I invite you this morning to
turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. There's a lesson here that our
Lord taught Paul early in his ministry so that he in turn might
teach all who read his works and all to whom he spoke and
had an influence on when he was on this earth. That lesson is that we are poor,
weak, helpless sinners that have been chosen unto salvation
and even now are being saved to manifest the glory of God's
all-sufficient grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. Man in his natural state, not
aware of this. He's not aware at all of this.
He thinks that the world is whatever he makes it. He thinks his life
is whatever he makes it to be. He thinks that creation and catastrophe
and all these things can be prevented if he puts his nose to the grindstone. He don't understand what God's
doing in creation, what God's doing in all the generations,
including ours. He thinks and acts as though
he were rich. and had need of nothing. That's
what our Lord said to some that gathered there to worship. He
said, you think you're rich and have need of nothing. And you
don't know that you're wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked. Now, I picture Saul of Tarsus. This is back in his beginning.
Just hold your place there in St. Corinthians 12. I picture this man, Saul of Tarsus,
back in his youth, a handsome man, handsome man, educated,
a man refined of speech, dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking
Pharisee, broad phylacteries on his robe. I see him well-groomed, nourished. respected by all. His appearance,
when he walked into a room, his appearance immediately made a
statement of his qualifications and who he was. The apostle,
well actually it was Saul of Tarsus in that day. My guess
is that he was rarely ill. He didn't know what being sick
was. He wanted for nothing, not in his whole life. And then one
day, when it pleased the Lord, he unhorsed this proud rebel,
this zealous, this zealot for legalism. He unhorsed that proud
rebel and put his face in the dirt. Arrested him. Stopped him. Said, enough's enough. And he put his face in the dust. And the light of the resurrected
Christ shined on him and he immediately become blind. He become blind. This perfect specimen of manhood,
this master of Israel now had to be led about by another, had
to be taken by the hand. We're talking about a master
theologian, a man of perfect health. He had to be taken by
the hand and led about by another, led where God would have him
to go, here whom God had ordained for him to hear. The light of
Christ manifested Saul's blindness. And through God's messenger and
the power of the Holy Ghost, he was given new sight. Scales,
as it were, fell from his eyes. coverings of dead parasites which
appeared when the Lord's light shined on him. We all have it,
we just don't see it. Before conversion, we all had
scales on our eyes, but we couldn't see it. We were all poor, wretched, miserable,
and blind, but we didn't know it. We didn't know it. And then our Lord called Paul
up to the third heaven. Preacher, where's that? I don't
have a clue. I don't have a clue. But wherever Christ is, that's
where he called him up. He called him up, and he taught
him personally, and he gifted him with such revelations that
only an apostle or a prophet might have. Wonderful things. Things that eye hath not seen
or ear heard never entered into the heart of man. He gave these
things to the apostle Paul. Now look with me at a few verses
leading up to our text here in 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12, 17. He said, and 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. No
one really knows what this thorn was. There's a lot of speculation
among the writers. You've read some of them. A lot
of speculation. But they're quick to tell everybody. They don't really know. They
don't really know. Except to say it was the messenger
of the enemy of his soul. It does tell us that. It was
a messenger of the enemy of his soul and that what he brought
to him caused him a constant aggravation which he concluded
to be a hindrance to his ministry. He said this messenger of Satan
buffeted him. Now, I looked that word up. I
like to look these words up, these old words that we don't
use commonly in our language just to see what they mean. You
know what it means? It means to ball up your fist
and it says hit him right under the eye. That's what it means. Punch him in the mouth. That's
what it means to be buffeted. Pow! Right to the jaw. He sent this messenger of Satan
to just slap him in the face. It means an act of violent contempt. This thorn in the flesh may have
not been any one thing. It might have been the constant
suffering brought about by wicked men everywhere he went. You remember
at his departing, he told the Ephesian elders over in Acts
chapter 20, verse 23, he said that the Holy Ghost witnesses
in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me wherever
I go. It's the same. It's the same. And preceding our text in 2 Corinthians
11, Paul gives us a few things that he suffered as a minister.
He said he was beaten with a whip above measure. Stripes, he said,
above measure. Of the Jews, he said, five times
received I 40 stripes, save one. Took 40 stripes to kill a man.
They beat him with 39 stripes. Three times he said he was beaten
with rods. He said he was stoned and left
for dead on one occasion and three times shipwrecked and a
day and a night in the deep. He said, all my journeys have
been long. He didn't get in his new Camry
and drive over to Philippi. He walked or he got on a ship. And he had to work because he
didn't have any money. He had to work on the ship for his fare. Long journeys by foot. And in these journeys, he said,
I suffered perils of robbers and perils by my own countrymen
and perils in the big cities and perils in the wilderness. Persecutions, he said, by false
brethren. Constantly weariness, painfulness,
hunger, and thirst, and cold. And on top of that, he said,
the Lord heaped on top of all that the care, the daily care
of the churches. St. Corinthians 12.8. And for this thing, I besought the Lord thrice, three
times. In sincere prayer. This was an
apostle. In sincere prayer. He prayed
for the healing of a man. That man was healed. God heard
his prayers. And he besought the Lord three
times that these things, that this messenger of Satan depart
from him. It was hindering his ministry
thought. It was hindering his life. It
was hindering all that he wanted to do for the Lord. Three times he prayed, Lord,
can you make my way just a little easier? Couldn't it be just a little
easier? Could you soften the opposition
just a little bit? I'm on these ships as your ambassador. I'm going to preach the gospel
for you. Do I have to suffer a day and
a night in the deep every time I get on board? Does every ship I get on have
to sink in the middle of the Mediterranean? Lord, I know that
your gospel is contrary to established religion, but must I be stoned
for it? Imprisoned for it. Beaten nearly
to death everywhere I go for it. And what about my health? Oh, my soul. I rarely have a
day anymore that I'm not sick. Lord, can you just take some
of this away? Could you see clear, just take
some of this away? Give me a free and easy course
to follow. Give me perfect health. Give
me a good income. A better place to lay my head,
I could do a much better job if you could just take some of
these things away. No, sir, you'd be a total flop. I believe that it's the lot of
every believer to have the messenger of Satan to buffet him. And for
the same reasons why Paul was buffeted, the abundance of revelations
given to you. Revelations of the true and living
God. Jesus Christ has come and given
to us an understanding that we might know Him that's true. My
soul, I spent two-thirds of my life wandering around not knowing
who God was. I thought God was some old gray-haired
grandfather, and Christ was his Son, and he was proud of Him
and loved Him, and whatever Christ wanted, the Father gave it to
Him because He loved the Son. We have revelations of the true
and living God. Jesus Christ has come and given
to us an understanding that we might know him that's true, that
we might know that we're in him that's true. Even in his son, Jesus Christ.
To know of his justice, his holiness, his wrath, his righteousness,
his mercy, his grace, his kindness, and his love. Revelations of
the mysteries of the Gentiles, that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ
by the gospel. Revelations of eternal election. How many people you know know
anything about election? Particular redemption. Irresistible
calling. Revelations of incarnation. The
Word was made flesh. Dwells among us. And to keep
us, as he did those in times past, from overwhelming pride
and haughtiness, he allows us to be buffeted. Be buffeted. And to be buffeted by the enemies
of our soul. And I don't believe in us. It's
any one thing. But it's a continual array of
things. Seems like it never quits, don't
it? We've got four or five people
in this little congregation. Somebody said, is that the choir
loft up there? And I said, our whole congregation
wouldn't make a good choir in a regular church. Not many of
us here, not many. But we've got four or five people
in this little congregation suffering from cancer. Others suffering from marriage
problems, family division, strong persecution, old age, Opposition. And we pray for God to take it
away, don't we? Now hear what Christ said to
Paul, 2 Corinthians 12, 9. Here's this apostle. He's weeping
in his soul. He's weeping in his heart. And
he's pouring out his heart before God. And he said, could you just
take these things from me? I have a good reason. I have
a good motive. I want to be a good servant. I want to take your word forth
into the world. I proved that by what I'm doing.
Can you just give me a break? Can you take these things from
me?" Listen to what he told him. My grace is sufficient for you. Huh? Let me read that again. My grace is sufficient for you."
Whose grace is it? Belongs to Christ. Belongs to
Christ. It was given to him for you. Isn't that what he said? He wrote
that same young preacher in his second letter and he said, God
has saved us, Timothy. and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and what? Grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began. And that grace, He said,
My grace is sufficient. For who? For you. Isn't that
what He told Paul? Well, my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Now listen to what Paul says.
He said, when I learned that, most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities. He quit whining about them, and
he quit praying for God to take them away, and he started glorying
in them. Most gladly, therefore, will
I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest
upon me." Paul saw the necessity of his
buffeting. He saw the necessity of his weaknesses
and infirmities, and he realized that they were given to him and
that he was privileged to have them and to manifest the very
strength and sufficiency of God's free, sovereign grace. And God comforted this great
apostle with these words, and even so, I pray he'll comfort
us with the same. Now, when Christ said to Paul,
my grace is sufficient for thee, he wasn't talking about grace
as a passion. You know, somebody is good to
give a lot. He's a very giving person. We
call him a gracious person. What we're really saying is grace
is a passion. That's not what Christ is talking
about when he told Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. He's talking
about grace as an active force and that as it has been given
to all of us in Christ and exercised in Christ and put to use in Christ
from the beginning up to this very day. Our Lord did not say grace is
sufficient, He said my grace is sufficient. Paul later writes to Timothy
and told him that. And this is not something unknown
that Christ tells him about, something that he didn't already
know, he just didn't think about it. And I'm not telling you something
this morning that you don't know. But you don't think about it,
and I don't either. It wasn't something unknown that
Christ told him about that might come to pass, but if this happens
and that happens, but something already manifested and has been
manifesting itself throughout time. Now, I know you all are going
to go, oh, I've got eight things to tell you about this verse.
Let me give you eight things this morning to help you find
a solace in the all-sufficient grace of God in Christ. And I
promise I'll be as brief as I can on each one of these things.
The first thing I want you to see is that His grace was sufficient. He's talking about my grace,
this grace given to me of the Father, inherited in me as God. I'm the
God man. But this grace, especially as
it was given to me in my appropriations and in my offices, It's sufficient. Why do I know that? Why do I
know that? Because His grace was sufficient
to create a world which He knew could not stand on its own. Seems
like a waste of time, don't it? Would you build a house and you
knew it was going to fall down? I wouldn't bother. Why? I'm going
to build something knowing it's going to fall down. God created the world. And he
created this world that he knew would not and could not stand
on its own. Our God is all wise. Nothing
takes him by surprise. There is nothing unforeseen or
unknown to God. So if God knew the world could
not stand on its own, why did he create it? Or why didn't he
simply rectify the problem so that it could stand on its own?
Well, the reason is because God created all things to manifest
his glory in the salvation of chosen sinners through the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's why. That's why. All of the redeemed in heaven
shall one day cast their crowns at the feet of Christ and worship
him in this wisdom. They shall say, thou art worthy,
O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. God has spoken to us, Paul said,
in these last days by his Son. Now listen. Whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, and by whom also he made the worlds. God created a world and made
it subject to fall and knew it would fall because this is the
stage upon which He's going to manifest His glory. And that
glory is the glory of His grace. Christ received all of His appointments
before the foundation of the world. Before there was a first
Adam, there was a last Adam. Before there was a first man,
there was a second man who's the Lord from heaven. The one
mediator between God and men became mediator from the beginning. He's the firstborn, the scripture
said, of creation. And all things were created by
him and for him, and he's before all things, and by him all things
consist. You know what that word consist
means? Have a continuance. That's what it means. Have a
continuance. It was grace, my friend, that
brought a world into existence that was subject to fall. And
all is said and done, when everything's all said and done, we shall be
to the praise of God's glory who first trusted in Christ. That grace was sufficient in
Christ for him to have the go-ahead to create a world. that he knew
could not stand on its own. And then secondly, his grace
was sufficient to defer the judgment of man to his son and to allow
mankind to continue until his purpose of grace shall be fulfilled. Peter said, the heavens and the
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved under fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. And he said, God is long-suffering
to us, not willing that any should perish. None of them's going
to perish. But they're all going to be called to repentance. And
then listen to this scripture. Romans 8, verse 19. He said,
for the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God. Our Lord said, as does the
Father, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. For the Father
judgeth no man, now listen, but hath committed all judgment unto
His Son. And when our Lord's done, when
He's done in this world, He saves whom He will, He quickens whom
He will, all judgment's been given to Him. The Lord said,
I've appointed a day in which I shall judge this world in righteousness
by that man. He deferred His judgment to the
Son. And when the Son has accomplished
God's purpose of redemption and called Him the last one of His
elect, we'll all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
That judgment has been given to His Son. Thirdly, His grace was sufficient
to clothe His Son in human flesh and send Him into this world
to accomplish the redemption of his elect. He said, sacrifice
an offering thou wouldst not. Thou wouldst not. That didn't
do anything for God. But a body hast thou prepared
me. A representative body, a sacrificial
body, a body made to feel our infirmities, a body like unto
ours that he might be a faithful and effectual high priest in
things pertaining to God. Paul tells us, it became him
for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing
many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suffering. A perfect righteousness, a perfect
sacrifice, a perfect high priest, a perfect mediator, a perfect
redeemer. His grace is sufficient. It was
sufficient. for the Son of God to become
a man and accomplish our righteousness and our redemption. Fourthly, His grace was sufficient
in Christ as our representative to make us the righteousness
of God in Him. It's Christ who's the end of
the law for righteousness, isn't it? Isn't that what Scripture
says? If you were to take the law, you know, the police have
these guys they call sketch artists, and you give them a description
and they draw a picture, and sometimes they get the guy. If you were to take the law and
draw a picture, create a man, if you will, create an image
exactly according to the law, Something that would honor and
exalt the law, the exact expression of God's holy law, you'd have
Christ. And that's what that scripture
is talking about, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. All you could do by your works
is distract from it, take away from it. Writing to his own people, the
Hebrews, he said, he is the brightness of the Father's glory and the
express image of his person. And Paul called him the image
of the invisible God. And in him, by virtue of an eternal
covenant union, God put his elect. And he tells us that we're dead
and that our life is hid with Christ in God. He had with Him. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. And he tells us, he said, I don't
frustrate the grace of God. If righteousness come by the
law, Christ died in vain. You see, His grace was sufficient
in Christ not just to make for us something, but to make us. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. This is not a righteousness that
you attain like you attain one by your works. This is God looking
on you right now, right here as a believer and seeing nothing
but righteousness. Well done, thy good and faithful
servant. I'd have to do that, wouldn't
you? Who's he told me? Fifthly, His grace was sufficient
in Christ to put away our sins through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. All my sins. Past sins. One lady told Brother Mahan years
ago, she said, I can believe that Christ died for my past
sins, but I can't believe He died for my future sins." And
he said, well, which one of your sins was not future when Christ
died? They were all future, weren't
they? Sure they were. Past sins, present sins, future
sins, intentional sins, and sins of ignorance. Once in the end
of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Scripture said He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Forgiveness
of sins is not something unsettled, something that yet depends on
something else. In Him, Paul said, we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins. And if we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. You talk about sufficient grace.
All your sins are gone. Gone. Taken away. He said, I remember them no more.
And the scripture said this, who is he that condemneth? What
are you going to condemn me for? It's Christ that died. God who
justified. What are you going to condemn
me for? My sins have been paid for. Well, you deserve death. I died. I died in Him. The law said the soul that sinneth
shall surely die. I died. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather that's risen again. who's even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. And then sixthly, God's grace
in Christ was sufficient to raise up our Lord from the grave and
to raise us up with Him, to carry us into glory with Him, and seat
us in Him at the Father's right hand. What's that mean? That means you've already received
your inheritance, because the guarantor sits up there. And
we, by virtue of that eternal covenant union, are seated with
him right now in glory. His presence in glory is our
guarantee of salvation. I tell you, there's a man in
glory. And because there's a man in glory, all the other men chosen
in him are going to sit right there with him. Brother Mahan met an old seminary
schoolmate one time who had received pastorship of a church right
there in Ashland. Henry was out walking to church.
It was a beautiful spring day and he was walking up to the
church. He lived about four or five blocks away. And he met
this fellow out on the sidewalk, and he recognized Henry. And
he said, and they struck up a conversation, you know. And the fellow said,
Henry, he said, are you still saved? Been about 20 years since
you'd seen him. And he said, is Christ still
seated on the throne? If he's still seated on the throne,
I'm still saved, because my salvation's in him. Paul said in Ephesians 2.5 that
he quickened us together with Christ, and he sums it up by
adding this, by grace ye are saved. Know what that says? Not one sinner for whom he lived
and died shall be left behind, for by grace ye are saved. Might not be aware of it yet.
might yet be in your sins. But His union with the Redeemer
and the Redeemer's place in glory guarantees that He will. His
presence in glory guarantees the preaching of the gospel to
be successful. It guarantees the coming and
work of the Holy Ghost, and it guarantees the effects of calling
of His elect. It's guaranteed by the Savior. All right? Number seven. His
grace in Christ is sufficient to begat life and dead sinners.
Dead sinners. You try to convince one of anything,
anything in this book. Just try to convince him of it.
You can't do it. You can't do it. Try to get him
to come. He won't come. Try to get him
to pray. He won't pray. Try to get him
to listen. He won't listen. He's dead. Dead in trespass. Walking according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, that spirit who now worketh in the children
of disobedience. You can't convince him of anything.
You can't do anything for him. But God can. And his grace is
sufficient to quicken dead sinners. And when his time comes, he'll
quicken him. And, you know, we've had some
men, Brother Don Fortner, Brother Henry Mahan, some of these men
are men of renown whose ministry has reached out into all sections
of the world. God doesn't have to send you
to one of them to be saved. He can take the least of his
ministers, right here, the least, and he can begat life. He can
begat life. That's sufficient grace. I quote
this scripture to you all the time. This was a bunch of folks
down in Thessalonica, if I'm going on memory now, but I believe
they were part of those who were mercenaries. They were mercenaries. They were violent people, warlike
people. And Paul went into Thessalonica
and he preached the gospel and God called him out. God called
him out with an effectual calling. And Paul wrote this scripture
to him and he said, God has from the beginning chosen you unto
salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by my gospel. to the obtaining
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. His grace is sufficient. It's sufficient. 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. Listen
to this one. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not also with Him
freely give us all things? Huh? All right, here's the last thing.
If His grace was sufficient to create a world that He knew was
going to follow, and it's sufficient to bring Christ down from the
heavens as a man and accomplish redemption for us. And if it's
effectual and sufficient in the calling out of sinners and effectual
in all these things that I've just preached to you, His all-sufficient grace is also
able to sustain the weakest, sickest, most suffering saint
in this present evil world. His grace is sufficient. It's
sufficient. See this one before him, scared
and sick and persecuted and torment. See this man who'd been lied
on, lambasted, wrongfully accused. See him who is the very vision
of suffering, he's bound to just have been scarred from head to
toe. Bound to be. I mean, they took stones and
stoned him. They beat him, his back, all
the flesh just ripped off his back. Beat him with rods. Hired
a bunch of thugs, beat him up, and left him for dead. He's the very vision of suffering.
And the Lord looks at him and says, This man, and he said,
my grace is sufficient. I tell you, if it's sufficient
for him, it's sufficient for you and me. Isn't it? Grace is not for the strong,
it's for the weak. For his strength is what it's
all about, not yours. His strength. And to manifest
the glory of his strength, he does it in your weakness. You've had more impact on people
from your cancer than you ever thought about having before you
had it. You have, too. You have, too. His strength is made perfect
in weakness. Made perfect. It's here. It always has been here. We just
don't see it, and we don't think about it. We don't think about
it. All right, preacher. How do I
know that I'm one for whom His grace is sufficient? You can know when His grace becomes
sufficient for you. That's how you know. That's exactly how you know,
when His grace is sufficient. Oh, may God make it so.