THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SUFFERING

to meet on this day and to worship and to learn more about our father about his son

Jesus Christ and about the Holy Spirit but let us not forget the blessing that he's giving us and that is the love that we have for one another as his adopted sons and his adopted daughters as we fellowship together on this day visitors we welcome you to our church it is wonderful that you are here and it's not an accident that the

Lord has brought you here and I want you to know it's twelve five churches desire and prayer that you find the church that you're looking for a church that you can find that is one in the body of Christ who's growing in Jesus Christ and who has love for one another in Christ now you may notice if you've been here before that our preaching elder

Nathan is not here today he's actually down in Florida at River Bend Community Church River Bend Community Church holds a special place in our hearts when we set out and we started this church as a church plant

River Bend was the one that sponsored us they played a big part in helping us to get going they provided oversight we were actually under their authority for a period of time to make sure that we didn't go to the left or to the right that we stayed right in the middle with the

Word of Christ they actually installed two of our elders Nathan and Jeremiah who will be preaching today and also they provided financial support for us so as a result like I said they hold a special place in our heart normally each

Sunday we will pray for a local church but because Nathan's down in River Bend and the reason he's there is they are installing a new preaching elders named

Josh Brown I thought it'd be fitting that we would pray for River Bend today as we pray for a church so if you'd bow your heads and pray with me

I'd appreciate it Father we are so thankful for the many blessings that you've given us how you supplied

River Bend to help us to start as a church how they provided guidance how they've given us wisdom how they've given us oversight and even how they've helped us financially and today is a special day in that church where they're installing a new pastor elder preacher elder and Josh Brown and how they're setting off on a new direction with Josh so Lord we just pray that your hand would be upon them that you'd give them wisdom

Lord as they seek to follow your will and all that they do Father we pray for travel mercies for Nathan that you would speak through him and the others who are speaking at the sermon at the at the service today at River Bend just pray that your hand would be upon them in Christ Jesus our

Lord amen so next we come to the call of worship this is going to be out of Psalm 121 my help comes from the

Lord this is a responsive reading which I'll read a line and then y 'all will follow so begins

I lift up my eyes to the hills from where does my help come from he will not let your foot be moved he who keeps you will not slumber the

Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade on your right hand the

Lord will keep you from all evil the Lord will keep your going out and you're coming in amen amen so now that brings us to the prayer of adoration and before I pray to our adoring

Lord I want to ask you a few questions about what you've noticed lately do you notice it when you walk in the night when you go out in the night sky did you notice it this morning when you woke up and you went outside and even while you were driving to church did you notice it did you notice the moon did you notice the stars the

Sun did you notice the birds singing in the spring air did you notice the leaves and the shrubs and everything coming to life in the spring all these things

I've described to you is shouting is shouting out the glory of our

Lord so did you notice that this is a prayer of adoration

Oh Lord we proclaim you King forever you are living

Savior our Redeemer the Lord of heaven for you alone are robed in majesty and crowned in glory as a part of your creation we adore you for all that you have done all that you are doing in our lives and as you fulfill all of your promises we adore you for what you will accomplish in the future forever the

Lord is exalted amen Oh that you have made these ways

That You, my God, will walk with me. Open up my eyes so I may see

That You have made these ways for me. Open up my eyes so I may see

That You, my God, will walk with me.

So at least then I have found Wherever I may be

For all my ways are known to You. Hallelujah, they are known to You.

Today's scripture reading is going to come from Philippians 1, verses 27 through 30.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you, or in absence,

I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake.

Engaged in the same conflict that you saw that I had, and now hear that I still have.

This leads us to the prayer of confession and assurance. I ask that Your Spirit speak in us,

Father, that we may speak to You. For we have no merit of our own, so we ask that You let the merit of Jesus Christ stand for us.

We are undeserving, but we look to Your tender mercy. We are full of infirmities and sins, but You are full of grace.

We confess our frequent sins and our willful sins. We are utterly ashamed of what we are in ourselves, for we have no fruit without You.

But it is You that has given us our Lord, Your Son, Jesus Christ, and our hearts are turned towards righteousness because of that.

Help us to put down sin and to humble our pride. Save us from the love of the world and the pride of life, from everything that is natural to fallen man, and let

Christ's nature be seen in us day by day. We pray these things in Christ Jesus.

Amen. Tis we summon,

Lord, Your Son, And sung by flaming tongues above,

Raise the mount I'm fixed upon, And mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by Thy help

I've come, And I hope by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wand 'ring from the fold of God, He to rescue me from danger

Interposed His precious blood. Peace, how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be, Would let

Thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, Prone to weep, the

God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, stake and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above. Prone to wonder,

Lord, I feel it, Prone to weep, the God I love.

Here's my heart, Lord, stake and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

Here's my heart, Lord, stake and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

A wonderful Savior is

Jesus, my Lord, A wonderful Savior to me.

He hideth my soul in the cleft and the rung,

Where rivers of pleasure I see.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my

Lord, He taketh my burden away.

He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved,

He giveth me strength at my days.

He hideth my soul in the cleft and the rung

That shadows the dry, thirsty land.

He hideth me in the depths of His love

And covers me there with His hand.

And covers me there with His hand.

He clothed with His brightness, Transported I rise to meet

Him in clouds of the skies. His perfect salvation is wonderful love,

I'll shout with the millions on high.

He hideth my soul in the cleft and the rung

That shadows the dry, thirsty land.

He hideth my life in the depths of His love

And covers me there with His hand.

And covers me there with His hand.

He hideth my soul in the cleft and the rung

That shadows the dry, thirsty land.

He hideth my life in the depths of His love

And covers me there with His hand.

And covers me there with His hand.

How deep the Father's love for us, How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son To make a wretch

His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon whom I sit

Upon His shoulders Ashamed I hear my mocking voice

And thus offer It was my sin that held

Him there Until it was accomplished

His dying death has brought me at His hand.

No will, not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart and soul

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His words have paid my ransom But this

I know with all my heart His words have paid my ransom

Most gracious and heavenly Father, Lord, we come to You this morning,

Lord. Lord, we humble ourselves before You. Lord, not let us boast in anything lest we're boasting in You.

Lord, I pray this morning as You prepare Pastor Nathan or Pastor Jeremiah to come for us this morning and preach

Your Word, Lord. I just pray that You would give him boldness, Lord. Preach Your Word boldly.

Lord, give us open hearts, open ears, open minds to take Your Word. Father, Lord, I pray as we take up this offering this morning in obedience to You.

Lord, You bless us in so many ways. Lord, I pray that You would just bless this offering as we give back what is rightfully

Yours in the first place. Father, we love You. We praise You. All these things in Your Son, Jesus, precious and holy name this morning.

In Jesus' name, and all of God's people said, Amen. Right. If you have your copy of God's Word, I just want to invite you to turn with us this morning to 2

Corinthians chapter 12, starting in verse 7. Last week, if you were here,

Pastor Nathan preached on when life gives you lemons, preach Christ. I was like,

I like what Pastor Nathan does with his word choices there. And his point was the world says when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Just try your best to just get through the day. It will get better.

And for the life of the Christian, that's not true. We understand that we exist in a world that is perishing, a world that is cursed by sin.

And this is not our best life now. For the Christian, it gets so much better because one day in our future,

Jesus Christ will return and He will restore all things, making all things new. Heaven will be on earth for all eternity.

We will be glorified with Him. And so we long to look forward to those things. And the

Apostle Paul tells us to live is Christ. Oh, but to die is gain. And so when life gives you lemons, when you have hard circumstances, preach

Christ. We live as Christ. These days are evil, right? We understand this is a perishing evil age, but our

Lord is redeeming the time. And so what do we do? We preach Christ. And so today

I wanted to kind of piggyback off that message of whatever life throws at you in all circumstances, we keep our gaze on the

King. And so I want us to talk about the sovereignty of God in suffering.

And so one of the best verses before we go into our main passage, the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 1 .29,

For it has been granted, I would argue, effectually for the sake of Christ that you not only believe, but also to suffer for the sake of Christ.

Now, what Paul is saying that should rejoice our hearts is the fact that you believe, that's been granted to you by God.

And we should rejoice in that, that God is sovereign in our salvation. But you know what else He's also sovereign in?

The suffering. Yes, He gave you a heart of faith to look to Jesus, but He also gives us times of suffering to go with that heart of faith.

You know why? Because our suffering is going to mold our hearts to look to Jesus Christ.

It's going to mold our faith. And so Christians, when we're going through the heartaches, the hurts and the pains, we know that God is at work in our life.

He is conforming us more and more into the image of Jesus. And so look with me at our main passage in 2

Corinthians 12, where the Apostle Paul, he had a big time affliction going on in his life.

I want us to consider the passage where Paul had a thorn in his side. And so look with me starting in verse 7.

Paul says, So to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being conceited.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But the

Lord said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, Paul, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so the power of Christ may rest upon me.

For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamities.

But when I am weak, then I am strong. Let's pray this morning. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this time that you've given us to worship, to gather together as saints, to revere your name and to glorify you in your proper light.

God, I pray that as we open up your word, as we talk about thorny afflictions, not only in the life of the

Apostle Paul, but our thorny afflictions, God, that we would rest in knowing that that is a gracious gift from above.

Why? To mold us, to strengthen our faith and cause us to look to you, Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

Lord, we love you and we thank you for all that you do for us. Praise things in your name, Jesus. Amen. Look back with me at verse 10, if you will, because I want us to see this wide range of suffering and tribulation that the

Apostle is going through. Now, when I say the word tribulation, you might think, is he talking about the great tribulation in eschatology?

No, even though I love getting into the study of the end times. Tribulation just simply means wide range of affliction and hardship.

And so the Apostle Paul gives us a number of things that he has experienced in his life of ministry.

And he says, I am content. He's not just gritting his teeth, trying to just make it day by day.

No, he has the highest degree of joy in his life. And notice, he says, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

And so if you look back just at chapter 11, building up to this major passage, Paul gives us an even more in -depth analysis of the type of suffering that he has went through.

If you look back at verse 24 in chapter 11, he says, five times I received at the hands of the

Jews 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. I was once stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked, night and day adrift at sea, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, dangers of my own people, danger from the

Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers.

I've been in toil and hardships with many sleepless nights and hunger and pain, often without food and in the cold and exposure.

This, the Apostle was not living his best life now because he was suffering greatly for the name of Christ.

He had his joy set on the life to come. Yes, he knows Christ here and now. This is eternal life that you know the one true

God and his Son, Jesus Christ whom he sent. But we look forward for what is to come because as we're gonna get into,

Christians are victorious now through suffering. And so I want us to ask this question, to be thinking about throughout the rest of the sermon.

How was Paul able to say, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses?

How was Paul able to say, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities?

How was Paul able to say, for when I am weak, then I am strong? Look back with me at verse seven.

Paul mentions two things here for the purpose of his suffering that he is very much aware of.

He says, so to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me.

And then the second time, to keep me from being conceited. Okay, so he's aware that he's an apostle called out by Jesus Christ and he has these mountaintop experiences, right?

He gets to receive revelations, these wonderful peak experiences. And yet he says,

I don't wanna be conceited. I don't want to be arrogant and puffed up with the type of experience that maybe not everybody else gets to have.

And so he recognizes God, keep me humble. The apostle Paul understands the temptation, how he could possibly boast that he's an apostle.

And that breaks his heart because he never wants to boast in himself. He wants to boast in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

And so he mentions here for the surpassing greatness of revelations. If you look back with me at verse two,

I believe this is what he has in mind. So he's an apostle. He gets to hear the audible voice of the

Lord oftentimes, right? During this time of progressive revelation, during the birth of the early church.

So as he mentions the kinds of experiences he has, he wants to maybe distance himself a little bit and speak in the third person.

Just so you don't get the wrong idea that he is boasting in himself. Back in verse two,

Paul says, he says, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up into the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body,

I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise, whether in the body or out of the body,

I do not know, God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man cannot utter.

So I believe in verse seven, these are the kinds of revelations, visions that he is referring to.

And he understands, yes, I have been granted so many wonderful experiences that cannot be repeated.

It's too wonderful for us to understand. That's been granted to him. But you know what else has been granted to the

Apostle Paul? Suffering greatly for the name of Christ. Paul says, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me.

Now, we're not told exactly what this thorn in the flesh is, but I'm going to give it my best shot. You're going to hear, oh,

I think I know what Jeremiah thinks the thorn in the flesh is. And that's okay, I think it's just vague enough for Christians to identify with the

Apostle Paul. We're going to have thorny afflictions. We're all going to experience spiritual warfare.

And yet, this is a gracious gift from God to sanctify us for our good and for his glory.

We're told this thorn in the flesh is a messenger of Satan, an angelos. So this is a spiritual attack on the

Apostle Paul. And so this is a thorn in his side because he knows that Satan has been attacking the believers at Corinth.

And he has been discipling them. He has been pouring his life as a sweet -smelling aroma, outpouring his life for these believers.

And so when they are being attacked by Satan, well, that's attacking the Apostle Paul. Paul numerous times has been telling the

Christians at Corinth that they are in the crosshairs of Satan. And so earlier in Paul's letter in 2

Corinthians, he speaks of the urgency to carry out church discipline. Okay, do we know what church discipline means?

A lot of times we think of discipline as only negative, right? The positive side to discipline is discipleship, right?

This is in the realm of pastors caring for the flock that's been entrusted to them. And I don't know your background, your church experience, but if a church is not practicing and willing to practice church discipline, they're just not a church.

They're not equipped to handle the spiritual attacks from the enemy. Why do I say that?

Earlier in Paul's letter, he says that there is so much unrepentant sin in your midst, you must practice church discipline.

You must pray for reconciliation and you must exercise forgiveness. Why? Because the enemy will wreak havoc on all the saints.

He says to the believers at Corinth, we must do these things, practice church discipline, so we would not be outwitted by Satan and his schemes.

And so if you have your copy of God's word, turn with me to chapter 10 here in 2 Corinthians, because Paul brings up the reality of spiritual warfare and how

Satan is already at work in their midst. So in chapter 10, look with me at verse three.

Paul says, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. How do we do this?

We take every thought captive to obey Christ. And so what he is telling the believers at Corinth is that you must prepare yourself for battle.

The kingdom of darkness is already in your midst and the arch enemy of God, Satan, the father of lies, does not fight fair.

He will malign the truth. He will distort it ever so slightly. And then he will wreak havoc on the babes in Christ, the undiscerning that will be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.

And I believe this is a principle that we today can glean, that we must fight not with earthly made weapons, but weapons that have divine power.

That means we must put on the whole armor of God, that we must renew our hearts and our minds with God's truth, being equipped with the knowledge that he has revealed to us in his word.

We do this by keeping our gaze on the author and the perfecter of our faith. And so in chapter 11, the apostle talks to the believers at Corinthians and he says, listen, you don't understand the severity of what

I'm telling you. The enemy is already in your midst and you don't seem to care. He is already building strongholds in your midst and you don't seem to care.

Chapter 11, look with me at verse three. Paul says, but I'm afraid that the serpent that deceived

Eve by his cunning and his craftiness, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one that we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one that you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

You don't have your guard up. Your minds are not being equipped with sound doctrine and understanding theological truths about who

God is. And in verse five, he says, indeed, I consider that I am not least inferior to these so -called super apostles.

Okay, the Corinthians are letting false teachers come into their midst. And as they do this, their mind is being led away ever slowly by these so -called super apostles.

We're not told exactly what they were teaching, but we know enough that they were preaching a false

Jesus that cannot forgive sin. They were preaching a gospel that is being distorted from the gospel of grace.

And maybe they were teaching about spirits, but it wasn't leading to the Holy Spirit. It was leading to demonic spirits.

Paul is telling them that you are not taking every thought captive to obey Christ. Rather, you are being slowly led astray by subtle arguments raised against the truth.

And so a moment ago, when we looked at all these great kinds of tribulations that the apostle Paul was going through, there's one that really stood out to me.

We read that he was in danger and persecution from false brothers, okay?

This is a kind of persecution. And so Jesus told us that as Christians, we will be persecuted in this world, right?

Right, even in the Sermon on the Mount, he says there's going to be blessing in persecution. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And I just wanna say, this kind of persecution makes sense to me. If they hated Jesus, guess what?

The world's gonna hate all the followers of Christ as well. And we think totally different than the world does, right?

Blessed are the poor in spirit. No, the world says blessed are the wealthy, those that have authority and have great influence and those who work, work, work really hard.

No, for the Christian, we rest in the finished work of Christ. We can even consider it blessing and joy when we receive persecution from the outside world.

But there's a different kind of persecution that cuts even deeper than persecution from the outside world, persecution from professing brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is how Satan works. He's gonna throw fiery darts from outside the church and we're ready for that. Like we know that that's going to happen, but he's also trying to infiltrate the local body from within.

He's going to divide the local church, how? Through unrepentant sin, spreading lies, false doctrine, corrupting the gospel of grace.

Jeremiah, you say that a whole lot. What do you mean by the gospel of grace? The gospel of grace is that you put your faith alone in Christ alone.

This gets distorted all the time. Yeah, but you have to be baptized. Yeah, Jeremiah, but you have to go to church, you have to do, do, do, and do all these works along with believing in Christ.

That's not the gospel. That is a distorted gospel, listen, that cannot save.

All of your works are tainted with sin. Should we get baptized?

Yes, for those that are already believing and are justified by Christ. That is why we should get baptized.

It beautifully pictures these realities. I have an apologetics ministry where I evangelize the church of Christ because they believe in a false gospel.

Now, I have the heart of the apostle Paul. I want to bring to them the actual truth that you cannot add your works to the already finished work of Christ.

And I get thrown back at me, well, we're not adding our works. We're just being obedient. I'm like, you're obedient works, you're adding it to the gospel.

That's why Paul, all throughout the book of Romans, the book of Galatians, is he says, what justifies a person is faith apart from your works.

And so I don't want people to be led astray by a different gospel, a different Jesus that tried really hard.

He did 99 % of all, now the ball's in your court. Now, as we're gonna talk about, Jesus is the sovereign king of the universe.

The gospel of grace says, no, you were saved by a savior that fulfilled the law perfectly.

Every time that we were supposed to be obedient and we failed, he was perfect. He obeyed. So you have to look in your heart to Christ alone, apart from your own accomplishments.

This is the kind of thing that the apostle is pleading with the believers at Corinth because they are slowly being led astray by a different Jesus.

And so we see that there is a kind of persecution that's happening from within the church walls, right?

Paul says that he has been persecuted by false brothers. Friend, I don't know if you've ever been a part of a church where there is gross, slander, secret, backbiting, blaming one another and then just sweeping it under the rug, never to be resolved.

That will devastate a church body. I have experienced that and it breaks my heart.

This is the kind of thing that Paul is saying that a type of thorn is in his flesh. These super apostles, they are casting doubt on the credentials of the apostle.

How are they doing this? Well, they're going to the Christians that he has been discipling year after year, saying, this apostle

Paul guy, he can't preach. Yeah, he writes some weighty things in his letters, but you really need us.

And what I'm talking about is if you look with me at 2 Corinthians 10 .10, this is that subtle way of how the enemy works from within a church.

These super apostles, these really superficial apostles, they said, Paul's letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account, okay?

So these false teachers, they cannot discount the weightiness of Paul's letters.

We know the truth of that. Why? He's an inspired apostle, right? Those were not his words. These are the words of God.

And so very subtly, they have to acknowledge that fact, but then they say, but in person, he's a pushover.

He's not a real leader. And don't get us started about how terrible of a public speaker he is.

Corinthians, you don't need the apostle Paul. You need us. That is the devil at work.

That's why church discipline is so important, to fight sin, to hold one another accountable, to be accountable to the oversight of the undershepherds, because Satan will ever slightly distort the truth, and the greatest lie contains the most amount of truth in it.

He will also use flattering speech to deceive the hearts of the naive, causing divisions, creating obstacles contrary to sound doctrine.

And no doubt, the apostle Paul is receiving blistering darts at every angle in this spiritual warfare with the

Corinthians. So look back with me at verse seven. Paul says, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me.

And so we don't know the exact thing that's going on, that we don't know exactly what this thorn in the flesh is, but we know it's something to do with spiritual warfare.

He goes on to further clarify and say, an ongelos, a messenger of Satan. This is the same language used in chapter 11, verse 13, to refer to the superficial apostles.

They are instruments in the hand of Satan, infiltrating the church and dividing from within. 2

Corinthians 11, 13 says, for such men are false apostles, false messengers, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as an apostle of Christ.

And no wonder, for even Satan himself disguises as an ongelos, a messenger, an angel of light.

And Paul goes on to say, and so it's no surprise that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

Yeah, but so -and -so is really, really nice, right? They make me feel real good. But what are they saying about who

Jesus is, right? Because absolutely, we love everyone, but we stand firm on truth.

Because Satan is trying to infiltrate the church and build strongholds. And so in some way, these false teachers no doubt have been tormenting the apostle by slandering his character, discrediting his apostleship and attacking the bride of Christ.

And so they're slowly corrupting the minds of the believers into a Jesus that cannot save.

And so I believe as we see Paul pleading with the Lord, he has the heart of a pastor, constantly praying and pleading with the

Lord. Look with me at verse eight. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that this thorn, this ongoloss of Satan should leave me.

No doubt Paul has the heart of a pastor, a man of God who continually goes to the throne of God in prayer.

And when he feels the attacks of the enemy, when he sees the attacks of the enemy on fellow saints, he goes in prayer to God.

Paul elsewhere says, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

And so something else I wanna take out of, a principle out of verse seven is that this thorn in the flesh was given to the apostle.

Shouldn't that cause us to pause for a moment? In what way was this thorny affliction given to him?

Because this thorn in his flesh is a spiritual attack from the enemy, harassing, literally tormenting him, and yet it has been bestowed on him as a gift, sovereignly from God.

Doesn't that blow your mind? How does that work? I was reading a lot of commentaries and one commentator said this, paradoxically, the thorn was both a gift from God and a goad from Satan.

And so it's easy to understand how afflictions and persecutions are being used as flaming darts from the enemy.

But listen, Paul had the perspective that his entire life was in the hands of the sovereign triune

God. And God has exhaustive purpose that takes place in his created world.

All of history is his story, his story of redemption.

But how in the world did Paul have this perspective that tribulation, suffering, this thorn in his flesh was a gift from above?

Well, he understood this reality that trials for the believer are ordained by God for our good and for his glory.

These trials are meant to sanctify and mold us more into the image of our savior. And if you are resting in the absolute sovereignty of God, not making exceptions,

God didn't really want that to take place. But if you say, no, no, no, all of it, God has purpose, then you can't read verses like Romans 8, 28 the same way again.

This verse says, and we know that those who love God. Jeremiah, I know a lot of people that tell me they love

God, right? I know a bunch of Jews that say they love God, right? But they deny

Jesus. Well, I can tell you right now, they don't love God. They rejected the son of God who stepped into his own creation and took on flesh to dwell among us.

It's not just enough to say you love God. You have to love King Jesus and him alone as a savior, not adding your works to the already finished work of Christ.

When he says, and we know that those who love God, he's talking about those that have their faith in Christ and they are justified just as if I never sinned.

And then and only then the apostle says that we can have shalom, true peace with God, right?

That's another beatitude. Blessed are the peacemakers for they are sons of God. We are not peacemakers like the world understands peace, just tolerating everything and holding up the white flag.

We are peacemakers because we have the gospel of peace. We actually love people enough to tell them the truth that they need

Christ. Look to him in faith apart from your own works. And so for those that love

God, that are trusting in Christ alone, all things work together for our good, for those that are called according to his purpose.

Do you see it? All things are working together for our sanctification.

That includes your trials. That includes your suffering. Nothing random is happening in God's world.

There is nothing meaningless. Our divinely appointed trials are sovereignly bestowed gifts that will strengthen our faith.

And as I was thinking more about this, one of the best ways to illustrate what I'm talking about are the sufferings of Job.

You know what I'm talking about? Story of Job. I cheat a lot of times and read the first seven chapters and then kind of skip to the last seven chapters, but it's a beautiful story.

And so I wanted to bring this up. Job loved the Lord and the text says that he feared God. And so what did

Satan do? Satan had a special target on Job. Y 'all remember this, the satanic wager? Satan goes before the throne of God and says, does

Job fear God for no reason? Well, you've blessed the work of his hands, his possessions, but if you stretch out of your hand and take everything that he has, well, then he'll curse you and you'll die.

And so what does he always say to Satan? Behold, all that he has is in your hand, only spare his life.

That is remarkable. Because I want you to hang onto something and we're about to relate this back to the Apostle Paul. God and Satan were both at work in Job's life, but here's the key principle.

God and Satan were at work in different ways. That make sense? Both at work, but in totally different ways.

Satan is at work by bringing accusations about Job to God. He's prowling around like a lion, trying to sift

Job like wheat. He is tempting Job to curse God and die.

And yet God is absolutely in control of whatever comes to pass.

Satan can only accomplish what God permits and ordains, nothing more, nothing less.

A quote from church history, someone said that the devil is God's devil.

I want you to think about this. God does not learn anything. He has a purpose in all things. That means Satan is like he's on a leash.

He can only do what God allows, permits, and ordains. Satan destroyed all of Job's property and livestock.

Satan was even able to kill Job's family minus his wife. And I want you to feel the weight of this because we can't just say that he was merely being harassed by Satan.

That doesn't begin to describe the onslaughts of crushing assaults that Job received from the evil one.

All of this was taking place under God's sovereign control.

Job could have easily blamed Satan for the attacks being consumed with anger towards the archenemy of God who is billions of times stronger than any one of us combined.

Job could have cursed God for allowing this to take place, but he didn't, did he? By the grace of God, Job worshiped.

And we hear these famous words, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the

Lord. Job had good doctrine, right? Because he maybe knew that all these things were effectually being done by Satan, and yet he appealed to God that is permitting this, that had purpose in this happening in his life.

And then you have Job's friends. Y 'all know who I'm talking about. You have those friends in your life that come on, come alongside of you, and they start giving you their advice, right?

And this is where they were saying, well, you're suffering because God is angry at you. You must have sinned in some big way, right?

We know that that wasn't the truth. Job cried out in response to their bad advice and said, for I know my

Redeemer lives. Though he slay me, I will trust in him. I know that you, God, can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

So let's ask the why question. Why did God allow this to take place?

Why did God design this in his master plan to take place the exact way that it did? The New Testament and the book of James tells us the very reason.

James 5 .11 says, you have heard of the steadfastness of Job, his perseverance, and you have seen the purpose of the

Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. Why did

God do this? God wanted to reveal more of his character, his gracious character to Job in his suffering.

And if you did skip to the end of Job, then you know that he was blessed way more than ever.

So we have to understand that trials are necessary in the life of the believer to grow us, to show us that God's grace is sufficient.

The book of James also says in one verse 12, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life.

When life gives you lemons, preach Christ, right? Because we can actually take great joy in our suffering because God sovereignly ordained that to happen in a very particular way.

In fact, it was the very thing that you needed. So you can rejoice knowing that when Christ ascended, he didn't leave us as orphans, but he sent us who?

The Holy Spirit, who indwells us, that will be with us even to the end of the age.

All the days, God is with us. God is not only sovereign in our justification, which is by faith alone, apart from works, mind you, but God is also sovereign in our sanctification.

So I've said a word, sovereignty a whole lot. You must be like, man, does Jeremiah have this as a bumper sticker on his car?

Because he says God is sovereign a whole lot. And yes, he is, because that is what the Bible says, that Jesus Christ is

King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the only blessed and the only sovereign.

Isn't that right, Brother Danny? Right. That's right. God is the only sovereign. This means that he possesses transcendent power.

He is all powerful. That's why scripture declares, hallelujah for the Lord our God, the almighty, the omnipotent reigns.

And so everything that comes to pass in history is ultimately predetermined by God, meaning in real time, he permits it to take place.

Both of those truths are compatible. They are right. God is omniscient before the foundation of the world.

That means when he says, let there be, everything's going to happen one way, that God has purpose, right?

God had purpose in evil coming about. Why? So he could crush it. God had purpose in sin entering in.

Why? To be the redeemer of all. If you're mad about these truths, let me encourage you.

Let God be gone. You are not gone. God is able to work in bigger categories than we relate to with other people.

God is the creator. You are a part of the creation. Can we at least agree with that? So God is sovereign, right?

And a beautiful truth, when I start thinking about how in my life I go through hurts and I go through pains, when

I go through affliction, I'm reminded of the words of King David in Psalm 139.

He says, your eyes saw me, Lord, when I was inside the womb. All my days were ordained, predetermined for me.

They were written in a book before any one of them came into existence. If you have tasted and seen that the

Lord is gracious, you can bet he who began that good work in you is going to bring you to glory one day.

You can't lose it. Yeah, Jeremiah, but what about other people? Does God have a sovereign purpose for them? Absolutely.

Trust God with that. You don't know the end from the beginning. Go evangelize them. Share them the good news and realize you cannot coerce them into being saved, right?

God gives the increased. God is the one that changes hearts. So pray for that.

Because I'd like to encourage you, even though the apostle Paul acknowledged this truth that God sovereignly gave him afflictions, he was not robotic, okay?

Because a chief criticism with what I'm explaining to you as well, since God is sovereign, since God has ordained the end from the beginning, then

I guess I can just sit at home and do squat. Now you'd say, well, that's not the apostle Paul's posture, right?

He knew these great truths, and yet it fueled him to pray and evangelize the lost.

And this is why. He understood that his prayers could not change the one who knows all things.

So then what's the purpose of prayer? Prayer doesn't change God. Prayer changes you.

Can we get on board with that? Prayer is beautiful. Prayer is wonderful. But don't think for a moment you can convince

God to have a better plan. I'm telling you, I've had some incredible conversations where that's the route that everything's going.

Yeah, but God seemed to be interacting with Abraham, and Abraham was making some good points. No, God was speaking in ways that Abraham could understand, right?

God had a purpose, even in that showing us that God condescends to our level. He's not just some ethereal deity out in the distance that can't be known.

No, the second person, the Godhead, Jesus Christ, he became man like us. He met us where we are at.

So my point is having a huge biblical view of who God is and his sovereignty does not mean that we don't bear personal responsibility.

We don't have the vantage point of knowing the end from the beginning. And so I had a quote here

I wanted to share with you that really made a lot of sense to me. Since prayer does not change God's sovereign purposes, we have to understand that God's sovereign purposes work through our prayers.

This is important because Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, he tells us that your father knows everything you need before you ask him, but he wants you to ask him.

Because when Paul is pleading with the Lord three times, this is how believers have their walk with God.

You speak to God in prayer, and he speaks back to us through his living and breathing word.

And so not for a moment, don't want you to think that Paul had his own individualistic walk with the

Lord. No, it was tethered with the saints, right? There are a lot of people that maybe will attend church once a month, every now and again, when their schedule just opens up.

In order for you to flourish in your walk with God, you have to be in covenant membership with the saints.

It's for your good. That's what the writer of Hebrews tells us, not to neglect this. Because your walk with the

Lord was not meant to be you under a tree and never talk with anybody. It's just, you know, I'm in my prayer closet, and I don't wanna downplay that.

We're supposed to have an individualistic walk with the Lord, but also with the rest of the body.

And so when Paul is pleading with the Lord, this was in the context of the corporate body of Corinthian believers, right?

He even began his letter addressing the church of God at Corinth. Paul's prayers were no doubt aimed for the

Lord's protection for his brothers and sisters in Christ. They are receiving devastating blows from the enemy, okay?

And so dear saint, I wanna encourage you with this truth, that God does still speak to us today.

It may not be through visions, and it may not be through a still small voice, but he speaks to us through his word.

And this truth is still for us today when God tells Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, okay?

Isn't that a beautiful phrase? My grace is sufficient for you. Now, I love studying church history.

I love studying the Protestant Reformation, right? We oftentimes talk about five solas here at 12 .5

Church. One of those is sola gratia. Does anybody know what that is? Grace alone, okay?

And the emphasis is that we are justified by God's grace alone.

Roman Catholics said, well, grace is necessary, but it's not sufficient. And I'm over here saying, oh, but didn't

God tell Paul that God's grace is sufficient? And so the idea is God's grace is not only sufficient for our justification, but God's grace is sufficient for our sanctification.

The Lord says to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. And it may be tempting to think that at this point in the passage that Paul just needed a heavy dose of humility.

Maybe that's the main point. That is a beautiful truth, but I wanna encourage you, this is the main thrust right here, that God is perfecting his power, putting the grace of Christ on display in Paul's weaknesses.

That's the full phrase. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

God is using the life of the apostle Paul and the sufferings of the church to crush the kingdom of darkness.

The foolishness, the simplicity of the gospel is winning souls. Jeremiah, did you just call the gospel foolish?

Yeah, from the world's perspective, right? But this is the power of God unto salvation.

We were all born once naturally by our representative head, Adam, right? Cursed by sin, rebels of God, right?

But in order to see the kingdom of God, you must be born again. And the only way someone can be born again is if they hear the gospel preached and we trust

God and his sovereignty to illuminate their hearts. So how did the apostle

Paul respond in the midst of suffering for Christ? Look with me back in our passage. He says, therefore,

I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that, the main purpose of this whole passage, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

So what brought Paul the highest degree of joy? Well, it wasn't boasting in his mountaintop experiences, but in the moments of his lowest, the moments of tribulation, where all he can do is plead for the

Lord for strength, that his gaze might continually look to the author and the perfecter of our faith.

That reminds me of John the Baptist, right? Remember, he said, behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

And he says, that lamb of God, he must increase, but I must decrease.

That was Paul's heart here. And so believers, we are victorious in this life through suffering.

And so Paul responds to all these different sufferings and tribulations with great joy, verse 10.

He says, for the sake of Christ, I am content. With weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

And so this word content isn't just gritting your teeth, saying when life gives you lemons, I'm gonna make lemonade.

No, he says that his heart cannot be more happy, more joyful right now than I am leaning into Christ.

This word content in the Greek is eudaiko. As I was looking at how this word was being used elsewhere in the

New Testament, I found something that the father said to the son at his baptism.

The father says to the son, this is my beloved son with whom I am eudaiko, well -pleased.

And I want you to hang on to this. You cannot get more pleased than being pleased by God in the son.

Does that make sense? Because if you have your faith alone in Christ alone, then all of your sin debt is paid for.

Jesus said, what would it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his very soul?

What matters most in this life is not your wealth, not how big your house is, how many cars you have, all of these things, because you can't take them with you.

How are you gonna stand on judgment day? Is he gonna say, well done, my good and faithful servant, come inherit all that's yours?

Because you're cloaked in the righteousness of Jesus? Or is he gonna say, depart from me because I never knew you.

Hey, you may have had a lot of stuff. You might've even said you were a Christian, right? There'll be many people on that day that say to me,

Lord, Lord, and he's gonna say, depart, right? Remember the super apostles, they were preaching a false

Jesus. I've had many conversations. The people said, why do you keep talking about different Jesuses? I'm like, because there's false ones out there.

There's only one that can save. And he's the God man. He's the second person, the triune God. If you're saying, no, there's not three persons to a

Trinity, that is a God who cannot save. You have to believe in the right

Jesus. Well, how do I know who the right Jesus is? Study his word. And when you put your faith in the true biblical

Jesus, and trust me, when I talk about the sovereignty of Christ, that makes people feel uncomfortable. You know what that tells me?

I'm talking about the right one. Okay? And if you're trusting in that Jesus, then you can have true shalom, peace with God.

Paul would say, you to Cao, you can be well -pleased, even in the hardest times of life and suffering.

My question for you today is, how will you respond in times of tribulation? Will you be like the world, murmuring, complaining, questioning, or dare

I say, even accusing God? Or you'd be like the apostle Paul that says, when

I am weak for the sake of Christ, then I am strong. Not strong in the power of my own might, but in the power of his might.

I pray that when we are given thorny afflictions in our lives by the sovereign hand of God that bestows that to us as gifts, that we would boast all the more gladly, that we would be content, you to Cao, well -pleased.

Yes, there will be times that we will plead with the Lord in prayer and say, this professing brother is slandering my name to other

Christians, and is totally wrecking shop. And it breaks our heart, and you should go to the

Lord in prayer. But I pray that we would not go to the Lord asking for a lighter cross, but we would pray for the strength to carry it.

I pray that as we seek greater revelations, mountaintop experiences in our walk with the

Lord, that we would rejoice when he gives us a thorn to keep us from being conceited, because Jesus bore a crown of thorns on our behalf.

Have you ever thought about that? We get thorns here and there, don't we? And they hurt. And we should go to the Lord in prayer and ask for peace, ask for strength to carry us through.

But remember your Savior who bore a crown of thorns on your behalf. I pray that as you leave here, that you would rest in this truth, that God, your grace is sufficient for your power is made perfect in our weakness.

Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for today.

We've talked about so many wonderful truths and God, I pray that as your word goes forth,

God, we trust that it doesn't return empty, but I pray that it would go forth in conviction. God, I pray that people would be convicted with having a low view of you, saying,

God, you would never ordain suffering and evils and sin. God, you are the creator of all things and nothing happens apart from your sovereign hand.

God, if we have experienced your grace, then we can know that you have a master plan, a beautiful tapestry that's woven together to put your glory on display.

Lord, I pray that for those that are listening that are not members of a healthy church,

God, not just a church that kind of sprinkles John 3, 16 in there from time to time, but needs discipleship, understands that they need the body.

God, that you would work conviction in their hearts, that they cannot shake off how you have showed us in the life of the apostle

Paul to imitate him as he imitates Christ. Lord, we love you and we pray these things in your name,