What a wonderful gift to be able to sing and to enjoy music, an amazing expression that God has given us to extol the glories of his grace. Let's take our Bibles and turn to Second Corinthians chapter 12. If you have not been with us, we are continuing to make our way verse by verse through this epistle, as we do with all of our expositional times of preaching. We're going to be looking at Second Corinthians 12 verses six through 10 in a moment, and my discourse to you is under the heading "Gracious Thorn and Blessed Grace."

First of all, I want you to join me in putting yourself in the mind, and to whatever degree possible, in the body of the apostle Paul some 2000 years ago. Imagine being on the road to Damascus, and suddenly you are blinded by the Shekinah glory of the living God. Can you imagine what that would be like? Now, I have had some interesting experiences in my life, but nothing comes close to that. Imagine then the Lord God speaking to you and you instantly repenting of your sins and believing in the living Christ. And if that's not enough, imagine then being taken into the Nabataean wilderness in secret for some three years and having the Lord Jesus Himself teach you. Imagine what that would be like; and then to be called as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be given supernatural powers like the other apostles, to be able to cast out demons and raise the dead and heal the sick, and most importantly, to be able to preach the gospel that people might be radically saved and transformed.

Now let's add to that one other little thing, imagine being transported into the third heaven, into Paradise and the very abode of God, and seeing things that are indescribably glorious, hearing things that you could never even repeat if that happened to you, how would you perceive yourself? Certainly, on one hand, you would be profoundly humbled, right? But if you're honest, you would be probably, like me, have a tendency to be little bit proud. My goodness, you people have no idea what I've experienced. I mean, yeah, it's nice being a Christian, but you have no idea what's happened to me. I'm truly special. I'm a cut above everyone else. I'm kind of a super saint. You know, it's so easy for great blessings to turn into that which can destroy us, to cause an attitude of self deprecation to turn into one of self exaltation; you'd be tempted to think a little bit more highly of yourself than you ought, right? Dear friends, we must remember that the garden of divine blessing grows both the herbs of humility as well as the hemlock of pride. To say we are immune to the boastful pride of life a certain proof that we have become poisoned by it. Every person in here struggles with pride and God knew that this would be a great danger for his choice servant, the apostle Paul, so he loved him enough to do something. And here in this passage of Scripture, we see the Holy Spirit allowing us to peer into the very heart of the apostle to see the great workings of divine providence in his life. And Paul uses these realities to further his defense of his apostolic authority and authenticity; a defense that he began a couple of chapters earlier. So with that background, let's read Paul's testimony in Second Corinthians 12, beginning in verse six.

"For if I do wish to boast, I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.

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!

Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.

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.

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."

Every person who has ever lived has experienced some form of evil or some form of suffering in his or her life. Some of you are there right now. For many people, this is certain evidence that there's no such thing as a God, because why would a loving God allow these things to happen? Some people try to explain this in what's called "process theology." This particular position denies the sovereignty of God, and believes that God is forever changing and forever responding to events that happen in the world; that he's shocked when he sees evil, when he sees suffering, and it is therefore man, not God that is ultimately in charge of our destiny.

Another position is the classic Arminian position that is by far the most popular default opinion among Christians today. They would argue that God did not ordain or in any way cause sin to come into existence, and therefore he's not responsible for it. He only responded to the situation when it arose. After all, they would say, If God were in control, man could not be held morally responsible for his sin. They believe that while God knew what was happening, he chose not to exercise his power to stop it, just kind of let it happen. The obvious priority of this position is to preserve the freedom of the human will to make moral choices, which, in their mind, clears God of any blame. And at the same time, allows that blame to fall upon human beings, and in their minds, evil entered the world, really apart from God's super intentions. Well, of course not neither of these positions can be defended biblically. In fact, I believe they're easily refuted. Both of them are very man centered rather than God centered, and that's typically how we tend to think the solution to the existence of evil and suffering in the world must be - theocentric, not anthrocentric. It must be God centered, not man centered, which is at the very heart of Paul's comforting statement. As you will recall in Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose."

May I challenge you to think with me just for a moment. Do you think it is possible that God actually ordained to allow evil to enter his perfect creation in an effort to display his glory in ways that could have never happened had he not done so? Is it possible that God ultimately causes evil and suffering for our good? Isn't that what Romans 8:28 says? Is it possible that God is more concerned about his eternal glory than man's temporal happiness? Is it possible that God is more glorified with evil and suffering existing in the world than if that were not the case. We know, for example, in Acts 4:27 that God predetermined the very murder of his own son. Is God more or less glorified for determining that to happen? Well, while this fallen world is plagued by every imaginable form of evil, and as Paul says in Second Corinthians, one five, "The sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance."Beloved, we can find relief knowing that his sanctifying purposes are always at work in our lives in ways that we may not understand. We can find comfort knowing that there is nothing outside the sphere of his ultimate control and his intimate awareness. There is nothing that is happening to you right now that has caught God by surprise. And for this reason, Paul exhorts us in Romans 5:3 to, "exult in our tribulations." Exult - i's a term we don't use very much. It means to rejoice or to be elated; to be triumphantly jubilant over something. Here he's saying not merely rejoice in spite of them, not even rejoice in the midst of them, even though that is something that we should do. What he is saying is we are to exult because of them, on account of them. And he goes on to tell us why, "...knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."  In other words, in the midst ofall of those things, we are able to enjoy a subjective awareness of God's love for us; an opportunity for us to be empowered to fully perceive of the reality of His love for us. And of course, Paul obviously understood that God ordains, and he oversees our afflictions for our good and his glory, though seldom can we see it at the time. We must remember dear friends, that God is both sovereign as well as omniscient. To be true to the biblical texts, God's sovereignty refers to his absolute rule and authority over all things. And like perhaps no other doctrine. God's sovereignty is the greatest source of comfort to the redeemed, to know that even in the middle of the greatest suffering, somehow God is in it. He is up to things beyond our comprehension, to know that he is fully aware of and in charge of all that happens. And of course, with this understanding that instantly delegitimizes thoughts of abandonment or indifference or randomness in the nature of God. Indeed, he is a sovereign God, he is not a contingent God. There is therefore nothing in our life that he has not ordained to accomplish or to allow or to understand completely, even in the midst of our sufferings and tragedies. He is the one who, according to Isaiah 46:10, "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.'" We know that Daniel described God as one who, according to chapter four and verse 35 does "according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of Earth, and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" And in Ephesians 11:1 we know that he, "...works all things after the counsel of His will." Regarding God's omniscience, we can also find comfort knowing, according to the psalmist, in chapter 33 verse 13, "The Lord looks down from heaven. He sees all the sons of men from His dwelling place. He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. He who fashions the hearts of them, He who understands all their works." Dear friend, there is nothing that you can think, or nothing that you can do that does not escape his notice, nothing that you can't experience, that he is not intimately aware of, including your sufferings. According to Proverbs, 5:21, "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He watches all his paths."

Isn't it a comfort to know that he's watching us right now? He's intimately aware of everything that's going on in here right now. Indeed, according to Proverbs 15, verse three, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good." Isaiah, 40:28, "His understanding is inscrutable." Hebrews 4:13, "There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." First John 3:19, "He knows everything." And I could go on for 20 minutes giving you other passages of Scripture. Dear friends, there's nothing that God does that is capricious. He does nothing that is cruel. Everything he does is perfectly just and part of a flawless plan to bring glory to himself. Therefore, if we look at Scripture, we will see that God has indeed ordained to allow evil to enter into his perfect universe through the voluntary choices of moral creatures for a purpose, and that purpose is to dramatically display his glory through his holiness, through his wrath, through his mercy, through his grace, through his love and through his power. And we see all of this manifested in the sufferings of Paul in this particular text. In God's infinite wisdom and his infinite goodness and grace, God ordained that Paul would suffer. But he did so with a purpose - to bring great blessing and power to the life and ministry of this choice apostle, as well as to bring glory into himself.

Now with this in mind, I wish to focus on four truths that emerge from our text, each one having direct implication into each of our lives. We will look at the menace of pride, the deterrent of affliction, the response of humility and the blessing of grace. Now once again, remember the context here. Paul is still defending his character and his apostolic authority after being slanderously maligned, viciously maligned, by these self-appointed false apostles that had infiltrated the church. And so in verse six, he says, "For if I do wish to boast, I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth." In other words, I'm not going to be like the false apostles. Then he goes on to say, "but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me." In other words, what he's saying here is, I'm not going to use the supernatural vision of being transported into the third heaven, that he had described in previous verses, to prove my apostleship, because the false apostles could claim their own visions. If you've ever been in those circles, you will see that people are trying to outdo each other with their visions and their word of knowledge and all these things that they claim God has done with them. Indeed, the spiritual character of a man or a woman should never be determined by his or her so called esoteric visions or revelations. Instead, Paul said at the end of verse six that it should be on the basis of one's conduct and one's sound doctrine, one's teaching. Notice that "...no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me." Indeed, the true measure of an apostle or any man who claims to speak for God is not private, ecstatic experiences or alleged conversations with God, but rather his Christ like character and conduct, the soundness of his doctrine. Is it biblically precise? And his humble weakness and therefore dependency on God and trust in God come what may not.

With this background, Paul explains both why and what God did to him. This is so fascinating. Look at verse seven, "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations..." referring to his trip into heaven, "...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! Here we are confronted with that dreadful enemy that we all must fight, the menace - number one, the menace of pride. Obviously, God knew it was going to be a problem for Paul as it would be for any of us, and that's why he says, "...because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations." Once again, such an extraordinary privilege could easily inflame any man's pride and cause him to think that he was some kind of a super spiritual Christian superior to other people. I mean, just think how easy it is for us when we receive legitimate praise to let it go to our heads and little by little, our heart begins to be filled with conceit. Think how easy, how easy it is for each of us to be tempted to somehow court adulation, to seek praise, somehow to generate likes on YouTube, to generate flattery on Facebook. Facebook has really tapped into that. You've heard me say this before. Millions of people are desperate for affirmation to somehow feed their pride, and they live for the saccharin comments of their sycophants online. Oh, you're so beautiful, oh, you're so smart, Oh, you're so godly. Oh, I love to hear what you have to say, and then one negative comment and they're suicidal. Think how quickly some small spark of success can ignite a raging inferno of self-exaltation. Beloved, I can preach on this from experience. I know my own heart, and on the basis of the Word of God, I know your heart as well. For 10 years, I counseled highly successful people, mainly Christian people, lots of Christian celebrities, and unfortunately, pride was the dominant sin amongst them. In fact, most highly successful wealthy people, especially a lot of the artists and the big-name celebrity preachers and all of this, those kind of people tend to strut around like peacocks, who considers themselves somehow above everybody else, those beneath them. It's for this reason then in Psalm 10 two, we read, "The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor." Proverbs, 21 verse, 24, "A proud and haughty man; scoffer is his name. He acts with arrogant pride." Proverbs 13 and verse 10, "By pride comes nothing but strife." Proverbs 28 verse 25, "He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife." And certainly pride is the root of strife. It's the fuel of pride that empowers the wicked to do all manner of evil. I mean, you just look at, for example, most all of our government leaders. I mean, they are proud without cause. It's pride that fuels the lies of evolution. It is pride that causes people to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, as Paul says in Romans, one it is pride that loves darkness rather than light. It is pride that fuels the mafias that are out there today, the critical race theory mafia, the BLM mafia, the climate mafia, the feminist mafia, what... the abortion mafia, LGBTQ, all of these things. And because of man's sinful nature, we tend to parade what we possess in order to impress. We exaggerate our accomplishments, we gloat over our circumstances, we pretend to be victims and everybody else is an oppressor. We want reward without responsibility. We want the praise of men more than God, and when we over overlooked, we pout. When we are criticized, we retaliate, and when we are opposed, we often resort to violence. And of course, God hates pride because it robs him of his glory. In fact Proverbs 16, five says, "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Assuredly, he will not be unpunished."

You know, I was thinking about the Apostle Paul. You remember, in First Corinthians, he talked about how there were these sectarian rivalries going on within the church, because that's kind of what they did in that culture. And there was one group that said, I'm of Paul there are others. I'm of Apollos. Remember all of that type of thing. Well, you know, he could have capitalized on that kind of admiration. You know, he could have made up the Paul T shirts, the Paul coffee cups, the Paul hat. He could've, you know, done all kinds of things, started his own denomination, his own ministry empire, but he was too godly of a man for that. He wouldn't fall for that. He kept his flesh in check. But oh, dear friends, to internally know what had happened to you, that you had been supernaturally transported into the very presence of God, that you communed with the glorified Christ and perhaps glorified saints, I mean, I cannot imagine a greater temptation to self-exaltation. I mean, you talk about a book deal, my goodness, yes, my encounter with God in paradise. I mean, that would have been a best seller. But for 14 years, he never said a word. Oh, the menace of pride. S

Secondly, notice the deterrent of affliction. Verse seven, "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." By the way, the phrase "in the flesh" can also be translated "for" or "because of the flesh;" referring to his unredeemed humanness, not his physical body. Romans 6:19, refers to the "weakness" of your flesh, Paul says. Chapter seven and verse five, "For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death." Verse 18, he went on to say, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh, for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not."

Dave Harrell  

So, what we see now is that God is going to use this affliction, this thorn, as a deterrent to his otherwise proud flesh. Now, the term "thorn” - "skolops" in the original language - it, by the way, it only occurs here in the New Testament. It just refers to something that is pointed. It can be translated even "stake" like that which "impales." Paul doesn't elaborate on it, but certainly the metaphor speaks of something painful. Now, if you read, as I have many commentaries on this concept, there are enormous a number of speculations, a lot of very tortured arguments to identify this thorn. Some would say it was a speech impediment. Others say it was depression, anxiety attacks, sexual temptation. Others say, well, it was probably some kind of a physical disease. Again, they think flesh is referring to the body, things like malaria, earaches, headaches, eye problems, epilepsy, gout, gallstones, it just goes on and on. However, I might add that in rabbinic literature, the term never refers to sickness or affliction, but rather just to something that causes pain; something that is vexing, something that is troublesome. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses it to refer to some kind of opposition, resistance, antagonism. Numbers 33 verse 55, "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain, of them, will become as pricks in your eyes and as," here it is, "...thorns and your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live." Another example can be found in Ezekiel chapter 28 and verse 24 referring to God's judgment against the enemies of Israel and the blessings that would follow, he says, "And there will be no more for the house of Israel a prickling briar or a painful thorn from any round about them who scorned them, then they will know that I am the LORD God." So it is safe to conclude that whatever this thorn was, it was some kind of a persistent, painful problem brought about by an individual. There's other clues that would cause me and others to believe this, the term "messenger" in the original language is "angelos." We get our word "angel" from that. And here, this is an "angelos" from or of Satan. In other words, it was a demon. And this is how the term messenger is used most often in the New Testament and certainly in Paul's writings.

Also another clue is the term "torment." "Kolaphizō" in the original language, it means to abuse or to hurt or to strike with the fist; literally with the knuckles of the fist; to hit hard to buffet. Sothis messenger was sent to "torment me." Again, a verb that is always used in the New Testament to describe cruel treatment from another individual. For example, in Matthew 26:67 referring to what happened to our Lord. "Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fist.." the same term, "...and others slapped Him,..." and so forth. In First Corinthians, 4:11, Paul says, "To this present hour, we are both hungry and thirsty, and poorly clothed and are roughly treated..." same term. First Peter 2:21, "harshly treated" same term. So the verb "torment,” which, by the way, is in the present tense, which indicates that this is some kind of a buffeting that was occurring continuously, the term "torment" implies some kind of humiliating violence tantamount to being constantly slapped around by a cruel opponent. Another clue later in verse eight, Paul says, "Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. The New Testament usage of the verb "leave" is always used in reference to the departure of an individual, never the healing of a disease.

So as I look at this, and I can't be dogmatic, but the conclusion would be this, Paul's thorn in the flesh is a reference to the ring leader of these false apostles; a man who was influenced by some demonic messenger of Satan; a demonically controlled man that was relentlessly attacking him, and it could include all of those that were doing that. This is what was causing him enormous suffering. By the way is this not the context of the entire section that we're looking at? Is there any hint of anything other than that that he was suffering from? I think not. Paul is defending himself against violent aggression. Are not false teachers, emissaries of Satan who, according to First Timothy four one, "They pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with the branding iron." And did Paul not say in Second Corinthians 11:28, that his most severe form of suffering was the daily pressure that came upon him because of his concern for all of the churches. And did he not suffer untold agonies, knowing that those that he had loved, people that he had led to Christ, people that he had served with, had turned against him and believed these liars. Did he not write in Second Corinthians two four, "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears, so that you would be made sorrowful that you might know the love which I have especially for you."

I want you to notice also the purpose of Paul's affliction, the Spirit says, is "...to keep me from exalting myself." In other words, God allowed Satan be-devil Paul, if I can use an old English term. To bedevil Paul in order to keep him humble, to make him dependent upon the Lord, to make him trust in the Lord and not become haughty. Because God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Therein is the power. Beloved we must all learn from this. We must remember that God is always in our suffering in ways that we can't even see. He's always up to something in our life. And it's for this reason that James would tell us in James one and verse two and following, "Consider it all joy, brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect results so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

So here we see the menace of pride and the deterrent of affliction, but number three, the response of humility. Sticking with the metaphorical imagery of the thorn, that is in opposition to the phrase "messenger from Satan," Paul says this in verse eight, "Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me." He "implored the Lord." He went to his knees in prayer. He cried out to the Lord. We don't know if it's literally three times, it may have been. It was probably...that was probably a way of saying that I just was crying out to the Lord, but nevertheless, here we learn that suffering is God's way of driving us to him, is it not? Can't we all identify with that? Suffering is a way of smashing the idol of pride and replacing it with a longing for us to commune with the lover of our soul. Satan loves arrogant fools, right? So does the world. They worship them. American Idol. Remember that show? It kind of says it all, doesn't it? Everybody wants to be an American Idol. He loves to inflate our egos with an exaggerated sense of self-importance and overconfidence again, the kinds of things that God abhors and will not bless. You see, folks, God wants humility, not hutzpah. God blesses the meek, not the mighty. First Peter five, five again, "For God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble." Think of your own sufferings. Think of those times, and maybe you're there right now today, when, by God's grace, he has made you acutely aware that you are out of resources, that you are absolutely nothing apart from him, that you're utterly dependent upon him, and your only hope is in him, and you're longing for heaven. Oh, what a bittersweet experience, right? Isn't it amazing how, that when we are most down, is when we tend to look up? Is it not in the furnace of affliction that the Lord suddenly appears to us, as he did with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?

Oh Child of God, every crucible of grace burns away the dross of pride and self-confidenceand helps us better understand that indeed, as the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 41:5 "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin, and then in our pain, we,..." as the writer goes on to say, "...draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that you may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." And again, it's in the midst of our helplessness, in the midst of our tears, that somehow we experience that soul exhilarating joy of the presence of the living God, and in that moment and in that season of life, we are empowered by the Spirit of God to think and to do and to experience things that otherwise we would not have done had we remained in our self-confidence or in our anger; even when he doesn't answer our prayers the way we wish he would - lots of times he doesn't. He always answers them, but not always the way we wish. That was the case in with the apostle Paul.

Notice the Lord's answer to him in verse nine, "And he has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'" Oh, that term "grace," what an amazing reality it is. We sing Amazing Grace and all these wonderful songs about God's grace, but friends never lose the wonder of God's grace. God's grace is a dynamic force of divine resources that, first of all, transformed us the moment we came to saving faith in Christ. It was his grace that caused us to be born again and then at salvation. Because of God's grace, we are empowered to live a life that, in every aspect, can bring glory to Christ. It's God's grace that makes the word come alive to us, where we can understand it, not just be a hearer of it, but an understander of it, if I can use that term, and a doer of it, so that we can live by faith and obedience. That's the power of grace. It's God grace. God's grace that helps us endure the greatest sorrows that come into our life, and not only just endure them, but gain victory in the midst of them in some mystical way that we can't fully explain, so that suddenly we are able to transcend our greatest disappointments, all because of God's grace. It's God's grace that provides supernatural infusions of of confident assurance and subjective peace to all who trust in Christ. As the psalmist said in Psalm 27:14, "Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord." The idea of trusting in him, hoping in him. And this is the sole exhilarating peace of God which surpasses all comprehension. Philippians 4:7 which is extended to all who, in the previous verse, are "anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let their request be made known to God." This is the joy that awaits all who have, according to verse 11, learned to be content in whatever circumstances they are in, as Paul said again in Philippians, four, who know from experience that they can do all things through him who strengthens them, because they know that, according to verse 19, "God shall supply all their needs according to His riches in glory, in Christ Jesus." Folks therein, is the power of grace.

In celebration of God's grace. You will remember that Paul reminds us of Second Corinthians 9:8 that "God is able to make all..." what? "....Grace abound to you." Why? "So that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed." That pretty well covers everything, doesn't it? That's the power of God's grace. Then, as if he could not contain himself, he went on to declare in verse 15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

Now, how would Paul ever understand that, and be able to say that with such conviction had he not experienced that we're all debtors to every expression of God's grace? And everyone who knows that will testify that even when their heart is failing and they're drowning in a sea of sorrow, they will acknowledge, certainly I will, that God does not just see the desperate nature of our need. He doesn't just throw us a lifeline of God's grace, but rather he dives in and he rescues us with his omnipotent arm, and he brings us safely to shore; even as a father would dive into the ocean to save his child. Beloved, this is the power of grace and oh to experience that. Paul understood this, and this is what Paul wanted more than anything else. Too often we prefer relief rather than blessing.

Do we not notice the humility in verse nine at the end, "Most gladly, therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses..." Why? Why would you say that Paul? Well, I'll tell you why, "...so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Think what he said earlier in First Corinthians two, verse three. There he expressed how he came to those people in Corinth, those pagan idolaters filled with immorality. How did he come to them in arrogant self-sufficiency? No, he said he came to them in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. His confidence was not in himself, but in the Lord. And to think again, he comes to them in weakness and in fear and much trembling, yet he knew what happened to him on the road to Damascus. He knew that he had been taught at the feet of Jesus for three years, and he knew that he had been in the very presence of the living God.

Beloved, it was because of Paul's sincere humility that he was able to gladly accept the Lord's answer and to patiently endure with Christlike virtues and Christ's anointing power; all that he would have to endure. And this leads us to the fourth great truth that emerges, and that is the blessing of grace. Notice in verse 10, "Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties..." By the way, doesn't all of that smack of some wicked person or people doing wicked things to you? I'm content with all that, “...for Christ's sake." And here's why, "...for when I am weak, then I am strong." You see, it is this kind of confidence that empowers every suffering saint to endure, even the most severe trials. You see, Paul was so confident and so excited about the ultimate outworking of God's grace in his life that he could say in Second Corinthians 9:8 that "God is able to to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything you may have in abundance for every good deed." Sadly the unregenerate, those without Christ, those that may be religious, may even call themselves Christians. They know nothing of this, and when suffering comes their way, or some great tragedy, some great atrocity, it overwhelms them. They have no hope. They have no comfort. The Spirit of God does not dwell within them. They are at enmity with God. The scripture tells us they are without understanding. They are separated from him by their evil thoughts and actions and so forth. God does not hear their cries. They don't run to the throne of grace. They would mock that, think that's silly. Instead, they run to a bar, or they run to a party, or they run to drugs, or they run to psychobabble.

Oh, my dear friend, as those of us who have been redeemed by the lamb, we rest confidently in the good and glorious and perfect purposes of God in our lives, no matter what happens, and because of divine providence and understanding of that, there exists an inexplicable, subjective awareness of God's all sufficient grace. Haven't you been around those people who are suffering? You go to minister to them, and what happens, they minister to you. You're overwhelmed by what God is doing in and through them. We experience just this tranquil peace that's impervious to circumstances. We are able to enjoy just stunning examples of God's power in our life. For indeed, as Isaiah 30 and verse 15 says, "Quietness and trust is their strength." Quietness and trust is our strength, and because of his compassion and unfailing love, Second, Corinthians, one beginning, verse three, Paul says, "The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction." Indeed, he is the one who embraces us with his love in the midst of our tears, by his grace, he delivers us from every condition, every situation that can potentially imprison us in a dungeon of despair and render us absolutely powerless to live for the glory of Christ. This is why, after losing four daughters at sea, Horatio Spafford could write, "When peace like a river attended my way, when sorrows like sea, billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, It is well with my soul."

Oh child of God when the night is the darkest, God's presence is the brightest. God wants us to experience that. And this is David's testimony as we wrap this up this morning, he said in Psalm 31 beginning in verse 14, "But as for me, I trust in You. Oh Lord, I say, You are my God. My times are in Your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make Your face to shine upon Your servant.  Save me in your loving kindness." He went on to add in verse 19, "How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You."

I'd like to challenge you with four summary statements that hopefully will impact your life. Again, statements that emerge from this text. First of all, realize dear friend, that God uses relational pain to humble us and drive us to his throne of grace. He uses physical pain too, but many times, relational pain is far greater. Secondly, God is more concerned about us persevering in the power of his all-sufficient grace, than being rescued from our troubles. Thirdly, God's power is perfected in weakness, not in our strength. And finally, God's grace alone produces contentment in our sufferings. I want to close with a powerful quote. I think it is in your bulletin. It ministered to me years ago, written by Charles Spurgeon, the great 19th century English pastor and theologian. He said this, "It is no small matter when God sends a thorn in the flesh, and it answers its end. For in some cases, it does not. Without the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, thorns produce evil rather than good. In many people, their thorn in the flesh does not appear to have fulfilled any admirable design at all, it has created another vice, instead of removing a temptation. We have known some whose poverty has made them envious. We have known others whose sickness has rendered them impatient and petulant, and others again whose personal infirmity has rendered them perpetually fretful and rebellious against God. Oh, dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, let us labor against this with all our might. And if God has been pleased to put a fetter upon us in any shape or fashion, let us ask Him not to allow us to make this the occasion for fresh folly, but on the contrary, to bear the rod and learn its lessons. Pray that when we are afflicted, we may grow in grace and in likeness to our Lord Jesus, and so bring more honors to His name. Does not this teach us all the solemn duty of being content whatever lot our lot may be. Content without the revelation, if we are without the thorn, content with the thorn, if we have the revelation, content without either revelation or thorn. As long as we may have a humble hope in Jesus Christ our Savior. Oh, beloved," he says, "...what a happy people God's people are and ought to be, when everything turns for their good, when even the thorn that was a curse becomes to them a blessing, and out of the lion comes forth honey. If the thorn is a blessing, what must the blessing itself be? If the smarts of Earth heal us, what will the joys of Heaven do for us? Let us be glad. Ours is a happy portion. Let us go on our way, rejoicing that we are favored to possess divine life and shoulder our cross cheerfully. For we shall soon, ah, how soon, wear our crown."

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for these magnificent truths that you have revealed to us from your word through the life of your apostle. Lord, may we learn them well, and especially for those that are suffering this day, I pray that you will minister to them, that you will encourage them. And for all of us, may we learn well these lessons so that when it is our turn, for indeed, it will be our turn, that we will be able to exalt in our tribulations and experience the joy of your presence. We thank you. We give you praise in Jesus’ name amen.