The Ministry Of Thorns

THE MINISTRY OF THORNS

2 Cor. 12:7-10

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: UNTIED SHOE

1. Boudreaux saw Thibodaux on the wharf and noticed one of his shoelaces was untied. “Watch out you don’t trip up over your laces, Thibodaux.”

2. Thibodaux replied, “Yeah, it’s the crazy instructions on these shoes.”

3. “What instructions, Thibodaux?” “Underneath the shoe, it says ‘Taiwan’.”

B. TEXT

“Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap [Gr. ‘thorn’] to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.” Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I (He) becomes” 2 Cor. 12:7-10, MSG.

C. THESIS

1. There’s some things I’ve found it difficult to understand. Like, why did God create mosquitoes, bull nettle, snakes, wasps, thorns, etc. What possible good purpose could they serve?

2. All those things seem only to be hurtful and to have no redeeming value. But I’ve finally thought of a value for thorns. That’s right. Thorns actually have a “ministry” in God’s plan. So what is the ministry of thorns? Glad you asked!

3. The title of this message is “The Ministry of Thorns.”

l. THE PARADOX OF GOD’S WAYS

A. OPPOSITES BALANCE

1. Whenever one reads this portion of Scripture (2 Cor. 12), it stands out that there seems to be a paradox in the processes of God. Right at the time miracles are occurring and there’s a revival beginning to happen, a calamity sets in on the life of the apostle Paul.

2. Paul’s strength was confronted with weakness. Paul, who was so exalted, was abased! He who had such great faith was pressed with doubts! God used opposites to balance each other.

3. Achievements for God, or great/privileged spiritual experiences – while good – are also fertile ground for spiritual pride.

4. People who experienced great revelations from God – people like Joseph, Moses, Samuel, Elijah & Elisha, Daniel, etc. – they were elevated in knowledge about God.

5. As Paul (1 Cor. 8:1) famously said, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up!” With great spiritual knowledge there is the danger of feeling superior to others.

6. And, the higher we get with God, the more the enemy fights against us. “The wind blows fiercest around the highest peaks.”

B. THE TRIAL THAT BEFELL PAUL

1. To counter-balance this, God allowed Paul to have a disability or handicap. Speculation about what this ‘thorn’ was abounds, but the most persuasive idea is that Paul had some problem with his eyes.

2. Paul told the Galatians, “You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first….For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me” (4:13,15, NKJV).

3. It may be that the stoning at Lystra resulted in permanent damage to his eyes or body. He was thought to be dead. It may have been during this life & death experience that he was caught up (in spirit or body) to the “third heaven.”

4. There are three “heavens” mentioned in Scripture:

a. “The rain fell from heaven”- atmosphere around Earth;

b. “The stars in heaven”- the physical universe;

c. “God’s throne in heaven”- the spiritual location of God’s manifest presence. THIS IS THE “THIRD HEAVEN” spoken of by Paul. It is simply the spiritual habitation of God with the angels.

5. During this experience God revealed mysteries to Paul that he was forbidden to share or were too sacred to share.

C. REVEALS PAUL’S VIEW ON DIVINE HEALING

1. Whatever Paul’s physical problem was, he at first saw it only as an attack of Satan. So he sought the Lord to remove it.

2. This incident is VERY IMPORTANT, because it reveals Paul’s view that IT’S NOT GOD’S WILL FOR US TO BE SICK. Paul never said, “IF IT’S YOUR WILL LORD, please heal me.” He simply said, “Lord, heal me!” He persisted in this seeking until the Lord told him that he was supposed to have this problem.