My subject tonight is, My Grace
is Sufficient. I want you to open your Bibles
to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 12. This is my seventh
message from 2 Corinthians. I began Monday, a week ago, bringing
you messages from this second epistle of Paul to the Corinthian
church, and this is the last one from chapter 12. Now Paul continues to vindicate
himself and his ministry against the false religionists. He loved the gospel. Paul loved
the gospel of God's grace and mercy in Christ. He called it
my gospel. He was separated. He said, I'm
separated to the gospel. I'm obsessed with the gospel.
He counted all things but loss. He was a highly educated, successful,
religious man. And he said, I count all that,
my heritage, ancestry, accomplishments, deeds, I count it but loss that
I may win Christ and be found in him. not having my own righteousness. He determined, he said to the
Corinthian church to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ. He said Christ is my message.
I preach Christ and Him crucified. I'm determined to know nothing
among you in all places that I preach except the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he condemned those preachers
who went aside from preaching the gospel. He condemned those
who departed from the gospel and brought in the works of men
to rival the works of Christ. Now here in verse 1 of chapter
12, he continues this theme. He said, it's not expedient for
me, doubtless to glory. What's he saying? He's saying
there's nothing to be gained, not a thing to be gained, by
calling attention to our works, our gifts, or even the things
we've done in the Lord's name, for the Lord's glory, unless it serves a good purpose.
It's not expedient for me, doubtless, to glory. There's nothing to
be gained by calling attention to the things that we've done
in the name of Christ, the gifts that God has given us, the messages
we preach, except it become necessary for the glory of God and for
the good of the church. And in this case, it became necessary. Paul felt led of the Spirit of
God to defend himself against the charges of these men. And
then he says this, in defending my ministry and my message, I
will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I'll tell you about
the visions and revelations God has given me. To mention a few of them, you're
familiar with them. His conversion was a vision.
He was on the road to Damascus with letters from the high priest
to put people in prison who believed on Christ. And as he made that
journey, he said, a powerful, magnificent light shone from
heaven and blinded Paul. Saul of Tarsus is who he was
then. And he fell to the ground. And
a voice from heaven said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom
thou persecutest. What would thou have me to do?
So his conversion began with a vision, a revelation from heaven. Secondly, when he was going to
Asia and Bithynia to preach, and the Spirit of God said, don't
go to Asia, don't go to Bithynia, don't go this other place. And
that night, talking about visions and revelations, he said, I will
come to visions and revelations. That night, a man appeared to
him, a man from Macedonia, and said, Paul, come over into Macedonia
and help us. And because of that revelation,
Paul went to Philippi. And there the church of Philippi
was born under his ministry. And then when he was here in
Corinth, in this very city of Corinth, he was under heavy persecution. And he feared for his life. And some friends were trying
to get him out of town. And that night, the Lord spake
to him in a vision, in a revelation. And the Lord said, Paul, don't
leave this city. You stay here and preach, and
no one will harm you, because I have much people in this city. So he stayed there. So these
are some of the visions and revelations that the apostle Paul had. And
these were signs of the apostles. Now let me show you something
here. These were signs of an apostle. Look over here at verse
12. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 12. Truly, he's speaking to this
church at Carlin in regard to his own ministry, truly the signs
of an apostle were wrought among you. in all patience, in signs,
wonders, and mighty deeds." He's talking about himself. He ministered
to this church. He ministered to this church
for 18 months, continuously. They were converted under his
ministry. And he said, accompanying my ministry were signs of an
apostle. Signs that other men do not have
and do not need. But an apostle doesn't. Let me
show you that in Hebrews chapter 2. Now, we don't need these visions
and signs today. We don't need to speak in tongues. We don't need to see people healed. We don't need any signs of proof
that Christ is the Redeemer or the message, the gospel. We're
preaching his gospel because we have the completed Word. But
when Paul and James and John and Matthew and Peter and these
men went out to preach, they didn't have the New Testament.
They had the Old Testament of types and pictures and patterns
and sacrifices and feast days and holy days and Passovers and
those things. And they were preaching the fulfillment
of those things. That Christ is the Messiah who
has come to fulfill all that Moses wrote and David wrote and
Isaiah. And God gave these apostles and
some of their helpers and elders and bishops and preachers mighty
signs and wonders as credentials, proof that God sent them. Now look at Hebrews chapter 2
verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him."
Who's that? The apostles, the early preachers. God also bearing them witness,
these early apostles. God bore them witness with signs,
signs of an apostle. Signs and wonders and diverse
miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, other languages, tongues,
power to heal according to his will. These men had signs of
an apostle. And that's what Paul is saying
there. Turn to Romans 15, verse 19. Romans 15, verse 19. Here's another scripture saying
the same thing. And here Paul is talking here
about his ministry. Verse 19, Romans 15, "...through
mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God, so
that from Jerusalem and round about Elyricum I have fully preached
the gospel of Christ." You see that? But today I have no need
of a sign or a wonder or a miracle to prove to you that this message
I'm preaching is God's message because here it is before you
in His Word. Everything we say is confirmed
by the Word of God. These apostles came and preached
Christ is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament scriptures,
and God confirmed their message with miracles and wonders and
signs. Everybody heard the gospel in
his own tongue on Pentecost. All we're supposed to do is read
the Word, preach the Word. Now look at the second verse.
Now he's coming to another vision, another revelation. You heard
the three, I mentioned. Well, watch this one now. In
verse 2, he said, I knew a man. I knew a man. He speaks in the
third person. Why does he speak in the third
person? I knew a man. He's talking about himself. But
he's using the third person. He's talking to us about a man
in the third person. And I believe he does it out
of modesty and humility. And secondly, to avoid calling
attention to himself. And thirdly, what he wants us
to do is see the revelation and not the person, not the man,
not himself. He doesn't want us, himself,
to be included. So he just says, I knew a man.
And I knew a man in Christ. All heavenly blessings are in
Christ. Everything that God has for sinners is in Christ. Old
John Flavel, set forth five great statements. Number one, everything that God
has for a sinner is in Christ. In Christ. All the promises of
God are in Him. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Those promises and blessings
are ours by a union with Christ. In Christ. We're baptized into
Christ by the Holy Spirit. He's the heir. We're joint heir. He's the vine. We're the branches.
He's the head. We're the body. He's the heir,
and we're in Him. And what we have is because of
our union with Him. And thirdly, that union is accomplished
by believing. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that heareth my word and believeth
on me hath life. And that faith comes by hearing
the Word. Now I'm going to show you something
in a few minutes. It comes by hearing the Word.
Not seeing a miracle. Not seeing a vision. But hearing
the promises of God. Hearing the Word. And then hearing
the Word is made effectual by the Holy Spirit. No man can reveal
Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ.
God uses men to preach Christ. God uses men to read the scripture
and teach the scripture, but the Holy Spirit, we're dependent.
We're born of God. We're born from above. We're
born of the Holy Spirit. It's a spiritual birth. So I
knew a man in Christ. All blessings are in Christ.
He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. All revelations
of God are in Christ. You read a moment ago, no man
knows the Father but the Son. And no man knows the Son, but
the Father, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. He said this, I knew a man in
Christ about fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of
the body, I cannot tell, but he was caught up to the third
heaven. You talk about a vision, a revelation,
I knew a man in Christ, about 14 years ago. Whether in the
body, I can't tell, or out of the body, whether God took him
in spirit to heaven, or God took his body and spirit, he said,
I don't know. But he was caught up to the third heaven. Preacher,
where's the third heaven? Well, the first heaven is where
the birds fly. That's the first heaven, where the clouds float
by. The second heaven is where the
planets sun and the stars and the moon move. The third heaven is the throne
of God. The third heaven is called paradise. The third heaven is the seat
of majesty, the abode of angels. The third heaven is what Isaiah
saw when he said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated on
the throne, and His train, His glory filled the temple. And
the seraphims cried, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God. Look at
verse four. Paul called it paradise. See verse four, how he was caught
up in the paradise. Well, have you heard that before?
When our Lord was dying on the cross, one of the thieves, one
of the thieves said, you're not going to stay dead. Lord, you're
not going to stay dead. You're coming into the kingdom.
Remember me when you come into your kingdom." And our Lord said,
today, shalt thou be with me. Where? Paradise. And Paul said, I knew a man in
Christ, 14 years ago, that was caught up in the body, out of
the body, I do not know. I cannot tell. God knows. Verse 3, see, I knew such a man,
whether in the body or out of the body, I can't tell. God knows.
He was caught up in the paradise. And listen. And he heard. And he heard unspeakable words which
is not lawful, possible for man to utter. Didn't he see anything? Yes, I know he did. I know he
did. But he didn't say anything about
what he saw. He talked about what he heard. John talked about
what he saw. Revelation 7, I saw a great white
throne, and I saw a multitude which no man can number, and
I saw the twenty and four elders, but Paul said, I was caught up
in the paradise and I heard. I heard. Hearing spiritually is more important
than seeing. And if you were in my state,
you could appreciate that more. I can't hear. I can't hear. And it's such a handicap. I can
see. But I can't hear. And I get things
mixed up. People say things and I hear
the opposite. But I see them. You see, seeing
tells you what. Hearing tells you what, who,
why and how. Seeing is perception. Hearing
is what? Understanding. You see what I'm saying? He that
heareth my word. Our Lord said, I know why you're
following me, you saw the miracle. They saw the miracle, never heard
anything. They saw Him heal the sick. They
saw Him feed the 5,000. They saw Him do these miracles,
and they followed Him, and He stopped and said, Go back home.
I know why you're following Me. You saw the miracle. You never
heard anything. Blessed is He that heareth My
Word. Because when you hear His Word,
you hear His mind, and His heart, and His purpose, and His mysteries,
and His glory, and His righteousness, and His love. And it's true,
you hear. And by hearing comes understanding. You could teach your class behind
a closed door, if they hurt you. But you could stand there and
they didn't hear you, they wouldn't learn anything. They'd come in,
sit and look at you, and like the color of your tie, you're
a nice man, All he's saying, but you wouldn't know a thing
in the world you have to say. You've got to hear. So, when
Paul says, I was caught up in the paradise, I heard! Mysteries. The mysteries of God. Faith comes
by what? Hearing. And hearing for the
Word of God. I saw great mysteries. I heard sounds. Oh, man. I heard The voice of the archangels. A deaf man doesn't hear it. He
might see an angel, but seeing him, I'd rather hear him. I'd rather hear him. I heard
the Lord speak. I heard the angels sing. I heard
seraphims. I heard the music of heaven.
I heard sounds and songs unspeakable. unspeakable. That's what he said.
I was caught up in the paradise and I heard unspeakable words. What does that mean? He called what he heard in paradise
unspeakable. It was spoken, because he said,
I heard it. It was spoken, he said, I heard.
what was spoken, what was sung, what was said. I heard it. I
entered into the mysteries. I heard it. But it was heard at that time
by a man, a mortal man. Paul was a mortal man. And when he came back to this
earth out of that state of rapture, out of that state of revelation he was back mortal
again and he couldn't tell what he heard. That's right. Though
they were spoken to a mortal man and heard at that time by
a mortal man, they could not be spoken by that mortal man
to others. They were so glorious, so complete,
so spiritual, that the Apostle, when out of this rapture, himself
could not remember, conceive, understand, or speak what he
heard. Couldn't do it. He goes right
back to this state that we're in. We know in part. We preach
in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then shall I know as I have been known. He didn't
hear these things from a mere man. He heard them from the Lord. So no mere man can speak them. Only the Lord. So you'll have
to and I'll have to wait till we get there ourselves to hear
what he heard and to enter in. to that which he experienced.
And look at verse 5. He says this, Of such a man I
will glory, yet of myself I will not glory. Of such a man I will
glory, yet of myself I will not glory. Of such a man I will glory,
yet of myself I will not glory. Of such a man I will glory, yet
of myself I will not glory. Of such a man I will glory, yet
of myself I will not glory. Our glory in the love of God
which chose me. Our glory in the fact He loved
me before the foundation of the world. He chose me in Christ. Our glory in that fact. Our glory
in the fact that He called me by His grace. I was a rebel,
undone, helpless, hopeless, in darkness and death. And He by
grace called me. Our glory in that. Our glory
in the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed me. Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our glory in that, that He died for me. Our glory in the mercy
that keeps me saved. Yet, in myself, I will not glory. I had nothing to do with it.
I made no contribution to it. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. Now I'll glory in the man whom he made an object of his
grace. And I'll glory in his grace to
that man. But I won't glory in myself.
Except, listen, I'll glory in my infirmities. I sat and looked
at that a long time. Paul, what do you mean your glory
in your infirmities? What do you mean? I'll glory
in my infirmities. I'll glory in my weaknesses,
a glory in my understanding of my heritage. I'm born in Adam. I died. Wretched man that I am. Here's what he's saying. I rejoice
that the Lord revealed to me that I'm a sinner. Do you understand
what he's saying? I rejoice that He didn't leave
me in my proud, arrogant, religious state. Our glory in the fact
that I know I'm a sinner. Secondly, I rejoice that He has
delivered me from that righteous, self-righteous self that brought
me to trust Christ. I rejoice. I rejoice that the
gospel is the gospel for sinners And I'm a sinner. This is a faithful
saying. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
that God called you, showed you you were lost, showed you a sinner,
brought you to love the gospel? Why don't people come to Christ?
They don't need Him. But a sinner needs Him. Look
at verse 6. But though I would desire, suppose
I did desire the glory in this. Now just, he says take for example,
here was a man caught up into the third heaven, into paradise.
Heard things it's not possible for him to repeat or to reveal
to anyone else. Suppose I were to decide the
glory in that. Should I have a mind to glory
in that. I'll tell you this, he said,
listen, I'd not be a fool. I'd not be a foolish liar. I
speak the truth. I wouldn't be a fool. I wouldn't
be a fool. For I say the truth. This really
happened. That's what he said. If I should
desire the glory, which I will not, but if I did, I wouldn't
be lying. I wouldn't be a fool. I speak
the truth. Lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or what he heareth me to be. I abstain,
I abstain from this. I'm not going to glory in it,
he said. I'm not going to glory in it,
because I don't want anybody to think of me but one way, a
sinner saved by grace. Now then, look at verse 7. I
hope you'll be patient with me. Listen, I want you to hear this.
Verse 7. And lest I should be exalted, above measure. And the Lord knows
our potential. He knows our weaknesses. He knows
our hearts. He knows our proneness to glory
in this flesh. Lest I should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of revelations and visions and
gifts. Watch it now. There was given
to me a thorn in the flesh. The messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above nature." Here's this great
preacher of the gospel. Gifted, blessed, called of God,
mightily used of God. And here's what he had to say
about this thorn. He said, first of all, it was
given to me. It was given to me. He didn't
say, I was afflicted with it, or I accidentally ran into it.
or I acquired it from someone else, it was on purpose, by the
will of God, given to me, this thorn. Secondly, it was a thorn. A thorn
is a little thing, not fatal, but it's painful and real, like
a splinter under your fingernail. But it's real. It's secret. It's not apparent to anyone else.
Only the one who has it. That's the one that bears it.
That's the one that feels it. That's the one that chafes under
it. Secret. It's common. A thorn is a common
thing. It grows in every field. It's
common to man. It's a thorn. God uses the common
thing. So he said it was given to me.
It was a thorn. Now watch this. It was a thorn
in my flesh. It wasn't a spiritual trial at
all. Paul knew Christ. He loved Christ. He knew the Word. He loved the
Word. This was no lapse of faith. This was no coldness of heart,
this was no indifference toward the grace of God or the gospel
of God. This was a physical thing. He said, "...there was given
to me on purpose a thorn in my flesh." The trial vexed his human
nature. His human nature. He didn't stop
believing God. He didn't stop resting in Christ.
He didn't find it hard to pray. It was flesh. Fourthly, it was
a messenger of Satan. You see that? A messenger of
Satan to buffet me. There's no way that Satan can
defeat the gospel. There's no way that Satan can
thwart the purpose of Christ. There's no way that Satan can
win over the church or any believer. No man, Christ said, can pluck
them out of my hand. No man can separate me from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus. However, Satan cannot
rob Christ of His glory, or rob me from Christ, or take me out
of the fire and from the body, but he sure can vex this flesh. This human body, human emotions,
and human spirit And Job is a perfect example. Satan came before the Lord God. The Father said, have you considered
my servant Job? He said, I know Job. But I'll
tell you why Job believes and loves you. It's because you blessed
him. Well, the Father said, he's in
your hands. Do what you will, but don't you
touch him. He'll touch his body. So Satan came and took away his
possessions. And then the sons of God came
before the throne of God and Satan among them. And the Lord
God said, have you considered my servant Joe? Yes, but I'll
tell you why he loves you, because you've hedged him about. You
touch his flesh and he'll curse you to your face. The Father
said he's in your hands only. do not kill him. And Satan plagued
his flesh, he had boils, wasted away the bare skin and bones,
had such a terrible time physically. So Satan can buffet, he can cause
us, by God's permission, Peter. The Lord said, Peter, Satan has
desired thee to buffet And he can cause us distress and anguish
and heartache and trouble in the flesh. But he cannot take
us from Christ. The messenger of Satan to buffet
me. And look at this next line. Lest
I be exalted above measure. Lest I be exalted. Trials and
troubles and affliction. Lest our hearts be lifted up
with pride. Exalted above measure. Comfortable
in ourselves, our positions, our possessions. What we have
in this world. Too attached to it. Too much emphasis on it. But I'll tell you the effect
of this. The effect of this trial. It had a fourfold effect. Look
at verse 8. For this thing, this thorn in
the flesh, I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from
me. You know what this trial did for Job? It drove him to
prayer. It drove him to prayer. He was
in such a, such distress and anguish and physical Distress
and pain drove him to prayer. And I'll tell you, whatever will
drive us to prayer is good for us. Drove him to prayer. And secondly, it made him depend
on the grace of God. The Lord said to him in verse
9, Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient
for thee. And it is. Let me but hear my
Savior say, my strength is equal to your death. Then I can rest,
even in deep distress, trusting His all-sufficient grace. Let
me know in firmity that Christ's power may rest on me. When I'm
weak, then am I strong. Grace is my strength. Christ
is my salt. That's the effect of trial. They
drive us to prayer. And they make us to see that
His grace is the only thing that's sufficient. He's our only comfort. He's our only encourager. Weak as I am, yet through His
grace, resting trusting in his name sweet pleasures mingle with
my pain while his grace my faith sustains drove him to prayer
made him depend on the grace of God and then it revealed his
weakness for he said my strength is made perfect in your weakness
therefore Will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power
of Christ might rest upon me? Therefore, here's the fourth
thing. I'll take pleasure in infirmities. David said it's good for me that
I've been afflicted, that I might learn his statutes. We learn
things in the valleys and in the nighttime. And in times of
trouble, when we're driven to God, all human strength is gone. We're driven to Him. His grace
is sufficient. We find out how weak and frail
we are. And then it enables us to rejoice
in these trials. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses. But when I'm weak, then am I
strong. And the last line of verse 9,
I didn't emphasize this like I should. Therefore will I rather
glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest
on me. It's a difficult, difficult time. Trouble is and sorrow and heartache.
But it does have its blessings because it drives us to Him.
Call upon Him. depend upon Him, rely upon Him,
not upon ourselves. Our Father, I will thank You for Your Word. I will thank You for the comfort
of Your Word. In all of our lives and days
and trials and difficulties and joys and sorrows. We always find
our help and our hope and our strength in your Word, in Christ
Jesus our Lord. And I thank you that you've not
left us to human understanding and human wisdom. But everything
works together for good to them who love thee, who are called
according to thy purpose. It's thy purpose. that works
it out for our good and your glory. Give us strength, give
us comfort, give us grace in these days. Especially our friends
and our loved ones who are going through dark and deep waters, dark valleys, turn our eyes on Christ. Let
us look away from this flesh and these Human thoughts and wisdom look
to Him and Him alone. Find in Him our strength and
help. Bless Your Word, make it effectual
to our hearts. We pray for Christ's sake, in
His name, Amen.