5/24/26 - THE THORN & THE GRACE, 2 Corinthians 11:24-12:11

The strength of grace. Amen. Good evening. Should we look to the Lord in prayer?

Almighty Father, thank you tonight. What a lesson you have, uh, through the experiences of the Apostle Paul. What a great man he was, and yet he says, "I am nothing." So, we pray that we might understand that in humility and in weakness, there's power. That the Lord Jesus works through us when we give him an open door and confess our nothingness. In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, like to look tonight in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and 12. We've been talking about different figures and illustrations, parables that the Lord uses to explain the truth. And here we have in chapter 12, what's called a thorn in the flesh. But before we get to that, I'd like to read just briefly what the Apostle Paul had to say to the Corinthians regarding things that he had gone through.

So, as a Christian, you know, it's not an easy road to be a Christian. And you should never consider that since you received Christ as Lord and Savior, everything is just going to be smooth sailing. It certainly wasn't for the Apostle Paul. And whenever we stand up for Christ, especially in countries and places where Christ is not honored, where other religions are in the forefront, there will be persecution.

Now, listen what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11. And remember, he's saying this because he's having to defend his apostleship to the Corinthians, which is a sad thing indeed. In chapter 11, verse 23, "Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes, save one."

"Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils of by the heathen, in perils meaning dangers, in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In verse 27, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Wow.

And besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. What, what a great man. What he endured for Christ. Verse 33, 32, in Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of Damascus with a garrison desiring to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands.

So, when you want to be a Christian, the Lord said from the beginning, you deny yourself, you take up your cross, and you follow me. So, it's not going to be something easy to live for Christ. If you're really devoted to Christ, it will not be easy. Stand up for him nevertheless, because that is a life worth living.

Now, in chapter 12, Paul goes from being let down in a basket to being lifted up to the third heaven. It is not expedient for me or profitable for me, doubtless, to glory. Once again, they're forcing him because they're not accepting him as an apostle to glory in himself, the last thing he wanted to do. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. Verse two, "I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth. Such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory but in mine infirmities."

So let's just stop there for a moment. So here the Apostle Paul, he is speaking about an experience he had. It could have happened in Acts chapter 14 when he was in Lystra and he was stoned and they drug him out of the city thinking he was dead. He could have actually died and God gave him this experience at that time, but it was so real. He didn't know if he was in the body or if it was an out-of-body experience. Whatever it was, it was something so incredible, so wonderful. He was in paradise. That's where the Lord told the thief, "This day you'll be with me in paradise." And so he saw things that are awesome beyond what the mind of man could ever comprehend.

In fact, in chapter 4, I think it is, this is great, in chapter 4 verse 16, "For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Now listen, "For our light affliction." Wow, that was a light affliction? "Which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." He'd been in the glory. He knew, uh, something of what was ahead in the glory, but in the meantime he is suffering much, but God gave him this a paradise experience as an encouragement to him. And he, you notice he doesn't say I, he says a man in Christ. A man in Christ means that he is identified with Christ in the glory.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." So right now we're either identified with Adam and his sin and failure or we're identified with Christ and his perfect obedience and righteousness, obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So I'd ask you, who are you identified with tonight? Are you identified with Adam and the soon coming judgment, death and judgment to follow? Are you identified with Christ? Oh my friend, you can be identified with Christ. You can be a man in Christ or a woman in Christ by simply trusting him right at this moment as your Lord and savior. Saying, "Lord Jesus, I receive you as my Lord. I believe you died for my sins and I trust you in this moment and ask for your forgiveness for all that I've done." Hallelujah. You'll be a man in Christ or a woman in Christ. So you'll be identified with him. Where? In the glory. He's the man in the glory.

So he says that in verse four again, "how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. And so of such a one will I glory. Yet of myself I would not glory, but in mine infirmities." That's why he spoke about all those problems he had gone through because he wanted them to understand that he was nothing. In fact, when we get to verse 11, he's going to say, "I am nothing." Hallelujah. This is the secret to success as a Christian.

And so he goes on in verse six, "For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool. For I will say the truth, but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." Now, I want you to think about this. 14 years ago, this experience happened. 14 years. And he evidently never told anyone about this experience. Are you kidding? We hear of so many people that have these after death experiences, and they can't wait to write a book and tell their story. Here's a man that actually went beyond the grave into the glory, and he kept it to himself and with the Lord for 14 years. But, what an encouragement it must have been for those 14 years. That's why he could speak of that light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Hallelujah, glory. Yes.

And so, he says in verse seven, "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. The messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." So, here is the Apostle Paul. This great, great worker for Christ. And even he had the flesh in him. So, the flesh is that carnal nature that God has left within us in order to show us just how exceedingly sinful sin is. Where do we learn it? By looking at other people? No, we learn it within our own selves. When God brings us into the light, and we live in the light, and we see that carnal nature and the carnal desires that is always there. And of course, we're not identified with that nature. Hallelujah. No, we're men and women in Christ. That's our identity. And this is so very important to take a hold of. Your identity is not with that old sinful nature, that flesh that lives within you, the source of all kinds of evils. That is not who you are. And whenever you have that flesh stir yourself up, like the Apostle Paul here, where you want to be proud, you just condemn that, and you say, "Listen, I am a man in Christ. I, I deny and turn away from all that past life because when Jesus Christ died, I died in him. And that old life is beyond old. It's dead and buried. Hallelujah." And, and when, when the Lord comes to take us to glory, there'll be no flesh within us. Can you imagine that? That's one of the great things about heaven. No flesh. No sinful nature. Nothing to detract us from seeking the Lord Jesus, seeing him in his glory, and praising and worshiping him. Hallelujah.

And so, Paul says, "Lest I should be exalted above measure, there's given me a thorn in the flesh." So, this is the symbolism, a thorn in the flesh. Well, a thorn is, is, is just that. It's something that hurts. And Paul, whatever it was, God allowed the devil. This is important to understand, that God allowed the devil to bring this thorn in the flesh to buffet him. In other words, to cause him pain, that he would always remember that he was not to be exalted. He was a man just like any other, and this pain kept him humble. You know, there are so many Christians that suffer continually. My wife has suffered, uh, with headaches. Not headaches, one headache for over 35 years. She's had one headache. If she wakes up in the night to roll over, she has a headache. She wakes up in the morning, she has a headache. One headache for 35 years. But the grace of God is what is sufficient for her. And how many other believers are suffering different things that you never hear about, just like with the Apostle Paul. You never heard about this experience in the heaven, and he wasn't walking around moaning and groaning about this thorn in the flesh. Some of us, some have suggested it might have been poor eyesight. Whatever it was, God doesn't tell us what it is, but he wants us to understand that whatever we go through, whatever painful experience in the body, His grace is sufficient. Hallelujah.

And so, uh, Satan to buffet me. So, here God allowed, He uses the devil. Sometimes I use the expression, "the devil is God's devil." We see it in the book of Job. Uh, God used Satan, uh, to discipline Job and to make him a better man. Uh, we find it with the Apostle Peter, uh, when he was about to, when the Lord was about to be crucified and taken in the garden, and, uh, the Lord told Peter, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift thee as wheat. And I have prayed for you." So, the Lord allowed Satan to sift him. The, the devil wanted to sift out the good, leave the bad, but of course, uh, the Lord overruled what the devil wanted to do. And though Peter denied the Lord, the Lord said, "And when you are restored, you shall strengthen your brethren." And so, few days later, in the book of Acts, we got 3,000 souls saved because Peter was restored and preaching the gospel. We have the books of first and second Peter. We have Peter opening the door to the Gentiles. We just have a great man of God who was learned a lesson through the Lord Jesus through God allowing the devil to have his hand upon him. And here we see it with the Apostle Paul. So, understand this that some people are all caught up in the devil this, the devil that, Satan this, Satan that. My friend, listen. God is supreme. And if he uses the devil to come against you in, in bodily situations just like with the Apostle Paul, listen what he says.

"For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that he might depart from me." That's verse 8. Now, does that mean that it was easy to, to endure these, the thorn in the flesh, this messenger of Satan to buffet me? No, it wasn't easy at all. It was most difficult. But he, and so he prayed the Lord earnestly, praying the Lord that he would allow this thorn to depart from him. Paul saw this as a hindrance no doubt to his ministry. But the Lord saw it as a strengthening of Paul's character and a furtherance of his ministry.

So, in verse 9 he goes on and listen what the Lord said. This is the Lord's answer to Paul's prayer. And he said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness." My grace is sufficient. See, you have to go through something in order to experience the abundant sufficiency of the grace of God. And when you depend upon the Lord, maybe what you're going through right now, you'll find that his grace is sufficient. He's the potter, we're the clay, he's forming our lives. We often think of that description, illustration, but his grace, grace, and, and as an acrostic, grace is God's riches at Christ's expense. G. R. A. C. E., God's riches at Christ's expense. So, here is the grace of the Lord Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, the Apostle Paul said, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich." That's grace, God giving. That's grace. It's given to those that don't deserve it. And what kind of grace did he give? He who was rich there in the glory, he humbled himself and came into this world finally to go to the cross and suffer for your sins and mine. Oh, hallelujah, what a savior. And so, when he says, "My grace is sufficient for thee," we need to take that in heart to heart. You might have been praying for something, praying for something for a long time that God would change something. Don't give up. Don't give up. Just understand that you've endured what you have because the grace of the Lord is abundantly sufficient.

And then he says, "For my strength is made perfect in weakness." Well, of course, when you have a thorn and, and things are difficult, you feel your weakness. That's the whole point. Is God want, you know, we were made from dirt. Why did God make us from dirt? So that we would understand that all we are is dust. Dust thou art, dust thou shalt return. So, we won't think highly of ourselves. He didn't make us out of gold or diamonds, made us out of dirt. And so, he says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." And how important it is for you tonight to confess, "Lord Jesus, I cannot do this. I've been struggling on my own. I've been trying to get free of this situation in my life, of this bodily affliction. I just want to trust in thee. Whatever your will is, I will endure it." I had a friend years ago and he suffered terribly a skin disease. He went to the New York Skin Institute and they couldn't figure out what it was and he was in Bible school when this came up on him and he would scratch himself and just terribly go out in the snow at night just to dull the pain that he experienced. But finally, after some number of years, he prayed this prayer similar to what Paul said. He said, "Lord, if you want me to suffer, then allow me to suffer in a way that will glorify you." And you know, his own testimony is, is that after he prayed that prayer, not immediately, but he began to get healed. He was never completely healed, but it was a far, far cry from what he had experienced. The Lord heard his prayer and the Lord's grace had sustained him and continued to sustain him and he discovered that in weakness, that was the lesson that the Lord wanted to teach him.

So, look at Paul goes on in verse 9. This, if you were sitting on a, or laying on a psychiatrist's couch, they would really think you were, uh, something was wrong with you if you told them this. "Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, in my weaknesses." Well, Paul had a lot. He had a lot of issues that he always was facing. We read about him earlier. And so, he says, "Why does he, he glory in infirmities? That the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake." Now, I want to emphasize Christ's sake. Because, you know, we go through a lot of things. Sometimes we've caused our own problems, you know, we have to sleep in the bed that we made for ourselves. But this is because Paul was standing for Christ. So, if we're going to go through problems in this world, and we are, why not live for Christ and let those problems be because we're living for him. He says, "I receive all these things for Christ's sake, that when I am weak, then am I strong."

Now, I just want to finish with verse 11. "I am become a fool in glory. Ye have compelled me." Remember, he's trying to defend his apostleship. "For I ought to have been commended of you, for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest of apostles." Now, listen. He says, "I, I'm not behind any of the chiefest of the apostles." Now, listen what he says. "Though I be nothing." Wow. Have you ever thought about that, my friend? We're nothing. Christ is everything. We don't deserve a blessing. We deserve judgment and damnation. But by the grace of God, Paul said, "I am what I am." And if you're a believer tonight in Christ, and every believer is in Christ, it's by the grace of God you are what you are. Stand up and live for Christ. Honor him with your life. No matter what the cost is, his grace is more than sufficient. Amen.

Let's pray. Our God, our Father, thank you so. We praise thee, uh, for these deep spiritual lessons that you showed the Apostle Paul, and through his life we see them as well. Uh, if anyone is going through something tonight, may they remember that your grace is sufficient. Uh, maybe they're praying that you will change the circumstances. Uh, but, uh, what you want, as we saw with Paul, is to change us in our circumstances. May it be so, blessed Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.