2 CORINTHIANS SERIES
THE. WORST. VERSE.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-21
2corandmore
PERSON FROM CONGREGATION READS 2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-21 (ESV)
I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong! 14 Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? 19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. 20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
INTRODUCTION… REVIEW OF 2 CORINTHIANS
I really don’t want to preach this sermon. When I tell you I don’t want to preach this sermon, I thought about changing it last night and going back to a previous passage; saying that we had to cover it instead of 2 Corinthians 12. We could go back to…
… 2 Corinthians 1:20 and discover that every promise God has ever made becomes a resounding “Yes!” in Jesus Christ. That is powerful! We often forget that Jesus is the answer to any and every question, struggle, or issue we ever have. “Yes! in Jesus Christ!”
… 2 Corinthians 2:15 to talk about what it means to be the aroma of Christ. In January of 2001, I preached a sermon about that and I could have dug it out and repurposed it for us. Cause yes, I’ve been preaching for a long time.
… 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 to wrestle with hardened hearts and how the Lord works in our lives to break through that hardness and soften our hearts by His Spirit.
… 2 Corinthians 4:6 to encourage you to let your “light shine out of darkness” which surely would have ended up in Matthew 5:13-16 where Jesus commands us to be “salt” and “light” which is a message all about evangelism. I could have also done the “jars of clay” verse (4:7) and played the band in the background as I preached.
… 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 which talks all about being clothed with Christ and how the Holy Spirit is a guarantee for us. We are not naked in the world, but wear Jesus.
… 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 which is all about salvation in the midst of hardships. A preacher can never go wrong talking about hardships and how the Lord meets the brokenhearted in every calamity and trial.
… 2 Corinthians 7:5-8 covering how Titus brought comfort to the Corinthians and to the Apostle Paul highlighting the need we have for Christ-centered community. I would have highlighted the need for us to be in Sunday School and D-Groups or some kind of small group where we can be anchored with other people in faith. That would have been good.
… 2 Corinthians 8 still would be about being generous, but I could hit that again because everybody knows that preachers only talk about sin and money and who am I to buck the system?
… 2 Corinthians 9 still would be about being generous, but I could hit that again because everybody knows that preachers only talk about sin and money and who am I to buck the system?
… 2 Corinthians 10 is definitely a do-over because in 2 Corinthians 10 there is the “every thought captive” verse (10:5) which I did not cover. That is a whole sermon series all by itself and I didn’t even touch it. I should make up on the lost opportunity.
… 2 Corinthians 11 was just last week so clearly we should go back looking at verses 21-33 about how suffering is part of the Christian life which God uses to refine our faith culminating in the book of James, chapter 1, which would encourage you. Boom. Solid encouraging sermon.
But. No. we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 which has the worst Bible verse in it.
INTRODUCTION… WORST VERSES IN THE BIBLE… walkingwithgiants.net/uncategoriz ed/the-ten-worst-verses-of-the-bible [adapted]
You might disagree with me that 2 Corinthians 12 has the worst verse in the Bible. The Bible is full of verses that we read and ponder that shake us. There are plenty of candidates for the worst verse in the Bible actually:
1 Timothy 2:12 says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (ESV). That’s up there for 49.7% of human beings.
1 Samuel 15:3 was definitely unpopular with King Saul because he directly disobeyed it: “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”
Wiccans don’t like Exodus 22:18 for obvious reasons.
Anytime Psalm 137:9 is taken out of context it clearly becomes the worst verse: “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (ESV). Worst ever.
Anyone with same sex attraction puts Romans 1:27 at the top of all the lists.
We definitely don’t like Judges 11 where Jephthah vows in verses 30-31 (ESV): “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” Then his daughter comes out to meet him. The hard part is the passage ends in an ambiguous way and we don’t actually know what happens. Prime candidate there for the worst passage in the Bible.
Ephesians 5:22 says, and I quote from the inerrant Word of the God of the Universe, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,” (ESV) which is on the list for 64% of 49.7% of the world’s population.
There are definitely hard verses of the Bible that when taken out of context or not fully studied properly can be put on a list of verses that we don’t understand and make us back away from God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, or Church. There are hard verses in the Bible that are the worst. Those don’t even compare to 2 Corinthians 12:9. Not even close.
NEGATIVE VIEW OF 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9
2 Corinthians 12:9 is in my opinion, and you get my opinion because I’m the one preaching, is the worst verse in all of Scripture. What does the verse even say?
RE-READ 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (ESV)
“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
This half verse is often plucked out of the Bible or stitched on a straightjacket or posted on a person’s social media feed to be a comfort for a person in pain. And yet, the verse, depending on our emotional or spiritual state, can feel not helpful or even frustrating.
First, the verse feels like it is minimizing pain or whatever we are going through. When we are deeply hurting or depressed or feeling like we are marching uphill in life, hearing “God’s grace is sufficient for thee” can feel like someone is saying, “Just be content and stop feeling bad.” It those moments of struggle, grief, and stress, it can feel like our pain doesn’t matter. We don’t matter.
Second, it is hard I think to feel grace or to talk about grace when we are overwhelmed in suffering or guilt or have a loud inner critic. The Apostle Paul wrote this after years of walking with God, through deep suffering, which is completely true, but I don’t know that his acceptance of the grace was automatic. When we are in the middle of pain or are emotionally raw or spiritually dry or physically hurting… it is not easy to sense grace. It can feel hollow. We feel unheard.
Third, this verse is not at all about instant relief or any kind of relief at all… which is the most frustrating part about it. This verse is about long-term trust which is not a topic any of us want to consider. The Apostle Paul had an issue that did not go away. It never went away. God never fixed it. Not even a little. God didn’t heal. God didn’t give a breakthrough. A chosen Apostle of Jesus Christ had an issue that All-Powerful God never fixed. We have issues with that. I have issues with that! I have issues with that because when I hurt I expect Him to fix it!
Fourth, the verse assumes a certain level of faith and maturity on the part of Paul. Again, Paul wrote this after years of walking with God the Father by way of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul could accept pain and weakness because he had a time-tested relationship with Christ in which grace reframed what he endured. If someone hasn’t yet reached that depth of faith, this verse can sound like an impossible standard. It basically says, “You should be okay with suffering because God’s grace should enough for thee.”
Fifth, oh yes, there is a fifth, the worst verse in the Bible deserves a fifth, fifth, the verse shares absolute truth, needed truth, but is often shared without tenderness and delivered poorly. I only half agree with this. The verse is terrible however it is read. When we share this verse too quickly with someone, without listening, or having empathy and compassion or without knowing them, it becomes a statement on a T-shirt and not anything that is helpful. Truth offered without love can wound rather than heal.
Don’t judge
Turn the other cheek
Forgive as you’ve been forgiven
Be last
Serve others
Humble yourself
Die to yourself
Carry your cross
Love your enemies
Truth offered without love can wound rather than heal.
TRANSITION
2 Corinthians 12:9 is in my opinion is the worst verse in all of Scripture.
And yet… the Apostle Paul says elsewhere…
READ 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 (ESV)
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
And yet the Apostle Peter says about Paul…
READ 2 PETER 3:14-18 (ESV)
“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”
What do these verses mean? They mean that every single verse in the Bible is not the word of human beings only, but the Spirit-breathed Word of the Almighty and we who are believers should take note. Such words will teach us, move us, correct us, and encourage us towards our relationship with God. It means the Apostle Peter knew in his lifetime that the words the Apostle Paul was writing were Holy Scripture. It means understanding the Truth of the Bible is wisdom, encourages our stability mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and helps us grow in grace.
I couldn’t help but notice Peter’s words in 3:18, “grow in [the] grace.”
POSTIVIE VIEW OF 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9
2 Corinthians 12:9 has much wisdom, teaching, correction, and stability to give to us if we will just listen. Let’s listen to the whole context of 12:9 which is verses 7-10.
RE-READ 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 (ESV)
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
The Apostle Paul does not explain WHAT his “thorn in the flesh” is, but he does explain the HOW and WHY.
The “thorn” that Paul prayed over and over to be removed was something he termed “a messenger of Satan to harass” (verse 7). The HOW is that it was given to him in the flesh. This was not an accident, but rather he was given an illness, emotional struggle, or whatever physical obstacle on purpose. God allowed it. Satan used it. Paul had to endure it. That is the HOW.
The “thorn” that Paul prayed over and over to be removed was something he termed “weakness” (verses 9-10). The WHY is because the Apostle Paul was given great revelations from Jesus Christ and the “thorn” was given to keep him humble. Paul talks about this in two places. Once here in 2 Corinthians 12 and then again in Galatians 1…
RE-READ 2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-4 (ESV)
“Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
Paul is talking about himself without talking about himself and mentions the same type of revelation in Galatians 1…
READ GALATIANS 1:11-12 (ESV)
“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
It was because Jesus Christ taught Paul spiritual revelations in a very unique way that he was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble and away from pride (verse 7). Paul asked for his physical suffering, pain, and anguish to go away and basically God said “no.”
God said:
RE-READ 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (ESV)
“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
BUT, that is not the whole verse.
RE-READ 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (ESV)
“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
I’d like us to take note of the last 8 words of verse 9. They are quite important: “so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” That phrase “rest on” means literally “to pitch a tent” or “to dwell.” That may not seem like a big deal, except another passage in which this same word is used is quite significant. In John 1:14 we are told…
READ JOHN 1:14 (ESV)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The “dwelt among us” in John 1:14 is the same as “rest on me” in 2 Corinthians 12:9. The Apostle Paul is saying that when he learned to stop pretending that he had it all together, when he admitted that he had weakness, that was when Christ came and set up His tent over him.
* Paul had to surrender to Jesus Christ all the parts of himself in order to be filled by God.
* Paul had to accept that he wasn’t perfect in order to fully trust in Jesus Christ.
* Paul had to confess His need for God in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The key part of this is that the presence of Christ was not and is not temporary. Both John 1:14 and 2 Corinthians 12:9 share with us that the dwelling and presence of Jesus is permanent. He dwells with us. He rests with us. The action is a permanent action. I personally find that interesting and comforting.
1 Corinthians 12:9 shares with us that in the midst of “thorns,” “harassment from Satan,” weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities that the presence of Christ in our lives is a permanent state of grace. Sufficient does not mean that everything is unicorns and rainbows but does mean that we will never be abandoned.
Jesus Christ agrees with Paul when He said:
READ JOHN 14:18 (ESV)
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
1 Corinthians 12:9 shares with us that in the midst of “thorns,” “harassment from Satan,” weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities that it is in the admitting of our weakness that God begins to do His greatest work. The biggest impediment to God’s work in our lives is us! We get in the way. Our pride and selfishness gets in the way of listening to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work His good in us. Sufficient means that God’s presence is with us to walk with us every step of the way. Sufficient means we sit in the palm of Christ.
Jesus Christ agrees with Paul when He said:
READ JOHN 10:28 (ESV)
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
CONCLUSION
I guess in the end, 2 Corinthians 12:9 isn’t all that bad.
BLESSING
May we go from this place not in our own strength, but in the strength of Christ Whose grace is more than enough. God’s grace is sufficient for us. When we feel weak, may we find that His power is made perfect. When we feel broken, may His mercy make us whole. When we cannot see the way forward, may His Spirit guide our steps. Christ’s power rests permanently upon us. So go now: in your weakness, carry His strength;
So go now: in your need, trust His grace;
So go now: in your life, show His glory.
Amen.
PRAYER
INVITATION
