A.In Paul’s second epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul was compelled to defend himself against his critics.
1.Apparently, Paul had been criticized for various things, including failure to keep his word (1:15-17, 23-24), cowardice (10:1-2), abuse of power (10:3-9), personal weakness (10:10-18), lack of eloquence (11:6), and refusal of financial support from the church (11:7-12; 12:11-18).
2.Paul defended himself not because he was personally offended, but because of his ministry, which was the preaching of the gospel (12:19-21).Paul knew that if he was discredited, then the gospel he preached would be rejected, and the souls at Corinth would be lost.
B.In this defense, Paul wrote of his weakness, which he called a “thorn in the flesh” (2Cor. 12:7-10).
1.Paul did not say exactly what this “thorn” was, but he did explain that its purpose was to keep him from exalting himself.We may speculate that Paul had some physical ailment, illness, or disability, but we know for certain that it served to prevent him from becoming proud due to the tremendous power and authority that God had given him.
2.Regarding this thorn in the flesh, Paul prayed to the Lord three times that it would depart, yet the Lord denied his request, and Paul’s weakness remained.We can imagine the disappointment of Paul, but he fully and faithfully accepted the Lord’s answer.
C.Paul explained that his weaknesses had actually become his strength.
1.Concerning Paul’s requests to remove his thorn in the flesh, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2Cor. 2:9).Let us consider both parts of the Lord’s answer.
a.By saying, “My grace is sufficient for you,” the Lord gave assurance to Paul that He would supply Paul with enough to overcome this “messenger of Satan” even though He did not take the thorn away.
b.When the Lord said, “Power is perfected in weakness,” He stated a paradox.A paradox appears to be self-contradictory at first, but it is absolutely true.
c.To accept these two parts of the Lord’s answer, Paul needed faith.
i.A worldly-minded person might think that a truly loving Lord would take away Paul’s burdens.Only a person of faith could accept that the Lord would allow the burden to remain while providing other grace to overcome it.
ii.A worldly-minded person might also think that power is only demonstrated in physical domination, intimidation, wisdom, influence, and affluence.Only a person of faith could see power where all of these worldly things are absent.
2.Paul expressed his full, faithful acceptance of the Lord’s answer by saying, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2Cor. 12:10).
a.Paul understood the meaning of the Lord’s paradoxical statement.The Lord’s power is not dependent upon anything in the world.His power is most perfectly displayed in those things that the world considers to be weak and powerless.
b.Thus, when Paul accomplished great things in spite of his weakness, poverty, and lowly station in the world, his success could only have been attributed to the Lord.Only by the power of God could he succeed.
3.Therefore, Paul’s strength was the same as his weakness.The greater his weaknesses, the greater his strength was as he worked for the Lord.This is why Paul said, “If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness” (2Cor. 11:30).
D.In the likeness of Paul, are Christians today ready to become strong by becoming weak?Do we have enough faith to believe the words of the Lord, “Power is perfected in weakness”?
II.A NEW WAY OF THINKING
A.We live in a world where “might makes right,” “majority rules,” and people “look out for number one.”
1.Men pursue greatness and power through influence, wealth, physical strength and beauty, worldly wisdom and knowledge, popularity, and fame.
2.As men pursue these goals, traits such as humility, compassion, forgiveness, love, kindness, faithfulness, loyalty, self-control and patience are given little value.
B.This kind of worldly thinking will lead to failure in the kingdom of God.
1.For example, when the disciples argued among themselves about which of them was the greatest, the Lord said, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).
2.Consider 1Corinthians 1:20-31.
a.Notice that God has chosen “the foolish things of the world,” “the weak things of the world,” and “the base things of the world and the despised” that no man should boast before Him (vv. 27-29).
b.Therefore, if we pursue greatness according to the thinking of the world, then we will not be pursuing those things that God has chosen for His kingdom.
C.Churches and persons who follow the thinking of the world deceive themselves and fail to please the Lord.
1.Consider the Lord’s message to the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22).
a.The church’s opinion of themselves was this: “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (v. 17).Perhaps by the world’s standards, their opinion was correct.
b.However, the Lord revealed their true condition, saying, “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (v. 17).His commandment to them was to correct their poor spiritual condition through Him (v. 18).
2.We may hold similar false opinions of ourselves in the likeness of the Laodiceans.
a.If we measure the church’s strength by the number of members in the congregation, the amount of money contributed, or any other superficial measure, then we do not know the church’s true standing in the eyes of Christ.
b.As individuals, if we judge our faith by how often we attend church assemblies, how much money we contribute, or how much we are praised by men, then we may judge ourselves incorrectly.
D.The real power to succeed is in Christ Jesus.
1.Consider the power of God that is in Jesus Christ:
a.Power over nature (Matt. 8:23-27);
b.Power over spirits (Luke 4:31-37);
c.Power over death (John 11);
d.Power over the world (Heb. 1:1-3);
e.Power for salvation (Rom. 1:16; 1Cor. 1:18-24).
2.The power of God through Christ is available to work in us in spiritual things through faith in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:18-23; 3:16).
III.HOW DO YOU THINK?
A.Consider yourself: Do you have weaknesses?Do you use these as excuses for failing to serve God, or do you use these as opportunities to let the power of God be seen in you?
1.Are you like Moses who made excuses (Ex. 3:11-4:17) or the faithless Israelite spies who said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us” (Num. 13:31)?These people thought only of how they would fail because of their weaknesses.
2.Or, are you like David who slew Goliah (1Sam. 17), Gideon who defeated the Midianites with only 300 men (Jud. 7), or Elijah who overcame 450 prophets of Baal (1Ki. 18)?These people believed in and depended upon the power of God, and they had great success.
3.Which kind of person do you want to be?
B.As a church, do we use our weaknesses as an excuse for failing to do what we should, or do we convert our weaknesses into opportunities to do great things?
1.Do we think that we cannot spread the gospel in this area because:
a.The denominations have more members than we do?
b.We do not have any prominent members of the community in the congregation?
c.We do not have enough great teachers and influential personalities?
d.We do not have enough young people?
2.Who are we depending on – ourselves or God?
C.The lesson to be learned from Paul’s statement – “When I am weak, then I am strong” – is not about positive mental attitude.It is not about believing in oneself.It is about believing in God and His power.
1.Paul wrote, “And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that you faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1Cor. 2:5; see also 2Cor. 4:7).
2.When an individual or a church learns this lesson, then they can truly say, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
