Paul Visits Heaven - 34

Well, you know that in the city of Corinth, false teachers were boasting about their gifts and accomplishments, and they asserted that these aspects of their lives constituted credentials greater than the Apostle Paul's. And some of the Corinthian Christians were being deceived by their rhetoric and were being drawn to the false teachers and away from the Apostle Paul. And therefore, Paul finds it necessary, though distasteful, to combat their carnal boasting with some boasting of his own. This boasting is recorded in chapters 10, 11, and 12 of 2 Corinthians. And among other things, Paul reminded them of his apostolic commission by the Lord Jesus Christ, and also of his impeccable Hebrew credentials, which certainly matched, if not exceeded, those of his critics.

Beyond that, his many sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But now coming to chapter 12, he issues his final boast and tells about a visit to heaven that occurred in his life about 14 years prior to the writing of this epistle. And so we find Paul's vision to heaven recorded in verses 1 through 6, and we find Paul's thorn in the flesh in verses 7 through 10. Though I was tempted to separate this into two messages, because there's a lot of material here, nevertheless, the close connection between these two, as Paul makes it clear, the thorn in the flesh came because of his visit to heaven. And it's so closely connected to it, I thought we must take them together.

And so first of all, Paul's visit to heaven, which is not really a normal vision in the way we normally think of a vision, because he was transported upward, whether in body or in soul, but he actually left the earth and was transported into heaven, as he tells us. And so this final boast is introduced in verse 1. He tells us that it was unprofitable to boast this way, though necessary, statements he's already made previously more than once in this series of listing his credentials and accomplishments, which he does not want to do. But nevertheless, though this boasting is unprofitable as far as spiritual edification is concerned, it was necessary to combat the carnal deceptions that some of the Corinthians were being drawn to. And we are reminded, therefore, that sometimes it is necessary to do things that are distasteful and difficult, even though we'd prefer not to do them.

Sometimes disciplining on our children falls into that category. We really don't want to, but it's necessary. We must do it if we're going to be true to the Lord and truly love our children and are concerned about their welfare. Maybe even more difficult, sometimes we find it necessary to confront a fellow believer in Jesus Christ.

And oh, how difficult that is. We do not, we do not, we do not want to do that. If our hearts are right, if our spirit is right, we would far prefer not to do that. Sometimes it is necessary in order to be obedient to the Lord, and on it goes.

Sometimes it's necessary to turn down a request from someone because it's not proper, it's not godly, it's not something that we can do with a clear conscience. Sometimes it is necessary to walk away from a good paying job because you are required to do something that is sinful, and so on it goes. Life is filled with these kinds of things, and Paul found it necessary to do what he did not want to do. But he introduces this final boast in verse 1, and he takes up a new category of boasting, a new category of things that he's listing as his credentials and accomplishments, and this one has to do with visions and special revelations.

It is doubtless, he tells us, not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. After having dealt with these other matters, I'm now coming to another category, visions and revelations of the Lord.

I haven't mentioned this before. Evidently, this is something also that the false teachers were promoting for themselves. I had this vision, I had this revelation from God. Paul says, okay, didn't plan to do this, prefer not to do this, but if you want to compare visions and revelations from the Lord, let me tell you about one that I have never mentioned before. Now Paul's had a lot of experience in this area of visions and revelations.

I doubt that any of the false teachers could possibly match him. A number of them are recorded in Scripture. His experience on the Damascus Road was a remarkable revelation, a vision from heaven where Christ spoke to him directly from heaven. We also learned that when he came to Jerusalem after spending his first early Christian life in the city of Damascus from which he had to flee, that a vision was given to him that told him he must flee Jerusalem likewise or his life would be in danger. On his second missionary journey, when Paul was wondering where he should go after he revisited the churches in Galatia, and was having difficulty discerning the Spirit's direction, a vision came to him in the city of Troas in the middle of the night, a man from Macedonia who said, come over here and help us. So relating that vision to the rest of the missionary team, they crossed the Aegean Sea and went to European soil. When Paul was in the city of Corinth, the very city that he's writing this epistle to, he was a bit discouraged at the early days and weeks and months of ministry and was persuaded, I think, was inclined to leave and go on to someplace that might be more fruitful and in a vision, Jesus spoke to him and said, hunker down, stay put.

I have much people in this city. In Galatians chapter 2, Paul records the time when there was a lot of turmoil in the church at Jerusalem and in Antioch of Syria, where he was ministering at that time, and the Judaizers were confusing people with their message of work salvation, and he went to Jerusalem to consult with the church there and the leaders there, and we're not told this in Acts, but in Galatians he says, I went up by revelation. I received a special revelation from God that told me to do this.

And in Acts chapter 23, when he was under persecution in Jerusalem, the Lord said, don't worry about it. This is the way you're going to Rome. You've always wanted to go to Rome.

You're going to make it. I'm telling you that by this means you are going to minister in Rome. And so I've counted those six revelations and visions recorded in the scriptures besides this one in 2 Corinthians 12, and there's no doubt in my mind that there were probably a great many more. Yes, Paul is saying, you want to match visions and revelations from God? Let's take a look at my list, but he doesn't mention any of these others.

He just goes to one in particular that he has never breathed a word about to anyone before. Paul gives a reluctant report. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know, out of the body I do not know, God knows. 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 and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Of such a one I will boast, yet of myself I will not boast except in my infirmities, for I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth, but I refrain lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. Well, in regard to this vision as he characterizes it here, there are a number of things about it that are interesting and instructive. Number one, Paul uses a third person to describe it.

We'll talk about that. Number two, Paul dates this event as 14 years ago. Number three, Paul acknowledges some mystery. He himself doesn't know whether he was in the body or out of the body.

Only God knows. Number four, Paul identified his destination. It was the third heaven that is paradise, which tells us exactly where he was. Number five, Paul explains his limitations. There's something he could not do, something that he must not do. Number six, Paul repeats his reluctance.

And number seven, Paul reiterates his true credentials. He uses a third person to describe this, which is a bit puzzling. He doesn't say, this is what happened to me. He said, I know a man, whether in the body or out of the body.

I know such a man, how he was caught up into heaven, into paradise. And yet as the Scripture unfolds, there can be no question, not the slightest doubt that he's talking about himself. He's already said that he is continuing his unwelcome boasting. This is his boasting. These are the listing of his experiences and credentials that he introduces here but talks about in the third person. And when we get to verse seven, he says, unless I, now first person, should be exalted above measure by the revelation that was given to me, a thorn in the flesh was given to me.

So there's no question. It's not even one tenth of one percent in doubt that Paul is talking about himself when he speaks in the third person. He's not talking about some other person. So why, therefore, does he employ this third-person manner of speaking, which is not characteristic of Paul? And we're not told why, but there are a couple of possibilities. Some think it may be because of the nature of his out-of-body experience. If in fact, and he doesn't know, was he caught up in the body or out of the body. But if he was caught up out of the body, it may be that in that position, he was looking back upon his body. We've actually all read accounts of people who maybe were on an operating table and they had the experience of leaving their body and looking back down upon their body on the operating table and then rejoining their body, and we scratch our heads and say, what should we make of all that? Sometimes it's very difficult to tell. But we've heard those experiences, this out-of-body experience where a person's soul actually is removed from their body for a while and they're allowed to view the body.

Maybe that explains what Paul is saying here, that it seemed to him that he was looking at what was happening to someone else, maybe. What I think is more likely is that he uses a third person because he's reluctant to talk about this experience. He's now more reluctant to talk about this than anything else that he has listed up until this time. It's far too personal.

It's far too sacred. It seems like it's just over-the-top boasting, and yet he deems it necessary. Helpfully, Paul dates the event. He said it happened 14 years ago. That means it happened approximately A.D. 42 to 44, which would place Paul either in Tarsus, where he went when he fled from Jerusalem in those early years, or in Antioch, where he came to help Barnabas to pastor that church before he was sent out on his first missionary journey. So that's the time frame when he had this experience of being caught up into the third heaven, which tells us that probably the Lord gave him this experience in order to prepare him for the unusual hardships that he was going to endure in his upcoming missionary journeys, which he's already listed in his boastful accomplishments and credentials in chapter 11.

And furthermore, to prepare him with the power, the spiritual strength he's going to need for this incredible missionary ministry that God has given to him. Paul does acknowledge some mystery about this whole matter. He doesn't know whether he was in the body or out of the body.

He really can't tell. His body may have been transported into heaven. That's possible. Or his body may have remained on earth and his spirit transported into heaven.

That's possible too. He doesn't know, but both his mentioning these two possibilities at least tells us something about Paul's understanding, his doctrine, his theology. In other words, he didn't think that it was beyond possibility that a human body could be raptured, and that's the exact word that he uses here, that he was raptured into heaven, the same word that is used in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 of the rapture of the saints when Jesus Christ returns. And he doesn't think it's impossible that a saint could be raptured into heaven and then return to earth, nor does he think it's possible for a soul to be removed from the body and then rejoined to the body, which would explain some of these out-of-body experiences that we hear people talk about occasionally but don't quite know how to categorize or understand. Paul evidently believed that such a thing was possible. He could have been out of the body and then returned to the body.

Only God knows. Paul does identify his destination as, first of all, the third heaven in verse 2 and then paradise in verse 4. The third heaven, obviously he was caught up into the presence of God, into the place where God's throne is, where God's court is, and also described as paradise, another word that is used for this same location, which is the abode of the departed saints. We all remember that on the cross when the thief appealed to Jesus Christ in humility and repentance, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

What did Christ say to him? Today you shall be with me in paradise. That's the place of the departed saints and that's the place where we are going to someday, the third heaven, paradise, not the first heaven where the clouds and the birds and the airplanes fly, not the second heaven where all the stars and the galaxies, that vast, vast, vast second heaven that to us is infinite.

We've never come to the end of it yet. But the third heaven, I'm beyond that, where God and His throne is and that's where Paul was caught up to. But Paul had some limitations in regard to this vision and he tells us about them in verse 4, how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. He tells us there was something he could not do and there was something he must not do. What he could not do is adequately explain what he heard and saw. Impossible.

There is not human vocabulary that can do this. So, number one, it's impossible for me to describe what I saw. That may be one reason why he hasn't said anything about it for 14 years. He said, I don't know how to describe it. But there was even more compelling reason because actually he was told not to. I was hurt.

I was shown things. I was given revelation that it is, and he tells us very clearly, unlawful. Sinful. Against the command of God for me to utter. So even here where he tells us about the vision, he does not tell us what he heard. He does not tell us what he saw when he was in heaven. I pause to say, what does that say about people who claim to have had similar experiences, caught up into heaven, and they come back and tell us all about it, describe all about it, and I'd say, God didn't let Paul do that.

Should I believe that that really happened to you? Why did God say it was okay for you to do that when he said it was not okay for Paul to do that? Just raising the question, I leave you for the answer for yourself. Furthermore, in verses 5 and 6, Paul repeats his reluctance. He's already explained his reluctance to talk about this, but he says again, of such a one I will boast, the person who did this, yet of myself I will not boast. That's why he seems to have separated by this third person technique the one who had the vision from himself because when it comes to himself, he doesn't want to talk about it, doesn't want to attach this experience to himself, doesn't want people to think of him in the light of this experience.

He's making it clear that's not what I desire. Of such a one I will boast, yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. He keeps going back to that. I'm happy to boast about my infirmities, my weaknesses, my sufferings, which he listed in great detail in chapter 11, and he's going to go into more detail about one specifically now in chapter 12, this thorn in the flesh that he hasn't mentioned before, but he said that I don't mind talking about, that I don't mind listing, that I don't mind boasting about, if you want to use that term. For though I might desire to boast, verse 6, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth, but I refrain lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

I refrain from talking more about this experience. Paul does not desire to boast, except in his infirmities, even though he assures us that what he's told us so far about this heavenly visit is the absolute truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God, it is the truth, it is unembellished truth, it is exactly the truth and he hasn't added anything to it that is not true. Just saying it that way just makes a hint that it's almost like he's saying, what I'm telling you is absolute truth, are you sure that what these other guys are telling you are true?

Can you be sure? That's one thing about these kinds of personal experiences, somebody tells you something, you know, Jesus stood by my bed one night and talked to me or these things that people say. I wasn't there, I'm not you. I mean, I can't say 100% it didn't happen to you, but I can't be sure it did and there's no way you can really prove it, you can tell me what happened to you, you could have been deceived, you could have had too much pizza, you could be misled by an evil spirit, you really don't know what you think you heard and saw and I certainly don't. I can't deny it, I can't say it didn't happen to you, how can someone say that your experience didn't happen to you?

I can't say that your experience didn't happen to you. Paul says, I promise you I'm speaking the absolute unvarnished truth, are you sure that these other guys are telling you the truth? Because as Paul reminds them in the last part of verse 6, the credentials by which you ought to evaluate me and decide whether I am truly God's messenger or not have nothing to do with my visions, have nothing to do with my going to heaven.

I'm not coming to you and saying you need to listen to me because I had this vision, I can tell you about heaven, I went there, you should listen to me because I've had an abundance of revelations and visions. Well, he said that's not it, I've been telling you all along how you're supposed to evaluate these things. I'm not telling you anymore about this, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. Here's his true credentials, what is he telling us? The true credentials of a messenger of God are number one, his faithful life and number two, his faithful teaching.

That's how you evaluate. Examine my life, says Paul. Have I been faithful, I've been godly, have I lived the way I preached? Can you find any inconsistency with what I've told you and the way I live? Examine my life, my service for Christ, my sacrifice for Christ.

That's credential number one or category of credentials, number one. Number two is what I teach and preach, words of truth. Have you found me to say anything that is not true? Have you found me to say anything that can't be verified from the scriptures, from the revelation that God has given?

Can you find me saying anything that contradicts the word of God in any way? These are the ways that you evaluate me as to whether I'm a faithful teacher of God, whether I'm a messenger of God, whether I'm an apostle of God. Now, visions and revelations aside, they really are irrelevant. That's what Paul is saying, they really are irrelevant.

This is not important, but that's what these other guys are touting as being very important. So just sweep all that away, just ignore all that for them, ignore it for me, and evaluate both of us according to our life and according to our teaching and see what conclusion you come up with. And if you do that properly, you'll come to the same conclusion that Paul has already come to in chapter 11. These are deceitful workers, false apostles, messengers of Satan, disguising themselves as angels of light.

Remember, he told us exactly who they were. And you can learn all that by examining their life and what they teach, that's all you need to know. And of course, to examine what somebody teaches means you have to have a standard by which you examine it. So what's the standard? The eternal word of God, that's the standard.

Take the standard that you know to be true, no error, and compare with that what people are telling you and see if they match. If they do, this must be a true messenger of God. If they don't, then disregard that person, stop listening to that person, stop honoring that person, stop encouraging that person, or you will become partaker with his evil deeds. So that's first, Paul's final boast, the account of his visit to heaven. But secondly, we take up Paul's thorn in the flesh. And he tells us why this thorn in the flesh was given to him in verse 7. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, he's only told us here about one, unless he is categorizing this visit to heaven as a series of abundant revelations.

Perhaps he is, but it sounds more like he's saying, I could tell you about a lot more, the abundance of revelations that was given to me, the seven I listed for you, including this one, and probably more than that, because of the abundance of revelations that was given to me, something else was also given to me, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. So regarding Paul's thorn in the flesh, what does he tell us about that? And I'll give you the five things we're going to examine. Number one, the reason it was given.

Number two, the nature of this thorn. Number three, the prayer for deliverance. Number four, the denial of Paul's request. And number five, the nature of Paul's submission. The reason it was given, because of these incredible revelations, the magnitude of the nature of the revelations being caught up into heaven, really now, really now. These other guys, even in their embellished and maybe untruthful reports of revelations, have they got anything to match that?

I doubt it. But the abundance of the revelations and the number of them, he said because of this, this abundance of revelations, which clearly is far more abundant than that even of the critics that you are listening to, but because of that there was given to me, says Paul, this thorn in the flesh to keep me from pride, lest I should be exalted above measure, above what is appropriate. Paul, you're an apostle of Jesus Christ. Surely you don't have pride. I am a son of Adam, as we all are. I'm not yet fully sanctified.

I'm not with the Lord. So, yes, I have pride, just like you have pride. We all have pride.

That really is one of our biggest problems, isn't it? The enormity of our pride and how easily it gets swollen way beyond measure. Paul said for that reason there was given to me this thorn in the flesh so that I should not be exalted above measure. Secondly, what is the nature of this thorn? Well, it is clearly a physical disability.

The very title that is given to it tells us that. A thorn in the flesh, body, flesh, body. I say that because there are some people who try to make it out something else because the idea of Paul having a thorn in the body kind of goes against the teaching, the doctrine of some people. Some of these health and wealth people who will tell you that if you really trust God, you'll be healthy and wealthy. There's no reason for anyone to be sick if they'll just trust God and believe Him.

Have a little trouble with Paul and his thorn in the flesh. So they say, well, this was depression. This was psychological.

This was something else. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not a thorn in the soul. It's not a thorn in the mind. It is a thorn in the flesh.

That's pretty easy to understand, isn't it? A thorn in the flesh, and furthermore, it was a satanic hindrance, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, and yet he tells us it was given to him by God. So again, we learn this truth that some people have trouble absorbing, but it's so important to understand, namely that the trials and afflictions that come into our lives are designed by God but delivered by Satan.

You understand? They are hatched in heaven, designed by God, but for whatever purposes, God commissions them to be delivered. He's the delivery man.

He's coming around with the car, and it doesn't say Domino's Pizza on it. It says satanic trials on it, and Satan comes along and delivers these trials, but don't think that they come from Satan and not from God. That will betray your misunderstanding of Scripture and will lead you off into all kinds of bad paths of application and difficulty, but these trials that are admittedly delivered by Satan, he wants to hurt us.

He does his best. He's evil in his motives, but nevertheless, they are designed by God and delivered by Satan, but God has a good and gracious purpose in it. And that tells us that Satan's evil is made to minister to God's people blessing. Maybe I should say that another way.

Satan's evil is made to minister blessings to God's people. Does he want to? No.

Does he plan to? Nope. Is that his purpose?

Nope. He can't help it because remember, Satan is who? He is merely the what? Unwilling servant of Jehovah. He does what God tells him to do, not willingly, but he does.

And so, because of the abundance of the revelations that was given to me, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure. And Paul records for us his prayer, his intense prayer for deliverance. He didn't want this. He didn't enjoy this.

He didn't welcome this any more than we do. Our sicknesses, our pain, our trials. And he said three times he besought the Lord to take it, and everybody that I've read takes the same understanding of that to mean there were three intense periods where Paul besought the throne of grace, not just there were three times he lifted a prayer heavenward, but there were three particular seasons of intense prayer when Paul said, God, deliver me. And God had done that so many times in Paul's prayers before, both for himself and for other people. Paul was accustomed to praying for deliverance and seeing God answer that prayer with deliverance. And yet, Paul has some seasons of prayer, probably with fasting, though he doesn't mention that.

And I can't insert that. And I have to be careful. I've come to the conclusion that some people say more about fasting than that is legitimately taught to us in Scripture and make it a requirement when I don't see the Scripture making it a requirement, but it certainly does recommend it. And if you're serious about something, you probably will exercise it from time to time. And Paul was certainly serious about this. He wanted this removed. And so he went through three intense periods of praying for its removal. And it was only after the third such season of prayer that God even gave him an answer, the first time heaven was silent. No answer to the apostle Paul. That might help you, some of you who say, I pray and God doesn't answer me. Paul prayed. God didn't answer him.

All right? Time went by. Probably these three episodes, and again, this is speculation, correspond to three times when the pain became particularly intense, almost unbearable, drove Paul to his knees, drove Paul to get away from everything else, drove Paul to a period of intense prayer. And he prayed, and God didn't answer. Heaven was silent. He went on with life, and then there came another time, maybe another intense period of pain. And he drew aside again, maybe for several days and nights, and prayed, and heaven was silent. God didn't answer him. And then life went on, and he thought, well, maybe I can bear this after all. And then here came another period, and it seemed just unbearable, and he spent days and nights perhaps in prayer, and now the answer came. And he said to me, verse 9, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

There's the answer. After the third petition, he said to me, perfect tense, it happened in a point of time, but it has continuing results, perfect tense, this is God's standing answer for this particular problem. He said to me, and this is how it will be, this is how it stands, Paul, I'm not going to heal you.

I'm not going to take away the thorn in the flesh. Instead, I promise you that my grace is sufficient to sustain you in this trial, and I tell you furthermore, I remind you furthermore, that my strength, my power is made complete, is made greater in your weakness, and this is weakness, and that means more of my power on your life. So finally, after this third period of request, God revealed his will and his remedy regarding this petition. The answer is no, I will not heal, my grace is sufficient for you to endure it, and God has promised the same for us. There has no trial taken you, but such is as common to man, and God is faithful, God is faithful, God is always faithful who will not, God will not allow the suffering to be greater than you can bear, but will with the testing provide a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. And that's what God told Paul, my grace is sufficient for you to endure it, and my spiritual power is given to accompany you in this affliction to help you with the affliction itself, but even for a greater reason, which Paul will make clear in a moment.

Well, it's obvious, I'll go ahead and mention it. This sufficient, this power is given to make Paul's life of ministry more effective. It's to make him more fruitful, it's to make his preaching more powerful, it's to make his evangelism more powerful, it's to make his church planting more successful, it's to make his life more fruitful for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that comes because of his weakness through which God is going to mediate greater divine strength. One commentator said, to serve Christ none is too weak, but many are too strong. To serve Christ effectively, none are too weak, but many are too strong.

They think they can do it, we think we can do it. When you think you stand, take heed, lest you fall. None is too weak to serve God powerfully and effectively, but many, many, many are too strong in themselves to be able to experience God's power made perfect in weakness. Which brings us then to the nature of Paul's submission in verses 9 and 10. Therefore, he says in the middle of verse 9, therefore, because God said my grace is sufficient for you and my strength is made perfect in weakness, therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore, verse 10, another therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. When I'm weak in myself and I know that I'm weak and I feel my weakness, and I say, Lord, take this away, it's hindering me from serving you the way I want to. It's hindering me from being able to preach the way I want to. It's hindering me from the way of traveling around that I want to do for your glory, for your sake, for the gospel. Take this away, it's hindering me. And God said, no, I'm giving it to you because your pride is a greater hindrance and in your weakness when you feel it, when you know it, then my strength is made greater.

It's perfected. So the nature of Paul's submission to God's revealed will about his thorn in the flesh is, first of all, knowledgeable, therefore, because of what he said, I will glory in my infirmity. Therefore, in other words, his faith was grounded in revelation.

It's because God told me this. It's his word. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities.

His faith based upon revelation, his faith based upon the word of God, not based upon the way he feels about it, not based upon what he thinks God ought to do to make him a more effective servant, but based on what God has told him. Therefore, a knowledgeable submission. And secondly, a cheerful submission. Therefore, most gladly, happily, cheerfully. This is not gloomy resignation. All right, God won't heal me.

I guess I'll have to plow through, but I sure don't like it. Gladly. Ooh. Kind of stepping on our toes, aren't you, Paul? Most gladly. I will boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Literally, that could be translated that his power may pitch a tent upon me. Come upon me and stay upon me. That God's power may pitch a tent upon me. If God will do that, I guess I can not only accept these trials and infirmities, I can rejoice in them. If that's the result, yes, if that's the result. And so it was cheerful submission. It was comprehensive submission. It wasn't for just this one thorn in the flesh.

It was, as he tells us in verse 10, for infirmities, for injuries, for needs, for persecutions, for distresses, for every trial, for every difficulty. I submit to them all. I'll just go ahead and do that ahead of time.

Whatever you send, Lord, if you'll give me the grace, I'll gladly submit. I'll bear up. I won't complain. I won't resist.

I won't doubt. I won't keep asking, why, Lord, are you letting this happen to me? Why, Lord, are you letting this happen to me? I'm sure you've never done anything like that, but it was purposeful submission for Christ's sake.

For Christ's sake. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake. And it is insightful submission, his last statement in verse 10, for when I am weak, then I am strong. When I am weak in the flesh, when I am weak in the body, when I am weak in my humanness, then I am strong because God doesn't use strong people. God doesn't use gifted people who are proud of their gifts and want to show off their gifts, who think they're so gifted and strong and able.

They're just going to wow everybody with their gifts. God doesn't use people like that. God uses people who recognize that they're weak, that they're nobodies, that without Christ they can do nothing. God uses people who realize that nothing is accomplished in my strength, but that mountains are moved by weak people in Christ's power.

You understand that? Nothing is accomplished by my strength, but mountains are moved by weak people with the power of Christ flowing through them. In this passage we learn something of the value of visions and revelations.

When they are given, it's not to impress others. We have a lot of question about this sort of thing today. Is God still doing this and has God stopped doing this?

And there are competent Bible scholars on both sides of that question, some who think He still does do it and some who think He doesn't. Well, this much I can tell you. If He does give you a vision, a revelation like this, it's not for you to brag about. It's not for you to tell others about. It's not for you to write a book about.

It's not for you to make much of yourself about. If you're doing it that way, it is not from God. If they are given, it's not to impress others, but it is to strengthen the individual. It was given to Paul to strengthen him 14 years ago.

For 14 years he said nothing, and he would have continued to say nothing if he hadn't been kind of backed into the corner by the false teachers in court. But it wasn't given to him to promote himself or to wow other people. It was given to strengthen and encourage him in his own inner man, in his own work for Christ, in his own facing of trials and difficulties so he could remember that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glories that shall be revealed hereafter. And God gave him the privilege of saying some of the glories that we're all going to experience hereafter, and that strengthened him for an incredible life of difficulty and suffering. This passage also teaches us something about the nature of answered prayer, and prayer is not always answered in such a way as to relieve our suffering. And it's not wrong to pray for that. We should take all of our needs and burdens to the Lord in prayer. But we should not think that if God doesn't answer that prayer the way we think He ought to answer that prayer that He somehow let us down, or that His prayer promises are not right, not true. It couldn't be that we're misunderstanding anything. Or that I'm not a true child of God. There's something defective about my faith.

None of those things are true. When you understand Scripture, the truth is that God doesn't intend to relieve all suffering. Some He does, some He doesn't. And when He doesn't, He has a better purpose for it. God doesn't always intend to relieve suffering, but He always intends to minister blessing and increase usefulness through every trial. He always intends to minister blessing and increase our usefulness through every trial. Which brings me to this lesson, which is the purpose of afflictions.

It grows out of the second one. And what is the purpose of afflictions that God brings into our life? It's to grow us in grace and knowledge. We want to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Some knowledge we grow in by studying Scripture. Some knowledge we grow in by suffering, which drives us into Scripture in a fresh and more urgent way and helps us to bring more out of Scripture than we would have had otherwise and to apply it to these areas of our life.

It's to grow us in grace and knowledge, and it is to increase our effectiveness that we might feel our weakness, that we might sense our weakness, that we might cry out in our weakness for God's help, and that His strength might be made perfect in weakness. I've got a couple of quotations here, if you will indulge me. The first one from Chrysostom. You all know him, don't you? And I took this, by the way, from the Riverside Report from the Riverside Baptist Church in Richwood, West Virginia that sends out a wonderful e-mail paper every week.

Our friend there, Brent Seacrest, who comes to the Tri-State Fellowship when health and distance allow, he's about five or six hours away. And he quotes Chrysostom, that great golden-tongued preacher of the fourth century in the city of Antioch, started out his church ministry. And here's what Chrysostom wrote, quote, How great is the advantage of affliction!

For now indeed we are in the enjoyment of peace. We have become supine and lax, and have filled the church with countless evils. But when we were persecuted, we were more sober-minded and more earnest and more ready for church attendance and for hearing, end quote. America, churches in America, are you hearing that? Shall I read it again?

It's hard to get it all the first time through. Here we go. How great is the advantage of affliction! For now indeed we are in the enjoyment of peace. We have become supine, you can look that one up in the dictionary, and lax, and have filled the church with countless evils. But when we were persecuted, we were more sober-minded and more earnest and more ready for church attendance and for hearing.

That is listening to God's word. I think some Christians think that the very worst thing that could happen to us in America is that we should suffer religious persecution. Look, I'm not praying for persecution. I don't welcome persecution.

I will use my citizenship privileges to try to hold it back and prevent it as much as possible. I also know that prosperity and peace hasn't been good for Christians in America. Maybe we need some persecution. Here's another quote. Oh, this one comes from the Riverside Baptist Report. I got them backwards. The other one I took out of a commentary. I think the commentary by Philip Hughes.

Sorry about that. I didn't put my source down here. All right, here's the one from Pastor Brent Seacrest in the Riverside Baptist Report that he took from Monarchism. And I quote, In 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established, in other words, when the Communist government was established, there were one million believing Christians, as far as anybody could count.

One million in 1949. Now, 72 years later, under intense persecution, there are well over 100 million. The political or cultural situation never puts the kingdom of God at risk. The gospel is never changed.

It can and does thrive under any circumstance. How do you explain that? When China was free, one million Christians out of how many, you know, all those hundreds of millions of people. More than a billion people. Intense persecution. We're going to stomp out Christianity. We're going to stomp out Christianity. We're going to stomp out Christianity. Now there are 100 million Christians. How do you explain that?

Here it is. I have learned, said Paul, that when I am weak, then God is strong. I've learned that God's power is made perfect in weakness. My closing statement, Paul's vision was accompanied with additional suffering. His vision to heaven was accompanied with additional suffering. Question number one, is this true of Charismatics today, the Charismatics who make much of visions and revelations? Do they talk about the suffering that accompanies theirs?

Not usually. In fact, just the opposite. Would they desire more visions if they knew that it meant increased suffering?

Not likely. But move the spotlight away from Charismatic, problematic theology into ourselves. Would we welcome more suffering if we knew that it brought more of the power of Christ upon us?

And if not, why not? Have we grown too comfortable? Too wedded to this world? Unconcerned about Christ's kingdom? There's a lot to learn in this passage, shall we pray. Father, thank you for teaching us from your word. As we implant these truths in our souls, we pray. Amen.