"Lord, Please Take It Away..." 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

We all have our issues. Some are more prominent, more public, than others, but we all have our issues. It may be a health issue that no doctor can seem to figure out. When Fanny Crosby was only six weeks old, her doctor messed up in trying to treat an eye issue that left her blind for the rest of her life. It might be a relationship issue that no counselor can seem to solve. Many of you have talked to counselor after counselor to try to resolve marital issues, but you are still struggling with them to this day. Others have a spouse or a child who has addiction issues and it has put such a strain on your soul and mind. It may be a sin issue, some “besetting sin” as Hebrews 12:1 calls them, that we struggle and fight and never seem to conquer. Pastor John Piper, when he was sixty-four years old, took an eight month leave from the pulpit to try and deal with his own besetting sins. He described them as “an ugly cluster of selfishness, anger, self-pity, quickness to blame, and sullenness.” In these struggles of life we cry out to the Lord like David did in Psalm 13.

1 How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? (Psalm 13:1-2 NIV)

If we let our emotions run unchecked then we can slide into feeling like God has forgotten us, that He doesn’t care for us, or that He is unfair in allowing us to go through such horrible pain. Why do we have to suffer when people we know, who do not love Him like we love Him, seem to glide right down the primrose path of life? A life filled with comfort, pleasure, and ease. It has been my prayer all week long that our Scripture this morning will give us another perspective on the thorny path of life. Let’s read our Scripture for this morning and then we will see what we can learn. 

1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-- God knows. 3 And I know that this man-- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NIV)

Last week, as we were studying 2 Corinthians 11, we began what many have called Paul’s “foolish speech.” Paul said to shine the spotlight on himself was foolish, he just wouldn’t do it. He came to speak about Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the hope of all the world. Speaking about himself, except for his weaknesses, was utter foolishness. And then he did it. Paul was backed into a corner. The false teachers, who were all about shining the spotlight on themselves, were gaining momentum in turning the hearts of the people of Corinth. So Paul comes out swinging, or so it appears. In 2 Corinthians 11:22-23, Paul wrote,

22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. (2 Corinthians 11:22-23 NIV)

What’s interesting is that after this verse, instead of listing all of his accomplishments for the kingdom, Paul begins to list the number of times he has been beaten, jailed, almost stoned to death, and ran out of town because of his unwavering commitment to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our Scripture for this morning, Paul goes back to boasting once more. This time, he will speak about “visions and revelations.” There is no doubt that the false teachers had fantastic stories of their experiences with God that were mesmerizing and captivating to the people of Corinth. This shouldn’t be too hard for us to understand since we are still being captivated and mesmerized by the stories of people’s encounters that are out of reach for the rest of us mere mortals. Here is what is interesting about Paul, he never wrote about any of his visions or revelations in his letters to the churches except here in 2 Corinthians. Did you notice how Paul told the story in verses 1-4? Let’s read it once again and see if you notice something really odd.

1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-- God knows. 3 And I know that this man-- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4 NIV)

“I know a man in Christ…” He doesn’t even claim this incredible story for himself. He speaks of himself in the third person as he tells the story. Let me tell you, if something like this happened to us there would be no third person. We would walk around town asking people, “What did you do yesterday? Me? Oh, I was in heaven with the Lord.” We would have Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster in a bidding war for the book rights to tell our story. We’d have Martin Scorsese working on the movie and we would hold conferences on how to experience the third heaven. Paul doesn’t want to talk about it, but he feels he must in order to go toe-toe with the false teachers in Corinth. Here’s another interesting thing about what Paul has written in these verses. He tells us he knows a man who was caught up to the third heaven, a man who heard inexpressible things, but he doesn’t really tell us anything other than the man was not permitted to talk about it. Why was he not permitted to tell? Before we get to that, let’s first talk about some other visions and revelations Paul experienced in his life. Like I said, you’ll never read about them in Paul’s letters, but you can read about them in Luke’s writing of the Acts of the Apostles in your Bible.In Acts 22:6-11, Paul had a vision of Jesus while he was on the road heading to Damascus. While in Damascus and blinded by the vision of Jesus, Paul had a vision of a man named Ananias who would come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. Turn with me to Acts 9:11-12 and let’s read about when the Lord sent Ananias. 

11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." (Acts 9:11-12 NIV)

In Acts 16:9-10, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia standing before him and begging him to come to Macedonia and share the good news about Jesus. Turn with me to Acts 16 and let’s read it together.

9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:9-10 NIV)

And in Acts 18:9-11, when Paul first arrived in Corinth and was confronted with opposition from the jump, the Lord spoke to Paul to encourage him. There’s no doubt that it was this encouraging word from the Lord that steeled Paul’s resolve over the next eighteen months of continued opposition while he shared the gospel, planted a church, and discipled new believers. Let’s read it together.

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. (Acts 18:9-11 NIV)

Luke, who was Paul’s traveling companion and friend, tells us about these experiences, but Paul never, not once, recounts any of these experiences in his letters to the churches. Don’t you think it would have been more than convenient for Paul to share how the Lord had encouraged him when he first arrived in Corinth? We don’t read it in either of his letters. Why is this? John Calvin wrote,

…this thing happened for Paul’s own sake, for a man who had awaiting him troubles hard enough to break a thousand hearts needed to be strengthened in a special way to keep him from giving way and to help him to persevere undaunted. (Calvin, John. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. pg 157)

Paul kept his special visions and revelations to himself to ensure that the authority of the church wouldn’t be based on ecstatic experiences, but on the cross. Paul was quick to share with the church in Corinth about his conversion experience (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:1-11; 2 Corinthians 2:14-16; 3:4-5; 4:5-6) because it highlighted his great need and his great Savior who alone can save sinners, but he kept his visions and revelations to himself. 

5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, (2 Corinthians 12:5-6 NIV)

Paul said he didn’t want people to think more of him because of the visions and revelations he had experienced. He wanted them to pay attention to what he did, how he conducted his life, and to listen to the content of his teaching. What a powerful model for you and me. We are all about the show, but give next to no thought whatsoever about the substance. I want us to move on so we can have plenty of time to learn from Paul’s experience of the thorn in his flesh. Let’s turn to verse 7.

…Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV)

I mentioned earlier that if you or I had an experience like Paul we would tell everyone. That’s not all that would follow our experience…we would become prideful and self-righteous. Evidently, Paul was no different than you or me. I’ve heard many people speak about Paul’s thorn in the flesh. I’ve read articles about Paul’s thorn in the flesh and how we can deal with our own thorn in the flesh. I’ve not known too many who have focused on why Paul had this persistent problem that drug on for years and years. Yet, Paul tells us that because of the great experience of being caught up to the third heaven and seeing and hearing things that we can’t even imagine, Paul was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. Paul, like all of us, had a propensity to be prideful. Someone once said, “Pride is that unique disease that makes everyone sick except for the one who has it.” Paul’s thorn in the flesh was persistent. Paul had been caught up into heaven fourteen years prior to his writing this letter. He said he was given the thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. That thorn had been with Paul a long time. Most people want to know what was the nature of Paul’s thorn? What exactly was it? The simple answer is I don’t know and anyone who tells you they do know is simply guessing. Throughout the years there have been many different ideas. Most Bible teachers have believed that Paul had some kind of physical ailment. In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul spoke of an illness that was a trial to the church (Galatians 4:13-14). Others have claimed that Paul suffered from some psychological ailment like anxiety or depression because of the constant opposition he faced. The truth is that we simply don’t know, but that is a good thing because whatever your thorn may be, whatever my thorn may be, we can learn how to deal with it from Paul. I want us to pay attention to three things Paul is saying in our remaining verses.  First of all, he was given the thorn. Bible teachers call this the “divine passive.” God is not named, but it is evident that He is the Giver of the thorn. God was the Giver of the revelation as well as the Giver of the thorn. David Garland writes,

Paul’s ‘thorn’ was an effective cure for any mistaken euphoria that visions might evoke. God wanted Paul to remain humble and fully aware of his own weakness. The thorn punctured any pride that might surge within him because of his grand entry into heaven, and the result was that he dealt with others with the meekness and gentleness of Christ rather than with the arrogant puffery of Satan. (Garland, David. 2 Corinthians. pg. 519.)

Paul’s thorn was a constant reminder of God’s grace and God’s power working through him. Paul was constantly, keenly aware of his own weakness because of that thorn. How about you? Does your thorn, that thing that you can’t solve, that relationship you can’t mend, that issue that keeps you up at night, that sin that plagues you, do you see them as mere irritations, as a source of persistent pain that you’ll never shake, or do you see them as a thorn “given?” How you see them, how you understand them, makes all of the difference in the world doesn’t it? It is obvious from what Paul wrote that he did not enjoy the thorn. Paul says, in verse 8, that he prayed three times for the Lord to remove the thorn from him. Many Bible teachers believe the phrase “three times'' was an expression of urgency in prayer rather than a literal three times of praying. This, no doubt, lets you and me know that Paul, initially, simply wanted it out, he wanted the pain to stop, he thought it was holding him back from God’s best for his life. That is initially. We have no idea at what point in that fourteen year journey that Paul began to understand that as painful and troublesome as the thorn was, it was a thorn he desperately needed. The second thing we need to notice is that Paul says the thorn was a “messenger from Satan.” This can be very confusing to many people. I thought God and Satan were on opposing teams. I thought God and Satan were battling it out with one another. When you hear people talking like that it is easy to be led to believe that there are two equal, unseen powers at work in the universe. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is Sovereign over all. It is true that Satan desires nothing more than to thwart God’s plan for His people, but Satan is powerless to do so. Satan can only do what he is allowed to do. A great example of this is found in the life of Job. Satan wanted to prove that the only reason Job was so faithful to God was because of how God had blessed him. Satan said, “Let me test him and then see if he will still serve You?” God set limits on what Satan could and couldn’t do to Job. In the end, Satan was proved wrong and Job was proved faithful. There is another story of how God used the ill intent of Satan to accomplish God’s own purpose in the life of one of His servants. The story is found in Luke 22:31-34. Jesus is speaking to Simon Peter. Turn there and read it with me.

31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." 34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." (Luke 22:31-34 NIV)

Did you notice how confident Peter was in himself, in his faithfulness to Jesus? Well, Peter was humbled. He was no more ready to go to prison or to die for Jesus at this point in his life than a man in the moon. He did deny that he even knew the Lord, but after he was humbled he learned to trust in the Lord instead of his own strength. Peter did eventually die a martyr’s death because of his faith. The story goes that Peter, when he was sentenced to be crucified because he would not renounce his faith in Jesus, Peter asked that he be crucified upside down because he was not worthy of dying in the same manner as his Lord. Last of all, I want us to notice that the answer Paul was given was not the answer he was looking for, but it was what was best for him. Listen to these verses once again.

9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV)

God answered Paul’s prayer but in a way far more powerful and beneficial than simply removing the thorn that plagued him. God would provide the grace Paul needed to bear up under the pain of the thorn and He would provide the power Paul needed to complete the race the Lord had set before Him. God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. David Garland writes,

The verb ‘perfected’ means ‘brought to completion’ or ‘is made fully present.’ The present tense indicates that it is not yet a finished product but that it is still in process of being made perfect. This answer from the Lord helps Paul to regard the stake no longer as the vexing mischief of Satan; instead, he recognizes that through it the grace of God operates more effectively. The stake makes him acutely aware of his own inadequacies and prevents him from thinking he is equal to the task alone. It prevents a bloated ego from crowding out the power of God in his life. Paul now reveals why he is so willing to boast in his weakness rather than to pray for its removal. His weakness becomes the vehicle by which God’s grace and Christ’s power is most fully manifested to himself and to others. (Garland, David. 2 Corinthians. pgs. 524-525)

Oh how I pray that the Lord will give all of us the reassurance that we are not alone, that the Lord is not blind or uncaring about our own thorn in the flesh, and that we will have eyes to see His hand at work even in the most painful times of our lives. It is not the polished and perfect that He is seeking out, but the broken. And with the broken who will see His Sovereign hand at work, He will give what we need to learn to depend on Him, only on Him. What you are suffering is not some punishment, but it is an opportunity to fall into His arms of grace and mercy and see His hand at work. In 1944, during World War II, Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie found themselves in a German concentration camp where they suffered ten months of unimaginable suffering because they hid Jews. They endured hunger, nakedness, being mocked and humiliated, being beaten, denied medical care, backbreaking labor, solitary confinement, being packed with 80 women in a boxcar for three days, sleeping on the cold, wet ground and later in lice and flea infested beds, and witnessing the torture of other prisoners. And in the background, the incinerator at Ravensbruck reminded them that at any time they could be selected for execution.Betsie would never leave prison alive. She died in the German concentration camp, Ravensbruck, in December 1944. Corrie was released because of a clerical error. She wrote about a conversation with her sister. Corrie writes,

Often I have heard people say, ‘How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!’ ‘Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister Betsie to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. ‘No, Corrie,’ said Betsie, ‘He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: ‘For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.’ ‘There is an ocean of God’s love available—there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love—whatever the circumstances.” (Corrie Ten Boom)

Jesus loves you. He will not waste a tear. He will not be blindsided by your pain. He will never waver in using your heartache to draw you into His comforting arms. Won’t you fall before Him this morning and allow His grace and power to lift you up and comfort you with His victorious love? Mike HaysBritton Christian ChurchOctober 29, 2023