God's Grace Sustains Us! Series

God’s Grace Sustains Us!

2 Corinthians 12:1-10, 4:8-12; Philippians 1:27; Romans 8:37; 2 Kings 18-20

How hard is it to say YES to the Lord when He asks you to serve in His kingdom? While we would like to say that with the bravery of Moses at the Red Sea, David in front of Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s den, and Apostle Paul in prison; we would put on the armor of God and fiercely stand firm in our faith to do what God asks; the truth is that doubt and a litany of excuses would likely be our response. While certainly the perseverance of Moses to free the children of Israel, Joseph to do what was right in God’s sight despite his dire circumstances, Josiah desire to purify the land and the temple of Israel, or Paul’s perseverance to run the race to win the crowns of righteousness can spur us on towards becoming more like Jesus; their witness is often used as an excuse for whom amongst us could ever attain their “superior” attitudes or service? Though it is through the crucible of fiery affliction that our faith is best tested and refined, is it not easier in the valleys of tribulations to see ourselves as mere jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7) who are weak due to the physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties; rather than redeemed and strengthened masterpieces of God’s grace? And even if we believed Jesus granted us the ability to turn water into wine, drive out evil spirits, heal the blind, deaf, paralyzed, and feed the masses; if God told us the only way to successfully serve in His kingdom was with a debilitating thorn of daily misery and pain would we truly be willing to accept such an offer and if so how could us “weaklings” ever survive? The following sermon is going to show how God uses the “fire” in our lives to refine and enable the weak to shame the strong. To accomplish great things in God’s kingdom does not require human ability but faith in divine strength! Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 to see how Apostle Paul was able to overcome his weaknesses.

Thorn in the Flesh

When we think of a person of faith who has done great things in Jesus’ name we often think of Apostle Paul! He was circumcised as the Mosaic Law demanded (Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 121:3), a descended of the Benjamin, who was the only son of Rachel and Jacob born in the Promised Land (Genesis 35:16-18), he was a Hebrew of Hebrews for unlike the Diaspora Jews who only knew Greek, Paul also knew the “native language of first-century Judaism,” Aramaic, and Hebrews as well, while he initially belonged to a Jewish sect, the Pharisees and was advancing in Judaism beyond many of his own age (Galatians 1:13-14), he repented of his sins of persecuting Christ and the church and ended up inspired by the Holy Spirit to write about half of the New Testament! Instead of making money out of his revelatory experience like the super-apostles had Paul boasts of how God kept him from becoming conceited by giving him a thorn or a messenger from Satan to torment him. Suggestions for what Paul’s thorn might have been fall into three categories: psychological anxiety over Israel’s suborn disbelief, Jewish persecution, or some form of reoccurring physical malady such as weak eyesight, a stammering tongue, reoccurring earache, malaria, migraine headaches or epilepsy. While no one can know for certain what was Paul’s thorn, what can be known is that despite having prayed three times to have it removed God ‘s response was no because “when he was weak, then Christ, by His strength, would make Paul spiritually strong.” While the super-apostles saw his thorn as an impediment to ministry success, Paul boasts that it was a gift from God for it was precisely in his trial and infirmities that God’s power was best seen and glorified!

Let’s look just at three lessons we can learn from Paul’s response to affliction.

Thorns Remind us of our Need for Grace!

If only we could see ourselves through God’s eyes, then conceit and a sense of entitlement would no longer plague the church! While Paul’s thorn was far from pleasant, he admits that it was beneficial because it kept him humble! God opposes the proud (James 4:6), especially amongst those inside of His Son’s church that think too highly of their accomplishments (Ephesians 1:22-23), because in their pride they do not value the interdependency of all members of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) nor does their ministry goals point to God the Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16)! The inescapable truth is that the abilities that we have received to do miracles in Jesus’ name have only been granted to us by the Holy Spirit upon our conversion. While natural ability can be used to accomplish much to impress those around us, without the armor of God (Ephesians 6) and serving with the mind of Christ for His pleasure and will; the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms can easily keep the fallen, the often complacent and especially the arrogant from living lives worthy of the Gospel message (Philippians 1:27)! If God thought Paul needed a thorn to keep him from becoming conceited and chaos reigning in his life how much more do, we need one as well? Perseverance of trials and tribulations is not only the key to spiritual maturity (James 1:2-3) but also the key to seeing the power of God demonstrated in one’s life!