Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter
12, concerning an affliction that the Lord had sent him, and
his request and his desire to be relieved of that affliction,
said in verse 8, 2 Corinthians 12 verse 8, for this thing, I
besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me." Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you this
evening for the blessed privilege to assemble ourselves together
in your holy name. We pray that you might bless
your word to our understanding. Lord, help us to worship, help
us to hear, and forgive us for Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle Paul said in verse
1, chapter 12, he said, It is not expedient for me doubtless
to glory. Not necessary. Not needful. He said, I will come to visions
and revelations of the Lord. Something that God has taught
me. And he said in verse 2, I knew
a man in Christ. Paul said, I knew a believer. Now Paul is talking about himself.
You know that. But he's talking of himself concerning
God's grace to him and God's mercy to him. I knew a man in
Christ. A man that had been chosen in
Christ from before the foundation of the world, put there by God's
grace and God's mercy and God's compassion to show to this man,
to this sinner, mercy. He said it was about 15 years
ago, this is the first time that the Spirit of God allowed him
to say anything about it, 14 years ago, And Paul said, whether in the
body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell. God knoweth. Such in one caught
up to the third heaven. He was snatched up. He was taken by force. He was plucked, is the word. Seized. He said, taken by God's
power and God's grace, and I was caught up to the third heaven. I knew such a man himself, a believer by the grace
of God, 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,
words that cannot be spoken. It doesn't have the capability. I've told you before, those of
you that have dogs, I've seen dogs And people become so acquainted,
they're so sensitive to their masters. It's like they understand
what you're saying. You talk to them and you give
them a command. And they do it. They understood
what you said. There's something about it. You
gave them a command. But as far as them being able
to speak back to you, It's unspeakable. They can't
do it. They don't have the capability of doing it. And Paul says, he
said, I was caught up into paradise. I heard that which I cannot speak. And so therefore, we're not going
to even try to speculate. What was it, Paul, that you couldn't
speak? The Spirit of God doesn't tell
us. It's not lawful, it's not possible for a man to utter, of such in one will I glory. Now what Paul was saying, he
said, a man like this, he said, I would say that a man like this
would be one that someone would have some respect for. But he
said, yet of myself, I will not glory. I don't have anything to glory
in. That I was the man, that I knew that man, caught up into
paradise and heard words spoken that cannot be uttered. That's a man that God's blessed.
He said to myself, I'm not going to glory, but I'll tell you what
I'm going to glory in. He said, I'm going to glory in
mine infirmities. And not in the infirmities when
he was a rebel against God, when he didn't know God, when he didn't
know the Lord, and when he had all his pride and arrogance in
being a Pharisee. I was born in this right family. No, he said, I'll tell you the
infirmities. that I can glory in, those that the Lord has given
me that would draw me close to Him. Nothing preaches of the sufficiency
of God's grace like infirmities. I've told you before, Mr. Spurgeon
says, there's nothing as wonderful as health, except it be sickness. What a teacher, Paul said. For
though I would desire to glory, I got an old man in me. There's
an old man in me that would glory being taken up, snatched up to
paradise. He said, though I would desire
to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth. But
now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. He said, God snatched
up a man in Christ. God took a believer and snatched
him up and brought him to paradise and taught him some things fourteen
years ago. And because of this glorious
blessing, and Paul knew it was a blessing, he knew that that
was a man that God had shown some mercy too. But he said,
God forbid that I should glory in that. What was it in me that
would cause God to show such affection to me? 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." Many people have tried to speculate
on what this messenger of Satan was. And again, the Lord wasn't
pleased to tell us what the messenger of Satan was, what the thorn
in the flesh was. Oh, a lot of speculation. I've
read a lot of speculations. He was not able to speak as he
once did. Paul was a very educated man.
I sat at the feet of Dr. Gamaliel, one of the doctors
of that time, doctors of theology. A learned, learned man. Paul was a very educated man.
But whatever this thorn was, a reminder of what he had been,
a reminder of what he had done to the church, he said, I persecuted
the church. a messenger of Satan to buffet
me and to bring back to my memory what things that I had done and
said. What difference does it make?
But whatever it was, it was a great grieving to the Apostle Paul. It grieved him to the point that
he said in verse 8, for this thing I besought the Lord thrice
that it might depart from me. I asked the Lord, and I've told
you before, I cannot figure out whether I besought the Lord three
times or whether I besought the Lord time after time after time,
whatever it was. It was a great hindrance to Paul
as far as the thorn in the flesh. And he said, I asked the Lord
about it, I prayed about it, I sought God's direction on this,
and I asked the Lord. Would you take this away from
me? Lord, would you remove this hindrance
from me? Seems as though to me, before
I had this hindrance, I had a whole lot more liberty. I had a whole
lot more capability. I was able to do more. I had
a whole lot more freedom. Lord, would you fix this? And He said unto me, He said
unto me. I read those words this afternoon
and I thought to myself, what mercy, what mercy. The Lord answered him. He talked
to the Lord and asked Him, Lord, this thorn in the flesh, Would
you take it away?" And he said, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ
said, my sheep hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice. That voice that in the Song of
Solomon, Shulamite woman, she said, I sleep but my heart waketh. It's the voice of my Master knocking
and saying, open to me, my beloved, my dove. And I'm telling you
in the tenderness of our Lord's wooing of His people, here's
the sad thing, we'll give Him an excuse. Let's read that. Song
of Solomon. Just turn Song of Solomon 5 to. Song of Solomon 5.2. Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. I sleep. Song of Solomon 5.2. I'm so drowsy. I'm so lax. I find myself to
be so spiritually lazy. And I don't even realize that
I need to be awakened. I think I'm doing fine. I sleep,
but my heart waketh. It's the voice of my Beloved
that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled, for my head is filled with you, and my walks
with the drops of the night. He's always there. There's not
a time when He's not there. And here's our answer. How grieving this is, but this
is the way it is. I've put off my coat. How shall
I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by
the hole of the door my bowels were moved for him. You know,
whenever the Lord is pleased to awaken us, to our state of
sleepiness, He knows how to do it. He knows how. It was Paul
the Apostle, one that had been greatly taught of God. And God
had taught him to the point that God had to give him a messenger
of Satan to buffet him. Oh, I'm sure that the world would
look at that and say, you know, Paul, if you were half as sensitive
and half as spiritual, as you think you are, you wouldn't be
having these troubles. Nobody goes through what you're
going through, Paul, unless they deserve it. Paul says, because of the abundance
of the revelations that was given to me, unless I should be exalted
above measure, Almighty God knows how to head things off. It may
be that He's just not going to let you get there. It may be that He's not going
to allow you to continue. She gives her excuses. My beloved put in His hand by
the hole of the door. My bowels, my heart was moved
for Him. I rose up to open to my beloved. I'm awake. I'm awake. I'm awake now. I hear. Lord, I hear. I hear now. My
hands dropped with myrrh, my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh
upon the handles of the lock. I know it's Him. I know He's
the One. They called me. God's people know the voice of
the Master. They hear the tenderness even
in His rebukes. Whom the Lord loveth, He rebuketh.
I'm awake now. I opened to my Beloved, verse
6, but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself and was gone. My soul
failed when He spake. I sought Him, but I could not
find Him. I called Him, but He gave me
no answer. Here's the miracle of God's grace
back in 2 Corinthians 12. The miracle of God's grace, verse 9, He said unto me. And allowed me to hear it. And allowed me the mercy to perceive
it. That it was the Lord that was
speaking. He said unto me. That's my desire. That's all
my desire. Psalm 28. I'll read this to you.
Psalm 28. 1 and 2. A believer wants to hear the
voice of the Lord. I tell you, you that know Him,
when we come together, let me tell you what you want to hear.
Let me hear that which honors Him. Let me hear that which puts
me down. Remind me of what I am. Remind me lest I be exalted above
measure. Remind me who the Lord is. Psalm 28 verse 1-2, Unto thee
will I cry, O Lord my rock, be not silent to me, lest if thou
be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. A believer, when the Lord speaks,
They hear with an earnestness. When the Lord speaks, it's alive. An unbeliever will say, what
do you mean? You say, I can't explain this to you. But I can
tell you this, when God speaks, God's people hear. And I know
that because He said, my sheep hear my voice. What does a needy
sinner Here, He said unto me, My grace, My grace is sufficient for thee. I was thinking about this verse
of scripture. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, It is the gift of God. Now, what
I want you to do is this. I just want you to take the word
grace and just put Christ there. For by Christ are you saved. Through faith in Him. And that
not of yourselves. It was the gift of God. It's
the gift of God. It's the gift of God. My grace
is sufficient for thee." The Lord knows our frame. Listen to Psalm 103. Psalm 103,
verse 13 and 14. That He would say in our hearts,
my grace is sufficient for you. Psalm 103, 13 and 14. Like as
a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that
fear Him." Is that not the kindest, sweetest thought? I can understand me pitying one
of my kids, but that the Lord would pity
me? But that God Almighty would have
pity On me, like a father, pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame. He
remembereth that we are dust. The Lord knows. And when the
Apostle Paul besought the Lord, Lord, would You take this away
from me? Would You remove this messenger
of Satan, this thorn in the flesh, it's grievous to me and he knows
he knows what I need if I have to go the rest of my
life laying in a bed coughing coughing for the rest of my life
he knows my frame and his grace is sufficient These spiritual conflicts are
the lot of all of God's children. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son that he receiveth. When these trials come, whether
they be the wiles of the devil, the fiery darts of Satan, the
conviction of my conscience, remember, remember, what was
the Lord's answer to the Apostle Paul? My grace is sufficient
for thee, for my strength is made perfect
in weakness. His strength is greatly magnified,
is greatly perfected to me in my inability. I'm so frail, I'm
so weak. That's still a small voice that
a believer hears in his heart when the Lord says to him, don't
be afraid, my grace. Not your wisdom, not your ability,
not your talents. My grace is sufficient for thee. You know, we might think that
the Lord is going to allow us to escape every trial. That we're not going to go through
any really tough things. We're not going to have any real
you know, troubles, adversities. But I'll tell you this, it wasn't
like that for Paul the Apostle. And he was a man that heard things
that he couldn't even speak, he couldn't even say. It wasn't
even possible for him to say it. It wasn't that way for Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. What did the Lord promise? Listen
to this, in Isaiah 43, verse 2, and I'm going to wind this
up. Isaiah 43, listen to this now. If you want to know the way things
are, the way they shall be, listen. Isaiah 43, 2, When thou passeth through the
waters, I want you to notice the word that that verse began
with. When. When. Not if. When. I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame, Kindle
upon thee. Let me tell you what we're promised. You're going to go through the
waters. That's a promise. And the one that promised that
was the Lord. Let me tell you what He's promised. You're going
to go through the rivers. But I promise you this, they're
not going to overflow you. And when you walk through the
fire, And I'm telling you, for some
they'll go through waters and rivers and fire, some more than
others. But I'm promising you. He said,
I promise you, you're not going to be burned. Neither shall the
flame kindle upon you. What it'll do? It'll remove the
troughs. And you're going to see the sufficiency
of God's grace. We're promised adversity, but
I'm telling you, we're promised that His strength is made perfect
in weakness. His almighty strength is ever
engaged to preserve His people. He's bringing us to Himself.
and we're going to go through trials. We might ask, Lord, would
you remove this? He may, but he may not. And if he doesn't, I promise
you it will be for our good and for his glory. And I pray, Lord,
give me grace to stand up and bow before you in my heart for
your glory and for my good.