WHAT’S YOUR THORN?
AIM: To show the congregation that God’s power is shown in our weakness.
OPEN:
a) Good morning and Welcome
b) Something Relevant
c) My suffering, my weaknesses.
d) Introduce topic
• What’s God’s purpose for you life? Have you ever wondered about that? I’m not referring to questions like, what career should you follow? Or whom should you marry? Or How many kids should you have? I’m talking about the big picture- what is God’s overriding goal, His primary purpose, for the lives of His people? What is He at work doing, fight now, in you life and mine? What is He trying to accomplish? Now to many people, that might seem like a nonsensical question, or at least one with a very obvious answer. “God wants to make us happy”, they would say. “ God wants to make our lives pleasant and fulfilling. He wants to provide for our needs, and take away our pain and sorrow. He wants to make our path smooth, and give us the good things we desire.” They aren’t talking about a thorn, they are talking about a throne.
OUTLINE:
1. Misconceptions about thorns
2. Paul Understands
3. Trusting His Promise
1. MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THORNS…
a) I often wonder why it is that people think like that? Why they think things like, ”God wants to make me happy”!
b) Unfortunately we live in a world that is teaching us to be these kind of people. Our culture promotes that idea.
c) Advertising is constantly telling people, “you deserve this”. McDonald’s used to have the slogan, “you deserve a break today”. I always wondered how they knew that. They’ve never met me. How do they know what I deserve today…maybe I deserve a good swift kick in the pants! They don’t know.
d) But whether it’s food, or cars, or jewelry, or anything else, the consistent message is “you have the right to own this. You’re entitled to possess this.”
e) For example, if you look over the news paper ads for father’s day, you’ll see this…not just “show dad how much you appreciate him this father’s day by buying this skil saw for him.” But “Doesn’t your dad deserve this rachet set?”
f) Why is this message so effective? Because it breaks down the sales resistance. It’s no longer an issue of whether I can afford the product, or whether it is the best use of our money, or even if I really want it. Instead, it’s simply an entitlement. I deserve the new Toyota Matrix so I will do everything within my power to get it, even if it means taking on too much debt.
g) HELLO!!! We live in a world of instant self-gratification…and unfortunately that idea has escaped into the church.
h) Some churches even promote this attitude…they teach that “you deserve to be healthy and wealthy, and free of pain, and if you come to our church, we’ll tell you how.”
i) But fundamentally, this attitude comes, not from advertisers or culture, it come from within us. We have expectations of the kind of life we are going to have. The kind of life that we feel we are entitled to, and so when things don’t the way we expect (which of course, they never do), we feel betrayed, that somehow God has let us down.
j) You see, many people have made an implicit bargain with God – “God, I’ll believe in you, and come to church on Sunday, and put my two cents into the basket, and try to lead a good life. And in exchange, you’ll make sure that things go smoothly for me. You’ll see to it that nothing really bad happens, and that I’m able to enjoy at least a comfortable middle class existence. Because That is what I deserve as a faithful, obedient Christian.”
k) It’s no wonder why so many people don’t want to be Christians! They’ve set themselves up for disappointment.
l) Let me tell you a secret. God’s primary purpose for you in this life is not to make you happy, but to make you holy. And since He is sovereign over everything, that means that everything in your life – your job, your marriage, your family, your church – everything in your life is designed to accomplish that goal.
m) Don’t misunderstand me, God is not opposed to us being happy, but He wants our happiness to come from knowing Him. He wants us to experience peace and Joy in His presence. These are things that go deeper than happiness, and will not be found in our ideal about what we deserve.
n) The most loving thing that God can do for us is give us what is best for us. And we need to trust that He knows what is best better than what we do.
SCRIPTURES:
a) Take for example, the apostle Paul. He was a godly man, faithful and obedient to God, yet his life was full of turmoil, and conflict, and back breaking labor, and persecution.
b) 2 Cor. 11:23-27 says “Are they servants of Christ?--I speak as if insane--I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine {lashes.} Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep {I have been} on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from {my} countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; {I have been} on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from {my} countrymen. dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, “
c) now I ask you, what did Paul do wrong? Had he sinned? Did he make some kind of mistake to deserve this kind of treatment. After all, wasn’t Paul an apostle? Maybe He made the wrong career move? NO!
d) These things happened to Paul, not because he was out of God’s will, but because he was in it.
e) They happened to Paul in order to Mold his character, to make him more and more holy.
APPLICATION:
We cannot be deceived, not by the world, not by our ideals. If you live a life for Christ it isn’t going to be a cake walk. It is going to find very difficult times. We will experience trials, and hardships, just like every other person on earth. But we cannot believe the misconception of the world, that you deserve. The truth of the matter is, we are blessed to not get what we deserve. God’s whole purpose for each of us is to make us Holy. That is, he is going to keep us Humble. We are not guaranteed happiness the moment we put on Christ through the waters of baptism. Life is always going to have it’s hardships. Paul understands this…He knows all about suffering, and we too can learn from Paul.
2. PAUL UNDERSTANDS…
a) We’ve just read about the hardships of Paul.
b) How through his life as a Christian he experienced everything from beatings, and was in shipwrecks, How he lived in constant danger of the people around him.
c) Paul went through a ton of hardship, yet he Held on tightly to Jesus.
d) Most people in His shoes would have backed away from God. But Paul didn’t,
e) He didn’t because He understands…
SCRIPTURES:
a) 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
b) what a fantastic passage…though a hard one. Paul was given revelations from God, and he was afraid that it would go to his head…some translations say conceited.
c) But he was given a thorn in the flesh to torment him. He says that it was a messenger of Satan…but this messenger had a purpose for good. To keep Paul humble.
d) But what was the thorn???
THE THORN IN THE FLESH
Like the visions themselves, the thorn in the flesh is little more than a hint, revealed in terms of tantalizing brevity, and described by enigmatical allusions which have puzzled people for centuries. The thorn has been speculatively identified as follows:
Tertullian thought it was a headache. F16
Klausner believed it was epilepsy. F17
Ramsay identified it as recurrent malarial fever. F18
Chrysostom said it was "all the adversaries of the Word. F19
John Calvin made it "fleshly temptation." F20
Martin Luther considered it "spiritual temptation." F21
John Knox decided it was "infirmities of the mind." F22
Catholic commentators generally say "lustful thoughts." F23
McGarvey: "acute, disfiguring ophthalmia." F24
Macknight spoke of some who believed it was "the false teachers." F25
Lightfoot suggested "blasphemous thoughts of the devil." F26
Alexander was sure it was "Malta fever." F27 Etc., etc.
e) It would seem rash to some to venture an opinion in the face of such a mountain of scholarly disagreement; but this writer would like to get in his two cents worth also.
f) Whatever the thorn was in Paul, it was considered by him as a weakness. It took away from his ability. It was the thing that made him imperfect as an otherwise perfect person.
g) It could have been physical, it could have been spiritual, or it could have been both.
h) Whatever the case, it was a thorn. I like that word…it’s the old word used for splinter or stake.
EXAMPLE:
a) Have you ever had a splinter? They are the most annoying things. You can’t seem to get it out, and every time you rub your hand against something you are sharply reminded that it’s there. Then, if you don’t remove it, it becomes infected, and swells.
b) What was once a simple litter splinter has become a huge irritation.
c) Paul was experiencing that same irritation. It may have been a physical burden pressing against his spiritual life, but who knows. Whatever it was, it was chaffing him, it was under his skin, it was bothering him to no end. And no matter how much he picked at it, he could not get it out.
d) Any ordinary person would have been absolutely devastated by the hardships Paul went through, but Paul was not. He knew that there was more to it than just the devil sending a messenger.
SCRIPTURES:
a) That’s the next thing he says…he calls his thorn a messenger from the Devil.
b) This brings up an interesting question…if something bad is happening to us, if we become sick or have some kind of weakness, do we blame this on the Devil???
c) Is the devil responsible for all of the sickness in the world?
d) Paul seemed to think that his thorn was from satan. Perhaps our thorns today are from Satan as well.
e) Here’s what we do know, When we become sick or something bad happens, or we are seized by temptation, or pressured by the world, our faith tends to waiver does it not?
f) Is that not the work of the devil? Does he not want us to fall away from the faith? But what I love here, is that God uses the Devil for His own good.
g) Perhaps it is Satan who works the bad things in our lives, but we cannot blame every illness, and ailment on Satan, after all we are flesh, we are physical. And the physical perishes. It doesn’t last forever.
h) Our nature alone calls for times of sickness. But even if it is Satan trying to tear us away from God, it has it’s purpose.
i) For Paul it was to keep him from exalting himself. To discourage and conceit.
EXAMPLE:
Sometimes as Christians we have these mountain peak experiences. Times where we feel that our faith is strong, that we are sure of our love for God, and His love for us, that we are victorious, and strong. There are times where we feel as though nothing can tear us away from the love of God. Times when we feel closer to God than we’ve ever felt. Unfortunately, those times don’t last, we wish they would, but they don’t. The reason is that we would become arrogant, and conceited. We would begin to think that we are perfect. We would become self-righteous, thinking that we deserve this. But then comes the adversity. We get sick, or the world floods back into our lives. We experience hardship, and trials. Overwhelming feelings of despair. We long for that mountain again. Paul Prayed 3 times that his thorn would be taken from him, and God answered saying “ NO” I will not take away your thorn… My grace is sufficient for you… you need to know that you still need my grace, that you will never be perfect while in the flesh. In fact, that is why you have this thorn, to show you the power of my grace. It is made perfect in your weakness. When you are weak, when you have trials, when the ailments of life tear you down, you need me, and my grace shines. That is why I will not take away your thorn Paul.
APPLICATION:
Paul Understands that life is always going to have it’s hardships. He experienced them first hand. He had a thorn in the flesh, something that created a weakness in him. And that thorn was there to keep him humble, to show that the power of God’s grace is sufficient. And we too can know that no matter what the devil throws at us, no matter what kind of torment he puts us through, God works there. God’s grace is sufficient for us also. God’s powerful grace is perfected in our weaknesses. We need God more than anything, we need his grace to reach into our ill souls. We need him to rejuvenate us, and revive our hearts. That isn’t to say that we can never have a mountain top experience, because we do and we will, but it’s to say that the majority of the time will be spent on the ground with the rest of creation. But we must long for the mountain, we must trust in the grace of God, because we need it.
3. WHEN I AM WEAK…THEN I AM STRONG
a) It’s hard for us to see the strength in our weaknesses. It’s difficult for us to know that God is still at work in us even when we are taken down.
b) But it’s important that we trust God…that what He is doing is for our own good.
c) Remember it’s not God’s intention to make us happy, it’s his purpose to make us holy.
d) And we will have weaknesses that make us holy.
e) All too often we get down about our weaknesses, we feel guilty, or angry, or we lose our faith. But we must…must rejoice in our weaknesses.
SCRIPTURES:
a) 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10 Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong
b) Paul makes it clear that He isn’t going to boast about his mountain top experiences, but that he is going to brag more about his weaknesses.
c) He says this because he knows that it is in his weaknesses that God’s power is shown.
d) Today, the power of Christ dwells in us through his grace, not through our victories.
e) Paul says, therefore I am well content with weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties. Because he knows that in his weakness lies God’s strength, and it is through that strength that we get strength.
EXAMPLE:
Let’s look at it from another perspective. As people were coming to God in Paul’s day, they were coming from all kinds of backgrounds. And one of the questions they had was whether Christianity required a change of occupation, or a change in their life situation. Here’s Paul’s answer. Well, then, what about a difficult and oppressive situation? What about slavery? Should a slave who becomes a Christian leave his master in order to follow Christ more freely? Of course, we don’t have slavery today, but the principle is still relevant. 1 Cor. 7:20-21 says Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you – although if you can gain your freedom then do so. If you can gain your freedom, go ahead. But if you can’t, it’s no big deal. WHY EVER NOT? The answer is simple, circumstances are not the issue. They don’t determine whether you experience peace or joy or contentment. They can’t prevent you from know God and following Him.
APPLICATION:
So if you’re angry at God because things haven’t worked out the way you hoped, you don’t need to change your circumstances, you need to change your heart. You need to find joy, and happiness and contentment in your weaknesses. You need to trust that God’s looking after you, you can’t always choose your circumstances, but you can choose your attitude.
CONCLUSION:
What is your thorn? What person, or situation, or illness is chafing against you? Listen to me. Those hardships are there in your life because God is working in your life. Not to make you miserable, not to tear you away from God, but to help you grow closer to Him. To help you experience the power of His grace in your weaknesses. That trial, that suffering is a part of His plan for you. His good, and wise, and perfect plan. It’s not a deviation from the plan; itn’s not less than the ideal. Whatever you may think of it, from God’s perspective, it is the ideal, because it’s exactly what He knows that you need. And if you will submit to God; if you will stop resisting His will, and just trust and obey Him in the midst of that situation, then He will use it to bless you; to bring you peace, and joy, and contentment. To help you climb that mountain. And through it, you will ino only come to know Jesus more deeply, but you will become more holy. That is what we need to be striving for in our weaknesses, God’s Strength.
