2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 12:1-10,
“Fool’s Speech Part 3: Power Comes
Through Weakness”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we continued to look at Paul’s “Fool’s Speech”
and we saw Paul tell the Corinthians that if the “super-apostles” can be so
foolish as to boast about their abilities that he himself will also boast about
himself, however Paul will now begin to boast about not his strengths, as we
would expect, but about his weaknesses
1.1.1. We saw what foolishness it
is for us Christians whenever we boast in our flesh, for in and of ourselves we
have not the abilities to be acceptable or usable by God
1.1.1.1.Boasting in our own flesh
just sets us up for a big fall
1.1.2. We saw how that when we look
at the things that Paul suffered as well as what he was humiliated by as part
of his calling as an apostle, and the fact that he did not let these things
deter him from fulfilling his calling, that this should shut every mouth who
would question his claims to apostleship
1.1.3. We saw that far from showing
that Paul could not be an apostle because of the suffering that he was always
going through in his ministry, in fact the description by Paul of all of the suffering
and difficulties that he went through shows that he really should be considered
the pre-eminent apostle of all
1.1.4. In his “Fool’s Speech,” Paul
boasted of his weakness in the things that he suffered:
1.1.4.1.At the hands of his
persecutors
1.1.4.2.In his journeys over land
and sea
1.1.4.3.In his labors and
deprivations of life
1.1.4.4.In his concern for the
churches
1.1.5. In Comparison to Paul, we
saw that the “super-apostles” against whom Paul was defending himself, had not
really suffered at all for ministry’s sake
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to see that Paul brings his “Fool’s
Speech” to a climax as he tells us about his own visions and revelations that
he had received from the Lord and yet how that the Lord had allowed an
infirmity to remain in his life so that he would not be lifted up in pride
because of those visions. Then,
1.2.1. Paul then tells us that how
that power comes through our weakness
1.2.2. Paul climaxes his argument
in his “Fool’s Speech” by saying that he would therefore glory in his
weaknesses that the power of God might be made strong in his life
2.
VS 12:1 - “1 Boasting
is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and
revelations of the Lord.” - Paul tells the Corinthians
that he will go on from boasting to now talk about visions and revelations he
had received of the Lord
2.1.
Paul had been forced to boast about himself because the
“super-apostles” were constantly boasting about themselves and all of their
abilities. However, Paul had not
boasted about his strengths as everyone would have expected them to
do. Instead, we saw that he boasted
about his weaknesses. It was the
incredible number of things that Paul endured and suffered as a result of his
calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and how that he didn’t let those things
deter him, that was absolute proof of the legitimacy of his apostleship and
should have silenced every critic.
2.1.1. The “super-apostles” had not
really suffered hardly at all, if at all, as a result of their ministry, if you
call it that. They were Judaisers who were
perverting the truth of the gospel. They
came to the Corinthians to be served by others and were living the easy life.
2.2.
So, even though Paul admitted that boasting in the flesh is
foolishness, nevertheless his boasting about himself had been necessary to
combat the criticisms of him by the “super-apostles.” Here however we see that Paul admits that
further boasting would not be profitable for his defense of himself. He must now proceed in another direction in
defending himself.
2.3.
Paul had been criticized by the “super-apostles” for not having the
visions and revelations that they claimed to have. Paul though is going to show them that he has
had plenty of visions and revelations. However, his
argument will be that his visions and revelations should not be a cause for
boasting and exalting oneself in pride, as of course had been the case for
the “super-apostles.” The Lord had
caused Paul to be humbled so that he could be usable by the Lord.
2.4.
By the way, as we read the book of Acts we find Paul having many
visions and revelations:
2.4.1. In Acts 16:9, he has the
vision of the man from
2.4.2. In Acts 18:9-10, he has the
vision in
2.4.3. In Acts 27:23-24, we read
that when Paul was on the ship adrift in the ocean for several days in a big
storm that as he and those with him were in utter despair that an angel
appeared to Paul and told him not to fear because he would appear before Caesar
and that no one on the ship would be killed.
2.5.
An application that we need to bring out of this section of the scripture has to
do with the fact that these “super-apostles” claimed that the authenticity of
their apostleship and ministry was based upon visions and revelations from God
that they supposedly had. A vision or
a revelation from the Lord does not at all validate anyone’s ministry,
authority, or doctrines that they teach.
2.6.
I believe that these “super-apostles” very well may have had genuine
visions and revelations, however there is another source besides God that these can come from,
the Devil. Satan has at times
given people supposed revelations from God that have been used by them to
validate their false doctrines and teachings, and many have been led astray by
this.
2.6.1. Examples in the church of
false teachers
who have led people into false doctrines based upon supposed visions and
revelations from God are numerous, including::
2.6.1.1.Joseph Smith, the founder of
the Mormon church, claimed that at the age of 14 or 15 the angel
2.6.1.2.Ellen G. White, the supposed
prophet of God whom the Seventh Day Adventist churches get their doctrines from, claimed that she had
visions and revelations that taught her the true doctrines of Christianity and
the correct interpretation of the eschatology of the scriptures. She has been accepted by that denomination
because she claimed that these things came by visions and revelations.
2.6.2. We Christians have been
given the scriptures by which we may judge the truthfulness of any doctrines yet so many of these cults
and cultish groups have been formed because people believed the testimony of
someone claiming to have had visions and revelations, and because naive people
were not grounded in what the scriptures do teach and they didn’t take the time
to compare these false doctrines against what the scriptures teach.
3.
VS 12:2-4 - “2 I know
a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or
out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third
heaven.3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I
do not know, God knows—4 was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible
words, which a man is not permitted to speak.” - Paul tells the Corinthians the story of how
he had been taken up to the third heaven and heard inexpressible words that a
man is not permitted to speak
3.1.
Paul is speaking of himself in these verses though he speaks of himself
as just being ‘a man.’ He speaks of himself in this
way because he cannot take any credit for receiving a revelation from
Christ. This was all Christ’s doing and
none of his. Further, the words that he
heard there he was not allowed to ever disclose to anyone.
3.2.
There is an irony here in that though Paul had this great vision and
revelation that he speaks of, the Lord would not allow him to tell anyone what
he saw and heard. In contrast, the
“super-apostles” were constantly boasting about their visions and revelations.
3.3.
The “third heaven” is the very throne of God. The “first heaven” is the sky and atmosphere,
and the “second heaven” is the stars and galaxies in the sky.
3.4.
Notice that the “third heaven” is also referred to as “
3.4.1. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of
the Old Testament completed a couple of hundred years before Christ, used this
same word in Genesis for the Garden of Eden.
3.4.1.1.This is an important
translation of the scripture, for it is the case that in the New Testament that
when the writers quoted the Old Testament that they often quoted the Greek from
the Septuagint translation.
3.4.2. Jesus told the thief on
the cross that because of his confession and request of Him, that that very
day he would be with Jesus in “
3.4.3. In Rev. 2:7, “
3.5.
Paul writes here that he didn’t
know whether he had gone to the third heaven in an “out of body” experience or
whether he had gone there in body and soul.
4.
VS 12:5-6 - “5 On
behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast,
except in regard to my weaknesses.6 For if I do wish to boast I shall not be
foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no
one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that on behalf of
such a man he will boast but not for himself, however if he did decide to boast
about himself he would not be foolish but would be telling the truth
4.1.
Paul knew that if he really wanted to promote himself he could boast all day
long about the things that he had done in the ministry, all of which would be
based upon the truth. However, he
did not want to boast of himself for he believed that if anyone should boast
he ought to boast in the Lord and what He has done.
5.
VS 12:7-9 - “7 And
because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to
keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself!8 Concerning
this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9 And He has
said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” -
Paul tells the Corinthians that because of the greatness of his
revelations given to him and so that he wouldn’t exalt himself that a thorn in
the flesh was given to him
5.1.
One commentator has written that these verses are themselves the climax
of the entire epistle, and I would say that for the most part I agree with this
statement. At least in respect to Paul’s
defense of himself against these “super-apostles” in the church in
5.1.1. These verses have universal
application also to all Christians living in all eras of time. God can work through our lives mightily as a
result of our weaknesses.
5.2.
As we have discussed, the “super-apostles” in the Corinthian
church claimed to have great visions and revelations from Christ, however
they had as result gone around promoting themselves, bragged
about their great spiritual gifts and insight, and how God had given them an
apostolic calling superior even to Paul’s.
However, if these men truly had had some visions and revelations, these
did not come from God but were a fabrication of Satan, the one whom Paul said
came “as an angel of light” and was the deceiver of mankind.
5.3.
Visions and revelations that are truly from the Lord can cause a person
to become inflated in his own importance however, and thus the Lord allowed Paul to have
a tremendously humbling weakness or infirmity to exist in his life, one for
which the Lord would not heal him.
5.4.
It is another irony to note that though Paul often prayed for others to
be healed,
and this is so much the case that people were healed through his prayers that
we see in Acts 19:11-12 that people in Ephesus stole his handkerchiefs
believing that if they just touched them they would be healed (and they were
healed by the Lord in doing this), and yet Paul who was used by God to
heal others could not be used in his own healing of this infirmity, “11
And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,12 so
that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and
the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.”
5.5.
We see in these verses that the Lord does not always heal whenever
God’s faithful saints pray in faith to be healed. There are times when the Lord chooses instead
to do a work in our heart and life through allowing us to go through suffering
rather than healing us and removing the suffering from our lives.
5.5.1. I have mentioned this quote
before, but ever since my wife and I saw a plaque with these words on it these
words often come to my mind when I am praying for the Lord’s deliverance for in
me in some area, “Some times God quiets the storm that is around His
child when he prays and other times He quiets the storm within him.”
5.5.2. There are other indications
in the New Testament that the Lord does not always heal people when God’s
faithful servants pray in faith:
5.5.2.1.In 2 Tim. 4:20, Paul
wrote, “20 Erastus remained at
5.5.2.2.In Phil. 2:25-27 we
read that Epaphroditus had an extended illness that was so severe that
he had almost died, and yet after some time the Lord eventually had mercy on
him and allowed him to heal up. He was
not immediately healed after being prayed for however.
5.6.
We do not know what the infirmity was that Paul was suffering from. The Greek word ‘skolops’ is translated
here as ‘thorn,’ however in addition to ‘thorn’ the word can also mean
“a sharp stake.” There have been numerous
theories as to what the word refers to and these theories come upon two
basic lines:
5.6.1. It could refer to a
literal physical infirmity.
5.6.1.1.This does not remove the
mystery at all however because you then have to interpret what the physical
infirmity was, and some theories include:
5.6.1.1.1.A problem with his eyes and
eyesight.
5.6.1.1.1.1.This theory is based upon
Paul’s writing in Gal. 6:11 where he wrote that he had written to them using
big letters.
5.6.1.1.2.An illness of some sort.
5.6.2. It could refer to an adversary of some sort
allowed to be in Paul’s life.
5.6.2.1.Theories about who this
could refer to include:
5.6.2.1.1.A demon that followed Paul
around disturbing him.
5.6.2.1.2.The Judaisers themselves who
followed him around and disturbed all of the churches that he had planted. Paul had prayed for this group to go away
however they had been allowed to hang around.
5.7.
It is interesting to note that Paul refers to this infirmity as
being a ‘messenger of Satan’ that was being used to ‘buffet’ him, the
translation of a Greek word which means to “strike with a fist.”
5.7.1. Note that these verses
reveal to us that the Devil cannot do to anyone whatever he desires to do
but that he must get permission from the Lord to do anything that he does.
5.7.1.1.This fact is also seen in
the book of Job when the Devil appeared before the Lord and told Him that Job was only
serving the Lord because he was being blessed, and that if his blessings were
taken away that he would not serve the Lord.
Thus, the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job, but even in doing so the
Lord gave the Devil specific parameters within which he was allowed to afflict
Job.
5.7.2. Note also that these verses
reveal that the Lord sometimes uses the Devil and evil to accomplish His good
works in people’s lives. Someone once called the Devil, “God’s
messenger boy,” because of how even though the Devil intends evil purposes
in people’s lives the Lord turns all of those difficult things into good in
God’s people’s lives.
5.8.
Paul tells us that just as the Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane three times
for the cup of the cross to be removed from him that he prayed three times
to be healed of the infirmity which he had.
5.9.
The Lord did not heal Paul but instead spoke to him and told him that
His grace was sufficient for him. We ought to
ask I supposed in what sense the grace of God would be sufficient for
Paul?
5.9.1. The grace and love of God
that had brought salvation to Paul could be thought of as being sufficient for
Paul.
5.9.2. Also, not being healed and
having the problem removed from Paul’s life, he would be forced to look to the
Lord for grace and strength to be able to deal with this infirmity.
5.10.
Paul tells the Corinthians here another irony, that ‘power is perfected
in weakness.’ This is opposite of what the natural man
could ever conceive. The “super-apostles”
had criticized Paul for always seeming to encounter various difficulties and
sufferings, saying this must be proof that he must not be a “capital A”
apostle. However, Paul says here that
it is actually our weaknesses that puts us in a place where God’s power can
truly work in a powerful way through our lives.
5.10.1. We must not infer from this
that merely going through suffering and weakness causes the power of God to be
strong in our life. We can only be filled up with
the power of God if in those times we give thanks instead of getting bitter and
discouraged, and if we will in faith trust in Christ to give us His grace and
strength to endure and be used mightily by Him.
5.10.2. We Christians need to
realize that if we have one ounce of confidence in our own abilities, our
intellect, our knowledge, and even our ministry training itself, that we are
not going to be used mightily by the Lord. It is
only when we get to the place where we trust in Jesus and look to Him and His
power alone to work through us that God will work mightily in our life.
5.10.2.1.Many years ago my wife and I
belonged to a church in
5.10.2.1.1.This story should also be an
encouragement to you that you do not need to be greatly gifted in order to be
used mightily by the Lord in any ministry, and in fact natural gifting can actually be
a hindrance to being used by the Lord unless you trust 100% in the Lord and His
strength and power.
5.11.
Whereas most of us as Christians might go so far as to be resigned that
our weaknesses allow us to be a receptacle for the power of God to work through our lives, Paul
tells us that he would ‘most gladly’ even ‘boast’ about his weaknesses, so
that the power of God could ‘dwell’ in him.
5.12.
This Greek word ‘episkenoo’ translated ‘dwell’ here by Paul is interesting
for it is a word which means to “pitch a tent.” The imagery that Paul uses then is that
because of his weaknesses that Paul knew that the power of Christ would be
pitched as a tent around him.
6.
VS 12:10 - 10 Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that because power
is made perfect in weakness that he would be content with weaknesses
6.1.
Paul writes that he is ‘well content’ with all of the things that he
had to suffer
as a result of being a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ because he
knew that when he was weak that he would be strong.
6.2.
It was not weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, and
difficulties themselves which Paul was content to have in his life, but only
those things he suffered as a result of serving Christ in the calling that he
had received.
6.3.
Many times Christians suffer things because of their own foolishness
and walking in the flesh. Their sufferings are really
just the consequences of doing wrong, and we are warned in the scriptures
that every person will reap the consequences for their sin. The things that we suffer in this way are
nothing to be proud of.
7.
CONCLUSION:
7.1.
If you in your life have been going through
many difficulties and trials or are beset with weaknesses in your life, you
must understand that these things that perhaps you have been considering an
encumbrance to your being used by the Lord are the very means which will help
you to be able to be empowered greatly by the Lord. That is, if you are willing to look with all
your might to the Lord to be your hope, help and strength and realize that in
and of yourself and your abilities that there is no way that you can be greatly
used by God.
7.2.
If you in your life feel that your failures
in being faithful to the Lord and serving Him are keeping you from being able
to be used by the Lord, you need to realize that these very failures are just
expressions of the weakness that you have in the flesh, and that if you also
will repent of your sins and then trust the Lord and look to Him to be all of
your hope, help, and strength then you too will be used mightily by the Lord.