Raise you up from evil's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make What's up, everybody? Chester A.R.P. Church Devotional Podcast. Clint Davis, your host. Hey, we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Paul has been boasting in chapter 11. Though he doesn't like to boast, he is pointing out the things he has undergone in order to proclaim the good news of Christ and to plant the churches that he has been called to plant to fulfill the mission that God has given him. He doesn't want to boast in chapter 11. He says he feels like a madman, feels like someone is out of his mind. Because his primary goal is not to point to himself and to say how great I am, rather his goal is to point to Christ. But Paul says in verse 1 of chapter 12, in his own personal testimony here to the church in Corinth regarding his own call from the Lord and his authority as a prophet, or excuse me, as an apostle of the Lord, this is what he writes. I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was called up to the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was called up into paradise, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except of my weaknesses. Though if I should boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth, but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of these revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in my weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul kind of concludes this section in 2 Corinthians of his own personal testimony, speaking of the realities of his own life. And he talks about the boasting that he has had. He spoke of the physical pain that he endured for the sake of the gospel. Now he says in chapter 12 that he received visions and revelations from the Lord. He was called up into the third heaven. What that means, we won't go into. We don't really know, but we won't go into. Fourteen years ago, he was called up into third heavens. Whether it was in the body or out of the body, he don't know. God knows. He also knows this man was called into paradise, whether in the body or out of the body, he doesn't know. And he knows that this man, speaking of himself in the third person, heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. And he says, on behalf of this man, I will boast. But on my own behalf, in my own physical bodies, I will only boast of my weaknesses. Though if I should boast, I would not be a fool. Right? If I could speak of these things, I wouldn't be a fool. I would be speaking the truth. I'd be telling the truth. So it's not foolish to speak the truth. But he says, I refrain from it for the purpose that no one may think more of me than he sees or hears from me. In other words, I don't want to paint myself A picture of myself that gives you the opinion that I'm somehow better than I am, somehow greater than I am. I think that's important, man. I know a variety of us listening to us, as a pastor I wrestle with this, but as a father, as a friend, I coach my daughter's basketball team and my son's basketball team. You know, I could boast about coaching, whatever. And, you know, you don't want to paint a picture that makes you this great person. You want to paint a picture that says you are a sinner saved by grace dependent upon the Lord. And he says, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the one who is always one-upping everybody, always talking about how great he is and what he hears and sees, et cetera. But he says God gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being conceited. So, to keep me from being conceited by all these experiences, God gave me a thorn in the flesh. Now, I wanna just pause here and say a couple things. Number one, we don't know what this thorn is. You can read study Bibles, you can read commentaries, you can hear different preachers speak on this, you can have this conversation among your friends. No one knows actually what this thorn was, whether it was something physical, whether it was something spiritual, whether it was some kind of emotional struggle. We don't know what this thorn of the flesh was. But Paul says it was given to him for a purpose, and that purpose was to keep him from being conceited before the Lord. Paul had wonderful experiences. He had much of which he could boast, but to keep him from being arrogant and conceited because of those experiences, he was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. I want to say this, really because this is the main point I want to make today. As we think on 2 Corinthians chapter 12, there are times in my personal life, and I'm sure there are times in your life, where you've just wondered why God didn't allow you to have an experience, didn't allow you to accomplish something, didn't allow you to get to that quote, good thing you were pursuing. And you just don't know why that is. And the answer may be found right here in this passage. Because if you had been able to accomplish that good thing, or you had been able to achieve that goal, or you had been able to have that experience that you longed for and you don't understand, you may be an unbearable person. You may not know how to handle success, and as a result of that, you would be arrogant and conceited. And God knows you better than you know yourself, and God knows that if you had had that opportunity, or if you had achieved that, or if he had allowed you to have that privilege, you would have been unbearable, and your testimony for the sake of the gospel would have been lost. You would have made it all about yourself, and nobody would have wanted to be around you. And God needs to teach you, right? So to keep you from being self-reliant and conceited and arrogant, He has to humble you. And He gives you that thorn in the flesh. He prevents you from accomplishing that. He keeps it from you or He gives you some kind of thorn in the flesh that's gonna humble you so that you will depend upon Him and be independent upon Him and recognize that in your weaknesses, God's power is made perfect. He is sufficient in His grace. And the more he teaches us that in our lives, the more we let go of our lives and rest in his glory and his grace and rest upon him for the strength that we need to live our lives. And that's ultimately the goal. The goal is total dependence upon Christ. The goal is total dependence upon the Lord and the Holy Spirit. Learning that we are going to follow Him and submit ourselves completely and totally unto Him, the dying of the old self to live to the new self. The old creature's gone, the new creature has come, and we have to be denied things. We have to have thorns in our flesh to kill off that old self and to keep us from relying upon that old self so that we may live in the new self to the glory and power of Jesus. Paul says, I'm content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For I am weak, I am strong. Are we willing to say that? That's a hard lesson to learn. But are we willing to say it? It's a sign of maturity if we can grow to that point. You guys have a great day. God bless you. I'll catch you next time. O'er the eagles' wings they flew, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?