dwell. Come on, hallelujah.