1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. 3And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- 4was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. 5I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
How is life going, people? Are u having a good day or a bad day? Author Max Lucado shares the story of a parakeet named Chippie who had a very bad day. It began when the bird’s owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone.
In a panic she ripped open the vacuum bag. There was Chippie, covered in dirt and gasping for air. She carried him to the bathroom and rinsed him off under the faucet. Then, realizing that Chippie was cold and wet, she reached for the hair dryer! Chippie never knew what hit him.
His owner was asked a few days later how he was recovering. "Well", she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares."
I wonder if sometimes we just sit and stare at life as we look at life’s hardships. Have you ever felt like that? One minute you’re whistling through life, and the next you’re caught up in a whirlwind of stress. Life sucks you up into its vortex and just when you think you’ve recovered from one trouble another wind of adversity blows in your direction. My suspicion is – all of us can identify with Chippie. But something in us throbs… we want to sing again. We want our spirits to be free… we want our lives to soar beyond the natural into the supernatural…
Ask the millions who go Mecca, or the Ganges River in India, to Lourdes, France, and those who tune into soap operas on a daily basis, and millions who build their own altars of worship in their homes. Do they not want their lives to soar like the eagle? In Canada, they are stories of images of the virgin Mary appearing in the close to the Saskatchewan Nunavut border. People are drawn to such stories.
There are others such as German novelist and poet, Herman Hesse - "I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me" Sounds cool, but does it make sense? Like this story that Madame Chiang Kai-shek once told. It’s the story of a young Buddhist monk, who sat outside his temple two thousand years ago, hands clasped in prayer. He looked very pious and he chanted ’Amita Buddha’ all day. Day after day he intoned these words, believing that he was acquiring grace. One day the head priest of the temple sat next to him and began rubbing a piece of brick against a stone. Day after day he rubbed one against the other. This went on week after week until the young monk could no longer contain his curiosity, and he finally blurted out, "Father, what are you doing?" "I’m trying to make a mirror," said the head priest. "But that’s impossible!" said the young monk. "You can’t make a mirror from brick." "True," replied the head priest. "And it is just as impossible for you to acquire grace by doing nothing except chant ’Amita Buddha’ all day long." And sure we can sit all day listening to our blood whisper, but does it change anything?
Many are still trying to chant their way into a state of bliss. Is not all the world looking to acquire grace in trouble filled existence? How can we live a life that will set the spirit free? The cry for experiencing life beyond the natural beats in every human breast. Oprah.com speaks of embracing your spirit, fulfilling your dreams, truly living, to be the best you. And many are salivating and listening to her, as trouble upon trouble, tribulation upon tribulation, stress upon stress, fights upon fights, crash into the shores of their souls. Is there relief from a world that torments them? It seems we have a world that wants God to show up in some spectacular way!
How else could you explain this conduct of a 31-year-old Hollywood star who is now convicted of felonies of grand theft and vandalism when she walked out of the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue store 11 months ago with more than $5,500 worth of designer items? It seems having millions of dollars, fame and fortune, is not enough. How else could you explain the frenzy in Iran today where people there are going nuts over American products like KFC, Mc D, Coke and Barbie dolls in a place where America is called the “Great Satan”? It seems living in a land where you can be free of American consumerism is not enough! How else could you explain the crush of young people experimenting with the drug “ecstasy” at raves all over our land? It seems, living in a land where you can have freedom is not enough! Beneath all of these behaviors, are they not all looking for some way to get out of a mundane world that imprisons them. It seems it does not matter where you live on this globe, “everybody’s got a hungry heart” as Bruce Springsteen said - are they not all longing an out of the world experience, perhaps for God to show up?
Things don’t change much. For it was much the same in the days of Paul the apostle as he wrote 2 Corinthians. The people there are just like the people in our days, looking for signs of the miraculous, some divine movement, something to lift them up from their mundane life. Paul fears that people that he’s writing to have been “led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” The in thing that day was for ecstatic mystical experiences propagated by traveling evangelist/preachers. They were the best shows in town where the showy silky smooth talking “super apostles” were the star attraction ( 2 Cor.11:3-6). That was why in his first letter to them he Paul spent the majority of the time instructing them of the proper usage of the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit such as ability to speak in other tongues. So he reminds the people there in 2 Cor.11:14-15 that there are in danger of being hoodwinked or deceived by the masquerading secret agents of the Devil who could keep their emotions running high and which divert them to exalt their emotional experiences over the claims of Jesus Christ.
That’s why Paul wrote, “I must go on boasting” (v.1) which is not his style. It seems, the super apostles were boasting about their showy abilities and were strutting their stuff winning over many of the Christians. So he plays their game. He goes along with their boasting in order to challenge the super apostles and those who believe them. And then he informs them this “Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.” Nothing to be gained, did you get that?
For Paul, life is not defined by visions and revelations, the ecstatic out of the world stuff. Paul’s evaluation of such experiences is “there is nothing to be gained”. It is of no use.
Perhaps u have been wanting, longing for some supernaturally powerful demonstrations of God’s power. You are looking for some clear neon sign from heaven that would reveal a bit of heaven to you… Yet the writer of the above passage, Paul, his take on these super revelations is – “don’t go looking for it, it is not worth it.” See v.1, “there is nothing to be gained.”
True supernatural life comes not from powerful demonstrations of the miraculous. Remember the children of Israel, their experience of God’s miracles in Egypt did not help their faith in God to grow. In fact they complain like spoiled brats who has been given too much sugar, how come they are no more miracles, left us here in desert to die, nag, nag, yak yak…. They have become miracle junkies. They were not into God to love Him, to honor Him to serve Him. They want God to do the god thing, the god stuff, who cares about God and His dreams to bless the world through them. But God wants a relationship with them to be nation He has chosen to bless the world. He wants to develop their faith, and trust and love and joy in Him. Did all these experiences of the supernatural help at all? Hardly anyone could hear what God wants above their nag, nag, yak, yak….
Remember even Jesus’ disciples who experienced powerful miracles did not have the strength and fortitude to live for God. They all left Him to die when He would not use His power to come down from the cross. They thought it was a lost cause!
The same goes for Paul. Fourteen years have passed since the revelation and vision of being caught up in paradise, perhaps he too has learned the lesson… Nothing to be gained! Perhaps that’s why he never mentioned it earlier until now to fend off the boastings of the super apostles, the opponents of Paul.
Do you want a supernaturally enabled life? Then the place all of us need to examine is this definitely not how many times you have encountered the supernatural, but as Paul explained in our text “the thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan” i.e. your weaknesses. You see, Satan intended to harm Paul. But God, who has ultimate control over any given situation, intended it for Paul’s good. We have the saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It seems God is giving the ounce of prevention, in order to prevent Paul from becoming arrogant. God used the thorn that Satan fashioned and turned it around, transforming what was harmful, troublesome, an area weakness, into a place where Paul depended on nothing but God’s strength to pull him through.
Perhaps the greatest reason for your specific weakness is also, like Paul, to keep you from being conceited, so that you are defined by one word: GRACE. I wonder if God’s telling you the same, you’d live not by your experiences but by faith in the power of God’s strength. Is God calling you to a place to cast your troubles, weaknesses and depend on nothing but Him to pull you through, feeling His strength, like the man on a bungee cord, feeling helpless as he plunge downwards off a cliff and just before u hit the ground the cord tightens and you feel the tug of the cord, pulling you away from death.
Why did Paul pray 3 times to have his prayer for deliverance from the thorn? It must have been a pretty severe trial. Must have felt like death to him! So for Paul the answer to his three time prayer request for deliverance from the thorn in his flesh - “My grace is sufficient for you” says the Lord! An answer that not many like to hear. Paul would have loved it if the thorn is removed but God did not permit it.
A man walks up to the bar with an ostrich behind him, and as he sits, the bartender comes over, and asks for his order. The man says, "I’ll have a beer," and turns to the ostrich. "What about you?"
"I’ll have a beer too," says the ostrich. The bartender pours the beer and says "That will be $3.40 please," and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out exact change for payment.
The next day, the man and ostrich come again, and the man says "I’ll have a beer," and the ostrich says, "I’ll have the same." Once again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.
This becomes a routine until, late one evening, the two enter again. "The usual?" asks the bartender. "Well, it’s close to last call, so I’ll have a large scotch" says the man. "Same for me," says the ostrich.
"That will be $7.20," says the bartender. Once again the man pulls exact change out of his pocket and places it on the bar. The bartender can’t hold back his curiosity any longer. "Excuse me sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change out of your pocket every time?"
"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I just put my hand in my pocket, and the right amount of money will always be there."
"That’s brilliant!" says the bartender. "Most people would wish for a million dollars or something, but you’ll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!"
"That’s right! Whether it’s a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man.
The bartender asks, "One other thing, sir, what’s with the ostrich?"
The man replies "My second wish was for a chick with long legs."
Paul had to learn to depend on God, not on showy experiences of deliverance. Instead he was provided the grace to bear it. The promise is that whenever the messenger of Satan afflicts him, he will be given sufficient or enough strength to bear up. All Paul got in reply to his prayer is --My grace is sufficient for you. God will be enough for his struggle! God’s got a bungee cord, around Paul and you and I. The fact is suffering is common experience of all who serve Christ. This is a point that Paul tries repeatedly to drive home to the Corinthians. Those who preach the gospel "carry around . . . the [dying] of Jesus" and are "always being given over to death" (4:10-11). 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
Following Jesus is taking up a cross, a place of death, willingly taking on an instrument of severe human suffering. That’s why we see the reference to insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties in verse 10 makes good sense, and Paul is saying “are we clear on that point?” In Matt.11: 2-5 tells the story of the great John the Baptist perhaps in doubt and was told to hang in there in his suffering…
2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[2] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
Matthew recorded John’s struggle with doubt, not to condemn John, but to encourage subsequent disciples whose faith would be tested by hardships. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me could be worded if things don’t turn the way you expect, would u still have faith?
So what is your thorn in the flesh? Can you feel with Paul’s agony? Feeling like Chippie the parakeet? Do you feel crushed too? Can u hear God’s word “my grace…”? In certain circles within the Christian world today, there is a belief that it is God’s will that everyone should be healthy and happy and rich, that if healing and riches don’t appear in miraculous way, that means you don’t enough faith. Can you see now that this thinking clearly runs counter to Paul’s experience? Paul certainly have faith, he wrote the book on it, but yet he did not get his prayers answered the way he wanted. God’s power come in full view when we embrace our weaknesses.
Not that we are to cherish our infirmities or go around looking for suffering. Weakness by itself will perfect nothing. Look around lots of weak and suffering people, but not all feel that God’ doing something or God’s power is at work. Yet Paul aims to boast only in his weaknesses (11:30; 12:5)--and he does it all the more gladly (v. 9). Paul not only has accepted his weaknesses and learned to live with them, but he also takes pleasure in them. Why? Because he gets closer to God, feels the pleasure of God, knows the strength of His cord of love securing him. These very weaknesses afford the opportunity for the power of Christ to rest on him (look at v. 9). As one commentator noted: “The verb episkenoo, found only here in the New Testament, actually means to "make one’s quarters in" or "take up one’s abode in." So God’s power not merely "rested on" (KJV, NIV, NEB, RSV) or "over" (TEV, JB) Paul but took up residence in him.” Therefore if you want to live supernaturally, we’ve got to let the thorn in our flesh, drive us to our knees, let our troubles lead us to God, and trust, so that God’s power can reside in us. This is why Paul can go on to say, "I am content with my weaknesses" (v. 10; not I delight in as in the NIV).
Paul concludes with for when I am weak, then I am strong (v. 10). His statement has the character of a settled conviction rather than a rote repetition of God’s answer. Someone said: “Human strength is like the flower of the field that has its day in the sun but then shrivels up and dies. Enduring strength lies in God alone.”
Life that’s supernatural has…
1. CONVICTION: Have a settled conviction in your heart - God is enough for you.
(Matt Redman’s Blessed be your name)
2. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Troubles and thorns that God allows into my life tells me that God is in fact, near me, perhaps chiselling of my self-dependency into God dependency so that I can say with Paul. “I am weak then I am strong”
3. COURAGE: We now face our difficulties, transformed with renewed strength from God . Not denying the painful realities, but focused on God’s purpose. Such as the lives of Joni Eareckson Tada, Elisabeth Ellliot, whose painful lives God transformed and used to tell of His love and care. Such as Paul used mightily by God to display grace to a dying suffering world.
Today would u come and abandon yourself to the hope of the world – COME to Christ who said: 28… "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light." Matt.11 28-30 (NLT) 4.
4. CHANGED LIVES: What gets Paul up in morning, changed lives through message of Christ. Folks coming to truly experience supernatural lives because we have courage to face weakness in the power of God’s grace
11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, and so I speak."[2] 14We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. 15All of these things are for your benefit. And as God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are[3] being renewed every day. 17For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 18So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.
