A Thorn in the Flesh
Pray.
Before we start, I have to ask if you heard about the dyslexic Satanist? He sold His soul to Santa.
don't think about that too long, I just wanted to get your mind working here this morning, Now,
This morning I want to show you through God's Word, just how important you are to Him.
Now, if you've been here at least one time, you've heard me say that Jesus died for your sins. And that is
certainly the greatest demonstration of love ever performed on this planet and certainly the most love anyone
ever demonstrated towards you in your life.
But this morning I want to talk about God's love beyond sending Jesus. I want to show you that God loves
You so much, He cares about you so much, that He would actually hinder His own agenda for your sake.
I want you to open your Bible's to 2 Corinthians 12 and look at verse 7 with me.
This one verse illustrates how much God loved Paul. God literally sent someone into Paul's life to keep
Paul reliant on Him. Many people will say this was God's way of keeping Paul humble, but I don't believe that.
I don't believe Paul ever thought of himself as anything special. God needed Paul to keep leanning and trusting
on Him fully. It was about keeping Paul close to Him. God wanted Paul right by His side and He wants you there
as well. Because God knows, as King David said, We are all prone to wander astray.
Notice in this verse, Paul says, I have been given a thorn in my flesh. Obviously this is a figurative speech,
obviously Paul did not have a thorn stuck in his hand. In the OT thorns always represented unsaved people.
And Paul very clearly says, my thorn in my flesh is a messenger of Satan.
God allowed false teachers into the churches that Paul Started. God allowed Paul to battle these false
teachers on a daily basis. For every true and Good word that Paul spoke concerning Jesus and Salvation,
The thorn in his flesh, the messenger of Satan, Some False Prophet spoke 2 lies.
Someone was always there battling Paul as he preached and taught "THE TRUTH" about Jesus Christ.
Why? As I said earlier, Why would God allow this to happen? Why would God allow all of this friction in
Paul's life? IF God would remove these false teachers, More people would accept the truth of Paul's teachings,
and God's kingdom would increase.
BUT God allowed this friction in Paul's life for one reason and one reason only. God loved Paul so much, that he
left that strugle in his life to keep Paul close to Him.
There have been many times in my life that I have asked The Lord, why are you allowing this to happen in my
life? or Why are you allowing this battle in my life? Please just remove it.
But I've learned and what you must learn is this, if you're a child of God, You have a job to do for Him down here.
And God's not looking for spoiled brats, He's in need of Christian Soldiers. And always keep in mind, Your ways
and God's ways will not often times line up. Meaning, if it were up to us, every day would be smooth sailing.
But God's trainning you for something much bigger. Take our US military. What is the first thing they do with
their new recruits. Do they send them off to some beach resort in Hawaii and tell them to relax? Of course not,
they send them off to Boot Camp where they receive months of hard trainning. Trainning that one day could save
their life or the life of another. Child of God, God is trainning you for something bigger than where you are right now.
God was teaching Paul about provision. God was teaching Paul about Grace and Mercy.
Let me tell you something, I can teach you about God's provision and God's Grace and Mercy but until you truly
Experience it, You'll never understand it.
You may have something or someone in your life that you would call a thorn in your flesh.
It could be a person that keeps trying to force some false religion on you. It could be some type of addiction.
It could be a health issue. Something in your life that simply wears you down. It beats you up and you're tired,
you're exhausted and you just wonder , WHY GOD?
And all the while, He's saying to you, because I love you. I need you to recognize the need you have in your life.
I need you to ultimately recognize Me and then put all your faith and trust in Me !!
The thorn in Paul's flesh kept his eyes focused on Jesus. Everytime this messenger of Satan buffeted him, he
realized God was his power, God was his strength. That word buffeted there means to continually beat, like waves
crashing on the coast line. A relentless attack that did not stop.
I want you to mark this spot and flip your Bible's over to 2 Timothy 4:14-17. Read vs. 14
Now, I don't know if this is THE thorn in the flesh, but he is certainly one of them. Alexander the Coppersmith.
This text clearly explains what I am speaking about.
read vs. 15-17
vs. 15 we see this man spoke against the truth of God's words. He was a false teacher. Paul battled this man.
vs. 16 Paul spoke the truth against this man's lies. And notice, everyone abondened Him,
The truth wasn't popular back then either, not much has changed,
Every one forsook Paul as He battles this thorn in his flesh, this messenger of Satan , except in vs 17,
Except for The Lord, Paul said, he stood with me. Not only did Jesus stand with him, He strengthened Him and then
Jesus delivered him from the mouth of the lion, meaning the jaws of Satan.
At that moment of battle, Where God's truth collided with Satan's lies, Paul had nobody else to rely on, everyone
left him, EXCEPT GOD. And that strengthened Paul and it encouraged Paul to keep pressing forward towards that
mark of the high calling which is Christ Jesus.
Now does that mean, YOU and I should like these problems in our lives? Should we be praying to God to fill
our flesh with all sorts of thorns? No , it doesn't.
Paul didn't. look back at 2 Corinthians 12:8.
Paul asked God 3 different times to remove this battle from his life. I'm sure Paul said, listen Lord, I get it,
I need to rely on you, now go ahead and kill these people. Remove these ones like Alexander the Coppersmith,
that continually damage the work that I'm trying to do. I'm sure Paul questioned God and said, you know, if you
remove all of these False Teachers, I could certainly get more accomplished for You.
But God is perfect. He knew how much Paul could stand, and He knows how much you can stand as well.
Now remember , I said God allowed this in Paul's life to keep him in His will. Now we just read that Paul asked
God three times to remove that thorn from his flesh. In the Bible , the number 3 is the Number of God's will and
purpose., just as the number 7 is God's number of completion and the number 4 is the number of God's testing.
And God's response in vs. 9 is simply this, To Paul and you sitting here this morning, MY GRACE IS
SUFFICIENT FOR THEE, FOR MY STRENTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS.
God told Paul here, Listen, I know that your "thorn in the flesh" all these false teachers that you battle wear you
down. I know that you are physically and mentally drained. But by MY GRACE, which will always be enough for
you in your life, no matter what you are going through, no matter what you are battling, I will give you MY power
to endure the fight.
See, God needs us weak to display His power. We need adversity in our lives. It keeps us dependent on God.
God was very capable of removing that thorn from Paul's flesh. God is very capable of removing your thorn out
of your flesh, And whether He decides to do it or not, is totally up to Him, but understand this, if He chooses not to,
just like He did here with Paul, it's for a reason, And that reason is because God loves you enough to train you for
your future battles. Something is coming in your future that maybe you couldn't handle right now. And God knows
the future, so Thank HIM for preparing you for that coming day and thank Him for His Grace and Mercy as He deals
with you.
I'm sure everyone going through Boot Camp right now is not thanking their Drill Seargent , But in the future, when
that trainning saves their life on the battle field, they certainly would be thankful for that trainning.
How About you? Maybe you could give a testimony of such an event in your life, where you endured something
only because God had First Prepared you for it. Or maybe you're going through something right now, And I hope
this message helps you understand why God allows things into your life. It's not because God loves to see His
children suffer, It's because He loves us enough to Train us to live in this world.
Rely on Him, Trust in Him and Love God with all your heart. And fully understand God has your best interest
at heart if you're His child and especially if you are living according to His Holy Word. God never promised us
an easy road, but what He does promise is to walk next to Us.
Let's pray.
Maybe you're here this morning and something just seems to battle you every day. Only you know what it is,
Pray a simple prayer something like this, God please remove this
____________________, You fill in the blank, in my life, BUT if you choose not to, Lord give me your Grace
and Your Strength to Endure, Amen.
Continue to pray.
