A quick thank you to all of you that have helped us already worship, whether it's officially in the music ministry on the instruments, orchestra side as well, those in the choir, and those of you worshiping in your seats as we sing as one great congregation. Very, very grateful for the faithful women taking care of our children and grandchildren in the nursery. those working now in Children's Church, those who come out early to set up and just do many, many things even as we worship. We have people involved in safety and ushering and other things that take place and just grateful for all of you and the opportunity that we have to worship together. I'm excited about 2 Corinthians chapter 12. That's what we're going to turn to now as our worship continues. Just a fascinating account that we'll be looking at today. And it's actually kind of one of those chapter divisions that may not be best because it has everything to do with especially the second half of chapter 11. So it's a message where I need to review a little bit just to make sure we get the context. And I hope it sounds familiar on purpose. I'll be giving the same intro that I used last time we were together. And lest I forget, I wanna welcome those of you live streaming as well and appreciate you joining us that way. The Apostle Paul is facing a very difficult situation. He is being attacked, and he's being attacked by false teachers who are trying to tear down the truth of the gospel by attacking Paul as one who shares the truth of the gospel. So the question is, what do you do when people who don't believe the gospel, don't believe in Jesus, They attack you and try to pull you down. And that's actually a difficult question because Proverbs says in Proverbs 26, 4, don't answer a fool according to his foolishness or you'll be like him yourself. So if you were to say, when someone attacks the truth of the gospel and attacks you as a follower of Christ, just let it go. Don't answer a fool. You have Proverbs 26 verse 4 affirming that, but as many of you know, there's another verse, and it's the same chapter, verse 5, which is a complementary, not contradictory text. Answer a fool according to his foolishness or he'll become wise in his own eyes. Life often takes wisdom. Do you answer a fool and then risk being like him? Or do you just let it go, but then maybe he becomes wise in his own eyes? It's pretty clear to me that Paul's preference is for Proverbs 26 verse four. He does not wanna answer a fool according to his foolishness. These false teachers are boasting about themselves And Paul knows that if he's really going to answer them accurately, he's gonna have to boast in his ministry. He does not want to do it. That's what we're looking at. Let's get a little more context. 2 Corinthians 11, verse three. Here's what's at risk. Paul says, I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. It's not about like Paul losing respect or losing a ministry opportunity. It's about people that Paul has seen put faith in Christ. And here they are. and they are in danger of being led astray from the true gospel, he calls here simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And Paul's concerned that these believers aren't more careful, 2 Corinthians 11 verse four. If one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we've not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you've not accepted, you bear this beautifully. And Paul is, in a sense, chastising these believers, whom he loves. There are people that are bringing another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit, and you're okay with that. And you don't realize how dangerous it is. Verse 5, Paul clarifies that these so-called apostles, that are called here super apostles, really are false apostles. He says in verse 5, I consider that I'm not in the least inferior to these super apostles. He doesn't want to boast about himself, but he's making it clear that their claims are really not valid claims. They may be the so-called super apostles, but they're not true apostles. He clarifies in verse 13 of chapter 11, such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder. For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, therefore it's not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. So what does Paul do? He does what he doesn't really want to do. And 2 Corinthians 11 verse 18 puts it this way. Since many boast according to the flesh, including these super apostles. We've used the term rockstar Christian leaders, right? The guys that allegedly have it all together, they don't suffer, they don't go through the hard times Paul goes through. They that are putting Paul down and saying, he's no real apostle, because if he was, he wouldn't look like this, he wouldn't talk like this, he wouldn't suffer like this. Paul says, okay. It's time for me to boast even though I prefer not to. And what does he boast in? He boasts in weakness. And that was the title of the message last week. Today, we begin in chapter 12, verse one. We'll simply call it part two of boasting in weakness, a fascinating account for many, many different reasons. And we'll break it down this way. Boasting in weakness, let me read the first four verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Boasting is necessary, though it's not profitable. But I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Let me just pause right there, maybe with verse one. Boasting, okay, I give in. If I am going to help you Corinthians to realize that these super rockstar apostles are not true apostles, then maybe I do need to boast. It's not profitable, but it's necessary. But I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Now we have to understand the context, and then it's kind of like Jeopardy, we have the answers, we gotta guess a little bit at the questions, but all the commentators agree. Why would, basically all the commentators agree, why would Paul say in verse one, we're gonna talk about visions and revelations, because no doubt the super apostles were saying, Paul is not who he claims to be. We have great visions, we have great spiritual experiences, greater than Paul has ever had, And Paul says, okay, you wanna talk about it? I generally don't like to talk about it. In fact, I'm gonna talk about it in the third person because it's just so difficult for me to talk about something I just rather prefer not to talk about because if I talk about it, then I would be boasting just like they are The only difference being what I'm saying is true and what they're saying is not true. But here it comes. Here he goes. I know a man in Christ, verse 2, who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know or out of the body I do not know, God knows, such a man was caught up to the third heaven. You say, Greg, what in the world is Paul doing? Paul says, all right. You wanna know what the false teachers are saying about me not being on their level? If I wanted to, I could boast. You say, what about Paul? It's very simple. I've been to heaven. I have gone to heaven and back. But he doesn't wanna say that about himself because then he'd be boasting. Like, I've been to heaven, you haven't, right? And he doesn't wanna go there. So again, he uses third person, verse two. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know or out of the body I do not know, God knows such a man was, key verb, such a man was caught up to the third heaven, caught up. The words only used one other place, 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 through 17, Paul writes, The dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. It's the idea of a sudden action like a snatching. Paul says it happened to me in the third person. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven. Now, what in the world is the third heaven? If you want to think about it this way, you look at the sky, that's the first heaven. You look at outer space, you think about planets, whatever, that would be the second heaven. And beyond that, we think of it as the abode of God, that would be the third heaven. So we think of heaven as being the dwelling place of God. What do we pray in what some call the Lord's Prayer? Our Father who art in heaven. Now we want to be careful, don't think that God like lives up there somewhere because we know that God is obviously omnipresent, right? I have 1 Kings 8 27 up. But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built as they get ready to dedicate the temple there back in 1 Kings. But we could think of the special abode of God as being in heaven, or perhaps as Paul would say here, the third heaven, okay? So Paul says 14 years ago, he was caught, he was snatched up to the third heaven, and he doesn't exactly understand whether it was, notice he says it twice, verse two, in the body or out of the body. I don't know. And then go down to verse three, he hits it a second time. Whether in the body or apart from the body, I don't know. Was I actually in heaven in my body? Was it some kind of out of the body thing? Paul says, I simply don't know. But it happened. And it happened 14 years ago. Now it's interesting Paul says 14 years ago, because we can go through the Bible, we'll find out there are six separate times that Paul has some type of revelation from God in some type of supernatural way, vision, that type of thing, and yet none of them line up with this account. I used to think that it really would make sense, maybe this is where Paul was stoned in Lystra, and he was left for dead. And maybe after that, he actually died, went to heaven, came back, maybe. And that made a lot of sense to me. The problem is from a chronology standpoint, excuse me, it doesn't work with 14 years. We simply don't know. exactly what event this was other than from this account, if our chronology is correct. But it happened 14 years before he wrote about this. I just wanna pause. Let's think about that. 14 years, and you don't tell anybody. How many of us would do that, right? How quick are we to brag about what we do? Right? Hey, what'd you do this summer? I went to Europe. Let me tell you all about Europe. And we're all excited. Forget that. We post it on Facebook while we're there. Eiffel Tower, click, right? Eating in Paris, click. Because we want everyone to know what we do. I mean, let's just be honest. We are proud people. Paul didn't go to Paris. Paul went to heaven. I'd say that's better, okay? And you say, Greg, have you been to Paris? I'm not telling you about that, okay? Yeah, I've been to Paris. Okay, now I say, there you go, I'm proud. So here's Paul, 14 years, and he doesn't want to talk about it. Interesting. He does tell us more about what happened, but maybe also why he can't tell us more about what happened. Because notice what happens in verse four. He was caught up into paradise. You say, okay, so what is paradise? It's another word for heaven. Because in verse two it says he was caught up to the third heaven. Here in verse four he says he was caught up into paradise, so obviously paradise is heaven. Heaven is paradise. And what did he hear according to verse four? inexpressible words. Those are words that you can't speak. Now we have to be careful there because they may not be words. The word, translated word, can also mean things. And those of you reading in ESV, it says things that cannot be told. So Paul heard either words or whatever, things, whatever that would mean, and they're words or things, verse four, that are inexpressible, and second part of verse four, wait at the end, which a man is not permitted to speak. So they can't be communicated. They're not allowed to be communicated. He heard them 14 years ago. And for the first time he's talking about it, and he won't even say it was him, he says, oh, I know a man. That's Paul's heart. Now, a couple things to note. First of all, this is just kind of an aside. How many of you have heard of at least one book or movie being written or published on somebody who went to heaven and came back, and they're going to tell you about it? Interesting. That's actually one of the discussion questions in our Shepard Group Sunday handout. I call it the bonus question. I've never had a bonus question. We're going to talk about that a little bit in Shepard Group Sunday, right? The boy who came back from heaven, a true story. That's the title of the book. You say, is it a true story? Well, it has to be because it's in the subtitle. It says a true story. The boy who came back from heaven. You say, what about the fact that the guy who wrote it since then has actually come forward and said, I lied about the whole thing? Well, you go to Shepherd Group Sunday and you can talk about that, okay? But Paul said he couldn't explain it and he wasn't permitted to explain it. Now, let me get back to the main context. What is Paul doing? He's dealing with false teachers. What do these false teachers do? They love to boast that they were rock star super apostles and Paul couldn't hold a candle to them. And Paul says, you know what? If I wanted to boast about things like that, I too could boast. But for 14 years I haven't because that's not Christianity. That's not Christian leadership. That's not what godly people do. It's not all about let me tell you how God has used me and what God has done in my life, and actually it's just a brag session is what it is. Paul didn't do that. For 14 years, he didn't do that. See, Paul understood Proverbs 27 verse two. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth, a stranger, and not your own lips. You know, are you ever tempted to let people know about something you did that's kind of, you know, you think, hey, it's kind of awesome? Let them bring it up. And if they don't bring it up, if you're not proud, you don't care. And yet all of us care deeply, because let's just be honest, we all struggle. We struggle with pride, and we struggle with this idea of, hey, I want people to know. Paul wasn't that way. In fact, he wrote just what, two chapters earlier in chapter 10, verses 17 through 18. He who boasts is to boast in the Lord, for it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends. What is Paul saying? You guys are all into these false apostles, super apostles, they have the big stories, they love to boast, I guess it's time I'm gonna tell you something. I never told you before, but I went to heaven. Just thought I would tell you. I could boast, but I don't want to. I choose not to. That's Christian humility. That's a person who knows Christ well. If I could put it this way, I've debated whether or not to say this, I hope this is not, I've grown and grown in my appreciation for Paul, and this is what I'm going to say, and I don't mean this as a negative at all. Paul is a man's man. Paul is a man. You show me a man like this who goes to heaven and back and doesn't feel the need to talk about it all the time. I say, that's a man. That's a godly man. Paul could have boasted. You say, okay, Greg, you made the point. Why didn't he boast about it? He's going to help us understand that. And that'll be our second point. Paul could have boasted. He went to heaven, number two. Paul was humble. He would rather boast in his weaknesses than boast in having gone to heaven and back. You say, what's going on here? Okay, notice verse five. It'll help us here. On behalf of such a man, I will boast. I mean, these super apostles have kind of like pushed me into the corner. It's time to answer a man according to his folly, third person. Okay, got it. On behalf of such a man, I will boast. but on my own behalf, I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. You say, Paul, Paul, what are you saying here? Why would you not boast in your heavenly experience? Keep reading, verse six. For if I do wish to boast, I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth. And if I told everybody that is, I went to heaven and came back, it's a true story. But check out the second half of verse six. But I refrain from this so that no one, here's the reason, will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. Paul makes it very, very clear what he's doing. He's making it clear, I want you to come to conclusions based on what you see in me, end of verse six, watch my life, and hear from me, listen to what I say, and those are the kind of conclusions I want people to come to. I don't want anybody saying, Paul must be awesome, because there's this really big story he tells about going to heaven. Now, whether he actually went or not, we don't know. How could we know? But he must be awesome. He says, no, we're not going there. You just watch me. You watch the way I follow Christ. You watch the way I live. You don't need to listen to any stories I have. Just watch my life. and then you come to conclusions on who is the real apostle. That's the apostle Paul. He would purposely not boast in having gone to heaven. And verse seven makes it clear that God actually helped him in this. Before I read verse seven, let me mention one thing. Notice in verse seven, for most of us I think, it begins with a capital letter, obviously it's a new sentence. I thought it was interesting, you guys know this in Greek, we don't always necessarily know exactly where a sentence ends, a sentence begins, that kind of thing. Let me put up 2 Corinthians 12, six through seven in the NIV. It says, I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or the sentence continues into the first half of verse seven, or because of these surpassing great revelations. It may be that the first half of verse seven is actually the end of the sentence in verse six, and what Paul is saying again, this is why I didn't want to talk about it. I don't want you judging me on the fact that I've been to heaven and back, okay? Now notice what comes next in verse seven. For this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, and obviously that would be everyone's temptation if you actually went to heaven and came back. You would be proud, you would be posting it all over social media, right? To keep me from exalting myself, There was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, and lest we forget, he repeats it a second time, to keep me from exalting myself. Now, I think most of us are familiar with this passage. Paul's talking about a thorn in the flesh. What is it? We don't know. We do know what the word thorn typically means. It means a stake. Don't think of it like a small thorn off of a rose bush or something, which can really be annoying, but this is more than annoying. This is something tormenting, it says. And the text says it's a messenger of Satan. And again, the bottom line is we don't know exactly what it is, but we do know that it was obviously something very unpleasant very undesirable, and it was something that also was very lengthy. Because guys, can I remind us, how long ago did Paul go to heaven? It says back in verse three, right? It says in verse two, rather, that this all took place 14 years ago. We assume he would have gotten the thorn in the flesh once he came back for 14 years. Paul has been suffering the thorn in the flesh, and it somehow involved a messenger of Satan So if we take that word as we normally translate it as an angel, that would mean there was demonic involvement. But the word messenger could also just mean a person, and so it could be that he's using this in reference to a human being who's doing the will of Satan. There's much to be said about this text, and here's what I'm going to do. We're actually gonna have another message next week just on this. But rather than pulling this out of the context, I want to stay with the big picture today. I want to make the point that here is Paul for 14 years suffering, and what did he do? Verse 18, concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. Three times he prayed that God would take it away. It must have been incredibly hard. What have we seen? Paul, who's humble, he would not boast in his heavenly experience. Instead, he boasted in his weaknesses. Now, the thorn in the flesh is one of those weaknesses. And see, that's the big picture, the context. So here is Paul, even though three times he prays, and basically, God, will you take this away? And the Lord, of course, says no. What does Paul do? He says, okay. I am going to boast in my weaknesses. You see that back in verse 5? He says, but on my own behalf, I will not boast except in regard to my weaknesses. Go ahead to verse 9 and we're going to see that same thing towards the end. Most gladly, I will rather boast about my weaknesses. It's incredible. has been to heaven, doesn't want to talk about it, but he will talk to you about the intense pain he's had for 14 years, thorn in the flesh. He'll not only talk to you about it, he will brag about it. You wanna know what it means to be an apostle? Let me tell you about my suffering. Go down to verse 10. I am well content with weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, difficulties. Those are the kind of things I boast in. Now I have to admit, this is a passage that I think for a lot of us, Greg, what is he? Is he like an ascetic? I mean, is he into like self-harm or flagellation? That the guy sits around and just loves to suffer. This is so weird. This is almost like some type of religious teaching that our suffering is efficacious and actually maybe somehow earns our way to heaven. And I would make the point that that is absolutely wrong. That is not even close to what this is about. And I think that's going to be clear when we take a closer look at verse nine. Let's kind of focus in on verse nine. It says in verse eight, remember, Paul said three times, he prayed, Lord, please, take it away. Verse nine, and what was God's response? Here we go, I think this will help. God said to him, my grace is sufficient for you. for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. I put it this way. Believers experience Christ's power in weakness. Let's just hit these three things real quick. There's three things going on here in verse nine, I think. Notice verse nine, first of all, the beginning. My grace is sufficient for you. What is grace? It's help. It's God doing something for you wonderfully, wonderful, that you don't deserve. So here you are, and life is hard. And God says to Paul, I know you want this child to go away. You've prayed three times. My answer is, now there's different ways of saying this. I think this is a fair answer. My answer is no but. Am I going to take it away? No but. I'm going to give you grace, and my grace is sufficient for you. Paul? I will give you the strength, the power that you need to get through this trial. That's God's word for Paul. That's God's word for us. You will never face a trial that God will not give you the grace to handle. You maybe can't handle it. In fact, I think if we're honest, we would say often we can't handle it. God promises you that his help, his grace is sufficient for you. You say, Greg, when do I get that grace? Go a little bit farther. For power is perfected in weakness. When do we experience the power of God in our lives? Guys, it's not when everything's awesome. Contrary to the television preacher. who says, I follow Christ, check out my watch, check out my car, check out where I live, and you can have this all and live like a child of the king, and that's the false teaching of the prosperity televangelist. Those were the false rock star apostles in Corinth. Paul have none of that. Paul understood what Jesus said. My grace is sufficient for you, powers perfected in weakness. And here is Christ, I believe it's Christ speaking here. Paul, if you wanna experience my power, that power will be perfected against the background of human weakness. That is why Paul was boasting in his weakness. Because it's when we are weak that we experience this kind of grace and power from Christ. And thus Paul says, second half of verse 9, most gladly, I mean this sounds over the top to me, I'm just being honest, most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses. I want you to think about that. I want you to think about a trial that you're going through right now. I talked to somebody this morning, it's kind of a financial trial they're going through. Talked with a brother yesterday about a relationship trial he's going through. Talked with another brother on Friday, a brother I haven't seen in a long time, and he told me about something that's just ripping his heart out. And you know what Christ's answer is, verse nine? my grace is sufficient for you, and my power, Christ's power, not our power, is perfected in our weakness. Guys, when this incredible text lands home in our hearts and actually influences us according to the scripture, we will be able to most gladly boast about our weaknesses. And I'll be the first one to say, I'm not there. But I wanna get there. Because that's where Paul was. And I am convinced that's where God wants you to be. so that every trial that comes into your life is an opportunity for you to say, God, this is over the top, so hard, and this is exactly when you give me grace, and your grace is always sufficient, and you're gonna bring your power into my life, I will boast in my horrible health, in what's happening in my family right now, in my financial challenge that I never saw coming, in the fact that life has not turned out the way I want it, I will gladly boast so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. That's why Paul is boasting in weakness. You say, Greg, that's incredible. That's humility. That's Christianity. That's living an apostolic Christ-like life. That's what it means, guys, for us to boast in our weaknesses. The false teachers, The television preachers, and let's be honest, I hate to keep giving television preachers a hard time. Just Christian workers in general. I mean, I live in that world to a degree. And I'll just be honest, and I'll just speak about us. And again, I can say this, because I'm one of them. You can't, because then it's just not nice. But when I'm around people like me, and there's a whole lot of boasting going on. And how is your church growing? And how is God using you? And whether you talk again about budgets or buildings or baptisms or conversions or whatever, it always ends up with somehow that guy looks pretty good. And I'm just telling you, that's not Paul. And I'm going to make the point that that's not true Christianity. Because anytime we get the glory, then it's not going to Christ. And the only time Christ is honored is when he gets all of the glory. You say, so Greg, when do we experience the power of God? In our suffering. It's in our affliction. And by God's grace, that's when we would come to the place where we can learn what Paul has learned. And it's our third point this morning. Number one, Paul could have boasted he went to heaven. Number two, but Paul was humble. Instead, he boasted in his weaknesses. And finally, number three, Paul was content. He understood that it was Christ that makes the weak strong. Notice, please, what he says as we wrap up verse 10. Pick it up from verse nine just to keep the thought flowing. He said to me, Christ, My grace is sufficient for you for powers perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. I thought verse 9 was over the top. Here it comes again. Therefore, I am well content. I saw that. And I thought, well, content, like, I know what content is, but why does it say well content? Like, why is my translation taking the verb content but sliding that modifier well content? What word is this? And then I find out it's not the word content. It is the word that means to delight or take pleasure in. And I thought, wow, my new American standard, I get it. They thought to translate it, I delight in weakness. That's just like too over the top. No one will even believe it. I take pleasure in my suffering. But that's what he says. The NIV translates it to delight, the Holman Christian, to take pleasure in. I am well content with weakness. I delight in weakness. I take pleasure in weakness. You say, come on, what does weakness mean? Just keep reading. It includes insults. Do you delight when people insult you? It includes distresses. That just means hardships. Every time life is hard, Do you just get excited because the power of Christ is going to be manifest and magnified in your life? Paul says, I delight with persecutions and with difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. That's why Paul boasted in weaknesses. It is so incredibly, again, I don't know what to call it. It is an incredibly high bar to strive for, and I think many of us would not even be interested in trying, just to be frank, until you're really thinking through and let this passage get a hold of you. I don't like trials. I don't like it when life doesn't go well, you know? I often think, Lord, I don't need a lot. I just want what I have to work. You know what I mean? That's how I feel. I kind of feel like, I'm gonna use an example that's not going to be on this level, but I think in simple terms. So I'm gonna use a simple example that I hope will help. I like it when my truck starts when I turn the key. I like it when the air conditioning works. And I like it when it stops, you know, basic stuff, like the brakes work. And I'm not against a new truck, but Lord, I don't need a new truck. I just want my truck to work. It's what I like. This text is saying that when my truck doesn't run well, when it breaks down, gets a flat tire or whatever, I'm supposed to actually delight in that because it's an opportunity for Christ to magnify his grace and power in my life, and I am going to see God work in a way that's incredible, realizing that when I'm weak, I am strong. Lord, I'm rejoicing in this truck being broken down. because it brings me closer to you. Now let me continue that thought. Maybe it's something like this. I've gotten a taste of that, even though it's no longer the case, to my regret. Because I had a brother who's now with Christ who used to work on my truck for me. And so whenever I would need like a new starter or alternator, whatever, I would just call my brother. And he would say, Greg, here, bring it by. And what was nice is he would give me an exact time. Now a business can't do that. You know, and I understand that. But I would go to his house and he would say, come by exactly at five o'clock. I will meet you at five o'clock. And he was very punctual. I would show up at five o'clock. So I didn't have to wait. And then you say, would you leave the truck with him? Never, I stayed with him because I loved fellowshipping with this brother. And so I said to him, do you mind if I hang out? Because I just want to hang out with you. And he would say, I like working on your truck because I like hanging out with you. So we would talk about our grandkids. We would talk about life. We were roughly the same age. And we would talk about Christ. And he would encourage me, and I would trust I would encourage him. And then he would give me the bill, and it was so low, it was like, wow. And sometimes, in addition, he would not only give me the bill and just say, pay me whenever, he would say, hey, can I, he was excited about his garden. Some of you know who I'm talking about. He had a big garden in his backyard, and more than once, I would leave, not only with a new alternator, starter, brakes, whatever, I would also leave with a bill that was lower than it should be, and I would leave with some fresh-picked corn. And I'd take it home, Nancy'd put it on the grill. And you know, it just changed my mind about my truck not working. Because every time I would have a truck problem, I would think, I'm going to see my brother. And even though, you know, it might not be my first choice, it's such a blessing when I hang out with him. I mean, it's fixed, we fellowship, low cost, and I get a bonus fresh corn. Life is good. That illustration is not adequate. It's the best I could come up with. Lord, here I am, and there's something going on, and it's horrible, and I am so weak. And so this is exactly when you work. And this is when you actively in my life show me that when I am weak, in reality, I am strong, not through my power, but the power of Christ. Lord, I am going to be, I'll use the Nashby rendering, I am going to be well content in my weakness. In fact, and here's our conclusion, guys, I am going to boast in weakness. So here's how we're gonna close today. I would like you to think of a specific trial that you're going through. Whatever, you think about it, lock in, and most of you don't have to struggle unless you got too many going on. But I want you to think of the struggle. Something that you wake up and it's there, as you're going to sleep, it's there, I want you to think about that and I want you to think about it through the 2 Corinthians chapter 12 Apostle Paul way of thinking about the weaknesses that we struggle with in life. And I want to remind us together of three things that are true. This is our conclusion. Ready? Number one, God's grace is sufficient for you. You say, Greg, I'm going through something I never expected. I understand that. And I'm sorry about it. If I could take it away, I would. But you know what the answer from the Bible is? God's grace is sufficient for you. And you might rightfully say, you don't know what it's like. And you may be very accurate in that. And for me to say I know what it's like would be disingenuous or dishonest. But God's grace is sufficient for you. And regardless of what's happened to you in your past or what you're struggling with right now today, God's grace, it's sufficient. God's gonna help you. Number two, God's power will be displayed in your trial. You know, you've heard this illustration. Go to a store, pick out like a diamond ring, engagement ring or something, and you always have the rings, what? On black or super dark navy blue velvet. Why? Because it's the blackness of the cloth that displays the brilliance of the diamond. It's our weaknesses as we struggle in this life. Lord, I'm in this bad marriage or my parents are messed up, my kids are messed up, I'm messed up. And God says, okay, but my grace is sufficient. And I am going to display my power in your trial, which takes us to our third and final conclusion, guys, which means when we are weak, we are strong. You know, I've heard people say, I'm so weak, God could never use me. And I think, wow, I don't even know what to say to that. That is such an unbiblical thing to say. You may be so strong, God will never use you. There's no such thing as being so weak, God will never use me. It is in our weakness that in reality we are strong. The gospel just takes common worldly wisdom and turns it upside down. It is in our weakness that we experience the strength and grace and power of Christ, which means we can be content as we struggle. So to encourage you this morning, what are you struggling with? And based on this scripture, I can tell you with apostolic authority, because Paul wrote this, you can be content. You don't have to be filled with anxiety. You don't have to run to the medicine cabinet, you don't have to run to the liquor cabinet, even when life is hard. God, by his grace, will help you, he'll give you what you need, he'll display his strength, and he will give you the ability to be content. And people will say to you, wow, I mean, I know other people that are going through what you're facing, and their life is an absolute train wreck, and look at you. I mean, what's going on? And you would say, you know, I don't know what to say, except when I am weak, then I am strong. If you have a few minutes, I'd like to boast with you about my weaknesses. I would like to tell you how weak and sinful I really am. And any ability that I have to make it through this life and this trial, I'll just say is God's grace. And I praise Him for it. And wow, you must be a great Christian. Don't say that, because I'm not. And as soon as I agree with you, I'm in trouble, because the grace goes away. It's when I am weak. May God, in this context, give us all the grace to boast in our weaknesses. For when we are weak, we are strong.