This Lord's Day morning, again, as we did last Lord's Day, we're going to break from our study on what we believe. And I want us to look at this portion from 2 Corinthians chapter 12 that we have read together this morning. This chapter contains some very well-known phrases, some very familiar verses, phrases that we so often use as God's people, maybe even in prayer, or just generally in life as we seek to serve And to worship the Lord, take verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 12 as an example. We have that phrase there used by Paul regarding the thorn in the flesh, and that's a phrase that very often we would use today perhaps when under affliction. We think of that phrase, that answer that the Lord gave to Paul there, as we will consider in a moment in the verse 9, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness, something that perhaps often we mention in prayer, we request from the Lord, and we quote as we seek the Lord's face. This chapter, 2 Corinthians 12, it is also, in many respects, a summary, a snapshot of the attitude of the Apostle Paul that he had throughout his Christian life and his service for the Lord. He was really in all things content to surrender, to the will, to the plan, to the purpose of the Lord, no matter what cost that was to Him, no matter what hurt it brought Him, no matter what affliction that caused Him to be under, He was willing to surrender for the cause of Jesus Christ. This morning I want to draw your attention to verses 7 through to 10 of this chapter. We want to look at the subject off the thorn in the flesh. The Apostle Paul is probably my favorite biblical character aside, of course, from our Savior Jesus Christ. Not only did the Apostle Paul have such a miraculous and dramatic conversion to Christ, we read of it there in Acts. Chapter 9, as he was on the road to Damascus, he was one who came from a life of rebellion against the things of God, one who hated the church, who hated the gospel, who hated anything to do with Christ and his people, and yet there on that road to Damascus, Christ met with him, he visited him, and his life and his soul was transformed for all eternity. And that gives much hope this morning to those that are lost. Maybe you're here and you think, well, I'm too great a sinner. I've rebelled too greatly against the Lord. I've done some terrible things against the gospel. I've committed some awful sins in my life, and I could never be saved, and the Lord would never reach down in mercy and redeem me. Well, I encourage you to look at the account of Paul. He himself claimed to be the chief of all sinners, yet the Lord redeemed him. and saved him, and it reveals God's power and His grace and His mercy. Not only did he have a miraculous and wonderful conversion, but Paul went on to live a life of service for Christ. He went on to be a great evangelist, a great church planter, a great missionary, used by God to pen much of what we have in Scripture in the New Testament. We can consider how Paul dealt with affliction, how he dealt with trial. We can look at how he handled persecution, taking a stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can see how he dealt with those that would be what we consider awkward people, those that through all sorts of different questions to him, trying to trip him up as he served the Lord. We could see how he dealt with those that hated the gospel. We can learn so much from how he responded to those who questioned the faith. And we can learn, of course, so much from his teaching and the great doctrines and teaching of Scripture and the things of God. However, one of my favorite passages of Scripture associated with the life of Paul is this one we've read this morning, 2 Corinthians 12, and these verses 7 to 12. It's so applicable to every child of God. We don't need to be an evangelist. We don't need to be a preacher. We don't need to be involved in missionary work as Paul was, but just as believers redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ. We can relate here to these things that Paul is speaking of, something so practical, a passage that brings a challenge, but also a great encouragement. And I know that there are, there has been, there will continue to be in this church and across the church of Jesus Christ, those that suffer affliction, those that are troubled in heart and soul, those that have, as Paul describes it here, that thorn in the flesh, that messenger of Satan to buffet those trials, those tribulations, those burdens, those anxieties, those things that concern us, those things that we have to handle and deal with and face as we seek to go through our Christian life. And so I trust that this account will bring comfort and strength in the time of need. Notice here, firstly, Paul's affliction, his affliction. Look at verse number 7. Paul says, I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." Here we learn that Paul had a thorn in the flesh. He had an affliction. Now there's many different opinions and speculations, if you were to read commentaries and different notes regarding this portion of Scripture and the thorn in the flesh, different reasonings that people give as to what this was that Paul was experiencing. Some think that it might have been to do with his eyesight. His eyesight was failing. We can see that in Galatians 6.11. He wrote, you see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. Paul was not dealing there with the length of his letter, but the size of the characters which he wrote. His eyesight was failing. He was getting on in years, and that was a burden and an affliction for Paul. However, that is only one speculation. There are other opinions. There are other ideas and notions about what this thorn in the flesh that Paul would have been facing. We cannot say here really categorically. We cannot put our finger on exactly what it was. It is not revealed to us. Some think it might have been spiritual, but I believe it more likely to be something in his body. It's a thorn in the flesh. This is something physical. This is something that brought pain. This was something that brought physical suffering and torment and torture and affliction to Paul. This was something that in his body, in his flesh, in his physical being that Paul was afflicted with. He had a thorn in the flesh. Really, the details and specifics of what it was don't really matter. He was suffering. He was under affliction. That is what the Spirit of God wants us to know here. We see here the source of this affliction. Paul states in verse 7 that this affliction appears to be sent by Satan. That's what he says. He says that there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan. And as we think about that, as we think about these words of Paul here, we must confess that there are times in our lives, there are experiences that we have, there are afflictions that we face, burdens that we carry, that we must confess that God has permitted the enemy to test us, to try us, and to afflict us as we seek to go on in our faith with Him. We think of Job. Satan was given permission by God to test and to tempt Job. We have a wonderful insight in Job 1 to a remarkable thing that happened there as the angels gathered around God as they reported back to the Lord. In terms of their business on this earth and what they did in their ministry and how they were fulfilling the work of the Lord, there we read that Satan came amongst them and there's this communication between the devil and God. And it turns out that God then gives permission for Satan to go into Buffet and attempt Job. And we can take great comfort in that dear child of God, although the devil is powerful. Although the devil has a great armory at his use, although there are many tools that he has at his disposal, although when we compare him to our own fleshly human weakness, he is a powerful foe, yet he can do nothing to afflict the people of God without God's knowing and allowing. That is true here in the case of Paul. But there are also times in our affliction that we must say, unlike this time of Paul, that it is not necessarily the devil tempting and trying us, but times in God's providence when God sends affliction and trial and burden so that God might mold us and shape us more and more into the image of His dear Son. And that is what is happening. as we come here to the apostle, not only the source of this affliction, but the scheme or the purpose of this affliction. Interestingly, the apostle here understands why this thorn in the flesh was sent. He is not left here in a state of confusion. He is not writing here bewildered as to what was happening or why it was happening or why he was going through what he was going through, but he knew all too well why the thorn in the flesh was sent. Look at verse number 7. And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." It was to keep Paul's feet on the ground. It was so that he might not become proud. It was so that he wouldn't stop depending on God's strength and begin to look at what he has accomplished through Christ and depend upon his own ability and his own strength to start to go through life and his faith, thinking that he can do it himself, depending less and less on the God who's redeemed him and to save him. It was to curb the pride of the apostle. After all, put yourself in Paul's shoes for a moment. Imagine being used by God as Paul was used. Imagine leading so many souls to Christ. Imagine church planting. Imagine playing such an important role in the building of the New Testament church. Imagine being gifted with the preaching and evangelistic ability that the Apostle Paul was gifted with. Imagine being gifted with the knowledge and the intellect and the understanding of the great doctrines of Scripture as the Apostle was. Imagine receiving visions and revelations from the Lord. There was so much in his flesh that he could be proud of. So much that he could sit back and think, well, I have done well for the Lord, and I have served faithfully, and look at all that has been done, and look at how many souls have been saved, and look at how many churches have been planted, and look at how many countries I have visited with the message of the gospel, and this pride could have swelled up in the heart of Paul. And we all know what it is to have that pride rise up within us, how easy it is for us mere mortals to be proud of ourselves, to exalt ourselves beyond and above measure, to think of ourselves above that which we deserve. And Paul was no different here. Yes, he was used by God. He was set aside by God. He was given a very unique and special and powerful work to do, but he was just a man. And he was subject to pride. He was subject to exalting. himself above measure, and what a ruination that would have brought to his ministry and to his testimony. And so the Lord here keeps it in check. And in order to keep him humble, and in order to stop him from entering into a position of pride, in order to stop him from feasting his eyes upon Christ and depending upon him and looking to him, God allows Paul here to be afflicted, to have the thorn in the flesh. Essentially, God was shaping Paul. He was molding him. He was chipping away at his character, at his person, so that he might make him into the man that he would have him to be, so that he might make him more Christlike. It was for Paul's benefit and for the glory of God. Think of the words of Romans 8, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. And the same is true in so many cases with our affliction, whether it's to teach us some lesson, whether it's the chastening hand of God because of some sin. Whether it is some other reason, it is all for our good and for our benefit. It is that we might be molded and shaped as the potter would mold the clay, as that one who would carve that sculpture out would create that image chipping away bit by bit. That is what God does with His church and with His people, and it might not appear that way to us in the moment. That might be hard, that might be difficult, that might be hard to grasp at the time, but that's why portions of Scripture like this exist, to teach us, to prepare us, to comfort us, that even when we might not feel like it, God is molding us into the image of His Son, and our afflictions are for our benefit and for our good. You're here unsaved this morning. Pride's probably your biggest hindrance this morning. It's the sin of pride that rises up within, that thinks you don't need Christ, that thinks you don't need saved, that thinks you don't need to prepare to go to be with God that will keep you from Christ, that will damn you to eternal damnation in hell. This morning, you must humble yourself before God. You must put away the pride. You must stop looking to self and to sin and to effort. You must feast upon Christ. You must rest. upon him for the salvation of your soul. Thirdly, hear the seriousness of this affliction. We're told there in verse 7 that this thorn in the flesh was sent to Buffet Paul. That word Buffet in the Greek, it speaks of a fist. And the idea here, as Paul is speaking, is that he is being hit with a thorn in the flesh as if he was being hit with a fist that was clenched and that was hitting away at him repetitively again and again and again. This was a serious affliction. This is not something light. These are powerful blows with a clenched fist. Metaphorically speaking, this is how this thorn in the flesh is described. suffering for Paul. This brought him great pain, sorrow, toil. This was not some light-passing affliction that the apostle was enduring just for a moment, but this word, thorn, also speaks of something that hurt, something that was painful, something that speaks of discomfort. This was not a pleasant place that Paul was in. Even though we can't be sure of all the details of what he was experiencing and what he was enduring, Paul here was under serious affliction. This was something troubling for him. We need to understand that context this morning. This is not just some difficulty that was passing by very quickly. This was not just something that was Afflicting Paul just for a small snapshot here. This was not something that really didn't cause him any discomfort or concern, but this brought him great affliction, great pain, great toil, and great sorrow. It was something that was very serious in his life. There are times in our lives when we can be under such affliction. Heavy burdens, great toils, pain, suffering. Maybe you're watching on this morning, or maybe you're here. in the meeting, and that is exactly what you're going through. Great toil. You have a thorn in the flesh. Maybe it's your poor health. Maybe it's a physical ailment, something painful that you've been enduring for a long time. Maybe it is a thorn in the flesh that is buffeting you. You're struggling. Maybe for another it's not physical but spiritual. Maybe doubts, maybe lack of assurance. Maybe a struggle with something else that is weighing upon your heart and in your mind. Maybe it's difficulties in relationships or with finances or in the workplace or with children that have gone wayward and are straying or whatever it might be. And this morning you have a thorn in the flesh and you're afflicted and you're burdened and you're trialed. We need to understand here as we look And what Paul is enduring, although, yes, serious, although a great affliction, although painful, although brought great sorrow and trial and tribulation, God had a purpose. God had a plan. You might not understand that yet. You might not see it. It might be serious. It might be a real struggle, a great trial, and yet it is working together for your good. And for God's glory, God is shaping and molding you. This wasn't some light affliction, but a serious trouble. Paul's affliction. Secondly, here, look at Paul's appeal. Look at verse number 8. It says there, for this thing I besought the Lord thrice, or three times, that it might depart from me. The apostle did what every child of God ought to do. You don't need me to tell you that. God's people know that we ought to pray. We ought to seek the Lord's face. We ought to appeal to God. That's what Paul did. He brought the problem here to the Lord in prayer. He pleaded with God that he would remove the thorn in his flesh. And it seems so simple to say. And in many ways it is simple. Here's a basic answer to the problem, and yet so often we fail to do it. So often a trial and affliction comes. We do not pray as we ought. We seek the help of the world. We seek comfort and assurances within ourselves as we commune in our own minds and our own hearts. And so often if we confess honestly before the Lord, we feel to seek the Lord's face. We feel to just come in humility and simplicity before the Lord, bowing the knee and laying it all at the Savior's feet. We feel so often in that. I want you to notice the perseverance that Paul showed here in prayer. He besought the Lord three times. He didn't just bring it to the Lord once and give up, but he prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed. He was persistent. And he kept on praying until he received an answer from the Lord, and that is recorded in verse 9, and we'll deal with that in a little moment. But the point is here, Paul didn't let go of the Lord until the answer came. It reminds me of Jacob. wrestling with God there in Genesis 32. In the verse 26, we read that Jacob said to God, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. He kept going till the Lord moved. I know that we would have such perseverance in prayer that this would be a characteristic of our prayer life, that we would pray and pray and pray and pray until the answer came. So often the case, in our own experience as God's people, that we pray for a little while. We pray when the affliction is new. We pray when the pain is greatest, when it hurts the most. We pray initially when a problem arises, but before too long we slack off. We give up. We can lose hope so quickly of our prayer ever being answered. We lose patience. could be prayers for many things, could be praying for the salvation of a lost soul, could be praying for help in a trial, could be praying for the church of Jesus Christ, for revival, for souls to be saved, for God's people to be built up, and yet so often we give up, and we let off, and we slack, and that flame becomes weak, and we become weary, and we become tired, and the things that we used to pray for, we no longer pray for. Yet what a difference it would make to our homes, to our church, to our community if we prayed and prayed and prayed till the answer came from heaven. Sad that gone vastly are the days where prayer meetings would have went right through the night. Gone is that desire, not wholly but vastly, of the church to pray. and were to persevere. Paul prayed. He brought the problem to the Lord. He didn't give up, even though he was hurting, even though he was afflicted, even though he was burdened. He prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed. Thirdly, notice here Paul's answer. We're speaking of the answer that Paul received. Look at verse number 9. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, with I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Paul prayed until he received an answer. Now, the first thing that we need to notice here, that this isn't the answer that Paul was expecting. It's not the answer Paul was asking for. The prayer was answered, but it was not in the way that Paul was requesting or that Paul desired or that Paul was seeking. In verse 8, Paul prayed that the thorn in the flesh would be removed. But as we come to verse 9, we see that the thorn in the flesh is not removed. It is not just lifted. The burden is not just taken away. Paul is not just all of a sudden miraculously healed and back on his way again. God can answer in that way, and God does answer in that way, but not always. We might be praying for a particular answer to prayer, but that particular answer that we want might not be God's desire. It might not be His purpose. It might be an answer that we don't maybe initially want or expect. I've seen that at times in my own life, I'm sure you have as well, times where we thought we have known best, we have told God what way we think He should answer, and yet the answer has been different and sooner or later we always see that His way is better than our way. Maybe it's a health concern, maybe you're praying for something else and you're expecting a particular answer. the removal of the thorn in the flesh, the taking away of the burden, and the affliction, and yet that might not be God's will and plan and purpose for you. You might have come to the conclusion, well, God hasn't answered. God is ignoring me. God is not concerned. And yet as you look here at Paul and what he endured and the answer that he received, it could just be this morning in your circumstance that God has answered, but it's not the answer maybe you were expecting. Paul received an answer, not in the way that he wanted, but what Paul received, what he acquired from God in prayer was far greater than what he asked for. far greater than what he expected. God didn't remove the thorn in the flesh, but God, in verse 9, promised that in his affliction, that in his trouble, that in his trial, that God would give him his grace, that God's strength would be revealed and manifested and sent forth through the apostle's weakness. That was far better for Paul. the affliction to be removed. And God will always answer in a way that's best for you and for his glory. You mightn't see it, but he will. He told Paul here, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. God knew better than Paul what Paul needed himself. God knew that it would be more beneficial to Paul that it would be more advantageous for the cause of Christ, for the furtherance of the gospel, for the ministry of the apostle if this thorn was not removed, if the affliction was not taken away, but that Paul could speak of the grace of God, that Paul could experience the strength and the power and the majesty and the might of his Savior in and through his own weakness and failing flesh. It's said that so often it has to rain for a rainbow to show. There has to be clouds before the land can be refreshed with the rain. It has to be night before the light of the day break. And sometimes in our lives for us to glorify God, for us to grow in our faith, we must go through trouble. We must know affliction. We must feel what it is to be weak and helpless in the flesh, for then we will know the strength and the power and the might of our God. That's what God was teaching Paul here. One commentator said it was God's matchless grace that came along with affliction, all-sufficient grace, grace which moment by moment enabled Paul not only to bear the pain and the torment of it all, but to accept it as a fact of life. And as part of that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. God promised to strengthen Paul. God takes the weak things of the world and through them he shows his strength. Someone else has said it's so often been God's way to bypass men of status and social position in the world. To those often looked down on as nobody's Luther was a miner's son Calvin, was a copper's son Swingly, was a shepherd's son Dale Moody, spoke in English, was poor. William Carey was a cobbler. God's strength is made perfect. It has shown force. It has manifested in weakness and humility. John 3, 30, he must increase, but I must decrease. And Paul learned here that while he didn't have the power to overcome, yet God did. And God continued to use him for His glory. And for us, my dear unsaved soul this morning, this is the grace of God that you need, unmerited favor, that which you do not deserve, the mercy, the grace, and the goodness of God. Oh, you're weak in your flesh. You're weak in your sin. You're helpless in terms of the salvation of your soul, but yet God has great grace, great mercy, revealed and manifested in the sending of His Son, the giving of His life to redeem sinners from their sin. Paul's attitude, fourthly and finally, as we close this morning, in response to this attitude to prayer, even though it wasn't the response he was looking for, Paul didn't throw in the towel. Paul didn't become bitter towards God. Paul didn't storm off because he didn't get his way. You know, sometimes that can be our human response. Maybe in our trials and in our troubles, maybe if things in the church aren't going our way, maybe if things in life in general just aren't the way we would have them to be so often, we can become bitter, we can give in, and we can just walk away from Christ, we can walk away from the work of God, we can become so angry. That's not what happened to Paul. Look at verses 9 and 10. Towards the end of verse 9, "'Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.'" Here, Paul was praying for this thorn in the flesh to be removed. He was asking for his affliction to be taken away, but God told him, no, my grace will be sufficient, my strength will be made perfect in your weakness. And here Paul is saying, well, then I welcome such trial and tribulation. If that's what's going to happen, if I'm going to know your grace, if I'm going to know your strength and your power, well then let the affliction come and let me depend upon thee. Let me trust in thee as my Savior." He was going to pleasure in them because he knew that the weaker he was, the more the strength of Christ would be revealed through him. We're to have the attitude of Paul here. That word glory, to glory, Paul speaking of to glory in there means to boast. It wasn't that Paul was going to boast in his affliction. It wasn't that Paul was going to go around and revel in what he was experiencing. Nobody likes to hurt to be sorrowful, but he was going to boast in God's strength that he knew, and the grace and the mercy of God that he experienced. That phrase, take pleasure, means to approve. And Paul was going to welcome these times of affliction because God was doing a work in his life. And that's how we must view our trials, dear believer, not that we enjoy them, Not that we revel in the pain and the suffering and those things that afflict us, but that we wouldn't dread them, that we wouldn't let them cause us to be bitter and downcast and to go into a life of being a hermit because we're afraid of all the things of this life that might hurt and cause us pain, but that we would reveal the strength of Christ in our weakness. We would live out our faith. that God would use us as a witness and a testimony of His saving grace. I'm sure, like you, we can all look back at times when we have felt so weak and helpless, and yet we can joy as we think about how the Lord worked in us. We can joy in that strength of God that we knew, and we can see how it molded us and shaped us, how it caused us to grow in our faith with Jesus Christ. God is working everything together for good. Pray that God's will will be done in your life. Yes, by all means, pray that if it's the Lord's will, afflictions would be removed, but surrender yourself to the will and the plan and the purpose of God. Let the Lord do work in your life. Don't slack off in prayers. Keep seeking God's face. Keep walking with Him. On the mountaintop in the valley, keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ, the author, the finisher of your faith. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong." May that be our testimony. Dear child of God, may we look to Christ, may we depend upon Him through thick and thin, through trial, tribulation, and through periods of blessing. May our faith never change, and may we rest in Jesus Christ. Let us still our hearts before the Lord. Let us bow in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for time spent. Around Thy precious Word, O God, we rejoice in these accounts in Scripture that Thou hast given to us, so that we might find comfort, so that we might be strengthened, so that we might continually look to Thee. And, O God, we rejoice that as Thy people we can all testify to this truth, that Thy grace is sufficient for us. that thy strength is made perfect, manifested, revealed in our weakness. O God, may we not be exalted above measure. May we not think too highly of ourselves. May we realize our own weakness. May we realize our own inabilities. And in those things may we trust and rest upon thee. May you reveal yourself to us. May thou be pleased to use us as testimonies of thy power and thy strength. Write thy word upon our hearts, we pray, and speak on to us, we ask. Father, we ask that you'll bless our fellowship, the one with the other now. We pray that you will continue to be with us, be in the midst. We thank thee for the good things that have been provided, for the effort that has been put in to prepare them. And oh God, we ask that we would eat and drink to your glory. and to your praise. When the time comes, part us with thy blessing, bring us home safely, and cause us to return again this evening to worship and to praise thy holy and worthy name. Part us now and be with us, we ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen.