It's so good to be with you all. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 2 Corinthians
chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. The Lord, the Holy Spirit, speaking through
his servant, the Apostle Paul, penned these words in verse nine. I want to just read this, and
then we'll look at the first 10 verses, just touch on them. But the Spirit of God had moved
upon the Apostle Paul to pin these words in verse nine. He
said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Then the Apostle Paul was, move
to write these words most gladly, therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. My grace is sufficient. I've thought much about those
words in the last few days especially. these words that every believer
needs to hear. My grace is sufficient. The Lord had moved upon the prophet
Isaiah. I'm going to just read this,
if you want to turn to Isaiah 40, verses one to three. And the Lord had instructed Isaiah
to write these words, but here's the word of the Lord from or
through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. Comfort ye, comfort ye
my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably. What does that mean? Speak to
their heart. speak to their heart. Every time
I hear that, speak to the heart. It makes me think of Brother
Walter Groover. I was down in Mexico one time
and he made that statement. He said, this is what a believer
desires. He wants the Lord to speak to
his heart. And here's the Spirit of God
moving the prophet to pen these words, all scripture, given by
inspiration of God, and speak to the heart. And I think to
myself, how can I speak to the heart of God's people? Well,
here's the, you tell them what the Lord said. You tell them
what God said. and the spirit of God blessing
his word speaks to their heart. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak ye, speak to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare, her pointed time of conflict
is accomplished. Now it's not, it doesn't mean
that that the battle is over in the sense that we're not going
to be having any more struggles and strifes. We're still here.
We're still here. We're here tonight. We're here
by the grace of God for a while longer. I've told you, it's been
brought back to my mind very many times recently, how thankful
I am that I'm here with you, that you're here with me. But
the conflict is not over in the sense that it's not going to
be happening anymore, but it's accomplished. The conflict, it's
accomplished. It's over in the sense that it's
won. The battle's won. We're more
than conquerors through him that loved us. And until we leave
this world, we're going to be in conflict. We're gonna have
trials and tribulations and troubles, and I'm gonna make a few comments
on that from this passage that we look at in 2 Corinthians. But you tell them that her iniquity,
now here's a word of comfort about our conflict being over. Her iniquity's pardoned. or iniquities,
pardon me. There's now no condemnation to
them that be in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. And by the grace of God, through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, by God's grace, he's received of the Lord's hand
double. for all of her sins, that it
means that a complete satisfaction is made by Christ through the
shed blood. She's received double. I looked
that up so many times to make sure I knew what it was talking
about. She's received double. It's been
folded over and it just, it's covered. It's just, it's hid.
It's hidden, it's covered over. But ever since, she's received
double. She's received a covering, an
atonement, a payment for the guilt that's been paid for by
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, for this evening, for just
a little while, I'd like for us to be comforted. And we all
need some comfort. We all need, we're all going
through trials, some way, shape, form, fashion. We're all going
through some trials and we struggle We struggle, we struggle. In
this world, you're gonna have tribulation. The Lord promised
that. We struggle with the flesh, we
struggle with the fiery darts of Satan, we struggle with the
oppression of men, those that hate the gospel, the God that
we love and worship, and we need to hear what the Lord has to
say concerning. He said, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. So I wanna hear, what God has
to say, and this is where I came to that verse nine in chapter
12, and here's the word of comfort, verse nine, I'll read this and
then we'll start back and just make a few comments, start back
in verse one of chapter 12, but here's what it is. My grace, my grace, is sufficient. My grace is sufficient
for thee. My grace, my graciousness, my
choice, my will, my way, my grace is sufficient. Whatever believer
you're going through, let me tell you the word of comfort
from the Lord. His grace is sufficient. Now, those words are spoken to,
heard by, and believed by those that have been given and taught
something about themselves, something about their need. Now, I know
just enough about what is going on in many of your lives. Pretty
much everybody here, I know pretty much what's going on. I don't
know every detail, but I know just enough to know whatever
you're going through, whatever you're going through, whatever
I'm going through, it's ordered by the Lord. The Lord has ordered
this. This is the comfort. This is
the joy, the comfort, consolation, the peace. The Lord has ordered
this. Ordered it for His glory and
ordered it for the good of His people. Now that's comforting. Brother Scott said, who's running
this show anyway? Who's running this show? Lord,
my grace is sufficient. Well, the Apostle Paul, And we'll
look at verse one now, starting chapter 12, and I'll look through
these first 10 verses. And the apostle Paul was moved
to write these words, and Paul has been taught something. He's
been taught something about himself. He's been taught something of
the Lord. He knows something of the ways of men. He's a sinner, like all of us.
saved by the grace of God. And he starts off and he says,
it is not expedient for me, doubtless, to glory. What he's saying is
this, he said it's not necessary. It's not needful. It adds nothing
to My glory, his glory, Paul's glory, adds nothing to it. It
adds nothing to it. It is not expedient. It's not advantageous. He says, for me, doubtless, without
a doubt, to glory. Whatever Paul had been through,
whatever you've been through, I've been through, we've suffered. It's not advantageous, it adds
nothing to our merit before God. We've gone through, oh, I tell
you what, I've gone through a lot of suffering. Oh, for the Lord,
I've suffered for the Lord. Paul said it's not expedient,
it's not necessary. Without a doubt, it's not necessary
that I should glory for me to say anything about myself. There's
nothing about himself. But he says, rather, in the latter
part of that verse, he said, I will come to visions and revelations
of the Lord. It's not necessarily, not necessarily
for me to brag on myself. No, I'm going to come to what
the Lord has taught me through visions and revelations. He says in verses two to four,
he said, I knew a man. I knew a man in Christ. It just,
I thought about this. Here was the apostle Paul, a
man like all of us, with like passions like all of us, a man
that struggled with the flesh. Read Romans chapter seven. He'll
show you what Paul went through. He saw the struggles within himself. He saw the things. But here is
a spirit of humility. We all know that it was the Apostle
Paul that was speaking of himself. But he won't even give himself
any honor in saying, I was the man that God spoke to. No, no, no. I knew a man, I knew
a man in Christ. About 14 years ago, I looked
at many, many commentaries and so many speculations on what
that 14 years, above 14 years ago, was that Many of them would
say that might have been whenever the Lord first revealed Himself
on the road to Damascus and He went three days without water
and food. It might have been speaking of
that, but the Spirit of God doesn't tell us specifically what it
was. I've said this before, I'll give
you a little information here where the Scripture is silent
on something. Stay silent on it. If the spirit
of God doesn't reveal what it is, leave it alone. All you're
doing is just guessing. Paul, it was enough. Paul said,
I knew a man. Here's what he was saying. He's
getting ready to reveal to us. He said, I knew a man that was
a believer, but still in humility. He brings no honor to himself. I knew a man in Christ But 14
years ago, whether in the body, I cannot tell. Whether out of
the body, I cannot tell. God knoweth. Isn't it enough? Isn't that enough? God knows. God knows. What's the Lord doing? I told you recently, I said this
today to Gabe, I was talking to Gabe, and we were talking
about these things, some things that's going on. And I told him
what Brother Don told me, just not too long before he passed
away. And he said, Marvin, we never know. You never know what
God's doing. You never know what God's doing. You don't know. But Paul the
apostle, he was honest enough To say this, I knew a man. I knew a man. I knew a man that
was a believer. Whether he was in the body, I
can't tell. Out of the body, God knoweth. Such in one caught up to the
third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether
in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth. how
that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful. It is not possible for a man to utter. He heard words. He heard unspeakable
words concerning a man. I heard words. I heard some things, and whether
or not he wasn't able to say them, or whether or not he couldn't
perceive them, or the people couldn't, what he said was, I
knew a man that was caught up into paradise, into the third
heaven. Caught up, seized up, taken up
by force. Whether he was there in the body,
spirit, I don't know. I don't know. But I heard some
things that I'm not, it's not possible for me to say. Paul went to this place, this
place called Paradise. Paradise. According to the word
of the Lord, a place of the souls of the departed saints. I know I've got authority on
that. The Lord told the thief on the cross. When that thief
said unto the Lord, Lord, remember me, that passage again, that's
another one that comes back to me so many times. And I think
about that thief, can you only imagine what he was going through. He's hanging on a cross. The Lord has revealed himself
moments before if you read the accounts of the accounts. He
was one that was railing on the Lord also. One of the accounts
relates that. He was railing on the Lord along
with the other one. But then also another account
says that obviously the Spirit of God gave him a new heart. Because in the midst of previously
railing on the Lord, he asked one of the other thief,
he said, don't you fear God? Don't you realize we're getting
what we deserve? We're getting ready to die. And
all of a sudden, death became very real to this man. He turned
to the Lord and he said, Lord, would you remember me when you
enter into your kingdom? Would you remember me? The Lord
said, verily I say unto you, today, today. What a promise, what a promise
to die with. You know, we come to that point,
and because we're probably thinking right now, I know we're gonna
die, but I don't think it's gonna be tonight. I don't think it
will be. You know, I thought about that verse of scripture
today. The Lord says, in a day that you think not, a day that
you think not, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. When you
don't think he's coming, and that's the case with most of
us, all of us, I'm sure. Today, you'll be with me. in paradise, in that place of
the departed souls of God's saints. I knew a man in Christ. Same as saying, hold your place
right there. I read that again and I turn
over to Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one. A man in Christ,
I knew a man in Christ. Think the significance of that
truth in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3
to 12. Now this is the significance
of a man, a woman being in Christ. Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Now listen to this. in
Christ, in Christ, in union with Christ, one with Christ, loving
Christ, bound to him, made new in him. If any man be in Christ,
it's a new creation, it's a new creature. Old things passed away
because of Old things have become new. Verse 4, according as He
hath chosen us. Now this is what it is to be
in Christ. According as He has chosen us
in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without
blame before Him in love. muse with me for a moment and
think about this. Of the mercy of God that would
be pleased to choose a man, a woman, in his son. Chosen in Christ, according as
chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world. Verse
five, having predestinated us, determined our destination. I've told you that before. That's
what predestinated means, to determine the destination. Before
God has predestinated His people in Christ, chosen them in Christ,
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ,
to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved in Christ, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the rich of his grace, wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will. According to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, which are on earth, in him. What does it mean to be in Christ? It means to be saved, saved by
God's grace, chosen, called, set apart, selected, in union,
called unto himself. Verse four, back in 2 Corinthians
chapter Chapter 12, how that he was caught up in the paradise.
Who is this now? There was a man, there was one,
Paul said, a man he knew. A man he knew. He was caught up in the paradise
and he heard unspeakable words. It's not lawful, possible for
a man to utter. It doesn't say what he saw, it
says, by what he heard. I heard some things. Faith cometh
by hearing. How important is it to hear the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace? How necessary is it? You must hear. You must hear. Faith cometh by
hearing. And the apostle Paul said, this
man, this man, verse four, caught up into paradise and he heard
unspeakable words, which is not lawful, possible for a man to
utter. And then he said in verse five,
of such an one will I glory, yet of myself, Again, here he
is, I mean, Paul is being moved by the Spirit of God to not bring
any glory to himself. It wasn't that I heard these
things and I perceived them, I understood, I was blessed of
them. Of such in one will I glory,
yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. Such a man concerning such in
one that has been humbled, brought down, made to hear some things. He
couldn't even speak. Couldn't even say, I don't know
how to say him. Couldn't say him. Impossible. Paul knew that there was no merit
in himself. He had nothing to glory, and
that's what he says. Verse five, such in one will
I glory. Not me, not myself. I'm talking about one that heard such things. It was
a man I knew. A man that was blessed of God to
hear some things. I'll not be a fool, such in one,
myself I will not glory. It says in verse six, for though
I would desire to glory, now you know that, I read that and
I thought, now there's, here's a man, here's a man that God
has made to be honest. Of such in one, I would desire
to glory. Then he says, I shall not be
a fool. I'll be a fool, for I will say
the truth, but now I forbear, lest any man should think of
me above that which he should see in me, that he seeth in me
to be, or what he heareth of me. I'm going to just say it
because this is what Paul was saying. He said, I'm not going
to speak of myself. I'm not going to glory in myself.
He's talking about a man that he knew. You say, well, that
was Paul. I know, but that's not what Paul
was moved to say. I knew a man. I knew a man. I knew a man in Christ. I knew
a believer. I knew a man that knew God. that
God had revealed himself to. I knew a man about 14 years ago. Of such in one will I boast. A man blessed of God. Myself,
I'm not gonna boast. But then he said, verse six,
though I would desire the glory, let me ask you something. Don't
answer this, because I already know the answer. If God Almighty would leave us
to ourselves, Would we not boast in glory? Well, no, I really wouldn't do
that. Really? Yeah, you would. Yeah, you would. Yeah, you would. Leave me to
myself and realize that almighty God had blessed me and brought
me to a place that I can't even describe. relate to you things
that I can't even say. Lead me to myself, and I'm telling
you, I will bring all the honor to me. Paul says, though I would
desire the glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the
truth. But now I forbear. I'm not gonna
do it. By God's grace, I'm not gonna
do it. Lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth. me to be, or that he heareth
of me. You see, I just think about things
that the Lord has allowed me to learn. He speaks of that,
but I'm getting ready to say, I'm getting ready to prove it
through this next verse, in verse 7. Leave it to a man, leave it
to him, and he will boast in it, in the abundance of the revelations. God's given. Look at verse 7.
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance
of the revelations that was given to me of thorn in the flesh,
the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. Now let me just say something
that we can all understand. We know that God has a people
that he's chosen in this world. Don't we know that? We know that.
We know that only those that God has eternally placed his
affection on are going to know these truths. We know that. Only those that
God teaches the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only God's
people are taught the truth. Now, if God leaves us to ourselves,
let me tell you what we're going to do. We're going to be exhausted
above measure. I don't know about all the rest
of y'all, but I can tell you this, God has taught me He taught me something about
election. He elected me. I don't want to brag too much,
but the Lord chose me. Now, is that not what he said? Although I would desire to glory, and every man in the flesh does. He desires to glory. I don't
know about all the rest of these churches around here, but I can
tell you what they preach at Katy. I can tell you, I can tell
you what they, you know, I tell you what the Lord has done at
Katy Baptist Church. And true, it is true. If God
leaves us to ourself, we will, we desire to glory. We want somehow Oh, we may outwardly
say it. Well, I don't, you know, I don't
want to bring any glory to myself. By nature we do. And Paul the
apostle was moved of God to say this. Verse 7, lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. What did the Lord teach Paul? Here was a man that wrote a major
portion of this New Testament. A man that God gifted with gifts
of healing. A snake bit him, a poisonous
snake, he just shook it off. These blessed gifts that were
given for the glory of God, lest I should be exalted above measure
because of the abundance of the revelations. Look at the wisdom of God. There
was given, latter part of verse 7, there was given to me a thorn
in the flesh, messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be
exalted above measure. We must hear the gospel. We must
hear the gospel. And this precious gospel is given
unto men, women, and preached by men. Helpless and needy sinners. This
is the gospel of God's grace. The abundance of these revelations.
Let me just... Five points, what we call five
points of Calvinism. Total depravity. Who believes,
truly, who believes in total, absolute total depravity but
one that's been taught? Man by nature doesn't believe
that. He believes he's got a free will. He don't believe that.
Man by nature doesn't believe that God has unconditionally
elected a people. He don't believe that. He doesn't
believe in limited or particular redemption. He doesn't believe
that. He doesn't believe that the gospel is the power of God. He believes that somehow there's a way that he's
got some ability to do something. He doesn't believe these, but
God Almighty has been pleased to give these truths unto his
people to teach them. Unless, Paul says, I should be
exalted above measure. You want to know why we're going
through? You want to know why we suffer, Chuck? Why? Because
we can't handle it by ourselves. We can't handle this. I'd brag. You would, too. I don't
know much. But I tell you what, I do know.
I know these things right here, and we would boast, brag, and
exalt, lest we should be exalted above measure that was given
unto me, a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. This thing was trying on Paul. It was trying. It's hard. We go through these trials and
tribulations. Let me ask you something. Is
it hard to go through, hard to go through sickness? Is it, is
it abasing? Is it, does it weigh on our flesh? Does it weigh on it? Sure it
does. Sure it does. And would we, if we could, remove
it? Absolutely. But the Apostle Paul, he said,
just being honest, honest for God's glory and our good. Verse
8, for this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might
depart from me. Let me just be honest with you.
If I could be assured that I wouldn't have another stroke, you think
I'd pick that? Or would I say, nah, I think
I'll have another one? What do you think I'll do? If I knew
I could avoid having another seizure, have to go through some
things that are not pleasant, if you didn't have to, you know,
If you had the will, if you had the ability, the power, would
you assure yourself good health? Sure you would. Now let's just
be honest about it. What Paul said was this thing, I besought
the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. Man by nature
doesn't, he doesn't want to suffer. Give me a choice on suffering
or not suffering. I'm gonna take not suffering.
I can tell you right now. Give me the choice. But listen to the answer. Listen
to the wise answer of Almighty God. He said unto me, my grace
is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect
in weakness. All the apostles said in conclusion,
For that answer most gladly, therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities that the power of Christ, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in my infirmities. That's a hard pill against our
flesh, ain't it? I take pleasure in my infirmities,
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses,
and listen to this, for Christ's sake. If I, by the grace of God, am
called upon or if you're called upon to have to go through some
trials and trouble, suffering, sickness, Trials in your family, trials. If the Lord is glorified in these
things, will you rather go through them
that he might be glorified? A believer will honestly admit
yes. A believer will. His flesh is
gonna argue with him. I'll tell you that right now.
I mean, I'm listening to what I'm saying right now, and I can
tell you this, I can argue with myself right now. Paul says, therefore, verse 10,
I take pleasure. I read that again today, and
I thought, Lord, help me read this right, hear it right, believe
it. I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses,
for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, when I'm weak, when I have
no ability, I have no control, I had no control, you had no
control, you had no control, whatever you've gone through,
whatever the Lord called me to was what He called me to, whatever
He's called you to, that's what He's called you to, believer.
But I can tell you this, concerning that, when I realize that I'm
weak, and all I can do, this is all I can do, bears cast myself
upon the mercy of God. I said, Lord, help me. My time is in your hand, my time
is in your hand. Lord, it's appointed unto man
once to die, in the judgment. And all I can do, all I can do,
is I can cast myself. But Lord, if you're glorified in my weakness, then that, if
you're glorified in my weakness, then according to your word,
then I'm strong in the Lord. God, I trust him. I'm trusting
him. Because He's ordered my steps.
He's directed my heart. He's directed my life. I pray
this will be a comfort to God's people for His glory and our
good.