Seeking once again the Lord's
help to grant me the words to speak to you this evening, I'd
like you to turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and the
text you'll find in verse 7. And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was
given to me, a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. So we have looked
at over the last few services of that balance, that there is
that warfare between worldliness and godliness and how the Apostle
tried to encourage young Timothy in the ministry and tried to
encourage him to persevere under attack of false teaching and
tried to present to him that he was different and that he
had been appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as a minister of
the gospel and he was to expect persecution but he was to strive
after godliness and not to be drawn aside by worldliness and
to persevere and to try to find time to meditate upon the scriptures
and to meditate upon God and to meditate upon the Lord Jesus
Christ and to meditate upon God's word. that he may grow and as
we saw the world as they try to, not just the world, as we
as people try to keep fit and as we exercise and Paul was telling
Timothy that through his meditation upon the word that he would grow
and the evidences of his studious labours would be seen and it
would be an encouragement to the people of God. All of this
goes alongside with what the Apostle Paul now speaks about. You see, as Timothy strove in
the things of God, as he studied the Word of God, as he sought
to rightly divide the Word of God as a minister of the Gospel,
as he meditated and grew spiritually, there was one thing that he would
have been in danger of. and that is pride. Pride we know
is a very dangerous thing. and it can cause us to be lifted
up, as Paul puts it, exalted above measure. Pride is said
that was the cause of Satan being thrown out of the kingdom of
God, of heaven, thrown down to earth. It is seen that pride
caused Eve to be tempted as she felt that she was not in her
right position. She believed that God was holding
something back from her and you would become as gods. And so
she decided to take off the fruit and it could be put down to pride. She thought that she was worth
more than the position that she was in. And so pride runs through
the scriptures as a dangerous thing. and the Apostle Paul tells us
that the Lord did something to him to stop him from becoming
proud or to stop other people from elevating him up to a position
that was not right for him to be in. lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh. And God knew that the experiences
that the Apostle Paul had been brought through could be a means
for his flesh to be puffed up apostle Paul was just a man although
he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ he was still a saved
man in a sinful body. We read of Elijah a man of like
passions as we are just the same although prophets of God Yet
they still had bodily weaknesses and sinful tendencies and were
prone to human sin and weaknesses which you and I are prone to. And so God knew that the abundance
of the revelation that had been given to the Apostle Paul could
be a means for him to become elevated and proud. those things
that took place in his life. He says that he was able to or
he says I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago and we would
believe that that man was himself and he was caught up into paradise.
and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter
of such one I would glory yet of myself I will not glory but
in my infirmities for though I would desire to glory I shall
not be a fool 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 And so this event took place in the
life of the Apostle Paul where he said he doesn't know whether
I'm in the body or in the spirit, but I was able to enter into
or see into the third heaven. And I saw things which I was
caught up into paradise. And I heard unspeakable words,
which is not lawful for a man to utter. That was the experience
that took place in his life. he was aware that that experience
would cause other people to think of him in a way in which they
shouldn't think. To elevate him to a position
which he didn't want to be in and God also didn't want him
to be in that position. We think of his conversion His
conversion was quite remarkable, as every conversion is. Yet some
conversions, as we have seen over the years, we've seen that
some are moved slowly from death to life. Some are moved gradually
into the light and hardly can tell whether they were this way
or that way. But they see a slow, gradual
change. We saw that with Lydia, whose
heart the Lord opened. The Apostle Paul was saved in
a very dramatic way as Christ revealed himself to him and stopped
him on the road to Damascus. In Acts chapter 9. As he journeyed, he came near
Damascus and suddenly there shined around about him a light from
heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And that was an experience that
he had. His conversion was very dramatic, very sudden, and was
very public. And his life was completely changed
in a moment. He could have become proud by
that experience. He could have asked somebody
else, well, what happened to you? Well, you know, I was just
listening to the preaching of Peter and, you know, I believed
and I was brought to repentance and I was saved. And the apostle
could say, well, did you know what happened to me? I was going
along the road and lights shined out of heaven and Jesus spoke
to me and it was all very wonderful. I fell to the ground in a moment
and I was blinded. And you could imagine that the
other person's thinking, well, that didn't happen to me. That probably
means that, you know, I'm not saved. And Paul could have been
proud. He could have been elevated by
his conversion experience that he had. also his preaching. Think of the way in which the
Lord used him as a tool in his hand. How many were brought to
a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching
of the Apostle Paul. How he went from city to city
proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ and reasoning with the people
and seeing wonderful things take place and being just a natural
man, the great danger there was for him to become proud, to think
that my own wisdom, my own strength, my own ability, my own preaching
style that has done it. What about his Jewish background? In Philippians chapter 3. It tells us there about his Jewish
background and that he had in his previous life a great confidence
in his flesh. He says, for we are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh for though I also have confidence
in the flesh if any other man thinketh that he hath wherein
he might trust in the flesh I more. Circumcise the eighth day of
the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the
Hebrews as touching the law a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which
is of the law blameless. And so he could have looked back
at his previous life and been exalted and proud that he was
brought up as a Jew and his education and his training and such like. But then he goes on. You know
our hearts and we ourselves are able to be proud of of anything. apostle could have been proud
that the Lord used him, the apostle could have been proud of his
conversion, the apostle could have been proud of his Jewish
heritage, he could have been proud of his persecutions, he
could have been proud that he wrote letters to the churches
and you and I can be proud of all manner of things. We just
need to see some good in ourself and immediately we become elevated
and think ourselves wonderful and amazing and we become puffed
up. We think ourselves to be great. But Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ
will not have pride in his children. The world is full of pride. Satan is full of pride. They want to build, want to make
a name for themselves. But Christ will not have pride
in his children because pride robs him of glory that is due
to his name. And so he afflicts the apostle with a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to buffet him because he didn't want him
to be exalted above measure. In Corinthians it tells us 1 Corinthians chapter 4. You see if we look
at what we really are we have nothing to be proud about.
In verse 7 the apostle says, For
who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that
thou hast not received? Now if thou didst receive it
Why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? In other
words all of the things that you have been given have been
given to you and so why then are you boasting as though you
have gained these things for yourself? Everything that we
have has been given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ You might
say, well, I've worked really hard. I've strived and I've labored
and everything that I have achieved is to do with me. Well, if we
look at it, it is God. It is God who gives us the strength
to accomplish tasks. It is God who gives us the strength
to be able to go to work and to do our daily chores and daily
work life. You might say, well, I've got
an amazing brain. I'm really clever and I really
strive at school and at college to do well. And that's good.
But it's not you. That brain has been given to
you by God, by the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given it to you
and he has given it for his glory. What do you have that you didn't
receive? We have nothing. Everything that
we have has been gifted to us. You see, some people aren't able
to go to work. Some people are laid aside because
of sickness. And we've proved it in our own
lives. If the Lord Jesus wants to bring sickness into our life,
he will bring it and we won't go to work. We will lay at home
in our beds waiting until the time that we are better. And
then we are thankful that he gives us strength and we get
up and he goes and we go out to work again. And so we don't
have anything to boast about only in the Lord Jesus Christ
that he has granted to us certain gifts and certain abilities to
enable us to do certain tasks for his honour and for his glory.
And if he has gifted us with that good brain to be able to
do maths or writing or educational things better than other people
then glory in that. But if he's given us a practical
mind to do practical things then glory in that. That is the ability
and the gifting that he has given us to do. We're all different.
I don't know if I said it here but it'd be no good if we're
all doctors. If we're all doctors there'd be nobody to build houses.
If we were all builders there would be nobody to do the accounts. And so God has distributed a
variety of gifts over the whole world to enable the world to
function for his own honour and for his own glory. If we were
all the same then it would be very difficult for everything
to work in the way that it does work. And so we cannot boast
what we have done we can only glory in what Christ has given
to us. Job in all that took place in
his life comes to that conclusion after his first trial after the
Lord said to Satan, go now and touch all that he has and he
will curse thee to thy face. And Satan was given leave to
go and test, to afflict Job. And Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved
his head and fell down on the ground and worshipped. and said,
naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return
there. The Lord gave and the Lord has
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's what he understood. He said, everything that I have,
though I am the richest man in all the East, everything that
I have been given has been given to me by God. I came into this
world with nothing and God has blessed me with an abundance.
Now he has taken that away from me and I am left with what I
came in with and that is nothing. And so he had nothing to glory
in of himself but he could only glory in all that the Lord had
done for him. even in our salvation. We have nothing to boast about. In Kenya you would see mosques
being built along the side of the road. Maybe you'd go one
mile, you'd see a mosque. You'd go another mile, you'd
see another mosque. Another mile, you'd see another one. And there
may be one or two Muslims who worship there. But the one who built it was
guaranteed a place in their heaven. You see if you build a mosque you're guaranteed a place in
heaven. And so that gives glory to self. That gives the
ability for the rich to become proud and the poor
still lie in the dunghill and the rich in their way of
thinking are able to enter into heaven because they have an abundance
and they're able to boast then in what they have done. I've
built one mosque, well well I've built two and such like and you
can understand the reasoning behind it why they would do that
because of human nature. We delight in boasting and being
seen as the best and achieving the most. But the scripture tells us we
are not saved by the works that we do And the reason is to stop
us from boasting. Because God knows we will boast
about anything. We would even boast about our
own salvation if we got there by works. Well I helped 10 old
grannies across the road. Well I helped 15 old grannies. We'd be in heaven boasting about
how many good works we had done. so the Lord eradicates all of
our boasting, all of our so-called works and says you're saved by
grace. Ephesians 2 says, for by grace
are you saved. through faith and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man
should boast. And so God knows us very very
well. He even saves us by his grace
so that every single believer is brought onto the same playing
field. Well how did you get in here?
By the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What about you? By the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What about you? By the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Was it anything to do with your
money? No, it was nothing to do with my money. Was it anything
to do with your poverty? No, it was nothing to do with
my poverty. It was all to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so boasting is removed and all we can do is boast of the Lord
Jesus Christ to glory in the Lord Jesus Christ is not of works
lest anybody should boast. And if you look through scripture
God did many things to stop people from boasting. You think of David
and Goliath How Goliath was killed by young David. How he fell to
the ground. How Goliath mocked him and said
you're just a ruddy child. Yeah he was killed. the children
of Israel and the way in which the Lord brought them through
the Red Sea, to the Red Sea, to that point of no turning back,
no going left, no going right. And he made the way for them
so that they had nothing to boast of. They couldn't boast in their
own victories. They couldn't boast in their
own ability. All they had to do is to boast in the greatness
of the God that they trusted. and they walked through on dry
land. I thought of Jacob also as he
wrestled in prayer with the angel of the Lord and as he wrestled
all night and then the Lord touched the hollow of his thigh and he
limped for the rest of his life as a reminder, you're just a
mere man. and you're nothing compared to
a great God. You can't boast. You can't boast
about that. And about Nebuchadnezzar as he
boasted about great Babylon. Is not this great Babylon that
I have built? And while the words were yet
in his mouth, the word came and he was driven
out from men and made to eat grass for those years. I've often thought of it like
a little child coming to their father or coming to an adult
and trying to fight them They have no strength They may
have all the confidence but they have no ability and the strength
of the adult can just put them down And you think of the greatness
of God and you can understand why God despises the pride of
men. When men think that they're so
powerful and so mighty and yet he himself can just switch off
their life in a moment and they have no control over anything. And you can understand why he
despises the pride of men. And you can understand why he
brings in such measures to make his children not proud, to keep
them from being exalted above measure. Think of Peter in his
self-confidence and how his pride was suppressed in that moment
by the little maid as he is left to deny the Lord Jesus Christ
all that pride goes away and he's left weeping as Christ as
it were gives him a thorn in the flesh to bring him down to
pop his bubble as we would say and to bring him down to a few
pegs back to where the Lord Jesus will have him to be Also the
Apostle Paul, often memories. You know, we thought about this
morning, didn't we, of meditation and thoughts. But you know, sometimes
memories are used to bring us down. The Apostle Paul in Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15, it says, for I am the least of
the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 9, for
I am the least of the apostles. that I am not meet or suitable
to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God,
but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labour more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in
me. The memory that the Apostle Paul
had of his previous life, before he was converted, it causes him
to recoil as it were. I am not suitable to be called
an apostle. Why? Because I persecuted the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ and so that memory of what he
was could have been used as a humbling or pride-bursting thorn to afflict
the Apostle Paul, a messenger of Satan. And so Christ will
not have his children walking in pride. We know that he humbled
himself. And as we are followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we walk in all, as we are meant to walk
in all humility of mind, not in pride we have nothing to boast
of we cannot boast of our own salvation because we have been
saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ undeserved love
chosen before the foundation of the world and yet through
Christian experience pride may enter in and cause
us to be elevated above where we should be giftings that we
have been given by the Lord Jesus Christ may cause us to become
proud, cause us to look down on other people who are not having
the same giftings as we have but Christ won't have it, he
will bring something to make us walk with a limp He'll bring
something like a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to
buffet us lest we should be exalted above measure because it was
God or Christ that gave it him It was given to me and it was
given to him and he didn't like it and verse 8 tells us 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, my strength
is made perfect in weakness. And so this thing that was given,
this thorn, this messenger of Satan was painful to the apostle. And so painful that he asked
for it to be removed three times. Maybe he thought that without
this thorn, without this messenger of Satan he would be more effective
in the ministry. He would have more ability, more
power. But he is told that I'm going
to leave this thing there because it makes you weak. And in your weakness My strength
is perfected. In your weakness I am seen in
a greater way. Think of those who struggle with
bodily afflictions, struggle to walk, they need people to
hold them up and their weakness draws strength from others to
help them. They are not self-dependent but
they are dependent upon other people and that is how Christ
wants his children to be. He doesn't want them to be independent,
to be loose cannons but he wants them to be dependent upon him
for strength and for ability. By our natures we are self-willed we don't like to
be seen as weak and not able to to do things we are determined
we want to be seen as strong and able but in the Christian
life spiritually we are not able and we need to realise that we
are not able so that we lean harder upon the Lord Jesus Christ
and it's a blessing when he does bring things into our lives we
do have those thorns in the flesh those messengers to buffet us
to cause us to lean harder upon Christ for his strength. In the olden days I think they
still do it now with the ships When a ship was unladen it would
sit high in the water and so they would ballast the ship.
They would put rocks into the bottom of it to stabilise it
and to enable it to sit correctly. And so Christ puts ballast into
the ships of his children's lives to in order them to sit correctly
in the water of life and not to be lifted up out of the water
and to sit proud. He likes them to sit level and
laden leaning upon him. They need to be held down. But also it was needed. The Lord gave it and he doesn't
give thorns and he doesn't allow Satan to buff it for no reason.
There must have been a reason, he needed this and the Lord Jesus
Christ knew the dangers of all the experiences that the apostle
had therefore he gives him this thorn and this messenger of Satan. Why? to stop him from being exalted
above measure and see it's repeated twice. Paul says, lest I should
be exalted above measure. At the end of the verse, lest
I should be exalted above measure. It was needed. And Christ knew
that he needed it. Paul asked for it to be taken
away. and he knew the reason why it
was left there. Paul knew that if this thing
is taken away, there's a chance I'm going to become proud and
people are going to think great things of me when they shouldn't
have. As a doctor prescribes medicine for the benefit
of his patients. So the Lord Jesus Christ prescribes
suitable medicine for the needs of his people. And the medicine
that the apostle needed was a thorn and a messenger of Satan. We don't really know exactly
what the thorn was but a thorn we know is painful. it is something
that is there and if you knock it it gives pain and discomfort
and we want it out and so he describes it as a thorn. also a messenger of Satan. We
know that the Apostle's life was a life of constant persecution,
constant battling against the kingdom of darkness and oppositions
of Satan, those stirring up to come against him, those who were
with him in the ministry and then leave him in the ministry,
personal weaknesses through the persecutions and the beatings
and such like. The Lord is a sovereign in the
way that he deals with every individual child of his. He is
the wise physician and is able to deal the correct medicine
to every single individual believer to stop us from becoming proud
and self-reliant and self-confident. He delights when we are an empty
glass so that he can fill us himself with his spirit and with
his strength. In Paul's weakness Christ then
is seen more clearly. It is easy isn't it to look at
someone and say well you know they've got a good brain on them
you know they're they're able to do this and that and we put
the glory, the emphasis upon their brain and their ability. But really behind that, that
brain has been given to them by God. And so it's God that
is seen. It is God that has given, or
especially in the church, it is Christ that has given those
abilities and those gifts not to elevate people but those gifts
and those abilities are used to enable the body of Christ
to function in a unified way. As Paul says we're not all hands,
there are some hands and some feet and some arms all enabling
the body to work perfectly, not that we Some gifts obviously are more
obvious but no gift is to be elevated above the other gift. The apostle as we see as he writes
his letters he levels himself with the people. Though I am
an apostle yet I've been saved the same way through the Lord
Jesus Christ by the love of God the Father. And Christ dealt
with him in the same way that he deals with us. That he did
not want him to be exalted above measure. Also I thought of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the next chapter, chapter
13 and verse four, it says, for though he was crucified through
weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God for we also are
weak in him but we shall live with him by the power of God
toward you. Now the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified through weakness,
he wasn't It was a willing weakness, we
could say. He had the ability to overthrow all things, yet
it was the will of God that Christ should be crucified through weakness. And so he gave himself to the
people to be crucified upon the cross. Yet through his weakness,
that was his greatest strength. Now, what was his greatest triumph?
That is what he came to do and on the cross when all those were
thinking that they had gained the victory over him and got
rid of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was doing his greatest work. Though they thought he was weak,
yet he was triumphant over sin on the cross for the sins of
his people. Though he was crucified through
weakness, yet through his weakness he was strong. We can say for us that his grace
is sufficient for thee. and his strength is made perfect
in weakness. His grace is always sufficient. No matter what the pathway is
that he leads us through to humble us and to prove us and to test
us, his grace is always enough for his people and his strength
is greater seen when we are at our weakest. People marveled
recently on the prayer meetings for Joshua Jemson before he passed
away at the strength of his mother. She was able to give an update
on the condition of her son And listening to her, you would have
thought, not that there's nothing going
on, but you would have thought, well, you knew that this woman
is being upheld by the Spirit of God. In her weakness, the
strength of Christ was seen. Now, after she had given the
updates, it said that she collapsed down into her chair and wept. But for that moment, that moment
when she gave the announcements in her absolute weakness, the
strength of Christ was seen and heard for that time. That his
grace is sufficient for thee and his strength is perfected
in weakness. And so if we are brought into
bodily weakness and inability It is Christ who has brought
us there and he has done so for his own honor and for his own
glory. We will not walk swaggering on the narrow way that leads
to life. We will not walk with our heads elevated up to the
gates of heaven. We must be humbled that we will walk humbly, even
crawl on our knees to the gates. Christ will deal with us that
we will not be proud As the Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself
for our salvation, he will bring and use the means necessary to
give us thorns in the flesh to stop us from being exalted above
measure so that he may be seen in each of our lives. And may
he be seen in our lives. May we not need constant discipline
and chastening because of our old natures rising up but also
may he deal with us as sons and daughters of his. Lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations
given to me, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan, lest I should be exalted above measure. May the Lord bless his word.
Amen. Our final hymn as we close our
worship here today is from Hymns for Worship, number 139. May the mind of Christ, my Saviour,
live in me from day to day, by his love and power controlling
all I do and say. Hymns for Worship, number 139. me from day to day. My little lamp of joy, all I
do and say. May the word of God will reach
me in my heart from earth to earth. ? So glad, oh, they sing
thy triumph ? ? A day through his mouth ? ? May
the peace of God, my Father ? ? Roam my life in everything ? ? That
I may become to thee ? as the waters fill the sea. In exulting, self-embracing,
this his praise to you. into flames of fire, looking
only unto Jesus as I all would know. May his beauty rest upon
me as I seek the Lord to win. Almighty God, we do thank Thee
for Thy Word that has been given to us and we pray as we have
thought about Thee. great challenges that are given
unto thy people and the many means that thou dost use to keep
us from being exalted above measure, we ask that we may be given humble
hearts, that we will not resist thee or fight against thee, but
we may be content to bear the cross and the thorn and the messengers
of Satan that thou dost lay upon us, knowing that thou does all
things for the good of thy people. We pray, Lord, that we may be
granted true humble minds of the Lord Jesus Christ and do
be with us now, we pray, as we go home and depart from one another. Do help us to arrive home in
peace and in safety and do bless us as we go forth into the world
tomorrow to conduct our daily lives. Help us, Lord, to have
those opportunities to meditate upon the wonderful work of salvation
and thy precious word and thy self. Do forgive us, Lord, of
all of our sins and do make up where we fail. And now may the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father,
with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with
us each now and for evermore. Amen.