Okay, good morning everyone. Lovely to see you. My name is Graeme, I'm the pastor here of the church and it's been wonderful to meet some new faces this morning.
You're so welcome. You are joining us at an exciting time. We're at the penultimate sermon in our series in 2 Corinthians.
So, if you have a Bible, come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
If you don't have a Bible, then you can grab one of the pews round about.
They are for that purpose. If you didn't bring a Bible, you can use them.
You can scroll on your phone, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, or failing that, the verses will be on the screen behind me and you can follow along as we read together.
But as you turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, know that you are turning to one of the most loved portions of the Bible for Christians down the generations all across the world.
And I think as we take in these 10 verses in chapter 12 together, we will see the beauty.
So, the invitation this morning is whatever's going on in your life just now, whatever you've brought in those doors with you, bring it and bring your soul to these verses.
And let's be refreshed as we take in once again who Jesus is.
So, in verse 1, chapter 12, Paul writes this,
I must go on boasting.
Although there's nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up in the third heaven.
Whether it was in the body or out of the body, I do not know.
God knows.
And I know that this man, whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, but God knows, was caught up to paradise.
And heard inexpressible things that no one is permitted to tell.
I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself except about my weaknesses.
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool because I would be speaking the truth, but I refrain.
So, no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say because of these surpassing great revelations.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given 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 and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
And Lord, we just pray that you'd be with us this morning as we turn to your living and your active word.
Father, thank you that when we open our Bibles, we hear your very voice.
And so, Lord, I ask that your spirit, that he would take these truths,
that as we meditate on them and glory in them over the next half an hour or so,
that he would be at work in our hearts.
Whatever's going on in our lives today, Father, would you bring the perfect application of these verses to our lives?
Father, thank you for your love for us.
And we just pray these things in the strong name of Jesus.
Amen.
So, friends, here is a question to get us going.
Ready for it?
What does a powerful person look like?
It's a TV show currently airing on the BBC that's on its 19th series called The Apprentice.
It's dog-eat-dog in the business world.
There's 18 people.
They compete for Lord Sugar's 250 grand investment in their business proposal.
And it is all-out power.
Now, I'll give you a little example of this.
This is my favorite from a candidate from a few years ago.
He said this of himself.
He said, I'm a Swiss army knife of business skills and enthusiasm.
I've got everything highly tuned and highly chiseled.
Now, I've long given up in the hope of being highly chiseled.
But there's part of me that would love to be a Swiss army knife.
Would you not love that in your life?
That's the kind of person that oppresses me.
The kind of person that can do anything, that can turn their hand to everything.
Someone whose pitches are slick.
Someone whose qualifications are second to none.
Someone who's got more letters after their name than they do actually in their name.
Someone whose dress sense is top-notch.
I guess that's why in our culture we talk about power dressing.
Someone who's confident and capable at everything.
Able to cope with every challenge that life throws at them.
We love in our world and we celebrate the story of the self-made man.
We were around in the 90s.
I think it was 1999 from the top of my head.
You remember Destiny's Child had that song.
Independent Woman.
And we think these kind of people are mightily impressive.
And I look at people like that and I see them in my own life.
And then I look back at my own heart and life.
And I think to myself as I do, compare.com.
I wish I had it a bit more all together.
And so here's how this passage has acted in my life this week.
And it's an invitation I want to just extend to us all this morning.
It's about like this.
You know, from our house we've got a great view of King's buildings.
You know, on the university campus just in the south of the city.
Here's the thing about King's campus.
At the minute there's a massive building project going on.
So every day I take the kids to school and we look up and there's a massive yellow crane that's dominating the skyline.
What's happening at King's is there is a massive building there which has stood for decades.
And what's happened is it is gradually being deconstructed.
Deconstructed.
It's derelict.
It's being torn down.
Brick by brick, steel bar by steel bar.
They are deconstructing this thing.
And the plan I heard is once it's down is to build something else in its place.
Now that's a wonderful picture of discipleship and how it works in our hearts and lives.
Friends, we all come at this text having a standing building in our minds of what power looks like.
And what impresses us in this life.
And what God has done in my heart this week, and this is a long-term process,
is that that vision of what power is and what impresses me, he's began to slowly deconstruct it.
And in its place, he's given me this passage.
And he said, this is what true power looks like.
So here's chapter 12.
Here is, friends, the liberating paradox of weakness being the new strength.
Right?
Weakness being the new strength.
And here's the secret sauce of the Christian life.
We are never more useful to the Lord than when we are completely dependent on him.
Weakness is the way.
To some degree, what we're doing is we're just looping back this morning to where we all started.
And the big thing of this book is weakness is the way.
And the thing is, this is the opposite of how Corinth thinks.
This letter written to the church in Corinth.
A city where the apprentice would go down a storm.
They would love the idea of the apprentice in Corinth in the first century.
Playing right into that are the super apostles who've shown up in Corinth
and have tapped into this whole idea of a city who loves the impressive.
And what they've done is they have dazzled the people in this church with their claims.
Right?
This is like our kids do this every time we go into Princess Street.
And they see that shop called Kingdom of Sweets.
You ever seen it?
And every time they say, Daddy, can we go?
What's attracting them to the Kingdom of Sweets?
Right?
Bright lights over here.
Shiny things over there.
Music coming.
Can we go?
It's like that.
If you imagine that emoji on your phone.
It's like the little yellow man with the stars in his eyes.
Right?
That's what's happened to the people in this church.
They've been dazzled by these false teachers who are tapping into the world's idea of impressiveness.
What they're doing is they are teaching and promoting this.
We'll come back to it in a minute.
And what they're doing at the same time is that they're discrediting Paul.
And you can imagine the lines.
This guy is so unimpressive.
He's yesterday's man.
Sure, he had that wonderful vision on the Damascus Road.
But that was almost 20 years ago.
Is he seriously still living off that?
We've got better visions.
We are giving better talks.
We've got better looking lives.
Paul knows exactly what they're up to.
And here's one of the key verses in this text.
Did you see how often it crops up?
It's the word boast.
That word comes up roughly 21 times in this letter.
Here's a little factoid for you.
It comes up 21 times roughly in this letter.
And five of them are in these 10 verses.
It's interesting, isn't it?
Paul knows there's a lot of boasting going on.
These false teachers, these super apostles are making big boasts.
And here's the thing.
Paul's going to boast back.
He's all up for a boast off.
He'll play their game.
But he'll play it on his terms.
So Paul's going to boast all right.
But he's not going to boast in himself.
He'll boast.
Come with me to the text.
Verse 5.
He'll play it on his own.
In the things that show his weaknesses.
And that is extraordinary.
It's one thing to admit that you've got weaknesses in life.
It's another thing completely to boast in those weaknesses.
No one says this better than D.A. Carson.
He's got a lovely little book on chapters 10 to 13 of 2 Corinthians,
if you want to get into it, talking about Christian character.
And he says this.
Try this insight on for size.
He says,
Most people go through life concerned that others will think too little of them.
Guilty.
Paul was concerned that others would think too much of him.
And you think to yourself,
How has Paul got there?
Well, that's where we're headed this morning.
Here's the game plan.
Here's the formation of this sermon.
Friends, I've got two points.
Two big truths from this passage.
And then one big application for us at the end.
Is that okay?
Two, one.
Here's the first truth, verses 1 to 7.
And really, it's the folly of boasting in self.
So when it comes to boasting,
here's the thing to see if you come to these verses.
It's not like Paul didn't have a card that he could play.
Do you see that?
He's had an encounter with the risen Lord Jesus.
But hear the awkwardness as he talks about it.
I know a man, he says, verse 2.
Now, here's the spoiler alert.
Paul is talking about himself in the third person.
Who 14 years ago, he says,
which if you're into your timelines,
it puts this somewhere between Acts 9 and Acts 11,
when Paul is in Tarsus.
Okay?
Paul has his vision, which takes him to paradise.
Now, again in the text, what he calls the third heaven.
Do you see that?
Jews of Paul's day often talk about the heavens and realms.
So the first realm, the first heaven is,
if you imagine this going up,
it's where the birds are.
Birds fly, it's the sky, right?
The second heaven is where the stars are.
Right?
You getting it?
Then the third heaven is the very dwelling place of God.
But notice how Paul goes out of his way,
given all of that,
to underscore just how passive he is in all of this.
As if to say, this was nothing to do with me.
This was not like a video game
where I unlocked a secret level.
Look what he says.
Was I in the body or out of the body?
I don't know.
No.
Completely passive.
Now, this isn't an outer body experience.
What this says is Jesus taking hold of his life
and showing him what Paul describes here,
inexpressible things.
Now, here's the thing to see.
Imagine they gave me top trumps.
If ever there was a card that Paul has
that he could play to beat the super apostles,
here's the card.
But Paul refuses to be drawn into that trap.
He doesn't want them to base their confidence in him
on the fact that he's claiming to see something.
That's what the super apostles are doing.
He's saying, my claim, my message's claim,
what backs it up is my character.
Maybe think about it like this.
Why won't he be drawn into the trap?
There's a statue in the city of Corinth
that depicts a famous story from history.
And it features Alexander the Great.
And the story goes that he rides back into town one day
after another victory on the battlefield.
And he does what victorious emperors, kings,
would do back in the day.
Imagine if you're a football fan,
you saw Newcastle do this yesterday.
What they do is they parade through the city.
So Alexander's parading through the city
so that everyone can see him in his splendor and in his pomp.
Everybody's into this.
But Alexander, from his horse,
spies a man at the side of the road
who looks mightily unimpressed.
So what he does is he goes over in his horse.
This man's name is Diogenes.
And he goes over in his horse to Diogenes
and simply says, what can I do for you?
And Diogenes sitting there replies,
I just want you to get out of the way of the sun.
Here's what I think Paul's understood in this passage here.
The devil would love him to get in the way of the sun.
Satan would love nothing more
than for Paul to block the glory of Jesus.
Friends, what a lesson for us
that the devil rubs his hands with glee
when we boast in us.
When we are self-reliant,
when we are dazzled,
when we are drawn
to play the boasting game on the world's terms.
When that happens,
he has got us exactly where he wants us.
And that takes us just to the second truth.
This is verses 8 to 12.
And really it's the beauty of resting in grace.
And this all centers on
what Paul refers to here at verse 7.
Just see it in the text.
He talks about his thorn in the flesh.
And you get the figurative image there
that Paul's using.
This is something in his life
that weakens him and causes him pain.
Now people have got their theories
on what exactly this is.
Maybe it's to do with his poor eyesight.
Maybe it's to do with a difficult person
who keeps showing up.
I say they're all speculative.
And the fact that we aren't told
precisely what it is,
can I suggest that's a really good thing?
Because it means that the principle
that we are going to unearth here
is a timeless one for the Christian life.
But before we get there,
just notice the precision.
Notice the clarity with which he writes.
They always say that that's the aim
of a good public speaker,
a good writer,
is to be so clear that you are understood.
And yet to be so clear
that you cannot be misunderstood.
So see what he's doing here.
Notice the precision.
Paul is not calling evil good.
Nor is this anything to do with his sin,
as if he's blaming God
for the sin in his own life.
Verse 7, this is a messenger of Satan.
So Paul understands the source of this.
But nor does he glory in the pain
that comes from it.
It's so important that we see that.
Verse 8, what does he say?
Three times,
I pleaded with the Lord
for this to be taken away.
So he's praying.
He's pouring his soul out to his father.
Lord, would you take it away?
And yet he's content in the fact
that the Lord says no.
Do you see how Paul is no
massacist?
This is not a hit me again,
hit me again.
Reveling in the hits that he's taken.
It's not that.
And yet here's what he does perceive.
Verse 7,
I was given it.
And that word given,
it invites us,
it is the portal
to a galaxy of theology.
Do you see the word given there?
Paul has only got that word given
because he gets the gospel.
gospel.
The gospel,
the gospel,
what Christians call the good news
because it announces
that there is a way
to be right with God forever.
And to stand before him,
our creator,
spotless and forgiven of our sin.
Not because of our deeds,
not because of our works,
but because of the blood
that Jesus shed for us
on the cross.
It is there that Jesus
pays the price
to make us
through faith
his own.
So he
buys us.
It's where the Bible gets the word
redemption from.
It's the slave market term.
Jesus buys us.
What that means is
when he buys us,
he fully commits himself
to us.
And what that means,
friends,
is that nothing happens
to us
that is out
with his
say-so.
Jesus never drops
the ball.
Nothing sneaks in
under his radar.
We've got this song
from Colin Buchanan
that we sing
with the kids at night
and it really simply
goes like this.
God never says oops.
Here's what Paul senses
that over and above
Satan's worst
stands an all-sovereign
Jesus
who loves him,
who holds him,
and is fully committed
to Paul's
best.
So Paul can say
to the devil,
you mean it
for evil.
But Paul can say
to Jesus,
but you
mean it
for
good.
Why?
Just follow the logic
in the text.
Why?
Paul recognizes
that he
gave me it
to stop me
becoming
conceited.
Do you see that word?
So Paul recognizes
that God has given him
something to keep him
humble
and keep him
weak.
Maybe Paul knows
his own heart.
Right?
Maybe the temptation
to drift towards
self-reliance.
Or actually,
maybe I could claim
just 2%
of the limelight
for myself.
And he's learned
in the words
of Charles Spurgeon
to kiss the wave
that throws him
back
against the rock
of ages.
And that's why
he's unashamed,
verse 10,
about the hardships
that he goes through
as a result
of following Jesus.
We saw the catalogue
of them last week.
We just got a few
of them here.
Do you see how
Paul's life is the
opposite of
Instagrammable?
Everyone on Facebook
set on telling you
about their best
moments.
Paul's game
for telling us
about his toughest.
We've just got to
get this right.
He is no constant
rock of emotional
stability.
I think we're so
often guilty
of talking about
him like that,
as if nothing
phases him.
Nonsense.
Every time he feels
the ouch of that
thorn, it reminds
him of what God
said to him.
And we just get
it at verse 9.
If you're looking
for a memory verse,
you do worse
than this one.
God said to him,
my grace
is sufficient
for you
for,
because
my power
is made
perfect
in weakness.
Now that word
sufficient,
maybe our English
translations don't
quite get it.
Everything.
My grace
is sufficient.
My grace is
everything you'll
ever need.
Paul,
as you reach
the end of your
resources and
turn to me,
you'll find me
to be a God
who draws
alongside you,
full of power,
full of love,
abounding in
kindness,
mercy,
and compassion.
And this is one
of the deepest
mysteries of the
Christian life,
that in our
darkest hours,
when we cannot
fathom how we're
going to make
another step,
Jesus,
our good shepherd,
holds us,
is with us,
and he will
not fail us.
Jesus,
the divine man
of sorrows,
fully acquainted
with grief,
knows perfectly
how to draw
near to his
people in
times of
trouble.
Maybe think of
it like this.
Friends,
when we boast
in our own
abilities and
capabilities,
when we try to
work it out,
when there's a
problem,
when something's
gone wrong,
the devil has
us exactly
where he wants
us.
But flip it.
When we run
to our
Father,
completely out
of resources,
Lord, I've
got nothing but
you, help me
to know you
more.
Friends, our
Father has us
exactly where
he wants us.
Isn't it amazing
when you read
the Gospels?
Something I
asked my kids
this week to
read in the
chapter of Luke
every night.
Just go away,
tell me something
fascinating, really
interesting you
found out about
Jesus.
They come back
and they tell
me, and I
see things I've
never seen
before, but
here's the
thing, some
of the most
compassionate and
loving words that
Jesus has in the
Gospels are for
people who
realise they've
got nothing but
him.
Our Father has us
exactly where he
wants us.
And so on that
note, and as we
begin to draw the
threads of this
passage together,
here's the big
application.
Friends, I
wonder if God is
calling some of
us to embrace
our dead ends.
I'll do the
way here, okay,
just dead ends.
You're stuck.
Maybe that's
exactly where you
are just now.
You're stuck.
You feel like a
chess piece backed
into a corner.
You've got no idea
what your next move
is.
You've got no idea
what the future
holds.
I just cannot see
ahead of me.
You feel like one
of those days last
week when the
hard just came in
over Edinburgh,
but couldn't see a
thing.
I don't know
what's up ahead.
Did you not laugh
a little bit the
other day, was it
Tuesday or Wednesday,
I forget, that was
the five-year
anniversary of that
COVID lockdown.
How did you
celebrate?
I keep finding
masks and jacket
pockets and jean
pockets.
It's funny.
It just reminds me
of those days.
It feels like a
lifetime ago, and
yet that was only
five years ago.
I remember that
lockdown being
announced on the
Tuesday and
thinking to myself,
I have not got a
clue what we are
going to do.
And Gary rings me
and says, I've got
an idea, brilliant
idea.
I've not got a
clue what to do.
Friends, when was
the last time you
found yourself in
that place?
Have you ever
considered, if
you're facing a
dead end, that God
might have you
exactly where he
wants you so that
you would learn
this?
Are you saying
to yourself, I'm
finishing uni this
summer, I have not
got a scooby what
the future holds?
And God says, good,
I want you to come
to me and remember
that I am the one
who is eternal and
knows the end from
the beginning.
I'm not sure what
job to do.
Good, come to me
and know that I am
the one who has
got good works
prepared in advance
for you to walk
in.
I just worry so much
as a parent for my
kids, I just want
them to make the
right decisions.
Good, come to me
and know that I am
the perfect father.
I get so tired, I
need my eight hours
sleep a night, I
wish I could burn
the candle at both
ends, but I can't, I
just get so tired.
Good, lay your head
on that pillow, take
an evening off and
know that I am the
God who holds you
and I am the God
who doesn't slumber
nor sleep.
Friends, what is he
teaching us about his
all-sufficient grace?
I always love how C.S.
Lewis puts this, you'll
be surprised to hear
that.
Captures this so
wonderfully in his
book Prince Caspian
and it's this scene
where Lucy sees
Aslan again after a
long break and here's
the script.
Aslan, said Lucy,
you're bigger.
That is because you
are older, little one,
he answered.
Not because you are,
said Lucy.
I am not child, but
every year you grow,
you will find me
bigger.
You know, a test I think
of whether I find him
bigger and more
sufficient and all
loving and knowing.
Is my quickness when
things happen in my
life that my default
position is to just
try and fix on my own,
do I find him bigger?
The test is whether
how quickly I run to
him all out of
resources.
Or if I could spin a
cheesy phrase, and
that's why you came
this morning, wasn't
it?
Friends, we live in a
world that says when
the going gets tough,
the tough get going.
Paul was telling us
that when the going
gets tough, the
strong get pleading.
Progress in the
Christian life isn't
realizing we need
Jesus less.
How often we think
of it like the
stabilizers on a
bike.
Like Jesus was a
great start and yet
we'll kind of figure
this Christian life
out as we grow and
as we grow and as
we grow, we stand on
our own two feet.
No, no, no.
Progress in the
Christian life is
realizing that we
need Jesus more.
Where is God's
power seen today?
It's seen in
weak people
who throw
themselves upon
a strong
Christ
and who
receive grace
and are
strengthened by
him
to keep
going.
What does that
speak of?
And this is one of
the big challenges
that came from this
text as well.
What does it speak
to me of?
It speaks of
contentment.
I always love
what a woman
called Elizabeth
Elliott.
You've not ever
heard about
Elizabeth Elliott.
She's got a
wonderful story.
Biography is
written about her
wonderful.
She just said
this about
contentment.
She said,
the secret is
Christ in me,
not me in a
different set of
circumstances.
Resting in our
Father's complete
knowledge of us
and our Savior's
complete hold of
us.
Friends, God
wants us this
morning to
redefine where
strength is to be
found.
And to find
his grace to
us,
Jesus, who's
given himself
to us,
to find him
all
sufficient.
And just
maybe to bring
us home,
just as we
close,
let me tell you
about my
favorite film
starring Brad
Pitt.
Now, I
think this was
a book that
was originally
written by
F.
Scott Fitzgerald,
but I'm one
of those guys
that doesn't
read the
book, just
watch the
film.
It is called
The Curious
Case of
Benjamin
Button.
Decent film,
it's okay.
I was more
captivated by
the concept.
Benjamin
Button, this
man born with
a very rare
condition,
one that makes
him age
backwards.
Now, get
your head
around that.
He is born
because of
this condition,
a really
old man.
So he
comes out
all covered
in wrinkles
and shriveled,
and you get
the idea.
And the
midwives hand
his mother
this baby,
and here it
is, here is
Benjamin born.
He's born an
old man, and
yet Benjamin
dies at the
other end of
his life at
the age of
85.
He dies a
young baby.
And I
remember watching
it for the
first time and
thinking to
myself, what a
wonderful picture
of the Christian
life.
The more we
go on with
Jesus, and
the more we
realize his
heart, friends,
the more
like dependent
children we
should look
like.
The message
of this
passage, the
message of
this book, is
that weakness
is the
way.
We would
normally have
questions on
the screen at
this point, but
because it's
communion, we're
just going to
miss it this
week.
But friends, if
you have any
questions, is
anything you
want to tease
out or pray
about, that's
just the most
natural thing to
do in response to
this passage this
morning.
You can grab
the person that
you came with,
grab somebody
you've seen up
the front, we'd
love to do
that.
But friends,
let's not pass
up this
opportunity to
taste and see
that Jesus is
good this
morning.
So let me
pray and then
we're going to
sing once again
before we move
into a time of
communion.
And Lord
Jesus, we
thank you so
much for what
you said,
that it is the
poor in spirit
who will inherit
the kingdom of
God.
And Father, I
pray that whatever
is going on in
our lives right
now, Lord, we
bring to you our
fears and our
troubles and our
hardships.
We bring to you
our griefs and
our pains and
our memories.
And we ask,
Lord, that in all
of this, that your
spirit would be
teaching us the
beauty of knowing
that your power
is perfectly
shown in
weakness.
Thank you so
much that in
Jesus we have a
saviour who
knows, who
cares, and who
has given his
life to save
us.
So Father, be
with us now as
we move to
remember him in
this time of
communion.
Father, we love
you.
Be with us now,
we ask.
In Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.