2 Corinthians 12 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Second Corinthians chapter 12, Paul has
2. 0:03been talking to them
3. 0:06and comparing himself [music]
4. 0:09to those whom they are following after.
5. 0:12And he calls it [music] foolish
6. 0:13boasting, but he says it's necessary to
7. 0:16make a point.
8. 0:18And
9. 0:19he's going to continue to do so.
10. 0:22The reason he calls [music] it foolish
11. 0:24is because he doesn't think that people
12. 0:27should choose their leadership. He
13. 0:29thinks that God appoints leaders and he
14. 0:33reveals it through the fruit that
15. 0:34leaders bear in a congregation's life.
16. 0:38He also doesn't think that people should
17. 0:40be comparing leaders in this manner. Oh,
18. 0:42he had this [music] experience and he
19. 0:44only had that experience.
20. 0:46There is some other standard and
21. 0:48framework by which [music] we should
22. 0:49consider these things and Paul has given
23. 0:52that in First and Second Corinthians as
24. 0:55a whole. But in these [music] last
25. 0:58chapters, he's basically saying if you
26. 1:01want to go down that path, I can go
27. 1:03there, too.
28. 1:04Uh and he's he's kind of undermining the
29. 1:07legitimacy [music] of their argument
30. 1:09more than he is um
31. 1:12legitimizing it by joining into the
32. 1:15comparison game.
33. 1:17Second Corinthians chapter 12, verse 1.
34. 1:21Boasting is necessary, though it is not
35. 1:24profitable.
36. 1:25But I will go on to visions and
37. 1:28revelations of the Lord.
38. 1:30I know a man, speaking of himself, in
39. 1:33Christ, who 14 years [music] ago,
40. 1:36whether in the body I do not know, or
41. 1:39out of the body I do not know, God
42. 1:40[music] knows, such a man was caught up
43. 1:43to the third heaven.
44. 1:45And I know how such a man, whether in
45. 1:47the body or apart from the body I do not
46. 1:50know, God knows, was caught [music] up
47. 1:52into paradise and heard inexpressible
48. 1:55words, which a man is not permitted to
49. 1:57speak. On behalf of such a man, I will
50. 2:00boast. But on my own behalf, I will not
51. 2:03boast, except in regard to my
52. 2:05weaknesses.
53. 2:07So, it seems like he's likely being
54. 2:08sarcastic here when he says, "I know a
55. 2:10man."
56. 2:11>> [music]
57. 2:11>> He could be talking about Apollos or
58. 2:13somebody else. That's perfectly
59. 2:15plausible. It would seem to be that it
60. 2:17has to be an apostle being challenged
61. 2:19like him, or else the account [music]
62. 2:21doesn't hold doesn't bear any weight.
63. 2:24But, he's probably talking about
64. 2:25himself. I know a man. Now, according to
65. 2:28myself, I'm only going to talk about my
66. 2:30problems, my weaknesses, my chains, but
67. 2:33[music] I know this guy who had these
68. 2:35experiences.
69. 2:36And he's he feels embarrassed that he's
70. 2:39even entering into this
71. 2:41way of contrasting and comparing himself
72. 2:44because he thinks it's foolish.
73. 2:46But, he nonetheless feels that it is
74. 2:48important to say, "Even in that regard,
75. 2:51you don't have anything to compare."
76. 2:55On behalf of such a man, I will boast,
77. 2:57but on my own behalf, I will not boast,
78. 2:59except in regard to my weakness.
79. 3:02For if I do wish to boast, I will not be
80. 3:05foolish, for I will be speaking the
81. 3:07truth.
82. 3:09But, I refrain from this so that no one
83. 3:11will credit me with more than he sees in
84. 3:14me or hears from me.
85. 3:17He says, "I don't want you
86. 3:19to
87. 3:20rely on stories about me.
88. 3:22I want you to credit me with what you
89. 3:24see in me,
90. 3:25what you hear from me. I want it to be
91. 3:27based on your own experience
92. 3:30of what God showed you about my
93. 3:32ministry. And if you if you can't
94. 3:34witness that,
95. 3:35I don't want you to base it on what you
96. 3:36hear."
97. 3:39Because of the surpassing greatness of
98. 3:41the revelations, for this reason,
99. 3:44to keep me from exalting myself,
100. 3:47there was given me a thorn in the flesh,
101. 3:50a messenger of Satan to torment me
102. 3:53to keep me from exalting myself.
103. 3:57So, Paul is acknowledging his
104. 3:58weaknesses.
105. 4:00He's saying, I have a physical
106. 4:02affliction
107. 4:03that was given to me.
108. 4:05And he says this messenger, this
109. 4:07affliction is a messenger.
110. 4:10It's like a text message coming in from
111. 4:12the devil.
112. 4:13That's what his hurt, his pain was.
113. 4:16And we know what that message was
114. 4:18intended to say. It was intended to say,
115. 4:20Paul, you are forgotten.
116. 4:22You are rejected. You are not qualified
117. 4:25for God's grace. He doesn't remember
118. 4:27you. He doesn't heal you like you've
119. 4:30healed others. That was what the text
120. 4:31message from the devil was intended to
121. 4:33say.
122. 4:34It was a messenger from Satan.
123. 4:36But God
124. 4:38had a way of using that instrument from
125. 4:40the devil, that instrument of pain,
126. 4:42affliction. We don't know what
127. 4:44affliction it was. It was a bodily
128. 4:46affliction. It was in his flesh.
129. 4:50Okay?
130. 4:51He calls it a thorn.
131. 4:53And you think, oh, I know, like a
132. 4:56like a little rose bush thorn.
133. 4:59But that's actually a poor translation.
134. 5:02The word that he's using there is spike.
135. 5:05It was the word that they used for tent
136. 5:07peg that was hammered into the ground.
137. 5:10So, it's better to think of it as I have
138. 5:13a spike
139. 5:15hammered into my side.
140. 5:17And it's a message from the devil.
141. 5:20But how is God using this message?
142. 5:24God is using it to keep Paul from
143. 5:27becoming exalted through his many
144. 5:29revelations.
145. 5:31Paul is the greatest revelator in this
146. 5:33entire book of the Bible.
147. 5:36He has a fuller insight on the church,
148. 5:39on the law, on the past, on the future
149. 5:42than anybody except Jesus. And we get
150. 5:45more through Paul than even him, than
151. 5:47even Jesus.
152. 5:48This is a very gifted man
153. 5:50and those gifts, that grace, that
154. 5:53expression that he has in the church is
155. 5:55so powerful,
156. 5:57it's going to be a temptation for him
157. 5:58not to become arrogant.
158. 6:01But the affliction will keep him humble,
159. 6:03keep him anchored toward God, anchored
160. 6:06toward his need for the body, for
161. 6:07prayer, for help.
162. 6:10You see? So, the devil intended it for
163. 6:12evil, but God uses it for good.
164. 6:16Why did the devil send it to him? To
165. 6:18torment him.
166. 6:20There's what the devil does with his
167. 6:22messengers. He torments.
168. 6:25A thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
169. 6:27Satan to torment [clears throat]
170. 6:28me.
171. 6:30To keep me from exalting myself.
172. 6:33So, the last part, to keep me from
173. 6:35exalting myself, is what God does with
174. 6:38the torment intention of the devil.
175. 6:41Concerning this thorn, this messenger,
176. 6:44concerning this, I implored the Lord
177. 6:48three times that it might leave me.
178. 6:51Implored is a very powerful verb. It
179. 6:54doesn't mean I asked, it means I begged
180. 6:58with desperation.
181. 7:00I went to the Lord and prayed three
182. 7:02times.
183. 7:04And he, the Lord, said to me,
184. 7:07"My grace
185. 7:09is sufficient
186. 7:10for you,
187. 7:13for power
188. 7:15is
189. 7:16perfected
190. 7:18in weakness."
191. 7:21That was what the Lord said to him after
192. 7:22three times of seeking. He didn't say,
193. 7:25"My grace is abundant toward you." Cuz
194. 7:27it's not.
195. 7:29It is sufficient. It is just enough.
196. 7:34Just enough to keep you humble. Just
197. 7:36enough to keep you needy.
198. 7:39Just enough to keep you anchored in your
199. 7:41relationship with God
200. 7:44and just enough to fulfill your mission
201. 7:46while doing so.
202. 7:49My grace is sufficient for you for power
203. 7:53is perfected
204. 7:55in weakness.
205. 7:58So, we have power
206. 8:00but it needs perfecting
207. 8:02or completion.
208. 8:04And we have weakness and it is the
209. 8:06occasion for the power.
210. 8:08Now, the power that God is speaking of
211. 8:11when he answers Paul, is it the power
212. 8:12Paul was seeking when he asked for a
213. 8:14healing?
214. 8:16No.
215. 8:17That's real power, too. When God heals
216. 8:19someone, that's power.
217. 8:21But, the power that Paul is going to
218. 8:23show us that God was speaking about
219. 8:26was a different kind of power. It was
220. 8:27the same power from God, but it was a
221. 8:29different manifestation
222. 8:31of that power.
223. 8:33Power is perfected in weakness.
224. 8:37What is the power that is perfected in
225. 8:39this kind of weakness?
226. 8:42It is the power
227. 8:44over yourself.
228. 8:46It is the power over being provoked.
229. 8:51A thorn or a goad provokes you to do
230. 8:55something.
231. 8:56An affliction provokes you to say things
232. 8:59you should not.
233. 9:01To have an attitude you should not have.
234. 9:05To indulge in unbelief, a doubt, an
235. 9:08unhappiness, a cruelty that you should
236. 9:10not indulge.
237. 9:13Amen.
238. 9:14And Jesus perfected this power
239. 9:18in the Garden of Gethsemane when he
240. 9:20prayed so that he would not enter into
241. 9:22temptation. The ability to not enter
242. 9:25into temptation
243. 9:27was the power being perfected in Jesus'
244. 9:30weakness.
245. 9:31So, when they slapped him, he didn't
246. 9:33slap back. When When lied about him, he
247. 9:36didn't lie back.
248. 9:37When they wept and made him the center
249. 9:39of attention, he didn't indulge it. He
250. 9:41told him to worry about their future.
251. 9:43He did not give them what the pain was
252. 9:46intended
253. 9:48to evoke from him.
254. 9:50And when he refused to give what the
255. 9:52pain intended to evoke, he showed power.
256. 9:56The power of self-control.
257. 9:58The power of a faith anchored not in
258. 10:00circumstance, but in God.
259. 10:03That's the power
260. 10:05that Jesus is speaking to Paul about.
261. 10:08Okay? So, there's the power of healing,
262. 10:11and then there's the power to disarm
263. 10:14principalities and powers
264. 10:16by not letting yourself be controlled
265. 10:19like an animal, like a dog is controlled
266. 10:22through pain.
267. 10:23And that's the greatest power. When
268. 10:25Jesus was not subject to the strings of
269. 10:29the puppeteers, he showed power. And
270. 10:32that is how Paul is going to go show
271. 10:35power over the devil. The tormentor
272. 10:39sending his text messages is going to be
273. 10:41very unhappy when they don't get the
274. 10:44response that he thought they would get,
275. 10:46and that they normally get. And this is
276. 10:48the power that Job demonstrated over the
277. 10:51devil, is it not?
278. 10:53In short, he did not give the devil what
279. 10:54the devil wanted.
280. 10:57And the Lord said there was none like
281. 10:58him in all the world.
282. 11:00So, God says, "My grace is sufficient,
283. 11:02for power is perfected in weakness." The
284. 11:06power over the devil's tools gets better
285. 11:09and better in the environment where you
286. 11:12are weak and needy, and yet you do not
287. 11:15let that weakness become your master.
288. 11:18Instead, your faith masters it.
289. 11:22So, Paul then responds to God.
290. 11:24"Most gladly,
291. 11:27therefore, I will rather boast about my
292. 11:30weaknesses,
293. 11:32so that the power of Christ
294. 11:35may dwell
295. 11:36in me.
296. 11:38He knows what kind of power it is. It's
297. 11:40the power Christ had in his passion, in
298. 11:43his suffering.
299. 11:46Therefore, I am well content with
300. 11:48weakness
301. 11:51and with insults,
302. 11:53with distresses,
303. 11:55with persecutions,
304. 11:57with difficulties for Christ's sake.
305. 12:01For when I am weak,
306. 12:03then I am strong.
307. 12:05When my body is weak, then my spirit, my
308. 12:08faith
309. 12:10is proven stronger and stronger.
310. 12:13They were told, "Pray lest you enter
311. 12:14into temptation." And they entered into
312. 12:17the temptation, but Jesus did not.
313. 12:20Why did he not? Because he grew stronger
314. 12:23in the garden, even in the weakness that
315. 12:25he was facing.
316. 12:29I have become foolish. You yourselves
317. 12:32compelled me.
318. 12:34Actually, I should have been commended
319. 12:37by you.
320. 12:39For in no respect was I inferior to the
321. 12:42most eminent apostles,
322. 12:44even though I am a nobody.
323. 12:48The signs of a true apostle were
324. 12:51performed among you
325. 12:54with all perseverance.
326. 12:58Amen.
327. 13:00So, he says,
328. 13:01"You've made me be like this,
329. 13:03and you should have been
330. 13:05my recommendation. You should have been
331. 13:07the people saying, 'We really recommend
332. 13:10him.'"
333. 13:12The signs of a true apostle were
334. 13:14performed among you with all
335. 13:15perseverance
336. 13:17by signs and wonders and miracles.
337. 13:20For in what respect
338. 13:22were you treated as inferior to the rest
339. 13:25of the churches, except that I myself
340. 13:28did not become a burden to you. Forgive
341. 13:30me for this wrong.
342. 13:33So, he says, "You treat me like I'm less
343. 13:36than the other apostles, but I actually
344. 13:38performed the signs of a true apostle
345. 13:40while I was with you. But, in what way
346. 13:42did I treat you like you're treating me?
347. 13:45Oh, that's it." He says, "I I remember.
348. 13:48I didn't charge you for anything. I
349. 13:50didn't help I didn't make you help with
350. 13:52my financial support, and in this I
351. 13:54really wronged you."
352. 13:58I myself did not become a burden to you
353. 14:00financially, is what he's talking about.
354. 14:02Forgive me for this wrong.
355. 14:06He's being sarcastic.
356. 14:08Here, for this third time, I am ready to
357. 14:10come to you,
358. 14:12and I will not be a burden to you, for I
359. 14:16do not seek what is yours,
360. 14:18but you.
361. 14:21I don't want what you have. I want you.
362. 14:25For children are not responsible to save
363. 14:28up for their parents, but parents for
364. 14:31their children.
365. 14:33He says, "I I I'm
366. 14:35responsible for you like a parent.
367. 14:38And I want to give to you like a parent
368. 14:40gives to their children when they die
369. 14:42and pass on a will.
370. 14:44I will most gladly spend and be expended
371. 14:48for your souls.
372. 14:50If I love you more,
373. 14:52am I to be loved less?
374. 14:55It's like, "How did I treat the
375. 14:57Corinthians differently than the other
376. 14:59apostles treated the other churches? Oh,
377. 15:01I remember.
378. 15:02I wouldn't let myself be a burden to
379. 15:04you. I'm so sorry for how I wronged you
380. 15:06in that."
381. 15:08And he says, "So, in order to lift you
382. 15:10up and treat you better, you've treated
383. 15:12me worse.
384. 15:13I'm loved less.
385. 15:15But, be that as it may,
386. 15:18be that as it may that you love me less,
387. 15:20I did not burden you myself.
388. 15:22Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I
389. 15:26took you in by deceit.
390. 15:29Oh, yes, I was no financial burden, but
391. 15:31I had deceitful ideas, crafty fellow
392. 15:34that I am. He's being utterly sarcastic.
393. 15:37Certainly, I have not taken advantage of
394. 15:39you through any of those whom I have
395. 15:42sent to you, have I?
396. 15:45I urged Titus to go, and I sent the
397. 15:47brother with him. Titus did not take
398. 15:49advantage of you, did he?
399. 15:52Did we not conduct ourselves in the same
400. 15:54spirit and walk in the same steps?
401. 15:58All this time, you have been thinking
402. 16:01that we are defending ourselves to you.
403. 16:06Actually,
404. 16:07it is in the sight of God that we have
405. 16:10been speaking in Christ,
406. 16:12and all for your upbuilding,
407. 16:15beloved.
408. 16:17For I am afraid that perhaps when I
409. 16:20come, I may find you to be not what I
410. 16:23wish,
411. 16:24and may be found by you to be not what
412. 16:27you wish.
413. 16:29That perhaps there will be strife,
414. 16:32jealousy,
415. 16:34angry tempers,
416. 16:36disputes,
417. 16:37slanders, gossip,
418. 16:41arrogance, disturbances.
419. 16:45This is what he doesn't like about the
420. 16:47Corinthian church.
421. 16:49These are the things. The very first
422. 16:51thing is strife.
423. 16:54Jealousy,
424. 16:56angry tempers, disputes, slanders,
425. 17:00gossip,
426. 17:02arrogance.
427. 17:03Look how much of it has to do with words
428. 17:06against people.
429. 17:10I am afraid that when I come again, my
430. 17:12God may humiliate me before you.
431. 17:18And I may mourn over many of those who
432. 17:22have sinned in the past
433. 17:24and not [music] repented of the
434. 17:26impurity, immorality, and sensuality
435. 17:30which they have practiced.
436. 17:33So, he says, "When I come, I'm afraid
437. 17:35it's not going to be what we want.
438. 17:38I'm afraid I'm going to be sad.
439. 17:40And I'm going to I'm afraid that when I
440. 17:42see the condition that you're in, I'm
441. 17:44going to be humiliated.
442. 17:46How can I claim that I started this
443. 17:48church? How can I claim that this church
444. 17:50is united [music] with us? This church
445. 17:53is a stinking reproach."
446. 17:57And the main thing he points out are
447. 17:59strife, jealousy, anger,
448. 18:02disputes,
449. 18:03>> [music]
450. 18:03>> slander, gossip, arrogant disturbances.
451. 18:08That's what Paul doesn't want to find.
452. 18:11If that's how they behave, they
453. 18:12humiliate him.
454. 18:14If not,
455. 18:16they become what he's proud of, and he
456. 18:17becomes what they're proud of, as he
457. 18:19says in the previous chapters.
458. 18:23>> [music]
459. 18:32[music]