Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:1-10
I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶ Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. ⁸ Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; ⁹ but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Summary and Function

Summary: The Apostle Paul speaks about a thorn in his side. We don’t know what the thorn was. Some speculations about it include skin disease, epilepsy or acute eye inflammation. Whatever it was, it became Paul’s weakness and hindered him in some serious way. God, however, used Paul despite this thorn. In fact, God used this thorn in some profound way.

God can do the same for us. God can use us despite our thorns. God may even use our thorns in some profound way. If you have a thorn and God doesn’t get rid of it, He may be using it to further His kingdom. It is an honor for God to use our weaknesses to demonstrate His strength.

Function: To encourage the congregation not to despair over any thorn they may have but to ask God to either remove it or use oin some powerful way.

Sermon

I. Introduction: “Pride comes before the fall”

A. There’s a common saying, “Pride comes before the fall”.

· This saying comes from the Bible: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

· Things go very well for a person. Then the person becomes very confident. This confidence leads to arrogance and pride.

· When arrogance and pride sets in, the person begins to think he doesn’t need anyone. He believes he doesn’t have to listen to anyone and can do everything on his own.

· Have you ever been in this state of mind? I have…

B. I was a young, cocky Captain.

· I was the Intelligence Officer in the 3/7 Cavalry squadron. As such, I was in charge of the Intelligence section of the Squadron staff. My section was responsible for providing intelligence on enemy capabilities and intentions.

· I became good at this job. I did well at the Officer Basic Course, completed Ranger school, had excellent Officer Evaluation Reports, been through the National Training Center as an Asst. Intelligence Officer and been through numerous field exercises.

· When my infant daughter went home to be with the Lord, I took a lot of time off. When I returned, my unit was involved in a big field exercise. The Intelligence Section had to provide a briefing on the enemy situation.

· I had no idea what was going on, so my staff recommended that my Assistant Intelligence Officer give the briefing. I didn’t listen to them. I knew what I was doing, or so I thought….

· I stumbled through the absolute worst Intelligence Briefing I ever gave. I was disorganized, had little factual information and could not adequately answer people’s questions. PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL.

C. This can happen to us when God spiritually blesses us

· When God spiritually blesses us in a personal way, we can develop spiritual pride as individuals.

- We have close personal experiences with God, our Biblical knowledge increases, people tell us how wonderful we pray and conduct Bible studies and we begin to think we are more ‘spiritual’ than others.

- We think we don’t need to participate in group Bible studies or accountability groups. We start believing the lie that we can do this Christian thing on our own.

- Then a temptation comes up and we think we can handle it. The temptation could come in the form of mentoring a young beautiful person of the opposite sex.

- Then you’re caught having an affair with that person. Your entire ministry is shattered. PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL.

· When God spiritually blesses us as a congregation, we can develop spiritual pride.

- We begin some new ministries, they begin to grow, our church gets bigger and we begin building projects

- We forget that it was God who made us successful and we begin to think it was all done on our own ability.

- Then we develop an elitist attitude and seek to invite and serve only those with particular socio-economic credentials. We develop a ‘holier than thou’ attitude towards various groups of people. At this point we begin to become something other than the church. We become a big social club that doesn’t really change any hearts. PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL.

· We at Glynlea Grace UMC need to be aware of the dangers of spiritual pride

- During the week-end of August 28, we are having a revival called ‘Venture in Discipleship’ (ViD).

- During ViD we will ask the Holy Spirit to re-energize us to go out into the community to spread the gospel and serve people in the name of Christ. There is no telling how God might spiritually bless us.

- As we become blessed, we must remain humble and realize we are utterly dependent on God for everything. If we don’t, we run the risk of enduring the negative consequences of becoming spiritually prideful.

· The Apostle Paul understood the risks of spiritual pride.

II. The Apostle Paul and Spiritual pride

A. Paul received numerous spiritual blessings. In today’s passage he talks about one of them:

· “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.” (2 Cor. 12:2-4)

· Later in the passage, it becomes clear Paul was referring to himself.

B. Paul wanted to boast about these spiritual blessings. His boasting, however, was in God, not himself.

· ^“5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶ Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.” (2 Cor.:12:5-6) – He did not want to boast about himself

· When he did talk about himself, he spoke of a thorn or weakness that kept him humble

C. Paul’s thorn

· We don’t know exactly what the thorn was. (Some theories include a skin disease, epilepsy or acute eye inflammation) We can surmise, however, that it was a weakness that inhibited Paul in some way. This kept Paul humble. It kept him from having spiritual pride: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.” (2 Cor. 12:7)

· Paul prayed for God to take it away but instead God used it: “⁸ Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; ⁹ but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:8-10)

· The purpose of Paul’s thorn: To keep him humble before God by reminding him that he is and always will be utterly dependent on God for everything.

III. This passage elicits certain questions

A. Do I have a thorn or weakness that inhibits me in someway? If so, what is it?

B. How should I view this thorn? Should I ask God to take it away or use it?

C. Go to God in prayer about whatever thorn you may have. Let God decide what to do with it. This will help you remain humble before God and keep you from the dangers of spiritual pride.

IV. Conclusion

A. We are about to take part in Holy Communion. As we remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s grace will touch our hearts.

B. If you have a thorn, take it with you as you partake of communion. Let God decide what to do with it.