WWUTT 1718 A Thorn in the Flesh (2 Corinthians 12:2-7)

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Reading 2 Corinthians 12:2-7 where the Apostle Paul mentions a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment him and keep him humble. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

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The Apostle Paul said that to keep him from becoming conceited, a thorn was given in his flesh, a messenger of Satan.
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What was this thorn that afflicted Paul? Well, it's easy to tell when we understand the text.
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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of God that we may comprehend with all the saints how wide, how high, and how deep is the love of Christ.
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Tell all your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com. Here once again is
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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in 2 Corinthians 12. And as with yesterday,
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I'm going to begin by reading verses 1 -10 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. This is the
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Word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth. It is necessary to boast, though it is not profitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the
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Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, whether in the body
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I do not know or out of the body I do not know, God knows, such a man was caught up to the third heaven.
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And I know how such a man, whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know,
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God knows, was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak.
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On behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except in weakness.
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For if I do wish to boast, I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth.
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But I refrain from this, so that no one will consider me beyond what he sees in me or hears from me.
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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.
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Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me.
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And he has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.
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Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
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Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when
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I am weak, then I am strong. As promised, today
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I'm going to tell you what is Paul's thorn in the flesh. Many have debated over what this thorn in the flesh could potentially be.
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It's actually rather obvious when you think about it, but let's come back to the start of the chapter here.
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Paul says it is necessary to boast, though it is not profitable, but I'll go on to visions and revelations of the
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Lord. So once again, Paul in his boasting, attempting to convince the
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Corinthians of the truth. They've been gone after those who boast in lies, those false teachers, the most eminent apostles.
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The Corinthians are listening to them rather than listening to the true apostles who speak the truth.
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So because it's boasting that they are convinced by, Paul has been doing a little boasting himself.
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But he's been boasting in his weaknesses rather than a list of accomplishments, which is what the most eminent apostles have been doing.
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So now, with regard to these things that he could be boasting in, Paul goes on to visions and revelations of the
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Lord. Likely, these false teachers have been boasting about revelations that they themselves have have received.
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Now, those revelations may be a complete lie or it could be that Satan has been giving them revelations, but they're not truly from God.
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The Corinthians have been listening to liars, some of them who've been going after the liars, because earlier in the letter,
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Paul was celebrating the fact that the Corinthians did indeed listen to the rebuke that he gave to them and repented of their sin and have come back to the right way, the way of righteousness.
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But there are still others who are not convinced by Paul, and instead they think these most eminent apostles are superior to Paul.
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So Paul is going to go on to visions and revelations. These false teachers have probably also been sharing their visions and revelations.
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But what Paul has is even greater than theirs. Still, it's kind of interesting here to note that he doesn't say what those visions and revelations are, just that, hey, if I had to,
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I could share with you visions of things far greater than what they're spouting off. So in verse 2,
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Paul says, I know a man, and he's speaking about himself in the third person here, so humble in his approach to this that he's not even willing to, in the first person, claim to be the one who has received these visions and revelations from God.
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I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body
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I do not know or out of the body I do not know, God knows, such a man was caught up to the third heaven.
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So Paul doesn't know whether he had this experience, like his body was actually lifted up to the third heaven where he could observe these things, or was it like an out -of -body experience?
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Like he was experiencing something in his mind or having a vision that was not actually being experienced in his body, just in his spirit.
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Only God knows whether this was an experience he had in his spirit or in his body.
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Only the Lord knows. It was such an incredible experience that Paul was even unable to recall whether it happened in his spirit or in his body.
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Now, when we read about the third heaven, I know a man who 14 years ago, whether in the body
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I do not know, God knows, such a man was caught up to the third heaven. What is the third heaven?
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Well, the third heaven is simply the place where God dwells. It's where the angels are. It's the place that we will inhabit when we die and we go be with the
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Lord in glory. That's the third heaven. It's not Paul saying that there are many layers to heaven.
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That's the way Joseph Smith took this particular statement. And then Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, claimed that there's like this three -tiered heaven.
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There's the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial. Those are the three layers of heaven.
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And depending on the kind of reward you get as a good Mormon, that depends on which layer of heaven you're going to end up in.
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But that's not what Paul was talking about here. The third heaven is just simply the place where God dwells.
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What's the first heaven? The first heaven is where the clouds are, where the birds fly.
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That's the first heaven. What's the second heaven? The second heaven is where the sun, moon, and stars are, way out there in space.
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What's the third heaven? That's where God and the angels dwell. So, Paul is recalling an experience where he is caught up to the place where God is.
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And he goes on to say in verse 3, And I know how such a man, whether in the body or apart from the body,
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I do not know. God knows. Once again, stating, I don't know if this happened in the body or it was an out -of -body experience.
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Only God knows this. But one way or the other, it's still a vision of something that men, most men, do not get to see.
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Only a few have ever been privileged to see it and then still live to be able to talk about it.
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These are things that we will get to see when we die. But only a few have had the chance to see these things in life.
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Isaiah being one of them. Ezekiel being another. Daniel being another. John, of course.
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In fact, I'm going to share something about that here in just a moment. And then Paul. Very, very few.
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Even in the scriptures. Very few, even in the Bible, have had the chance to see these heavenly things and be able to talk about what it is that they saw.
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And Paul, in his humility, won't even say what it is that he saw. So, such a man was caught up into paradise, he says in verse 4,
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And heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak.
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On behalf of such a man I will boast. On behalf of him I will boast. But on my own behalf
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I will not boast except in weakness. All of the boasting that Paul has been doing up to this point has been in his weakness.
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It's been in those things that he's suffered for the sake of the gospel. So he's not then going to turn a corner here to talk about those things in which he was exalted to.
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No, he's going to keep himself humble. He's going to stay on the level of boasting in his weakness.
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So I'm going to boast on behalf of the guy that was caught up into paradise.
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Hence why he refers to himself in the third person. But on his own behalf, when speaking of himself, he's only going to be boasting of his weaknesses.
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Now what was it that Paul saw? I actually think that there's a pretty good hint here as to what
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Paul saw. What he witnessed when he was caught up into paradise. And even why he was confused as to whether he experienced this in the body or out of the body.
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Like was this a spiritual revelation or was I actually taken from this earth into paradise and experienced this in the body in which
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I still inhabit. What was it that Paul saw? I think what
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Paul saw, and I just want to say here, this is just my own theory, but I think what he saw was exactly what we read in the book of Revelation.
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It's the same thing John saw. What makes me think that? Well, first of all, because he was caught up in a paradise.
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So what else would he see except that which John saw happening in the heavens, which he wrote about in the book of Revelation?
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So that's that's my first reason why that's what I think Paul saw. The second reason is because he says that I heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
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So did John. John also heard things that he was not permitted to speak.
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There was plenty that he saw that he wrote about, but there were things he heard that he was told not to write down.
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In Revelation 10, for he says, when the seven peels of thunder had spoken, I was about to write.
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And I heard a voice from heaven saying, seal up the things which the seven peels of thunder have spoken and do not write them.
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So it was not for John to say what it was that he had heard.
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And likewise, Paul says, I heard inexpressible things that a man cannot repeat.
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So there's a couple of reasons why I think what Paul witnessed is the same thing that John saw and then wrote down in Revelation.
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John also heard things that he was not permitted to write down, but it was also not for Paul to be the one to write what he saw when he was taken up into paradise.
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John would be the one whom Christ would assign to give the revelation.
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It was not for Paul to do, but John to do. I don't think John was the only one who witnessed it.
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I think he's just the one who wrote it. There were other apostles that witnessed it, including Paul. I want to say, though, again, that's my theory, but it's a biblically based theory.
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I can back it up with other scriptures, not just, you know, imposing my own thoughts on this. But that's what it is that I think that Paul witnessed when he was caught up in a paradise.
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The same thing we read about in the book of Revelation. So he goes on to say in verse six, for if I do wish to boast,
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I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth. These most eminent apostles, what they're boasting about, total foolishness, because they're boasting in themselves.
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They're not leading anyone to the truth. And remember, Paul had previously said in chapter 10 that they are messengers of Satan.
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So, of course, they don't speak truth. They're speaking lies and leading people to hell who follow them.
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So everything that they boast in is foolishness. But if Paul were to boast, if he were to go on boasting, if he were to even tell these visions and revelations that he had received, and he were to attempt to express those things that a man cannot utter, he would not be foolish in doing so.
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He could boast and say, hey, guess what I got to see, guys. Let me tell you about this vision and revelation that I got of heaven and see how much better this is than what these false teachers are telling you.
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Paul could have done that. He could have impressed the socks off of them. I don't know if they wore socks back then, you know, sandals, whatever.
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Impress the sandals off of them. He could have done that. And if he did that, he would not be a fool for doing so because he would be speaking the truth.
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But these men lie. They are leading people to hell. So it really doesn't matter how impressive it is what they say.
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They're not leading you to the truth. I come back to Joseph Smith, who lied.
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His whole religion was a lie. Mormonism is just an awful lie.
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And it's leading millions and millions of people and has led millions over the last hundred and fifty plus years has led millions to death because of the wicked lies that Joseph Smith spread.
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And he claimed to have great visions of heaven, like his three tiered heaven, the celestial, the terrestrial and the celestial.
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And he claimed to have visions of God, the father himself.
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Which was something that no one in the Bible ever saw. No one saw the father face to face and and could live.
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The visions they had of God were visions of the sun, but no one could see the father.
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We won't see the father until we die and go be with him in glory. So even
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Isaiah's revelation in in chapter six, what he saw when he looked into heaven, even
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Isaiah didn't see the father. He was seeing a vision of the sun. And when God came to speak with Abraham at the
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Oaks of Mamre, that was likely the sun in a sort of Christophany.
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Christ appearing as a man when he spoke with Abraham. No one saw the father. We don't see the father until we get to heaven.
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But Joseph Smith claimed to have seen the father and lived. So he got to see something even the other prophets, other apostles would not write about.
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It doesn't matter how impressive it is. The things that Joseph Smith said.
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Doesn't matter how amazing it sounds. It's lies. And it leads people to hell because the
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Christ that he proclaimed was a false Christ. So once again, no matter what you think of these guys, no matter how impressive you think they are with all these visions and revelations that they boast about, they lead you to death.
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Only what the apostles teach the true apostles, those who have been sent by Christ, only they have the words that will lead you to eternal life.
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So then going on about these visions and revelations and still doing so very humbly.
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Paul says in verse seven, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason to keep me from exalting myself.
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Because once again, Paul could go, hey, let me tell you about what I've seen and what I've witnessed. What's keeping
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Paul from doing that, from boasting in himself? Well, to keep me from exalting myself.
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There was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself.
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Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me.
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Now, first of all, let's come back to this thorn idea. What is this thorn in the flesh? And a lot of people have debated about this.
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The most common thing you will hear said is that it's some sort of physical affliction.
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Like Paul had a physical ailment that he was pleading with God to to heal him of.
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He talks about being sick in the book of Galatians. He mentioned that it was an ailment that caused him to stop in Galatia and spread the gospel there.
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And then the churches of Galatia were planted, which would not have happened if Paul had not experienced this ailment in his body.
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There are some that have theorized that Paul was nearsighted, that he actually could not see very well.
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And so because of this affliction in his eyes, which he did not heal himself. But because of this affliction, he asked
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God to take it away, that he might have good eyes again. And so he refers to this nearsightedness, this handicap as being a thorn in his flesh.
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But that's not what it was. In fact, as I said earlier, I think it's pretty obvious once you realize what this thorn is.
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First of all, Paul calls it a thorn in the flesh. But just because he refers to it as being in his flesh does not mean it's a bodily ailment.
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It just means that it is something that he is being tormented by. Even in his own body, it causes him vexation.
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What the thorn is, is a person, not a thing. Because of the reference to a messenger of Satan.
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A messenger of Satan to torment me. So it could not have been a bodily ailment. Previously here in chapter 11, how did
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Paul refer to those false teachers? In verse 13, they are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
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And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his ministers, if Satan's ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
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So who is this messenger of Satan that is tormenting Paul? What is this thorn in his flesh?
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It's the false teachers that he's been warning the Corinthians about all this letter.
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So yeah, like I said, there's not really a great big reveal into what this thorn in the flesh is.
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And it's rather obvious when you think about it. It's not some bodily ailment. It's certainly not, as Matthew Paul Turner said, that Paul had some sort of sexual temptation or that he may have been homosexual.
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Not even kidding. That's what Matthew Paul Turner said about Paul's thorn in the flesh. I remember reading that from Turner years ago.
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This was before Turner himself came out as being a homosexual. And he left his wife, abandoned his wife and kids, has adopted the
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LGBTQ lifestyle, and his wickedness has been revealed. But this man falsely taught and even slandered the apostle
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Paul by assuming that this thorn in the flesh could have been some kind of homosexual desire.
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Of course, knowing what we know now about Turner, we know why Turner thought that and taught that.
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But no, it was just the false teachers. So Matthew Paul Turner was the thorn in Paul's flesh.
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Yeah, just kidding. Anyway, but yeah, these false apostles that Paul has been speaking against this whole letter.
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They are the messengers of Satan. They're the messengers of Satan that are the thorn in the flesh to torment
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Paul and humble him to keep him from exalting himself. Like Paul is not trying to one up these guys.
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Oh, yeah. Well, watch this. Even though Paul could have done that and he wouldn't have been foolish for doing so because he would have been speaking truth.
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But instead, Paul is going to boast in his weaknesses. So not to exalt himself, but to exalt
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Christ. And we're going to continue there next week as we finish up this particular section with with Christ saying to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you.
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What a great verse. And I certainly don't want to rush through that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this revelation that has been given to us.
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The word of God. We have everything that we could need for life in the Bible that has been given to us.
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Your Holy Spirit speaking through men that we may know the mind of God and these things that have been written.
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So may we humble ourselves before you. May we know that your grace is sufficient for our every need.
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Knowing that our sins are forgiven and we have the promise of eternal life with God. By this gospel that has been proclaimed to us.
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Let us not be led astray by the whimsies of foolish men. But our awe and our wonder are in the words that have been given to us through these prophets and apostles who spoke from God.
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Who have given us the very word of Christ. Help us to grow all the more in these things.
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In Christ likeness and holiness. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the
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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.
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Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.