been looking at for the last four weeks we've been together. Different aspects of how God can take a whole lot of nothing and make a whole lot of something out of it. I'm sure glad that I've got a God that is bigger than my nothing. We've looked at the God that moves over nothing. God that takes absolutely nothing and he made everything there in Genesis chapter 1. And then we looked at a God that moves toward nothing. Looked at how God has moved in our direction through the picture of David and Mephibosheth. And how David pursued Mephibosheth. We looked at a God that moves with nothing. How God provided Himself a lamb on the top of the mountain when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. Then we looked at a God that can move. This morning we're going to look at a God that moves through nothing. God that moves through nothing. Here in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 in verse 9 it says, and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 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. Father, we need your touch this morning. We need your help. And I pray that you just help your servants. Lord, as I try to stand and preach, that you'd help my voice. Lord, that you'd give me what I need to say. Lord, that your presence would be felt here this morning as we finish up this thaw. I'm sure glad that you're over nothing. I'm glad that you're bigger than our nothing. Lord, I pray that you'd work in the hearts of your people today. In Jesus' name, amen. In this text, Paul is dealing with the thorn in the flesh. That is, the previous few verses, Paul has been given this thorn in the flesh, this messenger of Satan to buffet him. And Paul is asking God, he's asked Him a few times now to remove this thorn in the flesh. God says no. As I begin to study this and I've been thinking about it and pondering on what is being dealt with here in the different aspects of what's being said, God began to give me this thought of the God that moves through nothing. From this one phrase here that he says in verse 9, if you have a red letter edition Bible, You'll notice that in verse 9 there is a different shade of color that is evident here. It says, And he said unto me, and then we see in red letters, My grace is sufficient for thee. But that's not really where my focus is. My focus is on the second half of this. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Now let me ask you something. Who in here, if we're honest, and I hope we can be honest this morning, would rather be strong than weak? We would rather be strong than we had to be weak. But the reality is, Without the help of God, bodily strength does not matter one bit in the realm of eternity. You can deadlift 500 pounds, 600 pounds. You can run 25 miles. You can do all of these things. And if your spirit is not what God would set it to be, It's not worth anything at the end of the day. Paul here is talking and he is desiring for God to remove this thing that is a problem in his life. Again, if we're honest, how many of us would say, God, I wish all of my problems would be gone? I would say that. I think that's a fair assessment. that we all would desire for our problems to be gone. Sometimes that's not the case with God. Sometimes the problem is there by design. Through this text, God has given me three applications that I desire to give to you this morning on the God that moves through nothing. Look there again at verse 9, he says, And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. I notice the presence of nothing here in Paul's Life. We would say that we want to be strong for the Lord. And we would want to be strong in the Lord. But the reality is. I have absolutely nothing to bring. And I have absolutely nothing to offer. There is a presence of nothing that is evident in this text by what Christ himself says. My strength is made perfect in what? In weakness. In other words, I don't have anything that I can bring to God that's ever going to impress Him. Can I tell you this? It doesn't matter how much you do. It doesn't matter what you give. It's not impressive to God. It's just not. Why would it not be impressive to God? Could it be that it's not impressive to God because He owns it all anyway? It all belongs to Him. I'm just here for a little while. And I belong to Him. So I'm not going to impress Him with what I can do. But it would do us well as the children of God, as believers this morning, to understand the fact that without Him I'm nothing. Without the help of God, I'm absolutely useless and I'm absolutely worthless. It would do us well to be reminded that God is not impressed with our strength. In fact, He's going to deal with it a little bit later and we'll deal with it later in our service. But Christ says in this text that His strength is made perfect in my weakness. Because, if I can say it this way, When I'm busy trying to impress and I'm busy trying to accomplish all of these things that I think I can do, I'm not showing the glory of the Lord in what I'm doing. I'm showing the glory of self. Look at me, look at what I'm able to do, look at what I accomplished. Preachers are bad for this. You'll hear it. It's especially bad sometimes around the missions letters that you get because there's a feeling of the need to impress our supporting churches. My dad talks about it as being a missionary. Sometimes there's this almost pressure to feel like you're performing. So the mission letter will show we had 300 professions of faith, but it never deals with anything that's bad that's actually going on. It doesn't deal with the actual shoveling of the mud, as I would say talking to the East Steps the other day. Very few letters deal with that sort of thing because we feel the need to impress. with our strength. The presence of nothing. I want you to know that without the help of God you have nothing to offer. Without the help of God I have nothing to offer, I have nothing to bring. But then you'll notice Verse 9, Paul understands some truths about this nothing that you and I often, we forget. I was interested as I began to read this and I began to study on it and I've been pondering it for the last few weeks as I've been moving through this series. Look at the language that Paul uses. Let's go back and read there, beginning of verse 9. Let's go back and read verse 8. For this thing I must halt the Lord thrice, that He might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Then look at the next two words that Paul utters. Most gladly. Therefore will I rather glory in mine infirmities. Notice what he says here. That the power of Christ may rest on me. Not only do we see the presence of nothing, the evidence there that there is a nothing. But then we see the power of the nothing. So often we spend so much time trying to make our own something. Trying to do it our self. Could we be honest this morning and say that we have been that kind of Christian at times to where I want to make my own way. I sure have. But Paul here makes a statement, he says something that is so odd, so against culture, so against what we're living in our world today. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities. When is the last time? I might be fixing the metal a little here, I don't know. But when is the last time that you honestly said, Lord, thank you for what you've brought in my life, good and bad? Because through all of it, what is it he says? That the power of Christ may rest upon me. Paul understood. If you go back and read what he says, he says, God gave me this lest I be exalted above measure. You see, the problem is when we think we're something, we begin to operate in pride in what I can do. That's what Paul says. Lest I be exalted above measure. God gave him The messenger of Satan to buffet him, whatever that was. He says, I recognize and I understand that it's only when I'm low that he's magnified. It's only when I put this body and this soul in subjection. Most gladly, therefore... How many in here would say this morning, you've got an infirmity of some kind? Most of us in here would probably have an infirmity of some kind. When's the last time you've most gladly gloried in your infirmities? That you've said, God, I want to thank you for the problems of my life. Because the problems of my life reveal your power Not only to me, but to those that are around me. It's easy to be Christian when things are good. I used to go to youth camp with folks all the time. Sometimes there would be four or five hundred of us. Brother Brian, it was really, really easy to be a Christian. when I was singing in the youth choir of 150. When I was listening to the youth camp we went to, they would preach 22 messages in three days. It was easy to be a Christian then. In fact, you don't have to work at it at all. But it takes the power of God to be a Christian when things are going bad. It takes the power of God for me to live a life that is holy and sanctified when all of hell has come against me this week. Because I can't do it in and of myself. Paul said, I understand. The problem that I'm having right now, God has put in my life to keep my ego in check. And I'm going to understand that it is because of that that I can have the power of God. I will gladly rejoice in my infirmities, be glad or glory in my infirmities, most gladly that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Talking about the power of nothing. This is really simple. But it's really complicated to actually do. Is understand the fact that in God's eyes I don't have to be powerful. Never once did He say that I need to operate in my own power. In fact, you go all the way through the New Testament, he says it many times. One in particular, he says, take my yoke upon you. It's like an illustration that I have from when I was a kid. My dad was building something, and we were talking about it the other day, that's why it came to my mind. We were loading lumber. I was, I don't know, probably Joseph Sage. And we're hauling two by sixes, two by eights, whatever. Well, I'm five, six years old. Believe it or not, I was not that strong. I wasn't capable of handling very much. So my dad would get in the middle of the board. And he would carry the board and I would be holding on to the end of it. And we stacked that lumber. And that's the picture that God has given with this. If I'm hooked to Him, He carries all the heavy load. I don't have to have power because I know the One that has power. I don't have to try to figure things out because I know the one that has it all figured out. I don't have to try to work my way to something because I've got a God that has already done all of the work that needs to be done. All I have to do is hook up with the one that has the power. The power of Christ might rest upon me. Nowhere in there does it say I have to go to the gym and work it out so that I can get that power. No, he says, I know you'll never be able to shoulder it. So I'm going to give it to you through me. The power of nothing. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Then in verse 10, you'll notice the pleasure of nothing. The pleasure of nothing. Again, Paul's words, not mine. Therefore, I take... What's the word? I take pleasure. In what? Do I take pleasure in the good times? Do I take pleasure in the wealth and the strength and all of these things? Do I take pleasure in the goods and the prestige? What is he taking pleasure in? Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses. Boy, you talk about something that's backwards in our world today, look at the next phrase. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong. How can I be weak and strong at the same time? It seems odd, doesn't it? How can you be weak and strong at the same time? I'm going to give you the answer. And you can do with it whatever you see fit. Because when I figure out I'm nothing, and I learn He's everything, I can move towards the everything and leave my nothing behind. That's how Paul is able to say what he's able to say. That's how Paul lived the way he was living. Because he understood that it was only when he became nothing that God would make him everything. It was at this text and in these sections of scripture to where we get to 2 Timothy to where he says, I have fought the good fight, I finished the course, I have kept the faith, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. How did he get to that point? Because he realized on one day he realized that he had nothing to offer. But he knew the one who had it all. He knew the one with all the power. He knew the one with all the provisions. Brian was dealing with it in class this morning. Been dealing with it some in the history of the nation of Israel. It didn't matter the power that the nation of Israel had. Because God had said He has given them the land. And He marched them around Jericho. They didn't have to have any strength. And God sacked the city without them having to do a thing. What I'm saying is, is there's a pleasure in the nothing. When you get to the point to where you understand, I don't have to try to figure it out. I don't have to try to make something happen. Friday we were sitting there on the side of the park over there and I didn't know what to expect. We've had events here at the church and they have not went very well in the grand scheme of things. God has been working through it all. God's been working through our church and doing things in each of us. That's preparing us for things. But I had no expectations. I didn't know what to expect. And I didn't have to sit and fret about it because it's God's business who He brings. It's God's business who He brought under that little gazebo. We're a little church compared to some. We would be a weak church. But we know a powerful God. And I got to sit there on Friday and I got to take pleasure in the God of nothing. He took a whole lot of nothing. And He brought 125 souls under that gazebo. And He done a whole lot of something with it. that I could not have done. I have begged, I have bartered, I've guilt tripped, I've done everything I know to do, I've bribed to try to get people to come, and it has not worked because I am nothing. But I'm learning some things about the value of understanding that when I'm weak, He's strong. When you're laying there and you've got the diagnosis that you don't want to have, when you've gotten the phone call that you just didn't want, when you've gotten the news that you didn't want to have, when all of life seems like it's falling apart, there's a God that is able to come in and expound His power. into your life and give you what you stand in need of, that when you're laying there and it seems like all of hell has come against you, you can say, I've got a good God that's been good to His children. He's never left me. He's never forsook me. You go back and you look at the story of Job. God dealt harshly with Job. He allowed things to happen in Job's life that does not make sense to mortal man. But by the end of the story, Job is standing there and he says, I know My Redeemer liveth, I know I'm going to see Him in the latter days And I know that my God knows better than I do And by the end of the story of Job It says God had blessed him with ten times what he had before I will pleasure in my infirmities Let me ask you a question. When you have an infirmity. What's your response to God? When something goes wrong. Do you grumble and complain and fuss and gripe and get angry and get bitter? when life doesn't go your way? Or are you like Paul and say, I will pleasure in my infirmities? Because I know when I'm weak, I've got a strong God that can do anything He wants with my nothing. Paul could not change what had been done in his life. But Paul could choose how he reacted to it. And Paul could change how he acted in it. And he said, in all the things that's happened, I know where the power is. In all the things that's happened, I know where the pleasure is. So many of us, we do everything we can to seek pleasure in the world we live in. We live in a very pleasure-driven society. And it's all a holler of pleasure because you can do it, and then as soon as you're done doing it, there's a need to do it again. You ever gone on vacation, you get back from vacation and feel like you need to go on another one? Because we have an insatiable need for pleasure. Your life will never be fulfilled until you can learn to pleasure in the good God of heaven. Because if you can pleasure in what He has and what He has to offer, He's got a mighty big storehouse. His root cellar goes real deep. And His provision knows no bounds. Paul understood that. I have to wonder if I was sitting there Paul and Silas were chained in prison. I have to wonder what my reaction would have been, Brother White. They had done nothing wrong. They had been unjustly accused. They had been unjustly tried. They had been unjustly jailed. And they're sitting there with their feet in shackles. I'd call that an infirmity. And out of the darkness, out of the darkness, you begin to hear singing. You begin to hear worshiping. You begin to hear praising from Paul and Silas. You say, I can't believe God would put me in a situation that I've got infirmities. What God would do that? God couldn't love me and put me in some kind of infirmity. It could be the infirmity that God's put you in isn't for you. Because that jailer that night and his whole family got saved because Paul and Silas were jailed unjustly. It could be that God has placed an infirmity in your life and he's brought something in your life that's not meant to deal with you. It's meant to be a witness to those that are around you. Is there enough pleasure in your infirmities that they can see a good God? Or do they just see the grumbling and the griping and the complaining of the world? That the power of Christ may rest on me that when I am weak, then am I strong. Talking about the God that moves through nothing. God took Paul here and he buffeted Paul. He gave him an infirmity. And it's through those infirmities that we get the books of the Bible that he wrote. with his wisdom, his exhortation, his correction, his instruction, all came because he was willing to be buffeted. We want God to serve at our pleasure and do things our way, but it don't work that way. We serve at the pleasure of the master or his children. What He does with us is His business. It might just be. It might just be. That the infirmities that God has let happen in my life will be what God uses to bring my son to the place of salvation. It might be. That God would use the infirmities that He's allowed to happen in this church to be what wins this town to Christ. If we're willing to glory in our infirmities. If we're willing to pleasure in our infirmities. Because there is a town that is watching what we're doing. Those that you work with, they're watching what you do. They're listening to what you say. They're watching how you act. And they're going to make a determination about God regarding who you are. They may never darken the doors of Lander Independent Baptist Church. But they will see Lander Independent Baptist Church in who you are, where you're at. I'm sure glad that I've got a God that if I'll hook up to His power, I don't have to find my own. No. He's the power of the ages. He's the power that runs the universe. On His breath, everything exists. It sure takes a lot of load off of me trying to figure things out. It sure takes a load off of me trying to make things happen. Sometimes the best solution to our problem is to just get weak and hook up to His power source. Sometimes the best solution is to look at what God's doing. And I'm telling you, it is hard to do when you're in the middle of it. I understand that. But to realize that God's got a bigger purpose than my little box. I'm one piece of a very large puzzle. I'm one thread on a large tapestry that God has woven. And what He does in my life, is meant to affect those around me. Is that not what He gave us in the Great Commission? You go forth, you preach and you teach and you baptize. God's given us the responsibility to hook up to His power, to live in His power, and let Him do with us what He desires. And I promise you, on the authority of the Word of God, He will move through your nothing and He'll do something with it. That's what He did for Paul. You go through the Bible, you'll find illustration after illustration of men who had nothing to bring, nothing to offer. And God took them and made something very mighty out of them. David was a ruddy little boy. God made him a mighty king. Moses was a stutterer murderer. God turned him into a mighty leader. God can do anything He desires with nothing. But there is a responsibility that you and I have. I've got to give it to Him. I've got to give him my nothing. I've got to come to the conclusion that I don't have it figured out and that he does. And that I might not understand what he's doing, but he does. And so I don't have to. Because he knows where he's going. When you get an airplane and you go somewhere, you don't go up and knock on the cockpit door and tell the pilot how to fly. But we sure do tell God how to run our life, don't we? But He knows where He's going. He knows how to get there. Let me ask you this, this morning in closing. Are you willing to give God your nothing? We've been preaching for five services now on the God of nothing. I've given you best as I know how. Application after application after application of how to put it into practice. And how God uses nothing to do absolutely mighty things. Are you willing to turn over your nothing to Him?