Jump Start # 3054

2 Corinthians 12:7 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself.”

Paul has been on the top of the mountain. God allowed him to see the third heaven or Paradise as some translations express it. Paul saw what very few others have ever seen. We have dreamed about it. We sing hymns about Heaven. We hold the hope of Heaven very dear to our hearts. While there, and he wasn’t sure if it was a vision, or if he really went there, he heard things. We can only imagine. We’d sure wish to know what he heard. Paul states that he cannot repeat what he heard. It was unlawful for him to tell what he heard. John’s vision of Revelation, takes a peek behind the door in Heaven. He saw the throne room and God upon the throne.

But from the mountain top, Paul descends into the depths of a deep valley. He was given a thorn in the flesh. He understood that this thorn was to keep him humble. It was intended to keep him from exalting himself. Writers for centuries have tried to put their finger on what this “thorn in the flesh” was. Some have suggested poor eye sight. Others have named just about every ailment known to mankind. Some do not think it was physical, but something emotional or mental. Lots of ideas. Tons of guesses.

Paul understood three things about the thorn in the flesh. He knew it was given to him on purpose. Second, he knew that it was connected with the devil. He called this thorn a “messenger of Satan.” Third, he understood that it was to torment him. There was a designed purpose for this thorn. The suffering was to keep Paul from exalting. It was to keep his head from swelling, his feet on the ground and his attitude humble.

Notice what Paul did with this:

First, he wasn’t angry with God about it. He didn’t stop his preaching because of this. He didn’t quit. We do well to remember this. Trials and troubles have a way of making some give up on God. If every day is not sunny and going the way they want it to go, they back away from God. Fair weather Christians is a good description of such a faith and attitude. I’ll be at the church house as long as things are going well. Toss a thorn my way and I’m likely to toss in the towel on God. Not Paul.

Second, he prayed for God to remove it. Whatever his thorn was, it must have been very unpleasant. Paul did as we know we ought to, pray to God. Paul prayed several times about this. God can do all things.

Third, he accepted the fact that he had to live with the thorn. God was not going to remove the thorn. Did Paul have this thorn the rest of his life? How difficult was it to live with this thorn? We have many questions but very few answers. Paul understood that the grace of God was enough. God’s grace is what would get him through. The thorn was staying. And, with that thorn Paul was going to continue to serve the Lord.

Fourth, Paul understood that when he is weak, God can make him strong. His strength wasn’t in his work out routine, eating right, getting plenty of sleep, but in what the Lord could do for him. His strength came from his faith. The stronger the faith, the more he could endure what Satan threw at him.

From the mountain to the valley. Seeing Heaven to living with a messenger of Satan. Exalted to humbled.

Now there are all sorts of thoughts that spin off of these passages:

First, if God was concerned about Paul being too proud or exalted because he saw Heaven, why did He show it to him at all? There are questions we do not know the answers to. Some have reasoned that when Paul was taken outside a village and stoned, that he actually died. His spirit went to God. But God brought him back. Could be, but mountains of speculation there.

Second, it seems that God was using Satan to bring about a positive place for Paul. Satan would love for Paul to be exalted. He would love for Paul to brag, strut, and tell others about how special he was because of what God showed him. Satan wouldn’t want Paul to remain humble. This messenger of Satan was guided by God to accomplish what the Lord wanted. We remember that God allowed Satan to attack Job. Satan was the instrument, but God was aware of it and allowed it. God using Satan is hard for us to grasp.

Third, it seems that this thorn did just what God wanted. We do not read about Paul describing what he saw. He do not hear Paul thinking that he was more special than others because of what God showed him. The thorn worked. It kept Paul from exalting.

We must wonder if God would and does the same today? Has God allowed some curve balls in your life to keep you close to Him? Rather than smooth sails, maybe you’ve traveled through some treacherous waters. But as you have traveled through those rough waves, you have remained close and strong in the Lord. Maybe that’s just what God wanted to happen to you.

Mountains and valleys—and in both of those moments, we see God. God’s hand is there.

Roger

Jump Start # 1169

2 Corinthians 12:7 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment men—to keep me from exalting  myself!”

Our passage today is layered with many thoughts. It is the result of Paul seeing the “third Heaven.” The Jews believed in Three Heavens. We don’t use that language. The first heaven was the sky. The second heaven was the solar system, where the stars are. The third heaven is where God was. Jesus taught, “Our Father who art in Heaven.” Jesus did not mean the sky or the stars. The story is told that in the early days of space exploration, some Russian cosmonauts questioned God’s existence because they were up in space and didn’t see Him. God’s not in “space” as they were.

Paul saw THE HEAVEN. He was not sure if this was a vision or if he really went there. Some have tried to connect this to an event in Acts where he was dragged out of a town and stoned and left for dead. Some suggest that Paul actually died. Went to the third Heaven and then came back. Good guess. We don’t know. We must be careful about parking our car in the land of speculations. We can build some mighty tall theories on ideas that may not be true.

While in this third Heaven Paul heard things that it was unlawful for him to repeat. What did he see? Who was there? Did he hear singing? What songs? Paul didn’t repeat any of it. Unlike the dozens of books on the market today of people who claimed to have gone to Heaven and then came back and then wrote a book. Amazing that an apostle couldn’t do it, but just about everyone else can. I put my trust in the Bible, not the words of an eight year old boy who wrote a book.

Now our verse. Paul got to see things that the rest of us can only see after we die. These revelations were called “Surpassing greatness.” Peter didn’t get to see them. John did as he wrote Revelation. The privilege of being shown Heaven could make someone think that he was more special than others. It could make him think that he alone was God’s poster child. It could make him boast. Twice in our verse the expression, “to keep me from exalting myself” is used. Twice. This was the key. God showed but God didn’t want it to change Paul. God didn’t want Paul to be ruined by this experience. Exalting self was a chief concern of God. Wish we felt the same today. We like to strut about and brag to one another. One upping another is common. Go to any high school reunion and the air is thick with bragging and boasting. The book of Proverbs really thumps exalting. It makes us bigger than what we really are and it makes the other guy smaller than what he really is. The exalted heart tends to think that it is above certain rules. It doesn’t have to do what others do. Higher education can lead some to thinking that they are better than others. Some of the finest Christians I’ve ever met, with the purest hearts and the best character, were simple, common people, many of which never went to college. Higher education is important, but it shouldn’t make us “higher” than others.

God was concerned about this. He didn’t need a puffed up apostle. Jesus dealt with that problem while on earth. Twice the apostles fussed about who was the greatest. Why did it matter? Pride. Pride always is thinking about that. It can filter into the church today. Am I the best preacher? Am I the best song leader? There’s not a contest. You won’t get a trophy for being the best. So quit thinking that way. Just be your best and encourage others to be their best. Our egos get us when someone gets more praise than we do. Exalting, pride, arrogance—all of those things will eat at your character and take you down a road that is not pretty. God wasn’t through with Paul yet. There were more places, more sermons and more churches to help. The worst thing was to have an exalted apostle engaged in that business. It’s the opposite of Jesus. The Lord was a servant. On His last days, He washed the feet of the apostles. That’s Jesus. There was no place for a big headed apostle strutting about the world telling others how special he was.

To stop that, to prevent that, God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh. It is called a messenger of Satan.  It was sent to torment Paul. It would keep Paul humble and keep him from exalting.

Everyone has a guess as to what that thorn was. Some suggest physical problems, including poor eyesight, arthritis, heart disease to about every known ailment in the world. Others have suggested depression or other emotional issues. Many ideas. Many thoughts. We are not told. Whatever it was, it was major. Paul was tormented by it. He prayed three times that it might leave him. The answer back from God was NO.

Being tormented would lead Paul to seek God. It would cause him to pray. It would keep him from thinking that he was better than others. It would be the ticket to keep him from exalting.

All of this to get to this thought: Do you think God still does this today? Does God allow or even send things upon His people to keep their character in check? Could it be that some of us are “tormented” with things because God is trying to keep us from destroying ourselves with unhealthy attitudes?

God loved Paul. God wanted Paul to do right. It seems odd that if God cared so much for Paul that He would allow him to be tormented. He would rather Paul be tormented for a while here, and save his soul, than to leave him alone and allow his pride to destroy him. God is more interested in our holiness than our happiness. God would do anything to refine and help our souls remain righteous.

A messenger of Satan…a thorn in the flesh…a tormenter—sent to Paul for the sole purpose of keeping him humble.

I wonder what God would need to send to us? What would God need to send to keep us from gossiping? Or, being selfish? Or, being arrogant? Maybe the stuff we go through is there to teach us and help us. It sure is a different way of looking at what happens to us.

God loves you. He wants you with Him. Might He send something ugly your way, just to help you. I wouldn’t put it pass Him. I wonder if we appreciate that or even understand it?

Roger

Jump Start # 331

2 Corinthians 12:7 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself.”

  It is easy to see from this passage that God hates pride. Twice in this verse Paul says, “to keep me from exalting myself.” God didn’t want that to happen. Paul describes a man, most likely himself, who was taken to “the third Heaven” (v. 2), “Paradise” (v. 4). Paul doesn’t know if this was a divine vision or if he actually went. He doesn’t know. He heard things which he was not allowed to repeat. Because of all of this he was given a thorn in the flesh, to keep him from exalting himself.

  There are many things here. First, the third Heaven. The Jews believed in three heavens. The first heaven is what we would call the sky. The second heaven would be the solar system, where the stars and planets are. The third Heaven, where Paul went, was the home of God. Paul wants them to understand that he wasn’t in the sky, he wasn’t in outer space, rather, he went to Heaven. He doesn’t understand how he got there. It is beyond us to guess.

  While there, Paul heard “inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to repeat.” Paul doesn’t tell us. He doesn’t reveal what it looked like, nor how he felt. John in the book of Revelation, is shown an open door in Heaven and he tells us what he saw. There are far too many books on the market today about people who have died and came back and they detail the songs that were being sung in Heaven and they tell of seeing departed family members, seeing angels and just a list of things as if they were describing for us a vacation they took. It’s amazing that an inspired apostle was not allowed to tell what he heard or saw but anyone else can, and on top of that, they can profit from it by selling books. Does that seem a bit odd to you? It sure does to me.

  Anyone who experienced what Paul did would tend to think just a bit too much of themselves. It would be easy to think that God favors that person more than others. Peter never went to the third Heaven. John didn’t. Andrew didn’t. Only Paul. He must have been the best apostle. He must have been God’s favorite. Folks need to listen to him, because of where he has been. Those kind of thoughts will get a person in trouble and it messes things up. It’s hard to remain humble when you are bragging about yourself. So God took care of that. He allowed a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to be given to Paul. Now what was that? Ideas abound. Some say poor eyesight. Others, some form of crippling disease. Some list different temptations. Paul doesn’t tell us. Guessing is only guessing. The end of this section talks about insults, persecutions, and difficulties. Those may have been the thorns. It was so troublesome that Paul prayed three times that God would remove it. He didn’t. He wanted it there.

   God will sometimes answer our prayers NO. No, is an answer. Paul prayed three times. God said no. Now if you and I did that, we’d start to think that something was wrong with our faith or that God was mad at us or that we had a bad connection in our prayer somehow. Paul didn’t. He understood. God’s grace was all that he needed.

  Sometimes those thorns in our lives hurt and are painful. We want them out and gone. They remain. We pray and they remain. We get weary, discouraged and feel that things are just not right. Those thorns may be there to keep us from going to a place that God does not want. Like Paul, they may be there to keep us from exalting ourselves. They may keep us humble and dependant upon the Lord.

  Our Lord had thorns. They were fashioned like a crown and placed upon His head. A reed was used to beat them further into His scalp. Blood would have poured from those head wounds. It would have been painful. It would have been an ugly mess.

  Thorns…Paul had them. Jesus had them. Do you? Maybe they are there for a reason. Maybe there are there to teach you. Maybe they are there to keep you from going to a place you do not need to be—mentally or spiritually.

  Paul didn’t quit because of thorns. Neither should we. Pray about them. See if you can learn some lessons from them and then keep on doing what God wants. That’s the key!

Roger