LIFE'S EXPERIENCES. 2nd Corinthians 12 How is it possible to pass through the challenges of life's events without getting proud of our accomplishments, bitter at our disappointments, or despairing at our failures? A review of the past is not out of place when we get into hard places and start to question ourselves and the validity of our commitments. When Paul was being challenged, ignored, and disparaged by those at Corinth who were being influenced by false teachers, the Spirit of God led him to take a look back over his life of service to the Lord and put it into writing for the benefit of others.
The false teachers who had come to Corinth claimed to have received special revelations from God and so the “boasting” of Paul may have been to counter those claims by writing about his own spiritual experiences. Of great significance though, is that Paul made it plain that the visions he had were given to him from the Lord. He particularly did not speak of them as if they were something he did on his own. The personal nature of what the Lord had shown him made it difficult to talk about them. Paul was no stranger to visions and revelations. The visions God gave to men were supernatural insights that affected them at the moment. Revelations are truths that were given at that time as lessons to be learned. Neither of them, are for self-exaltation but are like divinely appointed gifts given by God. They are for the benefit of other people.
Paul had visions at various times in his life. He saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road at the time of his conversion and calling. It was a revelation to him of the divine power the Spirit of God would use through him to reach kings, to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, and to reach out to his own people the Jews. He had another vision relating to his commission that led him into Europe and guided him in his service. The revelation at that time had to do with divine purposes as God was leading him to various places to reach specific people.
The three heavens are first, the atmosphere around us. The second is space where the sun, moon, and stars are located. The “third heaven” is the place of heavenly bliss where God dwells with the “families” in heaven and with believers in Christ who have died and are “At home with the Lord.” Inexpressible things that defy description in words are beyond our right or capacity to even compare with things we know and see. God is indescribable and His dwelling place has nothing with which we can compare it. In grace, we do have a few brief glimpses in scripture of the glory that lies ahead.
Even as the pressure came heavy against him in his service, God gave him visions relating to his own comfort and care. In this way, he had a revelation of the fact of God's divine preservation through the trials ahead. When God chooses to honor a person, what others have to say about him to others, or even to his face, does not really have reason to discourage him. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" We have experienced the guidance of God and know his grace is in no way limited in meeting our emotional needs.
Fourteen years before writing this epistle would have meant that Paul was probably in Antioch in preparation for his first missionary journey. Such a vision would have left such a lasting impression on him that he would be able to endure all the opposition, pain, and suffering that was ahead of him. Whether the “thorn in the flesh” was a personal physical ailment such as eye trouble, or a reference to the fallen nature Satan takes advantage of by temptation, persecution, and opposition is not specifically said, but one thing is sure; it didn’t go away. God permitted it to remain to afflict His servant and remind him that God’s power can work through our weakness. Satan wanted it to hinder Paul, but God used it to advance His kingdom.
Physical needs have a way of taking over everything in our lives if we are not careful. There are some lessons we are given to learn through the experience of physical pain and suffering. God has allowed suffering in His people for reasons He knows are beneficial. Paul was no stranger to pain and discomfort. He had been hungry and thirsty. He had been beaten and stoned. He had been attacked by robbers and had been kept in cold dungeons. He had experienced dangers on land and sea. Most of those problems came and went. But he had one nagging, constant pain he could not get rid of and it was always there - "a thorn in the flesh." We may never understand why God gives us chronic physical conditions that seem to ensure that we are always in a measure of discomfort.
It is easy for people to tell us to "grin and bear it" but that is not easy to do. In fact, it is impossible. First, we need to understand our spiritual condition is more important than our physical well-being. In those times when we are in a condition where all we can do is call on God for relief, we are actually safer than when we are free to do what we want. God honored Paul by giving him a sight of glory. To have a sight of the third heaven, God's dwelling place was overpowering to him to the extent he couldn't speak of it. His physical condition kept him consciously aware of who he was, and his state of health which he could do nothing about, so he would not glory in the unique sight he had of heaven.
A lesson we can learn for ourselves is that when God allows us to have some unusual insight into what we have in Christ, we will never be the same person afterward. To be living on the high ground of spiritual awareness in Beulah Land make the affairs of earth, and the discouragements of life seem quite trivial in comparison. Paul learned about God's goodness when God humbled him and kept him that way by leaving him with "A thorn in the flesh" of which he was always conscious.
The help of God is always sufficient to meet our own needs no matter what the circumstances might be that we face. Our inability becomes the way God’s strength is demonstrated in bringing blessings to others through us. When we are conscious of our “infirmities,” we turn to Christ who alone can meet the needs of others through us, and we experience His divine power at work in our own lives.
It is possible for some success in the work of the Lord to make us think we did it, or at least our ability made it happen. That leads to pride which is a terrible sin with which we have to contend. It is important for us to remember it is God who provides all we need, to do all He intends. Obstacles may be blessings when they lead us to "trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not on our own understanding." When we recognize our limitations and rely on God for our strength, then we realize the work is God's and is being done by Him through His weak servant.
In spite of the skill, charisma, eloquence, and verbosity of those who exalt themselves, there is greater power made manifest in the weakness of those who glory only in the cross of Christ and the Person of our Lord. No one can defeat the person who knows they are weak and experience the power of the risen Christ in their life and work for the Lord. “When I am weak, then I am strong,” is a powerful statement of faith.
When we are in a place where we have faced our inability and have committed ourselves to fulfill our responsibility, and have humbly and honestly presented to God our availability, then there are no limits to divine possibilities. In that condition of bodily weakness when we admit to our limitations, our character is deepened and our worship of God is more meaningful, deeper, and fuller than before. When God in His goodness humbles us, the result is a more balanced life. Physical suffering is not really a barrier to spiritual service. Not all sickness is caused by sin. Sometimes it is to bring us to maturity and to glorify God.
Effective service comes when we rest in God's word and, in faith, trust Him to do in and through us whatever He desires. That is when God's grace is shown to us in a special way to help us. There is sufficient grace given to enable us to do His will. And there is strengthening grace to bring to pass what God intended for us in the first place.
Sometimes when children refuse to listen to their father and will not obey him, he has to make them ashamed of themselves in some way. Paul had to do that with the Corinthian believers. They should have been honoring him and "boasting" about him. Instead, they were critical of him like disobedient and spoiled children. It is then Paul summarizes and defends his apostleship. They had pressured him to write about himself which he did not want to do, but felt he had to because they had accepted the claims of the “super-apostles.”
By basing his own authority on miracles that the Corinthians had seen with their own eyes, the first-hand experiences they had known, the things which they themselves had experienced and learned from his ministry among them, he exposed the falseness of the counterfeit apostles who did none of those things. With the objective of warning them about their attitudes, examining their sincerity, and vindicating himself as one who has authority over them, he goes further in his corrective ministry.
He had experienced, and effectively used the sign gifts given to him by the power of the Holy Spirit. He had used the gift of healing. In fact, he had used those gifts more than all of them. They had seen with their own eyes the evidence of his spiritual authority. Even the obstacles he had to overcome had not hindered nor stopped the work he did. It is best in our labors for God to let the evidence speak for itself. But occasionally there is a reason to reiterate how God has used us if the purpose is to help others and glorify God.
With some irony, Paul spoke of the fact that he was not a burden to them by expecting them to support him. He had supported himself and others through his own physical labor as a tent-maker. Parents who love their children, support them. Paul was a true spiritual father who wanted their love and loyalty, not their money. His concern was for their total well-being. Paul shamed the Corinthians with the remark that he had done the same for them as he did with all the other churches, except he did not want to be a burden to them. He did not want any pay from them, he did not want to be fed by them nor housed by them. He paid his own way while there "lest I be chargeable to any one of you." He only wanted to strengthen them in the Lord so he did nothing to enrich himself at their expense.
Even so, it seems that the more we give and pour out of ourselves as an expression of love for some people, the less we are loved by them. Even that does not stop parental love though it is not reciprocated. Unreasonable people who are unreliable in their conduct, ungrateful for the help given to them, and unthankful for the blessings they have received from others, are usually untrustworthy. But we are still able to express love in whatever way is suitable to the condition of our soul. In love we must do as Paul did: warn them of the consequences of unscriptural activities in which they are involved, and of false teachers. We need to teach them the way of recovery and urge them to act on it immediately.
With some sarcasm, Paul responded to the slander made against him when they said he tricked them by collecting money for the poor in Jerusalem and keeping it for himself. He didn’t try to justify himself against such foolishness, but instead took their thoughts to a higher plain when he said God was his Judge. All he wanted from them was to be able to see some spiritual growth and maturity. If that didn’t happen, he would have to discipline them and neither they nor he would be happy about that.
The abilities and gifts people may have does not keep them from being carnal. Doubts about spiritual things and complaints about spiritual people are often expected from those who live carnal lives. Paul shamed them for their lack of commendation of the ones who brought them the Gospel and nurtured them in the things of God. He shamed them for their lack of appreciation for the grace of God shown toward those who had ministered to them. He shamed them for their lack of consecration.
They were still immature, unspiritual, divisive, disorganized, and disruptive people. Their conduct brought mourning and embarrassment to their spiritual father because of their uncleanness and open sin. Yet in spite of all of this, he still refers to them as "dearly beloved."