Strength Through Weakness - Part 2

1 view

April 4, 2021

Program for WVNE Life Changing Radio (Worcester / Boston) Link to the full sermon - • Paul's Thorn In The Flesh (2 Corinthi...

Strength Through Weakness - Part 3

00:00: Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.
00:06: Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:13: Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist
00:19: D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.
00:27: If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.
00:36: There was one very famous Bible teacher that passed away a few weeks ago.
00:41: He claimed to be an apostle. But do you know what he said? He said that he told his followers, large megachurch television audience, he said that God cannot do anything unless man gives him permission.
00:59: God cannot do anything in this world unless man gives him permission. That's totally wrong.
01:06: That's completely wrong. Unless you think that this was just one man who said something outrageous, this theological viewpoint is really the predominant view among Christian television.
01:22: This is called word -faith or word -of -faith theology. This is the predominant view.
01:28: I would say about 90 % or more of televangelists hold to some version of this.
01:35: It's also tied in, you've heard of name -it -and -claim -it and the prosperity gospel.
01:40: But this was the idea. This was his claim. God cannot do anything without man's permission.
01:47: And the idea is that you need to speak the words of faith. That God needs you because he really can't do it himself.
01:53: He needs you. That the devil is just going to have his way until God can find a man of faith to work through.
02:03: A lot of people believe this way. A lot of people believe this way. It makes you wonder.
02:08: It doesn't exalt the sovereignty of God, certainly. It almost sounds like the sovereignty of man, if you ask me.
02:16: But what does the Bible say? Why do you bring that up? Here's why. Another question.
02:22: Who's really in charge? Who's really in charge? Look at Job chapter 1 starting in verse 6.
02:28: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
02:34: Lord. And Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come?
02:41: So Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.
02:51: Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, and one who fears
03:02: God and shuns evil? So Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear
03:09: God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side?
03:17: You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
03:23: But now, this is what Satan is saying to God, But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
03:36: And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power.
03:45: Who's speaking there? God speaking to Satan. All that Job has now is in your power.
03:52: Only do not lay a hand on his person. So Satan went out from the presence of the
03:59: Lord. So I have a simple question for you. I promise it's not a trick question. Based on what we just read.
04:07: Who's in charge here? God is in charge. Yes, if you read the book of Job, it's true.
04:15: It is Satan who is afflicting Job, right? That's true. But who gave
04:21: Satan the power to afflict Job? God did. That statement from the false apostle that I had mentioned a few moments ago.
04:31: How God cannot do anything unless man gives him permission.
04:38: No, no, no. Satan cannot do anything unless God gives him permission.
04:44: That's a really hard thought, I know. Satan cannot do anything unless God gives him permission.
04:52: God told Satan all that Job had. All that he has is in your power.
04:59: Satan just couldn't touch Job's body. And then you remember the Lord gave
05:04: Satan permission to touch his body. But he said you just can't take his life. Every step along the way,
05:11: God was in charge. Satan could not do anything unless God permitted it.
05:16: Now, the common objection to that, and I think there are many. People will say, if that's true, doesn't that make
05:26: God the author of evil? No. No, it doesn't.
05:32: Satan is the author of evil. Satan is the destroyer. Satan is the author of lies.
05:39: Man is true. Man in the garden. When Adam sinned, he gave up dominion. God gave
05:45: Adam dominion, mankind dominion over the earth. When Satan sinned, he gave that up. When man sinned, he gave that up.
05:52: And it's true. Satan has had power ever since here on the earth.
06:00: But don't forget that. Satan cannot do anything unless God gives him permission.
06:06: Do you realize, just to make another point here. God could stop you from sinning this afternoon if you wanted to.
06:17: He knows what you're going to do today, tomorrow, next. He could stop it. Why does
06:22: God allow the things that he allows? Well, this is maybe one of the ultimate questions.
06:31: I think the simple answer is the Lord allows things to happen every time for a reason.
06:37: Ultimately, for his glory and for the good of his people. Now, turn back to 2
06:42: Corinthians 12. And we're going through all of this for a reason. It's a lot to process, maybe.
06:48: It raises questions. And if anyone wants to sit down during the week and discuss these things, I'm more than happy to do that.
06:56: But back to point number one. Why did God allow Paul to suffer with this thorn in the flesh?
07:03: Yes, it was the messenger of Satan, but God was behind it. God was, at the very least, permitting it.
07:11: Right? Why? For God's glory? Think of the book of Job. How much glory has been brought to the
07:18: Lord through the book of Job? It exalts God's sovereignty above any other book, perhaps.
07:25: So God is glorified with Job. And he's glorified with Paul.
07:31: And you know what? It was for Paul's own good. It kept Paul humble.
07:36: It kept Paul where God wanted him to be. Again, verse 7.
07:43: He says, And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
07:57: And if you're not convinced by now that ultimately it was the Lord who was in control in all of this.
08:05: Verse 8. What does Paul do? He asks the
08:10: Lord to remove the thorn, doesn't he? Well, if God isn't in control, then why would
08:16: Paul ask the Lord to remove it? He says, Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the
08:22: Lord three times that it might depart from me. So Paul has the correct theology.
08:30: He's turning to God. He knows God is in control. And Paul, I'm sure, knows the book of Job. Paul has a correct understanding of God's sovereignty.
08:38: If Paul thought God wasn't involved or sovereign over this, he would not have asked the
08:45: Lord to remove it. And not only was this to keep Paul humble, it was
08:52: God's way to keep Paul reliant upon his grace.
08:57: Every one of us, we all need to rely upon God and his grace.
09:07: Verse 9. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you.
09:12: For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Was that the answer that Paul wanted initially?
09:20: No, no, it wasn't. But that's the best answer.
09:26: That's what Paul needed. God in his wisdom knew that's what he needed. And let me just say this.
09:31: If you are going through something really difficult right now, just consider.
09:38: Is it possible that God is allowing this in your life because he's trying to teach you about relying upon him and his grace?
09:48: Is it possible that he has you exactly where he wants you? Maybe he's trying to humble you.
09:56: Maybe there's something else. I don't have all the answers. But if God is sovereign, he has the answer.
10:03: He knows what he's doing. I mean, this is faith, right? We can't really see what's going on. We don't have all the information.
10:09: We don't have the behind the scenes look like we have in Job. But God is at work.
10:17: Maybe God in his omniscience knew that if the thorn was removed, Paul's pride would get the best of him.
10:25: Maybe God knew that if the thorn was removed, Paul would start relying on his own strength and his own intellect.
10:34: You realize when you rely on your own strength and your own intellect, you tend to get yourself in trouble, right?
10:43: Paul says, therefore, therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10:55: And in verse 10, he says, for when I am weak, then I am strong.
11:01: The world looks at this and they say that is foolishness.
11:07: But the foolishness of God is wiser than men. And that's what the scripture says.
11:12: So where did the strength come from? It came from the Lord. Paul had to deny self every day, crucify the flesh every day so that the power of Christ would rest upon him.
11:25: And this is what we need to do. We need to do the same thing. We can either live life our way or we can seek
11:32: God's will. It's going to be one or the other. You're going to do one or the other.
11:38: Maybe God has allowed suffering to enter into your life to keep you close to God. Maybe God has allowed
11:45: Satan even to take something from you in order to keep you humble.
11:53: Maybe God is not answering your prayers. People say, well, every time you pray,
11:59: God always answers. It's either yes, no or wait. Well, I mean, it's hard to argue with that,
12:05: I suppose. But maybe he is saying no. Maybe he is not answering your prayers because he knows that the thing you're praying for might actually be detrimental to you.
12:15: Maybe harmful, if not physically, then perhaps spiritually. You know, sometimes we have the tendency to think that if God is not answering our prayers in the affirmative, that it means that he doesn't care or that he's not listening.
12:30: I promise you, God cared about Paul's prayers.
12:36: I promise you, God heard Paul's prayer and he gave the answer, my grace is sufficient.
12:45: And Paul accepted that because he believed God's grace was sufficient. Do you believe that the grace of God is sufficient?
12:54: So that's the first question. Why did God allow this? I think we have the answer.
12:59: The second question is what? What was it? What was
13:05: Paul's thorn in the flesh? There's all sorts of speculation about this.
13:13: And what was it? Okay. Some people, a common view, you probably heard this, is that Paul had bad eyesight.
13:23: Paul's bad eyesight, that was his thorn in the flesh. After all, in Galatians 6, 11, he makes reference how with such large letters
13:32: I have written to you. So such bad eyesight, he had to write with big, big letters.
13:38: That makes sense, I guess. Galatians 4, 15, Paul does say to the church,
13:44: I'm sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.
13:50: So let me say this. I do believe Paul had bad eyesight. Okay. I believe that.
13:57: But I don't think it had anything to do with his thorn in the flesh. If you want to disagree with that, that's fine.
14:04: But people think, well, it must have been a physical ailment because, after all, it's a thorn where?
14:10: In the flesh. So it must be a problem with his body. He calls it an infirmity, and that could be.
14:17: But wait just a minute. When people use that expression, thorn in the flesh or thorn in their side.
14:23: And obviously, that's where people get the expression, whether they know it or not. It comes from the Bible. But when somebody says, you know, this guy, he's a real thorn in my side.
14:34: You know, this woman, man, she is a thorn in my side. What do they mean by that?
14:40: They're a real pain in the neck. Well, I think that's what's going on here.
14:49: Okay. And again, a key rule of biblical interpretation is that when you're looking for the answer, you find the answer, as you already said in the text.
15:02: Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornett Church. Like to listen to the complete message.
15:08: Like more information about the ministry. Visit our website, MorrisCornettChurch .com.
15:13: And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.