July 23, 2006 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In the early 600's A.D. Pope Gregory named what he thought were the "Seven Deadly Sins." Does anybody know what they are?

1. Pride 2. Envy 3. Anger 4. Greed

5. Sadness 6. Gluttony 7. Lust

In reality, all sin is deadly - from the greatest to the least, for God says that without holiness no one will see Him. Yet wouldn't you say that first one - pride - is the most dangerous sin yet today? Why? If you think about it, pride is the ultimate sin because it demands to stand before God with it's hands full - shaking it's fist in God's face and saying, "look at me." Proverbs 18:12 says, "Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." Therefore, we need to be rescued from pride and conceit. This is the sin that Paul addresses today, as he assures us that -

There is Salvation From Conceit

I. Conceit is an eternal problem

2 Corinthians is the second letter that we have from Paul to the believers at Corinth. When you take the time to read through these letters you can easily see that conceit was one of the main problems that Paul had to deal with. The Corinthians themselves thought they knew all there was to know. (1 Corinthians 4) There was also a group of men who had infiltrated their ranks, who had the chutzpah to call themselves the "super-apostles". These guys bragged about themselves and told the Corinthians how much better speakers they were than Paul. So Paul had to answer with a litany of his own accomplishments. This made Paul uncomfortable, because he knew that even he was prone to pride.

What was it that tempted Paul to pride? He started out today's text by saying, To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Paul had seen some amazing things from God - been caught up in some sort of a third heaven - seeing things that he couldn't even describe. While Paul was in the desert of Arabia he was personally taught by God. His very conversion involved an actual vision of Christ on the way to Damascus. You would think that such visions would humble a man rather than make him arrogant. Yet Paul said that they tempted him to arrogance. Paul could have been tempted to say to himself, "why did God choose to give such great revelations to ME? Why did He entrust me with such things? Why, it must be because He knew He could trust me! It must be because I am more trustworthy - harder working - more honorable than any of these other apostles. Yes, I must be better than James, John and even Peter!"

Isn't it a strange thing how the heart works? How it can turn a pure gift of God and turn it into some sort of a reward? Yet this shouldn't surprise us. Jesus said that on Judgment Day, "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:22-23) The seemingly greatest and most powerful miracle-working "people of God" will end up in hell. Why? Because of pride and conceit! Imagine if God gave you the ability to drive out demons! Wouldn't you indeed think that God had to be on your side - that you had to be especially blessed by God - to think of yourself as more powerful - more holy - than you really are? Have you never met the "super Christian" who can quote the Bible left and right? With great confidence he is not afraid to rebuke anyone and everyone. Every night he reads and memorizes his Bible. He loves to use his knowledge and speak out, letting the world hear how much he has learned. Yet behind it all, there seems to be an aura of pride. Yes, in his heart, he feels a bit superior for having studied so hard - for having learned all of the doctrines of the Bible.

Indeed, some of the most unloving people and arrogant people are ironically those who are the most learned in the Bible. If you feel that you are not this way, ask yourself if you've ever felt like a "better" Christian because you had to go through more to be confirmed. Ask yourself if you've ever felt more righteous because you haven't been duped like those dumb Mormons or Muslims. That's pride talking. If you don't think you've got it - then that's the first sign you do! You're too proud to admit it.

God knows how the heart is. He has seen hearts work for thousands of years. After about four thousand years worth of observation of the human heart, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 15:18-19, "the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Paul was no different - and neither are we.

II. Salvation comes through thorns and Satan

God cannot live in an overtly proud person. Therefore, God allowed a "thorn" to torment Paul. We don't know exactly what this "thorn" was - besides the fact that it attacked Paul's "flesh". That could be any number of things. It could have been a stutter. It could have been a lust for something that he shouldn't want. I personally think that it was bad eyesight. Irregardless, Paul said that along with this thorn there was a "messenger of Satan" who constantly beat him with it. Again, we don't know exactly what kind of "beating" this was. I can imagine what kind of "beatings" Satan put Paul through. He probably whispered in Paul's ears, "if God really loved you, you wouldn't have this problem." Perhaps he said, "if you were really a Christian, God would have listened to your prayer." Or maybe he said, "God is paying you back for all the damage and murders you committed!" Remember that the Jews during Paul's time associated physical ailments with sin. Who's to say that Satan wasn't trying to convince Paul that his thorn was due to his unbelief?

Has Satan been whispering in your ear? I imagine he has. Amid all of the possibility talkers of today's society - those who tell you "you can do whatever you put your mind to," Satan says to you, "how come YOU aren't as successful as those Christians? How come you were divorced? How come you were fired? It must be because you don't have a strong enough faith! If you really believed - if you REALLY trusted in God, He would bless you! If you only had stronger faith, He would entrust you with more blessings! The reason you are having your health problems is because you don't have enough faith! If you really trusted in God - if you would have just raised your children better - they wouldn't give you such problems. God is punishing you for your mistakes! Real Christians don't doubt God's love! Real believers don't wonder if God loves them. Real Christians don't struggle with lust. Real believers always have their prayers answered. Don't you have any faith? Why don't you stop disobeying your parents? You must not really love God!" Satan loves to whisper. He loves to barb. He doesn't quit. It irritates us to death when we can't stop our sins. It really does bother us when our sicknesses are not healed. It makes us feel that God isn't listening. It makes us feel so weak when we don't get control of our anger - when we can't control the things we want to control. Satan knows how to torment us, doesn't he? He knows exactly what our weakness is - and he loves to drive it down to the depths of our souls.

How do we respond? 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Psalm 50 says, "call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, and you will honor me." This is what Paul did. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. If Paul indeed did have a stutter or bad eyesight, think of how much more he could have gotten done if these had been healed. Think of how much more impressive he would have been if he could have just removed these obstacles. So he prayed for the LORD to take away these obstacles - to get rid of the thorn in his flesh. Life would have been so much easier. He would have had so much more confidence. We've all made similar prayers. "Lord, if you would just heal my back, I could be such a better worker. I would be able help out so much more around the house. Lord, if you would just get rid of my boss - my job would be so much better. I could actually enjoy going to work! Lord, if you would just let my husband die, I could finally feel good about myself and have some freedom!" You may laugh, but how many of us don't just pray from the bottom of our souls for God to remove the things in life that really make it difficult to live? We think about how much better life would be - if only.

Instead of granting Paul's wish, God had better plans for him. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." It was as if God were saying to Paul, "I know this problem is weakening you, but that's what I want. I know you may not be able to do as much as you want to, but don't let it bother you. Think about my grace. I still love you. I love you with an undeserved love - an unfailing love - a merciful love. I love you so much that I sent my one and only son to die for you - and make you holy. Even though this present weakness may make you feel weak and worthless, that's ok. My love isn't based on how successful or productive you are or how good you feel about yourself. Just know that I am a God of grace. I will work through you in spite of your weaknesses. Let that suffice."

Does that answer "suffice" for you? Imagine if you were to be diagnosed with a deadly cancer today. You will die within two months. Would it suffice for you to know, "hey, God loves you?" Imagine if you had been suffering for years with emphysema or arthritis. If God had enabled you to heal other people, wouldn't you want Him to do the same for YOU? How would it feel if instead God just said to you, "I'm gracious"? Would this be sufficient for you? Or would you say, "God, that's real nice - but it sure isn't helping me much right now! I really want to do more for you Lord. I need more than a cliche - I need some results here!" The thing is, "God loves you" is no cliche. It means that even if you can't do all the things you want to do, heaven is still opened to you. It means that even if you die, you can see your children in heaven. It means there will be an eternity of no cancer. It means that you can have a pain free retirement forever. "God is gracious" means that whatever you are suffering is not some sort of punishment for your sin, because Jesus already died for you. It means that whatever happens will be for your good. The grace of God means that your sins are forgiven. This is no empty promise. This is an everlasting promise. When push comes to shove - this is all that can suffice. Why? Because everything else that we live and save for in this world will die, burn, or decay.

III. Rejoice in your salvation

When Paul got a firm answer, he said more than just, "ok. I can live with that." He even took it a step further. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. This is called a paradox. God loves to use them. Think of Christ. In order to save the world - to perform the most miraculous and powerful act in the history of mankind, Jesus had to become the weakest Person He could be. He had to become a convicted criminal and hang on a cross. In order to give eternal heaven, He had to go through a painful hell. In order to give us strength, He had to become weak. In order to make us rich, He had to become poor. In the same way, God works paradoxically in us. In order to make our faith strong, he makes us physically weak. In order to build our faith, He brings us to the brink of despair - so that we have only one place to turn - and that is Him. In order for us to make us closer to God, he sets Satan loose - to chase us to Christ. When we turn to Him for strength - then we are reminded once again as to where our strength is. So Paul - instead of boasting in his strengths - like the "super-apostles" did, boasted in his weakness - for that is what made his faith strong. It's a paradox - a contradiction that takes faith to see and believe. Paul got it, and he rejoiced.

How about you? Remember this. God hates conceit. It flies in the face of faith. Yet we live in a society of people who are constantly seeking conceit. Turn on the TV and you will see people going through Total Makeovers - plastic surgery, confidence coaching, andd every other trick in the book to try and cover up their weaknesses - to give them something to be conceited about. This is supposed to make them "feel good about themselves" if they can just get rid of the gap between their teeth or firm up their sagging buttocks.

Even as Christians, we try to do the same thing on a spiritual level, don't we? We try to make up for our deficiencies and cover them up to one another and even to God. We try to perform things that will make us feel good before God. We want everyone to think we have the perfect marriage. We want everyone to think we never worry. We want God to see us always be patient, always be kind, always be energetic. Yet deep inside there are always those struggles - those weaknesses - that we just can't seem to overcome or get rid of. We pray and we pray and we pray, but they just don't go away. It makes us feel weak and helpless, and we don't like it. It may sound strange - but it's ok to feel weak and helpless. Why? Because it reminds you of something - you're still sinful. When you are reminded of your sin, you can't be conceited.

Instead of asking God to get rid of those things that make you feel worthless, thank God for them. They show you who you are, so you can stop looking at yourself - and start looking at Christ. Instead of fleeing your cross, boast about it. Instead of trying to cover it up, confess it before the LORD. It is then, and only then, that Satan will stop whispering in your ear, and your cross will stop being a weakness - and start being your strength - helping you to cling to Christ. There is salvation from conceit. It is only found in grace. It is only found in Christ. Amen.