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Thorn in the Flesh

2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle

Mar 7, 2021


by: Jack Lash Series: 2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle | Category: Suffering | Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7–10

I. Introduction
A. Reminder: We are reading 1-10, but focusing this morning on 7-10.
B. Climax of 2Corinthians
C. 2Corinthians 12:1–6 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 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— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
D. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
II. Explanation
A. Review story
1. Paul tells us that 14 years earlier he had been given a powerful & impressive revelation of heaven, an experience so magnificent that God had to intervene to prevent him from going on an ego trip; God allowed him to experience an intense pain to keep him humble.
2. And after Paul prayed unsuccessfully for the pain to be removed, God told him that His grace was sufficient for him even in the midst of the pain.
B. But let’s talk more about this pain, this “thorn in the flesh.”
1. This is the only time in the NT this Greek word is used. It is not the same word as the crown of thorns. It was not so much a thorn, but a kind of pointed stake, like a spike.
2. It was used in fortifications to repulse attackers and as a means of execution.
3. Why then is it translated thorn? Because people don’t like it when they buy a new Bible and turn to their favorite passage only to find that it doesn’t say what they think it should say. And if nobody buys your Bible, you might as well not publish it.
C. What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?
1. We have no idea. Many have made guesses, but there is no way to know.
2. And I agree with those who think it’s better that way. That way, it applies to all of our troubles.
D. This experience taught Paul an extremely important lesson. God’s power is actually made more effective in the context of human weakness.
1. Paul’s detractors, the false apostles, had developed an exaggerated view of their importance partly as a result of their visions. Not so with Paul. His humility, his meekness, his gentleness, his patience, his longsuffering were probably all connected to his experience of this stake/spike/thorn.
2. As it turned out, the pierced Paul was a more effective instrument of God than he would have been unharassed and untormented by this messenger of Satan.
E. And so, as a result of this experience, Paul learned to be content with weaknesses, with insults, with hardships, with persecutions, even with calamities. For he learned that when he was weak, then God’s power was able to work through him more effectively.
III. In His great love, God has given us this passage so we might understand His work in our own lives.
A. The pattern of trouble, prayer and deliverance
1. Trouble comes, we pray, God delivers. This is what the Bible says, right?
a. Matthew 21:22 Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
b. Luke 11:9 Ask, and it will be given to you.
c. John 15:7 Abide in me, and you can ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
d. James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
2. It is one of the most common themes in the Bible:
a. Hannah prays for a son,
b. Elijah & the priests of Baal,
c. Hezekiah and the siege of Sennacherib
d. Zechariah/Elizabeth pray for a child,
e. the Syro-Phoenician Woman,
f. blind Bartimaeus,
g. Peter released from prison, etc.
3. And that’s how Paul’s story seems to be proceeding.
a. Trouble comes in the form of this thorn/stake in the flesh.
b. In his agony, Paul does what he’s supposed to do — he goes to the Lord in prayer.
4. But nothing happens – there is no deliverance. And so Paul goes back and prays again. And still there is silence from heaven. So Paul returns to prayer a third time.
5. But this time God answers, not with deliverance from the thorn in the flesh, as Paul had asked. Instead God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
6. Whoa! Here the car goes off- road, where GPS can’t help you. It’s like we’ve gone from arithmetic to higher math. Or, in Narnian terms, from regular magic to deeper magic.
B. The path of the cross
1. But this really shouldn’t come as a shock. It’s the same thing which happens with Jesus. When trouble comes upon the Son of God, He prays three times at Gethsemane. But God doesn’t take away Christ’s cup. Instead, God’s power is manifested in the weakness and agony of the cross.
2. The power of God was made perfect in the weakness of Jesus.
3. “a messenger of Satan to harass me” – the word doesn’t really mean harass. It means beat, like in:
a. Matthew 26:67 Then they spit in his face and struck him.
b. Mark 14:65 Some began to spit on him & to cover his face & to strike him.
c. A messenger of Satan to beat me, to pound me, to pulverize me. We would say, “to beat me up.”
4. Paul here is reliving the life of Christ, who showed His power in weakness, who conquered by means of the cross.
5. This is the economics of Jesus as he describes it in the beatitudes, where our weakness makes us more instead of less:
a. Matt.5:3-5 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
C. Conceit
1. It’s a strange design, is it not? Why do you suppose God chooses this as His secret weapon of victory? That no man may boast.
2. 2Cor.4:7–11 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
a. Before Paul came along, Jesus was God in a jar of clay. He was afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. And now Paul is walking in the footsteps of His Lord. And so are we.
b. Now we “carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
c. All this is to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
3. Even apostles are prone to glory in their own powers, and to take credit for things they didn’t actually do. This just goes to show — it’s in all of us. We have allusions of strength. And in order for us to come to Him, God has to somehow remove those allusions of strength.
4. And this explains why a God who so loves us sends us stakes to pierce us.
5. He would rather have humble failures than proud succeeders.
6. And so, there are many hardships to endure in the now. BUT they will result in a glory which far surpasses them. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” – 2Corinthians 4:17 This is as strange as it is wonderful!
a. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” - Ps.126:5-6
D. So, just as God sent thorns and stakes to Paul, God sends them to us.
1. Harass, beat, strike, — Sometimes it feels like we’re being brutalized by Satan himself – just like Paul, just like Joseph, just like Job, just like Jesus.
2. He doesn’t ask our permission. He doesn’t wait till we feel like we’re ready. And even when we feel like we can’t take it anymore and beg Him to remove it, He doesn’t always comply.
3. This is especially true when He wills to send us special blessings and privileges.
4. And if we resent this, it is likely that we are unaware of how prone we are to conceit and pride.
5. So, we would be wise to ask ourselves some questions:
a. What are my thorns and stakes?
b. Can I be content with them if God chooses to not remove them?
c. Can I accept them as from the hand of the One who loves me more than I love myself?
d. Do I really believe that God’s grace is sufficient for me?
e. Can I actually be thankful that God loves me so much that He sends me what I need, even when it’s not what I want?
f. Am I ready to pray, Lord, send me the things I need to know my weakness and my need for You?
g. Do I really believe that He is all I need? That if “goods and kindred” did indeed go, and even this “mortal life also,” that we would still have what we need to be complete?
E. Some people think the Bible teaches that the big difference with Christians is that in His love God gives them health and wealth and success. All they have to do is claim it. But the reality is that though God often does graciously remove their pain when His people cry out to Him, sometimes instead of saving them from the pain, He saves them through the pain.
1. And we will never be able to appreciate God’s piercings if we are not totally confident in His love.
2. For it is impossible to bear the blows of discipline if you are not sure they are for your good, and that they are administered in the tenderest possible way by the hand of One who does not enjoy our suffering.
3. How good God is to deal with His children in this way! And how much we need it!
4. And how hateful it is of the world to do the opposite: to tell us that we can do it ourselves, that we have in us what it takes!
F. Power in weakness
1. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2. Don’t misinterpret this passage. This is not talking about God giving people strength to bear with the hardships of life. This is talking about God’s power at work in such a way that the hardships actually make people more effective and move useful as tools in the hands of Christ. His power is perfected in our weakness. For when we are weak, then we are strong.
3. When we are weak, then Christ can best display His power.
4. When I was young, I got certified to be a life guard. And during the life guard training, we were taught that the biggest danger in saving someone is them trying to save themselves.
a. Often people are in a panic and desperately grab you in a way that endangers both of you instead of you grabbing them in a way which enables you to save them.
b. Many perfectly capable swimmers drown because they are trying to rescue someone so desperate to rescue themselves that they cause both to sink. They try so hard to save themselves that they not only fail to do so, but they take others with them.
c. In fact, you are trained that, if they grab you (instead of letting you grab them), you’re supposed to swim down till they let go, then come up and grab them from behind.
d. The way to be saved in that situation is to trust the life guard to save you, to be willing to let them do their job, to be content in your inability to rescue yourself and let them rescue you.
5. When we grab for God in a desperate attempt to rescue ourselves from the present distress, it is no wonder than He swims down to get us to let go.
a. When we try to add our strength to God’s it just makes things worse. When we give up on our strength, when we accept our weakness and our inability to do anything ourselves, then God’s power can freely flow without fueling our pride.
b. And yet it is so hard to be content in our weakness. We add anxiety and worry; we add resentment and bitterness; we add panic – as if God is not capable of protecting and providing for His beloved child.
6. When one of our children was young, and they got sick to their stomach, they would cry out in pain, “This can’t be happening!” Instead of accepting the fact that everyone gets sick and everyone has painful experiences, this child seems to think that the pain could be prevented by a sheer exercise of the will. So many times we react the same way.
7. This ought not make us dread the stakes of God. If it does, we are still out of touch with how much pride we have. “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” (Ps.23:4) They don’t scare me, they don’t threaten me. They comfort me! We have a God who loves us so much that He willing to help us — even with our pride!