 Our sermon title this morning is His Grace is Sufficient, His Grace is Sufficient. This is part two in this text that we've been looking at together over the past couple of weeks now. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 1 through 10. And we're reminded in looking at this text together again that the apostle Paul was certainly acquainted with suffering, certainly acquainted with grief, with sorrow, with difficulty, with adversity, with affliction in the Christian life. And so Paul found it necessary to think rightly about the place and the purpose of suffering in the Christian life. We're reminded of the words of Calvin. I love this quote from Calvin with respect to our text. Or Calvin said that that which is counted among men to be most reproachful excels in dignity and glory in the sight of God and in the sight of his angels. We know that the kind of death which Christ suffered was of all others the most shameful and yet he did triumph most nobly upon the cross. So when we are made like unto him we may worthily boast that it is a point of singular excellency that we suffer rebuke in the sight of the world. Paul counted it a blessed privilege, a blessed joy to suffer for the name of Christ in the ministry. Now that which Paul suffered for, the false teachers, the enemies of Paul and Corinth seized upon that, seized upon his weakness, seized upon his suffering as a means to attack the apostle Paul as a means to discredit him, discredit his ministry particularly in the eyes of the church at Corinth. But God himself seized upon Paul's weakness as a means through which he would display his power. And we see God's power, God's glory displayed through the ministry of the apostle Paul, through the work in the ministry of other eminent saints in the pages of the New Testament. Don't we? We see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the power of Christ resting upon them and they become to us examples that we should walk according to their example. The Lord explained to Paul in chapter 12 verse 9 that my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. It was through his suffering that manifested, that evidenced Paul's own weakness that Paul came to understand and experience God's power at work in his life, God's power at work in his ministry. And Paul then would say that when I am weak, then I am strong. If it weren't for that grace, Paul would certainly have been a failure. If it weren't for that grace, Paul would have given up long ago. But when we are weak, God comes through with grace fueled power. And when are we not weak? Right? That's the reality. It's the reality of ministry. We are continuously weak. We're in continuous need of God's strength, God's power. And we need to acknowledge that and rest and boast in the Lord. Amen? And the Lord does not intend to keep you from suffering for his name. You will face affliction. You'll face difficulty. You'll face trial in ministry. You're going to face trials and difficulties in your life. But praise God. He is the God of all comfort, right? The Father of all mercies, the one who comforts us in all our affliction. God intends to persevere you, preserve you through it. We are to persevere. He preserves us. That preservation won't be by our own strength. It'll be by his strength. His grace is sufficient. Paul saw that to be true. He experienced that in his own ministry. And he learned not only to depend on that strength in his ministry, but to rejoice in it, to take joy in it, to revel in it, to revel in that grace of God that sustained him in his suffering. And we're looking at this display of God's sufficient grace in four points in our text. His sufficient grace, his power, is more profitable than experience, more valuable than reputation, seem to be most powerful through pain and most evident through weakness. Paul refuses to boast in the flesh, the way that the false teachers were boasting. Paul is embarrassed, reluctant about this fool's speech, this fool's endeavor that he's now compelled to embark on for the sake of the crampians. Paul would rather embrace and then boast in his own weakness. Why? Because that glorifies and magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ. It glorifies the power of God at work in and through his ministry. Now the grace of God through which Paul experiences the power of Christ upon him is more profitable than experience. It's more valuable than an inflated reputation. It's more powerful or seemed to be most powerful through pain, most evident through our weakness. Point one on your notes by review, his sufficient grace is more profitable than experience. Paul begins in verse one, it is doubtless, not profitable for me to boast. There's nothing to be gained from boasting in the flesh. Nothing to be gained from exalting our own strength, our own resources, our own wisdom. But Paul has decided in this context to be more harmful to the crampians if he allows these false teachers in Corinth to go unanswered. So being compelled for their sake, he continues what is called his fool's speech that he began in chapter 11, verse 22. And Paul sets about boasting, but he's going to burst in the glory of God, amen. His intention now one, to rebuke and to silence, to correct the proud boasting of the false teachers, and he's going to do that through use of his own example. Two, he's going to contrast his own example. The self-sacrificial labor of love that he's embarked on in Corinth for the sake of those dear people, he's going to contrast that with the self-serving work of those ministers of Satan that are opposing him. And three, the purpose of this is to restore the confidence of the crampians in his own ministry and in his preaching of the word of God. That's necessary for them. They need the apostle Paul's preaching and teaching. He's bringing the word of God to them, right? False teachers have come along. They're trying to pull away disciples after themselves. The crampians need to be listening to, submitting to, and applying the preaching and teaching of the apostle. But Paul begins with an example then from his own experience in verse one, where Paul says, I will now come to visions and revelations of the Lord. False teachers were boasting in their own visions, boasting in their own revelations, their own experience. Paul has already rebuked and corrected the Corinthians themselves with respect to the abuse of these gifts. And so what does Paul do here in verse one? He takes an actual experience from his own past that is stunning, right? It's a staggering occurrence, a stunning occurrence that he put that experience in its proper perspective. He's going to think about it biblically, think about it rightly, and he's going to call the Corinthians to do the same. And in doing this, he rebukes the false teachers. This is a masterful argument that Paul is weaving here as he begins this text. The all-sufficient grace of God at work through his ministry has even seen in this stunning vision that Paul has, the all-sufficient grace of God is more profitable than a passing experience. Paul says, I'd rather boast in my weakness than to boast in this experience. In order that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So he continues in verse two. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows. But such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows how he was caught up into paradise, heard inexpressible words which is not lawful for a man to utter. That's a tremendous experience, right? A tremendous experience. But what does Paul say? Speaking of the third person, as if embarrassed to even bring it up in such a boastful way, Paul says, verse five, of such a one I will boast, yet of myself I will not boast except in my infirmities. Paul said, listen, I don't gain anything from it. It's not profitable. What purpose does it serve to boast in past experience? Not only is it unprofitable, I heard things I can't even talk about. I'm not at liberty to repeat them. So what is profitable to the apostle Paul? Boasting in that which magnifies the grace of God in Christ. Boasting, Paul says, in my weakness. Why? Why? Verse nine gives us the answer. Most gladly, I'd rather boast in my infirmities, Paul says, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That's what Paul values, right? That's what Paul values. Certainly the experience was helpful to the apostle Paul. Certainly the apostle Paul carried experiences like that through his suffering at Bilster Paul's faith. But listen, Paul says, I'd rather boast in my weakness so that I experience the power of the Lord Jesus Christ upon me in my ministry. That's what Paul values. And point number two, his deficient grace is also more valuable than an inflated reputation. Look at verse six, even though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool. If I'm boasting about this, I'm not going to be found a fool. Why? Because I speak the truth. But I refrain from that boasting. Verse six, bless anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. The false teachers in Corinth, like false teachers today, are boasting to boost their own reputation. They're boasting in their skill, they're boasting in their credentials, boasting who they know, boasting who knows them, they're boasting in how spiritual they are, through their visions and revelations. They're boasting for the purpose of boosting their reputation, inflating their own reputation. Paul isn't laboring in the service of his own reputation. He's not trying to build a name for himself. His aim is to magnify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul says, I'm not going to spend another breath or waste any more ink on boasting in this way because I don't want anyone thinking of me beyond what I say or what I do. There's a sense of that, right? With many. Because of their position, or because of their title, people think beyond what they say, beyond how they live, because of the sake of the title, because of the sake of the position, because of who they're perceived to be. Paul says, I don't want to have anything to do with that. I don't want to have anything to do with that. Judge me by what I say, judge me by how I live, right? Don't think of me beyond what I do or say. You can check what I'm saying by the word of God. You can see that I'm not a hypocrite. By the way, that I practice what I preach and I don't want to be put on a pedestal because of some experience that you've attributed to me, that you've put me there on the pedestal because of the experience. The measure of faithfulness and the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is not his experience. The true measure of faithfulness is what he preaches, how he lives. Is he faithful to the revealed word of God and does he live according to that word? That's how you judge the faithfulness of a man of God. Paul will burst in his experience for the sake of inflating his reputation. Why? Well, Paul gives us the answer in verse 10. Paul says, I take pleasure in reproaches, insults to his reputation, attacks assaults against his reputation. Paul says, I take pleasure in reproaches for Christ's sake for when I am weak, then I am strong. So we see that his sufficient grace is more profitable than experience. His sufficient grace is more valuable than reputation. And now in point three on your notes, his sufficient grace is often seen to be most powerful through pain. It's often that when we experience his power, his strength, it's in the midst of our own difficulty, in the midst of adversity and affliction. We see that in verse seven. Paul said, lest I should be exalted above measure, by the abundant of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to bup it me, lest I be exalted above measure. And notice in verse seven, Paul shifts back to the first person. But he was speaking in the third person, now he shifts back to the first person. When he's talking about an experience that may have the unwanted or undesired effect of exalting himself or exalting his own experience, Paul speaks in the third person, right? I know a man, and such a man was caught up in a paradise or doesn't want it to exalt himself. He doesn't want to exalt his own experience. But when he's back to describing his own weakness, he comes back to the first person. Let I now should be exalted, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, lest I be exalted. We know this is speaking about the apostle Paul. Now Paul is really sensitive about this, and I would submit to you, we need to be sensitive about this, right? He does not want to exalt himself. His intention is to magnify the grace of God, to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ, not to magnify himself. Now notice next, that Paul's thorn here was given in response to the abundance. The abundance there can have two meanings, right? It can mean a lot of them, or it can mean an extraordinary degree of them. It principally means the extraordinary degree of the revelations, right? The extraordinary degree. There's also a lot of them, okay? But it means the extraordinary degree of the revelations plural. There was more than one, right? It's not revelations at the end of the Bible, that's revelation. Revelations here is plural more than one, okay? Now he mentions just one revelation in our text, and that revelation was extraordinary. It was stunning. Then in those stakes, he refrains from speaking any further of this or any other experience. But the reality is that Paul had many such extraordinary experiences. Think with me, right? His conversion on the road to Damascus, stunning, an extraordinary experience. This particular experience, 14 years ago of being caught up into heaven, Paul encounters the man of Macedonia in Acts chapter 16, Paul in the miraculous experience with the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16. The Lord appears again to him in the vision in Acts chapter 18, again in Acts chapter 22, again in Acts chapter 23, again in Acts chapter 27. The gospel came to him by direct revelation from the Lord in Galatians chapter 1. These experiences, many and extraordinary, would have certainly bolstered Paul's faith. It would have had the effect of strengthening Paul's faith, bolstering Paul's faith in the midst of his suffering, in the midst of affliction. I thought before, right, if you go into ministry, or you set about to obey the Lord in faithful ministry, ministry in the church, ministry preaching in the gospel, whatever it is, and you start facing this kind of persecution, this kind of difficulty, the thought that comes to my mind is maybe I'm not called to this. I'm doing something wrong, but not so, not so. These had the effect of bolstering Paul's faith, and isn't the Lord faithful in just that way to encourage us when we need it with strength and faith in the work when we are weak in that way, right? We serve a gracious God who is good as the gospel in his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can preach him to our death knowing that he is faithful, right? He is faithful, is worthy of our effort. Frankly, it's worthy of our suffering. Now, these experiences have certainly bolstered Paul's faith, but these experiences may have also tempted Paul to pride. Experiences in our own life can tempt us to pride. We see this inside Charismania, don't we? There's this temptation, often this giving over of themselves to pride in these experiences of which they boast. This wasn't to boost their pride. This wasn't to boost Paul's reputation. This wasn't to put Paul on a pedestal. This was to bolster Paul's faith. Twice in the New King James, Paul says in verse seven, lest I should be exalted above measure, or twice in the ESV, Paul says, explaining this, to keep me from being conceded, to keep me from pride. So what happened? What happened to Paul to help him in the battle against pride, to keep him from succumbing to the temptation of pride in these extraordinary circumstances? A thorn in the flesh was given to me, Paul said, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. Now, the English word thorn translates to Greek word scallops. It means a thorn, a sharp thorn, a painful thorn, often though used to describe a steak or a tent peg, sort of communicates what Paul thinks of it. This is not a hangnail. This is not a stubbed toe. This is a dagger. And it is inflicting pain on the Apostle Paul that some surmise that the thorn here is referring to some kind of physical infirmity because the thorn is given to Paul in his flesh. And there are a lot of reasonable explanations for that notion, right? Paul had a problem with his eyesight, his eyes after his conversion experience. Scales, he was rendered blind, right? And then scald fell off of his eyes in front of Ananias. So maybe this was a problem with his eyesight or speech impediment. Paul's features accused him of having contemptible speech. Others say kidney stones. Someone said gout. Say a literal thorn. It was a literal thorn that Paul couldn't get out, but it could just as easily here be translated because of the flesh or for the flesh, right? Could be translated that way as well. For, you could say, the mortification of the flesh. One said one commentator, the inconvenience of the flesh. But others surmise that it's a demonically inspired person because the thorn here is described as a messenger of Satan, a messenger of Satan. Now certainly the thorn is a figure of speech. That figure of speech then is further explained or defined as the messenger or agent of Satan. Satan is using the thorn to buff it. That word buff it means to strike or to harm, to inflict pain, to beat upon the apostle Paul. This thorn is meant to buff it Paul. Paul doesn't tell us specifically what the thorn is or if it's a person who the thorn is. If it was more than one person, Paul doesn't explain that to us. And that's obviously intentional. We're reading the word of God, right? That is inspired by the spirit of God who is all wise, infinitely wise. And Paul doesn't tell us specifically what or who it was. We all have thorns to deal with, don't we? So in the wisdom of God, as we look at a text like this, we can think of our own thorns, our own difficulties, our own adversities, not sin. We're not talking about sin here. You'll find no excuse for sin in this text of scripture. It's not there. We have difficult circumstances, adversity into Christian life, circumstances that inflict pain and suffering. And Paul has a point here, and we can apply that point in our own Christian experience. Consider with me now both the source and the purpose of the thorn. First, the source. Consider where the thorn came from. Notice in verse seven, the passive voice, the thorn in the flesh was given to me. Now, either the thorn was given by God or the thorn was given by Satan. Paul calls it a messenger of Satan. That's interesting. And it's a bit of a paradox here that the word used for what is given refers most often in scripture to a theological or a divine passive. And it refers to a gift. It refers to a gift, meaning, if you put that together, this thorn is a gift. And it's a gift from God. God is the one who ultimately gives the thorn to Paul. Now think with me, the thorn has a good purpose, doesn't it? Verse seven, it's given in order to keep Paul from exalting himself. While Satan would enjoy nothing more than to ensnare Paul in his pride, this thorn was given to keep Paul from his pride. Ultimately, the Lord uses the thorn to display his power in Paul. Like the Lord said, my strength is made perfect in weakness. It's through the thorn that God displays his power, displays his strength. So although Paul now refers to the thorn as a messenger of Satan, it was ultimately ordained by the one who is sovereign over all thorns, right? Even the forces of darkness. This makes you uncomfortable. There's several examples of this in scripture. Turn back, we need a Job chapter two. Job chapter two. And let's look at a couple of examples of this very concept in scripture. God is ultimately sovereign over all things even and especially over, thank you, Lord, the forces of darkness. Job chapter two and look there beginning at verse one. Here we see in Job chapter two, verse one. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. Here we have the curtain drawn back, if you will, on a scene in heaven where God is. And verse one, the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and who came in among them? Satan. Satan has access to come before God this way in verse one. And the Lord said to Satan, from where do you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and from walking back and forth on it. Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? But there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. So who is it now who has ideas in mind for Job? God does. God does. And still he holds fast to his integrity, but you have incited me against him to destroy him without cause. So Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand now and touch his bone in his flesh and he will surely curse you to your face. Whether it's a physical affliction, whether it's a spiritual affliction, we see the example here given to us in the book of Job. So the Lord said to Satan in verse six, behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life. God is sovereign over Satan. Verse seven, so Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potchard with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. And then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, his grace is sufficient. His power is evident in my weakness. You speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity? And all this Job did not sin with his lips. And Job trusted the Lord. God allows Satan to afflict his righteous servant Job in order to accomplish God's his decreed ends. Right? Satan intends to do evil. God intends good. Look at Luke, chapter 22. Luke, chapter 22, another example. In Luke, chapter 22, and in verse 24, the disciples begin an argument over who's the greatest. They are suffering under the temptation of pride. Verse 24, there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. Those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater? He who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I, Lord Jesus Christ pointing to his own example, I am among you as the one who serves. You are those who have continued with me in my trials and I now bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on throne judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And then in the midst of this circumstance where the disciples are puffed up in their pride, the Lord Jesus Christ turns to Simon and says, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. What does that mean when you have returned to me? It means that Peter is going to depart from him in denying him three times, as Jesus Christ told him that he would. Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. God who is sovereign over all things, including Satan, gave permission for Satan to sift Peter and then God in his grace and his mercy preserves and restores Peter. When you have returned to me, he says, strengthen your brethren. The Lord allows Satan to inflict, to afflict his weak servant Peter to accomplish his decreed ends. Satan intends to do evil, God intends to do good. Satan means it for evil, God decrees it for our good. That's true, that's true of every ounce of suffering, difficulty, adversity or affliction caused by the wicked one in your life. If you're in Christ, if you're in union with him by repentant faith, then every bit of difficulty, affliction, adversity that you faced caused by the wicked one may be meant by him to do evil, certainly meant by God for your good. You can take that to the bank. That is true of Joseph, when his brother sold him into slavery, but he told his brothers in Genesis chapter 50 verse 20, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. Not just used it for good, not merely used it for good, meant it, intended it, decreed it for good. It was true of the most despicably evil act that has ever been committed. God decreed the intended good and used the actions of wicked men to bring it about. Peter told the Jews in Acts chapter 2 verse 23, Jesus Christ being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of who? Of God. Jesus Christ being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. Reminds us of the promise in Romans chapter 8 verse 28, for we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. So Paul's thorn in the flesh, it was a gift of God's grace meant for Paul's good. Was it a gift of God's grace or was it a messenger of Satan? It was both. If Satan meant it for evil, God meant it for good. Now listen, if you are outside the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you are still wallowing in your sin living for yourself, if you are persisting in an unbroken pattern of sin in your life, you are an enemy of Almighty God, he himself, not just Satan, he himself is against you. You stand under the wrath of God condemned already. You must turn from your sin and trust yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting him alone for forgiveness of sins, trusting him for right standing with God. Otherwise he will do you harm in the end. Our God is a consuming fire and what you sow, you will also reap. God will not be mocked. Ultimately, ultimately, this messenger of Satan, this thorn in the flesh comes by the decree of God. God often, often allows the world, the flesh and the devil to buffet us, to beat against us in the Christian life. But for the Christian, he always decrees affliction for his good, for his righteous purposes, our weakness is designed for our good, designed by God. That's why in the Christian life, as we live this Christian life together, that's why the reality of God's sovereignty is such a precious truth to the Christian in the midst of affliction, in the midst of difficulty. We remind ourselves of that all the time. God works all things according to the counsel of his own will. Nothing, brother, nothing sister can happen to you that isn't lovingly, masterfully, kindly, compassionately, crafted by our infinitely good and all wise God for our eternal blessing. And that's why Paul would prefer to refer to this affliction as a gift in verse seven. It's a gift. It's a gift knowing then that this affliction is a gift of God. Paul can trust that it has a good and loving purpose because it comes from the hand of our good, loving, kind, compassionate, patient God. And we see the initial and the practical purpose of that explained in verse seven, twice in verse seven, lest I should be exalted above measure, lest I be exalted above measure. Now make no mistake, okay? Satan's purpose is to destroy you. Satan's purpose is to lead you astray, to lead you off into destruction. First Peter, chapter five, verse eight, Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. Why? Because your adversary, your enemy, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The pain and suffering isn't a good thing in and of itself. The Lord doesn't delight in our pain and suffering. Satan does. Satan does delight in your pain and in your suffering. The world, the flesh and the devil are working in accord against our good. And so it's in the face of that real danger then that we should come to realize our weakness, our dependence upon God, our need for him. That is very real danger. So in that we should be humbled. We should cling closer to him. When things get difficult, the last thing you want to do is flee, flee Christ, flee the people of God, flee the word of God, try to escape that situation. In the face of real danger, we need to cling more closely to him, cling more closely to the means through which he administers his grace in that circumstance, right? We need to come to an understanding of our own weakness. We are in those circumstances humbled. Our inability is exposed. We are not the masters of our faith. We are not the captains of our soul, right? We cannot control the events and circumstances of our life. And the evidence of that humility here is that Paul flees to the Lord for refuge, the father of all mercies, the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction. Paul flees to him. He didn't bear it alone. Paul knows that he can't bear it alone. He knows his weakness. He didn't succumb to bitterness or resignation. Like, I can't do anything about it, so I might as well suck it up and go this way. All right? It's not resignation here. There's no bitterness here. He's not calling out an anger against God for giving him these circumstances. He didn't respond with hasty decisions in his own wisdom, like panic, right? Well, I've got to do this, and I've got to do this, and I've got to do this. Well, the first thing you need to do is pray. The first thing you need to do is depend upon him. Right? So he doesn't resort to his own wisdom. He doesn't neglect the means of grace. He pursues the means of grace. He prays. He didn't, in that sense, he didn't take matters into his own hands. Paul didn't seek to compromise. He didn't want to compromise, sinning against God in that way. He began by following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ who appealed to God himself three times in prayer to deliver him. Right? And Paul drew near to the Lord for refuge and strength in his affliction. Look at verse 8. Concerning this thing, Paul said, I pleaded. I implored. I urged the Lord three times that it might depart from me. For the Lord himself, in the garden, on the eve of his crucifixion, prayed asking his heavenly father three times that the cup might pass from him. Do you think, do you think that the Lord Jesus Christ may have heard this prayer, these prayers of Paul with compassion? Knowing that, yes, he certainly, certainly would have. He certainly did. Well, brother, sister, what about your pleas to the Lord for help? What about your prayer? Do you think that the Lord, having been tempted in all ways as we are yet without sin, do you think that he will hear your prayers with compassion? He certainly will. He certainly will. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 18, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. Why wouldn't we go to such a faithful and loving and compassionate high priest? Hebrews chapter 5 verse 7, in the days of his flesh, in his earthly ministry, right, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him, called by God as high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. And we serve a faithful high priest. We serve a compassionate high priest. We serve one who is able to aid the seat of Abraham, able to aid those who are tempted. It's the first place we should go, isn't it? Rather than succumb to panic, rather than succumb to fear, rather than succumb to all these compromising temptations to sin against God, where should we go? We should go to our knees, right, crying out to him who is evil. Why? Because he is strong and I'm not. In my weakness, his strength and power is seen. His grace is sufficient. So God, then, in his infinite wisdom, infinite wisdom knows that faith, humility, obedience, perseverance, our trust in him is far more important than our comfort. And so what does he do? He allows affliction. He allows a messenger of Satan to buff it. He allows a thorn in the flesh. He knows that reliance upon him and not upon ourselves is what will preserve us to the end. He knows that reliance upon his grace is the only way that you're going to make it through the Christian life. He knows that your reliance upon him is the only way, the only way that you're going to be conformed into the image of his son as you grow in maturity and you grow in faith and you grow in obedience and as you grow in love and as you grow in maturity, the reliance upon him, reliance upon his grace, then, is far more important than a pain-free experience in this life, far more important. And so with that in mind, then, our infinitely wise, infinitely good, infinitely gracious God answers the plea of Paul in verse nine. He answers Paul and says to him, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul says, therefore, most gladly, I would rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Right? Paul agrees. Paul sees it. And Paul understands. He's got his eyes opened. Right? This is applied. This truth applied in his heart by the grace of God, by his spirit. The cup did not pass from the Lord Jesus Christ and the thorn was not removed from the Apostle Paul. What does that mean, sister? What does that mean, brother, for the afflictions that you'll face in this life? What does that mean? It was from then on that 14 years ago, right? It was from then on that Paul understood the purpose. He saw his affliction, his adversity, not only as a messenger of Satan, but as a good gift of God's grace. A deterrent to pride, certainly, but also a platform on which is displayed the strength and power and glory of God in the salvation of his saints. So if you think about it, then what is the purpose of this hardship that I'm facing? Why am I going through what I'm going through? Why is this happening to me? You may ask. Why did I lose my job? Why am I going through so much difficulty at work? Why did I lose my spouse? Why did I lose my child? Can you imagine? Why did I get the cancer diagnosis? Why don't I have any friends? Why don't I have a husband? Why don't I have a wife? Right? Why the difficulty? Why the hardship? Why is it so hard? Why am I wrecked over this? Why the anguish? Why the affliction? Why is it so hard to live for Christ in this life? Notice here, we're not talking about sin. We're not talking about sin. You can't conceive of Paul's thorn in the flesh as sin. You can't find any excuse in this passage for your failure to turn from your sin. Why are you battling against less because you're a sinner? Why do you continue to get angry because you are a sinner? You must repent. Will you find abundant grace in your battle against sin? Absolutely you will. If you put your faith and trust in him, power of Christ will rest upon you in that struggle. This passage though is no excuse for sin. What is the purpose of my suffering? One, to humble you, to cultivate your dependence upon God, to show you your need for him, to mature you, to sanctify you in the crucible of the fire, and to display the glory of God in you. Well, how is the glory of God displayed in this? How does that work exactly? Well, we see it in this passage in two ways. We see it displayed in the power of Christ and we see it in the response of Paul, the power of Christ and the response of Paul. If you look at verse nine, the Greek word order there is very helpful. Many see it as a chiasmus for you, grammar folks. The second clause in verse nine being a mirror image of the first clause in verse nine. My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. If you look at that as a chiasmus, literally in the Greek, sufficient for you, my grace, my power in weakness perfected. So A, B, C, C, B, A, right? If you look at it that way. Why is that helpful? Why is it helpful to look at the grammar of that verse? Well, it helps us to see the Lord in this verse, verse nine, linking his grace with his strength or power. Not an assumption there. God gives power. God in grace gives power. Here, the grace of God in Paul's weakness is the power of God poured out in Paul's circumstances. Do you see? The grace of God is the power of God and its sufficiency or its perfection. See how those two are linked? Is most evidently seen through Paul's weakness. So Paul, listen and you and me, we have a promise of God for an unfailing grace. It is an all sufficient grace, the strength of God, the power of God that is seen to be whole or complete or sufficient to every circumstance that we face, right? It rises to the challenge, so to speak, sufficient in whatever circumstance of weakness in which we find ourselves, sufficient for every need, up to every challenge, power for perseverance, grace to sustain our faith, like the hymn says, right? Strength for today, bright hope for tomorrow. Accomplishing God's good purpose, producing fruit in us, and glorifying Lord Jesus Christ. All this, right, is far better, far better for you and far more magnifying to the Lord Jesus Christ, far better than if the Lord had simply removed the thorn. It's good, isn't it, that God doesn't always give us what we want. He always gives us what we need. And so the very circumstance then, we see that, right? The power of Christ at work in Paul's life. And then the very circumstance that brought Paul so much pain and sorrow has become for Paul a cause of joy and rejoicing. You see the response of Paul in verse nine, therefore Paul says, most gladly. I don't think that's hyperbole. I think Paul, genuinely, obviously, genuinely means that, right? Most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This is what God has determined, Paul says, for my good and for his glory, rather than the removal of this thorn, rather than remove the thorn, God has given me this as a good gift of his own grace, rather than boasting in the flesh then, rather than pining after worldly comforts, pining after ease and leisure, rather than shrinking back in complacency, failing to fulfill the ministry to which I've been called, right? Rather than shrinking back, Paul presses forward and Paul says, I will boast in what God has done for my good and for his glory that I may experience the power of God on me through his all-sufficient grace. There's a purpose in all this, isn't there? So we see then his all-sufficient, wonder-working grace is more profitable than experience. It's more valuable than reputation, and it is most gloriously evidenced, seen in our pain. Lastly then, point four on your notes, his sufficient grace is most evident through weakness. Paul says in verse 10, therefore I take pleasure. That's an amazing statement, isn't it? We need to get there, right? In our understanding, in our grasp of these things, we need to get there. That's going to embolden you in his service, embolden you in your ministry, embolden you in preaching the gospel, embolden you to get off your comfortable chair and out laboring and serving him, right? It's going to embolden you to go outside the camp bearing his reproach. It's going to embolden you in service of the Lord. If we can grasp these realities, the way that Paul does, therefore Paul says, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. Notice again here, we're not talking about sin, like weakness and fighting anger, or weakness in battling lust. One said that he's not saying that the power of Christ is perfected in my bad choices, right? Power of Christ is not perfected in your bad choices. So then Paul says, I will glory in my bad choices. No, right? You can't apply it that way, obviously. You're not going to glory in sin here. This weakness, the weakness of verse 10 is further explained by those four words that follow, reproaches, needs, persecutions, and distresses. We look at those reproaches, insults, shameful mistreatment, needs, physical distress, even a rising out of torture, persecution. Notice all of them are plural. Being hunted down to inflict pain or death, distresses, means oppressive mental anguish or trouble. Like Paul says, what comes upon me most is concern that I have, this concern, this overwhelming concern that I have for all the churches. In all this we see, God doesn't promise our comfort or ease. In fact, he promises the opposite, right? Isn't it true that all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution? Trust him in it, right? Trust him in your difficulty. Put your faith in him in your affliction. Go out in bold obedience to him, expecting that that's going to be the case, and trust him when you encounter it. Matter of fact, take joy in it with the other disciples that you encounter it because you've been counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. What are you when you were reviled for his namesake, right? When they falsely accuse you for his namesake, you're in good company. They persecuted the prophets in that way. Bliss, are you great? Is your reward in heaven, right? Trust him. Put your faith in him. We have such a good example in the Apostle Paul, such a good example. Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. The author of Hebrews would say it this way. We've considered the Apostle Paul. The author of Hebrews would continue. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Sampson, Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness, were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised the life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourging, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sown in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Or we have been given such good and glorious promises, amen. All praise, honor, and glory to the one who by his strength is able to work within us a good testimony through faith. Let's trust him for it. Let's pray. As you're praying, consider the Lord's word here and the good promises that he gives, the grace that he promises to supply, and let's trust him in all our adversity. Let's pray together. When you're done praying, you are dismissed.