Bible Guys Classics: 2 Corinthians 12

Well today, if you live in church world, there's a

common phrase called the thorn in the flesh. Yes, and

today Paul's going to uncover that and talk about his

own life.

And it's a real problem, it is, so he gives

us some solutions. So he's Chris and I'm Jeff, and

we're the Bibble guys, all right. So Chris, yes, you

know that we are always looking for the very best

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It's so funny, hey man.

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so he ended up driving to Louisiana. Wow, so think

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bad Christmas Day before, but I can't even imagine that

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Well, it may have been a blessing to get his

Spirit Airlines flight canceled. Oh, that might have been a blessing.

Yeah, maybe, Well.

It's just a miserable flight usually anyways. So okay, well, hey,

we are going to continue. We're getting close to wrapping

up Corinthians. Yeah, second Corinthians here, and so I'm trying

to find my email just disappeared.

Here is to the chapter twelve, verses one through twenty one.

Yeah, my phone is sticking. So we're just going to

read all the way through it. Here we go, chapter twelve,

verse one. It says this boasting will do no good.

Remember he was kind of had to go through his

resume here, but I must go on. I will reluctantly

tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I was

caught up to the Third Heaven fourteen years ago. Whether

I was in my body or on my body, I

don't know. Only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether

I was in my body or outside my body. But

I do know that I was caught up to Paradise

and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed

in words. Things no human is allowed to tell. That

experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not going to

do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If

I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in

doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But

I won't do it because I don't want anyone to

give me credit beyond what they can see in my

life or hear in my message. Even though I have

received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me

from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh,

a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me

from becoming proud. Three different times I beg the Lord

to take it away from me. Each time he said,

my grace is all you need. My power works best

in weakness, So now I'm glad to boast about my

weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me.

That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in

the insults and hardships and persecutions and troubles that I

suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I

am strong. You have made me act like a fool.

You ought to be writing commendations for me, for I'm

not at all inferior to these quote unquote super apostles,

even though I am nothing at all. When I was

with you, I certainly gave you proof that I'm an apostle,

for I patiently did many signs and wonders and miracles

among you. The only thing I failed to do, which

I do in the other churches, was to become a

financial burden to you. Because please forgive me for this wrong.

Now I'm coming to you for the third time, and

I will not be a burden to you. I don't

want you what you have. I want you. After all,

children don't provide for their parents, Rather parents provide for

their children. I'll gladly spend myself and all I have

for you you, even though it seems that the more

I love you, the less you love me. Some of

you admit I was not a burden to you, but

others still think I was sneaky and took advantage of

you by trickery. But how did any of the men

I sent to you take advantage of you? When I

urged Titus to visit you and sent our brother with him,

did Titus take advantage of you? No, for we have

the same spirit and walking each other's steps, doing things

the same way. Perhaps you think we're saying these things

just to defend ourselves. No, we tell you this as

Christ's servants, and with God is our witness. Everything we do,

dear friends, is to strengthen you. For I am afraid

that when I come, I won't like what I find,

and you won't like my response. I'm afraid that I

will find quarreling and jealousy and angered selfishness, and slander

and gossip and arrogance and disorderly behavior. Yes, I'm afraid

that when I come again, God will humble me in

your presence, and I will be grieved because many of

you have not given up your old sins. You've not

repented of your impurity, sexual immorality and eagerness for lustful pleasure.

Ooh yeah, it's so interesting because you know, when you

read the Word of God, I think that people, for

the most part, they don't mean to be, but they're

sort of selfish. Like when you come to church, you

have no choice sometimes but to be just a little

bit selfish. And here's what I mean by that is

like when I walk in through the door, let's just

say it's a church I don't know about, right, and

I sit down. What I'm really really hoping is how

can this help me?

Right?

I want to learn something that helps me. You know.

It's it's not just like, oh okay, well that that

was interesting, but completely irrelevant to my life. And those

times do happen, right, because you know, you read you

read God's word and you're like, well that's interesting, but

I'm not sure I could really apply that too much.

But that's why we sort of crave, you know, like

everybody loves going to series that revolve around felt needs,

like like marriage or you know, or you know, or

just feelings of forgiveness and anger and these kind of things.

And all I have to say this, there are certain

law passages of the Bible that seem to be us

observing something that's going on that has absolutely nothing to

do with us. Yeah, right, And it feels like this

whole passage is like, okay, so this has this was

going on in the first century? Why am I reading this?

It's like, I'm going to get through this passage and

I'm not. I'm just being very very very honest here,

So like, if not careful, you can say this doesn't

have anything to do with me, but think about it

this way, so I know this is just bear with

me here. Have you ever seen Parenthood?

Yes?

Okay, so Parenthood is this series that I just have

absolutely loved and you know, and and it's years since

it's been done. Sure, But what ends up happening is

you sort of get involved in the LIFs, in the

lives of these people, and you watch them and everything

you watch has nothing to do with you, rite nothing, right,

But here's what happens. You you sort of understand how

they respond to situations, you understand their character. You know,

you can't put yourselves exactly in their shoes, but you

you sort of draw out of it so many great

and valuable things, and you relate to it in different

ways and say, geez, my situation is not like there's

but the way they responded that really challenges me or

encourages me things like that. Anyway, I just want to

say this, It's not it's not necessarily important to keep

on focusing on Paul's you know, rants about super apostles,

false doctrine and and you know, being a burden financially

because he says that so many times, yeah.

Like four times every every couple of chapters he comes

back and brings it all up again.

Right, And what I'm saying is is like it's like

when we read the Word of God, instead of saying

this again has nothing to do with me, it's it's

it's important to say, Okay, God, what is it in

these passages that you have for me to learn? You know?

What is it about Paul and and about you know,

his godly character and about his responses and about his

Holy Word? You know? It was written for a reason

that I can draw out of it.

And there's a lot today, Yeah, I believe, Well, I

think one thing that we can draw. Let's set aside

the thorn in the flesh and my grace suspiciony for

you for a minute, because that's the really, that's the

gem of this passage. I think, yes, I agree, but

the rest of it, I think that there is something

that we can take from this. He keeps bringing it up.

There's some significant issues in this church, right, and Paul

knows it. Paul finally kind of gives them a laundry

list of things that he thinks is going on. That

kind of because he's already sent Titus, and he sent

that other guy with Titus, and he sent other people

down there, and they've all come back and given him reports.

And on one side they come back give him some

good reports, but then clearly they give him some bad ones.

Because he says, what I'm expecting when I get there

is there's going to be still You're going to be

quarreling and jealousy and anger and selfishness and slander, gossip

and anger and arrogance and disorderly behavior, and you're living

like wicked lives. So and he said, you know, you

haven't really repented of a lot of your sins. Paul

is recognizing the fact and pointing out the fact that

there's a lot of problems in this church. But there's

never anywhere in this book that he tells them that

they should leave their church, right right, Yes, So these

people are there's a few. He says, some of you

you are faithful, and you're faithfully following what I've taught

you and doing those things. Some of you are and

some of you are being jerks back and forth. And

he doesn't tell the faithful ones to leave the jerks,

and he doesn't kick the jerks out. He's saying, change

your direction and go. You know, the local church is

worth it. It's worth putting up the struggle. It's worth

going through the tough things. It's worth dealing with the

fact that there's other sinners attending the same church you attend,

and they, you know, maybe rub you the wrong way.

In his mind, it's not even an option to divorce

this family and move on to another family. In his mind,

it's we've got to do the heavy lifting to make

it through this, and it's going to be worth it

because the bride of CHRISTI is the local church. So

he tells us in Ephesians is that the local church

is a bride of Christ. And you know, I know

Christians sometimes who just get burned by other Christians, or

they get tired of trying to navigate all the relationships

of all the sinners that attend the church that they

go to. And it comes, I think, sometimes from what

can I get from my church versus what can I give?

How can I help serve the people in my church?

And so he's commending those that are being faithful, he's

challenging those that are being unfaithful. But it's never an

option in his mind to leave it. Right, that's right,

and I think there's a really great that's a great

principle to take in that.

Yeah, and and constantly, just like you mentioned in Ephesians

and also in Philippians, he always asks for harmony, he

asks for unity. Right, he begs the church and said,

and he uses the word beg. You know, I beg

that you know, you'll be helpful to one another, you'll

submit to one another.

And he has to do that because that's not what

they're doing. Right, That's why he's bringing it up.

Right, that's great. Well, then let's go ahead and talk

about this thorn in the flesh. I think it's an

interesting comparison. Again, it's another visual aid. And think about this,

how many times have I said visual aid over the

past several weeks. Right. So Paul yet again says, you know,

everybody knows what it's like to get a thorn. You know,

you hit, you swing by a rose bush, right, or

something worse, you know, and then you get these pricklies

in your flesh, and it's like, oh, it's so small,

and yet that small little thing causes a lot of irritation,

a lot of pain. It's the thing that you sort

of focus on. And he's saying in the same way,

this is what's happened to me, And I've had a

thorn in the flesh.

I was out hunting and I harvested a deer, and

then that the deer had gone just I was hunting

round the edge of a swamp and it had about

three hops four hops out into the swamp. It gets

into some thick brush. So when I went to go

get it, I tripped and fell, and I fell on

a bush that had all these thorns, and when I

came up in three of my fingertips I had deeply

embedded thorns in there. So you know, I pulled him

out and that that just hurts because it's on your

fingertips like that. But one of them I didn't get

the whole thing out, you know what I mean. And

have you ever had that where you can see it

under your skin and when you touch it, it's I'm okay,

But then you hit that just right, that little thorn,

and it hits that nerve and just sends you through

the roof. It got so bad, fine, I had to

get my knife out, and I had to think it

out that way, because it was just it would seem fine,

and I'd be going along fine and all of a sudden,

just brush it in the wrong way and it sent

me through the roof with pain. That's that's what I'm

envisioning when he talks about that.

And so the best I think it's the best part

about this. I really do that Paul never identifies what

the thing that he prayed about was.

I wished he had, no I wish.

I love the fact that he didn't.

I'm always wondering, I wonder what that Yeah, of course.

Yeah. So some people think that it's malaria. Some people

there's a theory out there that it's epilepsy. Right. Some

people say that, you know, he references having bad vision

something with his eyes, right, because that's mentioned later on

in one of the epistles. Sure, so, so people have

theorized those are probably the most three common most theories,

but nobody knows.

I've also heard some significant that sinful temptation.

Oh yeah, yeah, it's.

A messenger of Satan and the solutionist God's grace. Okay, right,

so I've heard people talk about that that he had

some kind of temptation. He was a single man in Greece.

And I've also heard about something like a hunchback or something.

Yeah yeah maybe.

Yeah. So anyway, so the point is is that he

doesn't list it. I love the fact that he doesn't

list it because it could translate for us into anything.

Well, that's the benefit of it. We just gave like

seven things that could be a couple of physical things.

Maybe a sinful temptation.

Yeah yeah, yeah, but but it doesn't matter sort of

what it is. Really that's the application, because he says

he goes to God and says, God, if you're gonna

heal me, okay, or take or remove something from my

life if it's not physical or medical or whatever. So

you know, it's this one thing. And he said three

different times, I went to God, I beg God, please

take this away, and God didn't, and so instead, you know,

the words are read in my Bible where you know,

and he said to me, my grace is all you need,

and we memorize it as my grace is sufficient for you,

right or for the for power works best in weakness.

So that number one is just an unbelievable statement that

Paul unpacks about being strong. When I'm weak, then I'm strong.

But the fact that remains is that the heart of

that gem is that my grace is sufficient. In other words,

my grace is all you need. Right, It's enough. Grace

is enough. And I would even argue and say it's

more than enough, right, so, which is why it's enough.

And so so Paul doesn't get his prayers answered. Now,

let me just talk about this for a second. I

only have a few things that well, he.

Does get it answered. He just doesn't get an answered

the way he wants it.

That's right, that's right, that's right. It doesn't give his

request his specific request answer. Okay, So, uh so there

are people who have a physical ailment. Sure, so my

struggle my son struggles with his mental health. There are

people who struggle with you know, cancer and and and

different things, and uh, In fact, I just got to

notice today somebody who just went and prayed with I

referenced in a podcast just a couple of weeks ago.

I remember actually it was like five six days at

whatever it was. Uh she just passed last night, and uh,

they thought she had a few months. But anyway, the

point is is that you can go to God and say, Okay, God,

I know you can do it, so take this away.

And then sometimes it happens miraculously and it's wonderful, and

you're like the doctors are so confused. Uh you know,

or it's a or it's a miracle, or you know,

I've overcome this thing, whatever it is. But so many

times it just doesn't happen that way. And and then

we just lean on God's grace, which is sufficient and

uh and it's and it's it's enough. It's not just

a crotch. It's it's actually enough. Anyway, Here's here's what

I want to say. I want to say my soapbox

is this years ago, I had a girl who had

a friend who had who had a girl who was

a teenager at the time, and she was going to

these healing services, right, and what she was being told

is the reason why she wasn't being healed is because

her faith wasn't strong enough. Who's her fault.

That's just not true.

It's not true. So it's spiritual manipulation. And I guess

what I'm trying to focus on is the fact that

sometimes when we pray to get healed, it doesn't happen.

Well, the better answer for Paul in this moment was

rely on my grace. Right, Well, be we me and

you know God, and you will be closer if you

learn to rely on me in this You've mentioned the

band New Song a few times, right, because we're both

that old yeah world they have they have a song.

One of the lyrics says, when you believe He's all

you need, that'll be your defining moment. And that's that's

this phrase right here. That's when he said, you know, God,

take it away. God take it away, God take it away.

Look all I'm doing for you, Why don't you take

this away from me? And God goes, I'm all you need.

Yeah.

That then Paul says, from that moment, so now I'm

glad to boast about my weaknesses. Now he's saying God

uses me in spite of my weakness right right.

In spite of that specific thorn in the flesh.

Right So when you finally do realize that he's all

you need, then whatever God does is good. That's fine.

So we all have an appointment. You know, your friend,

the lady that just passed away. We all have an appointment.

It's appointed under humanity once to die and after this

the judgment, we all have an appointment. So that's not

because God is mean, but because sin exists and because

of sin death right, So death comes. So then God says,

I'll deliver you from this body of death and disease,

and I'll take it. I'm telling you right now. She

a Christian. She's not regretting the fact that that was

her last breath here on earth. She's delighting in eternity, right.

So God's grace to take her through that journey from

this life to the next. That was all she needed

and she's delighting in it. We are looking at it

from the opposite direction, but from her. That's why in

the Book of Psalms it says, precious in the sight

of the Lord is the death of one of his saints.

It's precious, like we think birth is precious. Always in

that precious look at that precious baby, and God's like

the death of one of his saints here on earth

is precious to him because you're birth into heaven, and

so it's a beautiful thing. It's not I think that

this is part of the This is why Paul wrote

in one Qrinthians fifteen when he writes death, where's your sting? Right?

When you change your view to an eternal view, all

these other things begin to change. It's you have a

totally different perspective. And so Paul says, listen, I wanted

these things to be taken away, and he was frustrated.

It feels frustrating the way he writes it, and then

he goes, But now I realize he is all I need,

and that was a defining moment for him where he went,

Then fine, I'll delight in my weaknesses, because then he

gets all the glory, he gets all the praise. I

am totally dependent on him and that's enough for me.

And learning to be completely dependent on God even in

your struggles sets you free from so many of the

things that distract us or or seem to be a threat,

but turn out to not be any real threat at

all that's awesome.

And by the way, when he goes on and he says,

this is why I take pleasure of my weaknesses. And

it insults hardships, persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ.

So he really is sort of connecting it to his resume,

isn't he, Because you know, again, these are chapters, but

for him, it's just an extension of a thought.

I love that passage where I love those phrases. He says,

I delight my weakness. I delight in these insults. So

I knew a guy. He was a supervisor. He wasn't

super rich, but he had okay kind of okay. He

would be you know, middle solid, middle class in this city,

in this town we lived in Texas. But people would

poke fun at him being a little tight. He was

a little tight within money sure, and so you know,

we'd all take shots at him. And he said, oh,

go ahead, keep making fun, keep making fun, keep making

you say that all the time. So everybody always make

jokes about it. Now, he was a generous person, but

when it came to anything, you know, he'd drive his

pickup truck too long, and you know, all these things,

and so Finally, one day, I said, you always say

keep making fun and I said why and he says, oh,

I love it when you guys make fun of me.

And I'm like why. He says, because I know something

you don't know. And I said, what's that? And he said,

I have more money than all of you combined, and

he did, He's worth millions of dollars. But it wasn't

because he had such a high paying job. It was

that he invested well, he saved well. He said, man,

I remember back when my wife and I first got married,

all of our friends went out and they financed furniture.

And he said, we made we may do with orange

crates and a little card table until we could afford

to pay for our couch, and then we bought it couch.

And he said, so it was hard early on, but

now I've never carried debt in my life. And never

having carried it, he said, I loan money for interest

rather than taking, rather than paying interest. And he said,

so I know what you don't know. And that's kind

of this phrase here, he said. So now I take

delight in my weaknesses. I take delight and insults because

I know something you don't know. God's grace really is sufficient.

Yeah, it's that position of knowing something nobody, nobody knows, right,

so Paul is having he's giving us an insight about

hardships and trials and the things that he's went through,

you know, having been through them and having the right perspective, right,

which is really cool.

It's so cool.

Yeah, And uh, I think that's probably a good place

to end because our time's right about there.

And tomorrow we're wrapping up with Sewo Corinthians.

Yes, so we will see then on the Bible. Guys,