Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 14. John chapter 14. Our text will
be in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. But I want to read a few Scriptures
before we go there. We're going to turn, we're going
to begin this message looking at a few scriptures and let's
see if we can enter into these scriptures like it's the first
time we've ever read them. And I'm being really serious
right now, let's see if the Lord will let us. See these scriptures
and hear the words like it's the first time we ever read them.
I want to begin with the remedy. I want to start with the remedy
tonight. May the Lord help us. May He
really help us in this. And the reason I say that is
because there are a lot of brethren, many you know of and many we
don't know of, but there are a lot of brethren going through
difficult times. There's just a lot of difficult
things that are constantly going on in the world. Constantly.
And God's people need God's Word. God's people need God's comfort. They need to hear from Him. And
I pray He might let us hear from Him. I want to get out of the
way. I would love to just sit down and let the Lord speak tonight. May He really help us to enter
into this, okay? John 14 verse 1 says, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Just take a minute and let that
sink in. Whatever it is you're troubled
over, hear the voice of the Master. Just listen to the voice of the
Lord. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He said in verse 6, I am the
way. I'm the way. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter 11. Matthew 11, verse 28, He said, Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Do you believe
the Lord will keep His promise? This is what He said. Whatever
is truly overwhelming you, whatever is burdening you, whatever is
bringing great stress on you he said come unto me all you
that labor and are heavy laden i will give you rest let not
your heart be troubled come unto me go with me to isaiah 55 Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. We have the ability to do that
right now. Right now. Verse 7 says, Let
the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and that's me, and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon." Abundantly. Now turn with me to Proverbs
chapter 3. Beg the Lord to let you enter
into this. Beg the Lord to let you hear this. Proverbs 3 verse 5 says, Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. And watch this part right here.
Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
and He shall direct thy paths. Oh, may the Lord teach us to
do that. May the Lord teach us to do that. Psalm 27. Go over to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse 14 says, Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on
the Lord. One more. Exodus 14. Exodus 14 verse 13 says, And Moses said unto the people,
Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,
which He will show to you today. For the Egyptians whom you have
seen today, you shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord
shall fight for you, And you shall hold your peace. Let not your heart be troubled. I am the way. Come unto me and
I will give you rest. What do I do? What do I do? What
do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What should I do? You ever find
yourself saying that? What should I do? What do I do?
Do you ever say that? I call my dad all the time. That
poor man has to hear me all the time saying, what should I do?
What should I do? Seek ye the Lord. Trust in the
Lord. Wait on the Lord. Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. That is the answer. That is the answer to every situation,
every heartache, every trouble that we will ever find ourselves
in for the rest of our days on this earth. That is the answer. Let not your heart be troubled.
He is the way. Go to Him. He'll give you rest. Seek the Lord. Trust in the Lord. This is not looking good. This
is not looking good. Trust the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Stand still and just see the
salvation of the Lord. All right, now let's go over
to our text, which is 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 6 is where
we pick up. Paul said, For 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. We know that the Lord brought
the apostle Paul to paradise. He brought him up to paradise.
And God revealed to him the glory of heaven. He saw the glory of
heaven, which is Christ. He saw Christ. He heard the voice
of Christ. Now the truth is, every child
of God, every believer can say the exact same thing. Every child
of God. God has revealed the glory of
heaven to us, which is Christ. When Moses said, stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord, you're going to see His
salvation today. I pray to our Lord we might see
His salvation tonight, which is Christ. Lord, let us see Christ.
Let us see Your salvation. By faith we have seen Him. through His Word, by His Spirit,
we've heard His voice. We have heard Him speak to us. He has spoken directly to us,
directly to our hearts. He has called us to Himself. Come unto Me. And Paul said in verse 7, Lest
I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. Paul said, lest I should be lifted
up with pride. And again, all believers can
say the exact same thing. Lest we should be lifted up with
pride. Well, now you do know we are
God's elect. We're God's elect. We are His chosen. You're not. We are. Lest we should be lifted up with
pride, Paul said, I was given a thorn in the flesh. And lest
we should be lifted up with pride, we need to expect thorns in the
flesh. All of God's people can say the
same thing that Paul did. Thorn after thorn after thorn. This life is full of thorns. Thorns everywhere you turn. Thorns on all sides. And it's all because of sin.
Thorns cause all different kinds of pain. And it's all because
of sin. Hold your place right here and
go with me over to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis 3. Verse 17 says, And unto Adam the Lord said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field." The moment sin entered this world, thorns entered the
world. They are the result of sin. Thorns
are the result of sin. Every thorn is the result of
sin. And they're real. They're real. And we're not talking about those
little pointy things that grow on the stem of a rose. Those
did appear the moment sin appeared. As soon as sin entered this world,
everything, the whole creation, groaned. And those beautiful
rose bushes pushed out thorns the moment sin appeared. But
that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about what
those thorns represent. And that's sin. The sting, the
pain, the sorrow, the hurt, the tears that sin brings to us. It all revolves around sin. Always. It's the sin that calls
Paul to say, Oh, wretched man that I am. Sin caused him to
say that. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? When will the pain and the sorrow
of these things end? When will it end? When will it
end? And have you not said that? Do
you not enter into that? When will it end? When things
are good, it's great. Beautiful sky, beautiful weather,
beautiful things, beautiful people. But the problem is, thorn after
thorn after thorn comes. And we say, oh, when will it
end? Well, go to our text again, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, and
look with me at verse 8. Paul said, for this thing I besought
the Lord thrice. Three times. For this thing I
besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. Lord,
the pain of these thorns, the sorrow, the hurt, it's so real. The thorns of trials, the pain
is so real. The sorrow is so real. Lord,
when is it all going to end? Three times, thrice, he cried,
Lord, when is it all going to end? Would you please remove
these from me? They just keep coming and they
just keep coming and they just keep coming. Everything I touch,
everywhere I go, everything I do, everything I say, Don't you wish
you could just stop that little member? You're causing me so
much grief. Just stop. Everything I hear
brings another thorn. It just brings another thorn. Brother Scott Richardson, a very
dear old preacher of the Gospel, he said, a child of God has either
just come out of a trial is currently in the middle of
a trial or is about to head into a trial. One of those three. That's the life of a child of
God. Thorn after thorn after thorn. Brother Dale Simpson,
a dear old preacher of the gospel, wrote me a letter one time and
he said that he and his precious wife were enjoying their love
between the trials. Thorn after thorn. Now both of
those men, the Lord has removed the thorns. No more thorns. But in His time on this earth,
thorn after thorn after thorn. Verse 8 says, For this thing
I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. Believers
can enter into that. I mean, they can really enter
into that. Lord, please, please. You know those times and you
know that place where you start praying. We try to pray. We forget to pray. We try to tell this heart, come
on now, feel something, get serious. Let's get real. We need to pray.
But then all of a sudden, when that thorn comes, and when it
sticks hard, we start praying. Oh Lord, please, please, please. Unbelievers cannot really enter
into that. For unbelievers, sin is not a
thorn. They love sin. There was a time
when we all thrived on sin. Loved sin. Lived for sin. So, for an unbeliever, it's not
really a thorn. I love who I am. It's not old
wretched man that I am. I like what I see. But believers, they can enter
into it. Lord, please, please, please. They can enter into that,
they can enter into this. Verse 9, And he said unto me,
I cried unto him, I cried out to him for help. And he said
unto me, here was his answer, My grace is sufficient for thee. Lord, help me with these thorns.
Help me with these thorns. At first glance, it sounds like
He's putting us off. But He's not. Lord, help me with these thorns.
Okay. My grace is sufficient for that.
My grace will sufficiently do just that. Our Lord has been
telling His people that from the very beginning. all the way
from day one. He's been saying the same thing
from day one. I cannot think of a greater thorn
than being told by God that you have to take your only son up
to the top of Mount Moriah and offer him there a sacrifice for
sin. I can't think of a greater thorn.
That was Abraham's greatest thorn. God said, Abraham, I want you
to take Isaac to the top of that mountain, and you kill him. An
offering to me for sin, a sacrifice for sin. That was Abraham's greatest
thorn. But do you know what Abraham
found in the midst of the thorn? God's sufficient grace. And so will we. In every thorn,
so will we. Abraham got up there, and Abraham
was about to do the unthinkable. Abraham was
about to commit the result of the thorn. And God said, just before Abraham
plunged that knife, God said, look behind you, Abraham. And that's what I say right now,
and that's what the Apostle Paul is saying to us. Look behind
you, Abraham. Look behind you. There is a ram
caught in the thicket. I know that you're completely
consumed with what's in front of you, Abraham. I know you're
completely taken with this thorn right here in front of you, but
you're looking the wrong way. If you'll just turn around and
look to me, you will see a ram that is already bearing the thorns,
caught in the thicket. Quit focusing on the thorn, Abraham,
and lay hold of that ram. The one provided for the thorns. That ram is sufficient for the
thorn. Whatever that thorn is. That
ram will remedy your thorn. Abraham, the thorn is what brought
you to the ram. You would have never come to
the ram caught in the thicket had it not been for this thorn. Abraham, That is my gift to you. That's my gift to you. That ram
is my freely bestowed favor to you. My grace. Abraham, do you
want to see my grace? Look to the ram. My grace will
provide for your thorn. The cry of every believer is,
Lord, there are so many thorns. And this filters into real life. This filters into everyday life.
Our dealings in every way, shape, and form. Lord, there's so many
thorns. The cry of the Savior is, my
grace has sufficiently provided for your thorns. Every single
one of them. My grace, my eternal grace, my
loving grace has provided and will provide for all of your
thorns. Go with me if you would to John
chapter 19. John 19 verse 1 says, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus
and scourged Him, And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and
put it on his head. And they put on him a purple
robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they smote him
with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again
and said unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you that you may
know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said unto them,
Behold the man." Behold the man. Who was that
man? Who was that man? That was our
ram caught in the thicket. God's gift to us. God's grace. Grace does mean free gift. It means freely bestowed favor. God, in His all-sufficient grace,
provided a ram. He bore every thorn. Our thorns
in His flesh. All of our thorns in His flesh.
Every single one. Pilate said, I find no fault
in Him. No sin. Perfect. But as our substitute, he cried,
Lord, there are so many thorns. Father, there are so many thorns. They're on all sides. They're
piercing my head. They're piercing my hands. They're
piercing my feet. They're piercing my side. Three times thrice. In the garden of Gethsemane,
our Lord said, Father, if it be possible, would you remove
this cup of sorrow from me? Would you remove the thorns from
me? Three times. Thrice. Can't you hear the Father
saying, Oh, my beloved son, my grace is sufficient for thee. I'm not going to remove the thorn.
You're going to endure it for their sake. And He says to us,
My grace is sufficient for thee. He may or may not remove the
thorn. If He does not, He says you're going to endure it for
His sake. Christ endured it for our sake and we endure it for
His sake. If the grace of our God was sufficient
in putting away the cause of our thorns, our sin, then the
grace of our God will be sufficient in the result of the thorns,
the pain, the sorrow of the trial. This right here will be proven
to every child of God, every single child. Go with me back
to our text again. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9 says,
And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in your weakness. Never do I look to Him more,
and I'm telling you from experience. I see why, especially as a pastor,
and I also see why as believers, followers of Christ. I see why
thorns come. They're so painful, but I see
why they come. Never do I look to Him more than
when I am at the lowest point of my trial. Never. Never. Never am I looking to
His strength and needing His strength and completely relying
on His strength than when I'm at my weakest state. Once He
puts me at a place where my hands fall and I say, okay, they're
tied. I'm done. All I can do is now
sit and wait. All I can do is stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord. Never am I doing that more than
when He puts me in my weakest state. When there is nothing left in
me. And I feel like that so often. And I know you do too. But when
there is nothing left in me, that's when I see everything
in Him. Everything. So Paul went on to
say in verse 9, Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. If that's what it takes for me
to see my need of Him, if that's what it takes for me to glorify
Him and give all praise and all glory and see all power to be
in Him, so be it. Do we want trials? No, sir, we
do not. But if that's God's purpose and
will in order to make this poor sinner say, it's you, so be it. So be it. I don't want to leave
this earth without seeing my need of Him. If that's what it
takes to make me see my need, so be it. I don't want anybody
to endure trials. I see people going through trials
and I don't want anybody to endure trials. But if it means without
the trial they wander away and leave Christ, they're better off with the trial.
They're better off with God's loving correction. I do not want to leave this earth,
and you do not want to leave this earth without seeing our
need of Him. Lord, oh, let me cry out to Him. Let me look to Him. Verse 10
says, Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,
in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. And the reason is because I'm
not looking to myself anymore. When I think I'm strong, I'm
at my weakest point. There's a way that seems right
to this man. It has proven to me to always
be wrong. Always trust in the Lord with
all your heart. Lean not into your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him. He'll direct your path.
That's the strongest place we could be. Looking to Him. He is our strength. He is our
comfort for every thorn. Whatever it is, look to Him.
The Lord will take care of it. Whatever it is, no matter how
big it is, no matter how small it is, look to Him. Now I want to close by reading
an article to you that Lord willing will be in our bulletin this
coming Sunday. This was written by Brother Joe
Terrell. And this has really blessed my heart. This perfectly
illustrates what the Apostle Paul is talking about right here.
Looking to Christ in our weakness for His strength. That's faith. That's what it is. And that's
the title of this article. Faith. It is a blessing. To experience
those times when all seems well and faith comes easy. When it seems the very air is
filled with the presence of the Lord. You know those times, don't
you? Such times are a blessing. But
they are no proof of true faith. Faith is proven when it endures
the hard times, when the heart is broken, the mind confused,
and the body weak. Then is faith put to the test
and proven whether it be genuine. When faith survives those times
when there is no feeling to verify it, no evidence to confirm it,
and no fleshly energy to sustain it. Then and only then can we
discover that we have that faith that is the gift of God. God's
gifts, that's grace. God's gifts are without repentance. And this is as true of faith
as any of His other gifts. We know we have believed when
we never repent of our faith. Just looking to Christ, waiting
on Christ, trusting Christ, standing still, seeing the salvation of
Christ, coming to Christ. We know we have believed when
we never repent of our faith, but believe in the very face
of all that is opposed to faith. This is the trial and the proof
of faith. Just look into Christ. Knowing
that all of our grace, everything we need is sufficient in Him.
Completely sufficient. He bore all of our sin to give
us all of His life. Life with Him. That's sufficient.
Just knowing that is sufficient. That reminds us that everything
we're going through down here is only a light affliction. It seems like a big deal. It
seems like a really big deal. But once the Lord allows us to
look up, look into eternity, look at our Savior, this is a
light affliction. Today, tomorrow, it's just a
light affliction. Whatever happens, it's going
to be fine. May the Lord truly, honestly comfort us and teach
us to look to Him. May He just give us a view of
Him. Give us a view of Christ. May He just let us hear Him say,
come to me, I'll give you rest. If He can do that, it'll be fine.
His grace will be sufficient. Okay, let's all stand together.